We have two different troupes from NYCB touring in Spain.

I had the chance to see Joaquín de Luz and his invitees Thursday 16 in Sant Feliu de Guixols, near Barcelona:

It has been a show that started with Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana performed by the Choir of Saint Petesbourg Chapella with the “Ensemble de Pianos y Percussions de Barcelona” a soprano, a bariton and a contra-tenor.

The second part was the ballet Les Noces, choreography of Nilas Martin, never seen in Spain.

Cast:

Nastasya: Sterlyng Hyltin
Khvetis: Joaquín de Luz
Parents of the bride: Kaitlyn Gilliland and Ask LaCour
Parents of the groom: Monique Meunier and Nilas Martins
Witnesses: Kathryn Morgan and Andrew Veyette
Friends of the bride: Megan Lecrone and Ana Sofía Scheller
Friends of the groom: Tyler Angle and Robert Fairchild

I have been talking a bit with Joaquín after the show and he was delighted to dance in Spain, he said that he will do his best to come again next year maybe with choreographies of Balanchine and/or Robbins and with live music again. To dance with such a choir and the music after them gives a lot of energy and makes the dance special. I had been astonished because of his power on stage and his speed and he is also a very charming person. I really hope to see them all again next year.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
And the second troupe that is not coming to Cataluña are:

Jared Angle.- Principal de NYCB.
Yvonne Borree.- Principal de NYCB.
Megan Fairchild.- Principal de NYCB.
Tom Gold.- Solista del NYCB.
Nikolaj Hübbe.- Principal de NYCB.
Philip Neal.- Principal de NYCB.
Georgina Pazcoguin.- Cuerpo de Baile de NYCB.
Rachel Rutherford.- Solista del NYCB.
Abi Stafford.- Solista del NYCB.

PROGRAMME at the Auditorium of the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao was:

"Apollo"
Música: Igor Stravinsky
Coreografía: George Balanchine
Dancers: Nikolaj Hübbe, Yvonne Borree, Rachel Rutherford y Megan Fairchild.

"Tchaikovsky, pas de deux"
Música: Piotr Ilich Tchaikovsky
Coreografía: George Balanchine
Dancers: Abi Stafford y Jared Angle.

"Diamonds"
Música: Piotr Ilich Tchaikovsky
Coreografía: George Balanchine
Dancers: Yvonne Borree y Philip Neal.

"Junk duet"
Música: Donakd Knaack
Coreografía: Twyla Tharp
Dancers: Megan Fairchild y Tom Gold.

"Who cares?"
Música: George Gershwin
Coreografía: George Balanchine
Dancers: Jared Angle, Yvonne Borree, Megan Fairchild, Tom Gold, Nikolaj Hübbe, Philip Neal, Georgina Pazcoguin, Rachel Rutheford y Abi Stafford.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Summer Festivals gives us the opportunity to see some of our great dancers that want to dance in their country and have no opportunity to do so all the rest of the year long as there is very few ballet in the programs of our big and great theatres.

Greetings

Sounds fascinating! I wish one of the pick up groups would come up to the Festival, though I have been lucky enough to see a NBoC principal up close in the year's Fringe.

However, was 'Les Noces' choreographed by Martins or is this simply his staging of the Jerome Robbins' version that NYCB has done for many years? My impression is that Martins is a talented a stager and musician, but doesn't do much choreography of his own. Given the characters listed, it sounds very much like the Robbins' version - and it's not uncommon for the concept of staging and choreographing to get mixed up by inexperienced program writers and translators.

Kate

Hi Kate!

To be honest I have no idea, it is clearly said everywhere that the choreographer is Nilas Martins but I can not tell you. As I said I'm not familiar with this ballet. It is possible that this is an error, I'm affraid that program writers of summer festivals do not pay much attention of this "kind of details"

In an interview in the local press:

where they also state that the choreographer is N. Martins, Joaquín says that he is giving him a lot of opportunities.

The link, with a picture of him and his partner in the beautiful Sant Feliu beach here.

If I get any further information I'll let you know.

Carolina

According to the critics of the performance in Santander this piece has been created by Nilas Martins and Lise La Cour.



http://www.eldiariomontanes.es/prensa/2 ... 70823.html

Very interesting - I knew that Nilas has done some well regarded tour organizing and staging, but this is the first I've heard of his choreographic interests. He's also supposed to be a very talented musician.

FYI, Lise laCour is Nilas' mother. She danced with the Royal Danish Ballet and was a assistant ballet master there, but left after the AD she was assistant to departed (I think it was Thordal Christensen, but not sure). If I remember correctly, she now teaches at the San Jose-Silicon Valley Ballet.

Kate

Thanks a lot Kate! I didn't know that Lisa la Cour was Nilas' mother, as many times I learn a lot of thinks in this forum.

A great source of useful information for me

Many thanks