The company's next season has been announced. The repertoire looks like this:

Alice's Wonderland (new ballet by Giorgio Madia, Komische Oper)
Giselle (staged by Patrice Bart, Unter den Linden)
Onegin (Cranko, Unter den Linden)
Sleeping Beauty (staged by Vladimir Malakhov, Deutsche Oper)
All-Robbins: The Concert, Afternoon of a Faun, Fancy Free (Unter den Linden)
All-Balanchine: Serenade, Ballet Imperial, Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux, Apollo (Deutsche Oper)
The Nutcracker (Bart, Unter den Linden)
Sylvia (Ashton, Deutsche Oper)
Glories of the Romantic Ballet: Le Papillon, Les Trois Graces, Pas des Déesses, La Vivandière, Paquita (Deutsche Oper)
Cinderella (Malakhov, Deutsche Oper)
La Bayadère (staged by Malakhov, Unter den Linden)
Tchaikovsky (Eifman, Unter den Linden)
La Sylphide (new production by Peter Schaufuss, Deutsche Oper)
Swan Lake (staged by Bart, Unter den Linden)
Ring um den Ring (Béjart, Deutsche Oper)
With/out Tutu: Forsythe's Vertiginous Thrill of Exactitude, Clark Tippet's Bruch Violin Concert, new ballet by Jodie Gates (Unter den Linden)

There will be visits from the Bolshoi, with Swan Lake and Ratmansky's The Bright Stream, and the Hubbard Street Dance Company.

Stuttgart Ballet principal Mikhail Kaniskin and Dresden Semperoper Ballett principal Dmitry Semionov will join the company as principal dancers. Shoko Nakamura and Iana Salenko are promoted to principal dancer. Maria Seletskaja and Dinu Tamazlacaru are promoted to soloist. Stuttgart soloist Elisa Carrillo Cabrera joins the company as a demi-soloist, and corps members Sarah Mestrovic and Sergej Upkin are promoted to demi-soloist. The press release doesn't indicate whether any leading dancers are leaving or retiring.

http://www.staatsballett-berlin.de/detail....ch=none&active=

volcanohunter, is this one company with two venues or two separate companies? It looks like a huge season.

One of the consequences of Berlin's division after WWII was that each side of the city had it's own opera house. There's still a lot of hand-wringing over what to do about the situation, so the Deutsche Staatsoper ("Unter den Linden") and the Deutsche Oper remain separate institutions. However, a few years ago their ballet companies were merged into one large troupe of about 90 dancers, and it performs at both houses.

Yay for my homies! Both Maria and Sergei joined Berlin Ballet at the same time, in 2005, coming from demi-soloist (Maria) and soloist (Upkin) positions with the Estonian National Ballet.
Thanks for the news, volcanohunter.

*shy look around the corner for her fourth post*

Everybody seems to be excited about Alice's Wonderland. The ads for this production seem to indicate that it is off pointe, and from what I've heard, it seems that there are several dancers performing the role "Alice", they are dressed and coiffured identically so that one leaves the stage on the right side, and the other comes to stage from the left side. This forces the audience to wonder which Alice went where, so that it is confusing and therefore ... I don't know, interesting?

I am very glad, though, that Malakhov decided to stage "Onegin" again. It is a wonderful ballet, and it's a pity that so few companies perform it these days. I wish I could go to Berlin and see it... and I cannot get hold of a DVD, so lousy youtube videos have to do it for me.

I wonder: why doesn't the SB have their own board under "European Ballet Companies"? It's a big company with 90 dancers, they tour to Japan, etc., so they're quite... important.

It's more a matter of the size of the discussion, rather than the size of the company. If you and others post often, the moderators just might make a new subforum for Staats. That's what happened recently with Compañia Ballet de España.

I invite you as a new poster to introduce yourself on our Welcome Page, Legwarmer. No need to be shy here. You're among friends.

I am seriously considering going to Berlin at the end of October, but unfortunately cannot figure out how to buy tickets to the Staats. Ideally I'd like to see both Bolshoi Swan Lakes, Onegin and The Sleeping Beauty. Could somebody please suggest the best way to order/reserve tickets online (my German is a disaster, so ordering over the phone is out of the question).

Also, when do they normally announce the casts? If I can see Polina Semionova, I'll probably rearange my travel plans. Any rumors on what/when she will be dancing in the upcoming season?

Thanks a million in advance!

I'm sure there are -- or will be -- casting rumors. But not on BalletTalk. The best (still not foolproof) way to ensure accuracy is to limit that info to . . . you got it! Official sources!

Staatsoper Berlin has a very good website with an English component that makes it quite easy to order over the internet. You can also order via email or phone if you are nervous about security.
The website is "www.staatsoper-berlin.de" and click on English in the top right hand corner.
We have used it to order tickets for a performance in December, and so far so good.

That's nice of you to say! I already introduced myself, but that's ages ago. I was told to go to "Ballet Talk for Dancers", but I appreciate this board so much more, because you seem so sophisticated and sure of your opinions, so experienced that discussions are much more worthy being read.

No offense to the other board, though!

@ Waelsung: If you see Iana Salenko or Beatrice Knop, you can consider yourself incredibly lucky, also with Nadja Saidakova. I saw all those three dancers, and they are in-cre-dible... honestly.