shopgirl

"Morganne Campbell joins Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre II." There is no Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre II. There is the PBT School Graduate Program, which is part of PBT School's Pre-Professional Division.

I was so sorry to read this. Jana Fugate staged Circus Polka for PNB several years ago, and my daughter had the opportunity to dance as a Circus Polka girl. Miss Fugate later gave each of the girls a handwritten note thanking them for the good job that they did. My daughter kept the note in her scrapbook and will cherish the memory. Our condolences to all her loved ones.

If you're asking how to get tickets to Giselle specifically, you can get them on the PNB website at pnb.org. Just click on Performances & Tickets, and then click on the 2010-11 Season. Seats in the Orchestra Side and Gallery Lower are very good seats for the money--although if you sit in the Gallery Lower you'll want to sit Row E or back or else you can't see the feet, and that's essentially what you want to see! The Sat., 6/11 @ 2:00 performance must be an add-on because there are LOTS of good seats still available for that particular performance.

I enjoyed this program so much. I thought that all the dancing was extraordinary, and was amazed that four dancers on a small, bare stage could bring the story to life like they did. Carla Korbes is such a talented dancer, and her mime and acting skills are exceptional as well. She danced Clara in a Nutcracker performance I saw recently, and I noticed that she brings this talent to every single role she dances in. Carrie Imler seems to be at the peak of her dancing from what I have seen of her this season, and certainly from this live streamed performance. I was equally impressed with Doug Fullington. I found it interesting to hear not only the history of the ballet, but how complicated the whole process was in bringing this ballet back for PNB. I liked the explanation about how the virtuosity of dancing at that time was in the quickness of the feet and steps, and thought that Carrie Imler demonstrated this part of the program so perfectly. I was surprised to recognize that it was Alan Dameron who played the piano; the piano music was exceptional for this program. I thought that Peter Boal and Doug Fullington did a great job in putting this program together, and it really showed the enormous amount of talent that PNB has.

PNB has updated its website to list Chelsea Adomaitis as an Apprentice. Last year's apprentices (Andrew Bartee, Amanda Clark, Kyle Davis, Margaret Mullin, Emma Love, Sean Rollofson) are now listed as members of the Corps de Ballet.