nina

Thank you. Ari. Clear and thoughtful reasoning. I also think you are exactly right.

A good season but not a memorable one until Merrill Ashley ignited the stage as Carabosse.

I have to disagree. I saw Glenn Keenan dance the blue fairy on sat. afternoon and she was delightful, polished and----------vivacious. And she wasn't even cast to do the part! Others were good as well.I think the company has a great deal of talent right now and unless these women are brought forward in this type of role I worry they will not continue to grow as performers.

Thanks, sneds. I'll defer to your judgment on the steps and your very valid point about oneupsmanship. Nevertheless, I hold to my subjective opinion on the appeal of Veyette--- ditto Ms. Keenan.

I definitely did not mean to imply that most nycb men do not finish their steps! Sorry if I gave that impression. Only meant to say that I went away from last evenings performance with pictures of Carmena in my mind---That's to say there was no blurring of one step into another. Others do that as well and for me it makes for not only greater enjoyment but also greater understanding of the role.

I can speak to Carmena's appeal. He finishes all steps. In other words he puts a period on his movements. He is also explosive. But not relentlessly so. I suppose that is what reviewers refer to a"nuanced dancing". For me (in Interplay) the most appealing were Mr. Veyette and Ms. Keenan. Why? Because they seemed to have dropped from Dick Clarks American Bandstand-I'm giving away my age- I hope to see these two in West Side Story.

The green girl was Glenn Keenan and the turning boy was Antonio Carmena, and I absolutely agree they are both superb in those roles. In fact I'd like to see more of both of them.