Helene

Thank you for the heads up, insider. The direct links to the .pdf files are here: Apollo La Valse Stravinsky Violin Concerto "Apollo" looks great. I loved Wojtowicz's Amor in "Don Q" a couple of years ago, and I'm glad to see she's in a featured role. I missed Paola Hartley in the last program: I would have loved to see her in "Les Sylphides". It looks like Ian Poulis is playing "Death" in "La Valse": that will be i*n*t*e*n*s*e. Magnicaballi in the von Aroldingen role is counter-intuitive, but I bet it will be grand. So many opportunities for so many dancers!

According to National Ballet of Canada:

I'm happy to announce that our joint BT/BT4D fundraiser goal has been met, as of today. I'd like to thank everyone who donated for their generosity . I'd also like to thank everyone who purchases from our amazon search box at the top of the site. Revenues from amazon are at least 25% of our annual budget, and every last commission helps: even when you find that $.99 used bargain from a third party-seller ( ), it all adds up. We get commissions on everything you buy from amazon or third-party sellers on the amazon site when you use our custom search box (here or on BT4D): everything from miso soup to chain saws to perfume to vacuum cleaners to pens to downloads to stuffed bears, as well as those quaint old stand-byes, books, by which I mean the touchable, bound, analog kind. One request: if you search through the ASIN number (amazon's internal number), we don't get credit. Please search by name or artist or key word, and use that useful ASIN number to confirm that you've got the right product, especially critical with the sketchy info that appears with most ballet DVD's, and the unreadable cover art. Thank you again!

Apollinaire Scherr reviewed the program in The Financial Times. Nearly Nintely, Brooklyn Academy of Music, New York Ms. Scherr followed up on her blog "foot in mouth": http://www.artsjournal.com/foot/2009/04/po...ghams_near.html

The timing seems dumb, but contractual, and she'll be moved if the webmaster has his/her act together when her contract kicks in. Bad timing is what happened to former Colorado Ballet dancer Crystal Hartford, from today's lead Links:

Jerome Robbins' "The Cage". Definitely not fluffy.

I hope whoever is ill gets well soon. The announcement and changes are also on the casting list on the SRB website: http://www.sfballet.org/performancesticket...ng.asp#43680798 From Rachel Howard's review of "Russian Seasons", I suspect this is a stronger program. It will be interesting to see how the other ballets look compared to "Rubies" in the same program. For tonight's cast they put together the women from two different casts from opening weekend: LeBlanc and Altman. I've read numerous observations that Altman is usually a reserved dancer; as Tall Girl, she was not, and I think that that this pair is best matched, and not only physically: Altman had a bit of wryness that spiced it up, just one eyebrow raised temperamentally. Tomorrow afternoon, Zahorian gets a new Tall Girl, Lily Rogers. From what I saw of Rogers in "Diamonds", I think they, too, might be more suited as a pair. I would have loved to see Kochetkova in "Rubies", and I'm glad she's paired with Domitro, who's less muscular physically and dynamically than Molat. Did anyone see any of this week's performances of "Jewels"? If the website is up-to-date, last Wednesday, Sofiane Sylve and Quinn Wharton danced the second couple to Feijoo and Damian Smith's first couple, with Elizabeth Miner and Clara Blanco making their debuts in the Pas de Trois, and last night, Rachel Viselli and Ivan Popov danced second couple to the Kochetkova/Nicolas Blanc first, with Isaac Hernandez in the Pas de Trois. Also Yuan Yuan Tan danced "Diamonds" in both performances -- she's on all of the posters, and I was wondering when she'd dance the role. Please tell us how it went!

That is such sad news; she was only 70. My condolences to her company and especially to her husband, Vladimir Vasiliev. RIP, Miss Maximova.

I find it remarkable that no one will touch Cunningham's recent work and criticize it. Balanchine, for all of his choreography, was consistently criticized in his late career: nothing was ever as good as "Agon" -- 1957! -- the quality of the Stravinsky Festival ballets was such a surprise -- this after only a few years of not creating ballets -- Jerome Robbins spoke to the future with his emotional engagement, whereas Balanchine was a cold fish, and the big event of 1968 was Robbins' return, etc. etc. All of the "Wow, Chaconne/Mozartiana/Davidsbundlertanze, didn't know the old geezer still had it in him" commentary didn't stop until his final illness. Of course, by then, for all of the arguments over legacy, and whether it would have been better in the long run artistically to let the company die with him, there was an institution, and institutions have a life of their own.

The Mission Statement I'm talking about is a legal requirement of setting up a 501-c-3 organization, not anything the company is putting out otherwise. Most are constructed to be vague enough to allow the organization to do as it wishes, but there's still a legal requirement to comply with it. Cunningham's is more direct than most; see the Paul Taylor Foundation's for vagueness. The legacy issue is also important to donors, especially when a company that is dedicated to the art of one person who is either elderly or ailing, and when it isn't clear that there is an institution to continue the legacy or should be. New York City Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, Mariinsky Ballet, Paris Opera Ballet, etc. were all institutions for decades or centuries before the founders and/or resident geniuses died or left the company. The people who feel it is important to support Merce Cunningham's foundation in an effort to continue his legacy might not agree with you about the direction of the company -- in fact, they may be of the opinion that fresh air is what is needed, or that new things have to be tried, even if they fail, to avoid turning into a museum, -- or they may feel that time is critical to save it in any fashion, with the hope that the current administration is replaced before they kill it altogether. For other donors, supporting a genius, no matter how s/he behaves, is more important than the matter of trashing loyal, long-time dancers. Donors enable a lot of behaviors, some of the bad, and like investing anything, it's a trade-off of values. Who knows whether if the money had dried up, he'd have gotten back in a bus with a group of dancers and start over, wheelchair and all.

I saw Ansanelli do a fabulous imitation of Fonteyn in the opening of the Fonteyn movement of "Homage to the Queen" last year: same eyes, same head tilt, same neck. It was quite remarkable.

Yes, my fingers got away from me. Are you arguing that Cunningham is not making the artistic decisions himself? If so, then there is an issue, and possibly a legal one: using the money from the Foundation for a mission other than the stated one, on which people/foundations donate and get tax deductions, when he is not acting as the artistic director. If you are not, but are arguing legacy, that's a separate issue. If Cunningham himiself fired three senior dancers for whatever reason, and left the communication to a mouthpiece, I can argue that it was a mistake, I can argue that it was an unprofessional way to handle it in the press, but, ultimately, the buck stops with him, however old he is.

I think the latter is more common than the former. Merce Cunningham can do what he wants, as can almost any epophynous company. The Mission Statement of the Cunningham Foundation is: Unless there is a restricted donation to any one of these entities/programs, or restricted within one of them, he takes people's money to support his work, which means his artistic decisions, regardless of how arbitrary or justified. He can be vindictive and lose our respect; if the Foundation has an endowment, those donors are stuck with the decisions, no matter how they disagree. For money spent and future money, they can disagree with their pocketbook, and fans can disagree by not buying tickets. An institution like NYCB has a different mission. The resident genius can make the same artistic decisions, which can be accepted or denied. What Balanchine did to Suzanne Farrell when he fired her essentially for not marrying him was unconsionable, without any artistic pretext given, and that Board said "fine". If the genius doesn't like it, s/he can leave: Balanchine famously said more than once that he would leave the Company and start another little one. By that point, there would have been many people who would have funded him to do whatever he pleased.

Maria Kochetkova danced the Verdy role in "Emeralds" this afternoon, partnered by Nicolas Blanc. She danced the role with extraordinary delicacy and grace. She had her moments of drama, almost all expressed with her neck and shoulders; she would continue to stretch her neck up and back, while the rest of her body moved forward, as if she were pushed in opposite directions. In the ronde de jambes on the diagonal in her solo, she didn't just move from the knee: there was a little frisson in her working foot that sent shivers down my spine. For the most part, though, until the brooding ending, she looked content, fulfilled in her role, which was very lovely to see. In the graceful, full way she used her upper body she was matched by Blanc. When a figure skater has the skill with a blade, I could watch them do laps of cross-overs. With Blanc, I could watch him walk all afternoon. With every step, his foot kissed the stage. His pirouettes were textbook: not pendantic, but the embodiment of how technique transforms movement: pulled up from the waist with an easy upper body, turned out with generous position, and no sacrifice of style for quantity. That combination of elegance and strength, and the perfect balance of upper and lower body is rare in male dancers. The Pas de Trois is the breeding ground for women moving into the Mimi Paul role, and Frances Chung was no exception. She can light up the stage in roles that require quick movement and impossible weight changes. This role was a stretch, until the quick light movement of the original final movement, but she rose to the challenge, particularly in the way she shaded her arms and shoulders in the solo. In the Pas de Deux, she was partnered by Isaac Hernandez, who looked like he was concentrating very hard in the beginning, but seemed more at ease as it progressed. Chung's last walking sequence was very Chaconne-like, as if she were walk-swimming through water. I wish I could see their next performance. The Pas de Trois was my first opportunity to see Taras Domitro. It's not a virtuoso role for the male dancer, but I saw glimpses of what I saw described when SFB performed in NYC, particularly in the original final movement, where during his effortless jetes, he seemed to hang in the air. I can't tell from the program who was Dores Andre and who was Charlene Cohen -- in Swan Lake, there were wigs galore -- but the dancer who did the second solo (Susan Pilarre's in the Dance in America DVD), took a role that often looks thankless to me, and made me look at it with fresh eyes. She had something to say with it, something I think would translate beautifully in the Paul role. Tina LeBlanc's "Rubies" was extraordinary: her musicality expressed itself into a rhythmically dynamic performance: there was no question who the lead in this ballet was, even with Sofiane Sylve as a lush Tall Girl, and Pascal Molat's strong performance was her foil. She embodied the music. When the casting comes up, if you have to, commit a felony to get a ticket to her next peformance. Sylve dances from stillness; when she flipped her leg behind her with seemingly no preparation, you could feel it, like a whip cracking. Kudos to the male quartet, Martyn Garside, Garen Scribner, James Sofranko, and Hansuke Yamamoto, who were her brilliant foils. I didn't see Vanessa Zahorian's Odette when SFB performed "Swan Lake", but I did see her Odette this afternoon in "Diamonds". No allusion to Ivanov was missed. It was a very lovely performance, even if I'm not sure it was Balanchine, although it was more so in the third movement solos than in the centerpiece Pas de Deux; there she showed much more of a dynamic range than in "Rubies". In just about every critique I've read, "Diamonds" is considered a relatively weak ballet, and I went along with the bandwagon on this. The Paris Opera Ballet video, with the opening movement, made me re-think this a bit, but watching the SFB corps performance the underrated opening movement, and then seeing the antecedents built into the ballet in Zahorian's performance, building to the last movement, I don't think this anymore. Davit Karpetyan was a strong partner, and he had lushness in his solos. From last night's third movement quartet, Elana Altman and Erin McNulty gave fine performances as the two demi-soloists in the opening movement, switching with Lily Rogers and Jennifer Stahl from last night. The corps was superb again. I could watch the opening movement several times in a row when it's danced like this. Luckily, Perry Silvey's decision to light the opening of "Emeralds" and "Rubies" in semi-darkness -- even from the Orchestra -- didn't extend deep into the performance. The set by Tony Walton was odd: a series of Milky Ways of lights on black, the color matching the movement, which then resolved into some shapes that I guess were supposed to be related thematically. It looked a bit like paintings on velvet with a glitter kit. The costumes were Karinska's designs. I tried to meet up with Paul Parish, but what we ended up doing was conversing over voice mail and email. I realized that there were a few things where we had diametrically different views, and I watching from the Orchestra this afternoon, I realized that where the seats are makes a huge difference in War Memorial, which is not a particularly good ballet house. Even in the Grand Tier, which isn't very high up, the feet don't register nearly as well as they do from the front of the Second Tier, the highest tier, of McCaw Hall in Seattle. From the Orchestra, feet are visible, and the strength and weaknesses, particularly in point work, are front and center. I wish I could have seen the performance simultaneously from both sections, to see if the energy projected (or not) to the Orchestra played to the higher reaches. Paradoxically, the facial expressions in "Rubies" looked less show-bizzy and in "Emeralds" seemed less beaming from the Orchestra today than from the Grand Tier yesterday. Does Miriam Mahdaviani have a dancing daughter at SFB? In the opening of the first movement of "Diamonds" in the downstage left line, closest to the center, was a short, dark-haired dancer who very much reminded me of her. My non-ballet notes from SF are that I was thrilled to stay in a hotel with a ceiling fan and windows on two sides that opened for cross-ventilation, and which was a 20-minute walk from the Opera House. Both days were gorgeous, sunny days, and I went to the Ferry Terminal for lunch before heading to check-in. For anyone who is planning to visit, bring minimal cash to the Ferry Terminal, with its rows and rows of vendors. (Because you'll leave with minimal cash.) I got off cheap: a bag of dried nectarines and two apples from the "cosmetically challenged" box. On the way to the hotel, I passed an "End the Fed" rally. San Francisco is always so hard to leave!

The powers that be at SFB want to convince us that the rhythmic masterpiece just danced by someone at the height of her power was danced by a 40-something ballerina who's retiring in two weeks. Yeah, right.

Pascal Molat replaces Joan Boada in "Rubies" (about to start). Cliff notes: See this "Emeralds" cast.

Zaharian and Karapetyan are in "Diamonds" for Van Patten and Martin. After her original take on Odette/Odile, I was looking forward to Van Patten, but I suspect this is more Zahorian's fach than "Rubies".

My immediate context for watching SFB's "Jewels' is the PNB performances earlier this Spring and SFB's "Swan Lake" from just a few weeks ago. The staging is credited to Elyse Borne, with additional coaching by original "Emeralds" leads Violette Verdy and Mimi Paul, who also coached at PNB, and Suzanne Farrell for "Diamonds". The most noticeable thing at the beginning of "Emeralds" was how dramatic the corps women were, and then, how dramatic Lorena Feijoo was in the Verdy role. There wasn't a narrative, but there was a character, to an extent that I found disconcerting and had never seen in many performances over three decades. I did a double-take when I saw the program for her partner, and thought there was yet another Orza brother, but it was Seth Orza, guesting from PNB. Dramatically, his performance was up several notches, and he made a very handsome partner for Feijoo in the Pas de Deux. The drama made Feijoo's solo episodic. In the PNB performances, each of the female leads, although quite different, dance them as theme, development, theme, as one long movement, and Yuan Yan Tan did the same in hers, revealing the dance logic, and dancing with warm perfume. Damian Smiths partnering was quietly expressive, and the softness and elegance Tan brought to their Pas de Deux made it the highlight of the ballet for me. Frances Chung, Hansuke Yamamoto, and Dana Genshaft gave a clear and energetic rendition of the Pas de Trois. Genshaft's arms were particularly fine. "Rubies" opens with Tall Girl front and center, and from the time she started to move, Elana Altman commanded the stage with expansive movement, driving the focus through her, and shaping the role to the final climax. On the one hand, Vanessa Zahorian performed with lightness and charm, but on the other, she danced with a grounding centeredness without a sense of risk, and with dynamic similarity throughout. Her dancing was a bit overwhelmed by Pascal Molat's muscular, dynamic performance. In the first movement, the corps was show-girly, but by the third, they had pulled back just a little, and looked like an organic whole, instead of a group of individuals. The opening movement of "Diamonds", with its languid pace, was the perfect showcase for a corps that had just finished a run of "Swan Lake": in their arms, shoulders, and heads were the fluidity and polish from the classical work. Lily Rogers and Jennifer Stahl were beautifully matched as the demi-soloists. Joined by Erin McNulty and the superb Elana Altman in the third movement, the quartet danced with grace. The demis and corps in the final movement emphasized the counterpoint and changing patterns. The leads were Sofiane Sylve and Pierre-Francois Vilanoba. I'd only seen Sylve on the Dutch National Ballet "Sleeping Beauty" DVD, which didn't prepare me for the full force of her dancing live. Although the extensions as choreographed are neoclassical, it was the most classical performance of the ballet I've ever seen, with lovely arms and epaulement and an open upper body. Her legs and phrasing have a creamy quality, and the majesty with which she took her place as a Ballerina was breathtaking. She was stupendous. When she is cast again later in the run, run to see her. (If we can't convince the pilot to drop her off a thousand miles farther north, or if Seth Orza doesn't bring her back in his suitcase.)

I'm still swooning over Tan. 2nd intermission: Elana Altman just rocked the house as Tall Girl in "Rubies".

YES - Any maybe act it too. I have not idea if AA can act but she has an elegant quality the Fonteyn had & is beautiful. That was my first thought -- cast her to do both. But they'd have to shoot her dancing from the waist up, unless she spent a lot of time trying to move like Fonteyn. She moves her legs and feet very differently than Fonteyn.

Bea Arthur died of cancer at age 86. Associated Press Obituary

I can't say I'm inspired by the photograph of Huff: it's hard to imagine how she'd physicalize Fonteyn's offstage carriage and grace.

James McAvoy was terrific in the British TV series "Shameless". He's a lot more versatile than his romantic lead roles would suggest, and he's very adept with a dark side underneath surface charm.

I just got this notice from PNB: A Conversation with Mark Morris and Peter Boal (Free; RSVP recommended) April 28, 2009, 7:00 pm-8:00pm Seattle Downtown Library Pacific Northwest Ballet Artistic Director Peter Boal engages in a lively discussion with director and choreographer Mark Morris. RSVP strongly recommended to Education. First come, first served without RSVP. A $5 parking rate is available at the library for this talk—enter at Spring between 4th and 5th Avenues. http://stgpresents.org/education/calendar.asp#04.2009 Yay doug! (MMDG is in town to perform "Mozart Dances" next weekend.)

With Legris' upcoming retirement from POB, it might be a "last chance" to see him in NA. He won't take over La Scala until 2010, and will guest until then, but it isn't clear where.