Helene

Hello @thedancer2000 Ballet Alert! is primarily an audience site, but perhaps someone here can guide in the right direction for learning to make ballets. Generally, choreographers either have a commission, are making work for a specific need -- for a class of students, a choreography class, or for their company -- or they have a need to make work and an idea that drives them. Choreography is a craft, and starting small and building until you learn it are the first steps before creating a ballet based on a large scale story. Learning to tell a story through movement is something that the most experienced living choreographers spend years to master, and they have dancers to work on.

TICKET INFORMTION Tickets to PNB’s live and/or digital performances may be purchased through the PNB Box Office: Phone - 206.441.2424 In Person - 301 Mercer Street at Seattle Center Online (24/7) - PNB.org (Advance tickets through the PNB Box Office are strongly suggested for lowest prices and greatest availability. Tickets may also be purchased – subject to availability – 90 minutes prior to each performance at McCaw Hall.) Tickets for the live performances of George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker® are $29 - $210. (Some prices are subject to change. Discounts available for children 14 and under. All ages require a ticket for admission, including babes-in-arms. For helpful hints and frequently asked questions about attending the ballet with children, visit PNB.org/Community/Resources/PNB-Kids.) Tickets for PNB’s digital presentation of George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker® are $55, and viewing access for the program is December 18 – 27. Don’t get fleeced for the holidays! Be mindful of unauthorized third-party online resellers when buying tickets for PNB’s production of George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker® (or any other “big ticket” item.) Order directly through PNB.org or 206.441.2424 for peace of mind Health & Safety: At this time, masks are encouraged but not required as part of the audience experience. For details and current info regarding PNB’s health and safety policies, visit PNB.org/Health. Groups of ten or more may enjoy discounts up to 20% off regular prices: Contact Group Sales Manager Julie Jamieson at 206.441.2416 or JulieJ@PNB.org for ticketing assistance. (Discounts are not valid on lowest-priced tickets and may not be combined with other offers.) Nutcracker Intermission Suites at McCaw Skip the lines and bustle of the lobby at half-time! Treat your party to an enchanted intermission experience in the Nutcracker Suite, and take some of the stress out of intermission. The Nutcracker Suite adds ease to a memorable trip to the ballet, with a Nutcracker-inspired array of snacks, confections, and beverages. Nutcracker Suites are $45 per person (includes applicable tax and service charge); performance tickets sold separately. Subject to availability: Most Nutcracker Suites sell out in advance. The show must go on: Pacific Northwest Ballet is committed to honoring its performance calendar. Performances will not be cancelled for sleet, snow, or Seattle traffic. In the unlikely event that the status of a performance does change, an announcement will be posted on PNB.org. PROGRAM NOTES George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker® A Ballet in Two Acts, Four Scenes, and Prologue Based on E.T.A. Hoffman’s tale, The Nutcracker and the Mouse King (1816) Music: Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky (The Nutcracker, Op. 71, 1891-1892, with an excerpt from The Sleeping Beauty, Op. 66, 1889) Choreography: George Balanchine © The George Balanchine Trust Staging: Judith Fugate with Peter Boal and Garielle Whittle Scenic and Costume Design: Ian Falconer Lighting Design: James F. Ingalls Original Production Premiere: December 6, 1892; Imperial Ballet, St. Petersburg, choreography by Lev Ivanov Balanchine Production Premiere: February 2, 1954; New York City Ballet Pacific Northwest Ballet Premiere: November 27, 2015 Running Time: Two hours and ten minutes, including one intermission The Imperial Ballet’s first performances of The Nutcracker in 1892 at the Maryinsky Theater in St. Petersburg received mixed reviews. Critics complained the music was “too symphonic” and the Sugar Plum Fairy wasn’t given enough to do. Yet, the ballet endured and the suite of musical numbers subsequently drawn from Tchaikovsky’s complete score for performance in the concert hall was immediately popular. The composer was particularly delighted by his use of the celesta, the “heavenly” keyboard instrument newly invented in Paris, for the Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy. When George Balanchine staged The Nutcracker for New York City Ballet in 1954, it was the six-year-old company’s most ambitious project to date. Although NYCB’s Nutcracker established the ballet as a perennial holiday favorite and became the model for many subsequent productions, the ballet had been danced in the United States since 1940, when Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo performed Alexandra Fedorova’s staging of a one-act Nutcracker in New York City. The production subsequently toured the country throughout the ‘40s and ‘50s, giving many Americans their first experience of The Nutcracker. The first full-length Nutcracker in the U.S. was choreographed for San Francisco Ballet by Willam Christensen in 1944, replaced in 1954 with a production by Willam’s brother, Lew Christensen. When NYCB moved to the newly built New York State Theater in 1964, the Nutcracker scenery was completely redesigned to take advantage of the larger space. That same year, a young Judith Fugate, newly enrolled in the School of American Ballet, danced the role of Clara for the first time. She would continue in the role for four seasons before moving on to other parts, eventually joining New York City Ballet and adding the leading roles of Dewdrop and the Sugar Plum Fairy to her repertory. In 2015, Fugate took on the role of repetiteur, joining PNB Artistic Director Peter Boal and Garielle Whittle to stage Balanchine’s Nutcracker for Pacific Northwest Ballet. Pacific Northwest Ballet has its own Nutcracker history: In 1975, Pacific Northwest Dance, as the company was then called, acquired Lew Christensen’s Nutcracker, performing the work for eight seasons. In 1983, under artistic directors Kent Stowell and Francia Russell, the Company presented a new production with choreography by Stowell and scenic and costume designs by famed children’s author and illustrator Maurice Sendak. The Stowell & Sendak Nutcracker contributed significantly to the Company’s identity, holding the stage for 32 seasons. In 2015, PNB acquired Balanchine’s iconic production. New designs by another renowned children’s author and illustrator, Ian Falconer, carry the Balanchine staging forward into the 21st century, while the staging by Fugate, Boal, and Whittle ensures the heritage of a tradition reaching back to 1892. [Excerpted from program notes by Doug Fullington. For complete notes and more, visit PNB.org.] AND FINALLY: FUN FACTOIDS! 99.98% of PNB’s production of George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker® was built entirely by artisans, craftspeople, carpenters, painters, and animators in the Pacific Northwest. Over 50 drapers, stitchers, first hands, milliners, dyers and painters built the Nutcracker costumes. PNB’s shop was not large enough to accommodate the number of costumers required, so some were constructed at the Seattle Children’s Theater and Seattle Repertory Theatre costume shops. There are 154 costumes in the show, not counting duplicates (i.e., multiple versions of the same costume, for different-sized dancers playing the same role – Sugar Plum Fairy, Cavalier, Dewdrop, etc.) Clara’s party dress and Drosselmeier’s coat lining required 10 light coats of red paint for each stripe. Each Snow skirt has nine layers of various fabrics. There are 56 points on each skirt. There are 174 velvet diamonds and 322 jewels on the Harlequin costume. The Harlequin’s partner, Columbine, has 160 velvet diamonds and 272 jewels. 640: Black pompoms on the eight Polichinelle costumes. 760: Petals on the Waltz of the Flowers costumes. (19 costumes, including extras.) 10 feet and 60 pounds: The width and weight of Mother Ginger’s skirt. 175: Number of snaps on the Mother Ginger costume. 4,000: Holes cut by hand to create the lace “doily” tutus and headpieces for the Marzipan costumes. 300: Jewels hand-sewn on the two Arabian (peacock) headpieces. 500: Yards of tubular horsehair used for the Party Mothers’ hairpieces. 1,428: Cabochons sewn onto the Spanish women’s costumes. 2,568: Appliques machine-sewn on the seven Spanish dresses. Sewing the Nutcracker doll required a 16” long needle. Seventeen mice (eight adult mice, eight young mice, and the seven-headed Mouse King) were built by Erik Andor and a team of fabricators in his Pioneer Square studio. 98 yards of “fur” were used to create the mice. They have a total of 230 whiskers. Each adult tail consists of 25 segments. Each ear is made up of six pieces. Laid end-to-end, the mice’s upper lips total 782 inches. Eagle-eyed audience members may spy one gold tooth on the Mouse King. 35 carpenters, painters, artisans and craftspeople in the PNB Scene shop built and painted the sets and props. There are 22 painted drops. 3,000 square yards of fabric were used in the creation of the scenery. 343 gallons of paint were used in the painting of the scenery. The corridor scrim during the Prologue depicts Nutcracker historical figures Alexander Dumas, E.T.A. Hoffman, Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Marius Petipa, Lev Ivanov, George Balanchine, and Lincoln Kirstein. It took 400 hours to build the Christmas tree. At its full height it stands 40 feet. There are 450 lights on it. There are 32 snow pompons, and 30 cubic feet of “snow” are deployed during the Act I Snow scene, per performance. One of the delightful highlights of PNB’s production of George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker® is the animated video that accompanies the overture. (For an excerpt, click here.) Created by Straightface Studios located in the Interbay neighborhood of Seattle, the three-and-a-half minute video takes audiences on a flight through the woods and a New England town, up to the front steps of the Stahlbaum home. The town was inspired by antique mid-19th Century maps and satellite images of New England. The terrain covers 372 sq. miles and there are over 1.5 million trees, 8,540 bushes, 287 buildings, and seven mice. In 2016, Straightface created a second video to play during the first act violin solo following the Party scene. This video integrates live-action ballet dancers into a computer-generated world The prominent Christmas star that appears in the Snow scene at the end of Act I is presented by renowned artist Dale Chihuly. Winter Star, from Chihuly’s popular Chandelier series, debuted as part of the artist’s iconic Chihuly in the Light of Jerusalem 2000 exhibition, and has also been exhibited at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (near London) and New York Botanical Garden.

Similarly with Ratmansky''s Romeo and Juliet for National Ballet of Canada. When Maillot sent his people to stage his Romeo et Juliette for PNB the first time, there were three Juliettes scheduled to perform: Mara Vinson, Carla Korbes, and Noelani Pantastico, but two younger dancers were also learning it in the back of the studio at the same time.

I think it's terrific that other dancers are in the studio learning from whoever is staging it and from the dancers who are slated to get the performances. It hopefully means that Rojo plans to keep it in the rep, if not right away.

PACIFIC NORTHWEST BALLET PRESENTS GEORGE BALANCHINE’S THE NUTCRACKER® November 24 – December 27, 2023 Marion Oliver McCaw Hall 321 Mercer Street at Seattle Center Seattle, WA 98109 Streaming Digitally December 18 – 27 SEATTLE, WA – Pacific Northwest Ballet’s sparkling production of George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker® returns to the McCaw Hall stage for 37 public performances this holiday season. Featuring Tchaikovsky’s timeless score performed by the world famous PNB Orchestra, PNB Company dancers in show-stopping roles, bright young stars from the PNB School, unique-to-Seattle sets and costumes designed by Ian Falconer (creator of Olivia the Pig), and McCaw Hall’s lobbies decked out with the season’s best photo ops, PNB’s production is the Pacific Northwest’s favorite holiday tradition. George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker® runs November 24 through December 27, 2023 at Seattle Center’s McCaw Hall. Tickets start at just $29. (See “2023 Performance Schedule” below, for showtime details.) The Nutcracker will also stream digitally from December 18 through 27, for families and friends to watch from the comfort of home. Tickets for the digital access are $55. For tickets and additional information, contact the PNB Box Office at 206.441.2424, online at PNB.org, or in person at 301 Mercer St. (Be mindful of unauthorized online resellers: When purchasing tickets for PNB’s production of The Nutcracker, order directly through PNB for peace of mind.) PNB is happy to offer a sensory-friendly matinee of George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker® on Tuesday, December 19 at 2pm, designed to provide a welcoming and supportive environment for people with sensory-processing challenges to enjoy the performance with family and friends. Modified lighting and sound levels, allowance of devices and fidgets, entry/exit privileges, trained staff, and designated quiet and activity areas will be offered at the performance. 2023 NUTCRACKER PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE Day Date Times Friday Nov. 24 2:00 pm & 7:30pm Saturday Nov. 25 2:00 pm & 7:30 pm Sunday Nov. 26 12:30 pm & 5:30 pm Friday Dec. 1 7:30 pm Saturday Dec. 2 2:00 pm & 7:30 pm Sunday Dec. 3 12:30 pm & 5:30 pm Friday Dec. 8 7:30pm Saturday Dec. 9 2:00 pm & 7:30 pm Sunday Dec. 10 12:30 pm & 5:30 pm Thursday Dec. 14 7:30 pm Friday Dec. 15 7:30 pm Saturday Dec. 16 2:00 pm & 7:30 pm Sunday Dec. 17 12:30 pm & 5:30 pm Tuesday Dec. 19 2:00 pm Sensory-Friendly Performance Tuesday Dec. 19 7:30 pm Wednesday Dec. 20 2:00 pm & 7:30 pm Thursday Dec. 21 2:00 pm & 7:30 pm Friday Dec. 22 2:00 pm & 7:30 pm Saturday Dec. 23 12:30 pm & 7:30 pm Sunday Dec. 24 12:30 pm Monday Dec. 25 No show, ho-ho-ho! Tuesday Dec. 26 12:30 pm & 5:30 pm Wednesday Dec. 27 12:30 pm & 5:30 pm

PNB is selling individual tickets to the Nutcracker for $55. The viewing period is from December 18-27. https://order.pnb.org/24-digital/nutcracker On the page there's confirmation that The Nutcracker ticket is included in the digital subscription.

I listed the company promotions with the Instagram excerpts of Peter Boal's and Kiyon Ross's remarks, on the Love and Loss rep thread, because the announcements were made at curtain last night, the rep's opening night, but here is the full press release, with the full text of the front-of-curtain presentations and also mention of the two PNBS graduates who will join the company as apprentices on 20 November. PNB Announces Three Promotions November 3, 2023 – Seattle, WA – “It gives us great pleasure to be able to promote three dancers in our company this evening.” Before the curtain-raiser performance of Alexei Ratmansky’s Wartime Elegy on opening night of LOVE & LOSS, Pacific Northwest Ballet Artistic Director Peter Boal and Associate Artistic Director Kiyon Ross announced to the audience that corps de ballet dancers Clara Ruf Maldonado and Kuu Sakuragi have been promoted to Soloists, and Sarah-Gabrielle Ryan has been promoted to Principal dancer. Each promoted dancer is currently featured in LOVE & LOSS, running through November 12. For performance casting information, visit PNB.org/season/love-and-loss. “There are dancers who leave audiences awestruck with every performance,” said Boal, after bringing Kuu Sakuragi out in front of the curtain. “After sustained cheering, I see people fumble for casting inserts to see who just defied gravity, sustained intensity, or executed an uncountable number of pirouettes. The name they so often find is Kuu Sakuragi. And if you miss his name in the program, you might hear his peers chanting ‘KUU’ from the sidelines. As humble and kind as he is talented and engaging, this remarkable dancer is headed for even greater heights. Continued Ross: “Like Peter I have had the great honor to watch Kuu develop from a young student in our DanceChance program into an extraordinary artist. Kuu is a powerfully dynamic and explosive dancer. Watching his performances is a thrilling experience, particularly in roles that allow him to demonstrate his magnificent jumps, which seem to defy gravity. Beyond this, Kuu possesses a wonderful work ethic, a beautiful spirit, and is a joy to be around. We are excited to announce Kuu’s well-deserved promotion to Soloist this evening. Congratulations, Kuu!” Ross then called Clara Ruf Maldonado to the stage. “Clara is from New York City. She trained at the School of American Ballet, and Pacific Northwest School. She joined the company as an apprentice in 2018 and later that year was promoted to the corps de ballet. Clara is an extremely versatile dancer able to deftly tackle both classical and contemporary rep with ease and grace. Clara’s warmth can be felt in her personality both onstage and off. We are proud of Clara’s many artistic achievements and know there are many more to come.” Added Boal: “Floating atop a sea of dancers looking out through the snowfall in Crystal Pite’s The Seasons’ Canon, playing with pal Christopher D’Ariano in George Balanchine’s Duo Concertante, or hopping on one toe with rolling shoulders and a winning grin in Alexei Ratmansky’s Wartime Elegy, Clara is simply transcendent. We see art and music through her and we can’t wait to see where she takes us next. Clara, our heartfelt congratulations on your promotion to Soloist.” Finally, Boal addressed Ms. Ryan. “Sarah-Gabrielle Ryan was an instant standout in her first PNB School summer course in 2015,” said Mr. Boal. “Her sheer joy of movement comes through in every step and with each new challenge. She is fearless, focused, undaunted, and willing to laugh when a little laughter is needed. She is wonderfully supportive of those around her. Watching Sarah triumph in the multi-faceted title role of Giselle last season opposite Kyle Davis signaled the emergence and arrival of a new principal dancer.” “Sarah-Gabrielle is the epitome of power and grace in a ballerina,” continued Ross. “She has beautiful lines and excellent technique, but what really sets Sarah-Gabrielle apart is the energy and presence she possesses each time she takes the stage. She is magnetic and it’s this quality that makes it impossible to take your eyes off her when she is performing. It has been a great joy and pleasure watching her artistry blossom and mature and it is an even greater honor to witness her ascend to the rank of Principal dancer tonight. Congratulations, Sarah!” Prior to opening night, Boal also announced that – effective November 20 – PNB will be hiring Emerson Boll and Samuel Portillo from the ranks of the PNB School’s Professional Division, to join the company as apprentices. PNB congratulates all of our newly promoted and hired dancers! Pacific Northwest Ballet continues its 2023-24 season with a triple-bill of works that all sprang to life as a result of PNB’s New Works Initiative. LOVE & LOSS runs November 3 through 12 at Seattle Center’s Marion Oliver McCaw Hall. The program will also stream digitally from November 16 through 20. For tickets and additional information, contact the PNB Box Office at 206.441.2424, in person at 301 Mercer Street, or online 24/7 at PNB.org. DANCER BIOS Clara Ruf Maldonado is from New York, New York. She studied on scholarship at the School of American Ballet, where she was a 2015 Mae L. Wien Award recipient, and Pacific Northwest Ballet School. She attended summer courses at Ballet Academy East, Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet, Chautauqua Institution, Houston Ballet Academy, Miami City Ballet School, and Pacific Northwest Ballet School. Clara was an apprentice with New York City Ballet before joining Pacific Northwest Ballet as an apprentice in 2018. She was promoted to corps de ballet later that year. Clara has performed leading roles in George Balanchine’s Agon, Duo Concertante, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker®, Kyle Davis’s A Dark and Lonely Space, William Forsythe’s One Flat Thing, reproduced, Ronald Hynd’s The Sleeping Beauty, Anabelle Lopez Ochoa’s Khepri, Crystal Pite’s the Seasons’ Canon, Kent Stowell’s Cinderella, and Price Suddarth’s Signature. She originated leading roles in Donald Byrd’s Love and Loss, Jessica Lang’s Let Me Mingle Tears With Thee, Vincent Michael Lopez’s Op.21, Amanda Morgan’s This Space Left Intentionally Blank, and Alexei Ratmansky’s Wartime Elegy. Kuu Sakuragi is from Bellevue, Washington. He studied on scholarship at Pacific Northwest Ballet School, where he began as a DanceChance student at the Francia Russell Center. He attended summer courses at Houston Ballet, National Ballet of Canada, San Francisco Ballet, the School of American Ballet, and Pacific Northwest Ballet School. He was a recipient of the Flemming Halby Exchange with the Royal Danish Ballet School. In 2017, Kuu joined Alberta Ballet as an apprentice and was promoted to company dancer in 2018. He joined Pacific Northwest Ballet as a member of the corps de ballet in 2020. Kuu has danced featured and leading roles in George Balanchine’s Allegro Brillante, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Nutcracker®, Peter Boal’s Giselle, Alejandro Cerrudo’s Little Mortal Jump, Jean-Christophe Maillot’s Roméo et Juliette, Jessica Lang’s Ghost Variations, Edwaard Liang’s The Veil Between Worlds, David Parson’s Caught, Crystal Pite’s The Seasons’ Canon, Kent Stowell’s Carmina Burana and Swan Lake, Twyla Tharp’s Sweet Fields and Waiting at the Station. Kuu originated roles in Jessica Lang’s Let Me Mingle Tears With Thee, Vincent Michael Lopez’s Op.21, Amanda Morgan’s This Space Left Intentionally Blank; Alexei Ratmansky’s Wartime Elegy, and Dwight Rhoden’s Catching Feelings. Sarah-Gabrielle Ryan is from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She studied on scholarship at the Rock School for Dance Education, Metropolitan Ballet Academy, and the School of Pennsylvania Ballet; she attended summer courses at the Bolshoi Ballet Academy, Ellison Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, the School of American Ballet, the School of Pennsylvania Ballet, and Pacific Northwest Ballet School. Sarah-Gabrielle joined Pennsylvania Ballet II in 2014 and joined Pacific Northwest Ballet as an apprentice in 2016 and was promoted to corps de ballet in 2017 and soloist in 2021. Sarah-Gabrielle has danced leading roles in George Balanchine’s Agon, Allegro Brillante, George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker®, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Rubies, and Tarantella; Alejandro Cerrudo’s Little Mortal Jump, One Thousand Pieces, and Silent Ghost; Peter Boal’s Giselle; Kyle Davis’ Sylvia Pas de Deux; David Dawson’s Empire Noir; Ulysses Dove’s Dancing on the Front Porch of Heaven; Alexander Ekman’s Cacti; William Forsythe’s New Suite and One Flat Thing, reproduced; Ronald Hynd’s The Sleeping Beauty; Jessica Lang’s Ghost Variations; Justin Peck’s The Times Are Racing; Miles Pertl’s Wash of Gray; Crystal Pite’s Emergence, Plot Point, and The Seasons’ Canon; Alexei Ratmansky’s Wartime Elegy; Jerome Robbins’ West Side Story Suite; Eva Stone’s F O I L; Kent Stowell’s Carmina Burana, Cinderella, and Swan Lake; and Twyla Tharp’s Brief Fling and Waiting at the Station. She originated leading roles in Donald Byrd’s Love and Loss, Kyle Davis’ A Dark and Lonely Space, Amanda Morgan’s This Space Left Intentionally Blank, Matthew Neenan’s Bacchus, Noelani Pantastico’s Picnic, and Ezra Thomson’s The Perpetual State. Sarah-Gabrielle has performed as a guest artist at Shut Up & Dance in collaboration with MANNA, Chop Shop Contemporary Dance Festival, and the Seattle International Dance Festival. In 2021, she performed for Matthew Neenan’s residency at the Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts, South Dakota Ballet, and Ballet Sun Valley. She was named as one of Dance Magazine’s On the Rise in 2018 and was on the March 2021 cover of Pointe Magazine. In 2020, Sarah-Gabrielle choreographed Before You Know It for PNB’S NEXT STEP to music by PNB’s violist Alex Grimes and Solo commissioned by Gonzaga University Dance Program and Department of Theatre and Dance. In addition to her dance work, Sarah-Gabrielle earned a certificate for Management of Successful Arts and Cultural Organizations from the DeVos Institute of Arts Management and is the Vice-Chair of Community Engagement for the Moulin Belle Arts Residency in Périgord, France. Emerson Boll is from Bellevue, Washington. She studied at Pacific Northwest Ballet School and attended summer courses at School of American Ballet, Chautauqua Institution, Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet, Ballet Austin, Cincinnati Ballet, and Pacific Northwest Ballet School. While a student, Emerson performed leading roles in George Balanchine’s Serenade and Christopher Wheeldon’s Scenès de ballet, and the titular role in Bruce Wells’ Snow White. She originated a role in Noah Martzall’s The Difference Between. Emerson has performed with the company in works by George Balanchine (A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Nutcracker), Peter Boal (Giselle), Crystal Pite (The Seasons’ Canon), and Kent Stowell (Carmina Burana, Swan Lake). Samuel Portillo is from Denver, Colorado. He studied at Colorado Ballet, Rocky Mountain Ballet Academy, Colburn Dance Academy, and Pacific Northwest Ballet School. He attended summer courses at Colorado Ballet Academy, School of American Ballet, and Pacific Northwest Ballet School. While a student, Samuel performed leading roles in George Balanchine’s Serenade, Justin Peck’s Pulcinella Variations (Colburn), and originated roles in Mark Cuddihee’s Traverse, Kyle Davis’s What is Here Today, and Amanda Morgan’s Unfinished Symphony. Samuel performed with the company in works by George Balanchine (A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Nutcracker), Crystal Pite (The Seasons’ Canon), and Kent Stowell (Swan Lake). Samuel won the YAGP Denver First Place Senior Men’s Division in 2020.

That it is!

Clara Ruf Maldonado and Kuu Sakuragi have been promoted to Soloist! Sarah Gabrielle Ryan has been promoted to Principal! PNB's Instagram posts also has the presentation texts -- click the ">" in the photos for more photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/CzNS16DrMfT/?img_index=1 https://www.instagram.com/p/CzNTCMgreCa/?img_index=1 Congratulations to all three dancers on their well-deserved promotions .

Still another 20-25 minutes to go.

I don't know how it got to be November, but opening night for this program is tonight! Link to casting for both weekend (scroll): https://www.pnb.org/season/love-and-loss/ Link to downloadable Excel file: 2023 11 02 Love and Loss.xlsx According to Peter Boal's rep email,

Anything dancers do to earn money or to keep in shape when off contract comes with a risk of injury, including career-ending injury. As public figures, some jobs are off-limits from a company perspective: I could work at Gray's Papaya or Target or some restaurant in the Lincoln Center without anyone noticing (except for my incompetence as a wait-person), but an member of a classical ballet company would be recognized immediately, and it wouldn't reflect well on a glamor-based profession. Because of the hours they have to keep, they don't have unlimited options of where to live to be able to have not only a reasonable commute on a daily basis, but to be able to get to the theater as a last-minute substitute. And not all of them have the option of subletting where they live and decamping to someone's guest bedroom or couch to avoid paying that rent when they're off contract. I'm not dismissing the experience of people who work multiple jobs and are without health insurance with horrible commutes and are still under the poverty line. I just don't think that should be the bar for dancers, and that it's preferable if everyone was lifted.

Official news only, and personal conversations aren't official news.

From the same chapter: (p.94) Then he did the variations from Don Q, and she did a 180 on him.

All of these reports of noise on the floor make me think of tap and Flamenco dancers whose boards are often miked.

If it is true that Ratmansky's works were supported by David Koch, that usually means a restricted donation for a specific purpose, and ABT couldn't use that money for dancers' salaries or computers or pointe shoes or the electric bill. Almost all arts organizations are in the same boat: major individual donors who want their name on something, usually a building or a new production or for a specific role, "The XYZ Principal Conductor" or "The ABC Concertmaster" or "The 123 Center."

I didn't realize I still had the book, but it was, indeed, von Aroldingen: (p.90)

She's a corps member. But she doesn't dance like it.

Thank you, @volcanohunter! That must have been the tour that Kirkland was on. She left for ABT a couple of years later.

I'm not sure how many tours of Russia NYCB took, but during the 1962 tour of Russia, Kirkland would have been nine or ten.

Given how many corps point roles they've performed, it would be more difficult that you'd think.

Not anymore, with the demise of New York City Opera. But when the theater opened, both companies moved from City Center, and they alternated seasons, with NYCO opening in early Fall — or maybe in very late August — and then returning between NYCB’s Winter and Spring seasons.

The floors were built for Balanchine: it was his design for a sprung floor. They may have taken them up for the opera to avoid having holes drilled into them. I'm not sure if the theater has traps. I don't know what the scenery was like, but some sets reverb a lot of sound, whereas other deaden it.

All injury reports need to be from official, public-facing sources, with a link or citation.

The pandemic closures and restriction did a number on gradual declines. All dancers should have been able to heal a bunch of nagging injuries through rest, but many elective surgeries were long postponed., and individual physical therapy was restricted or more difficult. The ability of dancers to keep in shape given their living circumstances and local restrictions, and some having to help their children through distance learning, greatly differed, and some people thrive in a group setting when it comes to training, and, in isolation, not so much.