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I saw Spartacus. Phenomenal! Standing ovation for all 8 performanaces and the 91 year old choreographer, Yuri, gave the company permission to do the production again in 2018. Drew Jacoby did not dance in this production.

Aaron Robison is now a soloist with Houston Ballet.

I have a cute/funny story to tell concerning the Olympians. My daughter dances in Europe in a town where there is an excellent Olympic swim coach who trains swimmers from all over the world. She met these swimmers and became fast friends with them and the coach. On one occasion my daughter and the swimmers went out to dinner. The waiter, upon hearing all the different languages being spoken at the table, inquired as to the reason why they were living in his town. Their reply: "We are all Olympic swimmers, but xxxxx (my daughter) is a professional ballet dancer!" It seems that there was a fascination amongst the swimmers in my daughter's career. They gave her swim suits/swim caps that they wore in Beijing and from their sponsors, asked if they could try on her pointe shoes and could they come to company class with her, went with her to yoga classes and watched her performances. She was amazed that they were so fascinated in her. Her response to me: "Mom, I don't think they have a clue how much more they have accomplished in their lives than I have in mine." It has been exciting watching them in London. I watched two of her girlfriends on the Netherlands team place 2nd ahead of the US in the women's 400 freestyle relay and one of the men on the French freestyle relay upset the favored to win US team to receive the gold. They have more events to swim and I will of course be rooting for the US and for them.

In defense of Carmen, she is at least 5'8" (maybe a little taller) and it is harder for the taller dancers to move as quickly as the shorter ones.

FYI, Corella Ballet will also be performing Swan Lake in Detroit, April 27-29, 2012. Then again in Beijing in August.

Sorry, but I believe that Nanette is artistic director of Ballet du Capitol in Toulouse until August 2012...she does set Balanchine pieces though!

4mrdncr, can you send me a pm? I think your mailbox is full or maybe since I have only 16 posts on this side of the board I can't pm you? I have over 500 posts on Ballet talk for dancers. Thanks!

Thanks Agnes, I will look into that!

Thanks Agnes, but I just recently saw Neumeier's version of the Nutcracker and was just looking for a copy. I am sure your favorite is wonderful especially with the dancers you mentioned. I really appreciate your reply!

Any information would be helpful. Thanks!

Very interesting but if it has nothing to do with Christmas, what is the point of doing this production this time of year and calling it Nutcracker? Am I missing something here?

I will be watching a Neumeier production of Nutcracker by the Dresden SempOper Ballet on Christmas Day. The storyline is very different than what I have seen in the past and I don't really know what to expect. I am a ballet mom, never a dancer and discussions of choreography just fly over my head. All I know is that if the choreography or the dancer moves me, then I feel like I have gotten more than my money's worth. I can't tell if it is the choreography or the dancer's interpretation of the choreography that is the thing that moves me though.

I saw Mamma Mia in New York a few years ago and loved it. The film version was awful and just didn't tranfer well from the stage. Meryl needs to stick with acting. Brosnan was a joke. A friend of my husband's who attended with us asked about 30 minutes into the film, "Are we at a point where we can kill ourselves?"

I hope Polina shows, as two years ago she was slated to dance at the gala and was injured.

Hello Alane and welcome to Ballet Talk. Can you give us any insights, if any, on the Zurich Ballet and their AD? Thanks!