9 replies to this topic

[dirac]

Candace Bushnelldecides to conduct her divorce the old-fashioned way, citing a co-respondent.

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Sources tell us Bushnell discovered Askegard’s alleged affair with Pazcoguin after they had agreed to separate. One source said, “The divorce was proceeding amicably, then Candace found out about Georgina and became very upset. She believes their affair could have gone on for some time. Humiliated, it was her idea to take the unusual step of naming Georgina as a co-respondent in the divorce papers.”

Related.

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Pazcoguin was a guest at his retirement party hosted by Bushnell on Oct. 9.

Weeks later, Askegard and Pazcoguin -- who became an apprentice with the NYC Ballet in 2002 and joined the company as a member of the corps de ballet in 2003 -- performed together at the Alzheimer's Association Rita Hayworth Gala.

[dirac]

The Royal Winnipeg Balletbrings its Nutcracker to Cleveland.

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Many of the works the Royal Winnipeg performs at home and abroad are story ballets, though not restricted to such traditional brand names as "Nutcracker," "Giselle," "The Sleeping Beauty" and "Swan Lake." Along with occasional repertory programs, the company dances such full-length pieces as Mark Godden's "Svengali," Jorden Morris' "Moulin Rouge -- The Ballet" and Shawn Hounsell's "Wonderland."
"You need those kinds of popular works," Lewis said. "You can't just hope people will come because it's beautiful. That's not enough, sadly.

"I would not be opposed to doing more compilations, where it's not about story but about the power of what dance can be. But unfortunately, that doesn't quite cut it."

[dirac]

A story on Mary Helen Bowers'Ballet Beautiful program.

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A former New York  dancer, Bowers developed the training and fitness routines that became the foundation of her Ballet Beautiful program after an injury forced her to find a portable and effective way to stay fit while stuck in a dressing room. She started training her clients privately in 2008, and within a year she built a solid client list--and got Portman's attention.

Star turn or not, Bowers decided she didn't want to sacrifice a whole client base for just one client. She wanted a way to keep her students en pointe by moving her group classes online.

[dirac]

A review of Houston Ballet'sNutcracker by Mandy Oaklander for Houston Press' blog.

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This is the choreography of Ben Stevenson, former dancer with the Royal Ballet and artistic director of the Houston Ballet from 1976 until 2003. The choreography is noticeably different from Marius Petipa's original version, and it's lovely. Arabian is danced as a pas de deux, not a contortionistic solo. Using two dancers allows for an even more beautiful, serpentine variation. The Russian variation, usually danced in a trio, is turned into a solo. The effect is astonishing. Jim Nowakowski commands the high-energy piece, literally kicking his face four times during his jumps. Anyone else in this variation would have been irrelevant, since it was impossible to ignore Nowakowski. Kids gasped.

[dirac]

Russian ballet dancers perform in Madrid at a gala celebrating a year of cross-cultural exchanges.

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The stars of Russia's ballet schools, including the Bolshoi Theater's prima ballerina, Svetlana Zakharova, Mariinsky prima Viktoria Tereshkina and Mariinsky soloist Semen Chudin, performed fragments of such iconic productions as Carmen, Taras Bulba and Don Quixote.

The gala show took place on Monday evening in the Teatro Real and was attended by King Juan Carlos I of Spain, his spouse, Queen consort Sofia, and the wife of the Russian president, Svetlana Medvedeva.

[dirac]

A review of Queensland Ballet's "Swan Lake" by Deborah Jones in The Australian.

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Klaus places the action in pre-revolutionary Russia where the Odette figure, Mathilde Kschessinska (Clare Morehen on Saturday), was in her heyday an influential St Petersburg ballerina. Kschessinska was the mistress of Nicholas, future tsar of Russia (Hao Bin), so the elements of a royal court, doomed love and colourful setting are all there, with the apparent bonus of an ultra-smooth Rasputin (Keian Langdon) as evil Rothbart's equivalent.

There are significant nods to the original Petipa-Ivanov scenario, including the traditional Act II choreography, seen almost complete as a show within a show with Kschessinska as Odette.

[dirac]

New York Theatre Balletdancers perform at a children's hospital. Photos.

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For those young children undergoing treatment and therapy at New York-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital, many of whom are not able to leave the hospital, having the classic holiday favorite come to them proved a remarkable treat. For the young patients unable to leave their rooms, the dancers made rounds to visit with them.

[dirac]

Digital Spy runs pics of Roberto Bolle.

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His name, in case you were wondering, is Roberto Bolle. As you might have guessed, he's a professional ballet dancer. So yeah, flexible.

[dirac]

A listing of Nutcrackerperformances in the Houston area.

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BalletForte, Stafford Centre, 10505 Cash, Stafford, December 9 - 11, various times.
This Stafford area performance is accompanied by the BalletForte Orchestra.

Houston Repertoire Ballet, Tomball High School Auditorium, 30330 Quinn, Tomball, December 10 and 11, various times.
An annual tradition in Northwest Harris County and this year's production features guest artists from two of the world's premier ballet companies, Jared Matthews, soloist with New York's American Ballet Theatre and Karina Gonzalez, a soloist with the Houston Ballet.

[Helene]

Michael Popkin reviews Kathryn Posin for danceviewtimes.

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Kathryn Posin's studio performance of three dances was a fresh and inventive mixture of ballet and social dance to Steve Reich and a pair of Bob Dylan songs.  She managed to turn the very small performance space (at most twenty feet by thirty with the audience right on top of the stage) into a resource by utilizing top rate dancers, choosing her material judiciously, and making choreography that read clearly in the intimate setting.