sandik

Oh ouch! I haven't seen it yet, but everyone I've spoken with who has liked it. But I will certainly circulate this comment, for the twinge factor if nothing else!

KCTS 9 (Seattle) will run the program on Thursday May 21 at 9 pm (this is good -- they didn't run the Live program featuring the Mark Morris company in Mozart Dances last year, and Morris is from here...)

Well then, who would you like to see as the Nurse of Lady Capulet (besides the dancers who've already performed the parts.) Nurse: If she doesn't dance Juliette, I think Vinson might do well here -- she has a sunny aspect to her dancing that could work well in the humorous sections. Kari Brunson might also shine here, especially in the scene with Juliette in the bedroom (I'm thinking of that long and loopy pointing gesture "you come here!") Lady Capulet: After watching her Odile again, I'd like to see Kaori Nakamura in this -- she could be quite avaricious and predatory. Or maybe Mirnda Weese (that's just intuition talking, I can't put my finger on what I've seen her do that makes me want to see her do this...) And who should play Tybalt?

Try looking here for credits House guide It's not complete, I think, but helpful

May 25 at 7 pm May 26 at 4:15 pm Both at SIFF Cinema (the small theater at McCaw Hall)

Thinking about the whole ballet, there are several good female parts, and with Louise N and Jodie T leaving, they'll have to replace them (Lady Capulet and Nurse) as well as find a (couple?) new Juliettes. Sounds like juicy opportunities all round!

My wish list (hey! a person can dream, right?): Carla Korbes (I'd say probable barring unforeseen circumstances) She learned the part when it was first staged, but got injured and had to withdraw. She'd be an interesting choice, but her Rosaline is so good I don't know that they'll think of her as Juliette The tallness thing would be interesting here. So far the Romeos they've fielded have been medium sized. Hadn't thought of her, but can see it. She's having a lot of opportunities this year. I can certainly imagine her learning the part this time around, but don't know that she'd get to perform yet. I'm thinking that Mara Vinson might get a turn at this.

The committee has made a preliminary announcement, with some of their programming. Some commisssions and some selections from standing repertory. The dancey stuff includes • The Blue Dragon/Le Dragon Bleu — Robert Lepage 2/02/2010 - 2/28/2010, 8:00 pm Quebec's Robert Lepage continues his internationally celebrated imaginative and innovative stagecraft with this sequel to his acclaimed series The Dragons' Trilogy, set in modern China. Co-commissioned by the Vancouver 2010 Cultural Olympiad. • Moon Water — Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan 2/05/2010 - 2/06/2010, 8:00 pm Lauded worldwide for its innovation and grace, Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan's Moon Water is a contemporary exploration of Tai Chi Tao Yin movement, an ancient Chi Kung exercise, set to Bach's Six Suites for Solo Cello. It will be the troupe's first performance in Vancouver since 1997. • Joni Mitchell's The Fiddle and The Drum — Alberta Ballet 1/22/2010 - 1/24/2010, 8:00 pm This extended, full-length collaboration production of the dazzling ballet features four additional Joni Mitchell songs, illuminated by her latest artwork and the choreography of Alberta Ballet's artistic director Jean Grand Maître. Commissioned by the Vancouver 2010 Cultural Olympiad. Tickets on sale soon. • Compagnie Marie Chouinard: World Premiere 3/12/2010 - 3/13/2010, 8:00 pm This newly-commissioned group piece by Canada's reigning queen of contemporary dance is based on the notion of time recaptured. For the first time, Marie Chouinard will create an accompanying vocal score. Co-commissioned by the Vancouver 2010 Cultural Olympiad. • Nixon in China — Vancouver Opera 3/13/2010 - 3/20/2010, 7:30pm Vancouver Opera presents the Canadian premiere — and a new production — of John Adams's modern masterpiece about U.S. President Richard Nixon's historic 1972 visit to China. Canadian coloratura soprano Tracey Dahl, as Madame Mao, joins opera greats Robert Orth as Nixon and Alan Woodrow as Mao Tse-tung under the musical leadership of Maestro John DeMain who led the 1987 premiere of the opera. • Rain — Cirque Éloize 03/19/2010 - 03/20/2010, Time TBA Montreal's Cirque Éloize brings the wonder of childhood to vivid life in this circus arts performance. The company expresses its innovative nature by combining circus arts with music, dance and theatre. • Kidd Pivot: Dark Matters 2/26/2010 - 2/27/2010, 8:00 pm Created by Kidd Pivot artistic director Crystal Pite, this new work brings together six dancers for an exploration of human significance in the wake of catastrophe and planetary frailty. Co-commissioned by Arts Partners in Creative Development. 2010 Arts Festival

I thought the limitations on guesting were small as well, particularly in a year when they've had their contracts shortened by three weeks.

I'm hoping they cast more than one Juliette. I know the role is a taxing one, but I kept watching Noelani Pantastico during the run, and she seemed to be increasingly tired at the end of each performance I saw. (to be fair, they tried the last time, but injuries got in the way) I'm wondering who else might get a chance at it...

I looked at the Fox website and couldn't find a link to show credits. That doesn't mean they don't have them somewhere, just that I couldn't find them. But you can watch full episodes there, 8 days after they've been broadcast. House (I know this isn't really dance-related, but thanks for mentioning the problem with condensed credits -- as someone who sits through all the credits in the movie theater, I'm always irked when the credit roll for a program I've been watching gets squished or deleted!)

It's very interesting to read the responses to this article, in terms of legal precedent and in the general understanding of 'ownership' I found this comment pretty dispiriting but took heart from this

Well, the children's chorus in Balanchine's Midsummer Night's Dream are called the bugs. Not sure if that counts. Ashton is indeed credited with the choreography on imdb.com. And Hein Heckroth, who worked on The Red Shoes, and designed the Kurt Jooss ballet The Green Table, designed here as well.

Well, I think part of the mix is the presenters involved -- here in Seattle it's playing one weeknight (and one showing, I think) through the auspices of the local film festival -- a fairly arcane niche. They haven't really promoted it outside of their own audience and I will be interested to see who else is in the audience. Interestingly, the screening hall is in the same building that the ballet performs in, but there wasn't any promotional material for the film at the ballet's last program (Swan Lake even...). An opportunity wasted.

Thanks for the heads up on this -- the Seattle date is being presented by the Seattle International Film Festival SIFF Ballets Russes but they don't have much information about the film on their website.

Hathaway looks similar in still photos, but I'm less convinced in movement. I haven't seen the Jane Austen film, so don't know if she moderated her physicality for a period work, but I think she doesn't innately have the upper/lower body coordination that marked Fonteyn, even in pedestrian moments -- I don't remember ever seeing a graceless action. But even if it's not ingrained, she may be a skilled enough actress to learn the style.

At Dance Horizons http://www.dancehorizons.com/store/search.....x=0&GO.y=0

And Asaf Messerer made a solo for himself as a soccer player, in his early days as a performer. One of the fundamental things about dance is its malleability -- it is used in many ways, and fills many needs for human beings. It can be worship, it can be instruction, it can be art and it can be a form of competition (thanks Helene for pointing out that distinction) It's used as a metaphor for change, for compatibility, for negotiation, and for contest. It doesn't surprise me at all to find dance used in sports writing, and that the term ballet is used interchangeably with it. Paul makes a good point about the rise of sport metaphors in post-modern dance. Steve Paxton, one of the developers of Contact Improvisation and a central person at the beginning of post-modernism, often talks about CI being similar to basketball (a sport he played) -- that a good player or a good dancer would work to internalize certain movements, would practice skills methodically, but that in the actual performing or playing, the goal was to do the dance or play the game, and the skills came into use unconsciously. Technique is a tool, whatever the context. This is as true in ballet as it is for any other physical practice. Tangentially, at one point applicants for Rhodes Scholarships were advised to list a sport or some other kind of activity as proof of their physical fitness (a criterion for the award) -- one of the first women to get a scholarship in the 1970s was Rachel Klevit (from my college!), and her "sport" was ballet.

Oh, thanks so much for the heads-up on this. The festival is so large, I often miss things just from trying to deal with the scope of it all.

Oh good news for them -- all excellent dance writers!

Thanks for the link -- I saw this group here in the Northwest in the late 90s and was blown away.

You've put your finger on a very true thing -- the organizations I know that were budgeting with a specific endowment income in mind are scrambling just as hard as those who operate 'paycheck to paycheck.' Glad to hear good things about the rep -- I'm going down to Portland on Thursday and am looking forward to it!

And apparently he was not injured, just incapacitated from an allergy test, and is on his way to being well, according to the press office at the company.

Oh, I don't know -- maybe she has x-ray vision? I'm glad people are getting the chance to move around -- it's a bit like Nutcracker that way. She is indeed a very American beauty. The more I see this trio, the more I notice in it, and the more I realize how tricky Petipa was. It's not designed to be hard just for the sake of hard, but it takes its subjects very seriously, and tries to display every facet of them it can. I thought both the lead couples I saw (Lowenberg and Tisserand, and Brunson and Lee-Yin) did an excellent job, but the last ones were particularly juicy with that deep, grounded quality. I'm so glad you got to see them.

Our recommendations are all over the place -- if it were me, I'd come to see the Balanchine triple bill, since I'd get a broader view of more of the company, with three different groups. Plus it's 4Ts -- my all-time favorite ballet. But really, it depends on you. Do you love big story things best, do you want to see a big variety of performers, do you want something you already know so you can make some comparisons, or do you want something you don't get to see at home...