Jayne

such a difference in body type - you can't see all the bones!

They only raised 10 percent of their operating costs through ticket sales? This was very surprising to me, I am surprised they are not doing more joint ventures with other innovative companies, sharing expenses, etc.

I wish him tremendous success. He will need all of our good wishes to survive in that snakepit. I've never really understood the British tradition of tearing people down, and the press really seems to thrill in gleefully tearing down this organization. Yes, Americans do it to a certain extent, but the British are the undisputed world champions. Not a distinction of pride or honor.

ah, a reviewer after my own heart! I adore Rubies and Emeralds, but Emeralds has always left me flat, even with the best of the best performing. IMHO, this is *not* a ballet to sit close to the stage. You miss so much of the patterns made by the corps and the shapes on stage. There are other ballets where I do enjoy sitting very close, but Jewels - or any part of it in a mixed program - is best viewed from a distance of at least 20 rows back, or preferably from the balcony (or in the back of a steeply sloping orchestra section). For me, Rubies and Diamonds get better and better every time I see them performed. Just my two cents.

After Intermission, the curtain rose to 'Rubies' 3rd Act with (of course!) Ms. Lallone as tall girl, and Kaori Nakamura / Jonathan Porretta as the principal couple. Departing corps members Barry Kerollis and Josh Spell were also performing their final roles at PNB and received flower bouquets at the end. The audience stood and cheered as if Ms. Lallone was Michelle Kwan at US Nationals. After a short pause, Olivier Wever's choreography 'Monster' was performed by Andrew Bartee and Lucien Postlewaite. Mr. Wevers chose to have his choreo represented - rather than dancing himself. I missed the debut while I was in South America, but the audience responded very well. This was very modern, with 6 flourescent lights lining the sides of the stage (3 per side). Poetry about discrimination and hatred towards homosexuality was read in darkness before taped music started the dancing. Afterwards Mr. Wevers took the stage to a resounding cheer from the audience. Flowers were presented, and his husband (Mr. Postelwaite) planted an affectionate kiss. Next we saw a film highlighting Ms. Lallone's many performances over 24 years with PNB. She then took the stage in Kent Stowell's 'Carmen', partnered by Karel Cruz (in his debut as Escomillo). I wasn't a huge fan of this ballet when it debuted, but I liked it better here, without the background video images. Ulysses Dove's 'Red Angels' followed (and I think is becoming a calling card for PNB) - with Laura Gilbreath, Batkhurel Bold, Carrie Imler and Lucien Postelwaite. Mr. Postelwaite got the biggest cheers, but I liked them all. Mary Rowell reprised on electric violin. I do wonder how this music would sound on electric guitar.... Val Caniparoli came out and described working with Ms. Lallone for the first time. The tall cool glass of water was obvious in the studio from the very first, and he enjoyed walking around town with her to observe the reactions from men. Finally, Ms. Lallone took the stage for the finale to a solo from Caniparoli's 'Lambarena', which was acquired from PNB specifically for her talents. She smiled throughout (a good way to go out, and hard to cry when you're smiling) and audienced whooped. Everyone stood for an emotional standing ovation, and the bouquets included a basket about the size of an easychair that appeared to be from the stage hands. An emotional, satisfying evening, with dancing that I cannot fault for any technical difficulties. My only wish - and perhaps he did not want it - was for a film montage showing Stanko Milov's performances, followed by a bow on stage. He did not have to do it, but it was his due, and I think the audience would have responded with tremendous ovations. He gave us 12 years of noble dancing, romantic charm and passion. But alas, it did not happen. Wish you were there.

The season encore was 100% a celebration of the departing dancers, so I will include my thoughts in this thread. If you weren't there, you really missed out, sorry! This was an emotional night, with a audience of balletomanes, and outbursts of applause you normally associate with ABT or at figure skating competitions. We started off with Petite Mort (once of my favs), 4 of the 8 dancers were departing dancers (Eames, Spell, Lallone, Stanton) so this was very special, indeed. Seattle audiences love this piece, which oddly was the only reprise from earlier in the 2010/2011 season. Peter Boal followed with personal remarks, praising each performer in turn. There was sustained applause for the 4 departing principals, but also the other performers. Agon was next, with Stanton partnering Maria Chapman, and reminding everyone that PNB is a Balanchine orthodox company. Next came both choreography and dancing from Stacy Lowenberg, partnered by Karel Cruz in 'Rushed Goodbye'. Agon is a tough act to follow, it's a benchmark ballet, and Lowenberg choreo isn't in the same league. It was pretty, and instantly forgettable. The audience loves Lowenberg, and fans raced to the front to throw flowers onto the stage - at least a hundred. The dancing was back in high gear with 'Slaughter on Tenth Avenue' featuring Lesley Rausch (she was "on") and Stanton returning as the hoofer. Audience again eating it up. 'Nine Sinatra Songs' section 'One More for the Road' was the final performance for Chalnessa Eames, who danced 'drunk' with Jerome Tisserand. My seatmate complained afterwards "he was a horrible partner!" and I had to explain the tripping on stage was on purpose. Multiple bouquets of roses were presented, including from what appeared to be many family members. This was a marathon for Jeffrey Stanton, who returned next with Carla Korbes for 'Who Cares' pas de deux to 'The Man I Love'. I really don't love the costumes for this dance (never have), but the dancing was very pretty. A white screen was lowered in front of the curtain, and a film projected an old video excerpt. It was Mr. Stanton as a child, tapping to a selection of Gershwin songs. Really cute, they should do this for all the departing performers! The screen and curtain rose, to show Mr. Stanton alone on stage in top hat and tails, tapping away to 'Silver Lining' and Jerome Kern song 'I'll be Hard to Handle' from the broadway musical and hollywood film "Roberta". A standing O from the audience, flowers from each of the female principals, Peter Boal and founding directors Kent Stowell and Francia Russell. I'll post about the remaining performances in a separate post, as this one is getting quite long!

This time I was able to attend the post-performance with Peter Boal, Lesley Rausch and Bakhurel Bold. This was a gold mine of non essential but fascinating information! Costumes: The Giselle Act 1 peasant costume was too small to fit any of PNB's ballerinas, even Ms. Kauri Nakamura (who is a teeny wisp) was barely fitting and the closures were tight on her bodice. So the costume department made an entirely new (and entirely teal) dress for Giselle Act 1. The Wilis costumes in Act II, including their wings, are covered by an additional layer of white gauze. The Houston Ballet versions are a true green color, to apparently fit with the image of the Wilis as ghosts by night, but turning into a green plant (the precise type escapes me) by day. Mr. Boal wanted the PNB Wilis to look more like brides - hence the additional gauze. Additional Choreography: Per Mr. Boal, his supplemental choreo mostly constisted of arm positions. Much of the notations focus on the feet, but give little instruction for the arms. But he stated his additions were very minor. Dance Critics Association: They are in town and have seen many PNB performances, but also other groups (there is an additional dance festival this past weekend). The theme of their meeting was reconstruction, so meeting in Seattle to see 'Giselle' dovetailed nicely. There have been many workshops and they have visited rehearsals often. They had many questions for Mr. Boal and it was apparent they had a depth of knowledge of 'Giselle' that surpassed Mr Boal's. This association meets in NYC in even numbered years, and stages the conference in other cities in odd numbered years. Box Office: The 2nd performance I attended seemed to be very full - perhaps 85-90%. Mr. Boal stated this performance is the only non-subscriber on the schedule, and they watch ticket sales closely. To hit their goal for this rep, PNB needed to sell $450,000 of tickets, which they achieved about 1 hour before this performance. Bravo! He credit good word of mouth and good reviews. Dancer Details: Mr. Bold noted that his parents both danced 'Giselle' in his native Mongolia - his mother danced in the corps and the pas de deux and his father was a noted character dancer who specialized in Hilarion. Mongolian ballet was heavily influenced by their northern neighbors, especially in Soviet times. Mr. Bold was sent to Perm ballet, where he learned strictly orthodox Russian technique (no exceptions) for 7 years. He recalls seeing the Russian version of 'Giselle' countless times during his years there, and that it seemed a much simpler version, when compared to PNB's reconstruction. He seemed very tired, after dancing two 'Giselle' Albrechts, one Hilarion, and rehearsing multiple roles for the Season Encore on Sunday night. He noted this is his 15th year with PNB. Leslie Rausch joked around with a lot of her answers, mostly about how thrilled she was to get to dance 'Giselle' and looks forward to the opportunities in the 2011/2012 season. Reprise of Giselle / Tour options: When asked about when we could see Giselle again, Mr. Boal responded he hoped every 3-5 years. He didn't want the piece to leave the dancers' muscle memory. He also noted PNB only tours when invited, and would be willing to tour Giselle. But he also stated this style is not PNB's main style, and he could only conceive of touring 'Giselle' as part of program that included other nights of Balanchine, Caniparoli, etc.

Well I did go see the Saturday afternoon 2nd week performance with Rausch / Gold and I concur it was a great performance! It's been 2 days and I hope my memories are not too rusty in this review. First - however, please permit me to apologize for my faux pas regarding Ms. Eames career plans. I was typing quickly and trying to get all my thoughts down and crossed hairs on my memory that she had danced Tharpe in Texas recently - somehow I erred in thinking this was a step towards joining Tharpe's troupe. Back to the performance, Rausch was charming in the first act, her solo hops were lovely. An interesting note: neither she nor Rachel Foster turn their free leg towards Loys in this version. In most Cuban and Russian versions, Giselle does turn her free leg towards Loys as part of the choreography and to demonstrate both her dance abilities and flirtation. Hilarian was Jeffrey Stanton, who was technically excellent. I sat in the 2nd balcony for this performance (alas, my funding for choice seats has limits), so acting and facial expressions were more difficult to make out. Even from a distance, I still hate the fur collar on his costume, it looks like a mangy reject from a muppet. I thought Rausch had more control in the second act than Foster on the adagio moves, and I felt her pantomime was well done throughout. Myrtha was the Lindsi Dec (tall girl) and I was very happy with her characterization of the cold hearted queen of the Wilis.

I always liked the English titles for their clergy, to wit: The Right Reverend so-and-so The Very Reverend so-and-so etc, etc.

You Dance Funny has a good, more technical review of the program. There is also a video exerpt of Albrecht in Act 2. http://youdancefunny.wordpress.com/2011/06/05/pacific-northwest-ballets-newold-giselle/

oh, I forgot to mention one of the changes to the ending, after 4am, when the bell rings four times, the wilis disappear and Giselle is left with Albrecht. She returns to her grave (this is where most productions end), but after that, the squire, and others, including Bathilde, one by one enter the woods. Bathilde finds Albrecht at Giselle's grave, and from the opaque grave stone, Giselle rises up to offer her blessing. Bathilde takes Albrecht's hand, and he raises his head towards her. Curtain falls. Bathilde, BTW, is portrayed very sweetly. She offers Giselle her necklace in the first act, because she is so enchanted with Giselle's dancing. It is an act of pure generosity. She is portrayed as a graceful noble. After reading today's NYT review and criticisms of the Soviet productions, it makes me wonder if this noblewoman's character was altered over time to satisfy the class warfare ideology of the communists???

Congratulations to Ms. Boylston, despite off stage drama related to a former dancer-choreographer-boyfriend, she focused on the dancing and is being rewarded.

part 2 of my review: New Scenes & Characterizations: As mentioned earlier, the additional scenes mainly provide comic relief. In the first act, Berthe describes the legend of the Wilis with an extended pantomime (that goes on too long and is not easily understood), and Giselle tells her she doesn't believe any of it. I definitely felt this Giselle is more of a spit fire. She is a risk taker - who doesn't mind flirting with the new boy in town (Loys) despite the history with Hilarion, and who dances in spite of the danger to her health. The hunters and old man are the comic relief (as mentioned by another poster). In the opening of Act 2, when the clock strikes midnight (they count it out to audience laughter), they help establish the spookiness and fear of the Wilis and the forest at night. It reminds me a bit of Shakespeare's use of peasants for comic relief in his tragedies. For the children in the audience, it was a useful tool to engage them into the story. Hilarion is something of an Inspector Javert in this version, he sets in motion a series of events that lead to tragedy, but instead of drowning in the Siene, he drowns in a pond after dancing himself to exhaustion. I felt it wasn't very obvious that Bathilde is the prince of Courland's daughter in this version. There were many first-timers at the ballet that day, at least sitting near me. Some asked me during the intermission for more information on the story - they all assumed Bathilde was the wife of the prince. None of the first timers understood the pantomime very well. I think it might be a bridge too far...Berthe is a protective mother and a gracious hostess to the Prince of Courland and Bathilde. She is not as fussy or comic relief as in some other versions. Wilfride is something of a blank in this production, although he does have some additional pantomime. Acting: PNB is a neo-classical (i.e. Balanchine specialist) company. They produce tall cool glasses of water, otherwise known as tall ice princesses partnered by handsome, ardent but restrained men, but not passionate actors and actresses. However, they gave it their best shot for Giselle. Some with more success than others. See below... Individual performances: A few years ago I wouldn't have said this, but all hail the PNB men! They were uniformly excellent in the Saturday matinee. I was less inspired by my Giselle and Myrtha, although the peasant pas de deux included the consistantly amazing Chalnessa Eames (soon to be departing for Twyla Tharp's company). Jerome Tisserand / Hilarion: his jumps soared, great acting, great energy to the end of the death scene. Duke Albrecht / Loys: Seth Orza had a breakout performance. Tall, athletic, elevation, execution, and best of all - passionate acting. Really, I thought he reached a new level as a dancer-actor. He did not present Loys as duplicious in Act 1, more like an aristocrat "getting away from it all" and taking on a peasant persona to blend in. His grief in Act 2 was intense without being over the top. He was my favorite part of the production. Peasant pas de deux / Chalnessa Eames & Jonathan Porretta: Big applause that day for this couple, who danced as if the technical minefield of steps was a fun diversion from grape harvesting. To be honest, I wish Ms. Eames could have been Myrtha (see below). Myrtha / Laura Gilbreath: Biggest disappointment of the night. She executed every step without problems, but she looked like she was dancing in a recital. for a production keenly trying to act as well as dance in the romantic style - Ms. Gilbreath had a singular blank look on her face through out the 2nd act, with pursed lips. In the "movie in my head", Myrtha has a hollow cavern of cobwebs where her heart should be, but she dances "big" as queen of the wilis, and she expresses emotions along with her pantomime. This character must express her authority through powerful dancing - after all, she has the authority to determine life or death of her captives. Ms. Gilbreath lacked power to dance "big" in this role, instead it was simply an execution of steps a-b-c. She physically is thin as a reed, perhaps too thin to have the muscle needed to dance "big". Unlike a certain reviewer at NYT, I would rather see a dancer add 10 lbs of additional muscle on her body to help her dance a role that requires more power. But I felt the same way when I saw Ms. Gilbreath in the pas de deux of Midsummer last month....if only Chalnessa Eames had been cast here...or better yet....Arianna Lallone would have made Myrtha her swan song, yet she is not cast in any of the Giselles for this rep. To cleanse my palette, I watched Mariella Nunez as Myrtha today on youtube, what a difference! Moyna / Kylee Kitchens // Zulme / Leslee Rausch: the present and future of PNB is in good hands with these two dancers. They were clearly the captains of the wilis and danced with the authority missing from their queen. Giselle / Rachel Foster: Act 1 - I liked her spunky characterization. In her solo, the hops en pointe seemed to be more an expression of her elation at being newly in love, and expressing this to everyone, rather than flirting to get the attention of Loys / Albrecht. This production doesn't allow the betrayal of Loys / Albrench to really sink in, it's more like a light goes off between happy / mad for Giselle. I did enjoy her performance, but felt that she was definitely silver cast material (unlike Seth Orza, who I felt was just killing it on stage). Act 2- There was a whole lotta shaking going on in her adagio arabesques. As my russian seat mate said to me in a heavy accent "sheee wud beee deees-q-q-q-ualifeeed at Bolshoi or Mariinsky". That said, I thought her acting was fine, it's just the control in adagio that needs improvement, as the fast steps were executed with great clarity. Corps de Ballet: Great unison, great alignment, and a powerful response from the audience. Both Act 1 & 2 had an excellent performance by the corps. clearly they have embraced the technical challenge of Giselle. I was more impressed than I have been in the past with their sychronicity. Hoping to get tickets for the coming week, would like to see the other PNB artist interpretations of the roles, and how things tighten up for the second week (and all the dance critics in town).

Hello, I'm back! A good night's sleep, a good meal and I finally feel lucid enough to write my review in full. I saw the same matinee on Saturday as Leigh, and I agree and disagree (respectfully) on certain points. Overall thoughts: Revivals / reenactments / restagings are always risky, because people have preconceived notions of what a ballet should look like. Trying to freeze a ballet in amber, as if it is a fossil could be a pretty display in a museum, but is it art that we want to see performed, and will entertain in the 21st century? This was a beautiful piece of theatre and I truly enjoyed myself, but there were some holes in the production, which can be ironed out as the dancers perform it more often. The very first night of Giselle performed in 1841 would probably be heavily criticized today, for failing to live up to 2011 standards of dancing, smooth production, and full development of the characters. Scenery & Costumes: PNB is renting the Houston production, and I thought the sets were lovely, the first act costumes were straight out of a Flemish master's painting. In the second act, the PNB Costume Department appears to have removed the greenery diagonal across the bodice of the Willi dress, which has very long, very fluffy skirts. The veils are quite long, and shortly after the wilis appear, their veils in unison are swept upwards off their heads by strings into the heavens of the stage. Myrta wears a diamond type crown that is not typical in other productions. Moyna was missing the upper arm sheer ruffle, but Zulme wore hers (along with the other Wilis). When Giselle rose from the dead, there was a problem when she stepped too far, and her veil began to come partially off by the string - eliciting an awkward laugh from the audience. Hilarion's fur collar is unfortunate, but everything else was great. Music: Emil de Cou conducted an excellent performance by the PNB orchestra, and I detected no tempo issues, as were mentioned by the Seattle Times critic about the Friday performance. I really am not familiar enough with the musical order of other productions, to give an educated opinion of what was changed for this version. Pantomime: This has been expanded to a large degree. I have mixed feelings about the pantomime, because an audience in the romantic era was very used to seeing pantomime and understood the meaning easily. In 2011, I felt a bit like watching sign language on stage, and having to rely on my program (which included sketches of the pantomime) to review what meant what at intermission. From a scholarship aspect, this was new and different at PNB. From an audience entertainment aspect, I'm not sure it was an improvement on the experience. Hilarion, Berthe and Myrta seem to have most of the additional pantomime, although Giselle herself has a little more. Choreography: The program contains an excel spreadsheet showing which scene was based on which notes (Stepanov, Titus / Justamant, or Boal supplemental). You will all be thrilled to know that the "greatest hits" are still intact, and attributed to Stepanov, which apparently is quite similar to the Petipa steps we all know and love. Giselle still hops en pointe, still rises from the dead to perform the same grand pirouettes in arabesque (flat footed here), followed by the traditional footwork, etc. PNB really throws themselves into the romantic choregraphy. You will not see a hyperextended leg of any sort, they are trying to become the anti-neo-classical company in this production. It mostly works, but there is a lack of plasticity in the arms that I would expect of dancers who have 15-20 years of training in this style. Ironically, I would love to see Houston Ballet perform this choreo, with their own sets, just to see how Stanton Welch-trained dancers would handle this. If you like I could post a summary of the spreadsheet attributing choreo. More to come in a 2nd post...

Just back into town, I saw it Saturday, then headed up to Canada for the rest of the weekend. Entering Canada, the border guard singled my car out for the full search and a ton of questions. I had a copy of the Giselle program in the trunk. After he asked me to pop open the trunk lid (this is pretty common coming back into the US, but not going into Canada), he found the program, and I had to sit in the driver's seat, while he slowly flipped through each page. Eventually I was allowed to continue, but it was a strange experience. It's about 15 minutes past midnight and I don't have the energy to post a full review until Monday. But I'll say that I agree that there was more humor from the villagers, a lot of time spent on pantomime (my seat mate thought far too much), and a great performance by the corps in both acts. I don't know how all Giselles handle the removal of the veils from the willis, but the audience gasped when (previously invisible) strings swept the veils up into the sky from their heads, upon a cue of music. I wasn't sure if the extra scenes would make the ballet tediously long, but it clocked in at 2:40 including the intermission, which was fine. So does that give you a taste, nuestro amigo de Cuba?

From the PNB Website for dancer biographies: In one of the videos above on this thread, he talks about his exposure to Giselle in Cuba, and dancing as a corps member around the principals, and how special this makes it to dance Albrecht now. I've searched for it without success, but Karel also gave an interview en espanol to the local affiliate of Univision. I saw it a few months ago. I first learned spanish in the Peruvian accent, and when Cubanos speak quickly, it is very difficult for me to follow!

did you ever see Karel Cruz dance while he was in the corps in Cuba? Per the cast scheduled listed above, he will be the opening night Albrecht. !Un triumfo por los bailerinos de Cuba!

While the quarter finals and semi finals were votes based on popularity, I felt the finale vote was based on performance. Truly, Hines / Kym delivered the best performance to an enterpretation of "Drumline" and its marching band homage to The Jackson 5 and 1970's R&B. Kym's dancing presentation could sell ice to an eskimo, but the key was that Hines really kept up with her, he was light on his feet and gave an impression of ease, and natural movement. I figured Kirsty / Max would be in the top 2, based on Kirsty's affiliation with her church, and their (ahem) pattern of passionately supporting their own. Read between the lines as you like. But she and Max *tanked* the finale! What an awful dance, it looked ragged, lacked dancing content, flair or purpose of style. Afterwards, I kept wondering "what was Max thinking?" but then I remembered that he has tanked many finales. Think of Marie Osmond and that stupid doll routine. Or Mel B and that horrible "street" dance. The only finale I liked was his dance with Laila Ali. His partners, the ones with at least a chance of doing well, always receive praise for technical ability. So I think he must be an excellent technical coach. But he seems to hit this wall of creativity when it comes to the finale, and what the audience is looking for.

There is a preview on YouTube from the 2010 Dutch National Ballet season for Concerto Barocco. Francia Russell is interviewed and notes that dancing the corps role is much harder than the solo roles. Any agreement out there?

Bravo! I am a fan of Cheryl and it's good to read the behind the scenes views. I was pulling for Romeo because I felt he really had potential, was serious about the craft, and was entertaining to watch. I hope he finds other outlets to dance publicly in the future. I really enjoyed Kirsty's argentine tango on Monday night as well. This is both my favorite and least favorite part of the season - the worst performers have been culled - and we get to watch very entertaining dances from the committed contenders. This year I felt the right people were knocked off early and we are left with the "stars" who are giving their all to perform, and not just "winging" it. Chelsea is something of a "ringer" as she grew up in dance studios preparing for Disney shows. Brooke Burke is a huge improvement over Samantha's idiotic comments and questions in the "fish tank". Tom Bergeron is - as ever - pitch perfect in his role. The judges are over the top, but I've stopped paying them much mind.

Thanks, I really enjoyed it, especially the costumes

The Town Hall discussion with JD'A is now online (but looks like they cut it down a bit): The Seattle Channel: http://www.seattlechannel.org/videos/video.asp?ID=3371102

well, I rather wish our tabloids would focus more on the Jeffrey Epsteins of the world. I'm not opposed to criticizing the rich when they use their funds for paedophilia.

excellent points about American cable news. I kept changing channels to avoid the commentary by the announcers, finally settling on CBC (Canadian). It was maddening to try to listen to that glorious version of Jerusalem as Kate walked down the aisle, underneath the jabbering american accented commentator no-nothings.Regarding the wedding dress, I have read that 90% of the dress design was Kate Middleton's preferences, and 10% was Sarah Burton. It was obvious that it would be appropriate for a cathedral (sleeves, train, veil, etc), but I felt the dress fit Kate's esthetic, based on other things she has worn to special occasions. I felt she went her own way on the dress, rather than trying to compete with Princess Diana on length of train, etc. I especially liked the unfolding of the pleats as she walked in the dress down the aisle and the simplicity of her veil. Apparently she and her sister (who is an event planner) were heavily involved in the details of the event. Kate has dropped a dramatic amount of weight, and there are pix of her on the internet to compare. She was always slim, but now I think looks gaunt (though perhaps not gaunt enough for ballet - at least the Alastair Macaulay esthetic). I thought her make up was fine, but give it 10 years and we'll look back and think she wore too much kohl eye liner and mascara (all the girls do now!). There is a 2008 McQueen dress in red worn by Cameron Diaz that is a near match to the dress Pippa Middleton wore, except Pippa's had more lace at the bodice. It would not have done well to dress her like a 13 year old junior bridesmaid. Ah, but the music was just glorious, wasn't it? Has anyone noticed how the british and american media differ in their portrayal of the Middleton family business? In the US, they would be glorified for being successful entrepreneurs, Mother Middleton would likely be interviewed on MSNBC, etc. In the British press, it's almost as if the money is resented, as if they are resented for rising above their grandparents' professions. I've noticed insinuations that the family business is taking advantage of the royal connection, as evidenced by the increase in hits to the company's website. However, searches for the website do not necessarily indicate an uptick in business transactions, most are probably lookyloos who don't buy anything.

This is fantastic for Mr. Ratmansky and I suspect a lovely thank you gift for his well received (and freshly minted money-maker) Nutcracker. I'm anxious to see it just for the bees! This is a choreographer's dream contract: longevity, creative freedom, less politics than an AD position, and maximum funding at ABT. He can pick and choose his commissions, and rely upon the financial stability of ABT to support his family. Bravo ABT!