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And that's why I can't help but feel this whole "uproar" against Millepied's vision is somewhat hysterical. Nureyev was certainly a far lesser choreographer than Balanchine. And some of the contemporary theatrical spectacles commissioned in recent years really didn't stand the test of time. So what's wrong with Millepied introducing some of the finest ballet choreography from the second half of the 20th century and some of the most thoughtful of the early 21st to POB? I don't see any "tradition" harmed by that.

I wonder what people think of Sebastian Villarini-Velez. I really enjoy his musicality and movement quality. An example would be the brief moment in the video for Rodeo on the NYCB youtube channel, where the 4th movement was shown and discussed. I thought he stood out the most out of all the men on stage in that section.

I just got to watch the video of the broadcast of the night when CLBF, Opus 19, and Theme and Variations were performed. I thought CLBF was a very accomplished piece of work, with many brilliant passages that demonstrated both formal craft and emotional complexity. It's much more enjoyable than some of the other high-profile working choreographers' recent works and invites re-watching. More importantly I thought all the young dancers did admirably well, the dancing was fluid, musical, crisp and nuanced. A number of them showed great stage presence. If it's indicative of the quality of the dancers coming up through the ranks then I feel POB devotees should have great confidence in the company's future.

I'm not an expert on the subject, but are there many French choreographers working in the neo-classcial tradition with similar international profile and status as Wheeldon/Ratmansky? If not, and BM wanted to introduce more high-caliber neo-classical works into the rep, then he didn't have that many choices. I'll admit that even as someone who prefers the American/English neo-classical tradition, the amount of woks by anglo choreographers seems surprisingly high. On a second thought though, none of the choreographers are new to POB. Balanchine created works for the POB himself and is, after all, the overarching figure of 20th century ballet. The works presented this season, like Theme and Variations, is probably much more "purely classical" in its language than all those full-lengths reworked by Nureyev. Robbins the POB already danced under Lefevre, and perhaps BM thought the inner theater and emotional depth of his choreography would be closer to the French neo-classical tradition, if there is one. Opus 19/The Dreamer and Goldberg Variations I feel are both great vehicles for the POB dancers. Mcgregor I never really liked and consider his works as contemporary dance en pointe, but he too, was invited to create works for the company by Lefevre. Wheeldon again is a choreographer working with the classical vocabulary whose ballets could arguably better showcase the dancers classical training than many "contemporary spectacles" the company danced in in the past.

This is a clip from the 2009 Mariinsky Ballet Festival. Giselle with Vishneva and Gomes. You can see Marcelo doing entrechat six at around 3:15. http://video.sina.com.cn/v/b/27010908-1304236471.html

You are right. Soulfulness, inner reserve and maybe a touch of pathos are essential qualities of Shakespear's Romeo. The approach of Gomes to the role you described seems the same as Corella's, which is why I don't understand why some people see Corella as the best Romeo. But then the MacMillan production in general did away with the underlying sense of pathos and dark premonition of Shakespear's original work. I think Nureyev's version might be more faithful to Shakespear's R&J in this respect. Rumor has it that the literary critics reacted better to Nureyev's production than dance critics did initially.

RB dancers do seem to prefer those big toe boxes. They look particularly unflattering on Rojo.

Darcey Bussell and Zoltan Solymosi's version was lovely, with every step "arriving with the beat".

Completely agree with your assessment. I watched the Mckerrow Gardner video first and Assylmuratova video later. I always thought the Russian's version was a bit "off".

I'm surprised no one has mentioned Mathieu Ganio. Too cute and such a classically elegant dancer. Mathieu Ganio Proust Ballet Ganio on Flickr