California

A dumb question, perhaps: when did the shift away from the knee-length tutus we see in various reconstructions to the short, flat "pancake" tutus happen and where?

It's not just DC. The Met schedule for 2020 will be announced in late October, with a lot of casting (although, as we know all too well, much of that will be shuffled around later). As they skipped Giselle last season, the educated guessing is they'll do it in 2020. But this is the best kind of lobbying for a role -- showing what you'd do with it. She also has rehearsal clips from Bayadere. If they're doing Act II in Chicago on tour, that might be in the plans for Met 2020, as well.

I follow a lot of dancers on Instagram and she is making the best possible use of the medium, in my opinion -- educational, captivating; she makes you want to see her in performance. I love the detail in the coaching -- there's always more to learn, even for us long-time balletomanes. I know others (apparently) enjoy pictures of food, pets, friends, parties, gala costumes, whatever...pretty boring very quickly...

In the relentless Facebook ads from Kennedy Center, the photo of Hallberg in Giselle seems to have disappeared. That all TBA Sunday is intriguing! I'm guessing the Met season will have a week of Giselle -- lots of debuts could make this interesting.

Thanks for the tip about Brandt's Instagram site -- so many great rehearsal/coaching videos! Highly recommended: https://www.instagram.com/skylarbrandt/ And she's only a soloist!

This is on her public Facebook page: SONYA YONCHEVA is with Nicolas Levastre and Julia Aguirre. 12 hrs · A real gentleman, philanthropist, artist, charming and peaceful human being, who is devoted to the new generation of singers in the most humble and respectful way. I know Placido for nearly 10 years and it was, it is always a great pleasure to work with him. You can rarely find today a person who respects more his job, his colleagues, the team of each theater and his fans. An irreplaceable figure in our industry, he, more than anybody else, proved that a successful career depends only on your work and your talent, nothing else can help it or destroy it! Placido Domingo

Just one dance-related grant in the August 2019 cycle: $10,000 to the Chicago Film Archives: among other things, storage of an AV collection on modern dancer and choreographer Sybil Sherer https://www.neh.gov/sites/default/files/inline-files/NEH-Grant-Awards-August-2019-PDF.pdf

From the little I've seen so far of Bell, I can't wait to see what he does with full-lengths.

Whiteside's piece was well-received at Vail and it's a chance to show off Aran Bell and Catherine Hurlin. It's first on these clips. I'm wondering when they'll show Jardin aux Lilas - perhaps at the 2020 Met season?

The Washington Post is $3.99/month via Amazon. Excellent national and political reporting.

To fully acclimatize in Denver, we're told it takes 3-6 weeks. In lay terms, the balance of red blood cells increases gradually to absorb more oxygen as the air is thinner. A few days will give you enough strength for normal activities. The U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs is at 6,500 ft. It always seemed to me that training at altitude is a legal form of blood-doping for athletes, but it does take some time. I also noticed an abundance of emergency defibrillators in red boxes in Vail, like you might see fire alarms, but it wouldn't be a bad idea if those were routinely installed everywhere.

I guess you won't find it reassuring that my hotel room had two bottles of water and one oxygen canister. Oxygen canisters in various sizes are for sale at the Vail Village shops. A few years ago, Sara Mearns went home with altitude sickness. I don't think she's been back. Daniel Ulbricht in past years said dancing at Vail was like dancing with bricks tied to your chest. Yet he brought his touring group "Stars of the American Ballet" this year to Aspen, which is about the same altitude. https://www.aspentimes.com/entertainment/new-york-city-ballet-principal-dancer-daniel-ulbricht-brings-stars-of-american-ballet-to-aspen/

Rehearsal footage of Giselle: In performance, they continued on to do Albrecht's solo and her backward moving entrechats. Quite a long excerpt.

A nice clip of Mejia in Fandango Friday night:

A little rehearsal footage from Instagram of Cornejo and Cojocaru in Romeo and Juliet