Josette

Jen Stahl was an outstanding Carabosse (or however she is named in Tomasson's The Sleeping Beauty) last year. I loved Van Patten in Snowblind and was happy to know that Jen Stahl was getting the role.

Tiit Helimets did not dance last year in The Sleeping Beauty. He was the original (and outstanding) Prince in The Little Mermaid at SFB.

The anecdote about the critic asking Balanchine about Apollo's being on his knees turned up on the PBS two-part documentary on Balanchine from a few decades ago, and, as I recall, the documentary had a voice-over with Balanchine's recounting this exchange.

I would love to see Maloney as Mercutio.

I have never seen Soares live, so am completely thrilled to see what will be his last performance with the Royal Ballet. It will be a special and emotional performance for the company. A FB friend who knows Soares quite well told me several months ago that Soares would indeed be dancing Rudolph in Los Angeles, but it was not from an "official" source. I saw Soares's FB post about his retirement just a few minutes ago.

I was there Thursday, Friday, and Saturday evening. I was in the loge on Thursday and then in the orchestra section's third and fourth rows on the other nights. I love this ballet. It is utterly delightful. I even enjoyed the children all three nights. I thought the Saturday night cast as a whole, meaning the ensemble, was the most relaxed on stage and having fun. My favorite Harlequin was Maloney. For me, he was expressive in his torso, impish, and the most musical of the three, but each Harlequin was excellent. There was a lapse, as ksk04 stated, on the traveling fourth lift going from stage left to right, but the save was okay and these things happen to every performer for a variety of reasons. I understand what you mean, ksk04, about Shevchenko being wasted as Pierrette - we both saw her in The Nutcracker and I also saw her dance a glorious Gamzatti in L.A. last summer. She danced beautifully but I longed to see her in something with more weight. Having seen Forster in The Nutcracker and then as Pierrot, I can say the same thing about him - yeegods, let this man dance principal roles and the classics. Enough already. I liked Trenary very much, though some of the choreography was altered: in the first act solo, she took the hops on pointe in attitude devant with the raised leg lower than Brandt and Lane executed, and Trenary also came down in a controlled fondu after those hops instead of staying on pointe, which changed the phrasing and musically of the combination. She also came down in a fondu in attitude derriere croise that I did not recall from the other two Columbines. But I find her stunningly natural on stage with a beautiful presence. I found Copeland's dancing small and tidy and with no elevation where required; her acting was one-dimensional, which was not the case with Shevchencko and Abrera. Abera was gracious and effervescent in all ways, and danced with great beauty. Brandt actually made portions of her solos look virtuoso in choreographic intent due to holding balances, particularly in the last act solo where she does a releve twice on each leg from a tendu devant to passe to tendu derriere. Lane danced with all her heart, and her phrasing in her solos was wonderful to behold. I enjoyed all three Columbines and their uniqueness in the role. It was great fun seeing Aran Bell having a good time with his colleagues in the corps, where he will probably not be for much longer. Yes, that was Zhong Jing Fang, and I had the same reaction.

Casting for the first three performances is posted, showing that Wona Park and Joe Walsh are dancing together in the matinee on Saturday, and De Sola and Robison in the evening performance.

I was there tonight. I thought the announcement before the performance was that Whiteside was injured and therefore Simkin and Brandt would be dancing. Maybe ksk04 heard the announcement differently. The dancing from the leads was excellent.

The casting at last! I'm in New York to see the performances on January 23 and 24, as well as the opera, Pelleas et Melisande, on the 22nd!

After seeing Neumeier's The Little Mermaid on its opening night in SF and knowing how much he researches for a work, I read The Little Mermaid in a collection with annotations. This enhanced the ballet when I saw it the following season with both casts.

Xander Parish posted about 15 hours ago that he was awarded an OBE in the Queen's New Year's Honours! Congratulations, Xander!

I attended the opening night performance and, as a general comment, the dancers were not fully engaged physically or emotionally. Hee Seo, whom I enjoyed in last year, was dancing with a wilty lyricism without musical phrasing. She is blessed with beautiful line and that and Cory Stearns's excellent partnering skills got her through intact. I saw both Shevchenko-Forster performances and was thrilled to see the two pas de deux danced without my being made aware of all the land mines in the choreography - until these performances I did not think it possible. Though I have enjoyed several of the other ABT principals, the Shevchenko -Forster performances went above and beyond and transformed the pas de deux into seamless execution and great beauty. They also thankfully avoided the cutesiness that I have seen in others' performances, particularly in the will-you-marry-me sequence after the grand pas de deux. Their second performance had even greater authority than their first. Forster was allowed to prove that he is an exceptional danseur noble.

I feel the same way, Angelica.

It appears that Ana Sophia Scheller is sidelined, due to the casting posted a few days ago having her name for two performances I will attend after Christmas and now seeing "to be announced" where I recall her name. I hope this is a very temporary situation.

It was a wonderful performance. I'm so happy to have been there. Christine Shevchenko and Tom Forster were beautiful. And yes, the torch lift went up without a hitch in the flash of an eye and held! Can't wait to see them again on Sunday. It's a joy to see dancers develop over the years.

I loved Shevchenko as Gamzatti and so am going to both Shevchenko-Forster performances.

I remember the tone of the facebook argument fairly well, and the posts quickly disappeared, thank God. Having heard Kochetkova speak in real life, it seemed as though someone else, with a good command of English vocabulary and grammar, was posting longish retorts in her stead. It was not just a single comment by Simone Messmer by any means. I saw Messmer three times with SFB, and she was exceptional. I was disappointed that she left. She joined the company the same year that Mathilde Froustey joined and Mathilde danced everything. Everyone has moved on.

Thanks, miliosr, for your terrific commentary, which is likely much more entertaining than the production itself. I'm looking forward to your final thoughts!

Miliosr, I am waiting with bated breath for your comments on disc 2.

Great news! Thanks for letting us know, kbarber.

Unless you can get first row seats, the orchestra seats have the potential tobe disastrous in the first eight rows as the seats are not staggered and there is no rake in the auditorium. For that reason, I usually sit in the Founders' Circle and especially like and aim to purchase the "wing" areas on each side of the Founders' Circle (row B is better than row A). The front loge seats are fairly good. I have only sat in the balcony for the opera. Except for the orchestra, all other sections are steeply raked. This year, due totally to the Royal Ballet's appearance, I donated and talked personally with someone in the Donor Services department, expressing my excitement about the Royal Ballet and how my ballet teachers had all come from the Royal Ballet, so they gave me front row seats for all shows. I was flabbergasted at how wonderfully they accommodated me, but then so many people prefer to sit farther back. As far as casting, I would expect Steven MacRae to be first cast Rudolf unless Edward Watson is back, and also Thiago Soares for a performance. There will likely be three distinct casts. It is a great show in which to see a variety of their principal dancers and soloists. I am as excited about seeing Gary Avis as Franz-Josef (or in anything, actually) as much as seeing whoever does Rudolf.

Hilarious! Boy did I need this today!

This was a joy to watch. Thank you so much for posting it, Katia.

Oh my, Whiteside as Rochester?!

Well, I am remaining positive for Tom Forster, especially as Rochester in Jane Eyre (loved the book, and films with Orson Welles/Joan Fontaine and William Hurt/Charlotte Gainsbourg). Sarah Lane should be very good as Manon.