Josette

Kochetkova and Vitor Luiz are guesting in Orange County's Festival Ballet Theatre's Nutcracker on Dec. 16 and 17; and Yuan Yuan Tan and Tiit Helimets for four performances on Dec 10 and 11, 2016.  

When going out for curtain calls in front of the curtain with Ekaterina Borchenko, Vasiliev did a scissor-split jete and the audience went berserk.  This happened three times, with Borchenko jete-ing out to the front of the curtain on the third occasion.  Though I would not run to the theatre to see Vasiliev dance and would have loved to seen Leonid Sarafanov as Conrad instead, there's no denying that Vasiliev is highly entertaining and a true stage animal.  I personally prefer watching technique such as an occasional fifth position and turnout instead of gymnastics without much line, but others feel differently.

  I saw Friday and Saturday nights, where the only change in casting was in the pas de deux in Act I with Victor Lebedev (charismatic, wonderful dancer with expressive port de bras, I agree with MadameP above) and Mikho Naotsuka on Friday night, and the 19-year-old American Julian MacKay (amazing polish from such a young dancer, he should have a terrific career in front of him) and Irina Zhalovskaya, who has extraordinary control in turns. 

Ekaterina Borchenko's performance as Medora on Saturday had more warmth than on Friday. She is a beautiful woman and looks the regal ballerina.  It was a pleasure seeing 32 single fouettes, which I think are more rigorous  than the multiple fouettes where you releve less times and can go at your own speed.    I loved Anastasia Soboleva as Gulnare, who only dances in Act III.  She was  charming, mischievous, delightful, effortless in her dancing, and musical - a complete delight.

Though I am not a Le Corsaire fan, the dancers were totally committed to the fluff and gave it their all.  The audience lapped it up. 

Wonderful news!

According to the program, I would expect the PNB dancers tonight to be Rachel Foster, Angelica Generosa, Elizabeth Murphy, Matthew Renko, and Dylan Wald.

Pherank found or figured out the casting and, I believe, it's posted under SFB touring. 

The evening was exhilarating. It was wonderful to see such a high level of no-holding-back, intense commitment and individuality on the part of these three American ballet companies and their wonderful dancers. Regarding PNB, I was very happy to see the musical Carrie Imler and radiant and personable Leta Biasucci, both of whom I've read about here and watched in videos on the PNB website. The PNB dancers were positively joyous! 

All three works are in the SFB repertory and I wish SFB would do an all-Forsythe series. 

With Artifact Suite, which always affects me profoundly, I found Karina Gonzalez especially beautiful, but all the dancers were excellent, with several men standing out. I am in the first row tonight and tomorrow, so I hope to figure out who some of the Houston Ballet dancers are. Interestingly, I could easily find and  follow Yuriko Kajiya from my seat upstairs in the Founders Circle.  

I was there also and it was fabulous! From the program notes, it looks like there will be another cast for The Vertiginous Thrill of Exactitude as it lists ten dancers from PNB, and the cast sheet listed the five who danced on Friday.  The audience was as super-charged as the dancing on stage. I see this so often in L.A.; we are starved for really excellent dancing and so the audience reaction is explosive. Looking forward to the next two shows. 

3 hours ago, miliosr said:

There was a marvelous video from the defile up on You Tube for a short time which was taken from a vantage point just off the front left side of the stage. Not only could you see the etoiles and premieres exiting the stage but you could also see and hear members of the company cheering those marchers for whom this would be their last defile. When the curtain came down for the last time, you could also see members of the company paying their respects to those for whom 2016-17 will be their last season, including the sujet Bruno Bouche. He will be assuming a leadership position at the Ballet de L'Opera National du Rhin:

 

http://www.culturecommunication.gouv.fr/Presse/Communiques-de-presse/Nomination-de-Bruno-Bouche

A shame it disappeared, as I wanted to see premier danseur Emmanuel Thibault, who reportedly joined the line of etoiles at the end. He has been such a joy to watch throughout his career.

On Dansomanie, I found a list of the ballets that we would see rehearsed on World Ballet Day for the Australian Ballet, Royal Ballet, National Ballet of Canada, and San Francisco Ballet.

I saw Murphy as Giselle when the Royal New Zealand Ballet performed in L.A., and thought she had a beautiful gentleness.   I was very happy for her to be so outstanding in the role, having also seen her as a superb Myrtha.  Her port de bras was lovely.   I went back to see her second show as Giselle.   

Sarah Van Patten posted a picture of herself in performance attire and makeup on her FB page, stating she is officially back! Hooray!  (She recently gave birth.)

Wow! I only knew of Nini Theilade from her fascinating performance in A Midsummer Night's Dream and had often wondered about her. Thank you so much for these posts and video clips. 

I was also extremely unhappy to learn that Edward Watson would not be appearing, apparently due to visa problems -  hard to believe, but what do I know . . . .  I will attend, but I agree that these productions are rarely satisfying for the price.

This clip is absolutely wonderful. Thank you so much. 

Act II of Nureyev's La Bayadere uses children.  

I just finished listening to this.  It was an excellent interview and should be helpful to young dancers. 

I saw the casting and it was several pas de deux and tidbits, including Zahorian and Domitro in Le Corsaire, and Kuchetkova and new soloist Angelo Greco in Don Q pas de deux, I believe.

Frances Chung is dancing Odette in Swan Lake Act II with Tiit Helimets at Stern Grove!

I will also miss Melanie Hamrick. In her first year with the company, I spoke with her at a reception in L.A., and she told me that she was new to the company; she was truly lovely to talk to. (I also talked talked with Maria Riccetto, who was also equally approachable, unaffected, and a total joy.) I told Melanie that I would watch her particularly during the Giselle that I would be seeing, and I have since then always considered her my special ABT dancer that I would watch when she was on stage. I wish her great happiness in motherhood and in all she does.

San Francisco Ballet is performing in Los Angeles on October 21-23, 2016, in Forsythe's Pas/Parts, in which Kochetkova was cast last season, and then SFB is at Kennedy Center on October 26-30, 2016, performing Wheeldon's Cinderella, so Kochetkova is likely busy with those engagements.

She's one of my favorite Hollywood actresses. She was so versatile and had such beauty and depth. Happy Birthday, Miss Havilland!

I think her hair is darker. Thanks for the link- a very good read. I intend to go to all three Forsythe performances this fall at the L.A, Music Center and am especially looking forward to seeing dancers from PNB and Houston Ballet, as well as Artifact Suite again, which I loved when I saw SFB perform it several seasons ago.

Got my tickets for July 29, 30 evening, and 31, and am looking forward to a few days in New York.

Joseph Walsh is dancing with newly promoted soloist Julia Rowe (yea, Julia!).

And I would fly in from California.

Menendez is gorgeous in that clip from Swan Lake.

Kochetkova dances Tatiana in Onegin with SFB, so she would likely dance it with ABT.