Josette

Oh good! I look forward to getting the DVD and also seeing all ABT casts in a few weeks in Orange County. It was a terrific production.

Ulrik Birkkjaer retired from performing at the end of last season. He was sitting in the audience in the row behind me with Sarah Van Patten earlier this season at one of the next@90 performances.

Thanks so much, pherank!

I've only seen Suite en blanc live eight times, danced by POB and SFB, and I recall a corps de ballet of about 12 women, as well as a male corps de ballet, but there are many soloists involved. It is highly stylized choreography where there is simply no way to hide if you can't get through it, and fascinating when danced with confidence. POB was amazing when I saw them dance it several times in 2012 in Chicago and the audience went crazy. It was a triumph for the company.

Casting for the two leads in Cinderella is up on the SFB website. March 31, April 4 & 8 (evening): Misa Kuranaga, Isaac Hernandez April 1 (matinee) & 5 : Isabella DeVivo,* Joseph Walsh April 1 (evening), 6 & 8 (matinee) : Dores Andre, Max Cauthorn April 2 & 7: Sasha De Sola, Luke Ingham * Wonderful to finally see DeVivo cast as the lead in a full-length ballet. I am attending April 4 and 5. Casting is also up for the triple bill, "The Colors of Dance."

Casting for the two leads in Cinderella is up on the SFB website. March 31, April 4 & 8 (evening): Misa Kuranaga, Isaac Hernandez April 1 (matinee) & 5 : Isabella DeVivo,* Joseph Walsh April 1 (evening), 6 & 8 (matinee) : Dores Andre, Max Cauthorn April 2 & 7: Sasha De Sola, Luke Ingham * Wonderful to finally see DeVivo cast as the lead in a full-length ballet. I am attending April 4 and 5. Casting is also up for the triple bill, 'The Colors of Dance."

There is talent in that company that is being developed and flourishing. I am not worried. The two new promotions were a good sign of Martinez’s direction. I’ve been attending since 1996 and last saw the company in November and am attending again in May.

Last December, I purchased at the box office tickets for a second performance of Nutcracker and the three weekend performances of Like Water for Chocolate, as in the past there was no extra charge if purchasing directly at the box office. I was told that there was now a charge even if printing at the box office and handing them to me on the spot. I expressed my great annoyance about the charge but did not direct it at at the person doing the transaction. She did not charge me the extra $40. But it is worth letting them know this is a rip-off that is not well taken.

Tomasson’s extra pas de deux in Act I for the leads is a significant addition, giving Giselle and Albrecht considerably more dancing than in other versions.

Peter Wright’s production has a pas de quatre for the National Ballet of Canada and, if I recall correctly, a pas de six for The Royal Ballet instead of a peasant pas de deux but using the same music. SFB’s production also inserts a pas de deux with variations for Giselle and Albrecht which I’ve never seen in other productions, which may explain why Tomasson turned the music for the peasant pas de deux into a pas de cinq.

I doubt it. I am aware that Wheeldon approves the casting.

Chris Wheeldon will decide the casting order closer to the performances. They are still rehearsing.

I attended the opening night Giselle. I thought De Sola did a well-thought-out/well-coached mad scene, but I was not impressed by much else, as, generally, she lacked vibrancy in Act I, and lacked variation in her acting except for the mad scene; there was no phrasing in the execution of the choreography, especially in the traditional Act I solo; her adagio in Act II was not fully realized and she danced without any expanse; and she failed to emanate the love and forgiveness required to make Act II meaningful - she had a stern face in Act II with her Albrecht and not all-pervading love. As in her Cinderella three years ago, she did not give back the attention from her partner that was being given her. It was not a bad performance, but it was not a performance that I would have expected from a principal dancer who has danced other full-length ballets for several years now. Aaron Robison danced wonderfully and powerfully throughout, including a beautiful series of entrechats six in Act II; the stage looked too small for him because of the way he covers space. Robison's Albrecht was genuinely charming and completely smitten with Giselle and then became devastated in the moments leading up to and through the mad scene. His last moment alone on stage at Giselle's grave in Act II was unforgettable. Nathaniel Remez's performance as Hilarion was fully-realized and sympathetic. Then we come to Nikisha Fogo as Myrtha: brilliantly danced and a brilliant portrayal. The Act II Wilis were excellent, as was the pas de cinq in Act I.

How was Shevchenko’s performance?

Thank you, volcanohunter, that was wonderful!

I watched it yesterday and particularly liked Remez’s comments, approach, and enthusiasm. California, I am intrigued with your calling the overhead press a “table top lift.” Is that something of yours or have you heard it used elsewhere? I am so looking forward to Friday night.

How beautiful. And not the first time, as when Dupond was the POB director, he had done the same thing with (retired) étoiles entering the stage for a bow after the then-current étoiles had all made their own appearances in the Grand Défilé. There is a 13-minute video of it floating about online. At that time, the (retired) étoiles sweeping onstage with incredible grace and aplomb included luminaries (not a full list) Dominique Khalfouni, Claude Bessy, Michel Renaud, Christiane Vaussard, Nina Vyroubova, Ghislaine Thesmar, Jean-Pierre Bonnefous (later Bonnefoux), Cyril Atanassoff, Jean Babilée, Lycette Darsonval, Liane Daydé, Josette Amiel, Carolyn Carlson, Noëlla Pontois, Patrice Bart, Michaël Denard, and Yvette Chauviré.

At your request, Drew.

I find her to be one of the most musical dancers I’ve seen and what a nuanced and profound actress she is! I have a front row ticket for her last Cinderella this spring - dancing with Matthew Ball - a role she should have been given earlier, and I am so grateful that I will see her as Ashton’s Cinderella.

Fabulous news! OBT must be thrilled!

It was a special event on February 9, 2023, for mostly donors of the Music Center Dance Association, and I attended as I am a donor. It took place at Colburn School of Arts. Six principal dancers danced (Luke, Sasha, Misa, Angelo, Nikisha, and Joe) three pas de deux, interspersed with an excellent interview of Tamara Rojo by Music Center CEO Rachel Moore. There was a reception afterwards.

Tiit Helimets certainly deserves being celebrated! And MADCAP is an amazing production.

pherank, if you mean Lizzy Powell, she is not injured, as I saw her featured in two of the new works this past weekend. I will see De Sola's premiere on February 24 as Giselle, and am mostly looking forward to seeing the outstanding Aaron Robison as Albrecht. She will be in good hands. On World Ballet Day, there was a rehearsal with Helgi Tomasson coaching new SFB soloist Katherine Barkman and Esteban Hernandez in Act I of Giselle. Behind them in the rehearsal room were Jasmine Jimison and Mingxuan Wang, obviously understudies at the time. Barkman is injured and did not dance in the Gala or in any of the new works, so it looks like the lovely and talented Jimison is being given the opportunity.

He was and no doubt still is a dancer of great intensity with superb concentration. I was fortunate to see him in Wheeldon's The Winter's Tale and as Diaghilev in Neumeier's Nijinski.

I stayed at Inn at the Opera Royal after Christmas, so it is open and I return in eight days. It has been renovated or is undergoing renovation. There is still no restaurant since the excellent Swedish restaurant closed.