Marga

While Sarah Lane is 5'2", Isabella Boylston is 5'5" - not "very short" at all!

I agree. I was surprised when I double-checked last night that she was still a sujet. She just turned 28 earlier this month. I remember when she was a teenager and new to the company, already raising eyebrows - in a positive way.

PeggyR, that is how I pronounce it, using my knowledge of (also) 50 year old high school and college French! I should ask my husband (the French teacher) in the morning.

Mathilde Froustey has just posted her good news on her FB page that after 11 years with the Paris Opera Ballet she is joining San Francisco Ballet as a Principal dancer for the 2013-2014 season. I think she's a lovely dancer whom I have had the privilege to see in person only once. I hope that what seems to be a one-year contract will be extended after the year is up and that she enjoys the great opportunities she will have with San Francisco Ballet. http://deballet.com/artists/mathilde-froustey/videos/596 Translation of Mathilde's message: "It is time to announce that from the first of July I will become "Principal Dancer" at the San Francisco Ballet for the 2013/2014 season! Thanks again to all of you for your support and your friendship, thank you to the Parisian public for all the energy and love that you have given me, it was a great pleasure to dance for you! Finally, thank you to this wonderful company, Paris Opera Ballet, for the eleven years I spent alongside exceptional dancers that I will continue to admire always."

I'm sure you're right. I was completely enthralled. There were several times I couldn't bring myself to clap at all. Applause would have dispelled the moment - many moments. Vishneva's grief, her huge silent scream at the height of her anguish, had tears rolling down my cheeks. What an evening!

naomikage, the entire list is just a guess!

It WAS a great evening at the NYCB. I loved the costumes in "Who Cares"! The last time I saw the ballet live was over 40 years ago and I don't remember what they wore then. Sterling Hyltin was amazing and I really liked HER costume. So beautiful. Abi Stafford - a real cutie. Her "I'll Build a Stairway to Paradise" was peppered in the beginning with Balanchine's signature off-balance positions which Ms. Stafford accomplished with the requisite aplomb and assurance. Ana Sophia Scheller - stellar! What a beauty and a dancer of lovely lines (they all have lovely lines, actually) and presentation. Lauren King, dancing "Oh, Lady Be Good" (with Daniel Applebaum) performed with the slightest sassiness befitting the choreography and the song (if you know the lyrics). She's such a watchable dancer (I started watching her when she was 12 years old and performing with the Eglevsky Ballet) and has a gorgeous ballet body that serves her well with Balanchine works. Her years with City Ballet have made her a confident, stand-out performer. Finally, after the somewhat polite reception given the "Barber Violin Concerto", "Red Angels", and "Allegro Brillante", the crowd went wild with hoots and hollers for "Who Cares", for the ballet itself, the fantastic Gershwin repertoire of songs, and for the wonderful New York City Ballet corps and, especially, its exceptional soloists.

Since I was the one who introduced the words "rise above" into my comment earlier in this thread, I'd like to re-present that part of the entire sentence I wrote: "people rise above the circumstances of their lives in order to have a life". All of your points, puppytreats, hit sorely home with me. The first 3 items on your list have personally affected my extended family and the people of my country of heritage. One of my mothers-in-law was jailed as a young woman just because her father was the mayor of the capital city. His whereabouts and eventual fate were never determined after he was taken away. My husband's cousins were sent to Siberia during the largest mass deportation along with their parents. They were children. Their father died soon after arriving in Siberia. Many more stories just in our family, and hundreds more that I have heard and read from friends, acquaintances, and others who lived through it, some unbelievably tragic. I applaud Ratmansky for bringing some of the tragedy of the times before us today. The world should never forget any atrocities, and the Soviet atrocities seem to be very readily swept under the rug these days. Even the word makes me cringe whereas others use it blithely to describe a style of dancing ("Soviet-era ballet") admiringly. Helene, I wrote this post first, then read your comment. Thank you for it.

I agree with you, Ilya. Those of us who lost family members and whose parents lost friends and acquaintances cannot reconcile communism in any way with being happy. Of course, people rise above the circumstances of their lives in order to have a life. There is laughter and joking (often ironic jokes and clever anecdotes about the captors in order to make the captivity more livable). But the feeling deep within the heart is profound sadness.

I bought a NYCB ticket last Thursday for this Friday, June 8th, Row B orchestra - last seat on the end, for $29. Last year I bought several $29 tickets at the end of Row A or B. Great seats and my favourite kind - close to the stage!

From my (very close) seat there was LOTS of connection between Isabella and Daniil. They were perfection in everything. I thought the supported turns were solid. Maybe I was sitting TOO close? ;) Butchered them, onmyxtoes? I just didn't see that at all! Nicole Graneiro - as wonderful as mentioned above. She was the perfect amour/Cupid, just perfect. She even did the quick glance-thing that some dancers omit as a front attitude is held (two times). James Whiteside was terrific as Espada and he's the best cape-handler I've ever seen. He brought enough of the grit of the sport into his role and infused his technique with it. It was an eye-opening combination of artistic mettle. Bragado-Young can do no wrong, I've decided. After seeing him in several character roles and demi-character roles over the years, there's no better than he. Saw his Sancho Panza Tuesday night - same kudos as for his Gamanche last night. In Tuesdays "Vasipova" performance, right from the starting scene, behind the scrim with Don Q, Julio showed us what he can do with a miming opportunity. The Don hands him his rod and Julio, as Sancho Panza, makes us feel the weight of it as he struggles to put it down, much like a weightlifter lowers his barbells. Handing it back to Don Quixote as they prepare to continue their journey, Don Q takes the rod as if it was as light as bamboo. Arron Scott as lead gypsy: powerful and technically brilliant! What a joy! I loved the special nuances and gestures Isabella and Daniil developed that were particular to them. As he lay 'dead' one of the bits he added I'd never seen anyone do: in addition to the quick buss on the lips, he stretched his arms up and fondled her breasts from his prone position! So cute! Of course, let it be known, I'm in Isabella's corner from the get-go, but even if I weren't, I'd deem this a fantastic performance on her part. Great U.S. debut! I wish I could've also seen Isabella perform it with Whiteside as they did in Barcelona.

Thank you for this. It was great to see Osipova's long balance that people were talking about. I saw Osipova and Vasiliev Tuesday and seeing Saturday's Grand Pas de Deux, etc. to compare to last night's performance is just wonderful.

We had a thread in 2006 about the Benois. I contributed to it several times with information I got from a judge (who happened to be my daughter's ballet teacher) who nominated (and fought for) Lucia Lacarra in 2003 (she won). In one of my posts I give the step-by-step judging procedure she explained to me. If you're interested, scroll through the entire 3 pages on the topic and read many pertinent posts. I can't speak as to today's Benois and whether anything has changed since 2006, but knowing the criteria for choosing winners back then is quite elucidating. http://balletalert.i...rova-sarafanov/ My play-by-play post is #13 in the thread. In post #22 I wrote about the background of the Prize - interesting to know.

I've just finished reading this thread and watching the videos embedded in it and am very bothered that someone has made such an effort to produce a compilation video of Skorik's flubs. I think it's just plain cruel, no matter the reason or the impassioned discourse surrounding the post with the video.

I agree. Matvienko is an exciting dancer!

I had a crush on John Kriza, too. Could have been my first crush, as well. Also, at that time, I crushed on Jacques d'Amboise over at NYCB. Ballet crushes are the best! The Capezio calendars handed out to us when we bought ballet slippers or dancewear in the 1950s were a wonderful source of pictures of our favorite dancers to hang on our bedroom walls.

NYCB has presented Nutcracker every year since 1954. I grew up on their Nutcracker and continued the tradition by taking my own children to see it whenever I could (I've lived in Canada since 1972, so it couldn't be every Christmas as before). NYCB presented only Act II of Swan Lake which they had on their program fairly frequently. My guess is that you saw City Ballet at the State Theater in Lincoln Center. The company moved there in 1964 from City Center.

Reading your first two sentences, angelica, I had to check to make sure I had not written them! That's precisely my answer to the topic.

I am happy to say I have this record.

From the picture at the link below it looks like Row W. http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Metropolitan_Opera_auditorium.jpg

Paul, I don't "like" that hot dog recipe at all! I agree with Helene - yuck! I simply replied to your query. Although I've read a lot of the cook book, intently imagining preparing its recipes for decades, and despite the fact that I own more than 20 copies of it, I have never cooked anything from it. I do cook every day and even run an Estonian cooking group, but my list of dishes is pretty routine. I'm constantly clipping recipes from newspapers and magazines and printing out recipes from the internet, and have fully intended to cook something from Le Clercq's book, but wonder if I ever will? Here is a delightful blog entry, with photos of the food and assemblage (plus a video of Le Clercq and Jacques d'Amboise dancing Western Symphony), about one dinner arranged by "The Ballet Cook Book Dinner Series", which meets to cook and eat the recipes from LeClercq's book. http://rpwenzel.com/...quil-le-clercq/

Patricia McBride's Frankfurter Salad SALAD 10 uncooked frankfurters, diced ½ head lettuce, in bite size pieces 1 onion, chopped DRESSING 2 tbs. mayonnaise 1/3 cup vinegar ¾ cup oil ½ tsp. sugar Salt and pepper to taste Place frankfurters, lettuce, and onion in salad bowl; toss well. Combine vinegar with mayonnaise until smooth; add oil gradually, beating with fork. Mix in sugar, salt and pepper to taste. Pour dressing over the salad and toss until well combined. Serves 4-5.

Nope, no luck getting in.

I think I understand what angelica means by going to see the dancers, not the ballet. I always search for a ticket that I can afford that is as close to the stage as possible (without losing the feet), too. I LOVE to watch a dancer intensely. Of course, I love the music of the ballet, especially if it's Minkus or any of my other favourites, but I care little whether I see the "tableau" at all - not if I have to sacrifice seeing a dancer's every movement and expression up close. The decor and costumes also take a back seat to seeing the dancer - for me. I'm sorry, mimsyb, that you can't conceive of this, but there are a lot of us who go just for the dancer!

As far as glass in pointe shoes is concerned, this is not only not new but not confined to the Boshoi. It happened at the Kirov/Maryinsky too, and probably at many other companies. My daughter's ballet teacher (Kirov-trained) told me about it nearly 20 years ago. Bits of glass and pins were both popular items to put in a rival's pointe shoes.