tango49

Mom1...Just checked about the gala tickets and it does seem that there are few left! Ofcourse I would keep checking for the next few weeks as they do seem to release more tickets to the public as it gets closer to the event and maybe you'll get lucky by calling just at the right time! Tango

Mom 1...Yes Fernando is dancing in a piece from 'Phantom of the Opera' and despite his age he has kept his slim physique and can still do some pretty bravura dancing steps. Last season in our Nutty Nutcracker he was a hoot in the "Thriller" spoof during the party scene! ~~I don't know if it is sold out yet but I can certainly check for you. Tango

A Mom...Unfortunately I wasn't able to see this years Nutcracker but have talked with many who did. Katia Garza danced a superb Suger Plum and Dew Drop and has been an Orlando favorite with many audience members. After seeing her as Kitri in Fernando Bujones' Don Q. I can certainly understand why. I've seen Beth Parks emerge over the years and I've loved her in every role she's done. I was told her endless balances coupled with her beautiful long-legged extentions took the breath away from several audience members. I'm sure there were other stand-outs as well and I'm sorry I couldn't report more! I hope to attend their 30th Anniversay Gala in March. Katia will dance the Pas from Don Q. (worth it just for that alone) and Rasta Thomas and Angel Corella will also be dancing as guests. It should be an exciting evening for sure!

Thanks Mel for your answer. Yes I was wondering if the second was part of the coda...yet still a full male variation. From your description "out of yourself" it sounds pretty strenuous...I suppose it's a great part to have but a most difficult one to perform! Yes I can see how those longer bows could do the trick...hope the audience is a good one in this respect! Thanks again.

Over the years I've seen only a few Giselle performances but really never noticed whether there were two male variations in the Peasant Pas. The very last one I saw didn't even have one and the music for the Peasant Pas was turned into a Pas de Six mainly I believe for the company male dancers to show some of their virtuosity and to feature some female soloists as well. It was well done and very enjoyable. My son is performing Peasant on Sunday and the only problem he's come across is difficulty with his stamina. He has two variations with about 50 sec (girls variation) between them and wonder if this is the norm for that Pas generally speaking? To go off stage to catch a breath seems to break the whole interaction between the two dancers. Has anyone danced this...he's really never had a stamina problem but then again he hasn't done a whole lot of full Pas recently either! Any info on this I'd be anxious to hear about...Thanks! Tango

How very interesting! This sounds wonderful and something that I hope will expand in the future to include many more students. It sounds so similar to Studio Co. itself except that they call it a school where they train in their 'style' which is part of what Studio Co. does as well. I suppose the only difference is that they might not tour and perform as Studio Co. does and ofcourse the parents must pay the tuition!

Concerning the height issue...I have a video tape of Murphy and Stiefel dancing Le Corsaire Pas and Carbo is right that she is a tad 'shorter' then him on pointe (when he's standing without a plie). They danced beautifully together!

:rolleyes: As I was gazing at the Royal Academy of Dancing site I couldn't help but notice a Barbie of Swan Lake competition! No not a dancing competition but a 'writing' one. The winner for the best 'review' recieves a Barbie of Swan Lake doll! Also on the site is a short flash to view. This is sure catching on at the most unlikely places

Yes, the 1972 National Ballet of Canada production is the one I have. The ballerina is Veronica Tennant. Karin Kain and Frank Augustyn dance the Bluebird variation. Wonderful closeups of Nureyev dancing some solo pieces. I also enjoyed 'I Am A Dancer' but would recommend the one with Veronica Tennant. Tango

I agree that an unexpected balance can be quite thrilling for the performer as well as the audience. I can remember watching the 'Wild Men of ABT'...the sequence with Carreno and his cousin doing Black Swan where she hops backwards in arabesque on pointe...then she does a sort of penche to add to the affect...to me that was overkill and destroyed the moment for those few seconds. Ofcourse the audience went wild and rightfully so considering their passion for ballet in Cuba. Kind of like in the movie "Shall we Dance" with Astaire and Harriot Hoctor...the freakish backbend...uggh. Even Ginger hated that one. Jose's cousin was a beauty in all respects though and I loved her presence and attack...just that one penche I could have done without!

I know in our small ballet company here in the south the lack of coaching during the season has been a gripe of some of the dancers. For the most part the steps are given and then they are left on their own to watch videos and squeeze out private rehearsal time for themselves apart from the company rehearsals ...these are dancers with lead roles often in classic ballets like Giselle and Swan Lake! The only coaching I was ever aware of was when a teacher/dancer entered a ballet competition or when a promising student wanted to suppliment their classes. I too wonder if this is the norm for a company, I'd hate to think it is. I thought this would be part of the job of a ballet mistress/AD to help with coaching these often difficult principal roles?

Yes, very timely indeed and thanks for the update on the farewell tour. I usually start my day with 'Links' and a cup of coffee and they both are quite addicting! ~ Tango~

Alexandra...Yes I found the article and so sorry for this post. I'm still perplexed at why I heard this on our member supported radio station this morning as the report ended with concern and sadness for the ballet co. and it's dancers and that Forsythe will undoubtedly find another position. Really need to keep up with the European Companies!

I just heard on the radio this morning that Frankfurt Ballet is folding...has anyone heard this? Please forgive me if this is false info as I heard only the end of a news report...Anyone?

Arak...I remember taking class often from Mr. Carow at the New Jersey school of ballet...an excellent teacher! I know he taught there for a very long time and was quite respected. Wish I could tell you more... but would love to know how he is doing! Tango

Alexandria and Leigh...Thanks for the threads! After reading some of the words used to describe this ballet, "lurid turmoil" and not to mention the "levitating head" I would surely buy a ticket just to see what it's all about. Leave it to the russians to create a ballet so controversial. Yes ...no mushy middle in any of these descriptions! I hope I get to see it too Alexandria! Tango

rg...Thankyou so much for such a complete description of this ballet. I had some time after my origional post and did find one of the Boris Eifman sites that delt with 'La Giselle Rouge' where I learned the story line and the very sad story of Olga Spessivtseva. Interesting though to read all the composers who Eifman used for this major work and the other details mentioned in your post. The ballet was created for his company and made its first appearance at the Marinsky Theatre in 1997 and later at the Bolshoi and then City Center in N.Y. in 1998. The ballet sounds very dark yet very intriguing and I would love to know any general impressions of this work if anyone saw this at City Center. There are no comparisons to this in any way to the ballet I mentioned earlier,'My Giselle'. Tango

Hello...I've always loved the ballet Giselle and over the years have developed a real passion for it. I read somewhere about Eifman's ballet called 'Red Giselle' and would love to know more about it...music, storyline, type of choreography. Here in central Florida one of our choreographers did a piece called 'My Giselle' which was spellbinding to music by Chopin and I wonder if there were any similarities. Would love any info on this ballet called 'Red Giselle'. Thanks!

Below is a link to a review of the N.Y.C. ABT Summer Intensive Performance (4:00)... for those who might be interested and who attended that show as no one seems to have reviewed the 4:00 show as yet. Review

Well we're back from N.Y. with Visa in hand and it was a painless experience :sweating: Because I had all the neccesary papers the whole process took less than 45 min. Queueing time was about 15-20 min. but only because we arrived there about 8:15 AM(before the crowd started piling in). They say that it opens at 9:00AM but in reality after a short wait downstairs they let you go upstairs by 8:30 and open their windows about the same time. My son did not need to be there for us to get his visa (a worry)as long as we had his passport and ALL of the documents they requested. You might have to go and come back an hour or two as they process everything (we only had a 10 min. wait) but you get your visa 'same day' as they say. Most visas are done by mail which can take 5 weeks or more depending on any problems arising. SNEDS...sorry of your problems at the visa office and hope you won't experience any more when you get to Europe Tango

Recently on a local T.V. special the news anchor was speaking with Fernando Bujones. She was talking to him for a about a minute and when she introduced him to the viewers she introduced him as Fernando Boo Whoo? nis ...with a very long Boo Whoonis at that. It was live and there was nothing he could do but . :angry: :angry: :angry:

Thankyou Alexandra for the definition! We are trying to get our application in as quickly as possible and in the safest manner. The walk-in does seem the safest way to go as opposed to mail delivery (5 wk. wait). I don't like the idea of mailing his passport along with the application...too many what ifs involved! I hope when we get to N.Y. we don't run into any problems. :sweating: Hopefully I will post when we get back just how easy it was...queueing and all!

Yes...a great mystery indeed! My memories go back YEARS ago when I was buying single seat tickets to the Royal at the Met. It was so frustrating not to know who would be dancing until it was posted in the New York Times a few days prior and can still remember the anticipation and excitement afterwards when I would read Nureyev was dancing Did try to figure out a casting schedule (mostly for him) over the years of their visits to N.Y. but alas he always popped up on the most unlikely days (wed., thurs.) and ofcourse some fri. and sat. evenings as well. In Nuryev's case I think because he danced so much he seemed to be everywhere! I do think the 'partying' issue could have played a role as well!

Thankyou JaneD! There is no emergency as yet as our plans now are to do a 'walkin' visa application when we go to N.Y. in a few weeks. They say it is most likely sameday service and I'm banking on that! May I ask what exactly does QUEUEING mean...never heard that before? Tango

This is off the subject slightly but let me add another variation to this scenerio through our personal experiences. Last season my son was given both an apprenticeship (non paying) AND they also used him as a last year student with the obligations of rehearsals. performances (which were many). We didn't realize how much pressure this would be on him when we accepted since we didn't know how much they would use him as an apprentice. O.K we thought this is good experience before he went professional. It turned out to be a difficult and exhausting year as he was dancing twice as much as the professionals (even they felt badly for him) often learning soloist roles as well as corp with choreography that was difficult to put it mildly. Yes the experience was invaluable but the looming factor was how much can he handle without getting injured. One of the major problems was that while he was in school he would miss company class and reheasals for the professional company were scheduled during HIS ballet classes so he would also miss those classes as well. He ended up going into rehearsals with just a warm-up. If they would have offered him even a small stipend during this time it would have been appreciated. He danced one major role (which he did as a favor) with another studio after the season was over and he was surprised at the $250 that they gave him! The professional Company needed him and he wanted the experience but in hindsight we should have made the choice between the Company OR the school not both.