altongrimes

I have recently acquired an enormous curiosity and excitement for Pacific Northwest Ballet. Discovering their thread under the "U.S. Companies" section on Ballet Alert, I am overflowing with gratitude to all of those members who contributed there. The creative synergy created by all of you is truly astounding. I just had to say "thank you". Your remarks are a great treasure to me.

Thank you very much for the information! Sorry not to say so in a more timely fashion.

I find the following brief quote regarding Sergei Polunin so poignant and memorable that I feel compelled to share it on Ballet Alert: "Among the staff on the audition panel was Tatiana Mihailovna Martynena. 'Usually in the third round when the children improvise a piece, you will see very simple things, but when Sergei (Polunin) began dancing to a Pavarotti aria, it was something truly outstanding. He had an extraordinary feeling for music and such rare natural coordination. It was the first time I'd ever seen a boy with such gifts and I had tears in my eyes as I watched him' ".

Thank you, Helene !!!

A company with whom I am completely unfamiliar is coming to my hometown within a handful of days: Ballet B C. YouTube videos of them would seem to reveal a very talented and innovative contemporary dance troup. I wonder if anyone out there in Ballet Alert has experienced this company?

In a rather unique way, I am reminded of those superb artists, those magnificent dancers whom we hold in such high esteem and who regularly grace the great stages of the world with their superlative power and impeccable technique. In that respect their gifts are obvious. Less apparent, however, are those dancers and choreographers who are also gifted to share - whether in writing or interview - from their great reservoirs of personal experience, who also make the art form "live" by the very words of their mouth as perhaps few can. For example, I will always treasure the Paris Opera Ballet " bits" documetaries in which Manuel Legris effuses about the Russian ballerinas arriving at the Paris Opera and how that they are so instantly recognizable. O, how I clung to his every word ! I didn't want him to stop. His words were fraught with such intensity, experience and passion for the art form as he spoke from a vantage point to which only a select few have access. I then began to identify other "voices" within the dance community who have also affected me in the same manner. Elisabeth Platel and Laurent Hilaire - from the same POB documentary - came to mind. I will never forget the power of their dialogue concerning Nureyev. How they seemed the very voice and face (beautiful Elisabeth Platel) of the Paris Opera. The consummate ambassadors for the glorious Paris Opera ! Like some dam that had been waiting to burst, the most fascinating stories flowed forth from them in conversations where their very words appeared to stand up and reveal the art form to a depth I never knew existed. I would also make mention of Ursula Hageli from The Royal Ballet and Ashley Wheater from The Joffrey as possessing that same facility. I can only imagine all of those other dance "voices" out there just waiting to be discovered !

Judith Booth posted the video to which I make reference. She has some ability to ferret out some of the significantly older videos and post them. But after having viewed the Isabelle Guerin, Laurent Hilaire pairing, I share your enthusiasm, as well ! I have never experienced this live: I can only imagine myself transfixed at such an opportunity. This Le Parc ! This supreme articulation of intimacy and repose lovingly caressed by a Mozart blissfully emanating from the other side of the the veil. 

 Through this shouting match that surrounds me, I hasten to find refuge and manage to do so in a 1999 Le Parc video featuring Laurent Hilaire and the beautiful Elisabeth Maurin. And O for the glorious music that so elegantly underpins this treatise on intimacy: Mozart, Piano Concerto #23 (K488) 2nd movement. How utterly antithetical to the spirit of this age.

Through the fog of the holidays, I found the following:

"Airfare Alert: New York/LA to Russia, Dubai and Elsewhere from $289 Roundtrip.   ViaFly4Free Sky Team member Aeroflot is selling New York and Los Angeles itineraries from as little as $294 roundtrip to Moscow ....Fares are also available to St. Petersburg ($289)....

Upon further reflection with regard to the above pressing dilemma concerning the Swarovski Tutu , I believe that I have finally arrived at the correct answer to my question. That is: "Alton, the showgirls are in Vegas !" (: 

Thank you, Drew! What a treasure is your reply ! I didn't realize that Yulia Stepanova may be at the festival, as well. Wow ! Just thinking about the confluence of these great companies has me singing: " Up, up and away in my beautiful balloon" and reflecting upon a little something I wrote recently.

"Oh, how I have come to delight in the countless facets of dance in live performance. From the two little angel faced girls having their photograph taken by their warm and effusive parents somewhere in a loge to the delightful woman sitting next to me at the Dorothy Chandler Pavillion (who, it turns out had danced for Ballanchine - glory ! ) to the arresting brilliance of Richard Hudson's costumes on display in a Mariinsky Raymonda (why they threatened to steal the show ! ) I return from many a production awash in the subtle genius that made it's appearance on a stage, in an audience, somewhere through a lobby, out of a Manhattan bus window. In a face, in a mere few words exchanged, in watching Osipova transform THE DREAM..."

It would seem a foregone conclusion that most members on this wonderful Ballet Alert are infinitely more acquainted with the art form than I. Reading the expert and fascinating comments on this particular thread has more than underscored that assumption. Therefore, it is with great carefulness that I venture a comment. Only to say that after having perused so many erudite points of view concerning the Lincoln Center festival of Summer, 2017 - "to attend or not to attend, that is the question" - I realize that I have never once experienced the Bolshoi or the Paris Opera live. O how glorious for me  just to be there.! Surely that formidable legacy - that very aroma - of those great companies would infuse even the very air that I would breathe. Even if the event appears not to hold the promise of "the perfect storm", my heart and mind would be ablaze with wonder. Why, I might even catch a glimpse of Ana Turazashvili or Olga Smirnova (I call her the Evening Star) at the backstage door ! After all, these are my heroes !

O for the joy of this magnificent art form ! Thank you, Helene !

 Of my numerous ballet pilgrimages during the last several years , I marvel that as I approach my final destination: reasonably close to front and center at The David Koch or somewhere in the superbly designed Terrace at the Segerstrom that I invariably make the transformation from adult to the boy I used to know . How my heart and mind catch fire with the wonder that surrounds me ! Suddenly, every negative memory from a love lost to a bad boss evaporates into thin air and I am born again ! For I know that I have come to "The Mountain", indeed, a mountain top of artistic achievement and once again, I am "at play in the fields of the Lord ". 

I meant to thank you for your response ! I can only imagine the creative wonder that your eyes have beheld on stages that only a few of us have been able to experience ! 

Sorry to be so late in expressing my thank you to "pherank" and "sandik" for your truly fascinating replies. There is such a treasure to be discovered through the Senior Members ! Such a wealth of experience there. I will study your thoughts and video recommendation very carefully. Excited to receive your postings... you have made my day !

 Recently, I encountered a photograph with the title: "The Swarovski Tutu". The designer is Yann Seabra. I am wondering what to think of this decidedly economical incarnation of it's more expansive original? Do I like it merely because it affords the man in me a better view of some of the most beautiful legs in the world or is it rather a legitimate step forward toward creating an even more pleasing line for the ballerina? 

Thank you both for your thoughtful replies. I found the thread to which you are referring and appreciate the various postings issuing forth in such lively fashion. 

Living a relatively a frugal lifestyle as I do, and just hearing the news concerning the arrival of The Bolshoi, The Paris Opera and NYCB at Lincoln Center in the Summer of 2017, I am perplexed. For some time, I have had my creative sights set on experiencing San Francisco Ballet for the first time. I live reasonably close. But my question to anyone who would care to answer is: Isn't the opportunity to see these three great companies perform Balanchine on the same stage for three successive days at The David Koch, a once in a lifetime experience and one that should not to be missed? If so, I could immediately begin setting aside the proper finances.

P..S.  I have no doubt as to the wonders of San Francisco Ballet. 

I believe that Natalie Kusch just danced her last performance with Australian Ballet. I wonder if anyone might know with what company she will be dancing next?

Well, it has become increasingly apparent that my initial premise

is far more open to correction than I had any idea.

I am always learning !

I realize that my initial thought was a mere generalization and that as such, there would be exceptions. Thank you !

Wonderful reply. So appreciate your response ! 

 I find it remarkable that as highly trained as dancers are, that they are also highly driven to perform. That in a very real sense, they without us, an actively participating and hopefully passionate audience, are not made complete. It is both humbling and exciting to realize that their superlative gift is, in fact, precisely that, a gift to us all and that they are therefore driven to bring that gift to us. In an interview, Diana Vishneva was candid to admit that she has sometimes felt like quiting her craft due to the rigors of the way but quickly recaptures her commitment to the art form upon experiencing the effusive and poignant reactions of her audience.

Thank you very much !