its the mom

Yes, they normally do send someone if there is nobody on staff qualified to teach and rehearse it. I wonder the same thing about the dancers - cannot imagine the aesthetic of it all.

Less and less of a Balanchine influence ...

http://benois.theatre.ru/english/massmedia/news/

Don't know much about this company, but I saw this today: http://www.reviewjournal.com/entertainment/arts-culture/nevada-ballet-theatre-artistic-director-james-canfield-stepping-down

That's a good question. I do not know the answer, but I do know the Boston Ballet audience is supportive of both classical, neoclassical and contemporary works. The first weekend of Forsythe's Artifact was sold decently, but the second weekend, the curtain had to be held for 20 minutes for two of the shows (Saturday night and Sunday afternoon) in order to accommodate people buying tickets at the box office. I think it takes a great deal of "educating" the audience, and Nissinen has done a pretty good job of that. I would also point to Peter Boal at PNB. Not sure what their ticket sales are for contemporary works, but I would venture to say the audience in Seattle supports all of PNB's works. My concern for PA Ballet next year is the size of the company to support works like Jewels, T&V and the big classical ballets like Sleeping Beauty. I am just not sure they have the numbers necessary, and if they end up using trainees from the school as fill-ins, it begins to compromise the quality of the shows.

I cannot imagine it.

P.S. I was stunned at the amount of people who got up and left at intermission on Friday night. I was speaking to one of the theatre attendants and she said that people left on opening night also, at the pause and at intermission. It is sad they did not wait it out for the superb dancing in the latter part of the ballet.

JumpFrog - I agree with everything you have said. I feel as though it is difficult to express the experience of watching this work. I attended two performances this past weekend - Friday evening and Saturday afternoon. To be honest, during the first showing, I was somewhat puzzled and actually found some of the work a bit pretentious. I wanted to see the dancers, I tired of the megaphone man and the lady in the dress (I don't have my program in front of me, so I forget what she is officially called). I found the curtain dropping in the second movement very annoying. I was also having difficulty hearing what megaphone man was saying, so this was disappointing. Since there were no program notes, it is difficult in one viewing to understand. I enjoyed the dancing sections, which, of course, are very "Forsythian." I had the opportunity to speak to several of the dancers and picked their brains a bit about what was happening, which helped a bit. I also tried to read summaries from different places. This comment from Forsythe helped, "The language in 'Artifact,' he said, is the language of ballet terminology. 'En dehors, en dedans, the outside, the inside, remembering, forgetting; it’s what we say in class and rehearsal every day.'” (NY Times) However, I don't know if it was a good night's sleep after traveling to Boston, a new attitude or what. But, upon second viewing, I was stunned. I will say that I could hear megaphone man better. The whole ballet came alive, the dancing seemed even crisper than the night before, I heard the music as if I had not heard it before. The curtain dropping in the second movement, I suddenly found very musical. The men's sections of the ballet are amazing. I also found out that the third movement is totally new, and that whole sequence with the men and women on separate sides of the stage counting, talking, clapping, slapping, etc. was learned only a few days prior to opening. It was also amazing to see Forsythe in the audience actually calling some of the show. I was told that during the third movement, he was actually in control of how long the dancers clapped, snapped, counted, etc. The booms in between each section were being called by him in the audience. Additionally, what most people don't realize is that the gray woman is mostly improvisation through the whole ballet, and when she leads the sections with the dancers, they must follow her. I have to give the Boston dancers kudos for embracing this work so amazingly. I liked it so much the second time around, I am going back for a third this weekend.

Yes, they announced last year that there would be a five-year partnership with Forsythe. https://www.bostonballet.org/BostonBallet/media/Press-Room/2015-2016 General/2015-16_BostonBallet_ForsythePartnershipAnnouncement_FINAL.pdf This is a pretty ambitious season for this company. Although the run of Sleeping Beauty is only one week, it overlaps with the Balanchine program, which overlaps with the Bournonville program. Unless he is planning on expanding the company, this could prove a challenge for the dancers. Very excited for more McGregor!

Thanks for all of your reviews, Kaysta. Good to know that the company is working on its future, or so it seems. I agree about Shevchenko, but I believe she is becoming a warmer dancer. She, along with Devon, Skylar and Cassie are the future, and that is a lot about which to be excited. Cirio has danced Siegfried in Boston with Kuranaga, and received great reviews. And, I agree, it doesn't get much better than Gomes and Cornejo as partners. Thanks for keeping us posted.

Was it odd because they were just rehearsing different casts?

It's been sold out for several days. I checked on Monday.

sf_herminator - This is not Pennsylvania Ballet. Pennsylvania Ballet should be so blessed. This is a school very close to the area where Vanessa grew up.

I have never had too many problems with the orchestra. I prefer center orchestra when I can get it. If I would choose a seat upstairs, it would be the dress circle. The problem for the first row of the mezzanine is that the railing is sometimes problematic depending on your height.

http://www.paballetacademy.org/meet-us

Betsy McBride

" In posts on Facebook and Instagram, Murawski said she was told Friday, backstage before performing the Arabian variation, that she was too tall to dance the roles planned for the 2017-18 season and that the company could not afford to keep her." Telling her right before she went on stage? That is the lowest of lows.

So, it appears to basically be a quick shoulder sit and then up. Additionally, the walk is much shorter than Ratmansky's.

I spoke to a couple of the principals and they said that the couples could choose either way: the flying leap lift or the dead lift. They said that the flying leap lift is obviously easier in terms of getting the girl up, but it can also be a little hairy if it doesn't come out just right.

There are plenty of men who are good partners. If it was choreographed with the jump, they could do it.

That jump would certainly help the men!

Yes, I agree. In my opinion it's the choreography, not the coaching. You can see it below at the 3:50 forward mark. And that is pretty much a dead lift for the men. The whole pas de deux is so packed with choreography and so difficult that it is not enjoyable to watch. (Again, my opinion.) I am also not a huge fan of the grand pas couple having to do the Snow Pas (I know it is part of the story in those versions). However, I enjoy watching a separate couple. It has been fun seeing some of the instagrams of the dancers: https://www.instagram.com/p/BN7SEcQhZr8/?taken-by=jamesbwhiteside https://www.instagram.com/p/BOEO3zhggzQ/?taken-by=stellaabreradetsky https://www.instagram.com/p/BOBKEZgB0jB/?taken-by=isabellaboylston https://www.instagram.com/p/BOHGxWdDntd/?taken-by=sarahlaneps103

pherank: If you go to any of those shows, please post about them. I have known Julia for a very long time. She is quite a musical and expressive dancer (her parents are musicians, so it must be in her blood). She also has impeccable technique. As far as Mateer goes, I can honestly say that I miss her at PA Ballet. She has beautiful technique as well, and a real warmth when she dances ... a very generous dancer. Both are young, so I am looking forward to hearing about their progression.

The biggest problem with ABT's Nutcracker is their lack of time in rehearsal. They have a full month of lay-off after their fall rep program. They did not come back to start rehearsing Nutcracker until November 29. This basically gave them one week to rehearse the show prior to leaving for Orange County. This is just not enough time to put this show up and to do it well. Additionally, while many of them have performed their roles before and have that advantage, there are new people who must be inserted into the corps.

http://tickets.broadwaycares.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=donorDrive.event&eventID=515