its the mom

Amy, I don't think that's formally been announced yet.

Hey Christian: Tried to PM you, but don't know if you got it. Just wanted to ask if you saw Joseph Gatti dance. He's one of this family's all-time favorites. Also, just to mention, you never have to worry about Adi falling. She is an amazing dancer, and just when it seems that she can't do more, she does. Surprised that she would travel in her fouettes. She can usually turn on a dime, so to speak. They are both audience favorites wherever they go. Thanks for keeping us posted.

mmded, just out of curiousity, did you get to see Iana Salenko or Marian Walter dance in the Berlin Nutcracker? I have seen them several times and she has always struck me as so beautiful and I think he is really starting to grow into a beautiful dancer.

If you go to the website and click on Press, you will get the list of finalists. I believe there are three evenings of final round, and the gala and awards ceremony is Tuesday. DS has some friends there so we have been checking.

DITTO!!!

The only thing I can say is I wish you all had seen Larissa Ponamarenko do Giselle. Her Giselle takes my breath away. Then again, everything she does has the same effect on me.

cierra19 - I just want to make a comment because you are new to the boards. Memo was just trying to give all of us who could not be there at YAGP this year some information about the YAGP Gala. If you will look at Memo's posts in the past, you will realize that she is not only a ballet teacher, but has a very talented son in the ballet world. She is very sensitive to the fact that many of us are the parents of children involved at YAGP or who have been involved at YAGP. She is one of the opinions we respect here on BT. I know that she means no harm to anyone and she is just stating an opinion. She has a high regard for YAGP, Larissa and other dancers. So, welcome to BT. You should take some time and look around. You'll get to know the people here and you'll know that most of the members here are just looking for a place for information, for help, to share their love of ballet, and to have a safe dialogue about ballet issues.

Having been to the first three performances of this ballet and having read Theodore Bale's review, I must post out of respect for this company. This is a must-see for the Boston community. I don't know what Bale was watching, but I felt the company was at their best. All three casts were stunning. Sandra Jennings did a SUPERB job in staging this ballet and bringing out the best in each dancer. All three Titanias - Lorna Fejoo, Karine Seneca and Tai Jimenez brought a different dimension to the role. Gloria Govrin was able to coach the three girls who played Hippolyta, which was evident in their dancing. There were three different sets of lovers, again all bringing something wonderful and unique to the parts. The children were well-rehearsed and adorable. The audience reactions have been outstanding. The absolute high point for me was Larissa Ponomarenko in the second act pas de deux on opening night. But what is so wonderful is that Nissinen is creating a company with depth, with soloists, second soloists and corps members able to dance big roles. What a privilege to have Balanchine's choreography of this story, and I salute Mikko Nissinen and Sandra Jennings for their great work.

Any word on who made it through to the second round. Mouse, we are hoping the best for your son and his partner!!!

Helene, I believe his father choreographed Fallen Angel, as well as the piece he performed last night.

AmaG520: I am in agreement about Simkin's piece. He brought the house down with his piece tonight. I can't do the piece justice in words. All I can say is that he came out on stage dressed in a unitard with bird feathers. His piece was humorous without being campy. It had everything in it and the ending was a hoot. He turned his back to the audience and sort of squatted and bounced up and down. We thought it was the end of the piece, but he turned around and in his hand was a blown-up balloon representing a bird egg. This young man is a true artist, and I don't think there are many dancers who could have carried that piece off the way he did. My DS said that this piece was the highlight of Jackson for him so far. As for the rest of the evening, I personally didn't like many of the pieces. I felt that many of the competitors did not dance true contemporary choreography. I liked Misa Kuranaga and Daniel Sarabia's piece choreographed by Viktor Plotnikov and the piece done by junior male Hiroya Fukuda. Again, the judges have their work cut out for them.

I have watched several of the sessions of Round I. I have also seen some really beautiful ballet. One of the concerns I have, however, is something I have noticed mostly in the junior boys round. Variations are being changed for the sake of tricks and we seem to be losing the "flavor" of the variation. Also, I have a question about Paquita that maybe someone can help me with. I have never seen the Paquita male variation danced as if it was the Don Q, i.e., a very Spanish, bull-fighter type dance. Maybe Mel can help me with this one. I felt as if the junior boys were disappointed to not have Don Q on their rep list, and used Paquita as the substitute. Anyone else have any thoughts on this?

Joesph Gatti and Brooklyn Mack are seniors, no?

Actually, I would vote for the Cinderella. Boston recently did Kudelka's production, and the matinees were filled with children, who actually enjoyed the ballet. While agree, it is a bit different than the traditional fairy tale, it is funny and has beautiful sets and costumes. Lots to keep a child interested. Cinderella arrives to the ball in a pumpkin that drops from the ceiling, and it is amazing. Stepsisters are a real hoot. Choreography was very difficult, but entertaining. I really enjoyed it.

I saw four of the six shows this past weekend. My impressions were pretty much the same as everyone else's. Costumes and sets were beautiful, reminiscent of the 20's. Kudelka says he doesn't want to come out and say the ballet was set in the 20's, but he alludes to that fact. Each pair of stepsisters were different - Atkins and Hough, Wakelin and Myers, and Combes and Ostergren. Atkins evil stepsister was probably the most evil, while Combes reminded me somewhat of an evil Lucille Ball. She was hysterical. The "other" stepsisters were all equally funny. While I wasn't sure why the stepmother had to be an alcoholic, Jen Glaze was very effective in the part. She has really done some great character work at BB. My complaints would be the overcrowdedness of the first and second acts. The ballroom scene was quite hectic and it was hard to see all that was happening. I sat in different parts of the theatre for each show, but still came away feeling the same. I, too, was a bit disappointed by Cinderella's dress, especially after she arrives in the pumpkin from the sky and steps out in her Hollywood glamour girl cover-up. I suppose Kudelka was trying to show huge contrasts between her and the rest of the ballroom group, who were obviously "sophisticated snobs." Kudelka talked alot about the transformation of Cinderella and the prince. I guess I saw her transformation, but I really didn't think the role of the prince was developed enough. He appears at the ball, dances with Cinderella, and then goes on this fantastic journey all over the world with his officers to find the girl who fits the shoe. I don't understand what Kudelka meant by the prince being transformed. It didn't happen for me. I will say I enjoyed the third act "around the world journey." We got to see some fine male dancing, and it was all very light-hearted and fun (except for the one-legged girl, which I didn't understand). I would have to say that I am in awe of any girl who dances this ballet. Kudelka's choreography barely allows them to come off pointe. Stepsisters, garden creatures, ballroom dancers, and fairies (except for fall fairy) are en pointe much of the time. Their feet had to have been aching. In addition, the pas had some very intricate lifts in which Cinderella had to be fearless and the prince needed to be very strong. My son leaned over to me at one point during the pas and said, "Boy, I really need to be doing more push-ups." As far as casting goes, I enjoyed each Cinderella/Prince pairing - Ponomarenko/Rykine; Beppu/Madrigal and Fejoo/Molina. Beppu and Madrigal were the most innocent of couples; Fejoo and Molina probably had the most electricity. Larissa Ponomarenko is probably the best actress out of all of them - so delicate and thoughtful in every movement. She is probably the ultimate ballerina for me.

Bart - Is the schedule for the Miami Dance Festival posted somewhere? I've checked their website and did not see anything.

Thanks, Helene. My son is interested in seeing anything with Acosta in it.

Does anyone know if this documentary is available on video or DVD? Thanks.

Natalia - From what I understand, dancers must have permission from Alicia Alonso to leave the company to be able to "straddle" both worlds. For example, Lorna can come and go as she pleases, but as I have read in numerous articles, Lorena does not have such ability, as she left Cuba without permission. Rolando is just getting back from an injury. I saw him dance last week in Florida, as he took class with my son at the summer program my son was attending with Magaly Suarez, better known to Cubans as "Mamicha". "Sarabita" is still amazing, even though he is just getting back. My son was in awe, as most everyone was. Our jaws dropped when he casually threw off ten pirouettes. My hope is that he will dance for Boston Ballet, as I will get to see him on my regular trips to that city.

BalletGirl: Let's just hope that Rolando gets to dance with Boston. My son was at a summer program in Pompano Beach at the Art of Classical Ballet with Magaly Suarez. Magaly is a former teacher at the Cuban National Ballet. We got the news that Rolando had defected just hours after he had walked across the border. It was a very exciting time, especially when Rolando came to visit and say hello to Magaly on his way to visit brother, Danny. He took class and ended up helping the boys afterwards for awhile. He also watched rehearsals and made some corrections. Rolando is just getting back after an injury, but even so, watching him in class was amazing. I have never seen such beautiful pirouettes in my life. Boston would be lucky to have him.

Annemd - DD didn't go to CPYB until she was older (14). She trained at a small school outside of Philadelphia. DD was very lucky in that Marcia loved her and used her alot. She stayed at CPYB for three years before going on to Boston Ballet. It truly was a beautiful Stars show. Abi did dance. She danced Harlequinade pas.

Leigh - Bouder danced the pas from Donizetti Variations. I think Justdoit meant that her pas de chats looked somewhat out of place in such a beautiful, lyrical piece. There is no doubt that she is an amazing dancer and an audience favorite, just not everybody's taste. Helene, Kara Zimmerman danced a variation from the Swan Lake pas de trois. She was lovely. The dancers from PNB were "class acts", both on and off the stage, imo. There were also performances by dancers from Cincinnati Ballet, Milwaukee Ballet, Paul Taylor, Miami City Ballet, and Louisville Ballet besides the ones mentioned. ABT and San Fran dancers were absent because of still being in season.

Yes, the Embraceable You pas. It was beautiful.

Justdoit- Funny, I was thinking the same thing, but thought people would be offended if I mentioned it. It was a wonderful night, with some wonderful ballet. Very inspirational. Of course, I loved my dd's performance, the White Swan Pas de deux. Debbie Wingert and Francois Perron brought tears to my eyes - they were gorgeous together. She is such an inspiration, and a nice person besides. I also loved Sherri LeBlanc's Lambarena and Zach Hench's Nh'amor (choreographed by Laszlo Berdo). I agree - Noelani was glowing in her pas. She dances with such ease, and her partner, Jeff Stanton, seemed a perfect partner. I also enjoyed Carrie Imler in Stars and Stripes - she is so strong, with what I would consider perfect technique. PNB certainly is blessed to have both of them (Noe and Carrie), along with Kara Zimmerman. It was fun to watch the video clips of the dancers before each of them performed. DD said it was alot of fun and she was glad to be part of making Marcia's celebration so special.

Rie was promoted from the corps last year to demi-soloist. In addition, from what I understand there will be several more promotions. They have not been announced yet.