cygneblanc

There is also former POB's principal Marie-Claude Pietragalla's new creation about Marco Polo, but I wonder how it should called

There are some cultural events linked with the olympic games in a festival. Ballet is included.

http://cities.sulekha.com/china/beijing/ch...omingevents.htm

I hope you'll like it!

There are a lof of restaurants in the area, but with this one you can be pretty sure there won't be a surprise, either good or bad ! I'll try to look for Nanarina restaurant's the next time I'll be in the area!

Liberty' s summer competition was held this week end. Some videos are available on youtube.

My impression is that Rachael Flatt is much improved and her hard work may pay this year. I absolutely loved Ashley Wagner'new look and SP. I hope she can fix her flutz. Patrich Chan isn't in top form yet but his SP is amazing. I have still to be convinced by the FS but maybe it was because there were so many errors. Alyssa Cziny is always a beautiful skater but her technics is still very weak. I wonder what impact her work with Brian Boitano will have on her results. US junior champion Alexe Gilles looked very promising with a FS that included 5 different triple jumps. It will be interesting to see if she's consistent during all season.

I can't wait to see both Mirai Nagasu and Caroline Zhang.

http://www.lemonde.fr/culture/article/2008...75184_3246.html

Here's MB's latest interview in french newspaper le monde. The title is "I'm an advanced beginner". He's speaking about his artistical choices, his acting, his favorite works, his pictures, and much more...

There aren't specific tickets for students. Instead, there are some tickets sold at a reduced cost if you're 28 years old or less.

There are two ways to get these tickets:

1) to buy a pass "opera-jeunes" for about 30 euros, which isn't worth if you don't get often to POB. It will allow you to get for some performances cheap tickets

2) to queue before a performance in order to get last minutes tickets that are sold 15 minutes before each performance at at very modest price (about 12 euros) if you're young enough.

Casts for each performance will be on line but they may be available only one week before the beginning of the actual performances ! So I will strongly advise you try to get tickets when they're still available on the web. Les enfants du Paradis will be the one of the season's biggest events with Oneguin and the NYCB's tour, if not the biggest.

If you have never been to Garnier, I would say you need to be enough in advance to visit the theater, and, wich is the more important, to feel it and try to get its magic. You don't need to be formal, jeans are perfectly fine. The audience may look more relaxed than what you're used to. You can ask for a map in the main hall.

Enjoy

I don't know what she's doing now but last year she danced with Europa Dance and the Cannes Jeune Ballet. I think she didn't compete at the POB's competition.

Sorry, about the 19 rejections: Miss Platel select more pupils than Miss Bessy in the lowest levels so there is more rejections. There were 11 boys in the 2ond division and that was too much. Miss Platel when she took her position recruited a lot of boys, very few boys were rejected the last few years in the lowest levels but now a skimming was needed. I deplore it was done at that time when the boys had only one more year to do before having their diploma. And harsch critics made on boys during DC's tour certainly didn't help.

Oh, and one can notice that Camille de Bellefon of the National Conservatory of Paris is ranked seven in the external competition. It's the first time in a lot of years that a student of this conservatory is ranked. She's also coached by Jennifer Goube and that training must be very beneficial for her.

Yes, Marine Ganio-Khalfouni is Matthieu Ganio's sister. She added her mother's name to her surname late for private reasons, but it has to do with her love for her Mom!

The results of the internal competition were expected. I believe Marion, Leonore and Sylvia were the three best dancers of this year first division. Marion is said to be the next Sylvie Guillem by her peers, so we'll see. I'm disapointed they hired Juliette but that's a "taboo-question"! I really wonder why Calista isn't even ranked. She's a very beautiful dancer, is only 16 years old, always received the highest score in her classes, and danced important part in school performances.

As for the external competition, the permanent positition in the ladies category seemed to be set apart for Lucie Fenwick but they finally gave it to Marine Ganio-Khalfouni. I haven't seen her dance for a while. She has an extraordinary technics but she doesn't have exactly the right body type according to POB's standings. You'll find pictures of her if you google her name and you'll understand what I mean. Several boys of this year 1st division got a permanent contract. I'm disapointed they didn't hire Nans Pierson. He's a amazing guy with a very beautiful sensitivity. I wonder if his idea of coming back now instead of staying in San Francisco until january was good.

Results of the external competition:

won permament positions: Marine Ganio-Khalfouni, Alexandre Labrot, Takeru Coste, Jean-Baptiste Chavignier, Hugo Viglioti, Alexandre Gasse

Well, actually and to make it clear, I think the controversy might be about the recruitment of former principal Laurent Hilaire's daughter Juliette. One can't say her results in the school were outstanding, and she only had a small soloist part in the school's performance. I think honestly she was one of the weakest this year in the graduation class but of course maybe her performance this morning was outstanding

The boys' result is surprising. It's true that boys' field this year wasn't deep but I thought Takeru Koste would make it. If there is a polemic, it will be for sure about the teaching and the teachers. 19 kids have been rejected from POB's school this year, including 4 four boys of the ante graduation class.

Results of the internal competition

No boys won positions. 4 girls got a permanent contract: Marion Barbeau, Leonore Baulac, Sylvia-Christel Saint Martin and Juliette Hilaire.

There is going to be a lot of talks about this.

Congrats to everyone, a special thought for the boys who worked so hard, for the girls who have to compete tomorrow, and also for the graduates of the last few years who haven't got positions because so few spots were available.

POB Annual recruitment competition 2008 for school pupils is tomorrow while the external competition is on Friday 4th, 2008.

10 positions are available.

Good luck to everyone

Well, from the videos I saw on youtube, I can tell even if she wasn't a strong jumper, her skating was quite impressive for such a young girl. She really had the full package, a stretch and a posture that reminded me of a young Sasha Cohen.

NY times review

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/09/arts/dan...amp;oref=slogin

Sales began this morning

High points

The Corsaire by the Bolshoi

POB's school performance

ENB's Swan Lake

Sylvie Guillem's sacred monsters

Low points

POB's Nutcracker

POB's triple bill Noureev/Balanchine/Forsythe

Hamburg Ballet the Death of Venicce

Thanks a bunch Natalia I loved Soir de Fetes when I saw it, too!

Leonore Baulac is one of these pupils who left the National Conservatory of Paris after one year or two without graduating in order to enroll at POB's school.

http://www.manuel-legris.com/actualite.html

Here's his schedule for next season. It looks as his farewell performance will be in Proust.

The ending pose of Medora and Conrad in the current production danced by the Bolshoi is exatly the same as the one on the picture.

Well, I may be wrong but I think you'll be on two diferent sides, in the middle of all the rows of seats (the pale yellow seats

which are next to the light blue seats on both the right and the left side.

http://www.operadeparis.fr/Saison-2008-200...ix-et-plans.asp

NY Times article on Mr ROMOLI's farewell performance

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/08/arts/dan...MUlOmrOAw7s0KaA

Wow, Bart, I don't know what to say, but thanks a bunch ! And thanks to all the people I got to meet. I hope we can have another tour soon!

I don't know if he's still reading us, but anyway congrats to him! What a compagny he's joining !

Well, I cannot say I have been thrilled by this program either. I don't like the four temperaments, Raymonda in 25 minutes is a complete disaster, and I was expecting more from the Forsythe.

I have to say the full Raymonda needs to be seen, then you can like it or not. The sceneries and costumes are magnificent.

Like in all the Nureev's works, there are a lot steps (maybe too many ?) and the soloists parts are very, very difficult. But it is definitively a highlight of POB's repertory.