sissonne

We were there opening night and it was fabulous. Julia Adam's Ketubah was so very lovely and the Best Little Kletzmer Band really added to the ballet. Makes me want to convert and have a Jewish wedding!! Four Last Songs was lovely, as always. My fiancé was particularly taken by the huge silk drape that moves above the stage and Jessica Jones Bekkerus' beautiful soprano voice always adds to such a moving piece. Stanton Welch's Divergence truly brought the house to it's feet. Molly Glentzer's glowing review was no exaggeration. The energy in the theater was priceless and the audience could hardly remain still as the curtain came down. Damien Welch (Stanton's brother) and Sara Webb do a pas de deux near the middle of the piece and I just knew he was going to fling her across the stage! It was so fast paced and thrilling it looked as if he were just flinging her effortlessly through the air. This ballet is truly thrilling to watch. What a magnificent evening all around. If you haven't seen it already, DON'T MISS IT!! I'm going again with some girlfriends either Saturday or Sunday.

We attended last night and it was lovely. Sara Webb was our Sugar Plum and was promoted to Principal on stage at curtain calls by Stanton Welch. Lauren Anderson is injured, so Kristina Harper, a corps member, stepped into the role of Snow Queen and did a very lovely job. What a big night for her! On a low note, Zdenek Konvalina, the Prince, injured himself in his solo just before the finale. Simon Ball stepped out of his lead flower role and finished with Sugar Plum as the prince. Were it not for the different costumes, you never would have known (aside from the poor prince working his way quickly and painfully off stage)...the transition was otherwise seamless. Mirielle Hassenboheler was lead flower and finished her last bit of the finale solo without her lead flower. All in all, aside from the drama, a very nice show.

Hi Cricket, Sounds like you guys are going to be just fine. A nice sweater and trousers will be comfortable and still look appropriate for sure. I liked the suggestion of pearls as well, and a wrap. Speaking to that, I have a pair of gray wool flannel trousers and a black cashmere wrap sweater that I've worn to the Wortham here in Houston before and felt perfectly fine compared to everyone else. Add pearl necklace & earrings, plus a wrap and presto! changeo! you're ready for the ballet! You see everything here too...from jeans to ballgowns (I even saw someone in shorts and a T-shirt once, which I thought a little too dressed-down). I agree with Floss that the glamed up jeans with a nice top and shoes would probably be OK, too. I've seen a lot of the Academy students here come to performances like that and looked absolutely fine. I agree though, whatever you do wear, it's about the art. I think some people here are so worried about what to wear or not knowing anything about ballet that it intimidates them from attending. I have countless friends who would like to go, but always want me along as a chaperone! I'm sure you guys will have a wonderful time tonight!! Enjoy!

I'm with Victoria....orchestra center for the very same reasons....no more than mid-way back. Old Fashioned, I even prefer orchestra to the Founders Boxes in the Wortham. Same at Royal Opera....Orchestra for me.

Yahoo! Houston gets it at 9:30 pm

Sad to hear Alice was a bit of a disappointment. I missed it. We were out of town both weekends. I completely agree with Old Fashioned about Hassenboheler I saw her dance Aurora a few years ago before her promotion and thought she was wonderful. Glad to hear Sara Webb did a good job of Alice. I really like her and felt she'd give a good performance in the role. A shame the choreography didn't give a chance for her to show more of her talent. I agree with boydancer in a previous post...she is a gorgeous dancer.Old Fashioned or boydancer, did either of you happen to see the Ben Stevenson tribute on Sunday? We were travelling, so I missed that as well.

Mine would also be Swan Lake. I attended with my parents and my great grandmother. That was the catalyst which lead me to dancing. My great grandmother had a great influence over me, though she probably never knew it. It was she who lead me to dance, art appreciation, drawing, painting and so many other things that define my talents and who I am today. We also attended Nutcracker with her. She had bought a copy of the souvenir program, which I looked through regularly when we went to visit her....for many years. Funny that on September 15, 2001, I introduced my fiancé to the ballet with Swan Lake. He admits enjoying it much more than he expected. However, in London last year, we saw Giselle at Royal Opera. He was so moved that he could hardly contain himself. His children have seen Nutcracker a time or two, but now his daughter is really starting to take an interest. She pours through my copies of Pointe, has watched my videos many times (the son has learned that fouetees are much more difficult to do than they appear ) and expressed an interest in taking lessons. Little did my great grandmother know some 26 or so years ago that her love of ballet would foster that same love for so many generations to come!

I didn't see it, of course, being in Houston but what a shame! I really enjoy watching Cojocaru dance. She's brilliant. Kudos to Tapper and Kobborg for adjusting so quickly. Very nerve-wracking for all, I'm sure! Nice to hear they pulled it off. Jaimie Tapper is lovely to watch as well. We saw her do Giselle last season at Royal Opera. We really enjoyed it. My fiance was very moved by her performance. As he's not exactly well-versed in ballet, that speaks volumes. She really did do a beautiful job.

BW, I found it on the internet. I don't have the link on hand as I cut and pasted it into a word document. Here's the title/author info, though. Plug it into Google and I'm sure you'll have success! Ballet Preview: Butterflies and chaos Choreographer Stanton Welch brings `Fingerprints' to Tulsa Ballet By James D. Watts Jr. World Entertainment Writer, Tulsa World February 15, 2002 From what I've read on our future Artistic Director, it seems as if any and everything inspires him. I also particularly liked his inspiration for "Bruiser" and "Clear" as well Bruiser: "Bruiser, he told me, is about the physicality of his art. He wanted it to appear like the Olympics of ballet -- athletic, competitive, and tough. "It's the pain of relationships expressed through dance," he said. Pain of the mind, pain of the body, pain of the spirit, all this is expressed. Dancers are paired off in mock boxing matches, and no one comes away without their share of bruises. " Clear (from an article for Lighting Design written by Lisa Pinkham who did the lighting for the ABT production): "We talked about the ballet in terms of who are the men and who is the woman, and what's going on? And it turned out to be a very simple idea: The men are chaos and the woman represents clarity and calmness. He had related part of his personal life to the ballet. In his own life there was a lot of chaos, but about one thing he was very clear, and that helped build the ballet. The men's scenes are bathed in golden yellow with faint white patterns. When the woman enters, the stage is washed in deep blue causing the patterns to show up better, giving those scenes a very romantic and pretty moonlight-and-stars feeling. (Interestingly, the French word for clear, "clair," is also one of the words for light, as in "clair de lune," or moonlight.) The piece ends with the lead man holding the woman, who is reaching up to heaven or to the stars. The light fades down to one central spot on them, then irises down to just illuminate the woman's hand. " Let me know if you can't find it. I'm happy to forward it or try to find it again myself.

Not an opera glass user, myself. I tend to book orchestra level seats, so not much need. I'm rather particular on where I sit. However, there have been times in lodge boxes or higher (when I've booked my tickets too late) that I would occasionally use them. I really like to try to take in the whole stage as much as possible, though when higher up, opera glasses make watching fancy footwork much easier! My fiance does always bring his and likes to occasionally look through them. He's newer to the ballet thing than I am, so he likes to check out all views....from super close-up to taking in the whole stage. We're both tall, so I'll be sure to nudge in his elbows at the next performance we both attend!

Thanks Alexandra! I have been trying to make more of an effort to find the time to come here. It's not for lack of interest that I've been MIA, but often, rather lack of time!! I miss you guys!

I read an article just recently (though it was written in Feb. 2002) regarding Stanton Welch's inspiration for 'Fingerprints'. I found it rather interesting. An excerpt below: "Stanton Welch has brought a little bit of chaos -- at least, in theory -- to Tulsa Ballet. 'The idea I had when I began working on this ballet was about how a butterfly flapping its wings on one side of the world can cause a hurricane on the other side of the world,' Welch said. 'That's the shorthand description of chaos theory.' 'And that got me thinking about how little things that we do -- or leave behind, like fingerprints -- can create a large chain of events in other people's lives,' he said. Out of these musings was born the ballet 'Fingerprints,' which Welch was commissioned to create by a genial cabal of regional ballet companies -- Tulsa Ballet Theater, Cincinnati Ballet, Ft. Worth/Dallas Ballet and the Washington (D.C.) Ballet."

I have to say, I tend to watch feet and legs mostly, but there have been specific performances where port de bras has caught my eye first. Especially if they tend to be particularly fluid. I find some dancers' facial expressions distracting (i.e. those who dance with their mouth open and eyebrows raised...not as though there's any expression behind it, but more like their face is permanently fixed). However, in some ballets, I agree....facial expressions are critical. Especially in drama. With the corps, I do tend to watch upper body more. Interesting thread....the more I thought about it, I realized I'm not just a legs and feet girl!!;)

After deciding to resume my classes after several years as an adult student, I did a search on the internet in an effort to find websites or others who shared my passion. After sifting through SEVERAL pages of sites that left much to be desired, I found this site. Impressed by the knowledge of the posters and intelligence level of the conversations (not to mention a much more respectable maturity level than some other boards), I lurked for a while to learn more. Finally, I registered and have enjoyed everyone's company ever since. I've been more active or less active at posting, depending on what may be going on in my life at any given moment, but have always returned. I've been very impressed at the growth this site has experienced. I searched endless pages before finding BA and now it's one of the more frequently visited sites on the web, it seems!

Alexandra, thanks so much for the welcome back. I promise to be around more. Miss you all terribly. After the collapse of my former employer I've not been able to justify the expense of classes and season tickets, thus anything ballet-related was near torturous for me, though I would come in and lurk on occasion. I miss it all so very much. LMCtech, promise to keep the info coming from Houston! I'm anxious to see our new AD's contributions to our company. Grace, you were correct....Stanton Welch officially arrives in the beginning of July, though he will be in during company auditions before then as well as I've heard from within. Will keep my ear to the ground and keep you all informed on the goings-on here.

LLM, I have the full length Le Corsaire, Richard Bonynge, English Chamber Orchestra. I bought it at Virgin Records in London last year while I was there (not sure where you're located). I'm in the US. Let me know if you still need it and have had no success. I'm happy to burn a copy and mail it if you're comfortable with that. It's quite a nice recording. I know I'm an unfamiliar name, but have actually been around BalletAlert for quite a while. Haven't posted much at all in the past year, but was a daily regular before! For those who remember me, I promise to be around more often!

Haven't heard of anyone being let go or even leaving willingly for that matter, speaking of staff in addition to dancers. There's been some restructuring on the academy side, but nothing major...some positions added, etc. As for the artistic side, I've heard nothing to indicate displeasure and haven't seen any major changes in staff, but will watch as we approach July when the change in AD officially takes place. As for the new season, quite a few things we haven't seen, and frankly, I like the new season. Houston tends to be rather conservative in taste as far as the ballet patrons go, however, I think there's a much wider audience to be reached and this may be the beginning of that. Haven't been around much in the past several months (wow...I even show as a "new memeber"!). Hope everyone is well. I'll try to keep you all better updated on the goings-on in Houston.;)

Hi all, So glad to hear everyone in NY and DC are OK. I can truly say this is something I never thought I'd see in my lifetime. The support and tributes shown by other countries has been truly touching, even comforting. I was particularly touched to learn this morning that for the first time in history, in lieu of the standard changing of the guards at Buckingham Palace, they are instead playing the American National Anthem. God bless you all and keep you safe. God bless America (and her friends). United we stand.

eWolf, I'm also rather easily embarrassed if I find myself with someone who just doesn't know how to behave in public! I would have loved to leave my disastrous date snoring at intermission, but then I would have had to miss the second act ! I'm surprised to learn that rules on late arrivals are so lenient in many places. At the Wortham Center, you are absolutely forbidden to enter the theatre after the lights go down...not even to watch from the balcony or the back of the theatre. Ticket holders are reminded repeatedly that late arrivals may watch the beginning of the performance on monitors located in the Green Room and claim their seats at intermission. Additionally, there is an announcement at the beginning of the performance that flash-photography is forbidden, "for the safety of the dancers and by law." Thankfully, I've never once seen a flash go off during a performance. How distracting! We also have the usual reminder to turn phones and pagers off or to silent mode (although some still manage to overlook this instruction). I could swear that there used to be a section on "audience etiquette" printed in the programs, but I couldn't seem to find it in my recent R&J program. It may be Houston Grand Opera who politely reminds its audience members that "lovebirds should refrain from leaning against each other as it obstructs the view of audience members in the rows behind."

I thoroughly agree that adults can be just as irritating as unruly children. Even more so, IMO, since the adults should (should being the operative word....) know better. Children should certainly be exposed to high art at a young age, but the parents should be firm in enforcing their children's adherance to the rules of "audience etiquette". I'm sure many a student (myself included) was inspired to begin ballet training after attending his/her first ballet performance. Mine was a "post-nap time" Nutcracker matinee at the age of five. I attended with my parents and great-grandmother (an avid ballet fan....I used to sit in her house and endlessly leaf through her programs). My one-year-old sister was left at home. Much to my mother's delight (and in accordance with her master-plan), I begged for classes after the performance. However, my parents hold PhDs in Emily Post and I can still hear my mother's voice instructing me to "behave like a proper young lady"....or else!! Forgive the autobiography, but though I thought my parents to be terribly strict when I was younger, I now thank them for the knowledge and exposure to the arts they've given me. Not having children myself, I only have my childhood memories to refer to on this topic . It seems to be somewhat common for people to be rather intimidated when attending cultural performances in their adult years if they were not exposed as a child....this intimidation is oftentimes projected in the form of complaining, trying to be funny, or attempting to appear knowledgeable by commenting endlessly on the events on stage. It seems these people have tried to "broaden their horizons", but only halfheartedly without doing some research beforehand to familiarize themselves with what to expect. An example would be my DISASTROUS date to last year's HB performance of Sleeping Beauty! Comments from neighboring audience members are one thing, but when your date (who purchased the tickets to surprise you) complains about being there through the whole performance in an effort to be funny.....asking you to wake him at intermission...... Ooooohhhh...I shudder at the memory. I was so embarrassed! My "shushes" only encouraged him. Needless to say, the relationship was short-lived. It ended when he dropped me off at my house post-performance. I politely requested he not even bother walking me to the door.....