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Ok, is it just me or is Ivan Nagy one sexy looking senior!! Would that we all age so gracefully.

The current bid on this is for a whopping $510!!! 4th ring, row C I'm in the wrong business people!

This attitude in India stems from the fact that they are very fatalistic. What happens is going to happen. Nothing you can do about it. So why worry? My first time in India on the way from the airport to Pune I had my jaw clenched in in terror the whole 4 hour drive. After a few weeks you get used to it and realize driving there is chaos but a controlled organic chaos. With regards to audience members doing something you don't like, you can't control thier behavior only your own. Let it go. Live ballet viewing is not meant to be enjoyed in a vacumn, it's of the moment and sometimes that moment can be annoying but it can also be glorious.

Bouder in Rubies! Carbro, you just got your wish! Interesting casting with Rutherford and DeLuz in Dybbuk.

The original lead for TP2 (then called Ballet Imperial) was Marie-Jeanne wasn't it? I don't believe she was a tall dancer, from pictures her body looks very much like Bouder's. Not tiny, but not tall either and powerful looking legs. I think the lead ballerina is very much a perfect match for Ashley, it couldn't have been more perfect than if Balanchine himself came down and crowned that tiara on Bouder.

I cry during second movement Barocco. It's almost a healing cry, a sort of washing away of worries, tensions and feelings of inadequacy that plague at my peace of mind. That music and those steps are better than any drug! And I always cry at Davidsbundlertanze. Does anyone else cry at the end of Prodigal Son as the father lovingly cradles his grown and broken son in his arms? God that gets to me everytime!

If you could even get an autographed Farrell, Kent or Kirkland pointe shoe anymore or my reach for the stars dream, an old LeClercq pointe shoe, I imagine that would be considered priceless!

Some very exciting debuts! Bouder as The Ballerina in Concerto #2 and a new Orpheus I would also love to see Abi Stafford's debut in Dances.

Welcome thatssomint to BalletTalk! That's a wonderful story!

You New Yorkers get Martine Van Hamel back on stage again as well as Kirkland. I'm so jealous!

Photos for the 1st week of Romeo + Juliet are up. That costume for Jock Soto is absolutely horrible. Moderator's note: Direct link.

I was afraid of that when the casting went up and she wasn't listed. Hopefully she'll be ready to dance for the SAB workshop performances in June.

Thank you drb for the post. And am I mistaken in thinking that it has been awhile since Maria danced Terpsichore?

Peter Martins own words on this subject from the April/May 2007 issue of Pointe Magazine: "You can imagine my whole idea of having a 16 year old student portraying Juliet is nervous-making," he says. "Because although I know that the people I chose are perfectly capable technically as dancers to do it, I also knew that I wanted this pure innocence to emerge. What I didn't know, annd still to a degree do not know, is whether they will be able to carry the whole show. I would say that I still have faith that I will get what I had hoped for." My only objection to the student casting is that there are many dancers in their late teens and early 20's at NYCB who could dance the role as well and perhaps better than a 16 year old student, which we will never know if only students are to be cast. Also, since when does a young age imply innocence anymore? I've seen some very worldly 16 year olds lately.

The new issue of Pointe Magazine has a cover story on NYCB's Romeo and Juliet. The Juliet's are to be danced by students from SAB. The Juliet on the cover is 16 year old Callie Bachman, who looks wise has a lovely innocent purity about her. The Romeo on the cover is corps member Robert Fairchild. No other mention is made of who else is cast as Romeo, but it will be slighter older dancers than the Juliet's due to the difficult partnering. The article mentions Darci Kistler and Jock Soto!!! as Lady and Lord Capulet. Photos show Danny Ullbricht and Joaquin De Lux sword fighting in rehearsal.

Craig Hall on partnering in the Balanchine tradition: "I learned that a woman is a piece of jewerly on display for the audience. I must show her facets in the best light to make her sparkle."

I love those "long hair" ballets at NYCB, what I don't like to see is a girl with a long ponytail dancing a pas de duex. Can you imagine being the guy and getting whipped in the face with that during turns?

It was frustrating :blush: Like being denied a delicious cool long drink after a hot tiring day outside in the sun Glad you're back!

Actually, calling Ringer and Borree "bland" is less offensive than some of the things he's written about them in the past. As for the casting of Lowery in Four Temperments which Gottlieb call a very bad move, perhaps Martins was trying to incourage her dancing in a new direction? Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. What will be interesting is if he continues to miscast her in it.

What a wonderful treat is is to view Balanchine choreography you've never seen before! And thank you to Kennedy Center for the free webcast! The Clarinade pas de deux was sexy and very well danced. I would love to see this again in person. The fleet footwork of the Glinka pas de deux was wonderful. A revival of the whole ballet is much wished for. I've only read about Variations For Orchestra so it was interesting to see it. Actually it didn't leave much of an impression on me. Is this one of those ballets of Balanchine that don't survive very well if no longer danced by the original muse? I would have loved to have seen Farrell dance this. I did enjoy the backbend exit at the end. Question about the variations from Don Q performed. At what point in the first act did they appear? In what context?

Better late than never! I really loved this book. It's very interesting to read a memoir of dancing for Balanchine by a dancer who wasn't one of his muses or star dancers. Maybe because of that the book isn't a "I danced this, he did this to me" kind of read, instead it's full of stories about the joy and rigors of touring for long periods and the special longlasting friendships that develope between dancers. I found the section on Tanaquil Le Clercq very moving and sad. She vividly brings to life the horror of that tour to Copenhagen where Tanny contracted polio. I was so affected by this chapter that when I finished it I put the book down and didn't pick it back up until two days later. I also found her observations regarding Orpheus enlightening. I've often wondered why people speak of this ballet as having lost it's power and intensity over the years. Milberg danced one of the furies at the premiere and writes of seeing it performed by NYCB during the company's fiftieth anniversary season. She was stunned by how different it looks. She mentions disturbing lapses and changes and the tameness and lack of intensity of the dancing. Her account helps fill in some of the pieces of the mystery of what happened to Orpheus. I have only one critisism of the book. I wish it was longer!

Other possible U2 ballets include: "It's A Beautiful Ballet Day" "With Or Without Tutu" "She Bourres In Mysterious Ways"

Well I'm going to answer my own question . Go to the website www.balletgems.com. It features Mary Ellen Moylan's watercolor artwork. I love the paperdoll tutu's!

I much prefer the second set of photo's rg posted as they show off those gorgeous Moylan legs! Does anyone know what she is doing now?

This week's photo's include Agon, 2 & 3 Part Inventions and a beautiful stunner of a picture with Wendy Whelan and Charles Askegard from In Memory Of.... .