socalgal

We would love to get tickets for Sleeping Beauty for the last Sunday matinee (2/29). Does anyone know if there are seats still available? It sounds as if they have been playing to full houses lately.....i am looking at purchasing tkts on line since I am on the West Coast....are chances good for getting ok seats?

SERENADE, hands down. Whether danced by small or big companies, students or pros, I am always moved by this piece of choreography. Serenade lives in and of itself. Very rare for a ballet.

:angry: You are so right....it is not airing in the Los Angeles area! It is an outrage! I think it is even airing in San Diego........whats the deal???? I heard that that KCET had no plans of airing it at all in L.A.

My BD and I made a trip to LA to the Museum of Television and Radio to see the Balnchine Celebration series. It was the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. films including "Concerto Barocco" With Farrell, Morris and Ludlow......wow. We talked for hours about what we had seen versus the state of dancing as we see it now. Although some of the footage is not as clearly visible as you might like, it was still extremely exciting to view. I personally loved viewing "Liebeslieder Waltzer" with Adams, Jillana, McBride and Verdy. There was so much about many of these performances that moved me beyond.......there was also such excitement in all the dancing and a feeling of real abandonment and enjoyment in all these dancers performances throughout the entire showing. I was absolutely On a different note, we noticed how different the 'attack' was in Barocco. It seemed softer than what we have seen in present day performances. Has anyone else gone to see this???? Maybe those in NYC are more familiar with these particular films. But for me, it was an eye opener...........of a wonderful kind It also spurred great disscussion with my BD about the complex artistry of the dance over and beyond the merely execution of technique. These old films show very thrilling artisitic interpretations of Balanchine. My daughter was enthralled in what she saw and I think it changed her whole perception about the art in dance. It was the essence of the dancing that struck both of us. What a great day

Wow....I got a reply from BWTA about the lack of dance programing! It says: " You are correct. There was no dance this season. We lost the rights to our wonderful Nutcracker from the Royal Swedish Opera Ballet. We have just acquired some new dance programs and I hope to have some on the air by March. We all miss the dance, but it is hard to find good dance programming." John T. Bence I am glad to get the response sent to me........ But at the state of affairs over at A&E.......

The ballet high point for me this year was seeing the Kirov Ballet dance Balanchine's "Jewels" at the Orange County Performing Arts Center. It was the first time I have seen this company dance anything American, muchless Balanchine. What a thrill. The Fokine program they danced was also wonderful. For me, these performances were an historical event filled with excitement. As for the future of this great company and with their doors opened to the West now, I surely hope that the Kirov continues to forge new work and yet continue to maintain the their high level of classical style from their historic past. Let's hope that they can continue touring here in the states more frequently! And a "hats off" to OCPAC for bringing in a world class dance season to So. Calif.

My favs of 2003 at PABallet...... * Matthew Neenan's "Le Travail" in conjunction with the Degas exhibition at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. His piece captured the mood of Degas's paintings. I thought this was an incredible blending of the arts. We took in the exhibit in the morning and went to the theatre that evening. It was an amazing weekend. My friends drove in from Conneticutt in horrific weather and were thrilled to have made this trip. They were so impressed with PAB and loved the Degas exhibit. * "Fancy Free", performed this October......great dancing, wonderful staging and new to their rep! I have seen it danced by ABT and NYCB and thought this production was as outstanding as these NYC companies and then some! * "Concerto Barocco" also performed in October program and not new to their rep. A stirring performance from these dancers, both corps and principles. I was deeply moved. Happy New Year to PABallet and all PABallet viewers!

I have also noticed the absence of dance in the A & E programming this season. All of your replies prompted me to write them a note! So thanks to calling this to my attention. It helped me get a bit more active. Much appreciated....hope they read their e mails!

My husband and I had the privilege of attending a special Nutcracker performance on December 16. It was a great show and wonderful cast with Arancha Ochoa and Alexander Iziliev as the Sugar Plum and Cavalier. The children and parents seemed to be having a lively time and I especially loved this Drosselmeier played by David Krensing. His musicality and warmth was charming. The dolls were excellently danced by Charity Egans (Harlequin) and Jen Smith (Columbine)who were so crisp and vivid in their dancing. Matthew Neenan danced Soldier with great precision. A good group! Clara and Fritz were lively and all in all the first act party scene was more picturesque than I remember it to be. It is so full of warm family spirit and child like magic. The battle scene was fine led by Mouse King Alexei Charov and Michal Brown as Nutcracker. This corps of mice were very funny and entertaining. The snowflake corps fleeted through with quick and agile foot work as always in what I consider the most beautiful music of this ballet. The boys choir was wonderful as was the orchestra. (Since the Academy of Music had its renovation adding a new fly areaand updated electronics, I noticed that the sets move with more ease to help the transitions from scene to scene in the first act.) Act II - Arancha makes a light and delicate SPF and her solo was pristine. Another highlight of the evening was Rio Lama Lorenzo as Coffee. What a performance...it was dazzling. She encompasses everything needed for this bit of choreography - Long high extension, large jumps, and provacative! Candy Canes pulled nice performances from the kids led by co. member Jonathan Stiles. Marzipan lead Valerie Amiss gave a sprite performance with Bowman, Dull, Flood and Gates showing strong crisp footwork behind her. The evening fav seemed to be the Mother Ginger and Polichinelles as everyone began clapping to the music as the little ones paraded around the stage. I liked Alexei Charov's MG for its kindred spirit and more discreet (?) handling of this role. He was a gentle mother hen sort which suited me. The waltz of the flowers covered the stage with big movement and great dancing by the corps again and Amy Aldridge was a sparkling dewdrop. Amy is a taller long limbed dancer with beautiful eyes and smile. She just makes you glow watching her sweep through this wonderful choreography. And then came the big PD and I thought it could not get any better......but Arancha and her husband Alexander out did themselves in the grand pas. It was not just well executed but had excitement and theycontinued to build their movement right along with that of this grand music. It was a wonderful show.

Again, Dale, you are a ballet saint!!! This is much appreciated

I sure hope that someone here attends this matinee performance debuting Megan Fairchild and Juaquin De Luz as Sugar Plum and Cavalier!!! This is exciting IMO and would love to hear about their performance together :grinning:

The DVD "Etoiles: Dancers of the Paris Opera Ballet" is one that I just purchased. It was recommended to me by another ballet mom. It is a beautiful documentary, filmed in 1999, and captures the true essence of why dancers dance. There are English subtitles as it is all spoken in French, with exception of a short conversation with choreographer Kylian who does speak English. I am giving a copy of this to our BD for sure. These 'etoiles' are so inspiring and it truly gives you a real inside peak of a major international ballet company. I give it two !!!!! (You can find this dvd on amazon.com)

Is this just speculation or fact?????? I wouldn't want to panic without knowing all the facts.....I also know that PABallet has looked at this same theatre to renovate and make its home possibly. So has Clear Channel actually purchased the SamEric yet? These are hard enough times without making guesses about the future for Nutcracker versus Rockettes in Philly as well as elsewhere.....and the Boston scene seems still unclear for the future site of BB's Nut. but they seem to have strong community support to find a good solution to this new set of circumstances.

DALE... You are a ballet angel Thanks for such a detailed casting list! Now.....are you up for part II? I guess that means the next weeks casting after Saturday, December 20th? We PABallet fans don't ask for much, do we????????? B)

Thanks Dale for making this call. I am really hoping that PABallet will put up a full week's casting on their web site as NYCB does. For Dracula, they only showed the opening night cast and not all casts. It is noteworthy to see who is dancing which roles on the various performance dates . We have already planned our trip to Philly and are looking forward to catching a few performances ....and it is especially exciting to see new faces dancing roles for the first time as well as catching performances of dancers you have missed before.....

Someone does have the original Karinska costumes! Or atleast one of the original productions of the 60's. Yvonne Mounsey received them from NYCB when visiting and saw that they were (I believe) putting them in permenant retirement. She asked if she could have them, and they said yes. That is atleast what I was told. My BD danced in Serenade at her Westside Ballet spring concert in 1999. Patricia Neary set ithe ballet on these students. I remember my bd getting her costume with the name Rosemary Dunlevy in side of it Most all of them had names inside of them from the original nycb wearer. IT made this even the more special for these aspiring students.. They were very old and I remember taking a few home to do repair work with great caution and respect. The tulle on some of the skirts were torn and there were small holes in the bodice material as well. Although these dresses looked ragged up close, you could not tell their age on stage with the beautiful lighting. The performances were exceptional I must say and one my bd will remember for a life time. Serenade has always been one of my very favorite Balanchine ballets. (What stories these dresses could tell )

Thanks for the tip, Leigh! Your were absolutely correct....the program has changed since I last went to the UCLA web site listing. The ballets being danced are Divert., Variations for Orchestra, Tzigane and Apollo, or so it reads today! This is a great program. I am more upbeat about the long drive I must make to get to this theatre.

I just got tickets for Suzanne Farrell at Royce Hall, UCLA for Saturday night...anyone else going? I am so busy but decided that I just could not miss it.....they are doing Chaconne and Mozartiana plus two more pieces. Haven't heard a word about the casting. Peter Boal was pictured in the paper with an article about Suzanne and this L.A. venue. It did not mention if he was dancing this weekend or not. Not too thrilled about the program... would have loved seeing her setting of Serenade, Apollo and even Waltz of the Flowers. I would assume this performance will have canned music.....

.......so...........if a principle dancer in our BD's company comes up to her and says, "You really do look just like Barbie!" was it a compliment or....... something else??????????? She is still wondering (the BD just gave this gal a smile and walked away....) By the way, I still have my original Barbie from 1959, clothes, outfits, accessories et al....

:yes: OCBalletmom.....I saw the "Jewels" program on Friday evening. It was a wonderful evening with the exception of the struggled ending in Diamonds. It was obvious to me that Igor Zelensky was not himself, having also seen him dance the golden slave in Scheherazade on Wed. evening. He and his partner Uliana were having difficulties( in particular... their partnered pirouettes). My friend was in the 7th row and said she saw their feet get tangled up and the trouble began.....the reviews state that it was Igor's back but it looked like Ulianna tripped him at one point....anyway, the finale was not a total disaster as these pros picked themselves right up. But the last musical phrasings would have been more impactive if all had gone more smoothly. I also hope that Southern Calif. will get to see the Kirov again soon.... it was a long awaited visit, revealing the future of this exquisite company!

PJ...... That is quite bizarre that this type of misinformation was given at an OCPAC pre-performnace talk with regards to the pointe shoe description. .....so this is how myths get their beginnings Thanks for verifying the beautiful ballerina in "Scheherazade" The wearing of a wig may explain my confusion. It was a wonderfull ballet in total and I will have lasting impressions of Igor Zelensky bursting onto the stage for his entrance as well as the combined elements of the dance, music and visuals that seemed to all fit together with the right theatricality. It could have been so camp. But for some reason the entire scenario was wonderfully entertaining , atleast for this ballet goer........... :yes: Marc........the program on Wed. eve was correct afterall.....it seems we did view the dancers identifyed in Wed. evening's program .....a relief :sweating:

Here is the casting according to my program: CHOPINIANA Mazurka and Valse #2.....Daria Sukhorukova Valse #1.....Irina Zhelonkina Prelude...... Irina Golub Young Man...Igor Kolb SCHEHERZADE The Golden Slave...Igor Zelensky Zobeide........Tatiana Tkachenko (but she looked more like Lopatkina?) THE FIREBIRD Firebird....Irma Nioradze Ivan Tsareich........Victor Baranov Princess.......Yana Serebriakova Kastchei........Vladimir Ponomarev Hope this helps, Marc. I am not familiar with any of these dancers except Zelkensky so I would not know if someone was replace or not. I don't remember any announcements prior to the show. I wish someone would comment on the reconstruction of these ballets. L.A. Times reviewer Lewis Segal discussed the changes in Firebird an I am curious what others thought of this revival. Seeing Jewels tonight.....and hoping I get to see Diana Vishneva.....

WOW! Was anyone at last night performance of the Kirov at OCPAC? It was the Fokine program with Chopinianna, Schererazade, and Firebird in that order. (It is too bad they did not end with Schererazade. ) "Saison Russe" ,as the program was titled, was a testiment to ballet history with the Russians reclaiming their own Fokine. I was not lookinng forward to this program but awaiting my tickets for "Jewels" on Friday evening. I was so wonderfully surprised and in awe of the blending of artistic elements in this production....the music, the sets, costumes and the style of dancing which seemed glorious in these particular reconnstructed ballets. The corps seemed very youthful with beauty abounding. I liked what I saw for the most part. Chopinianna was danced with such romantic essence that I almost forgot the year in which we live. I think it was this that took my breath away. The technique was all there and the clarity of the entire corps movement was amazing to me. Schererazade was a visual delight as well. Igor Zelensky and his partner sizzled in this exotic tale of the faithless wife with wondeful drama and technical flair. The exhuberance of the dancing slaves spilled off the stage while keeping their beautiful ballet technique in order. Firebird was my least favorite of the night. However, It faired far better than newer versions I have recently seen. And it came to mind, "why fix what ain't broke?" I liked the ballerina role very much for its musicality and character. I actually grasped the relationship of bird to man more than in other productions. I cannot say that this show was flawless but it certainly captured my imagination and took me another place in time. The style, the visuals, the excellent orchestra with dancing that renewed my faith in classical ballet............Bravo Kirov.

I tend to get very quiet when this subject of great professional dance in Los Angeles area comes up....again and again and again...... l have lived here all my life and seen many attempts come and go. :giveup: I give thanks for any visits we receive from traveling troupes these days. It did not surprise me that the Dorothy Chandler Pavillion in LA was not filled when SFB showed up with a terrific rep. It has repeatedly failed to bring ballet companies the audience they well deserved in recent times. Downtown LA is no longer the cultural center any more....maybe the new and awesome Disney Hall up the street will change all of this. It is an amazing feat of architecture. Time will tell. And it will be interesting to watch how the dance season does this year at the LA Music Center. SFB does well in Orange County, but they cannot always book there. It could be scheduling or the decision of the OCPAC to vary its guesting season. Not sure. The best audience for dance, in my opinion, is based at the Orange County Performing Arts Center. They have a strong committment to dance. The Kirov is here this week and it is almost sold out for a week of performances. There is a wonderful base of support at OCPAC. LA has never been a great supporter of dance, ballet in particular. There have been many attempts, the Joffrey situation comes to mind immediately. It is really a movie and music business town. Maybe if a dance co. brought together these elements with the help of these other two industries something would click. LA is spread out in large geographical areas with no one dominate cultural hub. I hear that ABT is still trying to land a regular schedule out here and even build a satalite school in the region. But these conversations are always ongoing with quiet hope and anticipation. Soon OCPAC will finish a new home for its Orchestra which will free up even more time in its main theatre....I assume this will bring in more opportunity for visits by outside dance groups in the near future. As far as the local OC dance scene, Ballet Pacifica continues to build a nice repertory and following as well. However, OCPAC seems more interested in booking bigger name companies with national and international status rather than supporting local talent. I have never been to the Kodak. But friends have told me that it was built primarily for the Oscars.............it is in the middle of Hollywood B) So I will continue to be optimistic for a future ballet and/or modern company here of worthy stature. But am not holding my breath :green: or I might look like this green guy Our BD has mentioned her desire for a great company to emerge in LA as she would love to come 'home' to dance eventually if the opportunity arose. And so it goes............... :shrug: :angry: .......... :yawn:

Thanks so much for the preview. We will be going to see this program in Orange county later this month and are looking forward to seeing the Kirov dance Balanchine. Will share later with you later this month after our performance down here. We are also seeing the other program. Did you happen to see the mixed bill with "Chopaniana"?