socalgal

Doris R - That would be great. I am a new member and have not graduated to receive full privileges yet. Just ask your daughter who she went to the movies with recently ......you'll know.

Merci Francoise !!! This puts my mind to rest. We are anticipating a beautiful performance and will be looking forward to seeing the Paris Opera Ballet in their own theatre. What a thrill.. Thank you again for your response

Yes, unfortunately ABT was playing at the same time. There was only one night of performance of this special concert and that was Saturday night I believe. I was very sorry to miss it. Ballet Pacifica brought in some wonderful choreographers this year. I did not catch a review either. Was there one somewhere?

Anyone know the lay out of the Paris Opera House? I am thrilled to have bought tickets (on line) to the Paris Opera Ballet for October 3. The seats are 425 and 427 orchestra. So how do they number their seats? I have no idea where we will be sitting and am very curious. We are looking forward to this as a highlight of our trip. I find it funny as they are dancing an all Balanchine program the night we are there. If anyone has been to this theatre, I would appreciate any seating information you might share with me. Thanks!

It was great having ABT in OC last week. I caught 3 performances - Wednesday eve, Saturday eve and Sunday matinee. All performances were enjoyable for me on various levels. Wednesday's program was the rep. This was my first viewing of Ashton's "The Dream" and I was glad to have seen it. Herman Cornejo stole the show in my mind. He was amazing as Puck. Ethan and Alexandra were a lovely pair, but I cannot say that I loved the choreography that they were given. Ethan did a remarkable job with what I felt was very difficult material. At times I thought he might be focusing too much on his technque rather than his character as it was being taped by PBS. I enjoyed the role of Bottom very much. And the couples turned in wonderful performances as well. The sets and costumes added tremendous mood and style to this production. Don Q pas was danced by Paloma and Gennadi. It looked good but was not a stellar performance. To me - they looked thrown together and uninvolved. I have seen this danced so many times, maybe I have become jaded. It is difficult for me to comment on the George Harrison work. Other than the pas de duex with Stella Arbrerra and Isaac Stappas, I thought this work lacked deepth of conviction and purpose. The performances were great, but the work was not worthy of the artistic level of this company. Glad I got to view all of these works since ABT rarely brings a varied program like this one to OCPAC. Don Q has been reviewed here by many others. My treat was seeing the new Veronica Part dance Queen of the Dryads. I also admired the acting performances of Gillian and Marcello. Their humor was right on and each had a definition of personality that was enjoyable to watch. Irena and Max's interpretation was different. I missed much of the act I pantomime with them. Irena did pull out the stops in the Act III pas. wow. Her performance was impressive on a technical level. And their overhead lifts were breathtaking. But I preferred the coupling of Ms Murphey and Mr. Gomes for their quality of performance throughout the entire evening. That's just me.

Hi Doris R! You were right.....I was not able to see the Company B performance even though the BD was dancing in this piece. Heard it was terrific. The distance IS an issue and we are struggling with planning our visits around performances of PABallet. The most frustrating part regards company casting lists which often are posted late. It then becomes difficult to plan air travel. You are so lucky to have your BD closer to you. Also love Arancha Ochoa's dancing and will be so happy to see Val Amiss back on the performance roster next season! We are looking forward to the Balanchine 40th anniversary program in October which includes Concerto Barocco and The Four Temperments. See you there !? :rolleyes:

In days of yore, I would tell you that the Joffrey Ballet was the best "AMerican" company! So if you ask me now "Which is Americal's top company?", I will say NYCB. It is truly American in spirit and I am guessing that there are more American dancers in this company than ABT by far. If you want to talk international, then I would include ABT, but it would not be #1. That's just me.

I am very pleased at the casting announced for ABT's run at OCPAC! My Wednesday night "Dream" tickets have Ferri and Stiefel dancing as well as Paloma and Marcelo dancing Tchaikovsky Pas. Sounds like a dream to me....Haven't seen Ferri dance here in so. cal. for a long time. Also going to Sat. eve. performance of DQ with Irena and Max in the principle roles. Having seen Julie Kent and Paloma dance Kitri here in past years, this DQ will be new in casting to my eyes. I am excited and curious about seeing them dance together. Would love to know what dancers are performing the other roles in these ballets. Also, the casting was not listed for the Harrison piece. Are there principle roles in "Within You Without You"? And if so, who danced them in NY? I am thrilled they are bringing rep pieces. ABT tends to only bring big full evening ballets with them to LA. This is a treat. :hyper:

hey, I did not move! We (mom and dad) still live in So. Cal..... I feel lucky to be able to visit her in Philly when possible and watch her fullfill her dancing dreams with this lovely company. And I must mention that she is very very happy dancing in PA.

I am a new member and must reveal that I have been watching PABallet closely these last two years. So I will be joining this thread from time to time! There is a reason for this. My daughter joined the company in 2001. We were totally new to Philadelphia and this company since it is a long way from the West Coast where we live. And I must tell you that we have loved getting to know this fine ballet company and are enjoying following its wonderful dancers. It is my observation that PABallet has a look and feel all of its own. Being familiar with SFB, ABT NYCB in particular, it seems to me that PABallet is a hybred of classical and neo-classical dancing with many of these dancers being extremely adept at high caliber modern dance as well. With a smaller number of top ranking dancers ( a handful of principals and soloists) it seems to give many opportunities to the corps dancers which is one of the strongest corps I have seen outside of City Ballet. This year I was able to attend the All Balanchine program last October. Scotch Symphony was a delight. The audience gasped as the curtain opened revealing these beautiful women in pink with their partners in kilts. It was stunning. Bugaku was also danced with great style and brillance. I have only seen this piece once before on SFB with Lacarra dancing the principal role. I felt that PABallet captured the essence of the piece far better than SFB. Apollo was also danced on this program and was well done. Nutcracker is Balanchine's version which they perform with the quickness and clean footwork that is required. I love this version's waltz of the flowers but always find it strange the way in which the sugar plum and cavalier's pas is arranged, with the lady's variation at the beginning of act II. All in all, a fine showing as Nut's go. Balanchine knew how to incorporate children and keep it interesting. I was glad to be able to see Neenan's "Le Travail" which was choreographed in response to the wonderful Degas exhibit at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. The sets and costumes were a beautiful palette of colors from Degas' paintings. The music was an original score for the ballet and worked well with the intent of this piece which was not a literal translation of Degas' paintings but more about these dancers during this time period. I found this ballet to be thought provoking while also a visual pleasure to watch both the choreography and colors on stage. Butler's 'Carmena Burana" was also on the program and I found it exciting for the most part but must admit some of the choreography a bit dated. The company performed with expression and ofcourse the live chorus was a delight to the ears. "Cinderella' (Ben Stevenson's version) was something I was not planning on attending actually. I am glad I caught this production. The story was told well and was made interesting. There is not as much dancing for the company as in other story ballets. But what there is happens to be lovely. Again, the principals shined and even the corps (including a few apprentices) danced the season variations with extreme polish and elan. I was impressed. Firebird and Concerto 488 closed the year. Firebird was indeed a spectical of a ballet. The sets were awesome and the costumes strange but spectacular in the theatrical sense. It was a splashy piece to close the year but i must admit that I was not enthralled by Kudelka's choreography in the least. Iwas expecting much more. Lila York's "Concerto 488" was danced well but it did lack excitement and adventure for a modern piece to Mozart that is pure dancing for dancing's sake. I am looking forward to next season and especially to Wheeldon's "Swan Lake" This is a wonderful gift to this company who deserves an inspiring version of this ballet classic. I really love watching ballet at the Academy of Music. It is a gorgeous old theatre with an aura of American history. It is great that there are others here on BA that are viewing this lovely company. Can't wait til next season!

I too watched this "Othello" on PBS and have also seen this ballet live with the same cast (althought, Yuri played the lead role in the stage viewing). I agree with much of Leigh's review. However, when I remember this ballet, I see Parish Maynard. His characterization is so amazing and his dancing is brilliant as Iago. Parish is a brilliant artist and will be deeply missed. He retired this year and I am glad that there will be a lasting record of his amazing artistry. I have never seen Desmond Richardson before and thought his performances was 'lighter' in character than Yuri's but notheless, a beautiful dancer in his own right.