Helene

I apologize: I misread the entry and thought 1952 was the year for Jean Rosenthal's lighting. The Karinska costumes were from 1952, the City Center days, and 1964 was when Ronald Bates redesigned the lighting, presumably for the new theater.

Marcie Sillman, an arts reporter on Seattle public radio station KUOW, wrote a review of PNB's "All Balanchine" program on Art Dish, and asked about "Serenade" About appearance, at least, I think the photo in the danceviewtimes piece above responds "no", and the photo that sandik is looking for says it more emphatically. They weren't blue sylphs until later -- Doug Fullington mentioned tunics in the first NYCB performances in his pre-performance lectures -- I believe when Karinska did the current designs. According to the Balanchine Catalogue, Karinska is listed in 1964: http://balanchine.org/balanchine/display_r...rchMethod=exact That sounds like after the move to Lincoln Center, when Balanchine re-spaced and re-choreographed to fit the new space and chose more elaborate productions for the space.

I just read in the May 2010 issue of Opera News that Isaac Mizrahi is directing "A Little Night Music" for Opera Theatre of St. Louis; it opens 6 June. Stephen Lord is the conductor and: Madame Armfeldt will be played by none other than Livia (Sian Phillips)! Amy Irving plays Desiree (um, ok), and Ron Raines will play Fredrik Egerman. Dates are: Sunday, June 6 - 7PM Wednesday, June 9 - 8PM Friday, June 11 - 8PM Tuesday, June 15 (Mat.) - 1PM Thursday, June 17 - 8PM Saturday, June 19 - 8PM http://www.opera-stl.org/Season_Operas_show3.aspx

There was an ad for next season's UW World Dance series in the PNB program, and Corella Ballet is scheduled to appear at Meany Hall 19-21 May 2011 at 8pm.

A few years ago at a concert at Meany Hall in Seattle, an audience member sitting at the front of the house had a coughing fit, and pianist András Schiff walked off the stage.

Saturday afternoon was a day filled with debuts, including all of the leads in "Serenade", the program opener. It was a cast of talls, with Laura Gilbreath and Karel Cruz as the Waltz Couple, Ariana Lallone and William Lin-Yee as Dark Angel and Elegy Man, with Lesley Rausch looking short by comparison as Russian Girl. I'm not quite sure what it is, but I often find Laura Gilbreath's dancing moving, and yesterday afternoon was no exception. Her long arms were fluid especially in slow passages, and because she's so tall and dances with such sweep, it's a pleasure to see her in roles that can verge into cute or come across as delicate flower: when she falls and mourns, it has gravitas. Watching Karel Cruz's entrance, with his elegant upper body and long arms, I was sad that Dark Angel has to be a female role, because I could envision him immediately in the Elegy Man's entrance and exit, too. It's almost shocking to think that this was Ariana Lallone's debut as Dark Angel, a role that was a natural fit, both technically and dramatically. I don't know if she's getting technically stronger, or if she's just been given more meaty roles in the last few years, but the combination of technique and presence is an intoxicating mixture. There might have been a neon sign over the stage reading "This Is Your Myrtha!" Lesley Rausch could use some of that presence -- moreso as Sanguinic -- but what she had that just about no other dancer in the ballet had was Romantic sensibility and style, and it was striking. Often Russian Girl looks a bit out of place in the swooning fall in the second half of the first movement, but she was dead on, and her performance was just lovely. She was beautifully framed by Leah O'Connor, Sarah Ricard Orza, Brittany Reid, and Abby Relic in the opening of "Scherzo a la Russe". Not surprisingly, the other dancer with a sense of the style was Liora Reshef, who caught my eye towards the end of the same movement when the corps is in a square dancing a bouncy step in place before crossing lines, by the soft way she moved her head on her shoulders, and her soft, rounded arms. In his lecture before the show, Doug Fullington said that the four men in the Elegy movement are called "Blueberries", and I couldn't get that out of my head watching them Rachel Foster made her debut in "Square Dance", partnered by Benjamin Griffiths, with a corps of primarily younger dancers, including two Professional Division students. In pointe roles, Foster's a lyric, without the clear differentiation and technique that this fach requires. Sometimes casting against type enriches; in this case, it didn't, at least for me. When she danced with Griffiths, my eyes were on him and his crystal clear beats and petite allegro and his plush jumps, if a bit earthbound, and she didn't hold my attention against the corps. I went to the World Synchronized Skating Championships last weekend, and one thing that struck me was how the top teams could make themselves look as if they were all the same height and body type, while, in fact, there's a very big range, even among the teams that are more uniform in height. The corps didn't manage this on Saturday. There was nothing wrong with the dancing itself, which was great -- Margaret Mullin was especially splendid -- but it wasn't a group yet. Like casting against type, I often like to see atypical interpretations that illuminate roles, even if not the whole doesn't quite come off. I also know that in a focused program like "All Balanchine", one role can influence another; I think, for example, the energy from Choleric informed Lallone's Dark Angel. There was a lot of Melancholic in Griffiths' interpretation of the "Square Dance" solo, and I don't think the two roles are related, at least temperamentally. That the role was created on Bart Cook, one of the great interpreters of Melancholic, is almost an anti-point, and over the last three decades, I've seen a darkness and drama imposed on the solo that I don't find convincing; Griffths' interpretation was no exception. Usually, no matter what state I go into seeing "Square Dance", I'm in a great mood when it's over, and I want it to start again immediately. Yesterday's put me in a bad mood. That didn't last long, because in "Four Temperaments", Barry Kerollis came bounding on the stage with Chalnessa Eames in Second Theme, and Jonathan Porretta danced his way in and out of pretzels as Melancholic, with Mullin again a standout as one of the demis. Rausch got all of the geometry of Sanguinic; she just needs some more projection. Seth Orza was very strong as her partner, with great energy. Phlegmatic was an absolute joy, with Olivier Wevers dancing every phrase as a surprise, and he was flanked by the delightful quartet of Jessika Anspach, Laura Gilbreath, Emma Love, and Brittany Reid. Phlegmatic was all of a piece. As Choleric Lindsi Dec burst on stage as if she had just escaped from her captors, and boy was she in a Bad Mood. She stormed the stage as if she we were one of the crabby, rude Greek heroes from the Iliad, and she wasn't about to take any prisoners. Her performance left me grinning and in a very Good Mood.

I find it ironic that decades after Balanchine's last hospital stay and death, after he no longer could withhold ballets or help if someone crossed him, and even more decades after the Ford Foundation grant, and when the Balanchine Trust sends stagers and gives out rights so that the most number of companies and universities can have the real thing, not knock-offs that miss the point, that Balanchine is attributed such posthumous influence of a relatively small subset of his works that remain in the rep.

Or Arizona. Sar is a beautiful dancer. The first time I saw him dance was in his graduation performance, as the dancing master in "Konservatoriat."

Was there a role change on Saturday night? On Opening Night, Kaori Nakamura danced Russian Girl ("Scherzo a la Russe"), while Kylee Kitchens danced Dark Angel, and Mara Vinson the Waltz Girl, who's often called the lead; she has impact, if not the most dancing, in every movement. According to the cast list, on Saturday night, Carla Korbes danced Mara Vinson's role and Chalnessa Eames Kaori Nakamura's, with Lindsi Dec in Kylee Kitchens' role. Many thanks for your impressions! More later about Saturday afternoon after I finish unpacking.

I'm every shade of green with envy.

There are three more videos: Balanchine's "Four Temperaments" -- Ariana A fascinating short interview with Ariana Lallone (and her beautiful eyes). The dancer in the pale blue leotard towards the beginning is Lindsi Dec, and the two dancers who are rehearsing behind Lallone with Francia Russell coaching are Laura Gilbreath in black and Brittany Reid is in the grey and red leotard with pink tights. George Balanchine's Serenade A video collage of a rehearsal in the main studio in the Phelps building. There are too many dancers to identify, but a few are Lesley Rausch in the black leotard with a v-neckline and thin halter strap and white tulle rehearsal skirt, dancing the Russian Girl; Brittany Reid in turquoise, the last dancer in the group of four at the beginning of "Scherzo a la Russe", and Kaori Nakamura, who's dancing Russian Girl. All Balanchine Trailer Another collage from the last time the ballets were performed. I can't tell who the Theme woman is in the first clip, but her extended foot is gorgeous; her partner looks like it might be Nicholas Ade. Carrie Imler is in "Square Dance", with Rachel Foster, Brittany Reid, Stacy Lowenberg to her left and Kara Zimmerman, Kylee Kitchens (?), and Rebecca Johnston to her right. Louise Nadeau and Christophe Maraval dance "Sanguinic". Jonathan Porretta dances the "Square Dance" male solo in two clips. The next "Square Dance" group looks like Barry Kerollis, Benjamin Griffiths, Rebecca Johnston, and Stacy Lowenberg. I'm not sure who the last "4T's" couple is; the man may be Lucien Postlewaite and the ballerina looks like Louise Nadeau* (?). *It's the Second Theme, and from historical cast lists, it's Stacy Lowenberg. I didn't recognize her because of how deep red her hair looked under those lights.

Next week is the annual Choreographers' Showcase. Please note that the time is 7:00pm. Pieces by Andrew Bartee, Barry Kerolis, Margaret Mullen, Seth Orza, and Jonathan Porretta have been choreographed on Professional Division students. Here is the video on YouTube: The score for the video is by William Lin-Yee.

I remember when Boal danced that role with Margaret Tracey. Watch Postlewaite's arms and hands at the very end of the video.

There have been two posts on the Antony Tudor Ballet Trust Facebook Page (so far) on Ms. Kaufman's Pulitzer Prize. The latest quoted her most gracious response: "Ms. Kaufman said Monday that 'the artists have given me great material to work with.'"

This morning on Facebook there was a post from Sandra Radvanovsky's fan page to say that her new album, "Verdi: Arias" was released today, which did its job by sending me immediately to iTunes to buy it and start downloading, and I started to think of artists I'd love to get news like this, or of performance updates, etc. Which led me to ignore my taxes for yet another hour and to poke around looking for PNB dancer fan pages. (This intro is an awkward way to explain that I'm really not a stalker...[i've too short an attention span].) I didn't find many, just dancer's regular FB pages, but one "friend" profile photo caught my eye, of Rachel Butler-Otto and her two children. She looks stunning, just like when she retired! http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1375467458 Since people change their profile pictures all the time, there's no guarantee it will be up for long. Through a bunch of clicks, I learned from her public profile that Rebecca Johnston is in law school in DC, and Nicholas Ade's profile photo is a beautiful shot of him and his wife, Paige Parks. (Must stop now and do taxes...)

Here's the casting for the second week, as of today: Thursday, 22 April Serenade Laura Gilbreath, Ariana Lallone, Lesley Rausch, Karel Cruz, William Lin-Yee Square Dance Carrie Imler/Lucien Postlewaite The Four Temperaments First Theme: Sarah Ricard Orza/Josh Spell Second Theme: Lindsi Dec/Kiyon Gaines Third Theme: Rachel Foster/James Moore Melancholic: Benjamin Griffiths Sanguinic: Lesley Rausch/Seth Orza Phlegmatic: Jeffrey Stanton Choleric: Brittany Reid Friday, 23 April Serenade Carla Körbes, Lindsi Dec, Carrie Imler, Olivier Wevers, Batkhurel Bold Square Dance Mara Vinson/Seth Orza The Four Temperaments First Theme: Laura Gilbreath/William Lin-Yee Second Theme: Lesley Rausch/Andrew Bartee Third Theme: Rachel Foster/James Moore Melancholic: Lucien Postlewaite Sanguinic: Kaori Nakamura/Jeffrey Stanton Phlegmatic: Olivier Wevers Choleric: Lindsi Dec Saturday, 24 April Serenade Mara Vinson, Kylee Kitchens, Carrie Imler, Lucien Postlewaite, Jerome Tisserand Square Dance Rachel Foster/Benjamin Griffiths The Four Temperaments First Theme: Laura Gilbreath/William Lin-Yee Second Theme: Lindsi Dec/Kiyon Gaines Third Theme: Sarah Ricard Orza/Jerome Tisserand Melancholic: Jonathan Porretta Sanguinic: Lesley Rausch/Seth Orza Phlegmatic: Karel Cruz Choleric: Ariana Lallone Sunday, 25 April (1pm) Serenade Carla Körbes, Lindsi Dec, Kaori Nakamura, Olivier Wevers, Batkhurel Bold Square Dance Mara Vinson/Seth Orza The Four Temperaments First Theme: Amanda Clark/Eric Hipolito Jr. Second Theme: Lesley Rausch/Andrew Bartee Third Theme: Rachel Foster/James Moore Melancholic: Lucien Postlewaite Sanguinic: Carrie Imler/Batkhurel Bold Phlegmatic: Jeffrey Stanton Choleric: Laura Gilbreath

Nope. And i'm ten blocks from the theater, so its not the USPS. Extremely frustrating; however, i have a strong suspicion that the subscription department is understaffed. I deal with them by phone often and, in crunch times, it appears they are working around the clock, and not getting a lot of help. I agree that an option to download one's tickets would be preferable. After all, they have to already know which seats are taken by subscribers if they can sell single performance tickets. Your post reminded me that it's been decades since I'd go to the box office, ask for tickets, and the ticket person go to the little cube for that date, pull out a packet of color-coded tickets held together with a rubber band, and flip through it to find the best seats. It was all so analog. Is NYCB fully online? I remember in past years that I'd "purchase" tickets online, which was actually a ticket request, and the actual seats were assigned the following business day(s). For years, there were few box office and online systems that were integrated.

With regard to social media, Facebook just asked me to poke someone. I don't know what that means, and I don't want to know.

The lead on the Washington Post home page lists her first, if not by name:

RIP, Ms. Carter, bless her heart. My condolences to her family.

No, no, no -- no flashing screens during the performance!!! Wait until intermission, please

Just a quick note: discussions about other forums' content is off-limits on Ballet Talk. Other forums are easy to find -- there aren't many of us -- and Google, bing, and PM (for BTers with 10 or more posts) are your friends.

Public funding for ballet!!!!!!! (if only...)

A gorgeous photo, rg

Not Twitter, but social media: The Antony Tudor Trust has a Facebook page, and they've been publishing photographs and asking for help in identifying the photographers, dancers, contexts, etc. http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/pag...67747009?ref=ts I think this is a brilliant way of spreading the net farther and wider. It means having to sift a bit more to get corroboration, but what potential. With Twitter, potential biographers have far more info from the horse's mouth.