Helene

I watched it again on the plane, and I'm wondering whether it was edited in the DVD version (maybe for the PBS broadcast?). I seem to remember a scene in which one of the singers paced back and forth in front of the door to the coaching room before going in, and there were several pieces of music listed in the credits that I don't remember having heard sung, like Wolfram's aria from "Tannhauser", which I think is only mentioned in conversation.

I apologize -- I thought there was a heading in the printed program above the interview that said "The Bridge Project" and figured the project was bigger than just the Shakespeare. (I forgot to pack it ) It was a terrific interview. I hope there is an online link soon.

Please take this in the context that it's from someone who likes theater least of the performing arts because, well it's theatrical, and if I want to hear someone yell, I'd rather go to the opera. And, even when my hearing was very sharp, after a while the words start to blend together, which makes me inept at foreign languages as well as my own aurally, and I tend to focus on voice quality and rhythm, as well as enunciation. That said, what I liked best about Juliet Ryance's performance was the timbre of her voice, a mezzo. I really don't like Rosalind once she begins to toy with Orlando -- he's not a Benedict who's toying with her -- and I find her character's pseudo-wit tedious. There's only so much an actress can do with a smart-ass, and I found her dynamic range a bit limited. I loved her in the early scenes, and can imagine why she'd be wonderful as Desdemona. She was heads above Michelle Beck's Celia in terms of rhythm and speech, but I preferred Beck's physical and emotional characterization. She was a warm presence, and her wisdom was quiet and subtle: no 'wink, wink she'll eat her words' damsel- in-distress for her. As I mentioned earlier, Dillane was fantastic. I'd see him in anything.

According to an interview with Nancy Dalva in the BAM program, as his contribution to The Bridge Project (see below), Mark Morris is creating a 35-minute piece for his entire company to Eric Satie's "Socrate". There will be text and music.. The Mark Morris Dance Group season at BAM will run Feb 23, 25-27 at the Gilman Opera House. The interview concluded:

Tonight was opening night of The Bridge Project at Brooklyn Academy of Music's Harvey Theater. "As You Like It" was the play, which was directed by Sam Mendes. I particularly liked the starkish set by Tom Piper, with the Arden forest set at the back of the stage, and everywhere else at the front, and the wonderfully atmospheric lighting by Paul Pyant. The setting and costumes were generic contemporary, with a few updates -- the shepherd Corin does a lot of fishing -- and there were a number of deft and funny directorial approaches to the play. I thought the music was well integrated into the production -- it's listed as "Sound design by Simon Baker for Autograph" -- and I liked the Bob Dylan musical reference a lot. There was a wonderfully deft little dance for the actor who played the shepherd Corin, Anthony O'Donnell -- there were a number of double ups in casting -- although his character was the one who married the couples at the end. The final dance for the couples before the Epilogue was a lovely way to almost end the play and was very well performed. The real music, though, is in the text, and it was a mixed bag. I was disappointed in much of the opening scenes, with a lot of declaiming, but not much rhythm in speech. One exception was Jonathan Lincoln Fried's Le Beau, when he fills in Orlando about the relationships in Duke Frederick's house, which was clear and measured. Stephen Dillane spoke Jaques famous "All the world's a stage" speech like it was the center of a song cycle: seamless and inevitable, spoken in song without any stagy theatrics. Aaron Krohn's Silvius was sheer joy, a little goofy up front, but such a mensch, a bit like the kind Robert Martin in "Emma", and his speech was clear and natural. It's such a hard character to portray without seeming silly or cloying, and he aced it. Christian Camargo as Orlando kept the sappy part of his character well under control. The scene in the scene that ended Act I with the death of Adam was beautifully portrayed by Ron Cephas Jones as First Lord and Alvin Epstein as Adam. It was subtle and very moving.

Another vote for Kistler: her performances also showed the youth's feeling of invincibility.

That would be wonderful, Jayne! Francia Russell spoke in a Q&A about an idea to bring San Francisco Ballet and Pacific Northwest Ballet together to produce and perform "Vienna Waltzes", but the companies couldn't get the financing together.

Eric Cutler, and he was excellent! Cutler was the tenor (Arturo) in the first Met HD broadcast ("I Puritani").

My favorite was "L'ami de mon amie". Rest in peace, Mr. Rohmer.

If they keep cutting corps members regularly to make way for new graduates, then the graduates will know they might have a two-three-year stay instead of no job coming out of the company, and then they'd have to ask why they should go to the school when they could finish at the schools of San Francisco Ballet or Pacific Northwest Ballet or Boston Ballet, etc. and join those companies?

But Ballanchine is done regularly at City Center (by ABT, and recently The MT ) which is much closer to Lincoln Center than the Joyce. I was thinking of the Robbins, because I know little of how the Robbins Foundation handles rights. I know there was some problem with a visiting company performing "Les Sylphides". PNB often performs versions of Balanchine ballets that are not seen in NYC, but "Apollo" isn't one of them, because they do the abridged version, not the full. But there are enough companies that perform Balanchine in the area that I don't think there's a rights issues with his ballets. For his, I think it may have been the issue over taped music

This would take an enormous check to accomplish. I've often wished that PNB could perform them in workshop settings. Most, although not all, of this rep is performed in Seattle interspersed with stronger works, and I'm along for the ride, but it would certainly be easy for me to decide which company to see. What PNB showed at the Joyce, I would be happy to see once a year, with repeats for a program with "3 Movements". The second section of the program in particular was soft. It took this time seeing "Mopey" to realize that for all of the angst, it's actually a soft work. (To an extent, so was the Tharp, although it was also dry. The other Tharp was not. It was great theater.) Most of the Dove is soft. It's not only PNB: a lot of the modern dance done in Seattle I find falls in the soft range. It's not my stuff. I'm miffed at myself for thinking that Tharp would go over because it's Tharp -- people screamed and shouted at the end of "Movin' On", which was two hours of my life that I'll never get back -- and serious Tharp, and that the Joyce audience would like "Mopey". I was so wrong. There are a handful of Balanchine pieces they could have done at the Joyce, I think: at least "Apollo" -- PNB does the truncated version, without the birth and the platform, which I saw at the 300-seat Vancouver Playhouse when National Ballet of Canada brought guests to Ballet BC's fundraiser at the end of the September -- and "Square Dance". Barocco might have been cramped, but it leaves out the men. The company doesn't do any of the Balanchine stand-alone pas de deux or solos, like "Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux" or "Sonatine", at least as far as I can remember. The issue with the Balanchine may have been that the company would have performed them to taped music. I've been thinking a lot about this, not knowing the issues about rights i.e., whether there is a ban on performing it within X miles of the Koch Theatre, and I think the best program would have been "Dances at a Gathering" and "3 Movements". Performing "Dances" in NYC would have been go for broke and would have given a much better indication of what the dancers can do.

I wonder if after seeing "3 Movements" at Ballet Across America, the cries from the audience and critics to BRING BALANCHINE ALREADY will intensify, and whether Boal will heed them. I think Tobias' sense of desperation over Korbes would be relieved by a trip to Seattle where Korbes is more expansively cast and in context of a season that includes three full lengths, two of them classical or neoclassical, an all-Balanchine, and "The Nutcracker" out of seven programs. Boal brought Boal & Company II -- I'm not sure whether it's "plus Tharp" or including Tharp -- to the Joyce, which makes sense for the theater. I don't think the Joyce makes sense as a venue for the company, which could have performed "3 Movements" and two Balanchines with the same number of dancers on a larger stage.

Thank you for the info, ViolinConcerto!

I'm so used to seeing the Met HD broadcasts at 10am on Saturday that I wondered to myself whether I could see the first two acts before heading to see PNB, and then realized that, duh , I am in the same time zone as the Met Opera afternoon start. Thank you so much for your report, kfw! Maybe I can make an encore performance.

I bought the DVD at the Metropolitan Opera Shop, and knowing what to expect, I enjoyed the film a lot more. I had forgotten, though, how before he sang "Mes amis" Alek Shrader kept saying to himself, "I'm a tiger, I'm a tiger", which, given the recent travails of a different Tiger, he might have skipped if the film was current. Sadly, the full performances were not one of the bonus features. The Fleming/Graham/Hampson interview was listed, but I couldn't bring myself to watch it again. The second bonus feature was a short film that director Froemke made on the Southwestern auditions. According to one of the judges, there was no screening, and anyone with $20 and an audition photo could audition. (One of the contestants said it was expensive, although she didn't say whether it was to sign up, or to pay for the training to get there.) The structure was a relatively open audition on day one, with seven finalists chosen, and a public performance audition on day two, after which the judges chose two second prizes and one first prize. The winner of the first prize went to NYC for the semifinals, and in this case, made it to the finals captured in the main film. In this case, both the snarky comments by the judges to each other and the direct feedback -- in the auditorium to those who didn't make it to day two, and around a swimming pool at the post-competition party for the finalists -- the judges gave to the contestants were the highlights. Seattle Opera General Director Speight Jenkins was one of the judges -- from his comments, it was his first time judging the Met Council Auditions, at least at this level -- and what was really scary is that I could predict which of the singers we heard that he'd like. There was one tenor, Jameson James, who sang Tom's aria from "The Rake's Progress". Although Jenkins said he could tell form James' aria list that his top was not developed, and that Tom's aria is a terrible audition aria, I give James major props for his clear diction singing in English. I understood every syllable.

I cannot believe how seamlessly she transfers the veil from one hand with her hands in high fifth during the turns. And his waist is so calm and so vertical in the huge split tour jetes!

I never thought the Tharp role played to her strengths. I thought she was wonderful in "3 Movements" on the McCaw Hall stage, and I think she might have been coming back from injury and was especially energized. She didn't have the same impact for me this afternoon. So far, the most beautiful things I've seen her dance were "Diamonds", the Verdy role in "Emeralds", and Odette, but her Anita was also a thrill, and she was sensuous as all get-go in "Fancy Free". I think she's too liquid a dancer for most of the contemporary works. She seems to like to dance them, but she's interchangeable in many, while she's anything but in classical and neoclassical rep. She was a beautiful Lilac Fairy, and according to a recent interview, she's learning Aurora now. That will be an interesting stretch for her. Peter Martins made an entrance at today's matinee, wearing shades, climbing up an orchestra side aisle to his seat. After watching today, if I were he and hadn't remembered the context of the PNB programs to which many New York critics have given glowing reviews, I'd be tempted to dismiss them altogether or to take them personally. Not that the company hasn't been dancing well, or that the program isn't indicative of many of the new works, but it isn't what they do best, which is too big for the Joyce stage. I never thought I'd write this, but I think the company looked better in the Kylian they did this fall ("Petite Mort"), and the pieces, with the exception of "3 Movements", are tepid* compared to the Forsythe, Robbins, Balanchine, and even "Red Angels". *Edited to add: I was surprised, because the program sounded stronger on paper. I still don't like Opus 111 very much -- it takes forever to really get going and keep going -- but it looked much better, and much more vivid, on the Joyce stage than at McCaw Hall. Ricard Orza, who was second cast in the program in which the work premiered, and Barry Kerollis were both superb. I liked her very much when I first saw her in the role, which was made on Jodie Thomas, and I think it was her PNB breakout role. This afternoon, she was even better, bigger and more dynamic than when she first danced it. Kerollis was a delight, his elegance boosted by a tad of the manic energy he had in "West Side Story Suite". "3 Movements" didn't translate as well, because it needs more stage depth, and while from our seats in the Joyce, row R (on the rise), dead center, the patterns were as clear as they were in McCaw Hall, there was too much congestion. I hope this is revived in Seattle soon. This is the work on the program that, if PNB were a visiting company, would have made me buy tickets for a second and third view. "Mopey" is never going to be a favorite of mine, but watching Benjamin Griffiths dance it, I'm reminded again and again of how in the most awkward, self-conscious, self-hating, crazily hormonal cocktail that is the adolescent boy there are glimpses of sublime grace and beauty. If I am indifferent to Rachel Foster in a contemporary work, in this case "Fur Alina", I think I'm safe in concluding there's not much to the work. I'm terrible with faces, but I think I saw Benjamin Millepied in the audience. The short women with short dark hair who attended with Peter Martins looked so familiar -- Rosemary Dunleavy, maybe? -- and a man who looked very much like Charles Askegaard managed to avoid decapitating a tiny old lady with his gym bag on the way to his seat. There were a number of dancers there, but without name tags, I'm lost.

I saw last night's performance. Erica Perreira again subbed as Butterfly, this time for Brittany Pollack. I think "spry" is a great description of most of her performance, but what I loved most were her languid arabesques, a luscious contrast. Is Sean Suozzi tall? Because he danced tall and gave one of the most physical performances of Puck I've seen, combining Caliban's strength with Ariel's swiftness, danced with virile grace. I loved his relationship with Andrew Veyette's Oberon, especially how he became more invested in the mortal lovers over the course of Act I. When he called Helena to Lysander, he was trying to get the job done. Later, when he called Helena to Demetrius, he did it with gentle affection. I've seen many Oberons make an impression in the Scherzo with the opening pose, but what was particularly impressive about Veyette's Oberon was the specificity in his gestures and mime. In the first 15 seconds, before his legs start to move, as he directed the bugs, it was as if he were a cook: some of this, and a lot of that, and hmm, maybe a pinch of this. I rarely watch Oberon's reactions to the lovers; my eye is usually focused on them. Veyette's reactions were so clear and heartfelt that I watched the lovers through him. While he wanted to teach Titania a lesson and get the page, he was not interested in the abject humiliation that often makes me think Titania would be better off with Bottom, and the open, slightly surprised smile when Titania offered the Page ("What? For me? How wonderful!") was priceless. Like in the performance I saw last Spring, the mime for Bottom's companions was clear and had a story arc. Also like in the performance I saw last Spring, Sterling Hyltin gave a consummate performance of Hermia, her solo being the highlight of Act I. Faye Arthurs was a worthy Helena. Her drama was in the way her legs stabbed and her arms reached, all in her body; in the mime, her hurt was interior and moving. Savannah Lowery was splendid in the Hippolyta's Hounds scene, with huge, strong movement, whipping away the huge clouds of fog. (The fog maker was a bit over-enthusiastic.) Abi Stafford is a cypher. Although her chest is open, her upper body is strangely unexpressive, and in many places in the Act II Divertissement her port de bras looked half-hearted. Her legs, on the other hand, were all legato and cream, as if they were in a different performance, and her feet were lovely. She seemed unusually dependent on her partner, Sebastien Marcovici, and the partnering was intermittently awkward, which breaks the spell, particularly in that role. Darci Kistler danced Titania. (I am still in shock at seeing her as a brunette.) Some of her dancing was lovely and some wasn't, which I expected, but I was didn't expect was that she would sometimes over-reach in the mime and characterization when her sheer presence would have been enough. Sigh.

He is. I wish he had better material than "Mopey". He's getting wonderful things to dance from Olivier Wevers. I agree about the Tharp. That's why I keep harping on my disappointment in PNB having brought this Tharp. If both casts of "Afternoon Ball" had come, you would have seen a completely different Chalnessa Eames. (Who is also getting wonderful things to dance from Olivier Wevers.) "Concerto Barocco" and "Square Dance" are great works for them, especially when Carrie Imler dances them, or Kaori Nakamura (not on this trip) in "Square Dance". At the same time, they do a killer "Jewels".

Those who still have their Christmas lights up, we know who you are! On 8 January in Tempe and 10 January in Scottsdale, Astrit Zejnati and former Ballet Arizona dancer Elye Olson will perform in AZDance Group's Christmas Dance Concert.

I read this as Korbes doing all six performances of "Opus 111" and "3 Movements" and four of seven for "Fur Alina". Am I losing it even more than usual?

I've never seen a Kirov ballerina with anything other than either a blank or a severe face in Shades. Have you? Not even a suggestion of tenderness. Nikiya's ghost is very different from Giselle's. I've seen a few different shades of severe It was impressive how she kept the same expression through the entire performance, including curtain calls.

I've read the phrase "Prodigal Son Returns" at least once in relation to Peter Boal taking PNB to NYC. It's also a bit of "Prodigal Daughter" too They ran off and wasted their talents and are now returning home broken, begging for forgiveness and menial employment just to survive? Don't. Even. Think. About. It. ()

I mistook his shilling during the "Ballerina" documentary as influence. I can't stay away from "La Bayadere". New poster California wondered how long the videos stays up. I'm hoping that the current links that go back to October is a good sign for the future, and that the broadcast will be available for a while. The only downside is that I can't get Minkus' music out of my head The more I watch Tereshkina, the more I realize that she reminds me of Kyra Nichols. Nichols doesn't have the Vaganova schooling, but I remember reading an article about her in the defunct "Ballet News"; I think the same article which described her preparing to take Violette Verdy's role in "Liebeslieder Walzer". She was trained by her mother, Sally Streets, and she said while she had to gain extension, she was taught placement. It's in that placement that she most resembles Nichols to me. Joseph Duell was interviewed for the "Liebeslieder" article, and the interviewer must have asked if she was basing her interpretation on Verdy's iconic one -- and it was a hugely important revival at the time -- and his response was the equivalent of "She will make this individual; she doesn't follow". Verdy had many rare qualities, but the one that would have been most incongruent for Nichols was her facial expression. There are very few dancers who can light up a stage the way Verdy could, with her entire face. It can't be taught. Darci Kistler has always had this quality, and Somova does too, until her eyes go blank. I and {> Tereshkina, but forget about cracking a smile: I don't think she cracked an expression in The Shades act.