Helene

Mikhail Messerer, ballet master of the Mikhailovsky Ballet, has asked Ayupova to be a coach for his company. (Dancing Times, September 2009, p.63).

The author is John Guy.

In the September 2009 issue of Dancing Times, Jann Parry writes about her research project for her biography of Kenneth MacMillan, which is available from the publisher's website: http://www.faber.co.uk/work/different-drummer/9780571243020/ Nothing on amazon.com in the US, but it is 17,50 GBP on amazon.co.uk; list is 30,00 GBP. http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_ss?url=se...amp;x=0&y=0

Alina Cojocaru's interview is the cover story of the September 2009 issue of Dancing Times, in which she discusses injuries, partnerships, and her current approach to roles. Here's a tidbit from it:

In an interview in the September 2009 issue of Dancing Times (p.29), writer John Guy gives some background about Hubbe's appointment: The silver linings for North American audiences were nearly a decade more of performances in NYC and guesting, and the beautiful stagings of "La Sylphide" in particular that he had time to do.

In the September 2009 print edition of Dancing Times, there is an interview with Nikolai Hubbe, who when he was asked whether Kronstam had influenced him said: (p.28)

The photo of Baldina is gorgeous.

Thank you, pirouetta27!

I was poking around the site, and I happened across the following post from Michael from Winter Season 2004: http://ballettalk.invisionzone.com/index.p...st&p=126621

When doing a search to find out the name of Russell and Stowell's third son, which I couldn't find, I did find an announcement from Dance Magazine that their 1996 award was given to Russell and Stowell, Savion Glover, and Peter Boal, who was then dancing with NYCB http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Dance+Magazi...d...-a018144310 and a 2008 interview that Seattle Post-Intelligencer food writer Rebekah Denn did with Kari Brunson http://blog.seattlepi.com/devouringseattle....asp?source=rss

(There's a third son, too.)

I loooooovvvvveee bad TV. My project for next week is to delve into the new "thirtysomething Season One" DVD's, so that I can roll my eyes and whine about how much they're whining.

Or in "Kiss" or as the American dowager tourist in "The Merry Widow"?

On the Steve Reich's "Drumming" thread, I found a review for the John Curry Company at the Metropolitan by Jennifer Dunning, which mentioned ballet and dance choreographers who had done works for his show, including Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux. Just today, a video of Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux's "Ice Moves", the closer for a 1980 show, was posted to YouTube, to music by Hector Berlioz: Curry and former Boston Ballet principal dancer Cathy Foulkes perform the opening. At the end, after the company takes its bows, the stars, who apart from Curry did not appear in this piece, are announced, including "11-year-old Katherine Healy", along with JoJo Starbuck, Peggy Fleming, and Curry himself. Here's Twyla Tharp's "After All" Peter Martins' "Tango Tango" (with JoJo Starbuck) I can't find Dean's "Burn" or Bonnefoux's "Meditation" on YouTube. I don't know whether either were ever filmed. I'm not sure who choreographed this, but here are Foulkes and Curry in "Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux":

Seattle Metropolitan magazine interviews Lucien Postlewaite about Romeo in the season opener, Maillot's "Romeo et Juliette". http://www.seattlemet.com/arts-and-enterta...-juliette-0909/

We will be upgrading to a new release of the board software, hopefully some time next week. The board will be down for at least an hour, but could always be longer, if there are unexpected results, or we need to re-do some modifications and additional configuration. If you are logged in and active when the upgrade takes place, if the behavior is the same as with the last upgrade, you may be able to continue to see the board, but any posts you make will be lost. We'll post a warning before the upgrade begins and will confirm in the same thread when it's back up.

My season's tickets came today, and on the "All Balanchine" program ticket is a photo of Porretta in the solo from Square Dance. Boal praised his dancing in it in the quote above.

PNB Facebook is a great resource for Company news: http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/pages/Se...58443951?ref=nf The latest is news of an article in Dance International featuring Jonathan Porretta: http://www.danceinternational.org/webexclusive.html#jporetta

According to the announcement on the PNB Facebook page, "Pacific Northwest Ballet corps de ballet dancer Kari Brunson Announces Departure to Pursue Restaurant Career." This is the announcement: Seattle, WA – In an emotional announcement to the Company, corps de ballet member Kari Brunson announced yesterday that after nine years of dancing, she will be leaving Pacific Northwest Ballet, effective immediately, to pursue a career in the food industry. Brunson, who for two years has been documenting her experiences as a self-taught cook – and food photographer – in her food blog Anticiplate, will be apprenticing in the kitchens of renowned Seattle chef and restaurateur Ethan Stowell. During the PNB dancers’ recent summer break, Brunson interned at Stowell’s newest restaurant, Anchovies & Olives, and documented the experience in a second blog, Summer Spoon. That experience led Stowell to offer her the chance of-a-lifetime opportunity to apprentice at his restaurants. "I never thought I would find anything in my life that would satisfy my soul like ballet,” said Brunson in her announcement. “Yet, after working in the Anchovies & Olives kitchen over the summer, I realized that I had found a new love. The same parts of me are fulfilled: the preparation before the ‘show,’ the ‘performance,’ and most importantly, the spontaneous creativity. I know I have a massive amount of hard work ahead of me to start a new profession, and I am excited for this challenge." Ethan Stowell was named one of the “Best New Chefs” of 2008 by Food & Wine magazine; however, he made his debut on the Seattle food scene a few years earlier, with his first restaurant Union (“Best New American Restaurants,” Travel + Leisure, December 2004). His second venture, Tavolàta, was chosen as one of the top ten “Hottest New Restaurants” by Bon Appétit (June 2007) and he has most recently opened in quick succession the popular and acclaimed How to Cook a Wolf and Anchovies & Olives. Mr. Stowell is the son of PNB Founding Artistic Directors Kent Stowell and Francia Russell. Kari Brunson is from Salem, Virginia. She trained at Southwest Virginia Ballet, the School of American Ballet, and Pacific Northwest Ballet School. She joined Pacific Northwest Ballet as an apprentice in 2002 and was promoted to corps de ballet in 2003. At PNB she has originated leading roles in Kiyon Gaines’ M-Pulse and Susan Stroman’s TAKE FIVE … More or Less. She has also danced leading roles in George Balanchine's Emeralds, Rubies, and Slaughter on Tenth Avenue; Ulysses Dove's Vespers; William Forsythe's One Flat Thing, reproduced; Susan Marshall's Kiss; Jerome Robbins' The Concert and Fancy Free; Kent Stowell's Nutcracker (Peacock); and Twyla Tharp's Nine Sinatra Songs. Featured roles have included George Balanchine's Concerto Barocco, The Four Temperaments, A Midsummer Night's Dream, and La Valse; Todd Bolender's Souvenirs; Trisha Brown's Spanish Dance; William Forsythe's In the middle, somewhat elevated; Ronald Hynd's The Merry Widow and The Sleeping Beauty; and Kent Stowell's Swan Lake. “I have known Kari Brunson since she was a slightly awkward, sweet student of mine at the School of American Ballet in New York,” said PNB Artistic Director Peter Boal. “Arriving at PNB, I found something very compelling about Kari on stage. I took a chance on her with Susan Marshall's Kiss that I have never regretted. Her stage presence exuded rare confidence, making her a favorite with audiences. She became a first-rate dancer on all fronts, one that we will most definitely miss. We wish her all the best in the world of culinary arts and know that we will keep her as a dear friend of PNB.” http://www.pnb.org/Press/Releases/

I remember "Burn", Laura Dean's piece for the John Curry Company, but I couldn't remember the music. According to Jennifer Dunning's review of the run at the Metropolitan Opera, http://www.nytimes.com/1984/07/27/arts/dan...at-the-met.html I misremembered that Dorothy Hamill skated in it, but according the review, she skated solos to pieces by Chopin and Puccini. I thought they gave her a modern piece that really stretched her, but that was only in my imagination. Jean Pierre Bonnefoux's "Meditation" got a great review from Ms. Dunning, as did Twyla Tharp's "After All"; Lar Lubovitch's piece, not so much. As far as skating choreographers go, the review notes that Lori Nichol and Lee Ann Miller were in the performances.

Silvino da Silva of The Ruth Page Center for the Arts has kindly sent us Mr. Long's obituary text and photo: CHICAGO – Larry E. Long (72), Founder and Director of the Ruth Page Foundation School of Dance and Co-Artistic Director of the Civic Ballet of Chicago, died Saturday, August 22, 2009 from injuries sustained from an automobile accident on July 15. Services will be held on Friday, August 28, 2009 at Holy Trinity Church, 1118 North Noble Street, Chicago at 11:30 AM. A Memorial Reception will be held at the Ruth Page Center for the Arts, 1016 North Dearborn Street, Chicago from 1:00 to 3:00 PM. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Larry Long Master Teachers Fund, made payable to the Ruth Page Foundation. This Fund will help bring master teachers of the caliber of Mr. Long to the School of Dance to work with its students. “The dance community and the Ruth Page Foundation School of Dance has lost a great teacher,” commented Venetia Stifler, Executive and Artistic Director of The Ruth Page Foundation. “Larry used to tell me that he taught who was in the room that day. He looked at each dancer and got a sense of what they needed and taught the class to help them gain that which was missing. He also believed in a ‘no frills’ pure Ballet dance technique that emphasized movement over artifice. His musicality, passion for ballet, focus and masterly technique are just a few of the things that distingished him among his peers.” Mr. Long was born October 30, 1936 in Des Moines, Iowa, but spent his formative years in Los Angeles, California. Mr. Long was recognized as one of the preeminent ballet teachers in America. Mikhail Baryshnikov in an article in the New York Times named Mr. Long as one of six ballet teachers in America who have distinguished themselves as the best in developing students into professional dancers. Mr. Long began his training with Alexandra Baldina, an illustrious Leningrad ballerina. His first professional performance was with Alicia Alonso in a production of Coppelia. He came to Chicago in 1958 beginning his long association with Ruth Page’s Chicago Opera Ballet at the Lyric Opera, and later Ms. Page’s International Ballet Company. After becoming a principal dancer with Ms. Page's International Ballet Company, he was appointed Ballet Master, a position he later held with the National Ballet of Washington, D.C. and the Harkness Ballet of New York. In 1973, he was co-founder and director with Ruth Page of the Chicago Ballet. Three years later, Mr. Long became Artistic Director of the Ballet International in London. Mr. Long was the long time (1965-1997) director of the Chicago Tribune Charities’ production of The Nutcracker ballet which ran in Chicago for 31 years. Mr. Long and his wife, Dolores, co-founded the Civic Ballet of Chicago, the youth training company of the Ruth Page School of Dance, in 1998 in order to continue to develop serious young dancers with advanced training and performance experience as a prelude to a professional career in ballet. In 1989, he received the Ruth Page Award for "lifetime service to the field of dance." In 2006, the city of Chicago honored Larry and Dolores Long with a commendation for their contributions to the Arts in Chicago. Larry Long will be remembered for his enthusiasm and tremendous energy; a motivational force in the lives of his family friends and dancers everywhere. An important calling for Mr. Long was also his loving devotion to his wife, Dolores, for 47 years, who was always beside him devoting their lives to the dance world. Besides his wife, Mr. Long leaves behind his nieces and nephews: Deborah and John Carroll; Marti-Jean Gross; Tracy Somers and Chris Long; grand nieces and nephews: Cassandra Carroll, Jenny and Jimmy Darukhanovala, Danni Maxson and Julian Jasiniski. Rest in peace, Mr. Long.

Is there a separate note on the site that says Radetsky is returning to the US? The "USA" on the list of dancers who have left the company is the country where a person is a citizen, not his or her destination.

Is this the color version that was excerpted in the "Dancing for Mr. B" video? There was another, black-and-white version that was used in the Balanchine bio on PBS.

McBride was delightful as Pearly Queen. I was lucky to have seen her do the role four times in the 80's, each with Bart Cook.