Helene

PD=Professional Division.

Congratulations to your daughter, leslie4310!

Damian Smith just staged "After the Rain Pas de Deux" for PNB. Van Patten should be marvelous. Is it of Ulbricht that someone remarked that they need to get him a titanium tambourine? Think of the publicity shot with Ulbricht facing off against the Trailblazers backboard... (I bet he can leap that high.) Seeing Megan Fairchild will be a real treat. I saw Melody Herrera dance a lovely Nutcracker and was equally good in adagio and allegro passages. She should be lovely in "The Leaves Are Fading". I wish I could be there. I hope everyone from Portland will review it here

I belatedly added an option to the "Do you see multiple performances ?" question

It was for the 19th performance that Osipova was originally removed from the ABT "La Sylphide". To their credit, ABT has not yet yanked Seo from that performance, at least to date.

For me, rep drives the choice more times than any other thing, including whether I'll see more than one performance. I'm lucky in that in the three companies I mainly see -- Pacific Northwest Ballet, Ballet Arizona, San Francisco Ballet -- I like so many of the dancers that 99% of the time it doesn't matter who is cast. Where I'm disappointed in casting is usually when I've tried to see different casts and they're rearranged so that I see the same cast. I'm sad that Korbes was injured, and I'm still hoping to see her Girl in Mauve this week, but I can't feel "robbed" by seeing Mara Vinson's superb performances last week. There are exceptions: I really did feel like I won Lotto when the performances of SFB's "Swan Lake" and "Rubies" for which I bought tickets in advance before casting was published featured Tina LeBlanc in her final season. When it comes to few visiting companies (I to them or both of us to each other), which is much rarer for me, I'll pick by dancer, and assume that this will blow up by the time performances come along. I really have wanted to see Part live for a long time, and I based my ABT "La Sylphide" ticket-buying around her (fingers crossed), and I admit to being one who, given my druthers, will avoid Somova in classical full-length leads. (Although I picked to see Part in "La Sylphide" to see "La Sylphide". The canceled Osipova was disappointing, but she wasn't the driver for the trip.) But how wrong can I go with a Bolshoi "Bayadere" or "Le Corsaire", no matter who is dancing?

Would the City Center programs have transliterated Zuizin into what I remember as Zyuzyn or Zyuzin? (Maybe Zuyzin? I just remember "y"s) If so, I remember liking him very much, and I wish him the best of luck, although Schklyarov will be formidable competition, deservedly so.

Ray, you're question is a great one. I was thinking about it and how other factors, besides time and money, would influence these decisions, and I've expanded on your question in a two-part poll: What Drives You to See a Performance--Part 1 What Drives You to See a Performance--Part 2 We can't correlate answers -- i.e., 50% of those who choose performances because their child/relative/friend are in it are not subscribers -- and we don't know who responded to what question.

In the balletomane poll, Ray asked: This is part 2 of a two-part extended poll based on his original question.

In the balletomane poll, Ray asked: Most of us attend ballet performances for a variety of mixed motives. But if you had to characterize your reasons in one of three ways, would you say that in the main you generally attend ballet performances to see: ( ) particular dancers, no matter what the work ( ) particular works, no matter who's dancing ( ) particular dancers dancing specific works Again, this is asking you to generalize your experience (but you could interpret "particular dancers" to mean "particular companies"; similarly, you could interpret "particular works" to mean particular kinds of works, i.e., the classics, or particular choreographers) This is part 1 of a two-part extended poll based on his original question.

I don't think Nijinsky's "Rite of Spring" is a ballet. It was a work created by a man known as the greatest male classical ballet dancer of his time, created for and performed by a ballet company, but I don't see how it is a ballet.

What an amazing production by the Joffrey! From the first stomp, it was clear that the dancers understood the style. Hodgson is credited in both the Joffrey and Mariinsky versions. The Mariinsky's version was pretty and bland. The Mariinsky dancers did not grow up exposed to modern dance in the way that every Joffrey dancer could have been and it's hard to imagine them not, by virtue of having lived and worked in NYC. It was amazing seeing the names on the credits :Le Blanc, Gates, Rodriguez, Maynard, Wheater, Corbin, Goldweber, Stierle, and on. I still don't know how Rodriguez could move after standing in a frozen pose for 10 minutes before she had to explode. Thank you, sandik!

I loved Auteuil in Cache and La Fille Sur le Pont.

I've posted this before, but since there's renewed interest in this great dancer, and given his comments about sport in the linked article innopac generously provided, here are two YouTube links to Taranda and Irina Slutskaya from Ice Age, a "Skating with the Stars" show in Russia, coach/choreographer Alexander (Sasha) Zhulin's "Swan Lake" parody: (First two minutes are Taranda and Slutskaya talking, with some practice footage.) (Kiss and Cry and judges' comments) It got perfect 6's across-the-board in both technique and artistry, and although I don't recognize all of the judges, the woman in the middle with perfect hair and the fur collar is the great coach/choreographer Tatiana Tarasova, and the slender man in the suit jacket and light blue shirt is SLC pairs gold medallist Anton Sikharulidze. The first judge even managed to get a smile out of Zhulin, by thanking him (the only part I understood).

Until the shock of the Berlin Wall coming down, didn't the Cold War seem endless? I never expected to be able to set foot on the ground where my grandparents were born.

I had a 15-year love/hate relationship with "Dances at a Gathering". I had read and heard so much about it, and when I finally saw it (NYCB in the 80's), I was bored silly, and couldn't understand what all the hooplah was about. It felt about 10 years long. The next time I saw it, I had such low expectations that I kind-of liked it. Going in with higher expectations, I hated it again. Back and forth, back and forth. It didn't help that I couldn't stand most of the Chopin. Since then I've learned to like, even love, a lot of Chopin, and the first time I simply loved it was when I went back to NYC and saw a random NYCB performance. I was a bit afraid this time with PNB, especially since I had to drink several cups of coffee to be sure I'd be awake. (That would have been equally true for "Stars and Stripes".) I was surprised how much I felt the same after three in a row, and am looking forward to seeing it twice again later in the week. I now suspect that turning the corner with the score made me turn the corner with the ballet. I took a long, long time to get there, and I wouldn't have bothered, had there not been other things I wanted to see on the NYCB programs. I suspect if you felt Nadeau was too broad, you would have liked Miranda Weese better in the role. Edited to add: The length is to an extent Balanchine's fault: it was originally the pas de deux between Boy in Brown and Girl in Pink, and Balanchine reportedly peeked into the studio and told Robbins to keep going. It wouldn't be the first time that Robbins didn't know when to stop, but I was thinking the other night that I'm not sure which parts I'd cut. Boys in Brown will hate me for this, but the only thing I could think of was the second solo, which I wish was given to Boy in Brick, if it has to be there. I feel the same way about Balanchine's "Who Cares?" -- too long, but what to cut?

Ugh, I read the back-and-forth, even though I knew it would be bad for the spirits. It makes me crazy when sports people do not acknowledge the public subsidies for their pet sports, especially for nominally "for profit" sports teams.

From the Seattle International Film Festival: Still Walking -- Japan, Kore-eda Hirokazu, director. The description in the official SIFF guide is "[A] Yokohama family reunion to commemorate the death of a son sparks an intergeneration conflict that threatens to erupt." That I'd add "but doesn't" in a rather casual, often funny and wry, food-filled atmosphere that depicts the everyday annoyances of family life and blending families, makes it as gut-wrenching as a Bergman family drama. And people say that Jewish mothers are rough. While waiting in line for the ballet yesterday, I heard one women tell another about her son's upcoming marriage, and from what she left out, I could discern her lack of enthusiasm. I felt like I was right back in the movie. Sugisball -- Estonia, Veiko Ounpuu, director. The transition to post-Berlin Wall society in the guise of Yuppie existentialist crisis, contrasting with a working class guy. The director does not have sympathy. La Cienaga ("The Swamp") -- Argentina, Lucrecia Martel, director. A depiction of internal class rot that makes you feel the sweltering heat through the screen. Snow -- Bosnia/Herzegovina/Germany/France/Iran, Aida Begic, director. The story of the mainly female survivors in a Bosnian village, where of all of the men, only a village elder and a young boy survive the war in the mid-90's. While it's not a light movie, it's also not a holocaust movie. We started to see what looked like a very fine movie from Iran called "About Elly" from director Asghar Farhadi, but somewhere around the second reel, a few audience members managed to convince the powers that be that the movie was being shown in the wrong sequence, having been spliced together incorrectly between its first showing at a different theater and the Wednesday night screening. After 20 minutes, we were told that they couldn't fix it, but could continue where they left off -- my friend and I thought that the director was perhaps experimenting with narrative sequences -- and we decided to bail. I hope this gets a release.

The Saturday matinee cast included seven new (at least to PNB) members, with Jordan Pacitti (Boy in Blue), Louise Nadeau (Girl in Green), and Mara Vinson (Girl in Mauve) repeating their roles. With the cast changes came many new dynamics and partnerships. Central to the change was Miranda Weese's Girl in Pink. Her dancing was earthbound, and she was the anchor. With James Moore's Boy in Brown, she was playful, and as a result, the central/original pas de deux was lighter and more affectionate. The drama was in the pas de deux with Boy in Mauve, here Batkhurel Bold, in the center of the penultimate Scherzo (Op. 20), and when the music changed, and they separated, the self-conscious sense that they had crossed a line unexpectedly was palpable, even before they expressed it in gesture. Bold is an unusual dancer, in that he is tall and muscular and his movement is plush and virile, until he is mid-air in a jete; there without appearing weightless, he looks as if he can hang in the air forever, much like the diver Greg Louganis. He was "on" in "Dances" yesterday. He and James Moore were funny and brilliant in the Two Boys section. (In the Q&A on Thursday, Boal said that Jerome Robbins described this as "Bulldog and Terrier", but neither Postlewaite [Thurs and Fri] nor Moore were remotely terrier-like, and it's hard to imagine that Villella, the originator of Boy in Brown was. I prefer to think of it as "Big Bro/Little Bro".) Like Legris and Valastro in the YouTube clips, Postlewaite and Moore gave very different emphasis to Boy in Brown, and Moore's was the more muscular and grounded. Jodie Thomas debuted in Girl in Apricot, and the qualities that Francia Russell and Kent Stowell described in the "Bon Voyage" insert -- "petite, fair beauty, dazzling smile and wit, and quick clear technique...grace, charm and musicality" -- were embodied in her performance. Her crispness contrasted with Benjamin Griffiths' juiciness as Boy in Brick. Olivier Wevers, like Karel Cruz (Thurs, Fri), danced the happy role of Boy in Green with humor and grace. Rachel Foster was a light youngest sister in the Foster/Weese/Vinson trio. Vinson is a natural soloist -- in the sense of role, not rank -- and her dramatic solo as Girl in Mauve had all of the makings of a Juliette. For me, she's less convincing in partner work: no matter how experienced the partner, it too often looks like work to me, especially when it looks easier with their other partners. "Dances at a Gathering", with its perpetual partner shifts, affords immediate contrasts. In "After the Rain Pas de Deux", Maria Chapman danced with her original partner, Karel Cruz, and while her performance with Bold on Thursday was very moving, it was even more powerful with Cruz, with whom she has great chemistry. The ease with which they did the turning overhead lifts to upstage right made it look like she was floating in space. In first time appearances this season in "Symphony in C" Jodie Thomas and Lucien Postlewaite were bright in First Movement, and it was lovely to see the male solos fully realized. I had forgotten than Laura Gilbreath, like Maria Chapman, had danced the Second Movement in Russell/Stowell's last season (2004), and she, too, reprised it this season. (I think it's great that dancers are given chances half a decade apart.) It was a heroic attempt and quite daring, leading to a couple of strong saves, and Gilbreath's long legs are ravishing in the continuous supported arabesques of all types. Gilbreath was also strong in the allegro section of the Fourth Movement. Carrie Imler danced Third Movement with Jonathan Porretta, and she cut him no slack, matching his jumps, and almost diving into the movement-ending arabesque with wonderful abandon. It was a great performance. There have been many substitutions this week, and at the Q&A, Boal was holding a small note, which he said was a list of dancers he had to call before the evening performance, since there have been a number of injuries. Some were announced, like Leah O'Connor replacing Lindsi Dec as a demi in Third Movement; since Dec danced in the corps, I'm assuming this was part of a multiple substitution. Eric Hippolito Jr. once again replaced Sokvannara Sar as a Fourth Movement demi, and unannounced was Josh Spell replacing Kiyon Gaines as a First Movement demi. When speaking about the retirements, someone asked how big the company would be next year. Boal said that while it will be a little smaller, it was impossible to do large ballets like "Symphony in C" with fewer than 50 -- there are 45 + 6 apprentices now -- given that there will need to be substitutions. With three full-lengths in addition to "Nutcracker" on next year's schedule, it seems to me that it's a no-brainer that the trade-off for the revenue-generators is a larger company. Boal also mentioned that while he did hold auditions this year, he is also interested in dancers from the school as well, and, I hope, some of the apprentices will be offered company contracts, with four dancers leaving/retiring, since it's been a bumper crop this year. While if he told us which dancers would be cast in the season opening "Romeo et Juliette", he would have to kill us, Boal did say that Carla Korbes, who was originally cast for Juliette last year (but had to withdraw due to injury) would be cast, as well as both Romeos from the original run, Lucien Postlewaite and James Moore, and there will be more. I wish I could remember all four pieces that Boal said would be performed at the Bagley Wright Theater on Labor Day at Bumbershoot, but I do remember "Mopey", "Vespers" (I think), and a new Wevers piece for Postlewaite and Porretta. Laura Gilbreath was the guest at the Q&A, and she had nothing but praise for partner Stanko Milov. She said that he told her that his job was to present her, and that she should never worry about what he was doing. In response to a question about whether it was difficult to be partnered by dancers shorter than she, Gilbreath said that while a lot shorter would be hard in some moves like finger turn pirouettes, in general, it's a matter of working out how to hold herself to support her partner. She also said that at 5'10" she's the shrimp of her family: her parents are 6' and 6'2", and she has a 6'9" brother. She mentioned working very hard on her shoulders and arms -- someone had complimented her on her arms -- since as a tall dancer, her tendency was to hunch (she demonstrated). PNB has a number of quite tall women, and it's great that they can all stand tall. Did anyone see any of these performances or last night's? Please tell us what you thought. I'm hoping we can read sandik's review -- I hope "Seattle Weekly" -- very soon.

According to Peter Boal in today's Q&A, Louise Nadeau has been teaching in Level VIII, and her students will perform in her retirement performance. He's hoping that after she takes six months off, and finishes sleeping in, that she'll return to teach. Edited to add: Boal also said that Otto Neubert, who had danced in Stuttgart, remembered one of William Forsythe's first works, "Urlicht" (to music by Mahler) and thought it would be beautiful for the occasion. He contacted Forsythe, who agreed to let Neubert stage it for Nadeau and Olivier Wevers, very generously for a token fee.

Peter Boal told us the following news at this afternoon's Q&A: *Miranda Weese is retiring. She and her NY-based partner who is in the music business may work together, and she has plans to teach. *Anton Pankevitch is joining Ballet San Jose, but as Boal also said, he has been teaching in Europe and has a lot of irons in the fire *Jodie Thomas, as previously known, is joining Royal Danish Ballet. In the retirement insert, which I practically stole from the 6-year-old in my row, noted that Thomas had guested with Royal Danish Ballet in an exchange with PNB a few years ago. There will be special bows for each at next Sunday matinee's regular season closer. Thomas is scheduled to dance Girl in Apricot in "Dances" and First Movement, "Symphony in C", and Weese for Girl in Green in that performance. Louise Nadeau, Boal noted, is going to sleep in

That's a great touch!

My order with 4 DVDs cost 3900 JPY to ship. Pricey, needless to say, with the USD losing strength every second, but it's my once-a-year splurge.

Stephen Beus just competed in the Van Cliburn International Competition. He did not make the cut of 12 in the semi-final round. Beus bio from the competition website One of his competition performances is on YouTube, which I learned from the Saturday Matinee blog. (Scroll down.) The blog also gives a heads up about the live stream from the competition website; it runs through June 7. The competition schedule is found here: http://www.cliburn.org/index.php?page=13th_tickets

The cast for "Dances at a Gathering" tonight was the same as last night's, except that Miranda Weese danced Girl in Green. Her take was different than Nadeau's: it was a bit Broadway -- I half expected her to call someone "dahling" -- but it was witty and full. The performance started with a technical glitch, with the house lights going to half, and the audience chattering away. Poor Allan Dameron, the pianist: his mind ready to start, only to sit at the piano for minutes before whatever happened was resolved, and then having to re-focus. Luckily the audience energy carried through to the performance, not typical of Fridays. If anything, it was a bit too quick to applaud in the middle of the more technical variations, but better that than sitting like corpses. The work itself was performed with just a little more energy and freedom than last night, and the power it gave it was exponential: it clicked perfectly and the overall chemistry onstage was magic. In everything she's been dancing, Kaori Nakamura has been taking control of her performances, no matter what is thrown at her, and one result is that she makes every man she dances with look like a prince of a partner. That kind of command and artistry transcends any official rank. It was hard not to think of Nadeau's upcoming retirement when she danced "After the Rain Pas de Deux", partnered by Jeffrey Stanton. There was little sense of loss in her performance; instead, it was one of exploration, with Stanton there to enable it for her. That quality in Stanton was perfect for "Symphony in C" Second Movement, in which he was a last-minute substitution for Karel Cruz, with a very quick costume change during the pause between the Wheeldon and Balanchine and the First Movement. While I expected Chapman to have grown in confidence and strength since she first did the role in 2004, to have danced so beautifully in place of the injured Carla Korbes for the second night in a row, with her second last-minute partnership in two days, was an extraordinary accomplishment, and Stanton's rock solid partnering and the care he showed for his ballerina was exemplary. Nakamura reprised Third Movement with Benjamin Griffiths in a gripping performance. (In the Q&A Boal told us how Chalnessa Eames, with Griffiths a Q&A guest, was originally cast in the role, but because one of the demis in First Movement was ill, she had to give up the Third Movement lead.) Miranda Weese's dancing as the lead in First Movement was full of joy and musicality, and, particularly from the waist up, her movement was expansive. Her partner Batkhurel Bold looked tentative in the virtuosic sections. In the Q&A an audience member asked if the dancers thought about 1947 Paris when dancing the work; neither did, and maybe Lesley Rausch didn't either, but her dancing in Fourth Movement made clear why the original title had "crystal" in it. Yet, as a whole, despite beautiful individual performances, there seemed to be a little bit missing that was present in last night's performance. But there are six more to go.