Helene

There are two ways to avoid posts: one is by placing the poster on "ignore" and the second is by stepping over a post and addressing the topic at hand. There's no obligation to follow a path that veers.

In Friday's links there was an article that mentioned that Lindsi Dec and Karel Cruz plan to marry this summer in Costa Rica. http://www.theadvertiser.com/article/20090...STYLE/903150325 Stanko Milov choreographed a work for three couples a few years ago to his own piano music, and one of the couples was Dec and Cruz. Milov said at the time that he wanted to portray their love for one another. Congratulations to them!

Actually this was the quote I was responding to, if you notice you mention two seperate programmes, Swan Lake & Isadora/Dances At a Gathering, stating that you enjoyed the latter as opposed to the former. I read this to mean that of "Isadora" and "Dances at a Gathering", the ballets in the parenthetical statement, DeborahB liked the latter, i.e., "Dances at a Gathering".

I am very happy to hear how well Osmolkina performed in "Swan Lake". I admired a number of performances she gave at City Center last spring, and I hope this means she'll guest a little closer in the future.

United Airlines is having fare sales to Europe, and I'd been looking to see what ballets would be performed in Paris and London during the time I had free. (Alas, not much.) When I saw this listed, I still had John Cranko in mind, and after I had gotten up early to get to the 10am showing and saw that it was Neumeier's, I was ready to cry, since his "Mahler's Third Symphony" was the most painfully boring ballet I've ever seen. But, after a slow start, I was very glad I saw this production. Cranko Neumeier doesn't show any more ability to move crowds around in interesting ways than he did in the Mahler, but there were a number of pas de deux for all of the main couples that displayed a wide range of emotion and style, and passion without the excesses of MacMillan in similar material. The ending pas de trois with Marguerite, Manon Lescaut, and Des Grieux was quite moving, and during it, in what had been a silent audience of 80, there were sniffles and tears. I particularly liked the idea of the ballet within the ballet, and apart from some early, short, and obvious mirror dancing by Marguerite/Manon and Armand/Des Grieux, which, thankfully, passed quickly, Marguerite's gradual understanding of Manon was a beautiful dramatic element. The scene/pas between Marguerite and Papa Duval (Michael Denard) was as emotionally dramatic as its Verdian operatic counterpart in "La Traviata": gesture suits the changing relationship and understanding between the two beautifully. First and foremost, kudos to the two pianists who played the all-Chopin score and whose names I thought were on the printed cast list sheet at the cinema. According to this article While the choreographer, who also staged the production, is the authority, in my opinion, Letestu was most convincingly tubercular, and except from the opening scene in which Des Grieux meets her, she had the appeal and stature of a governess. In sections, such as the pas de deux in the country, her legs were very expressive, but from the waist up -- chest, arms, shoulders, neck -- she was stiff and unexpressive throughout. How she ever had the sensuality or charm to become a top courtesan is beyond me, and she played Marguerite as a victim, which limited the pathos. Delphine Moussin's Manon Lescaut had all of the dance qualities to have been a believable Marguerite, particularly in her final ballet scene (the death of Manon) and in the final pas de trois. Her upper body was expressive, and her entire body moved as one. In the pas de deux with Armand, I think she could have expressed the feverishness of illness and love that is built into the choreography, but which was, in my opinion, only partly expressed by Letestu. As secondary leads in lighter roles, Dorothee Gilbert was the sensual Prudence Duvernoy, a wonderful pairing with Karl Paquette's Gaston Rieux, the life forces contrasting with Marguerite and Armand. I think it was Simon Valastro's Le Comte de N. who flirted with Prudence in one scene, which I found quite brave: I wouldn't have had the nerve with Paquette holding a riding crop. Eve Grinsztajn danced fully as Olympia; I wish she had showed this lushness and spark in the "Raymonda" Act III I saw last spring at POB. The lighting was very dark, and Stephane Bullion's Armand was dressed mainly in black. Not all of his dancing was clear or visible, but he certainly kept in character throughout, and was a believable, ardent young pup in love. The stage looked bare -- I think this was filmed at Opera Bastille -- and it's hard to imagine how some of the action, such as Marguerite writing in her diary, looking in the mirror, putting on rouge for her last public appearance, all which was very clear on screen, would have registered to the back of the house. I did love, though, how Armand knocked over the big white wicker garden chair after he learned that Marguerite was returning to Paris and Le Duc. Set and costume designer Jürgen Rose's costumes for the women were stunners.

I think there are some dancers one doesn't know how much will be missed until they are gone. I wish Thomas the best of luck, happiness, and artistic fulfillment in Denmark. Oh, to live in a transportation hub with much of Europe within a 4-hour direct flight!

Many thanks, volcanohunter! I'll be in Vancouver this weekend

I'm fairly sure in one of the renewal mini-brochures or letters PNB advertised the Balanchine "Coppelia". It's such a wonderful production. From the "Balanchine Catalogue": http://balanchine.org/balanchine/display_r...rchMethod=exact In her book "Dancing for Balanchine", Merrill Ashley describes how Balanchine created the "Dawn" variation for her. Starting with "Romeo et Juliette" is an interesting way to kick-start the season. I always think of R&J as a winter ballet, and if we're lucky when it is performed we will be in Indian Summer. I'm assuming "Sleeping Beauty" is the Hynd production. Is "New Caniparoli" a new work made for the company, or a revival?

I agree. I'm not sure that they would have taken the company much farther: they had intended to retire two years earlier than they did, which suggests to me that they had done what they wanted to do, but they put aside their personal plans to dig PNB out of the financial hole into which the Mercer Arena residency had plunged them. I thought the critical part of hiring the new Artistic Director was to ensure continuity of PNB as an institution. I think it's funny that at the time, people talked most about Boal's lack of experience, and while I don't think they underestimated his social intelligence and downright decency (if I can project about someone I've never met), what I don't think they did consider was that he had taught about a third of the company's dancers at SAB (and had trained himself at SAB with dancers like Louise Nadeau), and how much loyalty and "glue" he would bring to the table by having had a working relationship with a large part of PNB. That the company has moved forward is a bonus in many ways, and a look at many of the dancers in the Company shows that so many are a product of the PNB school and training that Russell established, as well as being Russell and Stowell hires, more on the roster -- Nadeau, Bold, Nakamura, Wevers, Milov, Stanton among the Principals -- than Boal's (Korbes and Weese). The foundation of the company is very much Russell's and Stowell's.

Showing them. What we can't see is none of our business

I knew she was more than a technical whiz! I was thrilled to read this.

I'm not sure why the younger group would have been more amenable to Maillot's version of R&J than Stowell's based on the name, but I think it was a matter of both. The data in the article just gave out the total number of tickets, but didn't note a pattern. I would suspect there was word-of-mouth involved with R&J, but if it turned out most of the 600 were advanced sales or for the first performances, then my theory would be wrong. I do think that began with the contact Boal made, in which he could only make a promise, and once fulfilled, people told others. I know that Speight Jenkins has said over and over that Seattle Opera sells most of its single tickets through word-of-mouth. I can't say that my taste and Boal's intersects as much as I'd like. I would say that his reflects the taste of the dancers, or at least that most are happy with the challenges. I think that the quality of the Ulysses Dove works has gone down from "Red Angels", whereas Boal talks of bringing more of Dove's works to the Company. I sometimes cringe in Q&A's when he describe works he'd like to bring to the Company, and I'm sure he'd cringe at presenting most of my wish list, which would challenge his ability to be polite as much as anything (Although he could say, politely and truthfully, that he couldn't afford them ). When I think of the number of times critics reviewed Balanchine, especially after the 1960's, in a "but what have you done for me lately?" mode, forever saying that his genius had run out and his time was over, only to retract it when he choreographed a "Chaconne" or "Mozartiana" or a "Vienna Waltzes" or a "Davidsbundlertanze", I remember an interview with the actress Sandra Oh, in which she talked about Bjork. Oh said that while once in a while she'd think "Bjork is going through her drumming phase, OK..." but that she followed her no matter what, not just her latest album, because she valued her as an artist. Boal has a two-fold challenge: to convince long-time subscribers that he's not going to betray them, and to convince a younger audience that they will see something that will speak to them. It's a fine line, and I think it's less a matter of perpetually dazzling people than establishing long-term trust, so that if something's a miss, which it's bound to be, or the audience doesn't agree with the value of a work, they don't throw out the baby with the bathwater. I don't underestimate Boal's social skills/emotional intelligence in making this work.

I'd say "yes" for Martins and Stowell (if you mean Kent Stowell). I don't know enough about Tomasson. I don't consider "Romeo and Juliet" or "Cinderella" classics, and from what I've read here, Martins' "Romeo + Juliet" was quite a hit. Stowell's hits were mainly full-lengths: "Silver Lining", an original to music by Jerome Kern, "Cinderella", and "The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet", which was to a score of various pieces, mostly little-known, by Tchaikovsky. I also wouldn't put down Kent Stowell's "Swan Lake" by any means, which is a very straight take on the classic, although I wish he had left out the Jester character. What Tomasson and Stowell did at their best with one-act ballets is to create pieces that were either needed to balance a program or to grow the dancers, and for free. While I think the article was a bit superficial, Kent Stowell produced his own version of R&J, "The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet", and while it was a hit among subscribers -- it was created for Deborah Hadley, who may have been PNB's first star -- I never noticed more than the usual number of 20-somethings at performances. The Maillot "Romeo et Juliet" was another story: it was one of the hottest tickets around, and there's a reason why Boal has been so successful in Seattle with every generation: he has an intelligent, low-key, unaffected manner, with a wonderful, self-deprecating sense of humor, and he listens. I think he believes in this younger audience, many of whom would be put off if they thought he was not sincere or was in any way condescending. I think the time he spends with the younger audience is a great investment in them. I would never underestimate the power of taking people seriously and being thought of as a good guy. There's been so much "me, me, me, Greed is Good" in the world, that a little decency goes a long way, and a lot of decency goes even farther, and eye contact goes farther than that, especially in this part of the country, where it isn't easy to suss people out from appearance, and there is much more personal contact between The Powers That Be and the audience.

No kidding -- in Harry Potter, almost everyone is an in-law

The screening of the film "Ballets Russes" on Monday, 30 March at 6pm will be followed by a Q&A with Frederick Franklin. Venue: Apollo Cinema Piccadilly Circus, London.

You guys are killing me! I'm thinking Stroman, though, for "Frasier". I don't think Tudor would have had much patience for Niles' puppy-dogged-ness.

The two stagers from the Robbins Foundation for PNB's "West Side Story Street", which premiered in May 1995, were Elyse Borne and Jean-Pierre Frohlich. I know Borne had left NYCB by then, and I think Frohlich might have as well. At least one of them never danced in the work.

I fear "Northern Exposure: The Ballet", or "Twin Peaks: The Ballet"

In the post-performance Q&A today, Peter Boal had a piece of paper with the first and second (where applicable) cast lists for "Harry Potter: The Ballet" as envisioned by the dancers. Boal said it wouldn't be produced while he was running the company, but then reconsidered with, "well, if the economy gets that bad..." He didn't read the full list, but gave a few snippets. Perhaps by the end of the season, we'll get the full cast. So far... Harry Potter: James Moore (first cast), Jonathan Porretta (second cast) Lord Voldemort: Olivier Wevers Dumbledore: Otto Neubert Draco Malfoy: Josh Spell One of the two of Malfoy's muscle sidekicks: Jordan Pacitti He didn't get specific, but said all of the redheads would play Weasleys. (Bummer: Rachel Foster would make a great Ginny Weasley.)

Josh Spell and Jordan Pacitti were the guest dancers at today's post-performance Q&A. They were asked when they started to tap. Spell explained that he started with tap when he was 10, then started ballet later, and he dropped tap after he became serious about ballet. Pacitti replied, "not until three weeks ago" , and he thanked a list of dancers, including Spell, Stanton, Gaines, and at least two other people whose names went by so fast I can't remember them, for helping him to learn the tap needed for the role. When this is revived, I suspect he'll have more practice and more vocabulary. Stanton was Hoofer today, to Lesley Rausch's Striptease Girl (and Pacitti's gangster). His characterization is complete and detailed, and it's one of the finest, if not the finest, role in which I've seen him. It was hard to take my eyes off him, he was so invested in every move and nuance, so ardent, and so in keeping with the style of the piece. Rausch is a more detached dancer in general -- in the single performance the lead in "Nutcracker" in which I've seen her, she was the only Clara who didn't need the Prince during the storm in the boat ride -- and it was an uphill battle to match or contrast Stanton's intense focus. Her legs, though, were another story: they were a character of their own in this ballet. My one disappointment is that Josh Spell wasn't cast in one of the performances as Hoofer, but for one section of "Take Five...More or Less" he might as well have been: his pas de deux with Laura Gilbreath was a home run, and although he wasn't literally tapping, he showed all of the moves and style that were appropriate to both roles. Gilbreath was a natural as the woman in Purple: she had a dose of Ann Miller's charm and charisma. Later, in "West Side Story Suite" she was an adorable, good-natured Rosalia, Anita's foil in "America", and she magically made herself look small in the role. In "Carousel (A Dance)" Jodie Thomas and James Moore danced the leads. Moore had more Billy Bigelow to him, the selfish controlling part, and Thomas' attraction and distress were believably caused by him. (On Thursday, Tisserand seemed to be trying to console Foster for someone else's hurtful behavior.) Thomas gave a complex and rich characterization. Sarah Ricard Orza gave another splendid performance as one of the demis. In "Emeralds" earlier in the winter, she gave a breakout performance in Mimi Paul's role, dancing with sweep and great musicality. Add a sunny temperament and charm, appropriate to her role in "Carousel", and it was hard to watch anyone else. I think apart from the lead's, the women's costumes were problematic; the dresses by Holly Hynes looked like any number of dresses for Mark Morris' work. When Kylee Kitchens and Rachel Foster look borderline thick in them, I think it's safe to say they were unflattering, unlike Hynes' costumes for "Slaughter". Today Jeff Stanton danced Riff and Batkhurel Bold, Bernardo. Stanton had less of a pack awareness than Orza, but despite a lighter touch, much like Tamblyn, he was formidable. Bold's Bernardo, I would not like to meet in a dark alley: he was one scary dude. Postlewaite was a touching Tony, although it's hard to be as gripping in the role when, as sandik pointed out, Tony doesn't die in the end. (I had wondered at first viewing whether everyone was supposed to be dead and in heaven in "Somewhere Ballet", but then thought better of it.) In the post-performance Q&A, Boal said that Korbes, who had been the guest in last night's Q&A, said that when she was at NYCB being cast for the corps, she was told to be a Jet. She replied that she had "Shark in her blood", but whoever cast her said, "You're a blond -- you're a Jet". Silly person: Korbes was again a knockout as Anita, and it's hard to imagine her in any other role. Kerollis was terrific in all three ballets in which he danced: Policeman in "Slaughter", corps in "Carousel", and Jet in "West Side Story Suite". He modulated his energy appropriately for each ballet, but he was vivid in all of them. Because it's the Second Stage fundraiser program -- the dancers donated opening night salaries to the fund, and Laura Gilbreath did the front-of-curtain speech on behalf of it -- Spell and Pacitti were asked about the program. I had never realized that the fund was for more than tuition: it's for many next career options. Each dancer has the same potential allocation from the time they join the company. Spell told how he used his for two years in the joint PNB-Seattle University program, and the balance to attend school in Interior Design after his hip surgery a few years ago. Pacitti used his as seed money to start his own fragrance line, Jordan Samuel, which was featured in the PNB gift shop last year, after he broke his foot. It was great to see that the ticket sales line was fifty deep 30 minutes before the performance, and that after I bought my ticket, one of the few left on the Main Floor, the line was just as long.

There are many figure skaters who use ballet music -- there is no end to the "Don Q"s, and "Swan Lakes", with periodic revivals of "Giselle" (two back-to-back from Japanese skaters at Skate America this season) and "The Nutcracker", and occasional smatterings of "La Bayadere", "Corsaire" and "Coppelia" -- but apart from hops on toe pick and gestures like one arm in high fifth, another on the hip, very few are trying to translate ballet onto ice. On one of the figure skating discussion boards, in response to a request for links to great ice dancing performances, a poster suggested Marina Klimova and Sergei Ponomarenko's Exhibition Program from 1987, a great exception to the general skating MO: What I particularly love about this program is how in the "Don Q" "performance" they show the relationship between the classroom steps and the choreography.

I've got my fingers cross that if she's dancing in DC on the 17th that she can take the Metroliner to NYC for the performance on the 19th, and then return to DC on the 20th for the "Corsaire". It's not a very long train ride.

I couldn't put my finger on it, but that's exactly what it was. You can't write too long -- I appreciate being able to read all of your observations.

There was way too much flash from the audience in San Francisco in the two performances of "Swan Lake" that I saw. Some ladies near me flashed away, and then acted like children doing something naughty and having gotten away with it, without regard to the potential consequences.