Helene

In my opinion, one representative of a new generation of artistic directors who were former colleagues is speaking exaggeratedly of another in service of his fledging summer festival that he has to prove is no single-season curiosity and is sustainable. Might also serve as karmic retribution for Russell/Stowell being named "Founding Artistic Directors" when that it not accurate, although it's laughable to suggest that Boal "invented" Duato and Forsythe for PNB, especially when PNB performed "Jardi Tancat" at City Center during the last tour of NYC in the 90's, right in Woetzel's own back yard. sandik makes two very important points about touring at PNB: Russell/Stowell did not like to tour with a partial troupe. Boal has no problem with this, or, for that matter, creating a little social/professional sub-group of dancers, like he did with Foster, Moore, and Porretta last year in "State of Darkness," where they all spoke of the special, intense bond they shared by performing the marathon-like solo. The other is money: not only were Russell/Stowell involved with the capital campaign for McCaw Hall and the retrofit the Mercer Arena into a performing venue during the almost two years in "exile," that stint in Mercer Arena took a huge toll on the company finances, creating a deficit that the company is very lucky to have cleared during the beginning of the downturn in the economy and the post dot-bomb and post-stock-option fundraising drought. Russell/Stowell wanted to retire two years before they did, but postponed their retirements long enough to ensure the transition into McCaw Hall and for the company to return to solid financial footing. If Russell/Stowell retired two years before, what is the likelihood that Peter Boal would even have been a candidate, and, by his own admission (in several Q&A's), a last one at that? (He flew in on the day of the deadline to hand-deliver his application, and was busted when a former student, retiring dancer Brittany Reid, spotted him and pointed him out to the rest of the company taking class.) It was serendipity created of generosity that brought the gem that we have now together.

When I see "Swan Lake" I want to see 32 swans who can move and mirror a similar quality of movement, and I don't care what their composite of body types is. In fact, I wondered when the curtain came up on the corps in "Serenade" whether these were truly dancers from the Kirov, because there were so many body shapes among them, unlike the corps the Bolshoi brought to the US a few years ago for "Don Quixote."

I think it's interesting that you find the Kistler/Zelensky from the Balanchine Celebration lifeless, bart. It may be that having been there live enhances my viewing, but of all of the NYCB principals and soloists, apart from Stephanie Saland, who was retiring after hers and had other emotions to contend with, Kistler was the only one I felt who during this full day Celebration was truly dancing not only in tribute to him, but for him.

Earlier in this decade, there have been two full-length "Sylvia"s: Mark Morris' version for San Francisco Ballet, which the company performed during two seasons, and the revival of Frederick Ashton's ballet by the Royal Ballet. I loved them both, and they provide an excellent opportunity to hear more than excerpts of the score, which not only was admired by Tchaikovsky, but which also intimidated the Russian composer, who said that had he heard it earlier, he would not have composed "Swan Lake."

Would you comment on the first two ? It's hard for the former-PBS-once-a-year-competition-with-Juliet-Prowse-watching non-dancer to know, and Acocella writes persuasively.

Thank you, Cristian! I'm going to remember the name, Elizabeth Caballero.

The All-Balanchine program tonight was a very mixed bill, some odd, some strange, and some wonderful. For me, the performance of "Serenade" was like watching and listening to the ballet through a distorted mirror. The tempo was slow, and sometimes slowed down even further, as if the reel-to-reel tape was stretched in places. There was some odd phasing, both by the soloists and corps members, where the steps seemed to be done a beat early or late. That said, this is a corps that knows what 45 degrees is and what 90 degrees is. They know the difference between 45 and 50 degrees and 90 and 95 degrees, and they perform whatever they need to, whether from stillness or in motion, with little fluctuation among them. So close (from the grand tier -- I really lucked out) it was easier to see them working for it, especially on a still unfamiliar stage (for this ballet) at the end of a long run with continuously challenging programs, and with some of the corps in the first movement pushed into the wings for lack of space. I couldn't hear a sound in any of the dancers shoes. In fact, the only sound I heard was in "Ballet Imperial" when the entire company danced together and landed from a jump. After all I've read about and seen of Somova on You Tube, I wasn't expecting a lyrical, musical dancer, but that's what she was as Waltz Girl. Unfortunately, she showed Valentina Kozlova's tendency to emote more and more the more confident she got; there was even a flirtation going on with Danila Korsuntsev. This was a shame, because until then she was simply radiant, and that is all the part needs. I think she is a very talented soloist who has been pushed beyond her expressive means. (Most major companies seem to want to create instant stars, prodigies out of the schools, but manufacturing them is rarely productive.) But "Serenade" shows that she's not uncoachable and can be quite lovely on the opposite spectrum from acrobatics. Did I mention she is gorgeous? I've never seen a photo of her that's done her face justice. With the Patrick Dempsey looking (but cuter), Korsuntsev, she could star in a Disney movie. Korsuntsev had an awkward moment where he entered the end of the first movement early, and made a mini-ballet out of a long arm gesture to the side until he captured Somova on the big chord. He handled it with aplomb, and was a gallant partner. Alexander Sergeev had a rocky night partnering as the man who's led by the Dark Angel; he got Ekaterina Kondaurova's 's tulle skirt in a tangle, and the turning arabesque got jammed at one point. Bravo to Kondaurova for saving the balance. I thought she was very fine in the role, but I would have switched the casting and put her in the Russian Girl role, with Osmolkina as Dark Angel. Osmolkina was a bit light in the Russian, but what beats she has. Kondaurova could have done any of the roles. Before "Rubies," there was an announcement that Diana Vishneva would be replaced by Olesia Novikova, to the groans of many in the audience. Novikova reminded me of Kay Mazzo in the role, and it couldn't have been easy replacing the adopted, home company star. I quite liked her performance; she had spark. Her partner was Andrian Fadeev. He's a very nice dancer, but had the tendency to emphasize the more posey movements, which a Balanchine-trained dancer would dance through without emphasis, leaving the resonance of the image behind. The star of "Rubies" was Ekaterina Kondaurova as the Tall Girl. I was taken with her need to move and claim the space, to use extension as an element of phrasing, not as a general MO, and for a certain type of satisfaction she showed in dancing the role. Her face is like a cross between Karin von Aroldingen's and Maria Calegari's, and her facial expression showed a love of a challenge, especially when taking on the four corps men, who didn't stand a chance. I would love to see what she would do with the Bransle Gay in "Agon." The only reason I have mixed feelings about "Ballet Imperial" is because there was far too much acting between Viktoria Tersehkina and Igor Kolb during the first movement in particular. The ballet doesn't need it. The pure attitude she showed with her walk around her subjects, making it clear who was imperial, would have been enough. When Tereshkina just danced, she took my breath away with her generous phrasing, musicality, and prodigious technique. Her partner, Igor Kolb, resembled a longshoreman more than a cavalier when he ran her in on his shoulder twice during the last movement, and he had some problems with his solos, but I watched him carefully as he partnered Tereshkina in the long pas de deux, and I think that was key to why I found it so successful and satisfying: he supported her with a little grip as possible -- gently on the wrist here, softly at the waist there -- and he let go as soon as he could, as if she melted away from his touch, which gave her a great deal of freedom. It was quite masterful of him, and for me the pas de deux was the highlight of the ballet, which made the issues in the third movement jarring. I liked the corps in the ballet: there was a lot of energy, and even a few not-quite-perfect lines and a few legs raised at slightly different angles during the speedy weight shifts, but the energy and the dynamics they showed were worth it. There is a young dancer in the corps, Sergei Popov, who partnered Ryu Ji Yeon in "Approxiamate Sonata" last night and who stands out because of his his height, his physical beauty, and his uncanny 1980's Peter Martins haircut. He caught my eye, and I followed him in the group work and was very impressed by his deep knee bend, finished movement, and careful partnering. For me, the second soloist is the role in which an up-and-coming young soloist comes in and through eating space, demands the next challenge and is compared to the lead, like Melinda Roy and Ashley Bouder, just to name two, did in the past. Ekaterina Osmolkina danced the role, and was lovely, but she didn't need any more than a small garden. Yana Selina as one of the two demis showed more spark; I would have liked to see her in the role. There were two male soloists as well. They were listed in the program as Vladimir Shklyarov and Maxim Zyuzin, but I could have sworn that Alexander Sergeev was back. Whoever the darker-haired, more muscular dancer was, I was very impressed by his line, his plush plies, and his springy jumps. It was celebrity time at City Center, and, naturally, I recognized almost no one. If carbro hadn't pointed out people, I would have classified them in a general mass called "must be a dancer." The exception was when I was in my seat wondering what was going to happen with the empty six seats in row A, four well-heeled-looking people showed up and took their seats. One of the women kept saying loudly, "I wonder where Darci and Peter are?" and asking the men to move down so that "Darci and Peter can sit in the middle." This went over my head at least a half dozen times until the big "Doh" realization, and I suddenly got whom they were talking about. My first thought was, "No!!! Don't move!!!" because the rather tall man in front of me had assumed his good neighbor slouch position, and I could see perfectly, and Peter Martins -- who has a portrait in a closet somewhere, by the way, because he isn't looking any older -- is too tall, and he has a dancer's' posture. (Luckily, no one moved.) It was great to meet so many Ballet Talkers during intermissions: rg -- thanks to carbro -- whom I also met in person for the first time, Michael, Adam, Andre Yew, nysusan, YID, oberon. And to see Leigh Witchel again. I apologize if I've forgotten anyone.

Our servers are being upgraded, with the boards moved from our current servers to the new ones, during which time (3-4 hours) Ballet Talk will be closed. The details are: Date: 22 April Start Time: 8am Eastern Daylight Time Expected Duration: 3-4 hours.

In classical ballet, I wouldn't think twice. But Forsythe is the one place I'd expect them to go wigless.

I'd be happy to do either. If I had a preference, it would be whichever would be the more relaxed and interfere less with family and/or work plans.

But she wasn't strawberry blond in "Steptext" -- her hair looked darker red in that piece. How did she do that by two intermissions later?

I'm game for anything on the list, and I'm happy with vegetarian. For Paris, our performance starts at 2:30, and I'm guessing we'll be out between 4:45-5:15. I have an 8pm opera on Sunday night, but I'd be happy to have a meal after the afternoon performance on the 27th (Sunday), or after the performance on the 28th. (I'm sure Leigh and I can find a way to graze to tide us over.) As long as there's a Metro stop near the restaurant, both Leigh and I should be able to convene.

Hugely frustrating is looking on the Mariinsky website and finding that the hair color of almost none of the dancers matches the photos. Corrections to any id's I've made or clues to whom I've seen would be greatly appreciated. The program said that Tereshkina and Kondaurova were the leads in "in the middle, somewhat elevated," but there was a strawberry blond with French braids and a woman with darker hair pulled up, but with the short ends hanging, not in a bun. The latter's hair looked somewhat like the color of the woman who danced "Steptext" (listed as Kondaurova), but the strawberry blond dancer had a more open and animated face than Tereshkina does in the photo. The strawberry blond had a lot of snap to her movements. The darker-haired woman had a lot of energy in the last gnarly pas de deux. But both were very leggy dancers, and I was trying to figure out what was missing, since "in the middle" didn't have the softer, politer quality that nearly all of the dancers showed in the other three works, where, for the most part, the placement was centered and careful, even if the deliberateness wasn't exaggerated in the "now I point my foot and you watch" way. There's an approach common to the dancers, where while the pelvis is the source of the movement, it and the abdomen becomes invisible, with the emphasis on the legs and feet and then upward in the back, neck, and arms. The tendency to have a blank in the middle made the men look chaste. Apart from "Steptext," where watching the movement ripple through their arms and back like no other company in the world -- viscerally thrilling -- and Kolb's (I think it was he) atypically unrounded movement, they didn't really register for me. For "The Vertiginous Thrill of Exactitude," this was fine for the ballerinas in their pie plate tutus. If the website is of any help, it was Ekaterina Osmolkina who shone in this piece, the woman who did the third female solo, towards the end of which the lights went out for a good 10 seconds. (At first I thought Forsythe, who is credited with the lighting, was being perverse, but it happened again during the curtain calls.) She did every movement to the fullest and never looked rushed, while the other two women danced well, but not with the amazing ease that Osmolkina showed. The exception was Elena Sheshina, both in "Approximate Sonata" and "in the middle..." and what an exception: shorter, with a wide muscular back, relatively wide hips, girth -- she didn't disappear turning sideways -- and breasts. Apart from having slender calves, she is the type of dancer that Mark Morris would hire in a heartbeat. I wondered whether Forsythe had sent a ringer to join the Kirov dancers, because here was one where the energy radiated from the pelvis in both directions and through the abdomen into the back and chest. Other dancers did movements, some of the them breathtaking, but Sheshina not only made shapes, but she transformed them into new ones. She was also the only dancer who "got" the sharp contrast between full throttle and stop, and walk off to the side, like in rehearsal. She was phenomenal.

Desire's hunt, with that delicious role for the countess who is trying to land him. Hand clap or finger brush?

Having ordered the book when it came out, I still haven't read it, having made a deal with myself that I couldn't start another book until I finished the Duberman Lincoln Kirstein biography, which I fell asleep on nightly for six months, and Collapse, which I put down inexplicably. (I'm still working on the latter, enjoying every minute of it, as opposed to the torture of the Duberman bio and the awful image of Kirstein having sex with his brother.) However, in the most recent "Ballet Review" (Winter 2007/2008), there is a review of the book by Paul Parish, which I enjoyed immensely. A few couple of choice quotes, "Every sentence is nuggeted, indigestible as a fruitcake." "He wasn't Russian, he was a Tatar. He's Russian the way James Brown is American." (Can I now skip the Nureyev bio now that braver people have done so and written about it eloquently and go straight to Alex Ross's The Rest Is Noise?)

I take your meaning, but yes, I am interested -- up to a point. Mmm...interesting, which leads me to wonder, (and ask you, if i may), if that statement only applies to the dead. What about on the others..? Are we still "interested" to know if certain living legends (Farrell, Fracci, Alonso, and so on) are sexually fitted or not...? What would be the difference...? I don't think it's a matter of living or dead: I think that if a person bases his or her persona on an image, when the reality shatters that image, it's of interest. For example, when Howard Stern was role-playing the "bad guy" on his original radio show, but was said to live a typical suburban Long Island life, the contrast was notable. Nureyev had a public persona of being a sexy guy in the sexually liberated 60's, and he got rich and famous from it. It's been noted often that Nureyev's defection, culturally important at a crucial time in the Cold War, intersected with The Age of Celebrity in London, the beginning of the hands off media circus school of journalism, and I think it's a valid point to raise whether Nureyev would have been particularly rich or famous had he joined the Paris Opera Ballet, where after the initial propaganda died, he might be known only in the dance world. Contrast Nureyev to Baryshnikov: Baryshnikov's defection was also quite noted, and he ended up in one of the world's media capitals. However, while he had a public persona as a ladies' man, between his relationship with Kirkland and especially after having "snagged" Jessica Lange, one of the few traditionally female sex symbols of her time and having a daughter with her, his stage persona was, if anything, detached. Nureyev inspired sex in his audiences, so people are really interested to note that the panther-like, sexual stage persona -- as opposed to a strictly virile one, like Vasiliev -- didn't transfer to real life. That was in great contrast to Baryshnikov. As far as Farrell, Alonso, Fracci go, few outside of ballet would have any interest, and the interest in Fonteyn outside of Great Britain and the rest of the ballet world would have been minimal without her partnership with Nureyev and the media frenzy that surrounded them.

I was planning to see both performances last Saturday and to be awake for this past Thursday's, and made plans for this weekend. Unfortunately, a business trip was extended, and the only performance I could attend was Thursdays, having had about 10 hours sleep over the prior three days. I thought I might be able to last at least through the Act II Pas de Deux and sneak out during the applause that would follow, but, after zoning out so much during Act I, and realizing that I wasn't even aware I was missing sections, I thought it was better for the people around me to leave at intermission, even though it was painful to miss what would be my last chance to see Pantastico in the role. Normally I wouldn't write anything on half a performance, but A Midsummer Night's Dream has two distinct parts, and there are a few comments I'd like to make about Act I. Chalnessa Eames danced Butterfly, and the bloom in the phrasing of her arms as they rose to the sky to the gentle strings at the end of the act was magnificent to behold. Lesley Rausch's Titania isn't fully realized yet -- that I'm looking forward to in a few years -- but she has a regal elegance in her portrayal of a formidable Titania. The scene that approached perfection, though, was the Donkey Pas de Deux (with Barry Kerrolis, who was a superb Bottom). Yes, in the plot, Oberon is setting up Titania. But he's also giving us -- she doesn't appreciate it -- the sense of what Titania in love might be like, were she not hemmed in by convention, hierarchy, experience, and the enervating effects of Oberon-management. I've never seen Rausch dance with such gentleness and tenderness. It made me wish that Oberon had never brought her to her senses. Weese also gave a gentle, sweet performance as Hermia, and Wevers matched hers. She did not play the scene in which she recognizes a distraught Helena and Lysander together for laughs, as often is done. What a privilege to have casting like this among the mortals, with Casey Herd dancing a powerful Demetrius. There was a lot that I liked about Benjamin Griffiths' Oberon, especially the way he projects authority through carriage in a simple tendu back and his clean line and articulated steps and positions. I felt he forced the big jumps, though: they took a noticeable effort compared to the quietness and clarity of his beats and grand allegro. (Maybe it was the jetlag, but the tempo of the "Scherzo" seemed inhuman.) It always astonishes me how Carrie Imler is cast in "tall girls'" roles, like Hippolyta. Only afterwards do you remember that she's not really that tall, because she dances as if she's Barker's height and with great breadth.

I've seen both Weir and Lysacek skate a number of times live. Yes, off-ice, Weir wears the occasional dress and heels and makes what are for figure skating outrageous and inflammatory comments, and , his costumes are more ornate than Lysacek's, and Lysacek wears black and skates to macho toreador music -- although Weir's costumes work well in the arena, compared to Lysacek's which are great in close-ups and bland in the arena, and Weir's aren't remotely outre in context (for that see Kevin Van der Perren's embarrassing "Lawrence of Arabia" get-up he wore at the beginning of the season). Lysacek gets props for attempting and sometimes landing the quad -- his strategy is get as comfortable as possible with it in competition in preparation for the Vancouver Olympics, while Weir couldn't get it off the practice ice -- and for coming back fighting and nearly winning bronze in Torino with a blazing free skate after skating very ill in the Short Program and burying himself. However, watch their movement quality: Weir is more muscular, and he goes deep in the thigh to get speed, flow, and deep edges. He has wonderful height and distance on his jumps -- Worlds Free Skate notwithstanding, as he was a tight, nervous wreck by his own account -- and his landing position is impeccable, in the skater equivalent of plie, with a strong back and great flow. He also has a textbook 3Axel, both solo and in combination, while Lysacek has dodgy technique on his, and has been inconsistent with it. (The 3Axel is a big macho jump, too.) Lysacek is much leaner, and in my opinion. he's a bit gawky. he gains speed with quick, not deep cross-overs, and his jumps, while flashier, don't have the same power or consistency or technique as Weirs', despite the quad hype. The last time I saw them together was during last year's non-defunct Champions on Ice tour. Weir's skating was virile and alive. I thought Lysacek looked anemic and was a shadow of the skater who put down a bronze-medal-winning freeskate in Moscow in 2005. To me he looks like the kid who's willing to do the Latin dances at a bar mitzvah. Not particularly authentic, but gets points for chutzpah and willingness

This evening Bryn Terfel gave a recital as part of Vancouver Recital Society's 2007-8 season at the Chan Centre at the University of British Columbia. My review has a caveat: my original seat was one of the wretched seats placed on a curve in the hall, much narrower than the standard seat and with confining wooden armrests -- it's like sitting in the narrowest middle seat in coach on an Airbus, with the movie remote control imbedded in the side of the armrest and protruding into one's thigh -- and because the concert was sold out, I was given an alternate ticket in the chorus, behind the stage. The difference in sound was marked: Terfel's sonorous, rich tones reverberating off the back of the hall when he sang "Loch Lomond" and "Ar Hyd y Nos" (All Through the House) to us were swoon-worthy. (That's a technical term.) In contrast, when he sang to the hall in several songs set deep in the voice, like in the Handel aria "Si, tra I ceppi e le ritorte" ("Berenice") and Mozart's concert aria "Io ti lascio, oh cara addio", as well as in the opening set of songs by John Ireland, his lower range from behind him during the runs and ornaments sounded rumbly-grumbly, mushy-gushy (more technical terms), although not so in the Schubert, so it was not as if his voice was ailing in the range. However, his mid-upper range is glorious: dead on the notes, seamless despite shifts of volume and dynamics, open, and bright. Of all of the recitalists I've seen in over three decades, he had the most extensive and evocative pallette when singing soft to medium, which he did often to great effect. Particularly fine in this regard were Schubert's "Litanei auf das Fest Aller Seelen," two songs by Faure ("Automne" and "Le Secret"), two by Ralph Vaughan Williams ("The Roadside Fire" and "Silent Noon"), and one of the songs by Roger Quilter. He is the consummate story-teller/communicator. It was during these pieces that he and accompanist Malcom Martineau were fused. Martineau's sensitive, often gentle, but strong accompaniment was equally impressive as an equal partner in each song. In Federick Keel's "Trade Winds," the breeze creating the ripples of water was audible in his playing. The first half of the program was five sets of songs written by different composers to the poetry of John Masefield. The second half was a mixture of the Handel, Schubert, Faure, and traditional songs "from the Celtic Isles," ending with "Molly Malone," in which Terfel encouraged the audience to join in a repeat of the last refrain. Terfel and Martineau also performed two encores. The first I know, but not by name. (It's got animal noises in it, but it's not the Copland arrangement of a traditional American song that Marilyn Horne often sang.) The second was Don Giovanni's serenade, "Deh vieni alla finestra," in which Terfel walked around the orchestra section, serenading various women, each differently. The first he chose was a lovely young woman who could have been Zerlina, and he mock-pushed her (young, handsome) boyfriend out of the way. By someone else, this might have been forward or swarmy, but he has such natural charm that he's one of the few performers who could pull this off. This recital was a joy. Edited to add: According to his agency's website, he'll be performing his recital in the following cities: 15 April: Roy Thompson Hall, Toronto 17 April: Zellerback Hall, Berkeley 20 April: LA Opera, Los Angeles 23 April: Ordway Theater, Saint Paul 25 April: Carnegie Hall, New York City

Lucia Chase (not Kevin McKenzie) Lincoln Kirstein (not Michael Kaiser) (because they were skipped) The Met Opera's Chagalls. "Dances at a Gathering" or "Liebeslieder Walzer"?

It's a good thing that there isn't a weeping icon, with Pantastico and three of my favorite corps members leaving...

I just realized I wrote but never posted about the last three events; here goes: Friday was the overall most rewarding day of the World Championships. It began with the Men's SP, 46 contenders over about seven hours. The earlier group, starting in the morning, consisted of the unseeded, unranked, or lowest-ranked skaters, while the afternoon groups (four in all) were divided between the 13th-23rd ranked skaters (first two groups) and the 1st-12th seeds (second two groups), with the starting order of each supergroup selected randomly. The general expectation is that a handful of skaters from the morning make the 24-skater cut-off for the free skate. Among the men who ultimately didn't qualify, there were a number of notable performances, many by junior skaters, a sign that there is increasingly more talent in countries that have not been strong, at least lately, even as the technical standards rise. The non-qualifiers who impressed me most were 16-year-old Javier Fernandez of Spain, who skates as if moving to music is the point, but needs a little more polish and stronger technical content, and 19-year-old Kutay Eryoldas of Turkey, who interprets the subtleties in the music. Sean Carlow of Australia, who saved his mother from drowning the year before last in a boating accident on a trip to celebrate the Australian skaters in which a coach and a judge died, came back well. He doesn't have the technical content or reputation, but his has style and power, and he had one of the best flying sit spins of the competition. Mikko Minkkinen most likely would have qualified had he not fallen on the 3Lutz. His short program was to a jazz version of the theme from the TV show "Roseanne," and he was a strong stylist, skating authoritatively, with great spin positions and the soft blades that are a hallmark of the Finnish women. It was a shame we didn't get to see his free skate. The last skater to qualify for the free skate was 15-year-old Abzal Rakimgaliev from Kazakstan. He's a little dynamo, co-coached by former European Championship medallist Olga Markova, with solid jumps, albeit a juniorish style, but with a lot of potential. The strongest competitors in the early groups by far were Igor Macypura, who was a junior skater in the US before switching to Slovakia as a senior, and Anton Kovalevski, from ukraine, who was right behind him, both Ukrainian-born. Macypura had a rough outing at Europeans this year, but recovered nicely to finally equal his placement (21st) of last year. He's a tall skater with good knee bend, fine line, authority, and good flow. Kovalevski had dynamic spins and an athletic Flamenco program; he rocked the program. Kristoffer Berntsson, the finest Swedish skater, who is from Gothenburg and whose photo was on posters at nearly every bus shelter -- the others had photos of Viktoria Hegelsson, an unheralded junior skater -- and who was featured in countless articles leading up to the championships, had the unfortunate draw to skate first in the afternoon. No pressure. (NOT). The building exploded when he was announced in the warm-up, and every move cheered on. The din continued as he took starting position. He certainly felt the pressure, looking tight, but he landed all of his elements, and was in solid top 10 position going into the free skate. Young Adrian Schultheiss, who is from the region, skated last in the first afternoon group. He reminds me of a cat, albeit a tall one, and he slinked silently into solid position in these senior championships, after having placed only 18th at Junior Worlds this year. The two lower-ranked Japanese skaters -- top-ranked Daisuke Takahashi was last year's silver medallist and was considered the co-contender for the title this year -- Yasuharu Nanri and Takahito Kazuka -- both have great flow skating to two very different kinds of music: rock for Kozuka and classical ("Moonlight Sonata") for Nanri. After an injury-ridden year, in which he couldn't perform the lutz or flip, Sergei Voronov landed a quad toe/double toe combination, but, sadly, doubled the loop, which means he missed a required element (triple jump from steps). Although he was 4th at Europeans, with the Canadian, Japanese, and US men added to the mix for Worlds, there was tremendous pressure for him to regain two spots for Russia -- if there is a single competitor, that skater/team must place 3rd-10th for two spots, or 1st-2nd for three spots for the following year -- and he skated very well to Rachmaninov's second Piano Concerto. A fringe benefit when Voronov competes is the presence of his coach, 1994 Olympic gold medallist Alexei Urmanov, who seems to have a portrait in a closet somewhere, because he doesn't look much older than he did when he competed over a decade ago. I still don't understand Yannick Ponsero's scores. He's a short, muscular, plush skater, with phenomenal positions in his spins, moving clearly and cleanly from one position to another, and nice posture and flexibility in his back, and dead on centering regardless of the number and changes of position. His jumps weren't perfect, but he wasn't unique in that, and I preferred his flowing performance to "Otonal" to to the later one by Stephane Lambiel, who has the reputation of being an artist on ice and having the best spins. Ponsero skated with tension, while Lambiel's skating was loose and sloppy, in my opinion. I've heard a lot about Jeremy Abbott of the US. He has a lot of talent, and the ability to generate and maintain great speed using minimal cross-overs. I found his PCS too low for his tremendous edges and very fine interpretation to Carlos Santana's "Treat." Stephen Carriere from the US opened the pentultimate group with a fine Worlds debut to "Stairway to Heaven," albeit with a few nerves. Sergei Davydov followed with a good, if generic program to "Shindler's List." Then the fireworks began: Tomas Verner upped the ante with a masterpiece of CoP choreography to two pieces by Django Reinhardt, in which he riffed with his blades and body. It was one of the most extraordinary live performances I've ever seen, a tall and powerful skater changing speed and position on a dime, responding as one with the music and with the energy of an exhibition skate. He got very strong marks, but as far as I'm concerned, any choreography or interpretation score below an 8.5 (of 10) was robbery. What made it even more great is that there might be only one other skater alive, Jeffrey Buttle, who has the stylistic capability and artistic sensibility to skate this program with any semblance of the depth and versatility that Verner showed: Weir, Joubert, Takahashi, Lambiel, Lysacek (not competing here), and going back, Plushenko, and Yagudin, were locked into specific styles, however different their styles were/are from each other (although Takahashi might be less locked in than the others). Verner set the bar for the rest of the competitors with this skate. Alban Preaubert had to drop out with injury, and Stephane Lambiel skated next. He was not on all week; in an interview with his coach during pre-competition practices, his coach said that he wasn't able to feel his edges on the ice, and had to have his skates re-sharpened twice before they were tolerable, and his warm-ups for both the short program and free skate bore this out. He was not landing like he felt the ice. There was also a dullness to his efforts in Gothenburg, although the crowd was as loud and encouraging as if he were at his best, and the judges placed him higher in component scores than Verner. Weir closed the pentultimate group with a masterful skate to "Yunona and Avos," all edges, flow, and line. No one in Men's skating has his flow-out or classic jump technique, although Patrick Chan at his best is very, very close and has other strengths. Weir led the short program by less than a point, with the final group still to come. The final group built on the momentum of the preceeding group. Jeffrey Buttle landed all of his jumps perfectly -- his 3Flip/3Toe combination is a thing of beauty -- and with a sublte and sophisticated program to Astor Piazzolla's "Addios Ninos" took the lead. The intricacies of his blade work and transitions, making every element more difficult than when approached by simple stroking, are evident in every program he's skated for at least the last six years (even before the introduction of the new judging system), growing and intensifying every year. Inexplicably, his component scores were 6th in the segment. Ironically, he had the highest technical scores, even though several other skaters landed quad toes. (None of the handful of skaters who performed quads in the Short Program completed their other jumps without serious flaws.) Takahashi took the challenge with his techno "Swan Lake," one of Nikolai Morozov's most inspired pieces of choreography. Takahashi is a very dramatic, full-bodied skater, and he was brilliant in the techno-inspired moves in the program. He was in third place after the skate, by a quarter of a point. Brian Joubert, who was expected to vie for Takahashi for the title, landed a 4Toe/3Toe combination and a 3Axel, but fell on the steps into the 3Lutz, nonetheless earning the third-highest technical score and higher component scores than Verner. His energy was superb, but that doesn't really change the weakness of the choreography, although that has improved since his work with coach (and former World competitor) Simond. Patrick Chan, the young Canadian champion, had an unfortunate draw skating after three house-rocking programs. He's not a skater who "breaks out" and gets the crowd roaring: his gifts are impeccable technique and edges and full-bodied skating. His program to two selections by Tan Dun from the "Banquet" soundtrack, choreographed by Lori Nichol, was mature and subtle. In interviews, Chan is a very humble, unassuming 17-year-old, still a boy. On the ice, he skates like a man: lifted from the waist, authoritative in him movements, every movement counterbalanced, the best of skating, in my opinion, and the first man since John Curry that I think is a true classical-style dancer on ice. Ballet's loss is skating's gain. His component scores were laughable given the quality of his skating. While not to the technical level of the skaters at the beginning of the grouop, Takahiko Kozuka, skating to The Ventures, and Kevin Van der Perren, skating to "Xotica" both had comparable energy. Each of the last nine competitors with the exception of Lambiel brought their A-game to the table, and even when they had technical mistakes -- for example, Joubert upped the energy even more after his fall -- they drove themselves to their interpretive limits. It was the best single run of skating I've ever seen live. It's magical when it happens at a live event, and it's fairly rare. The Free Dance followed in the evening. Many of the teams that can do respectable CD's and very good OD's falter with the challenges of the Free Dance, a longer (4-minute) program with more required elements. The first group started off slowly until the last couple, Barbora Silna and Dmitri Matsjuk of Austria, one of the highlights of the competition. They skated to several excerpts from "Saturday Night Fever." (Yes, he wore a white suit and black shirt.) This wasn't an exercise: the entire program flowed, even during the turns in the circular footwork in which they skated so closely. Almost unheard of in ice dance choreography, they had three major elements -- two lifts and a spin -- on the slow music, to "How Deep Is Your Love." Scores, schmores: they rocked. The second group was most notable for the roller-derby like warm-up, although I very much enjoyed Allie Hann-McCurdy/Michael Coreno's program to "Rhapsody in Blue," which was light and airy. She's very charming. Many people in my group can't take him seriously because he looks like Gene Wilder, but, sadly, skating is that superficial. (And if anyone has ever heard Terry Gross's interview with Gene Wilder for "Fresh Air," -- what a mensch -- it wouldn't be any harder to root for him as a leading man than Fred Astaire, who also was not a looker in the classic sense.) As skaters go from junior to senior, they generally try to do a dramatic program to show their maturity, and almost without exception, it ends up looking generic. (Many of the intermediate teams never leave this phase.) It was Bobrova/Soloviev's turn. I love them, and the international judges have spoken: B/S have surpassed Rubleva/Shefer, after the Russian Federation left B/S off the team until European Champions Domnina/Shabalin had to withdraw with injury. During the warm-up, a friend and I were discussing that "According to the World of Skating": the only thing that Handel ever wrote was "Sarabande" from "Suite No. 4," the only things that Beethoven ever wrote were "Moonlight Sonata" and "Beethoven's Last Night," the only things that Bach ever wrote were "Air" and "Toccata and Fugue," and, as she put it, Mozart never wrote anything. While there was some fine skating in this group, we got two "Sarabandes," "Air" and "Toccata and Fugue," "Moonlight Sonata," and "Beethoven's Last Night." We also got Sarah Brightman and Andrea Boccelli singing "Time to Say Goodbye." Yikes. The next group had great skating, but also a theme: the woman was mad (Pechalat), inhuman (Kerr), or died (Davis' Eleanor Rigby, Cappellini's Violetta). Thanks to Nikolai Morozov the Zaretskis escaped the curse, skating to Armstrong ("Let My People Go") and Prima ("Sing, Sing, Sing"). The Kerrs skated to selections by "Enigma," as matching robots. They clearly had the crowd in their corner, and their skating skills are becoming a lot more refined after working with two-time Olympic champion Evgeny Platov. Siblings always have it rougher; they can't do the romantic work, and it will be interesting to see where Platov takes them over the next few years. Cappellini/Lanotte are both lovely skaters, but in their "La Traviata" free dance, which had some awful cuts, they looked a bit juniorish putting on the diva. They'll grow into it, and they were barely beaten by the Zaretskis, whose program was a bit generic despite the great music, but they were outclassed by the other teams in this group, and looked like kids in comparison to all of them. Davis/White were technically wonderful in the "Eleanor Rigby" free dance, but the dance itself is lacking in depth, like much of the choreography that comes out of the Shpilband/Zoueva camp. (They are also third priority for their coaches, the favorite of neither.) They skated very, very well, and Meryl Davis' expression was particularly wonderful throughout the entire competition. They took a lot of flack after bursting on the senior scene last year, placing 7th, passing several teams their senior, some of whom had sub-par performances. (I noted the most animosity from Kerr fans I spoke to.) I think they will shine particularly in the next Olympic cycle. The class of this group was Pechalat/Bourzat. He has such extraordinary posture and presence and fully extended line. The unusual program was odd and strangely, eerily affecting. Their coach, Muriel Zazoui, is extraordinary in the way that she finds and encourages choreography that is so different for each of her teams. There is no cookie-cutter in the Zazoui stable, and I did read that she had a hand in Silna/Matsjuk's "Saturday Night Fever" program. With Domina/Shabalin out with an injury, conventional wisdom made the title Delobel/Schoenfelder's to lose and Khoklova/Novitski's to win. Faiella/Scali, whom I find inferior in just about every way to Pechalat/Bourzat, had a very fine performance in generic choreography to Barbara Streisand's songs for "Yentl." They have very fine flow, but I don't find them particularly compelling movers. The other four were the ones fighting for the medals. Khokhova/Novitski led off with "A Night on Bald Mountain" and "In the Hall of the Mountain King." Whereas in the OD, I thought their footwork expressed the nuances of speed in the music, in the Free Dance, I thought both of their footwork passes bogged down, and that the transition from the spin to the lift at the end of the program was labored. I was so looking forward to this performance, but I was disappointed. The program has to be skated with more freedom for it to be effective, the way it was at European Championships. Delobel/Schoenfelder followed with "The Piano," in which they incorporate sign language to further the love story. They are not an uber-dramatic couple, which is why I love them so: they don't need to be over the top to convey the emotional undercurrents of the dance and the complicated relationships between the characters. [Full disclosure: they are the only team since Uzova/Zhulin who have made my all-time favorites list.] They skated the program with great flow and an emotional depth and maturity that I think is unmatched. They did not win the Free Dance -- Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir did with their very fast "Umbrellas of Cherbourgh" program -- but they were worthy champions. Virtue/Moir are wonderful skaters -- in coach and skating royalty interviews, Scott Moir is routinely mentioned for his talent -- and their goal this year was to gain the speed that was lacking. They succeeded, but they lost the nuance of last year's "Valse Triste" along the way. Belbin/Agosto were skating for pride, and their Chopin freeskate is the best I've seen from them; it was more fluid and nuanced than any of their other programs, with far better music editing. If they can continue in this direction, I believe they'll be contenders next year, although I think they are limited by Belbin's range of expression. Still, they are young for ice dance (23/26), and plan to make a run for the 2010 Olympic title before they retire. The final event, Saturday afternoon, was the Men's Free Skate. It was a great let-down after the Short Program. Adrian Schultheiss skated very, very well for his level; he's still a little slow, but he ended his program with flair, and he did not let his nerves show. Berntsson, however, faltered badly in a free skate that's been giving him trouble all year. (This very flawed performance earned him a season's best score.) It was only an unexpected meltdown later that saved two spots for Sweden next year, as it looked like Berntsson/Schultheiss would place 14/15, one two many for two spots. Still, it was a disco program, and the crowd was fully engaged from beginning to end, never becoming subdued when the errors came. What enormous pressure for the hometown and home country favorite. Sergei Voronov stepped up and hit a home run, landing all of his elements to secure Russia two spots for next year. It was a great performance under pressure. He's not particularly polished yet, but that could come. A number of skaters had season's bests: Davydov's skate wasn't particularly exciting, but he exceeded his season's best by over 7 points, and Van der Perren, who dropped his awful "Lawrence of Arabia" program from earlier this year and went back to last year's program, nailed it, including a triple/triple/triple combination, which netted him more than 18 points. Never a stylist, his jumps were spot on, and he scored over 9 points over his season's best. Patrick Chan took the time between Canadian Nationals and Worlds to change his program to add a 3A combo attempt, on which he fell, and he later lost points because he did a fourth, illegal combination. Still, he made top 10 for his first Worlds, and skated very, very well to complex choreography. Kozuka and Carriere skated respectably, and Carriere also made top ten, although he had some help from his fellow competitors. There was a title that nobody seemed to want. There must have been a rumor that it was diseased. Verner, who was so great Friday, had a meltdown of epic proportions, popping jump after jump. (For comparison's sake, he had the lowest technical score -- 43.15 -- of any competitor; the next closest being 22nd-place Jamal Othman's 50.85, and only eight of 24 Ladies competitors had lower technical scores, with one fewer jump allowed.) Weir followed. He was successful in a limited, but effective, sort of way: he was tight and slow, and he left many points on the table, doing below the maximum. Takahashi followed and had an up-and-down performance, ultimately losing the bronze medal to Weir because he, too, added a fourth, illegal combination for which he received no credit. Lambiel could barely land a clean jump, and he was enervated, except for a few spins. Even his footwork wasn't very sharp. Someone must have told Joubert that the title wasn't diseased, because he came out fighting. He landed jump after jump with great energy, until a final, weak 2Axel/1Toe combination. However, he, too, left out the maximum content, landing one quad and a 3Axel, but getting negative grade of execution on both the 3Flip and 3Flip/3Toe, because his take-off is from the wrong edge. The crowd went wild, and, knowing how the others had skated and discounting Buttle, who was the last skater, he dropped to his knees and kissed the ice. Didn't he see David Pelletier make the same mistake in Salt Lake City? Jeffrey Buttle, skating to the "Ararat" soundtrack, gave the best performance I've ever seen from him, and I've seen a good many. The only negative technical marks (2 out of 168) were for his second 3Lutz. He had complex transitions into each element, upping the difficulty considerably, and he was the only competitor to land a 3A and a 3A combination (3A/2T/2Lo), although there were a few other attempts. It was a masterful, nuanced program, and he won the World Championship by winning both the Short Program and the Long Program. In the interview afterwards, he thanked his sister, Meaghan, with whom he started as an ice dancer, for the edges he gained in the discipline. Sadly, Joubert vented to the French press about skaters who do "simple and clean" (i.e, without quads, racking up points on complex spins and footwork), and questioned Buttle's title, which he won, ironically, without winning the component scores in either program, but by winning the technical scores convincingly. He beat Joubert by 15 points over two programs.