Helene

Yes, but that tells me they want to do everything, not that they aspire to be the benchmark for classical ballet. That's what I thought. Thank you for the information. From what I can see from Royal Ballet reviews, Carlos Acosta hasn't had any trouble being cast in princely roles in the classics. I've read numerous complaints on this board that Misty Copeland and Sarah Lane and Herman Cornejo are not cast in classical roles. I would never argue that ABT should do only classical ballet -- on the contrary, I think their (once) strength and (buried) legacy is their Tudor/deMille rep. The argument is the quality and performance of their classical repertoire. I would never suggest that the corps I saw in the 70's (until Baryshnikov made it a point to focus on the corps in the 80's) was better then than now. Better is comparative, and doesn't address standards of consistent style. Given that no classical academy exists anywhere in the US or Canada to feed into a major classical company with the big classical rep, I would say that inconsistency of style is a problem outside major European companies, that train almost all of its company members since they were children.I put "glory years" in quotes, because those were times when it was very difficult for a non-foreign-born dancer to be accepted in the classics, and the emphasis was on the leading roles, not on the corps. For me, not even close. Markarova's Odette/Odile from 1971 has been surpassed many times, once by the underestimated, in my opinion, Marguerite Porter of the Royal Ballet, and most notably by Carla Korbes last year. On the other hand, I'm not sure I've seen a Prince dance with the elegance and modesty of Ivan Nagy.

I think there are a couple of issues that GeorgeB fan's post raise: how much modern influence can or should a production of a classic take before it ceases to be that classic, and does the audience have the context of the original to which to compare an updated version to make any comparative judgement? For example, I thought that James Kudelka's presentation of the visiting princesses as women sold to the highest royal bidder was thought-provoking, but it wasn't Swan Lake, no matter how traditional the White Swan Pas de Deux was danced in the production. If it was my only exposure to Swan Lake, I might have thought that this is what Swan Lake (or classical ballet) was. American Ballet Theatre presents the most number of classics in New York City. It is the only major company that has presented itself as a classical, as opposed to neoclassical, company. This is very far from the mission of its founding. So I went to the ABT website to find its current mission statement. What I found was: in the company history page, and from its Inside ABT page. I'm aware of the Tudor, deMille, and Balanchine ballets that were performed in the early years of the Company, but I thought that the big productions of the classics were a late 60's/early 70's phenomenon, and I can't find any other online history of the company. In any case, there is nothing in these two statements that suggests a vigorous approach to classical ballet or any mission statement to become the classical standard, although that is assumption about the company, based on its rep, and I would argue the reputations of Fracci, Bruhn, Makarova, and Baryshikov from the "glory years."

Standards schmandards. Whose standards? It truly floors me to hear anyone refer to ABT's Swan Lake as the bottom of the barrel given the gobbledygook of the other version that appears at Lincoln Center where seemingly there are no standards for anything. I don't think Leigh's point is to compare the standards of ABT classic productions to the standards of NYCB productions of the classics. I think his point is that the ABT bar is too low. The standards are not only worldwide standards, they span the entire history of each ballet. But if you just take current standards, both Kirov Sleeping Beauty's are miles ahead of ABT's when you evaluate the raison d'etre of classical ballet: the use of the corps, the classical line, the consistent style, the attention to details in sets and costumes, the use of mime, just to start the list. You may prefer ABT's version to the Kirov Reconstruction, and argue that it is more entertaining and appealing to a modern, New York-based autidence, but, yes, there are standards that ABT's version does not meet. If you could elaborate on how you think this affects the ABT classic productions, it would be helpful.

I saw a performance of this work with the Seattle Chamber Players a couple of years ago. It's a wonderful piece; I'm glad it's getting more hearings. Here's a review from the Seattle PI: http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/classical/21...mp;searchdiff=0

In a broacast on "The Vocal Scene" -- I think one of the "Muscial Odds and Ends" programs -- George Jellinek ended the program with an 80-year-old Martinelli singing, if I remember correctly, "Nessun Dorma" following by a live performance from possibly the debut of Pavarotti in La Boheme of "Mi chiamano Mimi." The quality of the miking wasn't that great, but the root of his golden years was already there. I, too, started my opera-going days at the same time. Even more than in opera, I loved him in recital, singing each song as if it were a jewel, stopping time. I think he was best in the repertory of Italian song and in the more lyric tenor arias, where his phrasing was so natural, perfect for the golden sunny quality of his voice. I was reared on the greats from earlier generations, and didn't think that opera began with him the moment I started to listen to it, and I heard Tucker, Correlli, Vickers, and Domingo live as well during that time, but he was The One when my real love for opera was formed. His voice captured me, as much as I loved other great singers and worshipped my Bjorling recordings. Sirius Metropolitan Opera Radio is broadcasting performances of Pavarotti each evening for the next week. I caught the very end of tonight's, a 1989 performance of Il Travatore with Aprile Millo and Fiorenza Cossotto, just in time for "Di quella pira." While his peak is generally said to have been in the 1970's, his voice was a clear as in his earlier years. (And I had forgotten how beautifully Millo sang.) A 3-day trial subscription for online listening, albeit at a rougher quality than the subscribers get, is available at the Sirius website. The schedule for the rest of the tribute broadcasts is: Saturday, 8 September, 9:00 pm ET Donizetti: L’Elisir D’Amore 4/29/1989 – Panni; Battle, Pavarotti, Quilico, Plishka Sunday, 9 September, 9:00 pm ET Puccini: Tosca 4/1/1995 – Oren; Holleque, Pavarotti, Pons Monday, 10 September, 9:00 PM ET Verdi: Rigoletto 2/10/1973-Levine; Wixell, Grist, Pavarotti, Macurdy, Grillo Tuesday, 11 September, 9:00 PM ET Verdi: Un Ballo in Maschera 2/15/1997-Levine; Voigt, Pavarotti, Pons, Dever, Shin Wednesday, 12 September, 9:00 PM ET Verdi: Luisa Miller 1/23/1982-Santi; Ricciarelli, Pavarotti, Nucci, Plishka, Cheek, Berini Thursday, 13 September, 9:00 PM ET Bellini: I Puritani (Met Opera Radio Debut) 3/13/1976-Bonynge; Sutherland, Pavarotti, Milnes, Morris http://www.sirius.com/servlet/ContentServe...d=1158082416364

Casting Announced for Pacific Northwest Ballet’s Season Preview Performance & Party Saturday, September 15, 2007 ~ 6:30 p.m. to 12:00 a.m. McCaw Hall, Seattle Artistic Director Peter Boal to Announce Dancer Promotions at FIRST LOOK 2007 SEATTLE — Casting for the leading roles in Pacific Northwest Ballet’s Season Preview, FIRST LOOK 2007, was announced today by Artistic Director Peter Boal. FIRST LOOK 2007, Saturday, September 15 at 6:30 p.m., provides PNB audiences with their first look at some of the most anticipated performances of the season, featuring the first movement of George Balanchine’s majestic Ballet Imperial, along with four PNB premieres – the “Balcony pas de deux” from Jean-Christophe Maillot’s contemporary Roméo et Juliette, Edwaard Liang’s atmospheric Für Alina, David Parsons’ gravity-defying Caught, and Jerome Robbins’ hilarious The Concert. In addition, Mr. Boal will make a special curtain speech announcing the promotions of new Principal dancers. George Balanchine’s Ballet Imperial – from “All Balanchine” ~ September 20-30, 2007 “...Balanchine’s extravagant tutu ballet replete with palatial scenes and courtly ambience. This production of Ballet Imperial, staged here by Francia Russell, indeed captures the regal splendor of the original production." —Gigi Berardi, Dance Magazine Opening the evening is the first movement of Balanchine’s Ballet Imperial, set to Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 2 in G Major, Op. 44 (1879), staged by Founding Artistic Director Francia Russell, with scenic design by Edith Whitsett and costume design by Martin Pakledinaz. A grand tutu ballet with a hierarchical cast, courtly atmosphere and choreographic references to Swan Lake, Ballet Imperial, in Balanchine’s words, is “a contemporary tribute to Petipa, the father of the classic ballet, and to Tchaikovsky, his greatest composer.” Dancers cast by Mr. Boal to perform in leading roles include: New principal dancer Miranda Weese and principal dancer Casey Herd as the lead couple; soloist Mara Vinson (second ballerina); soloists Jodie Thomas, Chalnessa Eames and Karel Cruz, and new corps de ballet dancer Seth Orza in solo roles, joined by an ensemble of twenty-two. Performing Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 2 is Seattle pianist Mark Salman. Edwaard Liang’s Für Alina – from “Director’s Choice” ~ March 13-22, 2008 “… in Für Alina…, [Liang] solidifies his reputation as a poet-choreographer.” —Marilyn Russe, World Dance Reviews Next up is Edwaard Liang’s pas de deux, Für Alina, performed by principal dancers Carla Körbes and Batkhurel Bold, set to a piano score by Arvo Pärt, with new costumes designed by PNB’s Mark Zappone. The work was first performed as part of “New Ballet Choreographers” (New York) in 2006 with New York City Ballet’s Wendy Whelan and Craig Hill in the lead roles. “Liang's Für Alina ... was the real gem of the evening,” wrote Susan Reiter in her review for danceviewtimes. “...Liang clearly responded to [the] limpid, ultra-quiet piano score—its gong-like cadences and its silences—on a deeply personal level. ...[He] found a way to make the silences palpable through the choreography, and sustained a profound sadness...” Edwaard Liang, born in Taipei, Taiwan, was a soloist at New York City Ballet, performed on Broadway and danced for Nederlands Dans Theater, where he choreographed his first ballet, Flight of Angels. He participated in the 2004 New York Choreographic Institute and has since choreographed for New York City Ballet, Shanghai Ballet, Hubbard Street Dance, Peter Boal and Company, Guggenheim Museum’s Works & Process series, Sadler’s Wells Theatre, London, and, most recently, with Christopher Wheeldon’s Morphoses company. Mr. Liang was named one of the “Top 25 to Watch” in 2006 by Dance Magazine, won the 2006 National Choreographic Competition and was invited to be part of the 2007 National Choreographers Initiative. David Parsons’ Caught – from “Contemporary Classics” ~ November 1-11, 2007 “David Parsons is one of the most innovative choreographers in modern dance, an artist whose more than 60 works have ranged from comic (The Letter) to biting (Ring around the Rosey) to stunning (Caught).” —James Lilliefors, The Phil Parsons signature piece, Caught, an ingenious 6-minute solo set to music by Robert Fripp, is sure to surprise with its intriguing use of a strobe light which illuminates the high flying technical wizardry of PNB principal dancer Olivier Wevers. The concept behind Caught is simple and unexpected, with the dancer executing a continual series of leaps synchronized to the flashes of a strobe light. The idea for Caught came to Parsons after working with photographers and looking at the ways light is used in photography to capture images. By controlling the light to illuminate only the desired shapes and poses, he created a series of snapshots. Strung together, these isolated images build into a dance that seems to take place entirely in mid-air. Caught is being staged for its PNB premiere by Jaime Martinez, associate artistic director, as well as a dancer and founding member, of The Parsons Dance Company. Jean-Christophe Maillot’s Roméo et Juliette ~ West Coast Premiere ~ January 31 – February 10, 2008 "Jean-Christophe Maillot has wisely chosen to update a classic, choreographing with a lucidity that is hard to find. He serves up a psychological reading through a progression of emblematic scenes...[and] assisted by an intelligent scenic mechanism by Jérôme Kaplan and lighting by Dominique Drillot, Maillot makes room for fine scenes of individual expression, alternating them with magnificent ensembles." —Le Provence PNB offers the West Coast’s enticing first look at an excerpt from Jean-Christophe Maillot’s contemporary Roméo et Juliette—the “Balcony pas de deux,” performed for FIRST LOOK 2007 by principal dancer Noelani Pantastico and corps de ballet dancer Lucien Postlewaite. Set to Sergei Prokofiev’s ballet score, the complete three-act production received its premiere by Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo in 1996, where Maillot is resident choreographer and artistic director. In his version of Roméo et Juliette, Jean-Christophe Maillot has taken formal inspiration from the episodic character of Sergei Prokofiev’s classic score, structuring the action in a manner akin to cinematic narrative. Rather than focusing on themes of political-social opposition between the two feuding clans, this Romeo and Juliet highlights the dualities and ambiguities of adolescence. Hailed as “one of the most beautiful ballets adapted from Shakespeare’s masterpiece that can be seen today” (Scènes Magazine), and “… a work that transcends all the genres and leads us directly to the heart of emotion” (Matins d'ici), PNB audiences will surely look forward to the full-length production which will be given its much-anticipated West Coast premiere by PNB, January 31 – February 10, 2008. Jerome Robbins’ The Concert – Laugh Out Loud! Spring Dance Festival ~ April 17-20, 2008 & part of “All Robbins”~ May 29-June 8, 2008 “The Concert appears to make jokes about Chopin's music but its true subjects are human dreams and yearnings. The comedy of errors that can be anyone's life finds its apt metaphor in the side-splitting segment known as the ‘Mistake Waltz.’ It is also a ballet joke, in which one or more dancers in an ensemble are always behind or ahead of the others, usually facing the wrong direction.” —Anna Kisselgoff, The New York Times Jerome Robbins’ 1956 comic masterpiece, The Concert (or, The Perils of Everybody), offers a glimpse of what is to come in PNB’s Laugh Out Loud! Spring Dance Festival, April 17-20, 2008. The work is performed again as part of the All Robbins program, May 29 – June 8. A hilarious spoof of a classical music concert, set to incidental music by Frederic Chopin, The Concert perfectly showcases the theatrical talents of PNB’s dancers. The setting is an all-Chopin concert where the attendees allow their decidedly imaginative minds to wander. When the resulting images are danced, human foibles and recognizable insecurities are revealed as Robbins brings each fantasy comically and vividly to life. A genuine crowd-pleaser, The Concert illustrates Robbins’ remarkable insight into the delightful imperfections of human relationships and, in the midst of the laughter, enlightens us all. Dancers cast to perform lead roles in The Concert include: Principal dancers Carrie Imler, Louise Nadeau, Noelani Pantastico, Jonathan Porretta and Olivier Wevers; soloists Lesley Rausch and Maria Chapman; and corps de ballet dancers Kiyon Gaines, Benjamin Griffiths and Barry Kerollis. PNB’s premiere production of The Concert is staged by Christine Redpath, ballet master and former soloist with New York City Ballet and Trustee of the Jerome Robbins Trust. Ms. Redpath is one of four ballet masters designated by Jerome Robbins to maintain and stage his works. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PNB’s FIRST LOOK 2007 is Saturday, September 15 at McCaw Hall. Doors open at 5:30 p.m. and the performance begins at 6:30 p.m. Tickets to the performance are $50 and $75 and include a champagne reception at intermission. After the performance, PNB invites the community to an evening of dance, fashion, and music in the spirit of Monte Carlo – Europe’s pleasure capital and playground to everyone’s favorite Secret Agent. The evening begins with a tantalizing cocktail party where guests will enjoy hors d’oeuvres, wine, champagne, and specialty martinis (shaken, not stirred). Following the performance, enjoy a sophisticated, multi-course Backstage Dinner: From Monte Carlo with Love… or try your luck at black jack, craps and roulette over lighter fare in Club Royale. Partygoers are then invited to head to the electric on-stage dance party featuring the sensational soul funk review, Soul Provider, and an unveiling of a special photo shoot by photographer Marc von Borstel showcasing PNB dancers dressed by Mario’s. Performance tickets paired with the post-performance party including complimentary wine, champagne and light buffet are $125. Tickets that include backstage supper (black tie optional) range from $375 to $5000. Tickets at the $50, $75 and $125 levels may be purchased by calling the PNB Box Office at (206) 441-2424, in person at the PNB Box Office, 301 Mercer Street, or online at www.pnb.org. Tickets including the post-performance supper may be purchased by emailing events@pnb.org, or by calling (206) 441-3597.

Many thanks for your review jeff-sh! La Valse isn't the most popular Balanchine ballet for companies to stage. It's great to know that the audience responded to it. The arm gestures are my favorite part of the ballet.

There is also Tim Page's tribute in The Washington Post: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...ml?hpid=artslot

I can't find this on the National Ballet of Canada site, but the following were announced in the NBoC Newsletter: