Helene

I haven't been able to figure out yet why the Personal Messenger (PM) notice is counting into the negatives. Mine started at -8, went down to 0, went up to 1, then started to count backwards again I didn't realize there was a contact list in the last version. I'll try to find something about this. I wonder if the contact list was held in the cookie, and when everyone needed to sign on again, the new cookie info replaced the old info.

I usually go to the post-performance Q&A's. I'm always interested in what Peter Boal has to say, as I loved listening to Francia Russell. It's also fun to hear the speaking voices of the dancers. A wonderful advantage is that by the time the Q&A is over, the parking lot has emptied and it takes me 15 minutes instead of 45 to get home

The board of directors of a ballet company is not charged with making personnel decisions. Artistic directors, or in NYCB parlance, Ballet-Master-In-Chiefs, are the ones who are. The POB model of having dancers "audition" for promotions is rare, and from the descriptions on our POB forum, the final decisions are often questioned. Artistic Directors/Ballet Masters make decisions based on their own aesthetic and what they think the company needs, short of pressure from influential board members and/or donors, who are overstepping their bounds if they use this influence, or political oversight people and well-connected generals and members of national intelligence, both of which in Soviet times were considered to be within their bounds and enforcing the political code of the nation. Unions get involved when there is an actionable omission or action: discrimination based on age, gender, race, etc. What you or I or other Ballet Talk members would consider merit is a perfectly reasonable discussion point on Ballet Talk, as are noting specific patterns. (For choosing youth, Mr. Martins hardly has a monopoly.) When Peter Boal announced the last series of promotions at PNB, I scratched my head at a couple, not because the chosen dancers didn't deserve promotions, but because I wondered "why X and not Y?" (And he is as well-respected as any AD in the world.) However, a discussion of Mr. Martins' motivations, unless he's expressed them, is not within policy, and we don't get the meeting notes of the board.

Saturday, May 19 Claudia LaRocco reviews Companhia Portuguesa de Bailado Contemporâneo. and Chase Granoff and Jon Moniaci

Thank you for the report, Globetrotter! I saw Feijoo in 1999 when she toured with Ballet Nacional de Cuba, and she is my favorite Giselle of those I've seen live. I'd love to see her again, after she's had eight more years of experience in the role.

PACIFIC NORTHWEST BALLET SCHOOL HOSTS REGIONAL DANCE AMERICA'S ANNUAL SUMMER INTENSIVE PROGRAM Craft of Choreography Conference June 18- 30, 2007 SEATTLE, WA - ”The nationally-renowned Pacific Northwest Ballet School (PNBS) will host this year's prestigious Craft of Choreography Conference, an annual summer intensive program by Regional Dance America, June 18 - 30, 2007 at the Francia Russell Center, PNBS' Bellevue location. A multi-faceted program, the conference provides dancers as well as emerging and established choreographers an opportunity to study and create under the guidance of nationally-recognized dance and music professionals during an intensive two-week session. Among the choreographers participating in this year's conference are current PNB corps de ballet dancer Kiyon Gaines and former PNBS student Sayoko Knode. "The Pacific Northwest Ballet School's Francia Russell Center is proud to host this year's event. It will be an exciting two week intensive for young dancers from around the country and PNBS to interact and work with over fifteen choreographers from throughout the country... This promises to be an exciting adventure for all who choose to participate and grow as young artists. -- Nicholas Ade, PNBS Eastside Principal and former PNB dancer Tracing its roots back to 1961, the conference serves as an important "training ground" for choreographers and is a chance for dancers to work within a variety of styles, with all participants benefiting from training with expert teachers. PNBS students 13 and above have been invited to participate in this unique experience with students from all over the country. Scholarships and parent volunteer opportunities are available as well as pre-paid cards for morning dance classes, all provided through Regional Dance America. The 2007 CRAFT OF CHOREOGRAPHY CONFERENCE runs June 18-30 at the Francia Russell Center, 13440 N.E. 16th Street, Bellevue. Further information can be found online at the official conference website - http://www.regionaldanceamerica.org/choreo..._conference.php or by contacting Nicholas Ade, PNBS Eastside Principal, at nade@pnb.org. More about Regional Dance America Regional Dance America (RDA) is a national association of ballet companies that was created in 1988 to continue work started by the National Association of Regional Ballet in the mid-1950s. Composed of five regional "organizations" or sectors, RDA seeks to promote the artistic development of dance companies throughout the United States. Its main objectives are to promote its mission on a national level, to define and maintain the artistic standards of quality to which the regional organizations are held, and to provide uniformity of major policies amongst its five regions. In addition to regional and national dance programs and events, one of RDA's most significant projects is its sponsorship of the annual Craft of Choreography Conference. Through the Conference, RDA focuses on the development of the fundamental underpinnings of the art of dance- choreographers and dancers. "This method of encouraging and raising the standards of choreography has helped develop many young choreographers who have gone on to productive careers as freelance choreographers and/or artistic directors. Dancers also find it exciting and helpful in learning to work well with many types of choreographers." -- Barbara Crockett, Founder and former Company Director, Sacramento Ballet. About Pacific Northwest Ballet Pacific Northwest Ballet, one of the largest and most highly regarded ballet companies in the United States, was founded in 1972. On July 1, 2005, Peter Boal assumed the role of Artistic Director, succeeding Kent Stowell and Francia Russell, Co-Artistic Directors of PNB since 1977. The Company of forty-four dancers presents over ninety performances each year of full-length and mixed repertory ballets at Marion Oliver McCaw Hall and on tour. The Company has toured to Europe, Australia, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Canada, and throughout the United States with celebrated appearances in Washington D.C. and New York City. Founded in 1974, Pacific Northwest Ballet School, under the direction of Francia Russell since 1977 and now under Mr. Boal's direction, is nationally recognized as setting the standard for ballet training offering a complete professional curriculum to over 850 students. The School and Company also provide comprehensive dance education to the greater Seattle area reaching over 10,000 adults and children each year through DanceChance, Discover Dance, Eyes on Dance and other outreach programs and activities.

Was Peter Boal a corps member when he left for Europe and before he returned? If so, did he return as corps? Edwaard Liang left as corps and, according to his NYCB bio came back as a soloist. I'm not sure what Ringer's rank(s) was when she was left and came back. I have vague recollections of a corps woman or two leaving and coming back.

Rest in peace Ms. Thyssen.

When I read the reviews that mentioned this, I had to wonder the same. I remember when Alexei Yagudin, against Tatiana Tarasova's advice, lost what was, for him, a great deal of weight, and struggled mightily, losing every major competition to Plushenko where they both competed leading up to the SLC Olympics. Luckily, he righted his course, just in time. It sounds like Part had an awful night. Hopefully it was a fluke of jelly leg or a leg cramp or a short-lived pull or twinge. The Rose Adagio is not the best place to have one, but I'm hoping it was a one-time thing. (Says Helene, having heard Enrico DiGuiseppe do a perfectly reasonable rendition of "Parmi veder le lagrime" and be booed, because it was going to be Pavarotti's debut as Duke of Mantua, he and Reri Grist cancelled because of the flu, and the audience was not happy.)

Many thanks for your reports Farrell Fan and ViolinConcerto

[Tangent] There's a wonderful clip of Kistler and Ib Andersen being coached in the final duet from La Sonnambula by Allegra Kent in the Six Ballerinas documentary. It's neither full-out nor uninterrupted, but I find it magical. [/Tangent]

Unfortunately, that's probably the worst downside of excerpting these parts for a gala.

The Francia Russell Center opened a few years ago, at the end of Russell and Stowell's tenure at PNB. PNB had an Eastside dance program when I first moved the Seattle in 1994 in a small strip mall in Bellevue. At the time it offered adult beginner classes and classes for younger grades. The school at the expanded Francia Russell Center now goes through level V (age 15) and has a Pilates program. (The pre-professional program is located in Seattle.) According to this link, dated 2004, "PNB has been active on the Eastside for more than 15 years;" I'm not sure if this means the school or a presence. I know there used to be summer performances at the outdoor stage at Chateau Sainte Michelle in Redmond back in the day; I remember a Fanfare in mid-summer that was performed with leg-warmers, it was so cold. Jessika Anspach may be the first home grown Eastside dancer to join the Company.

The downside of having many years of experience is forgetfulness: I completely left out Michael Todd Simpson's superb Marcello. He's a terrific actor with a beautiful, smooth upper range, and his lovely, equal "O Mimì, tu più non torni" with Scott Piper was a highlight. Next I'll be wondering where I left my glasses. Oh, I'm wearing them and am practically blind without them.

Miami City Ballet performs each subscription program in three cities: Miami (Carnival Center for the Performing Arts), Ft. Lauderdale (Broward Center for the Performing Arts), and West Palm Beach (Kravis Center for the Performing Arts). I would hope they'd have serious financial support in all three places. After I retire and don't have to commute again, I don't know if I'm going to drive voluntarily for more than 20 minutes. It's going to be buses, trains, and planes for me, if I have any say about it. I know there's a fear in the Seattle area that if the symphony, opera, ballet, and theater companies were to perform on the East Side (or in Auburn or Everett), they'd lose their core audience in the Seattle venues. When you consider that many East Side real estate advertisements are titled 5 minutes to Microsoft! (which would make me run screaming...), and it's as bad a drive from either Boeing site to downtown Seattle, I wonder if they'd expand their total audience by performing on the East Side, where East Siders wouldn't have to face The Bridge Commute.

I received the following press release from PNB about the upcoming Stravinsky 125 program (edited a bit because the graphics didn't transfer, and the small caps disappeared): PACIFIC NORTHWEST BALLET HONORS ONE OF BALLET’S MOST INFLUENTIAL COMPOSERS IN STRAVINSKY125 Featuring the PNB premieres of Jerome Robbins’ Circus Polka and Molissa Fenley’s State of Darkness – plus the return of George Balanchine’s Rubies and Symphony in Three Movements May 31 – June 10 at McCaw Hall SEATTLE, WA — Happy 125th Birthday, Stravinsky! Pacific Northwest Ballet proudly presents STRAVINSKY 125, a tribute to one of the greatest composers for dance of the 20th century, Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971), May 31–June 10 at McCaw Hall. The vibrant mixed repertory program features the PNB premieres of Jerome Robbins’ charming Circus Polka, set to Stravinsky’s Circus Polka for Wind Symphony, and Molissa Fenley’s dynamic solo, State of Darkness, set to Stravinsky’s legendary The Rite of Spring. Also on the program are two works by master choreographer and Stravinsky’s friend and frequent collaborator George Balanchine — the jazzy Rubies, set to Capriccio for piano and orchestra, and Symphony in Three Movements, a large-scale ballet that showcases the extraordinary talent of PNB dancers and the PNB Orchestra. “Stravinsky and Balanchine have given the world many treasured ballets and their histories are forever joined. From Apollon Musagète for Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes to the studios of the New York City Ballet, they share the description of being among the finest artists of the 20th century.” – PNB Artistic Director Peter Boal Plus! Special Opening Night Musical Prelude – In observance of Igor Stravinsky’s 125th birthday, the PNB Orchestra will perform Stravinsky’s Greeting Prelude on opening night of STRAVINSKY 125. This setting of “Happy Birthday” was composed in 1955 for the 80th birthday of Pierre Monteaux, conductor of the premiere of The Rite of Spring, among other Stravinsky works. STRAVINSKY 125 runs May 31, June 1-2 and 7-9 at 7:30 p.m. with a 2:00 p.m. matinee on June 2 and a 1:00 p.m. matinee on June 10 at McCaw Hall, 321 Mercer Street. Tickets range in price from $18 to $145 and may be purchased: By calling the PNB Box Office at (206) 441-2424 (Mon.-Fri. 9:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m., Sat. 10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.) In person at the PNB Box Office, 301 Mercer Street (Mon.-Fri. 10:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m., Sat. 10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.) Online at www.pnb.org *90 minutes prior to each performance at McCaw Hall at 321 Mercer Street Discounts of up to 40% available for groups of 10 or more by calling (206) 441-2416 or emailing juliej@pnb.org. More about Jerome Robbins’ Circus Polka — pnb premiere! “Stravinsky’s Circus Polka was composed precisely for the circus—for the Ringling Brothers, Barnum and Bailey Circus in 1942. The circus impresarios wanted to do a ballet for elephants. I telephoned [stravinsky], not giving away the whole story. ‘What kind of music?’ he asked. ‘A polka,’ I said. ‘For whom?’ he wanted to know. ‘Elephants.’ ‘How old?’ ‘Young!’ ‘Okay, if they are very young, I’ll do it.’” — George Balanchine Balanchine’s 1942 ballet for “Fifty Elephants and Fifty Beautiful Girls” was performed 425 times. Thirty years later, in 1972, Jerome Robbins created a new ballet to Stravinsky’s raucous Circus Polka for Wind Symphony, this time for 48 young dance students and a Ringmaster (performed by Robbins in the original cast). Robbins’ short 4-minute ballet ends with a floor pattern that spells out the composer's initials, I.S., the perfect opening for Pacific Northwest Ballet’s celebration of Igor Stravinsky’s 125th birthday. Circus Polka premiered at New York City Ballet in 1972 and the original cast included 48 students from the School of American Ballet. PNB’s production of Circus Polka, featuring PNB School students, is staged by former New York City Ballet principal dancer and current Robbins Trust repetiteur Judith Fugate. More about Molissa Fenley’s State of Darkness — pnb premiere! "One day, when I was finishing the last pages of l'Oiseau de feu (The Firebird) in St. Petersburg, I had a fleeting vision which came to me as a complete surprise, my mind at the moment being full of other things. I saw in my imagination a solemn pagan rite. Sage elders, seated in a circle, watched a young girl dance herself to death. They were sacrificing her to propitiate the God of Spring. I heard and I wrote what I heard. I am the vessel through which Le sacre passed." — Igor Stravinsky Choreographer and performer Molissa Fenley’s intensely dynamic solo, State of Darkness (1988) is set to Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring. Commissioned by the American Dance Festival in North Carolina in 1988, State of Darkness was first performed by Fenley herself, who received a New York Dance and Performance Award (The Bessies) in choreography for her work. Peter Boal received a Bessie Performance award for his revival performance of State of Darkness in 2000. “Just when I thought Molissa Fenley’s dancing in her modern solos couldn’t be beat, Peter Boal’s tour de force in State of Darkness nailed me to my chair. It was a triple whammy: Fenley’s gripping choreography set to Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring, plus Boal’s powerhouse performance.” — Sharon McDaniel, The Palm Beach Post Ms. Fenley comments about choreographing and performing in State of Darkness: “I called the work State of Darkness for precisely the reason that I didn’t follow the original scenario of The Rite of Spring. I followed an inner, intuitive voice that understood the music. I knew there was the possibility for one person to take on the varying states of the music. State of Darkness – which had many passages choreographed around the idea of fear, entering into the shadows, delighting in an animal presence, shifting from being extremely powerful to being totally out of control – is a dialogue with the music, a very direct give and take from score to choreography. The dance was choreographed with belief in the ‘rightness’ of it, belief in the truth of the body in music. Yes, I would pray to ‘my buddy, Igor’ that I would make it through each performance, able to withstand and transcend the stamina and endurance necessary. One friend said to me before a performance, ‘I can’t believe that you have to climb that mountain each time,’ but I was addicted to it, to the challenge and great reward. At the last crash of the music, where, in The Rite of Spring scenario, the Chosen One is killed, this modern woman steps out into the light: intact, strong and alive.” Molissa Fenley was born in Las Vegas and grew up in Nigeria and Spain. She received a degree in dance from Mills College in 1975 and then moved to New York City and formed Molissa Fenley and Dancers in 1977. Her 30-year career of choreographing and presenting her work has developed in cycles. From 1977–1987, she focused on group works performed by her and an ensemble of dancers. During the next ten years, her work shifted to solo performances created in collaboration with contemporary visual artists and composers. Now, in a third cycle, she is once again exploring the dynamics of ensemble work. More about George Balanchine’s Rubies “Rubies, set to Stravinsky, seems in a different world: spiky-edge crimson costumes, shimmying hips, twisting wrists, lightning-quick kicks. Jonathan Porretta was a marvel of controlled wildness; watching him fling himself around the stage, you sensed what a joy it must be to perform Balanchine. Kaori Nakamura was his deft partner, pursing her lips at the end of their playful pas de deux like a perfect Jazz Age ingenue. Ariana Lallone led the ensemble, with her supreme, queenly confidence. Her movements seemed to put an emphatic stamp on the music, punctuating it with her long arms and legs…” —Moira Macdonald, The Seattle Times Rubies, set to Stravinsky’s 1929 Capriccio for piano and orchestra, is the American heart of George Balanchine’s three-act Jewels and a Stravinsky/Balanchine masterwork. Choreographed in 1967 for Patricia McBride and Edward Villella, two of the most vivacious dancers in American dance history, plus a supporting female lead and a corps of twelve, Rubies effuses glam wit and jazzy chic. Clive Barnes, dance critic for The New York Times, called Rubies “Balanchine’s most sophisticated vein of choreography…the dances pour out of him.” Former PNB Director of Education Jeanie Thomas wrote, “’Capriciousness’ [referring to the title of Stravinsky’s score] might also be said to characterize Balanchine’s choreography, which is half elegant, half street-smart. With its jutting hips, flexed feet, show biz kicks and witty counter-rhythms, Rubies is a many-faceted example of the exuberantly distorted classicism that Balanchine invented to render Stravinsky’s musical idiom three-dimensionally.” PNB first performed Rubies on February 3, 1988, with Magali Messac, Hugh Bigney and Colleen Neary performing the roles originated by Patricia McBride, Edward Villella and Patricia Neary. It has since been performed at home and on tour, including performances at the Kennedy Center in 1992 and in Melbourne, Australia, in 1995. The Company last performed Rubies in Seattle last June, during the PNB premiere of the three-movement, evening-length Jewels. This production of Rubies is staged for PNB by Elyse Borne, former New York City Ballet soloist. Ms. Borne has been staging Balanchine ballets for the George Balanchine Trust since 1994. More about George Balanchine’s Symphony in Three Movements “Choreographers combine movements, and the ones I arranged for this music follow no story line or narrative. They try to catch the music and do not, I hope, lean on it, using it instead for support and time frame."— George Balanchine Vibrant, startling, and athletic, Balanchine’s Symphony in Three Movements has been called “the most raw and unleashed ballet Balanchine has done” and “one of the most exciting works in the international repertory.” A large ensemble ballet that devours the stage, Symphony in Three Movements contains jazz-flavored movements and bursts of choreographic ferocity that mirror Stravinsky’s impressions of World War II that are the basis for the score. Symphony in Three Movements premiered on opening night of New York City Ballet’s 1972 Stravinsky Festival with an original cast that included Sara Leland, Marnee Morris, Lynda Yourth, Helgi Tomasson, Edward Villella and Robert Weiss. The work received its PNB premiere in 2005 on the Company’s first repertory program under the direction of Peter Boal and featured PNB principal dancers Patricia Barker, Carrie Imler, Carla Körbes, Kaori Nakamura, Noelani Pantastico, Jonathan Porretta, Jeffrey Stanton and Batkhurel Bold. In his review of PNB’s opening night premiere performance, The Seattle Post-Intelligencer’s dance critic R.M. Campbell, wrote, “PNB has several Balanchine/Stravinsky ballets in its repertory, but nonetheless, this is a major addition. Symphony in Three Movements is all about sharp thrusts and angles, wit and edgy rhythms, just like the music. It propels itself across the stage in all manner of being, expanding and contracting like the heart, pumping without cease.” Moira Macdonald, in her review for The Seattle Times, said, “...the evening’s closer, Balanchine’s Symphony in Three Movements, was a wonder — a big, busy ballet involving nearly the entire company, performed at breakneck speed ... Dancers flew through the air in the ballet’s signature move: a simple, soaring jump, with both legs tucked up.” PNB’s production of Symphony in Three Movements is staged by former New York City Ballet soloist Susan Pilarre. Ms. Pilarre has been staging Balanchine ballets since 1980. More About Igor Stravinsky Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971) was one of the most authoritative composers of the twentieth century, both in the West and in his native land. A quintessentially cosmopolitan Russian, Stravinsky was born and raised near St. Petersburg and entered law school in 1901, at the age of nineteen. That year he also gave his first piano recital and began studying piano and composition with Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. In 1910, Stravinsky came to the attention of Serge Diaghilev, who asked him to orchestra two pieces by Chopin for the ballet Les Sylphides, and then to compose an original ballet. The result, Firebird, projected both Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes and the young composer to worldwide acclaim. Stravinsky went on to master musical styles ranging from Romanticism to Neoclassicism to Serialism and was regarded as one of the great musical innovators of his age. His broad oeuvre ranges from symphonies to piano miniatures. Stravinsky’s ballets for the Ballets Russes also included Petrushka, choreographed by Michel Fokine, The Rite of Spring, choreographed by Vaslav Nijinsky, and Apollon Musagète (later called Apollo), choreographed by George Balanchine. The composer’s long artistic relationship with Balanchine resulted in several commissioned ballet scores – Jeu de Cartes (1936), Orpheus (1947) and Agon (1953-1957) – and many ballets choreographed to existing works. Stravinsky also achieved fame as a pianist and conductor, often conducting the premieres of his own works. With the help of his protégé Robert Craft, he wrote a theoretical work entitled Poetics of Music. In it, he famously claimed that music was incapable of “expressing anything but itself.” Craft also transcribed several interviews with the composer. Stravinsky was named by Time magazine as one of the most influential people of the twentieth century. About Pacific Northwest Ballet Pacific Northwest Ballet, one of the largest and most highly regarded ballet companies in the United States, was founded in 1972. On July 1, 2005, Peter Boal assumed the role of Artistic Director, succeeding Kent Stowell and Francia Russell, Co-Artistic Directors of PNB since 1977. The Company of forty-four dancers presents over 100 performances each year of full-length and mixed repertory ballets at Marion Oliver McCaw Hall and on tour. The Company has toured to Europe, Australia, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Canada, and throughout the United States with celebrated appearances in Washington D.C. and New York City. Founded in 1974, Pacific Northwest Ballet School, under the direction of Francia Russell since 1977 and now under Mr. Boal's direction, is nationally recognized as setting the standard for ballet training offering a complete professional curriculum to over 900 students. The School and Company also provide comprehensive dance education to the greater Seattle area reaching over 10,000 adults and children each year through DanceChance, Discover Dance, Eyes on Dance and other outreach programs and activities. This production of STRAVINSKY 125 is generously sponsored by Moss Adams LLP and PONCHO with additional support from Harkness Foundation for Dance and Mario’s. The Seattle premiere of Circus Polka is generously underwritten by Marcella McCaffray. The Seattle premiere of State of Darkness is generously underwritten by Lyndall Boal. Pacific Northwest Ballet's 2006-2007 Season is sponsored by ArtsFund, Microsoft, Northwest Danish Foundation and scan|design by Inger & Jens Bruun Foundation, and supported in part by Mayor’s Office of Arts & Cultural Affairs, PONCHO, 4Culture - King County Lodging Tax, Washington State Arts Commission and National Endowment for the Arts.

The only time I visited East Berlin in 1977, a small group of my classmates and I went to Dorotheenstädtischer Friedhof, where Brecht, Weigel, Fichte, Hegel, and Heinrich Mann are among those who are buried. It was full of elderly people, who sat quietly on the benches. We were the only people under 60 there.

Unless there were performance of San Francisco Ballet that were aired by KQED and released commercially, it is unlikely. There aren't that many commercial DVD's (or in print VHS tapes) of any US company. On amazon.com I found: *Balanchine re-releases from performances aired in the 1970's for Dance in America, Davidsbuendlertaenze, and the theatrical release Nutcracker movie *Around eight from ABT (full-lengths, a few mostly gala fare, and Ashton's The Dream), spanning four decades *SFB's Otello *Joffrey's Billboards and Nijinsky Tribute with Rudolf Nureyev, *Houston Ballet triple bill *PNB's A Midsummer Night's Dream and the theatrical release Nutcracker movie. Generally the two things that prevent ballets from being released are complicated union contracts and production money.

I agree, Paul. For better or worse, that is part of Martins's legacy for many long-time NYCB-goers. What I found interesting was Macaulay's theory that this was meant to be an apology, but Martins's two protagonists didn't pull it off to any effect. Re: dancers, I wish I had been able to see Perreira as Juliet. Off-topic: re: the photos to which drb linked, seeing a current photo of David Byrne is making me feel really old.

Catalabutte would be the main character role; I doubt they'd cast him as the king, the father of a 16-year old. (Although Tony Randall had his first child at age 77.) It's hard to imagine how the story would make sense without this character, let alone the mime. The royalty needs someone to blame for not inviting Carabosse. I admit to finding there to be one too may adult fairy tale guest couples in the last act of Sleeping Beauty. I think Peter Martins's decision to stage Little Red Riding Hood with a child Red Riding Hood and a gaggle of children holding trees and creating the forest as a break from adults dressed in fur is a stroke of theatrical genius.

You do, but not nearly enough. The last time NBoC was in Vancouver, they performed Swan Lake there. I know only because I showed up at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre 10 minutes before the performance, and missed the first Act of the matinee trying to find the venue. The sightlines were good, but I can't remember much about the acoustics. Not enough work for them at home, alas, which is what one big (or medium-sized) ballet company accomplishes.

You are a lucky man, SandyMcKean -- the expense is worth it. There's been a recent topic on the Opera-L list about what to do when your spouse or partner doesn't enjoy opera, and it's painful to hear how many don't.

In yesterday's Links there is an article from KDKA TV in which reporter Larry Richert visits Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre to take class and attempt to partner. (Maribel Modrono's reaction when she sees him for the first time is priceless. I'd love to know what they told her ahead of time.) The video clip opens with a few seconds from Act II of Swan Lake, and the Odette was lovely. Does anyone know if this was Modrono? If not, does anyone know who the dancer is?

artist and SandyMcKean. I used to be scared of a blank page (or screen), but I find four things essential to writing any review: go alone in order to mull, see something multiple times, not have a deadline, and never want to shut up I wish I had seen that seminar. I love to hear singers describe what they do, and the multi-artist, multi-hour format allows them to get deeper than in a studio interview, and to respond to each other. For those outside of Seattle, the Gold Cast (Nuccia Focile, Rosario La Spina (from Australia), and Philip Cutlip) will be broadcast live tonight at 7:30 pm PDT on KING-FM, and the broadcast is available over the Internet at www.king.org with Windows Media Player or Real Player. (Click the "Listen Online" button from the upper right corner of each page.)

Vancouver is my favorite city on earth, a combination of the best of New York and Seattle, with the exception of the arts, Vancouver Recital Society notwithstanding. The opera is quite good, but the city lacks an acoustically "live" venue, like McCaw Hall -- Queen Elizabeth Theatre acoustics are deadening -- with a tolerable number of rest rooms. (The Orpheum, home to Vancouver Symphony, is impossible in this regard.) "National" Ballet of Canada makes woefully few trips to the west, and usually brings sell-out rep, like Swan Lake when they finally do deign to show up. Ballet British Columbia is not enough for a ballet-lover to feed on. If only Seattle were located in Bellingham, or if Peter Boal and McCaw Hall could just be convinced to move just a few degrees of latitude north...