Helene

Yes there is, but from a single performance I saw during PNB's "Celebrate Seattle Festival" when the Ballet British Columbia came here to Seattle, I would not rank it among the ones typically discussed here. I've got to agree. I'd go to Vancouver to see a program each year, because I liked the dancers, but most of my travel money will be spent going south, to see Ballet Arizona, San Francisco Ballet, and Oregon Ballet Theatre.

Goh Ballet is performing four times in Vancouver in June: Thursday-Friday, 8-9 at the Centre for Performing Arts, and Friday-Saturday 15-16 at Vancouver Playhouse. Unfortunately, June is a very busy time in Seattle: PNB is performing it's "Stravinsky 125" program through 10 June, the school performance/choreographer's workshop is on 16 June, the Seattle International Film Festival runs 24 May-17 June, Oregon Ballet Theatre performs Firebird and Act III of Sleeping Beauty from 8-10 June, and Champions on Ice is in Everett on 2 June. Everytime I see something scheduled for June, I want to cringe, because I can't be in two (or three) places at once. The last thing listed for Ballet Victoria was for December 2006. I don't see anything scheduled after May 2007 for Ballet Kelowna. I can't find a site for Ballet du Printemps (there's one for an art gallery under that name) and Canadian Pacific Ballet's website is under construction.

In her profile of Barack Obama in the 7 May 07 issue of The New Yorker, Larissa MacFarquhar wrote: I usually find the character of Tosca unbearable: a self-centered diva who is responsible for getting innocent people killed while playing out a psycho-sexual drama with Cavaradossi. However, three years ago, I heard Cynthia Lawrence sing the role at the Met, and her fidelity to the text, rather than the shape of versimo, convinced me that Tosca could be flawed, but sympathetic. Hearing her again last week in Vancouver Opera's production of the opera brought this point home: in fact, Lawrence's Tosca has the innocence that MacFarquhar describes, the opposite of wisdom. Her Tosca is a woman out of her league, one who doesn't comprehend why her schoolgirl piety doesn't win the day. She changes from a self-inflicted jealous fury to a gentle soul focused completely on Cavaradossi (and back again.). Hers is the first interpretation of the role where you can imagine her lovingly preparing Cavaradossi his morning capuccino, and where you can see why his love for her goes beyond the make-up sex. And that, for me, is no small miracle. Renzo Zulian, her Cavaradossi, has a bright top, but little style getting there. I would liken him in figure skating to Vancouver's Mira Leung: she certainly goes for the jumps without fear like he goes for the notes, but the landings are shaky. Yalun Zhang's Scarpia was impressive both vocally and dramatically. Apart from the stock "baritone lunge" when confronting Cavaradossi in Act II after Spoletta announces Napoleon's victory, his vocal and physical acting was subtle, but pointed. He was a man who knew his own power, but, like Mac the Knife, he didn't show his knife. In a basic, traditional production, the most striking effects were in lighting, where the designer used a spotlight to highlight a single performer during arias or scenes. At the end of Act I, for Scarpia's monologue, the stage was lit at dusk, except for the spot on Zhang, and only when the chorus joined for "Te Deum" was the entire stage lit. During "Vissi d'arte" the spot faded from each of two spots as it lit another, as Tosca progressed across the stage. This took away from the self-consciousness of the scene she's playing for Scarpia, because it made the aria an internal dialogue only. "E lucevan le stelle," a private aria, like Scarpia's scene, was lit similarly. This past week, I saw two performances of Seattle Opera's season-ending La Boheme. On Sunday, the Silver Cast made it's debut. I don't know how singers can sing matinees, especially opening matinees: at 2pm, I'm not sure how they've even cleared their throats. Making their Seattle Opera debuts as Mimi -- also an American debut for her -- and Rodolfo were Gun-Brit Barkmin and Scott Piper. When Barkmin entered the garrett, I thought it was a reprise of Tosca: she had spirit and spunk, and her "Cherco!!!!!" was so emphatic, as she bossed Piper to look for the key. Barkmin has a big, focused voice that cuts through the orchestra like a laser beam. Her Mimi may have had consumption, but more like Violetta in La Traviata did: she may have been on the decline, but she had enough good hours in the day, living her life, that when, in Act III, she asked "Am I dying?" it was reasonable that she didn't know it was quite that bad, and it was a real heart-breaker when she found out. The big surprise was Scott Piper's "Che gelida manina." I've heard this aria on countless recordings and broadcasts, and, on the whole, no matter how great the voice and interpreter, it is usually sung with the same general arc to it. Although I knew the gist of the words, Piper, like Lawrence, sang every word with meaning, and the shape of the aria sounded completely different. Instead of waiting for the big climax, I listened to every word along the way. In Sunday's performance, I thought he had more ideas than his voice could support. (Given the number of ideas he had, this is not small praise.) But Tuesday night, his voice had settled, and it was like a wine that had opened. Sitting closer on Tuesday night, I saw how he acted throughout his aria -- no speaking to the audience -- checking to see how his words affected his Mimi. And during her response, the aria, "Mi chiamano Mimi," he quietly reacted to everything she said. Barkin was also a terrific actor: at the end of Rodolfo's aria, when asked her to tell him about herself, she showed a moment of panic (omigod, omigod, omigod what will I say???????), all with a simple gesture and facial expression. Piper didn't downplay any of Rodolfo's ridiculousness -- his "I don't allow my girl to act like this or that" sounded as pompous as the text -- and his "Mimi's a jerk and that's why I'm leaving her" in Act III made you want to slap him silly, which made his confession to Marcello that much more moving. Colline has his farewell aria to his overcoat in Act IV, in this cast beautifully sung by Ashraf Sewailam, with his resonant bass, but Schaunard, the musician, has only a scene, in Act I. Most of the time, it's performed like filler, with a bunch of goofing by the other three men, and the audience waits for that scene, and the following scene with Benoit, the landlord, to be over so that Rodolfo and Mimi can get on with the "real" music. Not so in this cast. Marcus DeLoach made every moment count, and his telling of how he killed the parrot with herbs and earned the money they're about to spend on Christmas Eve was a riot. The orchestra under Vjekoslav Sutej was superb, but among all of the wonderful playing, there was a most magical moment: there is a silence, just before the concluding duet of Act I ("O soave fanciulla"), and after it, the orchestra dropped in, like a moonbeam shining through the skylight. Piper took the final note as written, in lower harmony with Mimi, which gave it a sense of wonder. Act II showed true ensemble singing and acting, with Schaunard and Colline having a great joke at Marcello's expense. Although I thought that Margarita De Arellano's Musetta was a bit over-the-top -- a little too much skirt raising; one could almost feel sorry for Alcindoro -- her voice, with a lovely lower register was wonderful, and she really called the shots, leaving Marcello to declare that he still had some heart with her black feathered boa around his neck. Given how big her voice is, I expected Barkmin to go full-blast in Act III, but instead, she took a more subtle approach, varying intonation throughout the act. You could imagine that after Rodolfo left her, she spent the entire night waiting for dawn, so that she could try to reconcile with him, by how crushed she was in her scene with Marcello and through the quiet desperation in which she asks a bystander to fetch Marcello from the tavern. Director Jose Maria Condemi took the unusual stance of having Marcello and Musetta fight, and then make up by jumping into each other's arms and rushing into the tavern during the Act III quartet; dramatically, it was a heart-rending contrast when, after Rodolfo and Mimi reconcile, they are almost too hurt and sensitive to get near each other as they, exhausted, head home. In Act IV, Barkin's Mimi slowly dies not only visually, but vocally. Slowly, she altered the volume of her voice, to get softer and softer, always clear and articulate until it was barely audible. Piper left out the vocal sobs, but kept the visual ones in his body, until he slumped to the ground next to her bed. This is a cast that deserves hearing and seeing.

"But first, a school" and if Hans is there...

From today's Links, Paul Parish's review of Martin Duberman's biography of Lincoln Kirstein for the Bay Area Reporter: Heir of all the ages Bravo, Paul!

I've moved the discussion of Martin Duberman's biography of Lincoln Kirstein to this thread in the "Writings on Ballet" forum.

I think you should continue to post them (please, please). I've just tested New Member, Senior Member, and Member using IE (7.0): the photos are visible and by clicking on them, they enlarge. People who are not logged in and in the Registration Completed group will see the photos displayed as a file name/link and will get the "Permissions denied" error message.

I tested using accounts with Member, New Member, and Senior Member permissions and I could click on the photos and get enlarged versions. I'm using Safari on a Mac. Firefox has been freezing, choking, and being otherwise difficult for everything on this computer for the last week or so, despite deleting it and reinstalling. I don't see any bugs listed on the topic or a discussion in the help forums. This is odd.

I really like the idea of having a subscription program with visiting companies, but in this case, my hope is that the two Canadian companies show up in Seattle courtesy of the dance series at the Paramount. (Or at least Vancouver.) I don't think I want to travel to SF to see them. I'm having a hard time getting that travel fever for SFB this year, but maybe as the season gets close, I'll feel happier about it.

I've changed some settings. Please let me know if this continues when you log in tomorrow.

Woo hoo!!!! I hope you have a wonderful time, Amy's Mom!

One quirk that I've noticed is that I now have "-10" New Messages in my PM mailbox. I'm going to look to see if I can set some recounts, which may affect post totals.

Just this Sunday in a post-performance Q&A, General Director of Seattle Opera Speight Jenkins told us that he warned the singers in the current production of La Boheme that the response of Seattle audiences was more Germanic -- i.e., wait to the appropriate stop in the music to applaud -- vs. the Italianate -- i.e., clap and applaud at all the big moments, even if the music is still playing. An example he gave is that Italian audiences will burst into applause at the conclusion of Musetta's Waltz, while we listened to the transition out of it and waited until the blackout before applauding. He didn't want them to think if we were silent after a scene, we didn't like them. (Or as he put it, to paraphrase, a tenor who didn't get an ovation after "Che gelida manina" would run offstage crying.) He did mention that German audiences often have huge, long ovations at the end, with rhythmic clapping and stomping. Seattle audiences are, by contrast, obedient: when the curtain goes down and/or the lights come up, a full-fledged ovation peters out in seconds, and we all file out. (Except when Rostropovich was in town, and then we wouldn't stop until he took the hand of the concert-master and led a conga line of musicians off stage.)

Towards the end of a review of Muriel Maffre's farewell performance, Rachel Howard wrote: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?...001&sc=1000

Should we assume this to mean that she didn't contine dancing? If there's any word from an official source, we'll be sure to post.

That's really great!

It's available through amazon.co.uk, which will ship to the US, but, given the exchange rate, it will be pricey: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Loss-Small-Detail-...5455&sr=1-1

With our upgrade to version 2.2.2, there's added security, which comes with a new, more complicated, three-step procedure to change/reset forgotten passwords. Here's the new process: 1. Click "Log In" from the pink bar at the top of the page. 2. Click "Click here!" from the pink box on the Log In page where it says "I've forgotten my password! Click here!" 2. Enter username OR email address 3. Fill in the "Security Code Confirmation" (type in the random number that appears on the screen) and click the "Proceed" button. Please note that some ad-blockers and browser plug-ins suppress the CAPTCHA/security function. You may need to disable the plug-in or use another browser to be able to reset your password. 4. If we find your username or email address, an email will be sent to the email address on file. 5. Click the activation link in the email. 6. You'll be navigated to an "Account Activation"/Lost Password Recovery" Page. 7. You'll need to fill out another "Security Code Confirmation" by typing in the different set of random numbers and clicking "Proceed." 8. Another email will be sent to you, this time with an ugly, random, strong password. (Example: "29ed17595797950") 9. Copy the password from the email into memory (or write it down), and click the link in the email directly under it, after "Log in here:" 10. Enter your user name and the paste (or type in) the ugly password after "Enter your password". 11. Then click the "Log me in" button. To change your password once you've logged in -- recommended if you've logged in with the ugly password A. Click the little down arrow next to your username in the top right corner and select "My Settings." B. From the left hand Menu, select "Email and Password." C. In the box next to "Enter your CURRENT password", paste (or type in) the ugly password. D. Enter and confirm your new, user-friendly password and click the "Change my Password" button.

Most of us sign-in once and use automatic sign-in from the sign-in cookies for months or even years. If I didn't need to use mine constantly, I'd never remember it, and I suspect many of you are in the same boat. If you can't remember your password and do remember your username, from the log in screen in the box with the red background, there is a sentence: I've forgotten my password! Click here! When you click on the link, you'll be prompted for your user name on the next screen. When you click "Proceed," we'll send you a "change password" email to the email address we have on file. Once you click the link in the email, you'll be navigated to a screen to reset your password. (You won't need to confirm your old one.) They you can log in using your new password. You should receive the email immediately, at most within one minute. If you don't, please check your spam folder. If it's not there, please click "Contact Us" at the top of the page and tell us what your current email address is. If we have an old address on file, we'll change it, so that you can receive the "change password" email at a current address. The good news is that you can enter your user name or email address. The good news from a security aspect is that the forgotten password process has gotten more difficult to break. The bad news is that the forgotten password process is more complicated. A walk-through of the forgotten password reset process is posted here. More good news is that inserting links now works with IE 7.0. More bad news is that you have to allow scripted windows each and every time, unless there's a setting I missed. I apologize to everyone for not warning Ballet Talkers ahead of time that this will happen. I've put a step in the upgrade process to warn everyone before the uprade in the future.

Many thanks to the people at Invisionpower for making this upgrade possible I know that there are new features, and I'll poke around to see what they actually do! I've also been trying to reset various settings. If something has reverted back, looks funny, or doesn't work, please let me know on this thread, and I'll investigate.

Emilie Cozette and Isabelle Ciaravola were the two demisoloists in Diamonds in the POB "Jewels" DVD. There isn't a photo of Cozette on the POB site, but from the photo of Ciaravola, I would guess she's the taller, lighter-haired of the two.

Yes. We were given little bottles of absolut vodka and a plastic shot glass for the toast. Baryshnikov came out with a tray for Martins and Kirstein, and tried to sneak off stage, but Martins pulled him back for the company bows. Martins explained the difference between the polite way (forgot what words he used) and "Balanchine's way" (he mimed downing it in one gulp), and there's film of a woman in the audience following his instructions.

The upgrade can happen any time now. There may be a short period of time between the start of the upgrade and when you can't post. These will be lost. Please note: The board "skins" will go back to the default until I can restore the modifications, like the amazon.com box.

Saturday, May 5 Alvin Erasga Tolentino will perform a solo in Montreal next weekend, and the Montreal Gazette profiles the dancer/choreographer. Roslyn Sulcas reviews André Gingras's CYP17.

I've put in the request for upgrade, and will post again when I have confirmation for when it will take place.