Helene

The short answer is "yes," especially when works are no longer protected legally. And many times when they are, but there is no oversight. Balanchine, whose respect for Stravinsky and Tchaikovsky in particular was legendary, cut (ex: Mendelsson's "Scottish Symphony," Tchaikovsky's 3rd Symphony, Tchaikovsky's "Serenade for Strings" in the original verison) and rearranged (Tchaikovsky's "Serenade for Strings" in the revised version and "Mozartiana") composers' music. (Although I'm not sure he ever changed a note of Stravinsky's music.)Mark Morris described how when Delibes wrote the music to Sylvia, it was ordered by the yard. Being a ballet composer was a bit of a dog's life, even when decently renumerated.

Thank you for weighing in on the topic, jessemoo. Please take the opportunity to introduce yourself on our Welcome Forum.

Welcome to Ballet Talk, sky blue. I'm very happy to have another transplant to Seattle on the board to discuss PNB! Please introduce yourself on the Welcome Forum when you have a chance by clicking "New Topic" from the top right of the forum, and we're looking forward hearing what you think of Sleeping Beauty.

Just as a note, I had to disable a link to the "Magic of Dance" excerpt, because that TV program is covered by copyright. The second is fine, as Russian/Soviet copyright law is much looser.

When working on the calendar, carbro and I went through dozens of company calendars. I can't think of a single company in the US [Edited to Add: besides NYCB] other than ABT in its fall season that does a rep season. SFB, and Ballet Arizona (for the Balanchine programs) have a tiny bit of hybrid, in which two fixed programs are given over the same period.Most of the major companies in Europe are on a rep schedule, alternating with opera performances. When they perform triple bill programs, they tend to be fixed programs more than not. While rep still has its challenges for rehearsal and focus, the opera does give many of the dancers little performance breathers, although they might have rehearsals scheduled for that time.

Because I strategize to see as many casts as possible, and PNB only plays over two weekends, I don't have as much experience with this. I did notice that the first and last performances I saw Ariana Lallone do in Red Angels were very different: the second was much more dynamic than the first. I also thought the dynamic between James Moore and Maria Chapman in Sinatra Suite was different in tone both times I saw it, and that some of the partnering in general can be a little more smooth in subsequent performances.One of the things I've noticed about PNB -- and Ballet Arizona for that matter -- is that because of the performance format of dancing one program at a time, the dancers are relatively focused at any given time on comparatively fewer roles than in a company like NYCB. Plus, there are a lot fewer pieces with corps. For example, in the first and last rep program, there was a large corps in only one ballet. In the second to last program, there was a small corps in Ancient Airs and Dances. While the dancers may be learning and rehearsing roles for future programs, and over the course of the season working on fellow dancers' ballets in the choreography workshop, in performances, they get to focus on one program at a time. My experience has been, when the curtain goes up every month or every other month for two extended weekends, they are ready, and come out focused and flying. The dancers may be longing for the end of Nutcracker or for summer break, but I don't remember them ever looking like they did. Hopefully this will happen and in a venue that's more audience-friendly than City Center, where the last NYC performances took place.