Helene

In itself the opening of this ballet is a beautiful image, but when Theme and Variations is a closer in a triple bill, especially when preceeded by neoclassical works, when the curtain rises on all of those glittering tutus, the effect is as impressive as the opening of Symphony in C. I also very much love the two ballets that open with a mortal sleeping in a chair: Le Spectre de la Rose and La Sylphide.

The cast lists for Sleeping Beauty Week 1 and Aurora/Desire pairings for Week 2 are up on the PNB website. Aurora/Desire: Nakamura/Wevers: Thurs, 13 April, 7:30 pm and Sun, 16 April, 1pm Pantastico/Stanton: Fri, 14 April, 7:30 pm and Sat, 22 April, 1pm* Imler/Bold: Sat, 15 April, 1pm* and Sat, 22 Apr, 7:30pm Barker/Milov: Sat, 15 April, 7:30pm and Thurs, 20 April, 7:30pm Vinson/Yin: Fri, 21 April, 7:30pm and Sun, 23 April, 1pm *Note 1pm start. (Saturday matinees usually begin at 2pm.) In Week 1: Lilac Fairies are: Imler (with Nakamura), Lowenberg (with Pantastico), Korbes (with Imler), Lallone (with Barker) Carabosse: Timothy Lynch and Olivier Wevers Bluebird Pairs: Thomas/Poretta, Vinson/Yin, Chapman/Pankevich Silver: Imler, Korbes, Vinson Fairies: Korbes, Gilbreath, Eames, Dec, Foster, Vinson, Johnston, Rausch, Zimmerman, Reid, Thomas, Lowenberg, Pantastico, Chapman Fleming Halby, who is retiring this year from the school, is performing as Gallison.

It's interesting that you mention this. In teaching the role in Violette et M. B. -- I can't remember if it was Elisabeth Platel -- she mentions Norma Desmond, a person who was someone in her time, but is dusting off the moves. [Edited To Add: It was Isabelle Guerin she was coaching (not Platel, whom Verdy coached in Emeralds [still didn't have this right. VV coached Platel in In the Night with Leriche]), who said she thought her character as the "oldest." Verdy agreed, and the subtitles translated what she said as "Here I am, the Sunset Boulevard has-been."]

Thank you so much for the reports -- I haven't been able to travel to the Bay Area this season, and it's great to hear what's going on with such a terrific company.

Not to mention the mature d'Amboise, post 1970's knee injury, the second role (after Meditation) in which he embodied Balanchine. I don't have my performance diary at hand, but if I'm remembering correctly, Koslov was the first dancer I saw assume the role after d'Amboise. (I'll check later. ETA: He was.) Adam Luders was a relatively mature dancer when he was cast in the Schumann/composer role in the ballet. Alexandre Proia was the first dancer I saw replace him. Although a dramatic dancer, too, Proia was, I believe in his late twenties or early thirties when he danced the role, and he didn't have the gravitas that Luders did. (If PNB were to do the ballet, I would love to see Christophe Maraval in the role.) Edited to add: Farrell was the first woman I saw after von Aroldingen in the "white" role, the last time I saw her dance in the ballet, but despite her maturity, did not capture the groundedness nor the caring quality of the role, which is almost entirely focused on the man. (Calegari danced Farrell's role in that performance, which she shared with Kozlova through the early 90's.)

I'd also like to welcome Estelle as our Foreign Correspondent from France.

miliosr, That was a delightful read! I loved your observation about Beloserkovsky, "I thought that the character of Conrad went too far against the natural grain of his personality. On those terms, I would have to say that his portrayal wasn't a total success. BUT, if you watched his dancing in an abstract way, I thought he was mesmerizing."

Foreign Correspondents are long-time members of Ballet Talk who report to us about ballet and major companies outside North America. With their language skills and knowledge of ballet they are able to give us a clear reading on happenings of the major companies in their countries of expertise, and a read on both native language critics and the local ballet audiences. We have created a special group in recognition of their contribution to the board. Foreign Correspondents may post about their subjects without attribution. You can identify Foreign Correspondents by their group, which is listed under their names in their posts. Natalia has graciously agreed to be our Foreign Correspondent for Russia, including performances by Russian artists with non-Russian dance companies. We are very grateful that she has accepted this role.

What Is A Foreign Correspondent? Foreign Correspondents are long-time members of Ballet Alert! who report to us about ballet and major companies outside North America. With their language skills and knowledge of ballet they are able to give us a clear reading on happenings of the major companies in their countries of expertise, and a read on both native language critics and the local ballet audiences. We have created a special group in recognition of their contribution to the board. Foreign Correspondents may post about their subjects without attribution. You can identify Foreign Correspondents by their group, which is listed under their names in their posts, which is displayed as Foreign Correspondent (bold, italic, green). Natalia is our Foreign Correspondent for Russia, including performances by Russian artists with non-Russian dance companies. Estelle is our Foreign Corespondent for France.

One of the resources we have at our disposal is Babelfish. If the URL translation doesn't work, cutting and pasting the text into the program will work, like for this article. According to the Babelfish translation, neither the casting for the other ballets nor the release dates was listed in the article, which focuses on the reasoning that Natalia translated in her post. I couldn't tell whether it was for the full Jewels, though.

In Feng Shui, Fire burns Wood to create Earth. So at least in one system, they are compatible.

This is excellent news -- congratulations to them both

While Rubies is a fiery role -- I would cast him as Loge in the ballet version of Ring of the Nibelungen -- and the Symphony in Three Movements role is earthy, Balanchine choreographed the two most Bournonville-like pieces/roles for him: the Scherzo in Midsummer Night's Dream and the lead in Donizetti Variations. I think these are mixtures of earth and fire, with a little air whipped in.

Goldstar Events if offering half price tickets to the Tchaikovsky Perm Ballet's performances of Natalia Markarova's production of Swan Lake at Zellerbach Hall in Berkeley, this Thursday and Friday, 6-7 April at 8pm. Regular Price: $36-$68 Goldstar Price: $18-$34 To receive the discount, you must complete the free sign-up (or login if you already have): http://www.goldstarevents.com/tr/nc/2434/1...45&mar=news2434 New York Times Review (Mar 13, 2006) Cal Performances Website

I can't replicate your experience. I removed saved passwords from Firefox, and cookies from IE (in Virtual PC on my Mac) and Safari. In each browser, I relogged in for Ballet Talk, closed the browser, opened BT again, and was logged in. In the same browser window, I brought up BT4D, logged in, and switched to BT. I was still logged into BT. I logged out of each and retried. I logged out of one, and toggled to the other site, and remained logged in. In a new browser window, I brought up BT4D, and was logged in automatically. I toggled between BT4D and BT, and was still logged in. Logged in and out of one and then both, and remained logged in to the site I hadn't logged out of, and had to log into the site that I logged out of. For Firefox and Safari, I changed between using a new browser window and new tab. I remained logged in toggling between the sites. I logged in and out, and each time the expected result (auto login where I remained logged in, and not logged in where I had logged out). I tried my the same login on both sites, and a test login on BT. I got the same (expected) results. There are two caveats: 1. When the browser is configured not to share cookies/login between browser sessions and tabs, then the expected result is to be challenged each time a new browser window/tab is opened. But toggling back and forth in the same browser/window tab should result in remaining logged in, instead of needing to log in again. 2. If the browser is configured to share cookies/login between browser sessions and tabs, if I log into BT as myself, and then open up a new browser window/tab and log in under a test account, my original session will crash, because the old browser session doesn't recognize the old login. I've checked the IPB Community Forums and IPS Beyond sites, and all of the documentation points to the change I made, to prefix the cookies on both sites, so that they are distinguished from each other (and all other IPB logins). I know that IPB itself does this, because whenever I was challenged for a new login on BT (before I made the change), I was logged in immediately to IPB Community Forums website and IPBusters without being re-challenged. I can ask some friends, but to log a bug, there are three standard steps for issues that aren't critical (bringing down the system, security issues, etc.), after checking to see that there isn't already a bug report or an IPB thread that describes the solution or response: 1. Determine if the issue can be replicated always, and under what exact steps and circumstances. (Ex: This only happens on Firefox or IE, it happens across all browsers, etc.) 2. If it can't be replicated always, or we can't identify the steps, there usually needs to be some critical mass who experience the same behavior. (Ex: We can't identify the exact conditions, but 1 in 10 posters across all browsers have followed the following steps [clear cookies and saved passwords], log into one site. Log into the other site. Toggle between sites or open new browser session, be challenged to log in again.) 3. Describe the issue with as much detail as usual to IPB. I'm going to need help from the people who are experiencing this issue, to clear all of their "invisionzone" cookies and saved passwords (from browser), to re-log into both sites, and to note here what they then experience.

Please try again now. You may have to delete cookies again before this will work, but I have two different passwords for the two boards, and I'm being logged in immediatedly for both of them.