Helene

Presumably the critic's parents. But we can discuss what the writer has control over, which is the review.

In tonight's performance, the principal casting and the female demi-soloist casting for Ancient Airs and Dances was different from the one I saw last Saturday afternoon. Dynamically, in the pas de deux especially, it was like watching a different ballet. Ariana Lallone was light and graceful as the woman in the first couple, especially in her open upper body and arms. She was partnered by Casey Herd, whose bold plies into second reminded me of his performance in the 4th movement of Brahms-Schoenberg Quartet a couple of years ago. Carla Korbes and Christophe Maraval danced the second couple. While Nadeau on Saturday was all controlled explosiveness, drawing the eye to fine detail, Korbes was expansive and playful. She made a wonderful pairing with Christophe Maraval, who has the presence to match her. His mini-solos were very musical, and he showed a contrast between quick, sharp footwork and a more malleable upper body. Kaori Nakamura and Le Yin danced the third couple. They were sharp, athletic, and very evenly matched. It's great to see him back. The two demi women, Lindsi Dec and Laura Gilbreath were gracious framers thoughout the group sections. It must be a hard ballet in which to be corps or the demi-men, having to keep warm throughout all of the pas de deux sections. Korbes, or "the girl with the hair," got many props from the Second Tier side section where I was sitting. (When she did a lunge and arched backwards, her very long ponytail swished the ground.) She really knows how to connect with her partners. Brunson and Herd again performed Kiss, and it was just as powerful and beautiful as the first time I saw it. There were general murmurs of "Cirque du Soleil" around me when the curtain came up, but this work was created in 1987. Cirque du Soleil was founded in 1984, and while it is possible that Marshall was influenced by it, it wasn't the worldwide, televised phenomenon it is today, and its presence not yet iconic. Lallone and Wevers reprised the first couple in Red Angels. (They appear first, but are listed in the casting as Couple 2.) Lallone looked like a totally different dancer tonight: sharp, dynamic, and space-eating. It was a great, powerful performance. Rachel Foster and Lucien Postlewaite made their debuts as the second couple, and had a great success. The dynamic differences between Foster/Postlewaite and Rausch/Pacitti may have been due partially to the greater height difference in tonight's couple, but they both seemed to have a rounder approach as well. All four dancers seemed to emphasize the arched backs in the choregraphy. Nine Sinatra Songs had nearly the same cast as Thursday night. The exception was that Mara Vinson was paired with Jeffrey Stanton in "All the Way." Vinson was darling and Stanton dashing, but they weren't the emotional heart of the ballet for me tonight. (Thomas and Spell in the lightest of the dances were.) It was a dance, and maybe even a romance, but not a relationship that had a chance to last decades. From a vantage point in the Second Tier, the opening dance, "Softly As I Leave You" had much more sweep, and Brunson and Cruz made a more vivid impression. The Gallery Upper, where I sat on Saturday, has a slightly side view, and that dance was much more effective head on. Boal mentioned in the post-performance Q&A that because the disco ball was blinding in some sections of the hall, the lighting was dimmed a bit, which made it a bit difficult from above to see Maria Chapman and James Moore in "One for My Baby," with him in tuxedo pants and her in a black dress with black stockings, against a dimly lit black floor. Saturday I was watching Noelani Pantastico so much that I didn't notice that Jordan Pacitti was hysterical in "Something Stupid." In the Q&A the dancers were asked if it was supposed to be comic, and Pacitti said that Shelley Washington, who staged the ballet, said no, but that they were supposed to be a husband and wife, where the husband was shorter than she, and that he was supposed to have a "Woody Allen personality." (Perhaps she meant that they shouldn't exaggerate it for laughs, because I'm not sure there are many more comedic set-ups than that.) Pacitti and Pantastico were quite evenly matched, especially since she was in ballroom shoes, not pointe shoes, and I didn't pick up on height as part of the comedy. As on Saturday, Maria Chapman made a pre-curtain speech about Second Stage, the career transition program for PNB dancers. On Saturday, her speech was interrupted a number of times by applause, when she mentioned that she'd be dancing later in the program, when she told the audience that the dancers had donated their salaries from Opening Night to the fund, etc. Tonight there was complete silence during her speech. I was afraid the audience would sit on its hands for the performance, but, instead, was more enthusiastic than at the matinee. I wasn't sitting among the "woofers," but there was lots of applause and buzz. Other Q&A topics: someone asked what Boal was looking for when he cast Kiss. First he mentioned that usually stagers like to do their own casting, but with this program, he got to do all of it. He said that he chose Vinson and Moore because they had been having such a great season and because of their "quiet intensity." He chose Brunson because he recognized a "powerful presence that had not been explored in depth," and Casey Herd for their "raw sensuality." He noted that Susan Marshall was in town this past weekend, and was pleased with both casts, which made him proud. Boal mentioned that both Pacitti and Pantastico would be in Dominque Dumais' new piece, which premieres in the March program. He said that the pas de deux that Pantastico will be in is beautiful. Miranda Weese is in Seattle; her first performance is tomorrow night as the woman in the Second Couple in Ancient Airs and Dances. She was at the Q&A, but didn't speak. It would have been the middle of the night for her in EST. Boal mentioned that Rasta Thomas has been touring in Movin' Out. Someone complimented the recent radio commercial for the Valentine program, which Boal said sold 3 times the projected ticket sales. He commented that the Marketing Department was trying new angles, and that he wanted everyone to feel invited, even if they didn't come. The Company is planning to lower the lowest price tickets to $18 next year to make the ballet more accessible. The only way I got to attend so many performances of NYCB, particularly during graduate school, was because standing room cost $2.50, and if I could scrape together $7.50 from my coat pockets and under the sofa cushions, I could afford the ticket and the round-trip on the bus and subway. Even adjusting for inflation, it's hard to imagine how someone starting out or on a fixed income could afford to attend very often. An audience member said that when she tried to renew her subscription in the Second Tier, the company tried to move her down. Boal said that PNB was offering to move subscribers to lower sections at the same price, to fill gaps in the house which made the house feel empty, even when it was not. He did say that people who want to stay in the Second Tier, which is a great place to see the patterns in big ballets like Symphony in C, should insist on it. As a note, it is possible to renew at McCaw Hall in the lobby right behind the main entrance, but the Celebrate Seattle add-ons can't be processed at the same time, at least not yet. But early renewers get the great PNB calendar, with photos by Angela Sterling, former soloist with PNB. The photos include Jeff Stanton in Silver Lining, a Silver Lining group shot, Carrie Imler as Flora, Patricia Barker as the Siren, with a great reaction shot of Jonathan Poretta from the background, Maria Chapman and the now-departed Oleg Gorboulev in the Third Theme from Four Temperaments, Louise Nadeau in The Piano Ballet, which is also the cover shot, Poretta flying over the males corps in Rite of Spring, Stanko Milov and Patricia Barker in the Apollo starburst image, Christophe Maraval and Louise Nadeau in the Second Movement of Symphony in C, Ariana Lallone in Lambarena (with Maraval?), and Kiyon Gaines, mid-jump, from Firebird. (Approaching senior moment -- it's in the car and I can't remember the rest. But it's gorgeous.)

I've never seen casting like this, with dancers advanced-cast in several leads in the same run: Rebecca Rimsay: Emeralds (Verdy role), Emeralds (Paul role), Rubies (McBride role) Heather Ogden: Emeralds (Verdy role), Rubies (McBride role) Jennifer Fournier: Emeralds (Verdy role), Rubies (Neary role), Diamonds (Farrell role) -- practically a trifecta Xiao Nan Yu: Emeralds (Paul role), Rubies (Neary role), Diamonds (Farrell role) Greta Hodgkinson: Rubies (McBride role), Diamonds (Farrell role) Patrick Lavoie: Emeralds (both male leads) Alexander Antonejvic and Guillaume Cote: Rubies (Villella role) and Diamonds (d'Amboise role) Piotr Stanzyck: Emeralds (Ludlow role) and Rubies (Villella role)

She said that Balanchine found out when she was five months pregnant and was rehearsing Leto in Apollo when NYCB was still performing the complete version. The emotion of pretending to give birth on stage caused her to burst into tears, and he figured it out, after which she fessed up. She continued to dance for a couple of months, and then he asked her to teach at the school, so the students could see what "pregnant woman looks like." (I assume as a scare tactic, given his general feelings about pregnant dancers.) I was thinking a lot about her the other day watching Olivier Wevers dance in the PNB mixed bill. I wish they had been contemporaries, so that they could have danced together.

In Western Massachusetts, right around the corner from Tanglewood.

I think the line is between whether the gesture is authentic and contextual -- an authentic gesture, like sticking out the tongue in Maori dance and ritual, can be given exaggerated weight, for example -- or whether it's shorthand for a cultural stereotype.