Helene

Our policy is that public performances by pre-professional companies may be reviewed and the pre-professional dancers can be mentioned by name, if the rules of courtesy are followed. We encourage reviewers to apply reasonable, age- and level-based standards to criticism -- i.e., do not expect that a pre-professional student will dance at the standard of Suzanne Farrell or Margot Fonteyn -- and where the standards aren't high, to keep in mind the responsibility borne by adults who decide the casting, the coaching, and the selection of ballets for which the dancers aren't ready or are ill-prepared. A mention that a company is not quite ready for the challenge of Ballet X, or that the school does not provide the training needed to perform Ballet Y in the correct style, or there isn't enough depth to perform Ballet Z, is more productive than saying, "Jeez, did you see that Jane Doe fall off point seventeen times in the first movement of Concerto Barocco?", unless your goal to be seen as the type of person who kicks small animals.

In the 17 October issue of danceviewtimes: Susan Reiter on Landing Place by the Bebe Miller Company at New York's Dance Theater Workshop.(New Moves for Miller) and ODC/San Francisco (Daring Dancing from San Francisco) George Jackson on Ed Tyler's Sanctuary performed in Washington, DC (Dancers Needed?) and the Peking Opera. (Sublime Challenge) Naima Prevots on three modern dance companies from China that performed in Washington, DC. (from danceviewtimes homepage; direct link to follow)

Links to purchase online tickets for performances in Toronto: Swan Lake November 16-19, 2005 @ 7:30 pm November 17, 19, 20, 2005 @ 2 pm February 17, 18, 2006 @ 7:30pm February 19, 2006 @ 2pm http://www.national.ballet.ca/Performances...05fall/swanlake La Sylphide, Intermezzo November 23-26, 2005 @ 7:30 pm November 24,26, 27, 2005 @ 2pm http://www.national.ballet.ca/Performances...l/sylphide-cage Nutcracker Various dates and times during December 10-29 http://national.ballet.ca/calendar/index.a...ropDown=2005:12 Jewels February 22-25, 2006 @ 7:30 pm February 25, 26, 2006 @ 2 pm http://www.national.ballet.ca/Performances...06winter/jewels Four Temperaments, Theme and Variations, Apollo March 1-4, 2006 @ 7:30 pm March 4, 5, 2006 @ 2 pm http://www.national.ballet.ca/Performances...nter/balanchine Romeo and Juliet April 29, May 3-6, 2006 @ 7:30 pm April 30, May 4, 6, 7, 2006 @ 2 pm http://www.national.ballet.ca/Performances...ng/romeo-juliet Petroushka and other works from the repertoire May 10-13, 2006 @ 7:30 pm May 11, 13, 14, 2006 @ 2 pm http://www.national.ballet.ca/Performances...ring/petrouchka Box Office Info The National Ballet of Canada Call Centre Monday-Friday: 10-5 Saturday-Sunday: closed For further information please call (416) 345-9595 or out of town 1-866-345-9595 (outside 416). The National Ballet of Canada Box Office - Hummingbird Centre - 1 Front Street East Monday-Friday: 11-6 Saturday-Sunday: closed $6 service charge for Internet and phone orders. No service charge for in-person sales at the box office.

jayo, many thanks for your debut review! I've noticed lately that certain operas tend to play in bunches -- a sudden spate of La Fanciulla del Wests, for example -- and certain ballets do, too. Company B was very popular the last two years, and this year, there seem to be a number of Nine Sinatra Songs/Sinatra Suite and In the Night. I believe this is the Robbins ballet that is the easiest to get from the Robbins Foundation; it's a litmus test of sorts to see if a Company will be allowed to progress to more Robbins ballets. In the Night opened Peter Boal's first program at PNB, and we in Seattle saw it performed within the last month. On the whole, the ballet contrasts "young love," "mature love," and I'm not sure what the official description is for the third pas de deux: "melodramatic love"? "passionate love"? There were several people here who saw the PNB production and who liked the performances, but were underwhelmed by the ballet; "predictable" was one description. I found it interesting that there was a hush in the theater during both performances I saw, and the buzz at first intermission after the ballet was very positive, but that I overheard a number second-intermission and post-performance conversations along the lines of "I like that so much better than the first one. Of course, "that" was Balanchine's Symphony in Three Movements, but still. The costumes for Angelo sound unfortunate. It's very hard for new audiences -- or old audiences when there are a lot of new dancers -- sitting far away to keep everyone straight if they are similarly dressed. Whenever I see a new company, I need to be able to distinguish them as "the red dress," "the apricot tutu," "the tall redhead," etc. until I can put some names to faces. I'm glad you enjoyed the Stowell piece. He's choreographed to a number of different kinds of music, so I don't think you have to worry about him sticking to forties tunes. But since you have a subscription, you'll see a variety of ballets this year, although be prepared to see one of the greatest show tune ballets in the repertoire, Balanchine's Who Cares?, in February. The Stowell piece, Quick Time is very energetic and best seen from the Balcony, where the patterns are clear. (It premiered in Seattle last year.) And then there's an all-Mozart program in April and Swan Lake in June. We hope you'll tell us about The Nutcracker -- it's a wonderful production -- and I hope you and your husband enjoy it very much.

Skittl, Many thanks for your fine review. I think it's great that students outside SAB get to perform Balanchine, and what a privilege to have Daniel Duell come home to Dayton to stage it.

Sadly, when the screen was small, I couldn't see the faces, and when I made it page size, they were distorted. I don't know enough about Alexandrova's and Shipulina's styles to tell the two of them apart in their solos. (I've only seen Alexandrova in the Donellen Romeo and Juliet, which told me nothing about her style in the classics, but much about how she'd bite someone ) dachnitsa or drb: did you notice who was in the clips at intermission?

I, too, think Fred Astaire is a wonderful singer. I can't count the number of times I've chosen his "Steppin' Out" album over everything else on my iPod. (I really liked the interview on the last track.)

Thank you, dachnitsa! Golikova should be honored: what beautiful dancers Allash and Alexandrova are. Although the transfer rate of the third act wasn't very smooth, I was able to get the arc of Allash's interpretation. I'm in love with another dancer

dido and bbfan, Many thanks for your reviews and descriptions of Kudelka's Cinderella. I now have a much better sense of the production, both the dancing and settings, than I did from reading the print reviews of the initial production in Toronto. (I'm also glad to hear any word of Tempe Ostergren; I liked her dancing at PNB very much.)

If I remember correctly, I've actually seen a piece by Stephen Baynes that I liked more than anything I've seen by Welch, but I have to say that when I added this Raymonda to the calendar, I cringed.

This information was previously published which is why it can stay, but "that's what he told me once on the promenade" pretty much sums up our definition of unofficial news.

I agree -- the camera work was spot on through at least the middle of Act II (when I had to leave to go to the opera). This would be an incredible DVD to have; the women -- Allash, Alexandrova, and Shipulina -- have been gorgeous so far, and the men are strong. (I haven't gotten to Act III and Nioridze yet. I'm not sure I can stay up that long ) Allash has been a pure delight so far. The download page lists Yuri Grigorovich and Nataliya Bessmertnova as the choreographers. Could it have been Bessmertnova who coached Allash?

Thank you for the heads up, BalletNut. Chung is a wonderful dancer, and the "Spotlight" was a fun read. http://www.sfballet.org/about/company/spotlight.aspx (The same URL is used for all Spotlights; it will be on Chung until the next dancer is chosen.)