Helene

We will, Patricia. Thank you for posting.

According to the website's list of characteristics, "Other skeletal abnormalities include a sternum (breastbone) that is either protruding or indented, curvature of the spine (scoliosis), and flat feet." I think these would make it difficult to become a professional dancer.

Subscribers are such a double-edged swords for arts administrators: we provide the cash up front and guarantee a certain number of people in seats, but keeping us satisfied and reaching out to new audiences at the same time can be a nightmare. I tend to think that the relationship between AD's and subscribers is much like a taxi driver to his riders: When the cab is empty, the goal is to find a passenger, and when the cab is full, the goal is to get rid of the passenger as quickly as possible.

It was very generous of Martins to break the convention of his ballet to give Fayette the chance to dance his final performance with his wife, Jenifer Ringer.

You're set, Mandy. Thank you for posting.

Best wishes to your son, dancemomCA! It's a wonderful showcase for boys, with a couple of sequential parts, where each boy does, for example, double tours solo, one after another, and I'm sure the boys will have a great time pushing each other to do better and better.

Today is the deadline for telling us that, if you have never posted -- i.e., post count=0 -- you want us to keep your account. We have five donors -- two PayPal donors and three check donors -- who we can't match to a board name. We don't want to delete your account inadvertently if you haven't posted. (We sent acknowledgements to PayPal donors at the address on the PayPal account, unless we received "undeliverable" notices and sent a follow-up to address registered to the board. For check donors, we sent PM's or an email to the email address registered with Ballet Talk or Ballet Talk for Dancers.)

While on the BalletMet website, I found this: (From the Home Page, click "Performances" from the upper right menu, then select "Frequently Asked Questions from the left menu.) That last sentence made me want to weep.

Skittl1321, You may have to call the company about live music. According to this article, there was orchestra for Swan Lake and Nutcracker last year, but the orchestra was cut for the spring production of Cinderella, in order to balance the budget. http://columbus.bizjournals.com/columbus/s...11/daily20.html

The DTH Creole Giselle with Virginia Johnson and Eddie Shellman is being released on DVD. Expected date is 26 July, according to the Kultur site. When I tried to create a link from the Ballet Talk site, amazon.com flashed an error message. It can be pre-ordered from amazon.

I try to ignore what people's followers say as well, and try to focus on what is on the stage. Particularly when they speak in Capitalized Titles

I think Forsythe is a fine choreographer. I don't think much of any choreographer's (or composer's) self-important speeches (or program notes) about what they're" doing;" I only care about what I see on stage. I don't think all ballet choregraphers have to be geniuses for their works, or a subset of their works, to be important to the ballet repertoire. Lander's Etudes and Lifar's Suite en Blanc are examples of works that are valuable, but whose creators are far from geniuses. I've seen in the middle, Somewhat Elevated at least six times, by a handful of companies, and I disagree that Forsythe's work doesn't stand up to repeated viewings. I found Artifact II to be a very different work than in the middle, and actually preferred it to in the middle, which I like a lot, and I look forward to seeing the ballet again.. I also think that in the middle has energized the dancers; they've translated "big" into other works, and I'm not talking about Giselle. The hype of lineage is far from limited to the Kirov. For several years after Balanchine's death, every ballet choreographer whose works have been shown in New York was "auditioned" to be the successor of Balanchine by a desperate public. Wheeldon suffers from this now. If three of his works become part of the literature over time, he will have done a service without being the successor.

This is from a published article, and it is perfectly fine to post.

I could not agree with you more.

[ADMIN BEANIE ON] Just to reiterate that our gossip policy does not allow discussion of illness or injury that has not been acknowledged in print or from official word of a company, nor speculation about the politics of casting, unless it, too, is in print. [ADMIN BEANIE OFF]

Thank you rkoretzky and Juliet for being our eyes in Saratoga Springs!

Andrea Bocelli.

I've always wondered how to interpret "actor/model XYZ was heading toward a ballet career when she suffered a career-ending injury." What is the bar, or the ballet equivalent of "any second year conservatory student could do that?" Is it having been accepted to one of the great training academies like POB, Kirov, or Bolshoi schools? Having been accepted into the pre-professional track at one of the major schools? Having graduated from a pre-professional track? Having apprenticed with a company, with or without big institutional training? Having earned a dance degree at Julliard or SUNY Purchase or NYU?

I don't think the average person with a big ego and a bigger sense of entitlement would obey a civil servant without a weapon and a court system behind him or her. I've seen those thick Plexiglas windows at the DMV. Ushers have house management, but, in my opinion, too often, "the customer is always right," while another set of patrons is livid that nothing is done (mea culpa), not knowing that the ushers' hands have been tied. I like the idea of having a very large, glowering person to back up a usher and to take no guff.

Actually, many, if not most, of Teresa Reichlen's fans are ballet lovers, and would have been thrilled to see an excellent performance by Gwyneth Mueller, even if they were initially disappointed not to see Reichlen.

That is precisely why we have gossip and "no backstage" policies, which is, if it's in print, post and source it, and if it's not, don't post it here.

That is true if one gives them the benefit of the doubt and says that they have simply become oblivious to any noise their children make or it is a misguided attempt to train a child to behave in a theater. Unfortunately, many do know what they are doing -- saving the trouble and cost of hiring a babysitter, and bringing children who are too young or immature or unprepared to understand their setting -- but that doesn't translate into consideration for their fellow audience members. The "but I spent $100 on these seats, including one for Kid, and I'm not leaving now" or "It would break Older Child's heart to leave because Younger Child is crying" arguments doesn't hold water, although they hold sway. One of the tradeoffs of training children for the theater is the willingness to bail when the child is unable to behave properly, and to consider the tickets a sunk cost, and to prepare Older Child for the possibility. (Don't bet what you're not willing to lose.) To the argument that then the child has "won," perhaps, the battle, but not the war, which is a longer-term prospect, and it could be a while before the child is invited to the next performance. Teaching a child to behave in the theater is a process, and teaching mode is about the student and the "material." If the teacher/parent gets to see a performance in the process, that's gravy.

Natalia, If I were buying tickets, I'd follow your odds sheet

I am so sorry -- both DVD's I bought were Bolshoi. The one I haven't seen yet is with Bessmertnova, Vasyuchenko, and Taranda. The Kirov disk is Don Q.

[ADMIN BEANIE ON] Please note that the casting predictions, while based on long-time observations by knowledgeable posters, are predictions only. There will be no refunds [ADMIN BEANIE OFF]