Helene

Farrell's Don Quixote is by Balanchine to a then-contemporary (60's) score by Nicolas Nabokov. It's a serious ballet, not the light-hearted traditional Don Q to Minkus, and was a love poem from Balanchine to Suzanne Farrell. It was performed only a few seasons by New York City Ballet. Balanchine was said to have been disappointed with the score, which has been knocked by more than one critic. The Don is a major character in the ballet. In Balanchine's Complete Stories of the Great Ballets, a note says, Farrell has a part-year "pick-up" company, although she uses many dancers year after year. She knew she didn't have a big enough base for a ballet this big, and for this production, she'll be working with National Ballet of Canada, from which her two of her top ballerinas in the last two years have come. There is a small excerpt of one of Farrell's solos in the documentary, Elusive Muse, but, unfortunately, no film of Farrell dancing to Balanchine's Don. Le Corsaire should be traditional. I haven't read anywhere that this is, for example, a German Expressionist version set in the Warsaw Ghetto or anything else conceptual. If I'm missing a reason why this production is important, I hope someone will add to this thread. Don Quixote is a very big deal, because it's being staged by the originator of the central woman's roles. (She appears in several guises and incarnations, not one character.) It has been a rarity. Many ballet goers have never had the opportunity to see the ballet. If you're planning a trip now, there's little way to let casting influence your decision. The Kirov will come back to the US with Le Corsaire, but this may be the only opportunity for decades -- or ever -- to see this version of Don Q. On the other hand, it's very possible that you won't like it at all, because reviews for the ballet were mixed. It sounds like you're trying to decide which of two times to visit. If that's the case, and you are making one visit, I hope this helps to decide or raises other questions.

You're very welcome. The first time I used the site, I was a bit anxious, because the order flow for US or UK sites is almost always to pay before the order is confirmed. I tried to order a book off of the English version of an Italian site that used the "order first/pay second" logic of the Bolshoi site, and when I was transferred to the payment processing site after order confirmation, I got an error message in Italian, and an email asking why I hadn't paid! But I love the feature of being able to select tickets on the spot, from a graphic of the theater.

For: The Four Temperaments: ARTHURS, J. STAFFORD, KEENAN, RAMASAR, TINSLEY, ORZA, SUOZZI, SYLVE, ASKEGARD, EVANS, REICHLEN [Grant] First two (ARTHURS, J. STAFFORD) are First Theme Next two (KEENAN, RAMASAR) are Second Theme Two after that (TINSLEY, ORZA) are Third Theme Next (SUOZZI) is Melancholic Then (SYLVE, ASKEGARD) Sanguinic Followed by (EVAN) Phlegmatic Ending with (REICHLEN) Choleric (Oh, now I want to see it! Luckily, it's on DVD, so I can indulge.)

Wow, Talespinner, many people would have left at intermission and not come back for a season or two I glad the second performance was worth it for you. Welcome to Ballet Talk.

That's the page. 1. Once you register, you'll navigate to a page that has the current month in the top middle, with the previous month to go back on the left, and the next month on the right. You can use these to navigate to the appropriate month. (The schedule is up through April.) 2. For each month, you'll see a schedule of all available performances -- or after April, a message that means the data isn't ready yet -- including start time and whether it is an opera or ballet. Scroll to the performance for which you want to purchase or check tickets. 3a. To see the available tickets as a list -- section, seat number, price, click the "in table" link for the performance. 3b. To see the available tickets as colored dots in the venue (Main hall or New hall), click the "in picture" link for the performance. (By scrolling over the colored dot, you'll see the section, seat number, and price.) 4. To select one or more tickets, click the colored dot(s) on the picture or the check box(es) from the list, and click the "put into basket" button. 5. From there, you'll get a summary and be asked to confirm the order. 6. Once confirmed, you'll get a confirmation number. From there, you choose the payment method. If you don't pay for the tickets after confirmation, the system releases the tickets after a lag. If there aren't any/enough tickets for the performance you want, it's worth going back the next day to try, in case some are released. 7. Re payment methods: when I purchased tickets for the 20 March, I was given the option of paying by cash or credit card. When I purchased tickets for 13 March, I was only allowed to pay by credit card. I'm not sure if the difference was the number of days before the performance, price of the tickets, etc. ->If you pay by cash, I believe the site is trying to say you have to pay for them at the box office within 3 days of placing the order, or they'll release them. ->If you pay by credit card, you'll be given the opportunity to create an "Assist" account, in which you sign up your credit card, and enter a code issued by Assist to purchase. Usually the way this works is that the third-party "Assist" site has your credit card info, but the Bolshoi (merchant) does not, except for the last 4 digits. They accept MasterCard, Visa, and I believe a local card (possibly debit card.) You'll have to enter the CV code (the three digits on the back of a V/MC) for the site to authorize the purchase. I chose to enter my credit card info on the site. Buying from an out-of-North America site may be why when I tried to use my credit card today for a biggish purchase today, it was declined, even when the store called it in. (Because the first thing anyone who uses a stolen credit card would buy is opera tickets.) 8. If the card goes through, you'll get a confirmation page with a sentence in red, italic type at the top of the page to say that the order has been confirmed. 9. There's an important step left: you need to print the "confirmation certificate" from the confirmation page to bring to the box office to pick up tickets (and the site says that you need to supply the last four digits of the credit card used as well. If you leave that card home when you travel, jot down or remember the last four digits.) The data can take a minute to settle in. If you click the button too soon, you'll get an error message that says that either there was a problem with authorization or [some other text I can't remember]. If you go back to the confirmation page and wait a little while to try again, it should work. The certificate comes up in a pop-up box. Scroll down to the "print" button, and print the certificate. (There are no browser controls in the pop-up box to print.) It actually takes a lot less time to do than to describe. This is the best ticket ordering site I've ever used.

Thank you, ina, for your good wishes! The difference in price between the opera and the ballet is striking. The remaining tickets were 800 RUR for Bright Stream to 1200 for the few left for A Midsummer Night's Dream. I was also surprised that tickets for Mazeppa were 300, on a Sunday with no other performances that day, compared to tickets for Eugene Onegin at 720-900, when there were two matinees and another evening performance on a different Sunday. I decided this time to skip the ballet at the New Stage and to see both operas. I've never seen Mazeppa live, and I love the two tenor arias and the final duet from Eugene Onegin.

Mashinka, koshka, Marga, and Natalia, Thank you so much for all of your advice and help. It will help me a lot to try to act appropriately and not put someone in the position to have to try to explain something to me in English. It's hard enough being in a public-facing position without having to worry about speaking another language in one's own country. I will definitely look at my winter coat to see if it has a loop in the collar!

Many thanks for your very helpful reply. I had forgotten to ask if programs were available in English, and I'm glad to know that they are. As a Cold War baby, it's taken many years to undo the doctrination, despite being a figure skating fan and loving the great Russian pairs and ice dancers. I think it was the image of Oleg Protopopov lifting Peggy Fleming at the end of the 1968 Olympics that opened the door to open-mindedness just a crack. I still have a lot of catching up to do, and this trip is the beginning.

I'm reading David Caule's book, The Dancer Defects, very slowly, but I did get far enough to see a reference that wearing an overcoat in a theater was considered "nyekulturskii." I've also been told that there are very stern and bossy coat check ladies who will take one's coat forcefully, but I'm not sure if my friend was just trying to scare me:) I have a bunch of questions about etiquette, and I'm asking for even more generosity than you've shown in answering my ticket questions. Is there a protocol for giving up one's coat? Is it hard to do as a non-Russian speaker? Is there a standard fee, or is a tip expected? If so, what is the expected amount? Is it given up front, or when picking up one's coat? Are ushers tipped? If so, is there a standard amount? Is queuing at the end to retrieve one's coat the custom, or is it more of a free-for-all? In the Dorling Kindersley book on Moscow, there is a useful phrases section. In it, the word for Please/You're Welcome is transliterated as "Pozhaluysta," but the pronunciation guide says, "pazhalsta," which seems to squish the "uysta." Is that standard pronunciation? The book also lists the word for "Excuse Me" as "Izvinite," with pronunciation as "eezveeneet-ye." Is this used for "Pardon me" when passing someone to get to one's seat? Is it also used for "I'm sorry I'm such a clod and bumped into you or stepped on your foot?" Or is it used to get someone's attention? I'm trying to get the useful phrases down pat before I leave, and I'll need at least two weeks of practice

Many thanks, Natalia and chiapuris! I'm happy to know that the website prices are the foreigner prices. (Whew!) I went back and ordered tickets for Eugene Onegin on 13 March as well. I figure if we land at 11:10am, by the time we get the group through passport control and customs and get to the hotel, it will be about 3:00pm. If I can catch a short nap, I should be able to stay awake through the opera, and I'm guessing I can find someone in my group to join me. (I bought a pair.) I'm still have more questions, more about etiquette, but I'll open another thread for those.

I decided that I'd rather miss the exhibitions and the circus on Sunday and see Mazeppa, particularly since I've heard such great things about the Sturua production, and I went to the website to order tickets. I order two tickets in the orchestra, and the price was 600 RUR for both, which translates, at the current exchange rate into about $23 US. This price and that the travel agency charged $95 per ticket for the same performance (no dinner mentioned) are what made me wonder if I had purchased tickets at the "local" rate. The ticket prices for Eugene Onegin on 13 March are 750-1000 RUR per ticket and the remaining seats for A Midsummer Night's Dream are 1200 RUR. But that still would mean that the most expensive ticket would be about $35-$40 USD for one ticket. I just want to be sure I'm not going to be arrested for using a "local" ticket at Mazeppa. The website itself is the best ordering website for tickets I've ever used. The instructions are clear -- unless, of course, I missed some fine print about local vs. foreign ticket prices -- and choosing the seats from the graphic of the auditorium itself is a feature I wish Ticketmaster would adopt.

I remember watching a TV broadcast of a live performance of Mayerling -- perhaps David Wall danced the lead? -- and thinking about how exhausting the role must be. I can't imagine the stamina needed not only to dance the role, but also to portray such an anguished character. (BTW: Welcome to Ballet Talk NNatalie! I hope to read more of your posts in the future.)

If I use the Bolshoi website to purchase tickets, is there a separate price for foreigners, and if so, will the site prompt me with the correct price? The prices I'm seeing on the site top out at about 300 RUR. The tour company that I'm travelling with for the World Figure Skating Championships has dropped the Bolshoi performance of Mazeppa on 20 March in lieu of something else -- we think the circus -- but a friend and I don't want to leave Russia without seeing the Bolshoi theater. But I want to be sure that if I purchase tickets from the website, we're not denied admission because we paid the local price. The only ballet options while we'll be there are The Bright Stream the night we get in after the flight, and A Midsummer Night's Dream, which conflicts with the Ice Dance Free Dance Does anyone have a recommendation for which ballet we should see, if we can get tickets?

Merrill Ashley, writing in Dancing for Balanchine, describes how Balanchine choreographed Ballade intermittently because of illness, and how impossibly difficulty it was in its original version -- she was never given a rest. Balanchine changed this for her, so that she had a breather. If the original was a stretch for her, I would guess that it was among the most difficult ever created.

Wow, just like nail soup! One of my favorite New Yorker cartoons shows a couple of people on one of the pedestrian bridges looking out over the park, and if I'm remembering this correctly, the caption is "Hail to Thee, Frederick Law Olmstead!"

Or in the civilian world, accidentally adding the incorrect spelling into the spell check dictionary when prompted.

bart, Thank you so much for your review. It sounds like a wonderful program. I'm sorry Fancy Free was a disappointment. I felt that way after seeing Ashton's The Dream, after hearing so many good things about it for so many years. When I first moved to Seattle a decade agp, the very first program on my PNB subscription was La Fille Mal Gardee, performed by the Australia Ballet. In order to bring other companies to Seattle, but not subject them to trying to fill weeks worth of houses from scratch, PNB added the performance to the subscriptions, as they had done for a multi-week visit from NYCB before I got there. I was hoping that this would continue at least every few years, and that MCB would be one of the companies added, but, alas, I believe the only time MCB came to Western Washington was to Olympia, and I was travelling on business at the time. I would very much like to see the Company.

Chenchikova was in the broadcast performance of Swan Lake from Wolf Trap, and I remember liking her performance very much. Unfortunately, I had a Beta recording, and my Beta collection disintegrated before I could get it transferred to VHS.

You're so right that we Westerners tend to butcher Russian names, especially since in each language there's a different set of transliteration logic from Cyrillic, based on the letters and sounds available in each Western language. Living in Germany, I'm sure you see this all the time, especially when comparing German transliterations to the ones in English and American media. "Balanchine," though, was born Balanchivadze -- he was Georgian -- and was renamed Balanchine when he joined Diaghilev's company in Paris. So we don't think the New York Times has any excuses for this one

I didn't notice it so much from the corps and among the soloists, but the Bolshoi's Antonicheva's toe shoes in Raymonda sounded like castinets, they were so loud. They barely softened as the ballet went on; perhaps she changed her shoes between acts.

[ADMIN BEANIE ON] I'd like to reiterate the short version of the gossip rules: "If it's in print -- in a newspaper or magazine article, on a web site, in a brochure, a newspaper ad, or on a poster outside the theater, that's news. If not, it's gossip." The long version is here. I thought it would be clear that asking for gossip -- the scoop, what happens backstage, etc. -- is also off limits, but it seems I must make this explicit. [ADMIN BEANIE OFF]

At least some of it was, but it hasn't been release commercially. Part of one of Farrell's solos was shown in the film, Elusive Muse.

bart, I think that was a wonderful, thoughtful post. I hope you'll write about as many of the performances you see as you can. I love to read about companies that I can't see -- I'm afraid Seattle to Florida routes are very limited, as is my vacation time -- and Miami City Ballet is one I'm very interested in. There's also a forum for Modern (and other) Dance Performances, and I hope you'll write about contemporary dance groups you see as well.

Who is selecting and coaching the dancers for the Balanchine rep? Are the Balanchine ballets still being staged and taught by Balanchine Foundation people? Or are these revivals, which are cast and taught by Mariinski staff?

According to Speight Jenkins, the General Director of the Seattle Opera, in a post-performance Q&A of La Fanciulla del West, they sued ALW successfully for ripping off Puccini. One of the main themes in "Music of the Night" is from Fanciulla. I don't know about Les Miz.