Helene

On Thursday I saw the opening night performance of PNB's Balanchine Centenary Program (Divertimento #15, Agon, and Brahms-Schoenberg Quartet. There was a car down on a three-lane street a few blocks from the theater, and traffic was backed up to the highway. I missed the beginning of Divertimento and came in only as the 5th variation (man's) was beginning. In the Q&A after the performance, Francia Russell said that we had been a good audience. Unlike Speight Jenkins, of Seattle Opera, who says that to all the girls, there seemed to be a note of surprise in Russell's voice. When an audience member said, "That's because we were inspired," Russell described the dress rehearsal as uninspired. The tone of the performance was apparent by Noelani Pantastico's performance; she dances the killer 6th variation, choreographed for Patricia Wilde. It seemed like she was trying to not fail at this part, rather than dancing it from within. (Conductor Stuart Dameron was trying to murder her with the tempo, which didn't help. This time Stowell didn't shout out to the conductor that it was too fast, as he did in NY during PNB's City Center debut in 1996. This time it might have helped.) Pantastico is a dancer who did not seem nearly as nervous dancing Odette/Odile or Aurora, the two biggest roles of the classical repertoire. The NY cast had all of the "big guns" -- Hitchen (1st var), Apple (2nd var), Derieux (3rd var), Barker (4th var), and Tobiason (6th var) -- and they danced brilliantly and, seemingly, without nerves. (Apple was noticed by the NY critics in this ballet. All but Barker have retired or left the Company.) Stowell, as evidenced by his outburst, was more nervous than his dancers. As important as those performances were, and I don't mean to suggest that Russell/Stowell have any less respect for the traditional classic repertoire, I get the impression that the Company on the whole knows that this Centenary Celebration program is the most important they have ever done in their lives until this point. (The exception was Louise Nadeau, an experienced performer.) Here was the first ballet in the program, a make or break moment. Of the Opening Night cast, Le Yin breezed through his variation, but it was Mara Vinson who grabbed the opportunity and shone in Melissa Hayden's role. Vinson has danced all her parts this season with a full-bodied approach. No matter how fast the tempi, she seems unperturbed, and dances full out without seeming rushed. This has been a great season so far for her. In the Centenary programs, she's also cast in Hayden's role in the 2nd pas de trois in Agon in the last performance of the season (Sun, 15 Feb 1pm). From the Second Tier I couldn't see who was making all of the noise, but I suspect these were Company members and dancers from the school, because it sounded like an ABT audience -- cheering, clapping, whistling, and "woofing" after each variation and pas de deux, which ruins the musical transitions, but supported the dancers and willed them on in this difficult ballet. [Edited to add: In the Q&A after the 7 Feb Sat mat., Francia Russell said that 50 members of the touring Dance Theatre of Harlem were in attendance; that certainly explains the enthusiam and professional courtesy. PNB members went to see DTH's Friday performance.] In the way-too-empty nosebleed section, there was audible sighing from everywhere. When I moved to my regular seat in the Gallery Upper after intermission, the sighs during the performance were more pronounced. There was a moment towards the end of the pas de deux in Agon where Barker goes into arabesque penche position, with Stanton lying on the floor, and after the final pulse of the extension, it sounded like the entire Main Floor made a collective sigh. [Edited to take out "develope into penche", which is not the correct move.] Who'd have thought that Divertimento #15 and Agon were ballets that would cause fifty-five-year-olds to "woof" in appreciation, and that Agon with it's difficult 12-tone score would be received as an exciting, even fun ballet? Barker, who danced the pas de deux from Agon with Stanton in the NY performances, was even better than six years ago. Regardless of the number of roles that Stowell and visiting choreographers have made for her, it is this role that looks like it was choreographed for her. It fits her style, energy, flexibility, control, and body type like a glove, and her smile seems genuine in it. This is the triumphant role of her career. I think Gibson's performance of the man in the first pas de trois was in the same lofty universe as Boal's. His characterization is less elegant, but more competitive, and there's steely technique and placement behind the softness of his dancing. He makes and connects shapes beautifully. I knew there was in for trouble when Nakamura danced a rather academic second pas de trois lead. There was nothing wrong per se with the performance, but it did not bode well for Brahms-Schoenberg. Lallone opened the first movement with sweep and panache, and Nakamura, who had danced softly and beautifully in The Nutcracker, had reverted to a jarring "correctness" and a tense upper body. Lallone so ruled the first movement that the main couple was an afterthought instead of a contrast. (I'm really not a Lallone fan usually, but she was fabulous in this role. She dances Rondo alla Zingarese in other performances. We'll see.) More trouble came in the second movement. Louise Nadeau was radiant, and she created gorgeous shapes in lifts, but to me, she posed too much. A dance photographer would have been in heaven, because he would have made great snapshots, but it was not great dancing. I am dreading seeing her Agon pas de deux. In the "tall" cast for the third movement, Barker, with a very different style and emphasis, danced softly and elegantly in Allegra Kent's role. Milov was a lovely partner, but seeing such a big, soft dancer in the male solos was disconcerting. Carrie Imler was a star in the Rondo alla Zingarese movement, and in the best sense: through the fullness of her dancing and the integration of character and movement. (I'm sitting on my hands wanting to talk about her "amplitude," but that was listed as one of the top reviewer descriptions to avoid ) Casey Herd was a lot of fun as the male lead. His performance as one of the two men in the second pas de trois in Agon had paled against Jordan Pacitti's, his authoritative partner's, but he was a lot more dynamic in the Brahms. While tall, he's a bit compact nonetheless, and he didn't have d'Amboise's sinuousness that is exploited so well in the choreography. But it was a vivid performance that offset Imler's tour-de-force brilliantly. Among the corps and demi roles standouts were Rebecca Johnston, who never cheats and gave her corps roles in Divertimento No. 15 clarity and integrity, Karel Cruz, who, luckily for me, was paired with Johnston in the Brahms so I didn't have to split my attention, Nicholas Ade, Jordan Pacitti, and Lucien Postlewaite in both the first and fourth movements of the Brahms, Maria Chapman as the middle girl in the second movement of Brahms and one of the four girls in Agon, and Kara Zimmerman, in the first and third movements of the Brahms. I'm looking forward to seeing a few more performances of this program. I'm hoping that the dancers have calmed down a bit, that Russell and Stowell approve of their efforts so far, and that Divertimento #15 regains some of its bloom. The dancers are certainly up to it.

Second week casting: If the grid is consistent, then the Divertimento #15 roles are: Women: 2nd variation (Hayden), 3rd variation (Adams), 6th variation (Wilde), 4th variation (Le Clerq), and 1st variation (Kent). Men: Theme soloist, 6th variation (Magallanes), Theme soloist. Thu, 12 Feb Divertimento #15: Vinson, Nadeau, Nakamura, Thomas, Ostergren Porretta, Yin, Gibson Agon pas de deux: Nadeau, Wevers 1st pas de trois: Porretta, Chapman, Rausch 2nd pas de trois: Nakamura, Gorboulev, Maraval Zimmerman, Kitchens, Lowenberg, Dec Brahms-Schoenberg Quartet Vinson, Bold, Lowenberg Pantastico, Wevers Barker, Milov Imler, Herd Fri, 13 Feb Divertimento #15: Lowenberg, Kitchens, Imler, Chapman, Dickson Maraval, Bold, Wevers Agon pas de deux: Barker, Stanton 1st pas de trois: Yin, Dickson, Skinner 2nd pas de trois: Pantastico, Pacitti, Herd Zimmerman, Reid, Rausch, Brunson Brahms-Schoenberg Quartet Nakamura, Stanton, Imler Nadeau, Maraval Barker, Bold Lallone, Milov Sat, 14 Feb eve Divertimento #15: Vinson, Barker, Nakamura, Skinner, Dickson Maraval, Stanton, Wevers Agon pas de deux: Barker, Stanton 1st pas de trois: Porretta, Kitchens, Lowenberg 2nd pas de trois: Pantastico, Pacitti, Postlewaite Chapman, Reid, Rausch, Brunson Brahms-Schoenberg Quartet Vinson, Bold, Imler Nadeau, Maraval Thomas, Yin Lallone, Milov Sun, 15 Feb mat Divertimento #15: Vinson, Nadeau, Pantastico, Thomas, Ostergren Pacitti, Yin, Gibson Agon pas de deux: Nadeau, Wevers 1st pas de trois: Gibson, Chapman, Rausch 2nd pas de trois: Vinson, Gorboulev, Maraval Zimmerman, Kitchens, Lowenberg, Dec Brahms-Schoenberg Quartet Nakamura, Stanton, Lowenberg Pantastico, Wevers Barker, Bold Imler, Herd

DTH was definitely worth seeing. There's another performance tonight (Saturday) at the Paramount. For those who miss Andrea Long from NYCB, she's cast in Serenade. (She danced Calliope in Apollo last night.)

I totally agree

But are the Walpurgisnacht Ballet music, Raymonda, pieces by Glinka, the songs in Western Symphony, what Hershey Kay did to Sousa with his orchestrations, etc. top-drawer anything? In my opinion, the only top-drawer music Tchaikovsky wrote is the ballet and vocal music. Was Croce's point that because it was a second-rate score by one of Balanchine's musical gods that Diamonds is it the weakest ballet in Jewels? I always thought of Diamonds as a bit of an in-your-face vehicle for Farrell: the long adagio, tying in to all of the romantic pieces Balanchine had choreographed for her, a la Meditation., constrasted with a straight, classical bravura piece -- Here's a little nosh my romantic ballerina can eat up for breakfast with all that fancy classical stuff, only faster and better, and tomorrow she's going to dance Movements for Orchestra and the next day A Midsummer Night's Dream, something the ballerinas at a certain company would never do (especially at that time.)

I just saw Dance Theatre of Harlem perform a triple bill at the Paramount Theater in Seattle. On the program were Serenade and Apollo and a 1999 Robert Garland piece called Return. The corps in Serenade was a wonder: disciplined, though never academic, and dancing to the same pulse. From where did Arthur Mitchell assemble a group of women with such beautiful, enlivened arms and such open chests? How did he get them to perform as such an ensemble, especially on a long tour, with several trips back from the West Coast to NYC? Not much of DTH's repertoire is set for large classical corps work; much of it's Balanchine rep is the smaller works, like Apollo,, Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux, Concerto Barocco, Allegro Brilliante, Agon, etc. with the exception being Stars and Stripes. (Corsaire and Paquita are also in the rep.) Bravi to Mitchell and his coaching and teaching staff. I'm not sure what version DTH is using, but there were so many details that I had never seen before. For example, both the Russian Girl (beginning of Scherzo a la Russe movement) and the Waltz Girl (end of the movement) do arabesque to each side, then do one diagonally back on the first side, and diagonally back on the second side. Both NYCB and Suzanne Farrell Ballet ballerinas do alternating, flat arabesques. Where the Waltz Girl does her beats, there was a very clear distinction between one set low, the next set higher. It gave much more emphasis and shape to the choreography. From checking out the DTH website, Christiane Cristo-Ezewoko danced Dark Angel; whoever was the taller of Alicia Graf and Lenore Pavlakos danced Russian Girl, and the shorter woman danced Waltz Girl. The principals had the same gorgeous arms as the corps, and their upper body work in the last movement was a joy to watch. Cristo-Ezewoko did a magical thing at the end of the supported turning arabesque: she raised her front arm to the heavens and her eyes and head followed her hand. Russian Girl had high, quick, spacious jetes and lots of energy, but the most affecting moment was the graciousness of the bow she took at the end of the second movement, after she'd come downstage through the two lines of corps girls, with those beautiful, sweeping arms. The audience really liked Serenade, but many people did not know what to make of Apollo, danced in the complete version, including the ladies behind me who sighed and chatted with boredom. PNB hasn't offered Apollo in the last decade, so Seattle audiences are not familiar with the ballet. This is only the second time I've seen the complete version; but this time, I could only think about what it must have looked like in mid-1920's Paris. It was great to see the contrasting use of three women and a man in these two ballets. Lenore Pavlakos made a vivid impression as Leto, a strong goddess from whom it is completely conceivable that Apollo sprang. The Nymphs were playful and fully engaged. These were not "throw-away" parts for Raintree Halpern and Ebony Haswell. My problem with the performance was the three muses. Andrea Long's Calliope and Kellye A. Saunders' Polyhymnia didn't have the same energy. They interacted with each other, but didn't seem to move as if they were in the same ballet. Long's energy matched Tai Jimenez' Terpsichore much more. Long's Calliope was a real drama queen: she went from full-blown fury -- and having just seen Michael Cacoyanis' movie version of Elektra, it was clear to me what the genesis of this interpretation could be. But just before the chords of the dark strings turn to the pizzicato and the "hoppy" part of her variation, she smiled head on, and changed to the light, comic persona. A very wonderful touch. Saunders' technique wasn't strong enough for Polyhymnia. First, she has kind of gangly legs that don't convey strength or line. Second, she started to bobble right at the beginning of her variation and never stopped, and the turns into arabesque plie were plain weak. Jimenez' Terpsichore was strong and playful, in both the variation and the pas de deux. Teaching Apollo was a fun thing. This worked perfectly with Rasta Thomas' Apollo. Before the performance, when I read in the program that Thomas has been in an Academy Awards show, and "is featured in the soon-to-be released feature film One Last Dance starring Patrick Swayze," my heart sank. Several minutes into the performance, he emerged, arms to his sides, swaddled in gauze, and I was transfixed for the rest of the performance. He is the Real Thing: pliant, deep plie, turnout, a perfect fifth position in his solos that he didn't cheat to move out of, open chest, full-bodied movement, clean feet, vibrant eyes, a great sense of humor, and musical. I'm sure seeing the complete version helped, especially seeing the Nymphs give the lute to Apollo and watching his reaction, but it was the first time the drama or story was conveyed to me: Thomas was a boy with a new toy. He strummed it -- wow, what was that noise, did I do that? What happens when I move it this way? What happens if I put this on the ground and turn it over? I can move around to this noise, but I'm not very good at playing or moving. Voila -- out come three charming young women to teach me. I watch them all, absorbing everything, and send them away. Now I put together what they've all taught me [not just Terpsichore, the winner] and dance around. Then Terpsichore comes back, and she teaches me to dance with another person. Now we're all together, and boy, am I strong! I can get them to pull my chariot, and there's the stairway to heaven. Thomas was a sincere Apollo. He wasn't a wuss -- he had plenty of strength and boyish arrogance, which ebbed and flowed -- but he was willing to accept what the muses had to offer him. One telling detail was that after Calliope finishes her variation, he didn't turn his back to her, a gesture that I always find harsh and which makes me wonder why Calliope ever shows up for the rest of the ballet. When seeing the "Danish gods" -- Martins father and son, Nikolaj Hubbe -- I always felt/feel there's something arch about their interpretation of the unformed Apollo, a little too knowing, with too much emphasis on the musical jokes. Thomas played the straight man to the music, and it was very effective. Thomas' Apollo may have been a god, but he was not an aristocrat. He was more likely to behave as a querrelous member of Greek god society. After all, even Zeus was always wheedling and negotiating; he didn't sit on his throne from on high and shoot down thunderbolts. The last piece, Return was the "audience participation ballet": rhythmic clapping, woofing, whistling, etc. It was a lot of fun, because how often do women get to show their appreciation, so to speak, for muscular men in Lycra shaking their booties? The music was five songs alternating between James Brown and Aretha Franklin, so it was easy to take Balanchine's advice and enjoy the concert. I think the first movement was the strongest; only a couple of segments matched it. It didn't have a lot of ballet in it after the first five minutes or so, but the moving bodies were wonderful to watch anyway. After a really rousing opening to "Mother Popcorn," the second part began in silence, as Alicia Graf in silhouette walked onstage slowly before an orange backlit wall, stopped in profile, bend backwards from the waist, and did some combination of undulating movement through every vertebrae of her spine and neck so that they made several "S"es. Made my jaw drop. The fourth part, to "Call Me," had Aretha Franklin singing "I love you, and I love you too, and I love you," as Caroline Rocher, in another set of four, moved from one man to another to a third. Music was recorded -- bad -- but the sound system in The Paramount sounded really good, at least from the orchestra level. I was very happy to see several gaggles of bunheads in the audience, as well as a lot of young girls who came with an adult. It's frustrating sometimes to see great companies tour through Seattle and to see very few people who look like dancers in the audience, but tonight was the happy exception. In tomorrow's casting in the printed program, Andrea Long, Paunika Jones, and Tai Jimenez are the women in Serenade; Addul Manzano is listed as Apollo, Leanne Codrington as Calliope, Christiane Cristo-Ezewoko as Polyhymnia, and Alicia Graf as Terpsichore. There were several changes from the printed program tonight, so there may be some tomorrow as well.

She once sat next to me at one of those pub-like restaurants in the Lincoln Center area -- my friend Mike thought it was amusing when I stopped breathing -- and when she sat down, she sat on her hair it was so long. Before she cut it, it was one of the joys of seeing her in the last section of Serenade. IIRC, it was that long when the ballet was broadcast on PBS with Western Symphony.

As a child I read a children's book on the instruments of the orchestra. Because the French horn was my favorite instrument, I was very sad to read that it reacts very badly to changes in temperature. The book asked the reader to cut the French horn player some slack, because he -- they were all "he's" back then -- couldn't control the tone and felt worse than the audience did when his instrument went out of tune. I've heard world class orchestras and orchestras that were no great shakes. Same with opera orchestras. In the context of this thread, I'm almost afraid to say I've heard world class ballet orchestras , but I think I have, as well as their less than stellar counterparts. It seems to me that more problems arise with horns in orchestra pits. I'm not sure if it's a temperature thing -- no steady lights under there to keep the air temperature constant -- or a problem hearing themselves play. But it seems to me that horn players in so-so orchestras have fewer bloopers than opera and ballet orchestras in pits, even when the same musicians play in all three.

I wish I had such hopes for Masters and Moderns. Maybe they'll be able to swing for a piano and violin for Duo Concertant, and maybe the piano for the Chopin Mazurkas for There Where She Loved.

I think I found another typo. On page 224, there's a wonderful photo of Pacific Northwest Ballet Principal Dancer Louise Nadeau in La Valse. The caption reads, "Louise Nadel of Pacific Northwest Ballet." I wondered whether this was a maiden name, but a Google Search on "Louise Nadel" brought back no Louise Nadels. Google did prompt with, "Did you mean: louise nadeau". So the real dancer could be found

I saw the Pat Graney Company perform the Vivian girls last night. The basis of the piece is artist Henry Darger's watercolor illustrations/murals depicting the 15000+ page fiction, The Story of the Vivian Girls, in What is Known as the Realms of the Unreal, that was discovered on Darger's death. According to a friend who attended a seminar about the creation of the work, choregrapher Pat Graney did not read the work, and her intention was not to tell the story as written by Darger, although composer Amy Denio did read at least most of Darger's prose. In her own words (from the program) I usually cringe when I see an "Artist's Statement" in a program, but Graney's was direct, and, for a change, I could tell whether what I saw on stage had any resemblance to the artist's intention. From what I saw last night, she did, although I don't think her vision is completely successful yet. the Vivian girls is a rather static piece. When the girls become more "real" at the end and more consistently lively, the movement didn't hold my attention the way the tension-filled poses, slo-mo shapes, and slow adagio-like movements with short burst of movement that reflected/reflected upon the projected Darger watercolors in the background. I found the end of the piece a bit disappointing. I'm not sure if it was because the shift to more animated movement was jarring compared to the slower dancing, if it was due to an unmotivated transition, or if it simply wasn't interesting movement. What I found fascinating was the use of pointe work -- a single piece for a a girl with butterfly wings in the first act -- and three butterflies on pointe throughout much of the second act. It was done almost entirely in sixth position, and all three women had excellent control over their feet. There wasn't a bobble in sight throughout. One of the dancers did an exit where she crouched on pointe, and in that crouched position walked off the set on pointe. I later found that she learned to dance on pointe for this part. This piece is intended to evolve as it tours nationally; I'm hoping part two is more unified by the end of tour. Graney planning to bring it back to Seattle at the end of the tour, and I'm planning to see how the piece concludes then.

On the Stars of the RDB in Newark thread (under Ballet Companies/European Ballet Companies/Royal Danish Ballet), there were some comments made about choreographer Rushton's use of Bach: Leigh Witchell wrote and carbro replied The one thing I did think of Promethean Fire was that its powerful imagery and the Bach score went hand in hand.

And the sixty-four ballets to practice and/or learn anew for the Spring Season. (Brochure came yesterday.)

Here's hoping they do. The staging is described as the older version that Francia Russell staged the last time PNB performed Brahms/Schoeberg.

Casting for the first week of the PNB's Balanchine Centenary is posted on the PNB website: Thurs, 5 Feb Divertimento #15 Vinson, Nadeau, Pantastico, Thomas, Ostergren Maraval, Yin, Wevers Agon Barker, Stanton Nakamura Gibson Dickson, Skinner Pacitti, Herd Chapman, Dec, Kitchens, Lowenberg Brahms/Schoenberg Quartet Nakamura, Stanton, Lallone Nadeau, Maraval Barker, Milov Imler, Herd Sat, 7 Feb - 2pm Divertimento #15 Lowenberg, Barker, Nakamura, Skinner, Dickson Maraval, Stanton, Pacitti Agon Nadeau, Wevers Pantastico Porretta Kitchens, Lowenberg Gorboulev, Maraval Zimmerman, Reid, Rausch, Brunson Brahms/Schoenberg Quartet Vinson, Bold, Lallone Pantastico, Wevers Thomas, Yin Imler, Herd Sat, 7 Feb - 7:30 pm Divertimento #15 Vinson, Barker, Pantastico, Skinner, Dickson Maraval, Stanton, Wevers Agon Barker, Stanton Nakamura Gibson Dickson, Skinner Pacitti, Postlewaite Chapman, Dec, Kitchens, Lowenberg Brahms/Schoenberg Quartet Vinson, Bold, Imler Nadeau, Maraval Thomas, Yin Lallone, Milov

Canadian pianist Robert Silverman is playing the Beethoven piano sonatas over four weekends this spring at the Washington Conservatory in DC. According to his website, the schedule is: 3/27/04 Recital No. 1 Sonata No. 01 in f, Op. 2/1 Sonata No. 09 in E, Op. 14/1 Sonata No. 21 in C, Op. 53 Waldstein Sonata No. 28 in A, Op. 101 3/28/04 Recital No. 2 Sonata No. 19 in g, Op. 49/1 Sonata No. 20 in G, Op. 49/2 Sonata No. 22 in F, Op. 54 Sonata No. 23 in f, Op. 57 Appassionata Sonata No. 30 in E, Op. 109 4/3/04 Recital No. 3 Sonata No. 04 in Eb, Op. 7 Sonata No. 05 in c, Op, 10/1 Sonata No. 25 in G, Op. 79 Sonata No. 27 in e, Op. 90 Sonata No. 31 in Ab, Op. 110 4/4/04 Recital No. 4 Sonata No. 12 in Ab, Op. 26 Funeral March Sonata No. 13 in Eb, Op. 27/1 Quasi una Fantasia Sonata No. 14 in c#, Op. 27/2 Moonlight Sonata No. 15 in D, Op. 28 Pastorale 4/17/04 Recital No. 5 Sonata No. 11 in Bb, Op. 22 Sonata No. 17 in d, Op. 31/2 Tempest Sonata No. 26 in Eb, Op. 81a Les Adieux Sonata No. 24 in F#, Op. 78 4/18/04 Recital No. 6 Sonata No. 8 in c, Op. 13 Pathetique Sonata No. 10 in G, Op. 14/2 Sonata No. 7 in D, Op. 10/3 Sonata No. 2 in A, Op. 2/2 4/24/04 Recital No. 7 Sonata No. 6 in F, Op. 10/2 Sonata No. 18 in Eb, Op. 31/3 Sonata No. 29 in Bb, Op. 106 Hammerklavier 4/25/04 Recital No. 8 Sonata No. 16 in G, Op. 31/1 Sonata No. 3 in C, Op. 2/3 Sonata No. 32 in c, Op. 111 I've heard him live in other Beethoven, and he's superb. If you're a piano fan in the DC area, please consider seeing him, so I can live vicariously through you

I have Nichols listed for a performance of Verdy's role on 13 January 1985 with Otto Neubert; she would have been in her mid-twenties. Fugate performed the Walking pas de deux with Joseph Duell. Watts/Soto performed Rubies with Kumery, and Farrell/Lavery performed Diamonds. I've never seen Kistler in any role in Emeralds. I think the combination of the two of them could be beautiful even now, with their beautiful arms, shading, and phrasing, despite their limitations.

I saw 4C's on CBC this weekend. The Men's event was a bit of a mess. Buttle won the LP with two 1st-place ordinals, and a big mix of the rest. Unfortunately, ordinals are adjusted as the skaters progress, and they aren't published under the interim system. So I don't know what Sandhu's, Jahnke's, Takahashi's, or Lysacek's final ordinals were, compared to Buttle's. Sandhu attempted a load of technical difficulty, but he did not land a clean combo or solo jump in his LP: turns out of the 4T into two-footed 2L with stumble, combo, two-footed T's in the 3A/3T and 3F/3T and solo 3F or 3Z, one pop 3A, fallout of 3S and 3L. He started to improvise towards the end to up his jump content, and left out some of his more interesting choreography, and went out of synch with the music on his straightline footwork. He also went off balance on his final combo spin, but didn't fall. He looked really loose to me. Buttle dropped a lot of technical content: he tripled his 4T attempt, but landed it, and did beautiful solo 3F and a lovely 3S to 3T sequence. He also popped a 3L attempt to a 1L, and improvised a sequence by adding a 3L to it, with not much flowout. His 3A attempt was flawed, with a tilt, turn out on the landing, and IIRC, a hand down. However, his trademark moves in the field -- lovely solo spread eagle and beautiful moves in the field/spiral combination -- spins (most of them), and footwork really carried him through. The differences between the two skates, in my opinion, was that Buttle's mistakes were mostly jump downgrades, which didn't affect the flow or the rest of his elements, and he really sold his program, while Sandhu's faulty landings and last-minute program changes marred the flow and balance. IMO Jahnke had the finest overall skate: his pre was spot on, even though this program doesn't have the zip of last year's Cinderella. He had a 3Z/3L combo -- the hardest combo landed cleanly -- fine spins and footwork, and terrific flow, carriage, and tension in his movements. His only misses were a tilted 3A and a popped 1A, but he landed all of his other jumps. Lysacek had a technically packed program -- like Sandhu he attempted 3 combos; unlike Sandhu he landed them, but I'm not sure if he underrotated the 3T at the end of his 3A/3T combo. He has good spins, with a few interesting positions. His interpretation was a little weak; Rachmaninov's 2nd Piano Concerto is too hackneyed for a younger skater without that much pizzazz. Physically he resembles a young Plushenko -- tall with long legs -- but with his flailing arm movements he's picked up on what I think was Plushenko's worst habit. He was missing the in-between content that adds the difficulty to Buttle's, Sandhu's, and Jahnke's choreography. But, I don't think he looked so juniorish that the fine points of his program should have been behind a flawed program like Sandhu's. I think this explains the crazy ordinals: judges could have had any mix of rankings for Buttle, Lysacek, Takahashi, Sandhu, and Jahnke, and it looks like they did. (CBC did not broadcast Takahashi's fourth-place LP.) The majority of the judges had Buttle in second, but the mixture may have been second to whom? Phaneuf had a difficult short -- she fell on the combo attempt -- but she skated the long beautifully. She reminds me a bit of Carolina Kostner. Her program is very gentle and age-appropriate. I think that Joannie Rochette skated the most complete program, with elegance and speed, but she could not land the lutz. Robinson's LP was mixed, although having seen her live (not at 4C's) made me appreciate the in-betweens in her skating. She's not very fast, but she has an even flow. I don't like Ota's skating very much; I think she does a lot of thrashing cross-overs to gain speed, and I'm not sure her jumps were fully rotated. But she was so far ahead of Phaneuf in the SP -- deservedly so -- that she won the competition. It was a little bit like SLC -- the leaders (Corwin and Nikodinov) had their chances, but they didn't take them. (Phaneuf's scores were in the range of Hughes' Olympic LP scores.) Nikodinov downgraded her Giselle program, but she didn't quite fall apart after her first mistake, as she's been apt to do in the past. The title was her's for the taking, and she didn't. The irony was that jumps won the Ladies' program, while choreography and interpretation won the Men's program. There was a "Calling All Canadians" feature during Saturday's broadcast; viewers were encouraged to send in their questions for Jennifer Robinson. One practically asked her how she could get up in the morning knowing that she'd be going to Sr. Worlds, while Phaneuf was going to Jr. Worlds. According to Robinson and Phaneuf, Phaneuf's coach made the decision. The reasoning is that Phaneuf is likely to earn at least one additional spot in Jr. Worlds for next year before moving onto Seniors, and that to exposure the up-and-coming Juniors to international judges and experience is more important for the long-term future of Ladies' skating in Canada. Phaneuf's coach is also still working on her competitive mentality; when she started to tighten up, her coach switched her performance costumes to her practice costumes, because she had been skating practices so well. (Practice costumes for up-and-coming skaters are monotone versions of the performance costumes, sans glitter and sequins. Kind of like dancers dressing up for Balanchine.) I have to agree with this reasoning. Tara Lipinski almost didn't qualify in her first Sr. Worlds; she was as competitive and motivated as Phaneuf, but her nerves got the best of her. Canada needs at least two Sr. Ladies' spots to be able to flow the best young skaters into Seniors. Last year Rochette was the up-and-coming skater, and people were ready to write off Robinson. But Rochette ended in 17th place; only Robinson's top ten finish (9th place) -- granted, a gift from an overrated performance in the weaker qualifying group -- earned Canada a second Ladies' berth for this year's Worlds. Until a Canadian Ladies' skater can earn that second spot on her own, and as long as Robinson skates better than the younger skaters, I think she'll be on the team, especially working towards an Olympic year.

What a beautiful thought :yes:

I was surprised, too. Does any one know made the decision to hire Robert Irving? Because if Balanchine didn't like him, he certainly worked with someone he didn't like for a long, long time.

Another controversial aspect of Jaffe's salary is that it is paid jointly and privately by the ABT chairman of the board, Ranieri, and the board president, Neustein. Ranieri reportedly pays a lot of running expenses for ABT, and this is considered by critics to be putting too many financial eggs in one basket.

Liebeslieder Walzer, and let history take care of itself

There was a gala for the upcoming Statue of Liberty Centennial in 1984 (1983?), for which Martins and Gregory were billed for the Corsaire (pretty sure) pas de deux. There was much fanfare around the fact that this would be the one-time only pairing of these tall stars from "opposite" companies. This was in the fall, and scheduled soon on its heels was NYCB's 1000th Nut, which was to be Peter's farewell performance, also a gala. The Corsaire was recast (I forget who partnered Gregory -- Bujones, most likely). According to my performance log Marianna Tcherkassky and Danilo Radojevic danced Le Corsaire pas de deux at the Statue of Liberty Centennial on 7 November 83. I don't have the program, and my log is set up by ballet. I can only find three ballet listings for the event, with two listings for Martins, both with Farrell: Stars and Stripes finale, with Elyse Bourne, Linda Homek, and Gen Horiuchi leading the batalions, and Duo Concertant. I don't know if I was negligent and didn't log all performances, or if that was it. I don't have a listing for Who Cares?, which would have been a likely suspect. (I think someone sang a song or two of Gershwin's.) No Fancy Free listing, either. It was a mixed program.

Effy, Thank you so much for the information I'm trying to arrange a business trip with a stop through Copenhagen, and this sounds like fun. Helene

I always thought Goebel was a very tall skater, until I saw him on the podium next to Plushenko, who's nearly 6' tall. Goebel's about 5'7" or so. A strange thing for me to see at last year's Worlds was how Cohen could have been a nesting doll inside of Kwan, and Kwan could have been a nesting doll inside of Hughes