Helene

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

Karen Magnussen was another skater, like Orser, who received little broadcast time on US networks. I knew people who thought she was better than Janet Lynn, but I think they're now sharing space with Jimmy Hoffa for having breathed such a notion. When I first started to watch skating in the 60's, if there was a total of two hours of coverage all year, that was a big deal. I tried not to miss a minute of the twenty or so they broadcast of US Nationals, North American Championships, European Championships, and Worlds during Wide World of Sports. There's more fluff piece time in today's broadcasts than there was of skating back then.

In March there's a listing on the RDB schedule called "Great Ballet School Day." There are two Sunday afternoon performances. Does anyone know what this is?

That's "Ms." to you Hamilton certainly deserved the gold medal, because he won the competition with his performance in school figures, just as Beatrix Schuba deserved her gold medal. The difference between Hamilton and Schuba was that Schuba was a perfunctory free skater, while free skating was usually one of Hamilton's strengths. If I remember correctly, Orser was in about seventh place after the school figures, and I think that although he won the Short Program and possibly the Long Program, he was too far behind to win the gold medal. In total, over all three phases, Hamilton outscored Orser for the gold. Hamilton, though, expressed embarrassment at the time that he did not deliver a good free skate.

Pacific Northwest Ballet also performs Carmina Burana by Kent Stowell. They are performing it this April (15 - 18 & 22 - 24), with Balanchine's Serenade. The main attraction is Ming Cho Lee's set, which features a giant wheel suspended above the stage, that is moved and tilted as the scenes change. The only parts I remember from years ago were the glorious singing by the soloist and chorus, a "pure" pas de deux by a couple in unitards, the closing movement of which is the signature pose of the ballet, and a wanton woman in red leading a dance with four men, one in a monk's robe.

I think that honor goes to Scott Hamilton. Petrenko had a wonderful first half, but ran out of steam, which was his pattern. I remember being blown away by his 1988 Olympic long program, when he was just a kid and won bronze behind Boitano and Orser. One of the reasons that Wylie had such wonderful line was that he studied briefly with John Curry in Colorado Springs, when Curry was being coached by Carlo Fassi. Wylie said that those sessions had a big influence on his skating. If he had to choose anyone to emulate, Curry was The One. Dirac, I agree with you about Arakawa. I would add the beautiful flow she gets out of her jumps, especially the 3 Lutz in combination, and the quietness and power of her stroking. I think her Turandot program this year has the fullest and richest choreography; she practices the program without the jumps in each practice session, and it shows. Paul Parish, I think Cohen has the most wonderful carriage, and is one of the few skaters to have an straight back position and extended leg in the toe jumps on both entrances and exits. To me this, more than her flexibility, is what makes her exquisite.

I saw Lis Jeppesen's Madge in Copenhagen, and I think her performance is worth leaving him at home for

The other side of Fiorato is, or at least was, a bit more formal. A friend whose late mother was a close friend of Fiorato's, and who, with her two sisters, spent a lot of time in a car with her mother and him, said that he insisted that children be seen and not heard; they were expected to be silent during those car rides. (Knowing her, I can't imagine that they actually were )

Do you know what music Totmianina/Marinin are using for their new LP? I thought last year's SP to Grieg's "Peer Gynt" was one of the most beautiful programs I've ever seen, and this year's Rachmaninoff was also lovely, especially the ending in arabesque penchee. I hope their new long has the same lyrical quality.

Too many legendary performances to choose from. I agree with you. At least one of Hughes' 3/3's was underrotated, and the second one was very close. She also flutzed, which is a substantial flaw that Cohen shares. (Kwan often enters the lutz on the flat instead of the outside edge.) It was a gutsy performance, but a clean one by Kwan or Slutskaya would have beaten it hands down -- Slutskaya's very flawed performance nearly did -- despite the 3/3's.