Helene

There's also Lia Biasucci, and her name sounds the same.

That sounds like perfect casting!

To continue on the Halloween theme, students from Pacific Northwest Ballet's eastside school named for Francia Russell, dressed up as "Ballet Corrections":

Elizabeth Murphy and Jerome Tisserand will perform as Sugar Plum Fairy and Cavalier with the Goh Ballet from December 14-19 at The Centre. https://www.surreynowleader.com/entertainment/goh-time-for-surrey-dancers-in-big-nutcracker-show-in-vancouver/ It's a beautiful production by Anna-Marie Holmes, with live music conducted by Leslie Dala. Students from the Goh Ballet Academy are well-represented, and this year marks the 40th anniversary of the Academy.

A general description and a short video with Elizabeth Murphy (purple) and Leah Terada in "Plot Point":

I just went in to see if second weekend casting was posted only to find that Rachel Foster is out of all three ballets, at least first weekend In Foster's place, Angeli Mamon makes her debut in "Her Door to the Sky" on Saturday night. Angelica Generosa makes her debut in "Afternoon Ball" on Friday night and Saturday afternoon Noelani Pantastico makes her debut in "Plot Point" and dances all three performances. Here's the link to the updated spreadsheet: HerStory17_10_31.xlsx

This reminds me of the passage in Merrill Ashley's book where she describes being on tour with a touring group Jacques d'Amboise organized. They were performing where her parents lived -- if I recall correctly, the Twin Cities -- and she said her parents (and maybe others) visited her in her dressing room before the show, they were chatting, and her mother was repairing her costume when she realized she didn't have time to warm up properly. She said that she didn't dance very well, but she thought d'Amboise saw how she handled the situation and wasn't as disappointed as she was by her performance.

Second weekend casting should be out by tomorrow. It's unusual not to have the different cast be at the matinee, but, unfortunately, that is happening for this rep.

Casting for the first weekend is up: https://www.pnb.org/season/17-18/her-story/ There are two casts listed for "Her Door to the Sky" and no debuts marked. The Pite is a company premiere, with a single cast all first weekend. I'm really looking forward to "Afternoon Ball," with Rachel Foster in a debut in the Nakamura role, and debuts in the street kid trio on Saturday night -- Thomson, Cardea, and Biasucci. I love the music, and I remember really liking this work when it was first performed. I had a sense then that it was a snapshot in time kind of work in its specifics, and I'm so glad to be able to see it again. Here is the link to the downloadable spreadsheet: Her Story 17_10_30.xlsx

An embarrassment of riches.

Perceptions are neither true not untrue. One person's secure is another's shaky. Facts are "She didn't dance that performance." "X is listed as the choreographer, but in an interview with Y that Z took over." "Her Facebook lists her as a soloist in company A."

[Admin beanie on] We are not a fan board or a scoreboard. We are not a chat board or the lobby. If you want to chat, use PM. Post what you think, not about what others think. If you need to point out a factual error, that's fine. And all casting changes need official sources, like dancer X decided not to do the role reported in the press/on Dancer A's public facing Instagram/in an interview. [Admin beanie off]

I'd be interested in reading a Balanchine bio by Martin Duberman, Lincoln Kirstein's biographer. Homans, after Apollo's Angels, not so much.

Welcome to Ballet Alert!, BalanchineFan, and please join our discussions!

"The girl in Saratoga," and "The girl of the week," and a man in a hospital bed getting his payment weren't remotely the narrative covered by Farrell or Kent.

There will be a live stream of the "Plot Point" rehearsal with Crystal Pite on Monday, October 30 at 2pm PDT. And the photo has Leah Merchant and Karel Cruz, hurray!

PNB is providing a live stream for a rehearsal of "Plot Point" led by Crystal Pite on Monday, October 30 at 2pm PDT: https://www.pnb.org/live/

Harvey Weinstein or no Harvey Weinstein, what Gelsey Kirkland was excoriated for saying very briefly in "Dancing on My Grave" I suspect won't make it into any new biography in any meaningful way, if at all. From 2012: http://psychologytomorrowmagazine.com/case-en-pointe-wilhelmina-frankfurt-on-george-balanchine/

There are few North American companies that base price on performer, and very few announce casting more than two-three weeks in advance, with the caveat that it's always subject to change. American Ballet Theatre is the only one I can think of that posts casting well in advance.

There aren't many members of the board who travel to Toronto in general. Most members here live in the NY Metro area, and there are high-speed trains to Boston, Washington DC, to which major companies tour, and Philadelphia. I travel to Vancouver, which is accessible from Seattle by train or bus, when NBoC makes its infrequent Canadian tours outside Ontario.

Congratulations to him

[Admin beanie on] No hearsay or second-hand reports. If friends or consultants want to report on what they've seen, they can register and post themselves. [Admin beanie off]

The last narrative work at PNB out here in Seattle here would have been the Maillot "Cendrillon."

Regardless what individuals thought of Millegpied, it is pretty clear from the film, specifically Lissner's comments, that they knew that one of their own would replace him. Big institutions, especially ones with entrenched habits and bureaucracy, aren't know for their ability to keep secrets for long.

There is some overlap, but not all that much. It's split between the opera and ballet, and the focus is Lissner. On the opera side the focuses are on a young Russian bass-baritone in their young artists program and a complicated staging of "Die Meistersinger," in which Michael Kupfer-Radecky replaced Gerald Finley at the very last minute. The filmmakers also catch Quinn Kelsey as Rigoletto from backstage.