Helene

It was only last April that Ludovic Morlot wrote to say that the 2018-19 season would be his last as Seattle Symphony Music Director. Seattle Symphony just announced (also via email) that Principal Guest Conductor Thomas Dausgaard will be the next Music Director. Congratulations to Maestro Dausgaard

A beautiful photo of Lunkina by Karolina Kuras:

More from the press release: SPECIAL EVENTS FRIDAY PREVIEW Friday, October 27, 5:00 pm The Phelps Center, 301 Mercer St., Seattle PNB’s popular Friday Previews are hour-long studio rehearsals hosted by Artistic Director Peter Boal and PNB artistic staff, featuring Company dancers rehearsing excerpts from upcoming ballets. Tickets are $15. (Note: These events usually sell out in advance.) Friday Previews are sponsored by U.S. Bank. BALLET 101: Ballet Basics, Part One – Terminology and Solo Coaching Saturday, October 28, 3:00 pm The Phelps Center, 301 Mercer St., Seattle Learn basic ballet terminology by observing a demonstration of steps, followed by a member of the artistic staff coaching a Company dancer in a solo role from the current season. This is the second of a four-part series exploring a range of topics, from ballet terminology, steps, and partnering, to casting, contemporary works, and the business of ballet. Tickets are $25 per two-hour session, or $75 subscription (four sessions for the price of three.) For more information, visit PNB.org. PNB CONVERSATIONS & DRESS REHEARSAL Thursday, November 2 Nesholm Family Lecture Hall at McCaw Hall Join PNB Artistic Director Peter Boal in conversation with choreographer Crystal Pite during the hour preceding the dress rehearsal. The conversation begins at 6:00 pm, followed by the dress rehearsal at 7:00 pm. Tickets ($30) may be purchased through the PNB Box Office. BALLET TALK Nesholm Family Lecture Hall at McCaw Hall Join Audience Education Manager Doug Fullington for a 30-minute introduction to each performance, including discussions of choreography, music, history, design and the process of bringing ballet to the stage. One hour before performances. FREE for ticketholders. MEET THE ARTIST Nesholm Family Lecture Hall at McCaw Hall Skip the post-show traffic and enjoy a Q&A with Artistic Director Peter Boal and PNB dancers, immediately following each performance. FREE for ticketholders. (No Q&A on Friday, September 22.) YOUNG PATRONS CIRCLE NIGHT Friday, November 10 Join members of PNB’s Young Patrons Circle (YPC) in an exclusive lounge for complimentary wine and coffee before the show and at intermission. YPC is PNB’s social and educational group for ballet patrons ages 21 through 39. YPC members save up to 40% off their tickets. For more info, visit PNB.org/YPC. # # # HER STORY is made possible by major sponsor Deidra Wager. The 2008 world premiere of Twyla Tharp’s Afternoon Ball was generously underwritten by Peter and Peggy Horvitz. Jessica Lang’s Her Door to the Sky was commissioned by Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival and Pacific Northwest Ballet; major support was provided by Virginia B. Toulmin Foundation, with additional support from Aya Stark Hamilton, Deidra Wager, and Leslie & Tachi Yamada. The 2017 Pacific Northwest Ballet premiere of Crystal Pite’s Plot Point is generously underwritten by Jeffrey and Susan Brotman. Pacific Northwest Ballet’s 2017-2018 season is proudly sponsored by ArtsFund and Microsoft. Special thanks also to 4Culture, National Endowment for the Arts, The Shubert Foundation, Seattle Office of Arts & Culture, and The Wallace Foundation. PNB media sponsorship provided by The Seattle Times and KOMO 4.

From the press release: PACIFIC NORTHWEST BALLET PRESENTS Her Story Featuring works by JESSICA LANG – CRYSTAL PITE – TWYLA THARP November 3 – 12, 2017 Marion Oliver McCaw Hall 321 Mercer Street, Seattle Center Seattle, WA 98109 Performances: November 3 and 4 at 7:30 pm November 4 at 2:00 pm November 9 – 11 at 7:30 pm November 12 at 1:00 pm Seattle, WA – Three renowned female choreographers get the well-deserved spotlight in HER STORY, the second program of Pacific Northwest Ballet’s 45th season. The program features the return of Twyla Tharp’s dramatic Afternoon Ball, her raw view of a lost generation; and Jessica Lang’s sumptuously painted Her Door to the Sky, inspired by the work of Georgia O’Keeffe. Both works were commissioned and premiered by PNB. Two worlds alternate and escalate to collision in the award-winning Plot Point, a much-anticipated PNB premiere by Crystal Pite (Emergence) that rounds out the line-up. HER STORY runs for seven performances only, November 3 through 12 at Seattle Center’s Marion Oliver McCaw Hall. Tickets start at $30. For more information, contact the PNB Box Office at 206.441.2424, in person at 301 Mercer Street, or online at PNB.org. The line-up for HER STORY will include: Her Door to the Sky Music: Benjamin Britten (Simple Symphony, Op. 4, 1933-1934) Choreography: Jessica Lang Assistant to the Choreographer: Clifton Brown Scenic Design: Jessica Lang Costume Design: Bradon McDonald Lighting Design: Nicole Pearce Running Time: 21 minutes Premiere: August 24, 2016, Pacific Northwest Ballet at Jacob’s Pillow, Becket, Massachusetts Afternoon Ball™ Music: Vladimir Martynov (Autumn Ball of the Elves, 1994) Choreography: Twyla Tharp Staging: John Selya Scenic and Lighting Design: Randall G. Chiarelli Costume Design: Mark Zappone Running Time: 19 minutes Premiere: September 25, 2008, Pacific Northwest Ballet Plot Point (PNB Premiere) Music: Bernard Herrmann (from Psycho, 1960), with additional soundtrack by Owen Belton Choreography: Crystal Pite Scenic Design: Jay Gower Taylor Costume Design: Nancy Bryant Lighting Design: Alan Brodie Running Time: 30 minutes Premiere: April 4, 2010, Nederlands Dans Theater

I don't get the impression that Gottlieb finds them all that silly. And he's paid attention: my favorite quotes is "(I’m absolutely certain that lawyer Connie is going to end up with Jonathan of the Bolognese.)" What could be more romantic than that? $.99 to $28.99 is a pretty big spread.

All news on Ballet Alert! must come from official sources, not hearsay. Many official sources posted here after Fillin was attacked so eggregiously stated what Fleurdelis posted, and reports of her performances and cast lists support the official sources. Separate issues around money which caused dissent were Filin's distribution of the bonus pool, also described I'd official news reports.

But Freddie had a family to support.

That's the double-whammy: you don't get paid if you're not cast, so it's not just an issue of professional fulfillment. I remember in The Turning Point where Anne Bancroft's character, after learning she won't be doing Aurora, says that she feels bad for her partner, Freddie, because he was now being paid by performance. If you're not in high demand, there's every incentive not to cast you. From real life, Joy Womack spoke about how she was not cast in corps roles, which meant she didn't get paid.

This depends entirely on the contract. If there is a union contract, sometimes Principal Dancers are covered by it, and sometimes they are not and have individual terms, and I think for all AGMA contracts, there is a set number of weeks of guaranteed work. There are also state employee laws that stand in addition to the contract that can cover injured employees, for example. In general dancers are not fired: instead their contracts are not renewed. In PNB's AGMA contract, for example, dancers who've been with the company more than a set number of years have to be given 18 months notice that their contract will not be renewed. Traditionally AD's also get rid of senior dancers by not casting them.

This afternoon was the final performance of "Jewels." Noelani Pantastico danced the "Diamonds" pas de deux with ease, majesty, and great clarity, and she and Seth Orza look fantastic together. The Biasucci-Moore-Macy cast was again splendid, and there was a collective gasp when Macy made her 3rd movement entrance. Christina Siemens again played the Stravinsky with wit and elegance. Peter Boal has said in different Q&A's that PNB will bring it back in four-five years or three years, and, for the most part, it's hard to imagine that many of the dancers we've seen in this run won't be back, but watching Lindsi Dec and Karel Cruz in the "Emeralds" walking pas de deux, I had to wonder if it is five years, if we'll see them together again in this beautiful pas de deux. It's only been a couple of hours, but "Jewels" withdrawal has begun. Sigh.

I asked because of the "Rubies" cast you saw on Thursday night, only Moore could be considered experienced: Sarah Pasch made her debut as Tall Girl last weekend, as did the male quartet, and Angelica Generosa debuted in 2014. I don't know if she even had more than one in that run, and she had one last weekend. From where I was sitting in First Tier, I didn't see much of a strain from Orza in the pas de deux. I thought she and William Lin-Yee were magnificent last night, and if I hadn't known, I never would have guessed that this was a debut. She had some wonderful individuality in her phrasing and a rhythmic clarity to her dancing, as if she there was a compulsion to move to that place or to change direction at that moment. The Scherzo pace was brisk, but she did take it on without cutting corners. (I don't know how the ballerina can feel her legs after that pas de deux, even with a later entrance into Scherzo.) In the Q&A afterwards, she said that she and Pantastico call it the "'I'm not worthy' pas de deux." She also said that she almost retired after having her daughter. Whatever it cost her to continue, we are privileged that she made the decision she did to return. I found Foster vivid in "Rubies" last night: whatever disconnect last week was gone. I thought she danced the role with much wit and clarity. Iliesiu was superb, and although physically very different than Foster, what they shared was a lack of noise: they knew how to use the physical equivalent of silence without acting, and they moved without effort or fuss.

Which performance(s) did you see?

Often when I remember something as being very great, I fear that a repeat won't live up to my memory. Not so last night with Leah Merchant in the Verdy role in "Emeralds," one of the highlights of the last run of "Jewels" and that season. She is ravishing in the role with luxuriant arms, radiance, graciousness, and sweep. She and Joshua Grant always look fantastic together, and in this new partnership in these roles, last night was no exception. The night included a series of fine debuts, from Emma Love Suddarth and Miles Pertl as the Paul/Moncion couple, and Madison Taylor, Elle Murphy, and Dylan Wald in the Pas de Trois. Taylor has similar qualities to Merchant, almost sisterly, and with a lushness of her own. Elle Macy is dancing huge: if this were the Met and not McCaw Hall, you would be able to see her vividly in the Family Circle. (We saw her from the Second Tier.) Dylan Wald's elegance in this and the finale was courtly and evocative of the era. It was a wonderfully tempered cast, too, all part of a whole. Maybe the planets were aligned and maybe it was deliberate, but arms and epaulement were prominent among this set of dancers. The same cast performs "Emeralds" tonight; "Rubies" features Cecilia Iliesiu's PNB debut as Tall Girl in "Rubies," and Sarah Ricard Orza's and William Lin-Yee's debuts in "Diamonds." I may sneak up to the Second Tier again this weekend for "Diamonds" especially: the corps is dancing beautifully, and watching the patterns resolve clearly, then dissolve and reform is a joy.

Nicholas Ade's contract as CEO at Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet has been extended for five more years, with an option for two more: http://www.cpbj.com/article/20170926/CPBJ01/170929913/central-pennsylvania-youth-ballet-stays-en-pointe-with-additions

Verdy was more diplomatic in other interviews.

I'm not a big fan of Dracula's, but I'm glad to see story ballets that can take the financial burden off Nutcracker, where one winter storm can devastate the year's box office. Retired PNB Dancer Jessika Anspach once called Nutcracker a gateway drug, and, typically, that supply runs out by December. More in the pipeline, especially recognizable stories, to take advantage of an audience, especially a young audience, is a good thing. Co-producer are generally win-win-win [n] when everyone cooperates.

From Dance Magazine, a short article on Septime Webre and Patricia Barker, who head new companies this season: http://www.dancemagazine.com/on-the-move-septime-webre-and-patricia-barker-on-their-new-international-gigs-2485213216.html From the article: Barker will continue to run Grand Rapids Ballet as well as New Zealand Ballet, until they can find a replacement for her at GRB. Also, the operating budget to RNZB is over 5x the operating budget for GRB. And despite the title on the video, Barker was teaching class, not taking class ;)

Cincinnati Ballet has launched a Professional Training Division Initiative to bridge the gap between school and a professional job: http://cincymagazine.com/Main/Articles/5456.aspx?

Marina Harss just tweeted:

For Whelan I think an addition wrench was that she was Christopher Wheeldon's muse, and other choreographers were lining up to work with her. It wasn't just a matter of having her old roles taken away -- for example Verdy said she left after there were just a few things left ("Symphony in C," "Emeralds") and the rest were given to others -- but in her case, they were replaced by new works and collaborations, which is rare, although in both "Restless Creature" and the BBC doc, she speaks about losing colleagues. That's pretty rare, particularly in companies where there is a single dominant choreographer who loses interest or has no interest, especially when that choreographer is also the boss.

And a Rubies video, featuring Lindsi Dec as "Tall Girl" in the beginning of the final movement (first man in frame-L-Ezra Thomson, second-R-Steven Loch, then Ryan Cardea left of Thomson and Price Suddarth right of Loch):

This Facebook post shows the details on the back of the "Diamonds" corps costumes:

"A dancer dies twice, once when they stop dancing, and this first death is the more painful." -- Martha Graham "A Dancer Dies Twice," a BBC radio doc is still available online for streaming, and it isn't geoblocked in the US: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b075pm41 Whelan is one of the dancers featured. ETA: Whelan staged "Pictures at an Exhibition" for Pacific Northwest Ballet last spring, her first staging. PNB dancers had nothing but raves about working with her.

The references are there, but in Farrell's performances, I see her give them a nod and go on, and I prefer this to when the dots are connected. He already did that in his one-act Swan Lake, and I don't think he was replicating that here.

May she rest in peace,