Helene

Veronika Part attended "Norma" at the Metropolitan Opera this past Tuesday, and she was photographed on the Opening Night red carpet looking stunning (scroll): http://www.metopera.org/user-information/Photo-Galleries/Opening-Night-in-Photos/

Violinist and former ABT Concertmaster Benjamin Bowman is now the second concert master for the Metropolitan Opera:

Here's a short video interview with Austin, with short clips of her teaching: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQ2cFTgA2zM&index=4&list=PL7ufN7Cep1mGTKbd3qG0dpyiU0719oWqa

In Seattle, the PNB program Second Stage not only has professors come to the company, but dancers can use the funds to go to other colleges and universities, to get graduate degrees, to do training like becoming a Pilates instructor, or to start their own businesses, for which they are given mentorship. Tiler Peck, like Elizabeth Murphy at PNB, has a dancewear line, as well.

Any time a dancer is pushed down or out when the audience watching feels it's premature likely will see the person making that decision in a bad light. Especially Peter Martins, who kept on his wife at a very high salary when her dancing had degraded, something I witnessed. (I didn't see the end of Whelan's career, so I can't judge that.)

I would think that if ballet was my life, being taken out of ballets would be the biggest problem in mine.

Pointe Magazine tweeted, and PNB re-tweeted this great photo of Noelani Pantastico in her "Emeralds" costume for tututuesday -- you can see the panels, going from dark (sides) to lighter (center), the bodice ribbing, the edging on the bodice, the various colors of tulle in the skirt, and, of course, the jewels on the bodice and the tiara: Also in one of the Q&A's on Saturday, Peter Boal said that he asked Jerome Kaplan if he would consider pink tights and shoes for the corps in "Diamonds," so they wouldn't have to change them from ballet to ballet, and I hadn't even realized they weren't wearing white tights and shoes: the pink is perfect for the tutus, which have pink underlayers.

Fall for Dance might have kept the commission on the program* instead of the company, so they made their choice, but the contracts may have been signed by then. *If it could be made in < two weeks, he could have taught it to other dancers before October 3. It's a prime gig, and I'm sure there would have been many dancers who would have been willing.

"Emeralds" marked the return of Lucien Postlewaite and the renewal of Postlewaite's partnership with Noelani Pantastico in the Ludlow/Verdy roles. Their ease and simpatico were apparent in her debut in this role. William Lin-Yee switched to the Moncion role, partnering Sarah Ricard Orza. When Orza dances Mimi Paul's role, it's as if she's inventing it on the spot. She makes the middle section of the ABA-structured solo continuous and integrated. On Saturday night, Elizabeth Murphy got a new partner in Steven Loch -- he had partnered Leah Merchant in the last run; she'll dance with Joshua Grant second weekend -- and Lindsi Dec reprised the Paul role, partnered by Karel Cruz. Temperamentally there was a marked contrast between the two casts of women: Pantastico (dramatic) and Orza (thoughtful) had a more serious cast, while Murphy and Dec were sunnier. I'd never seen Verdy dance except in clips, but she describes a delight in the solo that Murphy captured, and in the "will-she/won't she" pas de deux, less 3rd couple "In the Night" than a realization of surrender. There's also a marked temperamental contrast between the first two soloists in the pas de trois and the second woman's solo: all but that solo are upbeat and shiny, while the solo is more dramatic. In the first cast in that solo, Leta Biasucci was the bridge between Pantastico and Ricard Orza, while Leah Merchant in the Murphy/Dec cast was a different perfume, one I look forward to seeing in the Verdy role this weekend. There were 2.5 principal casts reprising their roles in "Rubies" and three Tall Girl soloists, with debuts by Elle Macy and Sarah Pasch. James Moore partnered both Leta Biasucci (matinee) and Angelica Generosa (evening), both pairings a contrast to Rachel Foster and Benjamin Griffiths on Opening Night with Dec as Tall Girl in a role she owns. There are two ways to approach the central couple, and I've seen the one where the woman is more audience-focused and on her own trajectory work well, but while Foster and Griffiths have paired successfully in the past, that approach here seemed like a series of near misses. Generosa had more of a connection with James Moore, but it was Leta Biasucci's chemistry with Moore, and the way they were attuned to each other in this joint romp that made their performance a highlight of the weekend. They really fit together like a glove, yet in a dynamic, competitive relationship. In my experience, I've seen great couples, great Tall Girls, great each, but it's when all three share a common energy that the performance transcends the sum of the parts, and that happened on Saturday afternoon with Elle Macy's debut as Tall Girl, with Biasucci and Moore. In itself Macy's performance would have been a knockout, but with Biasucci and Moore, it was like family. I will state my bias outright: the less programmatic "Diamonds" is, the more I like it. For me Farrell is the great exponent of the role because, despite the quotes, there was no recognizable Odette in it: it was echt Farrell, and more stag than swan. This past weekend "Diamonds" looked like the coming attractions for the February "Swan Lake." (Sarah Ricard Orza makes her debut in the role on Friday, and Laura Tisserand, who danced "Diamonds" and Odette/Odile in the past, is expected back for "Swan Lake.") But pretty much every non-NYCB dancer (and some of those) I've ever seen goes in this direction in the pas de deux to some extent. Given that this is the reality, I especially liked Lesley Rausch's performance (with Karel Cruz) because, for the most part, she has a coolness and a clarity to her dancing and more of an independent streak. In a recent interview, Heather Watts described that she originally had "pinkitis" when dancing Dew Drop, and while Elizabeth Murphy's (debut) performance was lovely, and she looked wonderful with Jerome Tisserand, it was a little pink. I was hoping for more of the verve she shows in "Little Mortal Jump" and especially in the Maillot "Cinderella", which came out in a beautifully danced Scherzo. There were lots of fantastic turns and jumps from the men, but what really struck me was when in the lead-up to a jump (assemble?) in one of the solos, Seth Orza did smaller glissade, something in the middle, bigger glissade, then jump, and he made the distinctions between the two glissades each time. It was a small detail, but it made that phrase so much more dynamic. The corps is in superb shape, and, as usual for me with "Jewels," they star in my ear worm: I can't get the opening music of "Diamonds" out of my head! I look forward to more performances -- repeats and debuts -- this weekend.

Ten days ago, Marina Harss tweeted about Troy Schumacher's upcoming commissions and her article in October "Dance Magazine": The link to the article is here: http://www.dancemagazine.com/troy-schumacher-on-premiering-three-ballets-in-just-four-weeks-2485660878.html The Instagram photo of Schumacher working with Miami City Ballet dancers is dated August 1. But then the * (updated): One post dated August 2 is listed as "Day 3", and the last, posted from August 10 reads, "My last night here in Miami." This reads that a presenting organization commissioned a work, allowed the choreographer to choose the dancers, and then let those dancers' company remain on the schedule to dance a different work, in this case Polyphonia, at least as of today. https://www.nycitycenter.org/pdps/fall-for-dance/

Houston Ballet is participating in a benefit on Wednesday, September 27 at 8pm local time at the Miller Outdoor Theater: https://www.facebook.com/events/283660582119027/

Kutura (Rossiya K) is one of the channels offered by TVTeka, a paid internet service, although if Google translate is working properly, it may also work on devices like Roku, which I don't have: https://tvteka.com/ It's $12 for one month or $30 for three months. I've used them for several years to watch figure skating, and, in general, I've found the service quite reliable if you have a strong internet connection. I don't know if they archive Kultura to watch on demand like they do sports channels, because if the site is pounded, you do end up with buffering.

From social media:

[Admin Beanie On] This is not news to the mostly seasoned crowd here: talk about the subject, not each other, and refrain from pointing out any alleged bias, unless it's your own. [Admin beanie off]

Rebecca King-Ferraro and Michael Breeden did this must-listen interview with Heather Watts for their podcast Conversations on Dance: http://conversationsondancepod.com/2017/09/18/heather-watts-balanchine-ballerina/

Video clip of the finale of "Diamonds" with Lesley Rausch and Karel Cruz:

Video clip of "Emeralds" -- end of penultimate movement, l-r: William Lin-Yee, Sarah Ricard Orza, Kyle Davis, Noelani Pantastico, Lucien Postlewaite

Social media-Ezra Thomson:

Here's the press release: Pacific Northwest Ballet Announces Two Promotions at Opening Night of Jewels. Seattle, WA (9/22/17) – “It gives me great pleasure to announce two well-deserved promotions.” During a pause in the program following the performance of George Balanchine’s Emeralds, Pacific Northwest Ballet Artistic Director Peter Boal made a special announcement to the opening night audience for PNB’s 45th season. Mr. Boal informed the audience that soloist Sarah Ricard Orza has been promoted to Principal dancer, and Ezra Thomson has moved from the corps de ballet to the rank of Soloist. “Sarah Ricard Orza joined PNB a decade ago after several years with the New York City Ballet,” said Mr. Boal. “Her innate elegance, lush musical phrasing and ease of technique are in evidence in every role she inhabits. In Christopher Wheeldon’s Carousel (A Dance)Sarah offers both the uncertainty and unbridled joy of first love. She is wickedly funny in Jerome Robbins’ The Concert and truly enchanting as the Sugar Plum Fairy in George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker. In Benjamin Millepied’s Appassionata, she seemed to reach a new artistic plateau. Sarah has also waited a long time for this promotion, and throughout her extensive career she has continued to grow as a dancer, as an artist and as a person which makes this promotion so well-deserved. Please join me in congratulating PNB’s newest Principal dancer, Sarah Ricard Orza.” Sarah Ricard Orza is from Amherst, Massachusetts. She trained at Amherst Ballet School and on full scholarship at the School of American Ballet. In 1999, she joined New York City Ballet as an apprentice. She became a member of the corps de ballet in 2000 and danced with the company until 2006. In 2007, Ms. Orza joined PNB as a member of the corps de ballet and was promoted to soloist in 2010. She has danced leading roles in Peter Boal’s Giselle; George Balanchine’s Agon, Apollo, Coppélia, Emeralds, The Four Temperaments, George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker®, and A Midsummer Night’s Dream; David Dawson’s Empire Noir and A Million Kisses to My Skin; Ulysses Dove’s Serious Pleasures and Vespers; William Forsythe’s In the Middle, Somewhat Elevated and New Suite; Kiyon Gaines’ Sum Stravinsky; Paul Gibson’s The Piano Dance; Ronald Hynd’s The Sleeping Beauty; Jiri Kylian’s Forgotten Land, Petite Mort, and Sechs Tänze (Six Dances); Jessica Lang’s Her Door to the Sky; Jean-Christophe Maillot’s Roméo et Juliette; Benjamin Millepied’s Appassionata; Mark Morris’ Pacific; Justin Peck’s Debonair and Year of the Rabbit; Crystal Pite’s Emergence; Alexei Ratmansky’s Don Quixote and Pictures at an Exhibition; Jerome Robbins’ The Concert, Dances at a Gathering, Fancy Free, In the Night, Opus 19/The Dreamer, and West Side Story Suite; Kent Stowell’s Carmina Burana, Cinderella, Nutcracker, and Swan Lake; Susan Stroman’s TAKE FIVE…More or Less; Twyla Tharp’s Nine Sinatra Songs, Opus 111, and Waiting at the Station; and Christopher Wheeldon’s Carousel (A Dance), Polyphonia, and Variations Sérieuses. She originated leading roles in Millepied’s 3 Movements and Price Suddarth’s Signature. Mr. Boal continued his announcement by calling out Ezra Thomson: “Ezra has been in virtually every new Company creation since he joined PNB as an apprentice eight years ago. This season he steps to the front of the studio to choreograph his first work on the Company. Ezra has been a model of professionalism, leading his peers in the corps de ballet, dancing multiple roles in every rep and bringing deep investment to each part he is assigned and to every choreographer he is asked to work with. He’s taken many star turns as Mercutio, Riff, Doctor Coppelius and the protagonist in Twyla Tharp’s Waiting at the Station. Despite his considerable successes, Ezra has never wavered from the groundedness and generosity that defines him as a dancer and as a person. Our sincerest congratulations to Ezra on his promotion to Soloist.” Ezra Thomson is from San Bernardino, California. He studied on scholarship at Riverside Ballet Arts, Orlando Ballet School, and Pacific Northwest Ballet School and attended summer courses at PNB School, the School of American Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, National Ballet School (Canada), the Rock School, Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre, and Burklyn Ballet Theatre. Mr. Thomson was a 2009 recipient of the Flemming Halby Exchange with the Royal Danish Ballet School. He danced with Orlando Ballet before joining PNB as an apprentice in 2009. He was promoted to the corps de ballet in 2010. In 2007, Mr. Thomson won the gold medal in the regional Youth America Grand Prix competition. As a choreographer, he is a regular contributor to Pacific Northwest Ballet’s NEXT STEP showcase. He will make his PNB mainstage choreographic debut during DIRECTOR’S CHOICE, March 16 – 25, 2018. Prior to the opening night announcements, Mr. Boal also hired Christopher D’Ariano to join the Company as an apprentice. Christopher D’Ariano is from Yonkers, New York. He studied at Ballet Tech, the School of American Ballet, and PNB School, and attended summer courses at Ballet Tech, Boston Ballet, Nederlands Dans Theater, and PNB. He was the recipient of the School of American Ballet Mae L. Wien Award for Outstanding Promise. While a student, Mr. D’Ariano performed corps de ballet roles with PNB in George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker®, Slaughter on Tenth Avenue, and Stravinsky Violin Concerto; Jean-Christophe Maillot’s Cendrillon; Jerome Robbins’ Opus 19/The Dreamer and West Side Story Suite; and Twyla Tharp’s Brief Fling. He also performed a leading role in Balanchine’s Valse Fantaisie and originated a role in a new work by Ezra Thomson for PNB School’s annual School Performance, and he originated roles in works by Angeli Mamon & Dammiel Cruz and Jerome Tisserand for PNB’s NEXT STEP. Mr. D’Ariano also has danced with Lunge Dance Collective, and he has choreographed for the Seattle International Dance Festival. PNB congratulates our newly promoted and hired dancers!

Some initial thoughts on opening night of "Jewels": I <3, <3, <3 ^1000th the costumes. I love that the bodices have a vertical ribbed "theme." The "Emeralds" (all) and "Diamonds" corp tutus have sweep and finesse, and the contrast between the brighter green tulle with the dark green in "Emeralds" bodices are a great visual match. My very favorite aspect is the skirts for the "Rubies" women: they move with the body, and avoid the flapping visual and audio delay of the originals. The "Diamonds" costumes have an unusual color palate: the ballerina's shorter, more conventional tutu, is bright white, while the tulle corps tutus have a lovely blush pink under layer, and the corps men's tunics have a silvery-irony cast to the gold, almost armor-like. From the first balcony, the tiaras and jeweled bodices were bands of sparkle, but I wouldn't have recognized the detailed work and darker jewels from the photos. The "Rubies" tunics for the men reminded me of "Grand Budapest Hotel," and the "Emeralds" men had a small skirt with nice drape. The "Emeralds" and "Rubies" tiaras couldn't be more contrasting, but each are equally stunning. The "Emeralds" principal tiaras are high and bold, and remind me of a Irish runes, medieval and Iseult-like, with some of the loft of the Siren's headdress in "Prodigal Son." I love their height and authority as a balance to the long skirts, and no one was impaled. The principal "Rubies" tiara, a band close to the head, was perfectly proportioned to the short "Rubies" dresses. "Diamonds" tiaras were the most classic, and again, had the magic balance to the costumes. Each set of headpieces was a match for the costume, instead of the standard attempt to find one common type across all ballets. Jerome Kaplan also tried to avoid having a common, one size approach to the sets, although there was at least one major common element from ballet to ballet. For "Emeralds," there were constellations of lights against the black background, with changes to the lights between movements. In "Rubies," he retained the dark floor and black background, but put a 3/4 narrowish white border on the floor on the sides and across upstage, with three stiff, widely spaced wing panels on the sides, and a narrow upper border of drops. I thought I had been transported to an abstraction of a Lincoln Center building. The border around the floor made it at once a boxing ring, a gymnastics mat, and a neighborhood with distinct boundaries. It was an easy, five-minute or so set change from "Emeralds" and "Rubies": the performance started at 6:30 and had a pause between the first two ballets instead of intermission: the gala dinner had to start at a reasonable hour. For "Diamonds" Kaplan added additional white wing panels, and the entire floor was white. The black backdrop was changed for a giant picture frame with a light background. I have that picture frame. Like most people, I've never lived in any place resembling Imperial Russia, and my picture frames reflect that. The lighting for "Emeralds" was evocative and was fully integrated with the set and costumes. From where I was sitting, in the far side section of the first balcony, "Rubies" lighting was fine in the center, while it was darker around the perimeter, where the corps spends a lot of time. From above in "Diamonds" there were pools of bright and dark strips between them, the sides were noticeably darker, and there were shadows everywhere, and not it a good way. Perhaps it looked better from the orchestra, but not from above. I'll have another looks from the front of that level this afternoon, but while I've seen some productions I've felt were underlit, particularly from above, this was the weakest lighting I can remember at PNB. The orchestra played beautifully -- live broadcast tonight on KING FM radio -- and kudos to Alan Dameron for his solo work in the Stravinsky.

In poking around for Sarah Orza's social media, I found that while her Instagram account is private, her account description lists that she is a certified Postpartum Doula!

I am so looking forward to seeing her in the role! Tonight, Saturday, September 23, at 7:30pm PDT/10:30pm EDT, KING FM radio will broadcast the audio for "Jewels":

From social media-Sarah Ricard Orza:

Last night in the pause between "Emeralds" and "Rubies" Peter Boal announced that Sarah Ricard Orza has been promoted to Principal, Ezra Thomson has been promoted to soloist, and last year's apprentices Madison Rayn Abeo, Amanda Morgan, and Sarah-Gabrielle Ryan have been promoted to corps, with Christopher D'Ariano joining as an apprentice. It was a family affair: Sarah Pasch presented flowers to her new husband, Thomson, and Seth Orza and their daughter Lola presented flowers to Ricard Orza. (I saw Seth Orza high-fiving Lola in the lobby before the performance and was hoping that's one of the reasons she was there.) In her first years with the company, it was clear that Ricard Orza had come from NYCB, where there's a certain casualness that blurs the specifics, and where the trade-off is momentum. Also, with its punishing schedule of mostly mixed rep, NYCB corps would keel if they were "on" two-three times a night for seven-eight performances a weeks for two-three months in a row. PNB dancers in general are specific in the transitions while maintaining the momentum and dancing to the same tempi, and with a less grueling performance schedule, have room to breathe between the two weekends. More often than not there's a debut in weekend one -- even from casts doing all three performances in weekend one -- and growth and bloom by weekend two. Of all of the dancers who've joined PNB from NYCB, Ricard Orza has been the most transformed to PNB style in every good way, while retaining her unique musicality and illuminating phrasing. In the most unassuming way, she invokes pathos and brings the audience into her character, whether the role be character-driven, like Giselle, narrative-light, like in "Carousel: A Dance," or in non-narrative ballets, like "Appassionata." At the same time, in strictly abstract ballets, she doesn't impose character, and becomes the dance instrument in service of the music and choreography. Last night, her solo in "Emeralds" in the Mimi Paul role was the highlight of night of many highs. Ezra Thomson has been frequently in the unenviable position of being cast in roles that have either been created for other dancers, like in "Waiting for the Station," or are considered iconic roles for those dancers, like Mercutio in the Maillot "Romeo et Juliette." Many dancers when challenged that way aim for the rafters. Thomson is among the few I've seen who make these roles their own not only through distinctive style, but also by the detailed, nuanced, and integrated choices they make from the overall arc of the role to the micro details and pull you into that role and that moment like a great character actor does. He's been a great role player, too, going from featured roles to corps to demi roles, again like a great character actor, making his mark on each in the most appropriate way, like last night, in "Rubies" male corps and as a demi-soloist partner in "Diamonds." Balanchine's "Coppelia" isn't structured like Ratmansky's "Don Quixote," to make Dr. Coppelius as central and less of a comic foil. At the beginning of Act II, Thomson does a very rare thing: he brings me back to where Dr. Coppelius was the end of Act I, where he had been roughed up by Frantz and the neighborhood boys. My own litmus test for Dr. Coppelius is whether, in Act III, when he enters the town square with a broken Coppelia in his arms, and the mayor gives him a bag of gold, whether I think he's happy because he's going to use it to try again, not because he's greedy for money, and, in Thomson's portrayal, I never had any doubt. On the other end of the spectrum, a huge shout-out for his dancing in the "Brief Fling" quartet. A bit of homerism: two of the three apprentices are from the Seattle area; Amanda Morgan is from Tacoma, but was substantially trained at Pacific Northwest Ballet School. I think this is wonderful news for the company, having local dancers with such great talent -- the school and company, as their reputations have grown, have the luxury of being very choosy -- joining dancers who were finished in the Professional Division, some of whom, like Ryan, join other PNBS returnees, like Madison Taylor and Miles Pertl, who also are from the area. Congratulations to them all on their well-earned promotions. .