Helene

That is wonderful news!

Will someone please get "The Cage" for Rachel Foster and Sarah Ricard Orza? It's too late for Imler, but not these two.

I posted the query and don't have more information. I suspect if she had sheet music, she would have pursued it with the music librarians and/or music department at the university in which she teaches. From her query she found a lead from Amy in this thread, but she's come to a dead end pursuing it, and asked if there was someone in our community who might be able to help.

We got a heads up that the attachments that came with the email show a casting change for second weekend: Elle Macy will dance Mother/Fairy Godmother with William Lin-Yee at the Saturday matinee, February 11, and Seth Orza will partner April Ball in the evening performance. Here is the link to the updated casting spreadsheet: Cendrillon Weeks 1-2 (17-02-01).xlsx

She looks gorgeous!

I just received an email from PNB, Peter Boal's pre-opening letter to subscribers, and we now know why Laura Tisserand isn't dancing in "Cendrillon": she's going to have a baby! Congratulations to Laura and Jerome Tisserand Also a belated congratulations and to Noelani Pantastico and Bruno Roque on their marriage!

There was a discussion about Dudinskaya's variations and their portability from one ballet to another: An academic in Norway is trying to find the music to the Dudinskaya variation that Zhighanshina performed in "Paquita" for her student, and the need for it is urgent, given the performance schedule. Here is her query, slightly edited One of my students has been studying a variation from Paquita she found interpreted by Ksenia Zhiganshina, Vaganova academy student at the time (June 2014). The variation is better known as the Dudinskaya’s variation. Since she fell completely in love with the variation she will like to present it at the Nordic and Baltic International Ballet competition this coming spring. Unfortunately I haven’t been able to find a digital version of the music for her to dance. Searching on the internet I found a very interesting and comprehensive entry form Amy, one of Ballet Alert’s senior members. I wonder if you or Amy could help me finding a digital version of the music or perhaps guide me regarding where to look. I have looked in many versions of the Little Humpbacked Horse with no luck. Earlier this month I got a hint that the music was not Drigo but Pugni. Do you think it is possible that the author of this music could be C.Pugni? Looking forward to hear from you, Tania Rodriguez Associate Professor, ballet If anyone has any information on where to find this music, please post it here, or, if you are not a member or would prefer to send us information privately for us to pass on, please use the Contact Us form (link is at the bottom of each page), or, if you are a Member or Senior Member, you can also PM me. Thank you!

It's always a trade-off for members of the company when there are guests, and, in this case, Pantastico is dancing either Cendrillon or Mother/Fairy Godmother in seven of the eight performances. She gets to eat her cake and have it, too, in this case, regardless of the merits of her argument.

Week 2 casting is up: https://www.pnb.org/season/16-17/cendrillon/ April Ball is cast for two performances of Mother/Fairy Godmother in Week 2, as is Noelani Pantastico. Elle Macy makes her debut in the role in a lone performance on Saturday, 11 February matinee (2pm). There are no other debuts for Week 2. Here is the link to the downloadable spreadsheet: Cendrillon Weeks 1-2 (17-01-30).xlsx

We received this kind note from Henry Danton today, Esmeralda There seems to be a mystery, or at least a lack of information about the ballet Esmeralda as it was originally conceived. There is a wealth nowadays of recorded music of that ballet composed by Pugni. It would seem that he stayed slavishly to the original work of Victor Hugo. There is an enormous amount of descriptive music and one must imagine that a production on that scale would be very very long. Mona Inglesby's International Ballet had started on reviving this work, using Sergueeff 's notations, but he died very soon after starting, and it was abandoned. Inglesby was very careful about the fate of the notations, which reside now in Harvard Library. It is surprising that no one seems to have gone to them to revive the work Talking to Kolpakova some years ago about Esmeralda, she remarked that it was a very beautiful and simple ballet, using lots of Ballonne, Ballotte and Jete. With the help of Osipenko I got a video of the erstwhile Maly's company production. And Kolpakova got me a recording of the music. No small feat at that time, some 15 odd years ago. I did reproduce the ballet for the Ballet Theatre of Scranton's company. In doing so I got to know the ballet very completely. Recently I have obtained all the recordings of music which are presently available, and have been absolutely amazed how the Maly company 's production came out of the whole. The choice, editing and compiling of the music which they use is an absolute masterpiece, and would appear to have been written expressly for their production. And the music chosen is always exactly what was required for every particular situation. Esmeralda preceded Giselle, and it is a much more elaborate representation of all the different aspects of human behavior. Innocent love, deception, betrayal, envy, hatred and revenge are all there in the first act or Giselle, but in miniature. In Esmeralda they are all there separated, enlarged and enhanced so that the ballet becomes the essence of the characterisations of the original Victor Hugo work. I went recently onto the Internet to see if I could get some information about who arranged the music and who did the choreography for this particular production. The Maly Theatre Company has evolved to the Mussorgsky Ballet and is now the Mikhailovsky Ballet, and any production of Esmeralda which might have been on the Internet has been withdrawn for "infringement of copyright rights". The version under discussion includes several inserts of works by Vaganova. It is my guess that this version was possibly reworked by Petipa and then reworked again by Vaganova, because, besides the inserts, much of the choreography bears the stamp of the Vagganova style. I am surprised that no major company has decided to reproduce this version, because it is a gem of real old ballet music and choreography, and is a much stronger vehicle than Giselle. The above represents my personal opinions and observations which are open to question and discussion.

No public information yet. Week 2 casting normally would be out at the beginning of the coming week, and we'll see if there are third casts for anything. When Vinson and Korbes went out as Juliette, neither of the younger dancers who learned it were ramped up for the second weekend. I didn't see anyone not in published casting in the streamed rehearsal or in back of the studio shadowing roles. Perhaps someone else did? The Maillot people were only interested in Imler for Nurse in "Romeo et Juliette" in the first run according to Stephen Manes' book, and she danced Nurse in the last run. My guess would be that Boal intends this to be a replacement of the Stowell "Cinderella" and to appear in the company rep going forward. Investing in a dancer who's retiring probably wouldn't happen. Bold isn't in Week 1 casting either, and he has been one of the Tybalts. "La Source," like most Balanchine ballets, isn't likely to make it back into the rep anytime soon, and I hope that Imler is cast in "La Source" and "Pictures at an Exhibition."

Thank you so much, @Ashton Fan. Reading Seymour's memoir made it clear how important the performance experience and mentoring in the defunct touring company meant to dancer development and confidence.

The opera season looks far more interesting to me: a Sellars staging of Saariaho's "Only the Sound Remains," Janacek's "In the House of the Dead," the Parsifal cast, Boesmans 1993 "Reigen" based on Schnitzler's "La Ronde," and Barbara Hannigan singing "She" in Poulenc's "La voix humaine."

First intermission of the show. From the last row (L) of the Cornish Playhouse, Saunders' use of the diagonal and pattern work was just beautiful! Of course scenery, lighting, and costumes make the piece very different in the daytime rehearsal studio and the stage, but from the (ad)vantage point if my seat in the theater, I could see so much more if the structure. (Cont'd) Saunders has created such a wonderful role for Justin Reiter, making him the center of the work. Liane Aung and Patrick Kilbane danced a central, long duet, and she looked equally strong in a shorter one in the Keigwin ("Pattern Dance"), extending the possibilities within the company style. Edited to add: and Kilbane, too, who has been doing intricate and expert partnering. In rehearsal, the affinities between Saunders and Wevers' works were clear; within performance, the kinship of pattern-making in Saunders and Keigwin's piece was clear, and there are some relationships, particularly in the trio with Reiter, Kilbane, and Mia Monteabaro in the Keigwin that are playful, while similar interactions in Wevers' "Catch & Release" are ominous. (Cont'd) What I most appreciate about "Catch & Release" is the way that Weber's conveys how much baggage goes into relationships and how ambiguous they can be. That and the at once maudlin and delightful "You Can't Stop Loving Me" section, just wicked. If you are lucky, there are some tickets left for tomorrow night's final performance.

Fairy Godmother: Noelani Pantastico

Pleasure Superintendents: Steven Loch and Miles Pertl.

Prince: Jerome Tisserand Four Friends: Ezra Thomson, Kyle Davis, Benjamin Griffiths, and, I think, Price Suddarth under the facial hair.

Cendrillon: Elizabeth Murphy Stepmother: Sarah Pasch Stepsisters: Leta Biasucci and Angelica Generosa Father: Seth Orza

Please tell us about the season: not many of us get to London often enough, and then a lot of London trips are to see visiting Russian companies. I'd love to hear about the Royal Ballet: the last time I got to see the company was 2009 or so.