Helene

I'd love to see Cote paired with Biasucci. The only PNB Principal woman on the short side is Rachel Foster. I would love to see her dance with her husband, Le Yin. They have to be two of the most beautiful people on the planet, and I loved his dancing, until knee problems forced him out of a full-time company role.

I also agree. When I saw Nutcracker Sunday night, there was a little girl in the seat behind the seat to my right who kept kicking the back of the chair before the performance and during intermission. Whenever I turned around -- but not a second before -- the mother would stop the girl from kicking. But she also reacted delightfully and audibly intermittently during the performance, which made me smile ear-to-ear. I was afraid to turn around, though, because her mother would have assumed I was annoyed, and I didn't want that to happen.

Oh, that must be it: there's a PDD in Act I between a grown-up and young Clara (or Marie), and that must be the Nutcracker Prince. Parents' frequent flier miles might come into the picture for air travel, if they don't have a corporate airline sponsor, but that's still a lot of flying. In theory, Dronina could do the beginning of the run on the 15-16 or the end of the run on 19-20 by taking a morning flight out. Is Cote tall? Jillian Vanstone is from Nanaimo, and she might sell some tickets locally. She's scheduled for December 10, 13, 22 at 7:00 pm/December 28, 30 at 1:00 pm, according to the NBoC website. Also, if Mara Vinson was a guest before, she might be available. She'd know the choreography, and she's on the shorter side. In the past, there have been at least some years two couples guesting in the Act II PDD, but it shouldn't be a huge challenge to do the PDD all four times on the weekend, if need be. (I'd still want a back-up, yikes.) It's a three-four-hour drive from Seattle, depending on traffic and the border crossing. The issue, is, of course, the four weekend performances. If Goh Ballet were willing to cast soloists, Biasucci, Generosa, and Ricard Orza would look great with Cote, and also Merchant, who is a beautiful Balanchine SPF, if height isn't an issue: each would be worth seeing. Peter Boal taught at Goh Ballet at least one summer; there would be a relationship there. He might be willing to change the schedule to allow a dancer to guest.

Hmmmm, now the latest Facebook post (this evening) says that Guillaume Cote will be performing, and the Goh Ballet website (screen shot below) says he'll be performing with Dronina. But an earlier post says that Sumalyo would be dancing the Prince, with other Ballet Manilla dancers performing Snow King and Queen. Which is all very ??? While it would be possible for Dronina to dance in Toronto on the 14th and then take a flight on the 15th to perform that evening, and an early flight the morning of the 17th to dance in the evening performance, it would be a stretch for her to get back to Vancouver for a 3pm performance on the 18th, although the SPF doesn't appear until Act II. In the past, they have had alternating casts. That's a Maria "Who Needs Sleep?" Kochetkova schedule. The 19th and 20th would be doable with NBoC's current schedule/casting. Goh Ballet graduate Frances Chung, who has guested before, is scheduled for Snow Queen on the 14th and the Grand Pas de deux on the 15th matinee at SFB. There's no casting yet for the rest of the run on the SFB website. I know there have been PNB dancers who've guested with Goh Ballet, but I don't know who would be available that weekend. One may have been Mara Vinson, whose own company's Nutcracker ends on December 11. According to retired Principal Dancer Le Yin's PNB School Faculty bio, he does guest performing. PNB has its own six performances during the Goh Ballet run.

I didn't realize that this Seattle-grown ballet website founded by former PNB soloist and current PNB Faculty Member Marissa Albee existed until I saw a Facebook post featuring the latest installment of Peter Boal discussing Stanley Williams' method for ballotte, demonstrated by Benjamin Griffiths: http://balletinform.com/ Each video is a minute or two long and demonstrates a technique or concept. Some are performed by students and others by professional dancers. There's a wonderful segment by Elaine Bauer on The Art of Bowing. Plus you can hear Magali Messac say "Je ne sais quoi" in Creating an Aura around You.

There are student performances in which dancers have participated, which, I believe, count as debuts.

Marina Harss wrote an article for "The New Yorker" about training for the Nutcracker Prince and how it fits into a student and, potentially, dancer's career. There are interviews with SAB students and a NYCB dancer, but it is pertinent to PNB as well, since PNB now performs the Balanchine version: http://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/princely-duties-at-the-nutcracker Casting is up for December 14-18 performances; this week has the first Wednesday night performance: https://www.pnb.org/nutcracker/ I don't see any asterisks for Week 4 to designate role debuts. As always, casting is subject to change. Here's the link to the downloadable spreadsheet. Past weekends have been moved under the next two weeks, and they haven't been checked for any updates: Nutcracker Casting 2016 12-6.xlsx

Patti Smith will have a ball being there!

Michael Sean Breeden and Rebecca King interview Doug Fullington on the history of "The Nutcracker" for their podcast, Conversations on Dance: http://tendusunderapalmtree.com/doug-fullington-examining-history-behind-nutcracker/

Michael Sean Breeden and Rebecca King interviewed Julie Kent for their Conversations on Dance podcast. In it, Kent describes how she came to accept the position, her approach to repertory, and her plans for the company. It's a "must hear." http://tendusunderapalmtree.com/julie-artistic-director-washington-ballet/

The Goh Ballet's "Nutcracker" runs from December 15-20 and features dancers from Ballet Manilla, including Junmark Sumalyo as the Prince, and other dancers as Snow King and Queen, and from National Ballet of Canada, Jurgita Dronina. The production is by Anna-Marie Holmes. Since the main pas de deux is a bit of an outtake -- this isn't a Petipa ballet where the heroine has a major role throughout -- it's a perfect set-up for guest dancers. I've seen it a couple of times, and it is really terrific. The dancers from the Goh Ballet Academy are beautifully trained, and the production is greatly detailed, so that the guest artists are like a cherry on top. I've never seen Dronina or any of the dancers from Ballet Manilla. Now trying to figure out if I can get up to Vancouver to see it.

Feel better soon, Mme Hermine!

Week 3's (8-11 Dec's) casting is up (scroll): https://www.pnb.org/Nutcracker/ Role debuts for Week 3: Cavalier: Miles Pertl, partnering Laura Tisserand Coffee: Noelani Pantastico Sugar Plum Fairy: Rachel Foster, partnered by Kyle Davis Hot Chocolate: Nancy Casciano, with Dammiel Cruz Link to spreadsheet for download: Nutcracker Casting 2016 11-28.xlsx

Also in the much-too-short two-part interview for MCB dancers Rebecca King's and Michael Sean Breeden's Conversations on Dance podcast: Part 1 Part 2

I remember her from her work in musicals, too. Rest in peace, Ms. Henderson.

Those are sad priorities for the most important production of the year.

Why "ouch?" You can put the cast list on a dartboard, throw a dart, and get an equally good cast.

Seriously -- NYCB has dartboard casting

But it turned you off Grigorovich ;) Seattle Opera recently presented a new opera, "As One" about a transsexual woman, and the show was restricted to 21+, which I think is ridiculous.

Midweek performances generally start the week before or the week of Christmas, depending on when the holiday falls during the week. Seattle doesn't have the tourist traffic or the business traffic that NYC does, and the city can't support a schedule like NYCB's.

This is the Balanchine production that premiered last season, after 30+ years of the Kent Stowell/Maurice Sendak version. Last year's cast lists were all full of *'s for debuts. Imler was off on parental leave last season, as was Lindsi Dec, and they both missed Nutcracker. I don't see Rachel Foster, who had surgery last year and a long recovery, on the casting I captured from last season, but there's no * to indicate a debut this season (Marzipan). Jonathan Porretta is also not on the casting spreadsheet I have from last season. There was no Sugar Plum Fairy in the Stowell/Sendak version: instead there was "grown-up" Clara, and Carrie Imler danced that role, at least under Russell and Stowell; I saw her in 2002, partnered by Batkhurel Bold, who is his wife's (Lesley Rausch's) partner in the Balanchine, like last season. Imler danced Flora, the lead in Waltz of the Flowers, more often. She and William Lin-Yee, her Balanchine Cavalier, looked fantastic together in Ratmansky's "Don Quixote" a couple of seasons ago. In looking up old casts, I noticed that Lara Seefeldt, who went on to dance with Olivier Wevers' Whim W'him, danced Young Clara (tween) in 1995.

Casting is up for second weekend, December 2-4 (scroll): https://www.pnb.org/nutcracker/ Role debuts are: Sugar Plum Fairy: Carrie Imler Cavalier: Jonathan Porretta (with Leta Biasucci), William Lin-Yee (with Carrie Imler) Herr Drosselmeier: Otto Neubert Here's the link to download the spreadsheet: Nutcracker Casting 2016 11-22.xlsx

Hello Snail, Welcome to Ballet Alert! Sarasota Ballet is a company in which many of us are interested, particularly in the Ashton revivals, but also one very few of us get to see.

The Northwest African American Museum in Seattle is presenting an exhibit on 40 years of black ballet, honoring Dance Theatre of Harlem. As Sandi Kurtz wrote in this article, "The pointe shoes really tell most of the story." The exhibit ends March 19. The Museum is hosting the second of two discussions tonight, November 17 at 6:30pm, with Judy Tyrus and Kabby Mitchell.

Casting is up for 1st weekend (as always, subject to change), November 25-27: https://www.pnb.org/nutcracker/ Role debuts are: Dewdrop: Carrie Imler Harlequin: Madison Abeo, Angeli Mamon Columbine: Madison Abeo Mouse King: Dammiel Cruz Hot Chocolate: Angelica Generosa and Dammiel Cruz Coffee: Lesley Rausch Candy Cane: Jonathan Porretta Here's the link to download the spreadsheet: Nutcracker Casting 2016 11-16.xlsx