Helene

To everyone who celebrates Christmas today, Merry, Merry Christmas! From Pacific Northwest Ballet: https://twitter.com/PNBallet/status/680421502441885697 From Cincinnati Ballet: https://twitter.com/CincyBallet/status/680411024244240384 Boston Ballet: https://twitter.com/BostonBallet/status/680402801525039104 National Ballet of Canada: https://twitter.com/nationalballet/status/680402786144653312 Ballet West: https://twitter.com/BalletWest1/status/680398763232378882 English National Ballet: https://twitter.com/ENBallet/status/680344845072875520 Northern Ballet: https://twitter.com/northernballet/status/680342302439542786 Royal Opera House: https://twitter.com/RoyalOperaHouse/status/680316218314723328 Birmingham Royal Ballet: https://twitter.com/BRB/status/680309034604453888 New York City Ballet: https://twitter.com/nycballet/status/680191780147589120 Joffrey Ballet: https://twitter.com/joffreyballet/status/680161344570703872 Ballet Met: https://twitter.com/BalletMet/status/680423771069546496

15 seconds of Elle Macy in Coffee: https://www.facebook.com/PNBallet/videos/vb.21358443951/10153467543028952/?type=2&theater&notif_t=notify_me_page

Thank you for the report, yudi! "Nutcracker" is almost in its own category: it was originally conceived as 2/3 of an evening with the short opera "Iolanthe." Your friend's reaction to the two acts has been documented since the premiere: kids tend to love the first act and adults the second. The woman next to me said, after seeing the Balanchine for the first time earlier in the month, "Well, that would have been great without the first act," but she also prefers abstract ballet and mixed bills to story ballets. One of the strengths of the Sendak/Stowell is that there is less of a divide, but as sandik has pointed out, there's more dancing in Stowell's Act I, with the masque set to music from "Pique Dame," and a pas de deux for Adult Clara and the Nutcracker-turned-Prince. This is a great article about how members of the PNB Orchestra use food to "spice up" the "Nutcracker" season. The audio and slide show are equally illuminating: http://www.kplu.org/post/orchestra-pacific-northwest-ballets-nutcracker-finds-creative-outlet-food

Happy Birthday to Ms. Englund

You could read this thread and weep: http://balletalert.invisionzone.com/index.php?/topic/36661-sergei-filin-attacked/?hl=filin but I'd suggest starting with David Remnick's article in "The New Yorker." Remnick was Moscow correspondent for "The Washington Post" before becoming Editor of "The New Yorker." There were a few things I think he didn't get right, some of which were disclosed after the article was published, but it's a much more coherent start. http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2013/03/18/danse-macabre

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Lucky for young'uns, there's a lot of info on the internet and social media that would make them think small city in Northern BC or Alaska, not London or Paris and certainly not Beijing -- there are more people in The East Village than in all of Iceland -- and they can even find out whether they might have a Bjork sighting while they are there. The only thing that should surprise them is sticker shock: although the exchange rate is now about 70% better than before the financial crisis, most food and drink has to be imported. They might find being in the Blue Lagoon soothes their aches and pains. It will definitely make their skin baby soft

Please let us know what you thought of the production! Peter Boal tweeted: Congratulations to PNB

What great news for the company: Reykjavic's a great place to visit. I hope the dancers will get to explore more of the island, too. It would be a shame if they all had to rush back.

Kurt Masur, Music Director Emeritus of the New York Philharmonic, has died at 88. Here is the obituary in the "New York Times": http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/20/arts/music/kurt-masur-new-york-philharmonic-conductor-dies.html?_r=1 Rest in peace, Mr. Masur.

Thank you so much for posting this!

He has, indeed.

San Francisco Ballet's Frances Chung and Carlos Quenedit are guesting in Goh Ballet's "Nutcracker." Chung is an alum of the Goh Ballet School. PNB's Noelani Pantastico and James Moore are the other guest pair. http://www.vancouversun.com/entertainment/ballet+alumnus+frances+chung+returns+sugar+plum+fairy/11594493/story.html

We got a heads up on this, so thank you to that person.

Ballet BC has Alberta Ballet's "Nutcracker" on its schedule, and today, December 18, 2015, only they are offering a 20% discount on sections "B" and "C" at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre during its December 29-31 run of four performances (including a December 30 matinee): http://balletbc.com/performance/the-nutcracker/?utm_source=December+2015&utm_campaign=October+E-news&utm_medium=email Promocode=ONEWEEK.

There's a framed poster of Margot Fonteyn looking gorgeous in what looks like a Firebird costume (with corps in the background), and it's for a performance shown in the cinema. It's available on Ebay UK: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/262173350289

I'm afraid that the weekend before Christmas is usually prime time, and the only discounts I can see are subscriber discounts (15% off) and group discounts from PNB. There aren't any "Nutcracker" performances on Goldstar at this time. Casting is up for Week 6, the final week of the "Nutcracker" season: https://www.pnb.org/season/15-16/nutcracker/#casting Here's the spreadsheet for downloading: PNB Nutcracker 2015 Weeks 1-6.xlsx

I wish I had been able to see Somova's LHH at the Met, but I had to leave mid-week after the first two performances I've always thought of Somova as a lyric neoclassical ballerina, but of the big classical roles, I think she's most suited temperamentally to "Raymonda." She has a softness and charm that would be especially appropriate in the first two acts.

This is the YouTube video of the Somova/Sarafanov "Grand Pas Classique." There's nothing in it -- at least while the camera editing coperates -- that suggests that Somova will have to stumble through anything in "Raymonda." In fact, the solo shows the opposite, even if she is not a dancer I find appealing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wTq2oiQEbto

Maggie Kudirka, then a 23-year-old member of the Joffrey Concert Group, was diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer at the end of the 2014 season. Since then, she's become an advocate for research for this type of breast cancer and in educating young women about breast cancer. Her blog and online mantle is called "The Bald Ballerina": http://www.baldballerina.org/blog/ Kimberly Falker interviewed her for the Balancing Pointe podcast. The audio begins about five minutes into the file: http://balancing-pointe.com/141-the-bald-ballerina-maggie-kudirka/

If you have a chance, watch the DVD with Kolpatkova, one of my favorite DVD's of any genre. The Mariinsky version is more subtle than the Bolshoi's.

Dance critic Claudia La Rocco has been named On the Boards' first Writer in Residence: http://www.thestranger.com/theater/feature/2015/12/09/23243187/wait-on-the-boards-has-a-writer-in-residence-now On the Boards presents contemporary, often mixed-genre, performances, and its Artistic Director since 2002, Lane Czaplinski, also made the trip from NY to Seattle; he was formerly program manager at BAM.

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No, I want her to be given opportunities to show what a stah she is! I am very excited for her .

Casting is up for Christmas week (5): https://www.pnb.org/...racker/#casting Here is the spreadsheet: PNB Nutcracker 2015 Weeks 1-5.xlsx