Helene

"Dänce Spirit" just published a little article on Mogan and "To Dance -- The Musical," which is being produced by former NYCB colleague Jason Fowler: http://www.dancespirit.com/news/add-actress-to-kathryn-morgans-re sume/

It's too bad you didn't continue to listen: the vocal were terrific. It's not unusual for dancers to have difficulty with Aurora's character: she doesn't have an emotional evolution which even Swanhilde has, if only temporarily.

Urin had a manager who was uninterested in the artistic side, but fired him: Iksanov.

Hallberg has a home at ABT, and I had a gut feeling that being out so long, his days in Moscow were numbered with or without Filin. I think there would be plenty of companies who would vie for Obraztsova, and she should be fine, especially if she leaves Russia (unless Filin takes over another Russian company). I'm not sure about the rest of Mariinsky-turned-Bolshoi dancers, though.

And Judith Mackrell has written a piece on Li for "The Guardian" that recaps his life in China, but also talks about Queensland Ballet and how he perceived attitudes in America: http://www.theguardian.com/stage/2015/jul/30/li-cunxin-maos-last-dancer-queensland-ballet-interview?CMP=twt_culture*gdnculture

Jann Parry just wrote an article on Li's work as AD of Queensland Ballet: http://dancetabs.com/2015/07/a-heads-up-on-queensland-ballets-la-sylphide-li-cunxin/

Urin said last year that there would be an evaluation at this time to determine whether Filin's contract would be renewed. It isn't at all surprising: not the decision, not the timing, not the bluntness. To chalk it up to health would hurt his chances to do other things, in my opinion. I suspect that face-saving wasn't acceptable.

[Admin beanie on] If you refer to another source, it must be official, and link to it. If it's not official, don't mention it. [Admin beanie off]

David Hallberg just tweeted about Sascha Radetsky's tweet with a link the the article from NYU that announced the eight Fall 2015 Fellows at the Center for Ballet and the Arts (CBA) at the university: http://www.nyu.edu/about/news-publications/news/2015/07/28/center-for-ballet-announces-fall-fellows.html Radetsky and John Selya are two former ABT alums who are fellows for the fall.

Barry Kerollis is also one of Ballet Arkansas' five Visions choreographers for its Visions Competition, in which five choreographers will present work on August 22. The prize will be a commission to expand the work for the Spring mixed rep program. Three dance professionals are judges, and the audience is the fourth judge. The five choreographers are: Barry Kerollis (Houston Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet) Boyko Dossev (Boston Ballet) Aidan Deyoung (Smuin Ballet, Ballet West, Post:Ballet) Tom Mattingly (Ballet West and of "Breaking Pointe" fame) Ilya Kozadayev (Houston Ballet)

Barry Kerollis' interview + choreography project, called "Core-ography" is now a launched project on RocketHub in conjunction with New York Live Arts, which makes contributions tax-deductible (as allowed by law, etc.). The project page, which includes a video and lots of details about the project, is located at: http://www.rockethub.com/projects/59298-core-ography-a-global-dance-storytelling-project#description-tab

Former Houston Ballet and Pacific Northwest Ballet dancer-choreographer turned free-lance dancer-choreographer Barry Kerollis has launched a project called "Core-ography" and is in the midst of a funding campaign through RocketHub and New York Live Arts, which means that any contributions made payable to New York Live Arts count as a (501) © (3) contribution for tax purposes, unlike Kickstarter, GoFundMe, etc. http://www.rockethub.com/projects/59298-core-ography-a-global-dance-storytelling-project#description-tab Kerollis will interview and then choreograph for each participant dancer focusing on specific questions about character-building challenges the dancers have faced. "I'll travel the globe to tell dancer's defining stories and promote the idea that it can be positive to share life's most revelatory moments. " The list of dancers expect to be part of the project as of today/so far is: Bridgett Zehr - Freelance Artist (former Principal w/English National Ballet, National Ballet of Canada, & Houston Ballet) Brooklyn Mack - Principal w/Washington Ballet (former Principal w/Orlando Ballet & dancer w/Joffrey Ballet, American Ballet Theatre Studio Company. Princess Grace Fellowship Winner. Medalist - Varna, Jackson, Helsinki, Boston, & Korean International Ballet Competitions) Lauren Fadeley - Principal w/Pennsylvania Ballet & Capezio Brand Athlete (former New York City Ballet, Indiana University, Academy Award-winning film Black Swan) Andrew Brader - Complexions Contemporary Ballet (former Houston Ballet, Los Angeles Ballet, Ballet Met, Die Theater Chemnitz) Maria Chapman - Principal w/Pacific Northwest Ballet & MPG Sportswear Messenger John Lam - Principal w/Boston Ballet (Princess Grace Fellowship Winner) Kiara Felder - Atlanta Ballet Cervilio Amador - Principal w/Cincinnati Ballet (former National Ballet of Cuba) Shira Lanyi - Freelance Artist (former Principal w/Ballet Israel & Richmond Ballet) Allen Joseph - Freelance Artist (Glee - TV series, Festival Ballet Theatre, Cupcake Canne) Kara Zimmerman - Joffrey Ballet (former Senior Soloist w/Cincinnati Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet) with a player to be named later.

Who is staging Monotones? Perhaps the stager will have input into casting when he or she arrives.

Misty Copeland is visiting the Houston Ballet studios. Photo with summer program students: https://www.facebook.com/houstonballet/photos/a.10153940803395584.1073741826.24309560583/10155914893995584/?type=1&theater Photo with Houston Council Member Dwight Boykins: https://www.facebook.com/houstonballet/photos/a.331712855583.350278.24309560583/10155914746190584/?type=1&theater

At tonight's concert at the Verbier Festival, conductor Gabor Takacs-Nagy, the Verbier Festival Chamber Orchestra, and cellist Mischa Maisky followed their performance of the Saint-Saens Cello Concerto No. 1 with an encore, a beautiful rendition of Saint-Saens "Le Cygne," and it was dedicated to Maya Plisetskaya. I believe the Verbier Festival concerts are open to non-subscribers of medici.tv, but if not now, they will be. (The concert is still on, but the full concert will be available for replay soon after it is finished.) http://www.medici.tv/#!/gabor-takacs-nagy-mischa-maisky-martin-frost-verbier-festival

They're there to scout talent. It's like the Met Opera Council Auditions or in ballet, like YAGP, where the judges are generally school and company directors. The difference is that fewer opera company directors come from the singing ranks, while all, or almost all, ballet company directors come from the dancing ranks, although some opera directors come from the stage direction ranks. I wouldn't want to be a singer on the panel arguing with Marta Domingo, either

I was sure Park had it in the bag, but I'm terrible at picking winners in singing competitions. They call all of the 1-4 prize winners "Operalia winners," and there have been notable 2-4 prize winners who've gone on to bigger careers than many of the winners, like Joyce DiDonato, Eric Owens, Olga Peretyatko, Lisette Oropesa, Ailyn Perez, Joseph Kaiser, Mikhail Petrenko, Rolando Villazon, Ludovic Tezier -- 1998 was a bumper crop, with winner Erwin Shrott, JDD,and Tezier,

A short feature by music critic Lloyd Schwartz on why he left and returned to watching NYCB on today's "Fresh Air": http://www.npr.org/2015/07/24/425889100/rediscovering-the-thrill-of-george-balanchine-s-new-york-city-ballet There's a transcript under the audio file.

That sounds great -- I'm green with envy!

Pia Catton reports in "The Wall Street Journal": http://www.wsj.com/articles/ballerina-jennie-somogyi-to-retire-1437599678 Link to the NYT article by Michael Cooper: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/23/arts/dance/farewell-is-in-view-for-jennie-somogyi-a-city-ballet-lifer.html?_r=0 Somogyi is one of the rare dancers, especially female dancers, who started at SAB as children, transitioned to the Professional Division, and made it through the company's ranks. Jennie Renee Somogyi was Marie in a 1986 performance I saw of "Nutcracker."