Helene

I missed this video from December: it's about a mother (Marianne), who was in the Stowell/Sendak "Nutcracker" in its first year, and her daughter (Sadie), who was in it this final season:

A clip of a rehearsal video of "Vertiginous Thrill of Exactitude." It opens with Leta Biasucci and Benjamin Griffiths, then Jonathan Porretta, and at very end, he's joined by Carrie Imler (left) and (I think) Sarah Ricard Orza oops, no, Rachel Foster (right). I though I saw Sarah Orza's curls. Edited to add: There's another short clip on Instagram: https://instagram.com/p/ztlMgtGeg3/?modal=true

Wasn't the Lilac Fairy in the Mariinsky reconstruction in a long dress, like Carabosse, in some acts, but in a long tutu in the others?

From yesterday's Links, a story in the NYT about former ABT Head Carpenter, Frank La Mantia, who was fired by ABT and whose lawsuit against ABT was given the green light by Judge Joan M. Kennedy: http://balletalert.invisionzone.com/index.php?/topic/39863-sunday-march-1/?p=350330 The article says that both sides will go to mediation in April. I don't know how, if ABT can't prove that it fired him right after the January 21, 2011 outburst, and before he was diagnosed with bi-polar disorder within days, the evidence could be described as "marginal." Also, the idea that ABT would demand a guarantee that he would never behave the same way again, when murderers who plead insanity are released into the world when psychiatrists deem them to be no longer a danger as long as they take their meds and where their doctors aren't asked for guarantees, strikes me as ridiculous at best, and a cynical excuse to go through with the firing at worst.

The historic record at a dropping off point from the years the notations were made and as much supplemental information in them and from other sources about the way different things were changed. Had Balanchine lobbed the beginning and end off of "Apollo" after the 1920's, we might only have photos and review descriptions of the work, instead of several filmed versions and enough people who've staged and dance the longer version to have passed it on (and continue to stage the alternate version). Then there is the issue of style, as the notated steps are fit to bodies that look quite different than today's dancers and their current strengths. Sigh.

From Wilifried Hosl's interview with Ratmansky for the "Paquita" premiere:

I'm not sure how I missed this trailer, but it gives a sense of how the dancers were used and the costumes: There's also a "Road to Paradise: Costumes" video that among other things, shows how Pasithea's shell (worn by Tori Peil) was constructed. Here's the videos list, with several backstage videos: http://seattleopera.org/tickets/2014-2015/semele/videos.aspx?playvideo=_-JHzLMfLIM&utm_source=wordfly&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=20150301Semeleseeitagain&utm_content=version_A Subscribers get 50% off the remaining three performances. It seems to be built into the account, unlike PNB's system, which doesn't apply subscriber discounts without a promo code. For those who missed the live radio broadcast last night, there are clips of arias by both casts on Soundbridge: https://soundcloud.com/seattle-opera/sets/semele

What a lovely season, and Minneapolis is lucky!

Mine is still "Amok Time," which featured Nimoy so beautifully.

The second video in the New York Times obituary from the Yiddish Book Center Wexler Oral History project is wonderful (scroll): http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/27/arts/television/leonard-nimoy-spock-of-star-trek-dies-at-83.html?_r=0 Zikhrono livrakha.

pherank just posted this link to Mathilde Froustey's instagram post with a short video clip of Forsythe working backstage with Ballet Mistress Katita Waldo to the SFB forum: https://instagram.com/p/zjr8X1nrWQ/?modal=true (Are there enough prepositions in that sentence?) Mr. Forsythe is making a West coast trip of it: his "The Vertiginous Thrill of Exactitude" opened last night in San Francisco, and the Forsythe triple bill opens on Friday, 13 March at PNB.

Maybe we should go back to "Comrade." ;) By convention, in many European countries, at least formally, a young unmarried woman is the equivalent of "Miss" and all other women are the equivalent of "Mrs." I remember when I went to Paris for Trophee Eric Bompard in 2005. I was told two things: Tip the arena usher 2 Euros and never say, "Merci" alone, but instead "Merci, Monsieur" or "Merci, Madame."

You see the same issues in many art forms when it is up the critics, media, and publicists to create the narrative. People who know or feel they know the art form resent the publicity given to the AD's favorite, the flashy vs. refined dancer, the one who got the "Vogue" photo shoot vs. the one who simply dances, the pure vs. the user-friendly dancing and rep, the story vs. the unrecognized, the European vs. the American, etc. There's an entire public that thinks that Eliana and Cheon are great ballet talents. I wouldn't argue at all that race is not a reason why insiders and onlookers would resent Copeland's fame and that/why she has become a mainstream story and probably the biggest (current) household name in ballet. (I'm sure there are people who think Baryshnikov is still dancing ballet and would cite him.) I wouldn't be surprised if there are black dancers who think there are other, more "worthy" black dancers or wish that Oprah would feature more of them, but don't speak out for several reasons. There are plenty of people who grew up with the expectation that experts determine who should be lauded and how much space they should get, which ignores how many factors go into those decisions, and who feel that dancers especially should wait until an AD and major dance critic anoints them as worthy, as if those judgements were entirely objective. The idea that someone could jump the queue -- like SFB, tired of being lumped automatically behind NYCB and ABT because they weren't in NYC and must be provincial, did by going to Europe and calling themselves what they liked -- riles people, even if the people getting the publicity -- or making it -- are quality. As if Diaghilev didn't play just about every game in the book, or NYCB didn't go along with the English press that featured Barbara Bocher because she was a personable young teenager (much to the resentment of her peers and their ensuing spite), or The Defector stories didn't suck up much of the press at the time. The differences are that there are far fewer professional critical Voices of Authority being published and people can self-publicize through social media and YouTube, leaving only those who care to learn what critics with a lot of viewing experience, historical knowledge, and breath of interest think and write, often beautifully, in more than 140 characters. The issues Copeland has re-raised -- which have to be re-raised, sadly, every decade or so -- are important ones, and she's used the status she's earned -- soloist at ABT -- to re-raise them.

Carley's favorite ballet was "Concerto Barocco." I've found an authorized minute of the last movement with Carla Korbes and Carrie Imler in Francia Russell's staging for Pacific Northwest Ballet from two seasons ago:

A reminder to post official news only: other forum posts are not official news.

We lost carbro a year ago today. I miss her terribly and think of her often and how much she would have loved (or not) the performances in NYC, the videos, and the films that are discussed here. Her sister posted today, "Remembering with gratitude all the love that supported Carley, especially at the end of her too-short life. Celebrate her memory by sharing her appreciation of beauty and commitment to justice." For anyone who lights Yahrzeit candles, Hebcal translated 25 February 2014 to 25 Adar I 5774, and her Yahrzeit to 15 March (sundown) to 16 March 2015.

It's not always obvious when there's no personal contact or when dealing with businesses/service providers/the government/schools, where the personnel change.

Or, alternately, "Hi, I've chosen to take my husband's name, but since you know me by my maiden name, it's there so that you know, just as helpful information, that I'm the same person."

On the other hand, we have TAngle and JAngle for two men. It works better when the last name begins with a vowel or more rarely when both first names begin with a vowel. J. Tisserand and L. Tisserand are examples of the reason why "Mr. Tisserand" and "Ms. Tisserand" are used for married couples, except at Wimbledon. Sarah Ricard Orza is often called Ricard Orza vs. Orza for her husband. (Less informally, it's SRO.)

That's wonderful news -- I'll bet she'll be great in it.

Thank you so much for posting casting for this and other reps, PeggyR! I read with envy...

From the release: TODAY, Tuesday, February 24, 2015 
5:30 - 7pm, CHAT Lounge
 Gladfelter Hall, 10th fl., Temple University Live-streaming at www.temple.edu/boyer/dance/RR About Bodies of Memory: Identity Politics in the Early Cancan “What do you think of when I say the word ‘cancan’?” In this seminar, Dr Clare Parfitt-Brown unpicks our cultural memories of the cancan, revealing spurious ‘origins’, long performance histories, revolutionary allegiances, and an impulse to forget. Drawing on theories of cultural memory in performance, and extensive archival research on the cancan, the seminar will explore how knowledge about this popular dance form has been constructed by privileging certain historical narratives, and erasing others. About Clare Parfit-Brown Clare Parfitt-Brown is a Senior Lecturer in Dance at the University of Chichester. Her research focuses on the cultural histories of popular dance practices, particularly the cancan. She is a founding member of PoP Moves, an international working group to develop research into popular performance. Clare is currently an AHRC Early-Career Fellow leading the project ‘Dancing with Memory’, which explores the relationship between popular dance and cultural memory via the case study of the cancan.Clare has co-authored the books Planning Your PhD and Completing Your PhD, and published in The Oxford Handbook of Dance and the Popular Screen (Blanco Borelli, 2014) and Bodies of Sound: Studies Across Popular Music and Dance (Cook and Dodds, 2013).

Seattle Opera is presenting a new production of Georg Frideric Handel's "Semele" for seven performances with two casts of principals. I saw both this past weekend. Tomer Zvulun directs, and set, costume, and lighting designers are Erhard Rom, Vita Tzykun (SO debut), and Robert Wierzel. Donald Byrd did choreography for six spirits in blue, one of whom, Tori Peil, also know for her work in Olivier Wevers' Whim W'him, doubled as a named character, Pasithea, who is used as bait by Juno to get Somnus to help her to break into the fortress castle that Jupiter created to hide Semele. I appreciated Byrd's choreography when the dancers were the gods' minions and during a sensuous pas de deux on the balcony, and less so when it was big dance movement not specifically tied to characterization. According to conductor Gary Thor Wedow's program notes (paraphrase), after Italian opera went out of fashion in London and public tastes reverted to socially conservative forms of good-medicine entertainment, Handel adjusted to the times and wrote many oratorios, for which the public craved. "Semele," written in English, was something Handel tried to pretend was an oratorio, but the heroine, despite her demise, made the audience clutch its pearls, and it was revealed as an imposter. The main set was lovely and versatile: a series of five or six deep stairs as wide as the stage in light-medium gray, with a balcony up a half staircase upstage left, and a small bench downstage left -- where much lamenting happened -- that were fixed, and a bed on a platform and altar were ported as needed. There was a long high sail-like drape used to indicate a canopy behind the bed, and several translucent white curtains that were moved in and out for different scenes. Lighting added warm golds for an entirely different atmosphere. If SO were a rep company, I could see the set being accessorized for a lot of different operas and re-used. Dropped screens, scrims, and walls provided a canvas for the prodigious use of projections, including the opening credits and some static portraits -- or almost static: the portrait of Apollo blinked -- that were customized to the cast members, and others moving to create clouds, storms, landscapes, and a breathtaking view of the Earth from Semele's palace, upon which Semele and Ino gaze to end Act II. For Juno's scenes, a black leather chair on a low platform on wheels (as we come to find) downstage center was backed by a golden panel with vertical stripes flanked by curtains on either side, and this transitioned gracefully in and out of the main set. The costumes for the chorus, the Thebans, looked a bit like conservative "Star Trek" clothes for visiting ambassadors. In Act I, Semele wore a white gown with black details on the bodice; once she was swept to the castle, she wore floaty silky nightgowns, with, occasionally, a maroon, sleeveless dressing gown. Costumes for the gods were all over the map: Jupiter, in mortal guise, was a combination of a Tamino-like handsome guy with a bit of Don Giovanni after he tossed his cape and jacket. Iris wore a military-style longish jacket over leggings with kneepads and sneakers with lights. Pasithea's blue leotard (like the rest of the dancers) had a big half shell, shaped like a fan of peacock feathers, but solid and golden. Athamas' tux was stylized with gray trim. Somnus wore blue polka dotted pajama bottoms and a deep aqua blue bathrobe and that extended with a giant blue cape with white lights -- it looked like about a third of the width of the stage -- under which the dancers moved the cape and occasionally escaped. It's easy to make beautiful dresses for skinny people, but Vita Tzykun made dresses for Juno and Ina that were not only beautiful in themselves, but looked fantastic on Stephanie Blythe and Deborah Nansteel. Ino's dress featured a deep open coat with an inset in red and blue large geometric shards outlined in white. Jupiter's was in multi-layered blue and golds. I can't link to individual photos, but the photos on the SO site are terrific: http://seattleopera.org/tickets/2014-2015/semele/photos.aspx "Semele" has a cast of a Greek chorus plus six solo singers, with three doubled parts: Cadmus (King of Thebes, Semele's father) and Somnus (god of sleep), Ino (Semele's sister) and Juno, who impersonates Ino to trap Semele, and Jupiter and Apollo, who announces at the end that out of Semele's ashes Bacchus will arise. The Cadmus/Somnus, bass-baritone John del Carlo, whose recitatives were so clear the English supertitles weren't needed, sings in all performances, as does coloratura Amanda Forsythe as Iris, and countertenor Randall Scotting as Athamas (Semele's soon-to-be-ex-fiance and Ino's love). On Opening Night (Saturday), Brenda Rae sang Semele, Stephanie Blythe sang Ino/Juno, and Alek Shrader sang Jupiter/Apollo. On Sunday afternoon, Mary Feminear sang Semele, Deborah Nansteel sang Ino/Juno, and Theo Lebow sang Jupiter/Apollo. The latter cast also sings on Friday, 6 March, and the former the other four performances. Despite the fate of the heroine, the tone of the opera, so different from the bloodshed and betrayals in the serious Handel operas, is indicative of domestic drama, which so much of the Greek myths focus on between the punctuated equilibrium of war, and the music reminded me of Cleopatra's in "Giulio Cesare." There is a lot of lamenting in "Semele" amidst the fireworks. That this is one of those "Greek gods will be Greek gods" dramas, and that the fights and betrayals are between women is a lighter subject is punctuated by the Thebans' happy acceptance of Bacchus in Semele's place, okay, now let's dance. As vain as Semele might be, seeking immortality is not just vanity and pride, but speaks to time. Semele seems to have a lot of it, waiting around in silky gowns for Jupiter to stop running the world and come to see her, but she's spending that time with little else to do but fret, and she's not getting any younger. While I don't think she has a true concept of what being immortal might mean in terms of endless time, she thinks it will solve her immediate problem. I was sitting in Second Tier (top section) for both performances in the far left section (of five sections). On Saturday, I was farther to the auditorium wall in the 10th row; yesterday I was in the second row, one seat end closest to the center. Not unexpectedly, Stephanie Blythe has, by far, the biggest voice of all of the women. She sounded superb, and she's inhabits the god's jealous wife and leader role, leavened by humor. (She doesn't get to use her great gift for comedy and comedic nuance as Fricka.) It's not that Brenda Rae's voice is small, but Blythe could have blown her out of the water in their duet, and, instead their voices had a golden blend. Deborah Nansteel, who sang the roles on Sunday, has a beautiful voice and brilliant interpretation, but her voice is too small for McCaw Hall, which has great acoustics. When the orchestra was low, like during Ino's lament, you could hear a pin drop in the hall, she was so good, but when the orchestra picked up and was bright, she was hard to hear if not covered, the harmonies in the duet with Semele didn't register throughout her register, and (vocally) she wasn't a convincing queen of the gods: her Semele, Mary Feminear, sounded like she had the upper hand, and Iris, Amanda Forsythe, whose voice isn't huge, soared in their scenes together. (Coloraturas can carry over a lot.) It has to be inevitable that not only will Semele fail, but that Juno's personal strength will cause her to prevail and not by default because she's older and has better insurance. I wish I could have heard Nansteel in this opera in a smaller venue. I liked both Semele's very much. Mary Feminear's voice is brighter, and she had a bit more spark dramatically, but I don't remember being aware that Brenda Rae breathed at all during those long, long passages. I'm surprised Alek Shrader took on the role of Jupiter: it seemed to lie so low in the voice for much of the role, I didn't recognize his voice from other things I've heard him in, and he's singing in "Daughter of the Regiment" this summer in Santa Fe. Theo Lebow, like Nansteel a former SO Young Artist, sounded more comfortable in the range and also in the style -- the runs for him sounded natural -- and he also has a lovely top; his voice sounds heftier in general, at least in this role. SO keeps sending us winners in the cute tenor sweepstakes, and since the highlight of the opera for me is the sublime "Where e'er you walk," I was thrilled to hear two such beautiful interpretations. SO will broadcast the Rae/Blythe/Shrader cast this Saturday night, 28 February, at 7:30pm PST (10:30pm EST) on KING-FM, over the airwaves and through online streaming: http://www.king.org/pages/18011087.php? The "Listen" button gives a choice of computer or mobile player, which will launch a separate window (at least on a desktop).

Bill Gates was often referred to as "Billg," his Microsoft email name. Ballmer was known around these climes as "Steveb" for the same reason. (That's when people were being polite . Joyce DiDonato said in a master class at Carnegie Hall the other day that the "Rossini Mafia" used to call her "Miss America" behind her back.) Figure skaters are also referred to by their first names. I hate it in print and pixels for dancers or skaters, unless the writer is a tween or younger or the performer is known by a single name, a la Madonna or Sting. To me "Ashley" is and always will be Merrill Ashley.

I wouldn't have expected Kleber to dance "Ballo" the same way he danced STM, but dancers rarely show none of the qualities that make them distinguishable and unique, even when they don't appear as comfortable in a different style. It's been my experience that dancers I've seen over the long run often fall back to their comfort zone when they are uncomfortable in a new style. I did, though, think if it was the same dancer both nights, his feet were tidier on Friday.