Helene

Calmels is listed as 6'6" on the info page from the Balancing Pointe podcast: http://balancing-pointe.com/fabrice-calmels/

Principal casting is up for weekend 1: http://www.pnb.org/Season/14-15/DonQuixote/#Casting Here's the spreadsheet: Don Q Jan-Feb 2015 Casting.xlsx Seth Orza (Basilio, with Elizabeth Murphy) and Rachel Foster (Cupid) are back! First weekend debuts: Elizabeth Murrphy, Kitri, Saturday matinee (Jan 31) Lindsi Dec,Kitri, Saturday evening (Jan 31) Sarah Ricard Orza (with Jerome Tisserand), Mercedes, Saturday matinee (Jan 31) Carrie Imler (with Batkhurel Bold), Mercedes, Saturday evening (Jan 31) Margaret Mullin (with Sarah Orza), Juanita, Friday (Jan 30) Angelica Generosa (with Leta Biasucci), Juanita, Saturday matinee (Jan 31) Leta Biasucci (with Angelica Generosa), Piccilia, Saturday matinee (Jan 31) Raphael Bouchard, Gamache, Saturday matinee (Jan 31) Lesley Rausch, Queen of the Dryads, Friday (Jan 30)

From the program notes from the "Paquita" HD transmission we saw in the Nesholm Family Lecture Hall (formerly the main year-round screen of the Seattle International Film Festival, and wonderfully fitted out) that I think were part of the program in Munich, Wilfried Hoesl interviewed Alexei Ratmansky.

It wasn't in print, and it was a retired dancer. Definitely not Copeland, but maybe Johnson.

Oh, I wish I could see this. I don't mean to hijack this thread, but I think someone who's interested in this thread might know. I remember seeing a program in which a prominent retired black ballerina was talking about a (summer?) program for dancers of color and who that the program was important because, on the whole, black ballet students don't get the corrections in class. Does anyone know where I would have seen this? Was it in the Jacob's Pillow doc? Am I misremembering seeing it, because it was a piece on radio?

PNB just published this wonderful photo of Maria Chapman and her baby daughter by Stacy (Lowenberg) Ebstyne to Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PNBallet/photos/np.270518957.688777437/10152759085393952/ It's got wonderful energy. I hope the long tulle practice skirt means we'll see Chapman in the Don Q Dream Act. . The reason Chapman has been out is in the photo, but I'm selfish, and I miss her dancing.

PNB posted the dates for the Skeritt/Galli performances: Tom Skerritt & Allen Galli Performances: Friday, Jan 30 at 7:30 Saturday, Jan 31 at 7:30 Thursday, Feb 5 at 7:30 Friday, Feb 6 at 7:30 Saturday, Feb 7 at 1 Saturday, Feb 7 at 7:30 Sunday, Feb 8 at 7 Otto Neubert and Jonathan Porretta will perform on: Saturday Jan 31 at 1 Sunday Feb 8 at 1 Please note: all matinee performances begin at 1pm, including Saturdays. Casting for the featured roles for at least the first weekend should be out any day now, tomorrow the earliest.

Barry Kerollis just won an Outstanding Choreography award from YAGP. He had four students from Alaska competing in Philadelphia this weekend. http://instagram.com/p/yBQ_EQje06/

I just looked at the casting for Giselle/Albrecht for San Francisco Ballet's upcoming Giselle. Of the eight performances, there are seven casts. Maria Kochetkova and Vitor Luiz are cast for the opener and the last matinee. The other casts get one, with Tiit Helimets partnering two Giselles: Frances Chung (debut) and Luke Ingham Mathilde Froustey/Tiit Helimets Vanessa Zahorian/Taras Domitro Sarah Van Patten/Carlos Quenedit (debut) Yuan Yuan Tan/Davit Karapetyan Lorena Feijoo/Tiit Helimets.

Thank you,, Mme. Hermine!

There's a new thread on "Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux" here: http://balletalert.invisionzone.com/index.php?/topic/39698-balanchine-tschaikovsky-pas-de-deux/#entry348479

Absolute speed isn't the only measure of speed. Two dancers can do a variation in 42 seconds, but one will do specific steps quickly and hold another step longer, like quick beats and boom!, into passe, holding the passe, and another will do everything more evenly -- either a choice or because she can't do the beats and the transitions with speed -- in the same amount of time. Another three dancers will try similar phrasing, and one will show the work and the attempt at speed will look jarring, another will add more torso and epaulement and still look effortless, and another will have a still torso, while moving her feet and legs at a speed that seems impossible. Many non-Balanchine dancers attempting Balanchine look rushed. One reason is that classically trained dancers use a lot of articulation in their backs and torso and a lot more epaulement than is built into most neoclassical choreography. You can see that all over the Mariinsky and POB "Jewels" for example, when they take it at the right tempos. (Sometimes, they slow it down, particularly "Diamonds" and dance it as Odette.) On the other hand, many neoclassical dancers look rushed in the classics, especially with their arms, because they are so used to being so relatively square, that they don't articulate through the ribs in the same way. When they move their arms from forward/square to over to the side and back on the diagonal in a Fairy variation, for example, the arm has to travel a long distance. A classically trained dancer will already have started a spiral with the ribs, and the arms travel over a shorter distance and float to the position with ease. At PNB this past Fall, a corps member made her debut in the Verdy role in "Emeralds." Verdy was known for her beautiful upper body, arms, and hands, and the "Emeralds" solo, sometimes referred to as the "Bracelet" solo, showcased this. Leah Merchant is more prominently cast in neoclassical works, her arms tend to be more spiky than round, and like many neoclassical dancers, her hands are less articulate than her feet. There were two young soloists who also made their debuts in the role: one emphasized the spirals in the torso, and the other had more classical rounded arms and more delicate hands. However, Merchant lit up the space with a warmth and maturity that was astonishing. When a dancer can do that, you know she has a connection to the originator that can't be taught. The role wasn't originally meant for Verdy. It was another ballet Balanchine had in mind for Diana Adams -- and Jacques d'Amboise -- but Adams couldn't do it at the time, and he started to work with Verdy. I'm not sure how far into the process this happened. Adams and Verdy were two very different dancers. McBride was not like either of them. To address sandik's point, the roles in Tchaikovsky PDD, where different dancers are able to tailor the solos to their own strengths, was meant to be a little black dress, but a little black dress that people with a certain training were meant to wear. It doesn't stop others from trying, and it doesn't stop people from liking non-Balanchinean dancers' versions better, as many like the Mariinsky Balanchine better than NYCB's, because those performances have Mariinsky virtues, some of which Balanchine deliberately jettisoned.

During his tenure as Bolshoi AD, he gave opportunities to and nurtured young dancers. Unfortunately, there was a lot of push-back from dancers in the higher ranks who felt bypassed by the dancers jumping the queue.

One of the big discussions in the Mariinsky forum and a thread in "Writings on Ballet" in response to an interview Yuri Fateev gave is that Fateev is not developing talent, but instead is letting superb Vaganova graduates leave, or they are left stagnating in the corps, with a few favorites pushed to the forefront. (This was particularly acute when three ballerinas were out on maternity leave.) One of the issues that had been brewing and then discussed actively after the attack on Filin was favoritism at the Bolshoi, not to mention five-to-an-apartment compensation for the corps. Even in the best of times, it's not surprising that corps members languish in the biggest companies where full-lengths dominate: Bolshoi: of the 218 dancers, (not including 10 "under contract", some of whom are character dancers) 157 are members of the corps (88 women and 69 men), or 72%. While there are four other ranks -- Principal, Lead Soloist, First Soloist, Soloist -- that can reflect growth through the repertoire, that's a large percentage of the company that is doing a lot of things like this, at least the 88 women, 40% of the company. Mariinsky: of the 193 dancers, 125 members are member of the corps, or 65% and 25 are coryphees 13% or 78% in total. The 67 corps women (35%) and 16 coryphees (8%) comprise 43% of the company. There are three other ranks: Principal, First Soloist, and Second Soloist, and there is currently a Guest Soloist. American Ballet Theatre: of the 90 dancers and apprentices, there are 59 corps and 6 apprentices, 72% of the company or, if the 8 guest artists are included, 66% of the company. The women, 36 corps and 4 apprentices, are 44% or 40% if the guest artists are included. Female corps are a lower percentage in POB and SFB, which have a broader mix of rep. POB does plenty of full-lengths, but many are neoclassical or contemporary. They also have a system for promotions, which, in years when there are retirements, allows dancers to move up the ranks. There aren't any situations like at NYCB when there are a dozen promotions, though. Paris Opera Ballet: of the 153 dancers, 43 (28%) are quadrilles and 38 (25%) are coryphees, or 53% of the company. The women are 21 quadrilles and 27 quadrilles, or 31% of the company. San Francisco Ballet: of the 85 dancers plus apprentices, 46 are corps or apprentices, or 54% of the company. The women (22 of 40 corps and 4 of 6 apprentices) are 26, or 31% of the company. The rep at NYCB is so broad with so many opportunities to feature dancers regardless of rank, that the numbers don't make as much of a difference as they do in the big Russian companies: New York City Ballet: 55 of the 91 dancers are corps, or 61%. 34 are women, or 37%. I don't see the apprentices listed; they would increase the numbers and percentages.

I don't think those interpretations include precisely those qualities the artist fought against, unless the artist has a stated change of heart. It also matters what Balanchine would have thought as a study of Balanchine. However, we can only have our best analyses about this, and speaking for another person has its traps. Maybe. She was not trained in Balanchine, and it's possible that this was the best she could do with the choreography. Only as far as the extent to which the AD is taking any particular taste into consideration when presenting work and casting dancers.

I can't imagine what it must be like for them, cramming any coaching and rehearsal that they get for that Met season that punches through full-length after full-length. Some data from other major companies: Bolshoi Ballet: "Swan Lake" has been performed a number of times each calendar year. There were six mini-spurts (1-2 performances at a time) in 2012, and two sets of four performances in 2014. Similarly "Giselle", and the less-frequently performed "La Bayadere." "Sleeping Beauty" has been only performed for five or six performances in a row for the last four years. "Le Corsaire" is a mix, depending on the year. (Click "All Dates.") Mariinsky Ballet: I can only find future performances listed on the Mariinsky website, but BA! Calendar to the rescue, at least for 2013 and 2014. (Before that, I didn't realize the extent to which they updated their calendar each year.) The Mariinsky performed "Swan Lake" in eight-nine different small blocks* throughout 2014, and 2013 showed a similar pattern, although it was not performed as frequently. "Giselle," "Sleeping Beauty," "La Bayadere," and the more sporadically performed "Romeo and Juliet," "Spartacus," "Legend of Love," etc. follow the same pattern: performances scattered throughout the year. (It's rare for the Mariinsky to perform multiple performances of a ballet for more than two days in a row, aside from touring.) Paris Opera Ballet and Royal Danish Ballet are not rep companies in a pure sense: they have, at most, four productions that overlap at the beginning/end of a run, two for each stage. A short run of a full-length for POB is eight or nine performances of 2.5-3 weeks. For the more popular full-lengths, 12-14 performances of "Manon" or "Swan Lake" over 4.5-5 weeks is the norm. Royal Danish Ballet, which performs in two theaters, has less overlap, but they have had two programs overlapping in the same theater on occasion, and the new "La Sylphide"/"Etudes" program has had a few performances scattered on the calendar since the main premiere run. New York City Ballet is a rep company that has tweaked with how they put programs together, but the full-lengths ("Swan Lake," "R+J," "Midsummer," and "Sleeping Beauty," tend to be run three-seven performances in a row at a time. I assume this is because it's easier to keep the sets up and leverage rehearsal time. Carrying a one-act, however brilliantly, which many NYCB dancers do, is not the same as carrying a full-length clasical ballet, especially if the mime hasn't been decimated, and it's a special skill that few are able to hone without growing through the development roles. This is despite years of training and performing extensively in mime, acting, and character dancing in their school years. It's a rare gift, separate from the technical skills needed, to be able to do this without extensive coaching, slow growth, and experience. Some have it, but that's not the norm, and most of the greatest dancers had to develop the skill over time, even the one's who were preternaturally talented. I admire Matej Urban's performance in the new Ratmansky "Paquita" so much because it's as much, if not more, of a mime role as a dancing role, and his miming and acting was seamless. It isn't the type of performance, though, that's much prized at ABT. Edited to add: The relative sizes of the companies, venue(s), and home/residency season (not including touring, which varies)): Royal Ballet:80 dancers, plus 6 guest artists and one Principal guest artist. One main theater, shared with Royal Opera. Home season runs September-July Mariinsky Ballet:193 dancers Two theaters, shared with the Mariinsky Opera, various tributes, and some musical events (symphony and chamber) Home season runs year-round Bolshoi Ballet:218 dancers + 10 "under contract" Two stages, shared with the Bolshoi Opera, various tributes, and some musical events Season runs year-round Paris Opera Ballet:153 dancers Two stages, shared with the Paris Opera Home season runs September-July San Francisco Ballet:79 dancers + 6 apprentices (presumably school students to fill in the corps of "Nutcracker" and other big ballets) One stage, shared with San Francisco Opera, which has War Memorial from Sept-beginning of December and mid-May-July Home season runs mid-December through mid-May New York City Ballet:91 dancers + apprentices and PD students to fill in corps roles One stage Home seasons are a couple of weeks in the Fall, Dec-Feb, and April-beginning of June, then residency of 1-3 weeks in Saratoga Springs American Ballet Theatre:84 dancers + 6 apprentices + 8 guest artists Shares the Met with Metropolitan Opera, which has Met Opera from September-mid-May; shares NYST with NYCB for the short Fall season (after years of sharing City Center with everyone else) Homes seasons are a couple of weeks in the Fall and mid-May-July at the Met. I may have mis-counted here and there, but the magnitudes are the same. San Francisco Ballet is a hybrid company, where except for Nutcracker and the occasional full-length, two mixed-bill programs are performed in rep over three weeks. The Royal Ballet performs more full-lengths than SFB and NYCB.

She'd have a field day with Hubbe's new "La Sylphide."

Many of the points in this thread not in direct response to any one poster, but were triggered by not only Amour's post, but several in the discussion in a similar vein and resulted in a number of opinions about "What should/could Misty have done" which reflected the progression of the discussion itself. That's the way a lot of our threads roll. A quote is not necessary or even advised if it either the post directly follows what would be quoted and is a clear response to what comes before, because it makes difficult reading on a phone or tablet, or the post is in response or extension of many points in the discussion, so that the people quoted don't rightly say, "??? I didn't say that." A board housekeeping issue is that the quote function is not elegant functionality and creates many nested quotes -- although the other, more common implementation, also has its limits -- which are difficult to edit without clicking the "light switch" icon in the upper left under the "B" (bold key), and many people eschew it altogether.

[Admin beanie on] "I heard" is not official news. It's pretty much the definition of unofficial news. [Admin beanie off]

I was expecting to see something different when I played the video. I still don't like that kind of type bodice on dancers in general, because it makes them look out-of-proportion, but I didn't think she looked top-heavy at all. I've seen more photos of her in civilian clothes in which she looked bustier, probably because they were fitted at the waist and it was a proportional, rather than absolute, size effect.

Considering that this post triggered much if the discussion on this thread and that it was not an isolated opinion, another option is to trust that people have been following it rather than assuming a bad-faith strawman argument.

"Morally objectionable to the artist" is also subject to precedent, if the artist has already performed in a similar work happily, as well as context, if the artist is having other difficulties with a work. I'm not saying either is the case here, but I doubt it's as cut-and-dried as a simple announcement, unless the AD wants to make it that simple. It's also simpler to replace a featured dancer in many instances and give the opportunity to work with a sought-after choreographer to a dancer who is willing, if the choreographer is not interested in making a change. It is a breach to disregard the choreography rather than invoking the morality clause, defending/explaining making that decision if asked, and bowing out. Unless Lane specifically pushed her partner's hand away or blocked it, Amour's statement that Lane wouldn't "let" him touch her breast assumes that she was a reluctant one and that it was her decision to change the choreography or demand a change, not her partner's. Even if she had pushed him away, the statement assumes that it was not the choreographer's intent, something the choreographer thought looked better on that couple and/or an agreement between the partners. Instead it reads as a unilateral choice, whether it be moral and/or aesthetic, on her part, and a choice to be vulgar on Copeland's.

Tapfan, everyone that you mentioned but McBride is not a Balanchine-trained dancer. People who have seen many Balanchine-trained dancers perform it over a half century are comparing her speed and approach mainly to those dancers. It's rare for any dancer anywhere to compare favorably to Balanchine-trained dancers or dancers in companies run by former NYCB dancers in this rep, unless the viewer prefers other virtues. (See discussions of the Mariinsky and POB "Jewels" DVD's and performances.) Using Bussell, for example, as a benchmark of Balanchine virtue, isn't setting the bar very high. I haven't seen the Kennedy Center program, but I have 35+ years of watching this ballet live plus video (McBride, Hayden, Verdy, the short clips of Farrell in "The Turning Point,") and that will inform my opinion of her dancing when I finally do. Add that into the mix of criticism. I liked her very much in the clip from Vail. I liked her robustness and her ability to go from high to low and not look lost when the movement was earthbound, which I think was very deliberate especially in the parallel movement with Prescott.

As for whether any dancer could refuse to dance in a work that they found offensive and be disciplined for being in breach, if the contract language is the same as the language in Boston's, since nudity is the only example mentioned specifically, factors such as precedent and interpretation ("I know it when it see it") would come into the negotiation. The most obvious action that a company would take is to replace a dancer who had objections, active or passive, if it came to the morality provisions. Nudity, they have addressed up front before casting, which saves a lot of grief. Lots of people find the "Agon" PDD and "Bugaku" vulgar and offensive. Or to use an example of a work with 15 seconds that make people walk out and/or vow to never see it again, there's Mark Morris's "Dido and Aeneas." (More room for me.) I certainly don't see why dancers should object to choreography they're given, or why they wouldn't do them to the best of their ability -- ie, their contractual obligation -- just because someone else finds it vulgar or offensive, unless they do it voluntarily out of deference to someone close to them.

Bravo, miliosr!