Helene

Carla Korbes was one of the five retiring ballerinas featured in a new Huffington Post piece which asked each about the biggest changes in the dance world: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/carla-escoda/changing-of-the-guard-five-prima-ballerinas-reflect-on-the-biggest-change-in-the-dance-world_b_6409688.html

It's generally not a problem for companies that grow their dancers. The Petipa classics are one of the great reps that provides roles for growth within the ballets. If he expects Principal dancers to pop out of the thigh of Zeus fully formed, I'm not sure he understands the role of an Artistic Director.

If we are talking about this production, the designer is, indeed, Luisa Spinatelli: http://www.naxos.com/catalogue/item.asp?item_code=DV-BLPAQ

"Swan Lake" is a different kettle of fish than "Serenade." There isn't a single role in "Serenade" that is the single focus or has to carry the ballet like Odette does. Kistler was an extraordinary talent, and we cling to those clips. Very few students trained in a neoclassical style would elicit the same response. Most of them aren't televised, though, for comparison's sake.

I have, and I like the costumes. I expect to have a grand time watching the transmission a week from Sunday.

Golden Idol, and for making my day. Amour, I have had mixed results with seating when getting an ABT trio. I'm usually not that picky, but I've gotten a few questionable seats at the Met.

Laura Capelle tweeted today:

I'm up for a movie about smart people. I just realized Matthew Goode is in it. (The actor who plays Finn Palmer on "The Good Wife." Will who?)

If you haven't already listened to it, Mr. Calmels was interviewed by Kimberly Falker for her Balancing Pointe podcast: http://balancing-pointe.com/fabrice-calmels/

If you're calling from a land line or cordless phone with independent buttons or a cell-phone on speakerphone or with an earphone -- so you don't have to pull the phone away to do this -- the best piece of advice I've ever read was in a book about negotiation. I think it was Herb Cohen's "How to Negotiate Anything." If you ever feel you're on the losing or pressured end of a telephone conversation, hang up on yourself mid-sentence. It's an immediate reset, and there's nothing to stop you from ignoring the call back.

Bravo to Mr. Johnson. There's an arts organization to whom I used to donate over $1000/year (my big yearly gift) and got it matched when I worked for a company that matched, and they made a second, unrelated big mistake in three-four years. Had they even said, "Whoops, thanks for telling us so that we can fix xyz system or process," (like the first time) that would have been enough. Their answer was, in essence, that it wasn't a big deal. Needless to say, I stopped donating. When the cost of acquisition of a donor, subscriber, and donor/subscriber is great, there's no excuse for losing them by refusing to acknowledge mistakes.

Happy New Year to our members all over the world! I would like to thank dirac for the huge amount of work it is to do Links all year round, and to Mme. Hermine for Sunday Links. rg's photos are a treasure for this site. :flowers: Thank you to all of the Moderators who do the behind-the-scenes stuff to keep us running, to Alexandra for founding our site, and to our members who contribute: the board and discussions are only as good as the people who take part in them, and we're lucky to have members who are generous with their time and energy. May you all have plenty of great ballet experiences in 2015 in good health and happiness!

That is great advice on both counts, mussel!

or cry? moment.

If you're taking about IQ, he has a legal degree.

Unfortunately, there are exceptions to the laws that define fines for telemarketers who call after being requested to never again call, but making it clear that any inclination you had to donate was destroyed by their call can do the truck, and contacting the marketing/fundraising department directly to be removed has worked in my experience.

Caveat: I don't have the Balanchine "Nutcracker DVD" and I'm trying to rely on memory from over a decade ago. I'm trying to compare the Stowell/Sendak "Nutcracker" to the Balanchine "Nutcracker" role-wise, and this is what I have so far: Mime and character roles, Act I: In S/S Drosselmeier appears after the overture to lead the Pirlipat/Mouse King/Nutcracker scene; no equivalent in GB. In S/S grandparents are guests (that enable guest appearances); in GB, they are character dancing roles in the party dance. In S/S there are a separate pair of little kids who bicker; in GB, they are Marie and Fritz. In S/S, Clara is a tween, with two tween friends; in GB, all of the children are around the same age. In S/S there is no nephew role; in GB, the nephew appears throughout Act I, once he arrives with Drosselmeier. In S/S the mouse family (one woman, one boy, one girl) that triggers the battle; in GB there's a bunny soldier. In S/S after his exit from the party, Drosselmeier disappears until Act II; in GB there is the extended mime scene to the violin solo from Sleeping Beauty while Clara sleeps. In S/S there is a cavalry; in GB there are foot soldiers. Dancing roles, Act I In S/S, there is the Pirlipat/Mouse King/Nutcracker dance after the overture (three kids); no equivalent in the GB version. In S/S, there is more dancing for the Warrior Mouse than for the GB seven-headed Mouse King In S/S, there is a ballerina doll; in GB there is Colombine and Harlequin, both danced by women In S/S, there is a masque (music from "Pique Dame") for two men and woman; no equivalent in the GB version In S/S, there is a neoclassical pas de deux for adult Clara and Prince (to the bed music in the GB version); no equivalent in the GB version. Character and mime roles, Act II In S/S, Pasha (Drosselmeier in disguise) has a role throughout the Act; no equivalent in the GB versions In S/S, there is a mime scene during the Act II overture for Clara and Prince; in GB this is danced by the Angels. In S/S, the Prince does the mime, aided by Clara; in GB the nephew does. In S/S, tween Clara appears for the last 10 seconds; in GB Marie has a mime role and watches Act II. Dancing roles, Act II In S/S, for the students, there are Pasha's slaves (many ages), Chinese Tiger (4 girls on point), and in Toy House; in the GB version, there are students in Angels during the overture, in Candy Cane, in Tea (4 girls on point), and in Mother Ginger (similar to Toy House). In S/S there are the leads for Moors, the solo Peacock, Flora and the flowers, and the Grand Pas; in the GB version, there are the leads for Hot Chocolate, the solo Coffee, Dewdrop and the Flowers, and the Grand Pas. In S/S, Chinese Tiger is danced by a student in a Sendak Tiger costume; in GB this is a male solo. In S/S, there is Commedia for two women and a man; in GB it's a female solo and four females corps. In S/S, there are three virtuoso men in Dervishes; in GB there's a great male lead backed by students in Candy Cane. In S/S, there's no one leading the kids in Toy House; in GB, there's Mother Ginger. Dance wise for it's about even, apart from the two Pirlipat/Mouse King/Nutcracker dances. The biggest impact is in the role of Drosselmeier, and the next biggest looks to be on the kids, where the roles and ages shift around. I think NYCB has integrated guests into the production; I just don't remember how. I'd appreciate it if people add info and post corrections.

I think there's still anger over the manuscripts in Stepanov notation having been taken out of Russia and then sold and eventually donated to Harvard, even if Russian companies have zero interest in using them, and Mariinsky having chosen the Soviet version of Sleeping Beauty over the reconstruction.

Not to mention having cut out hours of his masterpieces, changed the style of all of the male variations, and added 190 degree extensions.

Ismene Brown just published commentary and a translation of Nikolai Tsiskaridze's latest thoughts on the West to her blog: http://www.ismeneb.com/Blog/Entries/2014/12/28_Save_Russian_ballet_from_half-trained_West%2C_says_Tsiskaridze.html He is the gift that keeps on giving.