Helene

I'm sure this has been done before, but I've never seen it, and I think it's brilliant: http://www.pnb.org/promo/singleseats?utm_source=Pacific+Northwest+Ballet&utm_campaign=26a7fec6b7-NUT14-SingleSeats30off&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_4f2d9028e9-26a7fec6b7-291617869 At this moment only stand-alone single tickets for this Saturday and Sunday are listed, not next weekend, and the website has the disclaimer that the discount doesn't apply to the lowest-price tickets.

Congratulations to Kirsher, Melac, Louvet, and Marchand

I've moved the thread to the Dancers forum.

Balanchine didn't think he liked ballet until he was in one, so that does make sense in a sad way.

I think the mistake is to thinking that natural and new audiences for ballet and opera are the same. There are far more dancers-in-training, who should be a natural audience for ballet in film, especially given the price point, for whom Saturday morning is a conflict than teenage opera singers. There are many teenagers in choirs, but that doesn't directly translate into being opera fans or future opera singers, as the voice is too undeveloped at that point, while dance training is in full frenzy or heading that way.

There are a lot of repeating themes, scenically and musically, and the major one is using Princess Pirlipat's story, although differently than the Morris used it in "The Hard Nut." The sets are wonderful, and there's a ton to see. I've seen it at least once, usually twice, each season since 1994, and I still see new things in it. It's not your average Act II because the dreamscape theme is extended into Act II. There's no Sugar Plum Fairy, but adult Clara instead. She dances an awakening Pas de Deux with the Nutcracker turned Prince -- to the transformation/bed music in Balanchine's version -- which is quite typical of Kent Stowell's neoclassical pas, and after they exit, the snowflakes dance. (No snow queen or king.) In the second act, she dances her variation to the Sugar Plum music in front of Pasha, in whose kingdom she's landed, and then there's the big Pas de Deux with coda. (The Prince also does his variation earlier in the act.) Korbes and Bold are wonderful together. I'd say go. The Second Tier at McCaw Hall is the equivalent of Third Tier at NYST or, at worst, Balcony at the Met, although more like Dress Circle. But grab a ticket quickly: except for the back Second Tier boxes, which I wouldn't recommend, there are only singles scattered around the house.

The casting for this coming weekend is up on the website: http://www.pnb.org/Season/14-15/Nutcracker/#Casting Here's the spreadsheet with new casting appended. As always, casting is subject to change: 2014 PNB Nutcracker Casting as of Dec 1.xlsx

PNB posted a Facebook video of a TV feature from 1985 on the making of the Sendak/Stowell "Nutcracker." I know I recognize a number of the dancers in the video, but I can't put names to faces. (It's a repost: PNB posted in tribute to Sendak in 2012.) https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10152628231373952&set=vb.21358443951&type=2&theater&notif_t=notify_me

Morgan retweeted a Dance Spirit Magazine tweet about an upcoming Q&A with her:

Almost of the RB dancers made that point earlier in "Striking a Balance," either having toured extensively in the early years of the company or having been part of the separate touring company after it was established and took in most of the school graduates.

Welcome to Ballet Alert! Pia. My personal welcome includes gratitude that when I went to your site, there's an article on my Flamenco teacher, Oscar Nieto!

I have a hard time not laughing in a certain scene in "Giselle" because my mind goes to a drunk Amelia (Leslie Browne) in "The Turning Point." I've never been able to shut that thought down.

I am so glad to hear the appreciations of Paola Hartley. I went to see Ballet Arizona in 2004 for the first time to see Magnicaballi, whom I had seen with Suzanne Farrell Ballet on tour in Berkeley. (Peter Boal also guested in "Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux."( Hartley stole my attention about two phrases into "Theme and Variation" during that trip.

Congratulations to her

Besides being an obvious crowd draw, I'm looking forward to seeing it, because his Dr. Coppelius was full of the humor we see at Q&A's;. PNB reposted this short video with Maria Chapman giving a backstage tour of "Nutcracker" from last season. (I miss Chapman, and if she isn't back for Don Q, where she was a wonderful Mercedes, she was fabulous in "in the middle" and the Forsythe program is in March.) It's a good way to see some of the sets and costumes up close.

As noted in today's Links, Peter Boal will reprise his Drosselmeier in NYCB's production of "The Nutcracker" on December 13 as research for PNB's production next year: http://balletalert.invisionzone.com/index.php?/topic/39504-wednesday-november-26/?p=346136

Black Friday sale for "Nutcracker" tickets, from PNB's email: Black Friday comes early this year! Enjoy 30% off all opening weekend performances of Nutcracker and 20% off other select Nutcracker performances. Hurry, offer ends Sunday at midnight! Here's the link, which lists all discounted performances: https://www.pnb.org/promo/sendak?utm_source=Pacific+Northwest+Ballet&utm_campaign=77acebf629-NUT14-blackfriday&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_4f2d9028e9-77acebf629-291617869

While I don't think that dancers should look like other dancers unless they naturally do, I loved Bessmertnova from DVD's, and a comparison to her is far from an insult to me.

According to the Vail website, "We are excited to welcome back Misty Copeland for the 2015 Vail International Dance Festival! We've missed her since she was here in 2011, and can't wait to have her back on the Festival stage for the International Evenings of Dance!" She's been there before. Woetzel has a history of cultivating artists and asking them to return. People in Denver rarely, if ever, have a chance to see any of the balllet dancers who perform at Vail unless they travel to do so. Many invited dancers do community outreach as part of their stint in Vail because it's integral to and integrated into the other work that Woetzel and Watts do. The good news is that she's getting more experience in this specialty, because not everyone does, and from my experience in Seattle, while people have good intentions, that doesn't make them automatically very good at it.

I'm sorry Lauren Cuthbertson is still injured. I loved her dancing when I was there in the late 00's.

Back in February, Boal said it was due to analyzing ticket sales, which have slumped; and the age of the production: http://seattletimes.com/html/thearts/2022886565_pnbseasonannouncementxml.html The age is an issue for sets and costumes, which require consistent maintenance, replacement and investment, not always the stuff of donor dreams. Whether moneywise it is the chicken or the egg -- ie, whether it was a solution in search of a problem -- isn't discussed, but the article concludes with a description of unanimity of the Board, "vigorous new fundraising," and a $1 million production gift. Hopefully the fundraising for this won't cannibalize general fund donations -- this was Speight Jenkins' concern when people would ask in Q&A's why the opera didn't do a special fundraiser to film the "Ring" to issue to DVD -- and time will tell whether the Balanchine is any more successful in creating new and repeat audiences after the initial novelty wears off, given the increased amount of holiday fare, and how much it will represent the Balanchine output for the company.

Harpo, Inc, the third defendant, is the one with deep pockets.

Luke Jennings tweeted a lovely photo of Sizova: My condolences to all who knew and were touched by her.

If you do go to Portland, please let us know what you think of it.

An article about a master carpenter and former PNB stage manager, and their experience with the Sendak/Stowell "Nutcracker,"