Helene

Here's a great photo by Marc Haegeman of Vishneva and Lantratov rehearsing on stage: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=627162360678122

First weekend casting is up on the website: http://www.pnb.org/Season/13-14/SleepingBeauty/#Casting Four performances first weekend, and all four Auroras and Florimunds get one. Peter Boal said there were four casts, and it looks like there's one Lilac, Florine/Bluebird, and Gold and Silver trio per cast: Jan 31: Kaori Nakamura and Seth Orza/Laura Tisserand/Leta Biasucci and Benjamin Griffiths/Lindsi Dec, Jerome Tisserand, and Andrew Bartee Feb 1 mat: Rachel Foster and Batkhurel Bold/Lindsi Dec/Liora Neuville and Eric Hipolito Jr./Angelica Generosa, Benjamin Griffiths, and Kyle Davis Feb 1 eve: Lesley Rausch/Karel Cruz/Carrie Imler/Carli Samuelson and James Moore/Laura Tisserand, William Lin-Yee, and Joshua Grant Feb 2 mat: Leta Biasucci/Jerome Tisserand/Sarah Ricard Orza/Jahna Frantziskonis and Ezra Thomson/Elizabeth Murphy, Eric Hipolito Jr., and Price Suddarth. Maria Chapman and Otto Neubert play the Queen and King. Jonathan Porretta is Carabosse on Friday and Saturday nights and the Sunday matinee. Timothy Lynch is Carabosse for the Saturday matinee. The fairies and divertissement casting isn't strictly split into four casts, and lots of opportunities have been spread around for corps members.

There's a lot of history involved. This discussion board was originally named "Ballet Alert!," then it changed to "Ballet Talk," and then back to "BalletAlert!". There were two websites, ballettalk.com and balletalert.com. balletalert.com was the online presence of the now-retired quarterly print publication, "Ballet Alert!, just as danceviewtimes.com is the online presence for the quarterly print publication "Dance View." It is the balletalert.com archival site to which Alexandra refers. When we became a hosted site, our URL changed from ballettalk.com to ballettalk.invisionzone.com, and when we changed our name from Ballet Talk back to Ballet Alert!, our URL changed to balletalert.invisionzone.com. Our host and software provider very kindly allowed us to keep ballettalk.invisionzone.com as a redirect to this site. Until a few years ago, we kept ballettalk.com for email and a redirect page to here. Once we changed to gmail for our correspondence, we disabled the site altogether. If you go to that URL now, you will see that it directs to a holding page and is available.

I think she also thanked the "Bolshoi" Foundation and Trust in French, but the Balanchine Trust and Foundation in English. I don't know how she does it at all, in addition to doing greetings in at least three other languages than Russian, English, and French. Not to mention the difficult year she's had...

Although I found many reviews that would make it appear that "Harlequinade" is always a stand-along, because no other ballet was mentioned or the subject was only "Harlequinade" (Nancy Dalva's) Mary Cargill wrote a review of a performance on 20 January 2004, when "Harlequinade returned after a hiatus, and "Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 2" was the opener: http://danceviewtimes.com/dvny/reviews/2004/winter/nycb4.htm There's also a current offer on amazon for a program with the same two ballets listed as from January 18, 1980. I've also found reviews where the opener was "Allegro Brillante" (2005), and I think I saw it once paired with "Who Cares?" -- a long evening -- in 2004, but I can't read whether the "Who Cares?" date was November 2004 or January 2004. Along the way I found a poster of McBride and Villella in "Harlequinade": http://www.allposters.com/-sp/New-York-City-Ballet-Company-Stars-Edward-Villella-and-Patricia-Mcbride-Performing-Harlequinade-Posters_i5173371_.htm It's like "La Sylphide," which is often paired with another ballet. (In Copenhagen, I saw it with "Etudes" in 2003 and "The Lesson" in 2012, for Thomas Lund's retirement performance.)

The difference between the two is the momentum that's part of the Balanchine style. At any point in Smirnova's performance of the PDD, you could take a beautiful photograph, and her dancing was beautiful, but what was missing for me was the propulsion and the risk of being off balance and hitting a non-standard or non-pretty postion. The woman in the "Diamonds" PDD is not a subdued or controlled creature, and she's not explaining herself. She just is.

I watch figure skating over the internet on Russian Eurosport (usually on Sport 2, but sometimes they move around) through TVTeka. They eventually show everyone that exists on the host feed. A subscription is $30 for three months and includes a lot of other channels, including Kultur (Rossiya K), where I can sometimes catch some ballet and ballet-related news stories/features with some dance clips. I don't understand Russian and used Google translate to get through most of the screens and to translate emails I receive, but while there's sometimes buffering if the servers are overloaded, I've had very good luck with them, and they archive, so you don't always have to watch real-time. Plus, there's an advantage to not understanding a word the commentators are saying, although you have had Hogner.

Why don't I have one of those things Professor McGonagill gave Hermione Granger so that she could be more than one place at the same time ...

I wish there was a sarcasm font for websites. The thread title was meant to be sarcastic: in Seattle last weekend, almost everyone was in Seahawks regalia, including some dogs, and even people who didn't know the name of the team last November or even that Seattle still had a football team. At least the team colors are nice and blend into the weather and landscape of sea, sky, and trees. That's not to say there aren't ardent Seahawks and other NFL team fans among PNB dancers: in the past, they've made their fandom known, even when their team was not competitive (and in places I never knew had football teams.)

That makes sense: the theater might have gotten: Alexeyev Lantratov Obraztsova Tiikhomirova and thought the first man and the first woman would be dancing together.

I remember when the NY Giants were playing in the Super Boal, and I went to a performance of NYCB. Back then, they had a little set-off area with a pay phone, at least on the upper levels. I called Sports Phone at every intermission and after the game to find out the score.

It's not as if PNB doesn't try to get people to see performances at On the Boards, UW Dance, Spectrum, etc., but not the ballet in cinema stuff. There is a bias for live dance and that video is the wrong way to see dance.

I can't tell the difference between the two from the photos on the site, and they both had their hair swept back. Novikova did sound like she was saying that Lantratov partnered Stashkevich, but in the casting sheet they gave us, Alexeyev was paired with Obraztsova and Tikhomirova was paired with Lantratov. When they scrolled the credits, I thought I saw Alexeyev listed with his ballerina, and Lantratov with Tikhomirova. The credits weren't in alphabetical order mixing the couples like on the Bolshoi site. Maybe the (movie) theater got the wrong casting info. They had a lot of interesting casting according to the Bolshoi site. Last season, Parienko, the lighter-haired woman in the trio, and Stashkevich did Emeralds, and Shipulina, Tall Girl in "Rubies" did the Mimi Paul role in "Emeralds." (We've had that casting in Seattle, too, with Ariana Lallone.) Ryzhkina and Smirnova, today's "Diamonds" ballerina, did "Emeralds" too. Obraztsova did "Diamonds" and the Verdy role in "Emeralds." (Carla Korbes did that in Seattle, too.) Merkuriev did "Rubies," like he did in June with Kaptsova, Stashkevich, and Kretova (a few days ago.) Krysanova has also done "Diamonds."

The Met has also blocked cinemas who want to broadcast other opera broadcasts, like the Royal Opera and La Scala. In dance, no company has the clout to do that. While not every cinema/org shows all of the ballet, in Vancouver, Scotiabank (Cineplex) Theatre shows the Bolshoi Ballet, Royal Ballet, and I think they did a Netherlands Dance Theatre mixed bill last season. That allows them to play lots of promos for other broadcasts/showings -- they also do the National Theatre and their own Classic Film Series -- and to print the upcoming months' schedule on the back of the cast lists. They've tried to cross-pollinate with the opera crowd, but ballet seems to be a harder sell than theater to the classically minded crowd, and there's no local classical ballet company to get people excited. Sunday afternoons out west are a difficult time slot, too: they kill a weekend afternoon. The trade-off for getting to the Met HD's at 9-10am is that it's time for a late lunch on Saturday, but the rest of the day is free. The Met also has an 80+ year history of Saturday afternoon broadcasts; I've heard many audience members say that they've listened to the radio broadcasts for years. The audience is already marinating. At the Met broadcasts a Vancouver Opera volunteer gives a short promo speech when there is an upcoming performance, and there are always some promo materials to take away. Ballet BC hasn't done this at any of the ballet presentations I've seen, but their rep doesn't resemble any of the broadcast rep. (Maybe they were there during the NDT program.)

There were about 100 in the Scotiabank Cineplex today. It didn't look like a busy day there overall: there were no lines at ~4pm when we got out, and few people milling around. Met in HD's in Vancouver are a lot different: for most operas, one medium-sized theater is usually sold out except for the first five rows (which are dizzy-making) and a smaller-theater that is at least 75% sold. For the ballet, 100 is a big crowd, unless it's "Sleeping Beauty," which sold out. It will be interesting to see how the Royal Ballet/Osipova/Acosta "Giselle"will do a week from Monday. I thought it was funny that the written commentary said that the ballets in "Jewels" represented the three schools important to Balanchine: Paris Opera Ballet for "Emeralds," American ballet for "Rubies," and Russian classical ballet for "Diamonds." During second intermission, Novikova said that some people explain it this way and others say it represents the three cities most important to Balanchine -- Paris, New York, St. Petersburg -- or three types of performance -- romanticism, musical comedy (?), and classical ballet -- but that Balanchine said it was about the music of Faure, Stravinsky, and Tchaikovsky. We also had a little promo video for the National Ballet of Canada School, narrated by faculty member Cheryl Belkin Epstein. She explained a little about the progression through the school, with a lot of focus on partnering. She said that students first learn partnering in character dancing, so they get used to spacial relations and having a partner (and something else I missed.) Then the students progress slowly, with the boys learning what the girls need to stay balanced when being partnered, then learning assisted jumps to work toward full lifts and the gamut of PDD work. The boys work on upper body strength along the way.

On the West Coast we get the Bolshoi broadcasts on tape delay. This afternoon was "Jewels." The full cast is listed here: http://www.bolshoi.ru/en/performances/456/roles/ Originally Evgenia Obraztsova was cast in the Violette Verdy role in "Emeralds" but this was updated on the Bolshoi website and through a press release posted by volcanohunter and rg on a Bolshoi HD update thread. Spokesperson Katerina Novikova mentioned in her intro to "Emeralds" that Anastasia Stashkevich and Vladislav Lantranov would perform. Stashkevich (in the Violette Verdy role) was partnered by Ivan Alexeyev, and Ivan Alexeyev* Lantranov partnered Anna Tikhomirova (in the Mimi Paul role). The Pas de Trois was performed by Yanina Parienko (lighter hair) , Igor Tsivirko, and Ana Turazashvili (darker hair). The original trio was Suki Shorer, Sara Leland, and John Prinz; I'm not sure which woman danced which variation. In the "Choreography by George Balanchine" program, Heather Watts danced the role Parienko did today, and Bonita Borne danced the role Turazashvili did. In "Rubies" Ekaterina Krysanova and Vyacheslav Lopatin danced the central couple, and Ekaterina Shipulina danced Tall Girl. In Diamonds, Olga Smirnova and Semyon Chudin led the ensemble. (Turazashvili was one of the two demis in the first movement and one of the four demis in the third and fourth movements.) The camera work, for much of it at medium range and level with the dancers, made it difficult to see the patterns of the corps whenever there were soloists in front of them. There were some overhead and long shots of the corps in action that gave glimpses of the geometry. Still, if this were released on DVD, I would buy it for a few key performances. It seems that there are two steps in learning to dance Balanchine: the first is to be able to handle the speed, and the second is to be able to hide the work that goes in and give the steps breath. My overall impression is that while many parts were beautifully danced, far fewer dancers got to step two, and that made the choreography look busier than usual. I've really liked Krysanova in the past, and it's not that she danced badly, but 45 years ago, while most of the current crop of Bolshoi dancers' mothers were children, Balanchine created a devil of arole for Patricia McBride, who tossed it off as if it were play, riffing on the music, and Krysanova didn't have that luxury. Lopatin projected more ease in the man's role. Stashkevich was regal, especially in the main PDD, but the wasn't much luxuriousness or perfume in her solo, which looked rushed. Anna Tikhomirova's first entrance is her solo, immediately following Stashkevich's, and almost immediately, she created a world and atmosphere by breathing with and responding to the arc and character of the music. She has the remarkable ability to move her feet and arms at two different temps, but in complete harmony. She never looked rushed, and her phrasing breathed. It was as fine a performance of the solo as I've seen in many decades of watching the ballet, and her walking PDD with Lantratov was a highlight. Ekaterina Shipulina did not dance the Tall Girl I am used to, but she commanded the stage and was the center of the ballet. She could go from energized pose to full movement without showing any preparation whatsoever. She got it. I think Olga Smirnova is a beautiful dancer, but the central PDD of "Diamonds" is not "Swan Lake," and Smirnova, like Lopatkina in the Mariinsky DVD and Letestu in the POB DVD, danced it as if she was dancing Odette. To her credit, she was dancing the Balanchine one-act "Swan Lake," and not distorting the tempo, line, or phrasing to do it. I much preferred her in the Scherzo and Finale: her allegro dancing was sensational. Chudin's variations were terrific: he does double tours and pirouettes as if they are a piece of cake. Neither distorted line or traded elegance for virtuosity. I hope other people saw it and post about it. I already know from Links that there's at least one critic who has opposite opinions , and I'm sure others here have different impressions. Edited: *See volcanohunter's correction below. The notes handed out at the theater had the wrong pairings.

PNB celebrates the Seahawks: https://twitter.com/sabrinapdx/status/424238985238441984/photo/1

At the beginning of the first intermission, Novikova started a short interview with Merrill Ashley, who wasn't particularly articulate, and I really didn't really catch her points apart from the dancers aren't used to working at Balanchine's speed. I sat around for a few minutes at the beginning of second intermission, and I went to the lobby after there was no interview, and I was disappointed to go back in the theater to see that Novikova had been speaking to Shipulina (Tall Girl in Rubies) and Filin. The only part I caught was that he was lauding Shipulina on her performance, and I'm not sure if Novikova said it was possible or planned that Shipulina would be dancing in "Lost Illusion," which, sadly, is playing opposite PNB's first weekend Sunday matinee. As far as I know, there are no encores scheduled for the last two Bolshoi transmissions this season.

Pathe branding was a lot more prominent at today's Jewels broadcast. Katerina Novikova, who was going back and forth between French and English, said in her intro to "Emeralds" that it was created for Violette Verdy and would be danced by Anastasia Stashkevich and Vladislav Lantratov. However, in the printed program, which still had Obraztsova dancing, Obraztsova was partnered with Ivan Alexeyev, and Vladislav Lantratov was partnering Anna Tikhomirova. Edited to add: I just learned from volcanohunter on the "Jewels"-specific thread that it was Lantratov partnering Stashkevich, and that the theater had the wrong (original) casting.

Both of Wevers works show his mastery of moving intermingling groups of dancers into morphing shapes and images and the dancers' mastery of working so closely together so well. There's so much risk of a missed pattern or spacing going on in the work.

Tonight was the opener for Whim W'him's three-day run at the Cornish Playhouse (formerly Intiman Theater) of it's "instantly Bound" program. "instantly Bound" is also the opening piece that Olivier Wevers choreographed for BalletX. It makes great use of stillness and ends with a remarkable anguished pas de deux for Tory Peil and Kyle Johnson. The middle piece, "Crossroads" is by Spanish choreographer Juanjo Arques, the first premiere of the evening. Arques uses a simlar movement vocabulary as Wevers, and, like in "Instantly Bound," an electronic score. These two works I need to ponder some more, but I wanted to jot down some first impressions. The dancers are beautifully showcased in both of them, and Wevers wrote in the program that this is the first year that the entire company is under contract. The last piece, "Les Sylphides," set to the Glazunov orchestration of Chopin pieces, was a dinner party for three couples, a Carabosse-like latecomer, and a table, one of the aluminum tables from "One Flat Thing Reproduced" borrowed from PNB. ( It received even more action than in the Forsythe.) Opening with movements evoking Spy vs. Spy from "Mad Magazine,it is described it as a "lighthearted romp." A romp, absolutely. Light-harded, hmm: I'm not sure it was any more of an endorsement of relationships than the first two pieces, but it showed a full range of humor in a constantly moving, shifting, intertwining modulating maelstrom of movement up, over, under, around, staccato, lanquid, freeze-frame, legato performed with such skill and dead-on timing to amaze. A must see. There are performances tomorrow (Saturday) at 8pm and Sunday at 7pm. Go.

No Imler and no Chapman as Aurora either Imler has done Lilac in the past, and so has Ricard Orza. I'm hoping Dec gets it, too, this season, but since there are four casts, I suppose that means four Lilac Fairies, and there are a number of dancers who could do the role. I'd love to see Dec and Grant do Carabosse. I'm guessing that Generosa will get a Fairy or two, and then there's the Pas de Trois in Act III of Hynd's version, as well as Florine and Bluebird and the fairy tale pas. I'm excited about seeing all of the couples who have been cast. Casting for first weekend (four performances) should be out on Tuesday.

Marketing Director Ellen Walker will become Executive Director after D. David Brown retires on 1 July, according to an article in today's Links: http://balletalert.invisionzone.com/index.php?/topic/38306-thursday-january-16/?p=331874 Walker thanks Brown as a mentor over the last decade, and the transition should be smooth. Congratulations to Ms. Walker!

Tonight's "Coaching the Sleeping Beauty" presentation revealed the four Aurora/Florimund couples; Kaori Nakamura and Seth Orza. Nakamura opened with a slower demonstration version of Aurora's entrance. She and Orza later performed the Vision Scene Pas de Deux. Nakamura also subbed in as Carabosse to give Rausch the spindle during the Act I coda, while Boal played the King. Rachel Foster and Batkhurel Bold. Foster danced Aurora's entrance at full speed, and then she performed the Rose Adagio, with all four men as her suitors. (She has those balances down.) Bold also danced the Act II opening variation. Lesley Rausch and Karel Cruz. Rausch also performed Aurora's entrance at full speed, the Act I coda, the beginning of the Act II variation, and the Wedding Pas de Deus with Cruz. She also did the Queen mime before the Rose Adagio, with Boal acting as King. Leta Biasucci and Jerome Tisserand. Biasucci danced the Act I variation, the Act III coda with Tisserand, who danced the Act III variation. Boal suggested that Biasucci used the detail in her entrance that Pantastico did when she danced Aurora, to peek around a pillar before making her big entrance. Allan Dameron was the piano accompanist. Boal gave corrections after each piece or excerpt, demonstrating clearly and precisely. Some things he mentioned, some in the Q&A that followed, were: How great each of the four men were as partners: they're all also doing the Duke among the suitors, who has the most partnering during the Rose Adagio. The dancers have been working with Ellen Bauer and Otto Neubert. Nakamura and Rausch worked with Annette Page and Ronald Hynd during the last run, but there was a schedule conflict, and Page and Hynd couldn't be here to work with the Company. The Company has been doing three-hour run-throughs with all four casts, so that the dancers get used to the pacing. In general "Sleeping Beauty" rehearsals started during "Nutcracker," but Rachel Foster and Leta Biasucci, the new Auroras, started working on Act I only this week. That is amazing considering how well Foster performed the Rose Adagio, especially since Boal mentioned she had already rehearsed it that day. Timothy Lynch and Jonathan Porretta will reprise Carabosse. Porretta had surgery on his toe and isn't ready for roles like Bluebird, which he normally would perform. Boal said Carabosse was a great role for him now and that he loves to do it. Carla Korbes is taking class, and they all hope she will be ready for the March rep. I can't wait to see all of them.