Helene

Congratulations to him His dancing is a beautiful combination of plush muscularity and stature. We were lucky to see him in "Don Q" on tour in Vancouver.

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I saw Korbes with Postlewaite and the Nakamura/Moore pairing the last time the ballet was performed in Seattle, and I wouldn't have missed either of them for the world. I'm assuming everyone has read Macaulay's accolades for Korbes, and she is a goddess. In Kourlas' interview in the NYT yesterday, she spoke about wanting to become a guest dancer at NYCB. (I don't know what Martins will do about that.) She's danced in galas in NYC, but that's different from taking on a full-length role, especially Juliette, especially by a dancer in the beginning of her prime. (Her lead-up to her prime was pretty spectacular, too.) A number of people on Ballet Alert! have spoken about how they like to see mature ballerinas. Kaori Nakamura is in her early 40's, and unless PNB makes an exception and does R&J right away -- next season has not yet been announced -- it's unlikely that she will be dancing when it's next presented in Seattle, as she's making those heart-breaking noises about retirement. Nakamura is the perfect combination of a dancer in her 40's with the maturity of a dancer in her 40's, and the technique of a dancer in her 30's, a rare gift to see. There are no "buts" about her dancing. She will be a different Juliette than Korbes: as great as she is a classical dancer, she's been doing fantastic work in Olivier Wevers' contemporary choreography, and that's R&J's genre. This is a new role for Orza; Lucien Postlewaite, now with Les Ballets de Monte Carlo, was Korbes' partner in the last run. Postlewaite and Moore were very different, but I loved them both. I'm sure Orza will be a great Romeo, too. He'll have a different dynamic with Korbes. Not that Orza isn't a handsome fellow and all, but to be perfectly superficial, James Moore is pretty gorgeous. So as much as it rips my heart out to suggest to anyone, especially NYers, that they might consider skipping Korbes' Juliette -- and this is like choosing between your children -- if you have the intestinal fortitude to listen to your friends tell you what you missed -- because you'll never convince them that they haven't missed something equally great -- you won't go wrong seeing Korbes dance Terpsichore in the Balanchine program and Nakamura/Moore in R&J. The best thing would be to see the Balanchine program and both casts of R&J. I know, I'm very good at spending other people's money, but PNB doesn't tour very often.

What sad news.

I wonder how many other dancers struggled with being tied to a company, whether for a person like Balanchine or for the prestige, when another would have been a better fit and a longer career. I recently re-watched "Fame" and thought of Antonia Francheschi, who could have been promoted in both senses after achieving recognition from the movie, but went to back to the nunnery and retired in the NYCB corps. Of course, with Reynolds, the stage's loss is our great gain through her books, as editor and writer, and through her video projects.

Not just the sets and costumes, but the choreography and the production. At the end of Marina Harss' new interview with Nancy Reynolds, Reynolds says, http://dancetabs.com/2013/02/nancy-reynolds-george-balanchine-foundation-director/ I've always loved this production, set to a beautiful compiled and arranged score to Tchaikovsky, and not the usual suspect excerpts.

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Thank you so much for posting this, Jane! When I looked at the first photo, of the "Waltz of the Flowers," my eye went straight to Reynolds: there's some much life and movement in her pose.

I went to bike camp in Colorado many years ago and lamented to the instructors that I wished I had come a few days earlier to acclimate. They laughed and said that if I really wanted to acclimate, I would have needed to come three weeks early.

Here's the press release, and it includes the promotion of two apprentices, Elle Macy and Jahna Frantziskonis, to the corps de ballet. (Congratulations to them ) Pacific Northwest Ballet Announces Promotion and New Hires SEATTLE, WA – At this evening’s conclusion of Jean-Christophe Maillot’s Roméo et Juliette, Pacific Northwest Ballet Artistic Director Peter Boal announced to the opening night audience that James Moore, a member of the company since 2004, has been promoted to principal dancer. “It gives me great pleasure to announce a well-deserved promotion tonight,” began Mr. Boal in his announcement. “Fifteen years ago, a kid showed up in my ballet class in New York. He was kind of a diamond in the rough, but one could see some serious potential. His first job was for Pittsburg Ballet Theater, where he worked with Francia Russell on the role of Puck in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. He came to PNB in 2004, but really grabbed the spotlight and started his fan club in 2005 as the guy called Mopey. We’ve watched him excel in works by Nacho Duato, Twyla Tharp, Marco Goecke, and William Forsythe, alongside triumphs in the roles of Puck, Franz, and the Prodigal Son, and let’s not forget his performance tonight, where Juliet wasn’t the only one to fall for this Romeo. Please join me in congratulating James Moore on his promotion to principal dancer.” Seattle audiences can see Mr. Moore dancing the lead in Roméo et Juliette for two more performances, February 2 (2:00 pm) and February 7 (7:30 pm). He will also be featured in the role on February 16 (2:00 pm) during PNB’s upcoming tour to New York City Center. James Moore is from San Francisco, California. He trained at San Francisco Ballet School and the School of American Ballet. He joined Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre in 2001. He joined Pacific Northwest Ballet as a member of the corps de ballet in 2004 and was promoted to soloist in 2008. Mr. Moore’s breakout performances were in Marco Goecke’s solo Mopey, and Molissa Fenley’s solo State of Darkness. Some of Mr. Moore’s leading roles have included George Balanchine’s Coppélia (Franz), The Four Temperaments, A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Puck), Prodigal Son, Rubies, Symphony in C, and Symphony in Three Movements; Ulysses Dove’s Serious Pleasures; Nacho Duato’s Jardi Tancat; William Forsythe’s In the middle, somewhat elevated and One Flat Thing, reproduced; Paul Gibson’s The Piano Dance; Ronald Hynd’s The Sleeping Beauty (Bluebird pas de deux), Jiri Kylian’s Petite Mort; Susan Marshall’s Kiss; Mark Morris’ Pacific; Jerome Robbins’ Fancy Free; Kent Stowell’s Nutcracker (Prince); Twyla Tharp’s In the Upper Room and Nine Sinatra Songs; and Christopher Wheeldon’s After the Rain pas de deux. (For a full bio, visit pnb.org/Artists.) Mr. Boal has also announced two additional hires: Jahna Frantziskonis and Elle Macy have joined the company as apprentices. Jahna Frantziskonis is from Tucson, Arizona. She studied at Ballet Arts Tucson and on scholarship at Pacific Northwest Ballet School. She attended summer courses at the School of American Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, Ballet Tucson, and PNB School. Ms. Frantziskonis has performed a leading role in Andrew Bartee’s arms that work and featured roles in Kent Stowell’s Nutcracker. While a student at PNB School, she performed corps de ballet roles with PNB in George Balanchine’s Coppélia and Divertimento from “Le Baiser de la Fée,” Peter Boal’s Giselle, and Kent Stowell’s Cinderella and Nutcracker. In addition, she performed a leading role in Bruce Wells’ Snow White. Ms. Frantziskonis originated a leading role in Price Suddarth’s Time Out for PNB School’s annual School Performance in 2012. She also originated roles in ballets by Kyle Davis, Kiyon Gaines, Barry Kerollis, Margaret Mullin, Sean Rollofson, and Ezra Thomson for PNB’s annual Next Step choreographers’ showcase performances in 2011 and 2012. Elle Macy is from Huntington Beach, California. She studied at Orange County Dance Center and on scholarship at Pacific Northwest Ballet School. She attended summer courses at the School of American Ballet, American Ballet Theatre and PNB School. Ms. Macy has performed a leading role in Andrew Bartee’s arms that work and featured roles in Kent Stowell’s Nutcracker. While a student at PNB School, she performed corps de ballet roles with PNB in George Balanchine’s Coppélia and A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Peter Boal’s Giselle, Alexei Ratmansky’s Don Quixote, Kent Stowell’s Cinderella, and Christopher Wheeldon’s Carousel (A Dance). In addition, she performed the title role in Bruce Wells’ Snow White. Ms. Macy originated a leading role in Price Suddarth’s Time Out for PNB School’s annual School Performance in 2012. She also originated roles in ballets by Kiyon Gaines, Eric Hipolito Jr., Sean Rollofson, Price Suddarth, and Ezra Thomson for Pacific Northwest Ballet’s annual Next Step choreographers’ showcase performances in 2011 and 2012. Ms. Macy has won awards from several competitions, including the Youth American Grand Prix, Spotlight Scholarship Competition, and Dance Masters of America.

James Moore, who will dance Romeo to Kaori Nakamura's Juliette at City Center at the Saturday, 16 February matinee, was just promoted to Principal Dancer tonight. Since the promotion machine at PNB is about a decade behind, you can be sure that this is well-deserved and in the "It's about time, already" category, and he's brilliant in the role and Nakamura's a divine Juliette. So go see them.

Congratulations to him

The I misunderstood PNB's tweet that said, "Status update on opening night news: our PR-guy was instructed to invite MORE press people to report on the announcement." Usually promotion announcements are made before the show, not after. But that doesn't meant this will always be the way.

Thank you so much for your report on the lecture for those of us who couldn't be there

The Bolshoi has made a formal statement and any ties to Lunkina are speculation, unless confirmed with official news from the Bolshoi or other journalistic sources, ballet professional blogs, sites, Facebook, tweets, etc. Logically, they could have continued with the premiere without canceling the production, which is costly in its own right.

The discussion about the cancellation of "The Rite of Spring" is here:

But why the call for more press? All of the local press should be there in any case.

I'm trying to understand the connection between the law and the issue of homophobia in Russia to Tsiskaridze and/or the attack on Filin. If there's no explicit connection, I'll remove the discussion from this thread.

I don't know what sexual orientation Tsiskaridze is, but if you're saying that he is being identified as a suspect because he is gay, and citing recent laws in support of your supposition, then while that may be true, there are too many other reasons for him to be one, if only to eliminate him, namely his vocal opposition and the petition he created to depose Iksanov and Filin.

Alastair Macaulay mentioned in his review today that she did not take a curtain call on Wednesday night. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/01/arts/dance/trisha-brown-dance-company-at-brooklyn-academy-of-music.html#http://json8.nytimes.com/pages/arts/dance/index.jsonp

"New York City Ballet Stars Tiler Peck, Robert Fairchild, and Zachary Catazaro" are scheduled for the same program as the Polunin. Interesting that they're doing the PNB/Ken Stowell "Swan Lake" Act II on the 25th Anniversary opening program, as well as a PNB program with a Wheeldon premiere. They're also bringing the "Agon," "Apollo," "Concerto Barocco" program that they're doing at City Center in a couple of weeks. (We don't even get that here in Seattle on a single program.)

This would have been the 30th anniversary year, then.

If someone posts the full transmission to YouTube, like they did for a few others, I'll post an exact quote from Novikova. (An elderly woman was having trouble getting past our end of the row in the dark when Novikova spoke, and I didn't catch everything she said.) Not that what she said was necessarily correct...

Thank you for the update. I'm disappointed: I wish they'd re-broadcast "Le Corsaire" in Canada, because in Vancouver, we lost the transmission before the fan dance in the last act, which I never got to see in the abridged version the Bolshoi brought to the Kennedy Center. I saw it on YouTube, but I'd love to see it on the big screen.

Daniel Wakin wrote in today's New York Times that, due to ill health, Trisha Brown will step down from her company. and It's great that, as the article said, the cataloging was started in 2009.