Helene

I'd watch her in anything, even in 3-D.

At least the DVD's shouldn't be in 3D, if the "Pina" movie is any indication.

Great pyrotechnics in "Sylvia" are about as appropriate as they are in"Les Sylphides," though. Osipova should be following Cornejo's lead in this one.

Somova may be the go-to whipping girl, but she's not on ABT radar. Ashton's "Sylvia" is a lovely ballet. Although neither Vasiliev nor Cornejo is a Somes type -- Somes was the original Aminta -- Cornejo has an elegance and polish that Vasiliev has not, in my experience, and this casting makes much more sense than a Vasiliev Aminta.

The project made its target and amazon Payments started charging today http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/329318275/holding-on-to-the-barre?ref=email

I have, and while it's not guaranteed that the sight lines won't be obscured like in the old days, if you get a really tall person in front of you, someone with a big square head, or someone who wants to put his or her head on his or her partner's shoulder and cuddle, it's not pretty, and then you're back to needing a chiropractor. I prefer seats closer to the side, since you can usually get a view on an angle.

This is the press release: http://www.ket.org/p...KMUSE__502.html It doesn't mention that this is part of a series that would be picked up nationwide -- I don't think the producing station would have left this out if it were -- and it is very much about a native daughter. If other affiliates don't pick it up, I hope some kind soul published it to YouTube.

As long as Korbes is healthy, the question is which she will dance in: the lead in "Concerto Barocco," Terpsichore in "Apollo," or the Pas de Deux in "Agon." I've seen her dance the first two. I can't remember if she's done the "Agon" in Seattle, but she may have in the last mini-tour to Victoria (BC). Maillot has given Noelani Pantastico and Lucien Postlewaite leave to dance a performance of his "Romeo et Juliette" in Seattle the weekend before the City Center run. I'm not sure if they'll dance the work in NYC as part of this tour. Korbes and Nakamura were also phenomenal in it the last time it was performed in Seattle. Postlewaite was Korbes partner; I'm not sure who her partner will be now that Postlewaite is a member of Les Ballets de Monte Carlo.

I wouldn't go to "Les Troyens" just to see the choreography, or I'd be very disappointed, but Otto was terrific. The tenor is Bryan Hymel; here's a short article about him: http://www.nola.com/arts/index.ssf/2012/12/no_tenor_bryan_hymel_saves_the.html On the HD, I thought Voigt sounded thin and lacking pathos. I know HD's are miked closer to the singers than I ever sit in the house, but I found her Brunnhilde ("Die Walkure") and her Minnie quite touching on HD. She was missing the emotion in this one, I think. I loved the costumes and the main frame of the set.

Apart from Ratmansky's lack of institutional ties to POB, he already ran the Bolshoi Ballet, with all of its politics and management challenges. Hasn't he suffered enough for one lifetime?

I saw the "Les Troyens" Met in HD broadcast this morning. Not exactly an opera that exalts relationships, yikes. Doug Varone did the choreography, and the dancers really earn their keep in this one: there's lots of dancing, particularly in the orchestra interludes. In general, I think he was more successful in adagio; the movement to the more upbeat tempos tended to look more repetitive, especially when done in unison. In the only respite from painful relationships, the scene in Berlioz's Act IV where Dido and Aeneas are temporarily happy, Aeneas' son is playful and content, and Iopas sings his gorgeous aria, there is an ensemble intro, and then a solo by a man danced so beautifully, I couldn't take my eyes off of him. His solo was followed by a pas de deux and then more ensemble dancing. When he and his partner took their bows at the final curtain, he looked really familiar, but I couldn't place him. When the credits rolled, I realized he was Eric Otto, the youngest of the Otto boys (after David, William, and Phil). Phil Otto taught an adult/open class on Saturday mornings at the Pacific Northwest Ballet School during the last years he danced and while he ran one of the PNB outreach programs after he retired from the stage. One day, his youngest brother, Eric, came to visit and took class, and watching it was all we could do to refrain from . He was such a lovely dancer, of medium height and a more slender build than his very tall, broad-shouldered brothers. He would be in his early thirties now, I think; Phil was probably a little older when he left Seattle, but now I know why Eric Otto looked so familiar.