Helene

I'm planning to see this in San Francisco -- I can't wait! I wish they'd film this in Amsterdam though: I'm sure Matthew Golding will be a wonderful Prince. Edited to add: Of course, it would be wonderful if I had beaucoup frequent flier miles and could just pop over to Amsterdam: Marc Haegeman's Photos from Amsterdam

Am I understanding that Paquette is carry a run of "Don Quichotte" because it is against company hierarchy to prepare dancers farther down the ranks for Basilio? I've seen the company relatively recently, and surely they have men in the lower ranks with enough ability. Both Hilaire and Legris were etoiles in their early 20's.

I find that the second act for kids needs to be over before the Grand Pas de Deux: Waltz of the Flowers seems to be their limit before the kicking and squirming and probably hunger start. Like clockwork last Sunday afternoon, a couple with a two-year old got up and left right then. (Sometimes, we're not so lucky.) A lot of productions aim for the "Rocky and Bullwinkle" approach: loved by kids, but with enough smarts that the adults get it on another level.

Balanchine's does: Marie and the Nephew/Nutcracker/Little Prince are danced by the same children as in Act I. The Sugar Plum Fairy is the head of the Kingdom of Sweets, eventually joined by a Cavalier for the Grand Pas de Deux. From the revision history in the Balanchine Catalogue, it looks like the original Pas de Deux from 1954 had the SPF and Cavalier's solos in the traditional spot after the opening adagio: Coffee at the time was a "hookah-smoking nobleman fanned by four parrots, rechoreographed as a solo for a woman" (in 1964). Has anyone seen the Playhouse 90 performance on CBS? It's also listed for 1958, and I wonder if Balanchine made the 1958 changes for the TV cameras and/or audience, and then reverted back for the stage, at the same time leaving out the male variation from the coda. Did anyone see NYCB perform the four-man support team version? Was it at all like the Rose Adagio? It must have been very colorful: those costumes are fantastic.

One of the good things about being in the Seattle Center area is that it's one of the few areas within public transport striking distance of many major areas: Belltown--lot's of restaurants, the neighborhood just north of downtown Downtown--Pike Place Market, and just south of that, Pioneer Square International District--great Chinese and Vietnamese restaurants in general, and one of the best Japanese restaurants Ballard--good restaurants, at the western end, the Locks Capitol Hill--A single bus goes from the Seattle Center area Bus service can vary depending on the time of day, especially on the weekends. If you have a car, I wouldn't suggest driving it downtown -- you can take the Monorail there -- because parking isn't easy and you have to go way downtown to make a left turn on many streets, and it can be a warren down there -- but Ballard and Capitol Hill are great places if you have wheels, too. From Seattle Center to downtown or lower Belltown, the monorail from Seattle Center is fast and efficient: it goes over the city, and you can wave to traffic. Oh, and if people refer to the "Center House," they're talking about the building through which you can get to the Monorail,has now reverted back to "The Armory."

I haven't seen it yet, because I was traveling the weekend it played in Vancouver, but I have a friend who hated the Met "Don Giovanni" sets: she said they reminded her of a Neapolitan slum. Having only seen it in HD, I had a different experience. I suspect the same is true of "Ballo." Since I've almost always been in the Family Circle, though, and I don't like using binoculars, I don't absorb much of sets and stagings anyway.

My favorite part was when she talked about how she discovered her niche in high school doing musical theater and befriending gay men: "I found my people!" As long as I'm lucid, I'll never forget her delivery on that.

Congratulations to him

Valeria Martiniuk: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_WW5DhHJBxU&feature=plcp Ekaterina Ivannikova http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HtP5S7tHqu8&feature=plcp

The men's Pas de quatre from the Kolegova/Ermakov performance on 6 Dec: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=deGyOjLJk7A&feature=plcp Kennan Kampa as Henriette in the Kolegova/Ermakov cast: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7vP1IaMzOAE&list=PLfcMzst_txaQBNwgDFmzUj-Rd9HoOyzok Kolegova: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fmee11YgH1o&feature=plcp Kolegova: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3YoRgwW85cg&feature=plcp

I've opened a new thread here for links and discussion of other Mariinsky "Raymonda" performance clips. Birdsall, thank you so much for the heads up on the Kolegova clips. Here's Kondaurova in the pas de deux with Ivanchenko: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uF8yNBEYYj0&feature=plcp

The clips from Kondaurova's "Raymonda" debut can be seen on the Kondaurova thread, but thanks to heads up by Natalia for clips of Kondaurova's fellow performers and Birdsall for the clips of the Kolegova performance. I think Kolegova is exquisite here; Ermakov is her partner: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HBcRvnC8tzU&feature=plcp Here is Ermakov's variation: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AIuSDW8j4Rw&feature=plcp Coda: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMv6BZ6SITU&feature=plcp "Hungarian Solo", as if she and the audience have all the time in the world: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Al_064D5js&feature=plcp

The sad news continues: Ravi Shankar has died at 82: http://www.salon.com/2012/12/12/indian_sitar_virtuoso_ravi_shankar_dies_at_92/?source=newsletter&utm_source=contactology&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Salon_Daily%20Newsletter%20%28Premium%29_7_30_110 My favorite memory of him was at one of his concerts with his daughter at the new Symphony Hall. RIP, Mr. Shankar.

The last 30+ years since Balanchine's last great works and death have given us a taste of what that's like.

Thank you so much, YouOverThere! I'm not a vimeo member, but the video worked fine for me.

Simkin just posted a link to his updated schedule to Facebook: http://www.daniilsimkin.com/about/schedule-2/ He has two upcoming Ratmansky "Nutcracker" Princes and five performances of Prince Desire with the Swedish National Ballet in January-February, before the ABT tours to Hong Kong, Beijing, and DC, and the ABT Met season.

Daniil Simkin tweeted Updated my schedule! Performing the Prince in American Ballet Theatre's Nutcracker this week in NYC on Friday,... http://fb.me/2BcYX9YtW

The person who uploaded listed Hermes Pan and Eugene Loring. IMDB, not always the most complete, only lists Pan, but it makes sense that Loring would have had input into this delightful interlude. Wikipedia lists "Meet Me in Las Vegas" as among his film choreographies: The info doesn't have a specific citation. Looking at the general citations, I don't see any film choreography on the University of California at Irvine website for the Loring Archives. According to the NYPL bio Loring danced in "Meet Me in Las Vegas," but there's no note of him having choreographed it. The citation in the Wikipedia article on "Meet Me in Las Vegas" comes up blank on the AOL members site.

Pianist Charles Rosen died Sunday in Manhattan at age 85. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/11/arts/music/charles-rosen-pianist-polymath-and-author-dies-at-85.html?pagewanted=all He wrote among the most famous books about music, and was a Charles Eliot Norton Professor of Poetry at Harvard. RIP, Mr. Rosen.

Modernist architect Oscar Niemeyer died last week at age 104. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/06/world/americas/oscar-niemeyer-modernist-architect-of-brasilia-dies-at-104.html?pagewanted=1&_r=0&ref=design This Wikipedia article has many photos of the buildings he designed. American are likely most familiar with the United Nations Headquarters he helped design. Rest in peace, Mr. Niemeyer.

The great Russian soprano Galina Vishnevskaya died today in Moscow: The New York Times The Washington Post The Guardian She didn't perform much in the West, but she has a recording legacy. Rest in peace, Ms. Vishnevskaya.

Thank you for the Moylan quotes, Quiggin!

I don't think there's a shortage of classical dancers at POB; however, sometimes a number of them are dancing the contemporary works. Do people think that Legris has the upper leg because of his administrative experience in Vienna?

The YAGP filim is being produced by the same organization that presents the Live in HD broadcasts of the Mariinsky Ballet and Royal Ballet. "First Position" was Beth Kargman's project. Kickstarter and Indiegogo are exactly as described: They provide an opportunity for people to pitch their projects online, where people give non-tax-deductible contributions to a project that interests them for the option of rewards that are set out explicitly for each giving level, and they provide integration with payment processing, if the project is funded. They are not IPO or venture capital -- ie investor -- programs. It's by no means anyone's obligation to support projects.

I suspect the majority of dance professionals woud have been grateful to wander between well-paying gigs on Broadway and Hollywood at the tail end of the Great Depression and through the 1937 recession, the lead up to WW II, and most of the duration of the War. Some of them would not have been living and spending in the moment and might have been able to save enough to susidze their own non-commercial works, like Twya Tharp has done recently.