Helene

PNB just posted a link to a "Half Baked: The Cake Blog" post about "Ballerina-Inspired Sweets" in a Tweet. The examples range from elaborate to deceptively simple.

"Freedom of speech" is not, by default, the underlying principle of a privately owned and funded forum. We could have an application process, require specific credentials to join, etc. and we don't need a reason to block or ban anyone, although we do so only under a few circumstances. We could make all of it visible, but only let certain people post and reply, or we could make it invisible to non-members. We could allow anyone to post, even if they aren't registered. We don't, but we could. We limit speech on Ballet Alert! -- we don't allow ad hominem attacks, unofficial news, discussing the discussion (except in rare cases, like this one), non-arts-related politics and religion, and non-ballet or arts-related discussions aside from "Happy [Holiday]" and "I've had a baby." That is well within our rights as a private entity. What we are is a mostly open forum, and unless posting rights are limited by group (New Members) or because of previous violations, the vast majority of our members can post, as long as the posts are within BA policy. What we're not is a place where members harass and police each other through PM, but since we can't read them, we don't know if this is happening until we're told about it, and we can't take action unless we know who is doing so.

Not on the stage, but behind it: Bruce Wells has worked with Tulsa Ballet to re-do its "Nutcracker" choreographed by TB's Artistic Director, Marcello Angelini, who said, "when it comes to creating story ballets for young dancers, there's no one better than Bruce." No kidding: Tulsa Ballet is incredibly lucky to have him. The more I think about Wells' "Snow White," which he choreographed for the Professional Division students at PNB, the more I realize how brilliant it is in choreography, construction, and story-telling, and how any ballet school in the country would be privileged to have it, as well as any number of professional companies. The opening forest divertissement could stand alone on a triple bill. I really love this part: Lindsi Dec (Sugar Plum Fairy), Karel Cruz (Prince), William Lin-Yee (Herr Stahlbaum and Spanish Dance lead), and former PNB dancer and current PNB School faculty member Timothy Lynch (Drosselmeier) will perform in Lafayette, LA with Lafayette Ballet Theatre. Dec is dancing in place of former PNB dancer Chalnessa Eames, who's suffered and injury.

The Catalogue, which doesn't give great detail, said that groupings in the 3rd movement were changed in the 1973 version, based on the 1950 version for the Royal Ballet, which had tutus. The version Russell staged for PNB has tutus and, I'm almost sure, choreography where they go past and under each other. When I see the ballet in tutus, it looks to me like a formal ballet with touches of modern, and when I see it in chiffon shifts, it looks to me like a neo-classical ballet with tributes to a more formal ballet. Either way, it always strikes me as lyrical, which is one of the reason I think Somova looked lovely in the second movement.

Marcelo Gomes just tweeted a photo of the list of performers for the Makarova tribute: # nataliamakarova tribute tonight at the # kennedycenterhonors http://instagr.am/p/SvwkbaiucO/ The list is: Alina Cojocaru Angel Corella Marcelo Gomes David Hallberg Julie Kent Veronika Part Tiler Peck Grace Ann Pierce

Tiler Peck was in DC attending Kennedy Center-related events, which is usually a good sign that a performance is part of the plan, especially when the Secretary of State invites a person to dinner. https://twitter.com/...108036220170241 Beyond grateful! http://instagr.am/p/SuOcGDmLSQ/ https://twitter.com/...10695973473922 I sat next to the mayor of Chicago! pic.twitter.com/SGDgixCV https://twitter.com/...106233713844225 David letterman Kennedy honors! pic.twitter.com/isDW1v8 https://twitter.com/...10051387172160 Me and my baby on the balcony of the Dept of State building http://instagr.am/p/SuK2zamLfn/ No rep clues, but Hallberg tweeted: Ms. Julie Kent and I waiting in the green room backstage at Kennedy Center/DC. pic.twitter.com/8kQeVFxp and This was a secret from Natasha until now! Dancing for Natalia Makarova @ kencen Honors tomorrow night. So happy to pay tribute to this icon.

Kaori Nakamura and Jonathan Porretta guested with the Dallas Ballet Company as Sugar Plum Fairy and her Cavalier. The review was published today, but doesn't list the date of performance. Carli Samuelson perform the same roles in Mid-Columbia Ballet's version from 7-9 December at Richland High School (Tri-Cities): http://www.tri-cityherald.com/2012/11/30/2188075/nutcracker-returns-with-redesigned.html

A lot of the substantial discussions were early ones, and, frankly, a lot of the core contributors have either said pretty much all they want to say or are saying it elsewhere professionally. That was already true when I joined BA almost a decade ago. The board is what we make of it. We provide the structure and keep it running, but no one is stopping anyone from bringing up ballet-related topics that interest them. Anyone who expects others to do it, get what they get. Also, frankly, it's BT4D that is the main financial driver, which was not the case historically -- and we and BT4D are very thankful to those BAers who can and do contribute, many year after year -- we are the increment that makes both boards viable, at this point. We're not a graduate seminar with an admissions policy. That is doable elsewhere, and the technology is simple and the costs low for a small board, which everyone is welcome to start, but that's not what we are.

That's absolutely true: in a face to face situation, people can interrupt, drown each other out, and there are social conventions about not ignoring someone who has spoken. On on online discussion forum, there's a subject, and while it can be great when a group has back-and-forth on specific points, there's no reason that the discussion has to be sequential. Skipping posts is generally neutral. There's no obligation to read anyone's posts or reply to them, and there's a formal "Ignore" feature that allows posters to filter other posters. The "Ignore" feature doesn't suppress quotes from posters on the "Ignore" list, but quotes can be easily skipped: you don't even have to scan left to see a poster's name, because quote authors are in both and scan vertically. I'm not sure if "Ignore" suppresses posts from Admins or Moderators, though. The forums are what members make of it. Another difference between Ballet Alert! and a classroom is that the Moderator team isn't responsible for generating content, as a teacher is.

I haven't been to St. Petersburg, and have only purchased tickets through the Bolshoi site (for the opera), but I hope, too, to get to the White Nights Festival (someday), and I hope people will post with travel info.

Schools go through ups and downs, and some classes are weaker than others, even if that weakness is relative. If Somova's class was a weak class for females, that doesn't mean that its graduates were unworthy of entering the company, but what is confusing looking at them from a traditional aesthetic, is why she would be pushed above all others. If you look at her as embodying a different aesthetic, no matter what you think of that aesthetic, then her selection is quite natural.

I just got a re-tweet of Luke Jennings's tweet with a link to a photo of Svetlana Beriosova modelling jewelry by Cartier: http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_l90s5r4pPU1qbeyduo1_500.jpg Check out the design of the earrings.

I just read this article in the NYT about a proposed renovation of Avery Fisher Hall -- up to the complete gutting of the building: http://www.nytimes.c...vated.html?_r=0 According to the article a Norman Foster design was part of the proposed implementation of the upgrade of the Lincoln Center campus, The goal is "to improve the hall’s lackluster acoustics, replace outdated patron amenities and reconfigure the auditorium," and "[t]he Philharmonic also now feels a sense of urgency. Many orchestras have folded in the past 10 years while patrons have moved away from season-long subscriptions in favor of single ticket sales," and to create a space that can accommodate various configurations — including a thrust stage, a proscenium or a theater in the round — and to create an environment that honors the conventions of a concert hall even as it expands on them." I may have missed it, but I'm not hearing a lot of clamoring from long-time audiences and major donors, who are generally older and more conservative, for innovation. (More Ladies' rest rooms and an affordable restaurant, perhaps.) It's not that they might not love it after it's built, but how do you raise money for something that benefits younger and/or less -conservative viewers without deep pockets? The article mentions an auditorium naming opportunity, because Avery Fisher's family would sue if they tried to change the buildings' name, but within the next few years, some legal mind might be able to squash that. De-coupled from the Lincoln Center reno, it would give a lot of publicity to major donors. (It's frightening to think about who needs that kind of rehabilitation, and it's not Bono's cup of tea to get his fans to fork up millions for this kind of project, although it would be were Paul McCartney to write a big check and have the concert hall named after him [or Madonna].) When San Francisco Ballet had to move out of War Memorial for the seismic renos, they performed mostly smaller chamber works in less-than-1000-seat auditoriums, except for "Swan Lake" (and maybe the mid-reno "Nutcracker"), which they performed at Zellerbach in Berkeley. Not that they didn't do mixed rep at the time in the larger house, it was not what their audiences were used to, especially in those venues. The Philharmonic could have the opportunity to perform during temporary exile in spaces and in rep that will reflect the new space, and could develop new audiences who might be willing to migrate to Lincoln Center, if there were options apart from a big, formal hall. They may have to break the orchestra up and perform rep for smaller sub-groups. There is no shortage of smaller performing arts venues in the tri-state area -- think of colleges alone -- and maybe the NY Phil and the NJ Symphony can do a swap for at least a few performances, where the NY Phil played in Newark, then NJ Symphony can play in the new hall when it opens. Hartford is usually left out of the mix, and that's within a long commuting distance. The union negotiations are going to be interesting.

This board is for everyone who wants to discuss classical ballet (in the ballet forums) and who post within our policies, with very few exceptions, and those are single-issue posters with agendas. (Birdsall, you are not remotely in that category.) We have people with a wide range of experience and knowledge. People post voluntarily, some more, some less. There are many people we miss, and many who want us to be something else that is not necessarily replicable at this point in cyber-history, but not to get all Balanchiney, we don't hold guns to people's heads. If people like the environment, they read and/or post. If they don't, they don't, and they drop off -- of course for many reasons -- and either start blogs, start their own boards -- okay, doesn't happen often, but anyone who wants to can, and they can control who's invited to the party -- find another platform, like Facebook or Twitter, subscribe to Google or bing alerts, or enjoy ballet another way. We assume that there are long-time members that rarely or never post but use the PM system to discuss ballet, the election, and their kid's upcoming graduation. Members are adults and make their own decisions about how to use their time and energy, and while our goal was never to make people 100% comfortable -- we encourage respectful debate -- we try to keep it as free of hostility towards other members as possible, although we accept the inevitable possibilty that people will behave badly in private. Admins don't have access to the content of PM's unless members accidentally reply to email notifications instead of the PM itself, since the "From" for the emails is our address. However, our policy is if someone is using the PM system to harrass or abuse, there are several approaches you can take: 1. In the PM section of te sire, for each PM, there is a list of "Participants.". If there is the word Block under the name of the poster, click it to block further PM's. (It should change to "Unblock.") You can't block Admins or Moderators from sending you PM's, though. 2. Because of reasons that I haven't been able to understand through the "Help" forums, the "Block" link doesn't appear for everyone (aside from Admins/Moderators). If you want to block another member and there is no link, please send one final message to that person, asking them never to contact you again. If they do -- not including something that crossed in transit -- let me know, and chances are they will lose their PM privileges, or at least go through a round of the 'I never got the no more PM messages' dance, which they can only use once. Alternately, or if their Inbox is full, let me know, and I'll send that message. I don't need a reason why, just that you don't want the person to send you PMs anymore. PM's are not meant to bludgeon, harrass, or privately attempt to police this board, but, we don't know what's in them unless you tell us there's an issue, and, preferably, directly to us via PM. (We haven't had this issue be discussed publicly for a while, so there's little reason for most to know or remember, and I'll add a bullet point to the policy list.) I'm actually glad I can't see PM content, because, while I might read some interesting unofficial news, people have already written to me directly to equate me with Hitler and Stalin and to call me a fascist and a stupid cow, so I don't have any illusions but it would not be fun to see members abusing other members.

I'm torn between Shostakovich's 2nd Piano Trio, the Bartok String Quartets, and "Wozzeck." That doesn't even include "Agon" or anything else by Stravinsky. I don't get very far into the 20th century, though.

I haven't heard that the board is planning to reduce the number of dancers right away, and if "Nutcracker" can't come closest to paying for itself, that's frightening in itself. I can't help wonder if the season had opened with "Swan Lake" if the board would have gotten cold feet, although the underlying nerves must have been exacerbated when large donors from the major campaign didn't follow trough with additional donations (from the OAW article). Portland is a small market to sustain the number of major arts organizations it has, and the younger demographic is a lighter donor base, traditionally.

There had been videos on YouTube of Somova as a student, with, I think, one year missing in between. In the first couple of years, she displayed the turnout and line that one would expect from a promising, top student at the Vaganova School. By the time she was a teenager, however, the distortions of extension and line were already present, as well as the weak turnout. Weak turnout is not always an issue of physical limitation, which would have been spotted during the school audition process: it can also be a matter of not using it properly. The same thing is true of feet, with the complication of adding pointe shoes, and since most eight-year-olds aren't experienced on pointe, so that the audition process can only take potential into consideration. I've seen Somova live and in video, and simply disagree that her turnout and feet are strong. Pawlick discusses an aesthetic shift to "Western" by the Mariinsky management, and dancers like Somova met that demand, which was based on a distorted view of ballet in the West, emphasizing a physical caricature rather than an underlying movement quality. Somova was assigned to Vaziev's wife, a dancer who was the antithesis of her student in style and whose technique was rock solid -- most of us saw her Odette/Odile from Wolf Trap so many years ago -- and Vaziev made her the poster child for this aesthetic and promoted her as its exemplar, which did her a huge disservice. Institutions like schools can't just turn on a dime, and, thankfully, not all of the babies were thrown out with the bathwater.

Here's a video that was just posted from a show on Rossiya K (Kultur?): There's a date (18 Nov) under the video post date (28 Nov), which might be when the 14-minute segment aired. Interspersed throughout are clips of Polunin in the Roland Petit "Coppelia" -- interesting distribution of music on Petit's part -- and in "Don Q," as well as in the studio and at a trendy photo shoot. There's also a bit towards the end of him with Zelensky backstage. (IZ's hair might be thinning, but it brings out the planes of his face, and he looks to be in perfect shape.) I'm afraid the only words I understood were "teatr," "ABT," and "New York," but Polunin has beautiful eyes, and no language skills are necessary for that.

I don't think it's simply an opinion that Somova has weak technique: there is ample evidence of it, and weak turnout and feet are only part of it. Whether her other qualities compensate is a matter of opinion. It is also not simply an opinion that her lines and extensions are contrary to the central standards of classical ballet. (Not that she's the only one, of course.) Whether people prefer her aesthetic to the classical one -- one that Petipa would recognize in his ballets -- is a matter of opinion. I speak of Somova, because I've seen her live. I've only seen video of Skorik, and what I've seen hasn't made me want to rush out and buy a ticket. I could watch Tereshkina assume her starting position in that practice video all day long.

Miami City Ballet tweeted: Principal Jennifer Kronenberg tells @ pointe_magazine about the teachers who inspired her career! http://bit.ly/SwkITJ The link is to a .pdf with the article.

Sarah Lane was one of three dancers interviewed by "Pointe Magazine" about teachers who influenced them, and the article can be downloaded in .pdf format from this link tweeted by Miami City Ballet: http://bit.ly/SwkITJ

From today's "New York Times," Lois Bewley, who danced with the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo, New York City Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, Ballet U.S.A, and First Chamber Dance Quartet, and was an opera director, costume designer, and choreographer as well, died of a stroke at 88. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/29/arts/dance/lois-bewley-a-ballerina-director-and-choreographer-dies-at-78.html?smid=tw-nytimesarts&seid=auto I hope people who saw her dance will post remembrances. Rest in peace, Ms. Bewley.

Not a program, but I was tickled to discover that Daniil Simkin is tied via Twitter to a number of figure skaters, re-tweets some of their tweets, and recently re-tweeted a photo of him and Japanese figure skater Tatsuki Machida (who won Cup of China earlier this season) after a performance of "The Nutcracker" with Tokyo Ballet.

I don't think "My Ten Favorite Composers" is necessarily the same as "The Ten Best Composers." I can appreciate the historical importance of a number of composers, but that doesn't stop me from loving my Puccini more than a few of them. I think there's a place for "This Is Why I Think These Ten Composers Are the Most Important in Classical Music," but the "Best" thing is a bit superfluous, IMO.

PNB tweeted it's congratulations, along with a link to a video with Simkin and Maria Kochetkova in the "Corsaire" Pas de Deux from the World Ballet Festival in Tokyo, 2009: Congrats to @ daniil simkin for his Principal promotion @ ABTBallet! (if you aren't familiar w/ him: http://bit.ly/114hpYU) I still can't believe he could land that last jump in the manege in the coda around the 8 minute mark. I think they make a wonderful pairing. Here's a link to the news in the NYT: http://artsbeat.blog...sarts&seid=auto