Helene

I think it depends on which company and what decade: the first "Raymonda"'s I saw were the Bolshoi/Grigorivich version, with Bessmertnova and Semenyaka, both of which were made in the '80's. I don't think the character was unsympathetic in the 1980 Kirov/Kolpakova version, either, even if it didn't have the mesmerizing Taranda in it. I find Nureyev's version unwatchable for the most part.

In all the versions I've seen, Aberakhman is a sympathetic and much more interesting character. Jean de Brienne reminds me of a character in a romance novel I read in college: he sees the heroine bathing in the woods and falls in love and lust with her, but then when he, a noblewoman, finds out she's a noblewoman, he becomes all formal, and she runs away to join the Navy, because she wants passion that he thinks is only for servants.

I think "Giselle" needs a conductor who believes in the score. If the conductor doesn't, then this will impact what's on stage, almost as much as mucking with the tempi.

"Not considered a sophisticated musical composition" by whom? Marian Smith, a music professor and scholar in Oregon, has argued convincingly in "Ballet and Opera in the Age of Giselle" about the merits of the score, and when the original orchestrations and tempi are used, and especially when the ballet isn't chopped and excerpted like it usually is, the way the music illuminates the libretto, mime, and dancing is exceptional.

Thanks to a heads up! from sandik: Ariana Lallone is teaching this week at Grand Rapids Ballet Company's summer program, according to their June 2012 Newsletter. Maria Kowrowski taught last week.

Thank you so much! Last year the apprentice contracts started around PD student/corps/apprentice indentured servitude "Nutcracker" time, so it makes sense that Franzkonis and Macy remain PD students until then. Congratulations to them both! I saw Frantziskonis dance Butterfly with Jordan Veit in the beautiful opening divertissement -- a ballet in itself -- in Bruce Wells' "Snow White," and she was gorgeous in it. If "Breaking Pointe" gets renewed, maybe we'll see Veit in it next season. I haven't seen the program in a few years, but I remember when most, if not all, of the L7 and 8 students were listed as going to college. Seven going on to high professional training or training positions is great.

Today I've received several matching grant fundraising emails extending the deadline from 30 June due to the storms and power outages on the East cost.

Thank you so much for this! I was sad that I wasn't able to go Did the program list where the graduating PD students will be next year?

I don't think anyone was surprised about a match, just the desperate-sounding tone, based on the dollar amount.

A lot of people showed up to get signed posters: From Maria Kochetkova's tweet from yesterday.

This is a link to the article in the "Miami Herald." http://www.miamihera...e-director.html It's very good news for the Company that Michael Kaiser has been hired as a consultant, but the article makes it sound as if it was a board decision and doesn't mention Lopez in the decision-making process. It's possible that the board is leaving her name out of it to provide a bit of a clean slate, but, regardless, I think that Lopez has her work cut out for her.

Marc Haegeman has published a group of photos from the day before --Allash, Tsiskaridze, Lobukhin -- and the day of the HD performance -- Alexandrova, Skvortsov, Dmitrichenko: http://www.for-balle...monda-2012.html

I missed the first episode (I think) but have watched the next two, and for me the relationship between Sutton Foster and Kelly Bishop is the most interesting. The girls and the dancing, I could take or leave. I much prefer the Sutton Foster character so far to Lauren Graham's, but Alexis Bledel's to any of the girls so far.

Thanks to a heads up from Sandy McKean: PNB tweeted on 14 June that Laura Gilbreath and Jerome Tisserand are engaged: https://twitter.com/PNBallet/status/213395002292838400/photo/1 Congratulations to them both!

PNB is bringing fourteen dancers and three works by Twyla Tharp to the Spoletto Festival next week, 6-8 July: "Opus 111," "Pas de deux from 'Waterbaby Bagatelles'," and "Nine Sinatra Songs." Here's the press release: So Long, Seattle – Buongiorno, Spoleto! Pacific Northwest Ballet flies to Italy to perform three evenings of ALL THARP at Spoleto 55: Festival dei Due Mondi July 6 – 8, 2012 – 9:15 pm Teatro Romano Piazza della Libertà Spoleto, Italy Special thanks to Raisbeck Engineering, Principal Sponsor of PNB’s performances at the Festival dei Due Mondi. SEATTLE, WA – Ciao, bella! While Seattleites are still being taunted by sporadic summer showers, fourteen dancers from Pacific Northwest Ballet are departing for sunny Spoleto to present three performances dedicated to acclaimed choreographer Twyla Tharp. As part of Spoleto 55: Festival dei Due Mondi, PNB’s ALL THARP performances will be presented nightly, July 6-8, at 9:15 pm in the historic Teatro Romano. Support for Pacific Northwest Ballet’s performances at the Festival dei Due Mondi comes from Principal Sponsor, Raisbeck Engineering. This engagement is also supported by Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation through USArtists International in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. The Festival dei Due Mondi (Festival of the Two Worlds) is an annual summer music and opera festival held each June to early July in Spoleto, Italy, since its founding by composer Gian Carlo Menotti in 1958. It features a vast array of concerts, opera, dance, drama, visual arts, and roundtable discussions on science. The "Two Worlds" in the name of the festival comes from Gian Carlo Menotti’s intention to have the worlds of American and European culture facing each other in his event; this concept would then be strengthened by the fact that it was held in conjunction with its "twin," the Spoleto Festival USA held annually in May/June in Charleston, South Carolina. The Spoleto 55: Festival dei Due Mondi runs June 29 – July 15. For more information, visit http://www.festivald...to.asp?lang=eng Raisbeck Engineering was founded in 1973 and continues its long-standing tradition of improving personal, business and corporate aircraft performance through the integration of advanced technology with currently flying airplanes. The line-up for PNB’s ALL THARP performances in Spoleto includes: Opus111 Music: Johannes Brahms (String Quintet No. 2 in G major, Op. 111, 1890) Choreography: Twyla Tharp Assistant to the Choreographer: Charlie Neshyba-Hodges Costume Design: Mark Zappone Lighting Design: Randall G. Chiarelli Brahms composed this string quintet (unusually scored for two violins, two violas, and cello) while on a nature retreat in the summer of 1890. The music has a vivacious folk flavour, with the cello featured in the first movement and the viola, Brahms′ favorite instrument, carrying the theme in the second. Twyla Tharp has choreographed the quintet′s four movements for six couples. Pas de deux from Waterbaby Bagatelles Choreography: Twyla Tharp Staging: Shelley Washington Scenic and Costume Design: Santo Loquasto Lighting Design: Jennifer Tipton Bagatelles are short and unpretentious musical compositions. Twyla Tharp′s array of ballet bagatelles, with its many references to all things aquatic, includes a wonderfully sinuous pas de deux danced to John Lurie′s Bella by Barlight. Nine Sinatra Songs Choreography: Twyla Tharp Staging: Shelley Washington Original Costume Design: Oscar de la Renta Original Scenic Design: Santo Loquasto Original Lighting Design: Jennifer Tipton Choreographed in 1982, Twyla Tharp′s Nine Sinatra Songs has become a popular classic, presenting its view of 1950′s social dancing through the nostalgic but sharpened eyes of the 1980s. Oscar de la Renta′s dresses and tuxedos flash with a similar double edge of past and present eras. Choreographing to classic Sinatra—including "One for My Baby," "Strangers in the Night," and "My Way"—Tharp upscales traditional ballroom dancing with the active participation of the female dancer in styles ranging from tango to flamenco to exhibition disco.

I just received a funny fundraising letter from Town Hall in Seattle about a $10K challenge match that ends tomorrow:

No kidding. She was lovely. Sisk is still young, and while I don't see a drama queen in her future, and I'm sure she's had her disappointments along the way, it's still a bit early for her to be saying "never" when she hasn't hit major career snarls or romantic entanglements, had a close friend who was realistically competing for the same parts in the company, or have been a long-time standard-bearer. I doubt, though, she'll have any angst about dancing the same role as one of the company stars, the type of roles it's hard to imagine she won't get for the rest of her career.

Thank you for posting -- it's nice to hear what she's up to.

I suspect that to get permission to show any of "Emeralds," it had to be highly edited, and that might have included mismatching the music. On the other hand, the director/sound editor has a penchant for teen TV music soundtrack. I'm surprised there were even a few notes of Mozart in a "Petite Mort" clip, and I suspect most of "Breaking Points"'s audience would be shocked if they saw it in the theater. The few bits of Beckanne Sisk's "Paquita" solo gave me chills, and I would have loved to have seen both Christiana Bennett's and Allison DeBona's "Emeralds." It's possible that the world might destruct before this, but watching the coming attractions -- more DeBona/Tilton drama -- I can only hope that when Tilton's grandchildren find the clips on YouTube someday, they think he was acting in a TV show.

Have a wonderful time with your Mom and best friend. I can't wait to hear you tell us about it!

[Admin note: this is an edited version of a post in the Ballet Videos forum] Thanks to a suggestion by Amy Reusch, instead of having a single thread for Kickstarter projects, to have a sub-forum for ballet fundraising projects. Since these projects can span video, choreography, compositions, live music, research, publications, etc., this sub-forum is under "Everything Else Ballet." Instead of having one long thread for updates, each project can have its own thread. All other dance projects, which includes non-ballet projects by ballet dancers and non-ballet projects that hire ballet dancers, should be added to this thread in the Modern and Other Dance forum: http://balletalert.i...nding-projects/ Both this forum and the Modern and Other Dance thread can contain Kickstarter and other independent backer funding programs, such as IndieGoGo, which, unlike Kickstarter, has an option so that funding is not contingent on meeting a pre-defined goal. [From the original post] The way Kickstarter works is: Creative person sets up project, including spiel, target amount, deadline (1-60 days), and "rewards", i.e., premiums, which are required, even if they are project credits. CP submits project to Kickstarter for review to be sure it meets the project guidelines. Kickstarter notifies CP of decision, and if accepted, the project is launched, the person can get try to get everyone to FB and tweet about it, and people can start to donate. The donation process: Donors can give $1 to a lot. There's always a running total: if people want to give more than what was asked, they can. All pledges and payment processing is done through amazon.com (payments). If the project has reached its goal by the target date, all credit cards are charged. If it hasn't, then there's no financial transaction, and the project is closed, but remains on the site. . [New info] From the Indiegogoo website: Project owner chooses whether to base funding on meeting the goal. All backers are charged up front, and if the project owner chooses "must meet goal," backers are refunded. [More new info-11 Jun 13] Organizations that are verified by Indiegogo as holding (501) © (3) status receive a discount on fees. This is noted on the project page. The upsides to Kickstarter for backers are that the pledge can be canceled up to the point of being charged, and if the project owner chooses the "Meet goal or no $0 option", there are no credits in different billing periods than the charge, and the backer isn't lending money to IndieGoGo until the project deadline (and paying interest, if there's a credit card balance). The downsides to Kickstarter for project owners are no option to pay more to keep money that is less than the target amount, the backers can cancel up until the last moment, and that the charge might not go through on the deadline charge date (over credit card limit, lost, stolen, expired card, etc.) The upsides to IndieGoGo are that the backer can choose to pay an extra 5% on money raised, if the goal isn't met. Kickstarter's philosophy is that the project owner should know what it will take to finish the project and budget/set the goal accordingly, that the backers should know the scope of what they are backing up front, and that the project will not succeed as stated if it is under-funded. IndieGoGo's approach allows the project owner more flexibility in reducing scope based on the funding received. I've seen several projects that have been funded on Kickstarter and then continued on IndieGoGo.

I came home to find a number of Facebook posts about Nora Ephron's death yesterday of pneumonia caused by leukemia. Here is the obit from the Associated Press in "The Washington Post": http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/nora-ephron-witty-and-award-winning-writer-filmmaker/2012/06/26/gJQAMecW5V_story.html From "The New York Times": http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/27/movies/nora-ephron-essayist-screenwriter-and-director-dies-at-71.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all Rest in peace, Ms. Ephron.

Jane writes, Now that we can click a link to a YouTube video, it is so easy to forget that critics were often our only gateway to knowing what existed in the dance world, especially for those of us who have no or almost no personal connection to the dance world. To have had our eyes opened by John Percival is such a privilege.