Helene

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.

It's hard to keep reading after "Ratmansky." It's easier when you're typing it

I loved the "Monumentum"/"Movements" the company did to end the 2010-11 season, just gorgeous. I admit to dismay at seeing "Western Symphony" on the schedule, but I know they can do it, and casting it in my head brings a smile to my face, even if I don't like the ballet. The "Director's Choice" program is also the opportunity to see what Hubbard Street Dance Chicago's Alejandro Cerrudo does for a ballet company before the Nureyev Prize commission for PNB the following season.

Ballet Arizona's 2012-13 Season is: Giselle, 1-4 November 2012, with matinee and evening performances on Saturday and Sunday 3-4 November. Nutcracker, 7-24 December 2012 Romeo and Juliet, 14-17 February 2013, with matinee and evening performances on Saturday and Sunday, 16-17 February. Director's Choice, 28-31 March 2013, Orpheum Theatre "Le Carnaval des Animaux," choreography by Alexei Ratmansky, music by Camille Saint-Saens "Diversions," choreography by Ib Andersen, music by Benjamin Britten Untitled, choreography by Alejandro Cerrudo (World Premiere), music TBA [*]All Balanchine, 2-5 May 2013 Serenade (Tchaikovsky) Momumentum pro Gesualdo/Movements for Piano and Orchestra (Stravinsky) Western Symphony (traditional, arrangements by Hershey Kay) "Diversions" was the ballet the company performed at the Kennedy Center in 2010.

A beautiful photo by Marc Haegeman, posted to the For Ballet Lovers Only Facebook group:

It was based on a TV jingle, and from what I read, the premises -- musical and thematic -- were weak, and it ran out of gas. It might have worked if it was part of a short work for a special occasion, like in front of the Pan Am building, like the work Balanchine did for a World's Fair.

I always remember Joseph Mazo's lines about Conrad Ludlow, "At his age, Conrad knows what he needs, what he can do, and what makes him happy. He works, enjoys it, and goes home to his family." After reading about what a gentleman he was, I always hoped that he had a great family, and I'm sorry it took the death of his wife to get confirmation that he did.

More sad news. Rest in peace, Mrs. Ludlow.

Wasn't it Allison who says in the beginning that Rex told her the three people you shouldn't piss off are the conductor, the costume person, and the director? Great set-up for the rest of the show where Allison proceeds to do just that. On the other hand, Kunikova, with her lovely manner, keeps asking the conductor politely to slow it down, and the way it's filmed, he ignores her as well. I know everyone's tired, but wouldn't it be professional courtesy to let the dancers with the craziest rehearsal schedules to go ahead during costume fittings? Allison has said that she is to make up for lost time, the years she didn't do ballet after being professionally trained. It's not like she took a year off -- it was a big gap -- and it's pretty amazing, giving the competition out there and the few positions that she was able to make up enough not only to get a job, but to be demi-soloist, since most of the people in the company are at the age where she missed dancing.

In response to the same question about PNB, Peter Boal once said in a Q&A that the unofficial top three are NYCB, ABT, and San Francisco Ballet, and everyone else is fighting to be recognized as fourth. All of the "Big Three" are significantly larger than the other companies: SFB, the smallest, with 77 dancers, has 35 corps and six apprentices. and 41 is more than the total size of many mid-size companies: Ballet West has 37 dancers in total , Ballet Arizona has 29, PNB has 46, MCB 44, Joffrey has 42, and Pennsylvania Ballet 36. San Francisco Ballet has the advantages of having been the oldest company in the US -- the oldest of the Children of Balanchine -- and having taken the bull by the horns to get international recognition, because before there was a "Top 3", there was a "Top Two," and now SFB has gotten tour reviews stronger than either NYCB or ABT. Whatever the merits of the show, Ballet West has put itself on the map nationally. They are also having a contest to win a 30-minute video chat with a cast member, which is tax-deductible to all but the winner. (The website doesn't say who chooses.) The drawing is on 9th July: http://www.balletwest.org/win-a-chat

In tonight's episode, Sandra Jennings was identified as the "Emeralds" stager. There were scenes of her watching the final studio run-throughs, and she was mentioned as well as having type on screen to ID her. Roslyn Anderson coached "Petite Mort", and she was filmed speaking a couple of times. Kunikova was also in this episode, coaching "Paquita." There were some long discussions among the dancers and in the on camera quotes about tempo, since the conductor was shown conducting the pianist.

That's a great report, SimonA! It never occurred to me that there would be such a variation in the quality of the tapes, as opposed to the filming.

This is such sad news. I had the honor to meet him a few years ago, and I think his writing shows not only the brilliant observer and writer, but also the humanity and the mensch. My condolences to his wife, Judith, who also writes for danceviewtimes, and to the world's ballet community. Rest in peace, Mr. Percival.