Helene

What luxury casting as Clemence and Henriette -- Anna Nikulina and Yekaterina Shipulina -- a lot like Nureyev's casting when he launched his "Raymonda" for POB, and there are a lot of people here who've admired Chinara Alidze (Daydream Variation 1), Anna Tikhomirova (Daydream Variation 2), and Anna Stashkevich (Grand Pas Variation), for example. I hope this comes out on DVD: I'm going to be at the opera during this transmission.

Many critics and opera-goers thought the Chereau Ring in the mid-70's at Bayreuth was a disaster after it replaced the Wieland Wagner production. It since has become a shining example of directorial imagination. It will be interesting to see how the Lepage Ring is seen over time. It's always been an interesting balance for "Opera News" to review the institution. Traditionally, it has many Guild members across North America and some in the rest of the world who feel connected to the Met, but in the age of instant, global reviews, I'm not sure how many people are waiting two months to read about performances in a print magazine. What I found fascinating is that they could have replaced their reviewers with those who would have written, essentially, publicity in the form of reviews.

NYCB tweeted today, Congratulations to our Principal Dancers Janie Taylor and Sebastien Marcovici who got engaged over the weekend! http://on.fb.me/JlbMPd Congratulations to Taylor and Marcovici

Thank you so much, sidwich!

Get in Front, a cancer prevention organization, will be holding its gala on 6 June 2012 at 7pm at the Herbst Theater in San Francisco. San Francisco Ballet posted a link to this promo video of a photo shoot of some of the company dancers to its Facebook Page. From the website: The Get in Front Performance is the first-ever dance event of its kind in San Francisco, featuring dancers from some of the Bay Area’s most celebrated dance companies, including principal dancers from San Francisco Ballet, Alonzo King LINES Ballet, ODC/Dance, AXIS Dance Company, Smuin Ballet, Zhukov Dance Theater, Robert Moses’ Kin, Amy Seiwert’s Imagery, tinypistol, Ballet San Jose, and Margaret Jenkins Dance Company. The creative team and energy behind this signature event are Garen Scribner and James Sofranko, soloists with the San Francisco Ballet. They have partnered with the Cancer Prevention Institute of California (CPIC) to Get In Front of cancer by producing this one-night-only benefit dance performance showcasing ballet and contemporary works from some of the world’s most renowned choreographers: Christopher Wheeldon, George Balanchine, Margaret Jenkins, Alonzo King, Helgi Tomasson, KT Nelson, Robert Moses, Michael Smuin, Alex Ketley, Yuri Zhukov, Maurya Kerr, Amy Seiwert, and Paul Taylor. The 900-seat Herbst Theater allows for an intimate viewing experience. Sit close and enjoy the dance performance event of a lifetime! Following the performance, an After Party and Silent Auction will be held upstairs in the Herbst’s Green Room. The Get in Front Performance: 7pm – 9pm After Party and Silent Auction: 9pm – 11pm Performance tickets start at $35.

carbro, that must be why I'm confused. I never sit that far down, so I didn't realize it was Grand Tier, not Parterre . I'm going to miss you all!

Very few companies -- not just non-for-profits -- keep people on the staff that (appear to) undermine their position. The publication could have replaced its critics with those who would write essentially PR reviews. Instead they decided not to review the Met.

I apologize -- I was giving a suggestion, but I didn't mean to imply that I could be there. (I really wish I could, but it's not possible, and I just have to read everyone's impressions.) Honestly, now I've confused myself. I was sure it was by the costume cases on the first level, i.e., where after you walk in, you don't go directly ahead down a staircase, but, instead up the stairs which circle to the right or left. At the top of those stairs are costume cases, and I thought that's where we met. Now I'm wondering if we were one level up, which would be Grand Tier.

I saw Vasiliev's Golden Idol in Berkeley in 2009, and it was terrific.

Thanks to a heads up, I learned that Ana Sophia Scheller and Rebecca Krohn were promoted to Principal Dancer: here is the tweet from NYCB: to Ms. Scheller and Ms. Krohn

Carla Korbes and Seth Orza performed the "White Swan Pas de deux" and Sarah Ricard Orza and Lucien Postlewaite performed in "Red Angels" for Nevada Ballet Theatre's 40th Anniversary celebration earlier in May: http://www.lvrj.com/living/nevada-ballet-theatre-marks-40th-anniversary-152194075.html?ref=075

From a review of Olivier Wevers/Eric Banks' "Approaching Ecstasy" was this link to an article on dancing/performing couples, among them Wevers and Lucien Postlewaite, in this February's "Dance Magazine": http://dancemagazine...ng-a-ring-on-it (Scroll)

Thanks to a heads up from sandik: Barry Kerollis started a blog in April about being a freelance dancer: Life of a Freelance Dancer

Here's an interview with director Beth Kargman from PBS Newshour: http://video.pbs.org/video/2236176603

You can listen to and/or download George Jellinek's 2003 tribute to Fischer-Diskau from the WQXR website: http://www.wqxr.org/#!/articles/wqxr-features/2012/may/18/vaults-george-jellinek-tribute-dietrich-fischer-dieskau/

From Baritone Luca Pisaroni's Facebook Page comes the news that Dietrich Fischer-Diskau died today. Here is the BBC obituary: http://www.bbc.co.uk...t-arts-18118722 From the New York Times: http://www.nytimes.c...86.html?_r=1 Just a few of the many, many songs he recorded: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ayIrOHMKFFQ&feature=related

She did the Wedding Scene during the Love Stories program earlier in the season, and she was beautiful in it: radiant and with a sense of young majesty.

Maria Chapman is in Naples preparing to dance Aurora this weekend in Naples Ballet's production of "The Sleeping Beauty", with former PNB Principal Dancer Le Yin as Prince Desire. Former Principal Dancer Christophe Maraval is Ballet Master for the production. Logan Learned from Sarasota Ballet will dance Bluebird. http://www.naplesnew...months-of-hard/

Here's a trailer: http://levyllc.com/shortlifetrailer/

Marc Haegemann has posted a bunch of new photos of the recent Bolshoi performances of "Jewels": Emeralds and Rubies Diamonds Emeralds features Evgenia Obrastzova/Vladislav Lantratov and Anastasia Stashkevich/Dmitry Gudanov in the Verdy/Ludlow roles, Maria Prorvich, Denis Medvedev, and Svetlana Pavlova in the "Pas de trois", and Anna Tikhomirova and Yuri Baranov in the Paul/Moncion roles. Rubies features Ekaterina Krysanova, Yulia Grebenschchikova, Nina Kaptsova/Andrei Bolotin, and Daria Khokhlova/Vyacheslav Lopatin. Diamonds features Olga Smirnova/Semyon Chudin and Ekaterina Krysanova/Alexander Volchkov. If you are a Facebook member, you can get quick notification whenever new photos are posted by "Like"ing Friends of For Ballet Lovers Only.

From Oregon Ballet Theatre's Facebook Page: Very sad news for Pacific Northwest ballet fans. Best of luck and wishes to Mr. Sultanov in whatever the future holds

Yes, discussions of professional reviews have no place in company forum review threads: they're for what our members think about performances. Feel free to discuss professional reviewers in the "Writings about Ballet" forum.

I wonder how this version of Danses Concertantes will differ from 1989 revival at NYCB that I also saw in 1993, and I'm sure I've seen on their roster since then.