Helene

Pacific Northwest Ballet is more of a finishing school than SAB, in that a lot of the PD students come to Seattle at 15-17 for a few years training -- not including any PNB summer training they've had -- instead of 13-14 like at SAB, staying for 4-5 years. However, I see a huge amount of talent coming out of that program, Just watching Bruce Wells' "Snow White" last month featured a handful of dancers that should be able to have promising careers, and I think that was just one cast. Of the Principal dancers at PNB, six of 11 rose through the ranks of apprentice/corps to Principal, and two of the others, Bold and Cruz, were hired from companies/programs into the corps and rose through it. It took Russell many years to build a school and for Russell and Stowell to build a company to attract students with such talent to the school and company, instead of hiring Principals (or Soloists, often promoted to Principal the next year) from the outside. (As late as the late '90's/early 2000's, almost all of the Principals and Soloists were hired from the outside, but the apprentices that were coming out of the school from that time have become the Principals and Soloists of today.) Among the Soloists, about half came from other companies after to join the corps, with the balance from the school, and all have been promoted from within. (I do miss the stream of dancers who came from San Francisco Ballet, though. They were like cousins.) San Francisco still hires from the outside, but, given the core rep -- on the whole, even the full-lengths are coherent -- Helgi Tomasson has chosen dancers who complement each other and don't look like well-paid mercenaries. Between SAB, CPYB, PNBS and schools at Miami City Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, Boston Ballet, and Houston Ballet, just to name a few, I don't think it's a lack of talent that is ABT's problem, especially when ABT is considered one of the top two or three companies in prestige, and they have strong contracts and full seasons, and it should be considered a good job to have, not a career killer. ABT, with the exception of the Baryshnikov years, is a place where talent is where talent, with the bet on Stars, primarily has been bought ready-made, rather than nurtured, or, even, forget about nurturing: how about recognized in the first place? At PNB, one example, Lucien Postlewaite screamed talent from the get-go. If he had joined ABT, he probably would have been carrying baskets of grapes for years.

Early stage experience not only includes performing, but observing how the theater works: including all of the social intricacies, how to change costume and put on make-up -- Merrill Ashley wrote in her book that she was asked to be in the corps, had no idea how to put on makeup, and had to get help from someone else in the corps -- what all of the backstage people do, how to behave, and how to focus in the midst of lots of activity. Petipa ballets are hierarchical, and they include the youngest trained child to the oldest character dancer. Virtuosic male variations were added for younger dancers in the big pas de deux, so that older princes, like Pavel Gerdt, could partner. They were very long in their originals -- their audience was in no rush -- and there was a sense of pagentry. In the last century, they've been modernized and stripped down, and they often lose their balance and proportion. In some productions the kids look like filler, because the context is lost, but the original audience understood how they belonged. The only reason Balanchine was in the Imperial Ballet School in the first place was that his mother was determined to get her children accepted to an Imperial School regardless of subject, since they would be guaranteed -- or so she, like most Russians, thought at the time -- a paid education (which happened) and then lifetime employment with the Tsar (which did not). It was only because he couldn't get a spot in the naval school that his mother sent him, along with his sister, to apply for the ballet school. For him ballet was a drudge of classroom exercises -- there were no tickets for kids in the school back then -- until he became a student performer, and then his interest bloomed.

Here's the Press Release: Season Encore Performance Performance to include works by Balanchine, Wheeldon, Maillot, and more! Featuring the mighty PNB Orchestra. ONE NIGHT ONLY! Sunday, June 10, 2012 – 6:30 pm Marion Oliver McCaw Hall 321 Mercer Street, Seattle Center Seattle, WA 98109 SEATTLE, WA – The curtain will come down on Pacific Northwest Ballet’s highly-praised 39th season with the annual Season Encore Performance, a crowd-pleasing reprise of some of PNB’s greatest hits. A thrilling evening of rousing repertory selections and awe-inspiring performances, the program will feature PNB’s entire Company, along with the PNB Orchestra under the baton of Music Director Emil de Cou. Departing principal dancer Lucien Postlewaite’s remarkable career with PNB will be celebrated with selections ranging from George Balanchine’s Prodigal Son to Jean-Christophe Maillot’s Roméo et Juliette.The Season Encore Performance will also be the audience’s chance to offer a fond farewell to departing corps de ballet dancer Abby Relic. The Season Encore Performance will be presented one night only, Sunday, June 10 at 6:30 pm at McCaw Hall, 321 Mercer Street. Tickets go on sale to the general public on Monday, April 23 and may be purchased exclusively through the PNB Box Office (206.441.2424, online at pnb.org, or in person at 301 Mercer Street at Seattle Center.) “PNB's season encore performances are not to be missed,” said Artistic Director Peter Boal. “A one-night-only retrospective of the highlights and memories of the past season, plus the opportunity to salute departing dancers Abby Relic and Lucien Postlewaite, make this one of the most memorable performances of the year. Expect ovations, tears, great dancing and a few surprises as part of this unique celebration.” The line-up for the 2011-2012 Season Encore Performance includes: Divertimento from “Le Baiser de la Fée (excerpt) Music: Igor Stravinsky Choreography: George Balanchine The George Balanchine Trust Swan Lake (Black Swan pas de deux) Music: Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky Choreography: Kent Stowell (after Marius Petipa) After the Rain pas de deux Music: Arvo Pärt Choreography: Christopher Wheeldon Prodigal Son (pas de deux) Music: Sergei Prokofiev Choreography: George Balanchine The George Balanchine Trust Carousel (A Dance) Music: Richard Rodgers Choreography: Christopher Wheeldon Apollo Music: Igor Stravinsky Choreography: George Balanchine The George Balanchine Trust A Million Kisses to my Skin (excerpt) Music: Johann Sebastian Bach Choreography: David Dawson Roméo et Juliette (balcony pas de deux) Music: Sergei Prokofiev Choreography: Jean-Christophe Maillot Coppélia (finale) Music: Léo Delibes Choreography: Alexandra Danilova and George Balanchine The George Balanchine Trust TICKET INFORMATION: Pacific Northwest Ballet’s Season Encore Performance will be performed one night only, Sunday, June 10 at 6:30 pm atMarion Oliver McCaw Hall, 321 Mercer Street at Seattle Center. Tickets are currently on sale for PNB subscribers only; tickets go on sale to the general public on April 23. Tickets range in price from $30 to $175 (with discounts available for PNB subscribers) and may be purchased through the PNB Box Office: · By calling 206.441.2424 (Mon.-Fri. 9am–6pm; Sat. 10am–5pm) · In person at 301 Mercer Street, Seattle (Mon.-Fri. 10am–6pm; Sat. 10am–5pm) · Online 24/7 at our website, pnb.org · 90 minutes prior to the performance at the McCaw Hall box office. (Subject to availability.) · Group discounts are available by contacting Julie Jamieson 206.441.2416 or juliej@pnb.org.) Please Note: No student/senior rush tickets or Teen Tix discounts are available for this special performance.

WXQR reported today that NYCO has announced it's 2012-13 season, which they will perform at City Center and BAM, where they have three year contracts at each venue. The operas are: Powder Her Face (Thomas Ades) The Turn of the Screw (Benjamin Britten) Moses in Egypt (Giacomo Rossini) La Perichole (Jacques Offenbach) George Steel and Charles Wall announced that the budget was balanced for this season, and "they were looking at a fully sold-out season for all performances (one, Telemann’s Orpheus, opens next month)."

When I went to the box office last weekend, tickets were not on sale yet, but on Saturday, when I went to buy tickets to this coming weekends' "Apollo"s, I asked again, and they were on sale in person, even before I identified myself as a subscriber (but I may have looked familiar to the box office person). (I asked last weekend because the Seattle Times article about Postlewaite leaving said to get tickets asap.)

Off the top of my head, the full-lengths I remember from 1994 on are: The Nutcracker Cinderella The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet Swan Lake The Sleeping Beauty Coppelia Don Quixote The Merry Widow Silver Lining sandik mentioned the Tetley Alice in 1992. Even if there were more, that still wouldn't be much more than one every three seasons on average over 27 years.

They also tend to have kids in them, which means relatives and friends of the relatives and the kids buying tickets.

That's a great visual!

I don't know whether there's a common place, but when I've been in town for the last couple of summers, I've met my friends by the center costume case at the top of the entry stairs.

Graham Watts wrote this in an article about Rojo's directorship: If Muntagirov does not stay, than ABT may have some competition for any male dancer. If I were one, I'd jump at the possibility of being Rojo's primary partner at the height of her career.

According to the Telegraph article, she's been preparing for an eventual administrative role for a while: Edited to Add: JMcN and I were posting at the same time

According to the press release/announcement in the Seattle Times, Tharp's new work will premiere in the 2013-14 season: http://seattletimes....2362_pnb11.html I think that "Cinderella", "Nutcracker", and "Swan Lake" are Kent Stowell's active full-lengths, and "Cinderella" and "Nutcracker" especially show Stowell's mastery of story-telling. And there we were, sandik and I, speculating about who would perform as Ringmaster in "Circus Polka" and what letters would be spelled. (I think we were both hoping for Francia Russell.) Alas, it's not on the program anymore.

Twitter alone is an accepted official news source on BA if 1. The Tweeters would be considered official sources if they blogged, posted to their public ("Like") Facebook Page, or published in the press and 2. The Tweeter's tweets are open to the public, i.e., if anyone can sign up to receive them. Once the news is printed/announced by an official source, no matter how premature, it can be posted here.

From Peter Boal's email to Friends: Also attached were cast lists in .pdf format, and they list the entire cast: Rep 5 performance casting week 1.pdf Rep 5 performance casting week 2.pdf

PNB did the Tetley "Alice"?!!!! I don't think I ever knew that. National Ballet of Canada brought "Alice" to NYC in 1986. My performance list shows Kimberly Glasco as Wild Alice, Karen Kain as Alice Hargraeves, and Rex Harrington as Lewis Carroll. (John Alleyne was March Hare.) I liked it so much, I got an international money order in CAD and sent it to the company. I can't believe I missed it: it ran before I was in Seattle. I don't know when the company premiere of "Voluntaries" was, but the last revival was in 2002, and the production before that was in 1997.

Tamara Rojo has been named director of English National Ballet. I don't know how this would impact Muntagirov's plans, with the substantial budget cuts still the company's reality: She should give Ib Andersen a call about making bricks with straw.

PNB has posted a lovely studio rehearsal/interview video of "Apollo" to YouTube. Seth Orza is interviewed, there are shots of Peter Boal coaching Orza and speaking about the ballet, with a little footage of his Polyhymnia, Carrie Imler, and Calliope, Leah O'Connor. There's also an excerpt of Laura Gilbreath's Terpsichore, at the end with her Apollo, Karel Cruz.

Oh, those sneaky marketing people!

The emphasis in Balanchine's training and coaching changed significantly with the rise of Suzanne Farrell, the year before NYCB moved into the New York State Theater. As Hayden said to Robert Tracy, when he asked her about the "Farrell years", Croce and other critics noted that Balanchine was opting for a more lyrical, sweeping style with Farrell as the muse, and the NYST stage certainly gave him the room for that kind of look.

SFB just posted a link to a blog post by Katita Waldo, who was brought in to stage "Four Temperaments" when Riccardo Bustamente had to go to Amsterdam to work on "Giselle": http://www.huffingtonpost.com/katita-waldo/san-francisco-ballet_b_1409291.html She gives some insight into staging Balanchine.

Both of them superb, and well worth the trip to see them!

From one of the interviews from the "Balanchine Celebration", she spoke about being afraid that she wouldn't "get" it, but that Balanchine assured her that "One day, you will know." Of course, not everyone was as prescient as Balanchine in seeing this, but it shows me she understands the importance of giving a dancer with potential that confidence that he or she will reach his potential.

I don't think it has anything to do with the way they perform Balanchine, which I've seen numerous times over the last 16 years: their leader for the last 25+ years has been Helgi Tomasson, and there are few affiliated with SFB that were there for Smuin, and the rest of their rep has been decidedly, if not exclusively, neoclassical, which hones many of the physical skills needed to perform Balanchine. There have also been a number of Balanchine dancers, like Gloria Govrin and Elyse Borne, who worked for the school and/or company. SFB, with 70 dancers is a lot bigger than Suzanne Farrell Ballet (28), Miami City Ballet (42 + 1 apprentice not announced for corps promotion), or PNB (42+4 apprentices). Of other companies that have/have had significant Balanchine rep are: Boston Ballet has 54, Pennsylvania Ballet has 32+4 apprentices, Ballet Arizona has 26+4 apprentices and Kansas City Ballet has 24 dancers. (The two largest companies in the US are NYCB with 87, far less than their largest at around 110, and ABT with 86.) Even after significant cuts bringing the size down to 70, those extra 25 or so dancers make a big difference in the rep that SFB can present, and I think the programming challenges for that company are different than in the smaller companies. I think size impacts how much Balanchine they program, as well as the training of the dancers, especially the Principal Dancers, hired from outside the company, for whom Balanchine wasn't a given.

Doug Fullington is giving a free preview of PNB's "Apollo"/"Carmina Burana" program today at noon at the central (downtown) branch of Seattle Public Library, including video excerpts.

I think the reason it's true of SFB is that they take so many of the corps from the school, not SAB, and so many of their Principal Dancers were trained in Europe or Russia. The companies that take a bunch of their corps from SAB and/or who have trained with Balanchine disciples are performing small segments of the Balanchine rep and keeping it alive in both exposure and style. That's certainly true of PNB. About Lopez, through much of her career as I saw it (until 1994), she was a limby dancer, but in the last few years I saw her, she found her center and became a much stronger dancer. That review of Croce's wasn't the only one or her final word, although I think she was right in wanting the famous Balanchine "More!" from her. In her 10 June 1985 review of the newly revived "Firebird" for Merrill Ashley, Croce wrote: I didn't that performance with Lopez and Alexopoulos, but one in the week before the "Nutcracker" later that year, back when they did a week of rep to start the Winter Season, and then again the following June with Diana White as the Princess. Lopez was my favorite of the three -- Ashley, who I thought was rather harsh, and Kozlova, who I thought was too glamorous, along with Lopez -- although she danced it least often. I've written before that I thought Lopez was wonderful in Tallchief roles, like Firebird and Sugar Plum Fairy, and she danced with stature and clarity in "Theme and Variations", in which I saw her as part of the full ballet, "Tchaikovsky Suite No. 3" with Ib Andersen and in the Pas de Deux with Peter Frame for the 1988 Dancers' Emergency Fund benefit. I think she worked very hard to become a better dancer, and that this will help her in her new role.