Helene

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.

Here's a link to an interview on KPLU with Peter Boal and Seth Orza on "Apollo" and an article with excerpts from the transcript. http://www.kplu.org/post/pacific-northwest-ballet-old-apollo-teaches-first-timer

Casting is up for Week 2 on the website: http://www.pnb.org/S...Details-Casting Here's the grid for comparison: Apollo and Carmina Burana Weeks 1 and 2.xlsx Please note that there's an extra, non-subscription performance on Saturday, 21 April at 2pm. Major debuts in week 2 are Postlewaite and Orza as Apollo. Murphy as Terpsichore O'Connor and Adomaitis as Calliope Mullin as Polyhymnia Lin-Yee in "In Taberna" Imler reprises her Polyhymnia for the first time in week 2. I'm not sure if Porretta's performances in "In Taberna" are a debut, or if he performed the role in 2004.

Sorry, Golden Idol. You should be able to post to the Barcelona Ballet forum now.

I love her leotard: it would make a gorgeous swimsuit.

This year, there have been 2.5 non-ballet works: the Quijada "Mating Theory" and half of "Cylindrical Shadows", where there were two big chunks of what is recognizably ballet and whole sections that were not, and the Balcony Pas de Deux from the Maillot "Romeo et Juliette", which was packaged with two company premieres, "Divertimento from 'Baiser de la Fee'" and Robbins' "Afternoon of a Faun", and the Black Swan Pas de Deux and Wedding Act from "Sleeping Beauty." That isn't even a full evening out of six rep programs, which included three by Wheeldon, two more by Balanchine ("Apollo" and "Coppelia"), Dawson's clearly neo-classical "A Million Kisses to My Skin", Stowell's "Carmina Burana", and the Ratmansky "Don Quixote". This rep is squarely within the Russell/Stowell tradition, and they were the ones who brought in Nacho Duato's "Jardi Tancat", not Boal. (On the other hand, they also brought in Forsythe.) Most of the money that Boal has spent on new works has been for the "Coppelia" co-production with SFB and the Ratmansky "Don Q". Since the Maillot "R et J" is coming back for the third time and looks like a keeper, the company has invested in building costumes. (I don't know if they're building their own set this time.) I'm sure that the economy has slowed Boal down, but the "Swan Lake"s and "Sleeping Beauty"s, and "Coppelia"s that bring in revenue take slots away from "Jewels", too, not just another Kylian, for example, Tharp's work is in every major company in the US, and companies chomp at the bit to get work by Mark Morris, who choreographs ballet for ballet companies. The program PNB brought to the Joyce was Millipied, Liang, Tharp, and "Mopey", and only the latter is unusual programming for a US ballet company. While I don't think any of the works were particularly strong -- and the Millipied looked much better on the big stage at McCaw Hall and cramped at the Joyce -- it was not radical programming, for better or worse. I don't see a major change in profile, and so far, I've seen the dancers take the energy, sharpness, timing, and articulation they've learned from doing the Quijada and the most recent Goecke pieces, for example, and use it in neoclassical and classical works, and sandik has told me about trans-formative performances that have translated into big step up in projection and performances since in at least one other work I missed. If I never see "Mopey" or a work by Dove again, though, I wouldn't shed a tear.

In the PNB press release with the news that Postlewaite will join Les Ballets de Monte Carlo, the company also announced that Abby Relic is leaving the company at the end of this season: Ms. Relic participated in PNB’s Summer Course in 2004 and was subsequently invited to become a PNB School Professional Division student from 2004-2006; she joined PNB’s corps de ballet in 2008. Peter Boal remarked, “Abby has been a pleasure to work with since her days as a Professional Division student in our School. She stands out not only for her exquisitely arched feet, but also for her sunny smile and ready laugh. We will miss her presence on stage and off.” In addition to her work with PNB, Ms. Relic is actively pursuing her Pilates certification, performs with Seattle’s 127th Street Dance, and was recently featured in Pointe Magazine’s “On the Side” for her versatility as an artist passionate about both the ballet and hip hop genres. Ms. Relic states: "Although I feel very strongly about moving on to the next phase of my life, I have experienced a great deal of personal growth through being a part of this organization and I am very grateful for all the opportunities that I have been given. Quite frankly, I am deeply moved by the fact that opportunities for my future are continuously being presented by way of numerous people involved with PNB, and I feel very blessed." The press release also notes that both Postlewaite and Relic "will be honored at this year's Season Encore performance on Sunday, June 10." Before Season Encore, Relic will perform with 127 St. Dance Co. in "Memoria" on May 4 and 5 at 8pm at Broadway Performance Hall.

According to Lorena Feijoo's FB page, https://www.facebook.com/pages/Lorena-Feij%C3%B3o/177243311883

I would have thought Louisiana, having once been a French colony, but no.