Helene

From the trailer, on land seems dangerous enough ;) All pairs and ice dance couples practice their lifts extensively on land before they transfer them to ice -- oddly, one of the things they never show in the behind-the-scenes videos, and possible never do?, on "Battle of the Blades" -- and their lifts have a lot of momentum even before they get to the ice, so the men have more experience in this than any of the non-experts in other ice or dance competitions. Hopefully this will make it to YouTube.

Congratulations, Ms. Kondaurova

I watched it twice, too, but the second viewing didn't improve my opinion of the principal dancing of all but Sukhorukova in the Mimi Paul role of "Emeralds". I expected the most of Ayupova, but I found her interpretation unrhythmic and disjointed. Lopatkina was so careful -- you could see the set-ups coming for a mile -- when courage and abandon were called for, although I thought that Letestu was the least successful in the POB version, too: "Diamonds" is not "Swan Lake". I also preferred the energy and phrasing of the POB corps in "Diamonds", which was one of the highlights of that DVD. I had hopes for Gumerova, but I think she was studying the wrong kind of cheerleader for this role. For me Sukhorukova was the one who got not only the phrasing, but also the tone and feel of the ballet she was in. Her feet were so beautiful. My only criticism of her was that she moved her head a lot, which was distracting, when stillness would have been more effective. "Rubies" was vulgar, but worse, it was coy vulgarity. I loved the trio in "Emeralds". Who of Ostreikovskaya and Selina is the redhead? I also loved the set: it was striking and worked for all three segments. I definitely will pull out this DVD again (and maybe again), but I'll be selective by chapter.

Vladimir "Simon" Vasiliev coached Maxim Marinin to several world championships and the Olympic Gold medal. Kostomarov's wife and mother of their baby daughter is Oksana Domnina, Maxim Shabalin's former partner with whom she won a World Championship, European Championships, and an Olympic bronze medal. Skating is a small world.

Thank you, Drew. We do allow politics to enter the discussion when it's ballet-related, and this is

The dancing was primarily based in the Stepanov notation, however, the notation did not always indicate arm movements, and Peter Boal made pointed choices about the notated choreography, such as the lifts in the Act II pas de deux. I would have preferred the original lifts, maintaining the tempo as written and reflecting the music more, but he said in Q&A's and presentations that he didn't want to lose the big lifts.

"Giselle" was a different case, in that it used sources from the original, non-Petipa version particularly for the mime and story, Peter Boal filled in places on his own without source, like the opening scene where three children enact a rivalry for a girl's affection, and even with the notated choreography, Boal made his own choices, like keeping the big overhead lifts in the Act II pas de deux and slower tempo where the notation shows an ephemeral lift at a faster tempo. The resulting production was a hybrid of sources, which made it very rich, and a continuum of collaborative choices.

Oregon Ballet Theatre is having a costume sale on 22-23 October from 10am-4pm at their warehouse at 2320 NW 21st and York. Their own description says it best:

This is where an organization could show business smarts: if you called the box office, explained the situation, and they exchanged your ticket(s) for better ones.

The program the last weekend in February is a triple bill with "Valse Nobles et Sentimentales", "Monotones I & II", and "Facade". Just sayin'...

PNB had Tudor in its rep under Russell and Stowell, including the gorgeous "Dark Elegies" and "Jardin aux Lilacs". In a Q&A, Peter Boal answered once that he didn't know Ashton's work. He hasn't shown any interest in Tudor or Ashton. Iain Webb in Sarasota is presenting Ashton's "The Two Pigeons", "Les Patineurs", "Valse Nobles et Sentimentales", "Monotones I & II", and "Facade" just this season: http://sarasotaballet.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=72 I can't find an annual report, but it's hard to imagine that the company has a bigger budget than PNB.

I'm no fan of Derek Hough, but I thought Lake and Hough's dance last night was delightful, second only to Buddy Schwimmer's appearance on the show. I wish that Tristan MacManus had been paired with Chelsea Kane last year.

I want the same dream! (It's much better than the one I had last night that alternated Flamenco Jaleo badly done with browser UI hex color codes )

"Black Swan" is a new video with the opening of the "Black Swan Pas de Deux" performed by: Patricia Barker/Jeffrey Stanton Carrie Imler/Batkhurel Bold Kaori Nakamura/Lucien Postlewaite Carla Korbes/Stanko Milov www.youtube.com/watch?v=QK-31n2LI50

If it's good enough for Maya Plitsetskaya, it's good enough for me ;)

"First Position" will screen twice at the Philadelphia Film Festival: Saturday, 29 October 12:00pm Sunday, 30 October 1pm It's listed in the category "Doc for Kids". http://filmadelphia.slated.com/2011/films/firstposition_filmadelphia2011

That's amazing, Cristian. The wonders of live theater.

I'm sorry you didn't like it more. If they ever bring "L'Allegro" to Miami, give the company another chance. (Or "Dido and Aeneas" for that matter.) I'm even more sorry that your neighbors were behaving like they were at the circus.

Last film of the festival for me was the documentary "Sushi: The Global Catch". Bad, but unsurprising, news about the sustainability of, mainly, the blue fin tuna. Little did Japan know that 70+ years later that China would exact its reparations. It's official: I can't eat anything without ruining the planet. I think from now on I'm just going to save all of my environmental devastation credits to drink.

I do like the idea of Lilac in heels for the Prologue. I've rarely seen the Lilac's Prologue variation done without at least some struggle. Although one could argue Lopatkina is Vishneva's equal or better, she didn't come across that way dancing Lilac when I saw her, and she kicked her leg higher than any of the other dancers I'd seen and have since. (I was astonished, because I kept hearing how she was the embodiment of the Old Mariinsky, the essence of classicism, etc.) It's really a bad set-up when the Aurora out-dances the Lilac, which often happens -- and Aurora gets several tries to be brilliant, whereas its all-or-nothing for Lilac -- when the entire kingdom would go down the drain if it weren't for the Lilac Fairy. It's like she's competing when she dances on point, and chances are she's going to lose. I think she's more gracious as a mime role. However, it means one less plum role for dancers.

There are some striking combos in there for "La Bayadere": Cojocaru, Vasiliev, and Boylston in one cast, Vishneva, Gomes, and Osipova in another, and Cojocaru, Cornejo, and Osipova in the last performance. Vasiliev was cast as Golden Idol when I saw the Bolshoi in Berkeley a couple of years ago. Here he gets Solor.

I saw Ruben Ostlund's "Play", which is about a group of five Afro-Swedish pre-teens and young teenagers who target well-off, usually white pre-teens, and play an elaborate set of minds games and intimidation to convince them to turn over their belongings. It's a 118-minute depiction of how they choose their targets in a shopping mall and entrap them, and then get them to go along and turn on each other, often in public places, preventing them from escaping and for the most part, breaking their will to escape, even amidst active interference and passive witnessing from intermittent groups of adults. One of the aggressors says to one of the victims something to the affect that, "You showed five black kids your cell phones. What did you expect? Are you infants?" The adults are portrayed as passive and impotent, violent-tempered, or knee-jerk liberal, aside from the robotic bureaucrats. It's more than a heavy-handed canon aimed at political correctness: it attempts to describe a society paralyzed by a combination of good intentions and selective blindness. The film itself was tedious and powerful at the same time. There was no getting away.

The 1952 Konstantin Sergeyev version that the Kirov brought to Berkeley in 2005 had Lilac, Carabosse + five, translated as Tender Fairy, Playful Fairy, Generous Fairy, Brave Fairy, and Carefree Fairy. (The Diamond, Sapphire, Gold, and Silver Fairies appeared only in the last act.) I still prefer the Lilac Fairy in a dress in heels as opposed to in a tutu hitting her ear with her pointe shoe. She has much more stature that way.

You can view a .pdf of the promo material for the DVD: MAR0514_Press int.pdf

Congratulations to the dancers Cox's return is great news for MCB fans.