Helene

Thursday 10 February, 7:30pm Cinderella: Carla Körbes Prince: Batkhurel Bold Godmother: Carrie Imler Stepmother: Ariana Lallone Father: Uko Gorter† Stepsisters: Lindsi Dec, Chalnessa Eames ACT I Memory Mother: Carrie Imler Memory Father: Jerome Tisserand Spring: Rachel Foster Summer: Brittany Reid Fall: Margaret Mullin Winter: Laura Gilbreath ACT II Jester: Benjamin Griffiths Evil Sprite: Jonathan Porretta Good Fairy: Carrie Imler Harlequin: Lucien Postlewaite Columbine: Lesley Rausch Friday 11 February, 7:30pm: Cinderella: Maria Chapman* Prince: Seth Orza* Godmother: Laura Gilbreath Stepmother: Ariana Lallone Father: Uko Gorter† Stepsisters: Jessika Anspach, Abby Relic ACT I Memory Mother: Laura Gilbreath Memory Father: William Lin-Yee Spring: Chalnessa Eames Summer: Lesley Rausch Fall: Lindsi Dec Winter: Kylee Kitchens ACT II Jester: Benjamin Griffiths Evil Sprite: Andrew Bartee Good Fairy: Laura Gilbreath Harlequin: James Moore Columbine: Rachel Foster Saturday, 12 February, 2pm: Cinderella: Lesley Rausch Prince: Jeffrey Stanton Godmother: Laura Gilbreath Stepmother: Brittany Reid Father: Olivier Wevers Stepsisters: Lindsi Dec, Chalnessa Eames ACT I Memory Mother: Laura Gilbreath Memory Father: William Lin-Yee Spring: Rachel Foster Summer: Stacy Lowenberg Fall: Margaret Mullin Winter: Amanda Clark ACT II Jester: James Moore Evil Sprite: Eric Hipolito Jr.* Good Fairy: Laura Gilbreath Harlequin: Kiyon Gaines* Columbine: Amanda Clark* Saturday 12 February, 7:30pm: Cinderella: Carrie Imler Prince: Karel Cruz Godmother: Ariana Lallone Stepmother: Brittany Reid Father: Uko Gorter† Stepsisters: Lindsi Dec, Chalnessa Eames ACT I Memory Mother: Ariana Lallone Memory Father: William Lin-Yee Spring: Maria Chapman Summer: Stacy Lowenberg Fall: Sarah Ricard Orza Winter: Laura Gilbreath ACT II Jester: Jonathan Porretta Evil Sprite: Jerome Tisserand Good Fairy: Ariana Lallone Harlequin: Seth Orza Columbine: Sarah Ricard Orza Sunday, 13 February, 1pm: Cinderella: Rachel Foster Prince: Lucien Postlewaite Godmother: Kylee Kitchens Stepmother: Ariana Lallone Father: Uko Gorter† Stepsisters: Jessika Anspach, Abby Relic ACT I Memory Mother: Kylee Kitchens Memory Father: Jerome Tisserand Spring: Chalnessa Eames Summer: Brittany Reid Fall: Lindsi Dec Winter: Amanda Clark ACT II Jester: Benjamin Griffiths Evil Sprite: Andrew Bartee Good Fairy Kylee Kitchens Harlequin: Kiyon Gaines Columbine: Amanda Clark Sunday, 13 February 6:30pm: Cinderella: Maria Chapman Prince: Seth Orza Godmother: Ariana Lallone Stepmother: Brittany Reid Father: Uko Gorter† Stepsisters: Lindsi Dec, Chalnessa Eames ACT I Memory Mother: Ariana Lallone Memory Father: William Lin-Yee Spring: Abby Relic Summer: Lesley Rausch Fall: Jessika Anspach Winter: Kylee Kitchens ACT II Jester: James Moore Evil Sprite: Eric Hipolito Jr. Good Fairy: Ariana Lallone Harlequin: Kiyon Gaines Columbine: Amanda Clark *First time in role † Guest artist

Early subscriber renewal packets for PNB's 2011-12 season have been arriving this week. Since the budget is never finalized this early, none of this is set in stone -- that is always disclosed -- but per Peter Boal's letter, New this year is an automatic 15% discount on Nutcracker performances purchased before 18 July. It looks like a great planned season. Hopefully some people will suddenly come into a trust fund, large inheritance, winning Lotto jackpot ticket, or other windfall and earmark it for the ballet.

That sounds superb, Cristian! Just like the Tchaikovsky always makes me see the Balanchine, "Verklaerte Nacht" always makes me see and think of the great Tudor ballet, "Pillar of Fire" and rue the neglect this ballet has suffered.

18th place at Worlds is only 16 points though, and Bradley went in as US #3. At 16 points, one of the other two needs to finish in 12th or higher to qualify for three. Given Dornbush's record in Juniors this year, and the type of skater he is with a beautifully paced, expressive program, I think that's doable. Miner might have been in 7th at Cup of China, but his scores were solid. Two of the skaters who beat him will not be at Worlds, and Kozuka, Verner, and Joubert made a particularly strong Men's field. He also improved by 13 points between his first two senior GP events. While possible, I don't think it's a probable outcome for the US to qualify one. There's always a worst case scenario, and sometimes it does happen, like at last year's Worlds when Borodulin had to withdraw because his blade broke, and Voronov placed 14th, while if Borodulin had finished the competition, it is very likely Russia would have two spots instead of one this year.

She is! She had superb technical content throughout her professional career, and, nearing 50, she's as cut as ever. While I wouldn't call the Russian pairs program shallow anymore -- my favorites, Lubov Iliusheshkina and Nodari Maisuradze, had a horrible short program and Russian Nationals and came in fifth -- unlike new pairs Tatiana Volosozhar, who skated for Ukraine for the last Olympics, and Maxim Trankov, and his former partner, Maria Murkhortova, who teamed up with Frenchman Jerome Blanchard, fourth at Europeans were Katerina Gerboldt and Alexander Enbert, and Gerboldt, a former singles skater, only started to train in pairs last spring. These young women are unbelievable! Yankowskas and Coughlin are lovely, and I've always loved Evora and Ladwig, and I'm glad they've been able to stay in this long. Carroll announced some time ago that he's planning to leave his current rink as soon as the one in Palm Springs is completed. It's already been delayed months with the latest opening date scheduled for March. It would be a near-impossible daily commute for Nagasu, and if they don't have a solid relationship, the chances that she would move are very slim. Due to the new qualification system, based on placement at last year's Worlds, all three US Men advance to the Short Program automatically. 24 of the 30 men who skate the Short Program will make it to the Free Skate, and each skater in the Free Skate gets assigned 16 points for placing 16-24, or the actual placement if 15 or lower. If a skater doesn't make it to the Free Skate, s/he gets assigned 18 points. With three skaters, only the top two placements count. A total of 14-28 points earns two spots; a total of 13 points earns three spots. In order for the US to be down to one spot, one of the following must happen: 1. None of the three finish the Free Skate. (18+18) 2. Two of the three don't finish the Free Skate, and the third comes in lower than 10th. (18+11 to 16) 3. Two of the three finish the Free Skate, and their combined total is > 28. (max of 16 + 13 to 16; 15th + 14 or 16) Richard Dornbush is the reigning Junior Grand Prix champion and won one of his two Junior Grand Prix events this year. Ross Miner was the 2010 Junior Grand Prix final bronze medalist, and while he didn't take his first (senior) Grand Prix season by storm, his scores at Cup of China would have been top 8 (SP) and 10 (FS) at Europeans. While scores across events aren't directly comparable, since the judges and technical panels are different, championship scores tend to be higher than Grand Prix scores. Judges have been giving promising Juniors-turned-seniors their due; for example, Stephen Carriere was 10th at his first Worlds (2008), Brandon Mroz was 9th (2009), Adam Rippon was 6th (2010), and Evan Lysacek won bronze (2005). Ryan Bradley was 15th in 2007 and 18th in 2009, but he was US #3, under Weir and Lysacek in 2007, and under Abbott and Rippon (at least internationally) in 2009, i.e., an afterthought. This year, he's going in as US #1. He's also the highest-ranked among the US Men, at least before Four Continents, and he should skate in a later group than Dornbush and Miner. Three spots for men was considered a slam-dunk with Weir/Weiss or Weir/Lysacek, but when Weir and Lysacek didn't skate, three spots wasn't guaranteed, and we just got used of them. I love both of his programs this year, and I'm sad he didn't skate them to potential at Nationals. He was, however, struggling with boots all year, and his latest were only three weeks old, not close to being broken in. He was, unsurprisingly, cautious and couldn't attempt the quad. Abbott has another chance: he, Armin Mahbanoozadeh, and Adam Rippon are going to Four Continents, the Rest of World equivalent of Europeans, next month in Taipei.

"Promethean Fire" is one of Paul Taylor's greatest, in my opinion, but it isn't ballet/done for a ballet company, and it will be interesting to hear how MCB performs it. It was presented on Great Performances/Dance in America by Paul Taylor's company (along with Black Tuesday), which is not available on DVD: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-6xLydZmOBM http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ChUWgScmb2A Leads are Patrick Corbin and Lisa Viola. Here is a link to Gia Korlas' essay on the Great Performances site: http://www.pbs.org/wnet/gperf/shows/actsofardor/essay1.html

More videos from PNB: Laura Gilbreath on Fairy Godmother and Dream Mother: As Fairy Godmother with Carla Korbes as Cinderella Then with Rachel Foster (black leotard) as Cinderella As Dream Mother (in light blue leotard) with William Lin-Yee as Dream Father and a PNBS student as Young Cinderella As Fairy Godmother with Foster and Korbes Grabbing Ariana Lallone's skirt! Clip of Maria Chapman (purple leotard) as Cinderella and Carrie Imler as Fairy Godmother Why is PNB's Cinderella different? Kent Stowell explains his approach to the ballet: Maria Chapman as Cinderella, with Lindsi Dec (in purple jacket) and Chalnessa Eames (with big white hat with pink bow) as Stepsisters and Seth Orza as Prince

I am so glad to here this. After seeing her as one of the big swans in "Swan Lake", I hope to see her Odette/Odile one day, and I'm not surprised that she'd make a fantastic Myrtha.

The casting is a festival of riches, and I wish I could get to SF to see all of them. Sarah van Patten gave a wonderful, individual reading of Odette/Odile, and I assume she'll do the same for Giselle.

The story of the championships was Sarah Meier's gold medal winning performances. Meier has struggled with injuries throughout her competitive career, especially in the last couple of years. She stayed in competition to end her career at home, in Switzerland, and her combined 3rd place finish in the Short Program, to bronze medalist Kira Korpi of Finland and Russia's Ksenia Makarova, and 2nd place finish in the Free Skate, to silver medalist Carolina Kostner of Italy, earned her gold, after finishing with silver in 2007 and 2008 behind Kostner. Here is a link to her Free Skate: And to the medal ceremony: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vvds4rblN7c to Ms. Meier, Ladies European Champion, 2011 in Bern, Switzerland! Edited to add: Also to Brian Joubert, who won his 10th straight medal at Europeans. Since his first Euros as a 16-year-old in 2002, he has not been off the podium at this ISU Championship. I'm sure he would have preferred gold, but a 7th place Short Program skate, with a fall on the triple Lutz, normally a great jump for him, left him several points behind France's Florent Amodio after the free skate, for which Joubert won the small gold medal.

The other night I heard the Vancouver Symphony perform a blasting "School for Scandal" overture, conducted by Austrian conductor Christoph Campestrini, followed by the composer Barber's Violin Concerto, played by Kyoko Takezawa. It's one of my favorite concertos, and I love hearing a vast range of interpretations. According to the program notes, Takezawa plays the Antonio Stradivarious Campocselice, but "most recently has been given the Guarneri del Gesu Wieniaswski (1742), on loan to her provided by the Stradivarius Society in Chicago." I don't know which instrument she played, but it was the most bronzy, burnished, contralto/viola sound I've ever heard in this piece, and I was thrilled to here it played with such depth and guts.

Zavarov is still on the company roster. He's been featured in many programs this year. I'm not surprised that with a limited number of performances that Andersen is giving other men a chance in this program. Kitri is one of Hartley's greatest roles. If I could travel for this, I wouldn't miss her if her partner were a professional wrestler. Zejnati and she are greatly simpatico in this ballet.

The Free Dance was today, and the new European Ice Dance Champions are Natalie Pechalat and Fabian Bourzat of France, who train with former Olympic medalist (with Maya Usova), Alexander Zhulin in Moscow. Bourzat is one of the top male dancers; he reminds me physically of POB's Manuel Legris. Here is a link to their Chaplin Free Dance: I didn't see the earlier groups, but among the ones I've seen, Federica Faiella's and Massimo Scali's Free Dance portraying themes of Manolete's story is my favorite, full of passion and wonderful music, and his unmatched expressiveness: The top Italian team was not in contention for the podium, having been out all seasons and after a twizzle mistake left them in 9th place after the Short Dance. The young team from Russia, Elena Ilinykh and Nikita Katsaparov, who had a rough Grand Prix season and Russian Nationals, skated very, very well and finished in 4th. They are also coached by Alexander Zhulin. She's one of the most balletic ice dancers, but apart from music and her tutu, it's hard to find much ballet in their Free Dance to "Don Quixote": This year there was a change to the rules in Ice Dance: both the Compulsory Dance (CD) and the Original Dance (OD) were eliminated and replaced with a single dance, the Short Dance (for Juniors and Seniors) and Pattern Dance (for novice and below). The Compulsory Dances were the backbone of Ice Dance, like school figures were to singles, a set pattern of steps and turns with specific placement on the ice, repeated at least twice, to a specific rhythm and with an individual character and degree of difficulty. The International Skating Union picked the music, usually five cuts, and the skaters skated the CD to whatever cut happened to match their place in the skate order. They were supposed to separate the men/women from the boys/girls, since everyone skated an identical pattern without any lifts, spins, or tricks, and style was meant to be extremely important, as well as the ability to maintain speed and flow and the size of the pattern through two circuits. Until 2003 teams had to skate two or three CD's in a given competition. This year for the Short Dance, there was a set "CD" that could be performed anytime in the program, as long as it was skated without interruption, and in addition, for the rest of the 2'30" program, they had to perform a lift, a footwork pattern, and a set of twizzles. They could use any music that supported the rhythm of the CD, they could place the other elements where they wanted around the CD portion. The CD for the Junior Short Dance was the Viennese Waltz, and since it was a shorter CD, they had to complete the circuit twice. The Senior CD for the Short Dance was the Golden Waltz, a particularly difficult, intricate pattern that was based on a program done by 1992 Olympic Gold Medalists Marina Klimova and Sergei Ponomarenko, and due to its length, it was only performed once. Here is Pechalat and Bourzat's winning Short Dance, set to music from "Dr. Zhivago", which starts out with the twizzles, then goes to the non-touching mid-line step sequence, into the Golden Waltz pattern, and ends with the lift: The podium, which matched the Short Dance and Free Dance results, is: Gold-Natalie Pechalat/Fabian Bourzat (France) Silver-Ekaterina Bobrova/Dmitri Soloviev (Russia) Bronze-Sinead Kerr/John Kerr (Great Britain)