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I went to a performance recently and while I appreciated the ability of every dancer onstage, I couldn't help but notice the lack of color... I have been around this Artform for a long time and it hasn't changed....Why is it? There are plenty of good black students in the Major schools,so why don't they continue or why aren't they encouraged? ballet was always to me the thing that took riske..It was a story, so a choreographer or director could choose their own hero or heroine... Why hasn't it changed? I look at companies like Boston Ballet and New York City Ballet ,who used to have one or two people of color and now, Boston Ballet especially is very pale... Wouldn't it be a good idea for the director of the company to look at the Demographics of the city and try to appease to everyone?If onel Black dancer is leaving, they should at least have a back up... Poeple talk about missing the black dancers in the company and substituting them for the Asians and that isn't a good comparison aside from the non caucasian issue... Am I the only one who sees this problem and is there any hope for improvement? I'm just curious because I love Ballet, but I can't stand sitting in the audience without seeing someone black onstage...The dancing is fine, but there is no soul...,

While it will be sad to see BWNE go, Boston Ballet isn't the only ballet school intown.Walnut Hill school has a very good program and they aren't that far away. Just in Natick which is close I think to Waltham and Hopkington or at least as easy to get to... There are few other smaller schools around as well. ..

I went to the friday evening show ... .I loved Falling Angels. I thought the women in the company gave it their all. I was pleased to see April Ball back onstag in "In the Middle"She was always one of my favorite dancers and I was sad to see her go a few years ago, so I was really excited when I saw that she was going to be here. She is such an expansive dancer and with a stage as large as the Wang, you want someone to make the stage seem small. She is alot taller than most of the women there, but who says ballerinas have to be under five feet tall? Saraband(E?) was well danced. It was neat to see the men and women in separate, but equal parts... I don't know how I feel about the first piece...It was nice..., but didn't really go anywhere. The dancers looked nice, but I kept waiting for something exciting ot happen and it didn't... I think it is a good ballet for the die hard classical fans who aren't keen on contemporary rep...It wasn't on pointe, so that made it "Modern".The music was lovely, so you couldn't really get mad at it..It just wasn't what I envisioned boston Ballet dancers doing on a rep program... no biggy though

The company is dancing extremely well, but I miss the personality of the individual dancers of the "old" company... The company also looks a bit Homogonized in that there isn't much variation of color, but everyone is still great to watch. i have long been a fan of inclusion and I don't think it is intentional, but I do think mikko should look at hiring another black or darker Latino female dancer for next year...that kind of "inclusion" gives the community the sense that you don't have to be white or fair skinned to have a ballet career and that is one thing about Bruce Marks and AnnaMarie Holes that I miss. Diversity was Bruce's platform and AnnaMarie carried it out after he left... It would be a shame to see the company regress on that front even if it has good dancers.There are plenty of good black dancers out there too... In terms of Shows...Taming was fun. nutcracker was well danced, Sylphede was beautiful, but short, they should have had another piece with it...(oh and that was 2005...oops)

Erika Lambe from Boston Ballet had an Amazing jump. She could easily out jump most of the men in the company... Come to think of it, Sarah Lamb also has a nice jump....Maybe it was something in the former training... Currently, Kathleen Breen Combes comes to mind in terms of jumpers for the company. Coordination and timing are the key. People who jump well, or appear to do so, time the take off preciisely and they hover.... Take notice the next tiem you see something that involves good jumping....

I know that everyone has a different opinion on what beauty is, so my choice for a beautiful Ballerina would be Adrianna Suarez from Boston Ballet. She is exotic and I think ethnicity in itself is beautiful..

This is to Mike, I don't think I said anything about DTH having a fundraiser... I believe I had asked about where the dancers were going to go and then I commented on how a company like DTH needed a good general director who could not only pull the company out of its current hole, but who was also familiar with the artistic side of things and whom Arthur Mitchell felt he could trust. From what I am reading, it all boils down to him and he doesn't seem to want to let just anyone make decisions. There has to be someone with the know how to run a company like that and keep mitchells dream flourishing... Of course you can't have a fundraiser without dancers ...unless they believe enough in the cause to just volunteer....But I don't remember that being part of my earlier question..Maybe it was somewhere else...

last week is over and I'm really surprised that I haven't seen any comments on Boston Ballet's opening program. I was wondering if anyone had been to see the Balanchine mixed rep program and what they thought. I saw it over the weekend and thought the company looked really good. I was impressed with the cleanliness of the corps de ballet in Divertimento on the night I Iwent. Everyone was where they were supposed to be. My one criticism for them would be to enjoy dancing more, but I think most of them were new to the company, so I'll chaulk it up to nerves... I saw the Martins premire and had mixed emothions. I thought it was a bit long, but the dancers were great.It was a buit repetitive towards the end, but maybe I was just tired. Rubies was nicely danced, but I felt it was a bit too nice. I am impressed with the level of dancing that Mikko has brought to the company and my only issue is the lack of color to go with it. He did hire a young man from Dance Thetre of Harlem and I think that it fantastic, but there are no true women of color left in the company and it worries me for furure generations.... Yes there is a good number of Latin dancers in the company and a few Asians, but in my opinion, the company cannot truely reach the greatness it craves if it remains exclusive.... This is not to say that they don't want diversity, I just think they should try something else to bring Black dancers in... This isn't meant to be a political thread or anything like that... I am a great fan of the company and want to see it reach greatness. I thought they looked great last week and can't wait to see" Taming"..: I have always felt that they could do more ..Take more chances with people and maybe they'll surprise you... But this first program was a good startig off point for the company ....I just hope it continues to do good things.

I think it would be wonderful for other companies to offer work to some dancers from Dance theatre of harlem. Call it divine providence or luck, but Boston Ballet hired a young man about a month ago who was with Dance theatre of Harlem. I haven't seen the company in a while, but I know Tai Jiminez and she is a beautiful dancer. I've also heard that Alicia is nice. It would be a great gesture by NYCB or ABT for that mater or any company at this point to do something... I think a large challenge for DTH is going to be finding a business manager who knows what they're doing and who Mr. Mitchell will "trust" with his Baby. I think it has to be someone who has danced in a major company or has a vast knowledge of the arts and has had to face similar challenges Mr. Mitchell did as a dancer and a director, but who knows how to make a business plan that will both help the company with it's problems and ensure the Legacy of Arthur Mitchell.... Well, hopefully something will work out...

McCormic and Schmicks is great. ...I'd almost forgotten that one... The happy hour deal is supposed to be good and it is right until around theatre time. If you like Seafood, the regular menu is wourth looking at. A little pricey, but worth it on the occasional special occasion...

Hi i there, I saw this thread and couldn't resist because I love inexpensive food and more especially goiod food . I read the first page and didn't go to the next, so i'm sorry if i've repeated someone... Yes, Pho still exists on Washington street.(in fact, it is a favorite amongst some dancers of Boston Ballet...) There was another" Pho" on a cross street from the Wang that was kind of Upscale and not very good, but the Pho on Washington is definitely worth the trip.They have great soups and there really inexpensive. There is also a Maylasian restaurant across the street from pho called Panang and a thai restaurant called Montien that is across the street form the Wang center's backstage door. Jacob Wirths' is great and on Friday evenings, the have "sing alongs" , so you can eat and nourish your inner "broadway" or "rock" star...It's really fun and they love a ballet crowd. There is a great Dessert restaurant called "Finale" which is a little pricey, but well worth it if you want to splurge after a night out. There is a chinese restaurant called" PH Changs "that is still good to best of my knbowledge. It is open late and usually crowded though... Well, if you are in Boston already, eat up, if not then look into those restaurants, they;re worth it...

To Fendrock. .. I believe you are thinking about Olivia Hartzel who was in mozartiana.I think she is still a little too young for BII at he moment... As for the rest of the Website, it is still under construction."The mom " was correct in her information about katherine and Roman,... In terms of the main company, I believe there is another male joining soon. He is from Dance Theatre of Harlem which makes me happy because the company will have at least one African American dancer in it. I was a bit concerned after Erika Lambe "retired" .It seemed a bit odd that Mikko would let her retire and not have any African Americans to fill her spot.So if this person shows up, my fears are quelled for the moment....Of course it remains to be seen what kind of dancer he is and whether they'll use him, but at least there is one...

What about Arthur Mitchell? I certainly agree with many of the choices made ,but I wondered if he fits the bill... He is American and a former "Balanchine" dancer.I don't know what kind of a dancer he was in terms of technique, but he certainly had carisma and a following , and he went on to found Dance theatre of Harlem to give other black dancers a chance. ... I call that American....

Larissa Ponomorenko.... Definitely a high point in anything I saw her dance!!! ( :rolleyes:) She is amazing onstage and off. I didn't love Don Quixote...I know it was Nureyevs' version etc. but it was a bit long without much happening. Everybody danced their roles superbly and the choreography was extremely challenging..Perhaps that is why I didn't enjoy it.I felt sorry for the dancers and admired them at the same time... I didn't hate it, it just wasn't up there on my must see list. I really enjoyed the mixed rep program in the spring, especially "Plan to B" by Yorma Elo.He is a very interesting person and choreographer. I think the best thing about Boston Ballet this season is how well the dancers performed ...I mean half of the company was brand new and yet everybody pulled it together like they were old pros. There also wasn't a noticible gap between the company and BB2 dancers as there has been in the past.In fact, some of the BB2 women were quite exceptional and rightly so earned contracts for the company. A sad note I suppose is saying farewell to people who have left the company.I didn't like how it became so secretive this year.There are so few real fans in Boston for Ballet...Not to discount the few of us around, but if you look outside the city... In New York and San Fancisco , news is news regardless and people would know what is going on... I just think it was a shame that people won't know who will not be returning next season...this isn't meant to deter them from attending shows, but to prepare them not to see their favorites... All in all though, good job Boston Ballet.I hear they're going outside of Boston next season,Show them what you're made of!

I think perhaps,boston Ballet is taking a "conservative" approach because of the way subscribers react...many of the die hards prefer thre full lengths, but at the same time the next generation craves excitement... Perhaps it's just the city. There have been so many people who loved the last mixed rep and are dying to see more, but it is difficlut to bring people in. I have always thought that the company needed to really put themselves out there in the community and perhaps that would get people talking, but it hasn't happened so far. I don't mean just the underpriviledged, but even the 30 somethings with money to spare...It needs to be the next "in "thing and with the right kind of marketing,it could change the face of ballet in this city...and the rep next year will be on the must see list... Just a thought...