Swiss_Chard

You're welcome. This was the last performance for the season, but I will be sure to report when they start back up next fall.

I thought I would offer my humble, uneducated view of this weekend's performance of San Diego City Ballet's all Balanchine performance. I do not have much ballet-going experience, so these are just my impressions. I went to the Friday performance, which was the first night. This is the second time the company had an all Balanchine performance - the first time was last year, for the Centenial. They performed four pieces: Concerto Barocco, Tarantella, selections from Stars and Stripes, and Donizetti Variations.

On the whole, I really enjoyed the performance, although there were a few ups and downs. Concerto Barocco had a few wobbles here and there. I found I liked the second and third movements best (is it appropriate to call them that?), because the energy and feeling seemed better. The first violin part was performed by Janica Smith, who seemed a little tentative. The second violin part was performed by Mira Cook, who, in my opinion, was the standout of the entire evening. She has amazing stage presence and I couldn't help but watch her. Mira Cook and Alexei Kulpin then danced Tarantella. This was probably my favourite piece of the evening. There was great chemistry between the two dancers, their smiles lit up the stage, and they seemed to be genuinely enjoying themselves. Alexei Kulpin is an amazing jumper as well - he is a wonderful addition to the company. Stars and Stripes was a bit of a disappointment for me. It lacked the energy of the previous pieces and seemed a little cheesy. The pas de deux didn't come across very well, in my opinion, either. It needed more spunk. The Donizetti Variations, on the other hand, were quite good, and Janica Smith seemed more at ease. It was a nice finish to the program.

On another note, it was nice to see the theatre so full. Let's hope that this trend continues. It would be nice to have more ballet in San Diego.

They're called clubs. I have to agree. I don't like the leaps either.

I'm afraid there isn't too much to say about the pairs -- though afterwards Baldwin and Inoue seemed fairly candid in discussing their "bittersweet" victory (one of them described it that way) and he also seemed quite the gentleman in taking responsibility for their problems.

I'm going to interrupt the Cohen vs. Kwan discussion to ask if someone could tell me what the story behind Baldwin and Inoue is about. I don't have a tv so I find I"m rather out of touch. Thanks.

A children's book that I always loved is "Ballet Shoes" by Noel Streatfield (sp?).

The dancing seemed better than usual, having watched for years and years, but odd. The filming was rather bad. At the end, instead of showing Carreno, they filmed the ceiling instead.

I was wondering if anyone knew how the idea of turn out developed in ballet, since it's not exactly a natural position for the human body.

I don't really know where I'm from. I currently live in San Diego, but grew up in Austria and hold US and Slovenian passports. So all of the above, I guess.