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purelyballet

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  • Connection to/interest in ballet** (Please describe. Examples: fan, teacher, dancer, writer, avid balletgoer)
    dance enthusiast
  • City**
    California
  • State (US only)**, Country (Outside US only)**
    California
  1. Does anyone know if the casting for Coppelia has been posted yet? I checked on the PABallet site but only saw the Orchestra casting.
  2. I know they toured to City Center in NY last November, and are also going to the Kennedy Center in Washington DC in June but to my knowledge I have not heard of an plans for them to come to CA. But I agree with you, it would be nice for them to come out to Ca and I would love to see OCPAC add this company to next years performances.
  3. When I heard that Pennsylvania Ballet was going to do the Messiah I really did not know what to expect. Of course the score is some of the most beautiful music that I have ever heard but in reading about the ballet on line I was not quite sure what I was in for. All I can tell you is if you missed seeing this ballet you really missed a spectacular visual experience. From the dramatic lighthing, simple but elegant costumes, interpretive choreography and electrifying dancing, this ballet was phenomenal and certainly one that I recommend seeing. This score lends itself to so many types of movement and Weiss takes advantage of this by including movements reminiscent of Petipa to Graham. While most of the ballet is en pointe, there is a touching and emotional pas de deux which was danced in bare feet by Zach Hench and Barette Vance. The two dancers did a fabulous job of capturing the movement and getting the story across. The other glorious pas de deux was danced by James Ady and Amy Aldridge. Equally as moving this pas was danced in elegant white costumes with wings and the dancers seemed to float across the stage together. Hopefully the company will perform this ballet again in the near future and if you missed it this time, I would make it a point to go see it the next time around.
  4. Thanks for the information. I am now really looking forward to seeing this ballet. Your description has really peaked my interest.
  5. In looking at the PABallet site it appears they will be performing Messiah next. I have never seen this ballet but would love to hear more about it from someone that has seen it. Anyone?
  6. For anyone that has not seen PAB's new Nutcracker, it is a MUST see this Holiday season. The new sets and costume are absolutely gorgeous and the dancing was better then ever. I went to the 12pm performance today and the highlights for me were Gabriella Yudenich as Sugar Plum, Barette Vance as Dew Drop and Rebecca Azenberg as Marzipan Shepardess. Even though Gabriella and Barette were making their debuts in these roles one would have thought that they had performed these roles many times over. All three dancers were very confident and technically strong. Gabriella's rendition of Sugar Plum was both graceful and radiant. She was lovely and lit up the stage as she boureed into the Land of Sweets. Her strength and confidence was apparent as she executed every move with secure technique and elegance. Barette Vance danced Dew Drop both effortlessly and gracely. Light on her feet, she floated through the air like a feather and seemed to have sustained balance on every move. She appeared etherial and the way she danced through each step demonstrated her extreme musicality. Demonstrating excellent technique and strength Rebecca Azenberg shined in the role of Marzipan Shepardess. She nailed every turn and jump and gave a charming performance.
  7. If you have been trying to order any of your dance supplies online you may have noticed that www.dancedistributors.com is temporarily unavailable. Since there has been some confusion in the past between Dance Distributors and Discount Dance Supply, I wanted to let you know that Discount Dance Supply's site www.discountdance.com IS STILL OPERATING and able to accept your orders both online and over the phone.
  8. As much as I loved Thursday night’s rep and felt that it would be hard to top, I have to say last night did just that. Serenade is one of my all time favorite ballets and I felt that PABallet did it proud. It is obvious to see that many of the dancers in the company have had SAB training as their Balanchine technique was true to form in their performances last evening. As for Carmena Burana all I have to say is WOW. If you want to see something powerful, with a variety of exciting and exhilarating dance move and novel costumes, this is a MUST SEE. Contrary to some of the previous comments, I felt that the costumes were amazing and their creative designs gave added visual acuity to the entire piece. Based on the strength of the dancers performance and the innovative and entertaining choreography, I think this piece could be hugely successful if toured internationally. Once again I feel that recognition needs to be given to the dancers in this company and my hat goes off to the dancers that performed in both pieces. Not only were these pieces polar opposites showing the exceptional versatility and overall talent of the dancers but the stamina needed to perform in both of the ballets is praiseworthy.
  9. I attended last night performances of "Concerto Barocco", "As It's Going" and "Lambarena" and found them throughly enjoyable. I felt that Neenan's choreography was both innovative and exciting and the dancers who peformed in "As Its Going" did so with extreme technical expertise and prawess. The contrast between the quartet and the pas and the trio and the other pas exhibited Neenan's vesatitily and the ability to mix various styles in a cohesive manner I have seen Concerto Barocco peformned by other companies in the past and I have to say that the corps work in last nights performance was one of the best I have seen. As technically and physically demading as this ballet is on the dancers, it was exceptional to see that most, if not all of, these dancers also had to perform other ballets that same evening. I think it is of note and an indication of PABallet raising stature within the ballet community that last nights attendance was a veritable "Who's Who" of the dance industry. I was also happy to see that the audience appeared to agree with me on my assesement of the dancers peformances as noted by the audiences loud applause and mulitple "Bravo's" during and after each ballet. I enjoyed these performances so much I will also be in attendance again this evening so I can see the other rep.
  10. now that you are no longer able to post to a particular company, will you still be posting casting and if so where? I am looking for the casting on PABallet's opening series.
  11. Am I missing something. Ever since you change the format and order of the companies on the American Ballet Company section of your site, I have noticed a huge decline in posts. In fact the last post that I can see was made on the 25th of last month. In the past there were usually daily posts. Am I doing something wrong, are these posts being posted someplace else on the site now, or has the traffic really dropped off that much since the format change?
  12. Unfortunately Julie was injured and unable to perform in Sleeping Beauty. But in response to your question, she is certainly one of my favorite dancers at PABallet and so I am looking forward to her return for next season.
  13. I went to the Friday evening performance and it appears that I saw the same cast as Natalia. In reading her comments on the three ballets, I found myself in agreement with a lot of what she said. The highlight of the evening for me was certainly Lambarena (which also seemed to be the audiences favorite judging from the applause). As Natalia stated earlier, both Amy Aldridge and Barette Vance stood out in this ballet and the crowd went wild with enthusiasm as they came up for their bows. :huepfen024: Both seem to have adapted well to this style of dance which is notable as I am sure this is very different from the classical styles that they are used to dancing. Contrary to Natalia's previous post, I believe that the playbill was incorrectly printed and Barette Vance was not substituting for anyone but was actually cast in the pas with Phillip Colucci. The same goes for Julie Diana in the first cast. She should have also been listed in the pas with Francis Vyette. I also have to give kudos to Heidi Cruz Austin. Even though I did not particularly care for the choreography of Quartet IV, I have to say that Heidi did a phenominal job and definitely was the standout in this ballet. Unfortunately I did not enjoy In the Upper Room. I found the piece to be very dated, however, as much as I did not care for the choreography, I have to say that Tara Keating did a great job in her role.
  14. I just noticed that PAB has posted the casting for this series on their site
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