purelyballet

Paul Taylor's Company B Balanchine's Concerto Barocco Another piece from the company's repertoire Ben Stevenson's Dracula. The Nutcracker (new production, by the way) Robert Weiss' Messiah Coppélia, choreography Nicholas Sergeyev after Marius Petipa Wheeldon's Carnival of the Animals New work by Peter Quanz to music by Elliott Carter I have never seen Company B nor Messiah so I am excited to see the company perform both of these ballets. I am also very excited to see them do Concerto Barocco and Carnival of the Animals and just like Nutcraker is to Christmas I love seeing Dracula at Halloween time. I could live without Coppelia but at least this gives a little of something for everyone.

I've seen Serenade many times and I have to say the work done by Sandra Jennings in setting this ballet was terriffic! The dancers demonstrated very clean lines and were in perfect unison making the choreography the star. It is really hard for me to single out any one dancer because they all did an amazing job; Dark Angel, Waltz, Russian, the four Russians, they ware all wonderful. But even as amazing as Serenade was, I still have to say, the highlight of the evening for me was Carmena Burana. Where do I begin, but to say you have to go see this one for yourself. Matthew Neenan shows his choreographic brilliance in this piece. The choreography, the costumes, the sets, the dancing and or course the mystifying music made this new rendition a must see. Again, the entire company did a phenomenal job and both Jermel Johnson and Phil Colluci were standouts. With this new rendition Matthew brings to the ballet world an electrifying production which encompasses moves that one would see in Circus de Soleil from on stage aerials, to athletic but poetic lifts and jumps . But Matthew fine tunes these movements and couples them with balletic moves making this Carmena a ballet that I believe will transcend to a new and younger audience. In fact, I took a young man with me last evening that has only gone to a few ballets (some of which he enjoyed and some of which he found to be quite boring) and his comment to me was that this was not only the best ballet, but the best live performance he has even been to. I think this is something that is needed in the ballet world….and hopefully will put an end to the rumor that “Ballet is a dying and pretentious art from”. I have to give Kudos to PABallet for being innovative and brave enough to once again take an age-old classic and update it bringing new life and exuberance to the stage. I am hoping with these efforts we will see a new and younger audience enjoying ballet.

I was able to attend both the matinee and evening performance on Saturday. Unfortunately, I was not able to see Julie Diana as Giselle but did see both Aranxta and Rio. Both dancers did a beautiful job but I preferred Rio overall in the role. I do have to agree with GWTW that she certainly seems to shine more in the first act then in the second. Her portrayal of Giselle as a young girl in love was very convincing and beautifully danced (but how can anyone take their eyes off of those exquisite feet). And I also agree that she did a wonderful job with the mad scene. I was fortunate to see both James Ady and Sergio dance and thought both of them were exceptional. I agree that I saw more chemsty with James and his partner, but Sergio's technique is amazing. I have to believe that the longer Sergio is with the company, the better his interaction with his female partners will be. But kudos to both dancers for a job well done. Other dancers that stood out to me were Gabriella Yudenich as Myrta and Barette Vance and Yosbel in Peasant Pas. Gabriella reminded me of the Queen in Snow White; very regal, autoritative and in total control of her surroundings not to mention that her jumps were fabulous. I think this role was very suited for her. Excellent job and I look forward to seeing Gabriella in more roles like this in the future as she grows with the company. Barette and Yosebel did a beautiful job with Peasant Pas. As someone else noted before Barette's stage presence and smile are electric on stage and it is hard to take your eyes off of her, not to mention her excellent techniqe. Again I feel this role was really suited for her as well. Barette and Yosebel made a beautiful couple of stage and danced beautifully together. I hope to see more of these two in the future as well.

Thanks for the review Dale. I will be at both shows on Saturday as well. I find it strange that the Philadelphia Inquirer has not reviewed a performance yet. Or if they have, I certainly have not been able to find the review on line.

so tell us lilliana, how were the performances. Also has anyone seen any reviews yet. I have tried searching on line but have not come across anything yet.

Thanks Dale. You are right, it must have something to do with Microsoft Explorer as I changed to Foxfire and then I did not have any problems opening the link. Thanks.

I have been trying to access the Giselle casting roster on the PAB site for a few days now and I am unable to open the link. Is anyone else having the same problem or is something to do with my computer?

I am jealous and wish I could be there on opening night as well. But I will fortunately get to see two of the three casts next weekend Looking forward to your opinion after you see the shows.

I am also excited to hear about Sergio Terrado's employment with PAB. He will certainly be a nice addition to the company. lilliana, since I will not be able to go to see Giselle until next weekend, can you report back to us on this weekends performances?

I am hoping to go see both Julie and Riolama as Giselle. And as it was mentioned I also noticed that PAB is giving a few of the younger corps dancers great opportunities. Looking through the casting Gabriella Yudenich and Hawley Rowe are cast as Myrta and also Abigal Mentzer and Barette Vance are cast in Peasant Pas. Other roles featuring corps dancers are Barette Vance and Rebecca Azenberg as Moyna and Abigail Mentzer as Zulma. I am looking forward to seeing these young dancers perform these parts.

Once again, I was wondering if anyone has an news on the casting for Giselle?

Lillianna, I could not agree with you more and it is certainly wonderful to have seen two young corps members (namely Gabriella Yudenich and Barette Vance) get a chance to shine. They were both impressive and I hope to see more of them in the future. As for other hightlights for me, I also have to comment on Riolama Lorenzo. She was impressive in both Sugar Plum and Dew Drop. What beautiful feet, lines and port de bras. PABallet has made great strides under the direction of Roy Kaiser, Jeff Gribbler and Tamara Hadley and it certainly shows in these types of performances. I am looking forward to many more wonderful performances this year.

I had already read the review from the Inquirer, but had not seen the article on Christine, so thanks for sharing. Sounds like she is doing a phenominal job with the kids. Can't wait to see them this next week.

I have not been able to see any of the performances as of yet, so if anyone can shed some light I would love to hear what you have to say. Also, I have not really found any reviews to speak of either...so if you know of any and can lead me to the site, I would appreciate it.

Has anyone seen any reviews yet on this weekends Nutcracker performances?

Thanks, I have been checking their site each day as well. I just thought maybe you had an inside track on the casting

I noticed this casting is only through December 16th and I do not arrive until that day. Do you happen to know when the rest of the performances will be posted?

Any news yet on casting? I went to the PAB site and did not see it posted, but really would like to purchase my tickets soon.

thanks Dale

Does anyone know when their Nutcracker casting will be posted

sorry my reply sent before I was finished..so I will try again I could not disagree more....I give PABallet a lot of credit for participating. In the article that I read it said that PR Director for PABallet commented something to the effect....Who really cares about the sexual orientation of the dancer. We hire dancers for their ability to dance. As we all know ticket sales contine to drop nationally...and what a great vehicle to showcase ballet to the millions of veiwers who will be watching this program. Ballet is the one artform that really does not get their due share of media coverage. The more that we can showcase ballet to millions of potential audience members, the better off ballet will be. KUDOS PABallet.

I could not disagree more....I give PABallet a lot of credit for participating. In the article that I read it said that PR Director for PABallet commented something to the effect....Who really cares about the sexual orientation of the dancer. We hire dancers for their ability to dance.

I just got notificiation that PAB will be featured on 20/20 tomorrow night... Inqlings | '20/20' uses Pa. Ballet to shatter a stereotype The Pennsylvania Ballet will be featured tomorrow on ABC's 20/20 as part of a report debunking stereotypes. Specifically, that all male ballet dancers are gay. It's not true, at least at the Pennsylvania Ballet. Five of the 19 full-time male company members - about one-quarter - have publicly identified themselves as gay, says ballet spokeswoman Emily Cheramie, adding that to her knowledge, there are no lesbian dancers in the company. "If [the stereotype] were true, so what?" Cheramie says. (Well, then 20/20 wouldn't have much of a story.) A 20/20 producer called several weeks ago after the New York City Ballet and American Ballet Theatre declined to cooperate, Cheramie says. Five Pennsylvania Ballet dancers were interviewed in a two-day shoot (10 p.m., 6ABC) - Zachary Hench, James Ihde, Jonathan Stiles (who Cheramie says are straight) and James Ady and retired soloist Meredith Rainey (who Cheramie says are gay). "The company could really care less [about a dancer's sexuality]. No one makes a big deal about it," Cheramie says. Straight male dancers "endured ridicule when they were younger," Cheramie says. "They said they almost felt they had a secret no one knew - to be surrounded by beautiful women."

PABallet will be performing 11:11 at City Center on Sept 28th and 29th. If you have not seen this ballet before, you may want to go....I really love the music and Matthew Neenan's choreography is outstanding.

I will most likely be attending a few shows, but before I reserve my tickets I am hoping to see the casting