Amy Reusch

Well, PA Ballet will surely be doing 19th Century rep.... And surely the Balanchine Trust sends their own people... As would be the case with Cranko & Tudor, etc... But it was nice when the ballet mistress had danced so much of the rep, as corps and principal... Wonder what the rep will be for 2015-16. And her husband, Eddy Tovar, is a fine dancer as well. http://harttweb.hartford.edu/community/dance/harttworks/guests.aspx Will he teach or audition with everyone else in the Spring?

Corella has brought in a new ballet mistress, Samantha Dunster, from the Community Division of the Hartt Conservatory at the University of Hartford, where recently Corella directed a summer intensive. http://harttweb.hartford.edu/community/information/HCDnews102114.aspx?flush=true#Chair%20of%20Dance I wonder how much of the repertory Hadley was very familiar with, Dunster knows?

We are all in your debt, Alexandra.

We don't seem to have a topic about the battle in Nutcracker (please correct me if I missed it) Specifically, I'm wondering about the bugle calls... I imagine there was some authenticity to the bugle calls in the original score that members of the audience would have recognized... Is anyone aware of a guide that might let one recognize the calls? Do we know who choreographed (or helped choreograph) the original battle?

Unfortunately, that link has been cut off... here is another... Perhaps Tchaikovsky's nanny taught him this song?

Is the POB style influential outside of France? Well, I think the Ruusians have been trying to emulate it for years now, not particularly successfully... Sylve Guillem seems to be what they've been going for to the point where the old Russian style is not much in evidence... Look at the Bolshoi! It may be doing much the same rep it did in the 20th century, but the look is so different.

I wonder how it compares to the Lacotte "Paquita" bits of which were in the Wiseman film... Would love to see this... Hope it will be available via youtube afterward the way some livestream events seem to be...

I wonder if it comes down to identifiable "style", (though leaving Paris out is absurd..)... I'm not sure how I would differentiate ABT's style from various other companies.... So many of their dancers are trained elsewhere... and I'm not sure the resident choreographer has had time yet to imprint a style...

Gosh, I was wondering if it were somehow a stadium or rink!

I was was wondering how this would leave MaggioDanza, a company I had heard of but was not much familiar with. I was sad to learn it met its demise back in 2013. http://www.gramilano.com/2013/05/culture-crash-maggiodanza-ballet-company-axed-in-florence/ Going back to see the discussion I missed on this board, I was surprised that the last mention of the company here (as far as the search function revealed) was in 2011. Is this true? [My luck with the search button hasn't always been good.]

Thank you for the dogs...

Not exactly the role for someone famous for sleeping.... Maybe they thought it gave a certain air of raciness, as if there were a possibility she would end up nude somewhere in the setting.

I've always hoped the dogs would appear at some point.... Acteon has his gazelle moments, and Diane references a bow, but... Perhaps it should have been titled "Acteon's Dream"?

When I think about the repertory these three are familiar with after over 3 decades with the company, it is really pretty phenomenal.

Ummm.... That is the sort of thing Jeffrey Gribler is adept at... Working with the kids...

From a recent interview, I don't believe Corella has choreographer ambitions although he seems happy enough to arrange stagings. Certainly this first program will be much eyed by the press... If it is to be his Philadelphia choreographic debut, it had better be a strong piece.

Sort of... but if we're already talking about the programming change... any guesses about the "mystery" piece choreographer? I'm putting my money on Petipa.

Thanks, Helene, that was comprehensive.

What happens when AGMA dancers are in their layoff weeks... I know they collect unemployment, but how does their health insurance work? Are they covered by the year or by the dates of employment?

Well I do hope there is a safety net. I have never had to pay COBRA, and perhaps it has changed under the Affordable Healthcare Act, but from what I understand from those who have, it is mainly there so that insurance companies cannot deny an individual insurance due to pre-existing medical conditions but that the cost is more than what they could afford when they had a job, not what can be paid with an unemployment check. I hear the Affordable Healthcare Act has helped some people get insurance, but not everyone as had been the goal. It seems callous. Should they all have assumed their employment was doomed the day they learned Roy Kaiser was resigning? Should they all have jumped ship immediately? I am not saying Corella should not be allowed to put in his own team, I'm just saying this is a poor way to handle a transition. I believe you strongly agree with Ballet Alert's "no politics" policy and ask that you consider that calling the Act by the politically driven nickname "Obamacare" is incorrect.

I thought staff change announcements usually come after the first year... Everyone expects changes and most have a pretty good idea of who will be cut and this leaves time for those likely to be leaving to have a chance to find a new gig. This very sudden change is a shock. How many decades of their lives have Hadley, Gribler & DeGregory given to build the health of this institution? (If I can count, based the press articles about their retirement, they all joined the company in 1975) One would think they deserved a little better treatment than this. They all have strong qualifications to find work, but in September? Where will they find work and health insurance on such short notice? Of course Corella will want a handpicked team, but this hacking away at the institution's soul lacks diplomacy.

I wonder what the comparative dance populations are between NYC & DC...

Why do we not credit Gorsky more for this ballet? It seems an odd way to pay respect to Petipa, to credit him with choreography that angered him with its changes... However disrespectful it was to Petipa to make the changes, the ballet has been very successful and entered the canon... perhaps Gorsky deserves some respect for the longevity of the current choreography? The wikipedia entry on him is interesting: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Alexeyevich_Gorsky I would have thought, given Don Quixote, that bravura technique was a hallmark of his style... but perhaps this is a misunderstanding?

Good.

Exactly. That's what makes it so hard...