doug

Yes, I believe so. This is the divert slot that began with the Pas des Eventails, was changed to the pas de six, back to the Eventails, then to a pas de deux by Sergei Legat, then to the pas de trois by Samuil Andrianov in 1915 that morphed into what we know as the Corsaire pas de deux.

Thanks for the kind words, Helene. The Stepanov notation includes the Pas de six in the grotto rather than the Pas des Eventails, but the Justamant includes the entire fan dance, of which we did only the first part--for Medora, two demis and 8 corps. Jardin is notated in Stepanov circa 1894--for Medora, Gulnare, and 6 coryphees plus 2 groups of 12 women, 12 girls, 12 men and 12 boys--68 total. We reduced the five groups of 12 to five groups of 8--48 total.

Hi all, Foster opened Emergence on 2/26 and Mullin on 2/27.

If you will have a look, I think you'll find everything about performances and events open to the public from March 17-20 already on the website, here: http://www.pnb.org/Season/15-16/DirectorsChoice/ http://www.pnb.org/Season/15-16/LeCorsaire/ http://www.pnb.org/Community/Audience/Lectures.aspx http://www.pnb.org/Community/Audience/PrePostPerformance.aspx Casting goes on the website once it has been posted internally.

Hi California, I hope you make it to Seattle. The weekend of March 20 is full of performances and dress rehearsals for PNB and its School. We offer the Corsaire lec-dem early in order to build excitement for it as we lead up to the performances. The lec-dem is also an opportunity for the kids to perform some of their dances in front of an audience.

The presenter often requests a particular programming focus, Katherine. Companies make programming decisions in close collaboration with presenters, and presenters have final approval.

I'm surprised by Wendy Perron's perspective--her literality--and disregard of the allegorical meanings in the Sleeping Beauty--its score, choreography, and score. To me, these are the elements that render the ballet both timeless and relevant.

Natalia, my point in posting the Legat sketch is to show the bent elbows in response to your assertion that bent elbows would not appear in Petipa's choreography. We should not assume something was not done simply because we have not seen it in modern times. Much about the dancing in Imperial times surprises us today and our knowledge is limited. Also, to suggest Ratmansky is a careless researcher is unfounded.

For Natalia from Marius Petipa and the Legat brothers

Regarding Sandra's observations and question regarding chaine turns on demi or full pointe: I can answer that while chaine turns are usually notated on demi-pointe, they are also sometimes notated on full pointe, and both variants are sometimes notated within the same ballet and even the same dance. Two examples are Sleeping Beauty and Le Corsaire (Pas de trois des odalisques).

The Sergeyev [stepanov] notation doesn't mention flirting, etc. There is a note to the effect that the "4th suitor is the best," referring, presumably, to the fact that Aurora does most of her partnered dancing with him. That said, the dance is indeed a pas d'action in which the 4 four suitors court Aurora, and in Ratmansky's staging, the suitors and Aurora interact to this end.

Wiley is pretty thorough in his description of the Beauty notation in his Tchaikovsky's Ballets. I'll see what ABT offers as far as a list for Beauty. For the Munich Paquita, a chart was published providing attribution for all music and choreography.

Hang on. The Munich Paquita made no Act 3 cuts in the Petipa version. We used everything in the Petersburg violin repetiteur from start to finish of that act. Of course, the Petipa version was different from the original Parisian version of 1846. If you are taking the Lacotte Paquita as gospel, you should consult sources, both from Paris and Petersburg. You will find the Lacotte Paquita includes material not found in sources. Further, the Stepanov notation of Beauty is incomplete. Also, the Vikharev Beauty included material/music not included in the 1890 Beauty, accounting for the longer running time. I suggest taking the Ratmansky Beauty on its own terms. See it first, then make comments. Sorry to be so blunt, but there is so much supposition here, I could not help myself.

Just a note that Burlaka was responsible for the Bolshoi Corsaire's Jardin anime.

No fouettes in the Paquita notation. The only ballet in which they are notated is Swan Lake. We interpolated the Delibes variation for Lucien for three reasons: 1-no variation is notated for Lucien and no music is included in the sources for his variation. 2-the choreography for the variation is well-notated and was intended for the Delibes music. 3-the variation is exactly the kind of male choreography that would have been danced circa 1904, when most of the Paquita choreography was notated.

To further clarify: I date the Stepanov notation of Act I of Giselle circa 1903, because Pavlova is named as Giselle in the notation of that act. The notation of Act II, however, uses the name "Giselle" for the title role, rather than Pavlova, who is listed in the notation dancing the role of Zulme, which she first danced in 1899. So it is possible that (at least parts of) Act II was notated as early as 1899.

Try Airbnb. There are B&Bs in the neighborhood of PNB.

Thanks, rg. I'll have a look at Beaumont.

I'm working on a reconstruction of four sections of this apparently six-part pas for an upcoming presentation at the Guggenheim. I'm using the documents at Harvard, which included a choreographic notation, a two-violin repetiteur, and a manuscript piano score. The repetiteur appears to pre-date the piano score (which makes sense). From the nature of the differences between the two, I'd venture a guess that the rep represents the pre-1891 music and the piano score represents the changes Drigo presumably made for the 1891 revival of the ballet. In any event, my biggest question is about the corps nymphs that are mentioned above. The notation makes no mention of nymphs, providing choreography only for Diana, Endymion, and the Satyr. An early 20th-century Maryinsky program of "Divertissements" includes a "Les Amours de Diane" (the notation and scores refers to the dance as "Pas de Diane") and lists only these three roles. It was the norm for all dancers excepts young students to be listed in Maryinsky programs. My hunch is that the pas was indeed for only these three dancers and did not include nymphs. Any thoughts, ideas, documents, facts? I am also reviving "Le Berceau du Papillon" (The cradle of the butterfly) from the same ballet. This is a multi-section dance for a lead woman and four corps women. The old Wikipedia article (now sadly mutilated) on Le Roi Candaule refers to this dance as "La Naissance du Papillon" (The birth of the butterfly). I have no information, beyond the title(s), about the premise of this dance. I would appreciate any information any of you may have--ideas, pointings in any direction, etc. Thank you!

I am not aware that the La Scala notes have been translated into English, save for the synopsis. Nearly all of the articles for the program book were originally in Russian and were translated into Italian for the publication.

I love the longer, soft Diamonds tutus. For me, they hearken back to the late 19th century, just as do all the pas de chats in the choreography. Farrell wore the Diamonds headpiece backwards for purposes of the photo only, above. No change in the women's headpieces between 1st and 4th movements. Fingerless lace elbow-length gloves added for 4th movement, however. The PNB Diamonds principal's costumes were built by PNB. All others from NBoC.

It's Benjamin Griffiths in the First Pas de Trois.

Petipa used 48 women as Shades in the December 1900 production that was notated. The Shades scene was also performed at the Hermitage; I have no details about the Hermitage performance(s), but perhaps numbers were cut for that stage.

Yes, the fugue is by Adam and part of the original Giselle score. I believe Marian Smith explains in her book that, at least in 19th-century theater, a fugue symbolized something sinister and evil. Adam also included a fugue in Le Corsaire to depict the mutinous disagreement between Conrad and Birbanto.

From what I know, Pas de Dix was not a term used to describe the third act divert. I've not seen this term in any original Raymonda sources I've worked with. I've always thought Pas de Dix with regard to Raymonda referred to both the Balanchine ballet of the name and also his 1946 staging of the ballet for Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo, in which he staged the Grand pas Hongrois for 5 couples.