Azulynn

I haven't seen Baryshnikov's Albrecht and therefore couldn't comment... But Ganio's take on the part didn't resemble Le Riche's IMO. Matthieu Ganio has a much more restrained bearing, which fits his physical appearance, and he was very much the prince who has fallen in love unexpectedly. Le Riche always seems to be giving his all when he's on stage (not that Ganio wasn't of course, but it shows differently) - he's more of a virtuoso, and his Albrecht appears totally spontaneous, less aristocratic, but his relationship to Giselle wasn't as strongly portrayed as in the Hurel/Ganio cast. I'm looking forward to his performance with Laëtitia Pujol, as she was his original partner. And if anyone can watch French TV, France 3 will be airing Giselle on January 1 (Pujol/Le Riche/Gillot).

For those interested, the POB website now has the updated Giselle casting with the peasant pas de deux and the 2 leading Wilis. Manuel Legris will be dancing two performances. The Hurel/Ganio pairing was a real treat last weekend - they looked lovely together and they both acted their parts incredibly well. Aurélie Dupont the next day was a wonder in Act 2 - her dancing was flawless, truly ghostly - unfortunately, she has a hard time playing the peasant in Act 1, and Nicolas Le Riche is not the best partner for her... Emmanuel Thibault and Myriam Ould Braham are close to perfection in the peasant pas de deux, warm, sunny, technically amazing (Thibault's jumps made the audience gasp) - I'm so glad they are scheduled to be on the DVD. More to come later, I will see other casts as well, including one of the recorded performances. If anyone went, tell us what you thought ;)

Now Manuel Legris is injured as well, after Hilaire and Moreau. Aurélie Dupont will dance either with Matthieu Ganio or Nicolas Le Riche. See the POB website for detailed casting... There's one new injured dancer every day, it seems, and we haven't even got to the opening nights of Giselle and Coppélia - wonder how the company will manage to survive until January !

My impressions are based entirely on videos, and on reports on Ballet Talk and by other writers. I would love to hear those more involved with the company to weigh in on this issue. If I may add something as a Parisian who follows closely the POB : please do not use it as an example in how to balance classical/contemporary ballets. We here (I mean most of the ballet-goers I know) are starving for more classical ballet, and most of us wish Brigitte Lefèvre, the company director, would quit. She has been head of the company for 11 years now, and things have definitely not improved under her direction. Most of the recent creations have been dreadful (Millepied, Brown, and a bunch of other choreographers whose names I can't even remember). The injury rate is very high (currently three out of the five scheduled Swanilda in Coppélia are injured, and the run hasn't even started), and we're lucky if we get three "real" classics (I'm not including La Dame aux Camélias or the awful rereading of Coppélia by Patrice Bart) each season. That's not enough - take for instance the Etoile Marie-Agnès Gillot, who dances a full-length ballet once every season at best (Swan Lake last year and that's it), since her build does not allow her to dance Giselle or Aurora for instance. She's gorgeous in contemporary works, but this is not enough to maintain the highest level of classical dance. I would actually be glad if Wayne McGregor was named Resident Choreographer in Paris, as at least, from what I've read, his works actually sound exciting for the audience Sorry to sound depressing, but it is very frustrating to have a company of such high level wasting its talents on works which are not worth it.

Jane, is he really going to work with the POB ? Next season perhaps ? That would be interesting news, as I've been curious about his style, and it seems like a safer bet for the POB than most of the choreographers they invite (lately, Benjamin Millepied, whose work was not very good IMO).

I have no idea, Estelle. I hope the POB will figure out something, but Hilaire might not be able to dance a full-length again next year - he hasn't danced one in more than a year and a half, and has had to pull off this last performance, which might mean it's now hard for him to get back on full form... I wish he had a proper farewell though, it would be more than deserved. We shall see if the management figures something out, or if he even wants to have one in a different ballet.

Laurent Hilaire has cancelled the performance - Manuel Legris states on his website that he will replace him, and Hervé Moreau as well, who has pulled off his scheduled performances. That's really too bad, as I don't think Hilaire will get another chance to do a last performance - there's nothing else really fit in the repertoire this year...

Canbelto, I think the Royal Ballet Giselle is to be telecast this December in the UK. I hope a DVD follows... About Laetitia Pujol - she's been greatly praised for her Giselle during the last run. The role seems to fit her like a glove (there's a tiny excerpt of her dancing it on the POB website - see Giselle, then Présentation de la saison, and it's at the end of the video). I'm looking forward to seeing how she fares.

In a year or so you'll also have a new POB Giselle DVD to add to the list. There are few recent videos and I think this one, which will be recorded in December, might turn out to be very good (the Laetitia Pujol-Nicolas Le Riche-Marie-Agnès Gillot cast has been chosen) - that's if you think of it again in 2008 ! I also mention it because I don't have a favorite Giselle DVD right now - I don't like the Mezentseva one (I also think she's awfully miscast), Zakharova is no true Giselle (she's a terrific dancer, but really the roles from the Romantic era are not her natural emploi). I haven't seen Ferri though.

I have tickets to the performance - It should be a very special night, with a stellar cast (Dupont, Gillot, Romoli) to celebrate his long career with the POB. I'll try to report back if anyone is interested.

Do try on the day of the performance if you're in Paris, but as Estelle stated, you need to come very early. I'm not even sure two hours before is enough during the holiday season, a lot of people who couldn't book in advance try to get returned tickets (and they will be few I think for Giselle). It is indeed a shame that only people who are aware of that (mostly regular ballet goers) are able to get tickets in advance... If the POB doesn't want to make a run last for too long, and it's understandable, given how tiring it must be for the dancers, they should do two runs of the same ballet in the season as they used to (split between December and late January/February for instance).

Nikiya, I would definitely advise you to see Clairemarie Osta. She's been getting better and better recently (she was a truly memorable Dame aux Camélias), and she's petite and light, right for Giselle. She's never danced the ballet in Paris but she did it on tour. Generally speaking she's an excellent actress as well. Agnès Letestu is a great dancer, but Giselle doesn't fit her ; she's very tall, and IMO does not have the lightness one would expect in the second act. Apparently though she has a very personal take on the part, but if you're only going to see one performance, Osta is a great choice. Beware : the performances are already sold out both on Internet and at the box-office, and it will be extremely hard to get tickets if you haven't already.

Just in case this is of interest to someone, the casting has been updated. Delphine Moussin has pulled off all her scheduled performances ; she's replaced in Giselle by Mélanie Hurel or Aurélie Dupont. There has been a lot of changes as well for Myrtha ; Abbagnato and Romberg won't dance it at the beginning of the run, they're replaced by Laura Hecquet (it should be a very interesting debut), Emilie Cozette, Béatrice Martel or Aurélia Bellet.

Natalia Osipova and Evgenia Obraztsova in the same Gala ? Should be something quite special, apart from all the big stars. Enjoy, and please tell us how it went if you have time !

Actually, the casting is up on the POB website : see here. The casting for Coppelia is also given, and it's here. The company is making progress...

This is the recording that was made in July 2005. Casting is : Clairemarie Osta, Nicolas Le Riche in Carmen (with Dorothée Gilbert as well as a soloist) Marie-Agnès Gillot, Nicolas Le Riche in Le Jeune Homme et la Mort

Helene, they should be Aurélia Bellet and Laurence Laffon, if there was no last minute change.

Helene, I saw Emilie Cozette (one of the two demis in Diamonds, the blond one) as the tall girl in Rubies, and I wouldn't have wanted that performance to be recorded... The other one is Isabelle Ciaravola, who was absolutely wonderful as the first soloist in Emeralds. I'm not sure she would fit the role of the tall girl temperamentally though - she's a very lyrical dancer, who has danced such roles as Nikiya and La Sylphide. I'd be curious to see how she would fare in Rubies, in a role that's not her natural "emploi".

An alternate cast with the Paris Opera Ballet : Emeralds : - First couple : Isabelle Ciaravola, Matthieu Ganio - Sicilienne : perhaps Aurélie Dupont, with Jean-Guillaume Bart Rubies : - Lead couple : Clairemarie Osta, Emmanuel Thibault - Tall girl : I would keep Marie-Agnès Gillot. Diamonds : - Female lead : Delphine Moussin (alternate : Laura Hecquet in a few years' time, she did the pas de deux in a young dancers' program and was already gorgeous) - Male lead : José Martinez (who should have been recorded in the part but got injured)

sz, the Kirov has filmed Jewels in the spring (with Ayupova and Lopatkina among others), and hopefully it will eventually be released as well. As a Parisian who regularly attends POB performances, I enjoyed very much the Jewels' run last year (I haven't seen the DVD). From an outsider point of view, I didn't think the dancers were inappropriate in Balanchine (except Dupont in Rubies), but then you can't blame them for not having it "in their blood" and not doing it the way Americans do it. We here don't know the ballet by heart as you guys do... Mind you, I don't think all the performances are great (I don't like Letestu either), but perhaps the POB dancers still bring something new to it which does no harm, even if they're not doing a movement the exact way the creator of the role did. The Lacroix costumes looked stunning on stage, and I loved them - perhaps because I don't really know the Karinska ones, which look a little bit dated to me from all the pictures I've seen. But then that's probably because I've known Lacroix's first... ;)

Nonetheless, the company list on the Bolshoi's website has changed this summer - I've only noticed Ekaterina Krysanova and Natalia Osipova who are no longer in the corps, but have been promoted to soloist.

You're right Herman, she's indeed the 6th Fairy in Beauty (the Lilac Fairy is a non-dancing role in Nureyev's version, and an unnamed "6th fairy" gets the dancing in the Prologue). She also does the "Diamond" in Act III.

You're right, the music used is from La Bayadère, the first pdd between Nikiya and Solor. I believe this was Noureev's choice, it is not the standard - it sounds quite weird to me, actually...

Estelle, it should have been Benjamin Pech dancing the lead in Rubies, but he got injured. Unfortunately, Manuel Legris does not dance the part anymore... I agree with you, Osta was quite outstanding in Rubies, too bad they did not film her. I guess she was needed in Emeralds because Dupont does not do it ; besides, she is probably far too small to be paired with Marie-Agnès Gillot as the tall girl !

I would pick the Pavlenko/Kolb/Tereshkina cast. All three are wonderful, mature artists. If you like hyper-extensions, you might want to go see Alina Somova, because hers are a wonder ; but artistically Tereshkina is much more powerful. Igor Kolb is a very fine noble dancer, IMO. All three Giselles are very interesting, but I think Daria Pavlenko may well be the most accomplished one. I'm not objective though, since I'm a huge fan of her... ;)