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Wonderful news, congratulations to Ms Boylston! She is one of my favorites.

I loved all the crazy hats, very um.. entertaining.

The highlight for me was the procession from Westminster back to B. Palace. The horse drawn coaches were straight out of a fairytale. I especially loved the open carriages with the little bridesmaids and pages. What fun for them. Oh, and all those beautiful horses!

I think this has become such an issue because the Oscar campaign for Natalie Portman emphasized how she trained five hours a day for a year, and lost 20 lbs. in order to dance in this film. Yes, we all know it takes about ten years of training to become a dancer, and take it for granted that a double did the fouettes. As a result of the publicity however, many outside the dance world think that a twenty eight year old actress became a convincing ballerina in one year of training, ( including Academy voters, who are very impressed with that sort of effort.) This was the intention of the producer who told Miss Lane not to speak publicly about her work.

I admired Miss Portman's performance and felt she earned her Oscar through her acting. The producers efforts to credit her with the double's work were unnecessary, and disrespectful to ballet as an art form. As someone who did put in the years and years of sweat, I resent it.

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I panicked thinking the site was no more! Life would be bleak without Ballet Alert. So relieved, and thanks to the mods. for your hard work!

I think the problem lies with the direction. The decision to replace Terese Capucilli and Christine Dakin was a disastrous mistake IMO.

I remember when a Graham gala involved Nureyev and Fonteyn in a serious piece tailored for them, and people thought Martha was selling out! Now we've come to this.

Yes, it is tacky, and moreover, doesn't exactly sound like a brilliant fundraising gimmick. Who would want to see this, other than the women's family and friends? Let's hope there are enough of them to fill the theater. I fear it will drive away potential attendees,who will avoid having to sit through an embarrassing vanity piece.

It was an interesting, if too brief interview. Jenifer Ringer was charming and articulate. The thrust of the interview was, "are ballerinas by definition loony as shown in the Black Swan film?" While admitting that the work is demanding, and there is naturally some competition Ms Ringer herself was proof that you don't have to be psycho to be an artist. In addition to clips of her making up and performing, there was one of her at home with her (adorable) daughter.

Oprah brought up the reference to her weight in the Times review. She answered very honestly about her early issues with weight, and how she felt about the review. And BTW, she looked slender, beautiful and healthy. Brava

The commitment to live music -- which is commendable -- has a downside: there isn't that much Balanchine that can be done with the very small contingent of musicians that will accompany the dancers for the first season of performances.

Good point Kathleen. I didn't think of that. The number of musicians needed for the bulk of the NYCB rep. would certainly limit the choices.

This is indeed good news. I do find the first season repertoire disappointing. Out of seven works, three Martins, and only one Balanchine!

Getting back to writing negatively about individual dancers, and Rockwell's comment about Balanchine's hothouse flowers.

First of all, not all of Balanchine's ballerinas were beauties. There is some nostalgia at play here. I do think that in general, the women in NYCB nowadays could do with some classes in stage makeup. It looks like many of them slap on some false eyelashes and bright red lipstick and that is it. Larger eyes, and higher cheekbones are possible on stage, if ,alas, not in life. Average looking people can look beautiful on stage with skillfully applied makeup. It used to be something dancers took pride in. As for sending an ugly girl out to play Juliet, companies don't usually hire face that would stop a clock ugly dancers!

Now for the body brouhaha, I feel that if a dancer is clearly overweight, or out of shape technically it should be part of the critical discussion. If the critic simply has a personal preference for a certain body type, that should not be reflected in the review. I think some people, including critics, have a very narrow definition of a suitable body for a female dancer. They seem to think the extremely thin long limbed sylphlike girlish adolescent is the standard, and don't appreciate ballerinas who look and dance like adult women. Women like Melissa Hayden, Cynthia Gregory, Martine van Hamel, and the gorgeous Jenifer Ringer!

Thank you Mel. How I wish I'd seen Miss Ficker's Dew Drop!

If any of you saw Suzanne Farrell's Dew Drop, I would love to hear you memory of it. I can't imagine her in that role.

Apollo's Angels is on the New York Times list of the ten best books of the year, (In the Sunday Book Review).

A House in Bali by the composer Colin McPhee chronicles the year he lived in Bali in the early thirties. It describes rituals in vivid detail, the intricacies of gamelan music and the training of dancers. He was able to become part of the community, and he takes the reader right along with him into a fascinating world.

The book has been out of print for some time, but I found it at the Lincoln Center Library.

Bertram Ross served in WW 2. The G I Bill of Rights enabled him to begin his studies at the Graham School.

Bedbugs! The little critters have been found in the Koch Theatre, and the Met, apparently only in the backstage areas according to a news cast on ABC TV. The poor dancers, and singers.

You forgot one category, comps. I will go to see anything for which I am given free tickets!

This poll got me thinking, and I realize my habits have changed over the years. I am still most anxious to see new work, but I do find myself more motivated to see specific dancers in roles, whereas my interest used to be focused almost exclusively on the choreography.

I shall refer to it asThe Balanchine Theatre during NYCB's seasons, and The State Theatre during the opera season. I will never call it the Koch ( pronounced coke ), although the Koch as in Ed is certainly preferable to the Koch as in coke.

very similar to the types of photos Ailey has been using for a number of years. (The Ailey photos are more sexually suggestive than the NYCB photos.)

The choreography the Ailey performs is more sexually suggestive than that of NYCB.

I don't dislike the current brochure, but it doesn't give a sense of what the co. is all about. If it motivates someone to see a performance for the first time what will they think when the curtain goes up on say Concerto Barocco, or Serenade, rather than sexy chicks and hot hunks in bike shorts? Well who knows, maybe for some it will be a revelation, and they will become fans, but I think most will be disappointed.

"Who takes care of the baby while Bristol is in rehearsal?"

I'm guessing not Grandma. Maybe Kate Goslin is loaning a couple of her nannies.

I think this season might be a real hoot what with Margaret Cho and The Situation. I mean you don't watch this for the DANCING!

...........the Harlots OK. But those roles sort of seem wasted on almost anyone. It grieves me to see Misty and Kristi still doing them, however good they are. /quote]

I don't know how the women in ABT feel about them, but I always thought the Harlots would be great fun to do. I used to enjoy roles that weren't too demanding technically, so one could just relax and enjoy performing.

Tudor's Echoing of Trumpets.

I can't see serious ballet choreography going over well in the context of these shows. They are all about flash and hard sell.

I think companies could benefit by placing ads for their seasons on local stations on nights when these shows are aired. ABT currently has an ad showing in NYC (is it on PBS?) with some very razzle dazzle clips from several ballets that I think would appeal to the audiences for these dance shows. It could spark their curiosity to see a co. It might pay for ballet schools to put up ads as well.

Poor Veronika, she must have had a nerve wracking rehearsal period with all the changes in casting her Siegfried-------Bolle then Gomes, then Stearns. I didn't see the performance, but in all fairness to Stearns, they were clearly thrown on without adequate rehearsal, and he doesn't have experience in the role. Give the guy a break!

I must have been about twelve when I first read Theatre Street and I have been fascinated by her legend ever since. I can't wait to get a copy of this new book. It sounds like a must have for the photos alone!

And for any of you who have missed Theatre Street, It is Mme Karsavina's autobiography, ( and one of my all time favorites. )