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mom2

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Everything posted by mom2

  1. I have seen The Four Seasons a couple of times live, and I've also seen it on TV. It was a Veronica Tennant production, I believe, for the CBC. I also saw Firebird when NBOC did the Kudelka version for the first time, a couple of years ago I believe. I love the Four Seasons. I think it's a brilliant piece of work. However, I love the music too, so even if the dancing was awful I could close my eyes! The piece was really made on Rex Harrington...I don't think I've ever seen anyone else dance the role. As this coming season will sadly be his last as a principal dancer, I think we'll see a lot of the Four Seasons. Firebird I remember less well, as I have only seen it once. The costumes are amazing, quite a feast for the eyes. Enjoy!
  2. Actually, I don't think the pointe shoe beating worked.... Each performance I've attended this year seemed to have its share of cell phone nonsense. :angry: Now my husband can sleep through anything :sleeping: ...but this would include the performance, so wouldn't be my chosen method of dealing with said interference. Maybe I should just hold my breath? :green:
  3. Oh thank you for that creativejuice!! I wasn't even TARDY in my renewal...it was just uncomfortable for NBOC. They didn't show up at my house, but they did call me in the last week before the deadline. The good news was that I was able to pay in two installments, hence avoiding the need to call the credit card company to increase my limit. And it wasn't the Contract I was thinking of...it was one done by a guest choreographer. Now I'll have to go look it up, as I'll be bothered that I can't remember!
  4. I just get anxious reading about this! Sounds like I should start saving right away so that I can still afford any tickets AT ALL by the time the new venue is ready. Personally, I think that NBOC would be selling a few more tickets if dancers like Tapper and Persson hadn't jumped the big pond and landed at the Royal. I also wonder if the Glasco situation did some lasting damage in terms of ticket sales that wasn't anticipated. Not to mention that Kudelka has experimented with some, er, interesting choreographers over the last 2 or 3 years. The "ballet" with the overcoats and street shoes almost put me of dance entirely (I don't even remember the name of the dance, just remember that I didn't care for it. I know that NBOC must plan ahead. However, as a subscriber I really want to see more than one or two shows before I decide to renew for the next season....it never seems to be the right time to spend that kind of money when also trying to scrape together funds for summer dance programs. This year they took one additional step, as you know, by taping renewal notices to the seats of those patrons who hadn't yet renewed (at the last performance). While generally I enjoy getting mail, this isn't the way I prefer to receive it.
  5. Don't know why I didn't see this thread before...last but not least, perhaps? I didn't dance as a child...heaven knows how my kids got involved...anyway, I digress. I grew up in Houston, Texas and when I was about 12 or 13 a friend of my parent's invited me to attend the ballet with her. This would have been around 1970, so I'm showing my age, but it was before the Houston Ballet came to be. Anyway, the ballet I saw was Swan Lake with Fonteyn and Nureyev. Of course I knew nothing about ballet at the time, and we sat in almost the very back row, but I could tell I was seeing something really special. I'm sure there were many bitten by the ballet "bug" with that performance...maybe with me it just skipped a generation!
  6. I am SO happy to read that Julie Hay is promoted to second soloist. As I've mentioned before we are huge fans of hers in my house! The other promotions were also well deserved, and I'm glad that Jennifer Fournier is back!
  7. I could never be as wonderfully descriptive as the two of you have been! Dancing daughter and I saw the performance at the Sunday Matinee. While we enjoyed it, I don't think we were quite as enthusiastic as you...but then casting was somewhat different. Ryan Boorne danced in Emeralds...perhaps it wasn't the best role for him...but daughter noticed his Supermodel girlfriend in the audience and was duly star-struck (we hear wedding bells are coming soon).... Still on the Emerald theme, we were delighted to see Julie Hay in such a nice role...we are big fans of hers! We loved Rubies, and so did everyone else in the audience I think. There were audible gasps when the curtain went up. Diamonds was also quite lovely, and I am still amazed at the genius of Balanchine combining and juxtaposing the music and choreography the way he did. I was one of the recipients of a letter taped to my seat upon arrival, as I have yet to renew my subscription. What an interesting way to get one's attention....hmm.
  8. Creativejuice, I agree with much of what you've said, and as always you articulate things so much better than I! I do find myself wondering about the lighting, however. I agree that it certainly set the mood of the piece...problem was I could hardly see the dancers faces in some scenes (and I have good seats too; not in the nosebleed section). Perhaps I look too hard for some things... m2
  9. For once I have to say that I agree totally with Paula Citron's review in the Globe and Mail (except I didn't see all casts; only one). She also had comments about the music, but was far more articulate than I could be!!
  10. My daughter and I saw the matinee today. Briefly, the dancing was excellent and the costumes were lovely. I think perhaps it might be a good idea to look at the music...an original piece for this production. Needed some variety .....was very slow, throughout the entire ballet. This may have limited the choreography, which we found nice but simple. This may in fact have been the intent... Lifts, for example, were pretty straightforword, and the same pattern was repeated many times. Kudelka's lifts can be extremely intricate, not to mention dangerous at times...I guess I never realized how much we have grown to appreciate him as a choreographer! I'll consult with dd and have more later.
  11. mom2

    Give It a Rest!

    Well, I'm going to vote for Apollo (sorry Mr. B). The performances I've seen really haven't stood the test of time, in my humble non-dancer opinion. And if the performance of Spectre de la Rose I saw recently from NBOC was any indication of what this ballet is supposed to be like, I'd vote for it too.
  12. OK, I have to agree with you about the costumes. They were awful! I'm glad you said it first, however. Looks like you and Tracy Wilson are pretty in synch with the comments of the 3rd and 4th place team. There was another dance team she talked about (can't remember which one now...) she felt that their basic skating technique was weak...mentioned that you could see the snow flying as they skated and this indicated that their edges weren't as clean as they should be (again, I'm NOT a skater so may have terminology wrong)....the judges did not seem to agree and marked them quite high...wish I could remember specifically which couple this was...tutu14, did you see this part of the Ice Dancing?
  13. Hi tutu14, I believe TSN did show the men's final, on Thursday, but coverage startedat 11:30 pm after a hockey game.
  14. Thank you again Jeannie! Once again Canada's national newspaper fails to deliver. NO news this morning of the Ice Dancing, not even to say that it took place after press time...I could live with that. My husband says I'm the only one who cares. I am so happy for B & K...long awaited and deserved. The Russians did well too and I'm sure they were disappointed. The programs were so different I don't know how one would judge them against each other...looking forward to your comments here. I'm curious to hear your report of the 3rd and 4th place couples. Tracy Wilson had some interesting comments...I think she was even torn. She said that the Russians (4th place) have enormous potential, are a very well-matched couple with good technique and excellent line (dance training shows, she said)...and she noted that they had a much more dramatic presentation than the 3rd place couple...one could tell that the crowd responded quite favourably to the Russians. Sounds like she's anticipating greatness. The 3rd place couple, according to Ms Wilson, had a more challenging program and executed it well. She felt that they are not as well matched physically...not a lot of height differential for example, and that this might be a factor from time to time (I don't know that I completely understand this, I guess it's an aesthetic similar to ballet where the man is typically expected to be taller).
  15. Thanks again Jeannie! I appreciate your comments about Pleshenko; hopefully I'll have a chance to see the skate again. Would love to hear Elvis' comments versus Dick Buttons. As for Mr. B, in my very humble opinion, he talks too much. I like to learn things about skating through the commentators, but too much talk can detract from the enjoyment of the performance.
  16. Again, thank you so much for your posts, Jeannie! Much better than the media coverage here...which I MUST complain about. I feel I'm owed some figure skating news (tv, print, what have you) after all the hockey, golf, and football I must watch...but sadly, last night I was disappointed. Canada is still only broadcasting from TSN which is fuzzy on my tv and a station I forget about...the Ice dancing was on early, so I missed it. Then we had to wait for a HOCKEY game and at 11:30 I fell asleep at the tv waiting for skating to appear. I did check out the ABC coverage. They only showed the top 3 pairs and the American team. The Americans did a wonderful performance, and I fully understand the coverage...but it annoyed me that they didn't even show the entire final flight or even mention other teams (such as the Canadians). At least they did show the placements. The Chinese team was absolutely amazing, I've never been so moved by their skating. So we proceed on to the men. Only the top flight was shown...the other men were not even mentioned, and the placements were only shown at the end of the broadcast for the final flight. So I've no idea what happened with the Canadians. Go to the paper this morning...no mention of the pairs or the men... argh. A little article about ice dancing, and about Jennifer Robinson's great skate. Jeannie, I'm very curious to see your report about the men's final. As I've said, I know next to nothing about skating, I only watch it because I enjoy it so much. Last night Pleshenko (sp)looked a bit tentative to me, probably a result of his sore knee, but I really enjoyed T Goebel's performance...and Michael Weiss, I guess it just wasn't his time. I frainkly wondered about his choice of music...at least last night I think he needed something with a bit more energy. that being said, Concierto de Aranjuez is one of my favourite pieces of music...but it just didn't seem to be a great fit for him. I know things can look totally different live, and especially through the eyes of someone who really knows what to look for. Am looking forward to your posts.
  17. I actually prefer Tracy Wilson's commentary to Mr. Buttons...but you can always count on him to talk about those spins! Elvis actually did a great job the other night..perhaps a new career for him? Debbie Wilkes (sp?) is doing the commentating for the pairs events...sometimes Barb Underhill has done this too, depends on which Canadian network is broadcasting. Last night I wasn't able to find skating anywhere...so hopefully it will be on tonight! I'm lucky enough to be able to get the american and canadian versions, which is sometimes a nice treat.
  18. I don't pretend to be a skating expert by any means, but I have to say that the marks were very perplexing indeed. For me it was more the range of marks/ordinals that was confusing...I can see that the skaters would be frustrated. I felt so badly for Michael Weiss...kind of a Bourne and Kraatz thing (the olympics, I believe when they skated so wonderfully only to fall quite awkwardly at the closing pose)... I agree it was really interesting to hear commentary by Elvis and Tracey Wilson (what a team!)...especially Elvis' comments about artistic impression!
  19. jeannie, Thank you so much for all your wonderful posts here! Our Canadian paper hasn't had anything yet (other than the latest about the US judge). Your posts are so informative! I'm sure I'll learn more from you than listening to the commentators tonight! And I will still secretly keep my fingers crossed for Emanuel Sandhu. If he could only land two great programs back to back...ah, there's always hope.
  20. I stand corrected. There were 3 entries from the USA. What really struck me though was the number of dancers form other countries: Australia had 21, Japan 33, and Korea 19.
  21. I was wondering the same about North America. There was one dancer from Mexico, but none from Canada or the US....interesting given Mavis Staines' involvement now. I watched the video last night and while the picture was awfully small and I fel silly watching it with my reading glasses, things seemed to be well syncronized.
  22. A little late, I suppose, but I'll offer my thoughts anyway! Canada was so VERY proud of Bourne & Kraatz. Unfortunately all I saw of the competition was their free dance...but I enjoyed it very much. I was somewhat disappointed with the placing of the 2nd Canadian team - but since I'm certainly NOT a firgure skater I'll have to defer to the judges, and to those who know more about the whole thing than I do. I wondered if their choice of music was perhaps a factor...it was an original composition, very unusual. Suited their program, but I wonder if it was too much of a stretch?? Canada was also pretty proud of Takeshi Honda, as he has trained here for a number of years. I admit it does look like he has come into his own; we'll just have to wait to see how he fares against a broader field in Worlds. Emanuel Sandhu, former student at the National Ballet School in Toronto, had another one of those performances that I'm sure he'd rather forget all about. Too bad, because he is an enormously talented young man. I didn't really watch much of the women's performances, so can't comment there... The pairs were interesting to watch, and the chinese certainly are showing that hard work pays off!
  23. I'm thinking I need to scrimp those pennies even more so that I can afford to attend more than one show in a run....it does make a difference! I was equally pleased to see Rex in the huge hat, by the way. The smoking of cigarettes on stage was an interesting touch...I could actually smell them from where I was sitting! I suppose it's quite true to the period....
  24. Tapper is now a principal as well. Their return would be wishful thinking on my part. The last I read they were both happy at the Royal. I'm glad that P.S. sustained his performance throughout when you saw him on Saturday. He clearly has a great deal of potential. Not bad to look at either (did I say that)? the company seats are just across the aisle from mine....
  25. I was just going to post about that! Thanks and my deepest apologies to MR Witchel!! It was an interesting article...I wonder how they came to choose the four dancers that were featured, as there are others who come to mind as well. I'm trying to recall who I saw in the Contract..will have to look back in the programs; it may have been N. Kish. I quite enjoyed him in the performance, but better say no more until I"m sure of the person I'm talking about. P. Stancazyk was actually the one we noticed in Napoli who started with a bang, fizzled, and lost stage presence as he finished. This will be something he needs to work on. We quite enjoy the two Canadians, although I think somehow we have missed them in their recent major roles (why can't they cast around MY schedule)? Kudelka was quoted as indicating that he wants to avoid "stars" in NBOC...doesn't want the public to come out to see only a handful of dancers when the company is full of talent. No argument there. However, it was interesting that he mentioned RWB specifically...and noted that people seem only to want to see Evelyn Hart. Perhaps this is the case in cities other than Winnipeg itself...I can't speak for them...but I CAN say that there are some wonderful dancers in RWB other than Ms. Hart. I've seen that company perform twice; once here in Ontario and once in Winnipeg. Both times the house was quite full, and the audience happy (no Ms. Hart either time). Perhaps someone with more RWB knowlege can speak to this point; I just found it interesting. It also seems apparent that Rex Harrington is preparing for retirement...inevitable I suppose, but I do enjoy his dancing. Perhaps we'll be lucky enough to see the return of Persson and Tapper???
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