SandyMcKean

I just noticed another GREAT addition (at least I think it is new).

Note the icon at the far left of the top toolbar line (looks like a little light switch). It is for "Toggle editing mode". By hitting this button one can instantly switch between seeing all the HTML tags (in case you'd like to play with them); and how the text etc will actually appear when the HTML tags take effect. No more having to go to "Preview Post" to see what one's post is going to look like. Yea!

Sandy, I notice that to the left of the list of New Content is a menu where you can select the time window.

BINGO....................thanks carbro!

What I thought was a glitch, turns out to be a great new feature! I've always wanted better control of what period of time the "New Content" applied to......now I've got it in spades.

I'm guessing that it defaulted to 1 month. Now that I have selected other options, the screen shows me just what you would expect (e.g., new in "last 24 hours", or best of all "those I haven't yet read"). Terrific.

Later.....it even remembers my choice between sessions and even thru logouts and logins.

Helene....you're the best!

One small item..........

I use "View New Content" to navigate the board. After the upgrade, when I pushed that button, I got 8 pages of "new" content going back to the end of Sept. Maybe this is a one time thing, and once I log on to the new board for the 2nd time, it will "remember" that I was here not long ago. Just FYI in case it's useful for you to know.

Helene, I was a bit confused by your post until I read the actual article. You appear to have left out the phrase:

"....but was sidelined by an injury"

from the article when it mentioned Mullin.

You were right, Sandy -- casting is out, and Sarah Ricard Orza and Karel Cruz are dancing the leads in "Aurora's Wedding"

NOPE........I was wrong, you're the one who got it right! You guessed that the "other couple" in the video was Ricard/Cruz, and it seems you called it perfectly (not me).

There is a new development here tho. If my memory serves, this is the first time casting for both weeks has been announced at the same time. In the past, we always got week one first, and then some time later we got week two. I strongly applaud this new procedure. For those of us that go to multiple performances to see the various casts, for the 1st time we are now able to make ticket purchasing decisions across all the casts for the entire run......no more guessing! I am pleased a punch.

It's going to take me a while to digest this casting sheet....as you imply Helene, so many opportunities with dancers at all levels getting exposure. I love it. I am particularly pleased to see Jessica Anspach get some more solo exposure. She captures my attention more and more. I'm looking forward to the combo of Rausch/Orza....they both get into character so well IMO. And Imler/Postlewaite!!!....I will die and go to heaven with that one......Carrie will shoot Siegfried one of her seductive "knife into your heart" glances, and Lucien will swoon with naive emotion. They are the greatest. My only disappointment is that I would have liked to have seen Ezra Thomson's name in one of the character roles in Sleeping Beauty

"After Petipa"

Unfortunately, I was out of town and missed that.

Speaking of casting.....

In that video you posted earlier today of Rausch and Bold, it's fun to see the 2 dancers in the back of the room. It's clear to me that they are there to rehearse this same PdD (note the woman in the back of the room marking the steps at the very beginning of the video). The woman seems to me to be Sara Richard Orza (mostly by the way she moves). The man seen at the end is likely James Moore, but that doesn't look quite right.......I wonder.......could it be Ryan Cardea??

.....but why would they if they could?

My interest was not from the company's POV, but rather from my own selfish wish to know casting sooner than is currently done.

So as far as you know, a company like PNB could, if it so chose, publish casting to the public sooner than it typically does now.

the contractual reasons why casting must be published 10 days ahead of time.

Does this mean that the 10 day cast publishing issue is constrained such that the casting must be published no sooner than 10 days or no later than 10 days? Also, does it mean that cast publishing to the public is a requirement for some reason?

I'm afraid this is where I off-load extra thoughts I couldn't fit in a review........

I, for one, am very glad you take the time to do this. Frankly, I look more forward to these "cast offs" than yor printed reviews because you have the space here to make so many interesting observations. Keep 'em coming!

....and the tumbling cartwheels that resemble carnival rides

I absolutely loved those moves in Carousel. As you say they invoke the carnival, but what I liked about them even more was the way those moves reflected the sharp change in the music from somewhat serious to whimsical. Indeed, my overall reaction to Wheeldon is how, like Mr B, his choreography springs so naturally and so completely from the music. For me, that tendency defines dance -- particularly ballet. Wheeldon succeeds like few others in making this vital connection fresh at every moment.

This is one of those works that is open to all kinds of interpretation........They were on a journey, and found their destination in the end.

I very much like how you say this. After the Rain also invokes in me many cascading emotions and "in my head" stories. But your idea of traveling and finding a destination is very thought provoking. Well said indeed.

It is indeed the most “Balanchine-y” of the works on the program, and some people might think it’s almost too derivative, but I think he makes excellent use of his adopted heritage, quotations and all.

I can see folks calling Polyphonia "derivative", but IMO, they'd be missing the point. Clearly Wheeldon meant this as a homage to one of his main inspirations: Balanchine (furthermore to Agon in particular). That being the case, I would say "derivative" can't apply. Then when you see how Wheeldon is also using his own voice here, and that Mr B is only a departure point, I can only imagine someone using "derivative" if they had but a mere superficial look at the ballet.

The more mysterious stuff really came to a head for me with the Allegro con Spirito (Sarah Ricard Orza and Jerome Tisserand in the performances I saw) The contemplative feeling of the side-to-side shifting at the top of the duet played out through the whole of that dance and into the following solo for SRO.

I was absolutely blown away by Sara Richard Orza in this solo on the first Saturday evening performance. She did it extremely well every time I saw her dance the part, but she seemed on another plane that night. My thought is that she sort of became pure dance that night since she did little but dance from dawn to dusk. She danced 3 major parts that afternoon in the matinee, and then returned with only a few hours rest to dance this difficult solo in Polyphonia (not to mention doing the ingenue role in VS immediately following Polyphonia). Putting it all on the line like that can transport an artist (or an athlete, or anyone really) into what is often called the "zone". For me, that night, in that part, Sara did her finest dancing ever. What a treasure she is.

And Ezra Thompson was an excellent Jughead, snoozing in the wings, chatting with his colleagues, and coming in at just the wrong time to catch the diva as she hurtles into the orchestra pit.

I'm becoming a big fan of Ezra's. Watching him I feel he is not "doing dance", but he is dance. He's relatively new and has a long way to go, but when he's on stage, I tend to spend way too much time watching Ezra whatever he is doing. I look forward to his future with anticipation.

I spent one performance trying to visualize what I’d be seeing if I was sitting in the fake audience over on the real stage right, and as near as I could tell, it was a very interesting and stylistically consistent ballet. It made sense on two sides simultaneously, and that’s a difficult thing to accomplish with an art form that is very wedded to the geography of the stage space.

I too was fascinated that Wheeldon somehow pulled this off. I can't say I actually tried to visualize myself sitting in the faux-audience like you so clevely did, but I was continually amazed that the dancing "made sense" from BOTH these angles. I guess in such things lies genius.

....as Myrtha last season

I agree that was not Laura's best outing. Of course her opposite number in that role once again was the incomparable Carrie Imler who commands the stage regardless of what she does (with a couple of exceptions perhaps). I would also concede that Laura fares better against the impossible Imler if the role is comedic instead of dramatic.

Allow me another example. Remember Laura in the PdD middle section of Robbins "Glass Pieces" about a year ago? That part is so exposed, requires superb adagio technique, and a presence (acting) in order to pull off the extremely sensual feeling of the PdD. IMHO, Laura excelled at acting in that part. OTOH, I found Laura's performance disappointing a month later in Tharp's "Afternoon Ball".

Like you say "to each his/her own".............that's what makes it all interesting.

It's always interesting to notice how differently folks see the same work of art. There is no "right" and "wrong" to it, just differences. I'm struck by how differently Jayne and I see this program. I too was there last night (I just couldn't stay away.....this was the 4th performance I saw).

If 10 seconds were to be cut from Polyphonia, I'd probably lead a protest demonstration . For me, Polyphonia is a masterpiece -- sheer genius I'd say. In the past 10 days, I've seen Polyphonia 4 times, and I swear I could see it 30 more times over the next 2 months before I might have my fill. Each time I see it, I love it more (in the interest of full disclosure Agon is my favorite ballet of all time). Some of the Ligeti music is tough at first (especially the first of the ten segments), but like Wheeldon described his experience with this music, each time I hear it, I understand it better, and I am increasing fascinated by it (not to mention some segments that are just flat out gorgeous in anyone's book).

Yes, there is a moment in After the Rain where the audience laughs.....but it is not an awkward moment, it is simply a bit funny when you first see it. It is the moment when the woman does a back bend with her hands over her head on the ground and she is like an arch (belly side up); the man picks her up in this unusual position and rotates her in the horizontal plane. I can't totally explain it, but there is something humorous about this move. I think the audience's laughing reaction is quite appropriate....altho some are no doubt laughing nervously since they are probably not quite sure if it's OK to laugh. One thing is certain, like Balanchine, there is a great deal of humor in all of Wheeldon's choreography....sometimes in the most unexpected places, and sometimes with great subtlety (Polyphonia abounds with humor...sometimes clearly, sometimes more subtly).

Indeed one's eyeballs may burn from the "pepto bismol pink" costumes in Variations Serieuses, but this was quite clearly by design. The entire ballet is obviously a spoof of every imaginable ballet stereotype....and that includes the costuming. The men wear these totally ridiculous breast plates and gaudy tights (yes, in that awful color). The women have ridiculous little "bug wings" pasted on their back as if they just stepped out of Mr B's Midsummer's Night Dream. Every thing was over the top including this ghastly orange color.

At the risk of offending, I must take issue with characterizing Laura Gilbraith's acting as "perhaps....growing". From where I sit, one of Laura greatest strengths has always been her acting ability. She certainly was superb in the role of the "over the hill" prima ballerina last night (altho she is no match for the magnificent Carrie Imler in this part), but this is nothing new for Laura, she is always a suberb actor ....especially in comedic roles (who could forget her in West Side Story Suite a couple of years ago??).

If it is at all possible to see "All Wheeldon": go. Each work alone would be worth the price of the ticket, but together the program is a knockout.

AMEN, sister.

Even if you have to walk on hot coals.......DO IT.

Last night, in front of the curtain at the start of the magnificent "All Wheeldon" program (and with Chris Wheeldon in the house), Director Peter Boal announced 2 promotions: Leslie Rausch and Rachel Foster have been promoted to Principal. Both highly deserved. Conspicuous by its absence, there were no promotions from corps to soloist.

On a personal note, as some may remember, some 6 years ago I rather arrogantly proclaimed myself as Leslie Rausch's number one fan. I've seen her rise from someone in the back of the corps that I simply could not keep my eyes from, to this final triumph last night. Congratulations Leslie ................no one could be more pleased than I (your number one fan ). I'm excited to see where you take yourself in the future with this confidence booster under your belt. You give me so much, but I know I've only seen half of what's possible. You are a remarkable dancer.

I went to this "lec-dem" also. I had a great time. Just adding on to what sandik said.....

It was a wonderful chance to see some of the new dancers who have joined PNB this season. In particular, I thought Elizabeth Murphy (at least I assume it was Murphy) was very impressive doing a quite difficult solo from Polyphonia (very Agon-like). I am always pleased to see Ezra Thomson (he's not new this season)......there is something so intense while completely in sync with the music about this young dancer.....very masculine and powerful, almost like a street-dancer, albeit in the classic ballet idiom.

The link provides a written story, but I could find no video (even after various searches).

-------------------------------

I've been supporting Second Stage for many years now. Of all the contributions I give to various causes, the contributions I make to Second Stage give me the most satisfaction. That I can help in some small way by assisting the dancers to tackle the greatest sacrifice they've made for me (having to find a new career after the age of 40) is the best Thank You I can imagine.

If you are a member of the PNB audience and haven't thought of contributing to Second stage, I encourage you to do so. Contributions can be made by contacting:

Second Stage

c/o Pacific Northwest Ballet

301 Mercer St., Seattle, WA 98109

(Make checks payable to Pacific Northwest Ballet)

or

Contact Clare Hausmann: Giving@pnb.org | phone: 206.441.3593

.......and I love the way she seems to be be so willing to fly.

"They are the first married couple in the country to both be Princess Grace award recipients."

I just love this line from the PR of the Grace awards receiptants (Wevers & Postlewaite) posted above by sandik.

Helene is a brilliant writer. Being here in Seattle, I attended 4 of the Giselle performances. Helene captured the essence of what was presented, and even why it was presented, on our PNB stage. Not only do you learn a lot from Helene's reviews, as well as inspired by her insights, but also she can be very entertaining.....as bart's quote above demonstrates (yes, every one of those emotions and declarations she lists were mimed in this production)

Frankly, I think the NYT ought to give Helene a call occasionally!

This bodes well for Mullin’s dream of someday dancing Juliette in Jean-Christophe Maillot’s Roméo et Juliette.

....and I'd be there for her debut in this role if I had to crawl to get there. Mullin is one of the most exciting young dancers I know.

I happened to watch "Mao's Last Dancer" on DVD a couple of days ago. I couldn't help but be struck by the similarity between Sar's experience and challenges compared to Cunxin's -- each even has a movie. Anyone else struck by this?

P.S. I liked the movie, but overall I was not particularly impressed.....the slow motion dancing particularly bothered me.

I just returned from seeing the movie. I am a big Woody Allen fan, and like nearly all his movies, and love several. I tried to like the film, but I just didn't. It could have been my mood, but I doubt that. If I saw it again, I bet I still wouldn't like it very much. I didn't dislike it either. I'd say more about it, but bart has said it all for me. I read bart's post above a few notches just minutes ago after having seen the movie. It was like the Twilight Zone....I found myself agreeing with bart's every word. Bart, you said it all for me.

Ariana Lallone

Superb video! What a wonderful montage of some of her classic roles. A must see, I'd say.

Ariana, we owe you so much!

I loved this thought in the bloggers resposne:

"When you see a dancer so engaging that you can’t take your eyes off of them, you are transported into their world. Ballet seems to feel so good to them; they look so free. You find yourself yearning for that feeling. How must it feel to be that beautiful; to be in such control over your body, yet seemingly carefree? When a dancer completely lets go on stage, the first place you see it is in their face. That is when the magic happens, and you can feel lucky enough to be a part of it."

Finally (maybe ) I now know why I love ballet so much!