SandyMcKean

It was stunning all right. Even Speight Jenkins said so during the post-performance Q&A. In fact he used your exact words.....to further make his point, he said that he'd been told by patrons that the Overture alone was "worth the price of admission". Perhaps you are the one who told him so .

Helene, I always enjoy reading your reviews (and I learn to boot!). So often I agree completely with how you react, but nearly just as often I have different reactions. That's the beauty of ART I guess. (I'm more a scientist type actually, but the singularity of 2+2=4 can limit conservation!) So I just saw my 2nd performance of The Dutchman last night (I'd never seen it either until last week). This time my reactions were very different than yours. I loved the entire opera (but then I'm a Wagner nut); however, I was least moved by the 2nd act. My favorite parts were The Dutchman's long monolog in the 1st act. (BTW, Greer Grimsley may always be "The Dutchman" for me now. How someone could play that role better, or with more authenticity, I can't imagine.) Next was the chorus in the 3rd act -- especially the "dualing" men's choruses. And last, but not least, the Overture. (I have also become a huge Asher Fisch fan in the last couple of years.) I also feel differently about Jane Eaglen. I love the power of her voice, and the clarity of it, but somehow I don't feel the passion I expect to feel when listening to someone of her calibre. Her acting is there, good acting really, but I find it too subtle for my tastes. I also have unreasonable problems with her in these roles where I envision a romantic lead. I wish I could, but I just can't, turn off that little voice in my head that keeps saying "why are these guys so passionately fighting over her". I think Wadsworth, or whoever made the decision, did the smart thing by making the connection btwn The Dutchman and Senta an intellectual/spiritual one instead of one based on passion. That worked for me well enough. Yep, Erik is a whiner for me. Like our disagreement months ago about the prince in Swan Lake, I find Erik to be a dismissable character. I have trouble caring about his "cares" -- especially when contrasted with the immense compassion I feel for the The Dutchman (I guess Senta's singing of his plight in the 2nd act really, really sold me.....or at least Eaglen did . OTOH, I am right there with you on 2 of your 3 stars (the 1st and 2nd). For the 3rd star in my constellation, I would firmly place Grimsley. I'm not sure I have ever been so totally convinced by any character in opera as I was by Grimsley's Dutchman. If you will allow me a play on words.....I felt that Grimsely felt every emotion the The Dutchman was feeling moment to moment (especially as "spoken" to us by the music at that moment). If I were a woman, I, like Senta, would have fallen head over heels for the character Grimsley so brought to life. P.S. Oh BTW, you cost me $250 last night!!! I have the Solti Ring CD set, but when I saw the Fisch set in the "lobby botique" at the opera house last week, I started thinking about what it would be like to own 2 different recordings of the Ring (unlike most of you aficionados I have never purchased 2 recordings of the same piece before, much less 2 Rings!) Well, then I read your last paragraph just before going last night. As soon as I walked in the door, I walked right into the boutique and purchased the entire Ring Cycle since you got me over my fear of too high a price compared to the internet. I don't know whether to praise you or to damn you, but I can tell you I am mightly looking forward to playing both versions side by side to see what I can learn over the next couple of years before 2009.....and I have a lot to learn! So thanks.

Reminds me of the cartoon map popular 20 or 30 years ago that showed the USA looking west. NYC took up about 1/2 the map, to the Rockies took the next 1/4, and to the Pacific Ocean the last 1/4. (At least the rest of us were half the map!)

Clearly Peter sees something in it, not only to have put in the extraordinary effort it must have taken to learn and perform the piece himself, but also to use his position as AD at PNB now to increase the world's population of those who have performed it from 2 to 5. I suspect you are right about the dancer (the performance) being the deciding factor. That may explain Peter's commitment to it also. At the Q&A after Friday's performance I asked him what it "felt like" mentally/emotionally during and after performing such a piece (the dancer that night, Rachel Foster, was not in the room, so Peter was the only person there I could direct that question to). One comment that sticks in my mind from his reponse was him saying that there is a quiet part (quiet in the sense of the dancing) most of the way thru the piece where the performer essentially sits at the rear of the stage. He said by that time he would be exhausted and mentally spent. He used that time to "recover". He said he loved that feeling: to be totally used up and somehow at peace after having been in such a primative place that Stravinsky's music takes you, but then to know there was one final push yet to come in that wild, "all the stops out" finale. I suspect his attachment to this piece is all about, as you suggest, the dancer. He wants others to feel that sense of being at peace resulting from having given it your all.......or to say it in my own way (which may have nothing to do with what Peter might say ).....to feel perhaps the place a Hindu monk must go after a long meditative trance made possible by years of disciplined training and committed execution.

I am no expert, but I would rank the three principal variables as: Stravinsky's Rite of Spring, Jonathan Poretta dancing, and Fenley's choreography -- in that order. I know nothing about Fenley except this piece. I am not competent to comment on the quality of her choreography, but the single element of envisioning a long solo to this massive piece of music persuades me to call Fenley's choreography a grand accomplishment in the world of dance. That is enough for me. Given that foundation, I feel as strongly as I do about going out of your way to see this NYC performance Helene mentions because of the "astonishing" performance Porretta gives (to use Helene's word). I didn't attempt to read into the ballet a theme or even an image, those who look for that may be disappointed. OTOH, it would be worth a 10 mile walk across Manhattan just to see this amazing dancer unleashed. Beyond all of that, I think one's reaction to this piece (be it: "absolutely amazing", "ho-hum", or "what a waste") will depend primarily on one's relationship to Stravinsky's masterpiece: The Rite of Spring. I have loved this music most of my life. Back in my college days, I would say that the Rite of Spring transformed my relationship to 20th century classical music. I just don't see how one could not be blown away by this performance if you love this music. Done well, and Porretta does it very well indeed, it was for me as if I was watching a vision that Igor himself might have seen in his mind's eye as he wrote this music. It had all the "pagan" quality he said was his inspiration, but yet was completely abstract -- although with a slight whiff of the human struggle from the primative, a slave to his world, to the human spirit, bold and free in command of his world.

Helene is right on. I'd cancel anything except perhaps my own wedding to see this. I saw Jonathan Porretta a couple of nites ago here in Seattle at PNB. It is almost impossible to believe that this great music can be contained with a single solo dancer on stage. But somehow it works. Porretta is as accomplished and precise as it must be to pull this off.......and he does so brilliantly. There were times during his performance that I felt there were only 3 of us in the universe: the music, Porretta, and me. Jonathan has a special way of connecting to an audience with his magnetism and personality. He performs as if he knows everyone in the audience personally, and he "looks you in the eye" as if he were in your living room. He will make you become a fan by his presence.....and in this piece especially you will know you've seen something remarkable. It was simply unforgettable.

I had no trouble at all being fascinated and moved by all 34 minutes of State of Darkness. It is one of the most amazing pieces I have ever seen. I congratulate Fenley's audacity to even attempt such a thing, Peter Boal's courage to stage it here so prominently, and my hat is totally off to the 3 dancers who somehow found the commitment to put themselves in the spotlight, literally, with no option but to give an extraordinary performance. I saw Rachel Foster Friday nite. I was blown away. I had to see a male do the role, so I went again Saturday nite to see Porretta. Blown away again....in a different way. I'd go to see Jim Moore too, but I am out of town, so I'm going to see Rachel again on this coming Thursday since I can't get enough of it -- besides I think I prefer a female dancer in the piece. Perhaps one's reaction has to do with one's relationship to the underlying music: Stravinsky's "Rite of Spring". I've loved this music for 40+ years. I can never hear it enough, and I know it cold. To see this music made material, in the real world by a solo dancer, was a revelation to me. Of course, I've seen the more traditional "pagan rite" ballet(s) before and loved them, but this time the music was an equal to the dance. It was just the two of them: the music, and the dancer. I felt privileged to have seen it. If you love that music as I do, I can't imagine asking for, much less actually receiving, more. If you haven't seen it....DO. It may be the chance of a lifetime.

Since Ed brings up Scott Piper, allow me to say a bit more about the cast he is in (sliver cast). As I mentioned above, I was scheduled to see the gold cast a week or so after seeing this silver cast. The gold cast normally has better known, bigger voices of older, more established opera stars. Overall this production was in that same mold. But for me, I was somewhat let down by the gold cast when I saw it. True, the voices were "better" (altho I'm not sure I have the ear or knowledge to truly make such distinctions), but I, for one, enjoyed the silver cast performance more. That silver cast had some sort of special bond that drew the audience into the world of Bohemian Paris. This is partly explained, I think, by the fact that these younger men looked like the kinds of young, poorly fed, artists they were acting to be. But most of the magic this cast had was the flat out fun they were having together, and the risks they were willing to take together to increase the power and the realism of the drama. I just couldn't get that silver cast out of my mind, even after seeing the gold cast, so Sunday last when I realized I had 1 hour before the curtain of the final performance of La Boheme being done by either cast, I put aside rationality, hopped in the car, and saw the silver cast perform one last time. They exceeded my expectations. Altho Rosario La Spina's Rodolfo (gold cast) had a huge powerful voice that surpassed at moments anything Scott Piper could do, I far preferred Scott's performance. His interpretation had greatly grown since I saw him the first time 10 days or so before. He put so much nuance into his singing, and his acting was far superior, and there was a "sweetness" of young love in his voice, all of which I found wholly convincing. I also preferred Gun-Brit Barkmin's more vital Mimi to Nuccia Focile's more "weakened by disease" interpretation (for very similar reasons on Barkmin to Helene's above). I thought there was no comparison between the 3 other men from the 2 casts: the silver cast "had it" and the gold cast didn't. The singing was terrific in the gold cast (particularly, I thought, bass Deyan Vatchkov in Colline's "ode to my overcoat"), but the silver cast became the characters instead of just playing the characters. Unlike Helene, I liked Margarita De Arellano's over the top performance of Musetta. I thought it just right for the strutting, ego-centric, but heart of gold Musetta. Karen Driscoll's Musetta was too tame for me. Overall, I don't expect to see a better performance of La Boheme than the one Stage Director Jose Maria Condemi created here as performed by the silver cast. I'm sure I will see performances in the future with greater voices (altho Gun-Brit Barkmin's voice could scarcely be improved upon), but this cast in this performance had a spark I felt lucky to have seen.

.....so Canadian

You do.....and you are lucky enough to be only 2.5 hours away from an even better one! Seattle "should not" have the quality of company we do.....but we do. An amazing kink in the universe. Come down and take advantage of it. Why Kent Stowell, Francia Russell, and Peter Boal all ended up here in this once forgotten NW corner of the USA I don't know. Somehow the Gods smiled on us. (I'll bet you one thing: much of our "luck" depended on the quality of the PNB ballet school.) BTW, I was captivated by Makaila Wallace the one time I saw Ballet BC. So much so that I will be travelling the 2.5 hours north to see more of the entire company -- besides then I get to stay in my favorite city! P.S. PNB isn't a "giant company" either. It has about 45 dancers and accoording to Boal is unlikely to grow beyond 50. We are also not a repetory company; there are 5 or 6 fixed programs per year each lasting perhaps a month.

I grew up in SF, and spent half my life there. True, it is a great city, in many ways the best on the west coast (including Vancouver), but since the survey in question looked at criteria that fall under the category of "livability" (whatever that means), I suspect SF fell out primarily because of the cost of living-- in particular housing. Most folks need to commute 60 to 90 minutes each way. Also the population density in California is oppressive. When I moved to Seattle in 1980 (job related), I kept my house just north of SF (the infamous Marin County) thinking there was no way I wouldn't find a way to retrun to my beloved Bay Area. After 2 years in Seattle, I was hooked. You couldn't get me back in California now no matter what. I don't even like the "perfect" weather in the Bay Area anymore -- I call it "boring blue".

Indeed I am! She and I are about as different as you can imagine; however, somehow we appreciate life and people in so much the same way. We laugh at the same things, warm up to the same kinds of people, see beauty at the same time for similar reasons, not to mention loving our cats (they might as well be our children). I got her into ballet, she got me into opera. We fight like crazy sometimes, but it works, and has been working for 30 years come this September. You may spot us easily at the McCaw Hall because she looks elegant in her flawless and classic taste in clothes and presence, and then next to her is me somewhat slovenly, more like I was going to a baseball game than the ballet. In our own way we are Mutt and Jeff.

Then there's hope for me since I qualify on all 4 counts -- especially the last one (altho my wife has recently started to pick up the habit, the expensive habit, of going to multiple performances too, so I am slowly losing the 1st essential )

I agree, reading Helene's reviews are educational and clear as a bell. She always gives me something to think about. I saw this same cast (silver) last Tuesday. I normally don't go to see the silver cast since my regular subscription nite is the gold cast (next Wednesday...Yea!). But I happened to attend the 3 hour seminar last Saturday morning with General Director Speight Jenkins, Stage Director Jose Maria Condemi, and 3 of the 4 principal male singers (sans Rudolfo), and it inspired me to see this cast. Those 3 guys seemed to have so much camaraderie talking about how much fun they had working out the business on stage that I just had to see them in action. This cast has a spark. I can't really add to what Helene has said about the main characters, but overall I add my enthusistic endorsement that this silver cast is a treat, and worth seeing/hearing to share their unquenchable energy as they enjoy such a superb production at this youthful and relatively unjaded point in their careers. This cast and this production is alive.

Ah, now Vancouver itself.....now there's a WONDERFUL city. It has a world class feel, not to mention a setting to die for. You will find not only great Chinese food, but great whatever (dependent perhaps on the old British Empire being at least somewhat near the place-of-origin). Another thing about Vancouver is that it is (not surprisingly ) full of Canadiens -- one of the most open, unpretentious, and hospitable peoples on the planet. If this survey claims Vancouver as the most livable city in the world....it don't surprise me one little bit.

Yes there is, but from a single performance I saw during PNB's "Celebrate Seattle Festival" when the Ballet British Columbia came here to Seattle, I would not rank it among the ones typically discussed here.

I didn't see his performance in Portland, but I too have been very pleased to see more expression from him to go with his extraordinary technical ability. Overall, I feel very lucky to see him anytime (especially lately dancing with Carla). P.S sandik, how can I read the review you mentioned you were doing on the Festival?

sandik, perhaps I'm in a time wrap, but isn't Inlets in Program A?

I saw Program B last night (Program C, then A, I see this weekend). I felt very excited to be attending such a festival where more limits can be pushed with less fear of consequences, not to mention seeing other regional companies. Interestingly, there seemed to be several PNB dancers in the audience I presume to watch the other companies (I even saw Julie Tobiason there -- one of my all time favorites). I didn't like Schubert. Perhaps not the fault of the ballet, but a product of my own foibles. First off, I've never been a fan of Schubert's music.....so the ballet was likely hopeless for me. I also felt that Alleyne's choreography "followed" the music to closely. It seemed to me that every note and swell of the music just had to be reflected in the dancer's movement very precisely. I felt there was no room for feeling and meaning. It was almost like an athletic "game" to match the sound. After a while I found it repetitive. Although I thought the dancers from the Ballet British Columbia very good, the only one to really catch my eye was Makaila Wallace. Half way through the ballet I simply focused my binoculars on her and neglected the rest of the ballet. My favorite of the evening was Ripple Mechanics. I loved the tension between having 3 men and only 1 woman on stage. And what dancers! Carla took the sexy female role and ran with it full bore as usual. I will never tire of watching her in anything she does. But what really blew me away was the 3 men. Sonia Dawkins captured something about men I thought; something about what's possible for men to dance while displaying their full masculinity simply by how beautiful their bodies are (they were unclothed from the waist up) -- much like women are beautiful simply by virtue of how beautiful their bodies are. I also loved the way that the ballet started out with sounds (not music) where the dancers must have had to count and concentrate to know where they were in the dance; but then as soon as I started to long for music, it came with the beautiful melodies of Nina Simon and Jacqueline Fuentes. I was captivated. (Interestingly, Dawkins said in the Q&A session that she does things the "hard way" because she choreographes the movement first and then starts looking for music to fit.) Two's Company was short and sweet. I thought it a great pick to be where it was in the program. This ballet was far more traditional than the rest of the program, and a nice respite from all the edgy modern stuff that came before (with more to follow). I, like Helene, enjoyed the opportunity to watch Patricia Barker in a role that fit her like a glove. She was partnered by Bold and Cruz: I don't think I've ever seen them so intimately together on stage before. Both have a tall strength that I felt matched Barker as well as could be done (Boal casting??). After the first part of Bhangra Fever I was ecstatic. The curtain came down and not knowing any better, I thought the piece was over. I found it so novel (especially the hopping) with so many new movements I have never seen before (I haven't been to much modern dance), I felt transported to another world. But I too lost interest in the second half. There were moments, but I no longer felt the excitement I had in the first part. The piece is set to India Indian music (which I dearly love) and that was a treat. I suspect that Byrd was influenced by the erotic temple carvings in India, or perhaps the Karma Sutra, given some of the very erotic poses and movements in the second half. Few would call me a prude, but I did feel some of that eroticism was over the top, or maybe just done too often. Those passages felt somewhat out of context to me. On a more positive note, I felt a sense of commitment in the Spectrum dancers that truly won me over. It showed up in their every move. How Allison Keppel found the energy to dance a such a high pitch and with such intensity for 30 minites I can only marvel at. I too was very struck by the power and stage presence of the "short dredlock" male dancer (Ty Alexander Cheng I believe his name is).

Sounds like a helluva story to me .

I might agree with you (and your well constructed arguments) IF Siegfried were perhaps 12 years old. Ah, such a horrible fate????? Seems like your case for Siegfried primarily depends on him doing his kingly duty. So then he ought to grow up and get on with it!

I've never liked Siegfried. I think he's a dolt. Some dancers handle him better than others (primarily via their acting), but he's a forgetable character IMO.

And then there is..... Audiences here in Seattle have a bad habit (IMO) of giving standing ovations for almost any performance (especially theater plays). But.....what I think is really going on is that there is this large-ish group of people who want to get to their cars in parking garages before the rush. They stand up as soon as the curtain drops, and then Seattlittes, being very polite as we are, figure: "Oh, it's a standing ovation, I better stand". The result is a mish-mash of applauding standers, and others pushing and shoving to get out (even before the house lights come up). My God, those performers just gave their all, and our main concern is to save 10 minutes in the parking garage???

Chocomel, DITTO..... Impressive run down of your impressions of this season. I think you are going to have to give up your "I'm quite new to the world of dance....." status. I welcome you to those of us who are "fanatics" or at least "enthusiasts". As Helene implies above, you can no longer hide under that "novice" cloak. Com'n admit it, you're hooked!

To be honest, I can be a bit of a 'Artistically-Moved Sigher.' However, I do it relatively infrequently, and when I do catch myself, I make a strong attempt to stop it. Clearly, this lady did none of those things. Certainly you were within your rights to say something, altho saying "I feel I need to tell you that I find your sounds and movements very distracting. I can't enjoy the ballet as I'd like. What should we do?" might have been more effective. OTOH, if she was sitting next to me, I'd probably be so angry that I would not have been able to speak such enlighted sentences either.