SandyMcKean

Helene, your brain must operate at 10 times the speed of mine.  I am continually amazed at how much you see, the scope of your reactions, your ability to remember and articulate, in a single ballet performance.  I see a lot, but you are astounding!

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Bellingham, WA

That's near where I live and I have been searching a ton of websites to check this out over the last couple of weeks.  The ROH seems to think that their b'casts are shown at the Pickford Film Center in Bellingham, Wa. but nothing is scheduled at the actual theater.  The Pickford does have a posting about the ROH, but there is no list of titles or dates/times.  The calendar at the Pickford doesn't show any of the ROH showings.  The Pickford did the ROH showings last year, but it doesn't look good for this year.

I imagine this comes from the original text, where there are several key statements about hands......

Now that's an interesting observation!

Rausch had a great hoydenish quality on her first entrance – appetite for life. When her hand goes skittering all over the place, I wonder if she got that from her Nurse.

We could be talking apples and oranges, but if we are talking about the same hand gesture, I'm curious what you think of this interpretation. The gesture I am referring to is a hand that "flutters" out of control, with a mind of its own, looking much like a butterfly, which the "owner" (Juliette, Romeo, and I'm not sure anyone else) must "chase" and catch up with.

Somewhere along the line in previous seasons it dawned on me that this gesture might symbolize the lover's heart. The owner's heart has taken leave of its senses and flies (flutters) around with uncontrolled passion. Both R&J do it. At the end of the rather long sequence (for a mime gesture), the owner grabs the out-of-control fluttering hand with their other hand and firmly slaps the fluttering hand to their chest -- as if to put the heart back where it belongs and under at least a modicum of control.

sandik, what do you think?

On Saturday February 11 06, 2016........Friar Laurence: Miles Pertl (debut???)

Miles Pertl debuted as Friar Laurence on opening night Feb 5; indeed Pertl is playing the Friar in every single performance during this run.

BTW, I saw all 3 performances the first weekend. I had hoped to see Karel Cruz as the Friar in one of those three performances, and I was a bit disappointed when I realized that I would only see Pertl. However, did that feeling ever disappear quickly! IMO, Miles is spectacular in the role. For opening night he did a more than adequate job, and could be complimented just at that level; but he did not stop there. He got better and better with each performance.....not just the dancing, but the feeling. The Friar is a deceptively difficult role -- full of subtly and power. Pertl just went deeper and deeper into the role each time he did it. His body type enhances his superb interpretation....he is tall (6' 3") and lean. His grace reminded me of Olivier. I don't know how Boal pulled it off, but I think we all got lucky with this new hire!

P.S. At the post performance Q&A, Pertl used the word "honored" time and again to describe his feeling at being given the chance to do this role.

Kyle Davis played Mercutio like a stage animal......

Mercutio was played by Ezra Thomson in the Feb 6 matinee. I fully agree Ezra played it with an animal like intensity (which I very much liked).

P.S. Your post mistakenly says "February 11, 2016"....which would be quite a trick if it were true

Last night at the post-performance chat Peter Boal said Karel is out due to injury.

That's not what I heard said at the Q&A. To be fair, there was some hemming and hawing, but in the end, what I thought I heard was that Cruz was taken out of the cast primarily, if not solely, due to the recent birth of his and Lindsi's child................YMMV

Miles Pertl is now cast as the Friar for every performances both weekends.

The manager said that was a problem in the whole region (west cost).

Not so, altho I suppose it depends on how literal one is using the term "west coast" which covers more than 2000 miles.

I saw the performance yesterday in a small cinema north of Seattle with zero problems.

Jahna Frantziskonis will be dancing as the Sugarplum Fairy this season. That is a good sign that the staff sees potential there...

You'd have to be blind not see to potential once you watch her dance. Rarely have I seen a corps dancer who so naturally gives 110% at every moment. It's as if she lives to dance.....and dance with such joy (a living Giselle ). Just wait......you're going to see why we here in Seattle feel such loss for the future. Lucky you SFB folks!

The Fathom events website doesn't list the Royal Ballet...just the Bolshoi.

Right......however, Fathom use to be the distributor (just last year I think). As everyone has been saying, it is quite difficult to figure out what companies and performances are playing where, or even at all. Last year, I spent several hours searching the net to figure out what was available and where. I made notes so that I wouldn't have to do that again. So until the OP gave that link, I thought I needed to go to the Fathom website to find out if, when, and most importantly where I could see the Royal Ballet. I had devised an entire scheme as an attempt to try and stay on top of what's available. But this performance broadcast industry seems to be in such flux (except MetHD) that the problem of finding out what's going on is doubled (as sandik points out above).

The thing that most frustrates me is that some theaters show one series, but not another; yet another theater just 10 miles away does just the opposite (competition among distributors for exclusivity I'm going to presume). Not only that but some theaters only show some of the showings for that company. For example, my local theater is showing only 4 of the 6 Bolshoi presentations. To see "Spartacus" I have to drive an extra 3 hours round trip to another town.

Added later.........BTW, now that the Arts Alliance has taken over for Fathom, far fewer theaters in the Seattle area do showings. Indeed, there is only 1 theater in Seattle proper with 2 others in nearby suburbs. All 3 theaters are rather obscure venues; none of the big chains like AMC that used to carry the Royal when Fathom did the distribution are showing any longer (again, I presume this has to do with competitive exclusivity).

There is a statement on the website indicating that at least some cinema venues are not yet known. OTOH, it seems many venues are listed. What's the full story on venues??

Also, my notes say that Fathom Events distributes ROH presentations (at least they used to). How is Arts Alliance related to Fathom Events?

Finally, all the performances that I've looked at on the website seem to be encore showings. Are the "live" performances not broadcast to the west coast of the USA?? (I live near Seattle.)

I was stunned at my reaction to seeing this broadcast

I had gone to the Bolshoi "Jewels" broadcast a couple of weeks ago, and was disappointed that they just didn't "get it" (IMHO) except, of course, in "Diamonds". So here was another non-traditional ballet.....would the Bolshoi dancers, tho superb technicians, deliver on this complex ballet/play/dramatic-par-excellence?? Boy, did they ever!!!! I loved every minute of it. I was powerfully moved time and time again. Svetlana Zakharova was a wonder to behold. Much is owed to Chopin of course. As I said to my seat mates (who happen also to be neighbors), "What we saw here today is the power of ballet to communicate a story." Even a 50 year balletomane such as myself was stunned by the possibility of drama and honest emotion in ballet as created by an extraordinary artist such as John Neumeier.

I live on a small island in the very NW corner of this country....getting anywhere can be a challenge. Even so, next Sunday my wife and I will be taking 4 ferry rides and 6 hours of travel (round trip) just to get a chance to see this magnificent work again (thankfully it is being re-shown at a small arts theater in Port Townsend on the Olympic Peninsula).

The video director needs to pull back much more of the time. Frequent close ups can work for opera IMHO, but not for ballet. I've seen Met Opera video direction much improve over the years; hopefully, ballet direction will too over time.

Just to be clear.....

In a Q/A yesterday (Saturday) Boal discussed the upcoming tour, saying that it was important to go to New York -- "all the mean critics are there."

This was said in very obvious jest while Boal and the Q&A attendees laughed.

Right on, sandik.......and probably not appreciated as much as it deserves by the average ballet go'er.

....and to think she was also a knock out last season (or maybe the season before) in Molissa Fenley's "State of Darkness"!!!!

Drew,

There wasn't much said about ballet at the Mariinsky. The interview was driven by Rose -- Gergiev simply responded. The first half of the interview was mainly about Gergiev's personal career, and about how he sees his global role in the world of music. The initial discussion was intended to be about the story behind the creation of the new Mariinsky Theater, and that did get covered.

The main thing I liked about the interview is to hear how the very articulate Gergiev views a wide ranging set of subjects including such diverse things as his relationship to Putin, and his commitment to nurturing very young artists.

We're going to have to start calling PNB "The Married Couple Company"

What a partnership at every level!! All the best to them both. Now, let's cast them as Romeo & Juliet next season (or perhaps the married couple in The Concert for a preview of the future !!)

Superb, wide ranging interview with the great conductor held on 7/8/15 in the newly completed Mariinsky Theater II. Fifty-five minutes, and worth every minute of it.

It can be seen here (Season 23, Episode 219):

http://www.charlierose.com/watch/60587045

Tharp Afternoon Ball at PNB

Thanks sandik.......that's probably what I was thinking of.

Didn't Charley Hodges dance with the Seattle Dance Project for a while?

I think it is probably a "mental" thing caused by nervousness.

Birdsall,

I am in complete agreement with you. I wouldn't dismiss the additional challenge of being on point as easily as you do, but otherwise I agree that the challenge is mental more so than physical for the well trained and experience ballerina. For me it's that conquering of the mental challenge that is so impressive. You cataloged the pressures very well. That a ballerina can so dominate these pressures and become confident enough to go to 5th position (even if they are in balance at that moment) is, to me, a triumph of the human spirit. For some (many?) guys, quarterbacks, or wealthy self made persons, or other more worldly folks are their heros, but for this guy, it is ballet dancers that I admire most.

What a privilege to have been there Sunday night for the Encore performance. My idiosyncratic reactions?

1. The highlight = seeing my 3 heroines, Carla Korbes, Carrie Imler, and Leslie Rausch all together, all at once, on stage in Serenade.

2. Glorious moment = the cheers, falling flower pedals, the rain of flowers, the love we all felt as Carla gave her final bows.

3. Saddest moment = realizing with finality that we've lost Jahna Frantziskonis

4. Most missed = William Lin Yee

5. Most admired = as usual, Carrie Imler

Frankly, I think Kiyon's career is just beginning! He is so talented in so many ways. He's a natural born leader. He has charisma oozing out of his pores. As nearly everyone says, his enthusiasm is infectious. He can get an entire room of dancers charged up and present almost from the moment he walks into the room. I predict the ballet world is going hear about this young man on a national or even world stage. All of those lucky enough to be around him will see this whether it be as a teacher, a choreographer (can't wait for Sum Stravinsky next year), or as an artistic director. This man is going to make a difference, mark my words.