SandyMcKean

I'm hoping for today's Rachel Foster to do "Darkness" again.

Like Jayne, I am extremely excited to see Leta Biasuccci as Aurora (a PNB debut for sure, but has she perhaps danced it elsewhere?). She is one of the most exciting dancers I've seen in a long time. Her acting skills and passion will please us all I venture.

No one has mentioned this, but although I can completely see Leta as Aurora given her artistry and skills, it is quite a leap from the corps. Could it be that she was the understudy for a principal.......Carla perhaps?. In the past, Carla danced Aurora with Cruz, but given Biasucci's height (or lack of it ) that pairing makes no sense. So maybe Cruz went to Rausch and Bold to Foster.

(OK....you're right....far too speculative!!)

I will miss the show. One can pick it apart, as many have done here, but frankly the criticism here rang hollow to me.....petty even.

I'd like to see any of us work as hard as these dancers did; take the risk of allowing our lives to be on public display as these dancers did; and be as honest as I think everyone involved with the show was. Easy to sit in our arm chairs and pick at this and that.

Sure, the personal content was like being 20-something...........JESUS, they ARE 20-something!! Try to remember back when YOU were 20. How would you look if 1 million people saw YOU at a party when you were 22!! Some of the dancers were older and dealt with "older" problems. I'm nearly 69, and I deeply felt the pain of Christiana and Chris (as well as being privileged to see bits of their exquisite dancing).

Sure again, there wasn't enough actual dancing, but so what. I have NO doubt the producers, directors, and dancers in this series would have loved to show more dancing. Clearly there were contractual restrictions and other limitations that made such a thing not possible (makes me think of how many times I've heard my local ballet company's director -- Peter Boal at Seattle's PNB -- say with regret: "No, we can't produce a DVD.....it's just too expensive given the royalty and other such payments required."

Sure again and again, I winced a few times at my ripe old age, but overall, I thought the series terrific. It gave me an insider's view of a ballet company of dedicated people striving to do their best in the art form I love so much. THANK YOU BALLET WEST.

P.S. What strikes me the most is that such a documentary (OK....reality show if you like) was made at all.

vipa,

I presume you saw this documentary via Netflix's streaming service. The DVD does not seem to be available.

Someday we'll have to watch some basketball together

Love to.

.......and you can tell me what you see

I can't resist telling a story. It is at least a partial answer to the above......

As many of you know, I am a hopeless ballet fanatic.....and have been for some 45+ years. In contrast, for most of my life I had no use for almost any kind of "major" sports. UNTIL one day, skiing with a buddy at Mt Batchelor in Oregon, we turned on the condo TV while cooking dinner. There was nothing interesting on, so my buddy asked if I minded if he left the TV tuned to an NBA basketball game (he has the same passionate love for b-ball that I do for ballet). "No problem", says I. With his pointing out of this and that, I became mildly interested.

Then came the moment! A player did a flying dunk.....OK, impressive; but then they did a re-play of that dunk in slow motion. OMG, in that moment I saw it: the same grace of the human form in motion; the same perfection of these human bodies; the same dedication and unbelievable level of athletic prowess; the same focus on individual performance but within the context of a team; and yes, even a similar artistry.

In that moment, I became an instant NBA fan. And I chuckle when I think how this "typical American male" was lead to professional basketball (and to professional sports generally) via his love for ballet. Going the other way, maybe.......but my way? I've got a bridge in Brooklyn I'd like to sell..........

......and let's not forget a BIG thanks to Helene who, with tireless and never ending effort, keeps this ship afloat and heading, at least generally, in its stated direction!

A Standing Ovation to everyone involved. BA is one of my most treasured past times.

For those who care.......season 2 is now available on Hulu (perhaps on other internet based services too).

I don't have cable, so I have to wait for a DVD release or a service like Hulu to give me access. (I'm not sure when season 2 became available; I only look every couple of months).

Yeah, the more I think about it, the more I think taller is more in character for Carabosse than shorter.

It will be fun to see both tall and short do the role since this highly gesturing and angular role could be "jazzed up" very differently depending on your body type........I'm reminded of the difference in how power forwards and point guards move on the basketball court -- same game but the movements of the 2 positions are very different given the differences in agility and power.

I wonder if that part "requires" a shorter man? If so, then William Lin-Yee and Andrew Bartee would be out.

And I'm wondering who might be cast as Carabosse -- it's a role with real possibilities for a character performer!

I would assume Poretta who has done this role so well in the past. My guess for a new Carabosse would be William Lin-Yee or Kiyon Gains. Someone who would be a kick to see would be Andrew Bartee.....he's so creative. Ezra Thomson would give it pizzazz for sure.

In the full-length version current dancers who've performed Princess Aurora and Prince Florimund are:

• Carrie Imler and Batkhurel Bold: 2001, 2006, 2010
• Kaori Nakamura: 2001 and 2006 (with Olivier Wevers), 2010 (with Lucien Postlewaite)
• Carla Korbes and Karel Cruz: 2010

Leslie Rausch has also danced a full-length Aurora. She debuted on 2/14/10 with Bold as the Prince. As is often the case at PNB, new Auroras debut at the last Sunday Matinee. Such was the case with Leslie.

I remember that performance distinctly since I have been a huge fan of Leslie's since days when she was at the back of the corps. I have followed her rapid career eagerly every step of the way; and obviously her first Aurora was a major milestone (as it is for any ballerina).

I have only once gone to a stage door to congratulate a performer after a performance......and that one time was to congratulate Leslie on that Sunday afternoon of 2/14/10.

So far, the only casting confirmation we have is that Rachel Foster will dance Aurora......

YEA!! I greatly hope that this happens. As I've opined before, Rachel has always been a superlative dancer in the more contemporary ballets, but in recent years her classical skills have also rocketed upward. Aurora will be the ultimate test of her ability to excel in both worlds.

Brava Rachel.

I hadn't seen Falstaff before (or at least I don't remember seeing it). I was floored by what I will describe as the surreal treatment of Act III. Do all productions have this "other worldly" flavor that Carsen's does? I thought the way the words and philosophical ideas (absurdity of life, and especially how serious we all seem to so often take ourselves) was superbly handled with this "un"-real treatment.

Musically, that fugue at the end simply sent me to the moon. I thought it one of the single most amazing pieces of singing I have ever heard. And to think Verdi wrote this "flip-the-bird" to all of us humans at the very end of his life (80 years old I think) blows me away. What a mind and life-force he must have had!

Rachel Foster made an incredible impression in the opening solo...........I was absolutely riveted.

.....as was I. And it would be Rachel Foster to pull off something like that with such drama, power, flexibility, and lack of "classical stiffness". She is always a marvel in these more contemporary ballets. Even more amazing to me is the height to which she has also pushed her purely classical ballet dancing in the last 5 years (at least to my eyes).

I am forever missing Chalnessa Eames.........Rachel fills that contemporary+classical excellence role for me (altho no one can touch the humor that Chalnessa can deliver to the audience without fail).

....one of the men carrying a foil with the point facing up out of the corner of my eye.....

Given this otherwise fine word order, I must admit that when I first read this line, I went OMG!!!

I got to know Tim thru my involvement with the Seattle Dance Project of which he is a founding director (along with Julie Tobiason). A nicer and more dedicated guy you will not meet. Once I attended class where Tim was teaching the boys from the PNB school. I can't tell you how impressed I was with not only the choreography and exercises he created for these students, but also the caring, encouraging, yet firm style he used to inspire these boys to dance well.

Tim is a terrific asset to the Seattle dance scene.

Imler and Gaines again......I love it......both embody the word "professional" at the highest level.

1-Would I buy a CD to have it at home...?

2-Would I play such CD in my car to listen to while driving..?

For your questions to be meaningful for me, you would have to substitute the acronym DVD for CD. With that change, my answer would be YES.

Perhaps more interesting is the reason I feel this way. It has nothing to do with the visuals and staging of this particular production (altho I did very much like these elements of this production), but rather it has to do with what I find so moving and powerful in opera as an art form. For me, opera is the magic that happens when the music, words, story, and emotions of the character blend into a series of moments that transport me, inside my own being, with a power that any one of those 4 elements can not do on their own. That's why I say DVD. For opera to be opera for me, I need to feel what the character is feeling. The words tell me intellectually what is occurring (I'm assuming super-titles here); the acting of the singer display visually before me what is occurring in the world of the character; the quality of the singing expresses in the human voice the emotions of the character (indeed that is what I most appreciate in a great singer); and best of all, this all happens in the music (orchestra) at the very same moment. It is that marriage that I love so much.

A CD, altho nice, only conveys a portion of an opera. If I speak the language (so I know the words), then a CD can come close; but few of us, and certainly not me, speak Russian. But even if I know the words, a CD still misses the acting of the singer, and the story itself is limited by lack of sets, costumes, props, and the like.

If I know an opera very well (say, The Ring), then a CD can come close since I pretty much know what the singer is saying because I recognize what is being said from where we are in the music; and I already have visual images in my head of the staging (and often even a singers facial expressions) from previous productions I have seen. But in this case, I had never seen The Nose, nor had I ever heard the music of Shostakovitch that I remember. For me this was all brand new, so a CD just won't cut it. Even a DVD would have its failings. But I would love to see this opera again.....especially live in an actual performing theater......be it this production or another.

I too loved it.

Candidly, this is difficult music for me; and I went not expecting to like it much. Indeed, I didn't like it much for the first 30 minutes or so, but once I tuned into Shostakovich's quasi-atonal "melodies", and especially his use of rhythm, I started to really like it. By the end, I was a total convert.....literally sitting on the edge of my chair (this was the MetHD showing) in amazement and excitement. I particularly enjoyed the ensemble pieces. The complexity and power of the quartet when Kovalyov and his servant sing about the letter on house right of the stage while Madame Podtochina and her daughter were to house left and above, was mind bending for me. It actually reminded me of some of the famous sextets etc in some bell canto operas (but of course in a completely different tonal landscape).

I even found the story moving. I'm a sucker for all that is absurdist in literature in any case, so it was easy for me to relate to the themes of how silly we humans are about our vanity, social standing, and priorities. I thought Gogol's story captured all this well.

I was blown away by the creativity of William Kentridge. As I'm sure has been said many times elsewhere, his use of video was remarkable. He drove the action with the same non-stop intensity as Shostakovich's music. Basically, I just loved everything about this production......a production I didn't even expect to like .

Three cheers for the MET!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This piece brought to mind "Fancy Free" and "Slaughter on Tenth Avenue".

Like you, I often thought of Jerome Robbins while watch "Brief Fling", but it was of "The Concert" I kept thinking (especially as I watched Carrie Imler doing very similar roles in the 2 pieces).

The only dancer that I felt seemed a let down was Rachel Foster........I think she can be lyrical in some roles (I enjoyed her Giselle), but the jazz hybrid of Twyla Tharp doesn't suit her.

For whatever reasons, you and I often seem to disagree (which is perfectly fine of course). I can't disagree more about Rachel. She might not have been at her best during this run (altho I didn't notice any lack), but I see Rachel as a superb jazzy dancer. To my eyes she "gets" Tharp movement far better than most. For me her forte is the more contemporary movement such as she does so superbly in "Vespers" or her remarkable performance a few years ago in "State of Darkness".

Jeez, I love reading your reviews! (Definitiely not too long for me.) Lots of insight, history, and details. I love to learn, and I learn from you. Thanks.

Some of your comments really struck home with me, and have inspired me to say more.....

Speaking of Moore (sic).....earlier I made a joke about 3 days and 3 names, and indeed my original 3 names had the biggest impact on me, but I purposely limited myself to the women. My "joke" probably wasn't worth leaving out the superb job James did with that role. I kept thinking of him in "State of Darkness", and of how he has now made 2 roles into icons within this company. Who couldn't love his character as he jumps the train and tips his hat to us as he welcomes his fate with as much charm as he displayed earlier with the signature "moves" he demostrates to his son (not to mention the almost good-natured way he attempts to avoid the fates). Bravo Jim! I would go on to agree with your mention of Poretta, Thomson, and Gains.....but I won't.

Eventually Tharp mixes everyones themes, and we get close to the truly hybridized styles she uses today.

Exactly! I wouldn't have known how to say it, but your sentence here captures exactly my strongest reaction to seeing "Brief Fling". It was if the blue couple style (so classic as to be a charature) is simply overrun by the organic power of the modern side of Tharp's vision. It is clear that the old can't ignore the new. The old must respond, and respond it does creating that wonderful blend, or hybridization as you call it, that is, I think, what we all love over the broad sweep of Tharp's work.

Honestly, this was my favorite of the 3 works. I had never seen it before. I found it to have a deep resonance with me. I have always loved Tharp's work from my first exposure ("Push Comes to Shove" when ABT toured to San Francisco sometime in the 70s) to my current favorite work of hers "In the Upper Room" (which I saw for the 1st time here at PNB). So for me, "Brief Fling" was like looking at the foundation of all of that.....as if we can see Tharp's mind at work saying to us: "OK, here's what I mean. Here's where I'm going.....like it or not". Strangely perhaps, "Brief Fling" reminds me of "Agon" in a lot of ways. Although I truly grew to greatly enjoy "Waiting at the Station" over the 3 performances I saw, none the less of the 2 works, it would be "Brief Fling" that I would select if I were in a time warp and had to see a piece 50 times in a row.

With Rausch, it looks like one long event, and with Kitchens it seems divided into a number of smaller phrases.

Once again you put into words my exact reaction. I enjoyed both couples, but Rausch just flowed as if her movement and the music were one. She has so many talents, but surely her musicality is one of her foremost. With Kitchens, you almost "see" her thinking each phrase (but none the less Kithchens has such lyrical, limber movement that she is a pleasure to watch).

The sequence where he pulls her up from the floor to standing, gripping her arm in a kind of hand over hand pattern, made me wonder if I should call the domestic violence hotline it was flat-out scary.

BINGO! That sequence sent chills up my spine. I fully agree with your word "scary"....which is exactly what gave it such dramatic power. Even the 2nd time they do that sequence freaked me out. And yet Orza and Nakamura taking it to that level seemed completely appropriate to me given the tension and near-violence they evoked so brilliantly thru-out the piece. The night I saw them, the audience had a strong reaction to that sequence; interestingly, the next day when Foster and Tisserand did it, there was no reaction -- even tho they did it well, the intense drama you speak of was missing.

....Greek mythology....

I'm curious why you say this. I presume your reference has to do with the common greek practice of gods/fates appearing to have the final say in our human-bound lives. But maybe you have something else in mind.

I'll add 2 more words: Angelica & Kaori

I can't argue with that!!

Angelica was superb in that role, but to my eyes Leta was even more so.

Frankly, I almost added Kaori to my list, but I ran out of numbers . Her performance in "That's Life" was as stunning as anything I have ever seen -- well, to be totally real about it, it was the combination of Kaori and Seth, working together like some perfect machine, that made it so stunning. (I saw Rachel and Jerome this afternoon, but as good as they were, they were no match for Kaori and Seth in that number.....less time to rehearse together I suspect).

I just returned from 3 performances of "AIR Tywla" in 3 days. I have just 3 words for these 3 days..................

Carrie, Leta, and Leslie......................(well, and Tywla of course).

P.S. Good to see you Courtney!.....I now know you're here

OUCH....

I have recently moved a couple of hours north of Seattle to an island where the ferry schedule forces me to spend the night in Seattle when I go to the ballet. As a consequence, I will be restricting myself to three 2nd weekend performances from now on. I know that sounds like a lot, but I've been so spoiled over the years -- going when I wanted, however often as I wanted -- that I feel limited .

Anyway, the move has kept me from this board for a while; but I'm back, and I'm greatly looking forward to this weekend's PNB performances. In particular, the casting for 9 Songs in one of Helene's postings really caught my eye. What an interesting set of couples.....some combos I have never seen, and maybe never even hoped to see. But alas, my new restriction means that already I've missed this cast (which I would have seen for sure in my old life!) The good news is that life on this island is as close to paradise as it gets!!!!!

RAUSCH
GRANT

DEC
BOLD

CHAPMAN
MOORE

IMLER
PORRETTA

RICARD
CRUZ

MULLIN
GRIFFITHS

NAKAMURA
ORZA