vissi d'arte

Well I don't think that the fouettes are such a big deal. If the ballerina can do them, great! But if she's unsure then I think it would be better if she did pique turns around the stage (fast though). The thing about this bravura steps is that they have to make an impression of Odile's triumph over the Prince. It should be the climaz of the pas de deux. If the turns look weak it takes away a bit from the rest of the pas de deux, even if the ballerina danced it really good! So I think she should choose the step in wich she can dazzle the most.

The cast list for the upcomming performances of Ashton's La fille mal gardée is up. The premiere on saturday 31st march will be danced by Nathalie Nordquist as Lise and Oscar Salomonsson as Colas. The second cast will include Marie Lindqvist and Andrey Leonovitch while the third cast will be led by Nicole Rhodes and Nikoulas Fotiadis. Tim Harbour will guest in the role of Colas! http://www.operan.se/templates/ListingIndex.aspx?id=185 Moderator's note; I edited the link to bring up the English version of the page.

Thank you so much for the interview, it was really interesting. I think Sofiane Sylve is a wonderful and very interesting ballerina!

That sounds exciting. Especially Alicia Alonso's production of Don Q. And works by Kylian and Duato. And of course Onegin is a ballet to love always!!!!

Thank you! Wow that's really cool! What's the name of your teacher?

I would say that mens port de bras is just as important as womens (except for swan lake maybe) but male dancers has to be much more straightforward in how they use their arms. You don't notice male dancers port de bras as much as females, but if a male dancers has a weak port de bras it looks really silly. Perhaps you don't notice mens port de bras as much because male dancers should really avoid to break the line of the arms and the wrist, because it will look mannered and not strong. I think for example Paris Opera Ballets Manuel Legris has very nice port de bras!! (He has gorgeous technique as well)!!!

I agree with you, Royal Danish Ballet should be included in the list because they're the only company that can produce Bournonville Ballets at such a high standard.

I've seen it too and I must say that overall it's really good! Agnes Letestu is amazing as Odette, she's one of the most beautiful ballerinas in the world. Her interpretation is rather cold but I think it works well with Nureyev's take on the ballet. Since act 2, 3 and 4 just takes place in the prince's mind, it makes sense. I simply loved Letestu's Odile. Her smiles behind the Siegfried's back and her glanses, I loved it! That's the best Odile right now! Jose Martinez as Prince Siegfried is also a joy to watch. Wonderful dancing and a pretty convincing portayal. I also enjoyed Karl Paquette as von Rothbart. The only things witch I was a little dissapointed was the Pas de trois in the first act. I thought it could have been a bit faster, though it was really nicely danced. The other thing was the Queen Mother. I think she was just bland, and I feel she has to be a very strong character. The Paris Opera corp de ballet is just wonderful from every direction. I think the DVD was beautifuly directed and I liked all the different camera angles.

Jurgita Dronina is one of the best dancers I have seen!!! She's 20 years old and right now in the corp de ballet of the Royal Swedish Ballet. But only during the 2006-2007 season she has already danced two major lead roles. In september last year she danced Nikiya in la Bayadère for the first time. And this spring she is dancing the role of Juliet in Kenneth Macmillans Romeo and Juliet for the first time. I think Jurgita is amazing. Her techinque is gorgeous and she's beautiful on stage. This is a dancer you have to see!!! She's going to be a great ballerina (I think) !

On the 13th of february this year Royal Swedish Ballet repremiered Sir Kenneth Macmillan's production of Romeo and Juliet. The Ballet will run to 15th March. In the lead roles Jurgita Dronina and Olaf Kollmansperger debuted. Both are 20 years old. The second cast is led by principal dancers Jenny Nilson and Olof Westring who dances their parts for the second time. On the Royal Swedish Opera website you can watch a video clip from the rehersal. http://www.operan.se/templates/ListingIndex.aspx?id=544 There's also some beautiful pictures from the performance. http://www.operan.se/templates/ListingIndex.aspx?id=534

Hi! I'm new to this site. I'm a guy and lives in Stockholm in Sweden. I'm a student at the Royal Swedish Ballet School and I started out ballet at the age of 8. Today I'm 17. The first time I saw a ballet performance was at new years eve when I was 7 years old. It was the Nutcracker and from that moment I knew I wanted to become a ballet dancer. I have about one and half year left at school and then I hope to get a contract with a company. Which company I don't know yet. I love to talk about ballet so I'm very happy I found ballet talk. I especially like to talk about ballet from the audiene point of wiew. For me ballet is not just about the steps. It's about telling a story through the art of dance. I love dramatic ballets like Romeo and Juliet and Manon. But I also love the classics. Well that was a little bit about me. I'm looking forward to exploring ballet talk and hopefully discuss a lot of ballet!