juliajane

Is Gelsey Kirkland working with ABT again this season? If not, does anyone know what she's doing? juliajane

Joseph Phillips graciously flew in at the last minute to replace an injured performer to dance the Prince with us in New Orleans for some Nutcracker performances, partnering Janessa Touchet from Cincinnati Ballet, Julia Woodward Burka with Delta Festival Ballet

In the company I worked with, we just had a man inside the boat who walked it around the stage where it was supposed to go, while the Lilac Fairy made "look at this" gestures and gently brushed the "vines" out of the way, and the Prince dipped his hands in the "water" and made sort of "wow, I'm so amazed" gestures. Very simple. Naturally he had a concealed window so he could see where he was going and there was dry ice to make fog which added to the effect. The wings and a scrim which were painted to be the vines which had overgrown Aurora's castle over the hundred years slowly came in as the

Well, my respects to you, Mr Witchel. You certainly have an impressive resume and I did not intend to single you out personally as a critic. I would love to meet you some day. I do think the level of writing about classical ballet today is not high. I do know this particular ballet very well - I won't bore you with my resume - and I disagree with most of what's been written about the new ABT version and I do think much of it is people waiting breathlessly for Miss Kirkland and her husband to fall on their faces. I have watched the fairy variations being coached so many times and love what Miss

That's interesting because I found Kirkland so hammy and over the top that I was laughing out loud (quietly) in spots. She immediately brought to mind a man overplaying the role. While I'm not convinced that they belong in this production, I loved Carabosse's minion's costumes. Dvorovenko and Beloserkovsky danced well. Wiles did not move me. I was disappointed that they cut several of the variations in the last act. I was also disappointed in Saveliev. He didn't seem to have the stamina for the Bluebird. His jumps markedly lost elevation as his solo progressed, and it seemed to me t