lillianna

I will be unable to be in Philadelphia tonight to see the Shut Up and Dance performance. If you attend, please let us know all about it.

Very well deserved. I have really enjoyed seeing Phil dance. He has a wonderful presence and is fun to watch. Great news.

I got to see 4 shows, Friday night through Sunday. All of the shows seemed very sold, so good news for the ballet. By far, I thought that the Sunday show was the best of the 4. I ,also , wish that the run would have been longer for this series. It was a great series.

I count myself fortunate indeed to have been able to see 4 of the PA Ballet Balanchine series shows. What a beautiful company!! Theme and Variations was breathtaking. I become more and more impressed with the performances of James Ady each time that I see him. He was masterful in Theme and Variations. He is a wonderful turner and has such clean technique. A joy to watch. My favorite ballerina in the role was Amy Aldridge. Her turns were spot on , no bobbles and positions were clear. I also enjoyed Julie Diana in the role, she is one of my very favorite dancers. I had never seen Prodigal Son performed before. While it will never be one of my favorites, it was interesting. Phil Colucchi was wonderful on Saturday night and Riolama Lorenzo was the perfect siren, all legs and feet. I did have a wee small tear in my eye as the father gathered Phil in his arms, protected him and walked towards home. Now Western Symphony is one of my all time favorites and the company did not disappoint me. I love the energy and fun of this ballet. There were a few spills in the performances. I think that the short depth of the stage crowded the dancers a bit and made all of the quick passing of each other difficult. And there were some last minute substitutions due to injuries and illnesses. But that didn't detract from the performances. It is even hard to say who the standouts were, everyone did such a wonderful job. Phil Colucchi was again a standout. I also loved Valerie Amiss in the second movement and Riolama in the 4th movement. Western Symphony is a great crowd pleaser and perfect ending to the ballet performance.

Without any hesitation I would go for the LeBlanc Garcia night. LeBlanc is a perfect technician but beyond that , she IS the character. Tan is lovely but is not an actress, in my opinion. She often seems as if she is annoyed by her partner. When I watch a story ballet many times, I finally understand the story when I see LeBlanc perform it. Garcia is a wonder so you shouldn't miss him either. Since the LeBlanc/Garcia night is first, see them. Then if you really love it, you would have the chance to go the next night. Buy a standing room ticket for a few dollars the second evening and see both shows.

I have seen a number of the company productions the last few years but have never seen one at the Merriam theatre before. Will the theater affect a number as large as Theme and Variations?

I went to see the Sacramento Ballet Company perform the Nutcracker last night. Their choreography (Ron Cunningham's) continues to be my favorite Nutcracker. Their party scene had lots of energy, the children were wonderful. Hamilton Nieh as the Nutcracker certainly caught my eye. He is a wonderful addition to the company. He has great jumps and extension and looked so delighted to be dancing. Sugar Plum Fairy was danced by Eun Joo Cho and her husband Joo Howan Cho was her cavalier. They were absolutely wonderful. Eun Joo is a very delicate dancer. Her positions all were very clear and she danced so lightly. Other standouts include Stefan Calka as Russian, Kirsten Bloom and Jack Hansen as both Snow Queen and King and Arabian, Nolan T'Sani as Mother Ginger. It ws nice to see Aprentice Brik Middlekauff as Candy Cane. It was a very enjoyable evening and I was happy to see a very full house.

Julie Diana was not cast in any of last weekend's performances. I will be anxious to hear if she performed this weekend and what everyone thought of those performances. I would have loved to see her as Sugar Plum but no such luck.

I've been waiting for someone to post reviews of the PA Ballet Nutcracker performances but guess that I will have to be first. I was privileged to see 5 Nutcracker performances last weekend. I must admit that I thought that the party scene looked very flat this year. The exception to this was the cast of the 3PM show on Saturday. Bill DeGregory's Drosselmyer certainly lit up the stage and made the scene interesting. Christine Cox's portayal of the Frau also added to the interest of this cast. It is certainly possible that jet lag and over exposure to Nutcracker party scenes clouded my perception, but I was disappointed in the energy level of the party scene this year. There were some outstanding performances in Act II. I LOVED Valeria Amiss in Dew Drop. Such a sweet and light performance she gave. I also loved Riolama Lorenzo in that role. Her Dew Drop was very different but also breathtaking. My favorite pas couple was Amy Aldridge and Alexei Borovik. Ms Aldridge was very sure in the role and I loved her smile. Mr Borovik was excellent, his turns and jumps superb. Riolama's performance of Arabian is a whole step above everyone else's rendition. I am not a fan of this particular version of the Arabian choreography , but it looked amazing when Rio performed. I enjoyed Gabriella Yudenich and Emily Waters in Hot Chocolate. Abi Mentzer was also a standout as Marzipan lead. I thought that the corps did a wonderful job in Snow and Flowers. A great job all around and a Nutcracker worth seeing (x5).

Is Julie Diana not doing Sugar Plum? She would be a beautiful Sugar Plum.

I saw Aesha perform the lead in Rubies at the SAB workshop when she was in the school. She was just breathtaking. Lines Ballet seems like it could be a good fit. I hope she enjoys not only the ballet company but living in the San Francisco Bay area. It will be quite a change from NYC. We are happy to have her on the West Coast.

The PA Ballet II website has not been updated yet this season. The new dancers have not been added and the dancers promoted to apprenticeships are not yet removed from the PBII site.

Hurry, the run ends tomorrow. Seeing the swan corps was certainly worth the trip. Gabriella Yudenich had many nice roles during Swan Lake. In addition to the beautiful Big Swan role, she also did Czardas and Can Can. Another young new corps member, Abi Mentzer is also a stand out. She performed in the Pas deQuatre and Cygnets. Apprentice Jermel Johnson was a stand out in the Pas de Trois. PA Ballet has a number of very promising younger dancers on the rise. With the addition of Julie Diana , Zach Hench and Riolama Lorenzo in the last few years, the company is coming on strong. Don't miss it.

Courtney is an extra dancer with the company. She was a SFB trainee last year. She is a wonderful dancer, clean technically with beautiful movement quality.

I saw the Wheeldon Swan Lake on the first opening night 2 years ago. So, my memory of the changes might not be spot on. Act 3 seemed very different to me this time, much more together. I felt very confused by the act before, the tables cluttered up the stage, people were wandering around and even outside of the scene but visible through the windows. That has changed. The tables are to the rear of the stage and the dancing is clearly in focus. The waltz sequences help pull it together. I still do not like the can can number, really dislike the costumes and wigs and the music and dancing do not seem to jive. It is not really the routinely heard can can music. The act seems to have more energy than before. I was lucky enough to be able to see the first 3 shows this time. Friday night and both Saturday shows. I think that seeing it more than once is helpful. James Ady and Arantxa performed the principal roles in the Saturday matinee. They did a beautiful job. Julie Diana performed the Russian dance and was flawless. Zach Hench and Riolama Lorenzo performed the principal roles on Saturday evening since Yuri Yanowsky is not available to perform with Julie Diana. Zach Hench is having some problems with his foot so the variations had to be skipped for his shows. Everyone did a wonderful job. I continued to be awed by the perfection of the swan corps in all of the shows. Other standouts to me: Riolama Lorenzo is so amazing as Odette/Odile. Her gorgeous extensions and positions really add to the enjoyment of the role. She stays in the role, IS the swan queen. I was impressed by the Cygnets in all 3 shows but especially Saturday evenings cast of Rebecca Azenberg, Laura Bowman, jessica Gattinella, Courtney Hellebuyck. I LOVED Gabriella Yudenich in Big Swans and Julie Diana in Russian. There were multiple cast changes related to injuries. So, the company is to be congratulated that everything looked so wonderful even though substitutions were required.

Last night was opening night in Philadelphia. I really enjoyed the production much more than when it opened 2 years ago. There were many last minute substitutions due to injuries. Riolama was gorgeous as Odette/Odile. The Swan corps was magnificent. The fourth act was breathtaking as the swans moved as one though the patterns. The third act has been much improved since the original. The Pas de Quarte was performed by Valeria Amiss, Abigail Mentzer, Matthew Neenan and Alexander Iziliaev. Czardas by Gabriella Yudenich and Meridith Rainey, Spanish by Heidi Cruz with Yosbel Delgado and James Ihde. The audience obviously approved, they gave the company an enthusiastic standing ovation at the end of the evening. I am looking forward to seeing the 2 shows today.

Has there been a release of new company members and apprentices for 2005-2006. The website shows last year's company members.

I just want to say how much I appreciated the daily blogs, photos and radio commentary from Edinburgh. I am very excited for the company and can't wait to see them perform in PA in Sept/October. Bravo!!

I see on the Edinburgh Festival site that all of the PA Ballet shows of Swan Lake have sold out. The PA ballet site contains a link to daily blogs and photos from Scotland. Please, anyone who is attending, send a review our way.

It sounds as if it was a really wonderful show, wish that I could have been there. As the mom of some of the "Stars" who have performed in the past, I know how amazing that this performance is. Some of the dancers are able to come with their usual partners and perform pieces that they have been rehearsing and performing this season. Others are meeting up with a new partner that they have never met to perform a piece requested and have only a few days to teach the piece to their new partner and to try to get comfortable with the partnering. I feel sure that some of the performances that didn't blow you away were some of those, and were absolutely amazing if you could know how little prep they had to get it together. Besides just meeting and learning choreography, there is also sometimes a problem finding rehearsal time and space because of the summer program classes. They are pros though and get it together for Marcia. I'm glad that you enjoyed the show. There have been some really amazing dancers who have come from CPYB, Marcia should be very proud.

I was lucky enough to see 4 performances of Romeo and Juliet. The Cranko choreography was new to me and it took some getting used to. The carnival scene seemed out of place, but was interesting to watch. I saw both casts of principals and was utterly blown away with Julie diana's portrayal of Juliet. I have been a fan of hers in San Francisco where she did not do any leads in story ballets the 2 years that I watched the SFB perform. SFB missed an opportunity. Diana's acting is superb. I saw her in La Fille earlier this year and now as Juliet. She is totally believable as a young innocent Juliet. Since she and Zach Hench are a couple, the love scenes probably didn't require much acting, but it was a very romantic , powerful performance. Diana , as usual, was technically beautiful also. Of course, the most exciting performance was the Saturday matinee when during the principal bows immediately after the curtain, Zach got on one knee and proposed to Julie. The look of astonishment on her face was priceless. Half of the audience thought that it was part of the show, confusing, but part of the show. The other half of us knew that it was the real thing and were on our feet cheering as she said yes and they embraced and kissed on stage. The other half of the audience figured it out and joined in the excited applause. Even during the final bows with everyone, Julie continued to look at Zach in astonishment and then at her ring finger with the new sparkling diamond on it. What fun. I also really enjoyed Phil Colucci as Mercutio. Both David Krensig and Meredith Rainey were powerful Tybaults. The balcony scene pas was not as beautiful as the McMillan pas. But I really liked the bedroom pas de deux in this choreography. I also enjoyed the Lilies in the 3rd act. All in all it was a wonderful ballet weekend which I will long remember.

I had the opportunity to see Vanessa Z in Don Quixote and was impressed not only by her dancing but her acting also. You might be very pleasantly surprised by her Juliet. If I was choosing, I would choose to see Tina and Joan. That is a very amazing duo, should be perfect for the roles. I would like to see Vanessa in the role, however. I think that she will be great in it. If anyone sees the Wednesday show, please post. I will be on a flight out of state at the time so not able to make it to the show.

I was lucky enough to see all 4 of the weekend performances. It was interesting to see how the 2 casts played the roles differently. I have been a fan of Julie Diana and Zack Hench from seeing SFB the last 2 years. Julie is such a beautiful dancer. What impressed me this weekend was her acting ability. She was great as Lise. From the crossed eyes when her mom made her do something she did not appreciate to how sweetly she looked at Colas, she was very believable and engaging. Of course, her dancing was wonderful. I thought it really tough to have the one handed lift right after dancing the variations when the principals are the most tired. Only Zack and Arantxia nailed it on Sunday matinee. The Alain part stole the show , though. Both Phil Colucci and Matthew Neenan were amazing and had the comic sense to pull it off. They each brought differences to the role. Phil had more of the slapstick in him, his tumbles down the steps were great. Although this won't be one of my all time favorites, it was very entertaining and great fun.

I had the privilege of seeing Sacramento Ballet perform Romeo and Juliet on opening night. I loved the choreography and especially thought that the balcony scene was breathtaking. Annali Clevenger was Juliet. It was her first major lead in a full length ballet. She did do a few Sugar Plums, but this was certainly her shining moment. She was perfect for the part. I was very impressed by her acting ability. She looked the part of a young Juliet in love with her Romeo. She has a very lovely arabesque. The couple dancing under the starry sky was a perfect Valentine's Day treat. Jack Hansen was Romeo. Jack is a veteran at doing lead roles. He was a wonderful partner and wonderful Romeo. There was one missed lift, but other than that they worked very well together. I'm sure that having an experienced partner made Annali's debut more comfortable. Besides the lead couple, Joo Cho almost stole the show as Mercutio. He provided the comic relief to the tragic story. This is the 50th season of the Sacramento Ballet. Here's to 50 more!!

The website does not list the girls playing Clara. Does anyone know which girls are performing that role?