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Got this information in an email. As far as I'm concerned it's all good. Close to being sold out though. Principal Casting:* Wednesday, February 27, 8:00PM Princess Aurora: Eun Won Lee Prince Desire: Gian Carlo Perez Lilac Fairy: Brittany Stone Carabosse: Stephen Nakagawa Thursday, February 28, 8:00PM Princess Aurora: Katherine Barkman Prince Desire: Rolando Sarabia Lilac Fairy: Kateryna Derechyna Carabosse: Dan Roberge Friday, March 1, 8:00PM Princess Aurora: Maki Onuki Prince Desire: Andile Ndlovu Lilac Fairy: Adelaide Clauss Carabosse: Gian Carlo Perez Saturday, March 2, 2:00PM Princess Aurora: Katherine Barkman Prince Desire: Rolando Sarabia Lilac Fairy: Kateryna Derechyna Carabosse: Dan Roberge Saturday, March 2, 8:00PM Princess Aurora: Eun Won Lee Prince Desire: Gian Carlo Perez Lilac Fairy: Sarah Steele Carabosse: Stephen Nakagawa Sunday, March 3, 2:00PM Princess Aurora: Maki Onuki Prince Desire: Andile Ndlovu Lilac Fairy: Adelaide Clauss Carabosse: Dan Roberge Sunday, March 3, 7:00PM Princess Aurora: Ayano Kimura Prince Desire: Ariel Martinez Lilac Fairy: Brittany Stone Carabosse: Gian Carlo Perez *Casting subject to change

MCB is participating in Ballet Across America at the Kennedy Center. Tomorrow tickets go on sale for KC members. So, I decided to look at the MCB roster and saw that Simone Messmer is no longer there. Anybody know anything? Did I miss something?

I am curious. Please let us know more if possible.

About Stella, I just saw her dance the Seven Sonatas PDD with Marcelo Gomes. They were guests of The Washington Ballet and Stella was radiant, sleek, and beautiful. I don't know how much technique that PDD really required but her stage presence was magnetic and electric. I was sitting very close to the stage. Marcelo was naturally wonderful as well, but my point in commenting is that I believe Stella has lots of wonderful dancing in her, if only Kevin would give her more opportunities. I think she would be wonderful as Manon dancing with Hallberg.

I attended the Saturday Matinee performance of TWB Welcomes. It's been a hectic few days for me so I'm a little late with my comments. Les Sylphides: The standouts here were Ayano Kimura and Tamako Miyazaki. This is my second time seeing Ayano dance and she does not disappoint. She is also lovely off stage. My husband and I saw her and Tamako in the lobby afterward and gave them a mini round of applause. They were lovely and gracious. Gian Carlo Perez was the male lead, and I really like him, but I feel like he didn't have enough dancing to do. This is also my second time seeing him dance and both times I have felt like I would like to have seen more of him. Tarantella: This was danced by Nichole Graniero and Andile Ndlovu. I was pleasantly surprised with Nichole's performance. I've seen her in supporting roles only and really wasn't expecting much. The last time I saw this PDD the female lead was Jeanette Delgado with MCB. I knew there would be no topping that performance so I came to this with low expectations, but ended up enjoying Nichole after all. Now, Andile is really something else. This is the second time I've seen him dance and he's blown me away both times. He is really buoyant and generally magnificent. I would love to see more of him as well. PDD from Seven Sonatas: Okay, so the dancers were Stella Abrera and Marcelo Gomes. I could just stop there, because simply the mention of those two suggests greatness. And, they were. Stella, Stella, Stella! She was beautiful and absolutely incandescent. There were some folks talking on the ABT thread and suggesting that her technique might diminished; not in this PDD, that's for sure. Just outstanding! Marcelo...how wonderful to see him and he was, of course, magnificent! One of the reasons I took a chance on this mixed bill was that I guessed that Julie Kent would invite Marcelo. I purchased the tickets on a leap of faith, without having any idea that I would see him dance with Stella as his partner, no less. Such good luck I had. Pure Heaven. Thank you Julie!!!!! Swan Lake PDD: The dancers were Katherine Barkman and Rolando Sarabia. I made brief mention of Katherine's performance in an earlier post. I liked her and her partnership with Rolando seemed natural. I enjoyed the way she looked at the audience as if toying with us. At one or two points I thought she might falter, but then she flashed a smile as if to say:"Ha ha! You though I was gonna falter, but I didn't!" Rolando was really on fire. I was so happy to see him in a lead roll. He wash sharp, princely, flashy and glowing. I think the audience actually enjoyed this PDD the most. It got the biggest reaction. I believe this partnership could be a really good one. Finally, Sombrerisimo: This was a flashy piece danced by six men: Javier Morera, Oscar Sanchez, Alexandros Pappajohn, Stephen Nakagawa, Alex Kramer and I believe, Daniel Roberge. He was a last minute substitute and he was great. They all were. I didn't expect to like this piece because I love ballerinas in pointe shoes, but the guys looked like they were having a great time and they made it fun. All in all a great afternoon of ballet, as always, from TWB. Thank you to all of the performers for dancing your hearts and souls out! This is the feeling I always come away with after seeing TWB perform.

She was a beautiful black swan today as well. She danced with Rolando Sarabia. They were incandescent. More on this tomorrow. She had nuances that are worth mentioning. Suffice it to say though, that she could very well bring out the best in her partners. She and Rolando were both wonderful, and they weren't even the ones I came to see. It was a lovely surprise....all around. this is such a wonderful company of dancers, Will fill in the blanks tomorrow.

I attended the Saturday Matinee performance of Giselle. My review is short, but suffice it to say that that the Ballet Nacional De Cuba did not disappoint! Sadaise Arencibia danced Giselle, Raul Abreu danced Albrecht and Ely Regina danced Myrtha. Everybody was excellent and the audience was appreciative. Sadly no flowers or special curtain calls for anybody. I never understand this. Is it a Saturday Matinee thing, a Kennedy Center Crowd thing, or is it just a sign of the times? I find it unconscionable that neither Ms. Arencibia nor Ms. Regina got so much as a daisy. About Ms. Arencibia, she was a lovely, soulful and moving Giselle. I found her to be totally believable. About Ms. Regina, in a word, chilling. I was sitting in the second row. Terrible if you want to see feet, but great if you want to see face, and hers was really something else. Every move she made was chilling and I loved her performance. I would not want to meet her in a dark alley, but on the stage, anytime. I thought the corps did a great job. No dropping arabesques during the chugs for this company. I hope they come back to KC sometime in the near future. The last time I saw them before this was in NY in 1998. They danced Cinderella. Way too much time between performances.

Looks like Marcelo is also dancing a duet with Alessandra Ferri at the Bolshoi’s Petipa Gala May 31st/Jun. The link is below (see third page). I got this from the Bolshoi/Petipa Gala forum. Mnacenani provided the original link (Thank you Mnacenani!) https://www.bolshoi.ru/upload/medialibrary/0ce/0ce92a73ccc41b46051dbe8754593b88.pdf

Very Happy for Veronika!

Boy, I wasn't one for catching details yesterday, was I? Thanks again California for setting me straight.

Sleeping Beauty may actually be performed at the KC Opera House. We'll have to wait and see when KC actually posts it to their schedule I think. TWB dances in both the Eisenhower Theater and the Opera House. They performed Romeo and Juliet in the Opera House this past February and I thought the company looked really good. I did not feel a sense of smallness. I'm hoping for the best.

It's funny, I was really disappointed when I saw TWB's new season, but between what California and Drew have said, I'm starting to think more about it. Bolero does sound interesting and my Husband absolutely wants to see Sleeping Beauty so I guess the new season is "on".

California, I stand corrected. I totally missed that! The only twist to the repeat programming is adding guest artists. Interesting, I think (being a little sarcastic). It is kind of strange and I agree, disappointing as well.

With the exception of the Nutcracker, I don't believe there are repeats for the 2018/2019 season. Les Sylphides and Bolero were part of the "Russian Masters" program which was performed in October of 2017. That program is not being repeated in the 2018/2019 season. Serenade is actually being performed this month as part of the Mixed Masters program, which is the last program of the 2017/2018 season. TWB is repeating a program titled "Three World Premiers" for the 2018/2019 season, but hopefully it will not be the same three that they recently performed. Otherwise they would not actually be premiers.

The last time I saw them was in 1998 at City Center in New York. They performed Cinderella. I am looking forward to this one. I will report.

Drew your points are well taken. I think it's my own personal taste that makes me think of 'popcorn'. Perhaps it's not the right term. Suffice it to say that I prefer a bit more drama. Give me swans, mad scenes, or star-crossed lovers, and I'm there! The story line of Sleeping Beauty just never appealed to me, so I've only gone to see it once live. I saw ABT do the Ratmansky version at KC a couple of years ago. It turned me off to ever wanting to see it again. The music was the only saving grace. I do love Tchaikovsky. For 2018/2019 there are still some full lengths at KC to consider. There is always the nutcracker, and there is the Mariinsky's Corsaire (not a fan of that either, but it's the Mariinsky for goodness sake) and then there's the National Ballet of China's Raise the Red Lantern, the latter of which I've never seen. So the season isn't a total wash. I'm also going to see The Ballet National de Cuba perform Giselle in June, so I can get my dose of drama then.

Disappointing. I was hoping they might fill in some of the gaping classical holes left open in the abysmally contemporary Kennedy Center 2018-2019 season. Sadly all TWB is doing is Sleeping Beauty. While it may be a classic, IMHO it's a 'popcorn' ballet that makes me want to sleep. They do Nutcracker, but not at KC.

Thank you so much Buddy for the report on Marcelo's fine performance. I'm so glad to hear of it. I hope he has many more to come. And Happy three-quarters to you!

The last two announcements for Washington Ballet were announced in May I believe.

All in all I find 2018-2019 to be a disappointment. Maybe the Washington Ballet will fill the void of classics.

Or maybe somebody did it because they thought they stood to gain something from his departure. This is what came into my mind the moment I heard the news back in December. I mean no disrespect to anybody that may have suffered abuse, misconduct or discrimination at the hands of another, but this to me has smelled bad from the start. This is just my opinion, and no I don’t know all the facts. There are probably few who do, and I agree that it’s really nobody’s business at this point. Marcelo is a human being with a magnificent talent. He is not public property simply because the public pays to see him dance. I am very glad to see that he has begun to reemerge. I wish him all the best. If he chooses to open up about that facts, or lack of them, I will be listening.

You know angelica, I actually made myself giggle envisioning dancing toast. Then I snapped out of it when I tried to picture somebody as lovely as EunWon in a toast costume. OY! Perhaps Ratmansky could do a kind of follow up to Whipped Cream; he could call it "PBJ on Toast", or perhaps "Beans on Toast" to appeal to audiences from the UK. If he wanted to be more elegant about it, he could call it "Toast of the Town" But I digress...

You know, I was thinking something similar; A Ratmansky ballet featuring toast, among other items.

You did not misread my post. (I'm glad it made sense) I feel like Cranko's version just doesn't provide the opportunity for Romeo's character to build . There's not enough time for Romeo and Juliet to build a relationship; there's not enough time for Romeo to be Romeo, or for that matter, for Tybalt to be Tybalt. It's hard to tell if this version fails the Juliet character, because EunWon simply owned it. I feel like she could dance the part of a piece of toast and still convey something really remarkable. She is absolutely lovely. As for Gian Carlo Perez, I found him truly endearing. I just wished he could have had something meatier. I agree with maps, I thought the Lee and Perez cast was mesmerizing.

I attended the Saturday Matinee performance of Romeo and Juliet. Eunwon Lee danced Juliet and Gian Carlo Perez Danced Romeo. I thought they were magnificent. The production itself was also beautiful. However,I feel that Cranko's version lacks ks the dramatic "oomf" that the Macmillan version provides. It's hard not to compare one version to the other. When I was a young ballet student, my mother took me to see the Stuttgart Ballet do three performances of Romeo and Juliet at Lincoln Center back in 1972. Even though that was my first overwhelming encounter with this ballet, it is the Macmillan version that sticks with me. I will say this though, I'll take the gypsies over the harlots any day! For my performance yesterday, the gypsies were danced with joy by Esmiana Jani, Francesca Dugarte and Nicole Ganiero. They were really fun. I felt the whole company danced with joy. They are such a pleasure to watch. Julie Kent was in the audience and stayed in the theater to speak to anybody who wanted to stop and talk to her. She was lovely, warm and gracious and I got to thank her personally for bringing this production to KC. It's easy to see how truly connected she is to the company and they to her. Stand out performances: Eunwon Lee - Juliet: She is really beautiful. She danced with an airy freedom and expressed true joy. During the standing ovation at the end of the performance, she was crying. She had clearly given her all and everybody appreciated it. Gian Carlo Perez - Romeo : I liked him a lot. He is strong and he communicates well with his gestures an mime. I thought he was elegant and an excellent partner to Eunwon. I wished he could have had more opportunity in this production to develop his character, but that is no complaint against him. It's simply the choreography. He did a beautiful job with the role, I thought. Rolando Sarabia- Tybalt: Okay, now HE is a menacing and fearsome Tybalt. I thought he was great! Again, my only complaint here is that he didn't have more of an opportunity to present his character. He certainly made an impression though. Andile Ndlovu-Mercutio: Uh...WOW! He was joyful, buoyant, comical and such fun to watch. These were the stand out performers for me, but as I said earlier the whole company danced with joy and in the market scenes you could really see them say "we are here, we are a company, we are a team! We are the Washington Ballet!" I also want to mention the Washington Ballet Orchestra. This was the first time I've heard them perform. I thought they were excellent and they played Prokofiev's haunting score to perfection. All in all, I love this company. They dance their hearts out and they dance beautifully. From the dancers, to the volunteer moms selling Washington Ballet items (I bought a sweatshirt and a bag thank you) to Ms. Julie Kent who made herself freely available to the audience on this day. You can see that they are deeply invested in what they are doing. Brava/Bravo, and thank you for poring your hearts into your every movement. I, along with the rest of the audience gave you a standing ovation. It was well deserved.