Giannina

Peggy, the stories of USA audiences are legend. I've been to several performances when the audience applauded the house lights dimming! A while ago we had a forum about misbehavin' audiences; added to that was how "behavin" audience members got even. It was a riot! ami1436: all those postcards were not available. I meant to mention that Yanowsky was available but I was posting late at night and couldn't remember how to spell her name. The problem also applies to the subject matter of posters. Giannina

Tues. I saw my 2nd Sleeping Beauty tonight and I thought of all of you thru the whole performance. So many little things we see in ballets that matter to us but no one else; if you’d been there we’d have been nudging each other throughout the whole ballet. Like at the final fish-dive in Act III’s pas de deux: as Putrov dropped Lamb on his knee and the orchestra hit their chord you could see Putrov’s lips mouth “boom!”. I laugh every time I think of it! It was Sarah Lamb and Ivan Putrov tonight. I preferred last night’s cast of Nunez and Soares by miles. That doesn’t mean Lamb didn’t do a beautiful job; it’s just that Nunez was “beautifuller”! Anthony Dowell sat right in front of me and I could see him reacting to certain things, like 2 double tours that Putrov landed in perfect 5th positions; very impressive. Somewhere along the way Carabosse is attacked by swordsmen and evades death by disappearing via a trap door. There’s supposed to be a puff of smoke to hide the fact that there’s a trap door there, but both last night and tonight the smoke machine failed and you just saw Rosato ride a “down elevator”. Kenta Kura was one of the most exotic looking Bluebirds I’ve ever seen, and not all that bad a dancer. Yuhui Choe was his partner and they did a very good job. Last night’s Bluebird, Yohei Sasaki, was tonight’s Florestan; he did a good job both nights. Guess who was a no-show? Yup, Martin Harvey. He does exist, and he’s listed as a Soloist on the casting sheet. 50 years ago tonight ballerina Anya Sainsbury danced the roll of Aurora at the Royal Opera House. Tonight's ballet was dedicated to her; there was a blurb and a pix of her on the casting sheet. After the performance Monica Mason came on stage, introduced Ms. Sainsbury (in one of the boxes) and thanked her for all she’d done for Royal Ballet. The audience has behaved beautifully about applauding at proper times. Such a treat. Monday night they were perfect; tonight they were a bit less perfect but still good. The gift shop is full of items from past years. Precious little about NOW, i.e. I couldn’t find a thing on Nunez, Lamb, etc. Not even postcards. I realize the stars of the past are icons, but it’s the past and we now have the current dancers who are extraordinary and deserve at least a postcard forcryingoutloud. Ok, they have some on Kobborg, Benjamin, and then 15 on Nureyev. Even with long/boring Sleeping Beauty I'm having a great time. Giannina

Correction; that was Jose Martin as the Prince, not Martin Harvey. So what happened to Martin Harvey? Giannina

Ballet review while it’s hot in my mind. However it should be hot in my mind for quite a while. I was IM-ing a ballet guru friend of mine the day before I left and she said SB was a ballerina’s toughest ballet; no place to hide mistakes. We agreed that it’s a long boring ballet. Well, since it’s long and boring you have to glean what you can from what’s offered. Unless, of course, you get Marianela Nunez; then there’s no gleaning necessary; you just have to wait a heck of a long time for her to materialize. She is one of my favorite ballerinas, and is quickly becoming one of my favorites ever. I see her so rarely that I forget how wonderful she is. And I totally forget her blazing smile that lights up the theater; with that smile she includes everyone on stage and all the audience in her joy of dancing. Her entrance in Act II begins with (I don’t know ballet terms!) what might be a pas de chat (?); whatever it was she hung in the air as she performed it, making it known that the audience was going to see something special. She was virtually perfect; it was an honor to watch her. She pulled every step and phrase to its fullest, a sweep of dancing. I remember saying this about Wendy Whelan; they both do it but Whelan does it with a strength while Nunez is classical and soft. Soares was very good, and a wonderful partner for her (I’m assuming they’re still engaged). Ok, so what else was there to enjoy? I liked Carabosse being a young, beautiful woman, and I thought Genesia Rosato did a very good job. I thought Martin Harvey was a principal but he appeared only as one of the Prince's in Act 1 and is not listed in the booklet at all. I’m seeing SB again tomorrow night with Sarah Lamb; I look forward to the comparisons. Giannina

Welcome to Ballet Talk, InkGypsy; it is very nice to have you with us. Your introduction was fascinating reading; thank you for sharing that with us ... that's the purpose of this forum. We hope you and your baby continue to enjoy dancing in the kitchen, that your writing career takes of with a boom (or grand jete?), and that you'll enjoy sharing in our discussions. You might enjoy our sister site, Ballet Talk for Dancers, which is accessable at the upper right hand corner of this page. If you become a member there use your same name so that we know who you are. Giannina

Welcome to Ballet Talk for Dancers, julia&keld. We're happy to have you with us and we wish you good luck on your quest to find graves. This forum gets little traffic since it's for welcoming new members; you might want to post your question somewhere else, perhaps Everything Else Ballet. Giannina

Welcome to Ballet Talk, Sadie; it's very nice to have you with us. And welcome to the United States. The board is full of information for you. We are all ballet fans and we love talking about ballet. Hope you enjoy our discussions. Giannina

Welcome to Ballet Talk for Dancers, David; it is very nice to have you with us. We hope you'll enjoy studying the board and seeing how much information we have for our members. We look forward to having you share in our discussions. Giannina

Welcome to Ballet Talk, dancesmith; it's very nice to have you with us. Glad you moved to an area that gives you more access to ballet. And you study ballet! There's nothing like taking ballet lessons to truly appreciate, and marvel at, what you see on stage. Giannina

Welcome to Ballet Talk, radbear; it's very nice to have you with us. The site is loaded with ballet information, and all our members love ballet. We hope you'll enjoy sharing in our discussions. Giannina

Welcome to Ballet Talk, whetherwax; it's great to have you with us. What a wonderful story! We have many adult students but you are something unique. I hope that with all the ballet things you are buying/studying you will get to know and love this glorious art. Thank you for your compliments; they mean the world to us. Giannina

He did scream but it was subtle. Giannina

I liked the show too. Very happy for Swinton, though I hardly recognized her on the red carpet!! DDLewis versus Clooney: Lewis chewed up the scenery and, tho simply great, I thought he went overboard I sooooo wanted Clooney to win. Wonderful performance: note that final scene when he's in the taxi as the credits roll, and he unwinds ... great stuff. Praises for Zellweger's look on the red carpet! Giannina

Welcome to Ballet Talk, Vivian; we're very glad have you with us. It's wonderful that you had such a good experience with Swan Lake. We hope you can go to more ballets. You will find all kinds of information on this board. Do not feel intimidated; we're here to help you with any questions you might have. Giannina

Welcome to Ballet Talk, Nanarina; it's very nice to have you with us. You have a long history in ballet, and a wealth of information. We look forward to your imput in our discussions. There's no reason why you can't join both forums; wonderful discussions on both sites. If you do join BT4D use the same name so that we know who you are. Enjoy! Giannina

@#$%&!! Giannina I haven't received my notice yet and I have 2 subscriptions. Hmmm.

The ballet season at Orange County Performing Arts Center is lousy this year as it is; if La Scala cancels here too it'll just add to the misery. Aaaagh! Giannina

The MOST overlooked actor for the best acting award is Chris Cooper in Breach. The movie came out early in the year and apparently was seen by people with short memories. Also in the movie was Laura Linney in a role in which she had to spew out tons of information and not make it sound like a teletype; just watching her do this was a study in acting. Yes, she was good in The Savages but she was astounding in Breach. Philip Seymour Hoffman should win any darn thing that comes up!! Angelina Jolie was ignored for A Mighty Heart. As always it seems impossible to win an Oscar for a movie released before Sept. Giannina

Welcome to Ballet Talk, alaneE; it's very nice to have you with us. With your experiences in performing and coaching you have a wealth of information to share on the board. We hope to hear from you, and we hope your art career blossoms. Giannina

Welcome to Ballet Talk, Thomas; it is very nice to have you with us. What a wonderful description of ballet and the way you look at it in comparison to your every day world; food for thought for all of us. We hope you continue to love ballet, and we share that love with you. Enjoy the board. Giannina

Remember, folks; this is a Welcome forum. Reports on performances should be placed on the Recent Performances forum where it will receive a lot more traffic. Other discussion topics should find a forum which suits it. Giannina

FIRST RING!!! That's a treasure! Welcome to Ballet Talk, DeborahB; even tho we're green with envy we're very glad to have you with us. We hope you'll give us your impressions of the various productions you see. You already know everything about the board so continue enjoying as you now share in our discussions. Giannina

I keep thinking of the movie "Legends of the Fall". You concentrate on the love triangles; great opportunities for pdds of love, partings, reunions, grief, etc. Not too many characters, however. The 3 brothers, the 2 women involved, maybe Mom and Dad. But no corps scenes unless you follow Christian on his journies. Still, those pdds. Of course Brad Pitt would play himself!! Giannina

Welcome to Ballet Talk, VirginiaB; it's nice to have you with us. We non-New Yorkers envy you the opportunity to see ABT so frequently; perhaps you can write reviews of the performances you see and let us know what you think. Both Royal Ballet and Paris Opera Ballet have web sites. Google them and the sites should come up with schedules and ticket information. Good luck. Giannina

CeC, I moved your topic to this forum. It will get more notice here than in the Welcome forum which is just for welcoming new menbers. Giannina