Giannina

Welcome to Ballet Talk, Jazzie135; we are glad to have you with us. In our Archives (which can read but not add comments) you will find American ballet companies; Nutcracker reviews can be found there. You can also access the ballet companys' web sites. Since this is a welcoming forum it doesn't get much traffic; you could pose your question on another forum. Giannina

Ohmygosh: Jenny Workman in "Rodeo". If that doesn't bring back a flood of memories! Giannina

Welcome to Ballet Talk, laurel; it very nice to have you with us. Loved your talk about the back of the orchestra section; I hope it continues to provide you with surprises as well as wonderful ballet. Please tell us about the performances you see; we look forward to having you share in our discussions. Giannina

I'm not too sure where to put this so I'm going to put it here. Plunk! Tango Buenos Aires Saturday, Nov. 10 This is one of the strangest performances I’ve ever attended. This dance group was part of my ballet subscription at Orange County Performing Arts Center, and anything other than ballet is a bummer to me; therefore I went to the theater with a negative attitude. Very negative. The first half of the performance had one jump-out-of-your-seat duet, a couple of other truly nice duets, but the whole thing somehow left me bored and I almost went home at the intermission. The 2nd half was sensational. The dancing was a bit better but I don’t think that was the reason. We got to know the dancers, and the band emerged triumphant. I was never too sure who I was seeing. We were given dancers' names but no pictures in the program. This is supposed to be true tango and I’ll take them at their word. Though there were story-telling segments done to tango I never felt that the tango was being made theatrical. Carlos Barrionuevo and Mayte Valdes in the first duet were simply sensational; this duet was my favorite of the evening, partly because she was such an unusually beautiful woman. They danced again in the 2nd Act and were almost as sensational. The stars were Gisela Natoli and Gustavo Rosas. There were 2 other women, one a blond, and in the first act they stayed in the background and were rather dumpy in comparison to Valdes and Natoli. In the 2nd act they had starring duets. The blond came into her own; and her partner … well!!! (I think they were Soledad Buss and Cesar Peral.) All of the men were terrific, and with the couples dancing nose to nose and gazing into each other’s eyes everything was very sexy. The men danced as much as the women did, and their partnering was beyond comparison. Then there was the band. 5 pieces: piano, base, guitar, accordion, violin; on stage behind the dancers. Typical tango music except the arrangements got more involved and beautiful as the evening progressed. By the end they were as popular as the dancers, and at the bows they got the biggest hand. One of the pieces of music was “I Get Ideas”. Jeez, how trite can you get … yet the arrangement was unusual, and one tiny segment was so exquisite that I was lifted from my seat in joy. Yes I was. This is why we go to the theater; these surprising gems. Giannina

Welcome to Ballet Talk, Dybbuk; glad to have you on both boards. We look forward to having you share in our discussions. Please feel free to ask questions. Since this is a welcome thread it doesn't get much traffic; you'll get more responses if you post your questions on a forum related to the question. Enjoy! Giannina

Welcome to Ballet Talk, Anne; it's very nice to have you wish us. I'm sure you know that the founder of this site is a huge RDB fan and wrote a biography of Henning Kronstam. We hope you'll let us know what ballets you're seeing and what you think of them; we all love ballet reviews. Giannina

Welcome to Ballet Talk, pss; glad to have you on both boards. Oh, the miseries of season tickets ... forever a choice of keeping, upgrading, or abandoning. Maybe you can start your subscription all over again and slowly improve your seating. In the meantime enjoy ballet and enjoy the board. Giannina

Welcome to Ballet Talk, Dancecreature; we're very happy to have you with us. We're glad you're enjoying the site; it truly is full of information and news about ballet. We look forward to having you share in our discussions. Giannina

Welcome to you too, angieballerina. We're glad you are enjoying the site and that you find it, well, terrific! We look forward to having you share in our discussions. Giannina

Welcome to Ballet Talk, Tifma; it's wonderful to have you with us. We all share your love of ballet. You'll see that the board is full of information, and we hope you'll enjoy sharing in our discussions. We have a sister site, Ballet Talk for Dancers, which you can access at the upper right hand corner of this page. This site is for dance students and teachers; you might enjoy this site as well. And let's hear it for Tifma's husband!! Giannina

Welcome to Ballet Talk, Niamh; we're very happy you've joined us. We are all ballet fans and share your love of the art. Enjoy getting familiar with the board; as you've discovered there's a wealth of information on it. We look forward to having you share in our discussions. Giannina

Welcome to Ballet Talk, tmdcfdeRCB; we are very glad to have you with us. You are certainly in the right spot for seeing some of the best ballet in the world. You mentioned an aspiring ballerina and I assume you have a daughter in ballet classes. As a parent of a DD (dancing daughter) you might enjoy our sister site, Ballet Talk for Dancers. You can access it at the upper right hand corner of this page. We hope you enjoy sharing in our discussions. Giannina

Welcome to Ballet Talk, Maximilian. It's nice to know the board will be serving 2 purposes: letting you read and talk about ballet, and helping you with English! We have another board, Ballet Talk for Dancers, which might also be of interest to you. It's designed for our dance students. You can get there by clicking on the "Ballet Talk for Dancers" sign at the top right hand side of this page. Much luck to you. Giannina

Welcome to Ballet Talk, abtFan07. We're very glad to have you, and it's nice to hear that your friend led you here. There's tons of ballet information on the board. We hope you'll enjoy joining in on our discussions. Giannina

You know I'd join you in a heart beat. But in MAY, Leigh; May; I'll be there MAY 1st! Aaagh! Giannina

Welcome to Ballet Talk, Mariano. We are very glad you found our site. Every member is a ballet lover. Just about every aspect of ballet is discussed on the board and you will find a wealth of information. We hope you enjoy sharing in our discussiions. Giannina

"A Beautiful Mind" was even better the 2nd time. Giannina

Holy Moley, THAT sounds like a page turner!! Giannina

Sat. night. Tonight we had Julie Kent. Lordy! Now she wasn’t flawless. She looked a lot older than 16, and in many instances you could see strain on her face. But her face also showed radiant joy and happiness; she just beamed. Her dancing was majestic; by that I mean she was in complete control and had nothing to prove to anyone. She wasn’t flamboyant, she never over emphasized anything. She was mature, professional, experienced, exceptional, and everything was done perfectly. If she did a double pirouette she did it slowly, perfectly turned out, and stopped where she was supposed to stop. Her work in attitude derriere (I think that’s the term) was gorgeous. Her attitude d. is entirely different than Part’s, who was Aurora Thurs. night. Part’s knee is more bent and somewhat below her ankle; Kent’s leg is almost straight, well turned out, and a lovely line from hip to toe. I think that’s a matter of how one is trained, but I find Kent’s much more beautiful. Needless to say the Rose Adagio was sublime, and she ended it with a pose in attitude that went on forever. I think her only weak point was her jumps, and they weren’t all that bad. Carreno was Prince Desire. He was quite good, and it’s obvious that he and Kent are perfectly in tune with each other. However, I preferred Gomes’s Prince Desire of Thurs. night. I’m not sure I’m using the correct term but he seemed more grounded. He’s a big man yet he dances as if he weighs nothing; his moves are massive and cover a lot of space. I was reduced to tears (of joy, silly!) a couple of times tonight. One was in the wedding pdd when, at the end, Kent and Carreno do those backward jumps in arabesque. It was like looking in a mirror … they were in such perfect sync. Not only was it beautiful to watch but it was a manifestation of a long rewarding partnership. Gelsey Kirkland was supposed to be Carabosse tonight but it was Martine Van Hamel, as it was Thurs. I was disappointed as I would have loved to see Kirkland do anything! Saveliev and Abrera were Bluebird tonight; Lopez and Riccetto danced the part Thurs. Thurs. was better. For one thing, in that final diagonal duet passage Saveliev and Abrera were not together whereas Lopez and Riccetto nailed it and it was one of the best I’ve seen; Lopez and Riccetto were somewhat separated from each other rather than elbow to elbow, and their unison was magnified by their separation. Does that make sense? The Puss ‘n’ Boots and Red Riding Hood segments are deleted, but the segment in which Catalabutte is punished for overlooking a spindle goes on forever; does it really merit all that attention while the fairy tale characters merit none? Misty Copeland was the Fairy of Valor. This is the first time I’ve seen her and I was glad for the opportunity. This is not my favorite production of SB, but Julie Kent can save anything. Giannina

I came in late to this thread and I have to admit I haven't read all the posts. At the moment I'm re-reading "A Beautiful Mind". Read it several years ago and loved it, then saw the movie and was amazed that it didn't have anything to do with the book! Recently saw the movie again and decided to re-read the book. The 2 are still worlds apart, and the book is still wonderful. Recently read a book by Christopher Hibbert on the Medici family; loved that too. As a result I've been buying used copies of his books and have a stash awaiting me. Started "The Ballet Companion" and was enjoying every single word, but then "A Beautiful Mind" entered the picture. I'll get back to "ABC" next. Giannina

I went Thurs. night. I'm at a loss for words. I will say this: even tho the fairy tale characters do nothing but enter and exit with a few dancing steps, Kelley Boyd stood out. Beautiful legs, strong style ... all that in just 2 minutes of dance. I'm going again Sat. night. Kent! Giannina

Welcome to Ballet Talk, La ptite; we are very happy to have you with us ... all the way from Munich. As you become acquainted with the board you will find that there is so much information here for you. We look forward to having you share in our discussions. Giannina

Welcome to Ballet Talk, ngitanjali; we're very happy to have you with us. We are the place for questions. Many aspects of ballet are covered on our board; look through the forums and get an idea of the wealth of information available to you. Ask questions, join our discussions, read read read; I'm sure you'll have a wonderful time with us. Giannina

Welcome to Ballet Talk, innopac; it's very nice to have you with us. And thank you for the compliments. We all love ballet and "talking bllet". We welcome you to this wonderful art and we hope your enthusiasm continues to grow. We looking forward to your contributions to our discussions. Giannina

Welcome to Ballet Talk, Cirstian; we're very happy to have you with us. If you check our forums you'll see that we have a forum for Miami Ballet. This site is designed for ballet fans, and it covers just about every aspect of ballet you could desire. We hope you enjoy viewing what is offered on the various forums and sharing in our discussions. Giannina edited by Giannina 6/29/07