Juliet

"See the music...hear the dancing..." Tonight we did. Not since Balanchine have I seen such a beautiful marriage.... Do not miss this, when next it's offered. There are layers and layers....wit, delicacy, quotations and delightful invention.......you can't go wrong with Mozart, and it was a great evening. Sorry not to be more articulate, I'm still in that post-performace overstimulation....

Kennedy Center also uses it; I've found it helpful....

Actually The Grey Area, which Boston did about 4 years ago is the work of David Dawson, a British choreographer. Elo did a piece for Boston called Sharp Side of Dark, ang then his Carmen earlier this season. He is the resident choreographer for Boston Ballet at this time. The Diamond Project piece is called Slice to Sharp. Everyone looked terrific and there were some significant highlights....Kowrowski in some great allegro work and especially the partnership of DeLuz and Scheller......

The bar continues to rise......tonight was even better than Friday.......

Unfortunately, Mahoney-Du was injured yesterday. I had been looking forward to seeing her in Clarinade, which she performed very effectively last fall. Always something.......

Yes, thank you for letting me know..... many friends are in, or en route to, Saratoga or Jacob's Pillow and will be saddened to hear this......

For many, many reasons this is very welcome news. Thanks for the heads up!

I regret the brevity of the season..the earlier curtain time.......but the last week of dance, especially, looks exciting! If it were up to me, of course, they would do Midsummer Night's Dream every year......sigh....

Evidently people in Saratoga don't want to go out to eat after the shows...except for the dancers who might enjoy being able to get to dinner before 11.pm.......They have long days and won't object.... I don't like the early curtain time one bit. Everything will begin in daylight.....and with the summer weather, we might get rained on more frequently as the early evening storms are common..... However, I don't think that fast food restaurants will be the only ones serving food before a 7:30 curtain. Other restaurants will either begin dinner service at 5 or schedule staff to expect an influx after the shows finish..... FarrellFan, the audiences "wanting to get home early" probably attend the Tues-Thurs. shows who need to get up early to commute or have summer commitments in the mornings. I hope that the earlier curtain time means that more children or young people will attend....or that attendance will be up, whatever the reason. The season is short enough as it is.....

Wish I could! Edinburgh is exceedingly crowded then....but would love to hear reports...... on this side of the Atlantic, a core group will be at Jacob's Pillow doing some wonderful pieces......

I don't blame you, art076. I will come from NYC for Wed and Thursday nights. PM me and perhaps meet...some BA folks meet under the bronze bust of Kennedy in the foyer at intermissions or beforehand. I'll be travelling so don't know arrival times...... Looking forward to it!

My video is just about threadbare..thanks for the heads-up! I have a recollection of a different casting, but doubtless my memory errs....

Seattle and PNB are tremendously lucky, and I am happy that he has been welcomed so warmly...saw him this past weekend at NY State Theatre and felt so fortunate for all he's given us here, too..... what a great role model.....

Frankly, I thought it was creepy and added nothing to the ballet.

Kudelka choreographed the bows, as well, so the performance goes on.......... Looking forward to seeing it next week......

Yes, recover, and then share!!!!! Talk to you when you return and hope the rest of the trip is delightful!!!!

Yes. Jack Anderson wrote an excellent article in the March 29, 1992 New York Times : http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html...agewanted=print Very good for those wanting more background on the characters at Aurora's wedding........

Other Dances.....were other dances.....not the ones I recall, although I thought drb put it very well: Corella relished his role. He performed it cleanly and energetically, although I did not feel him grounded, connected with the earth, the way Baryshnikov was... Kent was lovely and limpid and ethereal, but this is not an ethereal role and her upper body had none of the grandness, let alone touch of hauteur, needed in the shoulders. Her expression varied not one millimeter.....lovely dancer, not her role. Bocca was so strong and expressive....a touch of artistry during a night of gala glitz. I was very, very upset by the violinist whose tone was muddy, dense, not on pitch and detracted considerably from the performance.....I was not especially struck by the choreography, but that might be because I was unfamiliar with it and distracted by the violin...... Sylvia was quite charming; I'm happy to see Michele Wiles returned to the stage, looking a bit more streamlined and ready to take on the season..... For the final bows the principals returned in full donor dinner regalia and Irina Dvorovenko blew everyone off the visual stage with a magnificent trailing aqua/blue/green dress that she worked to full stunning effect.

Yes, it was even better tonight than on Tuesday.....Kistler toned down the girlishness so it read as exuberance, Nichols was simply lovely, Weese relaxed a bit more, and Whelan could give her all without knowing that she still had Brahms-Schoenberg ahead of her..... Barocco was a bit flat to begin with, but the third movement was notable for beautiful crisp corps work.... American in Paris is still rather silly (and I very much dislike the ending), but significant highlights were Melissa Barak looking stunning in her auburn curls and drop-dead gorgeous acting and dancing (she is a notable lady of the evening, for those who have not seen it...) and Sara Mearns in the beatnik role. She dispensed with the blue eyeshadow, worked that red beret, and absolutely beamed Personality! Wow. I hadn't planned to stay for this, but am very happy that I did so......Adrienne Lobel's sets have grown on me, although I still dislike those scrims and there is still too much going on with lots of little groups of different dancers.....but it was clever and enjoyable programming tonight.....

Thank you, drb, for this------I enjoyed your review-- I liked the Bigonzetti piece very much when I saw it and now want to go again...I missed so much the first time.....

"I've always assumed that the Jillana role is the "young" one, and the Adams role is mature" Well, perhaps when Weese performed it years ago, but last night it definitely had a mysterious, experienced aura..... Kistler was also mature, but the rapturous clasping of the hands (she does it twice) had a shivery, squealy bobby-soxer quality to it that I found disconcerting, to say the least.

Romantic Era night at the ballet last night...........I thought it was a lovely program...lots of schlag, elaborate tracery in the designs and choreography, moonlight and flowers.....but a strong and beautiful foundation for the garden. Liebeslieder was perfectly cast: a core of experienced women, each with her own distinctive stamp, and the men interesting in their own right, not just partners and foils for the glorious ballgowns. Tyler Angle was given a debut as an ardent and immensely attractive escort for the lush Miranda Weese of the magnolia skin; the power of his line and presence played against her older, more experienced allure .....very intriguing! Kyra Nichols is always beautifully expressive with her arms and upper body; her portrayal was not that of a young woman, but it doesn't need to be. This ballet is about love, and not necessarily youth: certainly something of which Brahms was deeply aware. I was less happy with casting of Kistler in the "young woman" role as delighted clasping of the hands sat rather incongruously on her at this point in her career....her dancing was lovely, but this role needs a less studied touch. Wendy Whelan was, as always, interesting and exciting....she did take it a bit easier than she has in the past, but then she had another demanding role ahead of her that night, so her sketch of some of the steps was forgiveable. Wendy at 80% is still 200% more interesting than just about anyone else. Ellen Bar in Brahms-Schoenberg is outstanding---would that they would give her more performances. She is sometimes just a bit over the top, but a little drama is quite understandable in a Brahms ballet....it's not just about technique, and a bit of personality is needed here. Jennie Somogyi is working on expressing her lyrical side after her injury, and I hope she continues to explore the more lyrical side of her personality. Stephen Hanna is very, very talented, but he must have had his mind or body on something else...he certainly didn't seem invested in his dancing. Yvonne Boree and Andrew Veyette were increasingly relaxed as their Third Movement progressed--a good thing for both these dancers. I have always though Boree completely miscast in this, but as she keeps appearing, it was nice to see her stop shaking momentarily. Veyette performs his variation cleanly and while there aren't fireworks, perhaps with time....it's exciting enough to pair thrilling music with crisp and beautiful line: there aren't many male entrances that match this for drama! It was nice to see some new faces in the corps--a beautiful introduction for them and for us. The choreography for the women in this movement is evocative of nothing so much as flowers unfolding in the spring.... the lush peach layers of their costumes wafting as they bent and swayed, bending backwards and forwards in a lovely echo of the billowing skirts, dip and swirl of Liebeslieder Waltzer.

Margot Fonteyn, Ashton and Macmillan as the sisters, Michael Somes, all-star Fairies...... it's an historically valuable performance, very different than we see now, but wonderful.....

Thanks for the update......I'll have to reserve judgement on the designs until I see them myself.......but the performances were good, I am happy to hear! I am surprised that someone overseeing the construction of the new costumes did not do a better job integrating new and original...certainly they are documented, are they not? Please continue to keep us informed.....

It looks lovely, nonetheless.......I hope the colors and vibrancy of the Messel come through.....another dusty unmagical production such as the last one will be lamentable. Looking forward to seeing this when it comes to Washington next month!! Thanks for the links to the pictures!