Ambonnay

Jacob's Pillow is in Western Mass., about 2.5 hours from Boston and 3.5 hours from NYC by car. This is per their website, since I have never visited. I don't think I can go to see Hallberg this year, as much as I want to.

Another rave review: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100712/ap_en_re/us_dance_romeo_and_juliet_2

Hallberg will perform at Jacobs Pillow: http://www.jacobspillow.org/festival/2010/07/jacoby-pronk-and-dancers/ He only finished dancing at the Met Saturday, and today he was already working with Stallings on her new work, tweeting: "In Pillow rehearsal w/ stallings and jacoby. Finding new ways from the old ones. http://yfrog.com/9hemzcj"

I picked Mouton because it can at times show a little spicier on the palate than Latour, and because it's visually an arresting bottle, with the art on the label, depending on the artist for the particular year in question. Mouton is captivating-looking at first glance (not that that is the sole source of its appeal). http://www.theartistlabels.com/index.html Just based on the art (and not the quality of the vintage), some Mouton possibilities: http://www.theartistlabels.com/mouton/1969.html (Miro) http://www.theartistlabels.com/mouton/1999.html (R Savignac) Hallberg: http://www.thewinedoctor.com/bordeaux/hautbrion.shtml (picutre of label midway through) Gomes might be in a more jazzed up "bravado"-type package, but the wine inside an Haut-Brion bottle (for those who care to carefully drink it) is more beautiful, elegant, classical and just better Haut-Brion doesn't seduce by being in-your-face or being packaged with bold artwork on the exterior; it's about the beauty inside the bottle and quiet savoring of the terroir of Pessac-Leognan, like Hallberg is about the beauty of classical ballet.

If those two were Bordeaux, Hallberg would be Haut-Brion (more elegant, subtle; and my preferred Chateau) and Gomes would be Mouton, leaving aside issues of vintages.

Well, Gomes, Hallberg, Cornejo and Stearns were the only danseurs portraying Romeo this season. Gomes already did 3 Romeos out of the eight performances on 6 days last week, and Hallberg had 2 Romeos. If Gomes or Hallberg also played Mercutio to each other's Romeo: (1) they would have had to both dance two performances on Saturday, which is not practicable, (2) they wouldn't have been as fresh as they were as Romeo, (3) Hallberg wouldn't have had as much time to devote to Osipova, who was debuting in the role (as he would have to practice all of Mercutio's dancing on top of practicing all of Romeo, and then performing both roles), (4) Gomes wouldn't have had as much time to practice with Vishneva, after it was announced he would replace Corella, (5) Hallberg would have had to learn Mercutio, as he had always played Benvolio instead of Mercutio before he added Romeo to his repertoire (as confirmed by his ABT bio), (6) you could have had Mercutios that rivalled their particular performances' Romeo in dancing quality, stage presence and handsomeness, when they were dancing the same or similar steps in parallel (unlike, say, Basilio and Espada, or Siegfried/purple von Rothbart, who dance different sequences),(7) you might be diminishing opportunities for non-principals to develop, as they dance the Mercutio role, and (8) if you attended multiple performances, you would be seeing the same two people as part of the three in the Montague trio.

I remember two instances where Romeo is sitting. The first is quite early on in Act I, in the market scene. Romeo sits near the front left part (from the audience's perspective) of the stage, quite close to the audience. In the case of Hallberg and Gomes, they each have one leg up and one arm draped leisurely over that leg, as though a bit bored or lost in thought. This pose to me contributed to communicating that, at that point, Romeo doesn't have much direction in life. The following excerpt from "The Power ofPassion", by Hanna Rubin, April 26, 2007 (included in Playbill publication) is Hallberg's thoughts not on that particular seated scene, but on the initial situation with Romeo in general: "'Romeo's like any other guy at the start,' says Principal Dancer David Hallberg.'He's roaming around Verona, lost and a little gloomy, shooting the breeze with his friends Mercutio and Benvolio. His life seems incomplete. Once he meets Juliet, he never questions it again.'" Parts of this excerpt have already been quoted by other BT posters. The second instance of Romeo sitting was, for Hallberg, where he sat at the top of one of the back set of stairs in the market scene later on (I forget which act). He is sort of resting while seated there while Mercutio and/or Benvolio dance.

What young ballerina talent at the ABT now (leaving aside Seo) do you believe have the potential to become principals that have even the hope of one day performing like Osipova and Vishneva?

Very appreciative NYT review, not by Alistair M, is out: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/12/arts/dance/12romeo.html Photo is by Matt Murphy, a friend of Hallberg and former ABT dancer before health problems affected Murphy. I liked that the review only described the Hallberg/Osipova performance. Hallberg has been getting rave revew after rave review this season (past seasons too): "a superb partner" "daring Romeo" "As Romeo, Mr. Hallberg was at his most fresh, exhibiting his confidence through clear, clean jumps and an ardor that matched." "In his masked dance at the ball Mr. Hallberg made the first move with gleaming leaps and turns — his weapons for seduction. And during the rapturous balcony scene, ... he was rhapsodic.... By the end, dancing only for each other, they were windswept." "... the courage to bare all whenever they [Hallberg and Osipova] step onstage gives them a resolute harmony. As young ballet stars they show a longing to push past the point of comfort in their roles.... You can sense their impatience, their devotion and, finally, their desire not to settle for a performance on the surface."

R&J is at heart a story about the name characters. As much as Mercutio and Benvolio are important to the Montague trio in certain parts of the ballet, the ballet is essentially about Romeo and Juliet, and not Romeo/Mercutio/Benvolio and Romeo/Juliet. So, while I understand that Mercutio *can* be a star role and has been that in certain other situations for other companies, I don't think it's materially detrimental to yesterday's matinee performance that Matthews was not that good. I imagine it's a politically interesting situation at ABT for the casting of Mercutio. First, as discussed above, Romeo is a somewhat physically challenging role with the lifts, etc., that tends to be danced more by the ABT danseur principals who are in their prime or have not reached their prime (ie the younger principals). Take a Gomes or Hallberg as Romeo. The more "established"/senior in rank, danseurs (Max B, Corella, Stiefel, Bolle) will obviously not want to play second fiddle to either of those Romeos. So, that leaves only Cornejo who can dance Mercutio as what you might consider to be a "star" principal. And he danced well on Monday to Gomes' Romeo. But Cornejo had his own Romeo performance that he had to attend to. And, if I were Cornejo, I would be pursuing trying to get more lead danseur roles next year instead of dancing more of the Mercutios and Pucks of the world (not that there is anything wrong with the latter two roles, esp the Puck role for Cornejo). What about Cory Stearns? Well, he had his own two Romeos for which he had to practice, etc. So, at ABT, who does that leave as the Mercutios that will be available? Largely the male soloists who are a bit more experienced. That is who we have been getting: Matthews, Lopez, and Salstein. I think we got a particularly weak version of Mercutio from Matthews on Saturday. In his solos, it seemed like he couldn't even move quickly enough to even keep up with the music at times and he had no height to anything. Even though I didn't like Mathhews' Mercutio on Tuesday (again with Hallberg and Hoven), Matthews was better Tuesday. At least he could jump a bit, even though his jumps were sitll not high and not vigorous enough. I thought that Matthews' death scene was decent, and his factial expressions were passable. In some ways, one's dissatisfaction with Matthews' portrayal Saturday may reflect some artistic choices Matthews and/or his company made. Matthews' Mercutio is more of an easy-going friend to Hallberg who is a follower (of Hallberg) than a joint leader of the trio. Matthews' choices with respect to his "loose" and ungelled hair and his mannerisms make his Mercutio look young, which some audience members might mistaken for lack of sufficient stage presence. I think those choices are not inappropriate, given that Hallberg's Romeo is somewhat young too. I was surprised by the lack of quality in Matthews' portrayal of Mercutio. Disregarding this one role, Matthews made improvements in many of his performances this season, although I didn't think he was good last season. I didn't think his jumps during the Met '10 season were bad, other than when he played Mercutio. I never thought his strength was his jumps, but his jumps did not previously detract from his overall perforamnce during the rest of this season. Maybe Matthews was tired from having also played Benvolio in another performance last week, as reported by other members? I don't disagree that the harlots' dancing in the four versions of R&J I saw this season could have been improved upon. The only harlot I thought was pretty good, and who conveyed "wildness", was Misty Copeland. She danced with more abandon than the other harlots. I also found her portrayal effective when she stood over Tybalt's dead body, with her legs straddling his body in a rough stance and her having to be pushed aside by Lady Capulet.

Hallberg's tweet conveys how special yesterday's matinee was. The NY Times article from a little while ago about Osipova contains the following excerpt, which gives a bit of background: "I am a very emotional person, and those emotions have to go somewhere,” she said. “So I am always happy when I have a role where my feelings can come into play. Of course sometimes I scare people. They say, Natasha” — Ms. Osipova’s nickname — “you’re crazy. But I have to go out onstage and give everything I have.” Mr. Hallberg, who has danced with Ms. Osipova at the Bolshoi as well as in New York, said their performances together had been among the greatest experiences of his career. “She doesn’t care what people think,” he said. “She is so artistically involved in each role that she is continually questioning, validating every moment. She taught me to release a lot of my inhibitions, just through our physical communication.”"

Kyeong: For me, Hallberg has always tended to choose more subtle, less "in your face", character interpretations and has relied less on unrefined physical gestures and more, at least before the 09 season, on beauty of line and gracefulness and robust classical technique. Last year and this year, Hallberg has gained something that makes his dancing, already so wonderful before, scale heights even beyond those that he had achieved before. I think Osipova brings out more emotion (or, more accurately for me, more portrayed emotion that is very obvious to the audience) in Hallberg because he sees her multitude of expressions in her face and body. I also think there could be something about his performing with her when she is debuting a role at the Met or when she is debuting a role globally, in each case that he has already performed with others and that makes him want to be an even more involved partner for her. Some of Hallberg's own debuts were with Wiles, who was sometimes also debuting during the same performance. That is a bit different, because Hallberg might have been focusing on his own performance in the role as well as on his partner. That was also a few years ago. Now, Hallberg is quite secure in the various roles he has opposite Osipova, when she does some of these debuts. I wonder if that is a small piece of it. See Hallberg tweet noted above about how emotional he himself was leading up to her debut with him. BTW, I think that Hallberg is very helpful to Osipova and has the potential to continue to do that. He is very different style-wise than Ivan Vasiliev, with whom she has also frequently been paired, despite Hallberg and Vasiliev both matching her amazing ballon and both being very strong technically. (Note I have not seen Vasiliev live, although I was almost able to see him in Spartacus in DC recently, but could not due to personal commitments) One of the reasons that Osipova may have suffered criticism in the past is that her ballet bearing is not as silky, elegant and classical, and as conforming to certain perceptions of some ballet traditions, as some other ballerinas. (But that is part of why I really enjoy her dancing -- she IS NOT that way sometimes because the characters demand that she be different) But Hallberg has precisely the classism, bearing and elegance that Osipova is viewed by some as needing (not that I agree with those people). The two performances you mentioned you previously liked Hallberg in are interesting. In On the Dnieper, Ratmansky's choreography allows, in the most prominent solo by Olga's fiance, for the expression of anger and aggression from the intricate and feisty footwork and fast pace of the solo. That intensity was communicated through the footwork and the choreography. I also saw Hallberg in one of the Fancy Frees this year. I thought he was endearing and cute and wonderful as the second sailor. Almost slightly goofy, and that is highly atypical for him for the classical full-length ballets and other classical works. Maybe, when we have a fall season again, you could explore Hallberg performing in certain less classical works and see if you like that more. I should also note that I might have been tempted to stay throughout the Gomes/Vishneva performance, had I gone home between the matinee and the evening performances. I didn't because there were only about 3 hours between them. Taxis back and forth would have taken up 15 minutes each way, and I like to arrive at least 30 minutes before a performance. So, I felt I had two hours to rest if I were to go home, and decided instead to remain in the Lincoln Center neghborhood. If there is another super Saturday program lineup in the future, I would definitely go home before the evening performance and take a nap.

I think Kevin M will invite Osipova again next year. And she should be glad to come for at least four reasons (in no particular order): (1) she is adored here and she knows it, (2) getting roles that are new for Osipova in NY (ie doing global debuts for key roles in NY) and/or subjecting the Bolshoi to the possibility that one day Kevin M may try to recruit Osipova to become a principal of the ABT (as he admitted in the NYT article about her recently) will put pressure on the Bolshoi to cast Osipova in good roles and in more prominent roles (including roles might be politically more difficult for her to secure othrewise), (3) she will gain access to roles that are new to her while dancing with ABT and increase her repertoire, and (4) obviously, working with HALLBERG! When Osipova returns, Kevin M should continue to mostly pair her with Hallberg and also pair her with Hallberg for all roles that are global debuts for her. However, every year Osipova is back, Kevin M could consider having Osipova work, on a limited basis, with one other principal danseur (ie different ones every year) she has not previously worked with at the ABT (eg Gomes next year or Stiefel, whom she was originally intended to work with last year). That way, Osipova will be able to continue to develop with Hallberg and yet also have access to other ABT danseurs. I hope the Bolshoi will invite Hallberg back for a full-length ballet next year.

Not only was the Hallberg trio better coordinated, but their dancing outside the Capulet castle seemed somehow slightly laced with wit and comraderie and a hint of fun (while being simultaneously very technically accomplished and carrying beauty of line). The Hallberg trio seemed more like co-conspirators contemplating an uninvited visit to another family's territory -- they seemed to be enjoying themselves and one another. This is in keeping with the precocious and comfortable (from familiarity) aspects of the interaction among the three friends. Visually, when the Hallberg trio were standing to the left (from the audience's perspective) of the castle gate and Tybalt gets there, it would have been evident to any audience member that the three were socially prominent noble young man. Hallberg in particular and Hoven each gave an aura of being a privileged and cultured young man. That is the case despite their masks and the large cloaks they had put on, before they removed them. However, how many audience members might look upon Salstein (who danced well, by the way) and Daniil S, even when they are next to Gomes, and felt that those three could actually have truly been traveling musicians intended to perform at the ball? This Met season has been interesting, with respect to the increased prominence of Hallberg. He has achieved that through, among other things, his various opportunities to dance with Osipova, his augmenting even further his already extremely accomplished level of dancing, his strengthening his communication (including through his body and not just through his facial expressions) of his emotions (that had already showed marked improvement during the 09 season relative to prior seasons, including with Albrecht), his having studied under V Vasiliev and strengthened his name recognition in Russia, McKenzie having chosen to no longer pair Hallberg with Wiles that much (or at all) (which has freed up Hallberg's opportunities to pair others), Hallberg's using his hands and other body parts even more beautifully when he holds and lifts his partners, his continuing to get rave reviews from the NYTimes (including, but not limited to, Oberon in The Dream and the prince in Sleeping Beauty), and his having debuted in full length ballets with the Bolshoi and Kirov troupes earlier this year. What a great Met season for Hallberg -- BRAVO

Amour: Since I left way before the Capulet tomb scene, i can't speak to tonight's performance. However, I did see Gomes do a very good job on Monday with respect to making Kent seeming like a dead weight. If one compared just that point (Gomes/Kent vs Hallberg/Osipova), I would agree that Gomes might have done a slightly better job. However, even within the tomb scene, I would say there was a sequence where Romeo is dragging Juliet's body towards the tomb where she was laying and her body is on the floor and motionless. In that sequence, Hallberg did a better job making both Osipova and Gillian (Tuesday) seem like dead weights, while Hallberg was also grieving, than Marcelo did with Kent. Note I'm not saying that Vishneva did a bad job with respect to what I saw tonight. She performed well, and, in my book, better than Kent or Gillian in the same role (and the latter two performed well too in general). Vishneva came across as a smooth, fluid and quite elegant Juliet, but that is precisely one of the reasons why Vishneva seemed too stuck in classical-lead-female-role mode for me. For me, Osipova betrayed the sudden impulses of movement, the yearnings, the emotions, the little mannerisms that better suited the character. And interestingly Osipova danced with speed in some sequences, as is not unusual for her, without making things seem like they were progressing too quickly. There was still a luxuriously languishing feel to her dancing in some of the sequences where she was dancing with Hallberg quickly. I think we are all lucky to have Osipova and Vishneva perform the same day, and to even have an opportunity to directly compare the two. Had this comparison not been available, I would have been quite impressed with Vishneva's performance indeed. I would agree with you that both performances were good -- the question is just which one a given audience member likes better.

An ad in the NYT indicated that M Gomes will perform in the Fire Island Dance Festival: http://dradance.org/fidf/ It's not clear to me which portion of the festival Gomes will participate in.

christine174 -- I agree re: Hoven being effective as Benvolio Tuesday night and during today's matinee. Apart from the reasons you cited, Hoven was more synchronized with Hallberg and Matthews when the three were dancing in parallel in the market at various times and in front of the Capulet castle before the ball. The Hallberg Montague trio were more complementary in looks (even though Matthews is a bit shorter and of slighter frame), the ages conveyed (in the Marcelo trio, Daniil S looked very young like he always does), and, perhaps more importantly, temperament such that the trio could believably be friends (although Matthews' Mercutio was deliberately slightly more playful). In Marcelo's Montague trio, Salstein's Mercutio seemed playful towards Tybalt, but less outgoing than Marcelo and Daniil S's Benvolio looked a bit too care-free. Other nice parts, among too many to enumerate, of the Osipova/Hallberg performance: -- During the Capulet ball scene, Hallberg pecks her on the gentle back side of her neck/upper shoulders. Her reaction was memorable -- slight surprise; delight; slight shyness. She turns to Hallberg, and her shoulders perk up slightly and momentarily as though it were a physical thrill she received from his kiss. Then he pecks her on the same spot again. -- She has nice touches with her ballet mime. When her father asks her to spend time with Paris again during the Capulet ball, just before Romeo's identity is revealed by Tybalt, she pretends to be tired. The way that Osipova moves her hand against her forehead and then sways her hand away from it and towards the back of her head, is a nice touch and contains a controlled amount of slight humor. -- There is a series of lifts in the balcony scene where Osipova lies her body across Hallberg's shoulders in a beautiful position and lets her legs drape the contours of his body. Those lifts and others in the scene were breathtaking. -- I could really sense Osipova's desire and desperation to keep Hallberg with her a little bit longer, during the bedroom scene. Her whole body was imploring him to stay, and her emotions were poignant. At one point, when her body was laying in a crumpled, communicative, manner on the floor, next to his feet, I think she held onto his ankles/lower calves. Osipova's sense of loss, and almost shock, after Hallberg leaves were well-portrayed. She looks numbed somewhat; she looks like she doesn't care whether she looks elegant when her parents arrive with Paris again.

July 10, 2010, Evening Romeo: Gomes Juliet: Vishneva Mercutio: C Salstein Benvolio: Daniil S Lady Capulet: S Abrera Lord Capulet: R Zhurbin Tybalt: S Radetsky Paris: G Saveliev Harlots: I Boylston, S Messmer, J Saund Friar Laurence: F Franklin Osipova is clearly better, for me, than Vishneva in this role today. And Hallberg is clearly better than Gomes. Plus the chemistry between Hallberg/Osipova is magical, and that elevated that duo further. However, Vishneva was good in this role and I do not want to take anything away from her performance (esp since I did not see her entire performance). I liked Osipova better because: (1) She is more girlish not only in the introduction-to-Paris scene, but also during the Capulet ball. Vishneva, in contrast, was girlish in the introduction scene, but by the very beginning of the Capulet ball, was already an elegant, more womanly character before she even fell for Romeo. That does not show the character and how her love for Romeo develops over time and kind of changes her, as well as Osipova did. Osipova's Juliet was more in keeping with first love and the jubilation of, and discovery in, that. Vishneva seemed like any other classical ballet's lead -- elegant, more composed (not a positive in this sense) starting from the beginning of the Capulet ball (when she is dancing with Paris, before she focuses on Romeo). One place where Vishneva was less composed than normal during the rest of the ballet was her dramatic swooning reaction, made very evident to the audience from her staggering back markedly, after her kiss with Gomes during the balcony scene. (Unfortunately, due to where I was sitting, I did not see the Hallberg/Osipova balcony scene kiss, although I was close to the stage and saw most things quite well.) (2) Vishneva seemed more self-conscious, whereas Osipova seemed to inhabit her character and "be" Juliet. (3) Osipova's facial expressions are more delineated than Vishneva's. (4) As discussed above, the interaction Osipova had with Hallberg was special. I didn't see Vishneva achieve that with Gomes, although Vishneva danced well. I don't fault Vishneva for not achieving that, because, as noted by others above, what Hallberg/Osipova did today was truly special.

OSIPOVA + HALLBERG = MAGICAL They were each individually amazing, but their collaboration was really magical. :blush: Aflame is a good word, but aflame in a tender, amorous way that caused their balcony and bedroom scene performances to be melded almost into an integrated performance. It's a cliche, but they were dancing so intimately together, in such a connected way emotionally and with respect to physical proximity, that not only was the result more than the sum of the parts (with the parts being perfect), but you didn't even see them as a sum of two any more. They were working together that well. I was so unimpressed by the Gomes/Vishneva performance (more Gomes -- see below), and harbored so many memories from the matinee Hallberg/Osipova performance, that I left tonight's performance right after the marriage scene. Vishneva was good, but definitely not at the level of Osipova -- more on that when I charge up my iphone and get my notes. Gomes' Romeo tonight through the marriage scene was worse than his performance Monday. His portrayal of Romeo tonight seemed slightly Dr. Jekyl/Mr. Hyde to me (that might be too harsh), in terms of the character of Romeo. In the Act I market scene and the market scene that begins Act II, he seemed like he was Monday (see my thoughts earlier in the thread) -- lacking in inner reserve and too flamboyant. For example, at the beginning of Act II, he has already fallen in love with Juliet, yet his behavior does not seem to be consistent with that love, before the nurse gives him Juliet's letter. When he dances with the harlots, at several points, he holds his hands up and moves the four fingers of each hand, as though beckoning or encouraging the harlots ( a la "come hither" in an unrefined way), as the harlots move towards him and right before he touches their skirts. This seems crude as a gesture and inconsistent with how he should be feeling after having experienced the balcony scene. The slightly schizo portrayal by Gomes of Romeo is because during the Capulet ball and the balcony scene, Gomes did seem somewhat more subdued and appropriate for a young man falling in love. Like on Monday evening, during the market scenes, I felt like the Montague trio could have been a trio of Verona joksters, instead of from a noble family. Except tonight Gomes was slightly worse, because at least on Monday, his portrayal of Romeo was at least internally consistent within the ballet.

Tremendous applause and uniform standing ovations rewarded Osipova/Hallberg. They had three curtain call entrances. At one point during the curtain calls, they hugged each other in a very sweet and familiar way. I hope Hallberg will be Osipova's Siegfried in Swan Lake next year :blush:

Osipova and Hallberg were very sensual, but in a high-brow way, during the balcony scene. They look beautiful together -- light but highly articulate feet, beautiful arm positions for both, beautiful lines for both. Very light sensation with respect to this pair's dancing. Very dramatic from an ethereal, transcendent quality and from lifts, jumps, sequences so perfectly executed technically, but so imbued with emotion, that it is the emotion that prevails. Each of them uses differences in the speed of different movements he or she executes to enhance the sense of passion. She lounges, luxuriates, when held by him in some lifts. She soaks in his embrace. Other times, she rushes to him and the way that is done, with her body moving the way it does, conveys the urgency and expanse of her feelings for him. He lifts her effortlessly, longingly. He rushes to her side. Other times, he stands still for a moment underneath the pillars of her balcony. They both use moderations in speed, rushing/luxuriating, some grabbing of the other in elegant ways, during the balcony scene.

Sorry for the number of posts -- I can't seem to edit posts to add thoughts. Act I Hallberg was as excellent as usual. Even when he is hanging out with Mercutio and Benvolio, when he is just walking around the market, or when he is dancing with a harlot, his lines are outstanding. Hoven danced well, just like he did Tuesday night. Matthews danced worse than the other two in the trio, and even worse than Tuesday. In his big solo in Act I, he could barely get his feet off the ground in some cases. His jumps lacked heights, and they and his turns lacked energy. Like in Giselle Act I, Osipova doesn't worry about looking regal or always having perfect lines (nothing wrong with perfect lines). Her acting is so clear in articulating her emotions, and get yet seems genuine. She acted with her body as well as her face: the way she held her shoulders a bit uplifted like a child, or held her arm with her elbow slightly arched behind her, the way she showed curiosity about Paris when she is first introduced to him, the way she uses her speed of movement to show a little hint of precociousness as a young girl -- are all wonderful. Her slight frame also makes her more believable as a young girl, but it is more her acting with her whole body. Osipova's Juliet is less set against Paris, before she meets Romeo, than Kent's or Gillian's. (As for Paris, I've liked Radetsky's portrayal of him and I think the NYT dig on Radetsky in this role is unfounded). For example, she seems more neutral in dancing with Paris at the ball when Romeo is still focused on Rosaline. Osipova's movements seemed in Act I like those of a young girl. She is child-like when she pushes the nurse out of the room in order to have time with Romeo during the ball. This is clearly her first love, her first sense of romance, with Romeo. The audience shares the revelation of new feelings she senses in herself. What I appreciate in Osipova is that she is trying to evoke an emotion, and she does.

Hallberg and Osipova danced so movingly and intimately in the balcony, bedroom and Capulet tomb scenes -- it was achingly tender. The tender, but strong, passion shown by both, and Osipova's flexible body, which sometimes slid beside Hallberg's, and other times was lifted in incredibly lyrical positions, with such ease it was as though she was as light as her ballon. I have always thought highly of her acting, but she was even better than my very high expectations suggested. They make wonderful dancing partners, and you could really believe there was love between them as well as physical attraction/sensuality.

Osipova is acting so beautifully, as well as dancing splendidly. During the scene where she is introduced to Paris, she scrunches her shoulders, holds her hands, in a way that a child would. She is a shy, but open, Juliet, until the balcony scene where her dancing is so lyrical and sensuous. During the Capulet ball scene. Shows surprise when Tybalt figures out who Romeo is. Surprised and concerned, like she should be. Such lightness.

Romeo and Juliet Saturday, July 10, matinee THROUGH FIRST Intermission, RAVISHING. Superlatives cannot describe how amazing the two leads are . This is sooo fantastic!!!! Romeo: Hallberg Juliet: Osipova Mercutio: J Matthews Benvolio: B Hoven Lord Montague: R Zhurbin Tybalt: P Ogle Paris: S Radetsky Lady Capulet: K Boone Lord Capulet: V Barbee Harlots: M Copeland, S Abrera, M Hamrick Frair Laurence: C Luckett As many readers know, this is Osipova's worldwide debut as Juliet. The supporting cast was somewhat similar to Hallberg/Murphy on Tuesday, except for, among other things, (1) Radetsky instead of DeLong portraying Paris, and (2) R Zhurbin moving from Lord Capulet to Lord Montague in favor of V Barbee. Radetsky and Barbee had occupied today's roles on Monday night.