The first week casting is up on the website here

http://www.pnb.org/season/val-casting.html

Some interesting choices in the Marshall and the Tharp

I think the pairings are particularly exciting. I'm looking forward to seeing Nakamura and Poretta, Korbes and Maraval, Nadeau and Wevers, Barker and Cruz, among the many others.

And Le Yin is back, but no Bold (He and Nadeau make a particularly striking pair.)

I'll be very interested in seeing Le Yin -- he's been in and out often enough that I've seen very little of him.

Thanks to pmeja for the following item in today's links:

PNB's modern "Valentine": no tutus — but lots of Sinatra



Both Thomas and Weese must be performing in the second week's casts, which haven't been posted as of today. (The Thomas listed in "Couple 6" of Sinatra Suite is Jodie Thomas.)

Could anyone give some thought to why Peter would be bringing in guest artist to such a hugely talented company?(though I don't see them perform..)

I don't know, but I'm trying very hard to fight feeling grumpy that one of the limited performances that will be danced by Thomas or Weese is an opportunity lost for a dancer in the company.

At Friday's $5 Friday Studio Rehearsal, Peter Boal had mentioned these two performances would be during week 2.



I would agree that with such a limited run of the reps that this could be seen as pushing out the chance for a member of PNB to showcase their talents. However, I don't think that this is a lost opportunity. Both Thomas and Weese are incredible dancers that members of PNB's company wouldn't usually get to perform with. (I think Taurean Green danced with Thomas during his DTH days.) I also think it is a credit to PNB that they are able to invite guest artists of such callibre. So, I personally am looking forward to catching at least one if not both of the performances.

This is an interesting development. Stowell and Russell had to grapple with the "guest or don't guest" situation very early in their tenure -- the board of directors pretty much insisted that they hire guest artists for the opening of their original Swan Lake (a couple years after they joined the company) when they felt that the company members were more than capable of the challenge. And they often told the story of how the guest artist took an obvious fall (right on the fanny) only to get up and perform with aplomb, as is often the case -- they felt that it was a lesson for their less-experienced board members. Although there was the occassional guest, for the most part they were determined to give company members as many chances to perform as possible.

Of course I'm very pleased at the chance to see Thomas and Weese without leaving my time zone, but like everyone I'm wondering if this is a one-off or the start of a trend.

I have a feeling that ticket sales will determine whether it's a trend or not. I've only seen Thomas dance a few times but I think Seattle will enjoy getting a look at Miranda Weese.

Curses! I looked up the schedule and I can't go see Weese.

I can understand not wanting company dancers to miss out on opportunities, but. If Weese got herself invited to San Francisco to dance Ballo Della Regina, for example, I sure wouldn't cry about it.

As of today, Miranda Weese is scheduled to dance in Couple 2 in Ancient Airs and Dances on:

Friday, 10 February, 7:30pm
Saturday, 11 February, 7:30pm.

Rasta Thomas is scheduled to dance in Couple 1 of Red Angels on:

Friday, 10 February, 7:30pm
Sunday, 12 February, 1pm.

Since the company only announced the casting for the second week (the week with the guest artists) today, I don't know that they're really thinking of the effect on ticket sales.

Why get so worked up about it in the first place?

Peter Boal is hardly using some out of shape or aging, has-been "names" to beef up the box office. Frankly, I think the Seattle audience will be thrilled to see these two accomplished artists, both of whom are very much in their prime and have so much to offer (especially for pieces that really could use the services of a star performer).

Moreover, it seems hypocritical (not to mention parochial, but there I did) to regard the guest appearances of PNB dancers with NYCB or other companies as conferring honor to PNB and then see something invidious in bringing in distinguished, outside dancers occasionally to Seattle as guests.

Suppose that the guests are coming to check out the company and Seattle. And that the company and audience are similarly checking out the guests? Isn't that step 1 in a potentially interesting process?
America clearly has two major companies, but there is no reason not to change this number to three. What other American company is better than PNB in terms of audience, talent pool in place, and quality of leadership to effect such an upgrade? What other company, including the 'majors', has an AD who even begins to compare with Peter Boal in terms of prestige and ability to attract talent? It would not be an overnight process, and it would be presumptuous to begin with a fanfare of trumpets. It would be a shame to abort such a possibility with parochialism.
What is wrong with trying to get better?

My comment was that there are a limited number of performances given by PNB, and that it was an opportunity lost to PNB dancers. If PNB had over 100 performances a season (not including Nutcracker), like NYCB, I wouldn't consider this an issue, because the many dancers in the company who can give a "star" performance would have been given their own opportunities.

I think parochialism is insisting that what comes from the "big city" must be better than what one has.

I don't know if I'd characterize it as "worked up," but we are all very interested in seeing what kind of changes take place in company over the next couple of years. No one is complaining about the chance to watch some very skilled artists, but after 27 years of one set of parameters, we're curious to see where this might go next.

Well now I'd probably have to retort that such defensiveness can be construed as a sign of provincialism as well. I don't think that I or anyone else who has posted to this thread has suggested that PNB dancers are not as talented as "big city" dancers or capable of giving star performances.

Why not try out the "big picture" view, as suggested by drb? Perhaps the selective use of guest artists is but one manifestation of a long range plan for audience development that eventually will lead to longer Seattle seasons with more opportunities for PNB dancers.

In the meantime, I feel sure that those who choose to attend those performances will enjoy Weese in 'Ancient Airs & Dances.' She has performed frequently in this ballet, which benefits immensely from her high energy, gracious and generous performing style. And Thomas is likely to do well in 'Red Angels,' another piece that needs to be carefully cast.

I apologize if this commentary is tiresome. I certainly did not intend to go on for this length and I did not really feel that the comment I quoted deserved a reply. However, I am tired of free discussion being stifled by the "definitive" pronouncements of a few. Perhaps that is part of the reason why the PNB forum generates comparatively less discussion than some of the other company forums.

That's what a discussion board is for.

If you prefer not to get replies to your posts, you may consider blogging instead. Ballet Talk has a blog module; please see the link at the top of each page.

Does anyone know if Lucien got promoted??

Postlewaite is still listed on the website as a member of the Corps, and there's nothing in the Press section on the PNB site that shows a press release with an announcement. If we hear anything official about promotions, we'll be sure to post it in the PNB forum.

After last night's performance, I think its clear that there will be no lack of opportunities for all of PNB's company to showcase its talents. With 13 principal couples in this rep, there was plenty opportunity to see dancers who I had not seen much of in the past. Here are just a few that come to mind:

Karel Kruz - His pairing with Patricia Barker in Ancient Airs and Dances was impressive. He matched her poise and grace step-for-step.

Lesley Rausch & Jordan Pacitti - They performed Red Angels at the Season Opening Gala this year, and after a few months hiatus returned to the part with the confidence and athleticism that hit the mark.

James Moore - I was taken with his performance in Mopey earlier this season, and the subtleties he teased out in Kiss were beatiful.

Chalnessa Eames & Anton Pankevitch - Theses two turned in a fantastic performance for "One for My Baby" with a great mix of humor and sexuality.

Josh Spell - Paired with Jodie Thomas, Josh was a pleasure to watch. I can't remeber the last time I've seen two people so happy just to be dancing.

Excellent news, Joshua. I won't be able to see the program until tomorrow's matinee and then next weekend, and I look forward to it.

I saw Friday's performance (2/3).

What a wonderful mixed program. I didn't get "transported" by all of it, but "Nine Sinatra Songs" was brilliant IMHO. I've always loved Tharp. She was certainly there last nite, but I've never seen her choreography so subtly subdued under a style so prosaic as ballroom dancing. I thought "here is a genius at work".

I'm no expert, but I can't imagine too many ballet companies that could field the talent it must take to pull a ballet like Nine Songs off so well. They did humor, elegance, athleticism, sensuality, technique, energy, SPEED all at once nearly all the time. I rose to my feet (something I don't often do).

For me seeing Nakamura and Wevers was breath-taking. Lesley Rausch is someone who I watch and she always blows me away as a corp dancer. The combo of Imler and Porretta was brilliant casting IMO -- so different on the surface, but so alike underneath (just like the work itself).

In addition, I can't say enough about the high calibre of skill shown in Red Angels: Kobres & Maraval, and Nakamura & Porretta.

P.S. I'm brand new here.....just stumbled on this forum. Glad to know it's here.

Welcome to Ballet Talk, Sandy, and thank you for posting about Friday's performance! We're glad you found us.

I'm just about to go to this afternoon's performance. Sadly, I'll miss the Nakamura/Poretta pairing in Red Angels; I think they are a wonderful and dynamic pair. But I'm really looking forward to it, and hopefully there won't be any trees down on my way to Seattle Center after the wind storm we've been having.

It's been noted in other threads which discuss contemporary ballet that Kylian, Duato, and a number of other contemporary choreographers, and from the few Wheeldon ballets I've seen, I'd include him, that there was a change from hierarchical to a "democratic" structure, where most roles in a give ballet are more or less equal. This makes sense for a company with a relatively small number of dancers (12-30), but the mid-sized companies -- 35-50 or so -- have a hard choice to make: to produce ballets that provide the full gamut of "growth" roles, i.e., everything from the small, breakout solos for corps members, to demi-soloist roles, to soloist roles, to character parts, to principal roles -- or to produce and cast works in which there are a large number of principal "sink or swim" roles, with little corps work or growth roles. For Valentine, Boal chose the latter, but chose a remarkable mix of dances that accomplished one of the critical things normally associated with hierarchical ballets: the three contemporary works brought out not only the potential but also showed a significant number of dancers from all ranks in a new light.

The program opened with Richard Tanner's Ancient Airs and Dances. In the post-performance Q&A for yesterday's matinee, Boal said he chose this opener because it would be familiar to audiences used to Russell/Stowell programming. Originally choreographed for the 1992 Diamond Project (NYCB), it is a gentle, neo-classical work for three principal couples, two demi-soloist couples, and four corps couples, to a familiar score by Respighi, one of those pieces you've heard, but may not know you have. The corps roles are not the super-corps roles like Barocco or Rubies, but there was enough to want to see a lot more of each of the dancers: Eames/Johnston/Kitchens/Zimmerman/Ade/Green/Griffiths/Spell. (I got my wish with Spell.) The demi-roles are more substantial, but what a tease to see Lowenberg, Reid, and Pankevitch only in them. (Pacitti, who partnered Lowenberg, danced in Red Angels and Nine Sinatra Songs as well.)

Patricia Barker and Karel Cruz danced Couple 1. Barker at the end of her career is dancing with a a joy and expanse that's been missing from the last few seasons. I saw her partnered for many years with Jeffrey Stanton and lately with Stanko Milov, but matching her with the tall, elegant Cruz was an inspiration. Normally self-effacing, Cruz danced with a spark and extroversion that I've never seen from him before, and it carried to his role in Sinatra. They have terrific chemistry together. I don't mean to make a temperamental analogy, but I think there might be a parallel to Fonteyn's renewal when Nureyev joined Royal Ballet.

Nadeau and Wevers danced Couple 2. While their dancing looks like a contrast in temperament -- Wevers is very pliant, with a burst of energy or movement or the flick of an eye that can be seen at the back of the house, while Nadeau starts with a serene center -- they both sustain the tension necessary for the long, legato phrases of their pas de deux. The most striking part for me was watching Nadeau's sustained turnout and lift from the thigh and pristine placement with which her legs sang long phrases; I found this mesmerizing. I know PNB isn't an Ashton company, but I wish I could see her in the great neoclassical Ashton roles, and I think she would make a wonderful Sylvia.

Imler and Porretta, who danced Couple 3, seem to see the same finish line in whatever ballets they dance; the way they get there may be different, but it's perfectly complimentary. Porretta will do a virtuoso phrase with crispness and attack, and Imler will counter, but with little visible preparation, which seems to slow time down. (I've watched this over and over in her toughest virtuoso roles, and I'm always astonished at how she does this.)

Kiss is duet, part aerial, that is performed with ropes and harnesses; the dancers wear jeans and tank tops. It was choreographed by modern dance choreographer Susan Marshall in 1987; Guillermo Resto, who danced with Mark Morris for many years, was one of the two men who performed the role. In the Q&A Boal noted that the theater in which it was first performed was very small; the ropes were 27 feet long, as opposed to the 40 foot long ropes used at McCaw Hall. He said that PNB was the first ballet company to perform the work, and the first company to perform the Arvo Part's score to a live orchestra. This was partly necessary because the work takes longer, partly due to the length of the ropes, and the additional time varied by cast. Brunson, who with Herd spoke at the Q&A, noted that she and Herd are taller, and their performance is a minute longer than Vinson and Moore's. Boal said that he cast the piece with the two couples, not knowing which pairing would work; neither has been cast together with any regularity, if ever. He sounded proud of his dancers when the stagers from the Susan Marshall Company, Kristin Hollinworth and Luke Miller, liked both couples.

Kiss is a sensual work with explicitly sexual passages that are never graphic (if that makes any sense), with exquisite airborne sections. For me, it created an emotional wave, and I was engaged for every second. I'll know after seeing it a couple of more times next week whether this was because it was so new, or if it has the same gripping power after repeated viewings, but I'm very much looking forward to finding out. I wish I had seen Kiss after Red Angels. The few minutes between ballets was not enough to regroup. Perhaps a full intermission might not have been, because it felt like a movie I'd think about over and over again for weeks afterwards, but Red Angels was almost like an intrusion. That said, the stellar performances by Wevers, Rausch, and Pacitti forced back my attention; these dancers are such treasures. (For some reason, I kept imagining Rausch in The Cage.) Lallone's performance seemed pale by contrast, in a role I thought she'd eat up, but she took a perplexingly soft approach. I have no question that what I saw was ballet, fully rooted in the classical vocabularity.

Nine Sinatra Songs would have been worth it to see all of those gorgeous women in those beautiful Oscar de la Renta dresses, and all of those beautiful men in black tie, even James Moore, when his character and his clothes (deliberately) looked three sheets to the wind. I really loved the traditional ballroom parts of this suite, but the work itself less so when Tharp got clever and, in my opinion, busy.

This time it was Kari Brunson paired with Karel Cruz, in the opening "Softly As I Leave You," both the picture of elegance. Rachel Foster and Le Yin followed in "Strangers in the Night," another elegant dance. I felt a twinge to see Le Yin, both because he is back, looking great after an injury, but also because with his dark hair combed back, his striking cheekbones, and his ability to wear black tie as if he were born in it, for a moment, I thought Jock Soto was back, too. "My Way" was a striking contrast to the first two dances, and the first of four in which comedic skills were crucial. James Moore played the lush brilliantly and Maria Chapman was equally brilliant as his elegant straight-woman, who was tossed and turned and dropped and turned into a pretzel (from which she elegantly untwisted). After "My Way" for the first three couples, Noelani Pantastico and Jordan Pacitti performed a comedy-driven dance to "Somethin' Stupid." This dance was the first inkling I had of Tharp's theatrical genius; each of the four comedic pieces was entirely different both dynamically and temperamentally.

What followed was for me the first highlight of the dance: Carla Korbes and Jeffrey Stanton in "All the Way." Stanton too looked like he was born to wear black tie, but he conveyed an aura of a different, more elegant era. Stanton has a tendency to be self-effacing as a partner and fade into the background, but not this time: Korbes wouldn't let him. She emitted such a radiance towards him, and held him in an eyelock from which he couldn't retreat, and he met her there. For me, they were as convincing a relationship as Brunson's and Herd's in Kiss. An amazing pairing.

"Forget Domani" was a complete contrast, invigorated by the zany energy of Jodie Thomas, in a ruffled fuscia dress, and Josh Spell, who looked like they were having a ball. It was disconcerting seeing Nadeau pushed around by Herd in "That's Life;" the partnering was incredibly intricate, and the performance was edgy.

The second highlight was the finale, a reprise of "My Way," in which all of the couples danced. Gone were the comedic elements, and it was primarily the comedic couples that were such an eye-opener. I had expected the women to be elegant, and Chapman, Pantastico, Thomas, and Nadeau were elegant and romantic, but the men were a relevation: I had never seen Josh Spell dance with such character-driven verve. (Who knew he could tango or turn into a completely convincing toreador?) James Moore morphed into Fred Astaire. What an afternoon.

We've had a lot of discussion on Ballet Talk about whether ballet companies should be performing modern dance or works by modern dance choreographers. Would PNB have been better off performing Wheeldon, for example? (While Nine Sinatra Songs did not use ballet vocabulary or technique, it was unusual in that it didn't employ much modern dance technique, and Kiss was primarily an aerial work.) I would argue that the way in which the dancers extended themselves dramatically in creating character will reap dividends in the classic story ballets in particular and will make future casting feel inevitable. I think the audience learned a great deal about these dancers from these two works.

I went with a friend with whom I've been attending since a couple of years before the move in to Mercer Arena. She had to take last year off. She commented after the performance that she was very happy with all of the new dancers Boal had hired. I told her that there were only one new apprentice and three new dancers: Korbes, Griffiths, and Pankevitch, and that all of the rest of the dancers were hired by Russell and Stowell, and many had received pre-professional training at the PNB school. She was astonished. Boal has grasped the opening he has at the beginning of his tenure to give the opportunity to the dancers to capture the audience's attention. What a gift to us.

I too attended Saturday's matinee after seeing Thursday's opening night. The casting was the same for both Ancient Airs and Dances and Red Angels.

I couldn't agree with you more about Karel Kruz. I was truly taken with his performance and thought the pairing with Patricia Barker was brilliant. I don't think I'll be able to make any of the Lallone/Herd performances for comparison.

I am glad to have seen both couples perform Kiss. James Moore and Mara Vinson performed with an urgency that kept me at a distance from the piece. It is interesting about the length of the ropes and weight of the dancers. After seeing Casey Herd and Kari Brunson perform on Saturday I was much more engaged in the piece. The tone was very different and the theme of longing more poignant. I suppose, after reading your comments, this had to do with the timing, mostly the amount of time (although only seconds different) the couples spent apart reaching for one-another. I would like to see Moore & Vinson again to see if my perception has changed.

I love Red angels and hope to see more Dove in the future. Saturday was the third time I had seen this casting of the piece. So, I am excited to see what Friday night's casting will bring.

The is a lot I can say about Nine Sinatra Songs, however I do need to get back to work. I will say that I too was disconcerted by Nadeau's character in the piece. There was a ragdoll quality to the way she was thrown around. I would say that Kaori Nakamura in that part exhibited a different character - one that dished out as much as she received. This certainly made the part a little more palatable.

I am curious, Helene, if you are still concerned about the lack of opportunities for PNB's company after seeing the breadth of what has been offered in this program?

What I am is greedy. After spending several decades watching NYCB two-five times a week, I didn't like guest stars there -- with two exceptions -- any more than I like them here, for the very same reason: no matter how many younger dancers were given opportunities, there was a guest taking a slot. The exceptions were first for major celebrations, when the casting showed a tribute to Balanchine from his alma mater and from the "children" who formed their own companies, whose training showed a fidelity to him. The second was when injury and exhaustion had decimated the male contingent, so that partnering became risky, and outside partners were hired. Otherwise, I'd rather have seen an underused soloist (a NYCB issue) or a corps member dance.

Just like here, there are a number of dancers that aren't getting a chance for a major role whom I would have been thrilled to see instead of guest stars. It has nothing to do with who they are: I loved Thomas in Apollo, and I saw Weese give a luminous performance of Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 2 with NYCB during one of my return trips.

I would rather see NYCB come to Seattle, and be a performance in the subscription season, like Russell described in a season before I moved here. (Australian Ballet took the first subscription slot the year I moved; that was the last time this was done.) I would love to see Miranda Weese dancing with her company. Ideally, it would be an exchange, however much a pipe dream this is, with a union compromise so that the orchestras could play for each other.

This is a personal preference.

I like that idea, too. NYCB came to Seattle in 1986 and presented a number of performances in rotating rep as part of PNB's season.

Thanks for bringing this up -- I remember that season very clearly, particularly the rush to get tickets when they went on sale. It was back before online ticketing, and several of us were dialing and re-dialing the box office phone number that morning, just like we'd do for rock concert tickets!

Did anyone attend the conversation with Shelley Washington at Elliot Bay Bookstore on Sunday 29 January? Kelly Boal (nee Cass), Stacy Caddell, and Shawn Stevens were also listed on the website. A friend who had seen the Tharp company perform the work when it first premiered, told me it was great. Could anyone report on the arc of the discussion?

It was great. The bulk of the discussion centered on Tharp's technique and anecdotes from various performances. Shelley Washington gave an account of her first introduction to Twyla Tharp at a workshop in DC (around 1973 if I recall). In which Twyla would teach 10 movements a day, each given its own number. As the workshop progressed combinations were built by Twyla calling out the numbers in a sequence to build phrases. She also spoke a bit about retrograding (learning a phrase and then performing it in reverse as if rewinding) and inverting (all movements pefromed in a opposite manner from which they are learned - for a simple example, a movement performed palms up would be performed palms down). There was some discussion of Twyla Tharp's use of video in her creative process - being able to recombine movements through editting of video footage (apparently a process she adopted quite early). Shelley also spoke about of Twyla Tharp's use of musical selections. Something I did not know was that In the Upper Room was not originally choreographed to the Phillip Glass piece that now accompanies it. In a move that would have Balanchine on edge, the music was changed very close to its first performance date. I can't remember the original score, however.

It was a pretty full hour, if I remember more I'll post it.

Stacy spoke at length about moving from performing ballet to performing Tharp - everything from the physical differences to the different modes of working, dancer perception, etc.

A great idea, but lets complete the deal, and in a way that should make both orchestras happy. NYCB's Spring season ends rather early and the theater goes dark for a while. Why not have PNB visit here for a week, working with NYCB's orchestra, to make up for NYCB's week in Seattle, with PNB's orchestra? Whether as subs add-ons or on their own, probably both would fill the respective houses. Both orchestras would get an extra week's pay, both companies would get exposure to experienced, knowledgable audiences. There's even enough rep overlap so that neither orchestra need get terribly overloaded with rehearsal time. If this could be managed quickly enough we NYer's would get one last look at the great Patricia Barker, as well as get to see what Peter Boal is doing (in itself enough to sell out the theater!).

I wasn't very clear, because that was what I meant

Not sure it would have had Balanchine on edge, as he once suggested that John Clifford (about which ballet I forget) keep the steps but change the music to the ballet John was making at the time. (Pretty sure that's from Repertory in Review.) But this seems to be a common Twyla modus operendi. At a talk she gave quite a few years ago, she recounted doing this with another of her works. Can't remember which right now, but I'll try to look it up. *

I think an exchange program -- if not with whole companies, then at least sizable delegations -- is a great idea. Let PNB spend a while in NYST, while NYCB visits the Northwest! It would be especially interesting to see new dancers in familiar ballets, which they may have learned in a whole different manner than our regular dancers!

*Eureka! It's Bix Pieces! Obviously, these are not random substitutions!

The Clifford story was in the book "I Remember Balanchine," edited by Francis Mason.

Tharp switched music after doing the choreography for the work The Beethoven Seventh, for NYCB. She originally used some of Beethoven's quartets.

In tonight's performance, the principal casting and the female demi-soloist casting for Ancient Airs and Dances was different from the one I saw last Saturday afternoon. Dynamically, in the pas de deux especially, it was like watching a different ballet. Ariana Lallone was light and graceful as the woman in the first couple, especially in her open upper body and arms. She was partnered by Casey Herd, whose bold plies into second reminded me of his performance in the 4th movement of Brahms-Schoenberg Quartet a couple of years ago. Carla Korbes and Christophe Maraval danced the second couple. While Nadeau on Saturday was all controlled explosiveness, drawing the eye to fine detail, Korbes was expansive and playful. She made a wonderful pairing with Christophe Maraval, who has the presence to match her. His mini-solos were very musical, and he showed a contrast between quick, sharp footwork and a more malleable upper body. Kaori Nakamura and Le Yin danced the third couple. They were sharp, athletic, and very evenly matched. It's great to see him back. The two demi women, Lindsi Dec and Laura Gilbreath were gracious framers thoughout the group sections. It must be a hard ballet in which to be corps or the demi-men, having to keep warm throughout all of the pas de deux sections.

Korbes, or "the girl with the hair," got many props from the Second Tier side section where I was sitting. (When she did a lunge and arched backwards, her very long ponytail swished the ground.) She really knows how to connect with her partners.

Brunson and Herd again performed Kiss, and it was just as powerful and beautiful as the first time I saw it. There were general murmurs of "Cirque du Soleil" around me when the curtain came up, but this work was created in 1987. Cirque du Soleil was founded in 1984, and while it is possible that Marshall was influenced by it, it wasn't the worldwide, televised phenomenon it is today, and its presence not yet iconic.

Lallone and Wevers reprised the first couple in Red Angels. (They appear first, but are listed in the casting as Couple 2.) Lallone looked like a totally different dancer tonight: sharp, dynamic, and space-eating. It was a great, powerful performance. Rachel Foster and Lucien Postlewaite made their debuts as the second couple, and had a great success. The dynamic differences between Foster/Postlewaite and Rausch/Pacitti may have been due partially to the greater height difference in tonight's couple, but they both seemed to have a rounder approach as well. All four dancers seemed to emphasize the arched backs in the choregraphy.

Nine Sinatra Songs had nearly the same cast as Thursday night. The exception was that Mara Vinson was paired with Jeffrey Stanton in "All the Way." Vinson was darling and Stanton dashing, but they weren't the emotional heart of the ballet for me tonight. (Thomas and Spell in the lightest of the dances were.) It was a dance, and maybe even a romance, but not a relationship that had a chance to last decades. From a vantage point in the Second Tier, the opening dance, "Softly As I Leave You" had much more sweep, and Brunson and Cruz made a more vivid impression. The Gallery Upper, where I sat on Saturday, has a slightly side view, and that dance was much more effective head on. Boal mentioned in the post-performance Q&A that because the disco ball was blinding in some sections of the hall, the lighting was dimmed a bit, which made it a bit difficult from above to see Maria Chapman and James Moore in "One for My Baby," with him in tuxedo pants and her in a black dress with black stockings, against a dimly lit black floor.

Saturday I was watching Noelani Pantastico so much that I didn't notice that Jordan Pacitti was hysterical in "Something Stupid." In the Q&A the dancers were asked if it was supposed to be comic, and Pacitti said that Shelley Washington, who staged the ballet, said no, but that they were supposed to be a husband and wife, where the husband was shorter than she, and that he was supposed to have a "Woody Allen personality." (Perhaps she meant that they shouldn't exaggerate it for laughs, because I'm not sure there are many more comedic set-ups than that.) Pacitti and Pantastico were quite evenly matched, especially since she was in ballroom shoes, not pointe shoes, and I didn't pick up on height as part of the comedy.

As on Saturday, Maria Chapman made a pre-curtain speech about Second Stage, the career transition program for PNB dancers. On Saturday, her speech was interrupted a number of times by applause, when she mentioned that she'd be dancing later in the program, when she told the audience that the dancers had donated their salaries from Opening Night to the fund, etc. Tonight there was complete silence during her speech. I was afraid the audience would sit on its hands for the performance, but, instead, was more enthusiastic than at the matinee. I wasn't sitting among the "woofers," but there was lots of applause and buzz.

Other Q&A topics: someone asked what Boal was looking for when he cast Kiss. First he mentioned that usually stagers like to do their own casting, but with this program, he got to do all of it. He said that he chose Vinson and Moore because they had been having such a great season and because of their "quiet intensity." He chose Brunson because he recognized a "powerful presence that had not been explored in depth," and Casey Herd for their "raw sensuality." He noted that Susan Marshall was in town this past weekend, and was pleased with both casts, which made him proud.

Boal mentioned that both Pacitti and Pantastico would be in Dominque Dumais' new piece, which premieres in the March program. He said that the pas de deux that Pantastico will be in is beautiful.

Miranda Weese is in Seattle; her first performance is tomorrow night as the woman in the Second Couple in Ancient Airs and Dances. She was at the Q&A, but didn't speak. It would have been the middle of the night for her in EST. Boal mentioned that Rasta Thomas has been touring in Movin' Out.

Someone complimented the recent radio commercial for the Valentine program, which Boal said sold 3 times the projected ticket sales. He commented that the Marketing Department was trying new angles, and that he wanted everyone to feel invited, even if they didn't come. The Company is planning to lower the lowest price tickets to $18 next year to make the ballet more accessible. The only way I got to attend so many performances of NYCB, particularly during graduate school, was because standing room cost $2.50, and if I could scrape together $7.50 from my coat pockets and under the sofa cushions, I could afford the ticket and the round-trip on the bus and subway. Even adjusting for inflation, it's hard to imagine how someone starting out or on a fixed income could afford to attend very often.

An audience member said that when she tried to renew her subscription in the Second Tier, the company tried to move her down. Boal said that PNB was offering to move subscribers to lower sections at the same price, to fill gaps in the house which made the house feel empty, even when it was not. He did say that people who want to stay in the Second Tier, which is a great place to see the patterns in big ballets like Symphony in C, should insist on it.

As a note, it is possible to renew at McCaw Hall in the lobby right behind the main entrance, but the Celebrate Seattle add-ons can't be processed at the same time, at least not yet. But early renewers get the great PNB calendar, with photos by Angela Sterling, former soloist with PNB. The photos include Jeff Stanton in Silver Lining, a Silver Lining group shot, Carrie Imler as Flora, Patricia Barker as the Siren, with a great reaction shot of Jonathan Poretta from the background, Maria Chapman and the now-departed Oleg Gorboulev in the Third Theme from Four Temperaments, Louise Nadeau in The Piano Ballet, which is also the cover shot, Poretta flying over the males corps in Rite of Spring, Stanko Milov and Patricia Barker in the Apollo starburst image, Christophe Maraval and Louise Nadeau in the Second Movement of Symphony in C, Ariana Lallone in Lambarena (with Maraval?), and Kiyon Gaines, mid-jump, from Firebird. (Approaching senior moment -- it's in the car and I can't remember the rest. But it's gorgeous.)

I should have such detailed "senior moments!"

Sadly, the Sneak film series, in which subscribers would show up to a movie theater once a month and see whatever movie the program directors chose, is now defunct. The silver lining was that I was able to go to the last performance of the "Valentine" program this afternoon.

When I went to pick up last night's ticket from Will Call at 7:25pm, there was a line of at least 30 people waiting to buy tickets, and there were very few empty seats in the Second Tier and what I could see of Upper Gallery Left and the Main Floor. When I went to buy a ticket for this afternoon's performance, all but about 10 seats in the Second Tier had been ticketed. This is great news for the Company, because word-of-mouth has spread. Boal mentioned in both post-performance Q&A's that the audience has warmed to Kiss over the run, and that there were people who came back to see it again. He also said last night that we would see works from this program in future years (after next season, which is already planned and published.)

Last night Boal said that because Dominique Dumais, who is choreographing a work for the March program, needed to rearrange her schedule, both she and Shelley Washington were in Seattle at the same time, and, as a result, Ancient Airs and Dances, was rehearsed for a shorter-than-usual period of time. (Brittany Reid described in last night's Q&A how the had been begun in November and continued briefly during Nutcracker.) I was surprised by this, because the work had looked so tight the first three times I saw it; the only thing unusual was that Wevers looked like he was concentrating hard when partnering Weese, who had flown in last Monday for rehearsals on Tuesday-Thursday. Today, there was something off when the three men, Herd, Maraval, and Porretta, danced together. I'm pretty certain that the men were supposed to be in unison, but it seemed like one of the men was a bit behind or ahead. (This is the first time I saw these three men together.)

Last night, Barker and Cruz reprised their roles, but it was the first time I saw Weese and Wevers paired, and Nakamura danced with Lucien Postlewaite (they debuted as a pair on Friday night). Barker and Cruz again were very free and playful. Weese danced with a lovely upper body and arms. (When in the Q&A she said that the role had been originally done for Heather Watts, I was surprised that it was Watts' role she was cast in, and not the role danced by Barker and Lallone. As a civilian, she was simply stunning, with alabaster skin, and more beautiful than in photographs. The next time a film director decides to go period, instead of trying to convince us that Winona Ryder or Julia Roberts or Sandra Bullock is an early-20th-century character, s/he should head straight to Weese.) In the third couple, I thought that Nakamura was best matched with Postlewaite, because of contrasting styles and his height; she could really stretch out with him. In a way, they looked like the stylistic inverse of Imler and Porretta.

For a shortened rehearsal time, it was amazing that while I had seen all of the couples in this afternoon's performance, I had never seen them together. Lallone and Herd, Korbes and Maraval, and Imler and Porretta were the three. While I liked many other individual performances, I thought that apart from the aforementioned synch issues, this combination made the nicest stage pictures, particularly in the short pas de trois with Lallone, Herd, and Maraval, a very tall, lean, long-legged line of dancers, and in the mirror dancing by Imler and Korbes, who looked beatifully matched together and when joined by Porretta. Of the four performances I saw, it got the most enthusiastic response from the audience today. There were four pre-teen to teenaged girls behind me with one mother, and the false ending at the end of the Korbes/Maraval pas de deux got a spontaneous, collective "Wow!!!!" from the group, and there was lots of screaming at the curtain calls.

The NYCB website lists "Original cast: Valentina Kozlova, Heather Watts, Wendy Whelan, Philip Neal, Jock Soto, Damian Woetzel." Does anyone know who the pairings were and who danced the first and third couples? (It looks like alphabetical order, but that may be coincidental.)

In both programs, Kiss was performed by Mara Vinson and James Moore. What a contrast to the more languid Brunson and Herd. There was almost a desperation in Moore's performance, and an innocence that contrasted to his darker persona in Sinatra. Last night, I felt like Vinson was being swept away from Moore, beyond his reach and her control, as if by an ocean wave, but in today's performance, it seemed more deliberate, like she was controlling the situation. It was just as visually gripping, but, emotionally, I felt like a voyeur watching an impending tragedy, which was odd, because I didn't feel like a voyeur watching a more sensual performance by Brunson and Herd.

Last night, the pairs for Red Angels were Korbes and Maraval, Foster and Postlewaite. This was the most homogeneous cast in terms of the round, sinuous, cat-like movement quality, and it made the differentiations in the choreography stand out more. There was much more contrast in today's couples, Lallone and Wevers, Kaori Nakamura and guest Rasta Thomas. Lallone and Nakamura both gave dynamic performances, but because their heights and body types are so different, the affects were strikingly different too. Lallone's long lines and arcs were blazing; Nakamura was more explosive. Thomas' performance was very open and bright, much like I remember his Apollo.

Olivier Wevers and Christophe Maraval are often cast in the same roles, and it was fascinating to contrast them. It's as if Wevers has a coil inside him; when he stands still, you know something striking is going to come. Maraval dances a phrase and comes to a dead stop, with the resonance of motion still in the air encircling him. (Porretta, by contrast, looks as though he has the entire contents of the Harbour Bridge New Year's fireworks inside him, ready to go off at any time.) I had forgotten who was dancing the role today, but even in the semi-darkness of the opening, when the dancer walked across upstage from the wing, there was no mistaking that it was Wevers, just from his walk.

The differences in Nine Sinatra Songs were as striking as the differences between the two casts of Kiss, but magnified by five. (Thomas and Spell danced Couple 6 in all eight performances, and Korbes and Stanton reprised their role.) In "Softly As I Leave You," Lesley Rausch, with her blond hair swept up, and her graceful style, reminded me of Darci Kistler. Stanko Milov as her partner had a lot of panache and was fun to watch, but he was playing the romantic lead, while Karel Cruz partnered Kari Brunson as if he was in a romance. In "Strangers in the Night" Ariana Lallone danced a glamorous, perfumed tango (straight), while Christopher Maraval, with his slicked back hair, played a tango lizard; all he was missing was the pencil-thin mustache. (Maybe he had one that wasn't visible through my opera glasses.) That was a complete contrast to Rachel Foster and Le Yin's spirited tango, in which I detected no irony. While in the first two performances, Maria Chapman portrayed a too-tipsy woman trying to steer a rather broody James Moore away from a bar fight or smashing the car into a pole -- today he seemed lighter and she seemed drunker -- Chalnessa Eames was the life of the party girl that Anton Pankevitch was trying to get home while she still had life in her, and the effect was more comic.

Carrie Imler and Jonathan Porretta were explosive and hysterical in "Somethin' Stupid." They have mentioned in Q&A's that they are friends offstage, and Boal said last night that they are just like their performance in real life. In response to a question about how he cast for comedy, he said he picked Imler and Pantastico for the role because of their general timing and technique, which would work in any dance. Pantastico was more outgoing and funny in this afternoon's performance. There was still more depth with Korbes and Stanton in "All the Way," but this afternoon, Vinson and Stanton danced more smoothly together, and they were more sparkly. Kudos to Thomas and Spell, who brought the same life and high standards to each performance of "Forget Domani," one of the highlights for me.

About "That's Life" Joshua wrote, "I would say that Kaori Nakamura in that part exhibited a different character - one that dished out as much as she received. This certainly made the part a little more palatable." He was not kidding: Nakamura might even have been running that show. She has been cast so strongly in this program, bringing out previously unexploited aspects of her dancing. I don't think I would have guessed that she would turn out to be an Authentic Twyla Girl: she looked like she could have jumped off the stage of McCaw Hall and right into Tharp's company.

At the end of the "That's Life," someone tosses the man's jacket to him from the wings, and he puts it on before the woman runs across the stage and jumps in his arms. Casey Herd was already smoothing out his collar when Nadeau took her leap, but Wevers upped the ante: he barely got his second arm in the sleeve when Nakamura came flying through the air. For those who think the ending leaps of Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux have gotten tame, these two could give them a lesson in danger.

It may have been the energy level of the last performance of the program -- Lallone said in today's post-performance Q&A that she felt sad before her entrance in Red Angels, knowing it was the end of the run -- but Nadeau gave it back to Herd today, too. Maybe not as aggressively as Nakamura, but Herd wasn't getting away with much this time. Looking at the work as a whole, last night's cast was something that would have been more recognizably Tharpian, with more of the edgy irony. But there were so many good performances across all of them, that I was glad I didn't have to choose.

For Dolly Dinkle watchers, in the Q&A, Lallone started by describing her early dance training, which was in a ballet studio in a strip mall in Southern California, next to a bar and I think she said dry cleaners. Lallone was delightful. Boal said that the Dumais work is being built around Lallone. It is the piece in the next program to which I'm most looking forward. In talking about the upcoming Choreographers' Showcase on 22 March, in which company members present their works, Lallone described working with dancers who are friends and peers, but are in the role of Ballet Master when choreographing. She gave the example of saying that she didn't like a step, and he said, "just do it" but she said it was a fun experience.

Boal answered questions about the guest appearances in both sessions. He said that while he was at NYCB, there were lots of guests, for anywhere from a couple of performances to two years. He noted the dancers who have guested from PNB, like Patricia Barker going to Boston Ballet, and Pantastico and Wevers dancing with NYCB, and wanted to reciprocate. He said that he wanted to invite both Weese and Thomas this year, but didn't plan specifically to have them dance on the same program. He also said that when the men cast in Red Angels heard there was going to be a guest, they "took it up a notch." (He said they had been good before, but got even better.) And people say women are competitive

It's really a shame that this program has to end.

This makes sense to me -- the beginning of the run felt a bit out of kilter, though I think part of my feeling comes from the actual choreography.




I was there Sunday afternoon as well, and yes, they did seem to be out of sync, and not evenly spaced either. For a couple of sequences Maraval was "in the middle" with Herd in close on one side and Poretta further away on the other.

My second viewing was last Thursday night.

After reading your and others comments earlier in this thread regarding the pros and cons of having guest artists, I noted one of Boal's answers during the Q&A as telling.

He was asked about using guest artists (by you for all I know since I believe from a previous post of yours that you were there too ). The fragment of his answer that caught my attention was when he said something along the lines of "see and be seen". It struck me as a pretty smart ploy on his part to increase the exposure of his company and his dancers to members of other companies (especially NY companies I would think). I believe he even said something about Seattle being a bit isolated up here in this corner of the country. Clever agenda I thought.