Based on this Oregonian review, it looks like the start of another good season for OBT:

http://www.oregonlive.com/search/index.ssf...ian?alap&coll=7

Did anyone go?

I'd like to know something about "Adin," which I know nothing about. The only thing the Oregonian review (which I enjoyed) says is that it "holds its own between two classics."

"Adin" will be performed in Seattle during the third week of PNB's Celebrate Seattle Festival. All of the choregraphers have roots in Seattle -- some of them professional, like Paul Gibson and Kiyon Gaines -- and Christopher Stowell was reared here, after his parents moved to Seattle from Germany.

I was there It was quite a scene on opening night. Several dancers from PNB were there along with Peter Boal and Kent Stowell and Francia Russell.

I was on assignment for Ballet Review so I can't give a full report here, but this is the short version:

The company did a very respectable job with the two new acquisitions (4Ts and The Concert). 4Ts was in Francia Russell's setting - which is slightly different from the current version at NYCB, but nothing someone not looking for the differences would notice. The nicest thing about the performances was they danced the ballet like it was a gift to them. Alison Roper was a very fine Choleric and a very funny ingenue in The Concert. The OBT dancers can act; they maintained the comic timing of the Concert (Christine Redpath set, SFB's Gorey/Sharaff production borrowed)

Adin is a short ballet of three pas de deux to Rachmaninov; three couples and three moods. The first romantic couple (Kathi Martuza and Paul Destrooper) is particularly nice. It's "artistic director" choreography that suits and flatters its dancers and fills out the repertory. It's not at all bad, though it doesn't seem to hold up to repeated viewings.

Stowell's father made several ballets in this mode, while he was co-director of Pacific Northwest Ballet -- it's a real skill. They may not all be classics, but they are certainly a necessary component of a growing repertory.

A completely off topic recommendation:

When in Portland, go to Jake's (Yes, it's part of a chain. No, it doesn't taste that way at all.) Get the crab and shrimp cakes, and also the Dungeness Crab Leg cocktail. They go perfectly together. If you ask nicely, the waiters might do half orders (ours added a crab cake to the plate to make for even splitting). Along with a trip to the Japanese Garden, it makes a very memorable addition to the ballet.

And the fall foliage right now is just lovely too.

"Adin" means gentle or delicate in Hebrew. Does this connect to the ballet in any way? (There seems to be a little sub-genre now of ballets on Jewish/Middle Eastern themes.)

I don't think so. I believe in this case it's the Russian numeral "one"

Hi,
I saw the program opening night. The show started with the OBT school kids performing a waltz from The Sleeping Beauty. They did a wonderful job and were very cute.

I enjoyed ADIN very much although I don't remember it from 2004. It was wonderful to see Paul Destrooper and Kathi Martuza together. It occurred to me that I have not seen Paul dance a dramatic/romantic role in a long time. I usually catch him in the lighter character roles, if at all.

The second part was lighter with some fun movement from Anne Mueller. She was certainly in her element and Steven Houser has a complementary onstage personality. I was concerned about Steven's ability to lift and toss Anne.

The third part of Adin really caught my imagination as Arthur Sultanov took Gavin Larson ice skating.

I really enjoyed the entire show. In fact I'm going back this weekend, something I rarely do.

I usually see several performances of any OBT program, and this was no exception. Each had its strong points, but overall I preferred the Sunday matinee. Gavin Larsen was simply ethereal in Adin, that afternoon, and Anne Mueller was perfect in The Concert.

I'd forgotten what a lovely ballet Adin is, yet I'm sure I enjoyed these performances even more than when I saw it a couple of years ago. In a Q&A session after the closing performance, audience members repeatedly called it the more moving of the two non-comedy works on the program. Kathy Martuza's and Paul DeStrooper's pas de deux was particularly beautiful on opening and closing nights.

I'd never seen either The Concert or The Four Temperaments before OBT's latest program. I thought all three were very well done, and I'll be happy to see them again.

I will say that, as OBT's repertoire grows, it'll be good to go a bit longer between reprises, though I completely understand the financial considerations at play.

I find this a double-edged sword: in a limited rep season, with at least one full length, there are ballets that I'd love to see again that take years, if ever. And some I didn't really like or get the first time, but seeing them a few years later, sometimes with a different cast, can make all the difference.