It's the traditional contract time, and the company has announced several changes for the 08-09 season.

Probably the biggest one is that Noelani Pactastico will be leaving for the Monte Carlo company. She's been with PNB for about 10 years, and feels that if she's going to make a change, she should do it while she still has a significant amount of career time left.

Three dancers are leaving the corps:

Rebecca Johnston (at PNB since 98) completed a college degree through PNB’s Second Stage program and is thinking of grad school. Brittany Reid is retiring, and Kara Zimmerman is going to Cincinnati Ballet as a soloist.

On the hiring side of things, William Lin-Yee will be joining the corps. He was with City Ballet 2005-07, and is originally from the Bay Area. The company is also bringing on several apprentices, including Sean Rollofson, who was a bug in their film of Midsummer Night's Dream...

I'm counting on BT's Seattle contingent to keep us posted on Will Lin-Yee's progress. New York's loss is Seattle's considerable gain.

It's a good thing that there isn't a weeping icon, with Pantastico and three of my favorite corps members leaving...

I'm sad as well -- it's been a blast to watch Pantastico's career develop, and I will miss the next stages.

I don't need the icon, I did weep (my wife was amazed that there could actually be tears welling up in my eyes as I told her about Neolani's departure). There is only one other PNB dancer whose leaving could affect me so personally. Neolani Pantasico has been my ideal "princess" dancer. No one else in the company can capture like Neolani the sweetness, femininity, grace, and youth demanded in certain roles -- her portrayal of Aurora in Sleeping Beauty and Juliette in the recent R&J (Malliot) spring immediately to mind.

Part of ballet for me is the magical world of pristine perfection and other-worldliness that only this art form can deliver on such a powerful emotional level. Tears are coming again as I think back on the utter perfection of Neolani's Juliette. I remember an audience member (a somewhat older man, clearly well educated in the arts) in a Q&A session after one of the R&J performances stated that he had seen many performances of R&J, particularly Shakespeare on stage, but had never truly felt the emotions we associate with the tragedy of this young, innocent woman until that night. I suspect he is as grateful for Neolani's talent to create such iconic characters as I, a ballet fanatic, am.

It's a tribute to Neolani that the stagers Malliot sent from Monte Carlo to teach R&J to PNB (and perhaps Malliot himself when he flew out to see PNB's stellar rendition of his piece) saw/felt her talent and wanted her for themselves. More power to you Monte Carlo.....you chose well.

It's always sad when the local company loses or has to give up a beloved dancer (or dancers). Good luck to each of these performers.

Re: Pantastico's new opportunities. According to the Ballets de Monte Carlo website, they are dancing in San Francisco as we speak.

When I saw their version of Sleeping Beauty last summer ("Belle") they seemed to have 2 senior ballerinas, Bernice Coppieters and Paola Cantalupo, who are remarkably effective and expressive performers with more than adequate ballet technique for this choreography.

The 2 companies are roughly equal in size. Although PNB has a much more varied and challenging repertoire, Ballets de Monte-Carlo tours widely, spends lots of time at their home base on the French Riviera, and has a season or two each year in Paris. Not bad!

In a Q & A session Peter Boal said he was able to talk Brittany Reid out of retiring.

Also, in my 8 Encores e-mail this morning, there are 2 other dancers who are leaving. I don't know if they are retiring or moving on.

Your very last chance to see departing principal dancers Noelani Pantastico and Casey Herd and corps de ballet dancers Rebecca Johnston, Kara Zimmerman, Alison Basford and Adrienne Diaz on stage with PNB!

Yay for Boal! That's great news about Brittany Reid.

Diaz just joined the company in 2006. I didn't know that she and Basford were leaving, but I was thinking the other day that I haven't seen much of Basford lately.

Has there been any offical word as to where Allison Basford is going?

Alison Basford has been dealing with major injuries for the past two years. She discussed this in an interview on the PNB Unleashed Website. (PNB Unleashed Interview with Alison Basford)

Oh thanks! I'd missed that one.

Alison Basford will be joining Boston Ballet next season. It was announced at the staff/donor party following the Eight Encores performance this past Sunday.

Congratulations to her! We want to hear reports about her from Boston Balletgoers

From her PNB Unleashed profile, it sounded like she's recovered from her injuries, and I'm very glad she's going to continue her career.

Casey Herd is going to the Dutch National Ballet in Amsterdam. Both he and Pantastico are dancing their final steps with PNB this weekend in Duato's Jardi Tancat, during the Kennedy Center's Ballet Across America mini-festival.

Does anyone have any information on Phillip Otto or Rachel Butler at PNB a few years back?

Phillip Otto is the new artistic director of Huntsvillle Ballet Company, and Rachel Butler-Otto is the school's new director.

http://www.huntsvilleballet.org/stories.ph...8/05/01/5150259

Good for them -- I remember both of them from their time here and was so sorry when they left. She really caught my eye in a rehearsal for Sleeping Beauty (when the company was first having the work set). She really treated the style with respect. And he was a great asset to the outreach programs the company was setting up, alongside his performing work.

According to this post on the Ballet Talk for Dancers forum, among the new apprentices will be Kyle Davis, one of the winners at Prix de Lausanne 2008.