Willie

I have several wonderful memories. The two most memorable are: Svetlana Zakharova and Friedemann Vogel in Giselle at Teatro dell' Opera di Roma. Natalia Osipova and Ivan Vasiliev in Don Quixote at Metropolitan Opera House.

I, too, enjoyed Osipova and Acosta. Osipova is beautiful to watch. The way she controls her body is remarkable. Her pointe work is wonderful to watch. I was mesmerized by the way Osipova controlled her "dead" body as she was thrown about by Acosta. A wonderful performance.

Cute video. I have tickets to the 5 October matinee.

Wow! Tickets were going fast for R&J on 7 Dec with Osipova an Acosta. Not much time to browse for seats. Nevertheless, I managed to get a seat - not great, but I got a seat. Now I need to arrange transportation.....

Sadly, no. Swan Lake in November or March '14. Okay, back on topic. When is Osipova's first performance with the Royal Ballet? Tickets go on sale to the general public on July 9th, correct?

How do we keep missing each other?!?! I was in Box 22. Osipova and Vasiliev were very entertaining! If only they could learn to jump higher....

A few years ago, I was in my office in Chicago and I received an email advertising cheap flights to Toronto. That’s great, but what am I going to do in Toronto? So I surfed the internet and stumbled upon the National Ballet of Canada’s website. Cinderella is on. I’ve never been to a ballet, and it was about time that I broadened my horizons. I checked to see if tickets were available ... Grand Ring, Center. Nice. So, on a whim, off I went to Toronto to see Cinderella. Everything about the performance was marvelous ... the music, the dancing, the story. That was the day I fell in love with ballet.

This perforamnce sounded interesting. Peter Frampton providing the music and the Cincinnati Ballet dancing. I had to go. Frampton and his band were dressed in black and on an elevated platform toward the back of the stage - perhaps in an attempt to a back seat to the dancing. Frampton and the band sounded great. Unfortunately, for me, the choreography was not that great. It's difficult, I imagine, to choreograph ballet to rock. At times the music and the dancing mixed like oil and vinegar. However, for the slower songs, the choreography was beautiful. For example, the last song of Act I (Boot It Up!), Frampton played and sang While My Guitar Gently Weeps, and Sarah Hairston and Zack Grubbs danced beautifully together. Act II (Hummingbird in a Box) featured new Frampton songs and the dancing was ... well, there was dancing. Act III (Anthology) featured Frampton's classics. Again, there was dancing. No matter how hard I tried to focus on the dancing, my eyes continued to drift toward Frampton. There was no doubt, it was Frampton's show. If there were any doubters, those doubts evaporated when Frampton performed an encore singing Do You Feel Like We Do.

Attending a Ballett am Rhein performance at the opera house in Düsseldorf is on my list of things to do, and I am too impatient to wait until next season. So, I made plans to see Afternoon of a Faun (Jerome Robbins), Without Words (Hans van Manen) and the premiere of Nacht umstellt (Martin Schläpfer) on 5 July. I am looking forward the experience.

I saw a beautiful performance of Giselle in Rome. Particularly noteworthy was the grand pas de deux in Act II by Svetlana Zakharova (Giselle) and Friedmann Vogel (Albrecht). Not to take anything away from Friedmann, but Svetlana was (and is) phenominal. She has such long lines and fluid movements. The way Svetlana's character showed her love for Albrecht and protected him from the Wilis literally brought a tear to my eye. And I think the audience felt the same, as during the pas de deux the audience was absolutely silent and all eye were focused on the stage. At the end of the pas de deux, the audience erupted into applause that didn't stop until the conducter realized that the applause would not stop until the music started again.

Let’s see, December.... Prague is okay in December. City center has a high concentration of tourists. The Christmas market is nice. I saw Giselle at the State Opera House, a nice, relatively small, older theater. I’ve never been to the National Theatre. I haven’t fallen in love with any particular restaurant yet. Paris is nice in December. So is Palais Garnier. Post-performance dinner at Café de la Paix is fun (In December 2011, I sat at a table next to the producers of Onegin, which I saw on opening night). Amsterdam is nice in December. The Amsterdam Music Theatre is modern and really nice. The Dutch National Ballet is great. One of my favorite restaurants is fairly close to the theater – Greetje. Be sure to make a reservation. Zurich is nice in December. The Zurich Opera House is nice, and the ballet company is very good. The city is nicely decorated in December. Day trips to the mountains are easy by train. I always enjoy a post-performance bratwurst and beer at Sternen Grill, which is about 100 meters from the Opera House. Next time in NYC, consider a pre- or post-performance meal at Bar Boulud, which is across from the MetOpera on Broadway. Very nice restaurant. Celebrities are known to dine there.

Americans don’t have accents! I lived in Pittsburgh as a graduate student. No, I don’t want to defend Pittsburgh. Now, on a slightly more serious note... Very insightful. I like watching American football, but the hometown team is not necessarily my favorite team (sorry, Bears). I don’t have a favorite team, but I do enjoy watching a good game. I also enjoy traveling to stadiums in other cities to experience a game there. Sometimes it’s a good game, sometimes it’s not. Some teams are excellent, some teams are ... less excellent. Sometimes the fans are nice, sometimes they’re not. Some stadiums are beautiful, some are not. Same with ballet.

Casting for Giselle (National Ballet of Canada) Giselle Greta Hodgkinson (Dec 5 at 7:30 pm, Dec 8 at 7:30 pm) Jillian Vanstone (Dec 6 at 2:00 pm) Sonia Rodriguez (Dec 6 at 7:30 pm, Dec 8 at 2:00 pm) Xiao Nan Yu (Dec 7 at 7:30 pm, Dec 9 at 2:00 pm) Albrecht Guillaume Côté (Dec 5 at 7:30 pm, Dec 8 at 7:30 pm) Naoya Ebe (Dec 6 at 2:00 pm) Zdenek Konvalina (Dec 6 at 7:30 pm, Dec 8 at 2:00 pm) Evan McKie (Dec 7 at 7:30 pm, Dec 9 at 2:00 pm) Hilarion Piotr Stanczyk (Dec 5 at 7:30 pm, Dec 8 at 7:30 pm) Etienne Lavigne (Dec 6 at 2:00 pm) Jonathan Renna (Dec 6 at 7:30 pm, Dec 8 at 2:00 pm) Jiří Jelinek (Dec 7 at 7:30 pm, Dec 9 at 2:00 pm) Queen of the Wilis Heather Ogden (Dec 5 at 7:30 pm, Dec 8 at 7:30 pm) Stephanie Hutchison (Dec 6 at 2:00 pm, Dec 7 at 7:30 pm, Dec 9 at 2:00 pm) Juri Hiraoka (Dec 6 at 7:30 pm, Dec 8 at 2:00 pm)

I will be attending the Saturday matinee on 15 December. I'm looking forward to the performance (and après-ballet dinner at Greetje - one of my favorite restaurants).

I had nothing better to do over the long (American) Thanksgiving weekend, so I decided to go to Tallinn to see the Estonian National Ballet perform Prokofiev’s Cinderella choreographed by Marina Kesler. Compared to the Mariinsky’s performance of Prokofiev’s Cinderella choreographed by Alexei Ratmansky, which I recently saw in Washington D.C., the Mariinsky’s performance was much better. In Kesler’s Cinderella, the backdrop of Cinderella’s home is a dizzying black and white herringbone pattern. The ball scene was an empty stage except for chairs on the stage’s perimeter. The stepmother (Triinu Leppik) and stepsisters (Marika Muiste and Heidi Kopti) were less than interesting characters and definitively not funny. The pas de deux between Cinderella (Alena Shkatula) and the Prince (Jevgeni Grib) was lacking. There was no chemistry between them, and it appeared that they never danced together. The costumes were not appealing either. For example, the Prince wore white pants, a white blazer-type top (nothing underneath) that was made of some sort of reflective material, a lilac-colored sash, and a very small lilac-colored crown cocked to one side of his head. I though the ballet was going to morph into an all male review. The only bright spot was the dance teacher (Jonathan Hanks) who was pointing as he showed the stepmother and stepsisters how to dance. His pointing was marvelous. It’s my understanding that Hanks trained at the Royal Ballet School.

For what it's worth, I wear a suit at the Mariinsky, no matter the weather.

Karen, when you say "first tier boxes" do you mean (using the vernacular of the Mariinsky) the "Baignoire" or the "Belle-Etage" level? I’ve sat in boxes in both levels. Views are goods in both. As always, the closer to the center of the theater the better. One word of caution. Avoid the back (last) row in the Stalls, because the last row bends and some seats come very, very close to seats on the ends of the rows that the last row bends around, which causes leg room issues. Look at the seating chart and you'll understand.

I'll be attending the matinee on 8 December. If you attend, the champagne is on me.

The Royal Winnipeg Ballet blew into the Windy City to perform Moulin Rouge. I was accompanied by my ex-mother-in-law, Gilberte, a La Rochelle native who worked most of her adult life in Paris and now resides in Chicago. Gilberte absolutely loved Moulin Rouge. Talking after the performance over dinner, Gilberte told me how Moulin Rouge brought back memories of the time her now-deceased husband was courting her. She appeared to be very happy, and that made me happy. The Chicago audience, too, seemed to enjoy Moulin Rouge, based upon the standing ovation. As for me, I enjoyed the story line, the characters, the bridge pas de deux, and the absinthe-induced pas de quatre. However, the canned music was ... distracting. (I’m trying to be diplomatic with my friends to the north, eh?). At least once every year I travel to Toronto to see the National Ballet of Canada. This year I will see Giselle with my ex-wife who lives in Washington, D.C. I’m told I have a unique relationship with my exes....

It was an absolute joy to watch Pavlenko and Sergeyev. They looked, and danced, great together. Act III’s pas de deux was beautiful. I impatiently look forward to my next Mariinsky fix in St. Petersburg on 13-14 April 2013 (La Bayadère and Anna Karenina)

I attended the Chicago Repertory Ballet’s premier performance on Friday, 21 September. Here are a few of my thoughts about the mixed bill (in order of performance). "Très Hip: A Love Story" is something one would expect to see performed on Broadway, not by a ballet company, contemporary or otherwise. The saving grace was a wonderful duet by Lizzie MacKenzie and Matthew Wenckowski. "La Vie En Rose"was a beautiful pas de deux danced by Danielle Scanlon and Tony Suhadoinik to the music of Edith Piaf. "Lent Et Douloureux" is slow ("lent"); however, as my French guest pointed out, there was no painful ("douloureux"). The mirror image dancing between the two female dancers was excellent. "Peoplescape: Juxtaposition" was a well conceived, well danced, and extremely intense contemporary dance. "Of Alice" is a beautiful tribute to choreographer Autumn Eckman’s grandmother and grandfather in their younger years. Danielle Scanlon’s solo dance was beautiful. "Its Not Enough to Close Your Eyes" is an interesting duet that involves one male and one female dancer dancing around a single light on stage shining from the stage upward on an otherwise dark stage. "Shostakovich Piano Concerto." It wasn’t until this finale that he dancers were given the opportunity to unfurl their wings and really show off their stuff. A side note. Ruth Page Center for the Arts has no box seats, and fate sat me behind a gentleman with a large head.

Thanks, Ian. I was unaware of Chicago’s newest professional dance company. The CRB will debut on 21.09.12 at Ruth Page Center for the Arts, a small theater within walking distance from my home. I have no plans for next Friday, so I purchased my tickets to see (and support) this new company.

On 08.09.12, I had the privilege to see La Bayadère at the Semperoper. A few thoughts: The Semperoper is absolutely beautiful. The staircases, hallways and foyers contain painted mythologic scenes, faux-marble columns and walls (an interesting story about the marble), all lit by ornate ceiling and wall mounted chandeliers. The auditorium is just as grand. The seating is comfortable, the views of the stage are great, and the acoustics are fantastic. The ballet was choreographed by Aaron Watkins after Marius Petipa. Watkins’ version is essential the same as Petipa’s, except for the ending which is much more dramatic. Natalia Sologub (Nikija) and Jirí Bubenícek (Solar) danced their parts beautifully, and the corps de ballet did an exceptional job with the Kingdom of the Shades. The Saturday evening crowd was perhaps the best dressed I’ve ever seen at a ballet - Men in suits (and a few tuxedos) and women in gowns and evening dresses - all showing off in the foyers and hallways during the interval over a glass of champaign. During the performance, the audience remained silent from the first note to the last note, except where applause was appropriate. There was no talking, no insubordinate picture taking, no phones ringing, just a considerate audience giving its attention to a wonderful ballet company performing its art. All in all, the beauty of the Semperoper, the gorgeous ballet, and the considerate audience combined for a perfect evening.

Swan Lake by The Dutch National Ballet in Amsterdam (a birthday gift to myself). Onéguine by Paris Opera Ballet at Palais Garnier in Paris (with my ex-wife). Giselle by Prague State Opera Ballet in Prague (with my sister). Les Saisons Russes by Mariinsky Ballet in Washington, DC. (Yekaterina Kondaurova was phenomenal as the Firebird). La Fille mal gardée by National Ballet of Canada in Toronto (extremely entertaining). Swan Lake by Barcelona Ballet (formerly Corella Ballet) in Detroit (Ángel Corella was fantastic; I hope the Barcelona Ballet survives its financial issues). Swan Lake by Mariinsky Ballet in St. Petersburg (beautifully danced by Anastasia and Denis Matvienko). La Bayadère by American Ballet Theater in New York (beautifully danced by Polina Semionova and David Hallberg). Coppélia by Bolshoi Ballet in Washington, DC. (very entertaining). Graeme Murphy’s Swan Lake by Australian Ballet in New York (interesting version).

Katerina, your English is better than mine! But I have an excuse - I’m an American! Is the Semperoper as beautiful as people say? In September, I’m traveling to Dresden to see La Bayadère. In the 80s (I feel old) I lived in Giessen (oh, sorry, Gießen). Sadly, I forgot most of the German I knew except for “noch ein bier, bitte.”