Archive for gigs
August 21, 2008 at 8:23 am · Filed under dance, angela sterling, gigs, NOE, noelani pantastico, les ballets de monte carlo
Well, I’m currently in Seattle for the moment & I thought I would try to do a quick post before we pack everything up and travel abroad! My husband & I are in the midst of boxes & our home looks like a tornado has hit it!! I’ll save you the trouble of seeing it & just post pics from my last month or so. My last weeks in July were filled with such immense pleasure that’s hard to describe in words. I was fortunate to be able to perform with Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo during the run of their second program, Romeo et Juliette. Like I mentioned before, Les Nuits De La Danse was outside on the terrace of the Casino, but I didn’t realize how extreme it would feel till I was out in it myself. At first it was very noticeable (like during my warm-up back stage), but in certain scenes, it felt as though I was really in Juliette’s bedroom - truly an intimate setting, and then for the balcony pas de deux, being outside made the scene all the more genuine! I guess as dancers we are in control of what we feel in the space… Here is a picture of BMC dancers warming up for the first program on the terrace.
The very next day after this dress rehearsal pictured above, the company sat in front of the television at the studio and reviewed notes & spacing, pointing out things that could be tweeked or fixed. This is something that was new to me, but I enjoyed watching the collective processing & the visual that they had in front of them. I didn’t want to disrupt rehearsals by using the flash on my camera, so I turned it off, which in turn made for a blurry picture! - Sorry!
Jean-Christophe’s Romeo et Juliette holds a very special place in my heart, so to revisit it was a dream. The rawness of this special version of the story comes through with it’s intentions while you’re watching, but dancing it, is also like living it (and the choreography provides for this). I had many thought-provoking rehearsals yet again since the first time it was set at PNB, but this time I was on BMC soil, and it felt like a new experience for me altogether. I can’t wait to revisit it again! Here are some images that photographer, Angela Sterling captured in rehearsals. These photographs are copyrighted.
One of my favorites…
And the final bows after the 200th show of Romeo et Juliette - This was a very special night to be in the audience.
Like all good things, the BMC season ended, but with it were inspiring & thoughtful performances of Jean-Christophe Maillot’s Altro Canto I & II. I hadn’t seen either piece, but was in awe of his completed masterpiece. Many said he would most likely continue to re-work, or modify Altro Canto II, but I was so happy to see the process from beginning to end, of what was to what is now. I can’t wait to gain more exposure to these works!
After the season ended I was whisked back to America to enjoy some down time with family & start rehearsals for Giselle for Ballet Hawaii. I was able to rehearse peasant pas de deux at my old stomping ground, the Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet. My partner for peasant pas was Jonathan Stafford, Principal dancer with NYCB. Jon & I hadn’t danced together in over ten years, so it was really wonderful to be able to work together again. Jon’s partnering was much like before - easy and comfortable, and I felt at ease and very taken care of. It felt like home 
Hopefully it won’t take another ten years for us to dance together again!!
Here is a group picture of the cast from my Ballet Hawaii gig. Among the cast were Emily Ellis, Savannah Lowery, Tiler Peck, Jonathan Stafford, John Selya and Joaquin de Luz. It’s always a blast to meet other dancers on common ground & this group was a fun one. I only wish our time together would have been a little longer.
So now I have 3 more days here in Seattle, and I am making the most of it by taking class with my old colleagues, visiting with friends, going to our favorite restaurants, and then attending farewell dinners & parties this final weekend. As we pack up our belongings I remember the past & look to the future. More soon - xoxo!
Recent Posts by noelani pantastico
December 6, 2007 at 6:05 pm · Filed under dance, candice thompson, CANDICE, ad hoc Ballet, gigs, guest artist
….guesting season! I am sure it is in full force for all of you already. Every weekend in a different city or small town. This week I am doing Nutcracker in Macon, GA with such a fun group of people. For those of you unfamiliar with the guesting phenomenon, I wanted to post some photos to give a little taste of what pays many months of bills for many dancers……
Keelan Whitmore (LINES) and I made the obligatory breakfast stop on Monday morning to fuel ourselves and catch up as we don’t get to see each other that often, being we are old friends living on opposite coasts.
The door of my dressing room. Yes, you are reading that cast of characters right. It is simultaneously strange and not as strange as you would imagine and of course, is just downright hilarious in retrospect.
Ilona Wall and Mary Beth Hanson relaxing in their dressing room.
Sean Stewart, mugging at dress rehearsal.
Me enjoying life at a hotel in the suburbs this morning. It seems to go as follows: wake up later than usual, get in my rental car, drive to the drive-thru Starbucks just cause I can, and straight to the jacuzzi for some physical therapy of sorts. Besides, might as well get a tan…..it is feels like 70 degrees in the sun here in December.
I bring my laptop as well, so I do also get in some much needed LOLAstretch work time, catching up on email and phone calls, and reading scripts for future costume design projects.
But let’s not forget the task at hand……the Arabian pas.
It is so much fun to dance with Dante and the choreography is almost a novelty as it is so different from the dancing I do with ad hoc Ballet. All in all, I think it is an amazing chance to get a breather from the city, enjoy your long lost friends and work, and hopefully get in the holiday spirit along the way! (And honestly, you don’t really have a choice as there is a sign made of lights as you enter downtown Macon counting down the days until Christmas!)
Recent Posts by candice thompson
July 25, 2007 at 6:40 am · Filed under dance, travel, CARLA, pacific northwest ballet, vail, morphoses, photography, festival, angela sterling, damian woetzel, chirstopher wheeldon, gigs, pnb
Pacific Northwest Ballet’s 2007 Summer Vacation was definitely a quick one! We got back 2 ½ weeks ago to get ready for our tour to Vail, Colorado, where we will be performing at the 2007 VAIL INTERNATIONAL DANCE FESTIVAL. Damian Woetzel was named the new artistic director for the festival and we are very honored to be invited to perform during his first Festival. PNB will perform three shows, July 29th and 30th and August 1st. We are bringing incredible ballets to Vail, from Balanchine to Nacho Duato to William Forsythe to Twyla Tharp. These performances should be very exciting.
Additionally to these shows I will also be dancing on August 3rd and 4th at the International Evenings of Dance, an evening Damian organized that will show stars from the Royal Ballet, New York City Ballet, Alvin Ailey, Pacific Northwest Ballet and many others. Bold and I will dance a Pas de Deux from Rassemblement, a Nacho Duato piece, and Balanchine’s Diamonds.
And I will also be dancing on a very exciting night. The premiere of Morphoses, Christopher Wheeldon’s new company. The performance will be on August 10th, and a preview on the 8th. I am so excited to be able to dance Polyphonia with his new company. Thank you Chris for inviting me to be part of this special evening.
And if all this preparation wasn’t enough I had some time to do a photo shoot with Angela Sterling this past weekend. Angela and I had a great time together. Angela was shooting for a promotional shoot for PNB. I think I have given the winger readers her link before, but for the ones that haven’t got a chance to see her work you can go to www.angelasterlingphoto.com to check out her amazing photos.
Hope some of you can make it to Vail. It is going to be a very exciting festival.
Packing up our costumes, shoes, thights, headpieces…….
PNB’s programs in Vail.
Angela Sterling doing her magic!
Recent Posts by carla korbes
