Archive for les ballets de monte carlo
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
July 21, 2008 at 10:17 pm · Filed under dance, injuries, CARLA, pacific northwest ballet, les ballets de monte carlo
Life just keeps giving me opportunities to continue to grow as a person. Last January, I was rehearsing Juliette with Lucien Postlewaite for PNB’s new production of Christophe Maillot’s Romeo et Juliette. I was thrilled that I was getting to dance this amazing ballet and I was getting to work with Giovanna Lorenzoni and Gaby Baars from Les Ballets de Monte Carlo. I knew my back was in trouble but the idea of letting go of an opening night as Juliette seemed impossible to me. A week and half before opening night my body shut down. Like coming out of a dream, I was awakened to realize once again that nothing is more important than my health and that it was time to let go. It was an experience of letting go of control. The pain was very humbling. My body was injured and I had to help it to heal.
So here I am. Six months have gone by and my back has mostly healed from a compressed fracture in one of my vertebras. I have returned to dancing (as of this past week!). But this past six months have been very valuable to me. What I can remember from my past injuries is a lot of frustration and depression from not being able to dance. But this time was different. After realizing I wasn’t going to be able to perform Juliette, my mind, body and soul felt open to see what else I could do with myself besides dance.
The first thing I did was to enroll in a class at Seattle University. Until now, I never had an honest desire to go back to school, but since last year the idea of studying again seems wonderful to me. So I took an English and a Philosophy class and loved every moment of it (or almost every moment of it!!). I loved the fact that I was learning new things and I loved seeing myself as a student. It was very easy to dedicate myself to every task. I also started to take singing lessons. As a kid, my Mom and Dad sang with a choir and my older sister had a rock band. They all have incredible voices. We used to sing all the time. (We had songs for Beer, Meals, Chimarrao tea, beautiful sunsets) So I found Ann Evans, my Voice teacher, who has reminded me of how free one can feel when singing. It’s been healing to me to sing again and remember my times in Brazil singing famous Brazilian songs with my sister.
And one of the most important lessons from this injury is how much I have learned about my body and especially my back. Ever since I moved to Seattle I have been interested in the wonders of the human body and how it all works. I have taken Aston Patterning courses in movement and alignment to try to understand as much as I can about the body. Through this injury I got to work with great physical therapists, from traditional to holistic, Naturopathic doctors, Aston patterning, and acupuncture, etc. All of them added something to this enormous puzzle in my head about the body. I enjoy learning and working with the body so much that it makes me wonder if perhaps I will pursue something in this field when I retire from ballet.
But for now I am back to ballet and ready to be onstage again next Sunday. I will be doing four shows at the Vail Dance Festival. My first show will be at the opening night Gala, Sunday July 27th. Damian Woetzel choreographed a piece last year for Tyler Angle (NYCB) and I, and we will dance along with Phillip Glass on the piano (how exciting is that!). My second show will be with PNB, where I will be dancing Fancy Free. Then I have two more shows for the Vail International Evening of Dance with Batkhurel Bold.
It can be so easy to be completely hypnotized by the excitement of being onstage again and to get mesmerized by the magic ballet can create. However, I need to remember: ballet is my eternal love, but my body and my health is still the most important thing because without it I wouldn’t be able to dance.
Writing this post will help me remembered that!?!?!?
See you all after Vail. Hopefully I will have some nice shots from the tour and good news about how my back is doing!!
Recent Posts by carla korbes
July 16, 2008 at 7:42 pm · Filed under dance, life, NOE, les ballets de monte carlo, les ballets des monte-carlo
For one reason or another I am not comfortable yet taking pictures of the dance here in Monte-Carlo, so pictures of the beautiful South and other images that show some of my European experiences will have to suffice.
This is a view from Roquebrune Village. On my last visit to the Cote D’Azur, I went to Eze Village, which lies on the other side of Monaco. It’s amazing to see these little tucked away communities, where people live. Looking at the architecture, it’s as though the castles and structures grew from the rock. Maybe this is to preserve the nature surrounding it. I should also note that I had the best lemon meringue tart of my life here!
Euro vs. Dollar - As I was organizing my wallet (yet again), I realized that I have to get rid of my US dollars & change. My euros have set up camp. As you can imagine, things are a little more expensive here if you are comparing the two constantly. I had a friend give me sound advice - Just think in euros now!
The beauty of the Casino at night.
..and what was happening behind the Casino, on the Terrace… Dancer, Stephan Bourgand in Marco Goecke’s piece, Whiteout
A lot of the ballets done here have “pancaked” pointe shoes. I’ve never had to do it before, but I had some good pointers on what exactly to use, and how it’s done. It’s just regular Kiwi brand shoe polish - white & brown mixed together. It was difficult for me to mix the right shade before applying. The pair on the left turned out a bit lighter, but I think it’s pretty close to my shade. Hopefully I’ll get better at this with time..
More soon! Bye for now..
Recent Posts by noelani pantastico
July 8, 2008 at 6:59 am · Filed under dance, NOE, les ballets de monte carlo
Here in Monte Carlo we are preparing for Les Nuits De La Dance. There are three programs and three choreographers for the shows on the Terrace of the Casino. The first program has choreographers, Johan Inger, Marco Goecke, and Jean-Christophe Maillot. The second program is Maillot’s Romeo et Juliette, which PNB premiered in Seattle this past season. And the third program is Altro Canto - Part 1 & 2. Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo performed Part 1 in San Francisco earlier this year, and is currently in “creation” for part 2. I am so thrilled and excited to see all programs!!!! Here are some pictures that I’ve taken in the past week.
This is studio 1 @ Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo. They can utilize this space for shows as well. And during creation they can visualize what will be on stage with the use of sets and things of that nature. I was sitting in the studio before a rehearsal started and the surroundings inspired me. It’s like a blank slate for creation.
Last night I went to the Cafe de Paris, which is adjacent to the Casino, with some new friends. I was told to go here by several people. We sat spoke about life and dance, and just enjoyed the scenery. If you ever go to Monte-Carlo, this is a place you should definitely visit.
This is right behind the Casino (the terrace), where they are already setting up the stage for Les Nuits De La Dance!!
This is actually what the dancers look at during the perfomances. It is the back of the Casino, but could easily look like the front because of it’s beauty!! More to come soon - there are adventures around every corner!
Recent Posts by noelani pantastico
July 2, 2008 at 11:20 pm · Filed under dance, dance event, NOE, les ballets de monte carlo
Hello Wingers! I’ve had such amazing adventures over the past month, and more recently, I made my way to Monte-Carlo! I won’t write much now because it is late here, but here are some pictures from my first days in the South of France!
This is the view from the plane
The Casino, where we will perform on the terrace later this month - Beautiful!!
And last, but definitely not the least, and ad for Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo. This one happened to be in a garage full of skooters (which I loved), but they can be seen all over the city.
More soon! xo
Recent Posts by noelani pantastico
May 4, 2008 at 3:19 am · Filed under NOE, noelani pantastico, les ballets de monte carlo
Hello Everyone!
I am so happy to be a part of The Winger! Recently I had my first visit to Monaco and France, where I’ll work & live come September. As you can imagine, It’s quite a tumultuous time as I am starting to make the transition. So far, dealing with learning a new language has been the biggest chore - but fun, nontheless! Here are some pictures from my recent trip..
This is the view of Monaco from the palace -
This is a street in Monte Carlo -
This is the lounge at les Ballets de Monte-Carlo -
This is the view from the roof of les Ballets de Monte-Carlo
Enjoy - I’ll be posting again soon!
Recent Posts by noelani pantastico
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