Paloma Herrera

TUNE IN!

American Ballet Theatre's Paloma Herrera

appears on tonight's episode of
Fox-TV SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE,
8-9pm est.

In a special guest appearance, Paloma performs
Kitri's variation from the third act of Don Quixote.

Romeo and Juliet balcony pas de deux

Here's a hot tip. Two YouTube postings have just appeared of Robert Tewsley and Miyako Yoshida performing Kenneth MacMillan's Romeo and Juliet balcony pas de deux. These are fabulous dancers, and though they are in practice clothes in a sterile dance studio, they convey more emotion than many people do in a full-blown production! Another bonus, the clip is in HD so the picture is much sharper than most on YouTube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2jgwte9NGy0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mAo_0FfawK0

National Ballet of Canada Sleeping Beauty in Ottawa

I just returned from the NBOC's 3-performance run of Nureyev's Sleeping Beauty in Ottawa. The company is looking in fine form, with the corps being very impressive in the second act; their level of ensemble was striking. I saw three casts: Guillaume Cote and Heather Ogden; Zdenek Konvalina and Sonia Rodriguez; and guest Jason Reilly (from Stuttgart Ballet) and Xiao Nan Yu. Rodriguez performed the Rose Adagio without a wobble and with radiant assurance. As her prince, Konvalina had the most musicality and princely quality of the three. Other highlights were Stacey Shiori Minagawa as Diamond, finishing her solo in a releve in fifth that looked as if it were nailed to the stage. Jillian Vanstone was a beautiful Princess Florine. Sleeping Beauty opens in Toronto this coming Friday, November 13th, which I hope is not inauspicious. For more information, visit the National Ballet of Canada.

Kirov and Bolshoi TOGETHER in Washington

We have a great package planned for Valentine's weekend in Washington DC, with premium tickets already reserved for the Sunday matinee performance of The Sleeping Beauty (Kirov/Maryinsky) and Tuesday opening night performance of Spartacus (Bolshoi), and rooms reserved at the Washington Fairmont. For people travelling from Toronto, we also have a great group airfare if we get a group of 10. But the package is open to anyone, so if you're interested, please email me at toursenlair@victortravel.ca. Booking deadline is December 10.