more POB Reviews? Guillem reviews Le Riche reviews Legris reviews Hilaire reviews

The gala was wonderful.

I also went to see Sleeping Beauty with Dupont/Legris, Osta/Le Riche, and Guillem/Le Riche. In fact, the last one is not right: my big surprise, it wasn't Le Riche but Hilaire!Does anyone know if Nicolas is seriously injured and if he will dance with Sylvie on the 11th/01? I must say that I was quite disappointed.

Aurélie Dupont was simply lovely. She seemed to have lost some weight, she looked gorgeous. Aurore has to be young and pretty: this role suits her very well. M-A Gillot was majestuous in the 6th variation. Clairemarie Osta looked very excited to dance her first big role. She seemed to have well prepared her prestation, with meticulous theatrical details. Nevertheless she lacked a bit of spontaneity. Nicolas Le Riche was excellent and it seems that Clairemarie was quite good because of Nicolas. His partnering is always excellent. Is it because of her small size that she lacks presence? In fact, I don't think it is the case: Yvette Chauviré as well as E.Maurin are small but they have a perfect silhouette(an ideal proportion of the legs/bust/face) which Osta doesn't have.

This is not the case of Sylvie Guillem. To see her is always an émerveillement. The pale pink costume suits her so well! I didn't recognised Nureev's choreography. She made a sort of personal choreography, a sort of mix of Sleeping Beauty and Swan lake and probably other versions of Sleeping Beauty. Anyway the way she controls her body is astonishing.

What I like the most in this Nureyev's version is the long solo variation of the prince in the second act. At the gala I saw a pdd of Lifar's Romeo et Juliette. It was poignant. It's the first time I've seen a Lifar choreography: it is poetic, pure emotion, every movement has a reason which you sense - which is not always the case with Nureyev's choreographies. Why does POB only present Nureyev's productions for classical ballet? There is no diversity while there are such treasures as Lifar. L'Arlésienne was also spectacular.

About Ghislaine Fallou (première danseuse) I think it's a shame that she has personal problems because she's really a rare dancer: a bit like Ghislaine Thesmar, she's a distinguished subtle and delicate dancer. Let's hope she will be able to come back very soon. Nowadays there are more and more of athletical dancers ballet requires physical abilities but this is not enough. It's also an art. Catherine, have you seen all the different casts of Sleeping Beauty -what do you think of them?