What to say about Jean Christophe Maillot’s ballet masterpiece, Roméo and Juliette, that hasn’t been said before—and with countless accolades? Only that it was that much sweeter, poignant, and sharper watching the ballet with a treasured ballerina, Noelani Pantastico, dancing what amounted to her final role with Pacific Northwest Ballet—and, as always, with her signature smooth…
Nutcracker—PNB REVIEW
The December 5, 2021 Saturday matinee performance featured Noelani Pantastico as the Sugar Plum Fairy and Christopher D’Ariano as her cavalier. Michael Jinsoo Lin provided the expert solo violin. D’Ariano’s been given a lot of opportunities in the past year, and it’s easy to see why—he’s a skilled dancer and a sensitive…
BEYOND BALLET—PNB REVIEW
Ulysses Dove’s Dancing on the Front Porch of Heaven features Arvo Pärt’s music—the bell ringing is chilling. The overhead lighting is ominous, and the dancers, in sleek unitards, greys and whites, are conspicuous, exposed. Dove’s dance, complete with motifs, such as weight shifts in second position, or rapid leg extensions, is exciting to watch. Although…
New York City Ballet’s La Valse, and more
NYCB fall program
Innovators and Icons
Review of NYCB’s stunning fall program
Robbins Bigonzetti Ratmansky
The September 25 evening program of the New York City Ballet’s fall season opened with Opus 19/The Dreamer, set to Prokofiev’s Violin Concerto No. 1 in D major, the composer’s first violin concerto and often referred to as “music in technicolor.” So, too, Jerome Robbins’ colorful dance, with lead couple Tiler Peck and Gonzalo Garcia, and a…
New York City Ballet stuns with fall program
NYCB stuns in fall opening program
Easy cooking with cauliflower!
Easy cooking with cauliflower! But first, a little tidbit from FoodWISE, “Cooking is one of the most radical things we can do—especially given the huge time-saving appeal of prepared foods. Many convenient foods masquerade as Whole—like breads and wraps that have never undergone a real yeast fermentation, crunchy vegetable chips, and sweet carb- and protein-loaded…
Eat more vegetables? Squeeze-and-sauté leafy greens
August greens are some of my favorite—collards, mustards, kale. They’re especially yummy with potatoes. We’re told that leafy greens are good for us, but why? They’re nutritious (think, for kale: vitamin K, vitamin A, vitamin C, fiber, folate, and more) and delicious. In FoodWISE, I talk about experiments with leafy greens, like here: I idolized…
Favorite roasted potato recipe—light and fluffy!
FoodWISE cooking today is about roasting light and fluffy potatoes! From Easy Oven Roasted Potatoes. It’s at: https://www.spendwithpennies.com/simple-herb-oven-roasted-potatoes/ I’ll share the trick right now, which is really a step—soak the potatoes (cut into cubes) in water! Basically, all you do is cut the potatoes into 1-inch cubes, and soak in water to remove some of…