Maria Kochetkova

You had the attention of (what seemed) the entire audience, from where I was sitting in the orchestra, during the pas de deux. It was a rarity considering the sort of audience that typically attend afternoon matinees: no screeching hearing aids tuning for the audience, no coughing, no grumpy old men moaning to their wives that they hate the ballet, no noise from the drunk revelers in the St. Patrick's Day festivities outside... nothing but the music and lovely dancing. Your shift in character from the first set of variations (great speed and synchronicity with Frances in variations 9 & 10, by the way) to what came across during variations 16 to 18 fit the mood of the music and was very effective. In fact, at the beginning of the 18th variation the audience was holding its breath so we could hear yours.

Kudos to you both for pulling it together on such short notice!