I haven't been to this forum in a couple of weeks, but having just gotten caught up with what you've all been saying, I wanted to thank you all for sharing your thoughts and feelings about the performances you saw.
Specifically, thanks Buddy for sharing your zeal for all of the performances you saw. From all your posts, it is clear of the impact these performances had on you (even if they were not "life changing"

). You let me re-live the experiences I had out here in Costa Mesa when the tour began. And between you and NYSusan, I almost feel that I saw Pavlenko's performance. Beautifully depicted by both of you.
Buddy, your comments about talking to Ms. Lopatkina were also meaningful to me. Your description of her as unassuming reminded me of a story I heard from an acquaintance I met after the last performance here in CM. He said that after her performance, she came out and signed autographs for over an hour simply because she was "waiting for someone and had the time and opportunity to". I don't recall the details, but it does sound like she is a genuinely gracious and unassuming star amongst artists not generally known for that quality. This also reminds me of an article I read off one of Suart's links where Lopatkina says that being a part of the Kirov legacy is an honor that she "never takes for granted".
The descriptions of Ms. Pavlenko suggests she might be of the same mold (the warm, appreciative, loveable smile she had, her ability and willingness to bring genuine emotion to her performances and even her appreciative reaction during her curtain call). In any case, I sincerely hope to get the chance to see her perform someday.
bcx, if you are still reading this forum, did you decide to go to Chicago or Boston?
Finally, a question to any of you: If I wanted to stay more informed about the professional ballet community what specific websites, magazine subscriptions, and forums should I be aware of? NYSusan, you referred to another forum where you talked about Pavlenko. What forum was that?
Thanks again.