ARTS . Arts Picks

Pennsylvania Ballet

Feb. 2-10, Merriam Theater, 250 S. Broad St.


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Published: Jan 30, 2007

dance

There'll be stories within stories when Pennsylvania Ballet reprises 19th-century favorite Giselle this week. In 1995, longtime principal dancer Tamara Hadley danced the lead as her farewell performance, opposite her husband, principal dancer William DeGregory. "[It was] sad," she recalls. "A heartbreaking way to go, with our hands pulling apart and realizing that this was an end of an era for us." But Hadley didn't really leave. She stayed on as company ballet mistress, passing on roles she'd performed, rehearsing the company and remaining very much involved. When husband DeGregory retired, he, too, joined ballet staff, heading up PAB II and helping out with rehearsals.

Julie Diana dances the role of Giselle opening night, and her Prince Albrecht will be Zachary Hench, who just happens to be her husband. Giselle was sort of their first date, as they met performing it together with the San Francisco Ballet. They moved to Pennsylvania Ballet together, and last season Hench went on bended knee during a Romeo and Juliet curtain call and asked Diana to marry him.

New company soloist Spaniard Sergio Torrado, arriving midseason via San Francisco Ballet and Houston Ballet, introduces his ferociously high-caliber talent to local audiences as Albrecht, dancing with sinuous Riolama Lorenzo. The duo's sweat-drenched workouts with rehearsal master DeGregory were good enough to inspire his unexpected applause. "I just couldn't stop myself, they were so beautiful together," says DeGregory.

And there's yet another leading pair, with James Ady as Albrecht and Arantxa Ochoa as Giselle. "She's just a spitfire," Hadley laughs. "Everything she does, she embraces with 200 percent energy."

"Dancers really cherish this role," Hadley concludes. That's probably why audiences do, too.

Feb. 2-10, $20-$79, Merriam Theater, 250 S. Broad St., 215-336-2000, www.paballet.org.