The Milwaukee Ballet’s 2012-13 season began in October with a never-before-seen work (Michael Pink’s "La Boheme") and ends this weekend with what is arguably the most recognized ballet production in the history of the art form.

Michael Pink’s interpretation of "Swan Lake" is at times joyful, at times melancholic, but always physically sublime. There is no better ballet to show off the skill and grace of a company of world-class professional dancers, and that’s exactly what Pink does: he shows them off – or rather, parts of them. Some dances emphasize the beauty of the dancers’ legs, like Alexandre Ferreira’s gleeful jetes in Act I, or the naked limbs of the swan corps as they hover, shiver and flutter as one unified entity.

Other dances are all about the arms, like the pas de deux at the end of Act I with the human Prince Siegfried and cursed swan Odette as he struggles to keep her from spreading her wings and flying away from his embrace.

There were plenty of little touches here and there that I thought made this production truly unique and a real treat to watch. The audience saw a softer, more natural swan corps than usual; like I said before, if I’m not mistaken, Odette & Co. were not wearing tights, and the aesthetic of the hazy lighting against their varying skin tones really highlighted their underlying humanity (they are, after all, not just swans but cursed women).

Their hair was also not in the traditional bun, which was an interesting look and allowed for a lot of movement.

I have to mention the lighting, which perfectly mimicked the hazy glow of twilight. It made the dances where the swans come back to human form so much more enchanting.

Timothy O'Donnell played a fantastic Rothbart and frankly, I wish the character would have had more stage time. The audience responded well to his cape-swirling drama and his great chemistry with Odile. 

The lack of the traditional pancake tutu on the swans, who instead wore a more romantic short s…

Watch out, Milwaukee. You’re about to see a whole new side of the Tupperware party. Sweet-talking, big-haired Southern belle Dixie Longate came into town yesterday with her off-Broadway hit show, which runs at the Marcus Center’s Vogel Hall May 14-26.

Dixie’s just as sweet as sugar, with a mouth on her like you would not believe and a past as colorful as the skin-tight tops she wears. Known as America’s No. 1 Personal Seller of Tupperware, this Mobile, Ala., native is a three-time widow and proud trailer park resident who began selling everyone’s favorite plastic bowls in 2001 after she got out of prison and needed to regain custody of her kids, Wynona, Dwayne and Absorbine, Jr. And the rest, as they say, is history.

Dixie closely resembles one Kris Andersson, an actor who used to make ends meet by selling Tupperware and developed a drag persona around the illustrious world of direct-sales kitchen storageware – but we’re sure that’s just a coincidence.

If you catch "Dixie's Tupperware Party" at Vogel Hall, be sure to bring your checkbook – just like at a real Tupperware party, there will be plenty of inventory on sale! Visit the website for more information.

Dixie was kind enough to sit and chat with OnMilwaukee.com about what she’s looking forward to in Milwaukee, why she loves us Yankees, and why Tupperware makes her feel like she can really kick some ass.

OnMilwaukee.com: We’re very excited to have you here in Milwaukee, Dixie; are you looking forward to the show here?

Dixie Longate: Oh, I can’t wait, it’s my very first time! I’ve never been here before and I’ve been hearing such wonderful things. People are being so neighborly, I just cannot wait! All I know about Milwaukee is from watching stuff on the TV, "Happy Days" and everything, so I’m gonna be excited to be there. I can’t even wait.

OMC: What area attractions are you going to check out while you’re up here?

DL: Well, do you know, there is a restaurant up there …

How do you revamp one of the world’s most popular and most recognizable ballets? Nix the white tutus.

Calm down, purists. The Milwaukee Ballet Company’s production of "Swan Lake," held May 16-19 at the Marcus Center for the Performing Arts, hasn’t gone all "Black Swan" on us. It’s the same story, the same score, the same heartbreaking star-crossed love as the company presented back in 2006.

This time around, though, the swans are going to look a little more ... human.

"There’s a different kind of thinking behind (the costumes) in that they are short dresses," says Krista Allenstein, assistant wardrobe mistress for the Milwaukee Ballet Company. "They (the swans) become human at night and that’s when you see them dancing, so they’re actually going to look more human. (The costumes) are very pretty, very delicate. They have the same bodices as tutus but the dancers are going to look like swans, like they’ve been out there in the wilderness."

The Milwaukee Ballet clarified the different kinds of tutus for us. The most common are pancake and bell tutus (think Sugar Plum Fairy), but a more "romantic" design - reminiscent of a fuller skirt - will be used for "Swan Lake." While still technically a tutu, it's a less traditional look.

"Because we’re not wearing your classical tutu, it does help blur the difference between the fact that these women are women for part of their lives and swans for part of their lives," says Valerie Harmon, who shares the role of Odette with fellow dancer Luz San Miguel.

"They are not the traditional tutus but they have some bird-like elements. They’re actually very beautiful and they’ll show movement and lines and bodies very well, and that is one of the most fun things."

However, the infamous Black Swan, Odile, gets to keep her tutu. "Her role is different," says Allenstein. "It’s to seduce the prince, so she has to look pretty fabulous."

Not that Odette, the white swan, and her cohort of cursed friends won’t be …

Of all the artists to sing in the proverbial house that Bocelli built, Il Divo has probably made the biggest splash.

The talented poperatic foursome, plucked from various European countries (with the exception of American tenor David Miller) by Simon Cowell in 2004, have quite the resume: over 2 million concert tickets sold, more than 26 million albums sold, and the only classical crossover album ("Ancora") to ever debut at No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard Top 200.

Tonight, they bring their latest tour, "The Best of Il Divo," to the Riverside Theater, 116 W. Wisconsin Ave. OnMilwaukee.com chatted with French singer Sebastien Izambard about the tour, his favorite music and how he keeps his kids grounded despite his worldwide fame.

OnMilwaukee.com: So this latest tour is called "The Best of Il Divo," so can your fans expect to hear a lot of their favorites?

Sebastien Izambard: We’ve had the chance to sing together for 10 years now, so we have a few albums to choose our best songs from, the ones that have worked out the best over the four worldwide tours – that gives us the luxury to sign people’s favorite songs. We’ve put in our best stuff. We also have some songs that have never been performed before in America, that we’ve only performed so far in Europe. It’s really exciting to bring it to an American audience.

OMC: Which ones are new to the American audiences?

SI: There’s the song from Titanic, "My Heart Will Go On," and we also have Elvis Presley’s "Can’t Help Falling in Love" – that’s a beautiful classic and the audience really connects to those songs. Also "I Will Always Love You" by Whitney Houston. So yeah, there are a couple of songs that aren’t on any of the albums, and people really seem to enjoy that.

OMC: So can the audience expect a nice mix of old and new songs?

SI: There’s a lot more old material than new, four or five songs that are new, and it’s a two-hour show. What’s really amazing is that we see a lot of men are coming a…