meunier fan

Thanks so, @California. Your kind advice is KEENLY appreciated. I'll just pray they stick to previous form.

A query if I might about the ABT Fall Season at State Theater. Does anyone know if this ALWAYS follows immediately on from the finish of the NYCB Fall Season. I know it did last year - but just want to check if this is always the case. I'm a dedicated NYCB fan and attend the majority of performances but live in London. I've just set my dates/plans out for the NYCB '24/25 season and thought I would stay on a week after the Fall '24 season end to catch ABT - but want to make sure that it is in fact the week following so i don't mis-book my flight/accommodation dates. Grateful for your kind advice.

Thanks to California and FPF for your kind responses. I will look forward to the potential of the coming weeks.

Just wondering if anyone had heard of the date that the 2024/25 NYCB Season is to be announced. Seems an expiring mind would love to know .... Fingers crossed it is not too much longer to wait now.

Agree totally about KJ in Stars. What I have loved - even just this season - is the joy of watching him putting some weight behind his placement. It has paid off beneficially on all counts. Would love to see more performances with him and Emma (well, Emma ALL round) because they looked SO spectacular in the first movement of Si3M. That, when definitely other principal parts of it were sometimes well off I thought at certain performances. So too, Alston McGill - she's literally grilling - or is that gunning - for more - and deservedly so. I so adored her in that first corps couple duet in the Hallelujah travel log. So too her partner, Victor. This lad has the most richly expressive port de bras and is such a gloriously telling partner. I would SO love for him to be given more chances. He seems always to be in the moment - and he makes those moments uniquely count not only on his own behalf but those of his partners in artistic crime - whoe'er that might be. They have every chance to fire when lit by his magical touch. His performance in Odesa was almost another ballet unto itself (whilst never not serving Ratmansky's starkly lucid whole) so vividly did he color the stage. This Company is SO rich in potential at the moment. So pleased too for the late celebration of Danny - It's his proper desert and may the autumn of this balletic summer continue well into an even more heady Fall. .... Ava (she of arms and legs reaching unto Albert's heaven) was indeed behind Ashley - who was rightly game - if not entirely musically inspired - but what caught my eye - as it so often does - is M.T. - I have a feeling the music would have been zinging with her at the controls - just look what she did with that stunning 2nd female variation in Ballo. So, so many gifts to cherish.

Casting is now out for NYCB in London - https://sadlers-wells-assets.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2024/02/NYCB-Casting_Sadlers-Wells_March-7-10-2024.pdf Glad to see it's either Danny or Roman for the final solo/lunge in Rotunda ... and good casting for Duo. Tiler, Roman and Stanley are in for Love Letter - with Stanley doing double duty where he does Duo Concertant with Woodward. Why take the ravishing Mira Nadon ALL that way merely to hide her in Gustave????

I - and so many others who appreciate the balletic idiom in London - agree with you, California. I live in London - in the sense that I own property and pay taxes there. I lived in NYC for 19.5 years between 1978 into the upper 90's - having visited regularly before and after - and happily throughout the so-called dance-boom. It was Balanchine (and before him Ashton) who not only taught me to love ballet but appreciate music. NYCB is the ONE THING I ALWAYS miss about NYC when I'm not here. If IT wasn't here I can promise you that I wouldn't be either. Now - and for the past bit - (now that I can) - I plan my work around NYCB seasons. I come to NYC for basically three and a half to four months a year to do projects and attend the VAST majority of NYCB performances and rehearsals. Certainly I didn't miss a single one of the Fall '23 Balanchine Celebration. I see it as a pilgrimage of grace; an expedition of life-defining joy. I will go to the NYCB performances in London in March at Sadler's Wells - but it will, I fear, be tinged with chagrin as I - for at least one - will know what might have been. This programme is not IT. This programme was selected by one Sir Alastair Spalding - head of the Wells' empire - who has done so, SO very much to define 'dance culture' in the UK for the past couple of decades. I doff my hat to him. He has built a devoted audience based on his selected morays. They are NOT I think the core ones to be seen at NYCB. That, I suppose, makes our world rich. In tandem with his concerted direction other institutions have been swayed. The Royal for instance. I think Dame Monica Mason could see the winds of London change and decided 'if you can't beat them, join them'. Thus she instituted the beginnings of the 'McGregor Culture' - which you can definitely see as being a logical progression from LATE MacMillan. I have come to appreciate this - and both of these idioms are things that the the Royal dancers - and they have some VERY fine ones - excel in. Indeed, they are now specifically - and understandably - trained for such. When you see the Royal dance McGregor now - McGregor at his best that is - Woolf Works, Untitled, Chroma, Infra, Yugen, Osidian Tear, Dante Project, etc., for instance - they do it with a kind of ease - a sense of comfort - of being 'at home'. This is much like NYCB - at its best - in Balanchine, Robbins, Evans (last night the magnificent Ava Sautter and Gilbert Bolden III literally blew Albert's Landscape out of the park again - Please Wendy bring it back - and thank you so much for reviving in the first place - You have done us ALL a favour) and Ratmansky. There is so much promise in Tiler Peck's first NYCB ballet - much as the one she did for UK's Northern Ballet. It is oh, so very different from the work of the Royal's current Choreographic Associate - one Mr. Joseph Toonga - whose work I fear is completely against my own particular taste but clearly held dear by many of the Royal's patrons and I can only suppose fiscal supporters. NOW perhaps more than ever before these cultures are completely separated by their dedicated idioms. Peter Martins may be many things but at least he kept his promise to Balanchine to maintain the balletic idiom. There was no such promise sadly made to/for Ashton in London. The idiom celebrated there - outside of the the major historic work horses/cash cows of course - is now very much of a contemporary slant - and often a contemporary slant that NYC audiences would understandably see as 'Old Hat'. You can see this even in the works that Chris Wheeldon creates for the Royal. They are of a very different camber certainly than those he would ever make - or has made - for NYCB. But back to the NYCB season at the Wells. There is only ONE PERSON to answer for this - and that is Spalding himself. Will he respond? You can bet your bottom dollar he won't . He will see that element of noblesse oblige as his birthright and I can only suppose as his gain. I sincerely think that much of it boils down to economics. The Wells were one of the two producers the last time that NYCB was presented in London in 2008 at the Coliseum. It seems they lost their proverbial shirt. On that occasion they did bring major NYCB works. I remember being at all the performances of one programme which featured Serenade, Agon (with Wendy and Albert no less) and Symphony in C. Swathes of red there were. For a couple of performances I actually got free tickets. Even then there were large segments of seats left vacant. This will have understandably, I suppose, defined Spalding's approach - oh so different from the ones in Paris, Copenhagen and Spain - all where I have seen the Company as well. Practically Rotunda has a limited requirement for musicians. Love Letter is performed to recorded music. All have - in NYCB terms - limited numbers of dancers. This is a programme that certainly is not fair to Justin Peck - nor to London audiences. Still, I can see Spalding's justification - were he brave enough to make it. The UK is a country crippled by debt - to which Brexit and the pandemic has clearly put definite and some think 'final' paid. Support for all of the arts / cultures are at the moment unquestionably struggling. It is also a country of very limited significant exposure to many major 'balletic' creations from the 20th - let alone the 21st - Century. (Think Balanchine, think Robbins, think Neumeier, think Ratmansky, think Peck, etc., etc., etc.) With the wars currently going on this has become - indeed as it has in NYC - even more restrictive for very practical/understandable reasons. There is no question but that London has become ever more conservative in its creative define IN THE BALLETIC regard. It is, I suppose, THAT which Spalding is responding to ... but then - in significant part - it is THAT which Spalding himself is in part responsible for. He has, again in part and certainly in tandem with current and 'balletic' leaders of the recent past in the UK, created the very risk he will think he is shielding from. Depending on your view point it is the British audience's loss or gain. The British punters - those that attend the programmes at the Wells - (and clearly Spalding can see it has now done relatively well in this small venue) - will be able to make up their minds for themselves. Those who remain hungry - and I know they are in number out there - can - like me - choose to come to State Theater and - on the good nights - of which there are oh, so many - revel in the NYCB feast. They will have to save, of course, and that is progressively difficult. Taxes in the UK are now higher than they have been since the end of the last World War. Still, it could be worse - blessedly they HAVE that choice thanks to NYCB. It does not only survive, but strive and thrive. Long may it do so. Those who celebrate McGregor and MacMillan (and you certainly would NOT want to see NYCB do these - can you imagine????) - now have every reason to run to London. There is certainly value there. I can attest to that. Moreover, they will find it cheap at the cost - certainly theatrically speaking - compared to NYC. It is - globally speaking - respectively - a buyer's market.

I was at this evening's performance. I doubt if Justin Peck's Rotunda will ever be listed amongst my favorite ballets but I enjoyed it more this evening than a few previously. Perhaps it was a tad more focused tonight - or more likely it was simply that I was. Fairchild truly shone in the solo as she did in the PDD with Walker. The PDT with the always entrancing Ms. Woodward was a much appreciated refreshment. I have to say I often find - at least to some extent - SVV cumbersome and I fear this was yet another occasion where such held true. Danny Ulbrecht was just so much more concentrated in his polished engagement. I fear too this musical score just does not sit well with me. Somehow - in my ear at least - it limps. Those reservations were completely disbanded in Tiler Peck's new work - which I think I was seeing for the fourth time. I had briefly seen the choreographer herself earlier in the day rehearsing the PDD with Miller, Bolden and Mejia. Roman went all out gangbusters tonight - perhaps knowing that it was the last time he would dance it for a while. This score is just so brilliantly illuminating and Peck's transitions become ever more mature as they are shaped within the Company's own growing confidence. Miller and Bolden literally sang in the PDD - with Bolden making - ultimately - an effortful triumph of that sky-high lift. Seductively Miller's arms consistently hung with grace within the framework of the music's abundant radiance. Bolden's own thrill of rifling barrage was totally infectious. Certainly it and the entire work were filled with drama. I love how the corps is here a major character and Von Enck and Bradley yet again sliced the air with ever-thickening aplomb within their dedicated soloist roles. Theirs, as indeed ours, was a privileged existence being equally en-wrapped within this life-enriching architecture. The cherry on this and many performances' cake was, however, Ratmansky's Odesa. What a masterwork it is. Here is MacMillan's Manon minus the overt vulgarities and choreographic padding. Both have equally ravishing scores. This too is about a depraved community of abusive gangsters and their victims. Joe Gordon outdid his own celebrated balletic authority in that stunningly shape-shifting variation and a truly glorious Von Enck - oh, so VERY telling - met him at every point - (rat-a-tat-tat) - for point - and then some. Veyette was the very picture of an aged Andalusian lothario whose once deafening strings had perhaps been plucked one too many times. Equally, the enervating Alexa Maxwell was mesmerizing as his victim; all steel within her mock-kid glove. Eventually she would literally toss herself in his mind - one gloriously shaped by this ALL persuasive music - as he dashed around her until that final buffeting slap brought not only him but all the community - including herself - down towards an ever-darkening death. The one couple remaining - our final dim hope - was the spectacularly defined duo of Tyler Angle and Sara Mearns. They were SIMPLY OUTSTANDING - ultimately earning their place in the light and she - the ultimate SHE - saw that the feline wills would - each in tandem - conquer and ultimately crush the defeated mind's eye of a churlish man's world. This was narrative - in the true sense of the word - (i.e., storied) - balletic fare of the highest order.

I was in the house for that performance at the Chatelet (just prior to its closure for restoration which now, happily, is completed) and the Paris audience adopted MacGill with cheers. You'd think she was French! It was a thrilling three-week season and I was glad I was able to attend all of the performances. A true celebration. NYCB was produced on that occasion - as they had the previous one and the one following at La Siene Musicale - by Les Etés de la Danse. Sadly that fine organization - which brought so many glorious companies to Paris especially from the Americas - including famously SFB - seems to have bit the dust with the pandemic. Their loss is definitely felt. No question of that. Summers in Paris will NEVER EVER be quite the same.

I so agree with SO many of these wonderful suggestions. The under-use of Kikta is entirely tragic; entirely at our cost. From the casting realities it very much looks as if Management has all but promoted the lovely Alexa Maxwell - not without justification. Emma Von Enck's official thrust forward is, I think, an entire no brainer. I predict it will come to pass sooner rather than later. Gabriel has powerhouse placement and is growing into a telling partner. I so enjoyed Sautter in Evans' telling Landscape but think she still needs a little time to be fair to her. Think too there is just so, SO much potential in these ranks. SO refreshing. M.T. Mackinnon, Afanasenkov, Knight and the punchy delight that is MacGill would certainly get my vote. Might I just add Victor Abreu. I always find his vivid concentration, consistently extraordinary port de bras and truly excellent partnering SHOULD - by equal right - make him an additional shoe-in for the upwards category. He also has proven himself to be something of a work horse.

A brief note about this afternoon's Copeland Episodes - Suddenly - with the theatrical impact of Gilbert Bolden - the (now) second act came into a focus it hadn't ever done for me previously. Such a stunning dramatic arc Bolden found in 'The Split' - It was as if the witch inside of him had been doused with water and he was now firmly set on a slow burn. Riveting. The diminution of this character's oh, so harbored machismo had here become robustly compelling. Sincerely I had never witnessed this before. At least for me this was a different ballet. Moreover the set-up with Dinner For One - which I had always found beyond awkward - too suddenly made sense in the delicate hands, arms, feet and mind of Mr. Placement Plus, David Gabriel. At the tale end the literal relief of Roman Mejia spiraling off with an incandescent Alexa Maxwell was - at long last - able to frame the remains of the completing white. That was all that was starkly left following the ever-blackening might of Miriam Miller and Bolden's sorrow so persuasively surrounded by an unremittingly deft - but, as we now see, deaf - field of primary color.

So agree with the comments about last night. After some unsettling - and certainly unsettled - opening themes, Mabie (love the name - well, maybe not - sorry, couldn't resist) came as a refreshing tonic in this particular 4T's presentation. So much promise, I only wish his port de bras had the same authority and weight that his legs were given in this glittering gift of choreography. The vigorous air of his gift deserves to fully saw. Riccardo literally sizzled in the precision of his focused vulnerability. He was electrifying as was Nadon - a legend in the making if there ever was one - who simply - or so it seems - only has to stroll, bound or slink onto a stage to re-define whatever glory has been rightfully tossed her way. The sense of fullness in each aspect and in every assignment pulls focus only because it so well deserves to. In each instance it helps release the whole - much as she did last week in LW. Talking of which - LW that is - I so agree with Cobweb that last night's was a much more balanced affair all round. Certainly it led to much purring in my second ring vicinity and happily no one was getting up to depart during the two-minute curtain-down connecting this smorgasbord of choreographic desire; one oh, so wondrously varied in its exhilarating arousal. (If only they could find singers who were at least adequate. That contralto's German is STILL almost as wide of the mark as her vibrato. I'm sorry, but it's embarrassing.) Woodward specializes in the rich detail of her ravishment and Chamblee was buoyant in the well-healed succor of her surround. The ever wondrous Chan beckoned and Mearns blessedly on this occasion beamed - as well she might. Angle should be given a medal for theatrical steerage literally building the fabric - foundations up - of LaFreniere's response. She only needed to paint by the well defined glow of his numbers which happily she did. (I'm afraid I find her a really quite inconsistent artist and still struggle at times to remove the traces of that historically abysmal Aurora she delivered from my mind. She was on more comfortable ground here, seemingly firing her bird within the confident wrap of Angle's arms.) Laracey is of greater value to the Company. She is a principal without title and always delivers her charges with subtle elegance and wit. If you closed your ear to the all-too-occasional mush of the German strictures you could, here, simply lounge back and luxuriate in the sound of the dance - and what an exhilarating communion it is. So often - as it was and as it should be - so very potent.

The cast-lists at the Royal Opera House are all digital. I have to say I now prefer it. If you want to save them you can in an electronic file - and during the interval you can always reference if you need a refresh. I always consult them just before leaving home - which is about 15-20 mins away. Certainly it saves on having unnecessary mounds of good intentions. What is it Wilde has Miss Prism say: 'Memory is the diary we all carry about with us'. Of course, some of those pages - certainly in my own case - are somewhat crinkled.

Won't dribble on, but I, too, thought last night's 4T's much improved. Chamblee's variation was much more assured and precise and he - as many - looked more confident than on their previous outing; LaFreniere has all the necessary parts but they seem - for all her obvious effort - placed rather generically. I witness the congrats for her not falling out of her solo turn last night but surely that was in part due to a simplification of the choreography in that one specific regard. Talking of generic I find S-V-V's port de bras particularly woolly - as much in this segment as elsewhere. He seems to have to have to push the dial to get any semblance of focal target. Would so love to see Victor Abreu given a go in this particular assignment. He is well equipped I frequently notice in that department and is a consistently fine partner. In the corps tonight MT MacKinnon, Starner and Corti stood out for immersed precision. Would love to see them given more opportunities. LW too was better off. The singing elements were a tad more assured and the stunning dances moved with a more comfortable inter-related precision. Agree Mira does seem to float on a heavenly cloud almost at times unto herself - PW can I fear seem pointedly awkward at times - and Roman happily managed to zero-in offering Phelan a more relaxed ploy to her devoted churn. What a stunning work of genius this is. It never fails to astonish and delight. Talk about variations on a sublime theme. This is the very personification of such. Between the afternoon NYCB rehearsal and the evening performance (with a little interruption trying to cross the road while the world according to the NYCPD seemed intent on stopping for the President's motorcade - took a subway fare simply to bypass such) I attended the Works in Process programme in the Lincoln Center division of the NYPL. This centered around a charming octogenarian, George Lee who - when Li - created the role of Tea in Balanchine's famed Nutcracker. His very unabashed humbleness harnessed the capacity audience's delight and his steely entrechat six from the Bluebird PDD seen in a documentary segment would put but a few of the current NYCB retinue (Hello Mr. SVV) to shame. Now a blackjack specialist in Las Vegas - where he has been resident for the last 40 years - his dedication to the memory of his dancer mother brought the audience to their admiring feet.

For me, Kikta, Nadon, Peck & Angle were the heroes of last night. Not certain who programmed this particular outing - but I thought the combination somewhat peculiar in its arrangement. Still, I was grateful to be back in the land of Mr. B. As with those above, I kept seeing in many instances other past NYCB dancers I had seen (and preferred) in so many of the 4T charges; so fully fulfilling these extraordinary roles. I agree with Cobweb; seeing LW in Vienna and, especially, Hamburg - where I have been privileged to see it on a number of occasions - always paired with the Balanchine's triumphant BSQ - is a vastly different experience. I think not having the curtain come down during the so-called 'break' is a definite boon. The energy from the Teutonic audiences throughout - one in which so many in the house grew up with the verse - (I've occasionally seen people close their eyes and mouth the words in bliss) - so potently flows over onto the stage. (It's funny, but I found Mejia's mishap on Phelan's luxurious hem last night almost touching because it so perfectly embraced that moment's text dealing with humane 'misplacement'. I know this was entirely accidental - as was the concerned rise of Mejia's front facing furrowed eyebrows in the exact reprise shortly thereafter. Still they somehow made the glorious framework of Balanchine's genius especially potent given that these were entirely natural echoes in riposte.) I must confess I now find the launch of so many lighted mobiles during the State Theater 'curtain down' break - as much as the mindless as opposed to focused chatter - which was certainly the case last night at least in the vicinity of my first ring ear - almost an affront. In Germany you could cut the silence of the vast house with a knife as the stars begin to embrace the scene. Certainly, no one rises to seemingly leave. I suspect they would be pounced upon. Again I agree with Cobweb; the singing was at best pedestrian. These were clearly people for whom the task was but a gig. The words - as much as the audience - deserve so, so much more investment to rightly honor these heightened tales of the human soul.