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sneds

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  1. Greetings! Sylve has been cast for the Week of Jan 20-25, which is a good sign. The cast change last night was not unexpected-the first cast, for whatever reason, did two performances last week, so it made sense to let Borree, Hubbe & Co do both performances this week. Otherwise one cast would have been doing three of four performances, and it's hardly fair to have dancers debut in a role and then not dance it again that season (injuries, illness etc. excepting). And you should always check lobby casting if you can. Online casting is often only changed on Wednesdays when the new casting goes up. But, sometimes they don't update the current casting when they update it. The lobby boards are updated for every cast change. Kate
  2. Hi! Thank you all again for your wonderful reviews! For those of us too far away to enjoy the Centennial Season live, the reviews bring it to life! Tom Gold has one of the major roles in Susan Stroman's new ballet, so perhaps they were keeping him fresh for the premiere later this week. As for Sylve, that is very worrying....the only time I've seen a role switched was in The Nutcracker, when someone else appeared as the Candycane in the finale. However, I'm pretty sure that it was to allow the first dancer to leave early, and involved a dancer who was not otherwise performing. Already, it sounds like the stress of performing so many new and new-to-the-recent repertory ballets is taking it's toll on the company. Taylor and Whelan are out, Bouder was replaced in "Harlequinade", Millepied (resting for Harlequinade?) and Woetzel (who sounds like he's just fine) were replaced in "Donizetti Variations", and now Sylve and Gold. It's probably a combination of plain old bad luck, the usual chronic injuries and lots of guesting in other companies' Balanchine events. I do hope they are intelligent with casting and resting the injured dancers, as with all the debuts in the Spring Season, the tours in Washington, California, Saratoga and Japan, there's not a whole lot of down time in the next year. Kate
  3. Hi! NYCB does have student tickets, though the availability changes week to week. For instance, this past week, they were available for all shows except the weekend matinees. You can order tickets online (I've had the best luck ordering online just after midnight)or buy them at the box office. To find out when tickets are available-info for each week is posted on Monday- and to order them online (unitl 3pm) you can go to: http://www.nycballet.com/nycballet/html/ti...studentrush.asp However, if you are going, I would't count on tickets being available in the afternoon. I'm not sure whether by "next week", you mean this coming week or the week of Jan.19, but both may limited as far as student tickets-this week is full of debuts, and the following Thursday is Balanchine's birthday, and is sold out for all but the back of the 4th ring (at least via the web). Another option, if you might be coming back for another performance, is to join the 4th ring society, which is about $15 for winter and spring seasons, and entitles you to $12 tickets in the 4th ring, which can be bought anytime, for any performance. As to Dr. Hamilton's office...I've never been there, but if it's on 58th (between 8th & 9th I think), it's about a ten minute walk from Lincoln Center (traffic lights permitting!). If the weather isn't pleasant, you can always hop on the subway at Columbus Circle (59th) and go one stop up to Lincoln Center. Hope this helps! Kate
  4. sneds

    Li Cunxin

    Hi! I grew up watching Li at the Houston Ballet, and was really excited to read the book. It is now available on both amazon.com and amazon.co.uk, and it's a must read! Kate
  5. Hi! Another great night at "The Nutcracker" on Friday (19th)!! Alexandra Ansanelli was wonderful again, but seemed more restrained than on Tuesday night. Not that it was in any way a bad performance, in fact I thought this was the best I'd seen her dance in long while. She was more elegant, more mature...giving the role some presence instead of the more kinetic, abandoned feel on Tuesday. Bravo! Damian Woetzel also seemed more restrained, but like Ansanelli, gave the role an approrpiately regal feel. Woetzel and Ansanelli appear to have a formed a great partnership, and Woetzel handled the tricky partnering very well. He had to plie way down to catch her on the second shoulder lift, but the lift was solid. I was a bit surprised by the restraint Woetzel showed in his brief solos-he eneded the menage with just plain grand jetes off the stage, and actually split his pirouettes in second into two sections, slowing down (in perfect control again) and pushing back off from fifth (fourth). He jetes were all beautifully stretched and his pirouettes, as usual, were fast and his leg in perfect second, but it was less "showy" than one often sees from Woetzel. Not a bad thing, just different and maybe a bit refreshing! Henry Seth ably replaced an ill Ask laCour in Hot Chocolate and Adrian Danchig-Waring was an unusually mobile Mother Ginger. Daniel Ulbricht made the most of his very brief solo in Tea, his elevation in jumps and jetes as stunning as usual! I relished the opportunity to see Jennie Somogyi as Dewdrop and was not disappointed! Actually for me, one of the highlights was Ashley Bouder's crisp and sparkling Marzipan! All in all, about the best performance of Nutcracker I've seen in several years. Almost no glitches at all, and plenty of gorgeous dancing! Bravo, Bravo! Kate
  6. Hi! Just back from tonight's (Dec 16) performance, and I'm afraid there might have another injury to add to the list. Joaquin De Luz appeared as the Candycane, dancing nicely, though with a stumble at the end, but was replaced by Daniel Ulbricht in the finale. I do have a faint memory of Ulbricht replacing another Candycane in the finale of a show last year, so perhaps DeLuz needed to leave early. On to other performances... Antonio Carmena was wonderfully crisp and soaring soldier, one of the best I've seen in a long time. Also of note was Jason Fowler in Hot Chocolate. Alexandra Ansanelli was an energetic Sugarplum Fairy, though with a couple of tiny stumbles. Ben Millepied was excellent in his solos, lacing in high leaps into the circle of grand jetes, though he stumbled on the final double tour to knee (I think that's what he intended to do...). The jumps-to-shoulder were a little nerve-wracking, but were solidly performed. However, it appeared, at least to me, that Millepied was laboring over some of the lifts. Not sure if it was a timing thing or something else, but they didn't look quite so smooth as when they danced together in "Coppelia" last spring. Cheers! Kate
  7. Hi! Yes, Peter Boal was supposed to have danced the Cavalier on December 6th, but the weather prevented him from getting back to NYC from Washington (where he'd been performing with Suzanne Farrell's company). There was a mention of it in one of the NY papers, as that performance was the celebration of all the children who'd ever danced in The Nutcracker. Cheers Kate
  8. Greetings! Tewsley's absence could have been weather related, not illness/injury related. The snow/sleet/rain delayed and/or cancelled many flights and made driving a challenge. Thus, a possibly perfectly healthy Tewsley might have been stuck somewhere else (like Peter Boal was a week earlier). Cheers! Kate (who made it safely into NY yesterday and can't wait to see the Nutcracker tomorrow!!)
  9. Hi! Yes, I believe those are the seven apprentices who were named after the 2003 SAB Workshop. I would guess that Olivia Lavery is Olivia Goodrich. Cheers! Kate
  10. Hi! Actually, (at least based at the roster on the website), a large number (most?) of the Atlantic Southeast Ballet dancers are from the US, or at least were trained in this country. They include four SAB Workshop alums, two who formerly danced with the Carolina Ballet and one from the Kansas City Ballet. And on a slightly different theme....would we really be so happy if companies in the US did not hire foreign dancers or the restrictions were tighter than they are now? Think of all the foreign dancers who have and continue to enrich American dance...14 of the 19 principal dancers at ABT are foreign born (15 if you include Gillian Murphy) and I have not noticed many complaints about the international diversity in ABT (or in NYCB, though to a lesser extent). I think that the diversity of our ballet companies is one of their main strengths and we should not hire American dancers just because they are American. American immigration laws will always limit who can be hired, we don't need to add any more barriers. As for the English National Ballet-they have plenty of foreign dancers, restrictions or no restrictions. Jose Manuel Carreno and Carlos Acosta both danced with ENB in the early days of their careers... Kate
  11. sneds

    Leslie Browne

    Hi! Leslie Browne is indeed a very lovely person! She's done choreography for several groups inclduing the ABT summer program and the Brandywine Ballet in Pennsylvania. Leslie did indeed dance with NYCB briefly-it wasn't until after "The Turning Point" that she joined ABT. It was during her time at NYCB that she changed her name from Brown to Browne. Her brother Ethan Brown is still a soloist with ABT. Her father ran a ballet school in Arizona, which I think might have neen the precursor the Ballet Arizona school, but by that time was separated from Leslie's mom. He died many years ago of a heart attack, but Leslie's mother still lives in New York City. Kate
  12. Hi! My memory is getting a bit foggy, but I think Veyette didn't dance for a long while last winter & maybe spring 2002, and remember wondering if was sick or injured. However, he was dancing a lot last spring and summer!! I particularly remember him as part of the outstanding cast of 'Piano Pieces' and as one of the asses in Wheeldon's "Carnival of the Animals"! As for now, I don't see him on the cast list for any of the solo roles, but it's quite likely that he's dancing in just about every performance in the corps. There are so many talented male corps members right now, and only so many casts for each role. Cheers! Kate
  13. Hi! Definately buy tickets sooner rather than later. The third ring is not very big, so tickets there are likely to go quickly. Fourth ring seats are not bad, but I second the advice on the binoculars. Also, when you order online, it sometimes works to make requests in the suggestions box on the form. In the past I've asked that I be placed farther towards the center, even if it means being a few rows farther back and had my request filled. But, just about any seat in the 4th ring has a good view, if from a distance! Oh, the ticket availability page is not always very accurate. If it indicates that tickets are sold-out you won't be able to buy them online, but you can often get tickets at the box office. Also, there's a glitch in the system so that the 4th ring L-O seats are always indicated as "limited availability" unless they are totally sold out. I seem to remember someone posting that they got a good deal on Nutcracker tickets at Playbill.com (??), but that may have been for very late season tickets that the company was having a harder time selling. Kate
  14. Hi! The three remaining apprentices all received their corps contracts recently-Zungre, Georgina Pazcoguin and Allen Peiffer. Kate
  15. Greetings! As to promotions at NYCB....Promotions are often announced in the spring, but there doesn't seem to be any set schedule as to when promotes are announced. I'm sure there are many factors which dictate the scheduling of promotions. Without slipping into conjecture and rumors, my impression is that the general feeling is that NYCB may be waiting for the upcoming Balanchine Centennial season to make announcements about promotions and possibly some departures. I would think they'd promote some of the talented men out of the corps to soloist, at the very least. I don't know the details of the Movado contract, but it's quite possible that the terms of the contract set limits on how the funds can be used. Thus, NYCB may not be able to use the funds for dancer salaries. In any case, the Movado funds are probably unlikely to have any direct effect on promotions. A company might be hesitant to promote if they are on shaky financial ground, but NYCB hardly falls into that category. And there hasn't been any drop off in promotions in recent years-only this past spring, which could easily be a result of the special nature of the upcoming season. I eagerly await reports on opening night and the various Nuts from all of ya'll!! Not much ballet here until next year, though they did just announce that the Edinburgh Festival will include a Tudor retrospective (no companies for the Tudor ballets yet announced). I'm still hoping that they might have some Balanchine (or Ashton). Kate
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