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As I have become more interested in ballet, I have been visiting BalletTalk more and more and attending more performances. I do find it addicitive.. seeing ballet performed and reading about it.

This past year I have attended perhaps 20 performaces. It's hard to believe that I am attending so much, but if I could I would probably go even more if I could.

I sat next to a lady last week who had 7 ABT subscriptions in one season!

How many performances of ballet do you attend in a year?

How many performances would you like to attend in a year?

Do you like to see different casts perform the same ballet in one week... or save your attendance for your favorite ballets and dancers?

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Do you like to see different casts perform the same ballet in one week... or save your attendance for your favorite ballets and dancers?

Back in Havana, where i could see ballet all year around (it's not "seasonal" over there), it was fashionable not to attend the performances of those ballerinas who were known for being "bad"...(and believe me, it would be surprising to see how many dancers are catalogued as "bad" by the super critic cuban balletomanes). So, yes, as i was getting into the scene, i would just attend to the "stars" performances...Now, here in Miami, i would go to all of them...and i'm lucky if i can make a decent number out of ballet performances, good or bad, no matter what will they dance or who will dance...I just want to see as much as they can offer...so the standards have changed... :tiphat:

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In total, I see about 100 performances a year (and would do more if I could).

I follow BRB and NBT. BRB do season tickets for their Birmingham seasons and I usually have 2 season tickets. I also book extras and go to see the company on tour to, for example, Sunderland. Because their tour dates are further away for me, I try and go for the whole week of performances. I try and get to all the NBT venues in Yorkshire. As they only tend to present one work during a week, I usually just do weekends for them.

Casting is not usually announced too far in advance for both companies, so when I see the casting I might be trying to get extra tickets urgently. For example I had two tickets booked in Birmingham for Sleeping Beauty last year but ended up booking another 3 to see alternative casts.

Apart from the cost of dashing up and down the country, the main reason I cannot see even more performances is because I just don't have that amount of leave to take off work! The other issue is clashes of performances. Fore example, I would love to see Carlos Acosta at the Wells in October but I'm already booked for the whole week for NBT in Bradford.

Apart from the two companies I actively follow, I also go to many other dance performances at the Lowry in Salford and I occasionally go to London. I do like to see visiting companies when I can. I would guess that the two companies I follow make up 70% of the performances I see. While it is always a thrill to see my favourite dancers, I really enjoy seeing other casts too. Perhaps if I could only see a few performances I would seek out my favourite dancers but at the moment I don't have to make that choice.

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I see between forty and fifty performances a year and it makes very little difference to me who's in the cast. Most of my attendance is at NYCB, ABT, and the Suzanne Farrell Ballet. Advancing age and decrepitude caused me to miss the most recent Farrell season this past June and will probably do the same in November. Nevertheless, her company is the one I'm most fond of.

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I probably see 12-15 performances a year, mostly NYCB and ABT. Since transportation to New York from where I live is expensive, I'd rather go fewer times and splurge for a better seat location. Both repertoire and casting matter greatly to me, and I prefer to wait for the casting announcements than subscribe without knowing whom I'll see. I wouldn't mind going more often, but there's something to be said too for being selective and not overdoing it.

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When living in Japan, and still dancing professionally, I would go see ALL the major classical companies that toured Japan (esp. in Tokyo); usually 2 performances per run. (It was still 3 trains and 1.5hrs from home to go.)

Later, when ABT would come for a three-week run in Los Angeles, in a theatre across the street from my campus, or with "student rush" tickets available for discounted prices, I would go every day of those three weeks (sometimes both mat/eve perfs) in order to see different casts perform and contrast & compare. I also attended Joffrey's L.A. seasons (3-4perfs), and any other major touring company performances either at Music Center or OCPAC.

Then for ten years I lived too far away to see any live performances, so videos and the very limited PBS broadcasts were all I saw.

NOW...funding and work schedules dictate if and when I go.

Over the last ten years, I subscribed to my local company (BB) which was only 2hrs each way from home. But when weather was bad (so making attendence difficult on specific days), and their pricing structure changed (making tickets more expensive than major NYC company's!), I stopped subscribing and limited myself to 1-3 performances per year on dates I CHOSE.

Then I discovered I could navigate NYC alone, and started attending ABT and NYCB once again. But, as it usually cost me almost ONE WEEK'S PAY each time I attended a performance (due to transportation & hotel costs + tickets), I had to plan more carefully:--ie. attending only weekend performances, or planning far in advance for weeknights; hard to do when casting decisions are paramount.

In the past couple years I have attended approximately 20x/year. And recently, having come into slightly more funds this year, have flown to other cities to see ABT (or specific casts) perform and even attended a few galas. I don't expect to continue viewing at this rate next year, but it is a VERY important part of my life so maybe I will figure out a way.

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Living in a smaller town doesn't afford me the opportunity to see all that I would like to see. It's a university town, and Broadway musicals and rock bands are much more popular than the Bolshoi.

I did see the Bolshoi when I was 8 years old. Lunkina in Sceptre of the Rose, Petrushkha, and something else, I'm afraid I don't remember. All I remember was that it was the most magical night of my life.

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