158 replies to this topic

[puppytreats]

Please recommend one program from the following options.  I am leaning toward the first, but I am open to advice.


Jan 15, 16, 18, 19 Eve, 26 Mat
Serenade
Mozartiana
Tschaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 2


Jan 17, 19 Mat, 20, 22, 23
Swan Lake
Allegro Brillante
Tschaikovsky Suite No. 3

Jan 24, 25, 26 Eve, 27
Divertimento from “Le Baiser de la Fée”
Tschaikovsky Pas de Deux
Bal de Couture (New Martins/Tschaikovsky)
Diamonds

[California]

If you go on the 19th, there are special events for Balanchine's birthday:
http://www.nycballet...ITH-GEORGE.aspx

Note especially the 5-6 free demonstration of the Balanchine Ballerina, although you do need to reserve a ticket:

Quote

5:00 – 6:00 PM // The Balanchine Ballerina
FREE Event, Ticket Required
Location: Auditorium
RESERVE TICKETS >

To mark this special occasion, NYCB presents a free onstage demonstration exploring Balanchine’s famous quote: “Ballet is woman.” Featuring NYCB dancers performing excerpts from Symphony in C, Serenade, Western Symphony, and more, this presentation will focus on Balanchine’s view of women in ballet and will highlight many of the iconic roles he created for his ballerinas.

[abatt]

The only dud is Couture Ball.  The first two weeks of the season  are an embarrassment of riches.  Go to all 3 programs, if possible.

[puppytreats]

abatt, on 03 January 2013 - 09:35 AM, said:

The only dud is Couture Ball.  The first two weeks of the season  are an embarrassment of riches.  Go to all 3 programs, if possible.

Yes, but I want to see 11+ ABT Spring performances at the Met and KC, in addition to some Joyce theatre and Guggenheim performances, so I am relunctant to splurge on several NYCB Winter performances, unless you think it is "essential" viewing.   I am not really interested in the "Sleeping Beauty" or "Swan Lake", but would consider them if highly recommended.  I am embarrassed to sound so spoiled in this matter.  I try to watch a lot of Youtube to be economically prudent, but I don't want to miss an important opportunity, either.

[puppytreats]

By the way, does anyone know where or how to obtain promo codes?

[California]

Casting is up for the first week of the winter season:
http://www.nycballet...-2013_lobby.pdf

TUESDAY EVENING, JANUARY 15, 7:30 PM
(Guest Conductor: Minczuk)
SERENADE:
Taylor, M. Fairchild, Krohn, *Marcovici, la Cour

MOZARTIANA:
Kowroski, T. Angle, Ulbricht

TSCHAIKOVSKY PIANO CONCERTO NO. 2:
Bouder, J. Stafford, Lowery, Suozzi, Tworzyanski, Laracey, Hankes
[Solo Piano: Walters]
WEDNESDAY EVENING, JANUARY 16, 7:30 PM
SERENADE:

*Mearns, Bouder, *LeCrone, J. Angle, Danchig-Waring
MOZARTIANA:
*Hyltin, *Finlay, Huxley
TSCHAIKOVSKY PIANO CONCERTO NO. 2:
Reichlen, *T. Angle, *Scheller, *Peiffer, *Applebaum, Arthurs, *Pollack
[Solo Piano: Walters]
THURSDAY EVENING, JANUARY 17, 7:30 PM
(Guest Conductor: Cornelius)
SWAN LAKE:
Kowroski, *T. Angle, *Laracey, Lowery, *J. Peck
ALLEGRO BRILLANTE:
T. Peck, Ramasar [Solo Piano: Chelton]
TSCHAIKOVSKY SUITE NO. 3:
ELEGIE: Reichlen, la Cour; WALTZ: Taylor, Marcovici; SCHERZO: Pereira, Ulbricht;
THEME & VARIATIONS: M. Fairchild, Veyette
FRIDAY EVENING, JANUARY 18, 8 PM
(Conductor: Capps)
SERENADE:
Taylor, M. Fairchild, Krohn, Marcovici, la Cour
MOZARTIANA:
Kowroski, T. Angle, Ulbricht
TSCHAIKOVSKY PIANO CONCERTO NO. 2:
Bouder, J. Stafford, Lowery, Suozzi, Tworzyanski, Laracey, Hankes
[Solo Piano: Walters]
SATURDAY, JANUARY 19
SATURDAY AT THE BALLET WITH GEORGE
A Day of Special Events in honor of George Balanchine’s Birthday.
12:45 PM – Children’s Workshop
Join the artists of NYCB in an exploration of George Balanchine’s

Swan Lake
1 PM – Live Music on the Promenade by members of the NYCB Orchestra
1:40 PM – First Position Discussion
(FREE)
NYCB docents will provide background details on the matinee performance
2 PM - All Balanchine Program
(Conductor: Otranto)
SWAN LAKE:
Kowroski, T. Angle, Laracey, Lowery, J. Peck
THE GARLAND DANCE from THE SLEEPING BEAUTY:
pause
ALLEGRO BRILLANTE:
T. Peck, Ramasar [Solo Piano: Chelton]
TSCHAIKOVSKY SUITE NO. 3:
ELEGIE: Reichlen, la Cour; WALTZ: Taylor, Marcovici; SCHERZO: Pereira, Ulbricht;
THEME & VARIATIONS: M. Fairchild, Veyette
5 PM – The Balanchine Ballerina: Onstage Demonstration (FREE)

This onstage presentation will focus on many of the iconic roles Balanchine created for his ballerinas, featuring excerpts from

Serenade, Symphony in C, Tschaikovsky Suite No. 3, Allegro Brillante, Western Symphony, and Mozartiana.

7 PM – Live Music on the Promenade by members of the NYCB Orchestra

8 PM - All Balanchine Program
(Guest Conductor: Minczuk)
SERENADE:
Mearns, Bouder, LeCrone, J. Angle, Danchig-Waring
MOZARTIANA:
Hyltin, Finlay, Huxley
TSCHAIKOVSKY PIANO CONCERTO NO. 2:
Reichlen, T. Angle, Scheller, Peiffer, Applebaum, Arthurs, Pollack
[Solo Piano: Walters]
SUNDAY MATINEE, JANUARY 20, 3 PM(Guest Conductor: Cornelius)
SWAN LAKE:
Mearns, J. Angle, *LeCrone, *King, *Dieck
ALLEGRO BRILLANTE:
T. Peck, Ramasar [Solo Piano: Chelton]
TSCHAIKOVSKY SUITE NO. 3:
ELEGIE: *Krohn, *Catazaro; WALTZ: Ringer, *J. Peck; SCHERZO: Scheller, Carmena;
THEME & VARIATIONS: Bouder, *J. Stafford
* First Time in Role
PROGRAM AND CASTING SUBJECT TO CHANGE (01/03/13

[Kathleen O'Connell]

puppytreats, on 03 January 2013 - 09:42 AM, said:

abatt, on 03 January 2013 - 09:35 AM, said:

The only dud is Couture Ball.  The first two weeks of the season  are an embarrassment of riches.  Go to all 3 programs, if possible.

Yes, but I want to see 11+ ABT Spring performances at the Met and KC, in addition to some Joyce theatre and Guggenheim performances, so I am relunctant to splurge on several NYCB Winter performances, unless you think it is "essential" viewing.   I am not really interested in the "Sleeping Beauty" or "Swan Lake", but would consider them if highly recommended.  I am embarrassed to sound so spoiled in this matter.  I try to watch a lot of Youtube to be economically prudent, but I don't want to miss an important opportunity, either.

I'm with Abatt: see them all. I'd even spring for multiple casts if I could. It's not often that the company chooses to adorn a couple of mid-winter repertory weeks with so many of its Tchaikovsky jewels (no pun intended). What's more, there are dancers on the roster just now who I wouldn't want to miss in this repertory. And Balanchine's one-act "Swan Lake" is a must,  IMO -- at the very least it's instructive to see what he thought could be omitted.

[abatt]

Wow.  Marking my calendar for Mearns' debut as Waltz Girl.  Glad to see Ringer back on stage too.  Counting down the days.  No Wendy?

[Drew]

Puppytreats: this season (like the early Fall season) is unusually high quality in terms of repertory.

However, if you can only see one of the programs and you have never seen Serenade then I strongly recommend you go see that. I think that overall the program with Serenade is one of the strongest of the Balanchine/Tchaikovsky programs in any case--certainly the one that interests me the most--but Serenade is simply is one of Balanchine's absolute greatest ballets and though of course casting matters, I think that even in lesser performances much of its greatness comes across.

I think the other programs are more uneven in quality overall...sometimes even within a single ballet such as Divertimento from Baiser de La Fee (which begins rather dully in my opinion and gets much better). The one Act distillation/revision of the Swan Lake White Acts is rather remarkable, but if you are seeing it for the first time and are generally less familiar with NYCB and attached to the traditional Ivanov Act II I recommend you treat it almost as an independent work, a distilled reflection on Swan Lake.

But I agree with what has been said above about trying to see more than one program if you can. It's not every season this much serious Balanchine is on offer.  (You can get cheaper seats that are quite good at NYCB...unlike the Met.) Like most companies City Ballet grows on you and Balanchine, too, becomes "clearer" and more exciting when you see more of it. For myself, I would certainly trade in a lot of what's on offer at the Joyce to catch at least two of the programs.

In fact, I rarely come up to NY for winter season but have plans to come up specially to see the program w. Serenade (twice) and the one w. Swan Lake.

[puppytreats]

Thanks for the advice.  I just bought tickets for all of the programs on 1/19 (Serenade, Mozartiana,Tschaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 2, Swan Lake, Allegro Brillante, Sleeping Beauty Garland Dance, Tschaikovsky Suite No. 3), in addition to the Balanchine demonstrations (including Symphony in C and Western Symphony) and lecture.  I was not able to get $29 tickets, but I got a matinee 4th level seat for $56 and an evening orchestra seat for $56, which is not terrible.  It will be a long day.

What about NYCB's Sleeping Beauty?  Is it required viewing?

I also just bought ABT's Swan Lake and Sleeping Beauty, in addition to Sylvia, DQ, Corsair, R&J, Onegin, the Ratmanksy premiere, and  the mixed bill of Symphony in C, Month in the Country, and Drink to Me.  I bought tickets to multiple performances of certain shows. (I am sure it is not hard to guess which.)

In addition, I bought tickets to both ABT and Wendy Whelan at Guggenheim.

I am still thinking about Kennedy Center and the Joyce....

This is a bad habit.

[abatt]

The Sleeping Beauty production at NYCB is far superior to the ABT version, in my opinion.  However, I think that your level of enjoyment will depend heavily on the cast.  I saw all of the 5 different casts last time.  Sadly, one of the 5 ballerinas (K. Morgan) will not be present for this run.  My favorite Aurora was Tiler Peck during the last run.  I never choose SB based on the lead male.  (The other ballerinas last time were Hyltin, Bouder, and M. Fairchild).

[Kathleen O'Connell]

puppytreats, on 03 January 2013 - 05:14 PM, said:

What about NYCB's Sleeping Beauty?  Is it required viewing?

This is a bad habit.

Puppytreats --

Martin's production of Sleeping Beauty is rather brisk but pretty to look at and (IMO) theatrically cogent -- much more so than his dreary, ugly, arid Swan Lake -- and it will give you a far better idea of what Sleeping Beauty is all about than ABT's ghastly version (which is not theatrically cogent). If you're counterfeiting benjamins in the basement to feed that ballet monkey on your back, you might want to run off a few more and catch an NYCB Beauty to do a little compare / contrast. That being said, although NYCB's Beauty is better than ABT's, it's simply not a must-see the way Serenade or Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No 2 are. (Some folks think of the latter ballet as Balanchine's distillation of Sleeping Beauty's essence, by the way.)

I'm sure if you search the Ballet Alert archives you'll find a wealth of pros and cons regarding both productions. There's some debate, for instance, regarding Martins' decision to cram the christening, the spell, the hunt, and the vision scenes into his first act, leaving only the awakening and the wedding divertissements for his second act. ABT's current version also only has one intermission, but they've placed it right after the spell, which is, I believe, somewhat more traditional. However, their version omits or truncates some of the traditional fairy-tale Wedding divertissements and the ballet feels rather sad without them.

I think you've done well to grab a full day of Balanchine and Tchaikovsky -- enjoy, and report back!

[Drew]

I agree that NYCB Sleeping Beauty is superior to ABT's, but it is NYCB flavored: danced very uptempo and with a minimization of much of the mime. The arms and accents are not in a pure Petipa vein.  It's beautiful and traditional but very much NYCB honoring Petipa. However, if the only Sleeping Beauty you have ever seen in the theater is with ABT or a smaller company, then I would say that you should certainly try to see it. (I haven't seen the current generation of NYCB Auroras in it--loved Jennifer Ringer as Aurora quite a few years back. One of the best I have seen in any production.)

One supplement to Kathleen O'Connell's remarks: Croce thought that Theme and Variations (now, at NYCB, the last movement of Tchaikovsky Suite no. 3) was a kind of distillation of Sleeping beauty, something I think one can see in variations like the one with a row of women, the ballerina in the center, the women all linked arm in arm, and she traced the reference to the original ABT request to Balanchine for something in the spirit of Aurora's Wedding (not the exact wording, but roughly).  She also speculated once that Piano Concerto no. II had echos of or riffs on Swan Lake, something that I never really saw until I read her essay...

[abatt]

Drew, on 03 January 2013 - 08:24 PM, said:

. (I haven't seen the current generation of NYCB Auroras in it--loved Jennifer Ringer as Aurora quite a few years back. One of the best I have seen in any production.)
..

Agreed. Ringer was outstanding as Aurora. In fact, if memory serves, she was promoted to principal shortly after her glorious performances as Aurora.

[Kathleen O'Connell]

Drew, on 03 January 2013 - 08:24 PM, said:

One supplement to Kathleen O'Connell's remarks: Croce thought that Theme and Variations (now, at NYCB, the last movement of Tchaikovsky Suite no. 3) was a kind of distillation of Sleeping beauty, something I think one can see in variations like the one with a row of women, the ballerina in the center, the women all linked arm in arm, and she traced the reference to the original ABT request to Balanchine for something in the spirit of Aurora's Wedding (not the exact wording, but roughly).  She also speculated once that Piano Concerto no. II had echos of or riffs on Swan Lake, something that I never really saw until I read her essay...

I'm going to have to dredge up that essay! The idea that TPC2 is a gloss on Sleeping Beauty made so much sense to me when I first heard it that I was embarassed that I hadn't thought of it myself. I'm having a harder time drawing specific comparisons with Swan Lake, however. I can see some general similarities: for instance, TPC2's second movement certainly seems intended to evoke a white act -- although it also seems to me to share as much with SB's Vision Scene as with SL's lakeside. But whereas SL is fundamentally "tragic" -- evil can only be undone through death -- SB is fundamentally "comic": the world is put to rights when Aurora gets married to the right guy. (Aurora and Prince Desiré have more in common with Elizabeth Bennett and Mr. Darcy than they do with Odette and Prince Siegfried.) TPC2's narrative arc traces SB's rather than SL's: Princess arrives, Princess is lost, Princess is found, Princess reclaims her rightful place with a consort at her side and all's right with the world.

There's one way in which T&V feels to me like a closer gloss on Aurora's Wedding than TPC2 is on SB as a whole: the danseur seems (for once) as important a personage as the ballerina -- as something more than a mere cavalier or consort.