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2014 Met Season


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I would love to see ABT do "La Fille" again. They haven't performed it since 2003. But if ABT is going to do a Cinderella, I really want to be Ashton's Cinderella. I have seen several versions of Cinderella and Ashton's is the only one I have liked. I saw Anthony Dowell and Wayne Sleep dance the ugly stepsisters in 2004 with the Royal Ballet at the Met and they were sensational.

I agree, Colleen. Ashton's "Cinderella" is pure magic. The best. Why not an Ashton Festival? "Cinderella", "La Fille", "Birthday Offering". The possible list of ballets is endless. Dare I mention "Facade"? Does the Royal even do that any more? What are some others? Does anyone have a personal favorite?

My definitive Cinderella is Ashton's, simply the best of all Cinderellas. The first time I saw it was when RB did it at the Met in 2004, ever since I can only live with the magic by watching the 1969 RB recording. I was so excited when it showed up in my crystal ball. I hope this is the "it" Cinderella for ABT, no more fooling around with other Cinderellas. As for other Ashton ballets, I really wish ABT could pick up Rhapsody, it'd be a perfect vehicle for Herman Cornejo, and even better if Baryshnikov can coach the role he originated. And the revival of La Fille and Thai PdP (perfect for the fall season).

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Totally agree about the Ashton Cinderella. I first saw it during the RB visit to the Met in 2004 and loved it. (I remember seeing Rojo and Cojocaru.) The other versions that ABT has done have not measured up in any way to the Ashton version. In fact, Cinderella week at ABT was always my week off from seeing ABT performances.

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Les Patineur would be perfect for Herman (and Daniil,Arron Scott,J Gorak). Same with La Fille...Les Rendevouz was also a lovely Ashton ballet. i saw Gelsey K. Danced it with Danilo R.( could never spell his name) when she returned to ABT.

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I am trying to decide whether to go to Italy or Japan to see "Manon", but if ABT performs it in NY, I could wait, and save the money....When will this be announced?

Other places you can see Manon if you feel like travelling:

Vienna October, November, and December 13

Denmark Feb March 14

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What great suggestions everyone is making. I would love to see Les Patineurs again. I haven't seen live in years. I saw the Joffrey dance it a few times in the 1980s and ABT danced it in the late 1990s - I'm thinking 1998. Ethan Stiefel was the boy in blue, the one who is spinning like a top when the curtain goes down, then the curtain comes up again and he's still spinning. Herman Cornejo would be great in that part.

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What great suggestions everyone is making. I would love to see Les Patineurs again. I haven't seen live in years. I saw the Joffrey dance it a few times in the 1980s and ABT danced it in the late 1990s - I'm thinking 1998. Ethan Stiefel was the boy in blue, the one who is spinning like a top when the curtain goes down, then the curtain comes up again and he's still spinning. Herman Cornejo would be great in that part.

I too want to see Les Patineurs again. I would love to see multiple nights of rep programs. Wouldn't it be fun for all (dancers included) if there were lots of principal on stage on the same night? Tharp's Push Comes to Shove had my vote. Also Symphonic Variations and Tudor's Lilac Garden. I wouldn't mind seeing Ailey's The River again. That said, I admit I'm not much of a full length "story ballet" fan.

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So many Ashton ballets I would love to see. Cinderella is my least favorite Ashton ballet but if we must have Cinders its far superior to the others out there.

I agree with many of the ballets that have already been mentioned - Les Patineurs and Rhapsody are both wonderful ballets that would show off ABT's male contingent. Cornejo and Simkin of course but I can also see Gorak, Scott, Philips and others in those roles.

ABT did a pretty good job with Symphonic Variations the last time out, I'd love to see them revive that. Also on my wish list are Monotones (I & II) and The Two Pigeons. And of course Fille...

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I think San Jose Ballet held an internet crowd survey to determine one of their reps. I could be wrong on the particular company. But it's a fun idea.

Perhaps what we need is a "Fantasy Rep" section of BalletAlert - similar to Fantasy Baseball. We could each submit a fantasy rep for our company of choice.

BTW I saw the Ashton Cinderella many moons ago in London and adored it. The program is somewhere in the back of a closet, under about 8 other banker boxes. Here's hoping ABT tours it in 2014 and brings it west. ;)

Aha! Fantasy Rep should be allowed to include a Fantasy Tour (rep and cities to visit!)

Come on mods! It's early summer, most of us won't have any performances to see until September, let us have some summer fantasy fun!

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At one of the Q&A's after PNB's closing program, the discussion was around programming, and one of the audience members asked Peter Boal if the audience had input into programming. He's far too tactful and well-brought-up to splurt and reply, "In your dreams," but the answer was "no." Then he turned to Benjamin Griffiths, the dancer speaker, and told Griffiths he would put him on the spot and asked him which five ballets he would program, including which choreographer he'd like to choreograph for the company. Griffiths' immediate response was for Alexei (Ratmansky) to create a new ballet for the company, because he had a wonderful experience with "Concerto DSCH.". So if you guys don't want his too dark/too under-decorated/too-much-Shostakovich ballets, we'd love to take those precious pieces of his schedule out here :)

The reason why I'd like ABT to do Ashton rep in which they'd look good and do it justice -- for "Facade" I'd look to Sarasota, for example -- is that when Ashton isn't done justice, people walk away thinking how boring/dated it is, and with his home company having left his legacy hanging over a cliff, it's in jeopardy. If ABT gets it right, then at least enough people think, "How lucky we are to have seen that!"

There's also a pervasive idea in North America that ballet goes Petipa -> Balanchine -> early Forsythe/The Next Balanchine and that because the neoclassical aerobics aesthetic went off the rails, let's just jump to modern/contemporary. The DNA that branches to Ashton, Tudor, the American-themed and Canadian-themed (a Royal Winnipeg specialty) dramatic/narrative one-acters -- the ballets that were the core of ABT's rep in the past -- is dismissed. Two of Ashton's influences were Pavlova and Volkova, which is drinking from the well of the Imperial tradition.

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well, now we're getting into aesthetics - the contemporary stuff begins to looks like every other contemporary-only company and you wonder why bother to see ABT when they're doing the same stuff as Merce Cunningham, etc. IMHO ballet companies should focus on contemporary stuff that uses the same ballet vocabulary.

There was a review a few months back from Macauley where he criticized Ballet Hispanico for looking too generic - like every other mixed contemporary company touring through NYC.

If ABT is going to be unique, if it's going to stop being a museum, then I think it should veer towards more Ratmansky. Make hay while the making is good! He won't be there forever, so do some horse trading and get the sets from RDB for Golden Cockerel, Dutch /SFB's Cinderella, Mariinsky's Humpback and Bolshoi's Flames.

I don't object to Ashton, Macmillan or Tudor. I'd see all of those if I lived on the Right Coast. If we're going to put together an ABT / Ashton season, then I'd like to see Enigma Variations, if for no other reason than the Elgar music is so fantastic.

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As to the Shakespearean evening, I assume The Tempest will be on that program with the Dream?

Doesn't ABT have the Lubovitch Othello in its rep? I'd love to see that brought back. There's a little clip of Ferri and Gomes on YouTube that is very powerful. Would all three ballets be too long?

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The Lubovitch "Othello," which was released on DVD with San Francisco Ballet, is too long, but Limon's "The Moor's Pavane" would work. It used to be in ABT's rep: I remember seeing photos of it in the ABT program book sold in the early '70's.

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Helene, they just did Moor's Pavane last fall so it seems possible that would be included with The Dream and The Tempest.

The Moor's Pavane is on the schedule for this coming fall (just posted), so it seems even more likely that it will be on a triple bill with The Dream and The Tempest in The Spring.

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Doesn't ABT have the Lubovitch Othello in its rep? ... Would all three ballets be too long?

The Lubovitch "Othello," which was released on DVD with San Francisco Ballet, is too long, ...

The Lubovitch Othello is an evening-length ballet.

More Tudor, especially The Leaves Are Fading and Lilac Garden.

And I'm always game for La Sylphide. Can't get enough of that ballet!

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Helene, they just did Moor's Pavane last fall so it seems possible that would be included with The Dream and The Tempest.

The Moor's Pavane is on the schedule for this coming fall (just posted), so it seems even more likely that it will be on a triple bill with The Dream and The Tempest in The Spring.

According to NY Times, the music for The Tempest is 1 hour long:

The music for Mr. Ratmansky’s “Tempest” was written by the Finnish composer Jean Sibelius for a 1926 production and originally consisted of 35 pieces, lasting one hour.

If Ratmansky utilizes the full score, The Tempest & The Dream plus one intermission will be 2 hours & 30 minutes long, so I doubt it will be a triple bill as it'd push the total time more than 3 hours long.

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