Spring 2015

[Drew]

When I went there on my unsuccessful foray to exchange my Royal Ballet tickets I was surprised to see the box office straight ahead as you enter.

Hmm...my memory is that until the recent renovation period, the box office was always straight ahead as one entered. I rather expected it to be returned to that location when renovations were done and it sounds as if they have been. Had there been another set up in the theater's earlier history?

[abatt]

The main box office area has always been directly in the center, but during this renovation they split the box office area into two- future sales on the right and same day pick up on the left. It's now back to the direct center area of the lobby.

[Amour]

Tonight was opening night for the season. Just a quick, few notes because it's late. The ballet's were all black and white leotard ballets. 2 of them were not my favorites (Monumentum pro Gesualdo & Movements for Piano and Orchestra), 1 had never seen (Episodes) and 2 are masterpieces (Concerto Barocco & 4Ts).

Monumentum and Movements started out the evening. The first night of a season I'm always prepared to see some rustiness or just not dancing at the top of your game. This really didn't happen, except a bit here in these 2 ballets. The corps was in unison and looked good. I thought Ask's partnering was secure (he mainly partners) but Maria looked just a teeny bit sluggish, like she could have stretched her leg in arabesque or penchée a bit more. What I mainly noticed, though, was that for the first time Maria looked noticeably older that the corps. I know she is, just I've never really been aware of it onstage.

Next was Concerto Barocco, I piece I love. As in the winter, Tess and Sara had the main female roles and Justin Peck the lead man. I thought Tess was wonderful. Tall, radiant, confident, her limbs stretching out forever; still playing it a little "safe" but more comfortable going off balance. Justin was, to my great surprise and pleasure, also wonderful as her partner in the PDD. Trimmed down, in good shape, clean lines, no trouble lifting Tess overhead I thought he danced especially well. And I was happy to see him in a real dancing role, not something as simple as Death in La Valse (which he danced this winter). As for Sara, to me she looked a little off her legs at first but by the finale, with the exception of her jumps (which still need work) she was in fine form. My only problem really is that I don't think Sara and Tess look particularly good together. I know each one embodies a different violin voice but it would be nice to see 2 women with slightly more similar body types. It'll be interesting to see how Krohn and Lowery do next Wednesday the 6th. (I'd be curious to see Mearns and Lowery together).

Then came Episodes. I didn't much like the piece but it was enjoyable simply to see the return of Jennie Somogyi to the stage. She and Craig Hall danced the 3rd movement and they were great! If I hadn't known Jennie had been injured, I never would have guessed. In all her penchees and attitudes she went for broke, no holding back. It was also rewarding to see Craig Hall back onstage. He seems such a secure presence, very solid, young enough to still dance well but old enough to have the maturity to know what goes into a role. Rebecca Krohn and Adrian D-W were lively and technical in the 4th movement. I'm really looking forward to seeing him as Apollo tomorrow.

Finally the 4Ts. Gonzalo did an excellent job as Melancholic, with it deep backbends in 4th position. Tonight this variation reminded me a bit of the solo the man does in Square Dance (which also has deep backbends) Sanguinic was danced by Scheller and Tyler Angle. This was also Scheller's return after a long injury (about 1 year off I believe). I didn't think she looked nearly as comfortable as Jennie. She had a bit of difficulty/sloppiness with the fast footwork and it looked she was trying not to press through her feet too much so they looked a bit weak. Tyler is always a wonderful dancer and partner and he did everything he could to help her. However, she has a lot of solo work. It was good to see her back but I suspect she's still recovering. For Phlegmatic, there was a last minute substitution of Ask for Amar. I liked how Ask did all the little collapses, hunching over, even the hands get oddly placed. I thought it was nicely done. Then finally,the pièce de résistance, Ashley in Choleric. She came out, guns blazing, all speed and fast footwork. No signs of any first night rustiness from her. She also held her balance in arabesque as two different men grab her outstretched front arms (from both the front and behind), switching between them holding her. She was just terrific and then led the ensemble in an energized finale. So a not perfect night but still a pretty great one.

[Amour]

Thanks for the heads up cobweb. I'm so happy that I'll be seeing Bouder & Veyette in La Sylphide. Also pleased to be able to see so many corps members given opportunities in Bournonville. It's really exciting.

I,too, am thrilled to be seeing Bouder and Vyette (always was my dream cast) in Sylphide on the 12th and a lot of debuts in Bournonville. I also have tickets for Tiler and Gonzalo in Sylphide on the 16th.. Nice to see that Vyette will finally get to dance his role in RODE,O. So far looks like a great season.

[Amour]

On a separate note, the lobby renovations at the Koch have been completed. Wondering what others think. To me, the new look feels more like a hospital emergency room intake area, with it's stark white modernity, than a grand theater lobby. Moreover, the design is incongrous with the beautiful marble in the rest of the lobby area.

I think the new box office is starkly modern, almost jarringly so. But I like that you can pretty much see whole human beings behind the glass, not just a head. Those agents no longer have any privacy. I also noticed there's a large wooden lyre directly over the box office (a nice touch). I wish they'd matched the marbles better but frankly I'm just glad everything is back in one place.

[Barbara]

Hmm...my memory is that until the recent renovation period, the box office was always straight ahead as one entered. I rather expected it to be returned to that location when renovations were done and it sounds as if they have been. Had there been another set up in the theater's earlier history?

Drew, as Abatt described, I was referring to when the box office was in its renovation location on each side.

[cobweb]

The new box office doesn't seem designed for human habitation. The old one always drove me

crazy because it was so dark and you couldn't see when the agents were available. But although I consider myself pretty modern and minimalist, I would not want to work in the new one...boxy and bare.

[mimsyb]

The new box office doesn't seem designed for human habitation. The old one always drove me

crazy because it was so dark and you couldn't see when the agents were available. But although I consider myself pretty modern and minimalist, I would not want to work in the new one...boxy and bare.

The downstairs entry lobby of the State Theater has always been a design disaster. Far too crowded, bad lighting, the roster boards with the dancers pictures can barely be seen (especially when everyone crowds in front of them). It's simply not a very inviting atmosphere. I always feel I'm at the bus terminal or Penn Station (and I don't mean the glorious old one, now demolished!). Even the lobbies for the Orchestra Level aren't all that wonderful. It isn't until one gets up to the main lobby level (First ring) that the space opens up and seems like an inviting place to be. Then after that up in the other rings it's back to feeling cramped and decidedly second rate. One can look out over the Main Space and be a spectator to the scene, but it really isn't much of a thrill. The Met isn't much better until one ascends the Grand Staircase and arrives on the Grand Tier Level. Poor entry way in the Front and I always feel like I'm descending into a dungeon when I go into the Orchestra Level. I'm hopeful the new renovation of Avery Fisher will be an improvement over in that house.

[Amour]

Tonight was a fantastic night at NYCB. 4 ballets - Apollo, Agon, Duo Concertant and Symphony in 3. At least 3 (maybe not Duo Concertant) are masterpieces. All were very well performed and all drew cheers and bravos from the audience. Really, tonight was one of the most enthusiastic audiences I've seen at NYCB.

The highlight of the evening for me was Adrian D-W performance as Apollo. OMG! Just WOW. His performance was exciting and exhilarating. It was also very unique. I don't recall ever seeing the role performed this way. Every position was stretched, exaggerated and emphasized, like it had an exclamation point. Every backbend and lunge was extremely deep and long. Adrian's arms were outstretched to the heavens. He can also twist his torso like a pretzel. As a result, I saw new shapes in the choreography I'd never seen before. He's also very strong. He lifted Tiler (Terpsichore) into her upside down split like she weighed nothing. Same when he lifts the ballerinas off the floor at different times (at one point Polyhymnia -Ashley Isaacs- and Caliope -Lauren Lovette at the same time) or takes Terpsichore onto his back. His Apollo was not refined or restrained but very athletic and modern looking. I loved it. His proportions are also great and it doesn't hurt that I find him handsome. Other friends saw these same things and some weren't as enthusiastic as me. But again, I loved him! I also have to give props to Tiler. She was lovely as Terpsichore. Very expressive (especially her arms) and really played with the music in a way I haven't seen her do before. Ashley Isaacs was very good as Polyhymnia, her pirouettes especially and Lauren fine as Calliope. I was so impressed with this performance I just might go back Sunday matinee.

Next up was Agon. With Maria, Rebecca, Lauren King, Ashley Hod, Amar, Andie, Devin Alberda and Danny Applebaum this was basically the same cast I saw several times in the winter and it was great. It was very good to see Andie back on stage and showing no sign he had been injured. Same with Rebecca. I was very impressed with Hod (I'm not sure she was in the winter cast). Tall and long limbed, she is very strong has nice lines and great, long held balances. I enjoyed Maria tonight much more than last night. Both she and Amar have really perfected the central PDD. They can each anticipate what the other will do and make them feel secure. As always (for me) the best and most difficult part is when Amar lies on the floor and balances Maria while she's in penchée. They really killed it and the audience applauded wildly after they were done. I will again say that I find Devin's dancing really elegant and captivating. It's time he became a soloist.

Duo Concertant was a piece I was hesitant about. The last time I saw it performed was at ABT last spring with Misty and Eric Tamm. It was sluggish, slow and boring. Not so tonight with Ashley Bouder and Anthony Huxley. It was playful and humorous. They both also danced it very fast and with great precision. These are two of my favorite dancers in the company and I love seeing them dance together with such rapport. Tonight this went from being a ballet I didn't look forward to, to one I will anticipate.

Finally, Symphony in 3. I love both the ballet and the music. The audience broke into applause as they saw all the corps girls in white, on a diagonal line in their high pony tails. Danny Ulbricht and Erica Pereira were the first couple. Any time I can see Danny I'm happy and this PDD, which involves a lot of jumping, is right up his alley. Erica also looked very strong and energetic. I was surprised at how good they looked together. Savannah Lowery and Andrew Scordato were the second couple. He's fine but she was a bit leaden. No mistakes but just not infused with the bright energy most of the piece has. Sterling Hyltin and Taylor Stanley were the lead couple. I'm generally not a great fan of hers but she was very good tonight - quirky, technical prowess, some very fast chainees into the wings. Taylor is not quite her equal as far as technique goes, but he matched her energy. And I love the finale of this piece, which uses a good deal of the company, all the girls in white, demis in black and white and the lead women in different shades of pink.

Finally, conductor Clotilde Otranto was in a great mood tonight. She seemed very happy each time she came out to conduct and at the end, really bounced around onstage as she took her bow with the dancers.

[Barbara]

Finally, conductor Clotilde Otranto was in a great mood tonight. She seemed very happy each time she came out to conduct and at the end, really bounced around onstage as she took her bow with the dancers.

I agree about Ms. Otranto! I love it when she conducts, her enthusiasm is infectious.

[Barbara]

Sorry for the long quote; I guess I don't know how to quote only a small piece of a post.

[Helene]

[detour]

It would be great if you could put your cursor in the box and edit away, but the software is very fussy, and it can be frustrating, especially when it tries to "fix" it and misses.

The safest way to edit a quote is to click the little light switch icon in the upper left corner (over the B button) in the editing controls. This will display the post in a typewriter typeface with all of the formatting codes. The trick to editing is to be sure that the code at the beginning of the quote:

[_quote name="[board name of person you're quoting]" post="" timestamp="[long number"_]

and the end of the quote:

[_/quote_]

are complete.

There is no _ before and after the brackets ([_ or _]); I needed to add them or the examples would have been quoted

The key is to make sure these are intact. Often the beginning or end brackets are deleted, and then the post looks like this:

[quote name="Barbara" post="353213" timestamp="1430399423" *
Sorry for the long quote; I guess I don't know how to quote only a small piece of a post.
[/quote *

*Missing brackets

The downside is that each paragraph displays as one long line in this editing mode.

You can always toggle the little light switch back and forth to see how the post will look.

Or you can just leave the entire quote, and we'll often come in and edit it, even removing the quote if it's an obvious response to the preceding post. We do that because scrolling on mobile devices and tablets is tedious. We also try to fix "broken" quotes when we find them, so you don't have to sweat it.

[/detour]

[Barbara]

Thanks, Helene! I'll try that next time.

[abatt]

The Times review mentioned Lydia Wellington in the 4T's, but she is not listed in the casting sheet for Tuesday. Did she replace Faye Arthurs in 4Ts?

[nysusan]

The Times review mentioned Lydia Wellington in the 4T's, but she is not listed in the casting sheet for Tuesday. Did she replace Faye Arthurs in 4Ts?

Yes

[atm711]

"the safest way to reset is to click the little little light icon in the upper left corner (over the B button) in the editing controls"

Ha! you lost me already Helene. what light icon? -- what editing controls?

[kfw]

The safest way to edit a quote

I may not understand the problem. but if I want to edit I just highlight and delete, or backspace. And if I want to break a quote up into two parts, I cut and paste, highlight what I've pasted, and then hit the quote icon. Sometimes when I break up a quote I have the problem I believe sandik has noted a few times, where the cursor won't advance past the quote box. So I've started typing a few characters - mmm, for example - below where I'm going to paste the quote. After I've pasted, I can type over them.

[Helene]

If you click on the post box or click the "Quote" button, the white space should be surrounded by a light blue box. Right above the white space should be two rows of buttons. Those buttons are the edit controls. The "B" button will make highlighted text bold, the "I" button italic, the "U" button underlined, etc.

Right above the "B" button should be a little picture of a light switch. In all of the screen shots below, there are red arrows pointing to it.

The switch turns visual formatting on and off. Visual formatting is when you see the effects onscreen. Example. if you highlight the word "Example" and click "B", you can see that the word Example is now bold.

Here's a screenshot of this post with visual formatting:

The light switch switches between seeing the text in visual format and seeing it in plain text, which looks like a typewriter font, and shows how the text is "marked up" with formatting codes, or what's behind the scenes when you're looking at it in visually formatting mode.

I can't do the font switch in visual mode, but it would be the difference between seeing:

Example and [_bold]Example[_/bold] (except there wouldn't be an underscore after the first bracket)

Here's this post in plain text:

Here's an example of a quote with visual formatting:

Here's an example of the same quote in plain text:

If I deleted the highlighted portion of the plain text quote, only the highlighted part will be deleted.

I may not understand the problem. but if I want to edit I just highlight and delete, or backspace. And if I want to break a quote up into two parts, I cut and paste, highlight what I've pasted, and then hit the quote icon. Sometimes when I break up a quote I have the problem I believe sandik has noted a few times, where the cursor won't advance past the quote box. So I've started typing a few characters - mmm, for example - below where I'm going to paste the quote. After I've pasted, I can type over them.

The safest way to do any editing is in plain text mode because it's what the machine is interpreting, not simply a visual representation of it, but there are various ways to skin the cat.

I find when I try to delete the top of a quote and clean up the spacing, I end up deleting the author line, even though it looks like my cursor looks like it's directly to the left of the first line of text, a disconnect between visual formatting and the actual formatting. I regularly get a similar disconnect when I highlight a specific paragraph to indent, and the software indents the entire post, or the entire post from the highlighted portion to the end of the post. Then I toggle to plain text, find the end-tag, and move it where I want it to be.

If the cursor won't move past the quote box when it is formatted visually, I toggle the light switch, and hit "page down," which re-positions the cursor outside the box, hit return, and then toggle back. But everyone does what's comfortable for them. Whatever works.

[sandik]

What Helene said -- I have the best results if I click on the "light switch" in the upper left hand corner so that it strips away all the pretty stuff. The only trick is that I cannot add a link in that mode. To do that, I write my response and, when I'm done, I "flip the switch" to shift over into the format, where I can highlight a piece of text and use the link tool to make a link to another website.

Hope this is helpful. If it isn't, just ignore it.

[Amour]

Tonight at NYCB was Square Dance,Le Tombeau de Couperin, and Stravinsky Violin Concerto. As usual, Square dance was first up.(Corps member Devin Alberda explained to me after the show - he was in all 3 pieces - if you don't dance the very difficult Square Dance "starting out of the gate" you won't get through the night). I liked the performance but felt it wasn't quite as good as it was in the winter. Ashley Bouder was, again usual, a technical wizard and speed demon. But she was off the music at several points; in the beginning she was ahead of the music ( how that is humanly possible, I don't know). Later she seemed to get more on the same wave length as conductor Andrew Sill (who generally conducts this piece). Her séries of échappés, which come near the finale, are unbelievably fantastic. My real disappointment was that lead male Taylor Stanley was just not as good, IMO, as Anthony Huxley in the winter. Though Taylor has an elegant upper body, he doesn't have the economy of movement Anthony has. He struggled with the fast tempo. Instead of quick, crisp positions, his were a bit blurred. He had some trouble with the beats, flubbed the first flat foot turn in his solo and later seemed to fall out of some of his pirouettes. Still, this is an extremely hard ballet to dance and his performance wasn't bad, just not where I think it could be with more experience. The audience, though was very enthusiastic and they got a rousing cheer.

Tombeau is a ballet for 16 corps members. They are all featured equally; no couple or individual dancer gets a solo. The 8 initial couples go through a variety of pairings and shapes throughout the piece, from couples dancing under others' high held hands, to groups of four (ever changing) to 2 circles of 8. It is very recognizably Balanchine. Not one of his masterpieces but very good. I really like that he created a piece just for the hard working corps. I also thought it was very well danced. I especially liked the last movement (Rigaudon) which is fast and lively.

Next there was a See The Music about Stravinsky and his Violin Concerto. Conductor Andrew Sill explained the complexities of Stravinsky's music while also showing how there is still emotion in the music. These talks are quite informative but I know people who have long commutes home who feel them a bit superfluous during the weekdays.

Finally, Stravinsky Violin Concerto. I love this ballet and think it's a masterpiece. Tonight, the first PDD was danced by Maria and Amar. The second PDD was Sterling and Ask. I loved Maria and Amar. They have really become a great pairing and seem to always anticipate each others' moves. This ballet is very spare and modern, yet also lively and has some humor. Maria imbues the movement with some expressiveness without any overacting or drama. All the beautiful lines are there but her arms and the tilt of her head give the piece humanity. I love way she wraps her leg in attitude derrière around Amar and her effortless looking series of backbends. As for the second couple, I liked Ask but found Sterling dull and vanilla bland. For me, it's really hit or miss with her(though I thought she was good in Symph in 3; also she she seems to be getting lots of premieres). Her arms are hyperextended and never rounded. Thus, they rarely convey much expression. She doesn't use her head (as in tilting it) or her eyes (just look at your partner for God's sake) either to convey expression. Even her legs, her turnout (and then having to distinguish it from knee knocking turn in) and general positions were somehow not really clear. Also, she and Ask do not look good at all together. She is tiny while he is quite tall. It's a shame because this second PDD is etched in my brain from the Choreography by Balanchine DVD, where Kay Mazzo and Peter dance it in the most superlative way. In this case,the audience seemed to feel the same way I did. Maria and Amar received rousing cheers and bravos while Ask and Sterling got polite applause.

Just as an aside, Lourdes Lopez was in attendance tonight. I couldn't help but wonder if she was there to see how these pieces are danced now by NYCB or is looking to poach some dancers or SAB students for MCB. I also had a chance to talk with Ashley Bouder briefly at the second intermission. When my husband commented that she just keeps getting better, she responded that she's always trying to improve. Like most dancers I know or have met, she seems quite humble and ready to work ever harder at her craft, even though her rank is principal. What a refreshing attitude, given some other dancer threads being posted in other places on this forum.

In sum, it was a nice night, not quite much fun as last night (sorry Devin) but one that I'll remember for awhile.

[bobbi]

Two wonderful nights in a row at NYCB. Even though she was dancing with bronchitis (as she herself posted on social media), Ashley is now my gold standard for Square Dance. Her musicality and phrasing are an absolute joy to behold, and Taylor Stanley also matches her in musicality. Tombeau is one of my favorite ballets. I've been watching it since its premiere, and I always see and learn something new about the music every time. This elegant ballet was given deluxe treatment by the corps.

[cobweb]

Three terrific nights at NYCB -- Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. This is what ballet is all about for me! So many standouts. Maria Kowroski and Amar Ramasar especially, so sharp and so musical in the Agon pdd one night, and Stravinsky Violin Concerto the next. Ramasar didn't used to be one of my favorite dancers, but now all I can say is I love Amar Ramasar! It seems like he's dancing major roles every night, and brings good humor, excellence, and commitment to everything.

I loved Adrian Danchig-Waring's Apollo. The wingspan of his arms was astonishing. Loved Ashly Isaacs in her debut as Polyhymnia. Her smile is huge, her energy seems boundless, and she seems so completely at ease with the choreography -- something about it is infectious, and I get excited when I'm watching her!

Ashley Bouder was amazing in Square Dance, one of my very favorite pieces. Pure joy. I'm not so crazy about the Ashley Bouder-Anthony Huxley pairing, as in Duo Concertant. They just seem totally mismatched types, with him sophisticated and elegant, and her a bouncy, grinning showoff type. Concerto Barocco -- Teresa Reichlen is absolutely beautiful, and Sara Mearns was mesmerizing, but I thought the partnering in the pdd, with Reichlen and Justin Peck, looked labored. Oh, and Jennie Somogyi in Episodes looked totally sassy. I had the feeling the audience was happy to see her, and she seemed overjoyed to be back.

[cobweb]

... and another wonderful performance at the matinee. Apollo-Agon- duo concertant-symphony in 3 movements. Just thoroughly terrific. The excellence of the men particularly struck me. The commitment and attack of Adrian Danchig-Waring, Andrew Veyette, Amar Ramasar, and Daniel Ulbricht was inspiring. And I'm thrilled to see the super-talented Taylor Stanley in anything. The waviness of his arms in the wavy sections of the Symph in 3 Movements pdd was almost unreal. Enjoying the great company. Whereas across the plaza there are few principals I actually want to see, at NYCB there are very few dancers (practically none) in the entire company that I don't feel excited to see.

[Amour]

Tonight was the second cast of Apollo, Agon (except that Rebecca Krohn substituted for Savannah Lowery), Duo Concertant and Symph in 3.

I hate to say it but Apollo was awful. Just a disaster. I think this was probably the worst performance of this ballet I've ever seen. Catazaro was a mess. Just awful. I'm afraid I don't have one nice thing I can say about his performance, Things started badly when the tempo (Clotilde Otranto conducuting again) was much too slow. Then within the first 2 minutes, just after strumming the lyre, Catazaro dropped it and it just flew a few feet . This probably rattled him. But Catazro was unenergetic, uncharismatic and looked technically unready for the role. His jumps and attitude derrière were low. He didn't travel much across space. He didn't stretch his lines. His positions looked blurred. Every time he partnered a muse you could see him struggling and it looked awkward. Worst, he didn't looked interesting or confident. Where last week I could barely take my eyes off Adrian D-W, Catazaro barely commanded any attention. The situation wasn't helped by the muses, Sterling (Terpsichore), Sara ((Polyhymnia) and Ana Sophia Scheller (Calliope). These 3 don't look good together. Sterling is tiny and Sara (who was in the middle) is much taller and bigger. This was also not a a particularly good night for Sara. She fell out out of pirouettes and generally looked sloppy. I thought Ana Sophia didn't do the collapses or outstretching of arms nearly as well as Lauren Lovette (1st cast Calliope) but she's just coming back from an injury, so ok. Hyltin did the best of the 3 but I always find her a bit bland. When they all walked upstage for the final pose, Catazaro could barely hold his posture. He looked utterly defeated. And the final pose- whoever is the middle muse (I think Calliope) - didn't get her leg high enough so that beautiful triangle was missing. Just terrible.

Next up was Agon. This was much better. Adrian D-W and Tess Reichlen danced the 1st PDD, Anthony Huxley and Rebecca Krohn the 2nd. Allen Peiffer and Andrew Scordato were the 2 lead corps men. I love Adrian and Anthony. Adrian is technically superb, dances everything really full out (at about 120%), is very athletic and masculine. Anthony is much smaller but extremely quick and clean. For me, he is the Ashley Bouder of the men. As for the pairings, though, Adrian and Tess are just not the smooth couple that Maria K and Amar (1st cast) are. Though I think Adrian is a better dancer than Amar, Tess (at least in this role) is not as good as Maria. She had difficulty hitting some of the positions (especially the attitude derrière where her foot touches her head). Adrian did his best to help her but there's only so much a partner can do. Rebecca (1st cast and tonight subbing) was great as was Anthony. His solo was just a joy, with his deep backbends and clean positions. Neither Allen nor Andrew are, IMO, as refined or clean as Devin Alberda and Danny Applebaum (1st cast). Whoever is the taller of those two (I still haven't quite figured out who Allen is) you could see the tension in their shoulders. But overall they made it work.

Duo Concertant was danced by Sterling and Russel Janzen. She was good. Her footwork and speed were almost equal to Ashley. Russell had a few more difficulties. Though he managed the footwork and sissones pretty well, they took a lot out of him. He was clearly winded (even at the curtain calls). Also, although he has long arms and a huge wing span (today's desired aesthetic) he doesn't really know how to use them well. They look kind of disconnected from his back and torso and look kind of floppy. He needs to learn how get some stretch and energy into those arms. And he carries a lot of tension in his hands. Still, he only got promoted to soloist last fall, so job well done.

Finally, Symph in 3. Antonio Carmena/Lauren King 1st couple, Megan LeCrone/Sean Suozzi 2nd and Tiler/Amar 3rd (lead). Overall a good performance. The corps girls in white were the same as the first cast. Antonio is no Danny Ulbricht (1st cast) but his jumps were high and angled enough. I thought Lauren was actually more interesting than Erica Pereira (1st cast). I liked Megan much better than Savannah, both in terms of attack and their body types. Tiler and Amar were just as good, IMO, as Sterling and Taylor, maybe better. That's because Tiler is such a great artist, is so versatile and can play with the music. Amar is a wonderful partner (and a good dancer in his own right). Devin Alberda stuck out in the corps for his upper body elegance and his clean, always perfectly finished positions and attack. When are they going to promote him? And I love the final image in the ballet: the women holding their arms stick straight into the air, the men almost lying prone on the floor in front of them. So the 2nd cast of Symph in 3 was very good, just different from the 1st cast.

All in all, excepting Apollo, an enjoyable night.

[nysusan]

Tonight was the second cast of Apollo, Agon (except that Rebecca Krohn substituted for Savannah Lowery), Duo Concertant and Symph in 3.

I hate to say it but Apollo was awful. Just a disaster. I think this was probably the worst performance of this ballet I've ever seen. Catazaro was a mess. Just awful. I'm afraid I don't have one nice thing I can say about his performance, Things started badly when the tempo (Clotilde Otranto conducuting again) was much too slow. Then within the first 2 minutes, just after strumming the lyre, Catazaro dropped it and it just flew a few feet . This probably rattled him. But Catazro was unenergetic, uncharismatic and looked technically unready for the role. His jumps and attitude derrière were low. He didn't travel much across space. He didn't stretch his lines. His positions looked blurred. Every time he partnered a muse you could see him struggling and it looked awkward. Worst, he didn't looked interesting or confident. Where last week I could barely take my eyes off Adrian D-W, Catazaro barely commanded any attention. The situation wasn't helped by the muses, Sterling (Terpsichore), Sara ((Polyhymnia) and Ana Sophia Scheller (Calliope). These 3 don't look good together. Sterling is tiny and Sara (who was in the middle) is much taller and bigger.

I agree completely, it was the worst Apollo I've ever seen, possible the only Apollo that I didn't enjoy on at least some level. Made me cringe, the music was so slow it was unmusical and Catazaro was just a mess. Best you could say was that he remembered all the steps. I also think that while all the muses were fine individually, they just don't look good together.

I enjoyed the rest of the program, especially Duo Concertant. I think this may be Hyltin's best role, she is so lovely in it. Fast, light charming, romantic but not melodramatic. I thought Janzen looked pretty good in his debut.

Reichlin & D-W just don't have the sizzle that Kowroski & Ramasar have, nor does she have Kowroski's amazing line & flexibility though she danced with a fierceness that I liked.