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Do you subscribe to a ballet series?


Alexandra

  

  1. 1. Do you subscribe to a ballet series?

    • Yes, one.
      11
    • No.
      16
    • Yes, more than one subscription (different night) to the same company.
      2
    • Yes, to more than one company.
      4


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I usually subscribe to a series in the Winter season to NYCB and to a series within ABT's Spring season at the Met. It's pretty expensive but I count it as part what makes life worth living... Plus, we really don't do much else!:D

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Hi, E! Always good to see you :)

Yours is a good solution for frequent flyers, I think. I have several friends in DC who have two subscriptions to the Kennedy Center series. They usually offer triple bills during the week and a full-length on the weekend, so if one subscribes to, say, Wednesday night and Saturday afternoon, one is fairly sure to see every ballet program.

Your "liberal ticket exchange" is something I wonder if people new to ballet would think about. But it is usually possible to exchange tickets, so if you're afraid of being locked in to every single Wednesday night, it's good to know there's always Thursday. :) (Or if Yourday turned out to have several programs you weren't interested in, those tickets can be exchanged for ones on Otherday.)

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I also subscribe to NYCB each season and use the ticket exchange policy. My subscription is for Thursday nights, but I haven't gone to a Thursday night performance in a year and a half! I no longer work in the city, and its much easier for me to go to weekend performances. But I love my subscription seats and haven't wanted to give them up. Every season I figure, oh, I'll probably go on Thursdays once or twice, but haven't been doing so.

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I'm a subscriber to the San Francisco Ballet. I feel so fortunate to be in close proximity to such a wonderful company. I've been on the fabulous student discount for a few seasons, but next season I'll have to pony up extra money. It will be worth it. I just wish I could see NYCB concurrently, what a great thing that would be! I'm trying to see when I can go visit New York and see some performances.

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Guest Sammie

I do not have a subscription, mostly because of proximity of a company which offers one, though I never miss a performance by the company of my daughter's school. The booster organization though has recently arranged for discount tickets to take parents and kids to ballets that reach up here in our neck of the woods.

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We always subscribe to the Joffrey in Chicago. Otherwise, we see the occasional single performance of another group here or when we travel.

We are subscribers to several other series (opera, theatre, music) but not, alas, more dance (if we lived in Manhattan, it would be a different story).

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Thank you all who have voted so far. I'm also ver happy -- really, truly, personally happy -- that several people who don't often post have responded to this thread. So thank you, justafan, Sammie and CASloan. I hope we'll hear more from you. I'd love to read what you're seeing.

(Thanks to EJohnson, BW and linsusanr, too :) )

I'd also be curious, those who do not subscribe, why? (Nothing to subscribe to, don't like what's on the subscription, too much money, lots of other reasons?)

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Originally posted by at

I'd also be curious, those who do not subscribe, why?  (Nothing to subscribe to, don't like what's on the subscription, too much money, lots of other reasons?)

I don't subscribe to any because the POB subscriptions aren't very convenient: most subscriptions include both ballets and operas, and the ballet only ones only include a number of ballets of the season (say, 3 to 5) with limited choices (and it generally includes works I don't care for). The exchance possibilities are limited, and in general I don't know in advance at which moment I'll be free (by the way, most subscriptions aren't for a fixed day of the week).

Besides, the prices aren't especially interesting

(for most subscriptions, it's the same price as what one would pay for seats taken separately).

However, I admit that there have been some improvements in the subscription modes, for example they have added some special formulas with three ballets on saturday matinees (which might be convenient for people living far from Paris), and

more possible choices; also for the dance subscriptions now one has the possibility to choose the ballets first and the dates some time later (which might be convenient to see a particular cast).

The only period when I've had a ballet subscription was when i lived in Grenoble: my parents and I had a subscription for one or two years at the Maison de la Danse in Lyon, they had a convenient subscription with five ballets on sunday matinees (which was one of the only possible dates for us, as the trip was a bit long).

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I'm very lucky to live in Manhattan and be able to get to Lincoln Center easily by bus or taxi. As a result I have three subscriptions to NYCB and one to ABT, and I've had them for many years. My late wife and I had a Joffrey subscription too, but they deserted us. Although I applaud the option of exchanging subscription tickets for other performances, I don't do it. I do sometimes buy single tickets to additional performances. If I don't see a ballet several times over many seasons, I don't consider that I've really seen it. Other than rent, ballet tickets are my greatest expense.

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I don't--although I always wistfully pour over the NYCB schedule--I live too far away to realistically commit to a series!

Sometimes I am fortunate enough to get free tickets--or I buy half price tickets--or my daughter gets student rush tickets--somehow we see every ballet our hometown company does. We just do not have to fluidity of funds to invest in a subscription! We try to see most dance that comes to town--but usually again through half price day of purchases or if I'm really organized through a local organization that offers discounted advance purchase tickets.

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Living 100 miles from NYC makes it a little hard to make it into Manhattan too often, but I've managed two subs to NYCB and one to ABT in the past year. Better for me is a week in Saratoga in July for the NYCB season and go to everything.

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Thanks for reminding us about Saratoga, bobsey

.

My husband and I had the distinction on more than one occasion of being the members who travelled the furthest (that is, from Chicago) to join the NYCB Guild's getaway weekends to Saratoga (when they used to offer this annual outing). It was a wonderful way to see several performances in a sylvan setting. We loved the charm of the town, too.

We haven't been there in years. What's it like today (both SPAC and Saratoga Springs itself)?

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Saratoga is about as ever - nice town - and lots to do in the area: Grandma Moses country and Green Mts to the east; Lake George and the Adirondacks to the north. And SPAC is a wonderful venue for ballet. But your question should really be answered by rkoretsky, who lives there and is happy to see ballet alert people. She's at SPAC almost every day.

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Thanks for recalling the NYCB Guild Trip to Saratoga, Casloan. It was always a great treat for me and my wife. I still miss it, even though I go to Saratoga on my own now, usually for a week. A highlight of the Guild Weekend on more than one occasion was a visit to the home of Shaun O'Brien and Cris Alexander. For those who don't know, Shaun was a longtime NYCB dancer best remembered for his Drosselmeyer and Dr. Coppelius, and Cris was a Broadway singer/dancer who was in the original casts of both On the Town and Wonderful Town. Later, he had a new career as a photographer.

A few weeks after the last Guild Saratoga trip in the mid-90s (I don't remember the exact year) some NYCB and Guild functionaries invited trip participants to a get-together at the NY State Theater. We were asked to make suggestions as to how future trips could be improved. Many suggestions were made. although the consensus was "Don't fix it if it ain't broke." The next thing that happened was they abolished the trip altogether.

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Not to drag this off topic, but I recall reading about those Guild trips and thinking: "someday"....and then when I looked they were gone *poof*!? I'm really looking forward to visiting my daughter up there this summer while she is attending NYSSSA - can't wait to finally see the ballet out of doors!

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I took out my first subscription to the New York City Ballet the season after the Stravinsky Fesitval (of which I saw only the opening night: "Lost Sonata," "Violin Concerto," "Symphony in 3 Movements," "Firebird," plus free vodka). I figured that God was not going to send too many universal geniuses across my path, so I had better seize the moment!

As a result, my late companion and I spent many a memorable Sunday evening in the center of the first row of the Third Ring. There was an extraordinary "Concerto Barocco" with Farrell, Watts, and Martins. And it was ideal for the farewell performances by Farrell and Patricia MacBride... But I digress.

I later added a second subscription, on Friday evenings, but rising costs, and the company's decision to cancel Sunday evening performances, have left me with that alone. As others have noted, the company has a very liberal exchange policy, and subscribers get priority in ordering single tickets as well.

Occasional visitors should know that unused subscriber tickets are sold on the day of the performance, not at the box office, but at a table in the lobby by volunteers from the Ballet Guild. The price is the same, but seat locations are usually better, and the revenues help support the company.

For several years, I took advantage of a series discount that the Joyce Theatre offered for its many dance presentations: order four or more companies per season and get a substantial discount (40% in most cases) on all tickets. Unfortunately, while several companies I admire greatly appeared from time time, I saw no point in committing myself to other dubious choices.

I do take advantage of series discounts offered by many dance companies -- ABT for its fall City Center series (story ballets in an airplane hangar do not inspire me), Paul Taylor, and Merce Cunningham among others. A modest contribution to a favorite company will get you top priority -- i.e., maximum legroom in the City Center balcony!

I also take advantage of series prices at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, just down the street from my apartment. While these usually entail a combination of events (opera, concerts, performance art, etc.), the choice is always wide. And the arrival of the Mark Morris company across the street has brought special deals for his company's local seasons.

In short, when I see discounts and prime seating for a company I like, I jump at the chance!

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Morris Neighbor - your comment about the "airplane hanger" was pretty funny. :) Tell me, what does one have to do in order to get enough leg room at City Center?! I thought I was going to have to be surgically removed from my balcony seat the last time I was there! People complain about NY State Theater's not having a center aisle - they must not have experienced City Center!:rolleyes:

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There's plenty of leg-room in the row of seats behind the wide cross-aisle in what used to be called the balcony; it now separates the "Grand Tier" from the "Mezzanine." I make a point of ordering tickets from the first mailing I receive and usually get seats in this row.

Especially in the center section, the sight lines are good. You still have to contend with the occasional tall person seated in front of you, but there's also the bonus of being able to trip those rude people who dash out during the curtain calls ;)

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Thank you Morris Neighbor, I've saved that info so I can refer to it next time I really want to see something there! I really have been avoiding City Center since my last visit due to the total lack of legroom - my fears have been relieved!

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I subscribe to Alberta Ballet in Canada. It is becoming a really good company. I love going to the balet, and seeing the new dancers coming out, and also seeing world premieres, from budding new choreographers as well as known and established choreographers.

gwschloss

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