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A few thoughts on tonight’s performance: 1) BF: the more I see Alexa dance, the more I like her — and MT as well. 2) STS: for some reason — perhaps because Huxley doesn’t ham it up — he won me over with his understatement. It’s a short ballet, quickly over — innocuous really — but there was a sweetness. 3] Errante: can see a progression of Mira making this dance her own — she’s looser and freer with every performance — it’s as if Suzanne told her — do you — and yes Aaron comes in later as well as 4 couples, but really I don’t notice them… 4) the Bizet: I wasn’t taken as I usually am — perhaps I was in a mood — I don’t know, but why did I find Megan’s dancing more than usual clipped and abbreviated — nothing full out. (Now Alexa in the first movement…) And Sara seemed to be moving as if embalmed and I wondered if she’d asked the conductor to slow the tempo down. And Alston’s lower body seemed relatively inflexible — there appeared to be no stretch in her line.

Mira was breathtaking in Errante tonight. The Steadfast Tin Soldier is a bit too cutesy for my taste and doesn’t have much substance. Still deciding how I feel about Bourree and would like to see it again. Symphony in C is always a crowd pleaser. All four movement principals seemed on tonight. Emma and Alston both looked especially good - such energy and joy. I think Alston will settle in some as she dances more principal roles (keep them coming!). I find her so fresh and love the quality of her movement. I agree with Vipa above. Think Alston and Emma are on track for promotions.

I love Jeffrey Cirio and enjoyed Boston Ballet's The Nutcracker, so I have high hopes.

The tempo is super fast and there are a LOT of jumps and turns. I'm surprised all of the men's hair isn't blown back into an aerodynamic afro by the end! Kikta and Takahashi were fabulous tonight. Very funny, well (mis)matched. I saw him do it with Mira last fall, and Kikta is better in Bourree, she works the comedy more seriously, more realistically. I LOVE this program. And I think I'm seeing it again. Mearns and Angle are literally breathtaking in the second movement of the Bizet, strong performances from Fairchild & Gordon and von Enck & Mejia in the Bizet. Mira Nadon is amazing in Errante. Well worth seeing. There was a lot of role/cast shuffling in the demi's in the Bizet. Alexa Maxwell was in for Alston Macgill when she got bumped up. I didn't enjoy Macgill in this quite as much as in 4T over the winter. Macgill is so quick it verges on brittle or clipped, at times. Savannah Durham danced in the corps of Errante, uncredited. I couldn't figure out who was out of that ballet, but it was definitely Savannah Durham onstage.

Just back from tonight's show. Had a wonderful time. I enjoyed Bouree Fantasque more on this, my second viewing, than I did last season on my first. It has something of a 1940's musical sensibility in terms of the costumes, color scheme and overall look. This time as I watched I was taken with the formations and the way large groups of people were moved around. I wouldn't go out of my way to see it a third time, but I wouldn't avoid it if it was on a strong program. Steadfast Tin Soldier was done by Pereira and Huxley. IMO it doesn't matter much who does it. There's not much to it. Errante is a great vehicle for Mira Nadon. She knows how to hold the stage and create an atmosphere. Aaron Sanz was fine, but lacked the weight and substance in his movements that Peter Martins brought to the role. If you've ever seen the video, Martins was a match for Farrell. Sanz was no where near a match for Nadon. I think this piece is worth keeping in the rep, now that it's been brought back. Symphony in C is pure joy. Mearns and Angle were wonderful in the second movement, and Tyler Angle's solo dancing was the best I've seen from him in a while. Fairchild and Gordon were crisp and joyful in the first movement and Emma Von Enck and Mejia sailed through the third. In the fourth movement Alston Macgill looked like she was having the time of her life. Great dancing all around. If I had to guess I'd say Macgill was a strong candidate for promotion to soloist and Emma VE for principal What a great company!

I'd be happy with Kingdom of the Shades. Interestingly, on the ABT site, they list Makarova's full-length Bayadere, which premiered in 1980. No mention of Act II alone. I'm sure I saw that at ABT in the 70s. And note that the opening scene of Turning Point (filmed in fall 1976) is the Shades entrance. https://www.abt.org/ballet/la-bayadere/ According to this Post review, Makarova staged Kingdom of the Shades for ABT in 1974. That explains why they could include it in Turning Point. But I wonder if Makarova would agree to that. https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1980/12/20/spectacular-skimpy-la-bayadere/40f0ca8e-638e-49fa-9854-35645ad963cb/

So just do the Kingdom of the Shades section. I don't think that's completely off the table as an isolated 1-act. Jaffe may have been talking about the entire ballet - the offensive acts are 1 and 3. Most of us go to LB to see this at primarily anyway.

Very interesting! Their Swan Lake is by Mikko Nissinen, their artistic director. https://www.bostonballet.org/performances/swan-lake/

Swan Lake is coming to Los Angeles after a long absence. LA Music Center's 2024/2025 Dance Season, aka Glorya Kaufman Presents Dance at The Music Center, is announced: Urban Bush Women Nov. 22-24, 2024 Batsheva Dance Company Feb. 14-16, 2025 Alvin Ailey Dance Theater March 2-6, 2025 Grupo Corpo May 2-4, 2025 Swan Lake - Boston Ballet June 26-29, 2025

Pointe magazine published an article on the problems with La Bayadère in 2020. https://pointemagazine.com/la-bayadere-orientalist-stereotypes/

There were objections to La Bayadère by 2020, though perhaps they were not felt as strongly in the United States as in the UK, where the Hindu population is proportionally larger. The main difference seems to be that McKenzie did not recognize a problem, but Jaffe does. https://inews.co.uk/culture/arts/hindus-apology-royal-opera-house-la-bayadere-racism-cultural-appropriation-223861

People might remember that La Bayadere was scheduled for 2020 by ABT, but was a victim of COVID cancellations. So much has changed since then. Olga Smirnova and Kimmin Kim were going to be brought in as guests. I think the cultural objections to the ballet hadn't yet surfaced. I'd be happy to see Kingdom of the Shades as a stand-alone now. https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/theater_dance/how-natalia-makarova-changed-the-ballet-world-with-this-landmark-production/2020/05/26/f708f3ba-9a07-11ea-89fd-28fb313d1886_story.html Hurlin and Bell were going to debut in Bayadere. Brief rehearsal clips in "Debut Deferred" on the ABT site: https://www.abt.org/event_dates/debut-deferred-5-20-20/

A teeny clip from Bourrée Fantasque https://www.facebook.com/share/v/3o2TkacAwJtRPipa/?mibextid=qi2Omg A clip from Errante https://www.instagram.com/reel/C6MgQWzOpdY/?igsh=MW9icjN3bzd1YTEwcw==

Tamara Rojo made a trenchant comment about how there will always be people who are offended by this or by that, and if we limit art to what doesn't offend anyone we'll have bad art and lose a lot of great art. The Kingdom of the Shades from La Bayadère is a central, historic part of ABT's repertoire. I shudder at the thought of it being banned from our stages especially since the Russian companies can no longer tour here. That means there will be generations of audiences who will be denied the opportunity to see it live in New York City. I previously made a suggestion that ABT put together a Petipa evening. They could do the Kingdom of the Shades, the Hunting of the Larks from "Harlequinade" and then pas de deux and solos from "Sleeping Beauty" (the Ratmansky production was to be revived with many role debuts in 2020 but was canceled with the rest of that season). Maybe parts of "Paquita" or the whole "Paquita Grand Pas". That would be a great evening. Petipa's "The Cavalry Halt" still exists and can be staged for ABT- I think Gelsey Kirkland's company did it.

This - exactly. I don't want to see any additional weeks added to ABT given the works they are presenting and the people they have on the roster. I would love to see some added weeks at NYCB., but that's not likely.

Agree, although that's much more the case among the men. Subpar technique/artistry plus age-related decline are glaring problems among the principal guys at the moment. Bell and Camargo being notable exceptions. Other than Trenary, who has other strengths, and Copeland, who is essentially retired, the female principals are technically strong and have no problem with classical choreography. (Murphy is at the end of her career but used to be a powerhouse, so I don't really count her.) Brandt, Hurlin, and Teuscher are the only female principals I currently consider all-around great and exciting artists though. Thankfully there are some promising soloists in Curley, Roxander, Misseldine, and Park. Looking across the plaza at NYCB, there really is no comparison when it comes to talent at all ranks and quantity/quality of repertory though.

Interesting, the dancer I thought of that could really do something with this was Naomi Corti.😊

That's great information and I thank you so much for taking the time to provide it. I really appreciate it. Can't wait to see the Philadelphia Ballet!

Possibly, but I wouldn't expect much. He didn't dance in the company's new production of Swan Lake in 2022. He hasn't danced any after-Petipa ballet for several years. This season he has only danced two performances of Onegin with the company. I saw the second and thought he was weak. Since then, no Nutcracker, nothing in the long run of Wheeldon's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, nothing in Suite en Blanc or anything else in March. I would be astonished if he suddenly appeared in Don Quixote. And by February 2025 he will be 43 years of age. Even Joaquín De Luz didn't dance that long.

I've been to Philadelphia and the Academy/Doubletree many times in recent years (conferences and ballets). To your questions: (1) 30th street station: always a long line of taxis waiting. No problem getting one. They all take credit cards. (2) Academy of Music/Doubletree: I don't actually remember seeing taxis after a performance and there's no official queue. But Uber drivers hover all around Center City as there are so many hotels. I'd suggest calling one from inside the Academy/Doubletree after the performance. On a recent trip, I got one at 6 am at the Doubletree for the trip back to the airport and many were in the neighborhood. (3) Suburban station: don't be tempted to continue over to Suburban Station by City Hall if you're coming in by train or plane. I made that mistake once - no cabs stop during the day. I ended up wheeling a suitcase over to Broad Street. Ugh! (4) Ground from the airport: I didn't mention this before, but the city has a great Regional Rail Service from the airport to 30th Street Station. Buy the ticket with a credit card ($6.75) before you board. Clearly marked outside the baggage claim area.

Agree completely with the above post about Trenary. She showed promise as a soloist but has not improved. In fact, she has declined in technique. Sadly, many of ABT's principals are not up to the task of being great in classical ballets due to spotty technique. This is part of the reason for the downward spiral of the company. McKenzie promoted lots of people in his final years to principal. His stated reason in the NY Times was that he wanted to give them hope (during the pandemic). But now it's post pandemic and we are seeing that many don't have the skills technically to carry the classics on their shoulders. The audience sees this and knows this. Maybe by stuffing the rep with less demanding works like the Wheeldon LWFC the deficiencies are less obvious.

Thank you so much California and cobweb. I'd prefer to do a cab each way. I assume it's easy enough to find a cab at the train station, but my biggest concern is getting a cab back to the station. Do they have a organized queue at the theater at the end of the performance? Last time we went to KC we stayed overnight (to maximize performances of course) and left for home directly from the matinee and there was a problem with little to no cabs showing up in the KC queue. There might have been something going on in DC that day as there weren't even any cabs by the Watergate where we've found them before. Anyway, we took the metro which requires one change and just made our train. I'm hoping it's easier in Philly.

Unlike others here, I didn't love this program. It really dragged for me, until Symphony in C came along with a thrilling jolt. This was my first time seeing Bourree Fantasque. I could see it again and enjoy it, although I suspect it would wear thin quickly. I'm not sure why this was chosen for such a major revival. Highlights were Nadon of course, and Gilbert Bolden who dances with confidence and authority. Even with top-notch principals like Megan Fairchild and Daniel Ulbricht, Steadfast Tin Soldier felt painfully precious. (And I speak as someone who absolutely loves Nutcracker.) Errante (or Tzigane -- I agree it should have been given a more distinctive new name) is a spectacular vehicle for Mira Nadon. They must have someone else rehearsing it; the obvious, and only, other dancer I can think of here would be Sara Mearns. It was *great* to see Aaron Sanz back dancing again! It's been way way too long. Symphony in C. Good all around. Gerrity didn't bring the kind of expansive grandeur I would have expected from LaFreniere, but she was fine. Olivia MacKinnon looked good as one of the first-movement demisoloists. Phelan and Knight were kind of bland, but I just loved watching the patterns form and re-form around the stage. Beautiful. In the third movement Baily Jones looked good, but KJ Takahashi looked really, really good. He presents himself so well - with grandeur and confidence. Even his hair looks perfectly in place, whereas some of the other men let their hair get sloppy. Takahashi takes care to make a very good impression. Finally, Alston Macgill looked good in the 4th movement and Troy Schumacher is back after what seems like a long absence. (Speaking of which, that made me wonder, is Laracey on the casting sheets so far?) I would like to see the Kikta/Takahashi Bourree Fantasque, so I may see this program again. Maybe.

Me too - I love this ballet!

Such a fantastic program last night. Nadon was magnetic in Errante. I thought Sanz faded in comparison to Nadon. Now that I see all of the back bending required in this role, maybe that's why we are not seeing Mearns in this role. Phelan and Knight have improved significantly in the Second Movement of Symphony in C since I last saw them in this ballet in 2022. However, there is still no emotional depth or resonance in their performance. What a spectacular company. Amazing talent at all levels, from corps to the principals.