chicagoballetomane

Just left tonight’s performance! What treasures these two ballets are and how lucky we are that NYCB continues to perform them. I enjoyed the see the music session before the performance. I did not know the history of the music being commissioned by Balanchine for personal use with his friends - how incredible! Kitka was spectacular in her Choleric entrance and Danchig-Waring’s Phlegmatic was particularly compelling as well. I very much enjoyed Olivia MacKinnon and Sara Adams in the theme section. Isabella LaFreniere was confident and assured as Sanguinic as well - no technical mishaps tonight. The weak spot was SVV…I’ve seen the Melancholic role performed better, but what he may have lacked technically he made up for in expression. Christina Clark kept drawing my eye - would love to see more of her! The choreography of this piece is so wonderful- I always enjoy seeing it. Tonight was my first time seeing Liebeslieder and wow…all four of the principal couples were amazing. Tiler and Mira were just breathtakingly gorgeous. I would see this ballet over and over again!

Oh I couldn’t agree more! This program is so underwhelming. I’m actually watching the Le Corsaire performance with Steifel/Kent/Corella/Herrera/De Luz/Malakov right now and it would be so thrilling to see the company bring this beautiful ballet back to the stage!

Thrilled to see this promotion for Hurlin - well deserved! I too am surprised by the rapid rise of Misseldine and Park! I’ve seen rave reviews of Misseldine on this board, so perhaps less of a surprise than Park. Any reviews of Park this season? These rapid promotions made me think of the talented Elisabeth Beyer who is still inexplicably in the Studio Company. When will she finally get an apprenticeship and corps contract? I think she’s around 20, so slightly older than Misseldine. Would love to know if anyone has intel on that situation…

Is Mistys Achilles injury preventing her from being cast in performing in the Met season coming up?

Yikes, this piece does not cast Abi in a good light. Seems like she is too selfish to share the spotlight. Couldn’t be happy that her siblings shared her love of ballet? Wasn’t thrilled her brother made principal at NYCB? Displeased her brother and SIL got engaged on her birthday? Sounds like a diva…

Really looking forward to the new season! I've seen Possokov's Don Q in the past, and although it differs significantly from more traditional productions, it is highly enjoyable. The Times Are Racing is going to go over really well in Chicago too. Jane Eyre is the icing on the cake! Thank god they're performing it at the Auditorium Theatre - I am dreading the ome to the Lyric Opera House!

Bidsall, I totally agree with your review. An incredibly intense and very serious work. The score was incredible, and I loved the opera singer. I saw the Saturday evening show with Victoria Jaiani as Anna, and she gave an absolutely riveting performance. Alberto Velazquez was an incredible Vronsky, and I really enjoyed Edson Barbosa as the old station worker. The show has a very high production value - very modern sets, beautiful costumes, and creative use of lighting and video. I would love to see it again, and I hope this work remains in the Joffrey rep for many years to come. Definitely merits repeat viewing. It was quite a contrast to seeing NYCB's Sleeping Beauty earlier in the week - really made it seem like a tripe in comparison!

I saw the performance of Sleeping Beauty last night and really enjoyed it. Sterling Hyltin was so fluid in her upper body and radiated joy on stage. She was a very beautiful, effervescent, youthful Aurora. The only time she ever showed any work was during the balances during the Rose Adagio - otherwise, she made it all look so easy. She did raise her arms to fifth position during all 8 of the balances. Tess was a stately and authoritative Lilac Fairy. I enjoyed Kristen Segin's fairy variation as well - definitely the best of the bunch. Of course, the children were a delight in the Garland Waltz. The Von Enck sisters, Baily Jones, and especially Maira Nadon really stood out in the corps. Ms. Nadon looks like a future Lilac Fairy to me. I don't believe Aurora has to be short, and I would love to see her Aurora too, although that will probably never happen at NYCB. Rus Jensen's prince needs some work - he was pretty stone faced and seemed to struggle with some of the technical demands of the Act III variation. No chemistry between him and Hyltin whatsoever - and that's entirely on him because she as just beaming the whole time. He did a good job of being invisible during the wedding pas, but I would have liked him to bring something to the table. After all the slamming of this production on BA, I expected it to be a lot worse than it is. The costumes are fine. The courtiers and the jesters have garish colors on their costumes, but the majority of the costumes are absolutely beautiful. My main knock on the program is that there isn't actually a lot of dancing for Aurora! ETA: I saw on Ashley Hod's instagram that she visited Andy Veyette some place and he is "working on himself." Does anyone have any info on this? She almost made it sound like he was in some kind of rehab.

Interesting that Ashley Hod is dancing Frau. I wonder if it’s because of her recent injury limiting her ability to dance other roles.

Unfortunately the programming for Across the Pond has been changed. No more McGregor or Ashton. Now they’re doing Vespertine by Liam Scarlett - has anyone seen it, and is it any good? Andrew McNicol is making a new ballet. With this change in programming I’m thinking about skipping it - feel jipped on my season ticket purchase! Christine Rocos and Migel Angel Blanco were very good in Swan Lake on Saturday night. She brought me to tears at the end of Act II And was very vampy in Act III. She was technically strong too - no mishaps - banged out 32 clean single fouettés. I continue to enjoy the Wheeldon production!

Is Lexi Maxwell not performing this season? She posted a palm tree picture on her IG story. Shame if she’s not dancing to support Amar

Per her Instagram Waterbury will be on Good Morning America tomorrow.

Shocking. I have been following Alexandra Waterberry on Instagram for well over a year, and her relationship with Chase Finley was well documented in her photos and stories. It became clear over the summer that they were no longer together when she stopped featuring him and her account. I would not have guessed that she was the catalyst for all of this!

Really devastating news. Difficult to conceive of communications that would merit this type of response.

Why presumably head to Georgia? Is his wife leaving the company too?

I suspect Erica has been understudying this for years and is only getting a chance to perform with Megan Fairchild on maternity leave

I wonder who the baby’s father is? Megan keeps quite mum about her love life on social media. I don’t believe she has remarried.

I attended the matinee of the Joffrey’s Modern Masters program today, which I was quite excited to see because Glass Pieces and the 4Ts were on tap! The Four Temperaments is a masterpiece that never disappoints. The highlight for me was Stefan Goncalvez in Melancholic - his supple back and fluid movement were a joy to behold. I also enjoyed Victoria Jaiani in Choleric, as she completely commanded the stage. Christine Rocas was a bit of a disappointment in Sanguinic as she didn’t quite have the speed or attack that the role requires. The next two ballets I have no desire to see again. The soundtrack for Body of Your Dreams by Miles Thatcher was humorous, but the choreography had little to do with “music.” Mercifully, this completely frivolous piece was only about 10 minutes long. The Nicolas Blanc piece Beyond the Shore has some enjoyable moments. The Broom of the System section was my favorite, followed by the Aerosol Melody section, which featured a great performance by Amanda Assucena. The remainder of the ballet was just too dark to see, and the soundtrack was grating. Maybe I just wasn’t in the right mood, but after the 4Ts, I just didn’t want to see another ballet with dark lighting, fling-her-around partnering, and a series of loud sounds being played as opposed to music. After the second and third numbers, Glass Pieces was like a breath of fresh air. Real music! Light that allows the audience to see the dancers! The final section with the male corps de ballet provided an energetic and riveting end to the show.

After two decades at the Auditorium Theatre at Congress and Wabash, the Joffrey will be moving it’s performances to the Lyric Opera at Walker and Washington. The Lyric holds 300 less people, but it should not matter much because the Joffrey rarely opens the upper balcony at the Auditorium Theatre. I prefer the Auditorium to the Lyric from a convenience perspective as it’s right on the red line, but the Lyric is a more modern theatre. I’ve only been to the opera there once (sat in the orchestra a bit back and felt it was a bit hard to see the stage) and will need to decide which I prefer as a dance viewing venue. https://www.google.com/amp/www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/music/vonrhein/ct-ent-joffrey-lyric-residency-0923-story,amp.html

I am very excited for this programming and plan to attend all the shows. The Wheeldon SL is fantastic, and I’m pleased to see it will return.

What a disaster- that was painful to watch.

Whitley is impressive in those clips, but I would love to see ABT give Aran Bell a shot at a prince role:

I saw McRae perform Don Q with Iana Salenko in Chicago a few years ago and he was incredible. His Act 3 variation absolutely blew me away with his speed, attack, and virtuosity. I actually ended up enjoying McRae/Salenko better than Golding/Osipova, primarily because McRae was so enjoyable

Dying to hear a recap of the opening of the Jewels festival - hopefully some one was there!

The casting for Jewels is amazing - wish I could be there! https://www.nycballet.com/NYCB/media/NYCBMediaLibrary/PDFs/Press/Casting/Lincoln-Center-Festival-Jewels-Casting_July-20-23-2017.pdf