volcanohunter

Probably, but ABT continues to fill up with competition winners. Its current apprentices fit that pattern, and those who went through the school trained there only briefly.

People have said that the dancers in NYCB's corps could be principals elsewhere for at least 50 years. Somehow the rest of American ballet has muddled on nevertheless.

Dracula screams provincial. It's been done by so many regional companies because of the name recognition. I tried watching Mark Godden's version once. It was the first time I left a theater without waiting for a scene change.

Speaking as someone who made a point of seeing as many Lilac Gardens as possible, what routinely ripped out my guts at City Center, did not carry at the Met. So no, not even I would want to see Rodeo or Lilac Garden there.

Sarah Kaufman famously made the same argument 15 years ago in her "curse of Balanchine" piece. https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/05/07/AR2009050704620.html

Dwight Rhoden also did a Luhrmannesque Gatsby about which I can only say: just say no.

The last NEA survey of audience participation coincided with the first post-lockdown season, and the results were gruesome. Dramatic theater had lost half of its audience, opera lost two-thirds of it. https://www.arts.gov/impact/research/publications/arts-participation-patterns-2022-highlights-survey-public-participation-arts I used to have a symphony subscription sitting in the top ring because I wanted unobstructed, blended sound. There was always a decent-sized crowd there. I dropped the subscription years ago because I detested the antics of the chief conductor and grew frustrated with the repertoire. Now, the top two rings in the state-of-the-art hall are closed for concerts, and what's left isn't usually full. Still, there are perks that can make a subscription attractive, such as a substantial discount on ticket prices, installment plans, flexible exchange privileges/account credits, the waiving of service fees, free parking - whatever an institution can offer.

Since it's a co-production, undoubtedly ABT invested heavily in Like Water for Chocolate, and it needs to recoup the investment. Ashton, sadly, doesn't sell well in New York. Past runs of La Fille mal gardée and Sylvia attest to this. I could just cry about that. Filling 3,800 seats is a tall order. Even in the past I had little difficulty buying tickets in person at a late date to see big names. (I'm thinking of the days when I was no longer living in New York and there was no such thing as online sales. I didn't buy tickets over the phone. In those days long distance wasn't cheap either.)

I'm a couple days late in posting, but the Royal Ballet celebrated the 60th anniversary of The Dream by including Antoinette Sibley and Anthony Dowell in the curtain calls. https://www.facebook.com/share/p/Hj1x21DrmHZgB8rJ/?mibextid=oFDknk

@Rosie2, since you've been to several shows, I hope you'll post your impressions here.

Evidently that doesn't merit a press release.

Tirion Law was promoted to principal dancer after her debut in Don Quixote. That makes her the second dancer Hope Muir leapfrogged over the rank of first soloist to principal. https://www.facebook.com/share/v/WcJRntmMkySTLe1W/?mibextid=xfxF2i In the video you can see her husband, Peng-Fei Jiang, get a bit teary at the announcement.

May he rest in peace. He was far too young to go. It's a pity that Maurice Béjart's shenanigans probably cost him the étoile rank he deserved. P.S. Vu-An rattling off entrechat-huit as though they were nothing at all:

I'm aware of that, but I was referring to the frequent use of Jewels to close the spring season.

Surely the season-ending alternation between A Midsummer Night's Dream and Jewels is not a bad thing. I grew sick of The Nutcracker a really long time ago. (Not the Balanchine version, just the pervasiveness of Nutcrackers every December.)