abatt

Alston Mcgill is finally making her return to some excellent roles. fingers crossed that she remains in good health. Sorry to see Gabriel is being replaced. He is an exciting dancer.

When a dancer takes an outside gig he is not a representative of his employer. Perhaps yagp should have referred to Kim as intl guest artist

YAGP should not have announced them as artists for the program if they were just going to cave to protestors. The war in Ukraine is tragic. But I don't think the blame for Ukraine's misery can be placed on the shoulders of Kimin Kim or Nagahisa. The Met Opera hired Russian Akhmetshina this season as its new Carmen, and featured her in its Live in HD performance of the opera. The Met also hired other Russians regularly. She also performs at the Royal Opera this season. How could it be possible that it's okay for a Russian citizen to perform at the Met Opera, but it's not okay for a South Korean citizen who has been performing in Russia for many years before the war started to perform here, and is persona non grata in the U.S. I attended the show last night (the YAGP gala) but I saw no protests.

Mearns learned the tall girl role in Rubies a long time ago but due to injury she never performed it. She retired Emeralds from her rep a number of years ago. Now she only performs Diamonds at the House of Balanchine.

Mariinsky Dancers Barred From Youth Ballet Gala in New York - The New York Times (nytimes.com) This debacle has made the NY Times. They forgot to mention that some of the banned dancers are not Russian citizens. In reality, many people, myself included, regarded Kim and Khoreva as the headliners for this event.

But the stated basis for intimidating the Koch theater into denying these performers the right to perform at the theater has nothing to do with copyright violations. (By the way, Cuba frequently violates copyright with respect to choreography, but their dancers are nevertheless permitted to perform here.) The stated reason in the Assemblyman's letter is the war in Ukraine. As far as I'm aware Kim and Nagahisa are not Russian citizens. They are citizens of countries that are allies of the US, and their home countries have not prohibited them from working with the Mariinsky. There is no citation of any law or regulation which the Koch or YAGP would be violating by permitting these performers on stage. As an aside, why was the Assemblyman's letter addressed to the Koch instead of YAGP, which is the entity that actually contracted with these performers. Maybe the Assemblyman's efforts to aid Ukraine would be better served by calling out the Republicans in Congress who have held up desperately needed aid to Ukraine for so long.

This sounds like a minor official - a NY State Assemblyman - intimidating the head of the Koch. The above letter does not cite to any violation of any sanctions as the basis for his demand that YAGP break its contract with these dancers.

Kimin Kim did not perform last night. Denying a visa to Smirnova and Tissi is insanity. Smirnova left her homeland in protest of the war. It is too bad that a NY State Assemblyman could derail a private contract between YAGP and its contracted talent. There are plenty of Russian nationals performing at the Met and in other classical venues in the U.S. The litmus test is whether they came out and supported Putin and the war. In my opinion, banning these individual dancers is wrong.

week 2 casting is available on the nycb website

I would like to see Zakouski again. I thought it was a good enough ballet with enjoyable music. But I doubt that it will ever return to the rep, However, I do not picture Tiler Peck as a lead in Tzigane. Mejia, maybe yes.

Funny that Nadon is the only cast for Tzigane. Usually they have two casts ready to go. Green is a good role for Bouder - short role, no partnering involved. It's usually given to a tall woman, so LaFreniere in that role makes sense.

I'm still waiting for the Kennedy Center to announce. I hope they have some worthwhile ballet offerings. It's Freaky Friday here in NYC. Never experienced an earthquake before. 4.8 magnitude. My building was shaking.

I think Misty is de facto retired even if they still keep her photo up on the website. Jaffe is allowing too many older dancers to hang around who have little or no value to the company anymore. I'm referring here to Hoven, Fang and Paris. Jaffe's tenure so far has been a big disappointment. The programming has far too much repetition. Chloe is the only soloist who is being given major opportunities. Park is obviously talented, but is still getting the same old roles.

From Broadway Journal ‘ILLINOISE’ TO SQUEAK INTO BROADWAY SEASON March 15, 2024 by Philip Boroff Producers Orin Wolf and Greg Nobile are preparing to move the acclaimed dance piece Illinoise to the St. James Theater, packing another new musical into the busy 2023-24 season. The transfer from the Park Avenue Armory — where Illinoise is scheduled to play its final, sold-out performance on March 26 — would be so quick that the show may not have time for previews on Broadway, industry sources said. To be eligible for Tony Awards this year, productions must open by April 25.

The New York Phil is also doing a lot of film score programs. I think those programs make money by drawing in people who don't ordinarily attend the symphony, even if such programs are of little interest to their core audience of classical music devotees.