All Activity

Just a few thoughts on last night’s performance: 1) Rubies — Another quality (yes, another one!) of Mira’s that I noticed was the languid ease in which she can dance — you feel her dance power/energy emanating from her but tonight there appear to be such an easy, artless quality to her movement — as if she just woke up at 4 pm, had a bubble bath, some tea, went to the studio, put on her toe shoes and — voila — comes on stage and is spellbinding. Also, I do enjoy the sensual quality she brings to the tall girl — she’s a young Garbo with a dash of Merle Oberon AND Ava Gardner — I think the sensual quality she can bring to her dancing is natural to her, easily accessible. Also, I usually sit on the far left side of the theater, but tonight was sitting on the far right — so got a full view of her bows at curtain call — even her bows are stunningly beautiful. 2) In Creases — Again was pulled in by this dance and the 8 dancers — again all 8 were outstanding and moving with such energy and expansiveness. Watching them I was thinking about what it is about NYCB that I love so much and why I prefer to be close to the stage versus farther back — and how certain dancers can enter one’s head, and then from there, a select few can enter one’s heart. Watching Preston and Dominika dance tonight — I can sense that they are entering my head — they are dancing with such individuality, grace, and calmness — and I sense that they have such potential as artists that we have yet to see. Perhaps, this is one of the many, many reasons why I love NYCB.

Olivia Boisson last night was quite lovely to watch. So much so that my husband asked me who she was when watching the Garner piece. The piece overall fell short for me. It started out well, I appreciated the lighting, the set, and I really enjoyed the music. The last section where the costume change occurs just didn’t do it. It seemed like the piece was doing a nice build and then she ran out of time to finish it. It was a shame because I appreciated her not being a modern choreographer who knows nothing about ballet. You could tell she has ballet training and it didn’t give to me (at the beginning) the desperate-trying-too-hard feel I often get with new works lately. I agree though what was said that this piece wasn’t necessarily a “Woodward exclusive” piece and her not dancing wasn’t drastically noticed. I do wonder why she pulled out of a lot this season. Olivia Boisson and Olivia Bell both stood out to me as having really lovely solid and consistent technique. I would love to see more of them!! Underutilized in my book. There was an apprentice in the new piece named Mia. To me honest I didn’t notice her, but good for her to be cast in a new piece! In Creases I had originally seen Houston Ballet dancers do it, and I have to admit I preferred it with NYCB dancers. There was just a sharper quality to the dancing. It will never be my favorite piece, but I can appreciate that it is a marathon to dance and can also say that it really shows impressive abilities for up and coming corps dancers. Preston as others said was looking great! A new assurance in his dancing. Maybe it was always there and he was being miscast before? Regardless I very much enjoyed seeing him! I find that the pianos onstage don’t have as loud of a sound as I would like. I feel like the dancing would be magnified if the sound quality was too Dig the Say to me had no depth. Only showing off what Mejia and Peck can do, which don’t get me wrong was amazing! But I wish you could have put all those bells and whistles into a piece with more meat to it. I did enjoy the guest quartet though! Mejia is superhuman to me. I desperately wish for him to have a lead in one of the classics that isn’t Nutcracker. Maybe Franz in Coppelia this fall? He is more than ready to carry a full length ballet. I wish he could almost guest at ABT for a show In Rubies, Megan looked great and Mira did as well. I was surprised by Anthony. I don’t particularly love him in Rubies, but it was really nice to see him actually smiling on stage and looking like he was having fun! I still prefer any section of Jewels to be done as a whole rather than an individual piece. I feel like it loses some of its wow factor because part of the fun is the contrast between it and Emeralds/Diamonds. I continue to be less than impressed with India Bradley. And boy do I try to really watch her to see if I’m missing what everybody else sees. Even as a corps in Rubies, she has no depth to her dancing, she is little more than long limbs. Yes she has a beautiful line because of the length that she has. But she is unable to control it and to me it just looks like awkward flailing. I’m not at all pleased that she has been cast in Red Angels. I did enjoy the See the Music beforehand, anything to help explain even a little insight into Stravinsky. (I’m sure it’s a very unpopular opinion but, with the exception of Firebird, I find Stravinsky to just be a cacophony of sounds that is really hard to get into.)

Also Murphy/Bell as guests doing Other Dances! I used to covet Aran Bell for NYCB before the arrival of Chun Wei Chan.

California, thank you including the link to the interview with Jared. What a thoughtful and inspirational dancer/coach/director he has grown to be. Wishing him much luck in the next phase of his career and life.

Helene, you are right. I apologize. I was simply shocked to see this level of production from a top training program whose graduates will go on to dance, choreograph, and possibly direct ballet companies in their future. My overall impression of this "Bayadere" was that a woke enough ideology excuses one from having to execute the choreography – not a great message for this country's future dancers. In order to title your ballet "La Bayadere" (reimagined or not), in my opinion, the first shade must travel the last diagonal of arabesque releves from one corner to the other after already completing 3 difficult sections of the variation. The difficulty of the drum dance lies in the fact that the dancers need to bend low to the ground while still keeping up with the incredible tempo. The soloist women in the grand pas have choreography that is distinct for its head and arm coordination (the girls here have only one idea of epaulement and that is en face). And these examples only scratch the surface of everything that is wrong in this video. If I were paying 50 grand a year for my training, I personally would want to master the choreography rather than have it watered down for me in the name of some PR stunt. These students are talented enough to learn the difference.

And now Kitri... Edited to add: after posting, I saw that you posted about that on a different thread...

I agree with what others have said about the dancers in this ballet. Miriam Miller's role was the most noteworthy. I noticed Chun Wei Chan because of a small solo section in the beginning and Emma VE for her precision. Even in Emma Von Enck's case, a section she posted on instagarm, for some reason, looked much more impressive to me out of context on instagram, than it did in the ballet. https://www.instagram.com/p/C6qpkASAbrg/

Week 5 casting is up. There is an (almost) all-new cast of Glass Pieces, debuting Ava Sautter and Aaron Sanz. Exciting for her! I just may have to see that...

Thank you! After looking at my schedule I picked the R&J date that my calendar allows and scored a mother's day discount on the ticket! Really hoping I get lucky with a Rox casting on that day. Fingers crossed!

I was surprised with that. Bell should have received two shows, and Ahn one. But, Bell has suffered with injuries in the past so maybe this is for the best.

Jared Matthews went to Houston as a principal, then to Estonia as an assistant director. https://our2ndhome.org/episode-17-dancing-curiously-living-generously-with-jared-matthews/ I'm glad that Bell will have one performance as Lensky, with Hurlin as Olga. That will be Misseldine's debut as Tatiana. Too bad they'll only have that one performance, when all the other casts have two.

Lensky is a great role. I'll never forget Jared Matthews doing the long adagio. Of course, McK didn't promote him and he left the company (for Houston? I'm not sure where he went after that. I don't remember if Lensky also has the dazzle-dazzle of Mercutio, though.

Welcome! If you want to be wowed, catch his Mercutio - casting still to be released. I’m sure his Benno and Lensky will also be incredible.

They have only announced the first two weeks so far. When they send more, I'll post here.

(have been lurking for a few months, - this is my first post, hello!) Thank you so much for posting! I am a longtime fan & subscriber to the Philadelphia Ballet and really hoping to see Jake Roxander at ABT some time this summer, as I am a big fan of his brother here in Philly. The date I was eyeing does not have him listed for Woolf Works - I might hold out for casting for R&J or SL to see if one of those dates works for me, even though I was hoping to see a new-to-me production.

Thank you! Any chance they also sent you expanded casting for SL and R&J?

I am thrilled for her as well!!

That makes me so happy for Zimmi Coker!

ABT just sent Friends expanded casting for Onegin and Woolf Works

Even though everyone in the cast did a lot of dancing—and there was definitely a lot of dancing—and quite a few dancers got their moment in the spotlight, it's not the kind of ballet that has "big" roles in, say, the Symphony in C sense of a big role. Since I'm a longtime Boisson fan I was watching her closely; she was indeed assured, elegant (as is her wont), and lovely, but it didn't seem like a role that was made on Woodward. I'm not saying just anyone could dance it, but it certainly doesn't require Woodward. I don't really remember anything about Von Enck's role either! And, to be clear, this is not a knock on Von Enck: the standout dancers were standouts more for the opportunities they were given rather than their dancing per se, because everyone danced very, very well. I think Corti, M. T. MacKinnon, and Sheffel among the women and Bolden and Chan among the men got particularly memorable stage time. An aside: M. T. MacKinnon has really impressed me this season; she looked great in In Creases too. I hope we get to see more of her. And more of Boisson, too.

Please discuss the topic, not each other. Members have the right to opinions without explanation, but, as the saying goes, not to their own facts.

Hmm, interesting. I am going off the casting information given here: https://res.cloudinary.com/new-york-city-ballet/image/upload/v1714512759/NYCB_Casting_April_30-May_5_2024_lobby240430.pdf Either way happy to hear she has been looking good throughout the season :)

I have seen ( and danced in) many poor productions but this is by far the worst thing I have ever seen. If I were a student at IU, I would be asking for a tuition refund.

I thought Olivia Boisson looked lovely. I’ve been noticing her more this season but I can’t remember in which ballets. I didn’t think Boisson’s role in Underneath was particularly big, however. It’s difficult to imagine it being choreographed on a principal, especially since the ballet has no principal women. Miriam Miller is the one I would call a lead. (Though somehow I don’t have a strong memory of Emma von Enck, who is in my program, either). Are you certain your info is correct?

I saw Ashley Bouder's post as well, where she complains that management told the audience not to clap. That makes no sense. I wonder if what she meant was that Wendy or Jonathan from the downstage curtain waved other dancers forward for a bow and shortchanged her? I don't know, but honestly I feel enough is enough. Either you are able to dance the rep and you look good doing it, or gracefully plan your retirement and go out with everyone wishing you well and remembering you in a good light. What does she gain by doing all this? Also, she has a husband and daughter, a great education, is interested in Political Science etc...life has so much to offer. I get it that it's hard to move on from this amazing career, but honestly, we all have to move through changes and loss in life. That's part of the deal here on Earth. Don't demean your career by a disgruntled ending... Just my thoughts...