California

27 minutes ago, aurora said:

 Not a fan of NYCB's Swan Lake (it is painfully ugly) and would love them to have a different one, but I'm not sure Ratmansky's SL is a good fit for this company.

It's very much a reconstruction, and while I loved it when I saw it at La Scala, and would be thrilled to see it done locally, its aesthetic seems entirely unlike NYCB except perhaps in some sections being taken at a faster tempo than the modern norm.

I, too, am very grateful that I saw the Ratmansky reconstruction of Swan Lake in Milan several years ago and I'm sorry I couldn't get to Miami to see them restage it. 

But note that La Scala has now returned to Nureyev's version: https://www.teatroallascala.org/en/season/2022-2023/ballet/swan-lake.html

I'm pretty sure that Bolle never performed the Ratmansky reconstruction. And I don't think Zurich (which co-produced with La Scala) has done the Ratmansky again. If theater performances are off the table, I wish Ratmansky would release a stream to Medici or Marquee so others could see it. I'm guessing there might be problems with the unions involved, but I would hate to see it lost forever - again!

I sat through Martins' version once right before the COVID lock-down and don't care to see it again. Others here are more familiar with it and perhaps rethinking sets/costumes would help, as some suggest.

5 minutes ago, ABT Fan said:

Another program will be all Tharp. 

An all-Tharp program would be very welcome in 2025: https://www.abt.org/people/twyla-tharp/?type=archive

I vote for In the Upper Room and Bach Partita. Deuce Coupe was a great success a few years ago, too. 

I suppose we are long past the possibility of a revival of Push Comes to Shove, although I long thought Daniil Simkin would have been great. Kimin Kim did it at the Mariinsky some years ago (presumably with Tharp's approval), but I've never seen notice of any other revivals.

Ashley Bouder just posted on Instagram Stories. As those can't be linked and are only available for 24 hours, I'll just post the text of one slide:

"Normalize ending friendships with people who still support people who have hurt you."

Make of it what you will. I don't have a clue who/what she's talking about and really don't care.

18 minutes ago, angelica said:

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.

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.

8 minutes ago, ABT Fan said:

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

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

ABT just sent Friends expanded casting for Onegin and Woolf Works

11 minutes ago, angelica said:

Wow, that would really be something if they brought Lane back. I would actually drag my 100-year-old (rounding off to the nearest hundred) body from Westchester to the Met for that.

Hard to imagine they'd bring back Lane. I think Misseldine and Brandt would be likely as Nikiya. In 2020, they had planned Hurlin as Gamzatti and Bell as Solor. 

30 minutes ago, ABT Fan said:

It is possible those are old videos they just decided to post. I’d find it odd to rehearse anything now that isn’t part of the Met season.

Yes - but what an interesting choice of old videos! Was 2018 the last time ABT did Shades? They had been rehearsing it for 2020 but that was cancelled. 

Forsythe was a corps member then. Perhaps a hint to her new artistic director??

https://www.abt.org/people/scout-forsythe/?type=performer

16 hours ago, Papagena said:

Fall Season 1 Act maybe??? How glorious that would be. 

Zimmi9 just reposted Scout's Story rehearsing Shades! Unfortunately, the stories are only up for 24 hours and links don't work. 

If Jaffe is planning Kingdom of the Shades for Fall, she will win a lot of friends here!

7 minutes ago, abatt said:

This used to happen on a fairly regular basis when Osipova was a guest artist at ABT.   Nothing has changed, apparently.

I remember those Osipova cancellations with ABT. I said then that she wasn't yet in Gelsey territory,  but close! So glad I didn't make plans to fly to San Francisco, and I feel badly for those who did. She is so rarely on the west coast.

I'm only in town for a few days but saw the mixed bill Tuesday. I was intrigued that moments in the third movement of Bourree Fantasque reminded me of La Valse, including bits of the music, the sense of celebration before doom, and the large double circle at one point. Curious, I looked up La Valse on the Balanchine Trust and they note some interesting connections:

"Emmanuel Chabrier’s Trois Valses Romantiques was another inspiration for Ravel. (In 1932 Balanchine had used Chabrier’s music for Cotillion, a thematic predecessor of La Valse, with its flirtations, underlying hints of doom, and demonic circle of dancers at the end.) "

https://www.balanchine.com/Ballet/la-valse

Did others notice that occasional feeling of familiarity?

(Like others here, I wouldn't go out of my way to see this again, but it's interesting to consider its place in Balanchine history.)

The Royal Ballet just announced their 2024-2025 season. Wondering if Wayne McGregor's new ballet "Maddadam" or Wheeldon's "Ballet to Broadway" will turn up at ABT in a couple of years.

https://www.roh.org.uk/tickets-and-events?event-type=ballet-and-dance&booking-season=winter-2425,autumn-2425,spring-2425,summer-2425

4 hours ago, pasdecheval said:

Thanks very much, Volcanohunter!  Paris Opera Play has now become irresistible.  So, too, I think,  has a Royal Ballet subscription.  I've paid for some individual Royal Ballet performances in the past.  However, you make a compelling case for both subscriptions. Does this make you an enabler?  If so, a fine one, and I'm grateful. 

I just renewed my Royal Ballet streaming subscription for another year. Many classics and some special treats -- e.g., three performances of Giselle, three of Sleeping Beauty, two of R&J - typically over several years. Fun to see different casts. I don't think they sell a subscription for an entire season digitally, but actually haven't compared theatre and streaming offerings.

And I do plan to buy the PNB digital subscription this fall. Disappointed you can't buy individual programs, but I assume the record-keeping for that approach wasn't cost-effective.

3 hours ago, vipa said:

It is truly remarkable how well Ulbricht's technique has held up. I've always complained that the rep he was given was too limited. Looking at it a different way, although his rep is difficult, the relative infrequency of his casting might have saved wear and tear on his body!

Your comment about Ulbricht's limited casting reminded me of the comment by the late David Wall that Mayerling shortened his career by five years:

https://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/21/arts/dance/david-wall-a-prince-among-dancers-is-dead-at-67.html

"No full-length male role had featured so much acrobatic partnering or psychological intensity as this; Mr. Wall, who danced the role on tour in the United States in 1978 and in New York in 1983, once remarked that it had shortened his career by five years."

38 minutes ago, fun en face said:

I believe PNB will be performing at KC in June. 

I'm not seeing PNB on the schedule. Birmingham is June 4-8, 2025. Is PNB part of an unannounced festival?

https://www.kennedy-center.org/whats-on/season-announcement/dance/

1 minute ago, matilda said:

The botched throw was the difficult one seen here with Olivia MacKinnon rehearsing apricot. 

Is the one Fairchild posted today the exit throw earlier in the ballet?

Looks like she'll be doing it again on Wednesday. 

1 hour ago, matilda said:

There was a funny blooper in the section where three women get thrown from one man's arms to another's. Fairchild (apricot) was supposed to take a dramatic dive but something went wrong and Tyler Angle just carried and placed her body into Coll's arms. People in the audience laughed and I'm sure many of them thought it was intentional given the ballet's playful tone. 

Several of you have reported on this "blooper" with Megan Fairchild. Today she posted one of those "throws" on Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/p/C6Q98tnu78n/

1 hour ago, its the mom said:

Quick comment - Boston opened last night with Act 3 of La Bayadere and then a one-act Carmen. It was a sold out crowd and people responded well.  While I miss the whole story leading up to the third act, it was gorgeous. The program did not give any story details and I wondered about those in the audience not familiar with the ballet. But the did not seem to mind. There is no reason this could not be performed at ABT. The only major difference was that Solor (Cirio) did not wear a turban. 
 

Re: artistry - this is a problem in the ballet world across the board, imho. YAGP has not helped in this regard. Bigger, better, more seems to be what is valued. 

It appears there is inconsistent Act numbering for Bayadere. Boston is calling Kingdom of the Shades Act 3.

Makarova calls it Act 2. https://www.abt.org/ballet/la-bayadere/ Makarova's Act III at the Temple is omitted from some versions at other companies. 

Boston does have some explanation on their web site for why they are only doing that one act: https://www.bostonballet.org/performances/carmen/

I could watch it all day. Some might remember David Gordon's take on Act II. He loved the repetition. He found it fascinating that he loved it and so did classical dance lovers. There was a PBS show about 1980 on Postmoderns that included some of this. 

20 minutes ago, Papagena said:

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. I personally don't mourn the death of those other 2 acts on the nyc stage. 

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/

27 minutes ago, Josette said:

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:

. . . Swan Lake - Boston Ballet     June 26-29, 2025   

 

Very interesting! Their Swan Lake is by Mikko Nissinen, their artistic director. 

https://www.bostonballet.org/performances/swan-lake/

1 hour ago, FauxPas said:

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.

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/

2 minutes ago, NinaFan said:

 

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.

 

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.

28 minutes ago, NinaFan said:

I totally agree with everyone about the disappointing programming at ABT. I used to look forward to multiple performances of ballets such as Bayadere, Corsaire, Don Q, Manon, etc. but now we seem to get almost the same rotation of ballets each year, plus a couple of new ballets which seem to have little dancing and way too much story. I still have a subscription but only because they've made it so easy to exchange online. That being said there is so little to exchange into these days. How many KM Swan Lakes can one see year after year?  And I’m not too enamored with the mostly repetitive Koch performances either. 

I’ve only seen Philadelphia Ballet once at the Joyce shortly after Angel became AD so it is time to start going to Philly. Been to KC quite a few times, so Philly seems like a bargain in travel time.  I plan to see at least see Corsaire and La Sylphide/Etudes.

nysusan - The subscription sounds like a great deal!  What are the best options to get from Amtrak to the Academy of Music?  Thank you.

Cab fare from 30th Street station to the Academy of Music is about $10, depending on traffic.  https://www.taxifarefinder.com/main.php?city=Philadelphia

It's possible to do that on the subway, but I wouldn't recommend it. I was at a conference recently at the Doubletree (across the street from the Academy of Music). These were the subway instructions they gave us:

• From 30th Street Train Station via subway: take the Market-Frankford subway line east to 15th St. Free Transfer to Broad St line south. Exit Walnut/Locust. Hotel is one block south on Broad Street. Fare: $2.50 (cash only-exact fare) https://www.septa.org/maps/

7 minutes ago, ABT Fan said:

The only aspect of R&J that I’m looking forward to this year is seeing Roxander as Mercutio again (don’t miss it if you haven’t seen it) - hoping he’s cast with leads I’m not avoiding- and fingers crossed a Curley debut as Tybalt. 

Way back when, there was speculation that R&J was on the schedule again to provide an appropriate vehicle for a Copeland retirement. Let's hope it doesn't come back in 2025 for that reason!

3 minutes ago, FauxPas said:

So if we want to start predicting the 2025 Summer ABT season we have "Giselle", "Crime and Punishment", the inevitable "Swan Lake" and maybe another classic?  I hope NOT "Romeo and Juliet".  "Don Quixote"?  That would have some variety.

I think if ABT wants to revive "Woolf Works" it could probably be staged perfectly well at the New York State (K*ch) Theater for the Fall season.

Not loving the shortened Met season and the lack of classical rep.

Didn't Jaffe say she was fond of Manon? Haven't done that in a while (2019?).