California

He is doing "Car Man" at Sadler's Wells. Earlier this spring, he was apparently in London rehearsing, judging from his Instagram and Twitter accounts. I hope they find a way to bring it to City Center some day. I'd love to see it: http://www.sadlerswells.com/whats-on/2015/matthew-bournes-the-car-man/

While many of you were at the met for Misty's R&J matinee, I decided to try the matinee of the Polish National Ballet at the Joyce. They have one more performance Sunday afternoon and I would recommend it: http://www.joyce.org/performance/polish-national-ballet/#.VYXbWdHbLIV The most expensive seat is $49 and they have tickets on the TDF site for half that. This matinee was almost sold out, although I have no way of knowing how many were there on TDF tickets. At home, they have 90 dancers (!). I am always amazed at the talent in these little eastern European countries. I attribute that to the classical arts in the bloodstream in that part of the world - along with their heavy subsidies from the state government. My favorite was the final piece, Moving Rooms, made for the Dutch National Ballet in 2008 by the Polish company director, Krzysztof Pastor. Very contemporary/post-modern music is by Alfred Schnittke. The 11 dancers showed us very avant-garde neo-classical ballet, with a tinge of Kylian in the movement and Glass in the music, at least in the final movement. It's a great finale and real crowd-pleaser. I also liked the opening piece, Adagio & Scherzo, also by Pastor, premiered last year. The music (recorded, alas) was the 2nd and 3rd movements of Schubert's String Quintet in C major. That same Quintet was used as the only music in HBO's extraordinary film Conspiracy, which re-enacted the infamous Wannsee Conference that planned the Holocaust (filmed on location with a host of famous actors from Richard Branagh and Stanley Tucci to Colin Firth). It is inconceivable that this was a coincidence. Although Wannsee is outside Berlin, Poland was the location of many death camps, most notably Auschwitz-Birkenau outside Krakow. The background images shifted among horizontal lines in bright red then to blue, back to red. (Nazi swastikas to Communism?) The program is very discrete: "I am not telling any story in this piece..." But if you have seen Conspiracy, you can't help but see the entire ballet through that lens. This is neo-classical ballet again, in pointe shoes for the women, 8 dancers in all. http://www.amazon.com/Conspiracy-Kenneth-Branagh/dp/B00005YUO1 I had difficulty connecting with the middle piece, Rite of Spring, choreographed by Emanuel Gat in 2004. Five dancers, three women and two men, were in bare feet in a harsh red light. I think because the music and previous choreography are so familiar, it was harder to grasp what this one was trying to do.

When I bought tickets on March 22, the day single tickets went on sale, I was as excited as anybody over the trifecta of Osipova-Obratsova-Vishneva in R&J. Well, we only got one out of three. But what we did get, as promised (after Hallberg was injured), was Marcelo in two of those three performances. It amazes me that people would walk out and not want to see what he does in the ballet. I think Nureyev was the first Romeo in this choreography (even if that was not MacMillan's original intent) and the ballet is chalk full of challenging variations for Romeo, along with some pretty amazing partnering. Maybe New Yorkers who get to see him a lot more than I do take him for granted, but they shouldn't. And at the curtain calls, he is always the gentleman - gracious to his partner (especially after the last-minute substitution) and gesturing with appreciation to the dancers behind him. Friday afternoon, I went over to the NYPL dance collection and watched the tape of Manon with Ferri and Bolle from June 14, 2007. I don't know if this was her retirement performance (lots of curtain calls but no crowd scene of admirers and former partners on stage). It's fascinating to compare Manon from 1974 with R&J one decade earlier and MacMillan's evolution. In making Manon, e.g., he was reportedly fascinated with pairs figure skating and you can see "moves" like that in much of the partnering, such as the throw-triple-twist. And both ballets end with an odd PdD -- one with a dead body and the other with an almost dead and dying body. MacMillan seems to be fascinated with the dynamics of how that would work. I don't believe this was ever released on DVD, but it should be. I don't recall it being shown on PBS, but the quality of camera work was certainly sufficient for them to release that tape some day. It was decidedly not the rough archival tape quality in many of the ABT recordings at NYPL. Do all those people who just don't show up know that they can call the box office to cancel the ticket and get a charitable deduction? The number is on the printed ticket: 212-362-6000. (At NYCB, you can do the same thing on their web site at least two hours beforehand.) Some consolation financially. PS: In the ultra-trivia department, I noticed that several corps members in Act II know how to play a mandolin. Both hands move! Maybe they're amateur guitar players who grasped that basic point.

At least judging from his Instagram and Twitter accounts, Marcelo has family in town from Brazil. I imagine they're disappointed they can't see him dance with Vishneva tonight, but they'd be even more disappointed if he didn't dance at all. https://instagram.com/marcelua/

Thank you so much for this explanation. Those lifts looked off to me, and I just assumed it was because he didn't completely straighten up each time. I blamed that on upper-body strength. (Just about the only thing Thursday night that was off...) I am not a big fan of Seo, but I was moved by her Juliet Wednesday night. It seems to be her best role and Gomes no doubt brought out the best in her. Obratsova was glorious and I thought the acting and rapport between her and Cornejo was genuine. There were moments when she reminded me of Gelsey Kirkland -- maybe it was the way she crooked her elbows on those backward bourees in the bedroom, running away from Paris, or maybe the huge eyes or the way everything was just a little more extended and developed in surprising ways. I had never seen her in performance before and hope they bring her back. Extreme trivia department: I wish somebody would show the Juliet's how a mandolin is played. They could start by spending five minutes watching the mandolin players in the pit. Both Seo and Obratsova would pluck a little with the right hand, which is okay, but you can't just clutch the instrument with your left and never move it! How do they think different chords are produced! Seo clutched it from the top, Obratsova from the bottom. Yes, I know, absolutely trivial, but easily corrected.

Ah Yes, Rutter - I'm already being bombarded with fund-raising letters from her! If she weren't brand-new at Kennedy Center, she probably would have been a leading contender in LA. Indeed, given that the LA position has been vacant for some time, perhaps she was considered last year and decided KenCen was a better option for her. We'll never know!

In recent years, people have complained about Peter Martins' $500K+ salary at a time when he was laying off dancers. For non-profits, their 990 forms filed with the IRS each year are public information. I haven't seen published reports about what LA will pay Moore, but if her predecessor wasn't doing such a great job, it's hard to see how they could justify paying her a lot less. And it would also be awkward recruiting a woman and then paying her less than her male predecessor.

The dollar figures come from the LA Times story: http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/arts/la-et-cm-music-center-president-20150618-story.html#page=2

At least according to the LA Times report, she's leaving a job that paid in the $300K neighborhood (including benefits) and replacing somebody who was paid in the $900K neighborhood. Plus, she has a chance to show she can turn around a massively important cultural institution in LA. She'd be nuts to turn that down! It's not necessarily a reflection on ABT (which is not to deny major problems at ABT, as so many have noted here). Let me add: can anybody think of a woman given this kind of truly major opportunity in this country?

In reading this exchange, I'm reminded of Matthew Bourne's comments that the story doesn't make sense, especially the love-at-first-sight in the awakening. I enjoyed the Bourne version of Sleeping Beauty, although I know many on this board didn't, and he didn't resolve all the problems either, at least according to critics at the time. Brian Seibert's review in 2013 is typical: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/26/arts/dance/matthew-bournes-sleeping-beauty-at-city-center.html?_r=0 I suppose the message is that this SB requires serious suspension of belief so you can focus on the music and dancing. But all those costumes and wigs are a major distraction. And I'm not sure why we need to re-learn how to appreciate the technical virtuosity of the early 20th century. It's fun to watch tapes of Olga Korbut's back "summy" on the uneven parallel bars in 1972 at the Olympics, but they're of historic interest only at this point, now that such moves are standard for today's gymnasts. Today it's impossible to get as excited as those commentators were back then. Technique has moved on in ballet, too, a century later. It's interesting to see what the standard was back then, but hard to get excited about it.

I'm so relieved to see Perron's dissenting view. I saw two performances (Murphy-Gomes and Vishneva-Gomes). I kept thinking how important it was to see this chapter of dance history, and how glad I am to have seen it (especially with such top-notch principals). But I also felt that I had to work so hard on appreciating it! Am I eager to see it again some day? Probably not, although if I were in town to see something else, I suppose I'd work it in.

Mixed bills with four short ballets (one of them typically a famous PdD by resident stars) was the norm at ABT in the 70s and 80s. I don't know when that practice ended. But a big name in one of those PdD was enough to sell tickets. I'm guessing they couldn't program enough big names in later years to make that work.

This is a co-production with La Scala, which will show it in June-July 2016: http://www.teatroallascala.org/en/season/opera-ballet/2015-2016/swan-lake.html

Thanks for the link. But I do wish they had included the footage of those amazing fish dives with Vishneva.

In defense of the Met, though, I've run into other apps that work fine on my smartphone, but aren't compatible with my tablet. I think they're all struggling to keep up with rapidly changing technologies. And I have no plans to get the Apple watch - just trying to get the stuff I have to work!

Very puzzling. The seat selection feature works for me in both Chrome and good old IE (which is often a problem). It does seem to be a very clumsy site, with lots of clicking needed to get there, but it's do-able.

I guess this kind of thing happens a lot! Two young ladies sat down in the company box by the stage on the Grand Tier level at the Monday night SB. A company manager escorted them out so the Brazilian TV crew could move in. They seemed pretty upset and waved their tickets at him, but I could see that they were for orchestra seats (probably awful ones). The manager said: "we never sell the seats in this box. It's for the company and its own uses." And out they went.

I can't find previous topics on his books...please move if they exist somewhere. I just finished reading two of them and they are chock full of interesting information on various ballet companies he has worked with. I would recommend both very highly: Curtains? The Future of the Arts in America (2015) http://www.amazon.com/Curtains-America-Michael-M-Kaiser/dp/1611687039/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1434042069&sr=1-1&keywords=michael+m.+Kaiser The Art of the Turnaround (2008): with chapters on Kansas City Ballet, Ailey, ABT, Royal Opera House, Kennedy Center: http://www.amazon.com/Art-Turnaround-Creating-Maintaining-Organizations/dp/1584657359/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1434042108&sr=1-3&keywords=michael+m.+Kaiser

Just announced on the ABT calendar page: Seo is the sub for Osipova. At least Gomes is still on the schedule: http://www.abt.org/calendar.aspx

Nobody has mentioned Salenko, whose US schedule with Royal would allow this. I know nothing about her, except that she's paired with McRae here and in the fall. Would she be a possibility with Gomes?

Royal Ballet has a flock of dancers who know the role and many are in this country as we speak. Of course, this would have to fit into their US touring schedule. Look at all the Juliet's this fall in London: http://www.roh.org.uk/productions/romeo-and-juliet-by-kenneth-macmillan I hope that part of the delay is because they want someone who could dance with Gomes.

Bad news: the ABT casting list just changed Osipova to TBA: http://www.abt.org/calendar.aspx

Yes, I just tried, too, and could select seats. They added a nice feature you see at other theaters, viz., when you click on the seat of interest, it shows you a photo of the stage view you'll get. So at least you have some advance warning of the oddball view from the side boxes.

An interesting tidbit: A video crew from Brazilian television was in the company box on the grand tier (adjacent to the stage). They are making a documentary/special about Marcelo and spent the day with him. There is so little available footage of him dancing, I hope they will eventually make that show available to US audiences, perhaps by donating a copy to the NYPL dance collection. (Source: me - I talked with them at intermission)

van Hamel was born in Brussels, but studied at the National Ballet of Canada: http://www.abt.org/education/bios_faculty/vanhamel_martine_edubio.asp As she is McKenzie's partner (wife?), it seems unlikely she'd participate in an ouster of McKenzie.