California

46 minutes ago, FauxPas said:

Herman Cornejo, the reigning senior short virtuoso, was held back too long due to his height and perceived inappropriate look for danseur noble roles.

I just have to note the irony here. Both Cornejo and Baryshnikov -- by far the most famous and accomplished dancer ever at ABT -- are 5'6".

Lauren Lovette took a bad fall Friday night during La Sonnambula. I suppose it's a reminder of how difficult that ballet can be. Credit to her for posting this herself.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CvkExP3vMJa/

The NOW Premieres will be streamed live on Monday, August 7 (7:30 MDT; 9:30 EDT).

The program: https://vaildance.org/event/now-premieres-2023/

Lengthy clips from the Balanchine UpClose program:

https://fb.watch/mbRlkp0KDb/

1 hour ago, cobweb said:

WHICH corps member? 

The on-line Vail festival program on the home page lists all the dancers in residence (pp. 50-51). I'm seeing three NYCB corps members: Olivia Bell, India Bradley, Christopher Grant

https://vaildance.org/

Unfortunately, the casting for last night (Sunday) only includes principals. Whiteside posted a brief rehearsal clip from Serenade yesterday -- the arabesque turning sequence.

https://vaildance.org/event/upclose-mr-b/

On 7/29/2023 at 1:01 AM, choriamb said:

Murphy and Bell nailed the tone.

The episodes had nuanced moods but still felt tossed-off.  Bell perfectly underplayed the humor. And Murphy performed like someone who has danced Raymonda, worn character shoes, and been around Makarova a bit. Like two artists given some delightful bagatelles after a season of serious full-length works.

They danced well together and I'd enjoy seeing them deepen their partnership beyond the pros-meeting-at-a-gala stage. (Based on this, Murphy still turns better than her peers did 20 ago.)

On Instagram Stories today (Monday): Aran Bell posted a clip of the performance, possibly from Saturday. The detail and nuance are gorgeous. It sounds like they were coached by Isabel Guerin. Does she work for ABT on other things?

Unfortunately, those stories are only on-line for one day and there's no way to link them. @aran_bell

1 hour ago, pirouette said:

For the 'Drift' Art Series this past winter, a few weeks before the season started, they sent an email notification letting me know that Art Series tickets were live. We will probably get a similar notification closer to the start of the Winter 2024 season. 

It makes sense that they don't send advance notice of the Art series to subscribers/donors. I just hope we get the same notice as the public! If anyone on this site notices that the tickets for Feb 23 have gone "live," please do post here.  It sounds like there are (at least) two of us travelling great distances to see performances that week!

2 hours ago, meunier fan said:

Abatt, I wonder if you could tell me how to know when those performances go live for sales.  Do NYCB send an email to subscribers/patrons advising such?  Grateful for your kind advice.  

I'm also curious about how to get a ticket for Feb 23. I'm looking at that week for a personal visit -- three Symphony in 3 Movements, three new Ratmansky, 1 new T. Peck, another look at Dance Episodes, Ballo - I'd hate to miss the 23rd while I'm in town! I would hope they'd let donors know when it's available!

Does anyone know why Friday, Feb 23 is not for sale? It's the New  Ratmansky (a week after the premiere), Opus 19 and  Symphony in 3 Movements.

(Apologies if this has been discussed somewhere already.)

3 hours ago, choriamb said:

The times that I've seen Other Dances recently, it's been danced elegantly and technically pristinely...but without much perfume. Some of the sprezzatura has been lost. And if the dancers have sporadically caught a few of the folk dance gestures, they haven't demonstrated that those folk dance gestures convey meanings (or that the meaning of those gestures is usually flirting).

Not on Monday. Murphy and Bell nailed the tone.

The episodes had nuanced moods but still felt tossed-off.  Bell perfectly underplayed the humor. And Murphy performed like someone who has danced Raymonda, worn character shoes, and been around Makarova a bit. Like two artists given some delightful bagatelles after a season of serious full-length works.

They danced well together and I'd enjoy seeing them deepen their partnership beyond the pros-meeting-at-a-gala stage. (Based on this, Murphy still turns better than her peers did 20 ago.)

Thanks for this report on Other Dances. In the Pointe interview a few years ago, Bell said he spends a lot of time studying tapes of greats before him. I've wondered what kind of coaching the men get at ABT -- anything? Murphy-Bell would be a great addition to the ABT gala in October.

16 minutes ago, MoMo said:

Thomas Forster replacing Herman Cornejo tonight as Albrecht in Giselle at Wolf Trap, with Skylar Brandt. ( Herman was shown rehearsing yesterday. Hope he is ok). 

With excessive heat warnings and 80% humidity, at an outdoor theater, I'm amazed anybody is dancing. Interestingly, Cornejo is skipping Vail this year for unknown reasons. The BAAND festival cancelled performances with comparable weather. 

Could I just say how sad this whole story is -- a young man who loved ballet but must have started to have a glimmer years ago that he didn't quite have what it would take to rise to the top at ABT. He could have left gracefully and quietly to join a contemporary company or perhaps a smaller one or one in Europe and thrived.  Gorak is leaving with a lovely comment from the Times about his gorgeous feet. Sterling Baca seems to be thriving in Philadelphia. But after that op-ed AND what are apparently untruths on his Instagram, what director will chance it?  He's made himself radioactive. 

12 minutes ago, FauxPas said:

He also has not been rehired by American Ballet Theater and is "retired".  He was not informed by the company but read it in the New York Times.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CvQNwKLAbei/?img_index=1

"I’m saddened by the recent announcement of my departure from the American Ballet Theatre after 12 years of dedication and hard work. It’s especially disappointing to learn of my own dismissal through the media without any effort to contact me personally. While I had hoped that the hiring of a new artistic director, and the publication of my NY Times op-ed piece, might signal a change, it is clear that there are still many hurdles to enacting meaningful progress in my industry. I thank everyone from the bottom of my heart for all the words of support that I’ve received since my experience was made public, and I can assure all of you that this is just the beginning of a new chapter in my story."

The comments are all expressing outrage but I am wondering if Gabe was even attending classes or rehearsals at ABT and if it really is a surprise?

They haven't updated the web page yet: https://www.abt.org/the-company/dancers/

Very tacky if ABT didn't notify him, but I assumed they'd all have contracts signed for the next year by now and he would know that way that he wasn't being offered anything.

Jaffe said in an interview a while back that she loves Manon. That would be a great retirement vehicle for Copeland and/or Cornejo! And I would love, love, love to see that again. I'd also love to see their Onegin again, but I assume they wouldn't do both in the same season.

I assume they'll do a week of Swan Lake, for the guaranteed box office. That works for Murphy, if needed.

At Segerstrom next April, they're doing Ballet Imperial and new commissions by Bond and Abraham. That might be a mixed bill for the Met, too, in 2024:

https://www.scfta.org/events/2024/american-ballet-theatre

Hoping they include something by Ratmansky at each season, too.

Just now, nanushka said:

Where is "manage tickets" located on the site? Thanks!

I logged into my account and went to the section showing what tickets I bought - "Upcoming performances". For each ticket, there's a box to click "manage tickets."  It gives you four choices -- send to email, send to text, add to Apple Wallet, send bar code. But they don't give you the option: send PDFs to my email. What I did get by email was a page with full date/time/location info + a bar code. 

I use GPay, but that isn't an option.

14 minutes ago, abatt said:

I plan to email the box office to request a refund on any handling fees that were charged but should not have been.  

I managed to get back into my account after waiting an hour and there were the tickets I ordered and were charged for. Hallelujah! I went to "manage tickets" to ask that they be sent to my email with the bar code, as no PDFs ever arrived. I made it through one-by-one, with two more left and then got sent the "suspicious activity" message again, so I'll go back later to finish.

However, for those multiple tickets in my account, ordered at one time, each had its own $4.00 Facility Fee and $8.00 service charge. I.e., those fees are per ticket, no matter how you order (singly or together). However, I'm not a subscriber, so I don't know if that makes a difference.

1 hour ago, California said:

Well, thank you email customer care! I'll paste in the message I got, in case somebody else is experiencing this:

I’m sorry you got caught in our heightened security features that were instituted after the Met’s catastrophic hack. It may have been your purchase & immediate return to purchase more tickets.  The block drops in about an hour, so you should be able to get back in soon. 

Another update. Waited for an hour. Was able to log in and order the rest of the week. But after the last step, I was popped back over to "suspicious activity." Did anything go through? No way to know. Meanwhile, my credit card was charged according to email from my bank. Long wait, and another email from NYCB listing everything I thought I bought and the price - but no PDF tickets. It won't let me back into my account because of "suspicious activity" to confirm that I actually have those tickets. I think it's safe to say the security measures customer care mentioned have some glitches. 

Agree with @cobweb that the site is difficult to use, especially to continue shopping. I usually delicately use the backspace arrow on my browser to get back to the calendar listing. That usually works fine, but perhaps that's what the new security measures consider "suspicious."  But if I buy tickets one at a time and go back for more, that's suspicious! And I've had the experience (although I don't remember if it was  ABT/Met or NYCB) when a seat I picked dropped out of my shopping cart and I had to find another. 

19 minutes ago, MarzipanShepherdess said:

I saw Other Dances last night with Isabella and Joo. I'm not sure it was a great programming choice for BAAND. The other 4 companies chose high energy works that were more playful and exuberant, and I love Other Dances but it's a quiet, intimate work that felt like it got a bit lost in that outdoor festival setting. Muted audience reaction compared to the other works danced.

 I think of Other Dances as being a more natural fit for someone like Hee Seo who has a very fluid, expressive upper body, but Isabella looked very polished and confident.  She had a beautiful manège of turns and a big, gorgeous jump, and everything was clearly articulated.

Joo seemed to have some trouble in his first solo, particularly with landing the turns cleanly. He did not seem to have Isabella's confidence but his partnering looked solid.

Thanks for these reports on Other Dances. At least from comments on Instagram Stories yesterday, it seems the Bell-Murphy pairing went well.

Some have asked why this isn't on the fall program, especially program III, which seems a little weak. I'm wondering if they might be including it on the Gala program October 24. I'd prefer Bell-Murphy. 

31 minutes ago, California said:

I'm sure they are overwhelmed today. I sent email messages to both members and customercare and won't hold my breathe on a response! I'll just have to assume plenty of tickets will remain for fall (other than the anniversary Oct 11 and perhaps opening night, which seem most likely to sell out). Frustrating -- they knew this would be a BIG day and their site can't handle it, apparently.

Well, thank you email customer care! I'll paste in the message I got, in case somebody else is experiencing this:

I’m sorry you got caught in our heightened security features that were instituted after the Met’s catastrophic hack. It may have been your purchase & immediate return to purchase more tickets.  The block drops in about an hour, so you should be able to get back in soon. 

3 minutes ago, nanushka said:

The membership office did not process my membership quickly enough to give me access to online purchasing. So they instructed me to call their office and they'd connect me with the box office to purchase by phone. Now I've been on hold for 30 minutes.

Relatedly, the membership office — up until today — has been unreachable by phone. My calls always went to voicemail, with a message saying they're all working from home and would return my call. They never did, nor did they respond to emails, until finally yesterday I got my first response in weeks.

I'm sure they are overwhelmed today. I sent email messages to both members and customercare and won't hold my breathe on a response! I'll just have to assume plenty of tickets will remain for fall (other than the anniversary Oct 11 and perhaps opening night, which seem most likely to sell out). Frustrating -- they knew this would be a BIG day and their site can't handle it, apparently.

Experiences so far in trying to buy tickets on-line for the 2023-24 season -- are others having the same experience?

On 7/22/2023 at 8:10 PM, choriamb said:

I'm so glad they gave this to Murphy:  she has the authority to be a little playful (which sometimes gets lost when NYCB does it). And Bell has both the elan and the technique.

I'm definitely going to peek at Boylston and Ahn's performance as well. She has a way of surprising me. And I liked Ahn in both Of Love and Rage and Apollo, so I'm curious to see him in something less freighted than a full-length.

If anybody is seeing Other Dances this week, please give us a report. 

10 minutes ago, Novice123 said:

I called NYCB ticketing office and ask them when I will be able to buy early single tickets and Nutcracker.  I purchased a Flex 6 shows and was expecting to be able to purchase additional single tickets.  The ticketing person said that this coming Thursday at noon was when I can start purchasing additional single tickets, as well as, Nutcracker.  She said that I should have received email notification by now. I checked my Inbox and the last email from NYCB was back in May, a reminder about the upcoming performance.  Has anyone received email notification from NYCB recently regarding "anything".  

I'm a donor, not a subscriber. I got email on July 23 about early access July 27:

As a reminder, NYCB donors and subscribers enjoy priority access to single tickets for the 75th Anniversary Season. This exclusive benefit includes advance ticketing for both 23-24 repertory performances and George Balanchine's The Nutcracker^®. Secure prime locations at the best prices, even for in-demand holiday weekends, before we go on sale to the general public.

This is also your opportunity to secure seats for the following in-demand performances, including the recently announced farewell of Principal Dancer Russell Janzen:

• 23-24 Opening Night (SEPT 19)

• Russell Janzen Farewell (SEPT 24)

• Fall Gala (OCT 5)

• 75th Anniversary (OCT 11)

• Spring Gala (MAY 2)

21 minutes ago, meunier fan said:

I'm a both a subscriber and a patron so am grateful for the early access in a couple of days.  Does anyone know if you can buy single tickets to the Winter Season 'access' performances at that time?  If not, do you know when those go on general sale?  Seems an aging brain would like to know.  Much thanks for your kind advice.  

Early access for NYCB Patrons and Subscribers starts this Thursday, July 27. In the past, you could buy tickets for the entire year -- fall, winter, spring seasons.

Early access for ABT patrons for the fall season starts Tuesday, August 29.

What are the "access" performances?

On 7/14/2023 at 4:21 PM, Victor5678 said:

I am seeking an article from Ballet Review (Spring 1991) for research purposes. I cannot find a copy on any site online.

I would gladly pay for someone to send a photocopy (or simply phone-captured images of the article.

Thanks for your help,

Victor5678@aol.com

I have that issue of Ballet Review. What article are you looking for?