California

The announcement was made just 4 weeks before the scheduled premiere. But given his relentless work schedule all over the world, perhaps he's a fast worker, along the lines of Balanchine (although I suppose nobody could work as fast as he reportedly did). As much as he loves this composer, he surely knows the new music inside and out. So it's not unreasonable to think he's mostly starting over -- perhaps only using some movement ideas from the earlier attempt. I hope some of this will come out in interviews with Ratmansky and the dancers in the coming months. It's also worth remembering that he has a lot at stake in getting it "right." This is not a piece d'occasion that could flop and everybody would forget about it. This trio of works will also be performed next year by San Francisco Ballet, so it's going to get a lot of attention.

The new issue of ABT's print On Point for Spring 2013 has an interesting tidbit: Ric Burns is making a two-hour documentary on ABT which will be shown on PBS in 2015, the company's 75th anniversary. It will include interviews with Alonso, Barnes, Franklin, Kisselgoff, and Saddler, among others.

Like others on this board, my first exposure to classical ballet was on television in the 1950s, when Balanchine dancers regularly performed on shows like Ed Sullivan and the Sunday afternoon shows -- all live, on tiny B&W screens. When New Yorkers were seeing the Bolshoi live in the late 1950s, the rest of us (in small cities in the Midwest, e.g.) were going to the local movie theater on Sunday afternoons to see two feature-length films of the Bolshoi Ballet, distributed about the same time, as the Cold War began thawing somewhat. My memory is vague on what I saw, but I'm pretty sure it was Galina Ulanova in Swan Lake and Giselle. (I've never been able to reliably document the films circulating in that era and it could have been R&J, not Giselle.) Those viewing conditions were hardly ideal, yet for people who had never seen classical ballet, they were astonishing experiences. Those memories explain my never-ending frustration at choreographers like Jerome Robbins who were so reluctant to allow their work to be shown on "Live from Lincoln Center" or released on VHS/DVD. Some of his work is now available on DVD (performed by POB!), but two of his greatest works (Dances at a Gathering and Glass Pieces) remain unavailable after all these years. I hope the Robbins trust relents on this some day. So many people around the country (no, the world) have no opportunity to ever see his work in the theater for all sorts of reasons.

I thought the same, but if you search for him on YouTube, several short clips show up. I have always assumed these were faked somehow. Does anybody know?

Unusual, but not the first time a major choreographer has made a last-minute change of music. The best example I can think of is Bejart's Le Jeune Homme et la Morte. The company rehearsed it to jazz, but he made a last-minute substitution with the Bach Passacaglia. I don't know if he planned that all along to motivate the dancers or abruptly made the decision himself. Anybody know? http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/11/arts/dance/roland-petit-choreographer-is-dead-at-87.html?_r=0 I don't know what happened with the Ratmansky, but let's hope we learn more in the coming weeks. Perhaps one piece was the wrong length or wrong "feel" for what he decided he wanted to do choreographically.

I had to laugh at the opening language of their announcement: New York's Lincoln Center? Coals to Newcastle anybody? I'd say southern California could use a visit from SFB, especially in view of the disastrous season for 2013-14 at Segerstrom.

Maybe good, maybe not. Seating is unreserved. Doors to the auditorium open one-half hour before the program starts, but people start queueing a half hour or more before that. They have a new on-line system this year. You pick out your seat from the seating chart and then print-out the ticket. Much, much better than the old system.

For those of us who missed the live transmission, you can now see a video of the entire thing here: http://liveweb.arte.tv/fr/video/Gala_Inauguration_Theatre_Mariinsky_II_Saint_Petersbourg/

Ah, but NYCB IS touring -- MOVES, their non-unionized subgroup has been all over the country to smaller cities for the last few years. One wonders if the tough contract with their orchestra has as much to do with this change as the dancers' union requirements. I also remember talking with someone in a staff position with NYCB about the fact that the MOVES dancers were flying from New York to the Vail festival the day before they had to perform. The standard dancers' union contact requires two rest days -- with pay -- when they perform at altitudes over 5,000 feet, as Vail obviously is.

Guggenheim just tweeted additional information about the program June 2-3 that makes it much more interesting for ballet lovers: http://www.guggenheim.org/new-york/calendar-and-events/2013/06/02/the-new-york-botanical-gardengarden-of-good-and-evil-harmful-and-healing-properties-of-plants/1257 Lots of good seats still today, but other ballet programs do sell out.

try this Same ticking clock...I guess something in my ISP or perhaps my security software is blocking the transmission. I'll try later to see if they post a recording...I hope!

Is this the link you are all using? http://liveweb.arte.tv/fr/video/Gala_Inauguration_Theatre_Mariinsky_II_Saint_Petersbourg/ Once on that site, do you have to click anything? I've clicked through all the options...unblocked pop-ups, etc. Still getting a clock that it will start live in 90 minutes...anybody else having that problem?

I am on that site and it says it starts in 90 minutes. I've tried reloading, starting over with the link for ARTE, etc. and get the same thing. Are others in the U.S. getting the live transmission? Is there another link you're using?

And we shouldn't forget Arthur Mitchell and the Dance Theatre of Harlem! I understand that Balanchine was very generous in sharing rights to use his work and other assistance. I gather that NYCB dancers sometimes sent lightly used pointe shoes to the school.

Great question, and probably needs to have its own thread somewhere... Martins, Boal, Tomasson and Villella are the obvious ones to come to mind. And now, Suzanne Farrell and Lourdes Lopez, obviously. I think Paul Meija could certainly be considered a "son", but he has had to move about from company to company. He worked with Maria Tallchief originally at the Chicago City Ballet (but that project lasted only about 10 years I believe). Even someone like Lew Christensen (who danced for Balanchine in the early years) could be considered a "son of", I suppose. It's gets complicated deciding on how much influence Balanchine had on a person's artistic life. I'm not sure that anyone has ever bothered to put together a list, but between Balanchine and the various Ballet Russes troups, seeds were planted in many places in the U.S., Britain, Australia, and the Continent. It would make for a massive family tree. John Clifford directed the ill-fated Los Angeles Ballet long ago and now works as a Balanchine stager. The current LA Ballet is directed by Colleen Neary. Please also note that Boal's predecessor, Francia Russell, was a Balanchine alumna. Ib Anderson, director of the Arizona Ballet, and Ethan Steifel, now director of the New Zealand Ballet, are two more that I can think of.

The complete schedule just appeared on the NYCB web site: http://www.nycballet.com/Season-Tickets/Calendar.aspx#family events=1&performances=1&special events=1&talks/demos=1&sunday=1&monday=1&tuesday=1&wednesday=1&thursday=1&friday=1&saturday=1&s=5/1/2013&e=5/19/2013

Try Googling "loose nukes" and Ukraine for sources, e.g., the Council on Foreign Relations: http://www.cfr.org/weapons-of-terrorism/loose-nukes/p9549

I know a little about how some of the countries of the former Warsaw Pact (Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary) were finally admitted to the VWP (Visa Waiver Program) in 2008. The State Department has some kind of formula for determining the likelihood that admittance without a visa would admit persons presenting a risk to the U.S. (terrorism, etc.). I don't know if they determine that through surveillance, failed Visa applications, or something along those lines, and I don't remember how low the risk assessment has to be to be added to the VWP program. I know the Slovaks were very angry (as I assume the others in this group were) that American citizens were admitted to their country without a visa and that they had all contributed soldiers to George Bush's so-called "Coalition of the Willing" and yet we refused to admit them to the VWP. It was a major point of annoyance for them, and I'm glad to see they have now been admitted. Do note that your passport is issued by your home country, not the country you are visiting. Countries like Ukraine and Bellarus, which are reportedly hotbeds of "loose nukes," are not on the VWP list. So citizens of those countries have to go to the U.S. Embassy for an interview (and perhaps further investigation) to determine if it's safe to let them into the U.S. I noticed that Saudi Arabia is no longer on the list. After 9/11, there was some controversy that admission to the U.S. was too easy. I just noticed that Poland has NOT been admitted to the VWP. Sorry!

Could you give us a little sense of what the difference were? The changed ending of Four Ts is legendary, but not the Symphony in C changes.

Americans are very spoiled in being able to travel to so many countries without a visa. We forget that we require citizens of many of those countries to obtain a visa just to visit the U.S. as a tourist. Currently, the U.S. allows tourists from only 37 countries to enter the U.S. without a visa: http://travel.state.gov/visa/temp/without/without_1990.html For all the others (including Russia and most states of the former Soviet Union), the application fee alone is $160, and you have to pay that whether or not it is approved: http://travel.state.gov/visa/temp/types/types_1263.html

Tiler Peck continues to amaze. She is technically so sharp - precise, fast, awe-inspiring. But her expressive skills are also superb. She seemed to join in a little toward the end in the singing, which was interesting -- she might have another career after her NYCB days are over (which won't be for a long time, I hope). The final song was a disappointment -- too much talk-singing to enjoy its familiar strains.

But also remember that in 1982, dance was coming off an extraordinary "dance boom" fueled by the likes of Baryshnikov, Kirkland, Makaraova, etc. So the percentage decline is more understandable once they started to step out of the limelight.

The complete show is now available on-line, for free! http://video.pbs.org/video/23649751 Thank you, PBS. Doesn't it make you wish there were more American performances shown like this?

A typo, I think? These premiered at the opening night of the 1972 Stravinsky Festival. Nancy Goldner's book The Stravinsky Festival does list them as premiering on June 18, the first night. Divertimento from Le Baiser de la Fee is listed on the third evening, June 21. Sorry -- I wasn't clear. The Stravinsky Festival was 1972, not 1970. 1970 was the apparent typo.

A typo, I think? These premiered at the opening night of the 1972 Stravinsky Festival. http://www.nycballet.com/Ballets/S/Symphony-in-Three-Movements.aspx I did not have the great good fortune of seeing the Festival, but I remember mumblings beforehand that Balanchine was a burnt-out has-been and the Festival changed all of that. I'd be curious if that's the sense of others who saw that remarkable opening night. (In one of these amazing coincidences of history, the Watergate burglary was the night before.)