California

So impressive! I hope they find a way to release that new documentary film commercially: The catalog is available for pre-order with a nice discount on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Diaghilev-Golden-Ballets-Russes-1909-1929/dp/1851777490/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1364908595&sr=8-1&keywords=diaghilev+and+the+ballets+russes

If you'll be in Helsinki for a few days, do take a walking tour of the historic architecture, especially around the University. The architects also worked in St. Petersburg and they look strikingly similar. Those areas were often used for location shots to stand in for Russia when it was difficult to film in the Soviet Union (e.g., Warren Beatty's "Reds"). The Sibelius memorial park and gorgeous performing arts center are worth seeing. Great public tram system, so it's easy to get around. Also worthwhile: the daytrip to Tallinn, Estonia. It's an easy ferry ride (which is an international duty-free zone, with plenty of shops on-board) to see the best-preserved medieval city in northern Europe.

I saw this at the City Center premiere last October. It's spectacular and worth seeing several times -- innovative, clever, funny. The other two new Ratmansky's on that program will premiere at the Met in late May. I didn't realize ABT had this partnership for the new work with SFB, but it makes sense. Also makes one wonder if it won't be shown during ABT's visit to the LA Music Center, to avoid the competition.

I don't know. As a non-profit organization, their financial records are supposed to be publically available, but I don't know if that means they're online. The Audited Financial reports for NYCB for 2010 and 2011 are posted on their web site. Can others more conversant in this type of reporting tell us if they see problems? http://www.nycballet.com/About/Annual-Reports.aspx

There has been quite a bit of public discussion of NYCB's financial deficits overall in recent years. I don't know where they stand right now. Their financial reports (as recently as 2011) are on their web site, but I'm not sure how much you can figure out from those. Perhaps others can. http://www.nycballet.com/About/Annual-Reports.aspx

Another play starring Baryshnikov, co-starring Willem Defoe: http://www.playbill.com/news/article/175428-Manchester-Interational-Festival-to-Feature-Kenneth-Branagh-Rob-Ashford-Robert-Wilson-Willem-Dafoe-Mikhail-Baryshnikov

It was only in 2006 that Congress designated ABT as "America's National Ballet Company": http://www.abt.org/insideabt/news_display.asp?News_ID=160 I'd love to know the behind-the-scenes machinations that led to this designation, rather than NYCB. I thought ABT added the "American" long ago to clarify their status before they went on tours during the Cold War, but that is different from the "National Ballet Company" designation and I don't see any explanation on the company's web site: http://www.abt.org/insideabt/history.asp

The complete cast is on their web site: http://www.lct.org/showWhosWho.htm?id=216 Natalia Alonso will play Tallchief and Michael Rosen will play Magallanes.

Thanks for the link! I see we can blame those problems on The Book of Mormon. The same thing happened last year when tickets went on sale in Denver. The web site and phone were disasters and they still sold out in five hours! And it's not just the Book of Mormon. The Met site for ABT Sunday was a disaster - constantly crashing, making it impossible to check-out, etc. (but fine on Monday morning). And I noticed that the Royal Ballet apologized that their site wasn't working for several days because their credit card processor was overwhelmed. Apparently, many theaters are overwhelmed by on-line sales to popular events.

San Francisco Ballet hasn't yet announced for 2013-14 - let's hope they have some blockbusters that would warrant travel to see them. At least it's usually possible to see two programs in a few days with the way they schedule.

"Disappointing" is an understatement, especially after the disastrous Segerstrom announcement. Many of us will be saving on tickets and travel expenses by skipping all of those. Next on the horizon: NYCB's 2013-14 season (announced in June?) and ABT's fall season (announced in July?).

The schedule for the 2013 Lincoln Center Festival was just posted. Alas, they're not bringing any ballet companies, as they did last year with POB: http://www.lincolncenterfestival.org/

Add to the long list of well-regarded dancers who have fallen on-stage: Sara Mearns, who fell twice as Dew Drop on opening night: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/31/arts/dance/31sara.html?_r=0 And didn't she fall in Swan Lake just this January? Ashley Bouder says she is "famous for falling": http://www.nypost.com/p/entertainment/theater/black_swan_dive_Z7fDiW1ybCG8MQoaxUaNSI

Things are working fine right now, early Monday morning. I was unable to get the last few tickets I wanted Sunday afternoon -- I was able to pick seats, get them into my cart, but then got an error message when I tried to check out. That went on from about 2 EDT until well into the evening. But apparently everybody else had the same problem -- I kept requesting the same seats and they were always available on each try. I finally got them this morning. Apparently they had somebody on the tech staff working on the site last night!

I assume that this review will be posted in the daily reports section, but for now just note that Gomes did perform March 23 with Kent in Swan Lake. http://www.palmbeachdailynews.com/news/news/national/abt-performance-professional-joyful/nW3Fj/

You're right, but that was in 2011.http://www.kennedy-center.org/events/?event=bmbsc In 2012, they had Ballet West's Nutcracker and for 2013 they will have the Joffrey's. I haven't seen any other touring announcements for the ABT Nutcracker - has anyone else? As Nutcracker is such a huge make-or-break money maker for companies around the country, I assume they don't want to try to compete with that. The big exception would be southern California, as noted.

I'm not aware of ABT touring the Ratmansky Nutcracker anywhere. But with an even shorter season this year at BAM, I wonder if they are looking at possibilities for 2014. Most major cities already have a big Nutcracker by the local company (San Francisco, New York, Boston, Chicago, Seattle, Denver, etc.), but LA doesn't and could use one. The LA Ballet has a small production with just a few performances that doesn't address the potential.Other than the Kennedy Center visit, it doesn't appear NYCB tours to any North American cities any more. They have been touring to smaller cities with the small non-union subgroup they call "Moves," but that's it. Perhaps they had trouble finding the subsidies they needed in other cities and NYCB appears to have been running a deficit in recent years at home.

The site is a disaster this morning. When I finally got through, it wouldn't let me check out -- I kept getting an error message. I'm trying to buy things in small batches (2 or 3 tickets) so I can spend most of the 10-minute count-down trying to get to check-out. I was able to buy two batches about an hour ago, but now it appears the entire check-out system has malfunctioned. I get things into my cart, but can't check out. Again and again and again... I've been buying tickets on-line for several years for the ABT spring season and never had this kind of problem. Either their software is backsliding or there is much more demand this year than in previous years. The only consolation: there are a lot of seats - but the ones you had your heart set on might be gone when you finally get through.

I'd like to see it revised and updated through 1983, to include the last few years of Balanchine's life, including the Baryshnikov performances. But that's dreaming, I think. I haven't heard of any plans. For those looking for a cheap used copy, do check out Amazon's listings. Several are available for under $10 including shipping. I've had good experiences ordering via Amazon for used books (and don't forget to start with the Amazon box on this site): http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/0803773684/ref=tmm_hrd_used_olp_sr?ie=UTF8&condition=used&qid=1364130311&sr=8-1

The huge Russian community in LA might help with ticket sales for Osipova/Vasiliev. They were very prominent for their Don Q performance with the Bolshoi in spring 2010, although not so much for the other principals. I hope Vishneva doesn't drag Marcelo Gomes with her for her gig in November -- which is scheduled during the ABT fall season at Lincoln Center this November. I'd rather see him with ABT!

Really shocking! That theater has hosted so many great companies in the last decade (San Francisco, ABT, Mariinsky, Bolshoi...). I don't think the LA series at Dorothy Chandler has been announced yet, but perhaps they decided they couldn't compete. Or perhaps their previously reported fund-raising problems are catching up with them and they couldn't get the underwriting they needed for major companies. Didn't some of the Vishneva solo programs at City Center last year get cancelled to avoid embarrassment? If they can't sell tickets to New Yorkers, it's hard to see how they'll do it in Orange county in a bigger theater!

It makes you wonder if there's a problem with the software in their on-line ticketing system...

The program for the SAB Spring workshop has been posted: http://www.sab.org/news/workshop_performances/program_information.php

MSNBC has now picked up her story: http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/03/21/17398477-dancer-claims-bolshoi-theater-was-big-brothel?lite If the dance historians are to be believed, this kind of "favor" was also common in the 19th century in the ballet world.

The Shakespeare Theatre Company in Washington, DC will present Chekhov's Man in a Case with Baryshnikov December 5-22, 2013. http://www.shakespearetheatre.org/subscribe/presentations.aspx