California

I saw the Robbins programs No. 2 and 3 on Wednesday and Thursday nights. No. 3 was a nicely chosen sampler of five Robbins pieces spanning his entire career. Interplay was made in 1945, his second ballet after Fancy Free. I was intrigued that there were glimmers of movement ideas we saw fleshed out later in his career. E.g., the heel step by the men that opens the third movement of Glass Pieces was seen in a brief section. The playfulness and Broadway glitz were much in evidence and quite nice to see. Goldberg Variations is overwhelming. I had seen it years ago and knew what to expect, but there are just so many movement ideas packed in that it's hard to grasp the overall structure and relationships between sections. I wish a dance writer of the caliber of Nancy Goldner or Arlene Croce would take a good look at it and help us out. Hallberg posted a Tweet about an earlier performance and, quite appropriately, was stunned at the choreographic genius. The most extraordinary performance had to be Tiler Peck in Other Dances. I was reminded of a comment Robbins made in his interview in 1980 with Tobi Tobias when this work was shown on Dance in America: He loves to see dancers dancing for themselves, not an audience. That captures her rapturous performance so well. The details of extensions, stretch, position were also amazing. Joaquin de Luz seemed to be trying too hard with some of the emphatic phrase-enders and stomps. They seemed very forced and unnatural. As the odd applause at the Wednesday Giselle was noted, let me note here the strange applause for Other Dances. At the end of the first section, Peck and de Luz walked to the front of the stage and started bowing -- in complete silence. The audience slowly realized it was supposed to clap, so they eventually did. During the next segment, the first male variation, the audience clapped repeatedly whenever he did something special-looking. Very disruptive and, fortunately, that died down for the rest of the ballet. This was a knowledgeable and attentive audience, so it was all very peculiar.

Just a few more thoughts on the Lane-Simkin Giselle at the Wednesday matinee. The audience was sparse and didn't seem to know when it was appropriate to clap, which was strange. Her first act hops on pointe were superb. I also liked her entrechats in Act II -- starting very slowly and high and dramatically increasing speed as she moved backwards. I didn't notice the partnering problems others did, but there was one very wobbly move, the first overhead "tabletop" lift in ActII - short and shaky. But the second was very strong and secure. His technique is just glorious -- high, impressive, controlled. The one thing I didn't like: his flying brises on the diagonal in Act II. Just three each time and very low to the ground. The image of Baryshnikov flying across the stage is indelible for anybody who tries those. I do prefer them dramatically, as he is looking straight at Myrtha, under her spell, which is lost with the entrechats.

Nice detective work. I caught that IG story, too. Now I'm watching others on IG at the Met to see who's there -- Hallberg, for sure, is there. Don't see Osipova. She performed at the Royal Friday night and should be arriving in NYC soon. I guess I never understood why people thought Abrera was injured and would cancel.

The entire segment from CBS Saturday morning is now on their web site: https://www.cbsnews.com/video/renowned-ballet-dancer-david-hallberg-on-returning-to-the-stage/

But the most important thing about an NEA grant is not the dollar amount, but the fact of receiving an NEA grant. It's the old Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval that can jump start local fundraising. Only a handful of the largest private foundations in this country (Ford, Mellon, Getty, Rockefeller, e.g.) have the infrastructure to administer the sort of elaborate peer review process administered by NEA (and NEH). $10,000 (the typical grant size on that list) doesn't sound like much money, but the fact that it came from NEA is priceless.

Under the Federal authorizing legislation, NEA is actually prohibited from paying more than 50% of the cost of these projects and generally the NEA share is much less than that. There are some provisions for emergency grants for which cost-sharing requirements can be waived, but those are rare. https://www.arts.gov/sites/default/files/Legislation.pdf (see p. 13 - item (3))

On the Royal Ballet schedule, she is scheduled to do Marguerite and Armand Friday, May 11: http://www.roh.org.uk/mixed-programmes/obsidian-tear-marguerite-and-armand-elite-syncopations Then she's cast in their new production of Swan Lake, May 28: http://www.roh.org.uk/productions/swan-lake-by-liam-scarlett Perhaps he is doing private rehearsals or therapy until she arrives in NYC?

The National Endowment for the Arts just announced a new round of grants. Numerous awards to dance companies (see pp. 13-20): https://www.arts.gov/sites/default/files/Spring_2018_discipline_list.pdf

There is actually a Choo San Goh Foundation, but it doesn't seem to have done much since 2008. http://goh-mageefoundation.org/ Mary Day at Washington Ballet had the foresight to bring him to the US in 1976. It's a shame they don't keep at least one or two of his pieces in active repertory.

ABT and the Met need to look at how other companies are modernizing their subscriptions! Free exchange, choose-your-own combo (with choose your own seats after traditional subscribers have theirs), and discounts on the price for the subscription AND regular tickets. That should be enough. I don't bother with ABT's subscriptions, but find myself with choose-your-own at several other companies I plan to visit in the coming year. The old subscriptions helped cash flow over the summer before the season started. They still could with a few reasonable adjustments. More importantly, the new approaches build audience loyalties. I wonder who got that e-mail -- subscribers, but not Friends, apparently. This sounds like last-minute panic to unload tickets. I don't remember ABT doing this before, although PA Ballet has had to resort to these sales gimmicks regularly in recent years.

Lucky you! She'll be partnered by Aaron Robison, missed by many of us from North America. Wish I could get there, but doesn't work with my schedule.

All the more reason to show it as much as possible! The NEA has survived (so far!), so time for the arts to speak truth to power.

A bit off-topic, but I think US companies should seriously consider programming this next year. Just saying...

Perhaps the much-lamented Lincoln Center Festival could host them in summer 2019!

The 2018-19 schedule is now on their web site: https://www.musiccenter.org/tickets/events-by-the-music-center/Glorya-Kaufman-Dance/1819-season/ Most interesting: Royal Ballet's Mayerling July 5-7, 2019! They are doing it in London in fall 2018, but I can't figure out how to make that work for my schedule, so this is nice to see. Only three performances.

He's still listed here: http://www.abt.org/performances/spring-season/ What page are you looking at?

She was just in Argentina doing Corsaire with Simkin and Cornejo:

My guess: she will follow Danilo to Berlin, especially if he's not happy about partner possibilities there.

Thank you. Here's the link: https://www.nycballet.com/Season-Tickets/18-19-Season-(1).aspx

It says the new season is being announced today, but I can't find anything yet on their web site. A year ago they announced the new season on April 17, so we'll hope this comes soon. If anybody finds anything on-line, please do share.

Thank you - very true. CB is doing eight performances of Sleeping Beauty this October. Their production a few years ago was excellent. Classics like SB also provide a lot of opportunities for apprentices, studio company, and advanced students to fill out the "crowd" scenes, as well as academy teachers who fill out character roles. What matters more is whether they have some principals who will not disappoint in the lead roles. Even with the much-lamented retirements a year ago of Maria Mosina and Alexei Tyukov, CB currently has some principals and soloists I have high expectations for next year. CB does enjoy a wonderful opera house stage and full orchestra, which make a big difference.

The WB listing says Eisenhower: https://www.washingtonballet.org/performance/2018-2019-season/sleeping-beauty

I assume money played a role, including the time to teach/rehearse the dancers in all these new pieces. But typically, even if a company has rights for, say, five years, they don't perform it every year!

And Ratmansky is reconstructing the original for Berlin this fall: http://www.staatsballett-berlin.de/en/spielplan/la-bayadere/09-02-2019/725 Let's hope that one is released on DVD or toured to North America!

For sure. It might be that she added so much new rep last year that they felt they needed to recycle some of it to construct a season. I'd really like to see the Ratmansky Bolero, but it doesn't work with my schedule.