jerryb

I am also in the "lost for words" category. I saw the Saturday evening performance with TDF seats in the second row to the right and at first thought that the bad viewing angle was coloring my opinion. Alas, that was not the case. Things quickly went downhill. I think what bothered me most was the complete lack of respect for the score. Not only chopping it up but the terribly unmusical choreography. Very sad that the powers that be chose to present the Australian Ballet's dancers in a work that is not worthy of them. I left after the second act. Was surprised the read that . I thought the audience response was pretty tepid except after the dance of the four swans which I think was something they recognized and could grab onto. I said to my companion after the first act "I forgive Peter Martins".

You hit the nail on the head. As a long time NYCB fan I totally agree.

I was at the performance Saturday evening 9/18. It was good to be at an all Balanchine night and I thought the performances good all around. Maria Kowroski was particularly fine in Monumentum/Movements. I have a question about Duo Concertant. If my memory serves correctly the ending was a narrow spotlight center stage only on the two hands. The rest of the stage very black. The last couple of times I've seen it the spotlight seemed much wider and the background only semi dark. In my opionion this dilutes the effect. Is it just my mis-remembering? As Canbelto said the corps danced very well all evening. Very disciplined, energetic and well spaced. I think Danses Concertantes needs a more comedia dell'arte style than the performance on Saturday. I think McCauley is right the wit just wasn't there. Only the red pas de trois showed some signs of it. Partiuclarly Daniel Appelbaum. The audience was more responsive than I have heard in a long time for a repetory performance. Lots of applause and cheering from the upper reaches. That's great!!! I may have enjoyed it more than the dancers. I think often NYCB audiences are too reserved. I'm not advocating applause in all the wrong places. As the comedian Dom DeLuise used to say "No applause. Save for the end." I wonder if perhaps some of the new initiatives like half priced tickets are beginning to draw a new audience.

I agree with abatt about Agon. What a pleasure. Sitting further back in the orchestra than usual I was really taken with the structure of the ballet. This pas de deux really does suit Whelan very well. The sharpness of her line and attack made the choreography particularly clear. For my taste Teresa Reichlen's dancing in the second Pas de Trois was a little too "soft". But a very good Agon overall. As for "The Lady with the Little Dog", perhaps it was unfortunate that it was performed after a masterpiece. It seemed very long and made no sense to me. The choreography for the principals was dull and cliched although there were a few nice dances for the corps of boys. (There was also a beautiful double tour by one of the boys landed in a perfect fifth position.) The pricipals strip their costumes to leotard and tights put the costumes back on, take them off, and put them back on again. Only once did it make sense - before the erotic pas de deux. Several times in the work the boys roll out a long carpet like strip. Once it might have been interesting but to repeat and repeat and repeat it just seemed too much. And all I could think was "They have spent half of their young lives in a ballet studio to lay carpet?" The scenic decor was nice particularly the moving "windows" which suggested to me a train journey. I am of two minds about reading the story it is based on. Reading can add more depth of knowledge and appreciation to what we are seeing but should we have to read the story to make some sense of a ballet? In this case the latter is what I would be doing and I feel a ballet should stand on its own.

I've been an audience member for over 50 years. Never studied dance but did figure skate when I was younger which evolved into the interest in dance and particularly NYCB and Balanchine. In the late 70s and 80s when tickets were much cheaper I used to see a lot - almost every company that had a season in NY. Now its a few performances a year. Have been a lurker for a long time and decided it was time to join up.