nanushka

2 minutes ago, SaraBW said:

Thank you for the recommendations! Would you recommend going before or after the show? If we were to go afterward, what is the best place that's open late?

R&J is a pretty long show. Personally, I'd go before and maybe do drinks or dessert after.

56 minutes ago, liebs said:

Bar Boulud, right across the street, is great, The Smith, IMO, is way too noisy. Lincoln Ristorante, which is right on the Lincoln Center campus is excellent. 

I agree. If you want a truly excellent dinner, conveniently located (it's steps from the Met), and don't mind a notch up in price (but also quality) from the others, I'd say definitely go to the Lincoln.

3 hours ago, BalanchineFan said:

And where has the backlash been ... observed?

I too am curious to hear more about this — i.e. what form the backlash has taken.

35 minutes ago, cobweb said:

Thanks for the info, nanushka. I agree that the ballet is so rich and lush that it could only work with full orchestration. I find the quartet itself quite lovely though. But, if Balanchine wanted something large scale for the larger stage, and especially if Stravinsky recommended the Schoenberg orchestration, then it makes sense he went for the whole shebang.  

I agree about the original Brahms as a work. Even the final movement seems paradoxically more exciting, I think, with the smaller-scale instrumentation (given a skilled enough ensemble, of course).

46 minutes ago, cobweb said:

Mr Cobweb has wondered why Balanchine felt the need to set this ballet to Schoenberg's orchestration, rather than the beautiful original quartet. If anyone knows if there's a story there, please share!

The piece was made as an early large-scale work for their new home and larger stage at Lincoln Center. It’s so rich and lush and (IMO) overstuffed, I don’t think it could possibly work with less than full orchestration. Stravinsky recommended the Schoenberg to Balanchine, I believe.

16 minutes ago, matilda said:

Mira Nadon stepped in for LaFreniere as the Green girl. She was good, but the role is so brief and I don't understand the point of the "character"? I can see why management cast Bouder in the matinee cast... brief stage time and no partnering. Really feels like they threw her a bone with that one.

There are some descriptions in Nancy Reynolds' Repertory in Review that I found interesting and that really captured what I saw in Mearns' performance of the role a few years back:

Quote

Verdy's solo, in which she 'almost' dances (but instead merely indicates steps in an extremely telling manner) was considered one of the most unusual and striking in the ballet. ... When the ballet was mounted in London, Nureyev wanted to dance that part, because there is something that even a man can find there, and that is complete self-absorption in a dance and a rhythm.

...

'And the story behind Violette's solo?''

[Sara] Leland: 'Violette is the mistress of the house, her big manor house. It's a suggestion of a dance. When she first comes on it's like, I own this house and you're all my guests, and did you know I used to dance? I used to do this step. I used to do a grand jeté. But Robbins says it's a marked grand jeté, a suggestion of one. And then she bows. The idea is that she's showing how she used to dance. And she says, 'Oh, I'll do one more step.'

'It's like thje feeling that's set by the opening solo.'

Leland: 'Yes, in a sense. And he does like that dance, Violette's dance, done by an older dancer.

5 minutes ago, cobweb said:

Agree, I look forward to seeing Alston Macgill blaze ahead. On the down side, it's discouraging to see both Indiana Woodward and David Gabriel replaced for the opening two weeks. Hope both of them recover quickly!

Woodward is still listed for this weekend (in Dances at a Gathering), at least in the cast list on the NYCB website. Are people seeing something different elsewhere?

23 minutes ago, volcanohunter said:

That sort of terminology is only used in the case of freelancers. There is a reason dancers are identified by their professional affiliation: étoile of the Paris Opera Ballet, senior artist of the Australian Ballet or principal dancer of San Francisco Ballet. They are hired precisely as representatives of their employer. This establishes their credentials with audiences and carries varying degrees of prestige.

Yes, hence the NYT headline: "Mariinsky Dancers Barred..."

It was certainly a controversial decision — but a debacle? 

The Times has details on next year's offerings here. (Link should work for non-subscribers.)

I really don't think there's going to be widespread confusion about an obscure Balanchine ballet from 1933 (revived and adapted in 1935 and 1941), especially when all it takes is a glance at the more detailed info in any program or on any repertory page to clarify what's what.

Do we even know when this piece was last performed or if its choreography is known by anyone living?

Balanchine himself seems to have been unbothered by the recycling of titles for wholly different works (e.g. Mozartiana — admittedly using the same music, but still), or by changing the name of existing works to suit the tastes (his own or others') of a new time.

10 minutes ago, susanger said:

Why the name change of Tzigane to Errante?

From the NYC Ballet web site: "Originally titled Tzigane, after the name of Maurice Ravel’s rhapsodic score, this ballet will be revived for the first time in more than 30 years with a new name – Errante.  Choreographed by Balanchine for the legendary ballerina Suzanne Farrell for the 1975 Ravel Festival, Farrell will return to NYCB during the 75th Anniversary Season to stage the work for a new generation of NYCB dancers."

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/tzigane#:~:text=tzigane (plural tziganes),Hungarian Gypsy (Romani person).

tzigane (plural tziganes)

1. (sometimes offensive)^[4] A Hungarian Gypsy (Romani person).

Phelan in the Brahms-Schoenberg gypsy rondo? Hmmm.

8 hours ago, Olga said:

It’s a fact. 

Sure, it's a fact. But it's also rhetoric. There's a message in how it's presented — and in the fact that it's the only fact stated in the byline.

Yes, just because someone's hired into the corps without their height totally precluding their ever being considered for promotion doesn't mean that height won't end up being one (if not the) reason they are or aren't promoted. Promotions happen in the context of the company at a particular time, including the needs and capacities (e.g. potential partners, repertoire) of the upper ranks at that time. 

Oh how I wish I were seeing Gordon's debut with Peck in Ballo della Regina!

The venue rental info on BAM's website includes the following detail:

Quote

Adjustable orchestra pit, can be lowered for musicians or used to extend stage or audience seating area

7 minutes ago, Helene said:

I was there, and I don’t remember Jaffe at all.  But the only performances in Western Symphony I remember are the Leclercq and d’Amboise film excerpt from the Balanchine doc and Stephanie Saland in the second movement, also on film.

There was at one time (and may still be) a video on YouTube of Susan Jaffe and Nikolaj Hübbe performing the final movement. 

ETA: Yes, here it is:

Just a heads-up for Sarah's many fans and those who miss seeing her dance, that Nutcracker video is one of nearly 20 she's posted to her YouTube in the past few weeks.

29 minutes ago, ABT Fan said:

As much as I really wanted to see ABT’s Nutcracker, I couldn’t talk myself into the commute. I live far out in Queens and like a lot of New Yorkers I don’t own a car. The subway from my apt to BAM would be well over an hour one way, and with the frequency of weekend subway construction and delays, I’d have to expect at least 90 mins and possibly longer. I’m sure I’m not the only one who wasn’t going to schlep that far to Brooklyn no matter how much they love the company.

I'm not sure what that tells us; the same could be said of literally any location and the fans who live too far away from it to get there easily for a performance. A lot of people can't easily get to Brooklyn for a performance, but a lot of people can't easily get to any given location. 

The population of Manhattan is ~1.63 million. Queens is ~2.27 million. Brooklyn is ~2.58 million.

A lot of people live in Brooklyn, and a lot of others can pretty easily get there. ABT's problem with sustaining their Nutcracker in the NYC area can't really have been about the size or makeup of the proximate-to-BAM population.

Is there any obvious role/casting he should/could have gotten, in what's already been named? He couldn't really take any of Cornejo's current spots, and I don't see any other workable possibilities, given who else needs to dance. It's possible the season design and current roster (both male and female) just made it inevitable that he wouldn't be named cast until the secondary roles get announced.

30 minutes ago, aurora said:

Totally agreed. There is no reason to keep him in the corps any longer. He should be promoted.

I too completely agree. Frenette, Gonzalez, etc. may be "ahead of him in line," but they don't have what he has. And it seems he danced more than a typical soloist load in the fall season.

5 minutes ago, stuben said:

Seems the company didn’t give much time for the dancers to get ready for this tour!?

They performed for under 2 weeks at the Koch, and they're doing much of the same rep in China (plus Giselle, which they've performed a lot in the last few years). I think they're probably ready.

Fantastic photo of Roxander!

What are Bradley's most significant featured roles? I've definitely seen her in small ensemble/demi-soloist-type parts (and have liked her dancing), but don't recall seeing her in featured parts, which I've likely just missed.