nanushka

That seems very odd — especially because tickets are only available at this earlier date for subscribers and members, and your personal login wouldn't have carried over to an incognito window. Hunh.

The membership office did not process my membership quickly enough to give me access to online purchasing. So they instructed me to call their office and they'd connect me with the box office to purchase by phone. Now I've been on hold for 30 minutes. Relatedly, the membership office — up until today — has been unreachable by phone. My calls always went to voicemail, with a message saying they're all working from home and would return my call. They never did, nor did they respond to emails, until finally yesterday I got my first response in weeks.

I have no inside knowledge, but I don't see ABT's marketing strategies being that sensitively refined (e.g. delaying some soloist promotions so the public can "absorb" previous ones), and I can't imagine they'd keep on the payroll a soloist like Paris who currently seems to perform no really significant featured dance roles just for the sake of giving her a "graceful, visible exit." (She's not going to get a major farewell performance, after all.) If current soloists are staying on, I'd assume it's because they've simply chosen not to retire yet and the administration has agreed to continue renewing their contracts. And even for principals, I find it difficult to believe that a fear of "shifting the marketing focus" would be a primary consideration in the timing of most retirements. (Maybe for someone really big, like Copeland. But I think there are other factors at play there.) I certainly could be wrong, though.

He was scheduled at least twice with Roxander that I saw (Wednesday and Saturday evenings), but in both cases he was replaced by Klein.

I agree as well. I was delighted to read Kourlas's opening tribute to him, and it effectively expressed all that's great about him. He seems to have the complete package. I think my order of preference would be Curley, Roxander, Frenette, Klein, Ischuck, Gonzalez.

In April of that year, Nureyev danced MacMillan's Romeo at the Met with the Royal.

He was fantastic! Such stage presence, in addition to his technical skills.

Thanks for the heads-up, @dirac!

Why would they add PDDs to a program they've already started to publicize, when doing so would mean reconceiving the program (and having to alter marketing materials that are likely already in process), given that the program is currently titled "21st Century Works"? I'd assume that, if they wanted to include PDDs in the program, they'd have designed it to include them, and they'd have done so before making the initial season announcement. Anything's possible, of course, but I think further additions are unlikely. (It'd be a different story if for some reason they had to swap out a currently planned work.) As for Misty, I will personally be rather surprised if she performs another full-length classical role with ABT.

If she said "in the spring" in February, that wouldn't seem to refer to 2024. Perhaps she was intending at that time to return for the now-almost-finished season? They couldn't possibly program R&J for the third Met season in a row. (I hope!)

Yes, Ratmansky has presumably chosen to use the Ukrainian transliteration going forward. The announcement includes the following:

Forster was fantastic in On the Dnieper in 2019. It was a great role for him. I too am excited to see Ballet Imperial in tutus, which I think is as it should be — given the work's original title, and its echoes in the choreography.

I think reading this is the most excited I've been all season! (I really miss the old Met seasons. They were always among the best 8 weeks of the year. A real annual highlight. It's just not the same now.)

Welcome to the club! Was there a standout performance or experience (virtual or live) that really got you hooked?

I don't mind applause and even cheers at the big moments, but literal screaming at any remotely impressive technical achievement, and at multiple entrances in a single scene? No, personally I'm not thrilled at that. It just seems a bit much.

I too disliked those supported pirouettes. Unfortunately, they got applause each time, though, so I worry the positive feedback may mean we'll be seeing them more. The magic of supported pirouettes, IMO, depends on there not being the sense that every ounce of rotational force is coming straight from the hands of turner's partner. As @fondoffouettes described, though, that was indeed the impression I got last night. As @California also described, Shevchenko's fans seemed to be ready to scream at anything — including every entrance she made in the ballroom scene (when she and Rothbart appeared, again when she and Siegfried came out for the opening of the PDD, etc.). Ischuk was decent as Rothbart, but I wish they would cast some dancers who have a bit more maturity and stage presence — i.e. the ability to really come across as a dominating figure, one who can take full control of the room. When I saw Hoven listed in the program as Benno, I was eager to see what kind of shape he's in these days. In the years after his belated promotion to soloist, I thought he gave some quite good performances. Waski's performance was a real head-scratcher; those non-existent jumps at the end of the coda were bizarre. The two sets of cygnets I saw this year (Bonfiglio/Coker/Kimura/Lall on Wednesday night, Bonfiglio/Coker/Marshall/Yamada last night) have been more united and well-prepared than they sometimes have in past years. Carlos Gonzalez stood out in the Spanish dance both nights, and Joseph Markey looked to have gotten some additional coaching between Wednesday and Saturday; last night, he was a much better match for Gonzalez, giving a lot more energy and definition to his dancing. Klein replaced Magbitang both nights in the Neapolitan, dancing with Roxander; both were great, especially on Wednesday. I really hope we get some new productions of these classics in the coming years. I'd love to see the company get a shot of adrenaline from a fresh take on what they've all been doing for years — and I’m very tired of a lot of McKenzie’s choreographic additions.

Blaine Hoven is dancing Benno tonight (with Paulina Waski and Sierra Armstrong).

Here's perhaps a better one, cued to his entrance:

Suffice it to say the politics of the man it’s named after are distasteful to many who visit the facility.

Definitely. I can't help but think that the more-than-usually-audible response to last night's special effect flash of Rothbart's transformation resulted from the audience having become lulled by the lack of drama in the moments and minutes leading up to that. There was no seduction of the court, no believably devious machinations during the pas, no triumphant glee in the instant of Siegfried's mistaken vow. The whole act become dramatically inert.

There are no sure things in ballet performance; I've seen senior principals give unusually disappointing performances, and I've seen much younger dancers give exceptional ones. I went to see Hurlin's O/O precisely because I wanted to see what she'd do with the role; she's impressed me in the past (especially last week in Giselle), she got a rave review last year in the Times, and she's a principal dancer in a major company — deserving of scrutiny and, I believe, very able to withstand it. I don't think there's anything unkind about giving an honest description and evaluation of what one has seen. I certainly do expect her to improve as she becomes more experienced, and I look forward to seeing that as well.

I certainly agree about Hurlin's innate qualities as a dancer, and she put them to superb use the week before as Giselle. Her performance last night, though, was to me disappointing and unsatisfying, in part because of those innate qualities and that prior success, but also just judging it as a performance by any principal dancer and the impressions I got of its good and not-so-good qualities. If last year's NYT review is to be believed, it sounds like she did much better in her first Met outing in the role.

I quite agree about tonight’s performance. I found Hurlin far less convincing than in her Giselle last week. The swan arms at the end of Act 2 were truly awful. Nice arabesques and backbends though. Her Odile was somewhat better but I was less pleased by her fouettés which did start fast but then lagged quite a bit behind the music in the second half. The first attitude turn in the solo was messy. Otherwise turns were generally the better parts. Overall there seemed to be a lot of adjustments between steps, too little sense of fluid enchaînement. Sebastian was the least interesting Rothbart I think I’ve seen. His facial expression did not change one bit throughout his entire solo. He looked like he could have been alone in a practice studio. Zero charisma. Not at all seductive. I don't even think he got a bow (and it was smart of him not to take one, as the applause was already dying down when he stood and gestured to the princesses).

I too really enjoyed Jane Eyre! (Quite to my surprise.) I agree they were great together in that. I don't necessarily see them as mismatched for Swan Lake — I just don't want to see her in that role. (I remember going to JE specifically to see Forster do a full-length, disappointed he was paired with her, but pleasantly surprised. I've only liked her dancing in certain things, and she is quite far from my ideal O/O.) I love Forster, but I think I'll have to miss him this time. I'm very excited for Hurlin's that night!

Balanchine, for one, seemed to realize that not every dancer — even at top-tier companies — can perform every step or sequence effectively, and so when coaching an old role on a new dancer would simply change that problematic element. If a dancer can bring something interesting and exciting to a role, he seems to have felt, why should one step or sequence prevent that? Just change it, no big deal — that, as I gather, was his attitude. These works have been performed for 50, 100, 150+ years, and they've changed over that time — even the steps actually notated have undoubtedly changed, in subtle ways. That's what happens in a performing art, and especially in one like dance where transmission comes not primarily through a text, but from individual dancer to individual dancer.