nanushka

Jared Longhitano has filed a motion for dismissal of Alexandra Waterbury's suit against him:

On the other hand, it's a fairy tale. Why shouldn't the princess have suitors from distant regions of the world? (This is not to dismiss the other potential problems with the naming/costuming of the princes.)

I don't recall, as I've only seen this production once — what from the most traditional versions is missing for her?

The Audm app (subscription required, but not too expensive) has audio versions of many New Yorker articles, released in conjunction with those posted online. The app also features articles from other publications, such as The Atlantic, New York Magazine, London Review of Books, Buzzfeed News, and others, all with quite decent readers. (They seem to carry the most content from The New Yorker, though.)

I guess I don't see "straight reportage" as having been the sole nature of the rest of the piece, considering that it began with this passage: Acocella's description of Balanchine seemed to me to be quite in keeping with that opening — her point being that his works fulfill that potential, answer those desires, while Martins' do not.

I disagree. That momentary assessment of Balanchine's status was for the purpose of making a point about Martins — that was the topic of the paragraph. It was not gratuitous, not a mere "seeming to need" to do something. Acocella has long inhabited the NYC dance world, so her comment about what Balanchine's ballets "made people...think about" struck me as more reportorial than subjective and personal — i.e. I would imagine that she has talked with innumerable dance-goers, and that many have expressed the sorts of sentiments that led her to that overall characterization. (None of them need have put it in those particular terms, of course.) Heck, every time NYCB does an all-Balanchine program, I feel like this very board gets posts describing his work as a balm for the soul. And thinking differently, more seriously, about one's life for a time would hardly require anything like religious conversion. As for Tolstoy and Bach, her point was not that Balanchine would compare himself to them; rather, she was comparing him to them. Balanchine's own degree of modesty doesn't seem particularly relevant to me. (Also, Hoffmann lived to age 46, Gogol to age 42, Wolf to age 42 as well; none really fit Acocella's description of "a long career [and] an enormous range.")

To her credit, Acocella referred only to Finlay and Ramasar as "stars": I suppose, in a rather broad sense, they both were — though perhaps only one of them primarily for the strength and interest of his dancing.

Sara's IG stories definitely make it sound like they've never danced this before — and even, perhaps, that she's never danced with him before in anything. It sounds like Janzen had to pull out last minute and Huxley stepped in so that Sara wouldn't have to be replaced as well.

What are people's thoughts/impressions of Lovette's Aurora from past performances? Seeing her for the first time in it; was hoping for Peck or Bouder, but curious to hear anyone's thoughts.

No, that's Aurora's music during the vision scene (or at least one of two different versions of it — the one Tchaikovsky originally wrote for Gold in Act III, I believe, but that came to be used for Aurora in Act II). Presumably this was recorded during a rehearsal when the Act II set wasn't in place.

Nancy Reynolds, along with others who have recounted this anecdote, specifies Apollo's knees, not his heels — thus presumably referring to a different part of the ballet: Unfortunately, though, Reynolds does not cite a source.

I agree on all points, @l'histoire. I guess I was confused. I thought much of that was precisely what was being implied in the post and statement ("Gender is an identity") that you were objecting to ("First of all, gender is not 'an identity,' it's a cultural construct").

Week 3 casting is now available.

Except "organs, labs and such" are not all — or perhaps even primarily — what gender is actually about. Biological sex, yes. (And even there, there have always been cases that fall outside the binary, as @canbelto notes above.) This is all precisely what Polunin was posting about.

Hmm, that bodice for the lead ballerina (not the one on the left in the post above but the one Bouder had on her IG) looks rather heavy and ornate for the skirt it's attached to — especially in the video story itself, where you can see Tess moving. I'm also not crazy about the male dancer's vest; looks like senior prom.

Thanks for the heads-up about this, @Deflope! Is there much good dancing in it? (Guessing there's at least some, given the cast.)

Sorry, I don't follow — not sure what you mean by this, nor how this is an answer to the particular question I was asking (i.e. if something is culturally constructed why could it not also be "an identity").

Gotcha, yes, so a freshening of the details but not a major change in design. I'd be very happy with that. I just wouldn't want to see the basic style of the ballerina's dress change, I don't think. Thanks for the pics and explanation.

Would you envision/prefer something quite different from the current designs, or just a freshening up? I've never thought of it as one that I'd want to see looking very different.

It seems reasonable to think that many aspects of our identities are culturally constructed, so why should it be just one or the other?

I hope so. I love the colors, too.

Wow looks like Ballet Imperial (as I always prefer to think of it) is getting a new look:

Indeed. "Man up" — "there is already a ballerina on stage don't need to be two" — "That's a reason you got balls" — "Females now trying take on the man role because you don't **** them" Disgusting.

True, but entrusting an established legacy company (one that now exists on a much larger scale and with a much bigger profile) to an untested leader seems a rather dicier proposition. Granted, that also means that the company could likely withstand a misstep, if it were quickly corrected (though after the last year of upheaval, I can understand not wanting to take another risk). But if another MIllepied-type situation can be avoided, that would definitely be preferable.

It would completely fit the personality Clifford has displayed for him to claim (and indeed truly believe) that he has much firmer inside info than he really does. Which is of course not to say he's necessarily wrong, but just...Clifford's saying it doesn't do much to make me believe it.