nanushka

Surely they were intended to evoke the smooth, light peaks of cream whipped by hand in a bowl, no? — as opposed to the "crinkly" stuff that comes from a can.

I wasn't talking only about principals. I follow many dancers, from corps up to principal, on social media. And I don't think being nervous and having low morale are really the same thing. Being in the lower ranks must surely have its pressures, no matter the situation. I just haven't picked up on any sense that the company morale is particularly low these days due to the absence of an AD. Of course, that doesn't mean that it isn't, out of my view (which is quite limited).

I'll be curious to hear how Teuscher does in the role. I've liked her a lot in some things, but I don't know that she has anything near Ferri's strengths in these particular aspects of her work. I appreciated your very detailed and illuminating report, FauxPas, and will be curious to read if you have any further thoughts on second viewing.

Just from what I’ve seen on social media and onstage, I don’t get a sense that company morale is flagging, at least for now. On the contrary, they’ve seemed in very good form and very good spirits since the December drama passed. And I would not be surprised to see the interim team move forward with promotions. The fact that it’s a team, not an individual, I suspect makes that more likely and more viable.

I agree. I haven't seen it, and won't this year at least. I understand the concerns about the lack of a content warning — and including something like that in the promotional materials and in the program would seem an easy fix. What I don't understand are the suggestions (by no means coming from everyone who has expressed objections — but the various objections have at times seemed to me to get conflated in this discussion) that the mere portrayal of the gassing death of a child (or any other person) is in and of itself objectionable and inappropriate, that it does not belong in a ballet, that it does not belong on the Met stage, etc. Because that means of death was prominently used in one of history's worst slaughters, does that render it out-of-bounds in dramatic representations? That's intended as a genuine question, not rhetorical. I'm curious to know how that case would be made.

One difference, of course, is that Stiefel's hair was visible onstage as part of the performance. (To clarify, I'm not defending the remark — just drawing a distinction.)

Right, makes sense. I was wondering if unmannered might be a synonym for what he meant.

It strikes me that there have been numerous comments on a variety of dancers' low extensions throughout this thread.

Now that Alastair Macaulay has published his first big piece on this year's ABT Met performances — a "critic's notebook" on Giselle — I thought it might be interesting to open a discussion on his coverage this season. Reading the article, I was struck by the degree to which he sounded at times like a director "giving notes"; the dancers, if they were so inclined, could read this to learn exactly what tweaks Macaulay thinks they should make to their performances — or even to their physical appearances. This is nothing particularly new from him, I realize. But this particular article seemed structured largely as a series of suggestions for the dancers, with paragraphs on Osipova, Hallberg, Lane, Simkin, Cornejo & Copeland, and Whiteside & Boylston. Macaulay, I suspect, does not share the memorably stated opinion of another prominent dance critic (though I forget which! — anyone recall?) that dancers should not shape their performances to critics' desires. I was also curious about this sentence in the paragraph partly on Misty Copeland: Any thoughts on what he might mean by unspoiled? What would the opposite of that be? (Obviously, spoiled — but in which particular sense?)

Thank you so much for sharing this, Kathleen! I've only encountered Terkel through reading his book Working, though I knew he'd been a broadcaster as well. I really look forward to listening around in the archive.

The phrasing is a bit wonky (should it be "after over a month"?), but it sounds like Paulina Waski may be back onstage soon:

The Met has filed a counter-suit, according to the New York Times: Numerous new and detailed allegations are described in the article.

Yes, on the Met site, just looking at the tickets available. The two I mentioned were the only two then available in first-row orchestra SR, so I imagine they must have been from a return (otherwise they'd have been snatched up first thing, being at center). I imagine they sold again quite quickly.

Well as of 3:53 pm, there are two front-row standing room orchestra tickets, house left, the closest ones to the center, currently available. I'm sure they won't be there for long, though!

Yes, as I was saying: different priorities, different values, different answers to the question of what makes a top company. I don't mean to suggest it's all completely subjective (and personally I'm a lot closer in line with canbelto's criteria than with cubanmiamiboy's), but just to point out that a statement like "to be top 5, a company must have X and Y" is itself a value judgment, not a definitive and universally accepted rule.

This is one particular definition of what constitutes "top." I don't think it's necessarily the only possible definition. What's the justification for requiring "a school and a specific style"? Could there be alternate justifications for not making those a requirement? The notion of a "company" may be constituted and conceived in multiple different, overlapping ways — e.g. the roster of dancers, the physical performances offered to the public in a given period, the school (if there is one), the cohesive style (if there is one), the institutional entity (structural, financial, etc.), the administration and coaching staff, the strength and maintenance of an historical legacy, etc. etc. It seems to me that different people will have different opinions as to how those should be weighed and factored in determining which companies are "top." Your definition is one particular response, reflecting one particular set of values, no?

Not directly on topic, of course, but at this point in time, is ABT really more of a world-class company than NYCB? In roster, in repertoire, in general overall quality of performances, etc? (What other factors should be considered in making this determination?) Hmm. I'm a longtime ABT fan, but given the current state of the company I don't know that I'd include them on a list of world-class companies that NYCB isn't also on.

Ashley Bouder and Joseph Gordon getting coaching from perhaps the best possible source:

Hi all – I have two side orchestra tickets (row L) for tonight's Giselle (Abrera / Stearns / K Williams) but am unable to attend. I'd be happy to give them for free to someone who would enjoy using them. I realize this is very last-minute (curtain is at 7:30), but if interested PM me. I have a PDF that I could email to you.

Oh TG! I agree. Such an improvement, and yes, she looks great. (I really couldn't deal with the bun being a completely different color from the rest of her hair when she had it up, especially in classical ballets.)

Useful to know. Judgment is a thing that can be good, bad, or somewhere in between, of course, and is often justifiably subject to criticism.

Thanks for the additional information and explanation, Helene. I agree it would be a stretch. Indeed, I didn't even happen to think before that captions might be within the purview of anyone but the newspaper itself.

My source on the ground tells me that Catherine Hurlin (with Gabe Shayer) is dancing the peasant PDD this afternoon. So wish I could be there, for this and so many other reasons!

Indeed, a true statement. What do you make of that, dirac?

Helene, something you wrote earlier on this thread suggested to me that it might indeed be the case that some captions might originate elsewhere than in the heads of NYT staff (though, of course, not necessarily from ABT's and/or Copeland's PR team): I hadn't realized this was the case before you posted that. Is it common for there to be negotiations between a ballet company and a media outlet publishing images of that company regarding the content of captions?