nanushka

Oh wow. I'm surprised. I would have put him as older, given what I've seen the past few years. (I never saw him live in his prime, have only seen him on video from then.)

In his prime, he danced brilliantly, yes. But in recent years I agree, there have been some quite underwhelming performances. Whether he was dancing his best possible at the time or phoning it in, I personally couldn't say.

Hallberg has two video stories up on IG: one in which he's riding in the back of the car, captioned "morning prayer" (this morning, after miliosr saw him?), and the other looking out a car window driving by the Met, captioned "hello old friend." The signs are promising!

A great job in Boston or a not bad job (with lifetime contract) in Paris? I know which I'd pick. (Of course, I'm not a dancer.)

Yes, still public-facing. Just temporary.

Yes, the enigma of his response ("Hallberg shot him a wry look before the car sped away") just adds to the intrigue!

Wow! Amazing eyewitness reportage, miliosr!

Don't McKenzie's own comments in the NYT article suggest that he may agree with you, at least in theory? If the focus is a "gimmick," it's apparently only one that was devised partly in retrospect, after some plans for the programming had already been developed.

There's another reason it should have said that: because doing so would have meant respectfully using the company's official name, rather than misspelling it for the sake of ridiculously strict adherence to house style. That is of course a separate issue, though. In putting it out as an IG story rather than as a standard IG post, he at least shields himself from some of the potentially negative consequences (e.g. easy reposting, an exploding comments section, etc.) of speaking out. IG stories are ephemeral — at least to the extent that anything posted online can be. (It has of course been rendered more permanent by being reproduced here, and perhaps in other places.)

*sigh* Where to begin?

Exactly. And the article is about the company's upcoming seasons, not about Copeland specifically.

David Hallberg has been posting fairly often (for him, at least) on FB, and he's apparently in NYC, but I realized today that I haven't seen anything to suggest that he has been in rehearsal and/or in ABT studios.

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Wow. I'm surprised he posted that. But I completely agree as well.

That's so great to hear. I'm surprised too. This company is so impressive, really, in so many ways. Considering what's happened in the past 6 months, they have really come through remarkably well, it seems so far. It makes me feel optimistic for the future of NYCB.

Yes, that makes sense too. I don't know the steps there but it looked like that sort of transition.

Ah that makes sense. Thanks for the clarification! Your guess sounds quite likely right.

Yes, I don't think Bouder was saying Pereira will actually perform the role of Coppélia, but I'm also not sure she was saying she'll debut as Swanilda. It was a vague (and, as said above, jokey) enough post that I didn't think it could necessarily be taken as an announcement of a debut. If that's what she meant, clearer info will surely come soon. I didn't recognize the steps, but I also don't have thorough knowledge of the ballet.

Exactly.

Yeah, I'm not sure we have enough info yet to assert that Pereira will be debuting as Swanilda. It's possible, but Bouder doesn't say that. The story is just Pereira doing some steps, messing around in a rehearsal room, with a caption that says, "Ladies and Gentlemen...the newest Coppelia."

All that granted, I just don't yet get the argument for having it in the middle of the program as opposed to before the start time (e.g. 1:00 or 1:15 for a 2:00 matinee curtain). (I understand the union issues with having it during intermission.)

Yes, same here. It was a moment that only half registered at the time, though.

All so well put. This matches almost exactly how I experienced the performance.

That doesn't seem to be it, since not all performances of the same program have the "See the Music" feature added on.

Maybe those of us who prefer to get straight to the dancing and get out 15 minutes earlier could just take up a collection? One thing I really disliked about the Agon one: it ruined some of the lovely surprises of the music, which emerge organically as the piece is performed in full. (I knew the music already, but it really has a diminished effect when you've just heard some of the highlights 10 minutes earlier. I'd rather be hearing them fresh in full performance — as Stravinsky and Balanchine intended the piece to unfold.)