cobweb

So true. The taller she is, the more stunning the impact. Her towering over everyone else in that formation, women and men alike, is a great example of how body type directly impacts the audience experience and is integral to the art form. Thank you abatt. My comments focused on Bouder's overall readiness, not her weight (although that is part of readiness). Given that I also referenced the deficiencies of Erica Pereira, it should be obvious I wasn't talking about weight. I think of Bouder (or used to think of her, before her complaints last fall) as the most talented and disciplined anyone could possibly be, so if anyone can achieve readiness, it would be her. We shall see.

This season especially, I am yearning to see rich, vibrant casting choices. Agree with this about Bouder. If she can come back strong, more power to her.

I was already not looking forward to more Erica Pereira performances this season, after her extremely bland Square Dance in the spring. Now I'm in dread of Bouder as well, after seeing her last fall. I know these decisions are wrenching for management, some of whom are probably close friends with these dancers, and go way way back to the SAB dorms or earlier. But, it's part of their job not to send a dancer out onstage unless it's clear they can deliver a stellar performance for the paying audience.

Among the senior corps, Alec Knight, Christopher Grant, Samuel Melnikov (very tall) come to mind. Davide Riccardo, IMHO, is the most beautiful among the corps men and should be promoted already, and I'm not totally sure but think of him as medium-to-tall. For the newer corps guys I don't know them well since annoyingly they are no longer putting pictures on the website, but I think new corps members Charlie Klesa and Owen Flacke are on the taller side.

I would love to see Chun Wai Chan as Apollo. I looked at his bio on the website, and it doesn't say specifically what his Balanchine roles were at Houston Ballet. Does anyone know if he did Apollo there? I would love to see a Terpsichore debut as well. I was trying to recall if Ashley Laracey has done Terpsichore before. Looking at her bio on the website, I see that while they list the ballets one has danced in, they don't give the specific role(s). Annoying. Wait. Looking more closely, they do give the specific roles for some ballets ("Midsummer NIght's Dream, Hermia," for example) but not for others. Still annoying.

This sounds like a charming trio. I'm not on instagram, so thanks to all for posting these casting hints.

Amen to both of these. There was an instagram pic years ago of Laracey rehearsing Diamonds with Russell Janzen, and I got very hopeful, but it never happened.

So maybe they won't need new Rubies Tall Girls, although I got excited thinking about seeing Mary Thomas MacKinnon or Naomi Corti! Ashley Hod is an obvious choice too.

Quoting myself here. Mary Thomas MacKinnon? Naomi Corti?

Didn't Miller do Diamonds, or at least the pas, at Saratoga a few years back? I wasn't there, but IIRC, reports were that she was lovely.

If both Nadon and LaFreniere are now in Diamonds, does that mean they won't do the Tall Girl in Rubies? If so, that only leaves Kikta; they will need a new Tall Girl or two.

It seems very odd to limit tickets for a particular performance ONLY to people with a special code. I don't get that at all. Whatever is going on, it seems very disorganized on the part of the box office or whoever is making these decisions!

Something is going on with that date, because when I just went to the NYCB calendar, Sept 30 evening does not appear!! The matinee is there, but the evening performance is not even listed. Whatever it is, they really should announce it and/or get this sorted out.

Miami City Ballet did the Glinka pas de trois at the Balanchine celebration at City Center several years back (2018?). I remember it being delightful.

I have no idea if it's related, but several years back during the Balanchine celebration at City Center, I saw Miami City Ballet do Glinka pas de trois. I can't remember if it had a pas de deux or not. I thought it was a delightful piece. I've asked a couple of time on BA whether anyone knows the piece or why it's not in NYCB's rep, and no one answered. Mysteries of the repertory.

Agree, Marta! Same inspiration! vipa is doing wonders for Vail's advertising.

Thanks vipa. Good to hear. I saw Bell a few years back in the SAB workshop in a featured role, and thought she had tremendous poise and presence for someone so young.

WHICH corps member?

This sounds so exciting. I can see how book excerpts would be dull when you have so many great dancers on hand. Thanks for the blow-by-blow reports, vipa.

Thank you for this report vipa! Glad you and mr. vipa made it in time, it must have been nerve-wracking. It sounds like a wonderful experience to be there. You are inspiring me to plan for next year.

Could it be they are holding this for an as-yet-unannounced retirement?

As far as I know it’s only phone or in person. It can be complicated since they have to fit you into the same price tier as your original seat. I usually have to ask about multiple dates before they find an open seat in my price tier. I wouldn’t mind going up a ring but they so often aren’t opening third and fourth rings that isn’t always an option. Then there’s the wait on hold before you even get to a ticket agent. It’s a pain in the neck and honestly sometimes I don’t bother and just give my ticket to a friend.

Thanks, @California, for pointing out the "Add to Apple Wallet" option. Last year I found some tickets showed up with a barcode online and I was able to use Apple Wallet, but for some shows there was no barcode and I had to go with a regular paper ticket. I hope this is an option ongoing for all tickets.

I managed to get tickets for opening night and the 75th anniversary. The website is not easy to navigate. Once you add a ticket to your cart, even if you click "continue shopping" it's hard to find your way back to the calendar for additional dates. Also the tickets for opening night and the anniversary appear to be moving very fast. More than once, I clicked on what seemed to be an open seat only to be told it was already taken and I had to refresh the seating chart, then find a seat in the row behind.

Yes, I have gotten several emails over the past month or so about priority sales starting on July 27.