cobweb

I too am kind of disappointed to see Pereira in Square Dance. I'd love to see Megan Fairchild, but I'd also REALLY love to see Emma von Enck! Come on NYCB, for all of us who were disappointed not to see von Enck's Aurora, let us see her in Square Dance!

Week 1 casting is up. Concerto Barocco: Phelan & Laracey, Mearns & LaFreniere. Glad Sara's back!! Good to see Dominika Afanasenkov getting an opportunity in Afternoon of a Faun. She made a very good impression as the Fairy of Generosity in Sleeping Beauty.

Interesting! That seems a big change from being a principal at MCB, but he must have his reasons. Thanks, California. He is quite a beautiful guy, and a beautiful dancer. I'd love to be able to see him again.

Not that anyone asked me, but I'm having doubts about the wisdom of some of management's recent promotion decisions. Obviously, I'd love to be proved wrong. I loved Isabella LaFreniere in Chaconne in 2021, but since then she's had a few dubious performances in big roles and appears prone to letting nerves get the best of her. Emily Kikta has been getting solo opportunities pretty much ever since she joined the corps, and IMHO would be a much more experienced and reliable choice here, besides being arguably more a more beautiful dancer (or anyway, just as beautiful). Yes she's tall, but what was the point of promoting two very tall women (Kikta and Miller) to soloist if they weren't prepared to have at least one as a principal? Moving on to Emilie Gerrity, I have been a fan of her too, and at her best she comes across as beautifully grand, but other times kind of dull. As I believe it was @vipa suggested awhile back, it might have been wiser to promote Ashley Laracey, who has been very ably carrying the load of a principal for awhile now, with the understanding it would be for a few years before she retires and meanwhile, one of the other soloists might become more ready. Moving on to the recent soloist batch, I really don't understand Olivia MacKinnon, I just find her dull. And KJ Takahashi - why on earth promote him while overlooking tall, versatile, and more-experienced dancers like Gilbert Bolden and Davide Riccardo? I really don't understand the decisions here. Takahashi would IMHO benefit from a little more time in the corps, while Bolden and Riccardo are needed now and ready to move on up. With all those tall soloist women, it seems obvious they need to move up some tall corps guys. I love the excitement of promotions as much as anyone, but I just see some questionable choices here.

I attended the Works & Process program at the Guggenheim last night, reimagining "Square Dance" with a whole new caller's script. I thought it was a fascinating effort to modernize a piece while still respecting its history. The calling was pretty distracting from the music, which is so beautiful, but I would be open to seeing it again and perhaps it would grow on me. The dancers were wonderful and it was fun to see them in such a small theatre and at close range. Stanislav Olshanskyi stood out as a very tall, and incredibly beautiful dancer. Only later, studying dancer bios online, did I realize he trained and was a principal in Ukraine, and I assume, has found a new home in Miami. He is one beautiful dancer. Seeing Miami City Ballet made me remember the Balanchine festival at City Center in, was it, 2018? I remember being impressed with Kleber Rebello, who I don't see listed on the roster anymore. Did he move on to something else?

This is great news for all of us Alexa Maxwell fans. I look forward to seeing what new roles come her way. But despite the many opportunities given to Olivia MacKinnon I have not found her particularly special. And while KJ Takahashi obviously has tremendous promise this seems premature to me. Most of all, I’m wondering where is that obvious future principal, Davide Riccardo?? Surely he is far more versatile and valuable to the company than Takahashi. This decision really baffles me.

With the spring season coming up, I'm wondering if we are going to see the return of Sara Mearns and/or Ashley Bouder. For those of you who follow their public-facing instagrams, or have other official info, any indications from them whether they will be returning?

Thanks for posting this! I started going to the SAB workshop about 5 years ago and really enjoy it (very fun happy atmosphere, and my first introductions to Mira Nadon, Davide Riccardo, KJ Takahashi... and more!). I followed the link but I don't see if it says when tickets go on sale, do you know?

Facebook is serving me up an ad for Concerto Barocco, featuring what appears to be Miriam Miller. Presumably this means we will see her in the role next month. This might not be my first choice for new Barocco casting, but I look forward to it. How about Kikta?

I’m hoping to see her in Square Dance in the spring. With Roman Mejia?

I am disappointed, very, about Kikta!!

Maxwell is insanely overdue for promotion. I want to keep meaghan Dutton O’Hara in the mix, I would love to see more of her. Riccardo is also glaringly obvious - why wait? Can’t help being disappointed about Laracey and Kikta. Why aren’t my favorites also management favorites? Probably Tiler Peck?

I look forward to any reports from the matinee... hoping for a more polished performance from LaFreniere and Walker.

A few years ago I saw Lauren Lovette have a worse Rose Adagio than LaFreniere. Lovette came off pointe at one point, and in the final promenade section, she was wobbling so badly she was about to keel over. It was so bad that the when the fourth suitor took her hand, he (Jared Angle, very wisely) amended the choreography to hold her in place, rather than take her on the turn. Nonetheless, Lovette went on to deliver a performance that was so radiant I bought a ticket to see her a second time. This is what LaFreniere needs to work on. Things might go badly, but you have to deliver the rest anyway. She just looked uncomfortable.

I was also there last night and wanted to echo the praise for Meghan Dutton-O'Hara's Fairy of Generosity. I could definitely see her as a soloist. I find her much more refined, expansive, and interesting than, for example, management-favorite Baily Jones.

Just MHO but it would be ridiculous to wait any longer to promote, especially women. The ladies principal roster is pathetically understaffed and there are 4 or 5 of the soloist ladies, as I see it, who are obvious principals. Why wait?

Great idea. Totally agree.

Further thoughts on last night. Baily Jones and Cainan Weber were Princess Florine and the Bluebird. Weber can perhaps get more comfortable with partnering, but otherwise he looks very promising. Baily Jones gets a lot of big opportunities, and she is reliable, solid technique, charming, but I don't see her as bringing anything particularly special. It will be interesting to see if she gets promoted. For the Jewels section, Harrison Coll replaced Roman Mejia. Reports on here are that Coll had a very difficult time with this a few nights ago, but he managed decently well, if a little ragged, but no major mishaps. Olivia MacKinnon and Malorie Lundgren were Emerald and Ruby, and both looked good. Mira Nadon was Diamond and was so beautiful. Oh, and it was tough seeing Harrison Ball relegated to a Suitor. He looks so proud, and so humble somehow at the same time. In several performances over the last year -- Mozartiana, the Poet, and Puck -- he was just as beautiful as can be. I am still crushed that he is retiring so prematurely, but I guess that's kind of an occupational hazard, so to speak, of falling in love with dancers -- they have their own lives to live.

I attended last night's Sleeping Beauty. They certainly are selling a lot of tickets, I haven't seen the house so full in ages. I guess those ads with the undulating rose and electronic music did the trick. I hope some of these become regular balletgoers. In the ladies room at intermission, I saw a group of women in sequined-type cocktail dresses, all seemingly fairly inebriated. How they got intoxicated while sitting through a lengthy ballet I have no idea; also they did not seem inclined to head back to their seats even when the chimes signaling the end of intermission. Who knows. Anyway, on to the ballet. I had my doubts about Unity Phelan as Aurora and would not have chosen to see this cast except that was my subscription ticket. As soon as she appeared in the rose-colored tutu, all I could think was that she looked so beautiful it almost didn't matter what else she did. But she went on to dance well, maybe with tension in her face during the balances, but overall no real issues. She doesn't have the dramatic arc or depth, true, but no complaints from me. Veyette did reasonably well in his solos, but it is definitely getting to be beyond his capacities. The fairies introduced us to some of the newer corps members. First up was corps veteran Olivia Boisson, the epitome of graciousness, but I wish she could do more to open herself up to the audience. Next, Nieve Corrigan brought a raucous energy to Vivacity. She could use some lessons in graciousness from Boisson, but I admired her rambunctious enthusiasm. Dominika Afanasenkov was a lovely Generosity. This is a young lady with potential, with beautifully shaped feet and legs, and a nice presence. Next up was Lauren Collett, also full of energy. It was charming to see these young ladies eager to make the most of some of their first featured roles. Finally, out bounded Alexa Maxwell as the Fairy of Courage. From the moment she appeared she took command of the stage, with authority, confidence, clearly shaped steps, and polish. My lord. Why on earth was she not promoted with last year's batch?? Miriam Miller as Lilac did not do it for me. Up-thread, @abatt commented on her being the least technically proficient of the likely principal candidates; to me she is the most boring. She is beautiful, with incredible legs and arms, but I just find her empty. Also the quality of her movements can be oddly stiff - when she goes into arabesque her leg stops like it hit a wall, with no sense of flow or elasticity. Work calls! I will try to fill in a few more comments later.

So far it sounds like this run of SB is a mixed bag of performances. I'll be there Tuesday night and will report on Phelan and Veyette. It sounds like most everyone is in agreement that the fairy variations are way too fast, and that the "jewels" section is perhaps superfluous. Obvious suggestion, remove the jewels and slow down the tempo to something more reasonable for the fairy variations, or really just for the entire ballet. I realize they're trying to adapt SB for a modern audience, and I personally don't want to be getting out of the ballet close to midnight, but I don't want Sleeping Beauty to feel so rushed, either. It loses a lot of grandeur and graciousness when it's breathlessly plowing along. Also, kind of paradoxically, I feel it gains its own momentum when taken more slowly.

Thanks, bellawood! I saw Peck and Chan and assumed that was it; I didn't realize the footage went on and on! Lots of great stuff. I would sure love to see Emma von Enck's Aurora! She looked great.

I seem to have missed the footage of von Enck and LaFreniere! If anyone sees them put it up again, please post!

Thank you abatt. I do like to get to know the youngsters. It's so annoying they've discontinued putting up pictures next to the bios. All this social media footage, and they can't find the manpower to flesh out the website? Annoying.

If anyone was there tonight I am interested to hear who were the young men attending Lilac’s fairies. I was at the Dress last night and they were not listed in the casting, but several of them looked stellar. I recognized Riccardo, Melnikov, Nelson, Abreu, possibly Klesa(?) and…? Can anyone help me out here from the program?

Just in from the Sleeping Beauty dress rehearsal. It was a lot of fun. Whoever goes to see the Fairchild-Gordon-Nadon cast is in for a treat. All beautiful dancers.