NinaFan

Very excited to see Sleeping Beauty with Lovette, and Gordon in his Prince Desire debut tomorrow!

I've been wondering the same thing. I haven't seen him all season.

I agree. While there are some performances important to me, it's personal preference, not star power like Bolle or Osipova.

I can't access it either. The choose-3 link is still on ABT's site, but keeps taking me round in circles. I don't even see it on the MET ABT site. Perhaps the the choose-3 start at noon today?

CTballetfan is correct about "early access to additional tickets". After you have purchased your create your own series, you can order additional single tickets online. You can do it right away and do not have to wait until tickets go on sale to the general public. Unfortunately you do not get to choose your seat. If you are planning to order them right away, you might do better to make it part of your create your own series. But if you are planning on waiting a bit for casting changes, it is a great benefit. I have a standard subscription, which allows me the same benefit, and have already ordered additional tickets. While I enjoy choosing my own seats, it helps in getting tickets to popular performances. I'm guessing that's how Osipova/Hallberg Giselle sold out so quickly last year.

I was hoping that Bell would be doing Conrad TBAs.

Thank you vendangeuse and Leah!

When buying a subscription I get “Early access to additional single tickets”. I’ve always resisted, as I prefer to select my own seats. However I’m thinking about ordering single tickets for a couple of performances. Has anyone had recent experience ordering early access tickets, and does the MET charge the usual online per ticket fees as they do during the season? If so, I may be better off just adding a “create your own series” as I’ve often done in the past. Thanks!

Why? I think he'd make an excellent Rochester and can easily picture him in the aristocratic, mysterious and broody role.

Thanks, that mystery is finally solved!

DeLuz retirement - It's so difficult to make out the faces. My husband I thought that the guy who came out at 4:10 (after the Interim team) was Chris Wheeldon. That's the same person who has also been identified as Robbie Fairchild and Carlos Lopez. So take your pick, it's bound to be one of them!

I saw Barber Violin Concerto when it premiered with the original cast of Merrill Ashley, Adam Luders, and guest modern dancers Kate Johnson and David Parsons. NYCB's own dancers have since taken on the modern dancer roles, and they're just as good as Kate and David. This is an example of how well NYCB dancers adapt to other styles. In my opinion, it's a clever "keeper" ballet, with some funny moments.

This is the first time I saw ABT's dynamic pricing at the Koch. I haven't looked at the other sections, but the orchestra seat prices for the family-friendly matinee on October 27 with children's tickets at 50% off has increased their prices. Are they trying to recoup their 50% off?

I saw Sterling Hyltin and Joseph Gordon in Afternoon of a Faun on Saturday, and they were absolutely mesmerizing! I’ve seen the ballet many times, but it’s been a while. Sterling and Joe were so immersed in themselves, the imaginary mirror and their movements, that I genuinely felt like a fly on the wall. It was just so natural that I felt like a voyeur! Fabulous performance! I remember seeing the ballet performed at another company some years ago, and it felt forced…like I was watching two dancers acting. Yesterday was just the opposite. Kudos to both dancers, and congrats to Gordon on his promotion!

I am so excited for everyone! Joseph Gordon continues to blow me away, including yesterday's performance in Afternoon of a Faun! I was also hoping for Preston Chamblee's promotion to soloist..... Hope he doesn't have to wait too long.

Yes, I understood that you were not talking about switching between Balanchine and Robbins. And I never said that only NYCB can properly perform Balanchine.

I agree.

That's interesting about the magic number 8. I feel the same way about buying tickets for a program that includes a weak ballet, but sometimes there's no way out if I like the rest of the program. Especially with the themed based performances which offer no flexibility to avoid a particular ballet.

To say NYCB dancers can’t switch between styles is really selling the dancers short. It’s the other way round in that dancers from other companies often have difficulty dancing Balanchine properly. Balanchine and Robbins are not one homogeneous style. They are totally different styles, which NYCB dancers perform exquisitely…. it’s in their DNA. So to say they can’t dance other styles when they’ve been doing it all along is absurd. And this does not even take into account all of the other choreographers who have choreographed for them since their inception. Thank you Helene.

Let us agree to disagree. Count me in as one of NYCB’s biggest fans, plus a member of their guild (that's a financial supporter) for thirty years. What drew me? Balanchine. What keeps me going? Balanchine. As I pointed out in my post, Balanchine is the backbone of the company. If that were to change, I would no longer be attending NYCB performances with such frequency. That being said, I believe that all ballet/dance companies need try out new works, whether they keep them in the rep or not. Dancers need to be stimulated first by their current rep, which you so aptly pointed out as being the main reason why dancers joined NYCB in the first place. But they also need the excitement of having new works done on them. I saw a different side of Taylor Stanley last week in a modern and very different ballet. He was magnificent as was the rest of the cast. Will it stay in the rep? Probably not. The music was not to my taste, but perhaps twenty somethings feel differently. The ballet companies need to bring in new audiences, and if popular music helps, then more power to them. With regard to your comment "What's wrong with staying in your lane? It's worked for NYCB all these years." That's actually not true. They've had plenty of new ballets created on them post Balanchine and Robbins. The bottom line is, we don’t want the company to stagnate. It would save ballet companies tons of money if they just did the same ballets and nothing else. There must be a reason why they try out new works. Paul Taylor saw that coming several years before he died when he opened his company up to other works. Personally, I try to get all Taylor programs, just as I try to get mostly Balanchine and Robbins programs. But I am open to new works, and enjoy the bulk of them, even if it’s to see them only once. This applies to NYCB as well as other ballet/dance companies.

Balanchine was pure genius. And Robbins was absolutely brilliant. You can sit me in front of their works daily and I’ll never tire of them. However, I am still of the opinion that new works need to enter the rep or the company and it's dancers will stagnate. I personally happen to enjoy most of the ballets created by Peck, Wheeldon, and Ratmansky, as well as some of the other lesser known choreographers. I may not always love the music, the costumes, or even the choreography, but I still look forward to seeing new works. Some are gems, most are not. Just this past Saturday I thoroughly enjoyed seeing the new Abraham ballet (Runaway) along with a Peck, Wheeldon and Martins ballet. Yes, the classics of Balanchine are the backbone of NYCB, but why stop there?

Kathleen, I’m so glad I listened to you! The dancing was absolutely spectacular in Runaway, with the entire cast dancing with incredible abandon and yet stunning precision. And as you said, Taylor Stanley’s performance alone was worth the price of admission. WOW! Did he have a solo curtain call at your performance? He did yesterday. I’m guessing his fellow dancers pushed him out in front of the curtain. The audience roared their appreciation! Yes, Fearful Symmetries was very interesting! It’s been a while since I’ve seen the ballet, and I loved every minute of it. With the exception of a few who had danced in it previously, it was mostly debuts from some very talented dancers. The piece has such intense speed that I was exhausted just watching them! It was a terrific performance, and I thank you again for encouraging me to see Runaway!

That's a heck of a mistake! I wonder if a colleague will tell her so she can make a correction.

I believe Brittany Pollack danced Effie.

Yes, I agree that Boylston definitely excels in the whiz bang roles with lots of spinning and jumping. I've found her Swan Lake to improve over the years, with the most recent being this past Spring with Simkin. It's the first time her Odette took on a whole new dimension and actually made me tear up.