NinaFan

You are absolutely right since an open curtain would give the real view of the stage. I'm pretty sure the curtain was open when I ordered a couple of Broadway shows recently. I did notice another change which I am not happy about. You have to click on each seat to figure out the price. In the past, if you clicked on a seat, it would highlight all others in that price range.

I just tried, and I can select my seats. Try it again. Click on the ballet, then buy tickets, select seats, and the section of the house you want. While it looks a little different than in the past, the seating chart still comes up and allows me to select my seats.

I don’t think the two ballets can be compared. It is like comparing La fille mal gardée with Swan Lake. I’ve seen a number of versions of Cinderella with various companies, and in my opinion, the current ABT version is the best. You can’t help but come out smiling. As far as Swan Lake, I have seen it loads of times with various companies, and this current ABT version is far from being my favorite version of the ballet. However, that being said….if I had to choose between the two ballets, I would still choose Swan Lake with Murphy/Gomes! But then that’s me. Whichever you choose, have a wonderful time!

I was at Wednesday night’s La Bayadere. I am so glad that I kept my tickets to this performance! Maria danced exquisitely and with passion. I had only seen her dance once before, and I was very impressed with her last night. She is a fine technician and actress. Boylston continues to be a very strong dancer, and she danced the role of Gamzatti beautifully, and with confidence. I’ve seen her dance Gamzatti before, and she continues to grow in the role. Sarafanov was a dazzling Solor. I thought he danced brilliantly, as did Arron Scott who was splendid as the Bronze Idol.

Dancers fly in and out for performances all the time, so I suppose it is possible that this was planned in advance. We don’t know when rehearsals took place. She still had time to make her Wednesday performance. Or maybe she just decided to go to the gala after she was injured. We’ll probably never know. I hope she is still able to dance in R&J. I was at her Giselle last week, and witnessed her perseverance in finishing the ballet. If she is up for her Washington and Chicago performances, then I expect we'll be seeing her in R&J.

Damian Woetzel or Angel Corella. I’d be over the moon with either one of them. Both are smart and have a tremendous amount to offer. Yes, I know Angel is an AD right now, and that Damian is busy at KC and other projects, but that does not stop me from wishing and hoping!

I thought Isaacs was amazing yesterday! I don't think she'll be in the corps long either.

Interesting. Then maybe I will take a chance and exchange my ABT tickets tomorrow when I go in to see NYCB. But as nanushka has pointed out, the MET's ticket agents and their practices are erratic.

Did you receive a SUBSCRIBER IDENTIFICATION CARD with your trio/build your own tickets? For the past couple of years, they’ve sent me an ID subscriber card with my trio/create your own tickets. If you received an ID card, then you have your proof that you purchased your tickets as a "subscription". You should not need your ID card in order to exchange your tickets as the subscriber information is on the tickets. But you might want to bring it along with you in case they give you any trouble with your exchange. I’m sure you know that once you trade in your tickets, you can’t exchange a second time. I’m waiting to exchange some tickets for as long as possible as I just don’t trust ABT with their bait and switch practices.

Amour - I've had the same experience as you. If I add performances I get charged the higher rate (dynamic pricing) even though I've always had more than 6 performances for the Trios. The same was true when I also had a regular subscription. The last time they charged me a price difference for an exhange was about 4 years ago. The last couple of years they didn't charge me the difference so I just assumed it was because it was only about a $10 difference. It's great to know that the MET has finally stopped charging us the dynamic price difference for the exchange. Thanks so much for the information!

OMG! They’ve certainly kept that a secret. I have always paid ABT's escalated dynamic prices as I didn’t know I was entitled to a discount. I get the subscriber rate at NYCB, but I had no idea they also had it for ABT at the MET. So the MET considers the original ticket price before dynamic pricing has kicked in as the subscriber rate?

Yes, you become categorized as a subscriber, but I believe that any additional single tickets purchased separately from your subscription cannot be exchanged. I’ve never tried to trade in any of my single tickets, so I can’t say for sure though. I just assumed I was stuck with them.

I know this won’t help you for this year, but I totally understand your frustration as I have been in the same boat as you are right now. The MET is very difficult to deal with. Perhaps the following strategy will help you next year…... A few years ago I started to buy Trio/Create your Own series instead of ordering any single tickets just so it would give me exchange privileges. You can buy as many performances as you like, but from past experience anything over 8 performances needs to be ordered over the phone as the website kicks you out after 8 performances. I’ve ordered as many as 10 performances this way. I know you can’t pick your seats, but you can tell them your preference or type it in if ordering online. I am very picky about my seats too. The specific requests are often ignored, but sometimes they’ll actually give you what you requested. Any particularly awful seats can always be exchanged when you come in for your first performance. It may be worth giving that a try next year.

If you buy a subscription/trio/create your own series, you can always exchange your tickets for different seats if you are not happy with the seats you've been assigned. However, you would have to pay any price differences if the new section is more expensive.

What wonderful news! I saw her opening night in MONUMENTUM PRO GESUALDO/MOVEMENTS FOR PIANO AND ORCHESTRA and I didn’t suspect a thing! As always, my eyes are drawn to those amazing legs that go on forever and ever! I am so happy for her!

ABT’s website is no longer listing Osipova/Sarafanov for the June 10 evening Sleeping Beauty. Does anyone know when they were removed from the schedule? Fingers crossed that nothing happens to their La Bayaderes.

I echo most comments on here. I thought the documentary was a huge disappointment. But then, perhaps it wasn't aimed at balletomanes....... I didn't like the constant repetitive slow motion and the concentration on just a few select dancers which I also found to be repetitive. Where were all the other dancers, both current and past who were present during the filming? What happened to the years between about 1950 and 1990? If they were represented, then I must have blinked. And while they did mention Baryshnikov’s era which was during that time frame, it was really just a snapshot. And to me it seemed that quite a bit was more of a history of ballet in general rather than Ballet Theatre specific. I especially didn't care for the narration. Could she be more boring? I couldn’t wait for the show to end, but I also kept hoping it would get better. But being a balletomane, I was obligated to see it through to the end.

Several months ago I received a flyer regarding the LCF. The National Ballet of China will be at the 2015 LCF. They will be bringing two ballets - “The Peony Pavilion” and “The Red Detachment of Women”. See URL below and click on DANCE. http://www.lincolncenterfestival.org/

I third that. Corella did indeed have a farewell peformance of Swan Lake, which I also attended.

Thank you nysusan. It seems hit and miss whether the exchange information comes with the trios/create your own series. I'm so glad we still have 24 hours. Years ago, I think it was a week, and I would hate to go back to that. Thanks again for checking.

The 2016 tour is confirmed by a Russian newspaper, via Google translate, scroll to the last sentence: http://translate.googleusercontent.com/translate_c?depth=1&hl=en&rurl=translate.google.com&sl=ru&tl=en&u=http://izvestia.ru/news/579840&usg=ALkJrhhpwC6gQHKZG_Sy1sSiMUWF8QqoTQ Thank you mussel!

mussel - ditto. The days of the week seem odd, and what about ABT........ I went to quite a few of the Mikhailovsky’s NY performances last year, and would love to see the company back in NY in 2016. I haven’t been able to find any information about a 2016 tour except on Ballet Alert. Does anyone know where this information originated?

Thanks Amour and mimsyb. mimsyb - Do you also have the information with regard to exchanges once the season has started? I just called the Box Office to make sure I can still exchange tickets 24 hours before my scheduled performance, but the agent didn’t seem to know what I was talking about. I said I still had the 2014 instructions that came with last year’s ABT tickets and the policy was 24 hours. Then she said yes, 24 hours. I just wanted to make sure nothing has changed since the agent seemed confused. Thanks.

My guess is that they consider it a negative since dancers who have yet to prove themselves often get those slots.

Amour - I received my trio/create your own series tickets a little while ago. Has anyone received the exchange ticket instructions with their trios/create your own tickets? The MET only included a form to mail exchange tickets back to the box office, but nothing else. Does anyone have the priority exchange dates, and know if box office exchanges are still possible 24 hours before a performance? Thanks.