NinaFan

That is a step forward, although as on the the Royal Opera House site, the view is of a closed curtain. It would be even more helpful if the curtain were open so that ticket buyers could have some idea of how much of the stage is visible, especially from the sides or the very top.

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 went on to the new website and to my dismay discovered that you cannot self-select your seats. You select the section and price and they select your seats. No one likes this. I will have to call and ask what seats are available. A real pain. It used to be done this way and only served to frustrate buyers. At these prices you should be able to select your seats from those that are available.

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'm debating whether to come in for Cinderella (which I have not seen) or Swan Lake, my favorite full-length ballet. Last year I had tickets for the ill-fated SL performance in which Gillian injured herself after performing a spectacular first act and was quickly replaced in Act II by Hee Seo. Not the same level at all. Do you think Cinderella compares in any way to SL? I know it's a comic ballet. Do you think it's worth seeing? Are any announced casts preferable? Or should I try again to see Gillian and Marcelo in SL and hope there are no cast changes before the performance. It will be getting late in the season, the dancers are tired and overworked, and anything can happen. Your advice would be helpful.

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.

Osipova just posted several images on her Instagram account, showing her at the Polunin Gala last night in London. Nothing of her dancing, just an evening gown. If she had been doing the Bayaderes originally scheduled, she could not have attended, so they couldn't have planned on this. What are the odds she'll be flying back for her R&J June 17? https://instagram.com/nataliaosipova86/

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!

Ashley Isaacs was my favorite.

Mine, too, abatt. I'll be keeping my eye out for her in the future. I don't think she'll be in the corps for long.

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

I've not had that problem. I've exchanged a few different dates a few times. And I exchanged 1 SB for a Cinderella and then exchanged that Cinderella for another on a different date. I haven't needed my subscriber card.

It sounds like the moral of the story is that everything depends on which ticket agent you get and that, whatever their policies, their practices are erratic!

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.

So can you exchange with trio/ build your own? Does it count as a subscription or not? I don't want to go all the way to UWS to be refused, but I wonder if I would have better luck in person than I would over the phone.

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.

I've had the experience that if you add performances to the. ABT Trio (Create Your Own) and dynamic pricing has kicked in you'll be charged that higher rate for those performances. I've always had more than 6 performances for the Trios. On the other hand, if you simply exchange tickets, you are not charged. I think it really depends on which ticket agent you get:(. ABT ticket agents have a long way to catch up to the NYCB knowledgable and helpful ones.

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!

Last year I purchased a Create Your Own series of the minimum 3 performances. Later when I wanted to add tickets for one of my performances I was told I had to pay the higher dynamic price. I was told only when purchasing 6 or more performances in the Create Your Own series can additional tickets be purchased at the subscriber rate.

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?

If you buy one trio subscription, do you then become categorized as a subscriber and able to exchange all other single tickets you might purchase that season?

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 also buy individual tickets instead of a subscription as I'm very picky with where I like to sit and I like to physically pick out the seat online. I wanted to switch Giselle performances from Saturday afternoon to Saturday night, and they would not let me. So now I'm seeing 2 Giselles on Saturday.

Their policy is annoying, because even though I chose not to subscribe, I'm going to nine performances this year and you'd think they'd allow loyal customers to exchange.

Maybe next year I will do a trio and then add the additional performances separately.

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.

On another note, With these 3 performances, I'll know what I like for seating and will be able to choose a subscription package in the future, if I want, based on my experience at the Met this season.

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.

Well you might not be seeing Maria Kowroski in the role for awhile, that's for sure. She just announced on her public instagram (so I'm posting it here) that she's pregnant and the baby is due in November.

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.

Usually we'd hear any news about a major company as part of LCF by now. By processing elimination we can rule out Mariinksy as they're here right now, no Bolshoi as they were here last year. The only news I've faintly heard is Hamburg may bring Liliom to NYC this year. 2014/15 is a banner year, we've had Bolshoi, NBoC, Mik, now Mariinsky, and then RB, not to mention NYCB churns out amazing performances night after night and the upcoming 75th ABT season, may be it's time for my bank account to recuperate a bit.

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.

Just took out my subscription letter and it says mailed exchange requests must be received at least 1 week prior to the performance date but exchanges at the box office can be made up to 24 yrs before the performance.

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.

I haven’t been able to find any information about a 2016 tour except on Ballet Alert. Does anyone know where this information originated?

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!

The dates are very odd. 10/30/16 is Sunday and 11/15/16 is Tue., tours usually start during the week or at the beginning of a weekend, and end on Sat. or Sun.

Also the dates coincide with ABT fall season, assuming it's the State Theater, does that mean ABT & State Theater are not renewing their 3-year contract which expires after 2015 fall season?

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.

Is it possible that the dancers don't regard the Wed matinee slot in the same negative way as we do?

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.