sz

I was thinking more of hiring professionals to make a random sample of subscribers whatever ticket-buyers who can be identified by phone number, address, and/or email.....Marketers of products and services in the for-profit sector do this all the time.

This approach has its costs. But it also tends to produce data that management can use fairly confidently to make business decisions.

That would be ideal.

In truth, management willn ever "know" without studying the problem scientifically.

Has the NYCB ever done a serious survey of audience responses and wishes? I would think that it should be rather simple to design, distribute, and interpret the results of an audience satisfaction/dissatisfaction survey, tied to patterns of ticket buying, place of residence, income and education levels, gender and ethnicity, and other variables...

Excellent idea. And no, I don't remember NYCB creating/distributing any such serious questionnaires. Neither does ABT. I have friends at ABT too who were surprised ABT didn't call them once when they did not renew a long-time subscription this past season - to find out why. There's where some PR ought to start, don't you think?... Ballet companies could also include a serious survey with their usual mailings of upcoming season notices. Putting these surveys out on a desk in the lobby could work.... Including a serious survey inside the performance's program, now and then, might work too.

The big discounts the company provides now are student rush and The Fourth Ring Society. Is FRS an issue with the subscribers in the Fourth Ring you've spoken to? Do subscribers to the more expensive seats want an advance discount? (20% off on the day of the show is listed as a current benefit.)

Most people I've spoken with buy orchestra and/or 1st & 2nd ring tickets. Lots of them! These people have had subscriptions in the past, but now choose to purchase tickets individually and often only after casting has been announced. Any sort of discount would be helpful of course... for those who purchase many expensive tickets each season... but cost wasn't the main complaint for not renewing subscriptions and/or increasing ticket purchases. Poor casting and poorly danced ballets in addition to the disappointing new pieces -- those are the complaints I've heard.

However, three dancers listed on the website are not listed in the brochure:

Soloist: Pascale van Kipnis

Corps: Christopher Boehmer, Jerome Johnson

Which is right?

Pascale left NYCB after returning all too briefly for the end of Spring Season's Vienna Waltzes (I saw) and Fancy Free (I didn't see).

But Pascale, in Vienna Waltzes, one last time, with all her beauty of elegant sexiness and warmth, I wouldn't have missed it. Her performance of radiance and tastefully, womanly style was one of the best treats of the Spring. Not a debutante, not a wife eager for a party.... She was the kind of woman I imagine fine men dream they're waltzing with.

Anyway, I'll miss Pascale most in ballets such as Vienna. Oh, and also Liebeslieder wherein she only had one or two opportunities to fill in for someone injured a few seasons ago, but she was absolutely at home in it -- perfectly suited to the layers of its charms. Pascale was one of my favorite females ever in Liebeslieder and Vienna Waltzes. I'll miss her.

Changes in marketing can do a better job of presenting the company's strengths, but do not create strengths where they don't exist. I think people focus too much on PR, in an emperor's new clothes–type fashion. It can and should be effective, but the quality of the underlying organization drives its success.

I agree completely with this. And some of the NYCB's choice of slogans -- which mimics a trend that has developed elsewhere in the country -- seems to be a reflection of this.

I completely agree with this too. When I've asked subscribers, et al., why they are losing interest in NYCB they all reply that's it's because there hasn't been enough Balanchine, and when Balanchine ballets are performed most often they look under coached and/or unethusiastically danced/messy/under rehearsed. Also heard complaints re casting. And heard that there have been too many disappointing new ballets.

Slogans aren't going to keep or bring audiences into the theater, quality will... perhaps along with some discount pricing for those who frequently attend.

In looking over the entire season again, there aren't that many donut holes. Dybbuk is the only one I could find in eight weeks of otherwise fine programing, unless you hated Russian Seasons or In Vento.

Instead, we will be seeing much more Balanchine than in recent years past, and some good Robbins' ballets too. Casting will indeed make or break any overall programing ideas.... I do hope there will be a few interesting debuts in ballets where some of the older generation should be leaving. We'll see, we'll see.

'Cell-Phone-Ring Okay Night' with audience interacting with 'New Martins Ballet'.

Too funny!

I'm fairly freshly back from SPAC (Saratoga's outdoor theater), and I can't stop thinking

of some of the performances there:

SPAC's Slip 'n Slide _____ (enter ballet, eg,: pas, C, Slide, Lake, Waltzes)

Midsummer Night's Shvitz

Jacob's has their Pillow, SPAC could be called SPAC's Oven?

Happy to hose you down at the curtain call...(it rains frequently)

What this strategy is trying to fix, I think, is the declining subscription sales at NYCB.

After reading the article and looking at the full schedule of programs currently set for Jan. 2 through Feb. 25, my guess is that this idea is probably geared towards improving those sales. If you look at all the programs for, say, subscription night of Wednesdays alone, not one program repeats on Wednesdays from Jan. 3 through Feb. 21, except that you'll see Sleeping Beauty twice because it runs for two weeks in a row. Ditto every other day of the week, even Saturday matinees.

This upcoming Winter season looks more like a Spring season minus the rhinestones... Sleeping Beauty in January?! Another strategy?... Might NYCB be trying to beat ABT for audiences craving that story ballet? NYCB will be performing a lot of SBs before ABT brings theirs to the Met.

It is so good to see a season filled with lots of Balanchine again! If only we'd get to enjoy more Sym in Cs, Brahms, Diverts, and Jewels again....instead of Dybbuk!!!! Then again, NYCB would definitely need more principals...

>>... and I think there is little difference between today's NYCB and SFB repertoire in

>>terms of type of work performed.

Excuse me.... but what??!! NYCB performs how many great Balanchine ballets and good Robbins' ballets during each season compared to SFB's rep? Diamond Project seasons are one thing, but...

What I will remember most about SFB's visit here this past week is how enthusiastic *every* dancer was in *every* ballet performed, and what a fine credit that is to Tomasson's directorship.

I'm with Leigh and Michael here re Morris' Sylvia. Although it was fun and had many naughty Morris-isms, it is a ballet without a lot of meat on the bone. There was very little ballet choreography to fill/match the gorgeous music. Morris' Sylvia left you hungry but smiling at some of his charming, silly, nerve.

However last night, Forsythe again made this company look at its best in Artifact. A huge hit for SFB this NYC season. I wouldn't want to see this ballet every night, or every week, with its very contemporary, mechanical approach, but it worked, and worked very well as a large group piece. Forsythe knew how to use the females, made them look more uniformed, by putting them in black tights, colors on top, against a black backdrop. That sort of grouping gave the females a clean, tight power and uniformity that I don't think Forsythe would have gotten otherwise in lighter tights. There was a lot of black going on.... but it made the females function well together, and stand out where he wanted them to stand out. Among the two principal girls, Lorena was most outstanding. She's not a girly girl, but a rich, strongly feminine, fast, powerhouse when at her best, as she was last night.

The large groups of men were all in one solid color against the black backdrop in the second half of the ballet, and this gave the men a powerful, bright place in Forsythe's piece. The men were all at their highest energy and it was incredibly exciting to watch groups of spectacular men dance instead of one or two at a time.

Artifact went on a bit long for me.... started getting repititious, and I also didn't like the heavy thud of the black curtain falling to break the scenes three or four times in the first section of the ballet. Something slicker, a thinner black sliding door with stagehands running it from behind, hidden, might have worked better or perhaps just a thinner, lighter, black curtain dropped might have been less annoying. But the second half of the ballet had no such gimmicks and one could just get lost in the fantastic dancing of this well-oiled machine type of ballet.

re: HARLEQUINADE PAS DE DEUX - 1952, no. 290 in CHOREOGRAPHY BY BALANCHINE

p.s. i'm hoping to post an old NYCB publicity still of eglvesky on ballet history, etc.

Oh, how I would have loved seeing a bit of Andre Eglevsky dancing this role, though I cannot begin to picture Tallchief -- fitting to the sweet, flirty music!! A very nice picture of Eglevsky that you posted! He was a favorite teacher/coach of mine, years ago. I fondly think of him often while watching some ballets.

Anyway... back to SFBallet.... I wasn't a bit surprised to learn that Joan Boada, the Harlequin of last night's, is originally from Cuba.

>>6. Harlequinade PdD, Balanchine/Drigo. LeBlanc/Boada.

I was confused too, sz. But then I looked in the program - it's not the McBride/Villella pas de deux, but the Eglevsky/Tallchief one, that Balanchine had choreographed before doing the complete ballet.

Oh yes, I just re-read the program. But the Tallchief/Eglevsky version has so little of Balanchine's charm, wit, genius. Balanchine evolved SOOO much since 1950!!! Now I'm really confused(!!!).... Why would Tomasson choose the oldest version (the less lovely, less romantic, less crowd pleasing version) instead of the more recent one that we have all adored for years??!! I'm still shocked...

>>1. Vertiginous Thrill, Forsythe/Schubert. Long/Waldo/Zahorian/Garcia/Nedviguine.

Best part of the evening for me. Most interesting of dancing / choreography/costumes. Definitely high energy! The ladies were not the most feminine, but were very strong technically... The ballet certainly was a strikingly good opener.

>>6. Harlequinade PdD, Balanchine/Drigo. LeBlanc/Boada.

Shocking to see that Helgi Tomasson did not address this ballet as *his* choreography, after Balanchine's (non-existent), as Tomasson noted in the program for the Swan Lake pas de trois (as being Thomasson's after Lev Ivanov). This Harlequinade was not the Balanchine choreography I remember, and I kept wondering how the NYCB trust/company might respond seeing this. Peter Martins among others, NYCB, were in attendance last night. I did not care for Tomasson's version of Harlequinade one bit; all technique, no charm.

>>13. Don Q PdD, Petipa/Minkus. Feijoo/Boada. A bit of ABT-ness. Star power fun.

I think Lorena did very well last night, but she was not at her best.

Overall, the men were the most intense, the most interesting dancers in the company. And although all of the dancers, male and female, were enthusiastic, I did not care for most of the choreography or the costumes presented.

I too found Carreno unexpectedly fabulous last night. In the first act, he began rather dully and too mature in my eyes for a young Romeo, but by the balcony scene he suddenly broke out, shedding about 20 years off his real age, and became this sexy, giving creature I had not seen in seasons. His passionately loving thrill to be with and dance for his Juliet absolutely set the stage on fire. From then on, Carreno ate up every opportunity to be the Romeo dreams are made of.

Ferri never fails to amaze me. She is convincing from beginning to end in all her beauty -- from those expressively beautiful feet and legs to her radiantly smitten or tragic face. I could watch her arms alone and see the entire story unfold. Ferri's a brilliant actress, a fine dancer, and one can't take their eyes off of her whenever she's on stage. You don't watch Ferri to see how many turns or jumps she can pull off, but she carries an intense role as nobody else I've ever seen except Gelsey. Maybe it was because it was the last performance of the season, but it seemed Ferri also brought out the passion and abandon in everyone else on that stage too. It was a wonderful night to be at ABT.

I know when I see a perfomance which is especially "emotive" I sense it but I can't figure out why it is... how was this achieved? What exactly did THAT dancer do that this other dancer didn't??? I am not a dancer obviously... so this is very new to me.

The technical, bare-bones-mechanics, part of dancing is (usually) very well rehearsed. The artist's style, how each dancer interprets the music, cannot so fully be programed in advance, but it too is (usually) well rehearsed. Much of what makes each dancer so different in their artistic style/emotive choices is very much due to their own natural personality. Each dancer's personal ways of relating to, hearing the music, will be different from another dancer's way. Emotive styling can be improved upon with lots of coaching, but the core self, the natural personality self, has a life of its own.

Oh my, more hard times for Washington Ballet. Bad things do seem to come in bursts.

Per Kisselgoff in today's NYTimes: "Although guest stars passed through, the Washington Ballet until Ms. Day’s retirement as artistic director in 1999, was essentially a showcase for young talent.

....She retired as director of the school in 2003."

Mary Day was a beloved friend to me and to many of my families of dancers.

Yesterday, there was a beautifully written tribute in the Washington Post, written by Virginia Johnson, a former ballerina and student of Miss Day's. Worth a read... Miss Day will always remain in our hearts as one of the finest people in addition to being a devoted partner in ballet's history.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...6071101369.html

"Imparted along with the tendus and ports de bras was a sense of reverence for the art of ballet. Those who passed through the doors at 3515 Wisconsin Ave., NW were marked by Day's discernment of what was proper and good....

Day was a hands-on teacher, molding bodies, redirecting energy, extending lines. Each succeeding year under her tutelage was a refinement on the year before....

Behind all of the accomplishments was a very private person with a drive that few could equal. As a young woman in the late '30s and '40s, she recognized that ballet could spark the languishing cultural scene in the nation's capital. Although eventually her work as a teacher and director was celebrated internationally, I think she was proudest of her role in the cultivation of the arts in her home town."

Nearly all of the current corps dancers at NYCB are very, very young. And of course, it's thrilling to see a brand new apprentice be given so much so soon, in a principal role. This is not about that.

Everyone is excited for Ms. Morgan. And I'm sure she'll do very well as a Juliet. But for many of the hard working dancers who have put in a year or two or three at NYCB already, it would be even more exciting to see a young corps dancer be given this huge reward of appreciation. I also don't think Ms. Morgan would lose anything by first being given a few months to become settled into the needs of such a demanding company.

Anyway, I'll be in Saratoga at that time... hoping to see everyone dancing in high spirits.

Couldn't agree with you more, and thank you for saying it. It's so very insulting to all the other lovely young females at NYCB who have been killing themselves all year... seeing the newest apprentice cast in the Romeo and Juliet pas. I could think of a dozen others who would dance this very well with Tyler, and have certainly earned the opportunity.

FYI - For today's matinee (Wiles, Gomes, Carreno) the Met is selling orchestra tickets for 1/2 price.

I will not be there, but others might be interested.

Herrera has not been one of my top favorites either, and last night reminded me once again why... Sigh.

But I'd still go to see her over some other principals... depending what ballet. Sylvia is definitely Murphy's.

Herrera is a great technician, but not as big in line or big in the style as Sylvia requires. Ashton makes lots of tiny, fussy steps inbetween huge leaps, etc. -- and they disappear and/or look terribly uncomfortable with Herrera. With Murphy, I think there is no limit technically as to what she can make look enormous.

Herrera seemed to be holding back in act 1.... and there was little joy in her entrance dancing.

No, last night, Herrera was not at her best especially in act 1, but I wonder how many readers here actually understand how awkward and uncomfortable the choreorgraphy is, for the main ballerina, to execute. My heart goes out to anybody who attempts it. Ashton's choreography for men is much more at ease and flowing. The female parts are full of hiccups and steps that don't blend well together... well, that's from this Balanchine girl's eye...

However, Herrera's lovely musicality in the 3rd act's solo was so "on" that the audience couldn't stop themselves from applauding - three times! - once when the solo had just begun. Herrera was definitely at her best then and throughout the 3rd act. I thought her 2nd act was sexy enough, and actually sexier than I had expected.

I too thought Sarah Lane nearly stole the show, dancing better and bigger than ever, and with so much flare and personality. Actually a few corps dancers also kept taking my eye away from the main leads. I imagine those corps dancers were happy to be dancing something challenging again, compared to a long season of ballets requiring very little dancing for them besides acting, costumed scenery.

Kept thinking that for the leads this season, this has been a primarily one-shot-per-ballet experience for the principals, with the exception of Cinderella. That's a ton of hard preparation work each week for each principal. Did we need to see seven different swan queens in one week? That idea may have looked good on paper, but I thought this season did not work that well for anyone performing. I would like to have seen Part given two opportunities of Swan Lake... I thought, except for Part and Murphy, that the principal females looked a bit tired at each new ballet's one-shot performance. I wonder how well the house sold...

Disaster/farce has struck! One of the locks on my apartment isn't working properly, so, today of all days, my boyfriend locked me into the apartment when he went to work. I had a ticket for today's matinee! I tried going down the fire escape.....

Do you think it's worth going tonight instead? Herrera is not a favorite of mine but she seems to be on a winning streak.

I think Herrera might be very good in Sylvia tonight. She, like Gillian, can handle all the difficult technical demands with ease. Herrera does have the most beautiful legs/feet, and she knows how to use them! Herrera has also grown overall as an actress/dancer in the last couple of years. Her Swan Lake this season was her best ever... So she'll, at minimum, probably give everyone a clean, technically amazing, and pleasant performance.

Btw, relieved to hear your trial escape wasn't due to a real fire.

Christine,

Angel Corella, Saturday night, was Herrera's partner. Corella is an explosive powerhouse, but in the last couple of years has lost much of his refinement and elegance especially needed for a role like Prince Siegfried. I enjoy Corella's dancing more in the wilder, mucho macho roles.

Swan Lake 7/1/06, Evening

Best dancing I've seen from Paloma Herrera in years, surpassing her performance of Swan Lake just last year. Paloma's Black Swan, I expected would be full of technical thrills, which it was, including one of the most gorgeous and long balances I've ever seen outside of Cuba. Speedy, clean, multiple turns done with complete ease. Strong jumps. And of course, her very pretty legs, and lines, finished with the most beautifully arched feet in the business.

But it was also so moving to see her White Swan *queen* who wasn't weak, but instead tender, lovely and warm in her yearning for her prince -- as well as being technically exciting. This year, Paloma's White Swan completely took me by surprise with a few new interpretations to the music, additions to the choreography. Paloma's musicality in both black and white swans shows an artist who is very much a fine wine still growing and improving in her career. The audience gave Paloma the screaming, enthusiastic appreciation she well deserved.

Also outstandingly beautiful tonight was Melissa Thomas as one of two big swans, and among the princesses, Erica Cornejo and Sarah Lane. All three ate up the stage, moving with such expansiveness and radiance in their parts.

Swan Lake 6/28/06 Evening Performance

Vishneva was flatter than a flat pancake without eggs last night in Swan Lake.

Actually the entire performance was pretty flat except for Kristy Boone (gorgeous) as one of the two big swans, and when Radetsky, as Rothbart, danced briefly with one of the princesses, Sarah Lane. Suddenly there was warmth and charm and chemistry between these two.... or maybe it was just Sarah Lane's sparkle. She does charm and sparkle so well....

Oh, and of course the absolute brilliance of Herman Cornejo and his sister, Ericia, with Reyes in the opening act's pas de trois. All three were absolutely joyous, full of delightful, huge, effortless jumps and turns and artistic polish.

I had been so looking forward to seeing this performance. Vishneva's debut (a year ago?) with ABT's Swan Lake had been so exciting. This time she was safe, seemed to be saving all her energy/focus for those 32 fouettes that turned out to be not very good either. Last year they weren't either, but nobody cared because the rest of the performance was thrilling and touching. Sigh. Sigh. Sigh.

Didn't help that the conducting was all over the place... and mostly slower than ice melting in 25-degree weather for White Swan. Hello Kevin!!!!

Vishneva does have gorgeous long legs and arms and beautiful lines...but if the dancing is safe, it's sad to watch no matter how pretty the ballerina's talent. And Vishneva is very, very pretty. Her grand jete entrance as White Swan was 200% fantastic and beautiful... but that was it... Everthing else seemed to be about 70%. Made me wonder if she was not feeling well...or something... And there was no chemistry between her and Careno either although they both danced well... well enough for a good dress rehearsal that is...

The audience last night liked Vishneva's White Swan pas de deux, even though she took out some of the more difficult moves for the ballerina. But but then the audience quickly gave her only cool, polite, applause for everything else starting with her White Swan variation.

I left the performance after Black Swan. If White Swan doesn't make the audience fall in love with the couple, then Black Swan needs to be beyond intoxicating, which it absolutely was not.