Kaysta

Stella as Giselle. I'm literally crying, so beautiful. Lucky Aussies got to see the whole thing.

Time for round 2. Hope there isn't the technical issues this time.

Re: the Taylor interview:

I know they need money to keep the company afloat, but it really makes me sad that it seems to be more about the money than the art. The ballet world should not revolve around Osipova.

Yes, finally streaming but is anybody else getting undone by these ads? It was bad enough when it interrupted the interviews but it just cut in T&V with a chicken finger ad! And then I lost the streaming. They promised a taped video. I might have to watch it then.

The ads were making me super angry. I missed all of Rodeo because of a yogurt ad.

T&V was Sarah Lane and Joe Gorak.

I'm in now, but it took awhile.

Maybe at this point, there would not be enough time to train someone to do the role (although it took six weeks for the entire company to learn all of Ratmansky's Sleeping Beauty, no? So somehow I doubt that one of ABTs ballerinas couldn't pull this off).

But Smirnova pulling out due to injury has been obvious for a LONG time. She hasn't danced since 2014, and people have been complaining for at least a month that there was no way that Smirnova could dance that Bayadere. I have nothing personally against Cojocaru. I've never seen her live, but I've seen a lot of video of her and find her a gorgeous dancer. My dislike of this move is more directed at ABT management. I don't know why I keep expecting something different from them. But barring what happens promotion wise after this season, I do think I'm going to take my membership money and put it towards seeing other companies.

According to the ABT website, A Cojucaru will guest as Nikiya with H Cornejo on June 5. M Copeland will be Gamzatti.

Ugh, this irritates me. Hasn't she backed out on ABT due to injury the last few years? Why can't they give one of their own dancers a Nikiya.

Those slow motion effect are really driving me crazy. I hope that doesn't last for the whole documentary.

Just got my tickets for the Sunday matinee. Excited to finally see Pictures at an Exhibition.

Just booked all my tickets. Was pretty happy with the selection still available. I got two first row balcony tickets for all of my desired performances at a pretty reasonable price. Granted, I tend to opt for mostly Saturday matinees which probably don't sell as well initially (as I make the trek in from the Philly area). Last season, I mostly sat in the grand tier side boxes, so I hope I like the view from the front of the balcony.

I'm pulling double duty on July 4th, as I want to see both Nunez and Abrera's Cinderella. I also elected not to see the Saturday matinee of Copeland in Romeo and Juliet and instead opted for Murphy on Wednesday afternoon and Obratzsova on Thursday night.

I love the Ashton version. I liked it more today, then I did last spring.

And, I thought Reyes and Gorak danced it better then they did at the Met. I have seen so much growth with Gorak. I was so excited when he did the lift walking down the stairs this time, as they didn't do it at the Met. Both of them danced very strong, and I teared up a bit thinking that is the last time I'll see Reyes dance.

The other person who stood out to me was Calvin Royal as one of the prince's friends. I couldn't take my eyes off him when he was on stage. I think his time with Steifel is paying off.

I'm seeing the Reyes/Gorak Cinderella cast on Saturday even though I saw that cast last year at the Met. This will be my last chance to see Reyes (whose dancing I greatly admire) as I'm not scheduled to see her in NY this year. Of the three, she's the one I'm most sad to see retire.

Casting update: McRae is Osipova's Giselle partner

Murphy Whiteside pick up the June 9 SB vacated by Paloma

Hammoudi gets the SL lead with Hee Seo

Promotion for Hammoudi now seems like just a matter of time

Herrera gets Bolle as her Giselle partner instead of the previously scheduled Whiteside.

Surprised we haven't seen the press release yet from ABT re another guest artist (McRae). I liked him very much when he was last at ABT in Corsaire.

I LOVE McCrae! I'm seeing him in London in Fille (where he is also dancing with Osipova) and I'm super excited. I might have to get tickets for this now

His dancing in La Sylphide and Tarantella on YouTube are really on of the best, this remark really makes the lecturer sound silly. She must not have even bothered to google his name.

Or she may have taken her tone from his self-description -- if he was self-depricating, she might have thought that was the "official" tone.

I agree that he does come across as very humble and self-deprecating in his interviews. Wonder who that lecturer was, and if she ever saw him or his wife actually perform? She probably shouldn't have made that comment, it seems a bit rude to me.

I'm biased, because I kind of think Ratmansky is a genius (even though I don't totally love everything he's done), but after seeing him dance in you tube videos and watching him choreograph, I wish there was more video footage of him dancing in his prime. I find him fascinating.

What would have made sense would have been to move Hee Seo from the opening night "Giselle" to the Wednesday matinee. Then Herrera's farewell would have been on the Friday opening night.

Agreed. Is it possible they will still move it? I feel bad for Herrera going out on a Wednesday matinee. But it seems Herrera got pretty decent reviews from her OC SB, so I'm thinking this has to be her decision to not dance SB at the Met.

Margot Fonteyn as Aurora and Alessandra Ferri as Juliet had the ability to portray youthfulness long after their youth.

Agreed! I saw a snippets of a video of Ferri dancing Giselle (in what I assume was in her 40's) and I still believed she was a sweet innocent peasant girl in love during the first act.

I am also seeing Sarah Lane perform, as I've heard such rave reviews from others. I think I'm going to get tickets to Murphy as well, since the Sleeping Beauty met run is split in May and June.

Thanks everyone for your reports. I'm glad to hear the good reviews. Looking forward to hearing more from those who will see it the rest of this week.

Beauty (Jan 27-31) will follow right on the heels of the National Ballet of Canada's Winter's Tale (Jan 19-24), just as New York City Ballet (Mar 1-6) will move in right after the Mariinsky's Raymonda (Feb 23-28). This sort of scheduling could attract the potential ballet tourist.

http://www.kennedy-center.org/programs/newseason/

For once I am glad I live in Philly and not NYC. Will definitely be attending all four of those! I am dying to see A Winter's Tale.

It really is a shame that ABT doesn't videotape more often. When was the last time they put out a DVD? Gillian Murphy had a picture of the Le Corsaire and The Dream DVDs on her instagram, but those were a long time ago. Is that the last time ABT videotaped anything?

As another stupid winter storm is heading towards me, I am so so jealous of the folks who get to see SB tonight in warm sunny California. I really hope it's as awesome as it looks.

Vishneva posted a photo of herself wearing the Rose Adagio costume. It looks much better with the bodice tightened up: https://instagram.com/p/zuebEPwW5L/?modal=true

It does! It looks gorgeous! All of the costumes do.

Diana Vishneva posted a picture of she and Marcelo in their post-wake up costumes and they look gorgeous. There are also pictures of some of the tutus on ABT's instagram.

The costume designer is the same person who designed for ABT/Ratmansky's Nut, correct? Maybe I'm in the minority, but I thought those Nutcracker costumes were gorgeous, so I'm really excited about the design of this production. I don't think the picture of Boylston's rose adagio dress is a finished project in that photo. It is interesting to see the length of the skirt though.

Wow, that is really cool, volcanohunter! Thanks for posting it.

Can anyone tell me when single tickets are available for online purchase for the spring-summer Met season?

Many of you probably got the same e-mail last night: "last chance to subscribe..." At the end of the message:

Join us for ABT's 75th Anniversary this spring! SUBSCRIBE TODAY for best available seats before individual tickets go on sale to the general public on March 22.

Over on the Met/ABT site, it says that prices might go up on March 29, depending on demand. I guess they'll see what's popular during that first week of single ticket sales.

Good to know it's a week earlier this year! I didn't subscribe because I want to actually pick my seat out for each performance. If I would have waited until the 30th, I might have had the higher prices!

Can anyone tell me when single tickets are available for online purchase for the spring-summer Met season? I want to see Marianela Nunez in Ashton's Cinderella. Thanks!

I think last year single tickets went on sale March 30th.

I can't wait to see Nunez in Cinderella as well. Given her history, I'm sure she'll be breathtaking with the Ashton choreography!

By facebook posts, it looks like the ABT dancers are on their way out to California.

If anyone attends the Segerstrom performances, please please please post for us and let us know how it went.

And regarding Kaysta's statement:

As a non-dancer who doesn't know much about the politics of a company, I don't understand why an artistic director wouldn't give one of his principal dancers at least one shot at dancing a role like Giselle (especially considering Giselle is performed essentially every spring) to see if they could handle it.

Would this have anything to do with short program schedules, and the need to stick with certain favorite dancers (that is, the public's favorites) for those few dates? ABT does a lot of touring, so I would expect that to produce more opportunities, but perhaps Kevin McKenzie doesn't think that way. There does seem to be a bit of "rigidity" to the ABT approach.

I'm much more familiar with SFB, and it just hasn't been a problem there for principals to dance starring roles (perhaps more times than they care to). 2015 is actually the first year when there would seem to be more willing female principals and soloists at SFB than parts, but, they've been adding extra dates to the season, and if last year's tour is any indication, there will be lots of extra opportunities there. Where there is a will - and a chance for more money - there is a way.

I get needing to keep the "customer" base happy, given how important fundraising is, but KM typecasts even his most popular dancers. As far as I know, Gillian Murphy has only danced Giselle with RNZB, not with ABT. I would buy tickets to see Gill in Giselle in a heartbeat, and I don't think I'm the only one. But I guess I'm getting off topic.

All I know, is that of the few performances I've seen of Veronika Part (Kitri, Nikiya and O/O), I've thoroughly enjoyed. Watching that video, I wonder if she is really happy at ABT, and hopefully she won't get sick of the politics and depart for different pastures.