Olga

Balanchine’s tombstone says simply  “Ballet Master” 

On 4/4/2024 at 7:04 PM, Marta said:

“Peter Martins ran NYCB for 35 years, the same tenure as Balanchine.”

• That bothered me too.  It sounds so petty.  I will read the book if's available at my library.

 

It’s a fact. 

2 hours ago, Jayne said:

I find the Balanchine version of the party scene boring no matter who performs it.  I always get distracted.  Just too cutesy for my taste.  The tree growth and roomba bed are underwhelming.  I still miss Stowell’s ppd to the snow prologue.  The nephew nutcracker and Marie in a communion veil never really interest me.  

But I slog through it all because I love the borrowed Sleeping Beauty violin solo, and Robbins’ mice.  The comedic staging of the fight scene never fails to amuse me.  I not-so-secretly wish the mice win the fight, and then they get to go to the Land of Sweets!  
 

I guess I’m going to ballet hell!  

Finally found someone who agrees with me about the party scene and Robbins’ mice! Jayne, you are not alone.

And the Royal Ballet stream was much better than ABT live. I can’t imagine that Woolf Works will be any different.

A corollary to that might be to leave Balanchine to  City Ballet. And visiting “Balanchine companies.” 

46 minutes ago, abatt said:

Who is taking over Tiler's T&V?  Is it Fairchild?   

added question:  when Tiler says she will be back for the "weekend", does that mean she will appear in Symphony in C on Friday.  If not, that's a lot of extra work for Megan Fairchild.  The only other person who has done these roles in the company is Bouder.  

Fairchild rehearsed T&V yesterday with Gordon

9 hours ago, ABT Fan said:

More casting changes have been posted. In Etudes, Camargo is now out. Ann now has 3 shows, and soloist Han now has the 20th slot with Hurlin.

Getting worse. In some programs they have substituted 2 of the 3 leads in Etudes. Also I had thought one possible reason for the Titania switch could be they are using the three weeks to get another Oberon ready and don’t want to announce it till they are sure. It doesn’t look that way now.

On 10/3/2023 at 1:06 PM, ABT Fan said:

…now Camargo has all four?! Guess they don’t have an understudy, so what’s the plan if Camargo gets sick or injured. Curley would be a great Oberon. But why the Titania switch? I wanted to see Trenary again. 

I don’t understand the Titania switch. Gillian was already dancing only with Camargo. So what does this accomplish other than irritate those who already bought tickets? Gillian also dropped her Swan in the summer but she had an injury then. And as far as Cassie adjusting, she has three weeks to adjust. 

Aurora, i think we may just have different views about “dance theater” but in any event I certainly didn’t and don’t mean to offend.  Sorry if I did. 

9 minutes ago, aurora said:

"Dance theater" is an intrinsic part of that storied history.

Not sure we are talking about the same thing, but in any event note phrase “more and more.”  

Mearns was one of the best things in Red Shoes.

i sincerely hope next year’s ABT Summer programming is more thought out. I hope they are not planning to dilute their storied history even more than they already have with more and more “dance theater.” Among other things,  the vacuum created by the drop off in foreign tours to New York City makes it more important than ever for ABT to be viable and attractive. 

It boggles the mind not only that LWFC is scheduled for so many performances but that ABT didn’t make sure streaming rights would commence only after the run. This imo is a problem on the business side, not the artistic. Nobody here wants ABT to disappear from New York. I think we are only wondering how they can make a better go of it. And sure I understand many people will not be deterred from attending a live performance (or multiple performances) by the stream but it speaks to classically poor management. 

On 3/23/2023 at 12:36 PM, fondoffouettes said:

For the 2019 revival of Ratmansky's Sleeping Beauty, he revised the Act II and III pas de deux based on newly discovered sketches by Pavel Gerdt (the original Prince Désiré).

https://m.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10214181044504900&set=a.1133754148868&type=3&eid=ARAZrgrAZ3X-NKxkboNDOV6F6zv1n97-dz9cq293O8skvCj3r-4chh4QXTESjymwvhncw0M5ymuWeWvG

I believe he replaced the fish dives for all casts that year. And the new move was different from what Cornejo and Lane had done in previous years. However, the pas de deux still ended with a fish dive, though not one where the ballerina is knocked off her leg while turning beforehand. I'm curious whether that final fish dive was in the Gerdt sketches or if it was a concession to modern tastes.

I recall the Vision pas de deux looked especially lovely in 2019, though it was difficult for me to identify exactly what Ratmansky had changed.

I long to see the Ratmansky reconstruction again; it was one of the richest pieces of choreography I'd ever experienced. I felt he added so much more to the tapestry of that full-length than he took away (like the fish dives). I didn't get the impression that it sold less well with the general public than ABT's previous Sleeping Beauty. 

I’m concerned about Ratmansky’s rep at ABT now that he has moved across the plaza.

Did Jaffe program this Summer at the Met? 

@Belka I’m so glad you felt the magic!

As I suggested, Goldberg. 84 mins. 

31 minutes ago, abatt said:

There are very few choreographers who could sustain interest continuously for 80 minutes.  This should be interesting. 

I guess Peck’d taking that BS about him being Robbins successor seriously 😂😱 (Goldberg)

Thank you Kathleen for both of your recent, insightful posts. I would be very happy if they commission and run even more Ratmansky ballets. I find him one of the (if not the) most interesting and knowledgeable ballet choreographers living today. 

Being abnormal doesn’t give license to spew ethnic hatred. Kanye has followers. 

It seems they have banned Odessa, or at least they aren’t showing it, presumably because of an ambiguous rape scene. 

On 9/24/2022 at 10:58 PM, Swanilda8 said:

I saw the program this afternoon. The new Ratmansky work (Wartime Elegy) was magnificent. It's four short movements: two sad, slower Silvestrov pieces to start and finish, framing two uptempo excerpts of Ukrainian folk music. There's a real sweetness to the melancholic sections and a bitter depth to the comic, uptempo sections. A lot of collapsing on the ground and dancers holding each other up or picking each other back up. It really does feel like a strong, personal reaction to the war that conveys depth, sorrow, and a sense of defiance to the audience. I had been anticipating something that sacrifices some of Ratmansky's complexity for a political purpose, but it really was one of the finest works of his I've seen and at the same time very politically meaningful. I'll be interested to watch it again on the digital version and to hear what others think.

Totally agree.

Thank you MRR - that was an extremely descriptive report.

1 hour ago, abatt said:

For me, the idea of a full length Justin Peck work set to Aaron Copland music is not enticing at all. 

AND it will run 11 times. 11 full evenings. 

As far as I can tell NYCB is not requiring booster shots for admission to performances despite talk on Its website  about being “deeply committed” to health and safety and putting “safety for all at the forefront.” Please tell me if I am wrong. The Met Opera and I believe Carnegie Hall are requiring booster proof. It is pretty well established that the two shot series of vaccines do not offer as much protection against Omicron as a booster would. While the CDC is keeping the definition of “fully vaccinated” at 2 shots (or 1 J & J) it is using the nomenclature of “optimally vaccinated” for the booster shot. They have their reasons for doing this in a country with deep resistance to any shots but I think City Ballet should do the right thing here. 

Of course Peck has some talent, but he has gone farther and faster than his talent alone would have taken him. Of course, too, everyone has their own opinion.