Kathleen O'Connell

Related articles in The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal. Apparently, it's complicated. There are other suitors -- BAM and Purchase among them -- who may make their own offers to the bankruptcy court. The costumes and sets have already been auctioned off, so the only remaining assets of value are the NYCO name itself and the 23rd St Thrift Shop. The remnants of NYCO's endowment aren't part of the bankruptcy proceedings and will be distributed by a New York State court. I'm a little concerned that NYCO Renaissance is being spearheaded by two NYCO Board members: the Board didn't do such a great job last time around, of course, and this particular proposal may have won Board approval because of personal connections rather than merit. We'll see.

Good news! I'd read their initial proposal somewhere online a while back, found the idea really intriguing, but decided it would prove to be one of those things that's just too good to pan out. Keeping my fingers crossed. And I love the Rose Theater.

Yes, you're missing the the good ballets he's made for other companies. He's pretty much batting a thousand for NYCB (Russian Seasons, Concerto DSCH, Namouna, and Pictures at an Exhibition). Personally, I think he'd be more successful across the Plaza, but, as he pointed out in an interview somewhere, he has a family to feed and ABT offered him a better contract. He's hit-or-miss when it comes to actual storytelling.

And yet ... and yet ... those liberals tolerate on-stage stereotypes that would be considered beyond the pale in other circles. One doesn't have to look hard and long for examples. How Peter Martins gets away with his apparent propensity to cast Von Rothbart with a dancer of color every time he has an opportunity to do so escapes me. What is a young dancer of color supposed to think when he or she observes that a dancer as talented and charismatic as Albert Evans has been cast as Von Rothbart while Nilas Martins - Nilas Martins -- has been cast as Prince Siegfried? What is any young dancer or audience member supposed to think, for that matter? Or when they observe that in the Martins era at least, blond is apparently the only hair color Apollo may have. (Robert Fairchild is the recent exception that proves the rule). Not to pick on NYCB, but OK, I will -- why does anyone on the company's artistic staff think it's a good idea to cast a dark-skinned dancer as the Orangutan in Wheeldon's "Carnival of the Animals," charming though that dancer may be? There are just some things a thoughtful person tactfully avoids and lets the protests of "Too PC!" and "SJW!" (Social Justice Warrior -- see Gamergate) fall where they may. I'll save the tirade about "Tea" in The Nutcracker and the effeminate, mincing retainer in Martins' "Magic Flute" for another day. My point is that even an environment as allegedly liberal as the arts tolerates -- or perhaps I should say, manages not to see -- the perpetuation of some pretty corrosive stereotypes. Copeland didn't need to be subjected to overt racism to perceive that the world she was in wasn't as welcoming as it thought it was.

It's not ballet, but it's my favorite absurd capsule plot summary of a 700 page doorstopper ever. From The New York Times Book Review's "Notable Paperbacks" column of December 4, 1988: THE BONFIRE OF THE VANITIES, by Tom Wolfe. (Bantam, $5.95.) An investment banker takes a wrong turn on the expressway and ruins his life.

That looks to be pretty much what they did. The first and last 24 pages of the ABT program I'm looking at (including the inside of the front and back covers) is where all the advertising is, as well as the little "read me at intermission" featurettes -- i.e., they are essentially "prepackaged" pages that could in theory be used for any ballet audience. The 24 page ABT section of the program, which includes program information as well as ABT staff and donor information -- but no advertising -- has been inserted in the center of the program, between the first 24 and last 24 pages. As it happens, the NYCB and Lincoln Center donor pages take up 12 of the last 24 pages. I'm guessing that it was easier and / or cheaper retain those 48 prepackaged pages than to print a whole new run without them, especially if ads in the front half of the book sell at a premium. Playbill contracts with presenters / theaters to produce programs for events. If I'm not mistaken, the presenter doesn't pay for the Playbill programs that handed are out during an event -- Playbill does. (I can't remember if presenters get a cut or not as part of the contract.) Playbill recoups the cost of production, printing and distribution from its ad revenue. ABT may not have had much say over what was in the program (other than its own info, of course). Here's a link to Playbill's ad rate card, for whatever interest it may have.

Lots to enjoy in Season 2. And if you've made it this far in the thread, you know what I'm going to give the production team kudos for: the simple, matter-of-fact caption "Craig's Husband."

OK, I'll go there: there's a part of me that would like to see Claus Elming's Odette. Those arms are drop dead gorgeous.

Thank you for your report, Syrene! If there were world enough and time I'd actually like to see Hübbe's new production. My response to the idea of it has been negative, but I'm always uncomfortable writing something off sight unseen. I saw Grinder's Sylph back in 2011 too, and I thought her death scene was stunning; her transition from a magical spirit to a broken creature was beautifully done.

Allow me to add my thanks to everyone else's, Anne! I love Bournonville's La Sylphide for the simple reason that it is a perfect distillation of a certain flavor of early 19th century Romanticism - right down to the fantasy Scotland setting so beloved of that era. So I'm going to go all Ms. Crankypants Curmudgeonly and declare that I see absolutely no reason to make any material changes to the setting, the story, the steps, or the decor. Really. And I say this as someone who heartily enjoyed a performance of Hamlet wherein the lead role was taken simultaneously by three different actors, one of whom was a women and another African-American.

I love that Tumblr ...

The whole SAB workshop? What a great idea for a broadcast! (Although "Live" wouldn't seem to be an apt descriptor if they're presenting the 2014 SAB Workshop.) It's nice to see young achievement celebrated, and even those students whose ballet careers don't extend beyond dancing in the back row of the Workshop corps have achieved a ton. (It would be nice if the broadcast makes a little fuss over them, too.)

Me, too! although we did get a bit OT ...

Stecyk -- I think we agree that for certain individuals both fighting and calling the shots is an appropriate response. If you've got the resources, the support network, a healthy allotment of good judgement (enough to recognize good advice when you hear it), and you have right on your side, then go for it. Mostly I'm worried about folks who don't have those advantages.

In my view, it would still be a disadvantage. It's an advantage in that a union would put up the costs and fight the fight. It's a disadvantage in that the employee has lost control of the process. A union would decide when enough is enough. And a union might even decide that the employee was in the wrong, when the employee still might have a fighting chance. Moreover, I would expect that a union would take a bigger picture view of the situation. That is, this is just one fight or issue of many. Let's keep things in perspective. Whereas for the employee, especially in a termination case, this is the hill to die on--especially as there are no other hills. In short, if I were ever to launch this severe of an action where my livelihood and reputation were at stake, I would want as much control as possible. And, you're right, a union would likely never go for an eye-catching fifty million dollars lawsuit. Extreme numbers become meaningless. I do think it depends on the situation, which is why I said it wasn't necessarily a disadvantage. A high profile individual like Ghomeshi might well have the time, financial resources and support network necessary to pursue redress through the courts. He will also have the individual clout -- and, just as important, the dollars -- to keep his lawyers from taking control of the process: unless there is enough money, publicity, or prestige in it to make a lengthy and potentially fruitless court battle worth their while, a prudent law firm will encourage its client to settle, and quickly if at all possible. And, if the client doesn't have deep pockets, or if it looks as if the payout from a case taken on a contingency fee basis won't be enough to cover its expenses, the law firm won't be inclined to die on that hill either. (One of the most valuable services a good lawyer provides is telling you when it's time to stop.) For an "at will" employee without Ghomeshi's profile, resources, and network, the going will be tough. In the US, "at will" employees -- i.e., those without an employment contract (either as an individual or as a union member) -- can be terminated for almost any reason or no reason at all, and the hurdles to mounting a successful wrongful termination action are many and onerous. Employees must demonstrate that they were terminated in violation of federal or state employment law, and that is often harder to do than it sounds. What might look like a clear-cut case of discrimination or retaliation to you or me can look -- or be made to look -- very different in a court of law.

In the US at least, unionized employees would most likely seek redress for wrongful termination through their union's formal grievance process, which isn't necessarily a disadvantage even though it doesn't have the headline éclat of a $50 million lawsuit. (And - ahem - may not require the services of an attorney specializing in employment law, which is what Howard Levitt is.)

With the caveat that everything we've heard so far -- with the exception of the fact of the firing itself -- has yet to be substantiated (and that includes Ghomeshi's own account of his behavior), some of the allegations include workplace sexual harassment. That is a punishable offense.

OK. Do I have this right? Male Madge is "a man from James' past." Does this mean that Madge is now a spurned (same sex) lover? Because spurned (same sex) lovers are inherently spiteful? Because an 1890's dandy modeled on Oscar Wilde would very naturally have a poisoned scarf in his spurned (same sex) lover armamentarium? And this makes the work's meaning more accessible to modern audiences how? And then there's this: Hübbe: “By moving the times somewhat forward, we reach the period where people really start asking the difficult questions. It was a period of great inventions and research. Scientists and artists were breaking new ground. Moving my characters to this existing period open up so many possibilities”. I have a newsflash for him: people have always been asking the difficult questions, even in 1830 ... The questions Bournonville's version asks -- What are our duties to our community? Can we truly take possession of the ideal? Do we destroy it if we try? etc etc etc -- are still the difficult questions.

Judging from the brief overview I heard on the radio this morning, Modiano's work sounds like it's worth some exploration. My French is pathetic, so I hope he's readily available in translation. The closest brush I've had with his work to date is via Louis Malle's Lacombe, Lucicen -- Modiano collaborated on the script.

Click here for a link to the printed program for PNB's upcoming run at the Joyce in NYC. If I'm reading it correctly, it looks as if Körbes is scheduled to dance the lead in Justin Peck's Debonair at every performance. In fact, with just a couple of exceptions, it looks as if casting will be the same at every performance for all of the ballets on the program. Note that Debonair is billed as a Preview; apparently the official premiere will be on November 7, 2014 in Seattle.

I was at Saturday evening's all Balanchine / Stravinsky program, and I don't think that one really works either despite the fact that every ballet on it (Apollo, Monumentum/Movements, Duo Concertante, Agon) is either a masterpiece or within a hair's breadth of being one. (All of the dancing was at a very high level -- that certainly wasn't the problem.) If it had to be all Stravinsky, I might have swapped out either Monumentum/Movements or Agon for Le baiser de la fée or Firebird, even though I like a leotard ballet as much as the next girl. (Aside: I wish someone would endow Baiser with new costumes and maybe even a backdrop. It's been trapped in its Roma hand-me-downs for its whole life, and deserves better ...)

Oh, the way they use their feet! Are any other company's so exquisitely and uniformly pliant? Not to get rhapsodic, but those plush, velvety dégagés, those supple relevés! And it's not just the women -- the men's are that way too. I confess that I can hardly look at anything else when I see a stageful of POB dancers. (I find the way they use their feet to be the most musical thing about their dancing, which is perhaps a problem ... but still, those feet are just gorgeous to watch.)

I just wanted to add that in the best examples, it's a conversation -- i.e., that our perception of both works is enriched when one artist brings his or her imagination to bear on the work of another. I know that I can't look at Velazquez' painting in quite the same way after having seen Bacon tussle with it.

The (worthy!) concept of "heritage works" puts me in mind of Japan's "Living National Treasures" -- "individuals certified as Preservers of Important Intangible Cultural Properties," as Wikipedia helpfully defines the term. (You can watch National Geographic's 1980 documentary here.) I don't know what it's like now, but when I lived in Japan (w-a-a-a-y back in the 60's) Living National Treasures were genuinely revered. I wouldn't want to see ballet -- or any art form -- frozen in amber, but I do think there is some value in celebrating those who consciously conserve along with those who "Make it new."

Exactly. Francis Bacon's "Screaming Popes" are a lot more interesting once you've seen Velazquez' Portrait of Innocent X.