Kathleen O'Connell

Yes, that's it! Thanks for posting a link ... C or no C? Two Ns? Two Ks? I can never decide. Chez nous we're extra-special festive and celebrate Channukwanzmas ... If we could get Diwali and Chinese New Year in there, too, we would.

I was poking around the site, and I happened across the following post from Michael from Winter Season 2004: http://ballettalk.invisionzone.com/index.p...st&p=126621 I think you've just convinced me to buy some tickets! I usually don't get really weary of winter until around mid-February, but a bit of June in January might be welcome nonetheless.

It appears that Saskia Beskow is departing as well. I knew all of the departing dancers “by sight”—that is, I could single them out from the corps without using my binoculars—and I will certainly miss seeing them dance next season. Some of the departures are especially poignant because we’ve had the privilege of watching these artists perform for many, many seasons. I’m glad that I had the chance to see Dena Abergel dance so many times over the last couple of seasons, but I’m especially glad I got to see her beautiful performance of “Prayer” in “Coppelia” as well as what must have been one of her last performances of Helena. In late 2006 Abergel was the subject of a wonderful little New York Times interview in graphic form in which she talked about dancing in “The Nutcracker” while observing Hannukah. I can’t seem to dredge it up in the NYT archive, unfortunately, so I can’t post a link. Saskia Beskow joined NYCB in 1997 and seemed to be in every ballet on every program from day one: I think can say without exaggeration that I’ve seen her dance at least 100 times, and she was never less than the embodiment of a special kind of grown-up elegance and grace that was a genuine pleasure to see on stage. I'll miss it. For many years, two charming, unfailingly elegant older women had subscriptions in seats right next to ours. One day way back in the 90’s one of them nudged me and pointed out Pauline Golbin: “Look at how beautifully she carries herself!” It must only have been Golbin’s first or second season with the company, but she was already the kind of dancer who drew your eye, even if she was the proverbial third swan from the left. It's hard to imagine the company without her. It’s been several seasons since I’ve seen Elizabeth Walker dance and I’m sorry I won’t get the chance to see her one last time. Walker’s radiant, committed dancing brought a spark to more than one dreary performance during the company’s 90s doldrums. I loved watching her in “Serenade” when she was one of the quartet of demi-soloists—she was like a ray of sunshine. My thanks to all of the departing dancers for the many hours of pleasure their performances have brought me over the years and best wishes for wherever life takes them next.

Jiří Kylián's ballet "Falling Angels" is set to the first part of Reich's "Drumming." There's a short clip on YouTube. "Falling Angels" is also one of the ballets on the "Jiri Kylian's Black & White Ballets" DVD, although I believe it's now out of print.

"Fog of War" and the Crumb biography were both indeed great watches. "Genghis Blues" is slowly working its way up my Netflix queue -- maybe I need to give it a nudge ... I recommend two relatively recent documentaries: 1) "Chris and Don: a Love Story," about Christopher Isherwood the writer and his life partner Don Barchardy, who was an artist and 2) "Moving Midway," in which the filmmaker documents his cousin's relocation of the family plantation house (yes, they literally pick the thing up and truck it to a new site), examines the role of the plantation in southern culture, and meets his many African-American relations along the way. I highly recommend Werner Herzog's "Grizzly Man, about Timothy Treadwell, a man who adored and identified with grizzly bears, appointed himself their protector, filmed them, and finally, was eaten by one. "Little Dieter Needs to Fly" is good too, but go for "Grizzly Man" first. And if you're a Herzog fan (I am) you must of course see "Burden of Dreams," Les Blank's documentary about Herzog's travails filming "Fitzcarraldo" deep in the Peruvian jungle. Crazytown! Best of all is Herzog's utterly demented monologue about the "obscenity of the jungle" ("the birds are screaming in misery") -- someone please give this man a hot shower and a cold beer! You can find clips of it on YouTube if you search under "Herzog" and "Burden of Dreams."

NYCB revived this during its first Balanchine Festival. I believe Kyra did the role in which rg remembers as Kim Highton. I can easily imagine Sara Mearns in that role. The Tall Ballerina-Short Cavalier were Darci and Damian, who did not come across as the mismatch the choreography requires. How about Maria Kowroski (a proven comedienne) vs. Joaquin deLuz? Why not? We don't confine "Giselle" to the time of the grape harvest (late summer?). It's a wonderful ballet and I have no problem with the idea of bundling up in a coat and gloves to go out to see it. Bouree Fantasque has been brought out of mothballs for the SAB workshop as well. I wasn't thinking about "Midsummer" in the title so much as I was thinking about it as the ballet NYCB typically sends us off into the summer with. I'd normally be happy to see it anytime -- it just seems like overkill with R&J, SL, and SB already taking up about half of the season.

My husband and I are about halfway through season 2 (on DVD) - we're definitely fans. We won't get to season 3 until it's on DVD. I think even in seasons 1 & 2 the show has already pretty much violated the rules of what could or couldn't have been show on 60s TV, in the US at least. I'd have to join Mr. Peabody and Sherman in the way-back machine to check, but I don't think one would have seen a man and a woman and a double bed in the same scene, even if the couple were married. (Didn't Lucy and Ricky sleep in twin beds?) We've already seen a lot of wrassling under the sheets and more than suggestive tumbling onto any available flat surface. And never mind the kiss - I don't think we would have been allowed to see one man as sweetly besotted by another the way Sal Romano is besotted by Ken Cosgrove (and who wouldn't be, one might ask); if we were shown homosexual desire at all I suspect it would have looked sinister, or at least pathetic, but not natural. I'm not sure we would have even seen open infidelity on TV, either. Movies, maybe. In any event, I'm not sure I like the idea of the show being any more explicit than it already is. Here's what's disappointed me: I was flipping through The New York Times' fall fashion section yesterday and was crushed to see that all the designers appear to have looked to Dynasty rather than Mad Men for their inspiration.

I just printed out the NYCB 2010 Winter Repertory schedule - that is one weird looking NYCB season. My first thought was far too rude to post on a well-behaved BB like BT. My second thought was "Midsummer Night's Dream" in January - what were they smoking? Since I know nothing about running a ballet company, could someone help me with my third thought: does this season 1) allow the company to streamline rehearsal logistics and / or rehearsal time (for both dancers and musicians) thus saving money and /or extracting the most bang for the rehearsal buck, 2) streamline the set / staging logistics along the lines of the "stagione" system some opera houses use, also to save money, and 3) provide a lot of solo turn opportunities for soloists, senior corps members, and up-and-comers? With two weeks of Sleeping Beauty, just about every woman in the corps could be the fairy of something or other. The second two weeks in January are the most complicated looking and even they look like a pretty straightforward rotation of four programs.

I think this is a large part of it. Although this chart only goes up to 1994, you can see the impact the boomers make on the U.S. median age over time as they age: U.S. Median Age statistics In addition to living longer, though, the senior population is also staying in good health longer and many of them are also in better financial condition than previous generations. They are better able to continue the activities they enjoy (such as concert-going) than their parents, and that definitely drags the median age of audiences up. I did a little digging, and here's what I found: US Median age 1982: 30.5 US Median age 2007: 36.7 If it seems as if there are more older folks around, it's because there are more older folks around -- and, as Sidwich points out, they're generally richer and healthier than they were earlier in the 20th century, too. Re jazz: its metamorphosis into art music seems nearly complete to me -- many of its practitioners now have music degrees from conservatories or four year colleges. (Comparative median age stats don't seem to be as readily available for the full 1982-2008 period as they should be, by the way. I don't mind my tax dollars funding the Census Bureau, but I wish they'd buy a more easily searchable data base.)

I wonder if the median age for all Americans is the same or different now than it was in 1982. It could be that median age of the concert-going audience is increasing simply because the baby boom generation -- a proportionately larger age cohort than, say, GenX-- is aging.

Jed Perl, art critic for The New Republic, curates an online slideshow of American artist John Heliker's sketches and portraits of the young Merce Cunningham: Portraits of the Artist as a Young Man / "You Must Change Your Life"

There's no disputing the fact that both NYC and NYS face significant financial challenges, and that this will almost certainly mean cut backs in arts funding. Fortunately -- in this context at least -- NYCB receives comparably little in direct funding from government sources. (Let's leave aside for the moment indirect subsidies in the form of tax-deductible contributions and whatever benefits might accrue from being a resident organization of Lincoln Center.) Its direct government funding could be cut in half -- indeed, cut entirely -- and NYCB would still have sufficient resources to continue operating on its present scale. Per NYCB's 2008 Annual Report (which you can find here) Operating Revenues from all sources totaled $59.7 million. Of that amount, $26.8 million (45%) came from ticket sales and touring fees, $9.3 million (16%) came from investment income released from the endowment, and $22.1 million (37%) came from Public Support. Of that amount, $1.34 million came from NYC and $340 thousand came from other governmental agencies. The balance of Public Support came from non-governmental sources, i.e., contributions from foundations, corporations, and individuals. So, about $1.7 million of NYCB's total operating revenues were from NYC or other governmental sources. Now, $1.7 million isn't chump change, but for an organization with $60 million in revenues, $61 million in operating expenses, and an endowment that has recently ranged between about $140 million and $170 million (depending on the market) it's a relative drop in the bucket - just 2.7% of operating expenses. If NYCB's management and board couldn't cover that amount between expense reduction and fund raising, the company needs new leadership and sharper pencils. Please note that I'm not suggesting that NYCB shouldn't receive government funding (that's a discussion for another day), only that actual or anticipated cuts in direct government funding weren't -- or at least shouldn't have been -- the trigger for cuts in the roster. Edited to add: The recent market crash and current recession will undoubtedly have an impact on revenue from other sources -- e.g., ticket sales, donations, and income from the endowment -- my post was intended to address government funding only. I have no doubt that NYCB's board and management looked at the books and determined that cutbacks were prudent given the current financial environment. A second point: a number of commenters have suggested that NYCB is using less-expensive apprentices in lieu of retaining more-expensive members of the corps. Is the really the case? NYCB has taken in apprentices every year that I can remember, and, with very rare exceptions, all of those apprentices are absorbed into the company within a season or two. It's part of the company's life cycle, no? Are they taking in more this year than they normally do?

Even when you throw in the cost of a Bayadere DVD or two (as opposed to the adult fare usually on offer in hotel rooms)? Quite a display of ardent connoissuership, I'd say.

In the context of the rest of the article, snoring seems positively genteel! There's plenty of snoring going on in NYC theaters and concert halls, of course. I never know if I should give the snorer a gentle nudge and risk startling them into a loud "Huh! What!" or just let them sleep on in peace. If they're sleeping, chances are they won't cough ...

I gather that the more-or-less full 2009/2010 City Center schedule means that the planned renovations have been deferred and that ABT needn't have decamped to Avery Fisher Hall after all -- am I interpreting things correctly? I thought the hall was supposed to be dark for much of the season.

I'd like to modify the question a little bit to "what was the last really promising ballet that you saw" and nominate Jiří Bubiniček’s recent NYCB commission, "Toccata." I don’t think we’ll look back on it in 25 years as Bubiniček’s masterwork—at least I hope we won't—but I liked it just fine and would cheerfully sit through it again. (I’d cheerfully sit through it again twice in a row if it meant I didn’t have to sit through “Stabat Mater” or "Oltremare.") I don't think it will likely have the staying power of, say, Ratmansky's "Russian Seasons" but I suspect that it will wear better than Stallings' "Citizen." Frankly, I didn't expect to like Bubiniček’s work based on the glimpse or two of it I'd gotten on YouTube. And on the surface, "Toccata" looked like a lot of the new ballets on offer: no plot; no corps; no clear hierarchy of couples; sort-of costumes; musicians on a platform at the back of the stage; dim lighting; tricky partnering; fussy, hyperactive arms and torsos, etc. In the ways that count, I think it was different. First of all, the dancers interacted like people—like members of a community (a young one)—not billiard balls. Couples and larger groupings melted away and reconfigured constantly, but during the time that any particular subset of dancers were together there seemed to be an expressive reason for it. Let me hasten to add that Bubiniček didn’t traffic in Bigonzetti’s flavor of overt emotionality: the emotional charge was real, but it was more like a substrate pushing up to the surface than something being enacted, if that makes any sense. Mercifully, the mood was something other than anxiety, nameless dread, or jaded anomie. The style was vigorous and contemporary, but not aggressive—it had more juice than Wheeldon, but less flying glass than Elo. Pretzel pas stylings were kept to a minimum: the women were more than capable of moving under their own steam and holding their legs up all by themselves, thank you very much. I think Bubiniček’s choice of women—Abi Stafford, Georgina Pazcougin, and Brittany Pollack—spoke volumes. You want to see these women move, not just have their legs pinned up somewhere in the vicinity of their ears. They don't lend themselves to "Mannerism" (to pick up a term being discussed in another thread) in the same way that Maria Kowroski or Kaitlyn Gilliland do. My biggest complaint was that structurally it seemed, well, not "random" exactly—perhaps "ambient" captures its particular feel. (The score, by Bubiniček’s brother Otto, had a whiff of "ambient" about it, too.) Well, we'll see what he get up to next, I guess.

The Cat in the Hat, of course! When I was six the only way you could have gotten me to relinquish those books would have been to pry them out of my cold, dead hands. I suspect that they gave me unrealistic expectations regarding one's ability to return things to order after a prolonged bout of chaos, however.

I did a little math: Median family income in 1949 was $3,107, or $59.75 per week. Mean family income was $3,569, or $68.63 per week. Median family income in 2006 was $58,407 or $1,123.21 per week. Mean family income was $77,315, or $1,486.82 per week The highest priced ticket for NYCB’s 1949 season was $3.00, or about 5% of a week’s pay at the median family income; the lowest priced ticket was $1.20, or about 2% of a week’s pay. (Ticket prices per rg's snake flyer image.) The highest priced ticket for NYCB’s 2009 spring season was $105.00, or about 9.3% of a week’s pay at the median family income; the lowest priced ticket was $20.00, or about 1.8% of a week’s pay. (Ticket prices per NYCB's 1/26/09 Spring Season press release.) Morphoses today might be a more apt comparator for NYCB in 1949 (young company, same theater). Here's the math: The highest priced ticket for Morphoses' 2008 New York City Center season was $110.00, or about 9.8% of a week’s pay at the median family income; the lowest priced ticket was $30.00, or about 2.7% of a week’s pay. (Ticket prices per City Center's website.) (All income data: US Census Historical Income Tables. For a quick refresher on mean, median, mode, and range, see Ask Dr. Math. ) Make of it what you will.

This is the third recommendation I've encountered for "Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" this week -- I think I'll have to give it a shot! I'm heading off for Amsterdam soon -- does anyone have an suggestions for appropriately themed books, fiction or otherwise?

I’ll give it a try. I did have a go at The Da Vinci Code, hoping for precisely the cheap fun you describe, and although it was simply written and not especially long I couldn’t get through it. Oh, it is really, truly tawdry! Anti-matter! Illuminati! Bernini! As preposterous as The Divinci Code was, Angel and Demons is even more so. Reading it after The Davinci Code is equivalent to eating the worm after you've finished off the whole bottle Mezcal.

Wow ... George Eliot's Romola made the list. I didn't think anyone but grad students read that one ... it's the Eliot novel you normally get to (with much eye-rolling) after Middlemarch, Adam Bede, Daniel Deronda, etc etc etc. It's dandy, but I can't imagine dragging it along with me on vacation in Italy. I'd definitely opt for The Talented Mr Ripley instead ... or, for, pot-boiling, way-back historical fiction about Italy, Robert Harris' Pompeii or Imperium (a page turner about Cicero!) neither of which made the Guardian's list, but both of which are immensely fun. It's an odd list - it appears from the descriptions that the editors were focused more on vacation-related locale and subject matter than on actual lazy summer readability. I've always operated under the assumption that the reason we go to the dentist's is to read guilty pleasures like People and the reason we go on vacation is to read guilty pleasures like Angels and Demons. (Astoundingly silly and much more lurid than The Davinci Code -- fortunately, I listened to the audiobook, so no one I knew actually saw me reading it Take it with you to Rome.) I loathed Atonement (which is perfectly readable) but I'm certainly the only person on the planet who did. Anyway, M.T. Anderson's The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing is on my iPod -- highly recommended -- ignore the fact that it's categorized as a "young adult" novel. Hilary Mantel's A Place of Greater Safety is on my nightstand -- also recommended, but you have to be into the French Revolution and not mind knowing how it will end.

There are plenty of ballets in which Kistler can still do a respectable job. In fact, the only reason Papillions was revived, I believe, was to give Kistler an easy role she could handle. Ditto her role in Stabat Mater. I'm sure there are any number of ballets in the rep (mostly created by Martins) where Kistler would be cast appropriately. The problem is that she is also being cast in ballets that are clearly beyond her current abilities. I've never seen "Papillions," so I can't comment on it as a vehicle for aging ballerinas. "Stabat Mater" is so problematic for me on so many levels that I'd hate to think of it as Kistler's farewell ballet, but I understand your point, Abatt. What I had in mind was a gift along the lines of what Wheeldon gave Jock Soto near the end of his career in the duet from "After the Rain." Other dancers have taken on that role since his retirement, but he was unforgettable in it and I at least still compare their performances to his (and so far have found them worthy efforts but wanting). I don't know if the role made it any easier for Soto to leave the stage, but it made it less heartbreaking for me to say goodbye. And as Leigh pointed out, for those of us who saw Kistler in her glorious prime, it is heartbreaking to see her go. I'm stuck in the "can't look, can't look away" mode at the moment. Martins isn't my favorite choreographer by a long shot, but he's skilled enough to craft a worthy retirement present for a treasured ballerina. Of course, it would mean not making her share the stage with the season's reigning ingenue ...

Martins' loyalty in casting some of his long-serving dancers (and not just Kistler) in roles that might be better served by others puts me in mind of Chicken George's telling Kizzie when they are finally reunited that he doesn't see her with his eyes, he sees her with his heart. It's an admirable sentiment in a husband or friend--and in an AD on occasion--but he has an obligation to be clear-eyed, too. Martins might have given Kistler a ballet or two to help her close out her career with the grace and sweetness that she still has in abundance. As Helene pointed out, the NYCB rep isn't overstuffed with twilight roles and providing a few would be a real service. edited to add: Duh! Lady Capulet! Thanks Bart - although I agree it doesn't necessarily serve Kistler well.

I was at the Sunday 6/21/09 matinee also: what Helene and Carbro said -- although I'm pretty sure Brittany Pollack was Butterfly, not Georgina Pazcougin. Either way, it was a terrific performance of Butterfly. I really liked Veyette's characterization of Oberon -- he got the mix of noble and not-so-noble just right. I don't think I've seen anyone do the "am I not fabulous!" vamp while the little page holds his cape any better -- it was witty without being over-the-top, and told us enough about Oberon's vanity to make his decision to exact revenge comprehensible. (I always found Peter Boal's Oberon problematic in this regard -- he was just too darn noble to get into a believable snit over something as trivial as an ornament to his retinue.) Veyette made Oberon's delight with Hermia and Lysander and dismay over Helena and Demetrius palpable, too -- its a detail that can get lost amidst the bustle of the lovers' interactions, and since his sympathy is an important counterweight to his vanity, its a detail we need to see. Nailing the Scherzo is important, of course, but these little things are, too. Bravo. Reichlen's Titania was beautifully danced, and I don't think there's a ballerina on the NYCB roster who looks more glorious in a lift. (Her Cavalier -- J. Peck -- deserves some credit for this too, of course.) She's also the first Titania I've seen whose manner suggested that the women in her retinue were her companions and not just her attendants -- i.e., young women of rank who were members of her court by right not obligation. There was a lovely bit if skirt-fluffing during the Nocturne when Reichlen unleashed an "I feel pretty" smile, the corps beamed back, and it felt like a moment of sisterhood. Jason Fowler made Theseus' proposal to Hippolyta seem like a moment of genuine ardor and not just something that needs to be done to explain why they're leading off the wedding march. It's time to dispense with Karinska's head-gear and let everyone perform in their own hair. Theseus' doge cap in Act II needs to be put in the shredder immediately. Ditto whatever it is that the Butterflies have on their heads. Oberon needs to keep the glitter in his hair, of course.

It was The Siren in Central Park in the Dark with Orpheus' Lyre!