Emma

In June. At least its separated from the Winter Ballet Block!

Suzanne Farrell and San Francisco back to back in the Fall. ABT, Mariinsky, and Ailey back to back to back in the Winter. And they wonder why students rarely show...we're too busy for this!

Lane/Cornejo is still there! Just hidden on the July page =)

Agreed. I was expecting completely horrible things based on reviews, but I was definitely entertained! IMO, the costumes were only garish when the entire cast was on stage at the same time. The music was nice...if anything the PDDs could have been beefed up a bit -- it really felt like a very lightweight Nutcracker Act II missing the substantial sections (Waltz of the Flowers, Sugarplum PDD). Loved Infernal Machine with Laracey & Ramasar (I thought she was significantly stronger here than in Ash). Loved the Balanchine (though I wish Scheller would loosen her upper body).

I agree Sonatina, I saw the Lovette/Huxley cast last Spring. While I thought they were both tremendous (such crisp petite allegro the both of them!), I left the theater feeling rather depressed. Normally I leave feeling exhilarated...kind of why I like to go to the ballet! I don't plan on seeing it again.

Kennedy Center Casting: http://www.nycballet.com/NYCB/media/NYCBMediaLibrary/PDFs/Press/Washington-DC%E2%80%94March-1-6,-2016.pdf La Sylphide: Hyltin & De Luz, Peck & Garcia, Woodward & Veyette Tschai #2: Reichlen & Mearns

Tschai #2 is coming to DC on the more contemporary (Justin Peck, Wheeldon, etc) bill! Anyways, in the spring I much preferred the Bournonville Divert. to La Sylphinde -- it was so sunny and full of life. I thought they should have flipped the order of the program and played Sylphide first and end on a happy note.

Joseph Gordon! http://www.nycballet.com/NYCB/media/NYCBMediaLibrary/PDFs/SpecialEvents/2016-Annual-Luncheon-Invitation.pdf

I got student tickets at Sadler's Wells in London for £5 (~$7.50) and London is even more expensive than NY!

They're typically only opened when a performance is selling well (i.e. the second ring is nearly sold out) and are priced similarly to the second ring (maybe a few more center $60 tickets here or there in the 3rd ring).

Is Marnee's version available at the NYPL/on DVD? It sounds incredible!

He posted on his instagram this morning that he's performing Bluebird with Stella tonight. I'm sorry for whoever is injured.

I was very happy to see this production with Hee Seo and Marcelo Gomes last night. It's the first time I've seen a classical production of Sleeping Beauty live. Regarding reconstruction's style, I thought that the lower arabesques, the pirouettes in the coupé, and Bournonville-esque small jumps all looked quite lovely, but that the chaines on relevé looked awkward. The costumes were very pretty from my seat; I thought Carabosse's costume was fantastic. However, the wigs were horrible: both ugly and made it extremely difficult to differentiate the corps members in the prologue. And why does an asian Aurora have to be blond? It makes no sense (maybe there's some historical context I'm missing?). As for the dancing: Marcelo Gomes is as lovely as ever -- when he's on stage he's all you look at. Such charisma. Unfortunately the same cannot be Hee Seo -- she was really very pretty, but at times she blended in with the corps (vision scene). Neither she nor Christine Schevenko as Lilac had that "star quality"/sparkle that I'm used to seeing (I mostly attend City Ballet and have been fortunate to see multiple performances featuring both Sara Mearns and Tiler Peck). Nevertheless, I thought her Rose Adagio was quite strong and was impressed with how long she held her unsupported arabesque after the balances. Among the younger generation, I thought Skyler Brandt was a stunning Diamond Fairy (so much sparkle!) and Catherine Hurlin an adorable and hilarious White Cat. April Giangeruso stood out among the Prologue fairies, and even though the choreography for her solo variation was rather unfortunate, she still brought a tremendous amount of well-appreciated energy. Zhiyao Zhang was incredible as Bluebird -- such clean jumps and gorgeous upper body fluidity. Finally, Courtney Lavine has gorgeous lines and I pretty much only watched her whenever the corps was on stage -- I would have loved to see her take on a solo.

Thanks for the video! They were very fun to watch. I was interested to see them performing black swan to Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux music -- I do know it was written as an (alternative? additional?) black swan pas de deux but didn't think it was actually used. Are there versions of Swan Lake that use this music for the black swan pas de deux? Do they have an extended/second pas de deux?

I think 5'7"... not positive and if accurate no idea where I read it

Best: Tiler Peck in Theme, Twyla Tour, City Ballet at the Kennedy Center (Serenade, Agon, and Symphony in C all in one program!), MCB's Ashley Knox as Dew Drop, and pretty much everything else I've seen. I'm very easily pleased! Worst: Audience behavior at MCB. A man seated in the front row brought a crying child back into the theater in the middle of Waltz of the Flowers and left again with the child a minute later (I understand leaving with a child during a performance, but coming back in at any point in time during which dancers are dancing on stage...)

It's funny -- I just skimmed through the 2008 Philly semifinals winners (this is what happens before school starts...) -- among the competitors in addition to Paulina are Taylor Stanley, "Emmy" Kikta, Beckanne Smith, and Catherine Hurlin.

In this interview, Cassandra Trenary stated that she was only taking 2-3 ballet classes per week before coming to JKO, but she was taking other dance forms as well (which may be different than what you're asking): http://pointemagazine.com/inside-pt/issuesaprilmay-2012jko-abt-cassandra-trenary/

Just to update: everything seems to be selling quite well, especially when Misty is performing. Prices have been raised across the board for all weekend performances except Sunday evening ($129 side orchestra for Sat Mat. without Misty). Kennedy Center released 60 tickets through its MyTix program this morning for Hee Seo's Thursday Eve. show and they sold out within in 10 minutes (but I got a ticket!!! ) Clearly I'm excited!

From what I recall having read about Kathryn Morgan (I was too young to have seen her live) and as beautiful a dancer as she is, she also benefitted from her strong classical technique in a company where many dancers at the time did not have that foundation. However, In my opinion, NYCB's corps is currently an embarrassment of riches. Unity Phelan and Ashley Hod were adorable in Agon and I can't wait to see Indiana Woodward in a Balanchine principal role. Additionally, it seems like Lauren Lovette, whom I also love (pardon the pun) watching, has adopted a significant amount of Morgan's rep. Unfortunately, it seems like NYCB just doesn't have the need anymore, as stunning a dancer as Morgan is.

The apprenticeship term also seems to be much shorter at ABT (~ a season) than at NYCB (~ a year). A few ABT dancers who became apprentices for Nutcracker in December 2015 have already been promoted to the corps (i.e. Hanna Bass)

She is such a beautiful dancer -- thanks for sharing! Serious question (I have never danced even close to the professional level): does additional weight over the thin ballerina standard impact technique? From my untrained eye she's beautiful regardless of her weight.

Week One Casting posted: http://www.nycballet.com/NYCB/media/NYCBMediaLibrary/PDFs/Press/Casting/NYCB_Casting_January-19-24,-2016_lobby.pdf

I saw corps member Ashley Knox as Dew Drop while I was in Florida. She was stunning. Why is she still in the corps?

It played beautifully (in HD) on TV -- still have it on my DVR.