sohalia

On 2/22/2024 at 11:16 PM, susanger said:

The company will be in London March 7-10, 2024, if that’s convenient for you.
https://www.sadlerswells.com/whats-on/new-york-city-ballet/

Thank you, I had missed that. Too tight on my schedule and, as many others have said, the program really is disappointing. Even if I could have made it work, I don't think I'd have spent money to travel to London for these ballets. I'd rather fly to NYC at this point!

I moved back to Europe a few years ago and haven't been able to go to the NYCB in so long, but have kept following these conversations with great interest. Hearing you all rave about Mira Nadon is having me *this close* to booking a flight to NYC 😄 Gosh how I wish I lived closer. All I get are excerpts on social media, which are great, but with all your reviews, I want more!

NYCB, please tour in Europe (and take Mira with you)!

I am absolutely thrilled for Furlan! He was my favorite male dancer at Miami City Ballet, so I am ecstatic to see him "make it" all the way to the top at NYCB. So well-deserved. I love his dancing and passion for the art.

I have to admit I haven't seen much of the other promoted men, but I am sure it's deserved as well.

I love promotions! Not surprise at all by all of these, well deserved. This is a big group, so I am curious as to who might be leaving like somebody said above.

I'm also still hoping for a Furlan promotion soon...

Hopefully with all the upcoming retirements, we will see more promotions in the next few weeks or months. I agree that only two was disappointing, but I want to be hopeful. 

For me, the next big promotions up to principal should be Woodward and Furlan. Ball should be on that list... But maybe they will want a tall man like Walker after the departure of La Cour.

I am so happy to read that Mejia was also promoted! Well deserved, and he's such a joy to watch inn Western Symphony.

What fantastic news. 

Phelan is the first female promotion to principal since Lovette, right? June 2015...

Joel Prouty, a physical trainer who's been working with numerous ballet dancers including Sara Mearns and Unity Phelan, posted on his public Instagram in a Story that Unity Phelan had been promoted to principal!

Did it happen after last night's performance? I am surprised nobody mentioned it. It must have happened behind the scenes. I am so thrilled for her, and it was a long time coming.

I started following him when he was mostly working with Mearns, and so many more dancers have started to go to in now. I love watching what kind of exercises he makes them do, and also for my own inspiration. 

56 minutes ago, abatt said:

Peck has a good track record, with some misses but many hits.  Though not my cup of tea, The Times are Racing  is generally highly regarded.  So is Year of the Rabbit.  I also thought a work he did for Miami City Ballet was very good. (I can't recall the name of the work.) It's more than luck.  He has talent.  I think some of his recent works have suffered because he is stretched too thin.

Are you thinking of Heatscape, perhaps? That was great.

Living vicariously through everybody's reviews. I wish I lived closer to NYC so I could go to as many representations as possible.

Echoing what was said before, I cannot wait for some promotions. With the flurry of retirements, we certainly should get a handful soon. I've followed Phelan's career ever since her Corps days, and cannot wait for her to move on up. Same for Furlan, who I absolutely loved watching when I lived in Miami and could go to MCB shows. I love to read that he seems to be thriving at NYCB now.

I sadly missed Prodigal Son, and I made it a priority to take time to watch T&V. I've reached the conclusion that Tiler Peck can never retire. Her musicality, her speed, yet her ability to make it seem like she's taking her time... She's truly one of the best.

I appreciated the close-up shots during the partnering of the PDD. I was fascinated to watch how sometimes Peck literally just hangs on to Veyette by one finger. That was lovely. I miss live performances.

18 minutes ago, GB1216 said:

I think we are definitely at a turning point when it comes to dancing + retirement.  Before it was really dancing until they couldn’t any longer - till the bitter end.  Now there is a shift with wanting to do more.  I feel Robbie Fairchild was the first to really step away from ballet to pursue film, etc.  Now Lovette for choreography.  I’m sure there are others too that I can’t think of right now, but I find it very interesting! 

Silas Farley comes to mind. He wasn’t a principal but certainly had the potential to be. I loved his dancing.

Anyways, I think all of us who watched Fairchild’s interview with Lovette could see this coming from a mile away. I am not surprised at all she’s leaving now/so soon. 

Of course, it’s sad to see so many retirements and departures, but I am so excited for promotions (finally!) and some shakeups in future casting.

I am quite excited to see what Silas Farley can bring as a choreographer. Loved him as a dancer, and he's wonderful to listen to as the podcast host. 

Agreed with the above comments on some of the programming and the website redesign. Although now that they've changed the website, can we please update some of the dancers headshots? Bouder's and Gerrity's in particular are killing me and have been there for years. They deserve better.

9 hours ago, cobweb said:

Thanks vipa for pointing out this video. Lauren's story is fascinating, and she comes across so well, beautiful, engaging, and thoughtful. So many people are taking the disruption of the pandemic as an opportunity to reassess life choices. I wonder what direction Lauren will go in. My only complaint about the interview is Megan Fairchild's interviewing style. I kept wishing she would shut up and sit back, and let Lauren expand on what she was saying, like her stepping back from ballet. Can we hear what Lauren is thinking about ballet and her future, please? I kept feeling like Megan was changing the topic, like when Lauren is discussing the painful break from her family, and rather than let the moment sit, Megan jumps in, saying something like "Totally!" and takes over. She misses what was really a very poignant moment. Megan kept wanting to throw in her own vignettes about Lauren, personal anecdotes only tangentially related to what Lauren was saying, and so on. I feel she missed the opportunity for a really powerful interview by letting the charismatic Lauren tell her own compelling story.

I have to agree on your point. I've listened to a handful of these interviews and it's probably my only pet peeve. She has done that to every one I've listened to. She cuts them off and inserts herself in the conversation, or asks something else while the guest is clearly not finished with his/her story. So sure, it's "free rein" as she calls it and these are very informal interviews, which I appreciate, but it would be nice to let them finish. As a journalist, I know how hard it can be to let silence "be" in interviews. It's easy to want to fill the silence and to always talk or ask another question straight away, but usually leaving some silence or pauses always leads to the interviewee continuing on his/her thought process (because they too want to fill that silence!). And in my experience, that's when you get the best out of your interviewees, and it's always led to some fantastic quotes and content. 

Anyways, back on topic, I was actually listening to Lauren's interview last night as well. I am about halfway through, but found her comments and questioning very interesting. It does sound she is not sure she'll return to ballet quite yet. Whatever she does decide, it sounds like this break was what she needed to not tank.

Live now (18h30 CET) on this page, free: https://staatstheater-hannover.de/

World Premiere of "Moonlight" by Juliano Nunes. He said it should be available to watch after streaming, in case you missed it.

I look forward to it. First of all, a live stream of a ballet? Yes, please. This is the future. I also very much like Nunes' style, at least from short videos I've seen and what he posts on social media. New COVID-oriented choreography, too, probably no partnering or much contact between dancers.

On 10/30/2020 at 8:02 AM, Quiggin said:

Doing "New Song" (Andrea Miller) in one take lent it a coherence the other films didn't have, and not having the escape valve of a cut or dissolve gave a bit of the excitement of a live performance.  You were in on the whole arc of the performance. Also you could watch things happening close to the camera while other things were developing in the distance, almost "off stage." 

I agree. New Song has been my favorite of the new works so far. I was pulled in right away by the historical music and cinematography, and of course I'm a big fan of Unity Phelan and Indiana Woodward. The one-take was amazing and really immersive and transcending. The segment in the water at the end was beautiful, and the entire atmosphere was so dreamy. I've watched it multiple times already.

I look forward to seeing more of him as well. From his Instagram account, he definitely looks to be on the taller side. Also very sharp  dancer.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CGm_7RNBgc3/

It's definitely time for more promotions to principal. I think the last woman was Lauren Lovette in 2015, no? I'd love to see Phelan, Woodward and Gerrity move up. As for the men, certainly Furlan.

Making my way through the "21st Century Voices". Indiana Woodward and Taylor Stanley were splendid in Year of the Rabbit. When I first saw this pas de deux live at Miami City Ballet, I remember crying. I wish we had this ballet in full. 

Did not really enjoy Pictures at an Exhibition, except for of course the brilliant Tiler Peck. She can do no wrong.

So, when is the all-female new choreographers broadcast next? 😏

Edited: I just finished the full broadcast. It definitely confirms I am not a big Ratmansky fan. Peck and Angle were stunning in Wheeldon's Mercurial. Great excerpt from Everywhere We Go to finish it off, that's another one I wish we had in full (yes, I am a broken record).

14 hours ago, canbelto said:

I've heard the French pronounce it and it's actually more like "pas de dyoo." "Pas de duh" just sounds so ... uninspired. 

Hm, is it really? I am French and definitely do not pronounce it "dyoo". 😅

Edited to add: this is how I say it:

3 hours ago, canbelto said:

There's a complete Western Symphony on YT:

 

Thank you! I look forward to watching this. I was talking about seeing with a more recent cast I'm familiar with, but I'll surely take it

Just finished with the family friendly programming. What a joy Western Symphony is! Pleased to see Silas Farley in there (and still so bummed about his retirement). This is one of those ballets I wish we had in full, but excerpts after excerpts we might get there 😅 We had the rondo last digital season, now we saw the first movement... Balanchine's genius never ceases to amaze me.

6 hours ago, Kaysta said:

Just watched the modern innovation program, and man do I really need to see all of Kammermusik.  Sara Mearns blew me away.  I don’t know how I’ve never seen that ballet but I can’t wait to someday see the whole thing in person.

Same for me. I really want to see more.

I also very much enjoyed Glass Pieces. Red Angels pleasantly surprised me. Also loved seeing Unity Phelan in Opus 19.

3 hours ago, GB1216 said:

I kind of wish other dancers from prominent companies would comment or show some support.  There are some very outspoken dancers these days - Bouder, Copeland.  The only high profile ballerina I can see who liked her message was Isabella Boylston.  My guess is that they aren’t willing to buck their own system.

I have seen current MCB dancers comment (positively) on the posts shared above from the dancers speaking up. Mostly just showing support and love.

Brianna Abruzzo also posted her story with MCB on her Instagram: 

Thanks for sharing all of this Syzygy.  Wow. I am so happy all of these dancers are speaking their truths about body dysmorphia and how they were treated in their company. Some of the alleged comments are disgusting, "you will do better as a wife," barf.

This has been ongoing for the last few months in the sports world, mostly in aesthetic sports like artistic and rhythmic gymnastics, and more recently artistic (synchronized) swimming,  where athletes are speaking up about mentally abusive coaching methods. I am glad to see this movement transpire to the ballet world. The cultures and mentalities need to change.

I am glad she was able to speak her truth, and I am sure her story will resonate with many dancers. I'm sad to hear of her experience at MCB. It all sounded so petty and unprofessional from the company's side.

I am glad she was mature enough to recognize this was an unhealthy environment. It's scary to think how this could impact younger dancers, eager to make the big break and who will do anything, even if it means spiraling down.

Edited to add: she mentions 8 people left the company this year. Do we know who?

Slowly making my way to this new video. Like many, I am not a fan of the excerpts, but I suppose it's better than nothing.

I have absolutely no words for Tiler Peck and Joaquin De Luz in Tschaikovsky Pas de Deux. Out of this world. What a partnership, what dancers, what a performance. I wish this would stay online for ever so I could watch it over, and over, and over.