Fleurfairy

Strange...

Can’t believe I’m missing this! If I were in the city, I would beg borrow or steal for a ticket!

With all the fouette problems in the company, you'd think these dancers would just stick to accomplishing clean, solid singles. Singles done well still look impressive and they are a lot easier than trying to throw in doubles and triples. At least, they were for me when I was dancing. I suppose Misty will do her menage of pique turns again this year.

What more can be said? Lane was transcendent. One of her greatest roles to date - that and Giselle. She keeps getting better and better when dancers in her age group start slowing down and showing signs of diminishing technique. She's extraordinary. Her partnership with Cornejo is truly special -- just chemistry off the charts. At bows, I was close enough to see that she was crying. It must have been a wonderful and momentous experience for her.

Agreed. There isn't room for Trenary/Brandt yet and there are principal women now that aren't getting enough roles. We'll have to see but I don't expect Murphy or Abrera to retire in the next couple of years. It seems like Abrera just made principal. As long as she is still able to do some of the easier roles, she likely will hang on as long as possible. And I expect Gillian will want to do a post-baby comeback like Maria K.

Carlos Gonzalez is another candidate for promotion, although he had to bow out of Corsaire due to injury.

This is why I did not get tickets. It didn't look in the previews like there was any actual ballet dancing.

Copeland announced on her IG account today that she is unable to do Whipped Cream due to "scheduling conflicts". I think Ratmansky is beyond her abilities at this point.

I would hope they'd have an understudy for Cornejo in regards to his full-lengths. We know Lane pairs well with Gorak. And I've seen her dance nicely with Hammoudi should the need arise.

On Sarah Lane’s Instagram story, she posted a shot of counts for the Jane Eyre “wedding scene”. What part could she be playing at the wedding? I can only imagine some sort of corps part since none of the other major female characters in the book were at Jane’s wedding.

I’d rather see a return of Cinderella and The Dream. Getting burnt out on the Ratmansky to be honest...

This is fabulous. I am so happy for her because god knows she's worked hard enough and wanted it more than anyone.

Nice to see Abi Stafford getting a Balanchine debut as well.

My guess is Copeland was having a hard time keeping up with the demands of the choreography.

The common denominator between all three companies is Messmer. I don’t think she is someone that will be happy in traditional company life. She doesn’t seem to work well with others, quite frankly. One gets the impression that she wants it to be The Simone Messmer Show.

Wow. Someone thinks very highly of herself.

She is getting to the age where ballerinas are retiring roles. It nice to see her acknowledge that younger dancers deserve their place in these roles.

NYCB seems to be having the same problem as ABT right now - a dearth of male principals (or lead role-ready males). ABT most needs shorter males to go with Lane, Copeland, Trenary, and Brandt. NYCB needs tall males, especially because the Angle brothers are nearing retirement and looking out of shape and Veyette has been phoning it in for several years now. Much more development and training is needed in the pipeline for both companies.

I think this happens quite a bit. They are wunderkinds and seem like shooting stars and then end up going nowhere. It's like college football players who win the Heisman and then they get to the NFL and are a bust. Sometimes crazy extensions and 9-revolution pirouettes just do not translate to company life or artistry.

Yes, the slide is one of those magical moments that fits perfectly in The Nutcracker. Even after seeing Balanchine's version 100 times, I'm still struck by the effect. After seeing that Collier/Dowell version, I understand why they eliminated the scarf trick. She looks very unsteady. It was probably too difficult to pull off while looking effortless.

Yes, agreed. I will rephrase and say she is pulling away from her Principal dancer position and concentrating more on choreography and modeling projects.

Judging from the past several seasons, it seems like Lovette is pulling away from NYCB. It would not surprise me if she left the company altogether, let's put it that way.

Henson was good - not as whiz-bang as some but he was secure and got a nice applause. As far as the rest of the performance tonight: Lecrone indeed subbed in as Dewdrop for Reichlen. Lecrone was technically very good but the real joy and exuberance Dewdrop should have was absent from her face. My eyes were drawn to Miriam Miller as Lead Flower. What a gorgeous presence she has. Alec Knight was an absolutely hilarious Mother Ginger. The audience loved him. Ulbricht was fantastic in Candy Cane as usual. I was very impressed with Woodward as Marzipan. She has a lovely quality. What more can be said about Tiler? She was pure perfection as Sugar Plum. The fish dive at the end got a huge roar. Gordon seemed very secure in his partnering. Not one teeter the whole Pas de deux.

One does get the impression from her Instagram posts that she's frequently teetering on the edge of certain failure or disaster. Whether that is all in her head, or if she really is declining in strength and ability is the question. I haven't seen her perform in many years so I can't make that judgment myself, so I'm always interested in reviews from audience members.

I had already bought tickets for the 4th so I lucked out and got Tiler Peck and Joseph Gordon.