liebs

I think it is important ot remember that it is not just salaries that make up the cost of a dancer. There is also insurance, union benefits, shoes and many other expenses per person. So a larger company is more expensive.

I understand it will be out at th end of January as usual.

I took class from him when I first came to NYC, back in Richard Thomas's school on Broadway. Sometimes I would get free tickets to ABT from a friend and we would go together. He was a wonderful man.

jenny somoygi, alexandra asanelli, carrie lee riggins, and ellen bar all had children's parts in NYCB's Nutcracker at one time or another. Several of these ladies can be seen in the film version.

It was done with an office type rolling chair - the conceit being that Baryshnikov was "too old to dance." Charming but not a lot of content. I don't think I have seen The Real McCoy since the 70s, so can not be too specific but Croce has a great description of it in her first book.

David Gordon has done many delightful pieces with chairs, including Field, Chair and Mountain for ABT in the 80s. And Feld did a peice for Baryshnikov with an office chair to music by Leon Redbone, I think.

And if you will allow me, I want to mention Feld's The Real McCoy to music by Cole Porter. It featured a chaise and was a magical little ballet. He wore a bowler and there was a dance wit canes for the men.

Most of the principals will be in DC for a week at the Kennedy Center in December. Does that help you?

We can all agree that the dancers are good. But program A was dreary and long. The films add nothing to the evening and even seemed a little sophomoric to me and don't really add to your understanding of what you see on the stage.

I was amused to see the box in Softly - a device that Elizabeth Streb has used more interestingly for the last 20 years. And hearing the same Arvo Part music that Wheeldon uses in After the Rain made the evening seem really enclosed in some kind of dance world bubble.

I did enjoy some of Commedia and Bolero but that was not enough to make up for the disappointment of a very poorly constructed evening.

BAC is very far west and there is not much near there. I would stay in Times Square or on the upper west side. You can walk to BAC from Times Square and from the upper west side, you can take a subway to 42nd Street and 8th Ave and walk to BAC.

The other choice would be the New Yorker Hotel in the West 30s but I don't know how nice it is.

If you read "Dance is a Contact sport' about NYCB in the 70s, they refer to the corps as kids ever then in Balanchine's time. I agree that it is disrespectful but Martins did not invent that phrase.

I think that Flack will come to learn that every work place is a disfunctional family.

I think it is interesting that you view the choreography as thin. There are no bravura variations or a grand pas but the group dances were wonderful, I thought. And some the eccentric solos like the male slaves in scene two or the goats in scene three are little gems.

Ashton's work is certainly very different from Balanchine or Petipa but I was struck by the sheer inventiveness of much of the choreography. Ashton sets the steps on the music very uniquely and sometimes I felt that both the corps and Murphy needed more inflection and musicality in their dancing to bring out all of the details in the steps. I was very taken with all of the petite allegro he uses and how the same steps, for example sissones, mean something different depending on which character dances them and how they are set on the music.

It is nice to have different kinds of work on view, which appeal to a wide range to audiences, I think.

you should have no problem putting it under your seat

I saw Barocco on Sunday and also enjoyed Reichlen's performance and Ellen bar, who has made great strides over the last two seasons. But the revelation of the afternoon was Jenny Somogyi in the Verdy part in Liebslieder. She showed a depth of feeling and lyricism that I have not seen from her in past. The whole performance of this ballet was beautifully done.

The company has been dancing very well this season and all of the performances I have seen this season have had some extraordinary performances. i feel lucky to see NYCB on a regular basis.

Irlan is a charming young man. I took class with him some months ago at Steps and was impressed by his talent and modesty.

Scotch is a Balanchine classic and DSCH is oneof the best new ballets I've seen in awhile.

And then there was the NYCB performance of Ballo in which Robert Weiss snapped his Achilles tendon and hobbled off stage leaving Merrill Ashely to finish the ballet alone. Happily he was able to dance again. But later that same evening in Fancy Free, one of the beer mugs broke and the dancer playing the bartender went off stage, got a real broom and dustpan and cleaned it up. It was a lively evening.

I believe that principals are paid on a per performance basis, so the effect on the budget is somewhat different.

When I saw Catoya do the ppd in Symphony in 3 Movements a few years ago in Miami, she was positively kittenish and adorable, which I found strange. Whelan, Watts, Leland and others I've seen at NYCB were more serious and other worldly, which I prefer. It seems a better reflection of the music.

I saw Ringer last Sat night and for me, she is the gold standard SPF. She was very well partnered by Jared Angle and the ppd got well deserved, tumultuous applause. Surprisingly, the children's work in Act I was sloppy, although I liked the spunkiness of the little Marie.

Just off the top of my head:

ABT:

Reyes and Salieve (sp?) in Tudor's R&J pas de deux. - Best

ABT's failure to stage Tudor's R&J in its entirety - Worst

Mixed bill at City Center showing ABT looking good enough in Tudor, Taylor and Balanchine but not excellent in any of them. - Disappointing

Halberg in Ballo - Best

Wiles in Ballo - Worst - she's just not a Balanchine dancer - too earthbound

NYCB

Woetzel's farewell and Ulbricht's debut in Prodigal - Best

David Protas in Flower Festival at Hubbe's final performance - Best

Bouder in mostly everything, Abi Stafford showing more depth and spirit than ever before - Best

Rutherford as the Girl in pink at the Dancer's Emergency Fund benefit - Best

Kowrowski as the Siren - Best

Mearns' development as an artist - Best

Some programs in the Robbin's Festival, which showed how limited his choreography can be - worst

Biggest disappointment

The Kirov at City Center. I may be alone in this but I found most of the dancing extremely mannered and lacked spontaneity. I was not convinced by their take on Balanchine - too square musically. I thought the men were mostly weak (with the exception of some soloists). I liked some individual dancers but the performances, except for the national dances in Raymonda, were just no fun.

I remember seeing Graham's portion when it was revived at NYCB. It was not her strongest work and appeared very dated next to Balanchine's ballet, which seems to me to remain ever modern.

However, Peter Frame did the Taylor solo at some point and that was fascinating. I believe Taylor coached him.

When I was young girl, I went to London with my ballet teacher and we saw Nerina and Blair in Giselle. She was wonderful and I still have the program from that performance.

Arlene Croce has a long essay in one of her books, which was written when the piece was revived with the Ashley, Cook (who was memorable becuase of his flexibility), etc. cast.

I've always seen the lifts at the end of the ballets as planes taking off from an NYC airport run way. The ballet is so dense that I see something new in it every time I watch it and I've probably seen 20 or 30 times at NYCB.

Caroline, I am going to be in Spain in early January 09 and have been trying find out if the company is performing then. And if so, where?

I understand that the estate of R. Strauss denied POB the right to use the Rosencavalier music and NYCB only has those rights for the USA. Thus the change of ballets.