Marta

I've seen some of the Yakobson at Boston Ballet. I really like his work, but I thought BB's interpretation of it was just too pretty and superficial. There are some very good clips of his work on youtube.

As someone else wrote, I'm not terribly excited by their season. That's an understatement. I'm happy to see Balanchine, although not Coppelia as I just saw it at NYCB, and maybe the Forsythe. Conti and Nezha were two of my favorites at Boston and I'm sorry they've left. I really don't understand why, but perhaps they weren't getting the roles they'd expected to get. I'm interested to see Kapitonova.

I also am not a great admirer of Zakharova. I'm not even sure which DVDs exist at the moment, but I would vote for Makarova's Giselle or Swan Lake, the Vishneva or Ferri Giselle, Lopatkina's Swan.

I second that enthusiastically. I also like the Makarova/Nagy earlier performance although Nagy is danced out by this point.

I recently saw the Feijoo/Carreno clip of the BS coda you refer to and I was astounded by her backward hops en pointe. I really thought this was an interpolation and had no clue it was the traditional vaquita. Have to say I didn't like it although Feijoo was terrific. She was one of my favorite dancers at Boston Ballet.

Oh, come on! I don't think Fairchild is a classical dancer either, and I'd be shocked if he accepted such an offer. ABT should be promoting Hoven to principal.

I agree with Jayne, Mariangela. Zakharova is not a favorite of mine, but I thought she was very good in the Bolshoi transmission of Giselle a couple of years ago.

I prefer live performances but it is just not possible to see every ballet I want to see at City Ballet or ABT. I've been to several Bolshoi transmissions and a few RB ones. Some are great, some not so special, but all were worth seeing. I love going to the Met when I can, and also go to several Met in Cinema transmissions a year. They're not a substitute for being in the Met but they're wonderful.

True on all counts. Stearns is flat, Whiteside is too but differently--just not there. I saw a lot of W. in Boston and he was technically one of the most proficient. Are they principals in part because they're tall?

Thanks to Laurel, fondoffouettes and everyone else for reviews of the Lane/Cornejo DQ. So very sorry I missed it. Maybe we'll get a DQ with this duo next year. I noticed Katherine Williams in Bayadere last month and was impressed.

My choice for DQ would also be Lane /Cornejo. Unfortunately, I can't be there. I'm really looking forward to reading the opinions of those who saw it. I agree with what seems to be consensus on Boylston, although I've never seen her in a lead role. She just doesn't sing to me at all.

Aurora said: At least ours don't have Solor bearing his!! 😂 I really really really think that is a horrific look. You must be referring to the Maryinsky's man-bra look? I agree --it's bad, and laughable!

I think it's odd too. Despite cutbacks, they should at least have reviewed Lane's debut and Kimin Kim's performance. I saw Seo, Murphy and Kim. He gave a thrilling performance as did Murphy. Macaulay has said more than once that he dislikes ballet costumes that bare the midriff. I say get over it!

I haven't seen Hallberg this year. Has he retired Solor? I did see Kimin Kim's Solor last week. He was great, Gillian Murphy was thrilling as Gamzatti, but I thought Hee Seo was bland and overparted.

Canbelto said: I wonder how any of you would feel about Paul Taylor's works like Last Look, Death and the Damsel, Big Bertha, Banquet of Vultures, The Word, Speaking in Tongues? A lot of disturbing images in all of them. Or MacMillan ballets like Manon or Mayerling with a lot of adult themes? Even some Balanchine works have moments that aren't G-rated. Agon and Prodigal Son come to mind. Robbins' The Cage is not G-rated either. I've seen all those Taylor works and I don't think their disturbing images are analogous to the gassing image in Afterite. As I said earlier, I didn't see it, but the image itself is repellent. I don't think ballets like Agon and Prodigal or other works that are sensual, sexual or erotic can be compared. Just want to declare myself as completely against censorship, but alerts like "parental warning" are optional.

I didn't see the McGregor, nor will I ever see it. Frankly I am shocked that everyone isn't offended by the sight of anyone being gassed, especially a child.

For anyone who might not already know: Other sources for dance DVDs and VCs, both new and used, are eBay and Arkiv Music.

DREW said: I always liked seeing Hallberg but found his qualities as a performer a hint underwhelming until I saw him dance with Osipova. I thought those performances marked a breakthrough. He was surely focused like a laser-beam on Osipova every time I saw them dance together. The Bolshoi helped develop him further as a performer too. For myself, I have greatly enjoyed the beauty of his dancing--and do find that that sort of pleasure is hard to put into words. But, say, I admire not just the line but the silky quality of the movement, the line "in motion" as it were. I will admit I haven't always seen the quicksilver fluidity in his movements that I associate with, say, Anthony Dowell -- another "slight" dancer, legendary for his line to whom Hallberg is sometimes compared. "Does not have a beautiful face"? I personally find Hallberg's slightly angular and unusual face rather striking and, I would say, even beautiful. When he is on stage--which is all I'm concerned with--he sometimes looks to me like a figure from a Burne-Jones painting. I thought Hallberg was great with Osipova in Giselle in 2012. I would like to see them dance together in other works. I was not at all impressed by his Apollo. Interesting that you made the comparison to Dowell--they have a similar beauty of line. I saw Dowell long long ago in Bayadere. I appreciate Hallberg's unusual face. That he resembles someone from a Bourne Jones painting makes me smile. Very true! It sounds ridiculous even as I write it, but if he were an actor I think that face would be perfect as Hamlet.

Thank you for the update! Those are the two performances I saw, and I recall thinking that Evans was not looking good either time. Kowroski was magnificent. I liked Whelan too. Both women have a human pretzel aspect,. as did Watts, but to my mind, Kowroski had a more sinuous and sensual quality .

YES! I feel that you wrote exactly what I've been thinking. I can't be in NY for the Lane Bayadere or DQ, and what's available when I can be there is not appetizing. I'm almost giving in to the temptation of Kimin Kim in Bayadere, but I do not like Hee Seo. I can't help but wonder: Did they put these two together because they're both Korean and tall? So I might skip the whole season. One person here said they would rather see the typical ABT pairing of good dancer with mediocre than miss out on performances of the good dancer. I would do that if I lived closer to NY.

We saw the same Davidsbundlertanze then in the last 11 years. I love it! Maybe you won't be converted, but the film on youtube is fantastic: Farrell, D'Amboise, von Aroldingen, Luders, Martins, Watts, ... gonna stop here ...

My dates and memory are really off in what I said earlier: In the last 10 or 12 years I've seen Bugaku twice at NYCB. Once with Kowroski and once I think with Whelan. It is fascinating in terms of pure movement. After I wrote that, I knew something was off so I looked through some NYCB programs since 2000 - no Bugaku. The first one from the 1990s had Bugaku -- with Watts and Soto, 1993. Late period Watts . Maybe I imagined I saw Kowroski at some other time! I still think it's revivable. They don't do Davidsbundlertanze very often.

In the last 10 or 12 years I've seen Bugaku twice at NYCB. Once with Kowroski and once I think with Whelan. It is fascinating in terms of pure movement.

Yes, the new site IS worse! What a fiasco. What motivated them to do it this way? It's visually cleaner but is still crap.

Yes I remember all too well the cancelled performance on Balanchine's birthday. I had come down from Boston and was terribly disappointed. We were very happy when NYCB gave us a refund and we were able to see a performance that spring.