DC Export

So many debuts during the variations! Glad to see Dutton-O'Hara getting more opportunities.

And in the Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/28/obituaries/patricia-mcbride-lousada-dead.html

Does anyone have any photos of Pat McBride while she was dancing? My searches bring up mostly Patty McBride photos.

NYT Review has been published: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/23/arts/dance/apollo-taylor-stanley-review-new-york-city-ballet.html

3 hours ago, ABT Fan said:

An article in the Times about Stanley debuting in the role of Apollo.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/17/arts/dance/taylor-stanley-apollo.html?action=click&module=Well&pgtype=Homepage&section=Dance

I found the end-note a little troubling. City Ballet in jeopardy of losing a major talent because of the lack of clarity on the artistic vision? Could be author commentary.... but what if it isn't?

46 minutes ago, Emma said:

Interesting. While I think Segin is a lovely dancer and always appears to be so happy on stage, I had thought the purpose of the Levin award was to acknowledge potential in junior members of the corps. Perhaps the purpose of the award is changing now to award longstanding corps members to boost morale?

You may be thinking of the Wein award, which is given out by SAB.

6 hours ago, nanushka said:

Would you envision/prefer something quite different from the current designs, or just a freshening up? I've never thought of it as one that I'd want to see looking very different.

I think there is a way to freshen while still maintaining a tie to Karinska's original designs. My biggest beef is with the male lead's shirt, which I think looks like  an old-fashioned little boy's costume. Little Lord Fauntleroy style. That bow needs to go.

I think a more updated but romantic shirt is completely possible, see Kimin Kim's tailored bodice and flowy sleeves from the "Balanchine: the City Center Years" program last year. It maintains a similar collar style, but it's modern.

I hope they extend a redesign to Tschai Pas! 

I hadn't seen enough of Aaron Sanz to feel strongly when he was promoted last fall. But what a great sense of comedic timing!

Anyone know which dancers correspond to parts in Orpheus?

Anyone heard rumors on when the selection/announcement of the new AD will be?

Any reviews of the past week of performances?

Looks like they're bringing Adam Hendrickson (Rebecca Krohn's husband, former company member) back for Drosselmeyer. Did he do the role when he was still with the company? I don't remember any other guest artists apart from LaFosse the past few seasons.

If Danilova can restage (and improve upon) Petitpa's Coppelia, why can't Farrell restage (and improve upon) Don Q? Would that be a massive undertaking, yes. Is it likely to happen, no. But it would be nice

3 hours ago, yukionna4869 said:

I think Pereira is also getting more principal opportunities recently (Baiser, Coppelia, and Allegro Brilliante). The female ranks are just so strong that I find it much more difficult to discern what management thinks. I’m hoping Lauren King also gets more opportunities  I think her dancing is just wonderful.

I am still on the fence with Pereira. I've seen her more times than I can count, but I've never walked away from a performance and said "wow, she gave it her all." She just seems to stop at 75% instead of dialing things up as far as possible.

35 minutes ago, fondoffouettes said:

Did a new, expanded role for Farrell at the Kennedy Center ever materialize? The news reports from when her company was disbanded indicated she had been in talks with Rutter about it:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/theater_dance/suzanne-farrell-ballet-to-disband-in-2017/2016/09/21/c9877a2e-8025-11e6-b002-307601806392_story.html 

She may just have a rather full plate, between being a professor at FSU and whatever her role at the Kennedy Center is. But I'd love to see her invited back to NYCB, if she's interested.

I follow this very closely, as I'm local. I haven't heard even a slight rumbling of a new Kennedy Center-Farrell partnership apart from her annual "Exploring Ballet with Suzanne Farrell" intensive.

I enjoy the the historical aspect of many of his older posts (Kurt Froman is excellent for this as well), but Clifford's lack of self-awareness in his campaign to replace Martins makes me feel like I'm watching a train crash. I can't subject myself to that kind of cringe-worthy discomfort!

Per Brittany Pollack's instagram, Megan Johnson is also retiring after this evening's performance. 

I have been lurking on this thread since this whole situation came to light. I am a young woman and a survivor myself, and I say bravo to Macaulay.

I was all behind actions being taken to ensure that the facts are had (i.e. suspending Catazaro and Ramasar) before making judgement. But the firings seemed incredibly premature to me, and I am deeply concerned about the larger implications of "guilty until proven innocent." Lately it almost feels like we're leaning toward "guilty if accused," with flashes of Abigail Williams and John Procter.

With the male ranks thinning out, they're going to need to lean more heavily on the larger scope of the soloists and corps. I feel like we're seeing the same five men in every casting sheet and that is alarming, overwork= injury!  Hopefully Winter season yields more debuts.

28 minutes ago, California said:

Glad you have these wonderful books! I typically re-read her essays on specific Balanchine ballets before I see them again. She alerts me to things I would otherwise not notice in the performance. 

I do the same! I also read them when NYCB is on layoff and I miss the ballet

51 minutes ago, nanushka said:

The first and third week casting sheets seem to have been missing from the website all day — or, at least, the links on the "Casting" page haven't been working for me. (Week two has been there.) I get a page that says, "Sorry, the page you requested cannot be found."

This morning, both the 1st and 3rd weeks of casting were down. Now the 3rd week has been updated and posted, but the 1st is still down.

Did anyone else see La Freniere's most recent instagram post? Conspiracy theory:  pulled from Rubies because she'll be debuting in Diamonds instead? The comments from her colleagues don't have any "get well" "heal fast" etc. and she's wearing the Diamonds costume.

If memory serves me right, there were two rounds of apprentices in 2017, the first group (Andres Zuniga, Gabriella Domini, Nieve Corrigan, Roman Mejia, Darius Black, India Bradley, Mary Thomas MacKinnon and Gilbert Bolden) started with the company in the summer. The second (Jonathan Fahoury, Mira Nadon and Maxwell Read) started right before Nutcracker. I don't know about Fahoury and Read, but I think Mira just graduated from high school in May, this second group might be a little younger than the others.

18 minutes ago, fondoffouettes said:

Thank you for this! I was just trying to find music from Balanchine ballets on Spotify. It's too bad the NYCB orchestra never produced another Balanchine Album volume, even if the music is available elsewhere.

Glad I could help! I wish the NYCB Orchestra had more records as well-- it's been a huge challenge to find high-quality recordings in the right style, but I'll admit that listening to all the options that are available on Spotify to make the playlists is one of my favorite procrastination techniques at work  It's also a bit of a treasure hunt, since not every album is listed the same. It look me years to find the right music for NY Export: Opus Jazz and a veryyy long time to locate the right recording of the ballet sections from operas like Walpurgisnacht. 

10 hours ago, fondoffouettes said:

I really like Angle, too, and these qualities have been creeping into his dancing in recent years. However, it really crossed a line tonight, and for his own sake, I think he should have been pulled if that’s how he looked in rehearsals. Not to mention that it did a real disservice to the choreography.

I’ve often thought that he just doesn’t have ideal line from the waist down — thick, kind of bulky legs — but not that he necessarily has a weight issue. But tonight he did appear as if he has put on some weight.

It’s sad, but it may be time for him to hang up the white tight roles.

I saw Jewels in 2014 during NYCB's KC Tour, with Jared Angle in this same role. I had in my notes from that performance that he looked like he had eaten "one sugarplum to many," but I've since seen him in many other ballets and have never had  a poor impression of his figure again.  Part of me wonders if part of this impression might just be that the Emeralds costume is just unflattering on his natural build.