BalanchineFan

This may be helpful for those trying to identify particular dancers. It's an SAB story highlighting the Capstone (graduating) class of 2024.

https://www.instagram.com/stories/sab_nyc/3389582070919511128/

I was at the rehearsal for Workshop on Friday and I think Kylie Vernia danced Dark Angel then, too. She's tall, long limbed and has auburn hair parted in the middle  - does that describe the dancer you saw? Becket Jones danced the soloist in TPC2 then, which makes me think it was the same cast you saw. Becket is easy to identify with her pale blonde hair. Very strong technically. She does a nice series of fouettés in Serenade. The dancers are so good. I still have my programs from other workshops and a lot of talent, even dancers NYCB hires for apprenticeships, is in the corps de ballet of these programs.

Kylie Williams looks to be of Asian descent, perhaps Chinese. She may have danced Russian Girl at the rehearsal, but there was no program.  That dancer was excellent. Great jump, quite musical. Edit: I now believe it was Jaiya Chandra.

Serenade seems particularly well chosen for them. So many women's parts, so many small solo and duet moments. It was originally choreographed on students in a similar stage of life. 

I was there Saturday evening and I heartily agree with everything you said @cobweb !

According to the program, Becket Jones, Alexander Perone and Kylie Williams will begin apprenticeships at NYCB this summer. Becket danced a lead in Serenade, I think the role is Dark Angel. Alexander danced the ppd in Scenes but not the evening I was there. You may have seen him, @cobweb (a SAB employee sat behind me that evening and said one page of the program had the afternoon's cast listed).  They were all Mae L Wein awardees and so had bios in the program. I’ve heard there may be more dancers who have NYCB apprenticeships but nothing in official, forward facing media. 

Other students were invited into Carolina Ballet and Ballet West 2. Others are going to Columbia University, Fordham and other colleges. It was a fun, celebratory evening with beautiful ballets amd LOADS of young talent. 

On 6/2/2024 at 4:58 PM, abatt said:

I was hoping that Alston MacGill would make it out of the corps,  Maybe next season.

Judging by how long it took for Alexa Maxwell to be promoted to soloist that’s unlikely. Maxwell had had a great success as The Novice in The Cage, danced leads in Copeland Dances, Fancy Free, and Voices, MSND’s Butterfly, demi in the Bizet and a few other Balanchine demis, if I remember correctly. Still, Maxwell stayed in the corps for nearly a year with all of those roles. 

I haven’t seen MacGill lead anything except a movement of the Bizet.  She danced Butterfly and demi in 4T and a few other demi-soloist roles (please remind me). She’s a lovely dancer and she’s being given opportunities but I’m not surprised she hasn’t been promoted yet  

12 hours ago, harpergroup said:

Prior to the bows from the soloists and principals, Jackie Bologna got a solo bow in front of the corps at this afternoon’s performance, to great applause from her castmates and some of us in the audience.  And after the final “in-front-of-the-curtain” bows, there were huge cheers and applause from the stage.

I saw that too! Jacqueline Bologna danced the Divertissement (6 couples) and took a quick solo bow when the company was onstage Sunday. I thought it meant that she was leaving the company.

1 hour ago, grandallegro said:

NYCB Usher here...hopefully I can answer some of the questions about late seating satisfactorily for those concerned.

Kudos to you! That is an all important job, and I know first hand that you all do your best to keep things running smoothly.

One of my first jobs out of college was to usher and the (then) State Theater. I later worked at the Metropolitan Opera House. I loved it, except for the rude patrons.

1 hour ago, nanushka said:

Interesting, the reminder email I got on Wednesday for my performance this weekend included the following statement:

LATE SEATING POLICY

New York City Ballet has a No Late Seating policy. Latecomers will be seated at pauses only.

Many of the pauses are short, and many in the audience are slow (and have a long way to go to find their seats).
Some start at the right time but don’t realize that the slowest (and most annoying) part is when all the people who got there on time have to stand and let you into your row. 

Sara Mearns danced beautifully tonight. Full and radiant, daring at times. I love the spritely quality of Taylor Stanley’s Puck and the incredible technique that Anthony Huxley displays in Oberon’s solos. The whole production is so delightful. I go numerous times, every year they do it and I still laugh at all the jokes and leave floating on air.

Emilie Gerrity and Aaron Sanz are developing quite a partnership. I remember their connection dancing in DAAG, and now their Hermia and Lysander (who wore a blue vest and red-ish tights). Mira Nadon and Peter Walker (all in red) were a good pair as Helena and Demetrius, though she far outshines him. The cat fight between Hermia and Helena was also very well played, including Puck carrying one of them off overhead, struggling and kicking her legs. 
 

Mostly, I love Balanchine‘s command of all the elements; fairies, adults, children, love stories (and lovers’ quarrels) and the magic of it all. 
 

The guests from Miami City ballet were lovely. He seemed a bit more at ease than she did. (With his nice, clean quadruple pirouette!) Perhaps it was his experience dancing on this very stage as a child. 

9 hours ago, abatt said:FYI,  a NY Times puff piece on Mira which gives her high praise (well deserved)

Mira Nadon, a Once-in-a-Generation Dancer at City Ballet - The New York Times (nytimes.com)

Thanks! What a nice article. Nadon says so many things that remind me of Suzanne Farrell. I also thought the Darci Kistler connection was interesting. 

It strikes me that many dancers have molded themselves after Baryshnikov, but there are far fewer who have followed in Makarova’s footsteps. (Or perhaps it’s just that way at NYCB!). What a singular and inspiring artist she is!

7 hours ago, volcanohunter said:

Other Dances is not based on Polish folk dancing any more than Balanchine's Tzigane/Errante is based on Roma folk dancing. It isn't based on Russian folk dancing at all. At best it is based on quasi-Polish dancing from 19th-century ballets, in which neither choreography nor costumes were authentic.

I meant that there are moments that reference such dancing. The flexed foot. The crossed arms, the tapping of the foot behind the dancer. The rhythmic stamping at the beginning of Baryshnikov's first solo. Baryshnikov and Makarova had experience with those movements and it evoked something from their shared past.

Thank you both! 

Was anyone at Midsummer? At the rehearsal today there was a Repertory Director that I didn't recognize. It wasn't Deena Abergel, or Arch Higgins. Not Kathleen Tracy, Glenn Keenan. or Lisa Jackson. I don't think Rebecca Krohn was there, and this wasn't her either. It was another woman, she seemed about the same generation as Wendy Whelan, who lead her to the orchestra mid-rehearsal. She has shoulder length brown hair and looks to be post-menopausal.

Susan Pilarre was rehearsing the company in Symphony in 3 movements earlier this season. Rosemary Dunleavy doesn't seem to be around at all. I hope she's not ill. 

12 hours ago, Marta said:

@Mary Mellowdew Makarova was 36 and Baryshnikov was 28 in 1976.  How I would have loved to see them in Other Dances!

Both were TRULY in their prime. There must be a good film of Baryshnikov and Makarova because I can’t imagine I saw them in person.

I thought Murphy and Bell were lovely in this and so different from NYCB. It seemed more courtly. The bows in the middle of the piece seemed emphasized. One barely noticed them with Peck and Mejia. It was more like a hand off - ok, your turn rather than -and now, my esteemed colleague.

When Makarova and Baryshnikov danced it, the folk dance elements came out more. I always had the feeling they knew exactly which Polish or Russian folk dance was being referenced, and even which national dress the folk dancers would have worn. 

Other Dances has never struck me as a love duet. Originally it seemed to borrow its meaning from the two original dancers; two expats, two exiles recalling the culture of their former lives. There’s a wistfulness to it. It’s always interesting to me to see what other casts can make of that. Where they find the drama and the subtext.

On 5/25/2024 at 2:20 PM, SingerWhoMoves said:

i have never seen Love Letter so am unfamiliar with who dances what but it seems last night Oilivia Bell DID dance Quinn Starner’s role?   I believe it was Olivia who danced the very featured part while Quinn was just in the corps.  Taylor Stanley was just fantastic in this

Here is Quinn Starner in Love Letter. I can't see how she would be confused with Olivia Bell, but I don't know who danced what on the evening in question.

https://www.instagram.com/stories/nycballet/3376620806661087352/

9 hours ago, vipa said:

The upper rings are closed for many performances. Midsummer Night's Dream is pretty much sold out. 

I was at a Donor's Preview for the 24-25 season and Wendy Whelan told the audience that the full length ballets sell out; Swan Lake, Midsummer, Coppelia, Nutcracker. I wonder if that was always true, even back in Balanchine's day.

On 5/22/2024 at 11:33 PM, cobweb said:

Did Ulysses Dove do any more worthy choreography that is extant?

Dove danced and choreographed at Ailey. They may still perform his work. 

He had a fascinating career. He also danced with Merce Cunningham, worked with Anna Sokolow and studied at the Kirov at one point. 

2 hours ago, abatt said:

I see that Mearns was replaced in Pictures last night by Nadon (per casting list).  Mearns was also replaced on Tuesday by Nadon in Mosaics.  If anyone goes tonight I would be interested in knowing if Mearns appears in This Bitter Earth.  Mearns had no appearances last week.

Mearns rehearsed Pictures yesterday (donor rehearsal).  I don’t think she was out due to injury. 

Edit: Sorry, that was last Thursday that Mearns did the Pictures rehearsal. Ratmansky was at the rehearsal last Thursday 5/16, but not this Tuesday.

Gilbert Bolden just posted video of he and Mira Nadon rehearsing Bizet 2nd Movement!!! 

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C7T6qHkA0Lb/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

7 hours ago, abatt said:

Loved Kikta in Love Letters.  I wish they would cast her and Peter Walker in Glass Pieces.  Their long lines would look great in Glass Pieces pas. 

OMG, Kikta and Walker would KILL in Glass Pieces!  What a great idea.

3 hours ago, Drew said:

I find the pas de deux between Stephanie and Rudolph problematic precisely because it's so visible that she is working hard to keep the choreographic action going even though that action is supposedly depicting her abuse at Rudolph's hands--in particular, she keeps running towards him even though he is raping her.   It undermines the whole thing for me. I am far from a die-hard Wheeldon fan and, on the whole, I rather admire Mayerling, but for me the big Stephanie=Rudolph pas de deux is not a strong point in the latter ballet.

(The women characters in Wheeldon's story ballets often have considerable agency and, in my eyes, are hardly just pliable play-doh choreographically. I haven't seen any of his non-narrative works--even on video--in quite some time.).

I've never seen Mayerling, but I know the history and her running towards him seems completely in line with what happened. She was in love with Rudolf. They were on his country estate. She couldn't walk home or even call a cab. And he was paranoid and possibly delusional. There are a lot of reasons she would be running towards him, even if it eventually led to her murder. Or maybe I'm thinking of Maria Vesteva.

22 minutes ago, volcanohunter said:

The point is that Wheeldon's women frequently look passive in their duets.

Whoever dances Princess Stéphanie in Kenneth MacMillan's Mayerling is working awfully hard, but what the scene depicts is marital rape on a helpless victim.

 

I feel certain I got your point.

I agree with you that the passivity (This Bitter Earth, After the Rain, etc) and the violence (Mayerling) is there. Unquestionably. I just like it, from the audience as well. In certain ballets. High drama. It's on the spectrum of ballets I enjoy. 

And those are great roles to dance. Vive la difference.

Or maybe I don't understand. How do you feel about the Ivesiana piece where the ballerina is held aloft the entire time?

If you wouldn't poison someone, would you object to dancers playing Carabosse in Sleeping Beauty? Do you feel that way about other choreographers' ppd with passive women, or is it just with Christopher Wheeldon (and MacMillan's Mayerling)?

14 hours ago, volcanohunter said:

A hundred times: yes!

I'm at a loss to understand why a ballerina would want to dance this (or the After the Rain duet or DGV) and be turned into an acquiescent pretzel. Totally raises my hackles. 

I would love to dance any of those ballets and This Bitter Earth, too! There's a lot of partnering. I agree with the assessment that the woman is carried around a lot and doesn't LOOK like she has agency, but the woman works plenty in partnering. It may look passive, but if you were truly passive no one could get you off the ground, much less hold you up with one arm! Try lifting a baby that doesn't want to be lifted. They go limp and it's impossible.

Being partnered can feel like flying.

I enjoy This Bitter Earth, but I don't have to look at the video to recognize that everything you say about it, @Kathleen O'Connell is true. Many of the Wheeldon ppd are like that.

Herman Schmerman, by contrast, has so much more going on. Competition and camaraderie among the dancers, surprises, rather than one idea drawn out like an exhalation. It's enlightening to hear Tyler Angle talk about Forsyth's approach. Thanks for the links.

I love the clips of Law of Mosaics, but I'm still finding my way in that work, and I am a modern dancer. I find myself just watching the dancers and their bodies and the shapes they all make, coming together, moving apart. Mearns and Bolden seem to have a ppd rhythm going at one point, where they gesture to the other after their solos.

11 hours ago, deanofdance said:

Just a few thoughts on this afternoon’s performance:

2) This Bitter Earth — the artistic ember that was growing in Unity is now a small flame — it’s there radiating.  There was real emotion between her and Andy — a connection — they were so attuned to each other — and playing out a drama.  Eloquence. 
3) Love Letter — Today’s performance was a bit different — it seems that Takahashi danced one of Taylor’s solos — I mean, there was KJ dancing a long solo on stage with choreography that I don’t recall him doing before — but since he moves so differently than Taylor, it didn’t register until later that he must have been given one of Taylor’s solos.  KJ was wonderful — giving butch realness (kidding, but you know what I mean!).  I kept looking at Olivia Bell — who with her movement was shouting out that in a just world, she would be dancing Quinn Starner’s role.  But Ballet is like Life — it isn’t fair (well, not all the time).

Jonathan Fahoury debuted in Love Letter, Taylor Stanley didn't dance it in its premiere season. (I think Stanley was busy with Copeland Dances, or something), so I don't see how KJ could have danced one of Taylor's solos. The piece always featured a large number of dancers. I agree Olivia Bell looked great in it, and I think, in time, she'll have a larger role in many ballets.

I think Love Letter looks better the more I get to know it. It's possible the lighting was brightened up in a few places. The dancing is stellar all around. The duet between Ruby Lister and Naomi Corti still shines, KJ is amazing, Quinn Starner equally so. Did anyone else remember that KJ and Quinn had a ppd together in their SAB workshop, whenever that was?

If you have PBS Passport, I think it remains available there, too.