BalanchineFan

Well, IIRC that’s primarily how Unity Phelan spent her Nutcrackers until recently: lots of Hot Chocolate and a few SPF and Dewdrops. The posted schedule is just a draft. With injuries and Covid it remains to be seen how the season will actually play out.

I loved this symposium on Balanchine's Nutcracker. Alistair Macaulay moderates, Suki Schorer, Indiana Woodward and Unity Phelan talk and show excerpts from Nutcracker with a focus on SPF and Dewdrop. It starts about 3 min in. The dancing is JUST GLORIOUS!! Macaulay is his usual self.

I love Gilbert Bolden! What an unquenchable spirit! And so handsome in his Cavalier costume!

By any chance, do you remember where Peter Martins said it?

I'm not surprised that she thought it was a "complete disaster" OR that audience members found the performance lovely. Megan Fairchild writes in her book that much of her journey has been learning not to be so hard on herself. Was she the dancer who said of SPF ppd that there are "14 things that could go terribly wrong", she had counted them?!!!

Most of Pazcoquin's complaints were against Peter Martins. I cant' see how that would hurt her career at this point. The Fosse-Verdon crowd doesn't seem to have minded a bit.

There was one year Peter Martins cast 17 SPF debuts. I don't think he was as generous other years, but by then he had a full slate of women who had performed it once. He was interviewed in the NY Times and he said the principals could earn a lot of money guesting with Nutcracker elsewhere, and NY audiences didn't buy tickets for the casting, so he let the principals do their guesting. Ashley Hod and Claire Kretschmar were two of the 17 women who debuted that year, IIRC. I see Alexa Maxwell has a debut in Coffee. India Bradley in Marzipan. And Zoe Bliss Magnussen is out of Dolls. I hope she's ok! She had surgery sometime last year, (there were pictures of it on IG, or maybe in a NYCB newsletter) but she's been performing since then.

I see some $45 and $60 seats on weekends. I might get one. The prices always increase as we get closer to Christmas. Other theaters do dynamic pricing too. At The Joyce the tickets are cheaper the earlier you buy them. NYCB subscribers have access to Nutcracker tickets before the general public, too.

The article is lovely. I'd love to see them on the dance floor at any wedding. NYCB also released a screen test with Unity back in August which is incredibly charming.

If so, I will really miss Amar in Rodeo. Maybe Peck is just revisiting some of the lifts from that repetoire...

I love this list! I would add a few more that might interest people: Allegra Kent "Once a Dancer" Merrill Ashley "Dancing for Balanchine" Barbara Millberg Fisher "In Balanchine's Company" Francis Mason "I Remember Balanchine: Recollections of the Ballet Master by Those Who Knew Him" Joel Lobenthal "Wilde Times: Patricia Wilde, George Balanchine and the Rise of the NYCB" Alexandre Benois also wrote a fascinating memoir. I read it decades ago and haven't been able to find it since. [the book I'm trying to remember could also be by his son Nicolai Benois] He was with Danilova, Geva and Balanchine at the Imperial School and designed sets for Diaghilev. He has an amazing visual memory and describes elaborate processions during the Imperial Russian period with the different colors, flags and uniforms.

You can watch it yourself on youtube. I'm really enjoying it.

This is up on youtube for the next few days. Dancers from NYCB (Emilie Gerrity, Gilbert Bolden III, Miriam Miller, Adrian D-W and perhaps I'm forgetting someone) and Lourdes Lopez is on the panel with Alistair Maccauley and author Jennifer Homans. Part of Sanguinic (4T) and the ppd from Agon are performed.

Dorrance Dance has two weeks at the Joyce Theater this December 2022. Dec 7-Dec 18th! https://www.joyce.org/performances/dorrance-dance

I loved that piece. The romance of it, the costumes, the music. I thought it was so sweet and unexpected. But I love modern dance and have enjoyed many Tanowitz works. The Mearns-Fairchild duet (Joni Mitchell music choreographed by Christopher Wheeldon) was also on that program and it was great to see Robbie and Sara dancing together again. It seemed different without the original dancer, David Halberg. Robbie Fairchild has such a long artistic relationship with Wheeldon. The Afro-Brazilian company was also amazing, full of life and energy. Great music.

THANK YOU!

Does anyone know who is the blonde dancer in the duet with Cainan Weber in Love Letter?

My guess would be that Ulbricht couldn't make the onstage dress rehearsal due to a conflict with Twyla Tharp and he had already rehearsed the earlier section with his partner, Woodward. It's just a guess, but he starts performing with her company at City Center Wed Oct 19th. I'm sure NYCB has at least one, "must attend" onstage rehearsal with those massive costumes. They can't reschedule it, since it involves.. what 50 people plus the orchestra. If Ulbricht couldn't attend that one rehearsal TPTB probably didn't want him to perform that section. If true, the Ulbricht/Ball solution was a win for everyone.

Why do you think they have to pay for the rights if it's Balanchine's choreography? Paul Taylor didn't choreograph it, he was the dancer.

Phelan and Knight brought my companion to tears. Unity seemed even more assured, calm, regal and pure, no wobbles in the turns in the finale, though she does seem to open her leg front and then swing it side in when doing those particular pirouettes later in the 4th movement. Often the ballerina opens directly to the side (a la seconde) flat footed, but those turns are FAST. Both Phelan and Knight seem to be settling into it. I don't see anyone else becoming first cast. To me, it looks like the 2nd Movement is hers. The audience went wild. Overall it seemed like an ideal cast for the Bizet; Tiler Peck and Jovani Furlan in the first movement (though Joseph Gordon and Chun Wai Chan kill in this role), Unity Phelan and Alec Knight in the second, Baily Jones and Cainan Weber in the third ( I wish someone would tell her to keep her head up in the unison demi pliés they do on pointe, but it's a quibble) and Emily Kikta and Aaron Sanz in the 4th. Again, there were a LOT of incredibly well dressed African American people in the audience, the women next to me were in that theater for the first time. It just warms my heart to see Black people enjoying the ballet. I also loved Emily Kikta in Love Letter (on Shuffle). She's got crazy long lines. The ballet has a lot of duets, it didn't strike me at first, but there's a duet for Lister and Corti (I think it's Corti), one for Peck and Villarini-Velez, one for Harrison Ball and Jonathan Fahoury and another for Cainan Weber and a woman in a tutu ( a blonde, possible Mallory Lundgren). I wish they would break down who is dancing which section in the program notes. The Fourth Ring was crowded from what I could see. Lots of energy and excitement for everyone.

Yes! Congratulations all around. I think most of those young women were in the corps of Symphony in Three movements last weekend.

How to handle aging dancers is a big issue in any large company. I credit Balanchine for creating roles that can be performed during the many stages of a professional career, Vienna Waltzes having several of the "aging ballerina" roles. Unfortunately (for Bouder and other shorter, soubrette types), many of these roles were created for Suzanne Farrell and her particular stature and gifts. I remember being impressed by the repertory that was chosen for Darci Kistler's farewell. I believe she danced Movements/Monumentum, and while the piece has its angular moments, there isn't a lot of jumping around on one foot, something that often becomes difficult for older bodies. Kistler looked fabulous in that program. Maria Kowrowski also danced a number of Wheeldon duets (spectacularly!) as her career progressed, Liturgy and After the Rain among others I can't recall. I'm not suggesting Bouder take over that rep, just that the rep is key. I like to see older dancers treated with respect, the respect due their artistry, their contribution to the company and their humanity. They are often beloved by audiences, and showing older dancers off to advantage is a skill any choreographer should take to heart. The repertory of a large company should have roles appropriate for late stage careers. Perhaps more roles than NYCB has currently. Though, looking at it from the company's point of view, rep gets planned years in advance and you never know which principal will be coming back from injury at which time.

I'm so glad Roman Mejia is back onstage, in whatever capacity. He must be working through his injury. So sorry to have missed Robert Fairchild and Sterling Hyltin together in VW. She has been glorious this season. I saw her last Symphony in Three Movements (she got a solo bow) and her last Everywhere We Go. I particularly like her in those ballets. In Symph in 3 she has a brilliant attack matched with a matter of fact quality. It's like you're just seeing the embodiment of the ballet, clear, crisp and playful. She's not "doing" it, she just IS IT.

@Kathleen O'Connellthank you for such a complete reply! I do like the Odessa duet between Joaquin De Luz and Sterling Hyltin. It has a weird creepy-ness that cuts its sweetness. A lot is going on. I'm not sure I'd go out of my way to see another Ratmansky, but I may try harder to stay awake if one of his ballets "appears" on a program I'm seeing. Particularly to see if I can observe the references you've laid out here. Thank you! I'm a big fan of Crystal Pite, too.

What did you like about Odessa? And why is Namouna your favorite? I'm dying to hear.