BalanchineFan

The people I recognized in order (with blanks): Peter Martins (in orchestra seating), Jonathan Stafford, woman in red dress, man in blue suit, woman in purple sweater, woman in black suit with trim (probably his early ballet teacher Olga Kostritsky), Susan Pilarre (white dress w big red flowers), Indiana Woodward, Megan Fairchild, Unity Phelan, Sterling Hyltiin, Maria Kowroski, Alexei Ratmansky, Tyler Angle, Adrian D-W, Joseph Gordon, man in black pants & white shirt (probably a NYCB dancer, Sean Suozzi?), Jared Angle, Daniel Ulbricht, woman in pink dress with Wendy Whelan (white pants), Harrison Ball, Zach Catazaro, Peter Walker, woman in dress, Sebastian Villarini-Velez (w flag), Megan LeCrone, Chun Wai Chan, Justin Peck, woman, J-P Frohlich, Ashley Laracey and Troy Schumacher, Jovani Furlan, Preston Chamblee & Emily Kikta & Isabelle LaFreniere, Emilie Gerrity, Ashley Hod, Kathleen Tracey & Lisa Jackson, Dena Abergel, woman in white pants/black shirt, Sara Mearns, Andy Veyette, Clotilde Otrano, Gonzalo Garcia & Joaquin DeLuz, Alexa Maxwell, 3 family members, person in black, red headed woman, Marika Molnar (as glitter begins)

The performance was sublime. I was in the first ring wondering who Amar was jumping out into the audience to embrace. Glad to know. It was a great farewell performance and the house was, indeed, full of love and admiration, up to the Fifth Ring. He was so warm and full of energy with people, doing dance steps with Ashley Hod and again with Joaquin de Luz and Gonzalo Garcia. He's one of my favorite dancers and will be sorely missed. Marika Molnar (the brilliant Physical Therapist) was the last person to come out after what I'm assuming were Amar's parents.

My question was directed at absolutely everyone! And thank you for the terrific replies. I, too, love Davide Riccardo and am watching closely to see how he develops. He danced a nice Agon a few weeks back!. Roman Mejia is a shoo-in for principal and international star of the ballet, imo. I miss Lydia Wellington and wish her the best in Monte Carlo (or wherever she goes, forever). I also love to see Mira Nadon onstage. She always seems fully in control of what she's doing. Fully realized, fully formed, completely living in the ballets she dances and expanding their possibilities. I am thrilled that Amar (and NYCB) have found a way for him to dance tomorrow, in some part of Midsummer and I'm really looking forward to it. This season has seemed like a changing of the guard for NYCB. With Reichlen's retirement (following Kowroski, Lovette, et al), Bouder's injury, Mearns partial absence, and Hyltin's announced retirement there have been a lot of opportunities for "next generation" women. It's been exciting to see what that means more precisely. Who is ready to take on which roles, and how they have fared. NYCB has always had an abundance of talent, a deep bench as some say, and a willingness to throw youngsters into the spotlight. The time is full of possibilities.

So, Mejia was Oberon and Schumacher was Puck? I was just wondering, what qualities a dancer should possess to make you feel they should be promoted? Do you have a particular criteria in mind when you (each of you) start to clamor for the promotion of one or another dancer? For me, I don't care if dancers fall. I'm interested to know what happened on a given night, but falls usually indicate energy and commitment to doing something exciting. Other times it's just a weird mishap, an unexpected bit of sweat on the stage, or the like. I want to see dancers that make me want to watch them more than other people onstage. Dancers who command with their presence and phrasing. Dancers that somehow take you on a journey throughout the ballet. Yes, they should technically fulfill the choreography (be in the right place at the right time doing the correct steps, feet pointed, etc), but I feel you have to WANT to watch someone. They have to be interesting and hold your attention. Often it's because they're dancing big, but it could be delicacy, subtlety, how they connect the steps, how they surprise you or an engine whirring away in their gut, something less tangible. Additionally, In boxing people refer to boxers "hitting above their weight class" and I think it applies to promotions. When I'm consistently excited to see someone dancing onstage, when they have blown me over in a wide variety of ballets over a period of time, when they are consistently excelling in the repertory and workload of a higher rank I start to think "PROMOTE." What makes you want to watch a dancer? What makes you think they should (or should not) be promoted.

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Well, for the record, I think highly of everyone who had to do that and is now back succeeding in their chosen profession, unusual or not. I also think everything about the pandemic is unusual.

I have to say that I am enthralled by Indiana Woodward and Harrison Coll all the more knowing they had to move out of NYC and in with her family during the pandemic.

NYCB furloughed A LOT of people during the pandemic and my guess is that some of them ran the online casting sheet. Depending on how it's set up, it might not be easy to update, or the people work by the hour, or the contract didn't take multiple changes into account, and what with all the changes due to Covid and injury I'm sure they're doing the best they can. Laziness? Really? They need one of those boards, like Broadway shows, where you slip in a plank with the understudy's name on it. I myself have a website that cannot easily be updated. I could make a new one, of course, but it's been several years of me waiting to have the time. I saw Veyette on Sunday in Midsummer, soft landings to all his jumps, clean turns. He looks better than ever to me.

I think all of Megan Fairchild's Midsummer performances are next week. Please correct me if I'm wrong. She's not a likely Titania, and they've got enough women for the Divertissement (T. Peck, Sterling Hyltin, etc) to get them through the first weekend. Her IG said she did her first performances back from injury in Copenhagen. Mira Nadon was aglow in Summer in Four Seasons. Fully formed, phrasing and sensuality. I went Friday and also loved LaFreniere and Phelan in Piano Pieces. Peter Walker was great with LaFreniere. He's really bulked out (for him) into a danseur noble type. He was super skinny and (just my opinion) insubstantial looking before. He really inhabits the stage now, and the last moment of their duet when he offers LaFreniere his hand was quite moving. Alec Knight also drew my attention favorably. Lots of changing of the guard. I feel so badly for Amar. I have tickets today and to the last performance. I hope he's healthy and can do it safely. He's been dancing so very well. I wonder if they give any thought to having variety in the principal ranks. One review of Violin Concerto mentioned how Phelan and Laracey are similar (i don't agree, but they're certainly more similar than Mazzo and von Aroldingen). Maybe certain dancers are overlooked for principal because they are too similar to other principals. There was a lot of diversity of style and look during Balanchine's day. You would never confuse one dancer with another, not based on how they looked, not based on how they danced. I think that's a good thing to develop in a company, a way of treating the audience to more. Still, I vote for Emilie Gerrity, Isabella LaFreniere and (soon) Mira Nadon for principal.

I'd like to wish you a warm welcome, @springnemesia and congrats on not being a lurker. Glad you can take advantage of the $30 under 30.

For a theater that seats 2500+ audience members I wouldn't think a handful of comments here constitute a quorum, no matter how knowledgable we are. Many people work office hours (10-6, or even 11-7 pm) and would have trouble making a 7 pm curtain. Some want to dine beforehand, too. I do like the 7:30 pm curtains, but mostly I go to the ballet on the weekends when I can choose a matinee and get home during daylight. I work early.

Thank you for the account @MarzipanShepherdess!! I wish I could have been there. I think Orpheus is a ballet that could use additional coaching. Many writers have commented on how its impact is not what it was in other decades. I've often found Euridice's death mishandled by the way things work with the curtain. I remember seeing it in the 80's and it was like the curtain billowed and she disappeared suddenly, tragically. Recent viewings have been less dramatic (once I could even see the people pull her under the curtain) and it makes me question whether other... nuances, shall we say, have been lost. I'n not sure i've seen the ballet since the pandemic, but I'm looking forward to seeing it this weekend.

Any thoughts on Unity and Amar in Agon? Wasn't it her debut in that role? Has Joseph Gordon danced Apollo yet? He would be my next pick!

It's knocking people out like bowling pins. I was at a Broadway show over the weekend and two understudies were on for actors with Covid. I think the cases are fairly mild, thank goodness.

I was delighted a few years back to see Balanchine's Harlequinade. I'd never seen it. It's family friendly, there are even roles for children, IIRC. There's a drunken dance for some sailors on leave and two great leading roles. I hope it gets revived again. Not sure if it could take the place of Midsummer in anyone's heart, but very delightful and not performed that often.

They have SAB students performing Scherzo a la Russe which added to my enjoyment. I missed Divert 15 and 4T when they were performed and I've been dying to see them. [I had to go out of town]. I'd go regardless of programming, but I'm dying to see some of the larger ballets, the Bizet, for instance. I also miss Liebeslieder,

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I was wondering if it was Ramasar’s last performance of Violin Concerto and that was the reason for the extra bow. He and Phelan were great, tho! I always wish I could see Pulcinella variations without costumes. They are beautiful but so distracting. You can’t see any of the dancers lines. Unison movement is even hard to distinguish.

The problems with Los Angeles Ballet are not entirely separate. It seems there was a prominent socialite (possibly Nancy Reagan, but I think it was someone else) working against Clifford telling her wealthy friends not to fund him. That woman (whose name I can't recall) didn't like that Clifford had declined to choose her pick for ... something; a management job, a choreographic commission. The details escape me, though I read the book a few months ago. In any case, I can see how he would present it as he did, and how a newspaper or magazine would present it in a different way. I find his IG feed displays his healthy ego, in the book it is somewhat tempered. The only issue I had was how he writes about the Suzanne Farrell situation. He seems willfully blind, and to overestimate his understanding. He obviously has not thought through the events from her point of view (maybe no man of his generation is capable) and thinks that because he was there, or nearby, physically on the day she gave her ultimatum and left, that he has "valuable" insight. He doesn't. His views serve as a counterpoint to what's useful, and proof of the need for further education.

Yes, I was there Friday night. Wendy Whelan sat behind me. Also, yes, Balanchine's Firebird is a costume festival at the end with the kids running around offering those quilted plates of food. All of the Chagall designs are amazing, breathtakingly gorgeous, but by then it's just music and decor, not what I call dancing.

A friend said the Scherzo costumes “prove that horizontal stripes flatter no one.” The ballet is pleasant but not so substantial. It was nice to see Taylor Stanley and Brittany Pollack. Anthony Huxley and Miriam Miller look great. There are nice formations but it feels slight. Symphony in Three Movements is wonderful. I had bought the ticket specifically to see Sterling Hyltin. So Ashley Laracey wasn’t my choice, but things happen. I always wish I could coach Ms Laracey, or give her relaxation exercises. She still looks tense and a bit frozen in her face. I thought Erica Pereira looked good, sharp, clear, energy out her toes. Something weird happened on her first entrance. Did anyone else notice? She seemed to get lost in a crowd of the white leotard girls, but she got out quickly. I love the ballet. Daniel Ulbricht, Harrison Coll and Megan LeCrone were also very sharp. I would go again if Sterling recovers. And LaFreniere is ready!! Her Firebird was great.

The way I read it is that she asked for those things in March 2020 when she first decided to retire. Then the pandemic changed everything.

I am a dancer. I've had a 40 year career that I take pride in. I've performed in theaters on three continents (including the NY State Theater). I've taught dance and performance on four continents. I have found that expecting others to give you something (even based on your past accomplishments) is a path to misery and suffering. Life is like surfing. You get knocked down nearly every run. You are the only one to decide if you'll get back up. It's no one's fault and blaming others is a waste of your own limited time and energy. Is that how you want to spend your precious time ? When Lin Manual Miranda won the Tony for writing Hamilton his acceptance speech was a sonnet that included this line: That nothing here is promised, not one day It's true. For instance, the dancers I worked with in Kyiv are currently backpacking towards the border with their kids in tow. Or dead. Anything can turn your life upside down at any time. So, the idea that we are promised something, is just the set up for heartache and disappointment, misery and suffering. It's a difficult lesson, but most people are calmer and more content when they engage with it as a lesson, as something that is our individual responsibility to manage. I sympathize with Abi Stafford, probably more than you understand. Retirement is definitely an emotional crisis. But it's not the only one. A full life includes crises.

I think that discussion was moved to this location. The whole retirement grievance thing reminds me of a Lincoln Kirstein quote that I found when I had first joined a dance company. I'm not sure what book it was, but it must have been a collection of his writing, or a history of NYCB. I was struggling, unexpectedly and deeply, and what he said put my situation into a very helpful context: "entering a professional dance company is a crisis in any career, equal in its severity to the moment when a dancer feels he or she must retire. Both are the ultimate facing and stretching of responsibility and personal possibility." Lincoln Kirstein I think these dynamics get played out again and again in a large company. Every dancer faces it, deals with it, each in their different ways. There are films about retirement (Jack Nicholson and Robert DeNiro come to mind) and dance documentaries; Merrill Ashley and Wendy Whelan docmented their retirements. It's a crisis even when the dancer/management relationship starts out fairly harmonious.

I see your point, dancer wise, but I don't think it's good programming to end an evening with Orpheus. Agon is a better ending ballet. I don't think Eurydice dances much in the first half of Orpheus.