BalanchineFan

Ooh, maybe LaFreniere is doing the role Maria Kowroski did!

ooh, the Partita looks fun. Can't wait to see the whole thing.

It's possible he had an injury in there at some point. I think I remember him being suddenly taken out of a few things (which indicates injury, imo) but I can't remember when. I think he has often danced the second man's part in Mozartiana, to acclaim.

So is it the tutus that makes you feel the men should have hair?

I would watch Joseph Gordon cross the street! Happily and attentively. Yes, on Mozartiana, yes on anything else. Put him in! I don't see what baldness has to do with dancing ability. Tyler Angle is not playing a "young prince", except for Swan Lake, and is it... impossible that a young prince would be bald? Not to my mind. I also love seeing older dancers in roles. I will admit I saw Nureyev dance several times. As he got older he was difficult to watch because he seemed to be in pain landing his jumps. THAT was not comfortable for this audience member. Pain onstage is never a good look. It doesn't in any way apply to Tyler Angle, though. I thought both Angle and Veyette looked great last season. I was surprised, but happy to see the bald head. Better than the toupees many men wear, imo. I think ballet needs to loosen up on many of these preconceived ideas of what is "appropriate." I've even seen/heard people remark negatively on dancers who had gotten tan and were appearing in Diamonds. I'm Black, and it made me wonder how they felt about dancers who are naturally "tan" or people of color. Are we supposed to think that they're not appropriate for Diamonds, either? An abstract ballet. Going further... Must all the white swans be white people? Or... Should only Black women dance the Black Swan? (That would certainly upend a lot of casting worldwide!) Maybe the ideas (anti-baldness and color-ism) are separate for some, but they seem connected to me.

Tiler Peck can bourree with the best of them. It might be interesting. I used to think of her as Ms Sunshine, but she's deepened considerably over time. I saw Suzanne Farrell do it back in the day, and her (performing) ghost looms nearly as large as Balanchine's over Mozartiana. She was otherworldly. And you never quite knew when the spirit would catch her. The phrasing and her choices were so spontaneous, different each night. She FLEW across the stage like a wind had gotten hold of her. And I still don't know how you could be reaching up so high to commune with ... the higher spirit... and end up in such a deep backbend.

I know! I'd love to see Unity Phelan in Mozartiana. Also, the website is screwed up. Feb 10th has a link for the open rehearsal of Nutcracker. Pretty sure they're not having an open Nutcracker dress in February.

I wonder who will be cast in Mozartiana. Maria Kowroski used to dance it. I've seen Sara Mearns and Sterling Hyltin dance it. I hope there's a debut... but who would it be?

They should rid themselves of all the Peter Martins choreography asap. The Swan Lake is an awful production (just my opinion) and the costumes and sets are also horrendous. The primary colors need to go. I'm excited to look at the changes. I have Covid at the moment, so it's doubtful I could have seen the first week anyway. I would LOVE to see the Balanchine Swan Lake!

Olivia MacKinnon had a clip on her IG doing Swan Lake with Sara Mearns in the studio. They were only doing the variation that has goes entrechat quatre- passé. Sara had on dark sweat pants and a baggy top, but her footwork, and arms are impeccable. IMPECCABLE. So Mearns is in the studio. https://www.instagram.com/p/CYMx0h5BEud/ Isabelle LaFreniere was working on Diamonds awhile back. I'd love to see Unity Phelan dance Diamonds. Or Miriam Miller. NYCB has no shortage of the leggy types they usually cast in that ballet. Emilie Gerrity, Emily Kikta, Mira Nadon... but I'd really like to see Unity do it. It seems to be right in her wheelhouse. Watching her Sugar Plum Fairy this winter I kept being struck by her glamour. Each SPF has her own personality, and Unity has glamour in abundance. I could go for Diamonds with some glamour.

Tiler Peck has video on her IG saying that she's making a debut in Rubies. Don't know which evening, of course.

I have a small pair of binoculars that I always bring. They work better than opera glasses and still fit into my evening bag. They have a wrist strap.

Maybe the partnership with Seo is a place to start, then. I agree, he has a great deal of charisma. I hope the new AD will address some of these guest artist issues. What you describe wasn't always the case. I was a huge fan of ABT in the late 1970's and 80's. Baryshnikov and Makarova started out as guests, IIRC. So did Gelsey Kirkland and Rudolf Nureyev. For me, the point would be to have a continuing, growing relationship with any guests, so that partnerships, artistic relationships, inclusion in new works, etc might be part of the "guesting" package eventually. And to look for artists who want to build on the connection with ABT.

there is a special code and subscribers can get Nutcracker for "just" $14.99. The code is SUGARPLUM25.

Kim is a fine dancer and perfect for the role of Basilio. He seems to dance with quite a bit of ego (just my opinion) and if he guests again, I hope they integrate him into the production a bit. I would like to see him develop more of a relationship with the dancers at ABT. I thought his Solor was very "guest-y" as in here I am, here are my tricks, aren't I great! rather than furthering the storytelling or making the audience feel anything other than awe. Great dancer, great potential, not quite an artist in this setting. Just my opinion, and it could change at any moment given what Kim does the next time he sets foot onstage. Sorry to hear about James Whiteside's injury. He's chronicling his recovery on IG, for those who want to follow.

I had planned to see Nutcracker again this season, so here's the next best thing (barring a subscription to Marquee TV). From the 2011 broadcast, stellar cast,(M. Fairchild, De Luz, Bouder as DewDrop, Reichlen as Coffee, Ulbricht as Candy Cane) you can even read Megan Fairchild's account in her book The Ballerina Mindset. Watching Tiler Peck's Marzipan made me wonder, who is the best Marzipan you've ever seen? Peck (here) may be le ne plus ultra for me.

MUCH smaller casts all around for Winter. They might even be able to get dancers back into pods. There are so many more covid work-arounds when you go from a cast of 60 to .. say 12 dancers and minimal sets for a single evening. And no child lives alone, whereas many adults do. Single Adults are more able to limit their exposure. i’m praying for a Winter season, can you tell?

I'm so sorry they had to cancel performances. I hope everyone is ok. It seems I got there just in time. I saw the Sunday 5 pm show. It was really fantastic. I have a friend performing in another show the NY Times article mentions. They had been hoping to resume A Christmas Carol on Dec 27th, but I guess that's finished now, too. I hope everyone is safe and healthy wherever you are! Keep those masks on. They work.

Unity Phelan performed the Swan Lake ppd (white swan judging from the pics) in 2018 at Vail with Corey Stearns. Phelan often seems to emphasize her legato lines but she's capable of speed and great allegro attack as well. There's a section in Nutcracker where she starts upstage left, something like soutenu, pas de chat, soutenu, pas de chat, etc. and her attack and clarity are remarkable. Watching her dig into the beginning of the Agon ppd - there's footage of Agon on Phelan's IG (2017?) she's worked on it with Heather Watts over the years a lot - also gives me hope for great success in SL. I just hate the Martins version, however. https://www.instagram.com/p/BmWMsX_jrPd/ https://www.instagram.com/p/BXJewyujYew/ Also, I agree about Megan Fairchild. Someone should vote her this year's SPF MVP.

No, I saw Emily Kikta as Dewdrop. She was gorgeous, as was Phelan as SPF. Phelan brings a lot of glamour to the role, dancing fully and authoritatively. Harrison Coll was the Cavalier. (They did beautiful shoulder sit jumps for those who are keeping track). Kikta was a real highlight, the role and the jumps showcasing her long legs and her clarity of movement. Roman Mejia did not dance Candy Cane. KJ Takahashi replaced him and David Gabriel (an apprentice, I believe) took over for Takahashi as Tea. Both were great. I was happy to see Alexa Maxwell in Tea, and also Ashley Hod and Christopher Grant leading Hot Chocolate. The only time I noticed that the children were older (taller) was during the Angels scene. They seem to have the world's shortest, smallest 12 year old playing Fritz. Anyone looking for debuts, they are likely to be announced right before curtain as replacements. So, so many dancers have done so many different Nutcracker roles over the past weeks and years I'm surprised there are still dancers that have NOT done the roles. If you debut 18 women in SPF any given year, it's got to reduce the number of possible debuts for a while. I remember Kathryn Morgan saying that there were about 14 things in the SPF ppd that could go terribly wrong. She didn't list them, but every so often I wonder if I, myself, could make a list, just based on watching from the audience and what ballerinas say in interviews.

I think there are photos of Phelan doing white swan at Vail. Probably just the ppd.

In case you missed it, here's an interview with the many current NYCB/SAB ballerinas who have performed both SPF and Dewdrop https://www.nycballet.com/discover/stories/sugarplum-dewdrop/

I thought we could post anything that is public facing. I also think IG clips are short enough that there's no infringement. Roman Mejia posted the end of his and Tiler's Nutcracker on his own IG. Spectacular! Not sure if I've linked it correctly. https://www.instagram.com/p/CXj_mo3gROZ/ Roman Mejia

Well... Furlan's SPF partner Ashley Laracey only has two SPF perfs and the second one is Christmas eve. Maybe Furlan wanted to go home for the holiday. Or maybe they want to give Russell Janzen another performance. It's a huge company with loads of talent. Even with 60 odd Nutcracker performances not everyone is going to get a debut. Plus, I wonder if the principals are more eager/available to perform in NYC having had a year without Nutcracker. Travel and guesting has got to be much trickier this year, even though some dancers are managing it (Phelan, Woodward, Kathryn Morgan, etc).

I'm not a huge Nutcracker fan and the only production I ever went to night after night (the seasons when I could) was Baryshnikov's when ABT performed it in D.C. And that was almost exclusively because of Kirkland's Clara which remains one of my greatest ballet-going memories. The video, lovely as it is, doesn't begin to capture the wonder of her performance and, in fact, I believe it was shot before she had ever danced the ballet on stage. Moreover her Clara was full of subtle variations from performance to performance even when dancing with the same partner. And she danced it with a few different partners including Dowell and Cragun. But I don't think of her as dancing the Sugar Plum Fairy--I think of her as dancing Clara. SPF? I'm the person who wrote that their favorite Sugar Plum Fairy was Jenifer Ringer. I do have mixed feelings about Balanchine's Nutcracker even now in part because of the placement of the SPF variation at the very beginning of the second act which, to me, undermines some of its magical impact. (It's as if Odile came on at the beginning of Swan Lake Act III before the ball was even underway and performed 32 fouettes there and then. (I exaggerate...a little...to explain my feelings.) Yes, I agree, Kirkland danced Clara, not SPF. I only saw the film and I feel like it changed the course of my life. Anyway, I remember you posted about Ringer as SPF. I wish I'd seen her. I don't think I've ever seen her dance except for a YouTube video where Violette Verdy or maybe Damian Woetzel is coaching a few people at City Center studios. Personally, I don't mind the SPF's early variation because I love her waving her wand at the little angels so much, but I understand your point. @Helene and @JanLevNYC, sounds like you saw just about everyone! I would have loved to have seen Darci and Lourdes in particular. I saw them dance other things that were amazing (I have vivid memories of Kistler as the 2nd lead in Walpurgisnacht and Lopez in Stravinsky Violin Concerto).