BalanchineFan
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You've probably seen this elsewhere but.... This was the first of three weeks of NYCB'S new Digital Season. More to come.
Interview and rehearsal of Prodigal Son
Prodigal Son by George Balanchine
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Though I wished they had also shown Maria Kowrowski working with Christina Clark, I got a lot out of the coaching session. A few examples: the intricacies of dealing with the cape on those slow bourrées upstage on the diagonal, as the Siren threads her arms through the cape ending with her back to the audience (and the cape, hopefully, beautifully draped behind); the section where the Siren has the cape wrapped around her legs (head in profile, alternating with whatever epaulement the ballerina likes); the image of the dancer's two heels peeking out to the side, making a heart shape with her pointes in fifth as she raises her outstretched hand up behind her headdress. They weren't dealing with images that tell the story of the character, but it drew me into the movement much more fully. I can imagine (and see on Clark) if I were doing such a specific, tight fifth on pointe, how it changes what is happening in the upper body too. It shows a fierce intention in seducing the Prodigal Son.
In general, I really love seeing rehearsals. It's something I've missed during the pandemic. Normally, patrons would be in the First Ring unable to hear anything the coaches are saying to the dancers. It's such a rare opportunity to hear them! NYCB generally approaches things from a physical point of view. They don't sit around talking about the characters' motivations. It's fascinating to see a coaching session on a narrative ballet that is really ALL about the physical aspects and how they STILL tell the story. And finishing with Maria was WONDERFUL.
Personally, I don't think the comparison with the City Center series (which I also enjoyed) is quite fair, since those ballerinas had been performing the roles for so long. I got the feeling Lisa Jackson didn't want to overwhelm Ms. Clark and knew they had more time. The coaching for City Center had the sense of we're-never-going-to-see-each-other-again-so-let-me-pass-on-every-single-thing-I-know. Perhaps that is more exciting for a non-dancing audience.
Can't wait to see Christina Clark dance this with Roman Mejia!! She looks perfect in the role, and I can only imagine how great Mejia will be.
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On 12/20/2020 at 10:25 AM, canbelto said:
I think it will be a "special event" that only subscribers will get tickets to but they're holding off on selling.
I suspect subscribers will get the first option on buying tickets to "special events" but they eventually open up to the general public unless all the tickets are sold. Kowrowski's farewell will certainly be popular. As a non-subscriber I got tickets to Wendy Whelan's farewell in the 4th Ring.
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On 12/20/2020 at 11:56 AM, GB1216 said:
Speaking of subscriptions, curious to see what people have opted for (standard vs. flex, which programs?) I haven’t gotten a subscription in awhile but want to this year to support. My friend and I are likely going to buy one but back and forth on what to choose!
I bought two of the weekend subscriptions. I wasn't too careful in picking because, as a subscriber, you have the right to exchange tickets for another performance. For me, that's easier than doing a flex subscription.
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On 11/29/2020 at 9:35 AM, California said:
More Nutcrackers than I can digest in the next month!
- Amazon Prime: Included: Baryshnikov, Slovak National Ballet + several more with a charge or another subscription
- Netflix: Dance Dreams: Hot Chocolate Nutcracker (documentary with Debbie Allen)
- Medici (offering a one-year subscription for $51!): Mariinsky (with Somova and Shklyarov); NYCB (with Fairchild and De Luz); Staatsoper Berlin (1999)
- DirectTV: Czech National Ballet
- PBS: local stations are airing local companies in Boston and Colorado -- are there more?
- Marquee.tv (it overlaps so much with Medici in Ballet, I decided to skip it for now - $60/yr on a new subscription): NYCB (Kowroski/Angle); Royal Ballet (Hayward, Cuthbertson, Bonelli); Moscow Ballet
- Disney+: No Nutcrackers that I can see. I'm thinking of a one-month subscription to see Hamilton and the SAB documentary series
I enthusiastically recommend the SAB documentary, On Pointe. It has casting for Nutcracker and the performance process, and follows a number of students, quite young - D class, through the 2019-20 school year. You see a couple of young women receive their apprenticeships. It's a very positive look at the school and the students' pride and joy at being there.
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On 12/14/2020 at 3:10 PM, canbelto said:
The Merrill Ashley interview was wonderful. Loved her reminisces about the Bolshoi. Also about her relationship with Balanchine, and how she found out she was promoted (a pay raise). I think this interview is different because Merrill was sort of Meghan's mentor so there's this respect there and the interview doesn't wander off into tangents.
I was also interested in Merrill's reminisces about how she never got to do the "easy" ballets like Serenade or Concerto Barocco. Merrill is so intelligent and has so much to offer that I hope she flies up for coaching even though she now lives in Florida.
Merrill Ashley is just a treasure! I hope she continues to coach for NYCB as well. I seem to remember seeing her in the audience when one or another dancer debuted in Sanguinic in 4T, and I'm sure she did some coaching then. They should make use of these great dancers who worked with Balanchine before it's too late.
I also thought her remarks about support for the apprentices were salient. I hope someone follows up on that in some way. It's possible that more is currently being done for them than happened in her time (apprentices are usually at least 17, routinely finish high school and even college during their careers, for starters) but I can't imagine it would be expensive to give everyone a mentor, or a "buddy" to look out for them. There's a lot more support at the school, now, too.
On 12/14/2020 at 2:26 PM, Phrenchphry11 said:In particular, it was interesting hearing about Martins' opposition to individualized coaching... curious for more about that. In particular, it seems like a good number of apprentices wash out, and Ashley seems to have pushed for a company with more individualized mentorship/coaching that never came to fruition. Wonder why.
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They have added 24 hours of streaming so Wethersfield Nutcracker is still available! Until Sunday midnight Eastern Time, I believe. It's well worth watching if you haven't already, and very inventive, imo. The setting is a large house and grounds in Wethersfield (CT or NY) one might presume. I found the use of the different rooms and grounds quite compelling. You never knew exactly where you were going to be led next, which room, which snowy field. The theatricality of it and the music are amazing before you even get to the dancing.
Claire Von Enck dances the Doll in the First Act. Sara Mearns is the Sugar Plum with Tyler Angle as Cavalier. The dancing and choreography is just beautiful. I found myself bursting into tears (actual sobs) when they reveal the stage for the divertissements. Troy Schumacher captures the majesty of Tschaikovsky's music in this film, revealing the different set pieces and elements slowly and carefully. Maybe I was crying for all that has been lost during the pandemic, but it was such a lift to see those dancers in full costume and pointe shoes after all this time, and to be made to wait a bit for their dancing artistry. I found the whole thing to be imaginative and well produced. Kudos all around.
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On 10/26/2020 at 10:59 AM, KikiRVA said:
Do we know if the dancers will be paid during the cancelled seasons?
They won't be paid regularly, unless something changes. From the interviews it sounds like the dancers were paid two weeks rehearsal to make the New Works Festival pieces this fall. NYCB might be able to do something similar in the spring or summer, but it won't be ANYTHING like months of steady rehearsal and performance pay. From the New Yorker article about the making of the New Works Festival.
"The couple had given up their New York apartments, and the next day they were flying to California, to stay with Woodward’s parents. “There was just no way we could pay our rent without a salary,” Coll said. While furloughed from the company, they would collect unemployment, or maybe teach remote dance lessons. “I’m from the city, and I’ve never lived anywhere else, so it’s weird for me,” Coll said. “When the company has stable employment for us, we’re going to be back in a flash.”
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2020/11/09/how-new-york-city-ballet-took-on-the-pandemic
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3 minutes ago, vipa said:
I so agree with this. There were years when things were really dismal at NYCB. A certain blandness set in, in the performances. I started to go to see ABT more! Then something happened. I too remember Ansanelli bursting out, followed by a stream of dancers who had technique, musicality and imagination. For whatever set of reasons, NYCB became thrilling again and has stayed that way. Now we're in a situation in which the dancers are losing more than a year of performing, and new leadership is trying to settle in. I hope for the best. We'll see.
I am loving the new leadership. They don't have a lot to work with, due to the pandemic, but I'd be lost without the digital seasons, and I think the intent of the programming has been quite good. I would never blame producers for a few dud new ballets, especially under these conditions. There seems to be a lot of creative energy around the company which is different from the 1990's. Hearing the way Justin Peck spoke about NYCB as his "home," (and of his responsibilities to NYCB's dancers) after Stafford mentioned all his outside projects and acheivements was another positive indicator.
It would be nice if they'd promote a few dancers, though. I wonder if finances play into the decision not to promote during the pandemic furlough.
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19 hours ago, Quiggin said:
Balanchine's work went through an iffy period in the 1990's when it was thought that the repertory might be lost due to bad management and deteriorating quality of performances – maybe Helene and others remember. There was lots of press and soul-searching from Arlene Croce at the New Yorker and elsewhere.
Balanchine's success in America – and ballet's – was in part a result of the cold war, when the US and the Soviet Union were competing in the arts. There was money from the Ford Foundation for ballet (as there was from the Rockefeller Brothers (&CIA) fund for MoMA to send abstract expression paintings on tours of Europe). LIncoln Center was built as a showcase for the performing arts and City Ballet became the resident dance company.
All of that was a big boost to establishing the Balanchine company. Plus there was Lincoln Kirstein as a full time advocate. Ashton may have had the devoted dancers to carry on his legacy but there was no institutional backup.
Drew's point about Macmillan eclipsing Ashton in the way Robbins works may have overtaken Balanchine's is a good one.
[I was typing this as Helene was posting her response.]
OH, I remember that period in the 1990's quite well. It was so depressing to see the state of NYCB at that time. I stopped going. Still, during that time, SAB kept on turning out excellent dancers, many of whom went to dance with ABT and with regional companies, enabling them to perform the Balanchine rep well. SAB is another institution that kept the Balanchine legacy alive, as Helene notes. Those SAB dancers go all over the place, taking Balanchine's approach with them.
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8 hours ago, Drew said:
Ashton's oeuvre may not be quite as large or wide-ranging as Balanchine's --it's hard to know in part because of the way it has been handled since his death, but it's a substantial oeuvre that includes a number of masterpieces plus other secondary but still very fine works. Even the greatest of these ballets are not danced as regularly by the Royal Ballet as one would imagine. Seasons go by without the company staging even one of his full length works, and more than a decade has gone by without other important works being brought to the stage.
In the meanwhile, the company treats Macmillan on a par with Ashton if not indeed as someone who super-cedes Ashton in shaping their style and approach, and major Macmillan seems to be more regularly performed than major Ashton. (My "side" has long since lost this battle, so I suppose I should give it up...but the defeat still baffles me.) I personally thought Macmillan's influence was all over Scarlett's Swan Lake--which I saw live--and also all over his Frankenstein, which I only saw on tape. From my perspective, It's as if Robbins became the most dominant force and influence at NYCB; I know people love Robbins' work, and some probably enjoy it more than Balanchine's--it certainly has influenced choreographers such as Peck--but does the company, as an institution, consider him more important to its history than Balanchine? I don't think so.
@Ashtonfan has written on this site about how the Royal Ballet was not founded by De Valois to be a "museum, " which is why premiers etc. are so important, but also making it harder to keep up "heritage" work in repertory, especially as the repertory grows. (I hope I've summarized correctly.) But the idea that Ashton's work wouldn't be a priority for the Royal--as much as Petipa in St. Petersburg or Bournonville in Copenhagen (I know, I know--that's not faring too well either) or...Balanchine in New York has been dismaying to me. His works are revived, but much less often than one would imagine--whole seasons pass by with next to nothing or, most recently, "oh, in the Linbury studio there's a little heritage evening for the ballet nerds. You can see Ashton there." (I exaggerate the tone, but not by much.) [...]
[Premiers are important. My ballet going passion was partly reignited this century by seeing Namouna at NYCB! But even if I put aside the original context of my comments in this thread (which was what I want to see NYCB dance in the immediate post-pandemic), I have to admit that the idea that New York City Ballet doesn't now have a duty to its past which it didn't when Balanchine founded it seems to me wrongheaded. And I don't think that's at all controversial. Nobody on this thread is saying "dump Balanchine" just as nobody is saying "Dump premiers." But ballets can be lost; heritages can be run aground; dancers' techniques can change in ways that impact their (neo)classical dancing etc. That's why the Ashton example seems pertinent to me. Anyway, it's a longer topic...]
Thank you for responding! I get your point, and thanks for the education. I don't think that Balanchine's work is, or will ever be, treated that way at NYCB. The new works we're seeing online are a response to the constraints of the moment, albeit a looooong moment. And if people were a tad concerned seeing dives into the pavement in Andrea Miller's work, the danger of anyone having to do hops on pointe ON PAVEMENT as you might see in Symphony in C really precludes them performing Balanchine's work outside during the pandemic.
After a walk in Central Park this weekend, what I'd like to see is a spring season at the Delacorte Theater, maybe chamber ballets that were originally created for City Center (Allegro Brilliante, Agon, pas de deux and smaller casts). It's outside in Central Park. The Delacorte typically has Shakespeare in the Park, but there must be a way for the theater to be shared, or opened up earlier to more performing companies. The audience could bundle up and the dancers would be moving.
@pherank Have you seen Mearns in the Molissa Fenley solo State of Darkness (to Stravinsky's Rite of Spring) at the Joyce? I think it's still available to stream (for $13) through Nov 7th. Better than her taking out the trash and about 35 minutes long.
https://www.joyce.org/stateofdarkness
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On 10/27/2020 at 11:25 AM, nanushka said:
Do we know that NYCB dancers are indeed laid off (i.e. without pay) until summer?
The New Yorker article says that Indiana Woodward and Harrison Coll moved to California to live with her parents "
The couple had given up their New York apartments, and the next day they were flying to California, to stay with Woodward’s parents. “There was just no way we could pay our rent without a salary,” Coll said. While furloughed from the company, they would collect unemployment, or maybe teach remote dance lessons. “I’m from the city, and I’ve never lived anywhere else, so it’s weird for me,” Coll said. “When the company has stable employment for us, we’re going to be back in a flash.”
It's worth a read
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2020/11/09/how-new-york-city-ballet-took-on-the-pandemic
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On 10/29/2020 at 10:05 AM, KarenAG said:
Oh, so sad to hear this but I’m not surprised. Maria’s artistry has grown deeper and more beautiful as she has aged. I do hope she can have a live farewell performance, but I am not encouraged at this point. Keeping my fingers crossed. My favorite memories of her dancing at SPAC are her stunning performances in Firebird, Diamonds and Titania as well as many other roles.
They have scheduled Kowroski's live farewell performance for Sunday, October 17, 2021. They have yet to announce the pieces that will be on the program.
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56 minutes ago, Quiggin said:
What worked for me photographically in "Thank you, New York" is that the backgrounds were "ordinary" and visually calm and the camera moved slowly and in parallel with the dancer. The equivalent of small stage and proscenium was created most of the time (Mearns' scene in Chinatown was handheld and had a different value). They were all one-shot take scenes which seems to make a big difference in immediacy.
Reminded me slightly of Fred Aistaire's solo in the original Penn Station, "I'll Go my Way" in the Bandwagon or one of many Gene Kellys.
I agree about Thank you, New York, though I also really loved the moment where the camera comes up behind Georgina, showing her looking at the Met, and then the camera pivots to show the view West, while she turns towards the camera. Her arm gestures emanate away from her heart as if she's expressing her love for New York in an attempt to embrace the city. It was interesting to me that the Mearns section was filmed so differently, but, for me, the big payoff was the turning montage and her finishing flat on her back.
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43 minutes ago, cobweb said:
"Thank you New York" has actual dancing, which some of the other new works completely lack. So thumbs up for that. But I don't know about Jonathan Stafford's new look. I didn't recognize him at first. Has he lost weight? Downvote on the mustache.
I don't like Stafford's mustache either. The interview was good, though.
I thought Wendy and Justin were the best interviewers, and Justin the best "interviewee". What he's trying to do as a choreographer is so specific and so deep. Plus, he knows NYCB dancers, the classical idiom, the Balanchine rep, and is interested in so many other kinds of dance.
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On 10/30/2020 at 4:25 PM, Drew said:
Nobody is saying “no new ballets please” ....I (and most others posting here) know some fair part of the history of the company and I personally have admired many new works premiered at NYCB. [...]
([...] I still think it not unreasonable to be especially looking forward to Balanchine post pandemic and post digital. If I were to enter a more far-reaching discussion about the company’s future, then I would add I also do not think it alarmist to prefer NYCB not treat Balanchine as the Royal Ballet treats Ashton....which has had an absolutely deleterious effect on the Ashton repertory.)
The thing with new works is that you never know how they're going to turn out. Some are good, some bad, it's a given. No one wants to watch a lot of bad ballet, but the process can be interesting, and the bad ones are usually quickly forgotten. I always thought that was part of Balanchine's meaning when he gave a young choreographer the advice, "make a ballet, then another, then another, then another, then another, then another, (etc) and then maybe you'll make a good one."
Sure, I'm dying to see 4T, DAAG, the Bizet, etc live and in person. Until then... what's good and interesting to watch now? What speaks to the issues in my life today?
I'm jumping around with the responses. I would add Lauren Lovett's Not Our Fate to the list of new ballet keepers. I don't consider it on the level of Everywhere We Go or The Runaway, or most ballets on that excellent list posted earlier, but I'd be happy to watch it every few seasons.
@Drew what is it you're saying about Royal Ballet and Ashton? I don't follow them well enough to understand what happened to the Ashton rep or how they were treating it.
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7 hours ago, Buddy said:
I almost feel compelled to mention this again. It relates directly to the dancing that we’re seeing here. It might be its best example. It’s related directly to NYCB in that Sara Mearns is dancing. It’s a great chance to see her with David Halberg. It’s some fine Christopher Wheeldon new choreography and it’s almost 15 minutes long.
“The Two of Us” is to four songs by Joni Mitchel. It’s part of New York City Centers two programs and it will disappear at the end of tomorrow, Sunday.
All those ‘jerky abstract’ moves that, for me anyway, sometimes work great, sometimes don’t, are somehow combined here with soulful romance and made to really work. Don’t ask me how.
It builds as it progresses and Sara Mearns and David Halberg are a darn good reason why.
It’ll cost you $15, but it’s for a good cause.
It’s part of Program I and it starts at 36:40
https://www.nycitycenter.org/FallforDance
I'll second that, Buddy! Fall for Dance was fabulous, though I loved the Calvin Royal solo even more than the Mearns-Hallberg duet. (The titles of the dances aren't coming to me presently. I was introduced to Kyle Abraham, who choreographed the Royal solo, through NYCB, so I feel it's connected to this thread.)
I was also so energized and moved seeing Justin Peck's new film with Jody Lipes, Thank you New York. I particularly loved the Taylor Stanley and Georgina P sections. Seeing the camera move and show all those different views from the Rose rooftop was stunning, plus the dancing! They do really move! Hearing Peck and Lipes talk about the work is also fascinating. The story of this moment, this city, these dancers, this New York. I'm about to watch it again.
My other highlights were the Andrea Miller (including those fish dives into and across the pavement!!) and seeing long limbed Russell Janzen standing in the long lines of the side of the Met. Balanchine understood that new works are what make dancers. Justin Peck talked about that responsibility, his responsibility to the dancers ("his platform"). New works aren't just for the audience or the audience's pleasure, they are so that the dancers can grow and reinvent themselves, which, long-term, adds to the audiences' enjoyment. All artists' job is to inspire and I found plenty of inspiration with these new pieces. It's a future to be excited about.
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39 minutes ago, canbelto said:
I enjoyed this afternoon's offering. The Steadfast Tin Soldier is a ballet I don't think I've seen very often live and I've been attending performances for many years.
They showed Steadfast Tin Soldier on television in the 1980's (those 18 months or so when Baryshnikov was at NYCB) with Patricia McBride and Mikhail Baryshnikov, so there's tape somewhere.
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2 hours ago, ECat said:
Congratulations to Chun Wai Chan! That is great for him, but I am wondering why they would bring in an outside dancer who never studied at SAB when they already have plenty of great male cops men that could be promoted.
Are you thinking of any men in particular? I don't see a huge crop of tall corps men, particularly now that Silas Farley is gone. There's Preston Chamblee, but the other tall-ish men are much newer and haven't done as many (any) leading roles. If you look at the NYCB principals and soloists, there will soon be a shortage of tall men. No Ask, no Gonzalo. Andy Veyette, Adrian D-W, Jared and Tyler Angle will all have been in NYCB about 20 years by Fall 2021. Russell Janzen has graying hair. I'm not judging any of the men (and they were all dancing GREAT last we saw them in person), but there's a lot of rep and only so much Harrison Ball, Taylor Stanley, Joseph Gordon and Peter Walker can be expected to do. They needed Jovani Furlan and I think they need Chun Wai Chan, too. If he's tall. Among the current NYCB men Roman Mejia is the only one I see having a definite promotion in his future.
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What a lot of fascinating and exciting information in that press release. I wish it wasn't all so damnably far in the future.
I saw Andrea Miller's Gallim company a few years ago in Fall For Dance and the work was riveting. Lots of shaking in the movement vocabulary, I'm not sure if she always does that or how it will translate into her work with ballet dancers. I read in the NYTimes once that Taylor Stanley had been to Israel to study with Gallim. I hope he's cast in the new work.
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On 10/20/2020 at 1:41 PM, Kathleen O'Connell said:
I'm delighted to see that NYCB has been able to pull off a program of new works during a lockdown.
PS: I don't know the work of Jamar Roberts, but I do know the work of Bell, Miller, and Tanowitz, and I'm eager to see what they've been able to do given the constraints they've had to work under.
I saw a Jamar Roberts piece last night as part of City Center's Fall for Dance. It's a solo, on the same program as the Wheeldon duet for Sara Mearns and David Hallberg. Nice work all around. IMO, Roberts' music choices improve (and get more classical) as the solo goes on. I love the Wheeldon duet and have already watched it twice. Very poignant.
Fall for Dance is charging $15 for each of two programs. I thought the format was something that might interest NYCB. They don't have anyone in the audience, but they filmed the dances live. I would imagine one might eventually invite a small audience (25% capacity) to socially distance in the large theater, like they're doing with the World Series in baseball. Of course, baseball stadiums have the added advantage of being outside.
Check Fall for Dance out if you're interested.
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I looked at Mearns' IG and I think the picture of the clasped hands is of Sara with David Hallberg and that they are at City Center. It's just two hands with the floor shown underneath them. Did you read somewhere that they were at NYCB? I don't see that.
Mearns uses #joni and Wheeldon is using Joni Mitchell music for their Fall for Dance duet. Hallberg also mentions 15 years of wanting to dance with Mearns in his posts about the Wheeldon-Joni Mitchell-Fall for Dance project. If Mearns was performing at the Empire Hotel they would have announced it.
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11 hours ago, YouOverThere said:
Larry Nassar, Harvey Weinstein, Bill Cosby, O.J. Simpson. The list of white men who have gotten away with rape and murder is endless.
The list may be endless, but these particular men ALL went to jail. Three are in prison presently.
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On 10/12/2020 at 7:34 PM, canbelto said:
"Believe all women" because over time, accusations of sexual assault and rape committed by men have proven OVERWHELMINGLY to be true.
Larry Nassar - the first complaints about him were made in the 1990's. It took over 20 years to put this guy in jail.
Harvey Weinstein - see above
Due process only applies to white men in society. It does not apply to POC who are often jailed for trivial, non-violent crimes while violent white murders and rapists are given the benefit of the doubt. It does not apply to women who are shamed, disbelieved, dismissed, and harassed for speaking the truth.
Due process is overrated. The only way rape and sexual assault will stop is if we BURN THE WHOLE PLACE DOWN. Make men suffer collectively for the way women have been victimized over the years.
And in case you guys haven't guessed, yes this is personal. Private photos of mine were distributed without my permission on myspace years ago. Complaints to the company did not work and I was too embarrassed to do anything else. It is sickening the amount of sympathy these men get while Alexandra Waterbury is branded with the scarlet A.
I am so sorry that happened to you CanBelto. So sorry to hear about it. It does change one's perspective, I imagine. I think it's completely right that that sort of activity is criminalized and that it be referred to as sexual assault. The legal system is slow to respond to changes in technology, but things do seem to be moving in that direction.
A few people here are posting as if the #MeToo movement is over. I don't see any evidence of that. I don't think we're going to return to the days when all men (or people of power) can abuse the less fortunate with impunity. There is a roadmap towards justice, and steps the recipients of such abuse can follow to hold the powerful to account.
That said, I don't think we need to "believe all women." Even though the overwhelming majority of claims are true, we need to give complaints credence, investigate accordingly and prosecute the perpetrators. Yes, the system favors the powerful, but that can change.
Larry Nasser, Harvey Weinstein and Jeffrey Epstein are all examples of the change.
Lauren Lovette leaving City Ballet
in New York City Ballet
Posted
What do you mean? She's been a principal since 2015. She has handled the workload for six years.
I love her dancing. I remember her in Liebsleider, and a whole gamut of other roles, DAAG comes to mind. She was a fabulous Novice in The Cage. That surprised me. I once thought her a bit sweet, thinking she would grow into more depth with maturity, but her Novice sure wasn't sweet!
Why the "early" retirements? I think there have always been dancers who stopped dancing at these ages. Maybe not dancers with such prominent careers. Maybe social media gives dancers today more of a sense of control over their careers. Maybe they aren't as sheltered and have a better idea what other opportunities await them. They are better educated, that's for sure. More ballet dancers have access to college programs, more are getting degrees in a broad variety of subjects. It's a big world out there. They want at it.
I also think that (for NYCB) there is no longer the one Balanchine figure that everyone wants to dance for, for as long as they can possibly dance.