BalanchineFan

Well, I'm hostile towards the SL sets and costumes. I'm not sure I can explain it, except to say that the solid color costumes remind me of a football game; in R&J it's Team Capulet and Team Montague... watch the action before half time! The swan costumes, while better, are like a bedsheet pattern. Alistair McCauley's review has a similar take, more kindly expressed. https://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/15/arts/dance/peter-martinss-swan-lake-at-new-york-city-ballet-review.html?searchResultPosition=2 Mostly though, I hate Martins' choreography. If the choreography was more nuanced, or told the story with more depth and clarity I don't think the costumes would bother me as much. Sorry to be so negative. Many people like the production, it sells quite well, and the dancers themselves are fabulous. I love 4T, Agon and other modern leotard ballets. I don't see why that enters into it. In fact, I'd be happy with SL done in black and white leotards... but the Jester's orange bathing cap has got to go.

@balletrusse THANK YOU!! What a fitting tribute to Lydia Wellington.

I just came from the film and my issue is that I couldn't suspend my disbelief. Any film should present you with a world that makes sense, even if it's been done before. The same story can be believable one time and truly unbelievable and tedious the next, due to editing, performance, the pacing of the film and numerous other elements. The dancers were good but the choreography didn't do anything but allow them to prance around in their costumes and execute an arabesque or double turn every so often. None of it added up to anything. Also: WHAT is with this current trend of emotional actors allowing snot to run down their faces and sit there for an entire song? Please someone, make it stop!

Was this the first time you've seen Cunningham's work? There are videos of Cunningham's company performing Beach Birds on youtube, and I believe the entire video can be viewed through the Merce Cunningham Trust website. https://www.mercecunningham.org/the-work/choreography/beach-birds/

West Side Story breaks box office record for the second time. They may never open, and may never need to for financial reasons. I saw this WSS last weekend. Excellent cast, though I didn't particularly like the production. For one, their take on Maria is too sexually knowing for me (beautiful soprano voice). Regardless of Sondheim's dislike of I Feel Pretty, it establishes Maria as an innocent and it's still cut. Strangely, I don't miss it as much as I miss the Somewhere Ballet. There were some really nice moments, and only a few duds... No balcony (perhaps it's still being built?) There is von Hove's signature film/video aspect, which helps because you can't see into Doc's or the dress shop where Maria and Anita work. Riff is the weakest of the excellent singers, but he's a great dancer/actor and amazing to watch. Overall the acting is good. The Anita is quite good. The Tony understudy is fabulous (Isaac Powell hurt his knee). Amar Ramasar is great. I'm not sure the pacing works, but the biggest issue is that Maria needs someplace to live onstage. It's weird that she plays her home scenes in an open area. Aside from Doc's and the Dress Shop there is no set. When Tony comes to see Maria she should be at home with her dad (or someone!) calling from offstage. Instead they kneel on the floor. When the police officer comes to question Maria after the Rumble, she needs to be trapped at home, unable to get to Tony. I know I'm attached to the original, but those scenes didn't make sense. Mostly I hope they go further with the re-imagining. de Keersmaker's strongest moments are when she uses the group to make an image that reflects the story: the two gangs pulling Tony and Maria apart, the three dead bodies borne aloft. I wish there had been more of that. Still, they're in previews and it's probably unfair of me to say anything. Maybe it's like Tony says... Somethin's coming, don't know when but it's soon. https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/WEST-SIDE-STORY-Has-Broken-All-Time-Broadway-Theatre-House-Record-20191230

This made me laugh. Having been on pointe, I ALWAYS think "Ow, ow, ow" in rhythm to any hops on pointe.

Thanks, California! And Marta, I always liked the costume. It seems very young girlish, and Kirkland is so incredibly delicate in it.

So funny... Kirkland doing the Sugar Plum Fairy variation in Baryshnikov's Nutcracker is one of my all time favorites. I watched it a million times and could probably do the choreography for it right now (albeit, badly). My least favorite of the traditional ballets would be the jesters in Swan Lake.

Thank you.

I find there's something very compelling about the casting and the costumes. Farrell and d'Amboise are paired. He's at the end of his career, a decade older than all the other men, she's still in her prime but wears a ribbon in her hair like a younger girl. Peter Martins dances with Heather Watts (originally Kay Mazzo, I believe). When Farrell and Martins dance together in other ballets (Chaconne, Tzigane, Diamonds) they often seemed like the king and queen of the world. Their height and size, the amplitude of their movement, the grandeur of their stage presence contribute to them seeming to reign over all before them. When they dance with other people it's different, they both seem more human, vulnerable. They have different inherent roles and impact, less grand. It becomes a choreographic statement in RS's Davidsbundertanze. Balanchine is very deft that way. Simple decisions have a huge impact on the ballet. I wouldn't call it a pencil sketch. It's its own ballet. Perhaps the dark demons stalking Luders character seem ... a bit hackneyed, but I see what Balanchine is going for. Schuman was tormented. Some of the ballet is just glorious and makes its emotional impact in a way that, for me, brings the aching lyricism of Liebeslieder to mind. If a ballet could break your heart, this is it. At one point, Farrell and d'Amboise have an exit downstage past the piano that always takes my breath away.

Yes, that was my original error. It's under R.

Janzen was promoted to principal February 2017, so you're saying it would have been before then? He became a soloist in 2014. I'm pretty sure Janie Taylor retired before 2015. One of the pictures on Robert Schuman's Davidsbuntlertanze's main rep page seems to show Ashley Laracey. Another cast included Maria Kowroski, Sara Mearns, Abi Stafford and Janie Taylor. Jared Angle is one of the only men pictured.

I'd love to hear what you think of the video. I find it just exquisite. But you can't be in the mood for Symphony in C, or anything like that.

OMG, thank you both, JanLevNYC and ECat! I thought Zoe had danced, but when I looked at my program she wasn't listed. Maybe I saw her cast in the dress rehearsal. The review has a lovely photo, and a lovely mention, too. YouTube has a clip of 4T's that (I believe) has Lydia Wellington dancing the first theme. I wish dancers would copy their NYCB online bios before they leave. I always want to take one more look.

Zoe Bliss Magnussen has been added to the roster of apprentices! I'm not sure she even danced in the workshop performance last spring.

I never saw this ballet live, but I've always wanted to. It shares similarities with Liebeslieder Waltzer; i.e. four couples, a nod to social dancing, piano onstage, a bygone era of emotional restraint. When I look on the NYCB website Davidsbundlertanze is not even listed as part of the repertory. Does anyone have an idea why? Has NYCB performed it since Balanchine's death? Oh, never mind. It's listed under Robert: Robert Schuman's Davidsbundlertanze. Still, it doesn't look like it's been done recently. The pictures include Janie Taylor who retired some years ago. Has anyone seen it? How were the casts? Some of the roles seem to gain a lot from what we know of the relationships between Balanchine and the dancers. I'm thinking of Farrell and von Aroldingen, his two great friends and muses from the last part of his life... in addition, of course, to the spectacular dancing all around.

Is double-barrelled a more common expression in the British vernacular? I've never heard hyphenated names described that way before and I think perhaps it's because I'm American. I have the impression hyphenated names are more common in England, too, whereas in American the hypen is most often used by women who want to retain their maiden names in combination with their husband's name.

Wellington has posted on IG that her husband is either French or works in France. That probably had something to do with the change. What a beautiful dancer she is. She was so fluid and daring in Summerspace and I loved her in the demi soloist roles in Symphony in C. NYCB is already calling up at least one new apprentice for Nutcracker. Yesterday was donor day at SAB and one of the young women was ecstatic to be a new apprentice.

Regarding Ramasar, Broadway contracts are usually for one year. If WSS runs, which is expected given the material and Ivo Van Hove, Ramasar will not be available to NYCB until one year from WSS opening. Regarding Woodward, Phelan and Gerrity I don’t think any of them have danced the Balanchine/Tschaikovsky or Balanchine/Stravinsky masterworks (at least not with NYCB), which might be expected before a promotion. I love how the three of them dance and expect each might one day make principal. Unfortunately there is no rhyme or reason and certainly no SCHEDULE on which NYCB announces promotions. The timing is on a whim. In Balanchine’s day the dancers sometimes didn’t know until they got a bigger paycheck Joseph Gordon, meanwhile, is kicking it as a principal. And, in contrast to a query about his height, I think Russell Janzen has only grown artistically. His PC2 was great.

I thought Olivia MacKinnon was good in Piano Concerto #2. She was very expansive and technically solid. If I hadn't known I'm not sure I would have guessed that it was a debut. A lot of dancers show their nerves in their face. O. MacKinnon is among them, but that should iron itself out. PC2 is fiendishly difficult. Even Sara Mearns seemed a bit subdued until she got to the last movement. I saw Lauren King perform the role last week and she was like a ray of sunshine. There's really no shortage of talent.

Yes, I just saw tributes to Garcia on IG from Sara Mearns and from Indiana Woodward, two of his DAAG castmates. He was beautiful last weekend when I saw it, too. That will be a loss. I miss Gonzalo Garcia already. In other news, I saw Robbie Fairchild perform at Fall for Dance. Another beautiful Brown Boy from DAAG past. He looks fabulous.

Any possibility he just means the last DAAG of the season? Or maybe they all know it won't be performed next year (2020/21) and he expects to be gone after that.

I certainly understand the impulse to root for a favorite dancer. I know it well. However, I'm not sure what qualifies as being "passed over." Sara Adams has a role in Summerspace. Preston Chamblee recently made his debut as one of two principal men in Serenade and danced a leading role in Not Our Fate all last season -twice with his picture in the NY Times. NYCB is a company full of talent and full of more opportunities than most large companies. Take a look at the ABT forums on this site. Posters are all complaining that PRINCIPALS only get one or two NY performances of favorite roles, or don't get roles AT ALL. Principals! I have a ticket for NYCB this weekend and expect to see 5 or 6 principal ballerinas and as many principal men, in addition to the up and comers in supporting (and sometimes leading) roles. Tell your favs "take heart, keep working, your time will come!" These days dancers can also make their own opportunities, be it at Vail, or with a smaller group; Ashley Bouder, Daniel Ulbricht, Tiler Peck, Silas Farley and many others have created small outside performing groups. And by small I mean smaller than NYCB. I wish there was more information about how dancers can challenge themselves to further their dancing careers.

Thank you, Helene, for the clarification. As for Merrill Ashley, she writes in her memoir about her challenges with Emeralds. Did you ever see her dance it? Kathleen, thank you for posting the Bugaku excerpts! For those who suggest omiting the costumes, I remember a lot of ritual connected to the costumes. The principals enter decked out in several layers (including a tutu for her) and the attendants help them disrobe. It adds to the formality and "nakedness" of the occasion. I can see why NYCB doesn't mount it today, and I also agree, there's lots of Balanchine rep to keep audiences busy, but I JUST LOVE WATCHING HIS WORK! Yes, the cultural appropriation is problematic, but as an essay on pas de deux, male/female relations, or the plasticity of the body, I find it captivating. I'm not making an argument for including it in the rep. Maybe I'm trying to talk myself into getting on the subway and watching film of different casts at the NYPL for the Performing Arts. Even with Porgy and Bess, sometimes I think, "let's all agree it's racist and then enjoy the music." It's not an instruction manual for how to live. But I'm Black and I feel I've earned the right to say that. I wouldn't want to force racist art on anyone who was offended by it, and probably ... we can't all agree, anyway. And sometimes I *do* identify with Black people from other countries, particularly in stage characters.

I’m afraid I missed your meaning here. Pretty sure I could follow your other points. What is it those parents see in the company rosters on the internet?