BalanchineFan

Preston Chamblee has a commanding stage presence. I remember him partnering Taylor Stanley in Not Our Fate, how great they were together, and thought he could probably partner anyone. I thought he had a strong debut in 4T, big, clear, rhythmic. He looked a touch nervous. I wasn’t sure if he exhaled the entire section, but my friends who sat in the orchestra were sure they saw him breathing. 😜

Sterling didn’t hint. She said Enck’s Ballo debut was coming up, she just didn’t mention a date. I so enjoyed the performance tonight! I have lots of thoughts on it. You could tell there were a lot of debuts. I agree, Adrian Danchi-Waring was a highlight in 4T (he really moves his back!) , along with Kikta. I also loved India Bradley eating up space, and MT MacKinnon matching her. So much promise onstage. I have tickets for next week, too. I love the 4T Liebeslieder program.

Hi @vipa I was there, too. Emma Von Enck was just lovely! I’ve been to NYCB three times so far this season. I’ve seen Fancy Free twice (same cast, unfortunately) and was a bit tired of the ballet. Then tonight at the lecture demo, Alexa Maxwell utterly changed my experience of the ballet. She was transcendent! All the characters’ hopes and hesitations made the pas de deux so moving. Heartbreaking. The guy is so ready for romantic adventure and she’s capable of being swept away, but a little too sensible in the end. From the first moment Harrison Coll reached for her hand it was a completely different experience from what I saw before. They elevated it, brought out all the colors and emotional beats in complete fullness. What a performance ! What a couple the two of them made. There was good dancing all around, however Emma von Enck, in a short solo variation from Ballo, was the other real highlight of the evening. Sprightly, musical, fleet of foot and utterly charming. Get your tickets now.

Thank you @deanofdance for writing more about Ashton and Taylor’s duet. How wonderful! I went twice this weekend. I’m officially concerned about Sara Mearns. Her physical dancing is fine, but she looks unhappy, miserable, like someone turned the lights off behind her eyes. It was difficult to watch, after years of seeing her joy, artistry and courage onstage. It seems obvious something is going on and my heart breaks for her. Daniel Ulbricht had a very different kind of weekend. Sailor in Fancy Free, Faun in The Four Seasons, solo figure in Rotunda (just stupendous, mature, nuanced, searching, GORGEOUS dancing, soft, surprising ends to phrases) and then Odesa, too. It was a different side of him (perhaps several different sides to his artistry). He can really act and carry darker, more introspective moments… along with jumping, spinning like a top and making us laugh. I enjoyed Tiler Peck’s new piece. Really enjoyed it! Roman looks amazing. He hangs in the air, and such charisma. I didn’t feel much connection between Mira Nadon and Chun Wei Chan, though they both danced beautifully. I loved the duo of Emma Von Enck and India Bradley. Visually they are so different but they matched each other in energy and polish. There was a lot of movement to the ballet, groups swirling in and out configurations changing. I hope I get to see it again.

I didn't think she should have been promoted before, but I think Laracey should be promoted now. Who cares what her age is?

I wish I'd seen them. Did they do the slow/fast duet in the middle? What was it like?

Doesn't she have Choleric in 4T coming up?

It struck me differently. Peck talked about wanting to be challenged as a dancer, and also wanting to challenge her dancers and bring out different sides of them as choreographer and coach. "Shortcomings" didn't enter my mind, just that they're all growing and improving as dancers. As a frequent audience member I'm excited by the prospect of seeing dancers grow and develop. It's what should happen.

This is great, @cobweb! I have (somewhere) a list of the poems in German and their English translations. I can't find a print out, but they are listed here. https://oxfordsong.org/song/liebeslieder-walzer I'll keep looking for something more user friendly.

I've seen several casts of Liebeslieder in the past and I've never seen Mearns dance it. Which role does she typically do?

Olivia MacKinnon was great. Flirtatious, bouyant, expansive, daring at times. She filled the stage. Roman Mejia, Aaron Sanz, David Gabriel and Jovani Furlan were "out due to illness or injury." The other highlights for me were Joseph Gordon and Indiana Woodward in In the Night. So smooth and effortless. She just glided along the floor in all the lifts. Really swoony. He is just a masterful partner. Tiler Peck and Gilbert Bolden III as the passionate (YES! NO!) couple. It's like the choreography is saying "I love you! I can't stand you!" all the time. They were very dynamic and all the spectacular lifts were amazing. They made a bit of noise on one lift where she slides along the floor but I don't think anything was amiss. They were quite the passionate couple. I've seen this ballet before and I don't remember it being so vivid. Also, Daniel Ulbricht dances and jumps like a 20 year old. Phenomenal. He replaced Mejia in Fancy Free and danced the Faun in the Fall section of The Four Seasons. He hung in the air and made the most of the silliness, too. Fancy Free was quite charming and well danced. Still, I'm a bit tired of it.

Does the casting sheet say that Chamblee and LaFreniere are dancing Sanguinic in 4T? I think it does. What an exciting cast! 1st Theme: Olivia Boisson, Samuel Melnikov 2nd Theme: Olivia MacKinnon, Kennard Henson 3rd Theme: Sara Evans, Davide Riccardo Melancholic: Anthony Huxley Sanguinic: Chamblee, LaFreniere Phlegmatic: Adrian Danchig-Waring Choleric: Emily Kikta

He was amazing. 17 years old, or something like that. Just eager for all the turns and jumps, spinning like a top, beats galore, lots of confidence, charisma and youthful exuberance. I remember vividly how he smiled a bit when he started a long diagonal of beats and turns. Relishing it. MT MacKinnon danced the lead and India Bradley was one of the featured soloists. They were great, too. It was the best Hallelujah Junction I had seen. The most thrilling. Sharp, energetic. Much better than NYCB at that time. Those students were fired up. Nilas Martins set it on the SAB students. I hope Mejia is ok.

Roman Mejia danced the role for his SAB workshop. He might be too busy, though.

Third week casting is up. Tiler Peck is alternating with Megan Fairchild in Ballo. Lots of debuts in the soloist roles. Also, there's only one cast for Liebslieder. I wonder if they'll stay with that for all four performances. https://res.cloudinary.com/new-york-city-ballet/image/upload/v1706053481/NYCB_Casting_February_6-11_2024_lobby.pdf

Chamblee was on Miriam Miller’s IG rehearsing Barber Concerto with her. He looks good. They look great together. Almost made me want to see Martin’s’ choreography again. Almost.

I am convinced Fairchild was the one asking the pianist to speed up as she danced.

I mentioned to a friend of mine that the picture on the cover of Homan’s book had been cropped. She has never seen the original, where Arthur Mitchell looks on as Balanchine and Farrell dance Slaughter on Tenth Avenue. Are you all familiar with the original photo ? It can be seen here: https://1960sdaysofrage.wordpress.com/2021/09/30/balanchine-the-teacher-i-pushed-everybody/ I can see why one might crop Mr. Mitchell out, but the context completely changes, imo.

There's not a lot of large cast rep in the opening two weeks. Primarily, The Four Season and Times are Racing. No Balanchine whatsoever. I bet there are a lot of dancers we're not seeing. Isn't this the time of year Ashley Laracey once didn't perform for a month?

SMART! I never knew there was such an agency. I wonder what they would recommend.

I'm all for new venues. Where would you put yours? Some of what I like about both City Center and the State Theater (or anything Lincoln Center based) is that it's easy to get to as I can use the 59th St subway stop. Broadway shows aren't so far away, Hudson Yards isn't horrible, but Lincoln Center and City Center are so, so easy to get to. BAM is a pain in the patoot, but there are a lot of subways that service that area as well. I love the sight lines at the State Theater, the placement of the Rings, the pricing (every price point is available to subscribers in the First Ring!!). I wish they hadn't put the center aisles in the orchestra, but after accompanying my 83 year old mother (and others who are mobility impaired) I can see the plusses too.

Ailey has a tradition of playing multiple weeks at City Center in December. They open both balconies and regularly sell out. IMO, moving them would be bad for Ailey and bad for City Center, outweighing any other considerations.

She was great! I also love Unity Phelan in that same performance. To me, however, Serenade is about the ensemble.

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Well, of course the company has changed a lot since Balanchine’s time. How could it not? I was very depressed about the change back in the 1990’s and stopped attending, but in the past 10 or 15 years I’ve gotten past it and I now enjoy the rep and dancers enormously. Here in NYC you can get what (for me, are) reasonably priced tickets ($42-$76). I imagine they have a few different price points, even in Chicago. Binoculars are a plus. And @bellawood Yes! Rondo!! Robbins originally choreographed it on Kyra Nichols and Stephanie Saland.