BalanchineFan

On 1/3/2024 at 4:14 PM, Tapfan said:

Since ABT hightailed it to SoCal, I wondered why can't a city the size of New York support two Nutcrackers?  Both ABT's and NYCB's productions are critically acclaimed. And the Los Angeles area now has two Nutcrackers.  Is it the same reason that New York couldn't support two opera companies?

So, are you suggesting ABT performs the Ratmansky Nutcracker at the Met while NYCB does Balanchine’s Nutcracker across the plaza? That doesn’t seem a great idea to me. NYCB has tradition and 60 or so children to beef up sales. And isn’t the Met Opera still going in December?

Where would ABT perform? Ailey has City Center. Would ABT go to BAM? BAM usually programs edgier fare. I think it’s an issue of venue. Mark Morris does a run of his Hard Nut at BAM every so often. NYC might support two classical Nutcrackers, but where?

On 12/29/2023 at 11:33 AM, tutu said:

I’d like to think that Bolden is well on his way to becoming one of the great NYCB partners, in the vein of Soto, Angle, etc. From what I remember of seeing him as Cavalier, he has the demeanor, the princely humility, down pat.

I loved him in Bourree Fantasque. It was a small thing, but when Kikta ran away from him he would just stand there and look at her until she came back. It practically made me SWOON. I bet their Nutcracker was great. (Though his last Nut clip shows her giving him a mighty zetz with her elbow during the turns at the end!🤣) 

14 hours ago, abatt said:

Albert Evans and Ulysses Dove, both African Americans, were choreographing at NyCB well before Abraham. Unfortunately, they both died young.

Yes, Sanz is returning from injury.  That might be an excuse for poor solo work, but I don't think it helps to explain partnering mishaps.

Taylor Stanley apparently had not worked with either as choreographer. 

Many injuries impact partnering; back, hips, legs and feet. Plus, returning from injury can be a long process of relearning to trust your body in big technical moves. If split second timing is required you can’t hesitate. Whenever I have been injured I become tentative. I can’t imagine doing a shoulder sit tentatively.

I don’t offer this information as an excuse but as my guess at an explanation.  

10 hours ago, vagansmom said:

I think Peter Martins had closed eyes when it came to diversity. For example, his image of a male principal dancer was himself: Tall and blond. He stereotyped certain looks in certain roles, bypassing many capable dancers. Partnering had to be a male with a female. Once he left, there was a substantial shift. Lots more needs to be done, but it does look like community outreach is starting to work. 

4 hours ago, volcanohunter said:

Who was the last tall and blond male dancer he promoted to principal?

I believe the most recent dancer in that mold was Chase Finlay. if you discount hair color, Zachary Catazaro might qualify as being in the Martins mold too (technique aside). Martins had fixed, narrow ideas of what made a great dancer, imo.  I agree that things opened up once he left. 

l think it’s significant that there are more POC in the rehearsal room. More choreographers, more composers. With new ballets you never know what will ultimately work, but a more diverse group of people are getting a chance and that impacts dancers and audiences. 
I remember Taylor Stanley saying in an interview that Kyle Abraham was the first choreographer of color they encountered at NYCB. Stanley was already a principal. Imagine if that wasn’t a novel thing or if it happened earlier in a career, as it did for India Bradley. Different cultural backgrounds make for a richer, more supportive environment. 

I’m not surprised that Emma Von Enck shone as Dewdrop. I love her dancing. 

Isn’t Aaron Sanz just back from illness or injury? He was replaced for a spell during the fall season, IIRC. 

I saw Erica Periera and Daniel Ulbricht in Nutcracker today. They gave a good show. Loads of children in the audience, like the other matinee I attended.

It was interesting to see the different choices they made. Ulbricht hangs in the air, rather than doing multiple beats on his cabrioles. It's clean and surprising. He just sails, airborne. Ashley Hod was lovely as Dewdrop. Sharp, clean and expansive. I remember her SPF from five years ago. She was nice then, but she's a different dancer, now.

I think I prefer this Marie and Prince. They seemed more ebullient, happy. Or maybe it's because school is out. One little Angel got a little behind and really took off to catch up.

I have never seen so many beautiful dresses for little girls. The audience is slaying.

5 hours ago, Tapfan said:

I'd rather organizations be honest. Since Olivia Bell and India Bradley ocasionally get some notice in the press, I have high hopes that either of them will at least make it to soloist.  

I don't see how it's dishonest for a ballet company to show a picture of a company member, past or present. Dancers get noticed and featured all the time without it leading to a promotion. Dancers also leave companies for a wide variety of reasons at all the different points in their careers.  I wouldn't consider anyone's career a failure for not "making it to soloist."

One of my college students was an apprentice at NYCB. She did a season of Nutcracker. She didn't get a contract. I don't know why (and she's white, if that matters). I love her attitude. "I studied ballet for years and got to perform with my favorite ballet company." She's about to get her degree from Columbia. 

I think NYCB was smart to have Alexandra Hutchinson as a guest Dewdrop the same season as India Bradley. It takes the pressure off each of them. NYCB and SAB are committed to diversity through their actions:

• SAB's Committee on Diversity
• Partnerships with schools in Black areas, (they send NYCB alums/SAB teachers out and also bring outside teachers in to train them in SAB curriculum. This is not exclusively for POC.)
• Yearly auditions in areas with people of color (shown in the series On Pointe)
• Hiring dancers of color and giving them performance opportunities
• Hiring choreographers of color
• Black people in positions of authority (repertory directors and head of SAB)

I hope India Bradley and (eventually) Olivia Bell continue to develop and get promoted. I would love to see it. The fact remains, there is now a multi-pronged pipeline for dancers of color, just as there always was for white people. It will happen for more than one. And it will keep happening. It's not dependent on one person, and one person doesn't have to shoulder all of the attendant pressure and responsibility.

In the late 50's my father integrated a prep school in Connecticut. One of the administrators told him, "You're our first. If you do well, maybe we'll have others." It's a lot for a teenager.

I have been in modern dance companies and off-Broadway shows. When you sign a contract, the company gets the right to use your likeness (in their work, not your personal photos) in perpetuity. I think the argument is that they were paying you when the pictures were taken. Performers don’t generally mind. It may help them/us to be the poster child for some great show or another. 

My guess is that Rachel Hutsell got her current dance work partly as a result of her experience at NYCB. If she’s featured in current photos she may well consider it a feather in her cap. 

Pictures are a record of what happened, not a promise of advancement or promotion. If NYCB is promoting a ballet in which Hutsell danced the premiere (and she danced several premieres) it might be difficult for them to omit her. 
 

ps I love The NY Times article 

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/22/arts/dance/dewdrop-nutcracker-new-york-city-ballet-india-bradley-alexandra-hutchinson.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare
At City Ballet, History Is Made 

12 hours ago, Novice123 said:

Managers internally praise their direct reports all the time.   Managers also externally praise their direct reports all the time.  It is not considered favoritism.  Employees of the month is a common practice where managers selected workers to be acknowledged.  They even post them publicly.  During and after a project, managers will direct praise on some workers.  I've praised and have received praised.  It is common practice in other industries.  Why would dance be different.  

Very sensible. 
I remember the interviews when Jonathan Stafford and Wendy Whelan were announced and there was talk of changing the “backstage” culture at NYCB to be more open and supportive of their dancers and of diversity. Recognizing excellence is part and parcel of that. 

I’ve never heard India Bradley say who her mother is. I’ve read that the mother danced with Ailey (after being in Ailey 2 in her teens) and that the mother stayed 8or 10 years. She’s from NYC but they lived in Detroit when India was born. 

49 minutes ago, Jacqueline said:

Thank you for that beautiful report, Balanchine Fan!  As someone who cannot be there, because of distance (I'm in Texas) or high ticket prices or sellouts, I appreciate it.  During the regular season(s) I feel like we get almost nightly reports thanks to all of our Ballet Alert friends on the ground, but not so during Nutcracker.  I'm glad Joseph Gordon -- one of my favorites -- is back.  

You’re welcome.
Joseph Gordon looked wonderful, though the Cavalier isn’t around that much. I usually sit in the first ring. In a way, up in standing room you see as much of the audience as the ballet. 

https://www.instagram.com/p/C09_GBwJ84N/

To me, Wendy is a champion and a connector of people. I see her IG comments as often as the posts. She congratulates former students, dancers who have left NYCB, apprentices who didn't get into the company (IIRC). She posts on politics and religion. She posts pictures of her cat. It always makes me feel warm towards her and towards other people to read her posts. 

Nutcracker is about so much more than Ballet. I was at the 1 o’clock matinee today. It was the perfect time to take a young child for the first time, as at least half the audience had done. I stood in the fourth Ring next to a parent whose daughter was a soldier in the first half. They would be leaving at intermission. She has a 5 pm show, too. 

The audience laughed at Fritz’s antics and several children gasped audibly when he broke the Nutcracker.  During intermission many children did their own dances inspired by what they had just seen. 

Alexandra Hutchinson was a lovely Dewdrop, athletic with strong balances and exceptional attitude turns. There are stylistic differences evident to those accustomed to seeing NYCB dancers in the role, she is less mannered in the arms and fingers, for example, but with her buoyant jump and graceful presence she had fans up to the 4th Ring. 

I was happy to see a new Marzipan, Lauren Collett. Dark haired and long limbed, her footwork was fleet and she seemed to take risks  stepping into pointe in a wide 2nd position. Shelby Mann and Zoe Bliss Magnusen were charming, well matched and secure as the Dolls

Unity Phelan and Joseph Gordon as SPF and Cavalier brought more glamour and  pyrotechnics. Phelan is more assured than last year, playing with the music and responding to the young prince, eating up space in her manege of turns. There’s a spectacular finish to her dancing. Gordon is a lovely prince, it’s amazing that such powerful jumps and turns can land so softly, silently. 

A different conductor was announced and at times a few dancers seemed to be at odds with the music. Candy Cane missed his last hoop jumps but finished nobly, making up for it in the coda. Mackenzie Soares’ Mother Ginger is the most strict and sober I’ve seen, the Polichinelles as delightful as ever. Coffee had to contend with a wailing child. Jenelle Manzi danced ably, but doesn’t quite reach the seamless, languid heights of other Coffees. She doesn’t have Kikta’s height or length on her side.  Remembering Whelan in the role you had a sense of fires burning down below, some great engine stoking her along, whatever rhythm the choreography called for. 

As I left, a father was complimenting his child, carrying her in his arms, “Your first show. You were great!” I thought he, too, was parent to a young cast member, but no, he was just commending his toddler for behaving throughout her first live performance in the audience. Somehow, on this rainy Sunday, that seemed just as appropriate a Nutcracker moment as anything related to ballet. 

3 hours ago, cobweb said:

I just love Debra Austin in that video (on youtube) of Ballo della Regina!

She’s beautiful. A Black woman actually had a solo choreographed on her by George Balanchine. When I saw it I acted like the story Oprah tells from her childhood, running down the street yelling, “Black folks on TV!” 

On 12/11/2023 at 12:15 PM, tutu said:

I tend to agree.  It’s possible to mark and celebrate a historic occasion without commenting on the quality of the performance.

That said, I would have just loved to see Bradley’s Dewdrop — have thought for years she’d be wonderful in the role.  Any reports?  

Given the NYC Ballet IG posts on Bradley's debut, it's not like management support or enthusiasm is a secret. This must have been in the works for some time. The dancers can see who is getting roles and who has support and press well before Wendy posts anything. Should they hide the fact that she's the first person of color to dance the role? Or pretend like she wasn't good and deserving?  75 years is a long time! No Black women except a handful in the corps in corps roles.

I can name the Black women I've seen on that stage over the past 44 years from memory. Five of them are young and recent enough to still be there. I may not have seen them all but I only get to ten corps members. 

Debra Austin

Andrea Long Naidu

Cynthia Lochard

Aesha Ashe

Olivia Boisson

India Bradley

Savannah Durham

Rachel Hutsell

Olivia Bell

Mia Williams

I love Liebeslieder and I believe I already have tickets. I think it's great that they're showing it with 4T. Unity Phelan was wonderful in Liebeslieder last time I saw it. She and Lauren Lovette may have shared a role. Maria Kowrowski, Rebecca Krohn, and Tiler Peck also danced Liebeslieder. I seem to remember Megan Fairchild and Sterling Hyltin dancing the same role; the hostess (there's one couple that seems to be hosting to me. I think they linger at the end, or come in last when the couples are listening to the music). 

Here's a picture of one Liebeslieder cast from Maria Kowroski's IG, March 2019. I don't think this is the most recent time NYCB performed it, but... that pandemic changed my sense of time.

Sterling Hyltin-Jared Angle,

Ashley Laracey-Justin Peck,

Ashley Bouder-Tyler Angle,

Maria Kowroski-Ask LaCour.

They'll need a bunch of new men, too. They had two casts that year. I think I saw the other cast, but I may have seen both. Alexa Maxwell would be great in this.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BuhMUyYn8dY/

9 hours ago, DPell said:

Are standing room tickets available before a performance or the day of?

Standing room is sold day of and only in person at the box office.

1 hour ago, cobweb said:

That's right. If it's a sellout, and you buy them in person, day of the performance, at the box office. It makes sense to call first and see if standing room is open. I found that even when it looked online like there were a few random partial-view seats left, it was considered a sellout and they opened standing room. 

Terrific to hear! Did it say which performance? She wasn't on the casting sheet, so I wonder who she replaced. 

Neither post mentioned when Alexa Maxwell performed Dewdrop. I'd think Friday or Saturday. Did they have a student matinee? That casting might not be publicized on the digital board. Just guessing.

I called regarding standing room today, and was told they are well enough sold out that standing room should be open for the rest of Nutcracker. I had also looked for seats, and there are just a few single seats here and there throughout the entire theater for the remaining weeks. Practically nothing (though there could be returns, I suppose, if people get sick or their plans change.).

Unity Phelan posted an IG story congratulating Alexa Maxwell on her Dewdrop debut! Yay!

There was a picture of Alexa in costume in a dressing room.

Here's a link for as long as it lasts. Alexa Maxwell sharing the news

https://www.instagram.com/stories/alexamax/3254803558801023006/

21 hours ago, Fernie M said:

You could create a posting on Cash or Trade (App). It’s very easy to use. Not only could you see if someone wants to trade, but you could see if somebody was selling their tickets. We had tickets to PNB Nutcracker and ended up not going to Seattle. I put tickets on the day of and got rid of them very easily.

Thank you, @Fernie M and all the others who posted ideas. I chose the date very carefully with friends, so I can't change it. It's a wonderful production, I go almost every year and I'm sure we'll have a great time regardless of casting.

11 hours ago, Jacqueline said:

Ava Sautter posted footage of herself rehearsing the Sugarplum solo on Instagram a few hours ago.  I don't know what that portends for the final week of Nutcracker but hope they give her a chance!  

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C0e1UaxgJwv/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

Ooh, Bolden and Kikta as SPF and Cavalier! I wish I had tickets to that! I don't particularly like the casting I ended up with, but I'm sure it will be fine.

7 hours ago, cobweb said:

Just watching the old video of Ashley Bouder as Dewdrop, and wow does she look amazing! Not sure when that video was taken, but the Flowers look like Rebecca Krohn and Lauren King, and I think I see a young Emily Kikta and Emilie Gerrity in the corps. I hope to see, or had hoped to see, a performance or two this week, but it looks totally sold!! Do they ever open standing room for Nut, does anyone know?

They used to. Standing room is at the back (or, one might say, the TOP) of the fourth ring. Just last night I got tickets to a matinee on Friday Dec 20th. We couldn't find three seats together anywhere. It looks like it's selling quite well. Bring your binoculars, folks.

I love that film. I saw Rebecca Krohn and Lauren King leading the Flowers, too. There's another on Youtube with Megan Fairchild as Dewdrop.

4 minutes ago, abatt said:

Loved this.  Thanks for sharing. 

I got the impression  that Emma V E may be debuting Dewdrop before this Nut season is over.  There was a moment where J. Stafford said early in the program that its a bit of casting which has not yet been made public.  

I noticed that too. 😍

More Nutcracker with Alistair MacCauley presiding. 

Emma von Enck -Anthony Huxley 

and 

Ashley Hod -Chun Wai Chan

with Suki Schorer, Jonathan Stafford, Wendy Whelan and Sara Mearns speaking. 

I found Gustave Le Gray interesting, but not classical. The dancers wear red... body suits, you could call them. They are similar to the suits certain sky divers might wear with fabric between the leg and arm, and between the legs, creating a kind of sail. The dancers also push a piano across the stage, I don't remember if the pianist was playing then, or not. Visually striking, I found it fascinating, but no one would compare it with Dewdrop.

You wouldn't think a cast of four would fall victim to Covid, but they did. The performance I saw, Naomi Corti was replacing one of the men.

On 9/4/2023 at 7:23 PM, choriamb said:

I've always felt that announcing promotions at the END of the Summer season was an utter waste from a marketing perspective:  why drop the most exciting press release of the year on your audience months before they can take action on it by subscribing/buying tickets?

I know this post is months old. I agree, it's not great marketing, but it works in terms of creating a rehearsal schedule. Suppose you want to promote 4 dancers to soloist. You wouldn't want them to rehearse their corps parts for a month and then, BANG on opening night you throw four new corps members onstage and give the four new soloists new soloist roles. If you announce promotions at the end of a season everyone has time to rehearse and prepare.

3 hours ago, matilda said:

At the same time, maybe they wanted to cast her in a Balanchine ballet due to the DTH connection, and this felt like a better option than the Balanchine ballets programmed in winter or spring?

Could be. Certainly, there wasn't much uproar about missed opportunities the last time Hutchinson danced with NYCB. She's quite lovely. I guess no one thinks Pam Tanowitz is a way to climb the ladder at NYCB.  As @abatt said, they want to acknowledge the companies lead by former NYCB dancers and the breadth of NYCB's influence.

While dancers want to be promoted, NYCB has so many performances and so often that you don't usually hear dancers complaining about lost performance opportunities. I could have missed it, I suppose, or maybe that's not something one says publicly. On the other hand, I've seen posts joking about the slog of put-in rehearsals when other dancers are out injured. To me, they seem to want to share the load.

I went to the open rehearsal before Thanksgiving. It's always such fun. Megan Fairchild danced SPF, Tyler Angle was the Cavalier (he looked great, they both did!) Mira Nadon was Dewdrop (sort of like the Sleeping Beauty cast last spring). Emily Kikta was Coffee (beautiful, leggy and sultry) and Sara Adams lead Marzipan. Sebastian V-V was Tea, Daniel Ulbricht as Candy Cane (which seemed impossibly fast, I can't believe no one asked for a slower tempo). Mary Elizabeth Sell is back and looks as good as she ever did. She and Victor Abreu danced Hot Chocolate.

Fairchild had a few amazing attitude turns that hung in the air and floated before she closed to fifth. Some of the dancers watching gasped. You could hear them from the fourth ring where I was sitting. Gilbert Bolden did Mother Ginger and the little Polichinelles were great. You can tell Fairchild is rehearsing, working things out onstage, lively, engaged, speaking audibly at times. Sometimes I try to figure out what she's working on. Nadon seems so polished it's not like she's rehearsing. She repeats things from time to time but, honestly, it seems complete the first time.

I'm always so impressed with Dena Abergel, Arch HIggins and all the people who teach those small children. Those kids know their business onstage.