mille-feuille

Based on these responses, I will give it a try! Which cast would y'all recommend? On the one hand it'd be nice to see Bolle, but I've found Seo bland in the past. Lane/Cornejo would usually be my choice, but he may not be able to dance by then. Boylston/ Hallberg?

After seeing the devoid-of-ballet Jane Eyre last night, I'm feeling a little scarred. I had planned on seeing Manon for the first time next week, but now I feel the need to confirm--is there enough dancing in it? (All I've seen of it is the bedroom pas de deux, pretzel-like partnering I consider "ballet-lite" or "in the style of ballet.") How much meaty classical dancing is in this ballet?

13 minutes ago, ABT Fan said:

How were the other lead dancers?

I liked Stella -- her brief pas de deux with Whiteside was one of the few passages of actual ballet dancing last night.

I was sitting in Row T of the Orchestra and I just did not feel that Teuscher was projecting that far. I felt like I was squinting the whole night to see her.

Lane's role was very light on dancing and was mostly comedic relief, but she made the most of what was there.

Hurlin was effective as Young Jane.

Trenary was nicely creepy as Bertha when she was in the shadows, but when light was shining on her I found the creepiness to be significantly lessened. I did like the foreboding music that foreshadowed Bertha's appearances.

None of them stirred any emotions in me at all, though, except for Whiteside now and then. He conveyed Rochester's attraction to Jane, torment about keeping Bertha hidden and her eventual death, and general broodiness well.

Well, it was definitely not my cup of tea.

Marston's Jane Eyre is light on sustained passages of ballet dancing and heavy on dramatic walking, inscrutable mime, and impassioned writhing and yanking. The most actual ballet we got was a pique arabesque now and then.

On the bright side, Whiteside was good as Rochester (or as good as he could've been, given that choreography). Many critical reviews praised Marston's storytelling abilities, but I found the details of the story (which I assume were contained in the aforementioned inscrutable mime and/or writhing and yanking) to be very muddy indeed.

Interested to hear what others on this board think.

I'm going tonight, mainly because Whiteside impressed me so much in On the Dnieper and I wanted to see more of him. I usually find his aura a little too broody (it almost seems like anger or darkness is below the surface with him), but needless to say that kind of aura would be perfect for Mr. Rochester. Very much looking forward to seeing more of Hurlin as well.

7 hours ago, seattle_dancer said:

What day is she going?  Sat/Sun the Signature first cast is dancing.  

Saturday Angelica Generosa and Kyle Davis are dancing Tarantella.  Sunday AG and KD Dance T&V and Leta Biasucci + Price Suddarth dance Tarantella.  Those would be my my suggestions for someone new to ballet, but I didn’t know until I saw opening night and second evening.  

Thursdays the $29 Beer and Ballet tix are always a sweet deal!

She ended up choosing Sunday matinee. Thank you for the input! I'm glad she'll see one of your recommended casts. 

Thank you, Helene and sandik! My friend's bought tickets -- here's hoping she gets hooked!

I have a friend in Seattle who expressed interest in watching ballet, but given that I've never seen PNB in person I don't know which cast to recommend. Any advice, those of y'all who are knowledgeable about these matters? Thanks in advance!

1 hour ago, ABT Fan said:

I think the AD hiring Mack is a strong possibility. 

I disagree regarding Baca. Given what I saw of him in PA Ballet's Swan Lake, he wouldn't make it past soloist. Forster, Hoven, Royal have more all-around goods than he does.

Agreed about Mack. I never saw Baca and am lukewarm on Royal, but I love Forster and Hoven and don't see why they aren't given more shots--they've often wowed me and always have been at least solid and satisfactory.

I enjoyed The Seasons but it didn't steal my heart and take my breath away like, say, Concerto DSCH does. I think it'd benefit greatly from brighter lighting -- especially in the opening scene, it looked like the dancers were dancing in a huge black cavern! (This might be a little improved in the smaller setting of the Koch as well.) Some kind of set design would also go a long way, I think.

10 hours ago, fondoffouettes said:

But can we pleeeeeeaaase lose the clown shirts for the men in the first three movements? Oh, and LeCrone looked like the Grim Reaper in T&V. She was wearing black lipstick and her face projected anger throughout the whole thing (and it wasn't just her facial structure doing her no favors). All the other women at least had the hint of a smile or some softness to the expressions on their faces. What a sour spot onstage LeCrone was.

My thoughts exactly!

I thought the shirts looked a little silly during the actual ballet, but in those bright lights during the curtain call... 

Thank you for the reports Leah, nanushka, and canbelto! Here's hoping they don't squeak too much -- or if they do, that my companions don't notice. I'm so excited for these ballets after reading the reports here, and it'll be interesting to see how Ramasar dances/ how I react to him. Before his dismissal and rehiring, I loved him in the fourth movement of Brahms-Schoenberg Quartet.

For those who've seen Bouder dance recently, have her shoes been less squeaky? I'm thinking of bringing some ballet newbies to this weekend's Tchaikovsky Suite No. 3 and I'm hoping her shoes won't distract them too much...

I went to today's (5/12) matinee.

Pereira and Ball looked nice in Valse Fantaisie. It's not Balanchine's most inspired, in my opinion, but even his middle-of-the-road stuff is just lovely. The four corps members looked great, as did Pereira and Ball. I did find him a little "lurch-y" at times.

I preferred Ulbricht's A Suite of Dances today to de Luz's at his retirement. Ulbricht was casual, playful, and introspective -- it was very soothing to see. (Special shout-out to the latecomers behind me who were SQUEAKING their boots and RUSTLING their plastic bags and LOUDLY WHISPERING for what felt like an entire section of the ballet.)

The Tanowitz was so terrible. I just couldn't stand it. Next time if it's programmed, I intend to skip it and do a crossword in the lobby or something. It was cruel and unusual punishment that the curtain came down partially before the ballet was ending. I was so sick of the dreadful choreography I almost burst into applause for the curtain (until I realized the ballet was continuing). At least the dancers looked good. 😐

I agree that Bright was pleasant but too short -- I wanted more, especially after the Tanowitz. Sara Adams and Emilie Gerrity looked lovely, as did Sara Mearns. 

On 5/10/2019 at 12:00 PM, cobweb said:

I see Unity Phelan is debuting in the first movement of Western Symphony tomorrow. I'd love to hear reports from anyone who sees it.

I thought Phelan was a little low-impact, but Taylor Stanley really shone. Pollack and J. Angle underwhelmed in the second movement, but Mearns and Mejia were on FIRE in the third. I was grinning from ear to ear the moment the two of them started dancing. I want to see so much more of him! It was my first time seeing Western Symphony in person and I'm still basking in its playful, fun, energetic afterglow.

21 hours ago, abatt said:

Re the Diamonds performances, I think the two different lead couples were vastly different, but both very satisfying.   Mearns has flexibility in her back and speed for the solos, whereas I felt like Maria was struggling to get through the steps of  her solo sections.   There was a higher level of meaning and depth in the pas between Maria and Tyler.  Their maturity and long performance history together pays dividends in the pas.

Agreed completely.

11 hours ago, Leah said:

Ashley Bouder’s pointe shoes have been getting very squeaky. Has anyone else noticed this? It was very distracting tonight, and I remember it being that way as well in Tschaikovsky Piano Concerto in the winter.

YES! I couldn't focus on the dancing during her sections of Tschaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 2 last winter because of her darn shoes!! Thankfully my guests (new to the ballet; I'm always trying to get others hooked!) somehow didn't notice.

56 minutes ago, tutu said:

I think I’m in the same boat. I admired Ramasar’s dancing, but I don’t think I can do a program where he’s featured.

I recently tried to watch that excerpt from the Tony Awards again, and just felt sick — so I don’t think I could stomach a pas de deux. 

I plan on going to one performance in which he's dancing and taking it from there. Before this incident, I admired Ramasar so much because I found his dancing to have such an inherent nobility and masculinity (kind of similar to what I've been seeing from Joe Gordon).

If we take Ramasar at his word and believe that all he did was share intimate photos of one corps member and encourage Finlay to share photos with him, perhaps it wasn't a fire-able offense. But it is the antithesis of noble behavior. I can't say how I'll feel until I actually watch him dance, but I fear that the "magic" he once had will be gone, replaced with a sense of revulsion and sadness.

On 4/28/2019 at 3:39 AM, Leah said:

It’s concerning that Sara Mearns seems to be giving up a few roles now, she just did so with Lilac Fairy and I feel like one or two more recently? I thought she was great on Thursday.

Perhaps wishful thinking, but I interpreted her "goodbye for awhile" to just be referencing the fact that NYCB isn't performing Pictures through at least Spring 2020.

2 hours ago, BalanchineFan said:

That is not true of derogatory comments, whether they concern race, religion or sexual orientation (or a private photo sharing thread). Derogatory comments are not aspects of human behavior that are hardwired or essential to our survival.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/05/050525105357.htm

Some would argue otherwise. I believe that the struggle to overcome these base tendencies is part of what makes someone a worthy human being.

1 hour ago, Leah said:

I also listened to what I believe is the music for Peck’s Bright on Dancigers’ website. It was very reminiscent of the blandness of Principia’s score. I’m not particularly excited for this premiere.

I've found most Peck that I've seen agreeable but bland, so I was pretty blown away by last night's Rodeo: Four Dance Episodes. My favorite Peck works have been Rodeo and Pulcinella Variations; on the other hand, I've found most of his collaborations with Sufjan Stevens forgettable. His only ballet to electronic music that I like is The Times Are Racing. I'd love it if he stuck to orchestral music...!

1 hour ago, nanushka said:

I can sympathize with the feelings of Ratmansky overload in general, but Sleeping Beauty and Harlequinade, as reconstructions, seem to me Petipa ballets first and foremost, not Ratmansky ballets.

Are there ways in which those two seem significantly similar to, say, Whipped Cream or Ratmansky's Nutcracker or others of his, such that they contribute to the overall fatigue?

For me personally it's not that the Petipa reconstructions are similar to Ratmansky's original works--I have problems with the individual ballets and the frequency with which they're performed. Whipped Cream felt like it was for children; I saw it twice and would not go again. (I also kind of hate the waltz of the whipped cream tufts.) Harlequinade had too much mime, and too much children dancing. I go to the ballet for sweeping grandeur, lightning-fast petite allegro, bravura dancing--there's only so much cuteness I can take. Seeing these two ballets on the schedule over and over again gets a little annoying.

I haven't seen his Sleeping Beauty so I can't comment definitively, but wasn't the consensus that it also was mime-heavy?

Ratmansky's Nutcracker, on the other hand, hasn't been performed in New York in awhile. I'd love to see that back, as it is heavy on dancing. Specifically, adults dancing.

Zachary Catazaro has just posted on his Instagram that he was offered a reinstatement at NYCB as a Principal Dancer after an arbitrator found his termination to be wrongful: 

However, he's declined the reinstatement.

No post yet from Amar Ramasar, although his Instagram bio says "Principal Dancer with the New York City Ballet." I'm not sure if that was removed when he was fired or not.

Amar Ramasar will rejoin NYCB and undergo counseling (https://www.pointemagazine.com/zachary-catazaro-amar-ramasar-firing-determined-wrongful-2635066151.html).

I'd never been a huge fan of Peter Martins, but perhaps he could bring some verve into their dancing of Balanchine's ballets. Just off the top of my head, I found the Mariinsky's interpretations of Rubies, Apollo, and Tschai Pas to be unwatchable. If he can improve their Balanchine style, then more power to him I suppose.

37 minutes ago, Leah said:

I see that Western Symphony only has 3 couples listed. I know that NYC ballet doesn’t usually include the third movement. The only full performance I’ve seen of the piece is the MCB version on YouTube which does the complete version.

How does NYCB treat the finale when the four couples come out? Is the choreography modified for just the three couples or does some random couple come out of nowhere at the end?

  

 

Does anyone know why the scherzo was dropped?

I happened to watch a few clips from Creole Giselle and that production seems to have Giselle stabbing herself (albeit not, perhaps, fatally were it not for the shock/ her weak heart):