Petra

I just made it in time to see the final program. I don't care for a program of excerpts because it gives the feel of a youtube compilation rather than a real night at the theatre, but I understand why NYCB chose to put up a program like this. It would have been better though in the middle of the season and not as the closer. Easy - a fun Cliff Notes version of Jerome Robbins, but I would have preferred to see something else from Peck or something else from Robbins. [I have recently discovered that Robbins as ballet choreographer is an acquired taste for me, and I'm still not quite there.]

I don't think this is a unique opinion but - wow, Balanchine was a genius!! Amazing, incredible, inventive choreography! 100% classical and 100% contemporary. Miles ahead of anyone else we've seen on the Digital Season [but I missed the Ratmansky].

Thanks, pherank. What a Mr. B. answer...

Apollo is an amazing work of art. Hard to believe that it is 92 years old! I loved Stanley. I see a lot of similarities with the photos of Nijinsky in Afternoon of a Faun - that intense, other-worldly look - and I wonder whether the original Apollo looked more like Stanley than the typical tall blond Peter Martins type. Since I am off on a tangent, did Balanchine ever choreograph Rite of Spring? If not, I wonder why not 🙂

This! I've never seen any of Peck's choreography live, and am unlikely to in the near future. Same goes for most of the other rep in this digital season. That said, the dark backdrop (on my computer screen, it looked murky brown) was depressing and the costumes were really terrible and unflattering. I was surprised that Daniel Ulbricht had so little to do. Looking forward to Apollo. I saw it once almost 10 years ago with an incredible Maria Kowroski as Terpsichore on a tiny stage which was too small for her never-ending limbs (can't remember who danced Apollo...)

I watched Allegro Brillante as soon as I got up this Friday morning. What a wonderful, life-affirming beginning to the weekend! For me, this period of time is very busy and I can't find the time to watch the full-length ballets that the European companies are offering, so the shorter ballets NYCB and Ailey are streaming are perfect.

On March 12, the Israeli government prohibited all gatherings of over 100 people. That includes 99.9% of all performing arts events, and most venues have announced complete closure until at least the end of the month. On March 12, the Israeli government prohibited all gatherings of over 100 people. That includes 99.9% of all performing arts events, and most venues have announced complete closure until at least the end of the month.

Stars of American Ballet is a pick-up group of NYCB dancers organized by Daniel Ulbricht. They're currently touring Israel and I saw them last night at the Herzeliya Performing Arts Center. Bottom line: it was a fantastic evening. Slightly more in detail : First up was "In the Night". I have complicated feelings about this ballet. I find Robbins' choreography is an acquired taste, and it took me a while to get used to the style. I love the spareness of the movement and Robbins' ability to create a definite sense of time and place but there are also all sorts of quirks that mak

Jan, the reason I commented on the racial makeup of the company is because it was a comment made by a naive teenager. These are issues that many of her generation are very sensitive to - regardless of their own skin colour or privilege. Of course it begins with danxe education, and I wouldn't like dancers to be promoted on a quota system. However unlike most world-class companies in the West, almost all NYCB dancers are American. That in itself is unusual. The USA is a diverse country and as of 2019 that isn't reflected in NYCB. But please go back to discussing the season. It seems li

I agree, but the juxtaposition seemed unfair. Nanushka - thanks for the info. Now I realky wish I could see Union Jack again.

I attended the 10/01 performance. I hadn't seen NYCB in NYC for eleven years, so it was a special evening for me. Happily, it didn't disappoint. Not even my youngest daughter falling asleep halfway through Union Jack and lying on my arm for half an hour could dim my joy at the all-Balanchine program, especially since each work was better than the previous one. Valse-Fantasie was ok as an opening work. The dancers were great and if I hadn't read that it was Roman Mejia's debut, I would never have known that. He looked as secure as if he had danced it a dozen times already. I loved Kam

Who is dancing MacDonald of Sleat in the other cast? Is that Ashley Bouder's role? I'll be at the Oct. 1 performance. I haven't been in the US for over 10 years, and I'm so excited. I can only get to one NYCB show, and I'm so glad it's this all-Balanchine, well-balanced, million featured dancers program!

Tanzteater Wuppertal toured Israel last fall, and I saw them in Pina Bausch's Masurca Fogo, a work created specifically for EXPO 1998 in Lisbon. The dancers are all beautiful and were very committed to the piece, but it was clear even to a casual observer like myself that the company cannot survive solely on Bausch's work. For example, although Masurca Fogo had lovely sections in it, the idea that a foreign company can come to another country, have a residence and create a work representative of the host country sounds rather patronizing in 2019. I think things were different in 1998, and

Since West Side Story doesn't have an original story, I do wonder why van Hove and de Keersmaeker [love how they both have 'aristocratic' surnames] didn't decide to do their own musical version of Romeo and Juliet instead of updating WSS.

Promos look great, but it's hard for me to get my head around Williams being a Broadway dancer. Her "celebrity" persona is almost the opposite. Also, the only info I know about Fosse's life comes from All That Jazz. I didn't realise that was a sanitised version... 😃