Petra

Live performances have just resumed in Israel - and I went to a modern dance performance on Sunday!!! The show was not so great, but who cares? 🙂 Audience members had to present certification that they were vaccinated or recovering from COVID-19 together with photo ID. Compliance was carefully checked by the ushers at the entrance to the theatre. It takes a long time and I don't know how this will be handled at big venues. Seating was less than capacity with some rows left empty, empty chairs, etc. The dancers wore masks during the first section which they started with lights u

I thought "This Land is Your Land" was an odd choice for JLo and doesn't really suit her in terms of style or content - but I totally teared up when she quoted from the Pledge of Allegiance in Spanish. That came from her heart. Amanda Gorman - she looks like a baby ballerina! I didn't care much for her poem itself (I'm not American) but her poise and presentation were incredible. Also see the generational change between her hairstyle and those of VP Harris and Michelle Obama.

Pherank - you wrote it better than I did... Anyway, as much as I enjoy Fairchild's side-gig, I'm just hoping that I'll be able to see her dance on stage again.

I usually really enjoy these interviews but the interview with Mejia was very disappointing. Fairchild mentions, over and over, how the NYCB dancers are interested in the company's history and Mr. B's legacy but it at no point does she or Mejia explain exactly what part Mejia's father played in this history. The Mr. B. - Suzanne - Paul Mejia triangle is an important and complicated parts of Balanchine's legacy, and it could have been a fascinating discussion. Self-censorship doesn't make for good podcasts.

I watched The Polar Express with my family this weekend. I didn't understand the point of it at all. I've never read the book and I think you have to grow up with the source material. Also found the motion capture animation kind of creepy. Happy Holidays!

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... 😃

I saw this movie tonight. It's a love story set in post-WW2 Poland (and other places. The middle section feels a bit like a Soviet travelogue...), but it's much more than that. It raises thoughts about love of country and homeland even when your country's policies are oppressive or different from one's own. It's also about art - the transformative power of art but also its limitations. The way art creates identity - national and individual. All this in 90 black and white minutes - and IMHO despite a terrible hole in the plot... 🙂 What will probably interest many BAers are the backstage sc