canbelto

I think Bouder has enough endorsements that she can probably afford Bloch shoes or Bloch is happy to have her as a spokesperson. I do wonder if some NYCB would do better were they given more choice of shoes. For instance I often wonder if Maria Kowroski would have done better with Gaynor Mindens. She's said many times that the extreme length and arch of her feet have given her chronic foot and ankle injuries throughout her career.

He was in the SAB workshops last year. Davide Riccardo has also joined according to NYCB's roster.

All the NYCB dancers use Freeds. I think the principal women have more say in exactly how they want their shoe to be designed. Bouder's shoes IMO have always been a little louder than other shoes. It may just be her personal preference to have a harder block which will make more noise.

Her shoes were squeaky last night but I also thought she was miscast in Brahms-Schoenberg in an otherwise excellent cast. Agree that Mearns was on fire but I also loved Emily Kikta, Sterling Hyltin, Anthony Huxley and Erica Pereira.

You mention "half of the company including many female dancers ..." Do you mind giving specifics about what "half the company" is doing? And why 75% of the company deserves to be fired? Are you saying 75% of the company also ran up 200k worth of hotel damages after a drunken spree, and also said women deserved to be chained like animals and raped "like the sluts they are"?

Fantastic news. I had the privilege of visiting Havana last summer and could see the pride with which Cubans held their ballet company.

Hmm I have this exhaustive book on Ashton ballets called "Frederick Ashton" and it's shocking the number of ballets he choreographed that were abandoned in his own lifetime. Or as Margot Fonteyn is quoted tactfully in the book as saying "the ballets wouldn't keep." I don't know why exactly this is but seems as if Ashton ballets are very fragile. There are a few staples but so many abandoned ballets. Perhaps it was his fraught personal relationship with Royal Ballet director Ninette di Valois, who never wanted her company to be closely associated with any one choreographer?

Judging from this picture: She's about the same height as Gillian Murphy, who is medium height but taller than Sterling Hyltin who is definitely on the short side for ballerinas. (Hyltin said in a podcast that she's 5'4".)

Maria Kowroski was replaced by Sara Mearns in the Brahms Schoenberg tonight. Hope shes ok.

Reichlen is probably my favorite Titania. I find her very elegant in the role. For a spunkier alternative I like Mearns. For the divertissement Tiler Peck is injured but Hyltin is lovely.

Here are some of the differences between Balanchine and Ratmansky that I discussed: https://humbledandoverwhelmed.blogspot.com/2018/06/ratmanskys-harlequinade-petipa-in-house.html?m=1

No they're not really actually. There are some differences here and there but it;s remarkably similar. Maybe the biggest difference is the wedding pas de deux/variation. Here's some excerpts form a McBride/Baryshnikov performance at the White House:

Hmm it's strange because I really like NYCB's Harlequinade. I like Ratmansky's too but I was there Monday night and agree the energy just was not there.

True. It was a big deal then. They did have great screen chemistry. And Rock was so handsome when he was young.

Well maybe it's not getting as much notice because Day did not seek credit and validation for Rock Hudson. She seemed to view it as simply being there for an old friend. When she did talk about him she generally did not focus on the fact that he had AIDS, but spoke glowingly about the friendship they formed when they made movies together. However when you compare her reaction to Nancy Reagan, who turned her back on Rock Hudson when he was desperate and dying, there is much to admire. https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/chrisgeidner/nancy-reagan-turned-down-rock-hudsons-plea-for-help-seven-we

Roman Mejia as Brick Boy in DAAG and Harrison Ball as El Capitan in Stars and Stripes both made wonderful debuts last night. Mejia and Megan Fairchild (Apricot) in their duet got such loud applause that I thought they'd come out for another applause. Ball has amazing jumps and fifth position. I thought Lauren Lovette as Pink Girl was pretty but a bit low-impact.

A couple of thoughts about the spring season so far: https://humbledandoverwhelmed.blogspot.com/2019/05/nycb-spring-diaries-new-era.html

I keep watching but the comparisons with All That Jazz are painful. Fosse/Verndon feels so workmanlike, while All That Jazz covers similar material but with the spark of Fosse's genius. I feel like this is what happens every time there's a biography of someone who was exceptionally talented at telling his or her own story. For instance I read a biography of Moss Hart and it filled in so many blanks in his life but was not nearly as absorbing as Hart's own autobiography Act One.

Roman Mejia and Teresa Reichlen absolutely brought down the house in Western Symphony last night. Mejia's lasso jumps were the best I've ever seen.

I wrote a review for bachtrack about the spring gala that hasn't been published yet but I agree about the disappointment with Tanowitz's work. I thought the Bartok String Quartet had a lot of possibilities but Tanowitz didn't seem to know what to do with the dancers. I can't remember a ballet with so much movement with so little to actually remember.

When SFB did it at the City Center Festival they did not do the throw either. Strangely at the SAB workshop a few years ago I remember the throw.

I urge everyone to see Hadestown, even people not that crazy about musicals. It's really more an opera than musical and it's one of the most original works I've ever seen on B'way. https://humbledandoverwhelmed.blogspot.com/2019/04/hadestown-aka-orpheus-and-eurydice-opera.html

Ask La Cour has published why he will be out this week. Condolences to him and his family.

Let's also keep in mind that Ramasar hasn't danced much since Carousel closed in September. He might not be in the right condition to just hop back into his old roles.

My favorite Peck works are Rodeo, Times Are Racing, and In Creases. Also like Belles Lettres and Pulcinella Variations. Any of his collaborations with Sufjan Stevens are IMO pretty bland. I simply don't respond to Sufjan Stevens music.