canbelto

I attended the mixed bill yesterday. I thought Brandt and Cornejo were excellent in T&V, although I feel like Brandt could use some ballerina authority. The background and costumes need a change -- the black background and extremely bright lighting on the yellow costumes created a glared, washed effect and it was hard to see Herman and Skylar's faces. Single Eye actually put me to sleep.

The listed participants are: ballerina of the Bolshoi Theater, People's Artist of Russia Svetlana Zakharova; — Sergei Polunin; - ballerina of the Bolshoi Theater, Honored Artist of Russia, People's Artist of the Republic of North Ossetia-Alania Ekaterina Krysanova; - ballerina of the Bolshoi Theater, Honored Artist of Russia Evgenia Obraztsova; - ballerina MAMT named after K.S. Stanislavsky and V.I. Nemirovich-Danchenko, laureate of international competitions Ksenia Ryzhkova; - ballerina of the Mariinsky Theater Oksana Skorik; - Prime Minister of the Bolshoi Ballet, Honored Artist of Russia Vladislav Lantratov; - Soloist of the Bolshoi Ballet, laureate of international competitions Klim Efimov; - Premier of the MAMT ballet named after K.S. Stanislavsky and V.I. Nemirovich-Danchenko, laureate of international competitions Dmitry Sobolevsky; - Premier of the Mariinsky Theater Ballet Andrei Ermakov;

Nadine Meisner's book goes into great detail about Petipa as a wife abuser. The accounts are pretty grisly.

Nadine Meisner's biography is great, very comprehensive: https://www.amazon.com/Marius-Petipa-Emperors-Ballet-Master-ebook/dp/B07QRWZXXF/ref=sr_1_3?crid=2URY23RNZTP69&keywords=petipa+biography&qid=1656648121&sprefix=petipa+biography%2Caps%2C76&sr=8-3

Went a second time tonight. Really enjoyed it more this time -- noticed a lot more of the corps patterns and the dramaturgy. At the end of the evening Christine Shevchenko and Alexei Ratmansky held up a Ukrainian flag.

Here's the review I wrote for Bachtrack: https://bachtrack.com/22/296/view/23195

But my point is Duo Concertant isn't a "new" ballet to NYC audiences. As of this year, it's 50 years old and is performed (maybe overperformed?) at NYCB. ABT audiences were acting like this was totally new and avante-garde. Even Ashton's Cinderella and Fille mal gardee don't sell well.

I remember an ABT performance of T&V where some audience members were complaining that they didn't like these "new" works. They wanted Romeo and Juliet. When I informed them that Theme and Variations is actually older than R&J, they were shocked.

Just to give you an idea of how conservative spring season ABT audiences are, I remember the frosty reception to Duo Concertant.

Well ABT's spring Met audience is extremely conservative and would probably want 5 weeks of nothing but Swan Lake and Romeo and Juliet. This is an audience that finds T&V avante garde. I think Ratmansky's full lengths of Sleeping Beauty and Harlequinade were fairly popular. His other works less so.

My review of the Khan Giselle: https://bachtrack.com/review-akram-khan-giselle-oliviera-arrieta-english-national-ballet-new-york-june-2022

It's so gross how many Tony's this got.

Jazz, a musical tradition that is over a century old, is now associated with a rather elderly (and dare I say it, white) fan base. Also, the programs by KC seem to mirror the programs done by NYCB in the spring. I saw a program with both Emanon and Partita. Also MSND. It seems likely NYCB simply didn't want to create a new triple bill for their KC engagement.

First of all, it's not my experience that ballet fans are politically conservative. Arlene Croce was. But she wws the exception. Second of all, I disliked Emanon bc it seemed so obviously derivative of the Balanchine jazz classics like Who Cares and Rubies. Third of all, jazz is a musical tradition now over a hundred years old. It's not "woke."

I fail to see what's so "woke" about this KC program. It wasn't well planned but how is it woke?

Besides the planned departures of Amar Ramasar and Andrew Scordato, it seems as if Sean Suozzi is no longer on the roster either.

Ok we get it. You don't like her.

I find this quite lovely:

T he McKenzie SL simply butchers the final act. I hate it. I also hate the cheesy decor.

A version of Raymonda was actually broadcasted on LFLC:

I say this as a compliment to her. She's very appealing. I have nothing but empathy for her ordeal. I just don't think Amar should be the blame for her pain. I also called her a change agent. I meant this in a positive way. By the way here is my full quote:

I wrote a little tribute to Amar: https://humbledandoverwhelmed.blogspot.com/2022/05/amar-ramasars-farewell-full-of-joy-and.html

I generally don't comment on performances during the season because I review them for bachtrack, but here's my reviews of the spring season: https://bachtrack.com/22/270/list-published/31408

Lourdes Lopez is the woman in the red dress and bouquets.

That I recognized: Besides the NYCB principals, I saw Alexei Ratmansky, Maria Kowroski, Joaquin de Luz, and Zach Catazaro. All the NYCB principals besides Ashley Bouder, Tiler Peck and Russell Janzen were there (didn't see Russell).