canbelto

Symphonic Variations is a great ballet but I don't think it's particularly well-suited to ABT. The performances I've seen had none of the severity and tautness that I associate with the ballet. What about Month in the Country, an Ashton ballet that suited ABT beautifully? In the Upper Room is also a crowd favorite. Green Table too.

This documentary at 33:00 provides the pronunciation of Diana's last name. It's "Vishnoyva."

I remember reading in Suzanne Farrell's autobiography that Mr. B asked her to circle the roles she was interested in and she circled every role in the repertory. As besotted as he was with her he did not give her every role in the repertory. In the end casting decisions (and their success and failure) are at the responsibility of the AD.

Isn't Calvin Royal fairly tall? He could be a good choice to develop as another tall partner. He has the lines too for the prince roles.

My guess it's a small group of NYCB dancers and maybe not the principals. But wow that's a great program and I'd definitely snatch up a ticket to see it. Summer is traditionally the time when many NYCB principals do summer festivals and guesting.

Um, I can't believe I'm wading into this but "Fake News" is not "a critic's review that I disagree with" or "an article in the NYTimes/CNN/WaPo that doesn't fit my Make America Great Again political ideology." Fake News is the deliberate creation of clickbait articles that are deliberately circulated among social media sites and make these social media sites lots of money because said social media sites then have a better idea of your interests, political ideology, and thus a better way of targeting ads for you. The Hillary-run pizzeria being a front for sex slaves is an example of fake news.

Dont know if this was already posted but heres a lovely video of Diana's last days with ABT:

This is getting off topic but Veronika has posted some very fun stuff on Instagram with the rest of the company. Here are her and Marcelo lip-synching the Wicked soundtrack: Here is her and Blaine Hoven: Her and Mick Jagger and Melanie Hamrick: Her and Irina Kolpakova:

She simply changed her Instagram name. https://www.instagram.com/tilerpeck/

I know it's REALLY early but Ashley Laracey posted that she was practicing/rehearsing Swan Lake. Could this mean she gets a crack at O/O in the fall season? Fingers crossed.

Veronika posted this morning. It really sounds like she's not coming back

Whalen has been with the company since 2002, so yes, she is pretty senior in the corps ranks.

Per Luciana Paris's instagram, longtime corps member Jennifer Whalen is retiring.

I've read a variety of Misty interviews in the past few years and they're very repetitive. She seems to have a set of talking points that she sticks to closely. Not saying this is good or bad, but I can basically sum up a Misty interview before reading it.

AM did review two performances of Onegin: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/25/arts/dance/review-onegin-diana-vishneva-alessandra-ferri.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Farts&action=click&contentCollection=arts&region=rank&module=package&version=highlights&contentPlacement=6&pgtype=sectionfront

Swan Lake is not really representative of what NYCB does. It's always been an awkward fit for the company. If you were to judge NYCB, I'd judge them by their all-Balanchine/Robbins programs.

And mercifully no speeches.

The NYCB spring gala was very brief as well: Jeu de Cartes - 23 min After the Rain pdd - 12 min Tchai pdd - 9 min Odessa - 20 min So only 63 minutes of actual dancing.

FWIW, I've found Stella's performances this season to be below her usual standard. She is still a lovely, lyrical dancer but her performances last season were technically much more assured. I was surprised to see her struggling visibly with some parts of the Giselle choreography.

Actually this lecture by Doug Fullington shows that Balanchine did remember/recreate many of the steps:

The NYTimes has a very nice photo essay of Vishneva's farewell. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/24/arts/dance/diana-vishneva-abt-american-ballet-theater-farewell.html?smid=tw-nytimes&smtyp=cur

Thanks for the clips. I tried to take a video of the curtain calls but it was so crowded that it was nearly impossible.

I was at Diana's emotional farewell tonight. She is a treasurable artist and will be missed, Full thoughts here: http://poisonivywalloftext.blogspot.com/2017/06/farewell-diana.html

It might be hard to find the right partner for her but I think Veronika Part would be a wonderful Tatiana.

I am sorry to hear this. They were really great in Who Cares?, Baiser de la Fee, Apollo. And their dogs Griz and Callie were so cute. Wish them the best.