FPF

I second the motion.

Except for some fourth ring seats, every seat is sold for every performance of Swan Lake this week. I hate this production, but they don't actually need a better one to get people in the door.

Very sad news. I used to buy NY Magazine for her reviews and the crossword puzzle.

The Fisher Center at Bard has announced their Summerscape programming and NYCB Moves will be appearing there from June 26-28. The program will consist of Pam Tanowitz's Bartok Ballet and Kyle Abraham's The Runaway. More information and link to purchase tickets here: https://fishercenter.bard.edu/events/nycb-moves/. I missed The Runaway at SPAC last year due to the extreme heat, so I hope to be able to see it at Bard this time.

Alexandra Waterbury is a woman. I believe she is now 22 years old. She is suing NYCB, SAB, two former principal dancers (Chase Finlay and Zachary Catazaro), current principal dancer Amar Ramasar (on leave to play Bernardo in West Side Story), and former donor Jared Longhitano. There are a ton of posts on this board about this, going back to around September 2018. There are also a lot of newspaper articles about the case, especially in The NY Times , if you want to know more about it. Briefly, she has accused Finlay, her former boyfriend, of taking photos without her knowledge and consent, sharing them with others, including Ramasar and Longhitano, and NYCB and SAB of being co-liable for the men’s behavior.

I interpreted it the opposite way--that the church was on the far side of the lake that Hans/Hilarion gets tossed into, emphasizing that Giselle was buried at a distance from it.

I saw it then (1996?), too. I'd definitely pass this time.

If, as we see in this production, Giselle's death is not by suicide, why would she be buried in the woods, rather than the churchyard?

This discussion is fascinating. I've always thought that at the end of Act 2 (in every production I've seen), when Giselle returns to the earth (either her grave or to a random pile of earth, as in this production) she would no longer be a Wili and would just "rest in peace"--she doesn't belong with them because rather than pursuing vengeance against men, she defied Myrthe and protected Albrecht.

The Wilis in this production particularly reminded me of those in the Cuban National Ballet's Giselle, which I saw a few years ago. I noticed yesterday that Viengsay Valdes was one of the people acknowledged by Ratmansky at the end.

For me, the ending was very moving and in keeping with the idea of redemption--not just of Giselle no longer being a Wili. I agree that the back and forth between Giselle sinking down and Albrecht picking her up one more time was a bit prolonged, but I felt much more moved by her telling him to marry Bathilde than with the usual solitary and devastated Albrecht. For those who have seen both this version and the PNB version, how similar are the endings?

The synopsis for the PNB production says: "The curtain opens in a dark and gloomy forest on the banks of a pond. Giselle’s tombstone can be seen at the left; the bluish gleam of the moon gives a cold and misty appearance to the scene. Several gamekeepers arrive, hoping to set up an observation post, but Hilarion warns them away: this is the place where the Wilis gather at night, attacking any men who stray into their territory, drowning them or forcing them to dance themselves to their death. Distant chimes strike midnight—the hour when the Wilis appear—and the men flee in terror as will-o’-the-wisps flash threateningly around them." The website says that it's live, but since I saw it at 1 pm in Albany, NY and you saw it at 1 pm your time, we can't all be seeing it live. The Bolshoi website shows that there were two performances today, one at 12:00 at one at 19:00. 1 pm in NY is 9 pm in Moscow, so I suspect that it was live for Europe and the rest of us in North America saw today's performance delayed. We had the same issues with audio dropping out and occasional pixilation.

One detail that I don't remember seeing in other productions is that Albrecht brings red roses to Giselle's grave--usually he brings lilies, which Giselle either picks or tosses here.

I saw it too. I really loved this production and I was much more touched by the ending than by the more typical one. Agree about the details/nuances. It's not radically different from other productions I've seen, but somehow these subtle changes really enhanced the drama. I did think Myrtha on the scooter looked a bit silly (and you could hear the wheels rolling).

Looking at the RB website, they have a Friday rush where they release 49 tickets online for each performance every Friday at 1 pm, including sold-out performances, for that Saturday to the following Friday. https://www.roh.org.uk/events/friday-rush

I totally agree with this, especially with respect to the sets and many of the costumes, which are unbelievably hideous--the signature of Per Kirkbey, who designed both, is to have abstract drips on both. I saw it when it premiered in 1999 (I was at the performance that was broadcast on PBS with Damian Woetzel and Miranda Weese), and I've never been tempted to see it again, although I might see it at SPAC this summer. I know that some people like seeing different dancers in the role, but I'd just rather see the dancers in something else entirely, including the Balanchine Swan Lake. The swan costumes are not so bad, but the others are hideous--one of my friends likened the dancers to a bunch of M&Ms jumping around, particularly in what would be Acts 1 and 3 in a more traditional production. You can get a glimpse here, including of Ashley (also a favorite of mine), although I haven't seen her in this role: The Russian costumes were supposed to be in homage to the orientalism of Bakst, who was Russian. Also, I believe there's only one intermission--Acts 1 and 2 are together and then 3 and 4.

You might try asking for advice on https://www.balletcoforum.com, which I believe is UK-based.

I think it is (or at least was) actually quite common for both Russians and Jews from Russia and other parts of Eastern Europe to think of Jewish and Russian as referring to different ethnic groups, rather than to their citizenship. My grandparents and others of their generation who emigrated from Eastern Europe would never have described themselves as Russian, Polish, or Ukrainian, but instead would refer to themselves/other Ashkenazim (if not as American) just as Jews or with Yiddish terms for specific groups of Ashkenazim like Litvak or Galitzianer. Not saying that you were wrong about your therapist's racism, just that this point is one on which both groups may be in agreement. For a more recent example: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/jun/21/russia-treatment-of-jews-russian-americans

Just adding that my local theater (Landmark Spectrum in Albany, NY) has just recently posted screening dates for the Royal Ballet's Coppelia and Sleeping Beauty. You can check for your local theater here: https://rohcinematickets.com, which, for my theater, also shows two other upcoming programs. Coppelia: 1/21 at 7 pm Sleeping Beauty: 2/25 at 7pm DIE CELLISTIN / DANCES AT A GATHERING: 3/31 Swan Lake: 4/28

Jacob's Pillow has announced that the Sarasota Ballet will be performing in the 2020 Festival August 26th to 30th. Ashton fans will be happy to note that Birthday Offering is on the program. Other ballets TBA. https://www.jacobspillow.org/events/the-sarasota-ballet/

SPAC has announced the 2020 NYCB season: https://spac.org/calendar/calendar-of-events/?view=list&gen=2&utm_source=SPAC+Master&utm_campaign=e3983f31fc-EBLAST_2020ClassicalSeasonAnnounceNonMemb&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_506934f83b-e3983f31fc-217250197&mc_cid=e3983f31fc&mc_eid=bee1c0630b Programs are: Martins' Swan Lake: July 14 and 17th at 8pm, July 18th at 2 pm 20th Century Masters (Summerspace/Cunnningham; Piano Pieces/Robbins; Rubies/Balanchine): July 15th at 8 pm, July 16th at 2 pm SPAC Premieres: Haieff Divertimento (Haieff/Balanchine); The Shaded Line (Tan Dun/Lovette); New Peck (Muhly/Peck): July 16th at 8 pm Gala (In G Major/Robbins; The Man I Love PDD/Balachine); Rubies (Balanchine): July 18th at 8 pm. I'm excited to see the Haieff, which I've never seen before, in the SPAC Premieres program and will probably also go to the 20th Century Masters Program. But on the whole, I'm not thrilled with the programming, especially the 3 Martins SLs. I already bought a lawn pass for the five $5 upgrades (not including the Gala), but I don't think I'll make the same mistake next year. They also usually have one orchestra program with some dance, but not this year.

I thought MCB was supposed to be acquiring the Ratmansky SL reconstruction.

Anthony van Laast was the choreographer for the ENO Mikado.

A short list (at least until I think of more): NYCB: Bourree Fantasque ABT: Bruch Violin Concerto

Bests Ballet 1.NYCB with Teresa Reichlen and Lauren King leading Tschaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 2 at SPAC in evening and matinee performances. This has never been a favorite Balanchine ballet for me, but their performances made me feel like I was seeing it for the first time. 2. Megan Fairchild and Anthony Huxley in Coppelia at SPAC. Great cast in a great ballet. 3. Boston Ballet at Jacob's Pillow, most notably in works by Leonid Jakobson and in Forsythe's Playlist EP. Other Dance: 1. Ephrat Asherie's Odeon at the UAlbany Performing Arts Center. I think I was smiling the whole time. 2. Sara Mearns with the Isadora Duncan Dance Company at Jacob's Pillow. 3. Philadanco at SPAC with the Philadelphia Orchestra in Valse Triste/La Valse Other Theater: A Raisin in the Sun at WTF; Selected Shorts at the UAlbany Performing Arts Center Music: Philadelphia Orchestra performance of Mason Bates' Anthology of Fantastic Zoology at SPAC