nanran3

I needed some time to think about all that I saw on Saturday, matinee and evening performances. Standouts were: Solitude, oh my gosh.! I cried, so moving and chilling. Danced absolutely beautifully, especially by Mira Nadon and Adrian Danchig-Waring. Sara Mearns seemed more tentative than I have seen her. I have always been a huge fan, but found myself watching Mira much more. Loved Tiler Peck's new piece and I was really wowed by both David Gabriel (who is he, wow!) and Olivia Bell. She was marvelous next to the stunning and precise Emma Von Enck. Symphony in Three Movements: Predictably Emma Von Enck was marvelous and visually striking. Ashley Laracey was elegant in the pas de deux, but not very precise or strong in the faster movements. I remember really enjoying Sterling Hyltin in this role and, of course, Tiler Peck. I love Opus 19 and Tiler was beautiful in this. Also Joseph Gordon had lush lines, precise and beautiful positions. I don't enjoy Rotunda. I find Justin Peck's solo and duet work jolting and not interesting, too much movement without anything really there. The dancers seem to be constantly changing direction and the movement isn't able to breathe. His work sometimes seems clever but lacking in depth. A great full day at the ballet. The company looks fantastic. Lots of new young talent.

Tiler's piece looks wonderful! Can't wait to see it in three weeks...

Sunday matinee was a wonderful show. My husband said it might have been one of the better programs he remembers. Tiler Peck was the star of the show amongst many other stars. Her technical brilliance, her flair, her feeling, her musicality...what more can we say? She is one of the greats and I am grateful that I have gotten to see her perform some of the most majestic roles, including Tchai Pas. The corps and soloists, including McKinnon were quite good. For Olivia M those double turns one after another with arms overhead are challenging and she was nervous, but made it through. I thought she shined in the role in a new way than I've seen her before. Good for her! Gordon was good, partnered Tiler excellently, but I always find his face very serious and kind of wooden. La Sonnambula was okay, Huxley strange in the role, Maxwell did fine, but the ballet didn't move me at all. Whereas in the past, with Sterling Hyltin and Finlay, I remember being drawn in much more. Apollo: the women ruled! Gorgeous, tall, expansive, technically brilliant dancers! I think Chan needs some time to grow into the role. He is beautiful to look at, but didn't fully inhabit Apollo yet. Hopefully after more time and experience he'll master it more fully. A great day at the ballet! And we noticed that, contrary to the aged audience at the Philharmonic, the NYCB audience has quite a lot of younger folks, a good range of ages in the audience today. Even a few little girls, a mixed blessing since they squirmed a bit... 😉

I've just returned from the premiere of Copland Dance episodes. It was a success! I don't remember the last time I've seen NYCB fans giving such a full-fledged standing ovation, but they did tonight. The Copland music was majestic and glorious. The trumpets in the first section gave me chills. And the orchestra sounded fantastic, thanks to the direction of Andrew Litton. Rodeo continues to be the masterpiece here in my opinion. It starts out this work. The following sections are good too though. Mira Nadon did a very nice job. She is lovely to watch. I remember Sara Mearns of course in that principal ballerina role and Mira doesn't yet have her majesty, maturity, confidence and drama. But probably she will get there over time. Taylor Stanley is beautiful as always, sensitive, grounded, intense. Others shone too. Chun Wai is beautiful, a great partner, sinuous, precise. A beautiful dancer. Mejia had star power as always. The choreography was good. I think Peck is best when working with groups; some of those moments were really striking and worked very well. Less so the solos and trios in my opinion. All in all it was great to see the audience loving up these dancers and the music/choreography. Justin came out with all his collaborators at the end and he looked so happy. Nice touch, they gave flowers to the principal women and men this time. Fun afterthought: My husband glimpsed Spike Lee in the audience. A great night at the ballet!

Just the luck of the draw. I have tickets for Friday night: Hod in Firebird. (I was really hoping to see Lafreniere). Oh well...Kind of an odd choice to me, but maybe I'll be pleasantly surprised. Also Allegro with Megan and Tyler, not Tiler and Mejia. Disappointed...I agree with the above posts on this one. For the future maybe I will try to get tickets to first cast nights. But also, again, maybe I"ll be pleasantly surprised!

I have tickets to the Jan 27th show and I was counting on seeing Sara Mearns in Walpurgisnacht. She is unexcelled in the role I think. I am sad to hear she is out for the first week of shows. She is a rare talent and I am so grateful to have seen her perform so much. But I'd hate to think that her body is starting to give out for good. That would be very sad! Even though I no longer live in NY, I would come in for sure to see her retirement show. But hopefully that's a long way off!

Thanks for this really wonderful summing up of the shows in DC. Good to know that the company looked so good.

Agreed! I really enjoyed the article. I have sometimes wondered why there is so much manipulation of the women in ballet by male partners especially in newer works or in modern dance pieces. Nice to think that we could begin to change that narrative.

This has often been a question of mine: Why do some male dancers continue to get roles when they are clearly "out of shape" or not slim or lithe looking? This happens in corps, soloist and principal ranks. It seems like a real double standard. That said, I agree that the article, at least in my reading, does not give a favorable impression of Ms. Lillo.

I have tickets to attend and wondered what people think the program will be? Which ballets? Symphony in C? Serenade? Rodeo 4 Dance Episodes?

Great choice. I would love to see Lovette's interpretation.

Those are my two favorites of Peck too. And I also loved Belles Lettres.

I saw the show. Lauren King did a great job in Stafford's part, and Woodward also, though no one can match Tiler Peck in that role, in my view. She is a phenomenon.

I agree with both of these statements. I'm glad as an audience member that I'll be able to see Ramasar dance again, but what he did is classic Frat Boy mentality, and he is a man in his 30's. Not okay.

I was thinking the same thing. What rank will they give her? She got to soloist at NYCB... There is nothing yet on the MCB website, so we'll just have to wait...

I checked the MCB website as well and noticed that they still show Jovani Furlon on their roster when it has already been announced that he will join NYCB this year. So maybe they are waiting to update that info on their site. Also, it will be interesting to see what rank they give her. She got to soloist at NYCB...

Apparently, the press release has just gone out that Kathryn Morgan is joining Miami City Ballet. Good for her! Having to leave NYCB after coming down with an auto-immune illness, and thinking she might never dance again has to have been so tough. I wish her the best in that fabulous company. It was announced on a FB live broadcast from YAGP.

I have 2 great seats in the orchestra available for this date. Program: Hallelujah Junction, Herman Schmerman, The Exchange, Concerto DSCH just send me an email at nraines59@gmail.com or respond here. Thanks!

Thanks for posting this. I've put it on my calendar. it looks like NYCB has been using Silas Farley for these types of public lecture/demo events. He does a great job and is very well spoken. Good for him!

Regarding the possibility of not renewing some contracts, to be honest I wouldn't necessarily renew Abi Stafford's for instance, but this is her brother. Who were you thinking of, who hasn't danced much? Just curious...

One question I have is about promotion and hiring. Who will decide which SAB students to make apprentices, and who will decide on company promotions? Perhaps both of them will weigh in.

I am thrilled by this decision. It seems a very nice marriage of the managing expertise of Stafford and artistic and dancer knowability of Whelan. Sorry for the strange wording, but I think they have good interlocking talents and I'm all for this. Whelan is, I believe, very committed to the Balanchine rep as she danced in many of those ballets, especially the leotard ones, and loved them. I imagine they would confer about promotions and hiring, but I did interpret the wording from Schraft to mean that they felt they needed someone who got the final say and that would be Stafford. Something I also commend about this choice is that both of these people seem to me to be kind, understanding and generous persons who can keep the company fully professional while also creating an atmosphere free of fear and intimidation. Very curious to see what unfolds over these next few years. I did love Runaway by Abraham in terms of the inventiveness and creative challenge for the dancers as well as for Taylor Stanley's extraordinary solo, however I found the rap jarring, words that seemed not to fit in that theater, sentiments that were harsh and, I guess, not my thing. I don't look forward to more rap music talking about killing people and oneself. That's just me.

The idea of Martins changing casting at the last minute, and presumptively walking backstage before the dancers had finished their show is utterly confounding to me. It seems to be a power play, and one that must be responded to immediately, as Stafford hinted they would do. He needs to get out of there and let this company recover and heal and move on. It is unfortunate that their blockbuster audience hits are choreographed by Martins. It is hugely expensive to make a new production, with all new costumes and sets etc. But do they have a choice in the long run? I was also dismayed to read of the loyalty to Peter in the board member quoted, and presumably other board members that he must have groomed and seduced during the years of his tenure. How are those people, who may or may not know anything about arts admin or personnel issues, etc, how are they to come to agreement on a new leader if they are still loyal to Peter? It sounds like a mess. We need a good spring cleaning over at that board for starters, and a new AD, and Peter gone for good.

Yes it is! You can reach me at 413-835-5598

Kind of a weird non-sequitur but I was wondering if perhaps Robbie Fairchild could come back and bolster the principal male ranks at NYCB? Or is it a no-go because of his break up with Tiler Peck?