Roberta

According to City Life magazine, Ratmansky's new ballet for NYCB (Feb 15) will be set to two movements from Mahler symphonies (the March from Symph 1 and the Adagietto from Symph 5). Slow march and a sad farewell, perhaps dealing with Ukraine? City Life Org - New York City Ballet Presents 2024 Winter Season (thecitylife.org)

Thank you, Lovebird. This is most interesting!

The full Tchai Suite no. 3 was performed at the Kennedy Center-DC in March 2013, as part of an All-Tchaikovsky program. I'm assuming that it also was performed in NYC during that season. At the Kennedy Center I saw the following cast leads: I. Elegie - Krohn/Catazaro II. Valse Melancholique - A. Stafford/J. Peck III. Scherzo - Scheller/Carmena IV. Tema con Variazioni - Bouder/Garcia

Seo and Stearns are dancing Arpino's Sea Shadow in the Sept 23/24 Arpino Centennial Gala in Chicago (page down): News/Events - The Arpino Foundation

The Board may be looking for a modern demographic. Just guessing. They want to be extra careful to find the right AD.

I noticed this happy news on the company's website. Trinidad Vives | The Washington Ballet They're still searching for a permanent A.D.

Also, the full DVD and Blu-Ray of the RB's LWFC can be purchased via Ebay, via the Movie Mars shop (and an Australian distributor): LIKE WATER FOR CHOCOLATE (ROYAL OPERA HOUSE) 809478013662 | eBay

Buddy, there are a number of "short" FB films of Khoreva dancing passages of P.D. Go to the @irabara address to see her dancing two solos from the Huntress' scene. There are also some great short clips of Kimin Kim by @kiminkim_fans. The best is he & Terioshkina dancing the coda of the Pas des Cymbals in A3...where dancers wear little metal disks in their hands. Kim jumps like a nut there - so high!

Buddy, we're also proud of our Imperial Court composers, such as Cesare Pugni (Pharaoh's Daughter, Esmeralda, etc.) Not to forget another one who I love the most - Riccardo Drigo. There's lots of Italy in the Imperial Ballet's history. Perhaps that's why Italy does not turn its back on old friendships.

You're close, Buddy! It's also a favorite of mine. According to Roland John Wiley's A Century of Russian Ballet (p. 226, Scenario of the ballet), it's termed the Grand Pas d'Action finale. I've also seen it termed, in other sources, as the Finale of the Caryatids. The various groups going in circles, in different stages/opposite directions, reminds me of the finale of Mark Morris' Sandpaper Ballet, amazingly. Little did Mark Morris know!

Isn't Ratmansky's Contract with ABT ending this spring? Spring 2023, I think. That may explain why his works may not be performed into the Met season. Just a guess. American Ballet Theatre (abt.org)

Checking in from our new/old home in Rome. Very sorry to read about Kent's upcoming departure but it's not a surprise. She & her husband have been traditionalists in nature - at least, what we saw in the 2/3 years before the pandemic and the various social changes that came with the George Floyd fall-out. I hope that they will be excellent in Houston, which is a mostly-traditional sphere, even with Welch still acting as the main AD. I especially loved TWB's traditional The Sleeping Beauty, which will be revived next spring. Lucky Washington, to see it again. Best wishes!

Link to this year's edition of the Vail Festival: Schedule at a Glance | Vail Dance Festival NYCB's Roman Mejia and freelance chor'r Caili Quan (formerly Ballet X) are 2022 Artists-in-Residence, joined by a lot of our favorite usual suspects: Tiler Peck, Lil' Buck, Lauren Lovette, Michelle Dorrance, Calvin Royal III, et al. Limon Company, NYCB MOVES, etc. Lots of additional guests in the two Int'l Evenings of Dance of 5-6 August (Cornejo, Fairchild, Furlan, Kochetkova, Mearns, Nadon, Teuscher & Stearns). New works from Jusin Peck, Pam Tanowitz, etc. In a "Conversations on Dance" interview previewing the Festival, A.D. Damien Woetzel mentioned that several Ukrainian dancers will be special guests throughout the two weeks. Vail Dance Festival 2022 Preview with Artistic Director, Damian Woetzel (conversationsondancepod.com)

The Ailey Company performed the full The River in Washington, DC, in 2007 starring Alicia Graf. No pointe shoes...this was the soft-slipper edition but was very well done, that I recall.

And I thought that the Kennedy Center's 22/23 Ballet-Dance season was skimpy. At least the Kenn Cen has three true classical offerings: ABT, NYCB and Kansas City's Nutcracker. The Monte Carlo, China and Scottish companies are bringing modern pieces. All three are holdovers from previous seasons that were cancelled due to COVID. We did not renew our family's subscription but will try to get single-performance tickets for the two NYCB triple bill programs...as we're not big Romeo & Juliet fans (the only ABT offering). We almost always pass on Nutcracker. So two performances of NYCB -- and all-Balanchine and a modern mix -- is it for us next season + a couple of Washington Ballet shows. Very slim pickings for pure-classical-ballet lovers in Wash, DC, in 2022/23! We feel your pain, Segerstrom/OC area fans.

According to my notes of the ABT Studio Company Spring Festival (streamed 2-3 June 2021), the Children's Songs Dance segment was 21 minutes long. This included a brief spoken intro by the choreographer...so it was about 20 minutes of dance. Seven dancers included three women (Glatz, Park, Y. Seo) and four men (Brosnan, Doherty, Magbitang and Robare).

2022/23 Season Subscription | The Washington Ballet The first program will be the latest edition of NEXTSteps - new works. I'm thrilled that my beloved Silas Farley is among the three named choreographers! Love his new work for NYCB last May and his digital works for TWB and ABT last year. I also admire Dana Genshaft, who created two works in the past. The third choreographer, A. Ndlovu, comes with high praise too, although I've yet to see his work. No fist pumps/sneakers/overly-woke work, please!

Yes, Misty celebrates her 40th b'day on Sept 10, 2022! 🥳 Even though she isn't slated to dance in ABT's Fall '22 season at the Koch, I hope that she might still make an appearance in the new ballet LIFTED - maybe as a narrator or a special walk-on cameo?

Good point, abatt...and will Asians be excluded too? Non-Black Latinos/LatinX allowed? AND - drumroll! - LIFTED will employ an "intimacy coach" too. Ooooo!!!! Another Woke-Box checked. 😜 I'm grateful for all of the rest so I'll stop my silly comments about Wokesters with that.

True...but who needs a Tudor when one can be LIFTED! 😇 And I wouldn't be surprised if Misty makes a cameo appearance in Lifted - at least at the Gala premiere - given that it promises to be an all-Black production...even a conductor of color! I'm thrilled about most everything else - especially the two Ratmansky works, Seasons and Whipped Cream. Misseldine, Hurlin and Park for Princess Praline! Klein and Maloney reprising The Boy...and maybe Elwince Magtibang debut?! The Dream! Sinfonietta! Have I died and gone to Heaven? I'll be parked at Lincoln Center for most of the Fall Koch season. Also, I'm happy to see Lang's Children's Songs Dances again - this time live, as it was premiered during the June 2021 digital program...AND featured SunMi Park and six other then-Studio Co dancers...as I just mentioned a few hours ago in the ABT Promotions thread. Well, golly golly. That and Whipped Cream for our pralines. [Magnolia Bakery better repeat those pink cupcakes...and we better see that big ol' Whipped Cream float chugging down Columbus Avenue once again!]

I recall an amazing ABT Facebook post a while ago, featuring Sun Mi Park rehearsing Kitri in Don Q pdd's balances. OMG! Just found the link. Hope it works: Facebook Watch

I didn't attend any of the recent Met performances, so have not seen Sun Mi Park live. However, I remember her vividly as a top (most heavily featured) member of the ABT Studio Company in last summer's June 2021 virtual Spring Festival. Wow! Sun Mi Park truly impressed me in three numbers for various qualities: 1. Lyricism - beautifully lyrical dancer in the pdd from Ratmansky's Seven Sonata (with equally fantastic Cy Doherty)...introduced and coached by Stella Abrera, a mentor of sorts...Park looked like a perfect future Giselle during that pdd!; 2. Impeccable terre-a-terre tech and batterie - Bournonville's uber-difficult Kermesse in Bruges pdd (with zippy Jake Roxander); and 3. Outstanding among seven dancers in Jessica Lang's Children's Songs Dance, to Chick Corea's score. This doesn't mean that others may not have been similarly worthy of promotion to soloist level...but I totally see the rationale with Ms. Park. I'm thrilled that she did not have to wait ten years for this. Another thing to keep in mind is that, sometimes, dancers join a lower rank - be it Studio Co or Apprentice or even Corps in the main company - with the pre-understanding that s/he will be promoted to a certain level within a short period of time. I'm not saying that this is what happened with Park but let's not forget the cases of Irina Dvorovenko at ABT (former prima in Kiev, later joining ABT at a low rank but with an understanding that she'd be principal eventually) and Kimin Kim at the Mariinsky - joining as trainee and totally sponsored (salary covered) by a wealthy donor (Mr. Takahashi - clearly stated on the Mariinsky website). Misseldine, Hurlin, Park...all future Nikiyas, Gamzattis, O/Os, Giselles, Myrtas...or even Princess Pralines!

I think you've hit the nail on the head, abatt. When I buy tickets to a ballet company, I expect to see traditional, recognizable ballet vocabulary and way of movement. Preferably, the ballets will be performed to traditional classical music but I also love the new-age masters, such as Glass. It's supposed to be the "Kennedy Center ballet" season, New York City Ballet, American Ballet Theatre; not "American Modern-dance theatre" and the like. At least NYCB continues to program and package great traditional ballets in some mixed programs such as Masters at Work: Balanchine and Robbins or All Balanchine, which will continue to pop up in 2022/2023. I'll stick to those or maybe All Peck if it's the works not performed in sneakers. I also need to pay attention to what music is being played. Need to be extra-careful on how I spend money and time because, in our case, travel and hotel costs are also involved.

Some oddities - mostly deserved. CHLOE MISSELDINE to Soloist!!!!! I can live with all else.

Wendy DID program Farley. No complaints with NYCB on that front. Only complaints about the rest, such as Nelson and Bell. Hope Boykin and the raised fists at ABT Studio. That sort of thing. Isn't it about time to sift the wheat from the chaff? An end to calling exclusively on choreographers who fill an Affirmative Action agenda. USA ballet companies in general should end Woke Racism, please. Just go for choreographers of quality - the best, regardless of gender, color of skin, nationality, etc.