atm711

Wow, this has to be one of THE-Least-Attractive-Rep-Seasons-EVAH! I'm guessing that it's being underwritten by some a Tharp-loving foundation of some sort (or special NEA grant geared towards Tharp/modern) & will likely utilize a third of the company.

Definitely saving money on this one.

DITTO For those who can't resist, there should be lots of TDF discounts around.

Unfortunately, the 5th is gone

The hats on the Diaghilev dancers would have looked right at home at the recent royal wedding.....

Maybe I'm naive, but rather than let those rings sit empty I'd fill them with students (of all ages) and build the audience of tomorrow. Surely there's a foundation or two somewhere who could be persuaded to throw a few bucks NYCB's way for the opportunity. Have a conversation with City Center of Music and Drama (Koch Theater sublessee), Lincoln Center (Koch Theater lessee), or New York City (Koch Theater Lessor) about a break in facility fees in exchange for making those seats available to the Board of Ed.

To me, throwing away those empty seats is like throwing away good food. There are a ton of kids in the metropolitan area who will never see the inside of a performing arts venue but need to. The powers that be -- the NYCB Board, the big donors and foundations who support the company, our elected officials -- could make that happen if they really wanted to.

The same kind of policy was in effect during the days of Ballet Society. The top level of the City Center was unoccupied. However, it did not stop the resourceful students from attending---we got in through the iron staircase attached to the building---there were simply too many of us to be evicted. After a while, they got used to us and left us alone.

My vote goes to the absent Peter Martins

I second atm711's vote wholeheartedly! I've despised Martins almost since he took over as sole Artistic Director of NYCB in 1990. Watching him dismantle the work of genius Balanchine created has been a show of horrors.

Ah, yes---one has to separate the dancer from the administrator---it is not always easy.

My vote goes to the absent Peter Martins

I am currently reading a book about Robert Drinan,S.J. by Raymond Schroth. He was the first Catholic priest elected to Congress (from Massachusetts) It has been said he deserves either condemnation or canonization, depending on one's point of view.

Did anyone go to the opening? I'm curious how the New Choreography program went over up there. (We didn't get it down here.)

By new choreography do you mean the Elo ballet? I saw the program on the second night (15th). After sitting through ABT's recent new works program, the Elo work was a revelation. It is a ballet for three women and three men, fast paced to a Vivaldi score. I liked the use of the women in short classical tutus---it softened some of the sharp angles of the choreography. A work I would enjoy seeing again. I still have a wide smile on my face when I think of those magnificent men in the Bournonville Variations. What epaulement--what batterie, what grace of form Ah! The Act III Napoli was a bit of a mish-mash...what was someone thinking when they combined two costume styles? If anything, The Lesson was riveting---the student was impressively danced by an apprentice, Ida Praetorius--she reminded me of Janet Reed. I am looking forward to La Sylphide this weekend (Susanne Grinder and Marcin Kupinski) and another look at Napoli (Amy Watson, Alban Lendorf)

I really didn't think anyone was insulting Eglevsky He had unusually large hands and one critic at the time said of him--"He seems to be looking disconsolately for a towel to wipe his hands" oh. well.

Quite a bit like Eglevsky.

In defense of Eglevsky ---an emphatic NO WAY! He was my very first favorite male dancer---and he moved with a beautiful feline grace. I saw no sign of that with Sergeyev.....Eglevsky's multiple pirouettes were slo-oow. and were used to great effect in the birth scene of Apollo during the removal of the swaddling clothes. Sergeyev has a rather sloppy technique---and, oh, that back

I would like opinions on the picture quality of this DVD. Some time ago I transferred my tape to DVD, but the quality of the picture is rather anemic. Is this DVD any better?

I saw this ballet last season with Vishneva and Gomes---and I had a very different reaction to the first comment. My first encounter with the ballet was on a tape made years ago with Marcia Haydee and I found her to be too melodramatic, and she was too plain looking for such a part. I thought I would never venture to see it performed live----however, I will go to see anything with Vishneva and Gomes. I particularly love the second act of this ballet---the Chopin is not orchestrated---just a solo piano for the entire Act---what a reverie, I wished the Act would never end. After seeing this performance I bought the POB dvd with Letestu and Bullion and they were an interesting contrast to Vishneva and Gomes. It had a different dynamic---V&G are fairly close in age, but L&B are separated by many years (15?)---so it was the lovesick young man and the older woman. I was smitten by both interpretations.

See it---let the beauty of the performers (and the Chopin score) wash over you.

I like your scenario Christian and would love to see it performed! A step in the right direction for a mature Giselle would be the tape with Lynn Seymour and Nureyev---the most mature Giselle I have seen. I also have a "what if" scenario-----what if Giselle had married Hilarion? I think she would have made the poor fellows life miserable. Here was a girl who was trying to rise above her class; she was attracted to a nobelman because she knew instinctively that he was a cut above the rough-edged village lads; she loved fine clothes and jewelry. She could have been another Emma Bovary.....

did any one attend the matinee? I'd love to hear how Hee Seo was in her debut as Giselle (although if her twitter is any indication, she had the time of her life!)

I would say she is a work in progress. She certainly has the expertise for the role but the depth of her love for Albrecht is not shown convincingly in either Act 1 or 2. Albrecht's indiscretion in Act 1 seemed more 'ho-hum'---in Act 2 the depth of her love for Albrecht did not appear strong enough to confront Myrtha. With these reservations. I did like her performance and hope she has the opportunity to grow in the role. Nothing much to add about the magnificent Mr. Hallberg---he joins the company of the other great ABT Albrechts---Eglevsky, Youskevitch, Bruhn and Baryshnikov.

Danil Simkin in peasant pdd practically walked off with Act 1 honors----In Act 2 I never saw a more beautifully danced Zulma. Yuriko Kajiya raised the variation to 'ballerina-dom'. At the end of her Myrtha solo Stella Abrera has a breathtaking series of grand jetes---spectacular.

I do believe that Macauley's suggestion of using new ballets as curtain raisers to established classics is a very good one. It would certainly relieve the monotony of an evening of new works and also to give the new work a chance to stand on its own. We do need to see new works performed more frequently---but, please in smaller doses.--- -it brings to mind that old song about a 'spoonful of sugar'. The audience for new works has to be brought along slowly and steadily---and not in 'one shot' programs. It was once done that way, but has fallen by the wayside.

A ballet background....Garfield has always been one of my favorites, and now I love him

I saw yesterday's matinee---and it is so much easier to say "I liked it" rather than why you didn't....Of the three new works the only one I would really like to see over again is the Ratmansky Dumbarton. It is more than likely his 'homage' to Balanchine that caught me. It was a pleasure to see a Ratmansky original rather than a re-hashed one. (special praise to Meaghan Hinkis in her first solo role) Troika (Millepied) is one of those ballets with three men in t-shirts and slacks, no scenery and a lone instrumentalist on stage---in this case beautifully rendered Bach cello suites (by Jonathan Spitz) It is best to heed Balanchine's admonition---'if you don't like what's on stage, close your eyes and have a wonderful concert'. Wheeldon's Thirteen Dimensions had much interest. Four couples were spot-lighted one at a time in imaginative pdd's---most notably Isabella Boylston and Marcello Gomes (very much in the style of a passionate Manon PDD) And, finally the Master----even so-called second-rate Tudor far exceeds all others. Sarah Lane was a marvelous Celestial, great stage presence---and yes, you convinced me, you can act as well as Portman.

I don't remember ever seeing any casting for Suzanne Farrell Ballet, either.

Concur about not wanting to sit too close. The Joyce originally touted itself as having "not a bad seat in the house." However, the seats on the sides of the mezzanine, though giving you a full view of the stage, may cause you to twist a bit in your seat. Not the most comfortable. Why do theaters, when you will be watching at an oblique angle, set the seats facing front, like the seats that run parallel to the stage? It makes no sense.

The old Met Opera House on 39th Street had similar seating --- they called it the Orchestra Circle, and standing room was behind it.

The Joyce site leaves me thoroughly confused---are they doing the same program for all five days???how do you know who is dancing???

And why all the droopy faces at the curtain call on the part of the corps? Not a smile among them.

Perhaps because they know that ABT's policy of bringing in guest stars reduces opportunities for them.

Twas ever thus I heard the same complaints over 60 years ago...if it wasn't for the Guest policy I would never have seen Markova, Toumanova, Riabouchinska or Lichine---and Chauvire (with the Ballet Russe). Enjoy the guests---see them if you can---your favorites will still be there.

I would offer the same harsh criticism on Roslyn Sulcas that she brought down on the dancers. She was much too flippant and showed a glaring absence of any insight---"mopey duet" indeed.

I saw the Sat Mat performance....7DS is a mildly entertaining work with an uninteresting Weill score. The best part for me was Whelan's 'Anna'. It was a sensitive performance. I haven't seen a live performance of 'Vienna Waltzes' for quite a while, but the day before I made the mistake of watching an old tape from 1983.....the 'gold and silver waltz' with Jonathan Stafford was a disappointment----I cannot imagine a sophisticated woman giving him a glance, let alone being smitten with him. He was like a schoolboy and I am sure it affected Ringer's interpretation. Sara Mearns was most impressive in the final waltz, but I would caution her to guard against being too emotive in the latter parts of the waltz.

After seeing the 4T's I knew why I see NYCB infrequently----where or where is the sharpness of attack? The pointe work was so mushy.

Thanks Ken---I am really looking forward to this season---NYCB, ABT, RDB, and topped off with Lopatkina in July

Richka, you REALLY should start your own blog----why the hesitation? We are all waiting......