drb

Doing the math, that's 13 who have left the corps (5 promotions, 8 delisted) and only one who has entered the corps: Leann Underwood (IMO, close to Sarah Lane as the most significant of recent promotions). You would think there might be some hiring before the next full-length season. Hopeful merde-in-advance to members of the Studio Company!

Two additions:

Mary Mills Thomas, apprentice

Leann Underwood, corps (from apprentice)

Others missing from corps are:

Lauren Bossen

Amanda Cobb

Sasha Dmochowski

Daniel Mantei

Angela Snow

PLACE: Battery Park

DATE: Sep 08, 2007

TIME: 7:30pm

PRICE: Free

Thanks, carbro, for clarifying my '60s slip-of-the-tongue!

The Joyce has posted the program on their site:

PAUL TAYLOR DANCE COMPANY

Evening Stars at Battery Park

Sat, Sep 8 ... Audiences will have the opportunity to see one of The Joyce's 25th Anniversary Commissions with De Sueños ("Of Dreams"), a surrealistic dreamscape referencing Mexican culture and folklore as the Day of the Dead and the Deer Dance. In Polaris (1976), the choreography of the first section is repeated step for step in the second, but performed by different dancers, to different music and with different lighting in the second section, with fascinating results. The program is completed by Company B (1991), set to hits of the Andrews Sisters, is a distillation of 1940s Americana tempered by the shadows of GIs dying in World War II....

6:30pm Battery Park opens to the public

7:30pm Show Begins

Bring your blanket and or a lawn chair as no chairs are provided.

Ticket Price FREE

Paul Taylor's Company will give two free performances at this summer's Lincoln Center Festival:

Paul Taylor Dance Company

Friday, August 03, 2007 8:00 PM

Damrosch Park Bandshell

Program: Book of Beasts, Lines of Loss, Esplanade.

Saturday, August 04, 2007 8:00 PM

Damrosch Park Bandshell

Program: Airs, Profiles, Troilus & Cressida, Piazzolla Caldera.

Last March there were a number of favorable comments regarding Esplanade (Bach) on a Paul Taylor thread. I'd also add Airs (Handel) and Piazzolla Caldera (Astor Piazzolla) to the must-see list.

... Out of interest, what is it about the photos that made this cast stand out to you?

Such things as the awareness of partner in 7, physical reality of 9, how 10 says it all, the yearning conveyed by 23, the grand old Bolshoi intensity of 30 and 31, the look of artist fulfilled in 33. Caveat: Schiavone does like to rearrange his photosets, so hope these numbers still apply to the Alexandrova set. In general the rehearsal room mirror is less evident in this performance, they are more immersed in each other. Or so Schiavione has captured it.

Wow! Mr. Schiavone has more than doubled his offerings. There are now 128 photographs, arranged by performance (four):

http://www.geneschiavone.com/gallery/album15

This year's new ballets event at Columbia University's Miller Theatre will not involve NYCB choreographers, but will feature a number of that company's dancers. There will be four performances, September 27-30, 2007.

Choreographers:

Alison Chase (former Pilobolus AD), Amanda Miller (founder, Pretty Ugly Dance Company), and Luca Veggetti (Italian dancer and choreographer)

Dancers Scheduled to Appear:

Jared Angle, Charles Askegard, Frances Chiaverini, Megan Fairchild, Robert Fairchild, Rebecca Jefferson, Megan LeCrone, Amanda Miller, Rachel Piskin, Abi Stafford, Daniel Ulbricht, Andrew Veyette

Music:

John Adams - John’s Book of Alleged Dances

Fred Frith - Fell, Lelekovice (String Quartet #1: VII)

Paolo Aralla - Analogie: Quaderno

Musicians:

Sirius String Quartet

Nick Didkovsky, electric guitar

Michael Nicolas, cello

Co-produced with Works & Process at the Guggenheim

http://www.millertheatre.com/Events/Events...x?seasonid=2008

City Center promises "F4D" details will shortly appear here:

http://www.nycitycenter.org/ffd/index.cfm

...

From Carol Landers: "In all probability, online seat selection for repertory will become available sometime in 2007. However, it is unclear whether it will or will not become available for George Balanchine's The Nutracker."

NutcrackerTM is now being sold on the site:

Individual seat selection is not an option. Seats are assigned by the Box Office.

In all probability...

In the interview it is stated that his coach Yuri Vladimirov admires Vasiliev's athleticism but is concerned about the roughness of his early training. Ivan seems aware of this and was clearly working on it even back in Minsk:

Conscious of his lack of pedigree schooling, he studied video of Baryshnikov to try to polish himself up. "I love the harmony of Baryshnikov's dancing, how easy it looks. His dancing seems as if it simply demands to happen, and it couldn't be any other way."

The MTV approach used for the article's video, including slow-mo, obscures his dancing, but the last video on his site, Don Q at age 17 with Natasha Osipova, seems to show positive results from this yearning for Baryshnikov polish, especially in variation 1, and the coda brings to mind the glory days of Baryshnikov's early partnership with Gelsey Kirkland.

Personal record: 21 rotations for one pirouette!

The Time Out interview referred to Ms. Lane as being the shortest dancer in ABT. Hope that Sarah read the review of her ABT Reno performance posted in Links, especially the part I've highlighted:

The "Sinatra Suite," a Twyla Tharp-choreographed piece set entirely to Frank Sinatra songs such as "Strangers in the Night" and "That's Life," was exciting, sexy and the kind of thing that those on "Dancing with the Stars" can only dream of.

Herman Cornejo danced in a full tuxedo, occasionally throwing the jacket off stage or loosening his bow tie, but the long and languid Sarah Lane cut a more impressive figure in an Oscar de la Renta sheer black gown -- and high heels that she didn't get to kick off. The audience responded warmly to this performance, giving a rousing round of applause between every song and at nearly every lift and leap.

...I said I didn't know of any pieces in the surviving repertory. Does anyone know if Balanchine used Bartok at all, and if not, was there any stated reason -- or subtext?

In a review of Wheeldon's Evenfall in June, 2006, Robert Gottlieb said

Balanchine disliked Bartók's music, at least for ballet

yet the same score had been used by John Clifford during Balanchine's era (1974) in his Bartok #3. Before that, in 1951 Todd Bolender's Miraculous Mandarin was in City Ballet's rep. In the post Balanchine era at NYCB there have also been Trey McIntyre's Steel and Rain (1994), Chris d'Amboise's Triptych (2000), as well as Evenfall. Any others?

There are no ballets to Bartok listed in the Balanchine Trust's Active Rep. Searching is tricky, as one needs to also check for the spelling Bartók.

...

You'd think efforts would be made to make specific info available before box office opens.

My guess is that there could have been uncertainty re Cojocaru/Kobborg (hence, one of the new Wheeldons). I don't think City Center's site added Bussell/Cope till two days after the July 9th casting announcement.

http://www.nycitycenter.org/events/event_d...vent_code=WDN08

I can't find City Center's July 9 Press release posted anywhere on BT, so I hope it is OK to post the dancers and the programs for MORPHOSES here without waiting any longer, since tickets go on sale Monday (I believe already being sold to City Center Members).

DANCERS

Ashley Bouder, Darcey Bussell, Gonzalo Garcia, Maria Kowroski, Michael Nunn,

Oxana Panchenko, William Trevitt, Wendy Whelan, and Anastasia Yatsenko

BALLETS

Program 1: (October 17, 18 & 19)

There Where She Loved

Christopher Wheeldon, (NY premiere)

Music: Frederick Chopin, Kurt Weill

Tryst Pas, Wheeldon, (NY premiere)

Music: James MacMillan (full orchestra)

Slingerland, William Forsythe, (NY premiere)

Music: Gavin Bryars (tape or full orchestra)

Satie Stud, Michael Clarke, (NY premiere)

Music: Erik Satie

Prokofiev Pas De Deux, Wheeldon, (American premiere)

Music: Sergei Prokofiev (full orchestra)

New Wheeldon Ballet, Wheeldon, (American premiere)

Music: Joby Talbot, (Full orchestra)

Program 2: October 20 & 21

Mesmerics, Wheeldon

Music: Philip Glass

There Where She Loved, Pas de Deux

Wheeldon, (NY premiere)

Music: Frederick Chopin, Kurt Weill

Propeller, Liv Lorent, (NY premiere)

Music: Antonio Vivaldi and Ezio Bosso

Satie Stud, Michael Clarke, (NY premiere)

Music: Erik Satie

Liang Pas de Deux, Edwaard Liang, (NY premiere)

Music: Franz Schubert

Morphoses, Wheeldon

Music: György Ligeti

http://www.nycitycenter.org/about/press.cfm

I'm looking forward to this!

I'll be in NYC during that time, and happened to stumble on the information last week - bought tickets for the 15th I believe it is.

Now, I'll go back and read this thread in preparation!

m2

Even if you weren't here then, you could see the August 16, 2007 performance on Live from Lincoln Center (PBS):

http://www.lincolncenter.org/load_screen.a...incoln%20Center

Just five more weeks! They've now added a clever video (click on the left of the page) that jumps from section to section while just playing a continuous portion of the music for the middle ballet, yet looks like it all fits the music. Does this say something good or bad (or Merce-ish) about Morris? At any rate, the vid is large, clear and about two and a half minutes long.

http://www.lincolncenter.org/show_events_l...eventcode=14559

City Center has posted the names of dancers for the Morphoses season, October 17-21:

...The company... will perform to live music each evening, including performances with full orchestra. Leading dancers from major U.S. and European ballet companies will be participating in this debut New York season, including Ashley Bouder, Darcey Bussell, Jonathan Cope, Gonzalo Garcia, Nehemiah Kish, Maria Kowroski, Michael Nunn, Oxana Panchenko, William Trevitt, Wendy Whelan, Anastasia Yatsenko and others.

So much for retirement, DARCEY BUSSELL!

While sorry to see that Alina Cojocaru (Get Well, Soon!) and Johan Kobborg are not listed, fans of NYCB should be especially pleased to see Ashley, Maria, and Wendy.

Elsewhere on their site, City Center has a full press release that also details the ballets to be performed in the two programs.

City Center has now posted the Fall ABT programming. Certainly bargain pricing, far less than Wheeldon, Paul Taylor, Ailey, Vishneva, Mariinsky. Yet, even more, they offer substantial discounts for three or more performances. Very strange ('though welcome!).

https://www.nycitycenter.org/events/event_d...vent_code=ABT08

I voted 1. I actually attended frequently this season, but would have gone even more without block programming. There were two reasons for going that often:

1. Loads of Balanchine. That aberation will not continue, as is evident from the early information for the winter season. Three full-lengths: NYBT?

2. Ashley Bouder, Kyra Nichols, Ashley Bouder, Tess Reichlen, Ashley Bouder, Sara A. Mearns, Ashley Bouder, Maria Kowroski, Ashley Bouder.

Certain perceived benefits from block programming failed to materialise. The number of different ballets performed in a given week of rep was NOT decreased. It was just that the one you really wanted to see more frequently was always stuck with the same others, and in the same order (so if it were on last, you were trapped, or decided to wait till next year). Without choice, the average number you really wanted per performance was lowered. Dancer workloads remained unbalanced, perhaps even moreso, especially when one of two dancers for a given ballet was out with injury. As discussed at various times over the two seasons, Ashley Bouder had an extremely taxing interval last winter, and Maria Kowroski was overloaded the last half of the spring season.

Re: Lane/Cornejo:

...Worth adding another performance to my calendar?

Let's put it this way, if they are paired in McK's Sleeping (or anything else) next summer at the Met, I'll make it priority #1! Hope you go, and even more, hope you'll tell us about it!

Another cancellation of X. Reyes. Does anyone know whether she is still scheduled for the 14 July Othello? I hope so, so that the Lane casting would be for artistic reasons rather than for a continuing injury. Xiomara would seem a natural for Desdemona, just as Sarah for Aurora.

So all of this will probably be sold out way before the performances, if not sold out already?.. I really want to see them, but I don't know what my schedule will be like at that time. Why did they put them on sale so far in advance?

For the fun of it, I checked the closing performance (April 20) ticket availability on City Center's site. Ignoring the seats listed as held back by Ardani (for Opening Night and ???, centers for Orch A-J, GT A, Mezz A), I found that first row center seats were available in each price range. So not exactly selling like hotcakes! Also, only a few of those VIPs are listed as sold for Opening Night by Ardani. I would guess those closer rows (obviously, some of these very undesirable) will eventually become available at more normal prices, wouldn't you think? Didn't check other dates, as the closing, with such a great program, should be relatively desired.

http://www.nycitycenter.org/index.cfm

On a similar note. How about a principal guest artist wishlist? Tamara Rojo would be at the top of mine.

Osipova/Vasiliev.

... a revival of Ashton's La Fille... with H Cornejo and S Lane would be a good start.

You'd need two or three other casts. I wonder if Stella Abrera's Cinders performances might hint that she could do it? Since it is a masterpiece, Diana Vishneva (Corella) might be interested in the challenge, and since it is Ashton, Gillian Murphy (Hallberg). But who for Alain, the ballet's central character?

An all-Ashton mixed bill from ABT's rep might be:

A Birthday Offering (while Julie Kent is still here from ABT's original cast)

intermission

Symphonic Variations (for art, but since it lasts only 18 mins, follow it with a fan-grabber star turn)

pause

5 Brahms Waltzes in the Manner of Isadora Duncan (Ferri, why not?, she lives here; or Nina)

intermission

Les Patineurs (to give lots of young dancers exposure)

Tickets are now on sale for this winter's Paul Taylor season at City Center.

You can save by purchasing tickets directly at the box office, 55th Street between 6th and 7th Avenues, or order conveniently by calling CityTix (212.581.1212) or clicking here. Tickets are $125 for Premium Seats (which include an invitation to relax in the Patrons Lounge at each intermission), $90 for Orchestra and Grand Tier, $75 for Orchestra and Grand Tier Balance, $55 for Mid-Mezzanine, $35 for Rear Mezzanine Front, and $15 for Rear Mezzanine Balance. Some $15 seats on the side are also available in other sections of the house. Performances are Tuesday through Thursday evenings at 7pm, Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm; Saturdays at 2pm; and Sundays at 3pm.

http://www.ptdc.org/cc_07.php

...She [Farrell] was great in the scherzo - off-balance, playing with the music. It was also more proof that she wasn't such a poor jumper as many say.

Getting back to Ashley Bouder, there'd be no jumping issue! In today's links there's an interview with Bolshoi's rising superstar Natasha Osipova. On first sighting she struck me as their Bouder: not the same line, but the muscular strength, the jump, the daring, the joy... Regarding possible issues raised by Ashley's 5ft 5in stature, it is fascinating how yesteryear's tall is today's short:

On stage, Osipova's body has a muscular substance that not only makes an attractive change from standard x-ray ballerinas, but emphasises through contrast the floating ease of her trajectories. Off stage, though, away from the peculiarities of stage lighting, she turns out to be a whole lot slimmer. At 5ft 5in, she is the same height as Maya Plisetskaya, the 81-year-old Bolshoi phenomenon still dancing (more or less) last year. In her heyday, Plisetskaya was considered a giantess. These days, Osipova is one of the shortest ballerinas.