nysusan

Although it has also occurred to me that while he has some great female principals only 1 of them really seems like a born Juliet to me, and she’s my least favorite NYCB dancer, so perhaps there is also an element of pragmatism at work here.

I don't know what I was thinking when I wrote that! Of course, aside from the dancer I was initially thinking of, Jennifer Ringer would make a wonderful Juliet, Rachel Rutherford and Sterling Hyltin would interesting and I'd stand in line to see Janie Taylor's take on Juliet. Unless Peter Martins really has a radical reconception up his sleeve I think he's missed the boat here. And I don't think his little casting trick is driving ticket sales - we may be all abuzz about it but I don't think it plays big with the general public. I think they're more influenced by all the posters around town and Sloan's video diary - now that was a great idea, as is the free dress rehearsal.

This is a fascinating thread – I think that the role of Siegfried is often performed with little thought except to get through the steps and the partnering, but it can also be a really meaty role. As with so much else about Swan Lake it is just layered with metaphor & symbolism and thereby presents endless interpretive possibilities. There have been some great points made in this thread, I would just like to add a couple of my own thoughts as they relate to some of Helene’s points.

I think there are several things that are important to consider, regardless of the dramatic framework of a given production:

2. Any Siegfried, however clueless, would know that the obligation and expectation was that he'd marry, produce heirs, and rule the kingdom within the conventions of his time (i.e., with a lot of private leeway and public responsibility)

6. People are different in public all dressed up than they are in private. If there's a discrepancy between the private Odette and the public Odile, which he is processing throughout their scenes together, he has incentive to conflate the two. From his point of view, his life is on the line, however he misunderstands and underestimates how (except in the Soviet happy ending).

Let’s not forget that from the minute Siegfried falls for Odette he is betraying his duty to his kingdom – he’s not just risking his own life he’s also risking the future of his people. After all, a feudal kingdom without a king is ripe for invasion and as the only heir his people have been waiting for him to grow up and take the throne

Also – no matter how blatant his Odile it’s hard to blame Siegfried completely for mistaking her for Odette. In addition to the confusion and pressure that Helene describes even the most evil Odile LOOKS EXACTLY LIKE ODETTE. I mean, come on – it’s the same dancer. She may behave differently, but she's literally exactly the same person. They’re identical – who wouldn’t be confused.

I loved the young Nureyev but he’s never been my favorite Siegfried, for me that was Ivan Nagy and more recently the magnificent Marcello Gomes.

Martins says that he will use students and I believe him. He has a track record for using really young dancers as did Balanchine, but lets not forget that Le Clerq, Farrell, Kirkland and other very young dancers that Balanchine thrust into the spotlight in their teens were chosen for their roles because they were identified early on as extraordinary artists. Meaning no disrespect to the SAB students I don’t believe for a nanosecond that Martins decided to cast students as Juliet because he felt that he had dancers of that caliber just waiting to burst out of the classroom and onto the stage. He’s doing it as a publicity stunt pure and simple.

Although it has also occurred to me that while he has some great female principals only 1 of them really seems like a born Juliet to me, and she’s my least favorite NYCB dancer, so perhaps there is also an element of pragmatism at work here.

But he’s doing 2 weeks of R&J and frankly I’d have no argument with him if he planned to use student Juliets in 2 or 3 casts and actual professionals in the rest, but that doesn’t sound like what he has in mind.

Natalia Makarova discussed her views on the role of Juliet in an interview that was played during an intermission on the infamous Makarova/McKenzie “sweat pants” telecast of MacMillan’s R&J. This thread has prompted me to pull out the tape and listen to the interview again. Paraphrasing here – she said that the first time she danced the role of Juliet she had just graduated into the Kirov and was young and silly and full of emotion as a Juliet should be, but that it wasn’t organized emotion. She said that she didn’t feel that being young and emotional was enough to portray youth. She said that she knew how youth behaves and that as she matured she was able to put that into art and transform and project it more convincingly than when she was actually young and daring as a Juliet should be. She went on to say that at that point she felt freer and more simple – that you remove the rubbish and what isn’t important and that your portrayal goes directly to the audience without any “nonsense” – which she said was a most very difficult thing to achieve.

We’ll all have to wait and see what Martins really does but for my money I’ll take Ferri or Vishneva as Juliet over any student, any day. Of course I'll also pay my $10 to see how Martin's R&J turns out - perhaps he really does have some brillliant conception here. We'll all see soon enough!

I went to see Red Giselle last night and I really loved it. That was a pleasant surprise after Who’s Who (eh?) and Musegate (ugh!). As I expected it was completely angst ridden and over the top but it was also very well done on every level (concept, plot development, staging, scenery, costumes & of course the dancing) and I found it to be very entertaining. I went with a friend who is a fairly regular ballet goer and an avid skating fan and we both agreed that it came about as close to ice dancing as actual dancing can get, but that’s part of Eifman’s theatricality and in this case it worked for me.

I thought all of the dancers were incredible but especially the lead ballerina in the Spessivtseva role – Nina Zmievets. Looks like she is cast as the prima ballerina Arkadina for all of Abashova’s performances as the young ballerina in the Seagull, so those should be something!

On an old thread, one of our very brilliant posters said something like:

A ballerina must have the ability to create a universe of her own design, of which she is the center and must have the ability to bring the audience into it with her

I think the poster was referring to Suzanne Farrell (Farrell fan, was it you? or was it Carbro?) Anyway, I think it’s a perfect description of the quality that distinguishes a great dancer from a very good one. For me the ability to make one suspend disbelief and the ability to communicate directly to the audience are both key requirements. Canbelto’s description of a dancer whose star quality is immediately apparent to an entire audience is also very apt.

But I think technique is also part of the equation. IMO even though you will rarely notice technique in a great performance it has to be there. It doesn’t necessarily have to be “the best”, but no matter how great an artist is they have to be able to do the steps otherwise they are just good actors.

With regard to Andre’s philosophical question about whether a ballerina is great if she touches greatness once - I would say no, but usually if a ballerina is great in a particular role she will give many great performances of it. And I think there's a difference between a dancer who is great in a certain role and one who is a great dancer. I think to be great a dancer has to be great in many roles. Some dancers can make you believe in their Giselle but not their Aurora or their Odette. Or Odette but not Odile. The truly great dancers find the key to many, if not all the classic roles. For me, those ballerinas have been Fonteyn, Makarova, and Farrell (within her chosen repertory).

Buddy, I agree with you that Pavlenko has a unique ability to touch an audience, but I don’t differentiate between her moments of greatness and her moments of simple humanity. I think her ability to communicate humanity, to touch the audience directly is a big part of her greatness. She is the only ballerina of the current generation that I would consider putting in the same category with the greats of the past. My hesitation with Pavlenko is only because I haven’t been able to see much of her. I’ve only seen her perform a handfull of times in a limited rep, but what I’ve seen of her has been amazing. Even though I’ve seen her stumble I don’t perceive that as a lack of technique. Anyone can stumble, or dance carefully at a given performance for any number of reasons - a slick floor, an illness or injury, a lack of confidence in her partner - and I’ve seen everyone mess up at one point or another - even great technicians like Lopatkina, Vishneva, Murphy, Bouder etc.

I'm surprised that nobody here thinks of Ashton as a master choreographer. I do. I haven't seen the bulk of his work but I consider a lot of what I have seen to be on a par with the great masters of our time. His choreography speaks with it's own voice and distictive style, a blend of lyrisicm, humanism and gentle humor. Of what I've seen I think that works like his Fille, Monotones and Symphonic Variations will live on, and I would hope that his Sylvia will, too. I'm not a fan of Enigma Variations but I know some people would add that to the list.

As to current choreographers - I think Wheeldon is on his way, but not quite there yet. In the world of modern dance Paul Taylor is at that level but in ballet no one else comes to mind.

Yes, thanks drb - the photos are great!

I called the New Haven Festival to get some info on the 2 performances of Giselle that are scheduled for 6/15 & 16 and was told that they will be at the Shubert Theater and tickets will go on sale on May 7th. I can't wait, that's such a short trip from NY that I can't resist it!

I went this morning to make my subscriber exchanges. Based on purchases and inquiry:

Vishneva is a very tough ticket. There were only extremely poor orchestra seats left for her first Sleeping Beauty, so going upstairs was an easy choice. Her Swan Lake, both Manons, both Bayaderes, ditto.

I was told that there are still some tickets in the Dress Circle for Ferri's Farewell. Almost a surprise, given it is part of a subs, and was also offered for priority purchase with the subscription material. (NYCB's Farewell for Nichols is non-subs and still the orchestra was sold out to those with priority. However the Met has a thousand more seats.)

Was able to get Row A Dress Circle for Ferri's final Manon.

Did decently well for Ananiashvili's Swan Lake and best of all for Part's.

drb,it sounds like we traded for all the same performances and, yes, it was tough to get the seats I wanted for most of them. At least I was able to get tickets that shouldn't be too bad, I was getting pretty nervous about that. I had tried to order a second sub - Sat night with the Ferri farewell and a Vishneva Bayadere but that didn't work out so I was very nervous about this exchange week and had multiple alternatives in mind when I went. I'm glad that's over, now I can't wait for the season to begin!

Not that I doubt the opionions and judgement of the august posters here on Part's technical shortcomings at all, but I do ask you all, what went wrong?

I think she suffers by comparison to the other ABT ballarinas when it comes to technique. She'll never turn like Murphy or balance like Herrera but what she does well, she does really, REALLY well. She seems to invite us all into her world to share in all that wonderful emotion that's happening on stage. Other ballerinas work there whole lives to to dazzling triple fouette combinations but they may never have that connection to the audience that she was born with.

I agree that she suffers in comparison to Murphy and Hererra, and maybe even Wiles when it comes to technique. But when people complain about her lack of technique, well, people exaggerate. Like when they used to say that Makarova couldn't turn. Certainly she couldn't turn as well as Plisetskaya, or Gregory or maybe the top 10- 15 turners of her generation, but she could turn as well as 98% of the ballerinas at that time, and she had other talents that those other 98% couldn't dream of. Similar story with Part.

I am a big fan of hers, but I am not blind to her faults. She had a hard time when she first came to ABT, her conditioning slipped for awhile but she really got herself back together about a year ago. One of the big complaints this past NY City Center season was that in Symphony Concertant she didn’t do the pirouette-developee-pirouette combination. Well, I must have seen that piece with 3 or 4 different casts and NONE of the “Viola” ballerinas did it, including Hererra and Murphy. Those two can spin like tops so I have to conclude that if they didn’t so it, it simply wasn’t choreographed for both ballerinas. The reports from Paris were disturbing, but let’s not forget that she was coming back from an injury and may not have been dancing at full capacity.

I have to admit that I was a bit puzzled when I first heard that Part got opening night Aurora, she isn't a natural for the first act. I was expecting Murphy to get it and hoping to see Part cast as Lilac. I'm positive that her turns & petite allegro won't rival Murphy's or Vishneva's, and nobody will be raving about her balances but she will get through them all just fine and she will enchant us as Aurora. I am a little concerned about her emploi and her stamina, but this is one case where I don’t think they would have given her the role if they weren’t sure she could do it. After all, judging from the way she’s been cast the past few seasons (or more to the point the way she’s not been cast) it doesn’t look like she’s been one of management’s favorites. As FauxPas said, this announcement came out of left field so I have to think that she must have really impressed them in rehearsal to snag opening night.

Hallberg was tremendous as Romeo, Murphy was fine as Juliet.

Did anyone else go? Treefrog, do you have any more to add? I've been so immensely curious as to what murphy would do as juliet, and while fine is better than bad, I'd love to hear more

anyone? nudge nudge

Yes, please - if anyone who saw the Murphy/Hallberg R&J is inclined to post a few more details please know that they would be greatly appreciated.

Pretty please?

Susan

Brava Veronika! I was going to skip the premiere but this puts a whole new spin on things. Also, I think I recall the original press release for Sleeping Beauty listing the staging credits as “staged by Kevin McKenzie, assisted by Gelsey Kirkland” and I can't help noticing that this press release says "staged by Kevin McKenzie and Gelsey Kirkland assisted by Michael Chernov". Brava Gelsey!

I recently took a business trip to Vienna and managed to catch a performance of Swan Lake by the Vienna State Opera Ballet while I was there. I haven’t seen much written about them, so I really didn’t know what to expect in terms of their level of dancing or quality of the production.

For starters, the Staatsoper is gorgeous – what a beautiful venue. Pale cream boxes edged in gold trim, with dark red seats – it’s a stately, elegant house which seems to sell out every performance months in advance.

Their Swan Lake is the Nureyev staging, which isn’t my favorite but I liked this version better than the one on the old Nureyev/Fonteyn video. I didn’t love the costumes or scenery – the costumes were kind of a pastel blue & green - they weren’t offensive but the costumes and sets were both somewhat nondescript. None of it was really evocative of a specific time or place other than “long ago & far away”.

I was happy to find the dancing was at a very high level. With the exception of the principals none of the soloists really jumped out at me but they were all good and the corps especially showed a high degree of uniformity in the lakeside scenes. The “little swans” and “big swans” were very well done.

Instead of a first act pas de trois this version has a pas de cinq which includes Sigfreid. It doesn’t use the usual pas de trois music, there were some variations I wasn’t familiar with mixed in with the Tchaikovsky pas de deux music. I really love the traditional pas de trois (a la Kirov) so I was kind of disappointed but it was a nice surprise to hear the familiar Tchai pas music actually used in Swan Lake.

The principals were Olga Yesina and Vladimir Shisov, 2 young former Kirov dancers. It was a real treat to see them. He is tall, dark and handsome with a beautifully sculpted yet solid body, she a tall, thin very pretty blond. I was immediately struck by his elegant line and solid partnering but his technique didn’t look particularly impressive in the first 2 acts. I blame that on the Nureyev choreography because he really came into his own in the third act with beautiful high perfectly landed tours and soaring jetes. I also liked Yesina’s Odile better than her Odette. She was truly great in the black Swan pdd - her technique sparkled and I liked the way she presented the character. Lately a lot of the Odiles I’ve seen almost go ballistic with Sigfried, and I find such a drastic personality change counterproductive. Yesina was perfect, she sharpened her movements and changed her attack & phrasing a bit but aside from that she was the same girl, she simply dazzled the prince with her dancing. She started and ended her fouettes with triples, with 30 fast, clean singles in between. I’m no expert on the actual steps but I’ve seen quite a few Swan Lakes over the past few years and her fouettes were the prettiest I can remember – the gesturing leg rotated smoothly and in time with the music, and her foot clearly articulated each pass around the knee. Her foot was always right at the knee, too – no slipping down to the calf as the fouettes went on, no traveling and no finishing out of control. She finished that last triple on point and facing the audience before placing her foot down. Her balances in the coda were also stunning – the most impressive I’ve seen since Cynthia Gregory.

Her white acts were also very good technically, but she just didn't move me. Her Odette was majestic with long lines and great purity of style despite very high extensions. Perhaps that's because no matter how high her leg stretched those long legs always described a very harmonious line without any displacement of her torso and there were no ugly distorted positions as often happens with 180 degree extensions. Although she painted a gorgeous picture it was a static one -her dancing didn't flow and she didn't really put a personal stamp on the role. She was a bland, one note Odette- sad, very sad and regal but other than that her interpretation wasn't very well defined either in terms of her characterization or her phrasing. I would call it a very good performance but not a great one and not an emotionally engaging one - a performance to admire but not to love.

But that's just me, I was there with some colleagues who had limited previous exposure to ballet and they both loved it, as did the rest of the house!

I think I may have to make a pilgrimage to New Haven to see Nina & Sergei Filin in Giselle. I looked at the site for the New Haven Festival but it didn't have any info up yet for this year's schedule. Anyone know which venue is likely for Nina's company, or have any suggestions for hotels, Metro North vs Amtrak etc?

Susan

Subscription tickets arrived today (no word on single ticket orders). Priority exchange dates are Sunday March 25 - Saturday March 31.

Thanks for the info drb, I'm still waiting for my subscription tickets. I ordered a second sub this season so that may be holding it up. Hope I get them soon, I definitely have a few to exchange and I like to make my changes right at the beginning of exchange week!

atm 711, let me URGE you, if you can, try to see "Esplanade" --

Absolutely – Esplanade is brilliant. I also “discovered” Paul Taylor only 3-4 years ago and my relationship with his choreography is very much a love – hate relationship. The first time I saw the company I almost walked out 2/3 of the way through the program. They started with Offenbach Overtures, which my husband and I both hated followed by Snow White – which we detested. We debated making a quick exit after Snow White but decided to wait out the intermission and stay for at least the first 5 minutes of the last piece. Well, we were both spellbound through Promethean Fire, which I’ve now seen probably 6-7 times since. I’ve seen a lot of Taylor since then, partially because I’m combing through his repertoire looking for another dance the equal of Promethean Fire or Esplanade, both of which I consider to be unqualified masterpieces. Their $15 tickets allow me to take in pretty much as many performances as I like, and it also helps that their season doesn’t compete with NYCB or ABT!

I may be ambivalent about the choreography, but I just love the dancers he has right now. Duckstein and Trusnovec are my favorites among the men, so I look forward to seeing Duckstein in Esplanade this weekend. I caught a couple performances at the very start of the season before heading out on a business trip and was pleased to see Annmaria Mazzini in some new roles this season. She and Parisa Khobdeh are my current favorites among the women, but really all of his dancers are wonderful.

Just checked my old programs and the first time (and the only other time) I saw Alexandrova in Don Q her partner was Yury Klevtsov. This was in NY summer of 2005 and Filin wasn't on the tour - I think he was injured and they were filling in as best they could because I remember several of the men having trouble with the lifts. I also saw Andrey Uvarov with Shipulina and he was no better than Klevtsov. What a pity because those lifts can be so spectacular...

I went to both Saturday performances. The evening performance with Alexandrova and Matvienko was very good, but I’m afraid it was somewhat anticlimactic coming only a few hours after seeing the irrepressible Osipova & Vasiliev.

Alexandrova’s Kitri was joyful, confident and alluring if less effervescent than the whirlwind that was Osipova. Stylistically her dancing was more sculptural though she also has booming jumps and rock solid balances. Unfortunately Matvienko couldn’t hold her overhead in the 1 handed lifts in the first act – I think I remember 3 in the afternoon’s performance – they did two and she listed badly in both of them. She may not have had quite the energy or exuberance that Osipova had, but her dancing has that spring & amplitude that I love and she sure can work those castanets!

Her dryad scene was beautiful, she had more grandeur and a more classical bearing than Osipova and she did the Italian fouettes which I always look forward to. Shipulina was beautiful as the queen of the dryads but I think Krysanova is miscast in the first variation. She has lovely floating, lilting jetes but they can’t compare to the soaring jetes of an Osipova or Alexandrova. I would have preferred to see her alternate with Shipulina as the Dryad queen, or in the second variation which is more lyrical and both Alizade and Kobakhidze did beautifully.

The 3rd act variation for Kitri & Basil was marred by some awkward partnering– I don’t think Matvienko is a good partner for Alexandrova. They had great chemistry but there were definitely partnering problems throughout the performance. Alexandrova’s fan variation was good, very flirtatious with beautifully timed passes and nice musicality. I think she started her fouettes with fast singles and then threw in some triples towards the middle. They were done very nicely & she finished in perfect control.

I loved Matvienko in his gala performance in NY 2 weeks ago (Diana & Acteon pdd), but didn’t like him nearly as much here. He is an exiting dancer with great charisma & personality but his feet looked sloppy and his line was not attractive. His partnering left much to be desired although I think I recall similar partnering problems the last time I saw Alexandrova in Don Q so perhaps it’s unfair to put all the blame on Matvienko.

Biktimirov replaced Mekuriev again at the evening performance (although this time it was not announced) and I loved him. He was not as flashy as some Espadas I’ve seen but what beautiful line and elegance, he reminded me a bit of David Hallberg. I’d love to see more of him. Does anyone know who replaced him in the Bolero?

Alexandrova brought joy, aplomb and great comic timing to her performance but I’m afraid that it paled in comparison to the youngsters who just blew through the afternoon performance like forces of nature. I agree with everything Natalia said about Osipova & Vasiliev – they were wonderful.

Osipova truly was a whirlwind, she started out at a million megawatts and just kept going up from there. She is a natural turner & jumper – very, very fast with very strong technique and oodles of charm. This combined with their youthful exuberance made her & Vasiliev absolutely breathtaking.

Her 3rd act fouettes were fabulous and her fan variation was the best I’ve seen since Makarova – fast, light feet, flirtatious with great coordination. I can see why Vasiliev has drawn comparisons to Baryshnikov – he has a similar body type, great elevation and the ability to burst into a stunning sequence with no visible preparation. He has beautiful line & articulation compared to Matvienko but I think comparisons to Baryshnikov stretch it a bit and are unfair to this very young dancer. I liked them very much as a pair. They are well suited to each other both in their styles and their youth– she is just a pinch taller than him when on point but they pulled off the overhead lifts & all the other tricky partnering with no problem.

I really love the Bolshoi's Don Q - it's so rich and the whole ensemble does it justice from top to bottom.

I can’t thank Natalia enough for suggesting standing room. I never would have thought of it on my own, and it really was the perfect compromise for me. I’m glad I went last night. Did I love it? No, but I liked it and that’s high praise since I have never liked Cinderella as a ballet.

I agree that the music was played beautifully, it had much more nuance and flow then I’m used to. I still think it’s much too dark for the traditional Cinderella story, but his version leavened the usual sugar with enough spice to at least make it palatable for me.

I always find the whole drunken, pushy stepmother & stepsisters business tedious but I thought some of other the scenery and stage business was very effective – loved the mirrored ballet studio and the way Cinders and her Prince just closed the doors and rolled her annoying step family out of their lives at the end. I also loved the use of the banister in the ballroom scene – the different entrances encapsulated the character’s personalities perfectly & immediately. The minute that Prince slid down the banister you knew he was no stuffed shirt.

The ballet master (Yanin) was wonderful but I found the first act to be pretty slow up until the seasons scene which was a breath of fresh air (especially Osipova & Kobakhidze). Things improved greatly with the second act – I loved both the 2nd and 3rd act pdd’s.

But the main reason I went last night was to see Krysanova, and she was lovely. She certainly has the sky high extensions that now seem to be typical of the Russian companies but they’re not as jarring as Zakarova’s or Somova’s – and as Natalia noted she is a very warm dancer. She is also very lyrical and musical and it was a pleasure to see her in this role. It was also great to “rediscover” Sergei Filin. I saw him once several years ago – in Raymonda with Gracheva. I guess I was so mesmerized by Gracheva that I forgot how much I also liked him – but I remembered the moment he took the stage last night – what a perfect dancer noble.

All in all it was a good night, now on to DonQ!

'Sold Out' means the seats. They're still selling Standing Room. If you really REALLY want to see Krysanova in a leading role, it may be worth calling the KennCen box office, as you can buy Standing Room over the telephone nowadays. The days of sitting in long lines on the day of a performance to obtain SR tickets are over (at least they are a thing of the past at the Kenn Cen).

Thanks for the tip Natalia- I haven't done standing room for years and would never have thought of it on my own. It's the perfect solution - if I really hate it I won't feel guily about leaving early. I just ordered my ticket and was told that it was the last one left

Susan

Thank you for these reports. I knew the minute they announced this engagement that I was going to see Don Q (I love their version and wouldn't miss Osipova/Vasiliev for the world!) but I've been vacillating about coming in early for the Friday night Cinderella for a month now. I've really enjoyed Krysanova in soloist roles so the idea of seeing her in a leading role was tempting - but I've never seen a Cinderella that I really loved and thus the hesitation.

The announcement of the Friday Suzanne Farrell Ballet performance tipped the scales for me but by then the Bolshoi's Friday night Cinderella was sold out. Judging from the responses here this is no great loss so I guess I won't be standing on the cancellation line....

Susan

Hi Natalia,

Thanks for the casting info. If I can ask you for just one little bit more - is Yulianna Malkhasiants scheduled to dance the gypsy variation in Don Q (oh please, please, please!!)

Thanks,

Susan

Thanks so much for this info Natalia & Jack! I'm coming in from NY for the weekend and will definitely try to make it to this...I'm sure you've saved me a lot of running around once I get there.

If any Ballet Talkers want to say hello let me know and we'll figure out the details. For Opera House performances we travelers usually meet by the Kennedy bust but I'm sure that won't be convenient for the Terrace Theater.

By the way, I've never been to the Terrace Theater, is the Northern end the side where the cafeteria is?

Susan

At a gala I like to see a mixture of romantic, classical and "over the top" pdd. I'd love to to see Spring Waters again - I think the last time I saw that one Makarova did it so you know it was awhile ago! There's also a pdd from the Soviet era Bolshoi that I've only seen on tape - I think it's called the Moscovite’s Waltz. I'd love to see that one live!

Three hours, if I recall correctly.

Thanks Carbro, I was thinking it might be even longer than 3 hrs

And thanks to ZB1 for the updated casting, I was also looking forward to seeing Filin but can't really complain about the chance to see Vasiliev twice...

By the way, for anyone who is going on Friday night it was noted on another thread that the Suzanne Farrell Ballet will be performing on the Millenium stage (free) at 6 pm on Fri 2/23

After an hour and a half intermission (all due respect to the hard working dancers for most of that time), came Violin Concerto.

Did I miss something - was there a 90 minute intermission?

There was if you skipped Dybbuk