nysusan

The lobby casting sheet indicated that Huxley will replace Chan for the last 2 performances of La Source.

Watching last night's Square dance, I liked Pereira more than I did the first time I saw her, but she still doesn't do justice to this ballet. She was more lively and had more spring in her jumps but she was still too soft. I think my problem with her in this is her lyrical approach. She was floaty and looked lovely. Usually that would be a good thing but not here. I wanted a stronger attack and more syncopation and yes, I wanted to see her play with the phrasing. I just don't think she's right for this. I like Bouder's take no prisoners approach. The way she eats up space I would love to see LaFreniere cast in this but I think a problem is that the men who are tall enough to partner her probably can't pull off the male role. I was lukewarm to Clark in the Haieff. Her limbs are beautiful but I wanted more and agree with Matilda that she didn't connect the steps. I also wanted more amplitude from her. Grant and Afanasenkov were gorgeous in Faun. She's another one that I want to see in everything now.

You would never find Square Dance boring if you'd seen it with Bouder, or MCB's Jeannette Delgado. I have, and I love it. However last night it was deadly dull. I wish I could see it next week with Fairchild and Huxley, I'm sure it will be very different. Unfortunately I can't go to their performances.

I just took a look at my renewal. My $38 standard sub seats are in Second Ring D and it looks like they are still $38 plus a service fee. I tried to add another sub and 2nd ring D was not an option. The least expensive was 2nd ring C at $551 or 68.88 each for a 8 performance standard sub (this may include the service fee). So it may be that they haven't raised prices on those 2nd ring D seats, but are not making those locations available for new subs. Not happy about that, but its less upsetting than to think that they're doubling the price of the cheap seats. Theoretically they may still be available for something like $38 as single ticket purchases.

Its not just Flex sub ticket prices that have been raised. Yes, I can renew my standard sub at the same or nominally higher rate. But I just looked at adding another standard sub and the lowest price was $551 - which comes out to almost $69 per ticket. Not gonna do it.

Silly me, looking at it all piecemeal I didn't realize that the whole fall season is ALL BALANCHINE!!! Can't wait!

Ah, I know Tzigane! Didn't know they changed the name.

Looks like there are 5 All Balanchine programs, and one includes Errante, which I am not familiar with. I do not see a full Jewels, but I have a Rubies on my sub. There is also a Tribute to Robbins program (Fancy Free, In the Night, 4 Seasons). Other ballets I see listed are T&V, 4Ts, Orpheus, Steadfast Tin Soldier, Le Tombea de Couperin, This Bitter Earth, Herman Sherman PDD, Pictures at an Exhibition, Red Angels, Glass Pieces, Copeland Dance Episopes, and a new Garner

Ahh, that clears it up. Thank you.

That would make sense but you never know. And to make things more confusing, ABT's calendar shows the 1st performance of LWFC on Thurs 6/22 but the Met's calendar shows a gala on Thurs with the 1st performance of LWFC on Friday. So I'm waiting till casting is posted.

Exactly. I have Friday night of the second week on my sub. There's no way I'll go If its the Teuscher/Ahn cast but I definitely want to see the other 2 casts. The only consolation is that I doubt it will sell well so I can still probably get whatever night I want after for this production after exchange week.

I received my ABT subscription tickets yesterday. Their subscriber exchange week starts Monday and they still haven't announced casting for LWFC. I find that very unusual, and frustrating!

I saw both of LaFreniere's performances. The second was way better than the first but she is still not my idea of an Aurora. I do think she's very talented and I'm interested in seeing how she develops. I also would have promoted Kitka ahead of her. The All Balanchine program is on TDF. Its a shame.

Well, the thing is that unless they are going to stop renewing her contract they have to give Pereira roles to dance. I would actually love to see Woodward or EVE in Square Dance but I feel that Pereira has improved considerably post pandemic so I am willing to give her a chance. I am sure there will be another cast, its just a question of who they will give it to.

The one promotion I totally agree with is Nadon. Despite being with the company for less than 4 years she is immensely talented and has made a very strong case for herself every time she takes the stage. Although she can be wan at times I really love Gerrity most of the time so I'm very happy about her promotion. LaFreniere is the one I'm not sure about. I have loved her some of the time and thought she was lacking at other times (I did not like her Aurora at all). She was scheduled for some big roles early (like Rubies tall girl and Firebird) but kept getting injured and missing her debuts. I think perhaps despite the fact that she has been with the company for awhile in view of these injuries she could benefit from a couple more seasons as a soloist - I don't think she has actually danced many principal roles. Also agree that Bolden & Riccardo should have been promoted but I guess management felt differently. Their time will come..

I pretty much agree with Kourlas (which is unusual). Went to the first 2 performances. The first time out I loved the first 15 minutes or so of Anima Animus but then I thought it got repetitive. Somehow I liked it a lot more the second time around and thought the dancers, as a group, were really compelling. It was the same cast so I don't know what the difference was. I had seen ABT do Concerto years ago - maybe in the 70s - and I remember enjoying it. I enjoyed it again and thought Pereira was beautiful in the 2nd movement but not so beautiful as to make me feel like I had to see her again , like I feel about Ogden and Lunkina. I left after 10 minutes of Angel's Atlas on Thursday and left after Concerto on Friday, it is definitely not my thing. All in all I am glad I went to see them but thought the whole thing was pretty mediocre.

I remember hearing that Sarah would be guesting with Houston Ballet in Swan Lake both on their Japan tour and at home in Houston in June. I would love to go see her in Houston but can't find any casting info. Anyone know when she's dancing?

The first thing that crossed my mind when I saw that they had scheduled 12 performances of LWFC was - what in the world were they thinking? If every ABT subscriber goes to see it twice (which they won't) they would still have to sell an enormous number of tickets to fill the house 12 times. Even if it gets rave reviews how many casual ballet goers and members of the general public will those reviews and any marketing draw to the Met? I hope I am wrong but I think this will be a huge disaster. The second thing that crossed my mind was that with a season reduced to only 4 weeks they're dedicating almost 2 full weeks to LWFC instead of giving us more of what their core audience wants? More Petipa, Ashton, MavMillon etc.

NBoC just announced casting for their NY City Center appearances and I am super bummed that none of the dancers I'd hoped to see are dancing (ie. Ogden, Cote and, of course, Lunkina). With the exception of the MacMillan the programing is not at all up my alley so I would never have bought tickets had I known I wouldn't get to see any of my favorites. I guess I will just hope to enjoy it anyway, unlike the last NYCC Ballet program by PNB which I absolutely hated. Casting here

It sure has! Yesterday I took a look at tickets for the 2/26 matinee. I saw that there were only about 10 tickets left in the last 2 rows of the 4th ring (although a couple of tickets in other areas do pop up from time to time & are snatched up immediately). I just signed into NYCB to see what it looks like today and I was put into a waiting room! When I was able to look at tickets I saw that now there are only 3 tickets available at the back of the 4th ring. Only 3 tickets available in the whole house! I can't remember when anything at NYCB sold this well. And I noticed that there have been a lot of younger people at these performances. People in their teens, twenties & thirties.

Jarod Curley is absolutely fabulous in every way - technique, acting, partnering & versatility. I was surprised that he wasn't included in the last batch of promotions.

I have seen all of the casts now except the Peck cast (I saw Peck in the last SB run), and last night's was my least favorite. To start, I had a different view of Kitka's Lilac Fairy. I thought she was technically secure and commanding but I didn't see the warmth and benevolence that some others saw. I thought she really didn't display the flowing arms, endless arabesque line and airy developpes that I want in a Lilac. In fact I thought she hit a lot of her arabesques and developpes hard. I do love her in black & whites (and most everything else) but not this. Gerrity has been my favorite Lilac by far (I haven't seen Laracey yet). I agree with the criticisms of LaFeniere's Aurora plus I found her unmusical in a lot of spots. In her solo preceding the Rose Adagio she ended before the music ended, though I did think her solo after the RA was exceptionally beautiful. I forget now if it was in the Vision or Wedding but there was a point where the orchestra was playing slower than I've ever heard at NYCB and she was still behind the music. She is a dancer I love so I will chalk this up to a shaky debut and late partner change and hope for improvement in the future but frankly, I would much rather have seen Van Enck debut in this. When Walker came out in the second act I thought he looked wonderful, but he definitely looked out of his league in the wedding solo. I absolutely loved Pereira & Takahashi in the Bluebird pas, they have been my favorites in this so far. Thought Mimi Staker looked lovely in the Tenderness variation and found Dutton-O'Hara entrancing in Generosity till she stumbled on a turn at the end. In an earlier performance I really loved Bologna's Tenderness and Dominica Afanasenkov's Generosity. Where did Afanasenkov come from? I don't remember seeing her name before, and it's a name you'd remember!

So sad. I remember him very well, saw him many times dancing with Cynthia Gregory. He was one of my favorites.

No, the Met and ABT still give you physical printed programs (Playbills). When I went to the Kennedy Center to see the Ukranian ballet's Giselle I was very disappointed to find out that they had abandoned printed programs and you had to go online to the digital program for a full list of dancers. I would be happy to have both printed and digital but am not happy at all with only digital.

Fairchild, absolutely!