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That makes more sense.

Farrell looking somewhat like a feather-light Bournonville soubrette? I'm trying to picture this. Sure wish I'd seen it.

Robert Gottlieb writes six paragraphs about the final performances of the season in his latest NY Observer article, which I’d been eagerly awaiting. (Thanks for the link, dirac). He calls Taylor and Marcovicci’s final performances "underpowered but valiant." He says that La Valse was “dead on arrival” due to "the company’s failure to grasp,” right from the opening waltz by the Fates, “what it’s about, what its highly specific perfume has been through most of its 63-year history.” He observes, as Arlene Croce did about the repertory in general in 1993, that dancers “who could explain Balanchine’s intent” aren’t welcome to come coach. He praises Bouder as Choleric in The Four Temperaments, Mearns in Walpurgisnacht Ballet, and all four principals – Kowroski, Ramasar, Hyltin and Fairchild – in Stravinsky Violin Concerto. He also writes that I'm so grateful for critics with long ballet memories.

Reviewing a concert by the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra, James R. Oestreich of the NY Times speculates that Sacre led to to Bugaku: I’m listening to Bugaku on Spotify as I write, and I can’t decide if I like it or if, heard apart from the ballet I like very much, it’s just exotic (now there’s a dated word as applied to the East) bombast – bombastic kitsch. According to classical.net, Mayuzumi is “probably is Japan's most famous classical composer.” Anyhow, Oesterich’s question is interesting. What Wikipedia says is that Mauzumi was especially interested in Varese, and that he composed more than one hundred film scores. That last is not surprising.

Thanks, Sandik. I've never seen the Tetley but I saw Fenley dance State of Darkness at the Joyce in 1990. Time to rewatch the documentary on Fenley and Boal!

The 1982 Dance in America broadcast of Bournonville Divertissements can be seen at the Lincoln Center branch of the New York Public Library.

Maybe it's only the white hair, but she looks to me just a little like Alicia Markova. However, I have reasons to think it's not!

Thank you, but we have choriamb to thank for posting it.

I have a question about La Valse which I’ll post here, since NYCB danced the ballet during winter season, and since the question isn’t likely to generate much discussion. Does anyone remember when the women started wearing larger black bows? (For those who haven’t seen them, Ashley Bouder’s recently tweeted photo of Janie Taylor at the rosin box shows how big they are). Black or not, they strike me as almost girlish and festive, and therefore unsuited to the dark and mysterious mood of the ballet. I also found them distractingly large.

That was fast. Thank you, choriamb.

Thanks for the information. So unless someone debuts in the role, they'll probably divide the six performances among Kowroski, Reichlin and Mearns, with the latter two perhaps dancing in Rubies as well.

I know Whelan's been injured, but does she still dance Diamonds? I'll be at both Saturday shows and hope to see Mearns and Reichlin in that final ballet, having seen (and loved) the other two. But I think it's probably safe to expect excellent performances from any of the four.

She was an excellent Swanilda--also, I think, early in her career she danced a wonderful Butterfly in Midsummer Night's Dream. I loved her in Walpurgisnacht, and also in Donizetti Variations.

It is surprising. On the other hand, the performances are in the Opera House (not the Eisenhower Theater). Oh, I see. Because Little Dancer will be in the Eisenhower. So quite possibly in 2015 they'll be back in the Eisenhower for the usual five-day, two-program run. I hope so. On the other hand, this year I can catch both SFB and Little Dancer in one trip. Bummer, Dale. Sorry you'll have to miss it.

Remember the old admonition, "Be careful what you wish for!" Back in the day, Variations Pour une Porte et un Soupir, maybe the most uncompromising of Balanchine's surrealist efforts in my experience, drove the audience out. Or the rat-a-tat Pierre Henry musique concrete soundtrack, played at volume over the theater PA system, did. The audience trooped in for it after intermission as usual, but by the end of it, the main floor seats were pretty empty, mainly except for me (and, in the middle of another row not far away, a little girl) the handful of times I sat through it. Shall I describe this rarity a little more? In my day, it was only performed by its first cast, Karin von Aroldingen and John Clifford. I don't say "danced," because she was nearly immobilized in the center of the stage by her costume, a very long black cape, the end of which was attached to the proscenium opening, all the way around, like one of the curtains. Clifford, on the other hand, had all sorts of lively gymnastic moves, many on the floor, directed toward her place but never really engaging her or passing by her. We decided he was the Sigh, she the Door; she never opened to him, and frankly, the ballet never really opened up to me, either. But now, writing this so many years later, it occurs to me that maybe that was it! An impenetrable ballet! (Aha, Mr. B., you've done it again, although it sure took a while for me this time.) Hah, thanks, Jack.That reminds me of the first time I saw the Cunningham company, in 1993. That company, or at least their music, was of course famous for driving people off, but this was an American Dance Festival audience, and you'd think it would have known what it was in for. Still, many people left. Now I really want to see Variations Pour une Porte et un Soupir. I've seen Farrell's stagings of The Unanswered Question, just not the whole ballet.

I love the Suzanne Farrell Ballet program of Swan Lake, Allegro Brilliante, Monumentum pro Gesualdo/Movements for Piano and Orchestra, and The Concert. Except for Monumentum/Movements, I believe those are all company premieres. I know they haven't danced them at the Kennedy Center. But it's surprising to see that the season is only three days long, down from five days in previous seasons.

Ah, that's right. Thanks for the correction. So do I.

Too much flipping and grappling and hauling for my taste , though I liked the opening and I loved the score. Thank you to everyone who posts in this forum. Living far from New York and only seeing NYCB a few times a year, I especially appreciate being able to follow it here. I saw the last three performances of the season and was especially thrilled by Mearns and Lovette in Walpurgsinacht Ballet, Mearns and Reichlin in Concerto Barocco, Hyltin and Hall in Afternoon of a Faun (two beautiful people who looked even better together), and - the reason I made the trip when I did - Taylor and Marcovicci in Faun and La Valse. Was no one else there Saturday night? It was nice to see so many dancers in the audience in support of the retiring couple, and amusing during their final bows to see someone drape over Taylor's shoulder a black banner that read Janie Taylor Homecoming Queen. I guess that falls under the category of black humor, given what she'd just danced. The couple looked very happy, and we were all very happy for them.

Ballet Alert! already has a thread called Tattoos and Body Piercings on Ballet Dancers.

What a sad, sad shock this is. RIP, Carbro.

Lucky Seattle. Here are the rest of the tour dates: Tuesday, Feb 25, Saratoga Springs, NY Wednesday Feb 26, Cambridge, MA Thursday, Feb 27 , Raleigh, NC Saturday, Mar 1 San Diego, CA Saturday, Mar 1 San Diego, CA Sunday, Mar 2 Corte Madera, CA Tuesday, Mar 4 Oakland, CA Wow, what sentence was I thinking of? You’re right, Eileen, it’s an elegantly written book. And a brave one.

Thanks, Eileen. I read the Kindle sample last night, and decided within a few pages to buy the book. "Elegant" isn't the word I'd use for the writing, but it's clear and conversational, which is to say her personality comes through, and quite pleasurably so. Like you, I'll miss her, and I wish her all the best.

It's not listed for this season. As a big John Adams fan, The Death of Klinghoffer is what I'm excited about.

Respectfully, atm711, I tend to agree with those who have said that this wasn't intended as a put-down. It's also a trope I've seen in other profiles of artists (e.g., "Some not familiar with his work might find it hard to imagine, given X's cherubic face, bright eyes, and cheerful outlook, that in his writing he is preoccupied with the grimmest of subjects, torture and murder." ) I took it as a tactic employed by a writer on deadline in search of a lede in the wee hours of the morning, and nothing more sinister than that. Were McCauley writing on a different schedule, I suspect (or at least I hope) he'd jettison some of the tools he relies on to crank out timely copy. Except that, knowing Scarlett's previous work, he may have written that lede provisionally before he even saw the ballet. Anyhow, I've enjoyed this discussion. Love Macaulay (I do) or hate him, he's always interesting.

Ah, thanks for the reminder! I saw that when it was released and loved it.