oberon

I suppose it would have been nice if they had scheduled something other than BUGAKU...something with more principal roles so we could see "everyone" on the opening of the 100th birthday season. It is logical that the three senior ballerinas (Darci, Kyra & Wendy) would get the plums. I was hoping to finally get Wendy in BUGAKU, which I know she is keen to dance and has prepared. It's good that Darci isn't trying SYMPH IN C again; SERENADE is Kyra's signature piece (along with GATHERING)...who knows if this will be her final season? I was surprised (but glad) she came back after the second baby...and maybe she was, too!! She has such lyricism, and is one of our very few remaining links to Balanchine.

Anyone remember the night Albert replaced Jock in BUGAKU, I think the only time he danced it?

Of all the SYMPHONY IN C adagios I've seen, including the night of Farrell's return to the Company, the most memorable was danced by Wendy & Askegard a couple years ago. It is good to see them paired up again, for the Opening.

We are so accustomed to seeing Askegard & Kowroski, but he's good with other ballerinas as well. I remember Margaret Tracey's farewell in SCOTCH SYMPHONY; I do not think she & Askegard had previously danced together very often. Margaret, it seemed to me, was not good at disguising her feelings if there was a patnering glitch...but that night, Askegard took care of everything and I thought, why were they never cast together before?

Alexandra, thanks for the edit tip...

Can you say what it was that changed your mind about 4 TEMPS and MIDSUMMER? Did you finally see casting that made your viewpoint change? Or did the change happen over a period of time?

I guess what I am trying it figure out is, how much do the dancers have to do with our enjoyment of a particular piece? Does a favorite dancer make a mediocre ballet seem better? I never liked SONNAMBULA til I saw Wendy do it. But when I tried it again, even with her (whom I adore) I loved HER but was bored with the piece.

Can indifferent dancing (if dancing is ever really indifferent) make a masterpiece seem flawed?

Or does it just happen that at certain points in our lives, certain ballets become more meaningful and others less so?

Why, for example, does BURLESKE, which most people would probably consider very minor Martins, speak to me so clearly and appealingly? I think I saw every single performance and am waiting for it again, though it may never happen.

...oops...typo...the first line should be: "Have you ever changed YOUR mind..." not "our"!!

Have you ever changed your mind about a ballet? Liked it at first, then decided it was not that good? Or the opposite? It's happened to me alot.

I hated RELIQUARY on first sight, then came to like it, then soured on it somewhat. KAMMERMUSIK thrilled me at the premiere, later I found it less

stimulating. TWILIGHT COURANTE seemed sleepy at first, then I fell in love with it and saw every performance. I went thru a phase of finding VIENNA WALTZES & WESTERN SYMPHONY less-than-engrossing. Now they've won me back. UNION JACK was a thrill in the first seasons, now I get restless. Hated VESPRO and kept hating it. Loved BURLESKE and kept loving it. Couldn't stand MORGEN at the premiere, later I fell for it. Sometimes GATHERING seems like a masterpiece; other times it's too long.

Do you think these shifts are due to casting, our our own state of mind during a given performance?

What I recall most about MERE L'OYE was Judith Fugate as Beauty...talk about type-casting! The performance I saw was on a bill with other ballets that I loved and I was kind of dreading it (MERE), thinking it would be childish...but it turned out that I truly enjoyed it.

Yes! MOTHER GOOSE, which I expected to hate and ended up liking...with Judith Fugate.

I cannot imagine Kyra dancing to Steve Reich. But her IN MEMORY OF... a couple years ago was one of the most moving and memorable things I ever saw.

Samantha Allen deserves all the leading roles she can get; I always thought during her seasons as a Soloist at NYCB that, anywhere else, she'd be a Principal.

Last season it was nice to see Peter give Amanda Edge some opportunities. She stepped into SOIREE & STEADFAST, making a lovely impression in both; I appreciated the chance to see her and was glad that Peter chose her rather than the inevitable Megan Fairchild who seems to be getting pushed a bit too fast. Abi was in the same situation a few seasons back, but I think she has buckled down; her work with Willy Buhrmann is paying off...she is stronger and far more at ease onstage...I first noticed the "new" Abi in TWILIGHT COURANTE where her duet with Benj. Millepied was a highlight. Then her VALSE-FANTASIE & SQUARE DANCE were very satsfying.

Fairchild is as cute as a bug's ear but she isn't "formed" yet. Four COPPELIAs at Saratoga?? I didn't see them but, wouldn't Edge have been nice in that, too?

EIGHT LINES? No...never heard of it. Is it a...cocaine...ballet??

I have been back to the Royal Ballet site and there is no mention of Natanya having joined that company. But her name & info are gone from the City Ballet site and she does not appear in the "where are they now?" section, as Ash does. And Samantha Allen too, to my dismay...she was one fast dancer.

Yes, as Michael noted the corps at NYCB is a young corps. The turnover in the last 5-10 years seems to be at a faster pace. I wonder if these young dancers become impatient, feeling if they aren't made a soloist in a few seasons, they might as well

hang up the toe shoes. Maybe we fans forget what a grind it is, day in and day out. Lots of blood, sweat & tears...and dieting. The glamourous 2 hours onstage is what we see, not the sheer physical labor and dealing with injuries.

Even among the girls Michael mentions as being Senior corps members, Arthurs and Hankes are relative newcomers. And what a bevy of beauties, just seeing those names there made me impatient for the opening...2 weeks away!

Thanks, Alexandra, for the link to the Robbins Trust. I did write to them and received a very kind reply to the effect that EVENING's WALTZES does indeed still "exist" and that it is among the works being discussed for future revival.

Then I started thinking about another "missing in action" Robbins piece: SCHERZO FANTASTIQUE...Sara Leland & Bart Cook...

Carbro is correct in saying the more frequently we go, the more attachment we feel to the dancers. I used to go to ABT alot more often than I do now but I ODed on BAYADERE and DON Q...ROMEO & JULIET in June had me rushing out of the theatre after Act II...not even the fact that a close buddy of mine had a leading role could keep me engaged. I just couldn't take all that mime and standing about.

But SERENADE, BRAHMS-SCHOENBERG, DIVERT #15??? I could sit through them repeatedly in a single season and I usually do...entranced.

Yes, the passing of time has brought many changes but I'm still intrigued by the City Ballet on so many levels...30 years ago I would focus on Marnee Morris...now it's Faye Arthurs, or Steven Hanna...I have my favorite seat, and when I'm there in the cozy State Theatre, I sometimes feel like they are dancing just for me.

I was breezing thru the Royal Ballet site and cannot find any mention of Eva Natanya joining the company.

As Farrell Fan pointed out in another topic, those of us who go to NYCB alot get "attached" to the corps dancers. It sounds silly, but I got depressed when Eddie Liang left the company (by then he was a soloist)...losing Ash & Natanya is like having favorite cousins tell you they're moving to some remote corner of Greenland. If Pauline Golbin were to leave, I would probably need therapy.

Sometimes I wonder why NYCB absorbs me in a way ABT doesn't (aside from the obvious reason: the rep) There are lots of great dancers at ABT, no doubt about it. But somehow when I go there (which, I admit, is seldom) I feel distanced from them. I think maybe it is simply that the Met is too big for dance and that, at the State Theatre, you feel more connected to the stage. Anyone feel the same?

Thank you all for the replies...as I recall this ballet was a real audience-grabber and I remember (I think) Redpath & Peter Martins being called out 4 times after their duet!

I have, over the last few years, sometimes written to Peter asking that certain ballets be revived. And some of them have been, but probably not because of my requests. I asked about EVENING'S WALTZES; I'd love to see it again...if only to reassure myself that it was as much fun as I recall! Could it be no one remembers the choreography? But there must be notations somewhere...or a video?

Having just joined this forum, I'm reading over several topics belatedly. I did want to say that I would not characterize the NYCB corps as "weak". A couple of years ago I had the chance to see both NYCB and ABT in THEME & VARIATIONS and was struck by the clarity, sense of space and the lyricism of the NYCB girls while the ABT corps seemed bunched up, crowding each other; each girl at ABT seemed to be auditioning for a soloist berth while the City ladies rightly provided a lovely frame for the ballerina.

I've kept a journal of my opera & ballet experiences since the mid-70s when I first saw NYCB. Even back then, when Balanchine was in command, I have notes about the corps being "off", "out of sync" or "tired". And other times when they were magnificent. It does not seem to have changed that much...there are better and worse corps days and there always have been.

For me, I do not really find it disturbing when the corps functions as a group of individuals rather than as a precise machine. My ballet teacher used to tell me that everyone hears music slightly differently and that when she was setting a dance on the corps she did not expect Rockette-like precision.

I love to focus on one corps dancer and just follow him/her throughout a piece. Sometimes I will become engrossed watching Amanda Edge or Craig Hall and then realize that I'm ignoring the principals.

I'm new to the forum.

Was wondering if anyone remembers the Robbins/Prokofiev ballet AN EVENING'S WALTZES? I saw it several times in the 70s; then I was "absent" from NYCB for a few years and it seems to have vanished. I seem to remember 3 couples, and a particularly sensational "exit" for the couple in yellow/gold costumes. But beyond that my memory is hazy. Does anyone remember when it was last danced and by whom?

Too bad about Natanya...she was listed in the Subscription brochure so it must have been a fairly recent decision. She is a dancer I always enjoyed.