Waelsung

And there is one thing that really buffles me in all of this. I understand that a lot of European stars are not too eager to come to NY anymore for just one or two performances or to participate in a Ratmansky so-called 'ballet'

But just across the border we now have in Toronto one of the greatest ballerinas of today's world - a former Bolshoi prima Svetlana Lunkina, who would be excellent in all the warhorse parts like Giselle, O/O, Nikia, AND she's just done 'A Streetcar Named Desire' to a huge acclaim from its creator John Neumeier himself.

Why can't the ABT bring her over to pair with Gomez or Hallberg, is absolutely beyond me. I'm 100% sure she would be just perfect with either of them.

And one more question: any of you, Ladies and Gentlemen, follow Lunkina's carreer? What do y'all think of her?

If there's enough members willing to discuss, maybe we should open a separate topic.

1 hour ago, nanushka said:

 

Just one note, Waelsung, since you've mentioned this twice now: there are quite decent $30 orchestra seats available as rush tickets (which can be purchased online day-of) for virtually every performance, other than the sold-out Misty performances.

Due to my age and state of health, I am very particular about where I seat at ballet. The tickets that I usually buy are in $125-$150 range, but I wouldn't mind paying that to see somebody who imho was worth it. At, opera I can set in the Family Circly for $25-$30, and thus can experiment with singers I don't know or just want to get acquainted with. With ballet it's different. Once again, I wouldn't mind paying even $200 per ticket to see Semyonova, Obraztsova, Kondaurova, Tereshkina, Lobukhin, Shklyarov. Heck, these days I would even go to an Osipova or a Vasilyev performance, and I used to usually skip those. The funny thing is all of these artists used to come to the ABT, but no more. So, I don't think the ABT has changed its ways and has decided to give homegrown dancers more chances - in reality, they simply don't have a choice. 

All strictly IMHO and I do, of course, with all the upcoming ABT dancers all the luck in the world!

Just now, Fleurfairy said:

Wow, I think you are the first person I've ever heard of that is actually a proponent of guest stars at ABT. In my eyes, 2017 has been a triumph for ABT so far. 

To be honest, I just don't care where they are guest stars or ingrown, as long as their dancing warrants what the ABT has been charging for good seats these days. I'm not a fan of Hee Seo and wouldn't pay a dime to see Boylston dance anything, not even modern repertoire. I'm not interested in Ferri's comeback (wonder if she'll be doing these until she's 100 years old), nor in Vishneva's retirements. This is why I, who used to subscribe to 2-3 series per season + acquire individual performances as the casting became clearer, am yet to buy a SINGLE ticket this season.

3 hours ago, Kaysta said:

Some folks are just a fan of guest artists and are still rankled that ABT has decided to grow their company from within instead of import them for a night.

 

Yep, that would be me, no doubt. The only thing is I would be all for developing ungrown talent if I saw some, but, like I said earlier, except Shevchenko and - maybe - Lane, I just don't see any future wolrd-class stars in the making. Unfortunately, if the company goes the way the ABT seems to be going (no more guest stars to save money, but home-grown dancers available on the cheap, even if they're not ready and have no potential to ever be), it will very quickly turn into another provincial company. The local crowd will always be there to cheer the home team, but big-league attendees (and sponsors) will not be enthusiastic enough to keep the budget sane and the price of the seats even remotely affordable. Hate to burst everybody's bubble, but the ABT future DOES appear to be pretty grim.

29 minutes ago, aurora said:

 

A lot of dancers have had injuries this year, but nothing has been sad about this season. We've so far had a lot of amazing debuts by many up and coming dancers. Some scheduled, some unexpected. All so far excellent.

 

 

I respectfully disagree. With the sole exception of Christine Shevchenko, I can't seem to find anybody worth of the ABT exorbitant prices. I would have gone to see Lane's Giselle, but it was scheduled for a matinee, and unfortunately, I still have to work:)

40 minutes ago, Natalia said:

So Copeland, Seo and debutante Teuscher are the only scheduled O/Os who are injury free and at 100% readiness?

Hard to believe what the ABT has become. So sad.

Thank you! Happy Thanksgiving to you and your loved ones!

Which cast would you say is preferable?

Not nearly enough Ratmansky for my underdeveloped taste. Only 10 performances of Whipped Cream? Why not 20 while we're at it?

Also very disappointed that both Shevchenko's DQ and Lane's Giselle are matinees. I am very happy for both of them, but very unhappy that I won't be able to see neither performance, as I unfortunately still have to work during the day.

11 hours ago, canbelto said:

 

I think it'd have to do with salary? If she's a guest artist I assume she gets the regular guest fee.

You bet

$150 000 + business class air fare + the stay in New York

For just two performances? Cmmon

It looks like the ABT_Ardani rift is deepening.

Thanks a lot, Zobeide!

Thinking about seeing NYCB 'The Sleeping Beauty' for the first time. Does anybody know when they will announce the casting? Also, any advice/opinions about the production in general and THE cast to see would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks a lot in advance!

I have a feeling that our tastes are quite different, but I'm curious -- what is it about Makarova that you find objectionable?

For me, Makarova always lacked true refinement. She was a phenomenal technician, of course, but (again, for me) never brought anything really new to the parts she danced. As an artist she was bordering on vulgar, was too obvious, too 'in-your-face' (just as Vishneva is today, which is why I've stopped going to her performances). Strictly IMHO, of course, and never meant to offend anybody.

Hmmm ... I don't think any of those ballerinas are available, even if McKenzie were of a mind to fly them over.

Who would you like to see him import?

Pretty much any leading ballerina from the Kirov, Bolshoi, POB, Royal, etc. would be better than the incessant parade of Boylston, Seo, Copland, etc. Maybe it's just me, I don't know, but financially the season was a disaster, and that's not an personal opinion, but a fact. And my feeling is that it will get much worse before it gets any better.

Hahahaha

I take from this that Makarova is the least of what you're willing to sit through a performance of?

Geez.

That's absolutely right: of all the ballerinas mentioned above I've always liked Makarova less than others. But by today's ABT standards she was a genius.

Well, each of those dancers mentioned were nurtured by their own individual companies. And probably represent a more "European" or "Russian" esthetic or style. Here in NY we tend to look to and appreciate the more open and athletic style of America. It's what Balanchine loved so about the dancers he found and trained here and what certainly influenced all that came after. I would argue that there are no finer dancers anywhere than at City Ballet (Sara Mearns comes to mind) and there are many at ABT that are also simply thrilling to watch. Skylar Brandt, Cassie Trenery come to mind. Catherine Hurlin in that list also. Tastes are what they are, I guess, but my vote still goes to bringing them up through the company and nurturing them accordingly.

Who are 'we' exactly? I know plenty of people who are not appreciative of athletic ballet. For Balanchine style (of which I personally am not a fan) we already have City Ballet in NY and plenty of other regional companies that are athletic, open, modern, what have you. ABT used to be the only more or less European, traditional, classical ballet theater in the US. Now it's going to be just like everybody else. Sorry, but I fail to see the point.

Because a focussed, well-wrought, and sustained commitment to developing and showcasing talent in-house — ideally starting with a school of one's own or a feeder system of schools that understand one's aesthetic and programming objectives — helps foster that increasingly rare thing: an actual company style.

To each his own, but I'll take a company with its own coherent style over a company stuffed with stars who look like they came from different planets any day.

Now that ABT has a school and a resident choreographer, who — and this is important — has the care and maintenance of his own rep among his responsibilities it may develop a clearly identifiable style of its own. Carefully nurturing its Ashton and Tudor rep will help, too.

Sounds great. Too bad they will be excelling in that elusive style of their own in an empty theater. Nobody to appreciate it except for a few dozens aficionados and close friends/family of the home-grown 'stars'

And who exactly are they developing while their audience longs for really good dancers? Forgive my bluntness, but there's no Ulanova, no Guillem, no Maximova, no Fonteyn, not even Makarova in sight. ABT will end up raising another bunch of Boylstons and Seos that nobody wants to see, especially in Ratmansky productions. Probably the whole thing will be eventually relocated to LA where the culture-starved audiences will lap up anything for a couple of years, before the last trip to total oblivion in a storage dump somewhere in Nevada desert.

What's up with this 'in-grown home talent' obsession? Sounds so West Virginia to me:) But seriously, it's not only 'slow and painful' but can be fruitless, too. You all talk like the results are guaranteed, but they're not. See, the problem with developing home talent is that the key word here should be talent, not home, otherwise the results will be boring and amateurish, which is exactly what ABT looks these days. Throw in a pretentious choreograph who can't choreograph anything of any interest or value and you get the final product: rows and rows of empty seats, stacks and stacks of unsold tickets.

As for replacing Swan Lake, I'm 99% sure Olga and all other Ratmansky fans will get their wish in 2018, which will be pretty much the end of ABT as we know it(((((((

Here's the link:

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/05/arts/dance/review-american-ballet-theater-season-metropolitan-opera-house.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Farts&_r=0

Since I attended only one performance this season (Swan Lake with my beloved Veronika Part who unfortunately was underwhelming), I should not be allowed to comment, but I am going to say anyway (because this is not an opinion but fact) that financially the season was a disaster. With the exception of Misty's performances, Ferri's geriatric Juliet and a couple of Vishneva's outings, tickets for everything else were widely available across all the sections. The main reason? If you ask me, it's the abundance of hapless Ratmansky's ballets dominating the repertoire and the absence of true stars that could justify shelling out $125-$150 for a decent seat. Just my not so humble opinion, of course, but I personally am not going to pay a dime for a Ratmansky production ever again and am not willing to attend anything that doesn't have at least one real international superstar on stage.

So happy for Trennary. I would've definitely gone to see her Aurora if only I didn't have to work during the day. What a pity they gave her one matinee only(((((((

I concur - the second cast is to die for. Lunkina alone is well worth the price of admission

I saw Ferri/Cornejo. I hated every minute of it. It was like watching a mummy dance. More thoughts here:

http://poisonivywalloftext.blogspot.com/2016/06/ferris-juliet-proves-you-cant-go-home.html

I agree with every word of your review. It's a relief to know I'm not crazy and other people disliked this performance, too.

See this thread for the Lincoln Center information.

http://balletalert.invisionzone.com/index.php?/topic/41053-lincoln-center-festival-2016-season-announced/

I did see some performances of The Winter's Tale in Toronto and DC and I advise you to wait until the casting announcements, because this makes a big difference.

Here is the review by Alastair Macaulay, and IMO this is the recommended cast worth watching. (Doronina/McKie/Lunkina) I agree with everything he says here.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/22/arts/dance/review-dark-suspicions-in-jumps-and-gestures-in-the-winters-tale.html?_r=0

The other main cast (first cast in Toronto and DC) , Fischer/Stanczyk/Yu was so weak and devoid of dramatic quality. But I guess there might be more casts coming.

Thank you, naomikage. I would prefer to see D/McK/L cast too, but who knows when they will be dancing. It's so unfair to keep the casting secret until the last minute

Does anybody have any news re: casting?

What is the preferred cast in your opinion?

Thanks in advance!