Waelsung

Mammmmma miaaa! Sweet Mary, Mother of God! What a performance!!! I completely concur - Semionova was one of the best O/O I have ever seen and definitely the best in all my years of ABT-watching. Nobody even comes close, nobody - and I've seen most of them in the last - oh, way too many years. Her partnership with Gomes was also superb - as good as he usually is, Semionova lifted him to an even higher level with her. Overall, I think tonight was the first time I actually liked - really liked - this ridiculous production with its ridiculously circumcised final act. Words fail me. Just unforgettable

Amen--Free water is the scourge of society!! Triple AMEN - no such thing as free water, and freeloaders have no place in a free-market economy!

I just read the interview and can confirm that Vishneva said she's planning to dance Tatiana next year. Didn't mention the theater, though. Would be great if it's ABT.

Don't mean to add fuel to the fire, but I would see Lopatkina. She's a living legend and some day you will spend many-many cold winter nights telling your grand-children about that time you saw her live. Vishneva can be seen on a regular basis dancing with ABT during their NY season, and Obraztsova is quite young, while every chance to see Lopatkina on our shores can easily turn out to be the last one. My second choice would be Kondaurova, but that's just my personal opinion In any case, with luxurious casting like what we are being offered by Mariinsky this summer, you simply cannot lose - all these ballerinas are absolutely great.

I'm with you 100%. I will completely boycott the NYCB performances next year, and I think that my attendance of ABT will be severely curtailed after this season, too. Everybody who follows ballet knows how expensive it is to mount a first-rate production with marquee names, but ABT now charges $140 for prime orchestra seats (admittedly, some performances with top-tier guest dancers only) that cost $100 a couple of years ago. My income does not go up 20% a year, why should ABT's? NYCB doesn't even invite international stars, so their price hike is even less justified IMHO.

I was at BAM tonight, too and must mostly concur. For me, the highlights of the evening were also the pdds from Sleeping Beauty and Coppelia. The romantic lyrical excerpts didn't really work for me, but I'm madly in love with Anette Delgado and Amaya Rodriguez. Of course, dancing a pdd in a mixed bill and doing the whole role in a full-evening ballet are two very different things, but still, I wish ABT would give both these ballerinas a chance to show their virtuosity at the Met. Another prime candidate for ABT roster is Alejandro Virelles. All IMHO, naturally.

As I am not at all familiar with RDB dancers, I'd love to hear opinions on which cast scheduled for New York is preferable. Thanks in advance, everybody! Len

Sometimes I end up buying "behind the conductor" seats, and every year intend to write down which ABT conductor is tall and therefore blocks half the stage from view, but every year I forget. If I am not mistaken, one of ABT regular conductors is a really tall gentleman and I never want to sit behind him again. The other two are much shorter and do not really interfere with my enjoyment of the performance. Does anybody know what their names are and who is who? Thanks in advance

For some reason, I couldn't see the exact seat location online and had to call the box office. Got the seats I wanted though and am practically bancrupt as a result

Has anyone seen the exact dates announced, other than "summer"? I can't find them on the Lincoln Center Festival site, although it looks like they might announce more information Tuesday: http://new.lincolncenter.org/live/index.php/lcf-10-cal-genre The full schedule is supposed to be announced March 8. I just wonder if it will include the casts (doubtful) and if yes, will the announced casts hold (almost impossible).

Thanks, abatt - terrific news indeed!

I went to the box office today and was told that the tickets would not be on sale until at least Monday or maybe even later. When I said that they were available online last night, the girl in the window replied "Not anymore." Guess we'll all have to wait and see

Finally, the performances at Lincoln Center have been announced: Tues. June 14 and Wed. June 15: Bournonville Variations, Lost on Slow, The Lesson, + Napoli, ACT III Fri. June 17 and Sun. June 19: The Lesson and La Sylphide Sat. June 18 matinee and evening: La Sylphide and Napoli, Act III Thanks! I wonder when the tickets will go on sale.

Best news I have heard this year. So far

I completely agree, but my understanding is that ABT signed a 5 year agreement with BAM, so it looks like they are stuck there for at least four more seasons. Will they be able to find another stage for their Nutcracker after the agreement expires, is a big question. But an even bigger question is: will Ratmansky still be around in 2014?

My problem with this production is not that it breaks with tradition or compares unfavorably to the NYCB, but that it's unmusical, unoriginal, and choreographically boring. It would take a miracle cast to make me go see it again.

I don't think the snowstorm is part of the problem, as tons of Nutcracker tickets in all the price categories have been available all along. Also, by now the cleanup of the streets has been largely completed and the trains schedule is back to normal, but I don't see any particular rush for tix for the remaining performances. I know that this production has been fully paid for by donors (and also it appears that it saves theater much needed dollars by taking care of some of the guaranteed weeks of employment for the troupe that otherwise would have to be taken on a much more expensive tour), but I just wonder if all this money could have been spent much better on something else. Judging by the tickets sales the answer to this question is a resounding yes. Probably

I was there too, and unfortunately, I did not like the production at all. The children were cute and endearing, but there was just too much of them. They danced well for their age, but if I wanted to see some amateurish school-level dancing I'm sure I could find a show for a fraction of what ABT charges for tickets. As much as I love Part, I must admit she was disappointing. Gomes could not master the lifts and a couple of times almost dropped Veronika. Sorry to say that, but they both looked terribly underrehearsed, so it's quite possible that eventually they will get better with time or other couples might do better even this season. Choreographically, Ratmansky proves once again that he wouldn't know subtlety if it stared him in the eyes. His ideas are extremely straight-forward, without even a hint of originality. With everything looking and feeling like a rehashed deja-vu, his Nutcracker is all over the place, unable to decide whether it wants to be scary or funny and as a result being neither. Overall, for me, the evening was a total waste of time and dollars, so my advice to everybody: save your hard-earned money or donate to a worthy charity of your choice.

Thanks a lot, Catherine - I really appreciate your reply. I'm in NY, so will probably have to go to D.C. for the UL performance now. Thanks again!

Hi Catherine, thanks a lot for the inside scoop. Sorry for an off-topic question, but I wonder if you heard anything about Kirov visit to NY. At one point it was announced in this season plans but later on all mentions suddenly disappeared from their website. I'm not asking just out of curiosity. My funds are somewhat limited at the moment, and if Kirov Ballet does indeed come to NYC in the summer I can sit out their D.C., Ottawa, and Toronto tour and save some money for August. If however the Met season has been scrapped, I'll try my best to go at least to D.C. and maybe to Toronto, too. Thanks again. Len

BNC will be part of BAM 2011 Spring season: http://www.bam.org/view.aspx?pid=2656 This is shaping up to be one hot ballet summer in New York

Oh, no!

Don't get me wrong - I like Vishneva as much as the next guy, but have you never wished we would be able to see other world-class ballerinas instead of the same shtick every year over and over again? Of course, there's no way to tell for sure, but maybe, just maybe, if ABT didn't stick us with Vishneva every season, New York would get to witness, let's say, Lopatkina in at least some of her signature roles (Odette/Odille or Giselle, for instance). What's more, I have a very strong suspicion that this ABT obsession with Vishneva and Osipova cannot be explained by purely artistic reasons. After all, aren't both of them being represented by Sergey Danilian? Sapienti sat

As the saying goes: be careful what you wish for - you might get it

Unfortunately, I can't say I find this season exciting or promising. I have serious doubts The Bright Stream is a worthy addition to the ABT repertoire, even with Osipova and Simkin in leading roles. Neither Vishneva, nor Part are doing anything new, and while I may go to see Cojocaru's Giselle, I think ABT should not invite the same guest dancers every year over and over again. It would be much more interesting to see somebody else for a change, i.e. Kondaurova (she could do Swan Lake, Mirta and probably even The Lady of the Camellias), Obraztsova or Semionova. Or are we now stuck with Osipova for the next 10-15 years, simply because Ratmansky "discovered" her at the Bolshoi? Overall a pretty lame and disappointing announcement, IMHO. On the other hand, it will make saving money for the Kirov season at the Met so much easier