Waelsung

I just got back from the evening SL show with Semionova and Gomes and just wanted to say that the two of them (Semionova especially) were glorious and were one of the best Swan Lake partnerships that I have ever seen. I will post a more detailed review later.

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

Very interesting comments to Wakin's article (including mine!). Given the marketing mentality at NYCB, I have a great idea for an untapped resource: water! There is a water fountain on the orchestra level which is much used during intermission. Why not turn it into a spigot of money? It should be simple to add a slot for quarters, you put in a quarter, take a cup and a carefully measured 3 ounces of NYCB water pours out. This giving out free water is wasteful and leads to some patrons taking advantage and taking TWO cups of water. Charging just 25 cents a cup will discourage abuse of water resources, and provide a significant financial flow. Imagine the new Peter Martins ballets this will finance! And worth every penny.

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!

Hmm, interesting!!

An interview with Vishneva that came out last week seems to have her saying that she "plans to dance Tatiana in 'Onegin' next year," at least that's what Google Translate suggests. (Any Russian speakers can verify?)

I can only hope that this means she'll be doing it at ABT next year, and hopefully with Gomes! If the two of them get to dance "Onegin" and maybe "Manon" together next year, I might die of happiness (after seeing them, of course. )!

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.

Hello -- I am a relative novice to ballet, and have seen the Kirov only once before (the Fokine Triple Bill, some years ago on tour in Boston). I'll be in New York for a few days next month when the Kirov will be in town. If I had to choose one performance to see, between Vishneva in Anna K and Obraztsova in LHH, which would you recommend? I know that's probably not much to go on (in terms of making a recommendation), but I am a fairly blank slate when it comes to ballet, with no strongly defined tastes -- yet. I'd appreciate your thoughts.

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.

New York City Ballet is my passion and I attend as frequently as possible during the season. I picked up the subscription brochure for next season today - and I was shocked at the price increases. I can't subscribe at the savings due to family obligations, so I buy close to the date.

In reaction to the City Ballet price increases, I have decided, after serious consideration, to go on strike as an audience member. At first I thought this would be a "ballet diet" - meaning seeing less. But that's not enough to express my deep disapproval of the price increases. Instead, I am going on strike. I will not attend next season AT ALL unless I can get a meaningful discount, either through the Atrium or some other manner.

I am not stepping up to the box office and paying $149 for the best seats, and I am not going to sit in the 4th ring at this stage of my life.

I am going on strike, I am rebuffing City Ballet based on their cavalier expectation that their audience will pay the higher charges. This one will not.

What's your opinion? I'm writing to NYC Ballet management to express my rejection of their pricing policies and to announce my Strike of One. Does anyone want to join me?

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

Me too...although I did mine online. We can see exact seat locations & I am very, very happy. Of course, the casting can and usually does change but, for now, I'm all-set for Obraztsova's LHH matinee, Kondaurova's Anna and the two mixed bills. (Yeah!!!)

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

The Kirov is coming to NYC this summer, per the NY Times.

http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/03/07/mariinsky-ballet-to-perform-at-lincoln-center-festival/

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).

The Kirov is coming to NYC this summer, per the NY Times.

http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/03/07/mariinsky-ballet-to-perform-at-lincoln-center-festival/

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

Only the Koch Theater in New York is keeping us in suspense regarding the performances.

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

BAM is a second tier choice.

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.

Well their London tour has just been confirmed, mid July to late July (two weeks I think?) So I highly doubt there will be a NY season this summer for that reason (unless they only sent a few dancers? But i dont see that happening either). The London stint is right at the end of White Nights, and the company tends to not tour during the White Nights itself.

So in short: I haven't heard much about NY tour -- although dancers themselves were asking me if i had!! -- and since London is now confirmed, I dont think it will happen.

Dont know where you're located, Len, but if it's the US, I would guess that the DC tour is your best bet. Alas, Uliana will only have one performance there... and I hope she remains on the tour, as you know how there can be last minute changes.

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 nysusan,

As far as casting goes, inside the theatre nothing is posted yet beyond the Baden Baden tour -- that is, beyond Dec. 31, 2010. If there's casting, it's on Fateyev's desk and not really further than that. My guess though is that they themselves may not have the casting finalized yet. But since Vishneva has a defined number of performances with the company per year, she may well know what those dates are ahead of others.

Pavlenko just this weekend danced Aegia in Spartak in a short inner-Russian tour. She's slated to dance it again in January (the 12th I think?) ...so I doubt they will put her in any big classics anytime soon, as she's still coming back from her injury. Better safe than sorry/easy does it and all that.

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

Does that mean they're not coming to New York??! That's truly disappointing...

Oh, no!

Gimme a break--'stuck with Osipova?'. And maybe we'll even be 'stuck with Vishneva' too. Quel horreur!

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

I'll be more than happy to be "stuck with" Osipova even if she's dancing the phone book.

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