rkoretzky

Well, now I am going to sound like a broken record...but the best place in the USA to come for ballet in the summer is the Saratoga Performing Arts Center for NYCB's three week season. My daughter (who lurks here) and I both work there and we look forward to welcoming any Ballet Alerters to our lovely town and our magnificent outdoor theater. So if you are coming here, meet me at the first intermission in the upper corner of house right--at the sign that says "14". Meet me there at any performance--I am always there. Except--this year I am unfortunately having surgery at the very end of the season. So I won't be there after July 25, however my daughter will. And we'd both love to meet any of you. 6 more days!

All of my choices have been mentioned, but I'd like to echo: Barber: the music is gorgeous, Figueroa plays it beautifully, and it is by far my favorite Martins piece. Elizabeth Walker was wonderful in the Johnson role, btw. I see echoes of many of my favorite ballets in Barber, notably Serenade, so if it is a liitle derivative, well so what? I love it. Magic Flute: I remember Darci and Jock (still both at SAB, I believe) in this ballet at SPAC. Only saw it that one summer, was charmed by it. For an early effort, I think it is one of Martins' best. Morgen: this is beauty, heart-breaking, elegant, daring. Ordinarily I dislike Strauss but the songs are so lovely and this is the type of choreography that I love to watch more than anything else. 6 days until opening night at Saratoga!!!

See you in Saratoga! Don't forget to come and find me--I'll be in my usual place. I am so glad to see your post and to know that you are coming up here...we're counting the days until July 9, y'know.

The Saratoga Diamonds will be: Haiku (Evans) Morphoses (Wheeldon) In the Mi(d)st (Mahdaviani) and also at the gala--Martins' Bach Concerto (was that a Diamond?) and Vespro (Italian choregrapher--Bignozetti?--sorry its 4 am and I am sleep-deprived) Oh I should say those are the new Diamonds. We'll have a few older ones too--symphony in five Movements, Ancient Airs...I'll check the schedule in the morning--gotta try to get some sleep now.

I have been watching NYCB every summer since 1978 and I try to get in to the city as much as I can during the winter too, and I have only seen "In the Night" once! More! More! As long as we are making wishes........

Alexandra, what an idea! What a magnificent idea for the 100th anniversary of Mr. B's birth in January 2004. Who has Peter's ear? Who would he listen to?

Second the motion on Prism (although when I saw it this season, it wasn't well done. Sad, because it was a thing of marvelous beauty in its first season. And I do hope San Fran Ballet will bring it to City Center in October as I would love to see what Helgi's company does with it). Also second the motion for Slavonic Dances, possibly my favorite Wheeldon (so I guess Chris and I don't agree) and the first ballet to bring real attention to Rachel Rutherford. But to get back to the point of my post--my all-time favorite Diamond must be Appalachia Waltz. The sweet music, the on-stage musicians, the poignant moments as well as the touches of humor. IMO it is a master work and I dearly wish it would be revived.

Well I did my best to second-guess the powers that be at NYCB and I bombed completely. Actually that is not strictly true. I'll explain: I had opportunities to see two new Diamond Project ballets during spring season. I just KNEW that the two that I saw in NY would be brought to Saratoga (16 days and counting.....). Then after seeing them I imagined that they would not be chosen since both require extra musicians. Well. Final details of our Saratoga season have been released. We WILL have Vespro and Haiku--the two that I saw. We will also have Martins' Bach and the Mahdaviani. Oh phooey. I was hoping to see the Baynes and the Barak. Even though neither had raving reviews, both were well received and both, from my reading, seem to very much follow the classical idiom, something sorely lacking in say, Vespro. Speaking of Vespro, it will only be performed once, at the Gala, and since I will be working for that night of horror I won't be able to see much. Fine with me. I hated it. Evans' piece, OTOH, I liked but didn't love. I don't feel the need to see it again, truthfully. Hoping to see some more things in it the next few times. The second guessing thing? Well, I know they don't take what I've seen into account (darn!), but I certainly would love the opportunity to see everything once, rather than some things twice or three or four times and some not at all. Oh well--I should have made more trips into the city, obviously. Is anyone still reading? if you are, and you are coming to Saratoga, come say "hey" to me. You'll find me at every performance, usually in the extreme upper corner of house right. 16 DAYS AND COUNTING!!!

I know that Alexandra runs a tight ship here, and that gossip is not tolerated, nor should it be. However, through an NYCB insider the following information has come to me: I have had an email stating that there will be three more corps women retiring by the end of summer. I mention this because there do seem to be an unusually high number of corps departures right at this time. If it speaks to dissatisfaction within the company that is certainly a matter of concern. The email also mentioned an imminent retirement from the soloist ranks. I am hesitant to say more since my information is not first hand. What is appropriate to say here? The information surprised me.

After seeing what ABT did to Bizet in October at the City Center, I decided not to subject myself to that experience again. So I passed on all the Symphony in C performances at the Met. Now I hear that they have greatly improved their interpretation of this ballet. Oh well.... We did see the Tchaik. mixed bill on May 23. It was a mixed evening in every sense. I stand by my contention that ABT cannot do Balanchine, at least not in the way that I like to see it. That said, the Tchaik. pas de deux was splendid. Not anything like I have ever seen in before (and I have seen many combinations over 25 years of watching NYCB) but exciting and lyrical all at once. I did not enjoy the interpretation of Theme and Variations, particularly the pas de deux. Found it a disservice to Balanchine's philosophy. I'll try to write more about this later, because I have some responses to the NYT article. But now I am running late for a trip to Tanglewood, so..later!

There have been two recent retirements of principal women, and more are (sadly) inevitable. It is past time that some promotions happen. As to who they will be, I wouldn't begin to guess what management is thinking. If I had my druthers.....I think Alexandra has come back with a real bang after her injuries and has truly grown as a dancer. Pascale is gorgeous. Janie seems to be in favor and my money would be on her I guess, but she is just too wild for my taste. Abi's rise has been meteoric, she has technique to burn, but I would like to see more development of style. Hooray for Rachel--arguably the most overdue promotion ever. I adore Eva Natanya. Can she be next? Please? As for the men, I agree that Ben was a shoe-in. Sebastian has been given many opportunities--I saw that one coming as well. As for James, I love him and Jenifer (those who know me, know that she is my absolute favorite) and I see tremendous growth from him, especially as a partner. Watching the two of them dance together takes me to another place. But he has become a superb partner to other ballerinas as well. It was fascinating to me to see him take over Jared's part in Morgen. After the dance with Jenifer, I wanted to cry out: "no this is all wrong! they belong together!". NYCB now has 12 male principals listed, 9 women. A little cock-eyed, no?

Reading these threads has reminded me that I was so fortunate to be at Merrill Ashley's first performance of Ballo at SPAC. It was a sold-out matinee on a brutally hot day and I was working in the upper corner of the theater, trying to get everyone seated, when the ballet began. I have never seen such fire and flash as I saw that day. I also saw Merrill's last performance of Ballo at SPAC, and it was the last time I saw her dance too--at the gala in 1997? (I could be off by a year or so), and I am sorry I did. Yes I see Lilian's point and it is well-taken. I admired her so much for giving her gift to the audience one last time. But that performance is not the one that I choose to focus on when I think about her. It hurt me to see her hurting.

Reading these threads has reminded me that I was so fortunate to be at Merrill Ashley's first performance of Ballo at SPAC. It was a sold-out matinee on a brutally hot day and I was working in the upper corner of the theater, trying to get everyone seated, when the ballet began. I have never seen such fire and flash as I saw that day. I also saw Merrill's last performance of Ballo at SPAC, and it was the last time I saw her dance too--at the gala in 1997? (I could be off by a year or so), and I am sorry I did. Yes I see Lilian's point and it is well-taken. I admired her so much for giving her gift to the audience one last time. But that performance is not the one that I choose to focus on when I think about her. It hurt me to see her hurting.

Thank you Leigh. I saw Mozartiana twice in the winter season and I thought the corps (including Melissa at that time) was exquisite. I especially remember noticing the incredible development of MAry Helen Bowers since the last time I had seen her. I won't be able to get to any Mozartianas this spring and it is not coming to SPAC. FIE!

For those of you who were there, who has replaced Melissa Walter in Mozartiana? Melissa is our "local girl made good" and we are so sorry that she apparently has left the company. I am sure that she got tired of watching newcomers vault over her and has moved on to something else, but I will miss her. She never got a big break, but she was sublimely lovely in every part she got. (Or hilariously funny in one memorable part!).

Merrill Ashley waited too long to retire. I have been a great fan of hers since her corps days and I can still remember clearly a break-out performance as the blue girl in Dances at a Gathering that left me smiling for days. But my daughter saw her husband carrying her down a short flight of stairs after her last SPAC performance and it broke my heart to hear about it. The woman could barely walk and was spending hours in chiropractic offices so that she could be on stage for a few minutes. I miss her still but wish she had retired sooner. Helene is my daughter's favorite and she is so sad about this retirement that we had to go to NYCB last Saturday afternoon to see her one more time. In Vienna Waltzes, which neither of us likes, no less. In a classic clash of desires, my daughter had to choose between Helene's retirement evening and her own senior prom. The prom won! I do applaud Helene for leaving now when she is looking so exquisite.

Merrill Ashley waited too long to retire. I have been a great fan of hers since her corps days and I can still remember clearly a break-out performance as the blue girl in Dances at a Gathering that left me smiling for days. But my daughter saw her husband carrying her down a short flight of stairs after her last SPAC performance and it broke my heart to hear about it. The woman could barely walk and was spending hours in chiropractic offices so that she could be on stage for a few minutes. I miss her still but wish she had retired sooner. Helene is my daughter's favorite and she is so sad about this retirement that we had to go to NYCB last Saturday afternoon to see her one more time. In Vienna Waltzes, which neither of us likes, no less. In a classic clash of desires, my daughter had to choose between Helene's retirement evening and her own senior prom. The prom won! I do applaud Helene for leaving now when she is looking so exquisite.

Has anyone seen it yet? We'll be at the January 19 matinee. Anna Kisslegoff loved it. Can't wait to see it myself and am interested in any opinions.

Hey! I was there too! When the casting went up on the website last week, my daughter and I agreed that it was a near perfect program. Then my husband announced that he had to be in NY on business yesterday. VOILA! We agreed to meet at Lincoln Center for dinner, and a most wonderful evening. Got home to Saratoga way too late, am exhausted today, but so worth it. Wendy Whelan's opening in Mozartiana was a revelation--it was as spiritual an experience as I have ever had. The little girls were wonderful, as were the four "big" girls. Agreed about MH Bowers. And a treat for me to see Melissa Walter, our own upstate NY girl, and one of my favorites, Eva Natanya. Damian is not my favorite, although I admire him greatly--his bravura technique can be over the top for my taste and a little (no, a lot) show-offish. But in Mozartiana he was magnificent. Clean, pure technique--all the bravura with none of the show off. Set off the gorgeous music perfectly. And Tom Gold--he just keeps going.... Ah. Bizet. I went to see Jenifer Ringer, my favorite. Not a single disappointment there. Her joy in dancing just pours out of her. Nilas--oh well. The poor guy is just not happy up there and it shows. Darci and Jock in 2nd movement. Sublime. By the "famous" part (you all know what I mean, right?), the music was swelling and I was crying. Worth the trip from Saratoga just to see that. I thought Alexandra was a bit tiff in her upper body and arms in the 3rd movement, but it was so wonderful to see her jump again. And Pascale--such a radiant smile on her face. Beautiful. If I were to be absolutely picky: in the finale the principal women were off in their turns and they weren't lined up at all. Did it matter? Not too much. It bothered me a little, because I have seen it done so perfectly so many times, but it was such a joyous and sparkling performance that I will forgive. One thing I noticed: I barely watch the men, even Ben and Albert. the black costumes melting into the backdrop? I have no memory of JOck because I couldn't take my eyes off Darci. I did see a bit of excessive "body language" from Ben. Torso twisting is the best way I can describe it. I would also wonder why the music is rarely played by symphony orchestras. It is a beautiful little symphony, really. Anyway this performance completely exorcised a ghost for me--ABT making a total mess of Bizet in October. Glad I went. And I'll be back on January 18-19. Hope to meet some of you there.

FIVE dollars, Manhattanik? What a deal! looks like I am going to have to try to fit this in between now and the 31st. Thanks for the info.

Alexandra: I can answer your question. Saskia has been listed in Spanish. This seems an odd bit of casting to me--I have trouble envisioning Saskia's Nordic blonde prettiness in that fiery Spanish dance. To me, the NUT divertissments are so very "nationalistic" in spirit--I depend on looks in those bits as much as I do the dancing. I long for Lourdez Lopez or Stephanie Saland when I think about Spanish--although I'd love to see Pauline or Eva (or my own favorite Jenny Ringer if principals ever do those roles?). I'd like to see Saskia in Marzipan--just my vision. Haven't been to NYC for any NUTS--I tend to avoid it and save my $$ for lots of Fourth Ring Society tickets. But I do love to hear about it, so keep the reviews coming. Jenifer and James will be doing a regional NUT in Albany this weekend. I'll be there.

OK, I guess I'll jump in here. My peeve has already been mentioned in the thread about NYCB's opening night last week. I thought I'd expand on it there, but this seems to be an appropriate place, so here goes......... The "overwwrought" fan who shouted "bravo" during the arabesque promenade in the fourth movement of "Serenade" was no fan at all, IMHO. He (yes it was a male voice) was an obnoxious boor who had probably had a few too many at the bar beforehand. Manhattanik and others who commented on his behavior were being most generous and kind. I have no such thoughts of kindness because he came perilously close to ruining the ballet for me. When there is a moment of such supreme beauty on the stage, and it is accompanied by such exquisite sound from the pit, I have nothing good to say about the person who destroys it. What this guy did was so inappropriate, so absurd, so wrong...what on earth was he thinking? We see this in Saratoga every single year at the gala. A few people who suit up in their tuxes and gowns, quaff a few at the Hall of Springs, and weave their way down the hill to show how cultured and classy they are.....well that was some neat move in "Apollo"--look at that she climbed on his back! Bravo! Bravo! Idiots.

I am coming down from upstate with three friends. Last night we played "guess the program". Since it is all Balanchine and a tribute to NY, I am guessing "Who Cares", and "Stars and Stripes" for the finale, for sure. Supposedly every dancer in the company will participate? And there will be a surprise guest artist? Can't wait! I know our seats are in 4th ring, row D or B, one person that I talked with said each one. Would it be possible to set up a meeting place, perhaps at first intermission, where all of us who are there could find each other? I'd love to meet some more of you. My experience with dress is that anything truly goes, even on special gala nights. We'll be dressed decently, but for comfort. We have a long car ride after a day of teaching.

I will! Does anyone have the scoop on what the program will be? "All Balanchine, surprise guest artist" is all that I can get from the webpage.

MArgaret Tracey's last performance with NYCB will be on February 9, 2002. She will dance Zakouski. Reportedly she wishes to have more time with her family--and perhaps more children??? With that thought of dancers having babies, I am concerned that we will not see Kyra Nichols dance again. Anyone know anything?