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The underling issue that companies are trying to deal with through outreach, is that ballet is still an elite practice, like say figure skating, but perhaps to a lesser extent. You have to know ballet exists, live relatively close to training, it has to be good training (at some point), the time devoted to training grows every year, pointe shoes are expensive, auditioning for summer intensives is a big factor which means registering, getting there etc. From what I can see, and I admit my knowledge is limited, SFB and Miami have developed pretty good outreach programs. Misty Copeland is a dancer who I've enjoyed in some roles, but believe was woefully miscast in others. I think that of a number of dancers. However I think Copeland has made a huge impact on ballet by bringing in a more diverse audience which will hopefully translate to more kids of color studying ballet. Still, every year, in the US, thousands of kids take their first ballet class. The chances of any one of them getting into a company are small, making it to principal are even smaller.

Indeed rest in peace. For better or worse his type of criticism is a thing of the past.

Nicely done appreciation canbelto. I was not a bit Tess fan outside of a couple of roles, but you encapsulated her gifts and flaws perfectly, and her statement to the audience was a needed gift at the time.

Congrats to all three. The pandemic disrupted normal development, so they will have to shoulder the responsibility of being principal dancers more suddenly than they otherwise would have. I'm rooting for them. Meanwhile, I'm curious about the future of the Angle brothers, and about Ashley Bouder.

Just want to add that I live in the same apt. building as Allegra. Many years ago, when my husband and I studied at the NY School of Ballet, she sometimes took classes there, and she is nice enough to say she remembers us when we run into her. She is indeed still beautiful and has a very special quality. To tell the truth, I'm still a bit star struck! I know from our elevator conversations she enjoys going to the ballet, and I've never heard her say a negative word about any performance.

I also was at this afternoon's show. It made me happy. Both cast I saw of 4T's this season were good. In this one I particularly appreciated La Frenier in Sanguinic - her expansiveness, attack, presentation. I loved Russell Janzen's Phlegmatic. He shaped the piece beginning to end with the perfect sense of drama Love this cast of Sonatine, Woodward and Huxley. She's a dancer of imagination and clarity, with a wonderful port de bras. He has a truly fine tuned, polished technique. From the start the piece was almost a conversation between them. A pleasure. Black Swan with Tiler Peck and Jovani Furlan. She has a deep bag of tricks technically, musically and in terms of characterization. His variation was a bit underpowered. Do they really have to do the double tours with arms in high fifth? I adored Fairchild in Swan Lake. She was the big surprise to me. How long can this woman just keep getting better and better? Mary Elizabeth Sell replaced Ashley Laracey in pas de Neuf and was excellent, as was Ashley Hod. I think the "big swans" have settled into their roles. I went home happy.

The women's competition ended horribly in every way. The IOC should be ashamed. No one was a winner in this mess.

I also heard Tara Lipinski say that when she was a kid, if she had a cold, her mother called the authorities before giving her cold medications to make sure all the ingredients were OK for her to have. It seems young athletes and their families develop a super awareness, as they should.

I was also there this afternoon and agree with Cobweb about 4T's. I just want to add I thought Olivia Boisson was particularly striking in The Theme section, and I enjoyed Megan LeCrone's attack in Choleric. For me the rest of the performance was something of a let down. I'm a long time fan of Laracey and she was lovely in Sonatine, but I think the piece needs more imagination and nuance. It was done on Violette who could add real flavor to a piece. IMO Sonatine needs a special kind of dancer to bring it to life. LaFreniere had a real struggle in Black Swan. Peter Walker partnered her very well, and rescued a lot of turns. Her variation had a lot of staggery moments. A lot of novice mistakes. She's super talented and has an amazing instrument, I'm sure she'll improve and grow in the role. Walker danced well IMO. I'm in the minority in that I enjoy this version of SL. I don't look at it as Swan Lake in the narrative sense, just the perfume, so to speak. I guess somewhat in the same category as Scotch Symphony. I love the swans entrance. The step Balanchine has them doing makes them seem to fly in, then he does the standard entrance step later. I love the corps waltz, and the formations. In this afternoon's show I found the lead couple frustrating!. I really wanted Reichlin to hold a pique or releve and really register a line. Tyler Angle is a fantastic partner, but - well - I'll just say doesn't fulfill the choreography in his solo work. I"m seeing the same program Saturday afternoon

Can't thank you enough for these reports!

I was a Fri. night's show. I had eagerly awaited Tiler Peck's Mozartiana. It was a good, but uneven performance IMO. Some of the variations were an absolute joy of clarity, musicality ad phrasing. There were also beautiful moments in Preghiera. I think the issues I had with the performance, are a result of the lingering effects of her terrible injury. She can't really bend back, or drop her head back. There is a moment in Preghiera with a deep backbend. Peck leaned back and looked upwards. It doesn't have the same effect. Also, and I believe injury related, she seems to be struggling with her arabesque. Tiler Peck is an amazing dancer and artist, and I'm glad I saw her in this ballet, despite what I view as her limitations. I enjoyed Harrison Ball as the male lead, and he had me rooting for him. He did a lot of excellent dancing. The video with Ib Anderson holds up as the gold standard. I didn't really care for Troy Schumacher in Gigue. Loved Rubies. Sterling Hyltin - what a delight - playful, spontaneous, spirited, not a false move on stage. Mira Nadon blew me away in the tall girl role. She is fearless, eats up space, and can move with great speed. In that naked, difficult exit when she does the penche arabesque sequence moving backwards. The first one had a shaky moment. She fixed it. No problem with the rest, in fact huge, beautiful movement. Impressive in a young dancer, to not get spooked by a mistake and go bigger and bigger! She is going to be a big star. Didn't stay for La Valse. Saw it twice in the fall and it was never a favorite! OK - let me just say. I, for one, am sorry intermissions are back.

I don't know about anyone else, but I've never experienced or heard of real coaching about facial expressions. Sometimes something broad like - smile more. Sometimes an overall mood like - look saucy here. For better or worse, I think it's assumed the the over-all right physicality will lead to a suitable facial expression.

I find his conversation interesting. I saw Hyltin in the role pre-pandemic. She had become, by that time, a dancer I much admired and sought out. After seeing her in Mozartiana back then, I actively avoided her in the role this time. That isn't because she was awful, she was in fact lovely in many ways, but I seek a particular depth in that ballet. Perhaps we find that depth in different dancers and it isn't something that's debatable. We find it or we don't.

Love all the reports. I'm really looking forward to seeing T. Peck in Mozartiana next weekend. I don't listen to the City Ballet podcast often but Silas Farley hosted a "hear the dance" on Mozartiana that is fun. He interviewed one of the 4 original minuet women, and 1 of the original children. https://podcast.nycballet.com/episode-51-hear-the-dance-mozartiana/ On another topic, does anyone know the status of Ashley Bouder? I follow her on instagram. Other than one statement many weeks ago, that she'd started serious exercise, there has been nothing about dance.

I believe she is. Terry Mann has a daughter named Shelby who would be around 18 or 19 now.

Thant may be so in some cases but many soloists learn principal roles as possible 4th 5th casts, and never perform them. New principals are not necessarily learning their roles for the first time. I know a past soloist who "learned" a principal role for 3 years and never got to do it.

I agree that Fairchild improved with her age. I actually think her real breakthrough came when she returned from doing a Broadway show. Perhaps practicing a different kind of theatricality informed her performances. She kept growing after that.

It's amazing how many siblings there have been in NYCB. My husband just reminded me about Laura and Elise Flagg. Do other companies have so many siblings!

On the topic of siblings - there are the Angle brothers, both principals. Years ago there were the Borne sisters. I think they were in the corps for quite a while. Bonnie Borne, I believe left to be a soloist in another company and Elyse was eventually promoted to soloist at NYCB. The Kurt and Kyle Froman were the only identical twins who were ever in the company, as far as I know. They were both in the corps.

Also agreeing on Segin. She's been a joy to watch for years. It seem promotion is not in the cards for her.

I recall Claire getting opportunities very quickly when she first joined, a shot at Tarantella for example. Then, for whatever reason, things seemed to stall for her.

Things can be confusing for a ballet student. A teacher can lift your leg, maybe lift it quickly, maybe yank it up with force and almost knock you over. It might seem easy at a distance, but It can be hard to know what crosses the line especially when everyone around you is accepting of it. Add to that the fact that students want attention, and often interpret any kind of attention as the teacher liking them (as a dancer) and wanting them to improve. Sadly a number of ballet teachers grew up the victims of harsh and abusive treatment, and carry it on to the next generation.

Forgive me if it's already been posted here but here is alastair Macaulay's very interesting take on Rojo's Raymonda. https://slippedisc.com/2022/01/alastair-macaulay-tamara-rojo-does-violence-to-this-ballet/

I couldn't open it either, too late. Keep watching cobweb, as many times as you can! I'd love to see NYCB do it, and I too would be there. I understand the issues because singers are needed and also, even though it's a small cast, it requires a lot of rehearsal. That said, the company has a vast rep. so I still question the programing choices.

I agree that the limitations imposed by COVID, such as lack of rehearsal time and programs with no intermissions are challenging. Bless everyone for soldiering on. At the same time I find some programing choices puzzling including the frequency of La Valse and Slaughter. Unfortunately the new regime had little time to settle in before the pandemic hit, so I have no read on what they are about or what direction they are steering the ship, other than a seeming affinity for choreographers outside of the ballet idiom. Meanwhile I'm trying to choose wisely, in terms of programs and cast!