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Casting is up for the 1st week at nycb.com. I have a ticket for 9/25 mat. Should be fun.

I have no insider information but personally I doubt it's Black Swan related. Lane did a lovely Theme and Variations as a new corps member and an outstanding Aurora (IMO) on her first time out in the old production. These early accomplishments seemed to do nothing to impress management. On top of this she was often miscast for the sake of giving a short male dancer someone to partner. I don't want to turn this into a pro/con Lane thread but those are my thoughts.

I so agree angelica. I have always found her upper body and arms among the most beautiful in the ballet world. I'm sorry to say that I see no indications at all that a promotion is in her future at ABT.

Thanks for posting laurel. Lovely.

I realize this is the NY performance place but this is, in a way, an addition to NY. I happened to be in Bar Harbor Maine when the company was at the Joyce, but to my delight they made an appearance at the Criterion Theater in Bar Harbor the evening before I left. 1 word about the theater - a 1932 art deco gem which was closed for many years has been taken over by a not-for-profit group, restored and reopened. Bravo. At the ballet, my husband and I introduced ourselves to company director Iain Webb. He was absolutely friendly, informative and clearly the kind of director dancers love. This was not an easy show for the dancers. The stage is VERY small, and VERY, VERY shallow. The stage also has a small rake. A dancer was injured that day causing a lot of cast changes. Never-the-less the company delivered in a delightful way. Stars and Stripes Pas & Coda was done by Kate Honea and Ed Gonzalez with style and verve despite dancing on a postage stamp. My main criticism is the plastered smile on Kate Honea's face. I was surprised a bit by Ashton's The Walk to Paradise Garden because some of the lifts seemed more MacMillan like to me. Danielle Brown was lovely. The use of her arms, head and torso fluid and musical. Ricardo Rhodes (I believe. The changes in cast were announced so quickly I may have gotten some things wrong) is an excellent partner. Elite Syncopations - Alaskan Rag by MacMillian great fun. Playful, wonderful timing - a taste of the music hall danced by Amy Wood and Logan Learned (I think) The Dragonfly - Mr. Webb mentioned that this was staged by dancer memory and when a film of Pavlova turned up, the staging was amazingly accurate. Victoria Hulland's use of the wings, her head movements and lightness brought this piece to life. The American - Pas de deus - Wheeldon. For me not Wheeldon at his best but of course well structured. Ryogo Sadoshimo showed a lyricism and ability to connect to her partner that touched me. Sonata In Four Movements - Choreography Richardo Graziano, Music by John Knowles Paine. This was a premier. I was disappointed in the piece because I didn't think it showed the dancers off at their best. The women seemed in between steps too much of the time and one of the men struggled technically. The Bar Harbor audience was thrilled and responded enthusiastically to each piece. I had a lovely evening and was delighted to have seen the company. These dancers are refreshing and likable and even when things were not perfect I could see what they were going for. This will be a great company and IMO it won't take very long.

I too would love to read reviews. Oddly I'm missing the NY shows because I'm vacationing in Bar Harbor Maine but will see them here Aug 19!

Well said abatt. And it doesn't help that ABT doesn't tour as much as it did back in the day.

I'm sure no AD escapes criticism for two reasons. 1 - there are always more talented dancers than roles to go around. 2 - ballet watchers have their favorites who they want to see in certain roles. NYCB has a rep that allows for more dancers to be featured so overall Martins is probably criticized less than McKenzie. Also there is a different tradition. Martins threw Mearns into the lead in Swan Lake when she was a 19 year old corps member. Seems obvious now but not so much then. Balanchine left a - throw them in - tradition. I believe we tend to remember the successes more than the failures (I won't mention the ones I recall).

I think one reason for this is that Martins has successfully developed and promoted talent - Mearns, Bouder, T. Peck, Vedette, Huxley, the Fairchilds etc. He sometimes throws apprentices or new corps members into a principal role, which makes for a certain kind of excitement. While we can each complain that our that personal favorite is being ignored or under utilized, there are plenty of dancers being given opportunities. Meanwhile our favorites are out there dancing, even if they are not doing the exact roles we'd like to see them in. Personally I don't get Pereira and think Daniel Ulbricht vastly underused, but overall I think Martins tries to give dancers opportunities and does a good job of bringing up talent.

These are very enjoyable podcasts. I like the ones with Rena Most (Wigs and Make-up) and Julie Kent the best. It's also kind fun the way people walk into the dressing room and interrupt or dancers are called to stage. The lack of slickness has a special appeal.

Wow - I'm sorry I was dupped. Why would someone do that? It's crazy

I just looked at Megan Fairchild's Facebook page. I assume it is legit. It says "Works at Cats Broadway Revival" and "Former Principle (yes that spelling) at New York City Ballet. Moderators if this is inappropriate please pull, but I was looking for her Facebook page and this is what turned up.

I thought Alston incredibly promising. She is an apprentice with the company and no doubt on her first tour. If a dancer is thrown into something, it is not unusual for her partner to have to be there to make it work. Periera/De Luz in Raymond last season was a prime example. In the case of Symphony in C, I was thrilled to see a young apprentice out there, holding her own in the last movement line-up with the two principals and a soloist. Good for her. I hope to see more of Alston, and expect I will.

As excited as I am to see Monotones and Symphonic Variations, the bulk of the season seems to be small cast ballets with not much for the corps and up and comers. Personally I think Prodigal Son a particularly poor choice in that it has wonderful roles for a male dancer and a tall woman, but that's it. I feel that ABT needs ballets in which a lot of dancers dance.

D'Antuono wasn't my favorite but I was definitely a big fan, and she had fans. She didn't have the line and flexibility required to be in a company today, and was a principal when body types were changing. Never-the-less she had gobs of technique and a really pleasing stage presence. She was terrific in the Vortex section of Ailey's "The River." I also remember fine performances in Coppelia, Giselle and Don Q. pas. I never walked away disappointed. She always got the job done and more. I wouldn't really compare her to Sarah Lane. Lane's technique is not as rock solid (I never saw D'Antuono miss a turn, come off point, or have any technical mishap). On the other hand Lane has a refinement and expressive port de bras that D'Antuono didn't have - as far as my memory can be relied upon. D'Antuono has a lot of ballet history within her that I hope isn't lost. She was a kid when she joined the Ballet Russe and then saw a lot of years in ABT.

I don't recall Markarova as a great technician. She had a beautiful instrument but she wasn't a favorite of mine. Mostly because she distorted the music. If something was slow, she wanted it really slow! Also I agree that see seemed calculating, almost narcissistic the way Vishneva comes off to me. One thing I do recall about those ABT days was that everyone had strong favorites among the ballerinas - Makanrova, Fracci), Gregory, Van Hamel, Kirkland even Eleanor D'Antuono had a following. Feelings ran high among ABT fans in this regard. It was an interesting time.

Much to my dismay Sarah Lane is not on the AD's radar as a principal. Last year he chose to engage Maria Kochetkova rather than promote Lane. IMO a mistake. Interestingly, in an instagram photo, Lane said that the first time she did Aurora (in the old production) she had 2 weeks to learn it. Last year, in the Ratmansky production she was the one Aurora whose first go at it was at the Met. Clearly she's not being helped along.

ABT at one time had both longer tours and more rep nights (yes I am old). That combination naturally gave more opportunities to up and coming dancers. Having more rep didn't mean ties to Balanchine, as is sometimes suggested. I remember seeing works by Tudor, Ailey, DeMille, Feld, Tetley, Lubovitch, Ashton, Lichine and others. Often there would be a splashy pas de deus thrown into an evening. I'm not saying it was perfect or that everything was great, just that the company has moved to more story ballets and less rep while having a reduced tour schedule, and this presents difficulty in terms of developing dancers.

A problem with ABT and giving opportunities to dancers, is the number of full length ballets they do. At NYCB many performances are rep of 3 or 4 ballets. In one performance you see maybe 6 to 8 principals, a number of soloists and corps member thrown into this or that. At ABT if you put promising corps members in Swan Lake pas de trois you are taking the opportunity from soloists desperate to dance. Then once those corps members have that opportunity where does it take them? I've know many dancers who've moved to "lesser" companies for the opportunity to dance. If you can go elsewhere and do Balachine, Forsythe, etc. and just dance more, why would you stay at ABT? SFB, PNB, Boston Ballet would all be more attractive to a lot of dancers than ABT. Think about the weeks of Romeo and Juliet and The Golden Cockerel - how many people really dance?

Me too!

Personally (a lot of people won't agree). Instead of hiring Kochetkova, Sarah Lane should have been promoted or been given more principal roles this year while looking at a promotion soon. Lane's been doing Theme & Variations, with distinction, for years (better than Boylston). IMO her first Sleeping Beauty should have gotten her promoted. She'd be perfect in Romeo and Juliet. Again, I know I am in a minority, but Lane drives me to buy a ticket in a way that Kochetkova just doesn't.

Drew, I believe you are correct, but for a number of years now NYCB has had a resurgence. The talent is deep, the ballets look good and some Justin Peck ballets actually look like keepers (in the new ballet department). IMO Martins (who I had my doubts about) turned into a fine director. It seems that was just another thing Mr. B was right about. ABT is now the company that is in trouble artistically. I hope the AD has a plan.

I have a question for those of you who have seen Swan Lake this season. In the recent past I bought tickets to see Alina Cojocaru do SL with ABT because I had confidence that, unique artist she is, she would bring something special to the role, even though I suspected it wasn't the greatest role for her. Unfortunately she cancelled both times. In terms of her replacements, once I saw Maria Kochetkova and was unimpressed, and the second time I saw Hee Seo, and left at the first intermission. So my question is who at ABT is a Swan Lake caliber ballerina? So many of the reviews I've read lead me to believe everyone is a work in progress. Every artist is a work in progress but perhaps you know what I mean.

Laurel I was at that performance for the same reason. I wanted to see a new production and Lane in a lead role was the deciding factor on which performance I went to. I thought she was quite fine but I really disliked the ballet for reasons stated in my review. I too wish Lane had more opportunities but I am going to skip her Sleeping Beauty this year. I don't think I can sit through that production again.

It seems that Part got the most praise, Copeland being immature and Murphy not gripping - according to the review. I haven't seen any SL's, so I thank everyone who reports on this site. You all are more reliable than any critic.