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I understand that AGMA & Equity are fighting over the show. It had been AGMA but Equity is claiming it on Broadway. I believe the article I read said that the average salary was $3,800 per week.

I loved Peter Boal's Apollo in the Suzanne F. company. That was toward the end of his performing career - far from a young dancer.

NYCB has had tickets for sale in the Lincoln Center $20 for 20 days. Its only same purchase. http://new.lincolncenter.org/live/index.php/20-for-20

Great suggestions - Ballet Theater did both of those at time over the years. I remember taking my kids to ABT to see Peter & the Wolf which was on the same program as Theme and Variations, I don't remember what else was on the program. I do remember that my friend who was there with her child called it a double roll of life savers ballet. She measured their interest by how much candy she had to give them to keep them quiet. I always found that amusing.

Thank you for your instructions. I just saw South Pacific (Sat. 1/9). What a wonderful show (you don't need me to tell you that). I just want to add that it is a very well organized system and everyone is very pleasant & helpful. You can sign up for emails letting you know what will be available the following day.

I haven't seen this topic so I thought I'd have a go. Please remove if I'm doing something wrong. Saw Midsummer Night's Dream last night. I'm again reminded that it is a truly wonderful ballet. The cast that I saw gave delightful performances. Maria Kowroski was wonderful, her amplitude, generosity of movement and presence were all perfect for this role. DeLuz & Ulbricht were also wonderful in their roles. DeLuz is always a class act. Technically and artistically he was all one could ask for (at least this one). Askegard as Tatania's cavalier was the cavalier any woman would want. Wendy Whelan and Philip Neal did the Divertissement pas de deux. This pas is a favorite of mine. The musicality, quietness, beauty and purity of emotion conveyed in the choreography has always moved me. I was not disappointed. It is interesting to me that this particular pas requires mature artists (in my opinion). I have to think about that more to figure out why I think that. A last note - the children in the ballet are always great. It's amazing to see young children who really know how to be onstage and present themselves while also remembering steps and spacing. I happened to be seated in the orchestra, very close to the stage. 2 young children actually let out slight giggles (I'm sure they couldn't be heard beyond the 5th or 6th row). They looked so excited to be on stage, I'm sure they were giggles of delight (don't tell the powers that be, they might be reprimanded). I'd love to hear reviews from others. Particularly of other casts. I'm very curious about Mearns. Titania seems suited to her.

I've said this before, but I have to mention it again because I just came back from seeing the NYCB Midsummer Night's Dream. The 2nd act pas de deux - Divertissement. I think it's one of the best ever created. In fact for me, it is like a great work of Bach in that it feels so inevitable that it seems to be revealed not created. Few pieces of dance move me like this pas de deux does.

I agree with a lot that has been said. He can be obtuse (what was he talking about with Janie Taylor?) and at the very least dismissive. I also agree that he gushes over certain dancers. David Hallberg is an example. We all admire Hallberg but he is not perfect in every role. I'm sure you will never read a word of criticism from Macaulay about Hallberg ever. Also, Morgan (a talented dancer) why waste precious space on a dancer who was injured and therefore not seen? On the other hand there are times when his writing is insightful and even poetic. He is one of the few "serious" dance critics we have now (I wish Acocella wrote more on dance in New Yorker). I, personally, never doubt his love of dance. I'll take the good with the bad, but I do see the good. Also, I know for a fact if you email him respectfully (disagree or not) he will respond in a thoughtful way.

Dick Andros was indeed a wonderful man. He really loved ballet and worked to share his love and knowledge right until the end. And boy, he could make a person laugh. He will be missed by many. There is a memorial page on Facebook if anyone is interested. You can search Facebook for Dick Andros memorial page or use this link. http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2241...2642&ref=ts

My suggestion is Balanchine's Midsummer Night's Dream. I took my kids when they were 5 and 8 and they loved it. I told them the outline of the story before we went. The choreography is not only beautiful, but it offers a clear and fast moving plot. The music is beautiful and accessible. My children enjoyed this ballet a lot more than they enjoyed Nutcracker. As the years went on we moved on to other ballets, but this was a good start. Interestingly I found that my kids were often bored by muti- act story ballets but if I found the right rep performance they were captivated. Any program with Symphony in 3 Movements & Tchaikovsky pas de deux was a sure hit. Fancy Free was also a good bet.

The Ramayana in 4 paperback volumes. Margaret Atwood - The Year of the Flood David Foster Wallace - Infinite Jest. Many months worth of great reading! I'm a lucky person.

-- Natalia Osipova: "the exceptional thrill came from the liftoff provided by her feet; in more than 30 years of watching ballet I've never seen that degree of spring." "Ms. Osipova is remarkable to watch just standing on point." I would really quibble with the implication that her liftoff is provided by her feet. Many things contribute to a big jump, such as the shape of the legs and the timing of the movement. She may use her feet well as part of the mechanics of jumping, but her feet do not provide "that degree of spring."

It would be very interesting to know the other ballerinas. When it was first staged for ABT, the cast was mostly principals and soloists,if i remember correctly. Yes the ABT cast of Birthday Offering was all soloists in principals - 7 couple if I remember correctly, and I think Julie Kent was one of the ladies. I don't see the newest soloist S.Messmer yet. Also Copeland, who seemed to be cast in so many things for the last 2 years isn't listed - not yet anyway.

Thank you for stating that so well. I so agree. At the same time I think that the audience for the film might be ballet goers. Even casual ballet goers would see that something is amiss even if they couldn't verbalize it.

Good for them. I wish ABT would go more into the video thing. I have to say, I enjoyed the SFB videos, but because of the format of quickly cutting from one ballet to the next, it was hard for me to distinguish the qualities of one dancer from the next.

I took her classes as a kid. A big difference between her classes and other classes was that all of her combinations moved from the one end of the room to the other, even the adagio.

Reply to myself - I guess I did know how to post a link! That easy huh!

I don't know how to post a link, but there is a short youtube video of Karz talking about her life and book. Also some footage of her dancing. You can go to youtube and search for Zappora Zarz or Sugarless Plum or copy and paste the web address found below. I can't wait to read the book.

I respectfully disagree. I really do not want to hear about a singer's cold, I wish those announcements would be banned. If not banned I wish that when the announcement was made, an offer of a refund or ticket exchange would also be made. As an audience member, I do not want to take anyone's indisposition into consideration. How can I lose myself in a performance if in the back of my mind is the idea that the performance that I'm seeing is not the best it could be. Imagine if we heard about every performer's problems: back's a little sore, going through a divorce, upset stomach etc. I could go on and on, but I feel like I am going really off of the Natalia Osipove@ABT topic. Sorry! But we on BT have been critical of many performers. If we knew the "inside scoop" of how they were feeling should we have been less critical?

It is so me to put my foot in my mouth. Again, I meant no disrespect to fans of Osipova. I only meant that there are ticket buyers, who are not regular ballet goers, who assume that the Russian import is superior. To those who point to exhaustion, fevers etc. I just have to say that for me the performance I see, is the performance I see. In opera I don't want to hear that so-in-so is not in good voice that day. I just think that if you go out there and do it there are no qualifiers, whether you are a tennis player or a ballet dancer.

I missed her Giselle, which friends of mine loved, and saw her Sylph. I am in the minority, but I find her sort of amusical. Even in the Youtube videos I've seen she seems to disregard the music and do her thing. For this reason I am avoiding her Sleeping Beauty (I never go to see R&J - not my thing). Does anyone else see this or am I crazy? As I said, I have friends who loved her Giselle.

Cabro, I think that is true in general, but if I remember correctly, a group of corps people became soloists in Aug. 2007 - Boone, Lane, Copeland, Kajiya and maybe some others. My feeling is that NYCB can carry a principal heavy company more easily than ABT because of their respective reps. NYCB can have a number of principal roles every evening. ABT because of the number of full length ballets, has fewer principal roles in general. Even now they end up with principals getting 1 or 2 shots at say Swan Lake or Sleeping Beauty in NY.

Agreed. I only saw her a couple of times at the end of her career when she was not performing much but WOW. It was a great thing, in my opinion, that Balanchine kept her on salary even though she performed so infrequently. I also saw her taking class, even that was special. BTW I see her often at ballet performance, most recently at Avery for ABT. She is always warm, pleasant and so unconventional!

I read it about a year ago and loved it. I've resisted seeing the movie. I'm waiting for the 3rd book of the trilogy that began with "The Girl With the Dragon Tatoo." Not as deeply human as "Time Traveler's Wife" but really fun read.