jbk2126

i had a lovely evening at the friday, 12/19 performance of nutcracker. janie taylor was scheduled to appear as SPF, robert fairchild as cavalier, and teresa reichlen as dewdrop. tiler peck wound up stepping in for taylor (i think her debut? from webiste it looks like she was supposed to debut during the mat performance on 12/20). i think peck did a wonderful job. sure, she had a few bobbles and looked a bit nervous, but overall she was solid and connected to the audience and other dancers on stage. she and fairchild looked good in the pas. again, a few bobbles (the first shoulder lift was a close call) but for the most part they were strong. i think fairchild has a striking presence on stage. i've seen him more in solo parts, and less in partnering roles, so seeing him as the cavalier was a nice opportunity for me. i LOVED reichlen's dewdrop. i was unsure how i'd feel about it since all my recent nuts performances have featured ashley bouder as dewdrop, and i have gone crazy for her approach. i knew reichlen's would be different, and i adored it. i thought kathryn morgan was great as marzipan. i'm happy to hear that her dewdrop debut was wonderful as well. allen peiffer was great as candy cane, and i enjoyed rebecca krohn's coffee. my only disappointment (and it's minor) was the corps in snow. i KNOW they're exhausted (and even a little bored) by this time in the run, but several of them literally looked "annoyed" to be there. and it was distracting. i couldn't keep my eyes off of erica pereira. i know many readers here have seen her in principal roles, but i have yet to do so. she did not look bored or tired, she was radiant seemed to be giving it her all. nice to see! all in all a fabulous night!!! did anyone else see this performance?

has anyone seen performances of nycb nutcracker this year? thoughts? i plan to go a few times in the upcoming weeks. eager to hear how it's been so far!

hi! could someone go into more details about the special "rubies" for those of us who weren't fortunate enough to be there??

i attended nycb's performance on friday, 12/7. it was the first live balanchine nutcracker i've seen in years, and overall i thought it was wonderful. the party scene was great--i thought all the kids did an outstanding job, and i actually really enjoyed the mouse scene, which suprised me. i must say that i wasn't overally impressed with yvonne borree's sugarplum fairy. i thought she was fine technically, but she seemed...uncomfortable. i thought was better in her solo variation than in the grand pas, where she appeared incredibly shaky. i have seen her dance in other peices and have liked her, so maybe she was having an off night. i'm curious to hear other peoples' thoughts. i'm also sad to say that i wasn't crazy about gwyneth muller's coffee. i thought she looked better in the coda than in the variation, where she danced a little "heavy" and lacked the grace and fluidity that i'm used to with this variation. i thought kathryn morgan was brilliant in marzipan (can't make it her debut of sugarplum, am eager to read other's reviews!), and the other shepherdesses were also lovely. tea was well danced, and daniel ulbricht looked like he was having a blast in candy canes. i loved bouder's dewdrop. she was radiant, confident and beautiful. her jumps were absolutley incredible--it looked like she was hanging in mid-air at times. all in all a great evening!