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E Johnson

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Everything posted by E Johnson

  1. I saw NYCB perform Summerspace when it was last in the rep - it was lovely, if clearly different from how Cunningham's own dancers performed it. I am so excited for thee return of the episodes solo (as in i threw my arms int the air and yelled YES at my desk). Peter Boal did it at one of the first Fall for Dance festivals and convinced me it should be put back in. sad its happening when Taylor is no longer with us.
  2. i wouldn't be so sure they both wanted to be sole leader. it's a huge job for one person, and i can see thinking that especially as they're both going to be learning as they go it would be be easier to break the work up between two instead.
  3. Stafford has a wife and sister in the Company still, so its probably wise to have someone else sharing in casting/promotion decisions even if only for reasons of appearances. So lots of good reasons to give Whelan those responsibilities.
  4. Announcement received by email from the Company: I am thrilled to inform you that the Boards of Directors of New York City Ballet and the School of American Ballet have just announced the appointment of Jonathan Stafford as Artistic Director of NYCB and SAB, and Wendy Whelan as Associate Artistic Director of NYCB. You can find more information about this exciting news at nycballet.com.
  5. just received announcement by email from the Company: I am thrilled to inform you that the Boards of Directors of New York City Ballet and the School of American Ballet have just announced the appointment of Jonathan Stafford as Artistic Director of NYCB and SAB, and Wendy Whelan as Associate Artistic Director of NYCB. You can find more information about this exciting news at nycballet.com.
  6. Sure. so why not express that much earlier in the process?
  7. exactly. Martins isn't acting in good faith here, even accepting his absolute right to cast his own ballet. If he knows anything its how NYCB functions and he could have made his casting choices in a less disruptive fashion, and he could have done what Stafford asked of him. TO blame the people who get upset by his bad behavior is to give him a free pass. I have to assume the real audience for Stafford's comments is the board or some subset of it.
  8. I'm a little troubled by the suggestion that Bouder is the bad actor here. Martins did something that at least looks petty and vengeful and apparently his going backstage upset dancers who aren't Bouder. Her calling this out is a reaction to him doing what he did, and the suggestion that she be quiet and keep things smooth instead sits badly with me. Should she have impugned Hyltin's abilities? No. But its not clear to me she did.
  9. has anyone from the company said the interim team can't promote? the only hurdle i see is stafford having any say in his wife's advancement or lack thereof, but otherwise i don't see why they can't (especially as to apprentices).
  10. and between sterling and darci were years of yvonne borree (which i sat through because boal was partnering her, or hubbe). I agree, seeing sterling do it was a revelation.
  11. It was at FIT, great exhibit on fashion and dance. I guess this means I can't call it "the one with the boots" any more?
  12. I do recall the slap being controversial at the time of R&J’s premiere (as in a whole NYT article was devoted to it) -- and I think it was for extra-choreographic reasons. One, it was being done by Jock Soto (in front of Darci Kistler, playing Juliet's mom) , who was generally perceived as a really nice guy and so it was terribly out of character [frankly I thought this argument was little silly, he was perfectly capable of being a convincing menacing presence as a dancer] and 2. it did hark back to the Martins-Kistler abuse allegations, she was standing right there as it happened, and Soto was a friend of both (and IIRC lived with martins and watts when the they were together). So, it was just too much internally even if it worked in the ballet. I'm not sure it did work but I’m also pretty sure I was incapable of evaluating it for itself, given the baggage. And I agree that Tracey is over the top here.
  13. Is there anywhere I can see a list of all the Martins ballets? my google-fu isn't getting me anything, and my recollections of some of his works are pretty dim (as in i once thought Morgen and Stabat Mater were the same ballet. oops). as for keepers: I remember liking les gentilhommes and thinking it had a place in the rep.
  14. If reliquary never sees the light of day again it will be too soon.
  15. This. I'd go to that program if the "new" ballet weren't bad. And combining newer ballets with Martins doesn't solve the problem either.
  16. I don't think its just the rich people they're trying to please. Like many arts institutions NYCB is trying to attract more young audience members, and buzzy designer costumes and new works are one way they seem to be trying to do that , along with the art nights and installations. I think that this goal would be better furthered (as well as the goal of making more programs ones that I personally want to see!) by mixing the old and new as Emma suggests. You need the new audience to love the old works also, and after all its new to you the first time you see it.
  17. If they redid the costumes for the Martins Swan Lake it would be a lot more bearable, IMO.
  18. Boisson was in Year of the Rabbit this afternoon and looked fine. Further notes form this afternoon's program -- The first two works were recent premieres, Troy Schumacher’s The Wind Still Brings with music by William Walton and Gianna Reisen's Composer’s Holiday to music by Lukas Foss. They’re an interesting pairing, because depending on which aspects of them you emphasize, they are very similar or very different. Similarities: largely ensemble pieces; the overall feel of both is a group of young friends having fun together; lighthearted and hopeful in feel; some very playful elements in the choreography. Differences: the Reisen piece is much more classical and Balanchinean choreography, with some direct relationship in parts to Duo Concertante and other Balanchine works; the costumes are neutral, mostly black and white and the women wear tutus; the partnering is all male/female. Schumacher’s piece is gender-neutral in costuming (including dresses, skirts, jumpsuits, etc.) and steps, and the choreography is much less classical. It’s also, to me, more about community and your obligations to others. I liked both of them (2d viewing for each). The nature of the choreography doesn't really call for singling out specific dancers but in the Schumacher, Daniel Applebaum made his usual excellent impression, and in the Reisen Emma Van Enck was a charming and determined ballerina. Spectral Evidence (Prelocaj/Cage): this is the 2d time I have seen this ballet and I liked it less. I think the first time it benefited from my extremely low expectations because I found La Stravaganza almost physically painful to sit through. No pointe shoes. No blame to the cast, led by Ramasar and T. Peck and including Fairchild, leCrone, Isaacs, Finlay, Suozzi, and Stanley who all gave strong performances. It’s just that the choreography, to my mind, stops making sense about half way through the piece (or maybe it just turns into something I don't like). It’s about the Salem Witch trials so you have four men in identical black suits with clerical collars, and four women in bloody nightgowns. . It’s very different from most of the NYCB repertory in being much more expressionist and, to me, European. The men are tortured by their guilty visions, who start out being visions who are a little angry and darn well going to make the most of the time they have left to them. Then after a top notch pas de deux for Ramasar and Peck, it unravels. Ramasar has a (fantastically well performed) long solo that feels more comedic than anything else and disconnected from the rest of the work and then the women suddenly catch on fire and then emerge from their graves to mope. I don’t envision a third viewing for me. Year of the Rabbit (Peck/Stevens): it was so interesting to me to see this again after a lot of intervening Peck works. I still like it but it’s less interesting than it used to be. Indiana Woodward and Taylor Stanley did a lovely job with the Year of Our Lord pas de deux but I don’t think anyone's going to make me forget Janie Taylor in that role. the ballet has some of the Peck trademarks - great movement of groups, dancers lying down on the stage, playfulness, some sections have too many ideas crammed in, some street dance elements - but unlike his later works the partnering is all male/female couples and fairly traditional, and some section seem a little bare of ideas. Ashley Bouder was of course a firecracker. Remainder of the cast (Angle, Huxley, and Reichlen) were also good. Overall impressions: the company looked fantastic. Confident, sharp, happy. With the exception[EJ1] of the Prelocaj, for me, this was a hopeful program. I liked what I saw, I wanted to see more from everybody involved, the overall spirit was one of a community pulling together. Just what I needed, personally, these days. I also loved the art installation. The piece in Playbill about it seemed to say there was supposed to be more of it outside the theater but I couldn't find anything.
  19. Any ideas for who will be cast in Baiser de la Fee? i haven't' seen it since Boal retired but am considering a revisit this season. what i'm looking forward to: my daughter is a j.peck fan and it will be her first time seeing year of the rabbit, which i think is one of his best works. very interested in her reaction. and i always enjoy it too.
  20. if you read the article it actually says FX found no "new" workplace misconduct. so apparently CK admitted to everything he actually did, at least as far as his work at FX was concerned. not exactly the same as a situation where nothing has been admitted.
  21. From the company's email today announcing th resignation: All of us at New York City Ballet thank Peter for his tremendous contributions to the Company as ballet master in chief for more than three decades, and for leading the Company to exceptional artistic heights and accomplishments. We also wanted you to know that New York City Ballet and the School of American Ballet will promptly convene a committee to begin the search for Mr. Martins’ successor. In the meantime, we have full confidence that the interim artistic management team of Jonathan Stafford, Justin Peck, Rebecca Krohn, and Craig Hall, working in conjunction with Executive Director Katherine Brown and NYCB’s exceptional artistic and administrative staff, will continue to provide the guidance that the Company’s artists need to create the unparalleled artistic product for which we are renowned. Also, you may have seen recent press reports of an independent investigation into matters raised in an anonymous letter that was received concerning past conduct by Mr. Martins, and we would like to assure you that the board of directors of NYCB takes these allegations very seriously and has launched an independent investigation into these allegations, which is ongoing.
  22. by the time he got involved with Kistler, at least, he'd been living here quite a while. I am not sure why we are going out of our way to explain what looks to be predatory behavior.
  23. In most of the US, not just NY state, but of course local laws do vary. To me, though, this tends to show an attitude towards women and particularly very young women that is at least problematic, and would in many cases if known disqualify him from a teaching position. For an adult man to date two underaged girls is troubling regardless of whether he had sex with them or not.
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