E Johnson

He's a very good physical actor, in my opinion, but wow does it get worse when he opens his mouth

Good point, EJohnson. Yes, he was perfectly cast as Neo.

And i also think he was very good in Speed and Point Break (not great movies but fun). Also roles that were more about doing than speaking.

Reeves doesn't speak well: he swallows his dialogue, and in my hierarchy, that makes him a bad actor. I understood about 5% of his dialogue in "Much Ado About Nothing".

He's a very good physical actor, in my opinion, but wow does it get worse when he opens his mouth. My guess is that particular combination is less appreciated in the UK than in the US.

Atm, I think that the bench conversation was one of the things that got lost through the years. I'd bet the original divertissement people were strong enough, too, so that the conversation wasn't a distraction.

I can't say if its the same as the conversations of the past, but I recall Peter Boal and Jenifer Ringer (I think) engaging in "conversation" on the bench several years back. I found it more interesting than the dancing in front of it.

. I want to see more of Justin Peck in a principal role. Anyone else feel that way? Justin is one of the most "musical" of the corps dancers.

Absolutely. A year or so ago Peck danced the prince in Firebird and took my breath away. Not just the musicality but the depth of characterization and feeling.

NYCB Nut on Xmas eve, as seems to be becoming our family tradition.

I actually had the same complaint that Macaulay aims at Millepied at Wheeldon, quite a bit further into his career. How do I know a Wheeldon work when I see one, but for the credit under the title?

I see your point, but to me at least one difference is that with Wheeldon I often feel thought underlying the works -- he's trying a new thing, often, and you can see a choreographer testing himself outside his comfort zone and trying to understand how a different kind of ballet works. This was particularly true for me in his early "leotard" works, like Polyphonia. His work also carries with it a sense of context/ballet history.

With Millipied I rarely get any sense of stretching or deliberate learning/effort. he's just doing what he can do and not questioning or thinking. (that said, I much preferred Plainspoken, which i saw this Sunday, to most of his other ballets I have seen. so maybe he's growing a bit?)

I was passing by the State Theater near the stage exit and saw hoards of little bunheads - girls of about 9 or 10. One group of 4 was sitting with a lady (who may have been an employee) and I spoke to both the children and their guardian. They told me they were rehearsing Magic Flute on the stage of the State Theater (sorry, Koch, I know) and Dena Abergel, the new co-children's ballet mistress, was directing them. So yes, Magic Flute is very kid friendly, lots of little girls in it, and they look so excited and happy. Take your little bunhead!

The child in question is a 9 year old boy, and he's opted for Tarantella instead of Magic Flute this year (and Stars and Stripes). maybe another season!

Has anybody seen the Hong Kong ballet, or otherwise have an assessment of that troupe's capabilities?

Does one performance three years ago count? I saw their Nut in December 2007. Technically their top dancers were very accomplished. The general aesthetic was not to my taste, a bit too pyrotechnic for someone weaned on Balanchine leotard ballets.

Can anyone who has seen it before tell me a bit about the Magic Flute NYCB is doing this season? I am particularly interested in whether a child would enjoy it, but any information is welcomed!

The photo I'm seeing everywhere -- especially on the subway -- is Amar Ramasar leaping. It seems like a great choice to me. yes, he's wearing ripped practice clothes but its definitely a ballet position, and even if you don't know he's from the South Bronx, he isn't white -- which may appeal to a new and different audience.

One section of Balanchine's Union Jack - the costermongers -- includes a donkey.

But if we accept that people like Koch exist and are wealthy, and are going to give away funds, why exclude his money from whatever you happen to consider "worthy" institutions? is it better for him to just support his political causes? I doubt that, for example, a tea party group would refuse his money because he also supports the "elitist" NYCB.

As former PNB and current Dutch National Ballet Principal Dancer Casey Herd once said in a post-performance Q&A, "That's why they call it acting."

Per Ballet Talk policy, the personal lives of dancers, choreographers, artistic directors, etc. are off-limits on the board unless they are discussed in an official source, the definition of which is described in our Rules and Policies.

At least one magazine article reported that Janie Taylor and Sebastien Marcovici were a couple -- when she came back from a significant illness. Bassed on his Twitter feed, that's still true. Can't speak to any of the others.

The pictures are beautiful. its always interesting to me how different from each other the dancers look in close ups like this; on stage there's often a tendency to uniformity.

Either Andrew Veyette has a tattoo on his ribcage or the costuming for "the lady with the little dog" is more idiotic than I realized. I still think he'd make an arresting Apollo; he'd be on my list along with LaCour, Marcovici, Hall, and yes yes yes Justin Peck.

There is something of the implication in your statement that Macaulay is above us mere mortals who have preferences. I think that is insulting both to us and to the dancers he has made it clear he dislikes, some of whom are considered great dancers. His judgment reigns supreme? I don't think saying he has favorites implies they were capriciously chosen, obviously they are based on his experience and knowledge, which are vast (as he regularly makes clear). But it doesn't mean his taste is unfailing, or his the only correct opinion.

I like Macaulay's writing very much. Part of it may be that my "preferences" are similar to his. But I've seen him write, particularly about Wendy Whelan, that he understands why certain people like a dancer that is not to his taste. He's pretty up front that he's giving you his opinion, informed by the specific history he has with the art. I suppose if you are the president of the Nilas Martins fan club you will feel always terrible reading his reviews, but for many dancers he is capable of being evenhanded, or noting good qualities, even if his ultimate opinion of the performer is negative. And there is no question that he loves ballet, is knowledgeable and cares about it, which sadly is a significant step up from his predecessor.

I received a more elaborate renewal mailing with pictures of the principals and Nilas Martins is not in it. I guess that he is quietly retiring. It is sort of sad, he was never the dancer his father was and after the drug incident he seemed to completely withdraw.

CAM

The other notable omission in the new renewal materials is Call Me Ben. Based on my comparison to an eariler version of the schedule I printed out, its been replaced by Chichester Psalms. That was quick.

No surprise, this is a touchy issue. At NYCB, the absence I really sense is of Asian dancers, particularly women. One was made an apprentice last year; it made the scarcity even more obvious.

When I've talked to black friends, they've occasionally said in as many words at times that ballet was for white people.

So to rephrase the question in a positive manner, how do we convince people that ballet is for anyone?

I have never seen as many black audience members at NYCB as I did at Albert Evans' farewell on Sunday. The issues are intertwined. And it's not that black people don't attend dance performances -- the Ailey company disabuses one of that notion - -or even ballet -- DTH's shows had lots of black people in the audience. But those companies sucessfully marketed themselves to a very different audience than NYCB and ABT do, for example. And of course part of it was that those audience members could see people like them on stage.

From a New York-centric perspective, I'm with Ms. Kaufman. NYCB and ABT are very very white and they are in a city with wealthy families of all ethnicities, many of whom could certainly afford ballet classes. SAB has begun to make efforts to reach out to the city, holding auditions for young children throughout the five boros, but it will be a while before that effort bears fruit at the company level if it ever does. From an audience perspective, it’s interesting that most of NYCB's dancers of color are men, and SAB provides much more financial aid for boys. So maybe it is a money issue, but given how many girls of color I see at the Ailey School, barely ten blocks away, I find it hard to believe that money is the only issue.

Also I believe this was a regular season performance, so it wasn't an "extra" performance designed as a Borree Love Fest, nor was it the 18 month "farewell tour". Obviously so many past dancers flew in because they thought Ms. Borree was pretty special.

This was exactly the same type of farewell gala NYCB has done and will do for many retiring principals, including Kistler and Nichols. Its not exactly a regular perfrormance because the retirign dancer generally chooses the roles s/he will perform.

There were certain roles she did very well and consistently -- duo concertant, steadfast tin soldier, for example. Someone mentioned Swanilda above. She was not a uniformly bad dancer, or a lazy one -- in some things she was really good.Even Stravinsky violin concerto - i saw her give lovely performances, and i saw really awfully shaky ones, and i saw her turn a really shaky one into a good one. so i guess the controversy was -- why was she, it seemed, so often dancing over her head, and why wasn't anyone helping her?

The question of Borree's abilities did cause controversy and much critical comment, although she is not a major ballerina.

Absolutely. The regrettable part of it is that Borree gets the brunt of the criticism (and I have no doubt she was always trying to dance as well as she possibly could) when it should be going to Peter Martins. A lot of the criticism was motivated, I think, by that fact that her prominence and continued casting in parts she really did not seem to able to handle reflected something about the Company as a whole -- that the best dancers were not getting cast, that dancers were not getting the support or coaching they needed, maybe something else.

I wasn't at the farewell so I can't speak to the accuracy of the review, but while I was at first a little surprised by it, i don't think it was wildly inappropraite. It was a review of a performance, and to an extent of a career -- not a tribute. It should be an accurate reflection of what the critic saw and thought.

And th casting has been changed:

SUNDAY MATINEE, JUNE 13, 3 PM

PHILIP NEAL FAREWELL PERFORMANCE

SERENADE: Ringer, M. Fairchild, Mearns, Neal, la Cour [Conductor: Karoui]

intermission

WHO CARES?: R. Fairchild, T. Peck, Scheller, Hyltin [Conductor: Otranto; Solo piano: McDill]

intermission

CHACONNE: Whelan, Neal, Pereira, Hendrickson, Muller, Bar, Scordato, Zungre, Arthurs, Applebaum, Hankes, Peiffer (Conductor: Otranto)

The program has been changed for this performance. The new Barak -- Call Me Ben -- has been dropped for Chaconne, which is now closing the perfromance instead of Who Cares. Neal is dancing all three ballets. Here is the casting:

SUNDAY MATINEE, JUNE 13, 3 PM

PHILIP NEAL FAREWELL PERFORMANCE

SERENADE: Ringer, M. Fairchild, Mearns, Neal, la Cour [Conductor: Karoui]

intermission

WHO CARES?: Neal, *Whelan/T. Peck, Somogyi/Scheller, *Kowroski/Hyltin [Conductor: Otranto; Solo piano: McDill]

intermission

CHACONNE: Whelan, Neal, Pereira, Hendrickson, Muller, Bar, Scordato, Zungre, Arthurs, Applebaum, Hankes, Peiffer

Yesterday’s (sunday, May 30) matinee was just terrific -- Danses Concertantes, Chaconne, and Stravinsky Violin Concerto.

Dances Concertantes was a new ballet for me, and it struck me as lesser Balanchine but still pretty good and interesting. There is a repeated motif of showing us the same step with the ballerina on pointe and then with a flat foot; several of the pas de trois also are fairly "traditional' steps with a jazzy twist added -- some flexed feet, or a lot of syncopation. Hyltin and Garcia gave lovely light and humorous (when appropriate) performance as the leads. Their pas de deux was a dance of equals (not unprecedented in Balanchine, but not standard, either), not really romantic.

Chaconne was absolutely beautiful. Whelan and Neal were the leads and just about perfect -- ethereal in the opening pas de deux, then quick, precise, and witty later on. Whelan is such a joyous dancer these days but often it’s a quiet joy. Here she was incandescent with a beautiful smile, and you got a sense that she and Neal were truly enjoying dancing together. Neal certainly doesn't look like a dancer nearing retirement, although he wouldn’t be the first NYCB dancer to dance more freely in their last season. Hendrickson and Pereira were the demisoloists; Pereira especially brought a light frothy touch. Bar, Muller and Scordato were very musical in the pas de trois. All the dancers did well.

The Stravinsky was also very very good -- the lead couples were Boree/LaCour and Krohn/Ramasar. I've seen Borree quake through this ballet before; today she was mainly steady and strong, and LaCour a gallant partner. Krohn and Ramasar were the big happy surprise for me, though. In the past few years Krohn has been turning in very good work in the leotard ballets -- monumentum and agon in particular -- and here she was polished and clear. I have been a fan of Ramasar since he joined the company, but nevertheless felt his promotion to principal might have been a bit premature. Well, not after this. He was strong and had much bigger better jumps than I’ve seen, and mastered the quick changes of direction throughout the ballet. The two of them danced confidently and happily together. It a fun ballet, in many places -- I still love the waving corps, cheesy as it may be -- and it was refreshing to see it in such good shape.

Compliments are also in order for the conductor, Clotilde Otranto. It may be attributable to the particular music that was being performed, but this was the first time since the renovation that I haven’t been bothered by the acoustics coming from the pit.

I have to agree. I'm one of those longtime subscribers and the only way this is going to work for me is to expect to swap tickets a lot - becuse i sure don't know now what my schedule wil be in May 2011. If we have to renew now, it seems only fair to make those swaps easier and more available. This plan also seems designed to reduce the number of subscribers -- why?