angelica

To give credit where credit is due, it was onxmyxtoes who pointed out that the video was taken at an angle from the wings, which I thought was an important observation.

Leaving aside the matter of substitutions and alternate approaches, Lane has posted some wonderful videos of herself rehearsing in the studio and dancing on stage in various ballets that show her at her stellar best. Given the side angle of the videographer and the hypothesized tiredness of Lane, why not simply take this video down so that people see her at her best, rather than her second best? If I were Lane and the camera caught me like that, I wouldn't want it all over the internet.

Expectations are, of course, of the utmost importance. Had I said that she was stunning, you might have had a different take. True, the camera angle may have a lot to do with it. But Lane is a dancer with a gorgeous port de bras, and here her upper body looks stiff and unattractive. The whole effect for me was that she was gritting her teeth as she was grinding out each turn. I am, however, planning to see each and every ballet in which she is dancing the leading role during the spring season.

I, too, am a huge fan of Sarah Lane, but I agree that those fouettes are (well, I'll go further than you) a disaster. Maybe she was out celebrating something the night before. This clip should be removed because it shows her at her worst. And her best is transcendent.

She's so sweet (I've never met him). Wishing them every happiness.

ITA about Wiles. And Teuscher.

Last season, when Teuscher debuted in Swan Lake in New York, I felt that she showed no individuality, nothing that would have made her performance distinctive. I didn't say anything at that time because it seemed everyone was applauding her technique, especially her ability to execute turns, and everyone was excited by her promotion. So I'm especially thankful that you posted about her this season, an opinion that validates my own. To me, the great dancers are completely different from one another; a ballet danced by someone one night will be a completely different ballet to my eyes with a different cast the next. I wonder whether individuality is inborn, or something that can be developed with coaching.

Yes, see ya in the Spring. Am also going to see The Red Shoes.

I'm skipping the entire season too.

I was there last night too. I thought Krohn was simply amazing in the Stravinsky. I am bereft because I just discovered her sublimity a year or so ago in Emeralds and I was looking forward to seeing more of her. I'm told her progression to principal was slow because of a succession of injuries. Perhaps it's good that a dancer retire at the top of their game, rather than wait until the audience is measuring the height of this year's arabesque compared with last year's, or the next injury sidelines them. In that vein, Maria was divine last night in In Memory Of, and I hope she'll still be around for a long time.

I hope that will happen with Veronika, who still deserves more time in the sun.

And he has developed a beautiful classical ballet line, which he was using to great effect, i.e., the Lensky adagio in Onegin and the Boy in Whipped Cream. I will miss that from him most of all.

Sadly....

I need to see more of his ballets. Apart from Seven Sonatas, I'm not really a fan of his work, or his choice of music. I enjoyed his Nutcracker the first two times I saw it, but then the humor became repetitious. Admittedly, he is extremely inventive, but I'm still a Petipa gal at heart.

Yes, it's the old war horses, but they still make my heart sing when I think of the dancers who will be taking on the roles. However, after Whipped Cream and Firebird, I fear for Harlequinade. Maybe they'll invite Veronika back for a Bayadere or a Swan Lake....

In this case, the poster is going to see dancers, not ballets. And I'm out of this thread.

Just to be clear, because this question is not an either/or matter--you either go to see dancers or you go to see ballets. Of course, you go to see both. When I said to remember that you're going to see dancers, not ballets, it was in response to the above post, in which I took alexL to be saying that he/she already knew they didn't like the production but was, in fact, going to see different casts. In that situation you're going to see different casts because primary in your mind is the different ways the dancers interpret the role. If I made an incorrect assumption, then I'm guilty of assuming. But otherwise I think my response was dead-on.

Yes, I agree, go for Mearns.

Seriously? I think that ballet dancers are amazing beings, and what they do with their bodies is transcendent art. Arnold Haskell, a ballet critic in the early decades of the 20th century, said something to the effect that there are three kinds of people in this world: Russian ballet dancers, ballet dancers, and very ordinary people. I just love that perspective, even while knowing it isn't literally true. Admittedly, you need ballets for them to display their art, but I wouldn't say they're forever. Only the very best are carried through the generations. Even some of the Balanchine ballets are on the back burner. Anyway, I think that "worst perspective ever" is hyperbole.

In your shoes, I would change to Reichlen. I've seen Bouder twice and didn't buy a ticket before casting went up because I wanted to see Reichlen or Mearns. (And speaking of Mr. Macaulay, I want to see what all the fuss is about.)

😴

You won't regret your decision if you remember that you are not going to see ballets, you are going to see dancers. They really are two different perspectives.

Thank you, vipa, that's what I'm thinking too. But if she is dancing O/O, I wouldn't want to miss it.

Does anyone know whether (a) Maria Kowroski will be dancing Swan Lake this season, and/or (2) specifically when casting will go online for SL--i.e., will it be Tuesday, September 5th, at 10:00 am, because that's when the box office will be open on that date?