angelica

Really looking forward to seeing debut performances, especially Sarah Lane, who just gets better and better all the time. We got snowed out by the blizzard last year, so it will also be a first for me to see the Ratmansky production--although I did get a whiff at the Guggenheim Works and Process program last year.

When the box office opens and there are no buyers, you can be sure they will release the casting. Except that they haven't. Only the cast for opening night has been released, and the good (to me) seats are already sold (or held back from the public). Is it that ABT is behaving like a repertory company for both its City Center and BAM engagements, rather than a star-studded company? Or are they awaiting confirmation from potential guest artists? In any event, I'm not buying tickets until the casts are released and if all the good (to me) seats are gone I simply won't go.

Without addressing the larger scope of your suggestions, which have real merit, I will say that I have enjoyed numerous hours watching clips under "Vaganova Ballet Academy" in all the different years of study, as well as clips under "Paris Opera Ballet School," as they take you behind the scenes to institutions where you could never go on your own. To see the children develop over the years is truly inspiring IMHO. Although in the Vaganova clips it has been suggested that because (1) the teacher isn't seen at all and the students just know what to do, and also (2) the girls look absolutely terrified, that these may be their final examinations of the year. I'd be happy if I could dance like the worst of them!

Nina Ananiashvili. Especially see DVD of Nina with State Ballet of Perm, when she was 29 years old. She didn't even know they were filming. She wasn't dancing for posterity--this is how she danced all the time. Today: Veronika Part. I wouldn't miss her for the world. In my dreams, Stella Abrera.

Excuse me, but abt IS my favorite company.

Oh, I almost forgot: there's the escape clause that casts are subject to change but they won't let you exchange your tickets. This is a ridiculous statement in its tone. You can complain legitimately perhaps about them not exchanging tickets, though if they let people do so on the basis of cast changes it would be a mess for them, but they do not change casts arbitrarily. Cast changes at ABT are almost always due to injury. If you really want to complain about that fine, but it isn't reasonable. They do not engage in arbitrary cast changes (unlike your favorite company) so don't make statements which slyly suggest this is the case. I am interpreting the quotation to mean that a bait and switch occurred, which would not be something arbitrary, but also would not be due to injury. Who would not be upset by such a thing? Exactly, but abt doesn't do that. This is why I said it was a ridiculous statement. I would be upset by it. I was upset when with no explanation my tickets were switched by the Bolshoi once. But ABT is actually remarkably good about such things. It is really almost always do to injury or something else that cannot be avoided like the Osipova snafu this spring. They are not known for bait and switch and to imply otherwise, as was done (you got that implication) is libelous. Yes, I do take issue with the no exchanges, no returns policy. I am not insinuating bait and switch, although I can see why you might have read it that way. Since for many balletomanes, amongst whom I count myself, the cast is the most important thing, I do think it would be fair for any company to exchange tickets if the cast changes. If the cast changes because my favorite dancer is injured, then I should be allowed to exchange my ticket for another performance if I'm unhappy with the particular replacement. You may not agree with this, you may think that it would create a "mess" for abt, but it is not "ridiculous" or "libelous."

Oh, I almost forgot: there's the escape clause that casts are subject to change but they won't let you exchange your tickets.

Can't/won't buy tickets without the casting. If they can cast the spring season in October, they can cast November in July.

Waelsung, you are so right about that! I saw Carmen last night and found the ballet dated, as if it had been created for its shock value in another era. But Lopatkina was a marvel. The geometric perfection of her body, the long limbs, the line, the fluidity of her movements, the extensions, everything done to the max. I'm so glad I was there to see her. I enjoyed Symphony in C, but wasn't swept away by any of the star ballerinas. Lopatkina has raised the bar (barre?) to a standard almost impossible to attain.

Yes, this is probably a different topic, so I will be brief. You make an excellent point. It was only after the defection of Nureyev and the high profile partnership with Margot Fonteyn that ballet dancers became celebrities. And not always in a good way, as is often the case with "celebrities." And even so, ballet dancers are not as highly regarded in the US as they are in Russia or France. I can't imagine that changing, given the cultural attitudes prevalent in the country today. But thanks for reminding me. I repeat, we are a small niche.

But we do have music conservatories and fine art institutes, which are not state subsidized. I suppose that we just don't value classical ballet the way the Russians and the French do. We are, sadly, a very small niche.

Why can't we or don't we train classical dancers like this in the U.S.? Is it because ballet is a treasured art form in Russia but in the U.S., except in a handful of places, it falls into the same category as children's "enrichment" activities such as camp and swim team (not that there's anything wrong with....). Or is it because we lump it in with "dance" of all kinds, such as tap and hip-hop (not that there's anything wrong with....), rather than as a fine art, like classical music and painting?

"Tiger Mother"

Well, Helene (and all), we do have some good ideas and we all love ballet, so perhaps someone, somewhere, will get the message.

It will be fun to see if any of these dreams come true next season.

Didn't someone, somewhere, mention Irlan Silva of ABT II? I read through this entire thread but couldn't find his name. He first came to my attention via the film "Only When I Dance," a must-see documentary about two young dancers (he is one) from the slums of Rio de Janeiro who want to become dancers and whose parents sacrifice a great deal to try to make their dreams come true. The clips of Irlan in that film are magnificent. He's not tall tall, but he's not short short and he's a very fine dancer with a beautiful line as well as a magnetic stage presence. Why hasn't he been made an apprentice?

I hope that someone at ABT is reading this thread and making note.

I almost forgot: in connection with Veronika Part's two Swan Lakes, I would wish for a decent violin soloist!

I would absolutely buy tickets to both!

Hope I'm allowed to suggest a new topic. If not, please forgive. My wish list for next season would be: Sarah Lane as Swanilda; Stella Abrera as Giselle with David Hallberg as Albrecht; Veronika Part in two Swan Lakes, several days apart; Vishneva and Gomes in Manon and Onegin (or maybe I mean Othello). Would anyone else like to weigh in?

Best I can tell, it was the same program, but I can't remember in what context Seo danced the Prayer. Perhaps someone else here knows.

In R&J it was Seo. At the Guggenheim it was Lane who was coached. Seo danced the Prayer from Coppelia, but in a different context (and I think during a different program). I only saw the one with Seo. Jose was in that one. What was the topic on the program that included Lane? It was the one about what dancers do when they retire from the stage. Susan Jaffe, amongst other things, coaches dancers at ABT. She gave an example of how she would coach Sarah Lane in the scene in which Swanilda is trying to get a response from the doll on the balcony. Jose was in that program also. He danced a sequence of a modern piece that showed his intention of dancing in realms other than classical ballet. I can't remember which program it was in which Seo danced the Prayer from Coppelia. Maybe one could find out by searching on Guggenheim Works and Process.

I was thinking of Ratmansky when I asked the question. But as a choreographer overflowing with ideas, he would have to become like George Balanchine, an Artistic Director + choreographer. That would be a huge undertaking. I wonder if he would want it. The other suggestions are interesting possibilities too. Why don't I think a change will happen?

Whom would you (or anyone else with an idea) suggest to take his place?

In R&J it was Seo. At the Guggenheim it was Lane who was coached. Seo danced the Prayer from Coppelia, but in a different context (and I think during a different program).