abatt

I saw Mearns and Angle Thursday evening and thought that their performance of the second movement was sublime. I was mesmerized for every second. There was depth to that relationship. In contrast, when Unity and Alec did it, it was just a bunch of steps - a very superficial reading of the pas.

This - exactly. I don't want to see any additional weeks added to ABT given the works they are presenting and the people they have on the roster. I would love to see some added weeks at NYCB., but that's not likely.

Agree completely with the above post about Trenary. She showed promise as a soloist but has not improved. In fact, she has declined in technique. Sadly, many of ABT's principals are not up to the task of being great in classical ballets due to spotty technique. This is part of the reason for the downward spiral of the company. McKenzie promoted lots of people in his final years to principal. His stated reason in the NY Times was that he wanted to give them hope (during the pandemic). But now it's post pandemic and we are seeing that many don't have the skills technically to carry the classics on their shoulders. The audience sees this and knows this. Maybe by stuffing the rep with less demanding works like the Wheeldon LWFC the deficiencies are less obvious.

Such a fantastic program last night. Nadon was magnetic in Errante. I thought Sanz faded in comparison to Nadon. Now that I see all of the back bending required in this role, maybe that's why we are not seeing Mearns in this role. Phelan and Knight have improved significantly in the Second Movement of Symphony in C since I last saw them in this ballet in 2022. However, there is still no emotional depth or resonance in their performance. What a spectacular company. Amazing talent at all levels, from corps to the principals.

Cote has danced with NYCB, with Mearns. In fact, I would not be surprised if he appeared as a guest artist at NYCB during the run of Swan Lake in Feb 2025 as Mearns' partner.

Alston Mcgill is finally making her return to some excellent roles. fingers crossed that she remains in good health. Sorry to see Gabriel is being replaced. He is an exciting dancer.

When a dancer takes an outside gig he is not a representative of his employer. Perhaps yagp should have referred to Kim as intl guest artist

YAGP should not have announced them as artists for the program if they were just going to cave to protestors. The war in Ukraine is tragic. But I don't think the blame for Ukraine's misery can be placed on the shoulders of Kimin Kim or Nagahisa. The Met Opera hired Russian Akhmetshina this season as its new Carmen, and featured her in its Live in HD performance of the opera. The Met also hired other Russians regularly. She also performs at the Royal Opera this season. How could it be possible that it's okay for a Russian citizen to perform at the Met Opera, but it's not okay for a South Korean citizen who has been performing in Russia for many years before the war started to perform here, and is persona non grata in the U.S. I attended the show last night (the YAGP gala) but I saw no protests.

Mearns learned the tall girl role in Rubies a long time ago but due to injury she never performed it. She retired Emeralds from her rep a number of years ago. Now she only performs Diamonds at the House of Balanchine.

Mariinsky Dancers Barred From Youth Ballet Gala in New York - The New York Times (nytimes.com) This debacle has made the NY Times. They forgot to mention that some of the banned dancers are not Russian citizens. In reality, many people, myself included, regarded Kim and Khoreva as the headliners for this event.

But the stated basis for intimidating the Koch theater into denying these performers the right to perform at the theater has nothing to do with copyright violations. (By the way, Cuba frequently violates copyright with respect to choreography, but their dancers are nevertheless permitted to perform here.) The stated reason in the Assemblyman's letter is the war in Ukraine. As far as I'm aware Kim and Nagahisa are not Russian citizens. They are citizens of countries that are allies of the US, and their home countries have not prohibited them from working with the Mariinsky. There is no citation of any law or regulation which the Koch or YAGP would be violating by permitting these performers on stage. As an aside, why was the Assemblyman's letter addressed to the Koch instead of YAGP, which is the entity that actually contracted with these performers. Maybe the Assemblyman's efforts to aid Ukraine would be better served by calling out the Republicans in Congress who have held up desperately needed aid to Ukraine for so long.

This sounds like a minor official - a NY State Assemblyman - intimidating the head of the Koch. The above letter does not cite to any violation of any sanctions as the basis for his demand that YAGP break its contract with these dancers.

Kimin Kim did not perform last night. Denying a visa to Smirnova and Tissi is insanity. Smirnova left her homeland in protest of the war. It is too bad that a NY State Assemblyman could derail a private contract between YAGP and its contracted talent. There are plenty of Russian nationals performing at the Met and in other classical venues in the U.S. The litmus test is whether they came out and supported Putin and the war. In my opinion, banning these individual dancers is wrong.

week 2 casting is available on the nycb website

I would like to see Zakouski again. I thought it was a good enough ballet with enjoyable music. But I doubt that it will ever return to the rep, However, I do not picture Tiler Peck as a lead in Tzigane. Mejia, maybe yes.