abatt

41 minutes ago, matilda said:

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Year of the Rabbit, from 2012, remains one of Justin Peck's best works. Very creative corps formations and exciting choreography for the leads. It was a little disappointing watching this knowing that he never evolved much beyond this early style though.

I think Rabbit was so successful in terms of the quality of choreography because Peck had a lot of time to work on it and revise it, if I remember correctly.   As he became more popular, it seems like he has less time to devote to each work.  That may be a big part of the problem.  

6 hours ago, mille-feuille said:

Haha! Call Me Ben was truly terrible. My top City Ballet stinker is definitely Bartok Ballet.

I'm curious to see if my opinion of Red Angels will have improved since the accursed Here/Now festival. I remember sneaking a peek at the phone of the girl sitting next to me after seeing it one evening. Her text message read: "It's a bad night at the ballet..."

LOL.  Bartok Ballet is also in my top 10 list.   We have similar taste, apparently.

4 hours ago, California said:

Ashley Bouder just posted on Instagram Stories. As those can't be linked and are only available for 24 hours, I'll just post the text of one slide:

"Normalize ending friendships with people who still support people who have hurt you."

Make of it what you will. I don't have a clue who/what she's talking about and really don't care.

Thanks for my only laugh out loud moment of the day California.  

Saw tonight's program.  Gustav le Gray by Tanowitz is making my list of 10 worst ballets I've ever seen at NYCB. Call Me Ben still occupies the first place, though.  All that talent on stage performing dull choreography in hideous costumes. 

Peck and Mejia were sublime in Other Dances.  The all new cast of Rabbit was great.  Maxwell and Coll were riveting in their quiet pas.  Emma VE was daring and fearless in her technically dazzling performance.  Miller and Chan were impressive as well.

I have no patience for Interplay and its  cute adolescents, but it was well performed. 

5 minutes ago, fondoffouettes said:

If/when it reopens, I'd add Boulud Sud to the list. I've always had excellent food there. It's pricey but probably a hair less so than Lincoln (also great). Boulud Sud has been closed for renovations since the winter, though, with no reopening date provided.

 

That is curious.  Why would they decide to renovate now instead of in the summer, which is a slow season in NYC for restaurants.  I'm wondering if it will reopen at all.

First, I have to agree that Joe Gordon is too elegant for Rubies and may be miscast.  I feel the same way about Huxley.  But he danced it well.  Furlan is missed in this.

About the new Peck work, the choreography lacked craft.  As noted above, it looked like Peck spent little time on it, and just told Tiler and Roman to do their best tricks.  As an example of lack of craft, there is a section where Tiler goes off stage and then comes back by daringly leaping into Roman's arms.  The first time the audience gasped.  The second time there was some reaction.  By the third time all I could think was oh please not again.  There was silence.  Enough. An why was there a ball gimmick.  Tiler and Roman impressed in the execution of the choreography, but this was like a piece you would see on the competition  circuit.  

The Garner work was pleasant but overstuffed.  Too many people coming in and leaving but it didn't add up to anything.  Why was there bird chirping sounds at the end.  Did she not trust that the music was sufficiently interesting on its own.

Clearly the most distinguished work on the program was Rubies.  Another evening of new works that did not impress.

16 hours ago, nanushka said:

I agree. If you want a truly excellent dinner, conveniently located (it's steps from the Met), and don't mind a notch up in price (but also quality) from the others, I'd say definitely go to the Lincoln.

Having been to Lincoln I have to say it is very pricey.  Be prepared for sticker shock.

Per the lobby casting sheet miller replaces lafreniere in year of the rabbit next week

I agree with the above post that she has earned the right to grace after her long distinguished career.  But she also has to show grace herself, which she has not done.

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I think that the deadline for NYCB to notify the dancers regarding contract renewal was in February. If Bouder was not renewed we would have heard about it directly from her on her social media. 

I was at one of the DAAG shows where Bouder did Green, and I can confirm that there was no announcement or slip of paper telling the audience not to applaud her.  

It seems like they are doing their best to put her in roles that she is still capable of doing, but that is a pretty small list.  If she were smart she would ask to learn the final movement of Vienna Waltzes and dance that role next spring as a farewell.  Long dress, no lifts, no difficult choreography.

20 minutes ago, matilda said:

To the inquiry above, I think there is a big difference between being not-stick-thin and being "out of shape." There are at least a few dancers at NYCB who wouldn't make it in Russia because of their body types, and might not even have been favored at NYCB in a different era. But they are still "in shape."

Out of shape means the dancer has put on excess weight that is inhibiting their movement and partnering abilities and, to put it bluntly, looks bad on a ballet stage. 

Honestly, when Bouder first came on stage in DAAG the first thing I thought about was how heavy and thick her arms looked.  This distracted me from her dancing initially.  It was a small role, and I thought she performed it well.   It does not appear that she has made much progress over the past two years in getting back into shape.  There are not many roles which are as simplistic and less demanding than Green in DAAG.  So the question is what exactly are they going to do with her going forward.  

On a separate note, I have to commend Tyler Angle, who seems to have lost some of the excess weight and has danced well this season. 

Her outbursts on social media based on hearsay really need to stop.  Once a paragon of strength, she has turned into a weepy and pathetic victim. 

Interested in any reports on tonight's show. 

I sitll remember Kyra Nichols as girl in pink in DAAG.  I think Tiler Peck has now achieved the same level of greatness in the pink role, which she has been doing for quite some time.  

This used to happen on a fairly regular basis when Osipova was a guest artist at ABT.   Nothing has changed, apparently.

The Wheeldon night is largely a rehash of old works.  Fools Gold has been presented numerous times in NYC with Morphoses and later a visiting company did it at the Koch (forget which one).  And Wheeldon did a version of An American in Paris for NYCB many years ago, prior to bringing the musical to Broadway.

Illinoise just received a Tony nomination for Best Musical.  And Justin got a  nom for best choreography.  Justin must be very happy.

41 minutes ago, bellawood said:

Did Sara ever dance tall girl at city ballet? If so I have no memory of it!

No.  She learned the role but never performed it.  

Just a thought.  LaFreniere is injured, per her instagram.  Will NYCB put forth a replacement Diamonds ballerina for the week long run of Jewels at the Kennedy Center, or will they simply alternate the role between Mearns and Phelan.  Enquiring minds want to know.   I would make the trip to DC to see a Nadon or Miller debut in Diamonds.

Ulbricht has been unfairly overlooked and underutilized in my opinion.  Peter Martins used him a lot in his own works, but since Martins is gone that source of work is gone. Ulbricht would have been ideal for Rubies, for example.  I think he has finally found someone who appreciates his gifts in his appearances with Tharp's company.

Re Joe Gordon, I see that he is getting the Rubies lead with Emma V. E.  (which the sorely missed Furlan did so brilliantly). Gordon is also debuting in Other Dances.

Yes, I wondered why Gordon was not in DAAG too. I forget which color he did previously.

1 hour ago, bellawood said:

From those who attended, did Mira dance both parts of Green last night or only the solo? 

MIra only did the solo again.  

Megan Fairchild also knows the Green role, so I'm not sure why they didn't give her Green.  They need someone young in Apricot.  I thought Emma VE would have been perfect for Apricot.  I felt Fairchild just seemed too old to be dancing the flirtatious role with the much younger Zuniga.  

Blown away by Roman Mejia in Brown.  But they have cast Brown with two short men (Mejia and Huxley), which means that only short women can do pink.  I thought Woodward would have been much more effective in Apricot than in Pink.  

Speaking of the Van Enck sisters, Claire is back and had a demi soloist role in BSQ - 3rd movement. 

A few thoughts. Mejia and peck were fantastic   last night in daag.  I definitely preferred Garrity in mauve compared to Phelan

.. hate to say it but Megan should stop dancing apricot. Loved Mackinnon in the rile.  Bouder looks too heavy but was successful in green. Aberu faltered in the lift described above

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Nadon and Bolden were terrific in bsq

14 hours ago, deanofdance said:

And Sara seemed to be moving as if embalmed and I wondered if she’d asked the conductor to slow the tempo down. 

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.

28 minutes ago, matilda said:

 Looking across the plaza at NYCB, there really is no comparison when it comes to talent at all ranks and quantity/quality of repertory though.

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.