abatt

Interesting to read all these comments. NYSusan, so nice of them to offer to keep your $30 as a donation. Are they kidding! They will definitely lose some of my business due to frustration and anger. This new policy should have been spelled out long ago, and not for the first time on the ticket exchange line. It is a seismic shift from prior years, and ABT should have made this policy clear in the brochure. FYI, The brochure indicates that dynamic pricing starts on March 27 (unless of course they have changed that policy without notice too).

To my surprise, today at the ticket exchange box office for ABT, I was told you could only obtain as many tickets as you were exchanging. In other words, you could not purchase any tickets in addition to the number you were exchanging. Did anyone else have this problem, or did I just get a wise guy box office employee? I've been an ABT subscriber for a good 15 years, and I have never had this problem. I've always been permitted in the past to buy additional tickets beyond the number I exchanged during the priority exchange week. The end result will be that I will have to return to the box office to get rid of some tickets I was marginally interested in to get certain other dates. I won't be repurchasing the marginal interest dates at a later time. Good job ABT! Considering that the place is half empty most nights, this new policy doesn't make any sense. The box office person said that ABT was "adamant" that no additional tickets be sold to subscribers during the priority week.

Somova did LHH at the Metropolitan Opera House, so the role is certainly part of her rep.

Maybe this comment should be moved elsewhere, but I'm glad to see that Hallberg's potential future at the Bolshoi was not wrapped up with the guy who brought him over - Sergei Filin. The fact that they are advertising him as part of the Bolshoi tour is indicative that if he can dance his future is secure at the Bolshoi, even though Filin is out.

Guest artist at least implies that at some point in the future Hallberg may appear with ABT on a limited basis. I'm sure we will all be watching very closely whether Hallberg actually performs with the Bolshoi in London this summer, as per their advertisements. I think listing him as "on leave" "guest artist" has as much to do with financial considerations as with public relations with ABT ticket buyers. At some point ABT and Hallberg had to decide what his future status would be, because as long as he continued to be an employee of ABT, with the status of principal, he continued to accrue whatever benefits and salary were due under his union contract. The change in his status is probably very significant as far as his compensation / benefits from ABT. Of course, nobody knows what those conversations were between ABT and Hallberg. Maybe Hallberg wanted to cut formal ties with ABT. However, I do think it's very incongruous and unfair to allow someone like Vishneva, whose relationship with ABT has been minimal and tenuous for years, to continue with the status of principal, and at the same time to cut Hallberg from the principal roster. Added: I think if David is able to appear in London this summer with the Bolshoi, he will have come "full circle" regarding his injuries. His last appearances were with the Bolshoi in NY in July 2014, so it would only be fitting that his first appearances after this long and awful period would again be with the Bolshoi on tour. I hope he can take the stage and dazzle all those lucky enough to be there.

I don't feel like Vishneva has shown any particular dedication to ABT that would ever put her in the running for a high level administrative post. Her appearances with ABT have been few and far between during the last few years. Gomes, however, has been 100 percent dedicated to ABT, and I would be thrilled if he ended up in a leadership position after his dancing career is over. The problem is that I think you have to be tough and mean to lead an organizaton like ABT - hirings, firings, promotions, casting and so on - and I'm not sure that Gomes would ever want that kind of a job.

I saw LHH when it played at the Metropolitan Opera House a few seasons ago. They ran it for about 4 performances, and the casts were very "A" list - Shkylarov and Tereshkina in particular stand out in my mind. Definitely not a ballet I will clear my schedule to see, but if the casting is strong I might come for one or two shows. After all, how often do we get to see top level Mariinsky dancers in the US? Now that ABT is no longer hiring guest artists, the opportunities must be savored, even if the ballets in which they are appearing are less than ideal.

Sarah Lane's husband is a real estate broker in Jersey City. It's the same company that Eric Tamm works for. For those out of town ballet alert readers, Jersey City is a few minutes away from Manhattan. It is very easy to live in Manhattan and commute to Northern New Jersey for work. I think the odds of Sarah joining Washington Ballet are slim.

Why would calling Laurencia a "Center" premiere cast doubt on a visit to New York? I interpret that to mean that the USA premiere of Laurencia will take place before the Mik visits California -- i.e., the USA premiere will be in New York City. I doubt that the entire Mik company, including Osipova, Vasiliev and Polounin, would come all the way to the US for a weekend of performances in California. Their bread and butter is a long visit to NYC before the California engagement.

Does Alina Cojocaru dance in Hamburg's Little Mermaid? That is probably the only circumstance that would motivate me to come to DC to see the production. Cojocaru does a lot of work with the Hamburg, but I don't recall that Mermaid is part of her rep.

All info here: http://www.kennedy-center.org/pages/SpecialEvents/SeasonAnnouncement Slim pickin's, in my opinion. Usually the Bolshoi comes every 3 years. Their last visit to the KC was in 2014. How disappointing they are not on the roster.

http://sputniknews.com/art_living/20160301/1035611155/russian-ballet-US.html Sputnik News: Mariinsky to bring Ratmansky's Little Humpbacked Horse to US in Jan 2017.

All the casting updates can be found on the NYCB website. Looks like there were major casting shuffles of the role of James because DeLuz is still injured.

So I guess this means that McKenzie has determined that Gorak isn't getting another crack at Romeo this season.

For me, Lendorf's appearances would have been a highlight. I hope he can dance again soon. I really hope that the Sarah Lane performance of SB is restored, and that this is just some sort of a clerical error. Although McKenzie deserves praise for finally promoting some people from within, it is very bad form to pull Lane out of one of her few lead roles.

McKenzie was in Washington DC at the Mariinsky's Raymonda. Perhaps scouting some talent?

Yikes, this season is becoming less interesting by the second. No Hallberg. No Lendorf. Wishful thinking that Lendorf will be well enough to perform in June isn't enough for me to book a ticket. What's the status of Part? Is she still listed for one Lilac in Detroit, or did they remove her? I'm not buying any of her shows until there is confirmation that she has returned from injury. I hope Hallberg returns to ballet at some point, even if it's not at ABT. What a shame. The ABT calendar has not been updated yet.

The BAM programs on Friday and Sunday evenings were pure bliss. I hope Lopatkina comes back to the New York area very, very soon. She is exquisite. Both of her shows were, I believe, a sell out.

Natalia, if you look at Birdsall's comment on the prior page, you will see that Kolegova did replace Skorik on Sunday. Skorik did act one only. Kolegova did acts 2 and 3.

Finally located my ballet alert password! So great to see so many ballet alert friends in DC including Birdsall, cubanmiamiboy, nysusan and Natalia. Sorry I missed you liotarded. Guess who just sat across from me and mr. Abatt at breakfast. None other than Yuri Fateyev himself. We just said hello and how much we enjoy the Mariinsky. He was pleasant and thanked us for supporting the Mariinsky. if I had the guts, I would have asked him why Skorik was cast on opening night. I echo much of what was said above. Skorik was disappointing. Kondaurova was terrific. Everything was better last night, including the orchestra.

The NYCB subscription setup is also a problem. NYCB is the only organization I know of where subscribers do not get a priority purchase or exchange week. It is also the only organization I know of that sends out the subcriber tickets AFTER the box office has opened to the general public.

The other entities that allow people to pick their own seats are doing so after they have seated all of their subscribers. ABT is still seating subscribers, including trio subscribers.

Per the NY Times, the new interim director is Joseph Volpe, former general manager of the Metropolitan Opera.

Review of various Winter NYCB performances by the NYTimes. http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/19/arts/dance/sugarplum-fairies-and-cavaliers-move-ahead-at-city-ballet.html?ref=arts

Program order for Feb 19 has been changed. 4T's is moved to the middle spot, and Justin Peck's ballet is the closing ballet.