abatt

PNB picked a very tough week to play in New York City. Many NYC balletomanes will be going to Washington DC during that same period to see the Mariinsky's Raymonda. Moreover, Lopatkina and Vishneva will be performing at the Brooklyn Academy of Music during that same time period. Additionally, NYCB will be at the Koch.

This is the best lineup at the Joyce in some time. Ferri and Cornejo in various modern dance works Sarasota Ballet in an All Ashton program PA Ballet Hong Kong Ballet LA Dance Project and much more. http://www.joyce.org/the-experience/news/

Here's a link to an article about Hofesh Shechter, who is doing the choreography for the revival of Fiddler. http://www.wsj.com/article_email/broadways-new-fiddler-on-the-roof-with-a-modern-dance-twist-1447104095-lMyQjAxMTE1MzE4MDExNzA0Wj If you live in the NYC area, you have probably seen the commercial on TV by now for the Fiddler revival on Broadway. It prominently features Shechter's choreography. I find it fascinating every time it's on. I'm seeing the show in 2016. (Danny Burstein is playing Tevye.) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rw-4o4h3MX0 Here is the TV commerical

The dynamic pricing game can backfire for ABT. A few years ago I wanted to buy a balcony ticket for The Dream, but I resented the dynamic price increase and decided not to buy the ticket. The date I wanted came up on tdf about a week before the show, so I paid less for an incredible tdf orchestra seat than I would have paid for a dynamically priced balcony seat.

http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/11/05/natalia-osipova-and-sergei-polunin-to-unite-at-sadlers-wells/?ref=arts&_r=0

http://observer.com/2015/11/when-performa-meets-prada-the-most-elegant-of-flirtations-at-st-barts/ David's latest project.

I thought Osipova was still on the injured list.

My understanding is that Kochetkova is a principal at ABT not only for this season, but permanently. The circumstances that allowed Stella to perform Giselle on short notice were unique. She had just completed a long run of Giselles a month or two before, so she had lots of experience in the role elsewhere only a few weeks before her ABT Giselle. Also, it was her great fortune that Polina was out, and the scheduled Giselles were all stretched to the max. Since it was a special ABT alumni homecoming weekend, it would have been very poor judgment to cast a guest in the open Giselle spot, especially since the Albrecht was a guest artist. (STella should give Polina a big kiss and hug when they next see one another.) Stella lucked out because of timing, and also because she had a great partner in Shkylarov. I hope I'm wrong, but I don't see the stars aligning like that again for a very long time in terms of potential opportunities for Lane.

McKenzie completely ignores Lane, so I doubt we will ever see her Juliet. We are more likely to see a Brandt or Trenary Juliet before we ever see a Lane Juliet. Kochetkova is here to stay, like it or not. (I am not a Kochetkova fan.) If you want to see Cornejo, you must accept Kochetkova as part of the package deal.

You made the right choice. I had an event at Lincoln Center last night and trying to navigate the area on foot as late as 6 PM was a chaotic nightmare.

Lendorf has been injured for quite some time. I'm starting to wonder if buying tickets for any of his Spring performances in advance is a bad move.

Yes , the two performances I attended were poorly sold. I think it's the rep. There is too much repetition of works that most people aren't especially eager to see. For me, the constant repetition of Company B and the Green Table was one reason I only attended twice. Normally, with better rep I would have attended more.

Did anyone see the premiere of the new Gomes work, After Effect?

I think the Copeland Mania is a game changer for ABT as far as ticket sales. Regardless of what anyone may think of her dancing, it seems clear that she sells more tickets than almost any guest artist would. Why pay someone a guest artist fee when you can make a bundle with someone already on salary at ABT? They know she is box office gold. Why do you think they published the fall Koch Theater casting so early- earlier than they ever have since they started giving fall season programs?

I wouldn't assume she wasn't invited to perform the roles. Vishneva seems to be winding down her involvement in classical ballet, including even the long skirt ballets. I think McKenzie would cast her in any role she wanted. She sells tickets. She gave up Sylvia after one season, just like she is giving up the Ratmansky SB after one season. She must feel that they are too difficult for her.

I can't even imagine Hee Seo as Sylvia. She does not have the technique for this role. This was definitely odd casting. The only way I would see that performance would be if her TBA partner is someone absolutely amazing. Having gotten more Hee Seo last season than I ever wanted or expected, I doubt I will go to any of her performances this season. For me, the highlights of last season included Kimin Kim, Shkylarov, Obratsova, Nunez and the Osipova Giselle. While I support giving opportunities to the home team, most of the home ABT team players are not in the same league as the world class artists that are invited to the ABT Spring season every season. Over an 8 week season, there is room for both the home team players and a few amazing guest artists. As the NY Times points out on a regular basis, every Spring ABT has been the envy of the ballet world due to the stunning guest artists who appear here. I don't think that's the case this season.

The review of the Acosta Carmen that I saw in the NY Times was awful. So this cinema broadcast seems like a pass for me.

Hallberg will appear at Performa 15 at St. Bart's Church on Sunday Nov 1. http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/27/arts/dance/the-week-of-the-woman.html?ref=arts http://15.performa-arts.org/events/francesco-vezzoli-david-hallberg1

Agree. The only performances that will sell out are the Ferri Cornejo R&J and any show in which Copeland appears. The Vishneva R&J's will sell well. Perhaps ABT has concluded that they don't need to hire guest artists because Copeland will fill the house on enough nights to boost ticket sales.

I noticed that the press release lists Hallberg as one of the company members for the 2016 Met Season. He has had so many cancellations due to injury over the past few years, that they probably are very hesitant to now list him for any role. I suspect that they are, indeed, using the wait and see approach as to whether he can come back. Persoally, I find the lack of guest artists for the season disappointing. Many on ABT's own roster are just not interesting to me. More time for NYCB, I guess.

You may not think of Ferri as a guest artist, but ABT does. She is classified as a guest artist in the ABT press release that announced her Juliet performance. How about alumna guest artist.

Looks like they are charging more for the subscription which contains the Ferri Cornejo R&J than for other weeknight subscriptions containing the same number of performances. This is a new pricing dynamic. They have charged more in the past for the farewell performances, but they have never automatically charged a higher price at the outset for a guest artist appearance before any dynamic pricing went into effect. This is a disturbing trend.

JR has made a short film with Robert DeNiro regarding the Ellis Island project. http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/10/26/jr-asks-and-robert-de-niro-agrees-ellis-is-born/?module=BlogPost-Title&version=Blog%20Main&contentCollection=Arts&action=Click&pgtype=Blogs&region=Body

Yes, I loved Dennehy in Long Day's Journey. Another great performance. But I felt that Redgrave was his equal and also gave a heartbreaking performance.

Harlequinade has one intermission.