abatt

It would be a pleasure to see Raymonda either in DC or NYC. ABT has stopped doing it, presumably because of its politically incorrect plot. It has been at least 10 years since Raymonda has been done here in New York. (Not counting the Balanchine version - Raymonda Variations - which is merely a plotless distillation.)

I've also been thinking that Bournonville has not been done at NyCB in a long time. The last time I recall seeing it was at Hubbe's farewell, when Kathryn Morgan and (?)Ben Millepied danced it. I wish they would bring that back.

Yes, Maria is listed for the cigarette role. In addition to Ringer, Bouder was doing that role, but since she's not on the tour, it goes to Maria now.

Some interesting debuts are scheduled. It appears that Bouder is not on the tour.

I wonder if David Hallberg is feeling awkward as an American in Russia at the moment, given the escalating crisis.

Nina Ananiashvilli used to give a flower to her partner, as a I recall. Something really classy that I saw her do, which not many others do, is to throw a rose into the orchestra pit in appreciation of their contribution.

Whelan has not danced Diamonds in some time. It appears that she has given up that role. In fact, she has given up all the tutu roles she had. (Alternatively, Peter Martins made the decision for her?) It is highly unlikely that she will be on the DC tour. She recently stated that she is still recovering from her injuries and hopes to return to NyCB for the Spring season. She was supposed to do a multi-city tour of her Restless Creature program during March - April 2014, but the entire tour had to be scrapped due to her continuing recovery.

I watched a few minutes of this production and had to turn it off. I thought the choreography was hideous.

Mearns also did the second role in Emeralds this season. She was terrific.

I always assumed Darci Kistler would take over after Peter retired. I think Damian Woetzel would be a wonderful choice for the future NYCB leader. Steifel has a history of jumping from job to job and company to company. Of course, he is free to do that, and maybe we can chalk it up to youthful restlessness. (Wasn't he Dean of North Carolina School for the Arts for a brief stint?) His past history would suggest that any ballet company looking for stable leadership over a period of time might have a negative view of this.

I read that this will be broadcast on Great Performances on PBS. Broadcast date is TBA.

If they are going to Tudor, I was hoping for Leaves are Fading or Lilac Garden.

Little Dancer will play Kennedy Cetner Oct 25-Nov 30.

Royal Ballet dates for the Kennedy Center were announced today. June 9-14. I guess they will be stopping in New York after the Kennedy Center.

Scottish Ballet A Streetcar Named Desire (Salem/Lopez Ochoa) May 28-30, 2015 Opera House http://web.kennedy-center.org/press/releases Sounds interesting. I wonder if they will stop in NYC. If not, I may need to make the trip to DC, although it will conflict w. NYCB and ABT spring seasons.

Mariinsky Ballet Le Sacre du printemps (Stravinsky/Hodson inspired by Nijinsky) Le Spectre de la rose (Weber/Fokine) Dying Swan (Saint-Saëns/Fokine) Paquita Grand Pas (Minkus/Petipa) January 27, 2015 – February 1, 2015 See press release http://web.kennedy-center.org/press/releases

Thanks for that video. Hlinka is a name I haven't heard in a number of years. She retired at a relatively young age. I remember that Scotch Symphony was one of her signature ballets, and I think she did that at her farewell. I saw Acheron over the weekend. It had some good moments, but all those repetittious lifts created a monotony. Based on that one work, it is hard to see why Liam Scarlett is such a big deal at the Royal.

John Travolta only had about 2 sentences to say. Was it too much to expect him to be able to pronounce Menzel's name. Disgraceful. I found a lot of Ellen's schtick boring too. Strangely, this year the TV audience was larger than it has been in a long time. The person who looked really scary was not Liza Minelli. It was Goldie Hawn. Is there any part of her face that's original at this point. I'm glad that 12 Years won best picture. It was a deeply moving and haunting film.

Hopefully they will fill in the TBA slots on or before March 23.

My understanding is that subscriber exchange week begins on March 23. Does anyone know for sure? I have not received my subscription tickets yet.

Wow, those are some creative pastry chefs. Thanks for posting that. They are beautiful to look at, but how do they taste?

The Museum of Modern Art is selling a "Sara Mearns Dessert Plate". The perfect gift for all NYCB fans. Only problem: The person on the plate really doesn't look like Mearns, in my opinion. http://www.momastore.org/museum/moma/ProductDisplay?purpose=crawl&catalogId=10451&categoryId=11502&productId=175580&langId=-1&parent_category_rn=26715&keyWord=Alex+Katz+Sara+Mearns+Dessert+Plate&storeId=10001

There would be some seriouis Constitutional issues with such a ban. I don't think any artistic director would want to get involved with exploring that legal mess in court. Also, NYCB is making considerable efforts to attract young, hipsters as audience members. Young people seem to like getting tattoos. The last thing NYCB would want is publicity that they are firing dancers with tattoos.

I attended last night's performance. Lauren Lovette had a stellar debut in the soloist role of Walspurgisnacht. Her technique was perfect and her stage presence is remarkable. She is a brilliant dancer and a great asset to the company. Adrain D-W's role in relatively small, but he was impressive in his debut in this ballet as well. There were some minor glitches in the partering of Sara Mearns, but I'm sure it will be completely smoothed out by the second performance. Mearns was a whirling force of nature as she moved with incredible speed and fearlessness. The costumes for Walspurgisnacht looked a little different from what I remember. Does anyone know if the old costumes were recently replaced. Hall and Taylor sizzled in Faun. A very fine performance.. Even though I have not seen La Valse in years, I was bored. Not Balanchine at his best. If Janie can't draw me into it, I doubt anyone else could. I missed Acheron. Hope to see it on Saturday.

It is very sad. She was always friendly whenever I ran into her at the Koch or the Met at a ballet performance. My deepest sympathy to her family.