abatt

If I had to guess, I would bet it will be appearances with the Mik in the Fall at the Koch. As for the debacle on phone sales for the summer festival, the people who are working the phones are working under a supervisor who is applying a very stringent set of rules regarding ticket packages. After being completely frustrated on the phone, I went to the box office a few days later and was able to make my purchases with no hassles. The person who is supervising the phone sales is reading restrictions into the terms of the package offers which are not in writing, but only in his own mind. Ridiculous.

I attended last night's performance. Kolegova is a beautiful woman with strong technical skills. However, for me she was too cold. Her performance lacked drama and I never felt any empathy for her plight. The only time she displayed any emotion was at the very end after Rothbart dies. Zyuzin was pretty good, but not remarkable. The Joker on opening night was better than last's night's performer, who sometimes had sloppy landings and unclear shapes in the air.(My playbill is not immediately available so I don't have his name.)

Wonderful news about Alexandrova! Going back a few posts regarding ticket purchasing for the Bolshoi's performances at the Koch Theater, based on my personal experience the treatment you get on the phone is VASTLY different from the treatment at the box office windows. I will NEVER purchase on the phone again. The box office was much more liberal.

Hello from D.C.! Natalia, sorry I missed you last night. For any ballet alert people who want to meet up at intermission, meet up spot is the JFK bust or the orchestra level. I'll be going tonight, Thurs and Friday. I have to agree w. Natalia. Somova is vastly improved as an artist. There is a new maturity in her performance. She did a beautiful job last night. The only thing that still bothers me is the strange way she does her fouettes. Her adagio work was especially impressive. I did not count them, but I would note that she did some doubles (and maybe a triple?) fouettes in the Black Swan section. I was not so impressed w. Schklyarov. Last night he seemed like he was out of it. He improved somewhat during the black swan act, but overall it was not an impressive display. Have to agree that the Joker and Rothbart were wonderful. They easily eclipsed Schklyarov. Among the supporting players, I very much enjoyed one of the female Spanish dancers.

For some reason he did not generate much buzz during his guest appearances with ABT.

There is an article in the NY Times (with accompanying video) about the art installation by JR at the Koch Theater. I assume it will appear in the Links section, but here is the link http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/27/arts/dance/a-giant-photoconnectsfanstoballet-stars.html?hp It mentions that the installation will be open to the public during certain hours. Glad to see it is such a hit. I have to agree with everyone who posted above on the maginficent performances of Mearns, Angle and Korowski in Concerto B. last week, as well as the sublime R. Fairchild and Tiler Peck in Who Cares. To the list of kudos I must add a knockout performance by Sterling Hyltin in Rubies. She was brilliant. Per the NYCB website, these are the public viewing hours and dates: PUBLIC VIEWING HOURS The installation will also be on display during all performances taking place during NYCB’s 2014 Winter Season, January 21 through March 2. The David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center will also hold one week of open hours for the general public to view the exhibition free of charge on the following dates: Sunday, February 2 through Sunday, February 9, with hours on Sundays from 10 AM to 1 PM; Monday to Friday from 10 AM to 5 PM; and Saturday from 10 AM to noon.

I heard it in the big house. Netrebko is incredible. Her vocal capabilities are at their peak, and she is a very charismatic presence on stage. She is terrific in comedic roles, especially.

From the way the roles are listed, I assumed Bouder is doing Wrens. I thought it was odd too, but maybe they are trying something new. We'll see.

I find the feathers in the hair of the corps women in Diamonds particularly distracting in the current version of the NYCB costuming. I don't think the old costumes had feathers. However, I can live with the feathers, as the most urgent costume change must be for the corps in Who Cares. A rare disaster for designer Santo Loquasto.

The interesting thing about figure skating is that due to past scandals regarding scoring, the scoring has become so mathematically precise. Every jump, spin and footwork sequence is judged with mathematical precision. There is a little wiggle room in the artistic component scores, but that's it. The "claques" have little or no influence over the scoring at ISU events. They can cheer and boo all they want, but I don't think it has any influence on scores anymore.

Maybe the cameras were there because of the upcoming HD broadcast. Have they been releasing the HD Royal Ballet performances on DVD?

I attended last night's performance of Jewels. First a remark about the art installation by "JR". Very interesting and fun to look at. It's best viewed from above. In fact, the best opportunity to look at is when hardly anyone is on the Promenade level, so if you can get to the theater a little early before the masses arrive you can get an unobstructed view of the overall design. This was a very creative idea. The only thing that struckt me as a little odd was that while everyone was in white, one dancer (female) is clad in a nude colored leotard. Not sure why he decided to make that artistic choice. The theater was pretty well sold. Bouder is now at the peak of her performance skills. Last night's performance in Emeralds was technically masterful and lyrical. Jared Angle looks out of shape, but was a good partner for Bouder. I have sometimes found Mearns' performance in Emeralds to be overwrought and too melodramatic. Last night she seemed to tone that down, and I found her performance more mature and satisfying than in the past. J. Stafford did a fine job. Reichlin was sizzling as Rubies tall girl. DeLuz was high flying in his solos, but there was a partnering error which nearly sent M. Fairchild to the floor. Diamonds, as always, was sublime. The evening was a balm for these cold, depressing winter days.

Frankly, I can't think of anyone at ABT who I would want to see in Duo (okay, maybe Gomes). NYCB has done such a great job with that ballet these last few years, that I think anyone ABT puts out there is going to look bad in comparison.

I watched this documentary. It was interesting. However, I wish there had been more focus on his photography, and less on his struggles as a dancer. His family trials and tribulations were just not that interesting to me, and the repeated interviews with his relatives were boring.

Well, the TBA cast for two performances of Manon have been filled in. The leads are Reyes and Matvienko, with the secondary roles filled by Boylston and Radetsky. I was hoping the TBA Manon would be Cojocaru, but no such luck.

Thanks for the casting. Does anyone know if this is going to start at 10AM in New York, like the recent Jewels broadcast.

Novikova is such a great personality and does a wonderful job as host. She is very engaging. Also, I personally know only one person who is fluent in 3 languages, so I regard her language skills as impressive. Compare her to the disaster when some Russian model (forgot her name) hosted the Mariinsky's Swan Lake. She did not have a clue about ballet or much else. She was just awful and totally unprepared.

As further evidence that Swan Lake sells out no matter who is cast, I see from the KC website that every performance of next week's SL at the KC is sold out.

I think I saw Reichlin do Diamonds in NY a year or two ago.

Thanks for the laugher.

It's odd that the video features the lovely J. Ringer in Emeralds, but they have not cast her in that ballet in any of the performances occurring before her retirement. It's a pity, because she was always very good in Emeralds. Based on past viewings, Abi Stafford is miscast in that ballet. Nice to see Catazaro and Janzen moving up into some plumb roles. I guess they are in need of tall danseurs who can handle lead parts.

This wasn't written by AM. I pointed out these 2 mistakes in a post in the comment section, and the underling who wrote up the item thanked me for the corrections. You will see the corrections now appear at the end of the item. By the way, what are the various merits of these casts?

Casting announced for KC engagement. http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/01/15/bolshoi-names-cast-for-first-part-of-american-tour/?ref=arts

I thought Amy Poehler and Tina Fey did a very good job, but there was one joke about Leo DiCaprio that I thought crossed the line. Leo seemed to be amused, but I didn't think it was appropriate. I think Cate Blanchett was the best dressed. Elegance, style, beauty.

Oh joy. A 10 AM start on a Sunday makes it even less appealing to attend. But thanks for the info.