abatt

Herrera, Reyes and Part were, if their interviews are to be believed, forced to leave before they wanted to or expected to retire. So forcing people (principals) out is not unheard of. Does Jaffe want to start out like Corella, dropping people who are not impressive to "remake" the company as soon as their contracts are up? I guess we shall see.

If they stick with the policy of only hiring out of their own school pipeline, I don't have much hope. They need an infusion of talent at the principal level. There are now many people at the principal level who, in my opinion, should not be there. Until there is some movement at the top through retirements or otherwise, there is not much hope. Hiring Carmago was a great addition, but they need a lot more to get back on track. I doubt they have the funds to hire major international artists and still continue paying all of their current roster principals too. Also Jaffe may be drinking the same Kool Aid as McKenzie in believing that moving from all international artists to none is the proper approach. I know that the ABT dancers are now quite happy that hiring from outside the company has been reduced to almost nothing (except for Camargo), but to what degree will this ultimately backfire in terms of revenue. Personally, I used to have a ridiculous number of subscriptions during the late 90s forward. I now have one subscription. I suspect their subscriber numbers have plummeted. Maybe when/if Misty returns the numbers will increase.

There is no $8 per ticket online handling fee if you are a subscriber.

Yes. That's why I doubt they will ever resume an 8 week season at the Met. They don't have an impressive roster anymore.

How were Tuescher and Ahn?

For some reason, the Met Opera website is listing Brandt and Gonzalez as Tita and Pedro for Monday June 26, but the ABT website lists Teucher and Ahn. Any thoughts on which source is correct? I would check out Brandt as Tita, but passing on Teuscher/Ahn.

Rough season for the men. Furlan out for the Spring. Chan out most of the Spring.

So as of right now, they are having Phelan perform the lead in Agon and Brandenburg on the same program. While not impossible if they change the program order, I'm hoping for a new lead in Agon (Nadon PLEASE!). Alternate wish - Mearns in Agon. I see she has been replaced in all performances of Pictures .... I wonder if this is because she is reducing her overall workload, or for some other reason.

I hope Miller is okay and returns for Agon. If not, NYCB please try out Nadon for the lead in Agon. She was so electrifying in SVC in the Winter.

When I saw Brandenburg last night I mostly recalled that pas that Nadon and Sanz performed. It was the highlight of the ballet. Did Maria K. perform this? Anyway, it was haunting, eloquent and dark. The rest was enjoyable and spirited, led by Huxley and Woodward. Loved Taylor Stanley in Agon. Magnificent. Casting is out for next week, and Emma V E takes over Woodward's role in Brandenburg for two performances.

That may be true, but I think at least part of their current issues relate to their decision that the vast majority of their company will now come from their own school only. They do not have a school of stellar reputation (like SAB), so their pool of potential dancers is not as strong as it needs to be.

He also did two performances of the Ratmansky ballet at the Koch in the fall of 2022. I forgot the name of it. The one that takes place in a sweet shop.

Cornejo is quite old by ballet standards/years. They need a shorter virtuoso like Simkin. He could partner Trenary, Brandt and Boylston.

ABT, please offer Simkin an opportunity to return to the Company. He is needed.

Peck & Gordon were exquisite on Friday night in Raymonda. Perfection. How was Emma V. E. in La Source tonight?

I see that Alexa Maxwell is doing the role created on Mearns in the Wheeldon ballet next week for one show. Nothing against Maxwell, but Mearns is the entire reason to see this ballet. She is clearly the center of its most compelling moments. Funny, I had the opposite reaction of Faux Pas. I felt the Wheeldon work was a much better crafted work than the Pires work. To each his own.

Since Times are Racing is a "sneaker ballet", I guess it would not aggravate her injury. I was at the gala tonight. Sara Mearns was mesmerizing in the Wheeldon ballet. Her over the top dramatic style worked perfectly in this ballet. I also liked the pas for Walker and Sanz (replacing Chan). And the design backdrops and scrim were gorgeous. I thought the weakest parts of the ballet involved the choreography for the corps. The next ballet, Standard Deviation, was a bore. Most of the choreography was uninteresting. The score was a newly commissioned jazz piece, which was sometimes overly loud and bombastic. Hate to say it, but Pollack doesn't dance big or bold enough to take over the lead role in Times are Racing. Peter Walker should have taken this role. Instead, he was cast in the smaller role originated by Justin Peck. Tiler and Roman did a great job on the pas de deux. There were curtain speeches - way too many. Four in total - including the architect of the closure of the 3rd and 4th rings, Kathryn Brown. There was a lot of speechifying about how the company needs to diversify and attract new audiences. They were very excited to announce that a study indicated that 46 percent of their audience was under the age of 50. Maybe if they are really interested in attracting new audiences, they should open up more seating so that people of moderate income can purchase reasonably priced seats.

Maybe she trained as the second cast, in case Mearns was not able to return in time.

Just curious, did Paz get outsize applause because she is leaving. I suspect that most people have no clue that she is retiring.

Chris Wheeldon’s ‘Dangerous and Exciting’ Adventure at City Ballet - The New York Times (nytimes.com) Article on Wheeldon's new ballet.

Which one was Bouder?

Sorry to have missed this. If the company posts any footage of this please post. Who came out at the end? Was Zac Posen there?

Yes, Sara did a great job in her role. The entire cast was wonderful, but the pairing of Mejia and Laracey was very odd. Also, I thought Takahashi was running low on energy towards the end of the ballet. Mejia is a much stronger technical dancer than Taylor Stanley. Another terrific performance by Gordon and Woodward in La Source.

I used to attend those 4th ring talks regularly. Most speakers were not impressive, but Joan Quatrano was wonderful. The depth and scope of her insight was impressive. I think she was the head of volunteer services in the 90s.

Most people don't know that it is a See the Music program when they buy tickets.