abatt

I'm amazed that the NYCB was able to pull out such a strong season despite the injuries. Bravo to all of them.

According to her twitter page, Sara Mearns is in rehearsals and intends to return in January 2013 for the Winter Season. She mentions that she has been rehearsing Lilac Fairy, Diamonds and Serenade. Great news.

It's not really an issue of "blame" regarding unions. I'm supportive of unions. . Even the recent performances of NYCB that were filmed for Great Performances (Peter Martin's R&J a few years ago, the recent film of the Nutcracker w. DelLuz and Fairchild), which had excellent video quality, were never released on DVD or BluRay. I would imagine that there would have been substantial contractual hurdles involved in a DVD release, and so the company did not pursue it. Does anyone have first hand knowledge regarding why the recent NYCB Nutcracker film never made it to DVD?

Helene, I thought the question at hand was why AMERICAN ballet companies do not release DVDs. Since most orchestras for the major US ballet companies are unionized in the US, whenever a ballet company in the US wants to release a DVD of a performance, it would have to get concessions from the union regarding compensation with respect to the DVD. This was an issue that Peter Gelb had to address when he first started the Live In HD opera series. He had to negotiate with the musicians union regarding their share of compensation for these HD releases. I assume this issue also arises in the context of ballet companies.

-- why can't American companies be as generous with their DVD releases?

Unions?

_{David Hallberg's website indicates that he will be participating in the Dec 2 Kennedy Center Honors performance. I wonder what he will perform, and who his partner will be. Does anyone know?}

McKenzie isn't always adept at recognizing talent within the ABT ranks.

Axel Ibot made quite an impression during the POB's visit to New York a few months ago. I'm glad to see that he was "ranked". What exactly does it mean to be "ranked"?

I am also experiencing a guilt complex. I live in the Forest Hills area of Queens and there was no damage and no power outage at any time. A few trees came down, but that's about it. I've been watching a lot of news coverage, and I thought the media coverage of the various local news channels was extensive regarding Long Island, Staten Island, Breezy Point, the Rockaways as well as New Jersey. I would agree that areas like Westchester, Red Hook and Sheepshead Bay were not covered as much. However, those areas were not completely destroyed the way the other locales were. Big difference between loss of power and some flooding versus houses torn off their foundations and blown to bits- having a lifetime of hard work and memories destroyed in a few hours. Of course, I feel sorry for everyone that suffered losses.

I don't know if this is the right place to post this, but there's word now that most of the Martha Graham sets and costumes were flooded in 6 feet of water in a basement in the West Village:

http://artsbeat.blog...dy/#more-292711

The Wall St. Journal reported that the New York City Opera has lost a lot of materials, such as its musical library and its archives. The materials were stored on Broad Street in lower Manhattan.

On a separate note, since the Koch has no tenant presently, wouldn't it be great if the dance companies that are based in NYC (NYCB, ABT, Ailey, Paul Taylor, so on) could get together a benefit performance with all proceeds going to the Hurricane Relief effort?

I suspect that ABT will not use the same pricing model as NYCB at the Koch. I'm assuming that ABT will open up the entire Koch theater for sale from the outset, and that pricing will be similar to the pricing system that ABT uses at the Met.

Things have been bad in Brighton Beach. There has been loss of power and destruction of property from the storm. In addition to the natural disaster, there are now reports of looting by criminals who are taking advantage fo the chaos. The last news report I saw indicated that additional police forces have been dispatched to prevent further looting.

I agree that Osipova/Vasiliev in Don Q is an essential, must see event. Numberr 2 on my list is Vishneva-Gomes in R&J.

Thanks everyone for your good wishes.

That was pretty hilarious, rg. McKenzie probably doesn't care whether Koch calls him Peter or Kevin, as long as there is big a check payable to ABT.

Great news. The sight lines at City Center, while improved since the renovation, are still not wonderful. Koch is a much better theater.

Re the order of the 3 new Ratmansky works, I would have assumed that the chamber work would go first, and the symphonic works would be performed as the second and third works of the evening. Usually, the ballet with the largest cast is the final work of the evening.

I think the injury of Cornejo demonstrates the dangers of performing with so few principals at your disposal. He was performing very demanding choreography in the Tharp, Morris and Ratmansky ballets. If ABT had an appropriate number of principals to spread out the workload, maybe things would have been different. If ABT were to schedule an even longer City Center season, they would need more than a shoestring roster of principals.

Herman was injured a few days ago during a performance in New York. The Gomes replacement was announced quite a few weeks ago. Gomes is not injured. Enjoy, and please let us know what you and your friends think of the performances.

Cornejo is being replaced by Cory Stearns on opening night in Barcelona, partnering Reyes. Cory is replaced by James Whiteside on Oct 28, dancing w. Paloma.

I'm pretty sure I've seen Cory as sinister Purple Rothbart, but was not impressed.

I think that the person who has gotten the biggest break is Misty Copeland in his Firebird. I didn't see her performance in that role, but I think a lot of people took notice of how well she performed. (I didn't see Misty in the fall season. Is she still injured?) I also think Paloma's artistry was highlighted especially well in Bright Stream. She has not always lived up to expectations in the more traditional classical rep, but she seemed to be energized and engaged in Bright Stream. Personally, I think most people understand the artistry of Gomes and Cornejo irrespective of their Ratmansky roles. There will always be a divided opinion about Part, as noted in a previous thread on this board.

Let us also not forget that Ratmansky was instrumental in the early careers of Osipova and Vasiliev at the Bolshoi. I also think that part of the allure of ABT for Osipova and Vasiliev is to be able to continue working with Ratmansky.

Yes, Schklyarov did well in the Tchai pdd.

Having seen both casts of Symphony No. 9, I preferred Part over Semionova. Part's performance was tinged with tragedy and high drama. She captured the darker aspects of the music perfectly.

Gomes was electrifying as Othello. He has a way of conveying primal emotions to an audience that few people at ABT have. The problem for me was that Julie Kent was much too mature to pull of the innocent blushing bride that is Desdemona. When Gomes and Kent were dancing together in this, it seemed more like Hamlet and Mama Gertrude than Othello and Desdemona.

So who is going to replace Herman in Barcelona Don Q on opening night? Poor Herman. I hope this is a short term injury.

The Balanchine selections made me appreciate NYCB even more. I thought Shrinkina did a poor job with Tchai pdd. I think Desomond Richardson keeps performing the same solo choreography at every gala, but just changes the music and the lighting. Smirnova and Chudin were worth the wait. I didn't think Lucia Lacarra was still dancing. Seems like she's been around forever. Is Cyril Pierre retired?

I attended a few performances this week, and I'm going back for tonight's performance. I very much enjoyed the new Ratmansky ballet and look forward to seeing it again. This one is a hit. The choregraphy for the corps is especially inventive. Gomes and Semionova were excellent together. Salstein was thrilling. Cornejo was incredible, but something must have happened to him mid-ballet, because Jared Matthews suddenly appeared to perform the remainder of Herman's part. Herman did not come out for a bow either. Hope he is okay. I will see the second cast tonight.

I always have enjoyed leaves,. and Kent and Gomes were absolutely lovely. Her fluidity and lyricism make this an very fine vehicle for her.

Drink to Me will never be a favorite of mine, but Herman and Isabella were thrilling. Boylston is well on her way to a very bright future at ABT. I didn't think Gorak and Kajiya (second cast) were anywhere near the level of the first cast.

I have to agree that S&S is just not a great fit for Sarah Lane.

I had not seen Moor's Pavane is at least 15 years. Simone Messmer was deliciously evil.

I enjoy seeing Rodeo about once every decade, so I've now had my fill. Reyes was adorable.