abatt

I think Kaiser's position is arrogant and insulting.

Jowitt's situation is the exception, rather than the rule. I think Kaiser is referring to ordinary people who have never been compensated for or earned a living from writing arts reviews.

That' s true Jack. Professional critics do get their tickets for free. However, I don't think any company would revoke the privileges of a professional critic, even if they dislike what the critic wrote. I think a blogger may be much more at the mercy of the kindness of the press office. In fact, it's my understanding that even companies that have given tickets to bloggers have more recently scaled back on free ticket privileges because they are losing too much money by giving away orchestra freebies to bloggers.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-kaiser/the-death-of-criticism-or_b_1092125.html This is a link to an article in the Huffington Post, in which the head of the Kennedy Center bemoans the death of professional arts criticism, and derides chat boards and blogs as legitimate sources of arts criticism. I thought this would be an interesting topic. Personally, I think that some of the reviews and critiques I read on forums like this are often more insightful and detailed than the reviews of the "professional" critics. The style and quality of the writing may be more informal, but the content sometimes equals or exceeds that of the "professionals." The thing that I do watch out for in evaluating the opinions expressed in such forums is whether the writer is friends with the dancer he is commenting about. That fact calls into question the objectivity of the writer. Another issue with bloggers is that some obtain their tickets for free from the company, and fear that the company will cut off their privileges. Their reviews tend to paint an overly-rosy picture of a performance in order to ensure continued free ticket privileges.

I think it's fair to presume that Mikhailovsky's new big star, Ms. Osipova, will be featured in the Giselle that they are bringing to the Koch theater in June. What was the point of hiring such a high profile dancer if not to use her on high profile engagements? YOu are right, however, that no official casting has been announced yet regarding the tour.

Is the tour going to any other destinations in addition to NYC/Koch Theater? I'm trying to discern to what extent the announced ABT dates for O/V's appearances may now be fiction due to conflicting obligations to the Mikhailovsky. I also think it's crazy for the MIkhailovsky to allow Osipova to perform Giselle in mid May with ABT at the Met, and then have her do the same role with the Mikhailovsky a few weeks later across the plaza. The audience base will be diluted/diminished.

Oops. Thanks for the correction. I thought he had only done Golden Idol.

http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/03/04/a-real-ballerina-hits-the-big-screen-a-conversation-with-natalia-osipova/?scp=1&sq=+esmeralda%20+osipova&st=cse Apparently, Osipova believed that she would be dancing Esmeralda on the HD Broadcast when she gave this interview in March 2011. Of course, the HD went to Alexandrova.

Vasiliev is dancing his first Solor at ABT this Spring, I believe.

Holy cow. I almost fell off my chair when I read this. It seems like Vasiliev and Osipova are both receiving numerous opportunities at ABT that have not been offered to them at the Bolshoi, right?

Golden Idol- Jackie Reyes used to be in the corps of ABT. She left about 2 years ago. She is not related in any way to Xiomara Reyes. Also, since they are not paying an orchestra, ABT probably doesn't need to sell every seat to make a profit. I'm curious. How is the view from the balcony?

I went last night. Seven Sonatas looks much better on the City Center stage than it did at Avery Fisher. It's a lovely ballet, but a tad too long in my opinion. It was good to see Herman Cornejo back in fine form. In fact, the whole cast danced very well, except I was somewhat disappointed with Hammoudi, who took over the role originated by David Hallberg. Hammoudi seemed to blur (fudge) the intricate,quick steps in his solo. He is a solid partner though. I had never seen Duets before. I enjoyed it, and the soundscape was not as irritating as most Cunningham works. These dancers clearly are not trained in the Cunningham style of movement. Some, like Herrera and Murphy) were more successful in adapting to the Cunningham movement style than others (Kent, who looked like she was dancing a classical pdd). The show stopper was Marcelo Gomes in the Junk pdd, taking over a role that Steifel so brilliantly originated. He was riveting, sexy and having the time of his life as he bounded around the stage with fantastic bravura style. Ricetto, his partner, was a bit too reserved and careful. I've seen Black Tuesday at ABT and also at the Taylor company. Simkin had the showiest part (taking over a part also originated by Steifel) in the Brother Can you Spare a Dime section. Maybe Simkin didn't have the the level of acting nuance that I've seen in others, but he certainly executed the difficult jumps very well. I didn't really care for Misty Copeland's rendition of Blvd. of Broken Dreams. Her back bends were not deep enough, and her overall style was a bit flat. It didn't really convey the desperation of the character. The rest of the cast in the other sections of the ballet was fine. Regarding the redesigned City Center, the hall looks lovely, and the sight lines are improved. However, the side sections are now MUCH further to the side than they used to be. Ticket buyer beware. Also, I cannot understand why they did not create a stairway entry into Mez at row A. Now you basically have to walk to the back of the mez to access a stairway into the mez. I saw someone climb over the rail at row A in the mez, and I'm sure this will happen almost daily because of this inexplicable design element. There were several rows which were nearly empty in the rear mez section. These programs do not appear to be selling well. Spotted DeLuz. J. Stafford, and Jackie Reyes (without Aaron Sorkin) during intermission.

http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/11/09/its-official-american-is-now-a-bolshoi-dancer/?ref=arts Here's another mini interview w. Hallberg regarding his feelings about his recent Giselle performance, and his prep for the upcoming Sleeping Beauty. All this publicity is great for Hallberg, but also for ABT. People who have no interest in ballet seem to have heard of David Hallberg due to all of the publicity. My brother,, who has never been and will never go to any ballet, even heard about Hallberg and asked me some questions. Hopefully Hallberg is solidifying his fan base here in the US. Also, with reference to Bobbi's post, some additional theaters will be broadcasting the upcoming Sleeping Beauty. Go to Fathom Event and follow the links relating to the Bolshoi Sleeping Beauty.

Irina is well connected on the design circuit. Her dresses at the opening night galas every year are absolutely stunning. None of the other ladies at ABT comes close to matching her style and taste, based on what I've observed over the years.

I'm disappointed that Vishneva and Tereshkina are not appearing. I'm most looking forward to Kondaurova in Firebird.

Interesting that no choreographer is attributed to "Swan". Did she do the Fokine version, or something else? Or did she "borrow" from Fokine without attribution?

It's a crap shoot. There is no informaiton ahead of time regarding which perforamnces will have price increases, and the amount of the price increase. All you know in advance is the general warning that "ticket prices are subject to change." Interestingly, for a performance at ABT, they raised the balcony price (because the balcony, which is small and relatively cheap, was heavily sold) but the price for the orchestra did not increase (the orchestra is huge, and expensive, so tickets in that section didn't sell well enough to be subject to a dynamic price increase). I'm not sure whether, in the big picture, ABT gains much by doing this. I paid the price increase for one perofrmance, but for another one I decided to pass because it was not worth it to me to spend the additional sum. I resented the price increase enough to walk away. (The performance I added on was to see Johan Kobborg perform Giselle w. Dvorovenko, which was on a Saturday matinee.)

I paid the higher "dynamic" price for one performance at ABT that was a last minute purchase. It was for a balcony seat. I think the regular price if you bought it early was $42, and I think the increased dynamic price was $60.

Here's an interview w. Hallberg on his appearance tonight at the Bolshoi in Giselle. http://artsbeat.blog...stage/?ref=arts Who is his partner tonight? Osipova? I'd be interested in any reports on the performance and the reactions of the Moscow audiences and critics. Thanks.

So who do we think will be cast as the leads for the broadcast? I think Sara Mearns will get Dewdrop or Sugar Plum.

The NYCB website says that the tickets will go on sale on Nov 18 through the Fathom website.

It seems live public television (Live From Lincoln Center) must have put up part of the funding for this project. I think that explains why public television will broadcast the show the next night. For the Met Opera HD films, public television bought the right to air the films but the television air date is usually many months after the HD broadcast.

Peter Gelb of the Met Opera was recently asked about the issue of diluting the in house audience in an interview. He noted that ticket sales in house declined last year, but he intends to proceed with HD broadcasts of the operas. Personally, I don't think that the HD broadcasts of the opera are the reason for generally declining ticket sales at the Met. I think it has more to do with weak casts and poor productions. Tickets for operas with "A" list cast members still sell very well.

NYCB will be broadcasting The Nutcracker in movie theaters on Dec. 13. http://artsbeat.blog...aters/?ref=arts This is a wonderful development. Finally, a smart idea from the management of NYCB.

The constant smile in Square Dance didn't bother me a bit. I didn't think that the male solo was performed at the highest level in Square Dance. The corps was excellent. Seeing the Golden Section reminded me of why I dislike most Twyla ballets. I enjoyed seeing the third movement of Western. I wish NYCB would perform it. Congratulation to Villella and all of his fantastic dancers. Miami is a lucky city to have such high caliber dancers. Let's hope that Villella's successor, whoever that may be, takes care of the Balanchine ballets with the same sort of love.