abatt

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. 

12 hours ago, vipa said:

Such good points. Does anyone understand why See The Music is scheduled when it is? I can't believe it sells tickets. On Thursday, when I was there, the 3rd rind wasn't open. 

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

I think they should do See The Music during the intermission.  Those who are interested can stay seated.  Those who are not interested can leave.  It's not that the talk are not interesting.  It's that people live far away and have big commutes. They have trains to catch.  Why not do these talks on the matinees on weekends instead of weekday evenings.  The whole point of starting at 7:30 on weeknights was to attract working people who have to get up for work early the next day or have big commutes home.  By adding an additional 15 minutes to these programs you are defeating the purpose of early curtains.  

8 minutes ago, matilda said:

Pereira does better with frothy classical ballet in tulle or satin. She was good as the Walpurgisnacht soloist in winter, and I really like her Princess Florine in Sleeping Beauty. I'm sure she'll be better in La Source than Square Dance. How much better is TBD. 

I'm not sure.  The roles mentioned above are not leads.  They are more like secondary parts. 

I think they don't have time to do quick training of someone new in a lead role, so Erica has been the beneficiary of Megan's absence.  

37 minutes ago, matilda said:

Harrison Ball on why he's leaving City Ballet: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/28/arts/dance/harrison-ball-retiring-new-york-city-ballet.html

He talks about the debilitating foot injuries and addiction problems that have kept him off stage over the years. Tragic end to a beautiful career. I'll miss him a lot. At least I got to experience, simply by luck of casting, some of his career highlights such as Tchaikovsky pas de deux, Stars and Stripes, Puck in Midsummer Night's Dream, Mozartiana, and La Sonnambula. 

Fascinating article.  Wishing him the best and continued sobriety.  I recall seeing him on a profile on PBS of SAB while he was still a student.  He said something to the effect of all I want is to become a principal at NYCB.  It was a rocky road, but he got there.  And he made quite a remarkable impression despite his short tenure.  Some are there for decades and make no impression whatsoever.

I was also very moved by the fact that he turned to Peter Martins, and that Martins offered support instead of admonishment.   Fascinating how some in the company see Martins as the devil incarnate. 

Agree with the above post.  La Source was beautifully performed by Gordon & Woodward.  Namouna was fantastic except that Gerrity was tentative and, in my opinion, had difficulty with the technical demands of this role.  Nadon was great.  She is a superstar.

Can't wait for cast 2 featuring Mearns and Mejia!

16 minutes ago, Papagena said:

Too many principal dancers, too few shows. Seo is the only repeat for SL (which baffles me, frankly) so I suppose Trenary could have taken one of hers, but R&J is crowded to the point where there are no repeats. 

Short season with 8 principal women (9 if you count Copeland, who is on leave) doesn't leave much room for debuts in the full length classics. This of course could have been alleviated a bit if they sliced out some LWFC performances. 

I imagine Murphy is retiring next year, and we'll be seeing a couple new O/Os as a result 

Yes, now that the season  length has been reduced, there are obviously far fewer opportunities for these dancers.   If/when Copeland returns, there will be even fewer opportunities for the current roster of principal women.  Seo is really wonderful in the adagio portions of SL, and I thought her work with Aran Bell was sublime and very moving. 

1 hour ago, Royal Blue said:

Additionally, in response to a comment earlier in the thread, I must observe that Unity Phelan looked as marvelous as she always has, both in Concerto Barocco (a debut), and in Afternoon of a Faun, and should not lose an ounce of weight if she can help it. 

Unity is already stick thin.  I can't imagine why she would want to lose weight.  

About last night...  LaFreniere, Mearns and Janzen were absolutely fantastic in Concerto Barocco.  LaFreniere was brilliant in this.  I found this much more satisfying and electrifying as compared to the other cast earlier this week.  LaFreniere was fearless in the breadth of her movement.

A note about Tyler Angle.  He has become a distraction.  I know he is a good partner, but in Concerto earlier this week he stuck out like a sore thumb for all the wrong reasons.  He is completely out of shape.  Janzen was pure elegance and refinement.  He was wonderful.

The quartet in Kammermusik was also wonderful.  Miller had a nasty fall but got right back up.  Kikta was particularly exciting to watch.

I don't like Tiler Peck as much as Megan Fairchild in Raymonda, but she performed very well.  And Gordon was perfection.  This is the kind of work he excels in  - pure classical ballet.  

It seems that none of the current dancers can do hops on pointe that actually advance across the stage in the first Raymonda Variation. 

Huxley and Fairchild brilliantly led Donizetti Variations tonight.  Great work from both leads.  Megan danced with attack and ate up space in her huge jumps.  Exquisite.

The rest of the performance was fine, but not remarkable.  Not a big fan of Haiff.  It was well performed.

I usually like Square Dance, but tonight it was a bit underpowered.

Gordon is, in my opinion, miscast in Afternoon of a Faun.  And Unity is lovely but too bland.  We need someone like Janie Taylor in that role.

Third ring was closed.  

Huxley has become quite the show-off in demonstrating his control in difficult spinning variations (Raymonda and Donizetti).  If you've got it, flaunt it.  Huxley's definitely got it.

In addition to Slaughter I would get rid of the Concert.  It's just not that funny.  I also think we have seen enough Orpheus for the time being.

Would love to see the 3 ballets mentioned above (Mozartiana, Divert. 15, Chaconne).  Will they ever program Davidbundertanze again?  Also, Cortege Hongrois has been out of rep for some time.

‘Carmen’ Review: We’re Not in Spain Anymore - The New York Times (nytimes.com)

review

2 hours ago, nycvillager said:

I just tried to renew on a Flex package, which is what I've had for the past few years. I tried to add Sept 19, opening night, of Jewels and only see dates available starting on the 20th. Does this mean it's already sold out? Or is just not available to me as Flex subscriber? 

Sept 19 is not available for Flex  subscribers. Ditto the gala and the special performance on Oct 11..  

Ulbricht isn't cast at all so far.  I'm pretty sure I saw him out on the plaza before showtime.  

correction - he is going to do his old role in Namouna next week.  Glad to see Ratmansky is using him.  Interesting that Ratmansky is allowing Paz to debut a role in Namouna as her retirement. 

$73 (or $69 for standard package) is not a bargain, but they are correct that $38 or $40 is too much of a bargain and is not sustainable.  These are performances by one of the greatest companies in the world, and every performance has live music.  

1 hour ago, cobweb said:

It was Nieve Corrigan.

Thanks.

Week 3 casting is up on the website.  Can't wait to see Emma V E and Chan in La Source.

You are free to cherry pick, but you have to pay a higher price  to do that.  If you select a standard subscription, you can exchange out of the items that you don't want. 

Nobody said anything about getting rid of $30 for 30.  

Just saw what NY Susan wrote, so this is an across the board price hike for the cheapest level tickets for all new subscriptions, not merely a Flex issue. 

I think next season, particularly the Fall offerings, will sell well. But they will have trouble selling some of the weaker programs going forward.  

Added:  Does anyone know if the tickets for the other price categories have been increased and, if so, by what percentage?

It is not a "punishment" of loyal customers.  It is a recognition that people who are rejecting the Standard Packages, which frequently contain less popular  programs,  and are instead  cherry picking the most sought after ballets through Flex must pay a higher price for that approach. 

About last night....

I enjoyed Phelan in her debut of Concerto Barocco.  It was a good role debut.  Tyler Angle is very out of shape, and again I found his bald head to be distracting.  I thought Laracey had difficulty keeping up with the music during her initial entrance at the start of the ballet, but she improved for the rest of the ballet.  

Kammermusik is very much not my cup of tea.  I don't like the music, but it was well danced. 

Megan Fairchild remains a stellar presence at the company.  She has never been better.  Overall a terrific account of the lead roles by her and Huxley.  I have a question about Claire's variation.  She was very secure on pointe, but my recollection is that in her variation the ballerina is also supposed to advance forward while doing the tricky pointe work.  At least that is what  I recall when Sara Adams did it.  Clarie barely advanced across the stage.

Can't wait to see more of Collett.  She was excellent. 

Who was the blonde corps woman who flubbed the spins near the end of the ballet?  Was that Bailey Jones?

I don't have a problem  with a significant price increase for the cheapest seats, although the jump from 38 to 73 seems too much.  Those seats are priced too low. 40 dollars seems very fair if that is the price increase.   However I wish they would  automatically open up the third ring.  I can't stand this game of checking the website repeatedly to see if the ring is now open.

Sadly, last night the third ring was open for an All Balanchine program, but is was only about  one-third or less sold. 

34 minutes ago, BalanchineFan said:

I"m a subscriber. I clicked on "Renew" in order to see what was in my subscription (It's like 12 performances). Then there's a countdown clock saying that if I don't purchase in 18 minutes my seats will be released. Is this correct? I've had those seats for YEARS! It's a huge outlay of money and I usually have months to figure out exactly which subscriptions I'm going to purchase.

Has anyone else had this issue? Is the time clock just some weird left over feature that doesn't apply to subscriptions? (I'm hoping)

I think the countdown clock only applies to single tickets in your cart.  I think if you check back and log back into your account in a few hours  your subscriptions should appear again in your account.  I clicked on mine numerous times over the weekend and all of my series are back in my account awaiting renewal.  Any issue, call them tomorrow.

I'm wondering if New York City Center will also do something special to commemorate the 75th Anniversary, since that is where the company began its journey.

A truly incredible season ahead.   

All casting for LWFC is on the website.  Look on the Master Calendar section.

Well it seems someone in charge at NYCB reads this forum, because I looged back into my account and all of the renewal info for next year is missing.  LOL

Wow.  Thanks for all this additional info folks!  By the way, I'm seeing the full Jewels for what I anticpate is the first week of shows in the Fall Season.

I've always wanted to see Tzigane.  It was never possible before because  Farrell and Martins were like oil and water, and she owned the rights.  Can't wait to see this, even if it is second tier Mr. B.  Please cast Mearns in this!