abatt

That's exciting. Good for her. I realized I can't make it on the dates she is scheduled. Looking forward to reading the reports of Ballet Talkers re her performance.

Abatt, Who are you referring to?

I was referring to Sarah Lane's upcoming performances as Gulnare in Corsaire. Sorry for the confusion.

That's exciting. Good for her. I realized I can't make it on the dates she is scheduled. Looking forward to reading the reports of Ballet Talkers re her performance.

Let's hope they don't waste it by throwing it away on garbage like Citizen, which they presented last fall at City Center. It is one of the worst "ballets" I have ever seen.

Today is the 90th birthday of the living legend Merce Cunningham and he is celebrating it with a new work.

Mr. Cunnigham is the dance choreographer I have admired most and is for me a modern choreographer of real dance movement.

See website: http://www.merce.org/

Hi Leonid. I am going to see Cunningham's new work tomorrow at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. I'm very excited about it, and will report back.

Congrats. It is well deserved and LONG overdue.

I used to rent the Met binoculars. My recollection is that they are not very powerful, so using them in the Family Circle might not provide enough magnification. My husband purchased good binoculars for me a few years ago as a gift. (I forget whether they are 7x or 8x). Since we regularly go to the opera house and other venues, it has literally been the gift that keeps on giving. Enjoy Nina's farewell. It promises to be quite an event. I'll be there in the balcony, binoculars in hand.

Yes, I'd go see Fang in La Sylphide. For some reason, though, the ABT management under-utilizes her.

I'm starting to feel sad for "TBA" on the 19th.

I'm waiting to buy tickets for the D.C. Corsaire engagement until it gets closer to the actual performance date. If the casting holds, I would like to see Alexandrova on the 18th and Osipova/Vasiliev on the 19th. Since I will not be able to exchange any tickets for the DC performances (I live in NYC), I'm holding back on purchasing tickets for the Kennedy Center for now. Hopefully it won't sell out. I think tickets tend to become available close to the performance date. If not, so be it.

TBA on the 19th at ABT could end up being someone very interesting. I would love to see Sarah Lane in Sylphide, for example. Doubtful they will train an additional person for the role, though. They will probably just assign the role to one of the other ballerinas who is performing that week.

Despite the fact that I paid for my subscription several months ago, I still have not received my subscription tickets. Moreover, this was an exact renewal of seats I have had for years. I called the subscription office and was told that they have not yet mailed out all subscription tickets. Not a good way to conduct business, in my opinion. Time to get their act together. Has anyone else received their subscription tixs yet?

One irony is that Osipova is not listed to appear in any leading roles during any other portion of the Bolshoi's US Tour, which runs for several weeks prior to reaching the Kennedy Center. Apparently, they could do without her for all those weeks, but suddenly they need her at the exact same time she's scheduled to appear w. ABT. Go figure.

I think the frustration re the Osipova casting arises from two issues. First, while all the ABT principals are good dancers, theirs is a star system. We balletomanes are making specific decisions about which casts to see. ABT knows this. (As someone noted above, there are many people who will go to ABT without knowing who they are seeing. Most of the people who follow this board are very sophisticated and experienced, and have specific casts they are looking to see.) That's why they advertise casting so far in advance. They bring in a ton of money way in advance by advertising advanced casting. Not every principal at ABT is an international star. It's no mystery why performances by Nina A. Diana V. and a small handful of other dancers sell out quickly. As a consumer, I expect that the product that is offered to me is the one that will actually be delivered. The same is true with respect to casting the leads in a ballet at ABT. It's understandable that people get injured, and sometimes that requires a change in cast. However, this casting controversy arises because the parties can't seem to get their act together regarding where Osipova is contractually bound to perform during the time period in question. They have had months to work this out. It's very inconsiderate to the ticket buying public to conduct business in this manner. Also, I think the frustration also stems from the fact that ABT in the past has been less than truthful and forthcoming in providing accurate casting info on a timely basis. I hope you're right that Osipova appears in future seasons with ABT. (I had the same hope when they invited Cojocaru a few years ago, but no permanent relationship materialized from that engagement.)

Your complaints make me envious, since in the Bolshoi there is no practice of changing tickets at all. One can return the ticket in case the title of the performance is changed, but not the cast. Taking into account that the prices are VERY high nowadays early booking becomes rather risky financially.

Ticket exchange is commonly a privilege here in New York for subscribers for the ballet, opera, and the symphony. I think that these organizations know that the only way people will pay for tickets in advance is to permit exchanges. I'm surprised that the Bolshoi doesn't allow this. I presume that they sell out most of the time, right?

I've also noticed these additional bits of information on the ABT website, which was just updated. Stella A. is out of Corsaire and Giselle. (I'm guessing that Ricetto will get the Giselle matinee. Also, I would guess that Sarah Lane would make a good Gulnare.) All of Stella's roles are now TBA. Very disappointing. I really liked her and wish her all the best. Also, the Allegro Brilliante roles listed as tba for the Wed and Sat matiness are now Reyes/Simkin.

Wow. That's very unusual, especially since the lineup for the Pestov Gala looks so good.

[and in the greatest of ironies--i switched my tickets from the 17th to the 19th because originally the 17th was the date that she was double booked....

argh!

I feel your pain aurora! I anticipated that ABT would pull this kind of stunt, so I purchased tickets to both the 17th and the 19th just in case. It turned out to be a wise move, but I now have to go through the inconvenience of standing on line again. Moroever, since I cannot get to the box office this weekend due to other commitments, I will now have to wait unti Apr. 12 to do the exchange. Yes, one of the perks of being an ABT subscriber (and giving them money way in advance for your subscription purchase) is that they don't allow you to exchange tickets during the first week of public single sales. I will ultimately exchange the 19th tickets for something else at a future time. Note to ABT: If you're going to base your season on star casting, you should stick to the casting that you've published. Doesn't ABT realize that this kind of stunt turns off its most loyal customers???!!!!

It seems very possible that "La Sylphide" of June 19 may be cancelled. But since ABT is on tour in London the information is just being late.

The Osipova saga continues.....I just took a look at ABT's website. The Sylphide for Fri Juen 19 is now listed as TBA/Hallberg. So it looks like Osipova is out of the June 19 performance. Typical of ABT to bait and switch on casting. It's happened numerous times in the past, and so now I expect it all the time.

My grandmother used to listen to it on the radio, and my mother has watched it all her llife. I used to watch it now and then when I was a teenager, but I haven't seen it in many years. I quit soaps a long time ago.

I agree, it's frustrating – especially because ABT's subscriber priority exchange week ends on Saturday. .

Hi NY Susan. Not only does subscriber priority end on Saturday, but according to the subscription materials, subscribers are not permitted to exchange any tickets from April 5 through April 11. Single ticket sales only during that week. By the way, I checked Osipova's website, and she lhas the same dates for ABT that ABT's own website indicate (June 13 (Giselle) and June 17, 19 (Sylphide). See you soon at the ballet!

It now appears that Natalia Osipova’s performances with ABT this spring may be jeopardized by the powers that be at her home company. The Bolshoi has just released its Kennedy Center schedule listing Osipova for two evening performance of “Corsaire”, on June 17th and 20th. Her dates for ABT’s “La Sylphide” are June 17 and 19 (also evening), and these have been set since September. So appearances in New York and D.C. would seem to be mutually exclusive. According to Osipova’s interview with Moscow critic Tatiana Kuznetsova (given at the end of October and published on balletfriends.ru http://forum.balletfriends.ru/viewtopic.php?p=67756#67756 on Jan 29, 2009) both the outgoing and the incoming Bolshoi administrations (Ratmansky and Burlaka) were aware of and had expressly approved her ABT engagement, so is this simply a casting oversight or something else? Can anyone shed light on this situation?

Well, the Osipova casting difficulty seems to be ever-changing, but still has not been solved. The Bolshoi website eliminated the originally posted Kennedy Center casting a few days ago. Now, the new casting on the Bolshoi website lists Osipova performing in Le Corsaire on June 19 and June 21. As noted above, on ABT's website, Osipova is still listed for Sylphide on June 17 and June 19. Thus, unless Osipova is planning on cloning herself, the Bolshoi's new casting does not solve the problem. Why is this so difficult for them!?

The reviews of M. Wiles in Swan Lake in London this week echo a lot of what is being said on this board- she is technically accomplished but dramatically unimpressive. A friend of mine refers to the Wiles/Hallberg partnership as Ken and Barbie - the two perfect looking, tall, fair skin blondes.

I read some of the reviews of ABT's Swan Lake in London. They were mixed to negative, particularly regarding M. Wiles.

Corella is generally a very exciting dancer who is known for his bravura turning skills. However,sometimes he takes too much risk and then ends up paying the price by falling out of a turn. Most of the time he can pull off the excessive speed he so loves, but once in a while it backfires. I've seen this happen to him during his performances at ABT numerous times. It's unfortunate that he had an off night, but I'd rather see Corella than someone who always plays it safe.

Heads up. PBS will be airing Sir Ian McKellen's performance of King Lear with the Royal Shakespeare Company tomorrow evening Mar. 25). Check your local listings. I saw this magnificent, heartbreaking performance live at the Brooklyn Academy of Music last season. The tape airing on PBS is a recording of the BAM performances last season.

It now appears that Natalia Osipova’s performances with ABT this spring may be jeopardized by the powers that be at her home company. The Bolshoi has just released its Kennedy Center schedule listing Osipova for two evening performance of “Corsaire”, on June 17th and 20th. Her dates for ABT’s “La Sylphide” are June 17 and 19 (also evening), and these have been set since September. So appearances in New York and D.C. would seem to be mutually exclusive. According to Osipova’s interview with Moscow critic Tatiana Kuznetsova (given at the end of October and published on balletfriends.ru http://forum.balletfriends.ru/viewtopic.php?p=67756#67756 on Jan 29, 2009) both the outgoing and the incoming Bolshoi administrations (Ratmansky and Burlaka) were aware of and had expressly approved her ABT engagement, so is this simply a casting oversight or something else? Can anyone shed light on this situation?

I looked at the brochure that ABT mailed out a few months ago. The ABT brochure had listed Osipova for Sylphide on Sat June 20 at 8PM. On the ABT website she is presently listed for Sylphide on Fri June 19 (as well as June 17). Based on her conflicting June 17 dates, it appears there will be even more Osipova casting changes.

A review I read of the show in the NY Times in early March (when Glover's engagement at the Joyce began) also commented on the over amplification problem. I had hoped that since the show has already been running for 3 weeks, the problem would have been corrected by now. Guess not. Carbro, I'm sorry you've decided to pass on seeing the show. Despite the amplification problem, I enjoyed the dancing. By the way, Savion will be appearing at Carnegie Hall next season for one night. (Too tired right now to look for the date.)