abatt

Awards season marched on last night with the BAFTA's, Britain's version of the Oscars. Slumdog did great, winning the best picture award, best adapted screenplay, and several other non-acting awards. Kate Winselt won for the reader. Mickey Rourke won best actor. His speech was very funny, and loaded with curse words that were bleeped out. Penelope Cruz won supporting actress for Vicky Christina Barcelona. She seemed truly surprised. Heath Ledger won supporting actor.

On Thurs. I attended to see Divert. 15 only, and left after it was over. Stabat Mater and Brahms Handel are pretty unappealing, in my opinion. The cast was of Divert. 15 very good, with one exception (Rachel Rutherford). All the men (Ramasar, Neal Adrian D-W) were in wonderful form. Congrats to Adrain D-W on the promotion. It is well deserved. I think the conductor was trying to kill Megan Fairchild with the brisk tempo, but she was more than up to the challenge. The other ladies (Scheller, Hyltin, and especially Peck) delivered excellent performances. Rutherford was off her game in her solos. She looked very stiff, although she did better in the partnered portion. I attended the matinee on Saturday. In Stravinsky Violin Con., I recall only Nilas Martins dancing in the second aria. What a pleasure to see R. Fairchild in this role. He did a wonderful job. Wendy and Albert were exciting in the first aria. Y. Boree was only adequate at best in her solos. She danced very small. She did better in the pdd w. R. Fairchild. Janie Taylor was thrilling in La Valse. It was absolute perfection. Also captivating was S. Mearns on Sun. afternoon in the first section (Elegie) of Ts. Suite No. 3. She had incredible flexibility in her back and amazingly stretched lines. Gorgeous. Sterling Hyltin and Ben Millipied did the fourth variation (T&V). Ben tossed off his jumps with ease. His partnering was also very well done and exciting. Hyltin needs a little time to polish her performance in this, but overall she did pretty well. The other sections of Ts. Suite 3 were performed well. I made the mistake of staying for Oltremare. It looks more under-whelming with each viewing, in my opinion. Rachel Rutherford had an unfortunate fall in the last section of Concerto B. She got up and finished the performance, so I don't think she injured herself in the fall. Wendy and Albert were quite wonderful in the pdd. The orchestra played the initial section at a snails pace, making the entire opening section seem sluggish.

Former ABT dancer and star of Tharp's Movin Out is now appearing in Guys and Dolls on Broadway. I haven't seen it yet.

Indeed! When I saw your comment, I did not expect to see the name of such a young dancer! I remember that Megan Johnson received a glowing mention in a June 08 review in the NY Times of the workshop performance at SAB of Concerto Barocco. I'm looking forward to it. It's too bad that Maria K. is not doing Concerto B. this season She is performing in Oltremare on the same program.

Who will have had the longest career as a memberof City Ballet? Is it Darci, or does Kyra Nichols hold that record?

The article contains two beautiful photos of Darci in the early 1980s.

Savion Glover will be playing for 3 weeks at the Joyce Theater in NYC in March. I already have my tickets. He is incredibly talented, and I always see him when he plays NYC.

I attended the Saturday mat. In Flower Festival, G. Garcia did a wonderful job with quick and precise footwork. His arms were curved in the appropriate style. A. Stafford did well with the footwork, but not with the carriage of her upper body. I skipped La Stravaganza. After its premiere, it automatically ended up on my "Never See This Ballet Again" list. Fellow ballet-talker NYSusan and I had a nice coffee break on the promenade during La Stravaganza. As always, Whelan was sublime in the After the Rain pdd. This was my first viewing of Lifecasting. It was inoffensive, but it became boring. I wouldn't avoid it if it appeared on future programs, but I wouldn't seek it out either. The final ballet was T&V, with DeLuz & T. Peck as the leads. It was Peck's debut in the role. She and DeLuz were wonderful. Perhaps she is not as regal as some ballerinas who take on this role, but she certainly had the technical goods. She made some minor mistakes, but I think these will be ironed out in future performances. De Luz was fantastic.

I think 1/27 was Mearns' debut in S&S.

I attended the Tues evening performance. Mearns and Askegard replaced Stafford and Veyette in S&S. Also, Krohn replaced Ringer in DAAG. Those changes were reflected in a program insert. Moreover, the casting printed in the program differed from the casting info on the website as follows: Hyltin danced girl in yellow in DAAG, replacing Fairchild. Also, in S&S, Erica Peirera danced the lead in the section with the twirling baton, replacing Morgan (I don't remember what the official title of that portion is). I guess I should not plan to rely on the website casting info any longer. Kowrowski and Askegard were marvelous in Monumentum and Movements. I've seen them in this ballet in prior years. In Movements, Maria's stretch and line were spectacular. The entire cast was wonderful in both ballets. DAAG also received a very good performance. This balllet suits Borree well. Krohn did a lovely job as girl in mauve. I prefer her performance to Rutherford's, who I saw as girl in Mauve a year or two ago. This was the first time I had seen Hyltin as girl in yellow (apricot). She did a very good job with the fast footwork, though I prefer Bouder's more fearless approach. Morgan did a lovely job as girl in blue- very lyrical. Mearns was adorable as the girl in green. Marcovici was stiff as the guy in green. The rest of the men were quite wonderful. The only minor glitch was when Adrian D-W lost control of Borree in an lift gone bad. He had to set her down on the stage several seconds earlier than he should have. I've always loved this ballet, perhaps my favorite Robbins ballet. The final moments when entire cast is on stage and looks up to the sky from left to right and then avert their eyes to the ground in unison is very moving for me. Now it always makes me think of Sept. 11. Danny Ulbricht was the highlight of S&S for me. As usual, he soared. I generally love Sara Mearns, but I don't think she is particularly well suited to ballets that require a virtuoso turner. She and Chuck Askegard did a pretty good job, but there were no fireworks, in my opinion. I would like to see what Scheller or Tiler Peck could do in this role. I miss Bouder in this. I also miss Woetzel. I didn't attend last night due to concerns about ice and my commute. I'd be interested in knowing how Tess did in BSQ.

I also noticed that they are relying less on the block format of programs. There are still a lot of block programs. However, there are also numerous evenings where they have mixed and matched ballets together from different block programs. Perhaps the block program idea has been a factor in reduced ticket sales. I dislike the block program idea, so I'm glad they are slightly modifying their approach to programs.

Hi Carbro. I agree w. you that Chiararscuro looks less and less substantial w. each viewing. It used to look better when Jock Soto performed the lead. I saw Jennie Somogyi in this ballet last week, and she was much more charismatic and interesting than Krohn. The main reason I attended was to see Concerto DSCH again. Borree gave a better performance on Sat evening than she did the prior week in BSQ. I didn't notice the details you mentioned about the Hyltin-Farichild performance of the second moviement. Thanks for pointing it out. Sara Mearns is quickly becoming one of the most interesting and principals at NYCB.

I guess this is her way of trying look spontaneous. It's the same routine that Jennifer Hudson used a few years ago with her Dreamgirls wins - trying to seem totally shocked and spontaneous when she had already won every award ever created.

I'm guessing that Sterling Hyltin will be the televised Juliet, and R. Fairchild as Romeo - the original lead cast, I believe.

Casting is up on the NYCB website for week of Feb 3. Sorry, I don't know how to link. Interesting debuts- Sterling Hyltin and Millipied debut in T&V, R. Fairchild debuts in Stravinsky Violin Concerto, loads of debuts in Ts. Suite 3. Janie Taylor returns in La Valse. I remember seeing her in this role years ago when she was still a soloist (maybe even a corp member, I can't recall).

Slumdog picked up the "best ensemble" (that is, best picture) award at the Screen Actors Guild Awards last night. Other film winners were Streep (lead, Doubt), Penn (lead, Milk), Winslet (supporting, Reader) and Ledger (supporting, Dark Knight).

My thoughts EXACTLY. I disliked the production, and would not see it again even for free. I can't believe that out of the numerous worthy ballets NYCB performs, this is the one that will be on TV!

I was at Saturday evening's performance. Last season I missed Sara Mearns' debut in the fourth movement of B-S Q. I remember reading on this board how fantastic her performance was. Well, I got to see it for myself. Sara was excellent. What a performance! Also, I think it was the debut of Robby Fairchild in the 2nd movement. He was a very ardent and romantic partner to S. Hyltin. By the way, J. Somogyi was replaced by R. Krohn in Chiararscuro.

No, the lead of Liberty Belle is Abi Stafford. Lowery has one of the supporting soloist roles, I believe.

Hi. The spring season schedule is now up on the NYCB website. Sorry I don't know how to link it. They're bringing back Martins' full length R&J. I read in the NY Times that this production will be broadcast on public television.

Thanks for posting that article. It was very interesting. I saw the film a few weeks ago and found it fascinating. I certainly would not classify it as a comedy, or as mere entertainment. It was very violent and depicted some awful scenes regarding poverty, the effects of religious intolerance, and child abuse. For me, those are the elements that made it a significant film with important social and political implications. It forces the viewer to confront dark realities regarding the "third world." These are the reasons I think it is garnering such praise, which in my opinion it deserves. The dark images of the film stayed with me long after I left the theater, but at the same time I found the resolution of the relationship between Dev Patel and Frieda Pinto uplifting and joyous.

After Delgado's fantastic performance last night, my husband and I also discussed that A. Bouder would be great in Square Dance. Unfortunately, I guess she can't do every role in the rep. (Too bad!) I don't recall ever seeing Janie Taylor in Square Dance. I agree that Hubbe was a great interpreter of the male solo, but I also think Boal did an outstanding job in that role too. Last night's male lead was nowhere near their level. I though the lead couple in Rubies was very good, but not outstanding. The weakest link for me in Rubies was the lady who performed the "Tall Girl" role. She needed to use her legs like darting daggers. She was too soft and introverted. Also, she didn't have the high level of flexibility that is needed to make this role the eye-popper that it can and should be. I liked all the leads in Symphony in C except the second adagio movement. The partnering was shaky and there were lots of little bobbles that destroyed the beauty of this section. I hope the company returns to NYC soon, but I have a feeling that probably won't happen due to economic reasons.

I was there too last night. Jeanette Delgado was incredible in Square Dance. Breathtaking speed, goregeous footwork and warmth that glowed and radiated throughout the theater. I've seen this ballet many times at NYCB, but last night's MCB performance was the best performance of the lead female role I have ever seen.

NYCB updated its casting today. It looks like Fairchild and DeLuz in T&V are being replaced by A Stafford and Garcia.