abatt

Has anyone else noticed that Roberto Bolle has been appearing in ads for Salvatore Ferragamo? He looks hot, as usual!

Wow! That's major news. Good for ABT, but a real slap in the face to Peter Martins. Might ABT also employ some of the dancers that Ratmansky has brought to prominence at the Bolshoi (Osipova and Vasiliev, who were dazzling at the YAGP Gala). Let's hope!

Twyla will receive an award as a Kennedy Center Honoree in Dec. 2008. The ceremony is usually broadcast on CBS in December.

Casting is up on the NYCB website for the week of Sept 16. Sebastian Marcovici is doing Apollo. Sara Mearns and Tess Reichlin are also listed for Apollo.

As expected, Sascha Radetsky is no longer listed on the ABT website. I was pleased to see that Stella Abrera, who is Sascha's wife, is still listed on the ABT website. I was anticipating that she might leave the company to go to Europe w. her husband.

Thanks for posting that. I assume he is alluding to the special Jan 14 Salute to SAB, where former students from SAB who are with other companies will be performing. I wonder who else they will invite. Sounds exciting.

*So* good to see that Ellen Bar is back in Agon! I saw her in this role (Hayden's) a couple of years ago, and thought she looked just terrific in it -- and Hall and Danchig-Waring will complement her perfectly. My Ellen Bar wish list: The Siren in Prodigal Son and Farrell's role in Davidsbündlertänze. (A Mearns, Bar, Taylor and A. Stafford line-up in that ballet would be hard to beat.)

And speaking of Taylor, I'd love to see that Serenade debut!

I actually had the opposite reaction to Ellen Bar in Agon. I thought she was not sufficiently angular in her movements. The angularity of movement is key. I felt the same way when I saw Ellen Bar do the solist role in Rubies in June. I prefer Tess R. in these roles. I prefer Ellen Bar in roles calling for fluid upper body movement.

Isn't Ethan Steifel supposed to be dancing at the City Center engagement? He is not listed in any casting. I'm glad to see Veronika Part is cast in Lilac Garden.

Steifel wasn't listed in the most recent brochure that I received from ABT about the CC season.

I noticed that the original brochure that ABT sent out in early summer indicated that Steifel would appear; however, Carreno was not on the roster. However, in the most recent brochure, Steifel is not listed, and Carreno is listed as appearing at the City Center engagement. That makes me wonder what's going on with Steifel. I hope he's not injured again.

I think that the NYCB stage manager is sent a few weeks ahead of the rest of the company to inspect the theater for logisitical issues relating to lighting, scenery... They probably didn't realize until very recently that there would be logistical problems at the theater re the Vienna Waltzes set pieces. With respec to the above comment on the dry cleaning costs, I once attended a fourth position discussion where this was addressed. According to the speaker, immediately after a performance, the costume is sprayed with Fabreeze (spelling?). The costumes are not dry cleaned until the end of the season. The costs must be tremendous. (I'd love to find out who they use. My dry cleaner managed to destroy a silk blouse by blasting it with too much heat in the pressing process. )

Isn't Ethan Steifel supposed to be dancing at the City Center engagement? He is not listed in any casting. I'm glad to see Veronika Part is cast in Lilac Garden.

Two weeks before opening night, NYCB has apparently dropped Vienna Waltzes from its programme in Paris, replacing it with Tchaikowsky Suite #3. Any theories on why they might have done that?

I think the number of set pieces and costumes for Vienna Waltzes is pretty substantial. Tcha Suite 3 has no sets.

Does anyone know what is happening with Stella Abrera? She was supposed to dance her first Giselle with ABT during this past season, but I understand that she never got to do that because she was injured and was out for the remainder of the season. I don't see her name in the casting for the fall season in New York. Is she going to be all right? I hope so because I fell in love with her the year before when she danced the Lilac Fairy in Sleeping Beauty. I said to my husband "Next year she is going to be a principal," and I even bought a pair of her autographed pointe shoes. I am concerned for her. I hope she is getting the best possible care and is going to dance again.

Angelica

Stella is married to Sascha Radetsky, who recently left the company to dance in Europe. I would not be shocked if she, too, left ABT to join her husband in Europe. Stella and Sascha were both still on the ABT webite as soloist members last time I checked. I like Stella, so I'll be unhappy if she has left.

Beware. NYCB's press release was apparently not proofread, and contained the incorrect date for the Special One Time Only salute to SAB. The correct date is Wed Jan 14, not Feb 14 (which falls on a Sat.).

The NYCB website now has posted the entire calendar for the Winter Rep 2009 season.

That was when I first saw Jenifer Ringer as the Waltz Girl and was knocked for a loop.

I saw J. Ringer do the Waltz Girl in Serenade a few years ago, and I thought she was terrific. Unfortunately, NYCB has not cast her in that role in recent years. I've repeatedly seen Darci, and before her, Kyra. Let's hope J. Ringer returns to this role this season!

I saw Gentlemen of Hälau Nä Kamalei on a PBS special. They were magnificent. Not your typical hula dancers. They are worth seeing.

Yes, I remember that PBS special too. It was wonderful.

For those interested, there is a press release on NYCB's website containing additional info. re the upcoming Winter Rep. season. Highlights include the return of Balanchine's one act Swan Lake (yeah!), Coppelia (wouldn't Bouder and Fairchild be great in that!), Chaconne.

Last year was the first time I even attempted to obtain tixs for Fall For Dance. I'm not one for waiting on lines, so I tried the phone lines instead on the first day of sales. They were busy for hours. By the time I got through, the only seats left were really bad. I purchased them anyway, but for the most part the sight lines were a disaster. Based on last year's experience, I will avoid going to Fall For Dance this year, and probably will not attend in future years. If you intend to get tixs by phone or internet, those modes will probably be busy for several hours.

I've never seen or heard of it. Can you tell us anything more about it, such as the music. Is it a pas de deux?

I think the loss of Wheeldon as the choreographer in residence may translate into a loss at the box office for programs containing new works. Wheeldon's name generated box office and excitement.

Yes, he is impressive but what is he going to dance?Aside from Company C, i could not think of anything else that Kevin would let him to dnace in his 1st ABT season. Anybody ?

Since he appears to have wonderful technical abilities, do you think he would be good in roles like Theme & Variations or Ballo? Those ballets have very demanding parts for the male lead. Even though it is his first seasons with ABT, would that necessarily be an impediment? I'm not familiar with the Tharp works ABT is doing in the fall, but her ballets usually contain virtuoso male dancing. Maybe Simkin will appear in the Tharps.

What’s missing: principal dancers Corella, Carreno, Dvorovenko and Beloserkovsky.

I had forgotten that Danil Simkin (not sure about the spelling) will be joining ABT in Oct as a soloist. Though I will miss the above dancers, I'm looking forward to seeing Simkin. I've only seen him once, and he was VERY impressive.

As a member of the audience (a "spectator," as Suzanne Farrell once put it), don't you go to the theater expecting or at least hoping each performance you're about to see will be great? Why go otherwise?

Of course I always hope that a performance will be "great", but I don't expect that every single night will be incredible. I recognize that many performances will merely be pretty good. Even if the performance is merely good, I usually feel that I have spent my time and money well to see something I enjoyed. There were only a few instances where I thought that the performance was so bad that I should have stayed home. Ballet is art, but it is also entertainment. When it achieves greatness, it is a transcendent experience. However, as a general rule I don't feel disappointed if the performance was merely "good" or merely entertaining. As nysusan said above, ABT is the only game in our town for the classics. Maybe if I could attend regular performances of the Royal, the Kirov, the Bolshoi and the Paris Opera Ballet here in NYC every year, I would view the situation differently. As things stand, though, I'm happy to have the opportunity to see ABT for 8 weeks at the MET every year- even if not every one of the performances I attend is a life altering, earth shattering performance. If Alistair McCauley thinks ABT is so mediocre, he should put his money where his mouth is by writing ABT a huge check so that Kevin can hire the top dancers from each one of the world's top companies. Let's appreciate the cultural riches we New Yorkers have in our backyard.

I agreed with some of the criticism of ABT set forth in the NY Times article. However, some of it was unnecessarily harsh. In fairness to ABT, not every performance over an 8 week season will be a particularly memorable or great one. No company in the world could accomplish that. Every Beethoven symphony is not considered great (some are merely good); every Picasso is not considered a masterpiece. Similarly, it is unrealistic and unfair to expect every ABT performance to be a brilliant masterpiece for the ages. As a basis for comparison, I attend many performances at the Met Opera each year. Not every night is an "A" night of operatic superstars. In fact, there are lots of "B" nights, but I frequently go to those "B" nights because the quality is very good, if not spectacular. Sure, I would love to be able to see world class dancers like Cojocaru, Lopatkina, Sarafanov, ..... during the MET's ABT season. Even if ABT can't or doesn not wish to hire them, I'm still happy for the opportunity to see the great dancers they do have- Corella, Vishneva, Herman Cornejo, Nina.....

Faux Pas, I recall once reading an article in which Susan Jaffe mentioned that she worked with an acting coach. I don't know if all dancers at ABT take acting lessons, but this may have played a role in the fact that Susan Jaffe was praised as a fantastic dance-actress.