abatt

In today's NY Post, there is a dance review of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater at City Center written by Genevieve Labean. I believe, if memory serves, that she was formerly in the corps de ballet of NYCB. Good for her!

Yesterday's Sunday Styles section of the NY Times contains photos from the Gala. Sarah Jessica Parker and Alicia Keyes, among others, were in attendance. Also some photos of the dancers in their gala attire. Additionally, in yesterday's Times Arts & Leisure section there is an article about Billy Elliot, and the photo includes Stephen Hanna.

Do you think that in the Somova version the dying swan will touch her knee to her ear one last time before expiring?

I attended the gala last night. In view of the constant construction at the Koch Theater over the past few months, I was expecting to see some changes in the theater. The only change I noticed is that the seat cushions were replaced. Peter Martins, during his curtain speech, noted that the cushions are temporary, and will be replaced next year. This was a relief, since the red color of the new cushions did not match the red color of the old seat backs. The first of two curtain speeches was delivered by Peter Martins, where he sang the praises of David Koch. The second curtain speech was delivered by someone from the NY Arts Council (sorry, I missed the name), and he was joined by New York's Senior Senator, Chuck Schumer (spell?). They sang the praises of Koch as well.

On to the ballet. There was way too much of Peter Martins' choreography on this program- too much of a bad thing. For me, the highlight was Balanchine's Unanswered Question w. Janie Taylor and Ulbricht. The other highlight was The Man I Love w. Jennifer Ringer, who looked radiant and danced brilliantly. Her partner, Nilas Martins, looked out of breath by the end. I agree w. the post above the Lauren Flanigan's rendition of the song was less than thrilling.

The audience was bombarded with excerpts of various mediocre works of Peter Martins (Calcium Light Night, Barber Violin Concerto, Jazz , and several others). These works all looked very similar. The best was the pas w. Maria K. and Sebastian M. to Jazz. They delivered a sensuous and well danced performance.

As noted above, the vast talents of Ashley Bouder were wasted. She did some simplistic ensemble work in one of the Jazz excerpts. Love the bangs though!

I wonder what David Koch is now thinking about the renovation of the theater since the person who most wanted to proceed with the project, Gerard Mortier, has quit City Opera.

I have only been attending performances of NYCB since the mid 90s, so I am not able to compare today's company with the golden age when Balanchine led his company. However, I think Macaulay's dismissive comments about the current state of affairs at NYCB lack merit. I attended numerous performances of Rubies performed by the Kirov in April 2008. Most of those performances were, in my opinion, poor. In most instances, the Kirov's Rubies had none of the angularity, attack or wit that NYCB regularly brings to that work. Moreover, focusing on the fact that David Hallberg did a great job in Ballo misses the point. The real focus should be on the lead ballerina. In my opinion, none of ABT's ladies in the principal role this season measured up as compared to the NYCB ladies. Even Gillian Murphy's performances last year, while pretty good, were not remarkable. There are certainly many problems at NYCB, including the fact that their rep. every season is so vast that rehearsal time for each work is limited. However, they certainly don't deserve the severe negative comments that Macaulay made in this article.

I can only be a spectator in this conversation since I haven't been to NYC in over 20 years. But what I'm curious about is why such an article (especially of this length) is being written now. What do you suppose prompted Macaulay's decision to publish such sweeping statements right now. Surely these ideas have been in his mind for a long, long time. As far as I can tell such ideas have been in the minds of other "knowledgable ones" too. So why now?

I think it was prompted by the fact that San Francisco Ballet and ABT recently performed Balanchine works in NYC (in Oct. 2008). Moreover, Macaulay recently went to see Miami City Ballet this fall, and he was apparently very impressed by their performances of Balanchine. Also, the dance scene is a bit slow now in NYC, so he probably had to fill up space with something controversial.

The Mariinsky would have looked much better in that venue, in my opinion.

Yes,, the Mariinsky would have looked much better at the State "Koch" theater. Moreover, I suspect that they would have performed full length ballets if they were performing at the State "Koch". It is a shame that City Opera might fold for good. I, for one, was looking forward to seeing a number of operas that Mortier had scheduled for next season. Beverly Sills must be rolling in her grave!

I'm sure many Ballet Talkers have read the sad debacle re NYC Opera during the past few days. Gerard Mortier, the incoming director, has abrubtly abandoned the sinking ship that is NYC Opera. His stated reason is that the Board of Directors could not come up with the financial support he was purportedly promised to stage various operas in the upcoming season. The future of NYC Opera, which has been losing money, is now in doubt. Ironically, these developments may be favorable to NYC's balletomanes. For many years, the great ballet companies of the world have bypassed visits to New York simply because there is no adequate theater for them to rent. If the"Koch" theater becomes available for most of the year, we New Yorkers might finally be able to see all those great companies that appear at the Kennedy Center and at other major US venues. Also, it is possible that ABT might want to appear at the Koch instead of the MET. (Kevin McKenzie indicated a potential interest in the State Theater in an interview he did a few years ago when City Opera was seeking to build a new theater.) Any thoughts?

When will they promote the amazing Tess Reichlin to principal!

The Opening Night program is not what I would wish for. However, I am looking forward to seeing Who Cares, even if it's only an excerpt. That ballet hasn't been done in a few years.

I can't even look at NYCB's opening Gala night program this year without crying.... because there is so little Balanchine.

Ain't it the Truth!

Of the corps dancers, I was most impressed by Melissa Thomas and Hee Seo (spelling?). I think C. Stearns needs more time to develop into major roles, and ABT is giving him too much too soon. In the soloist ranks, I can't wait to see more of Simkin. I loved all the Tudor ballets. The biggest dud of the season was, without question, Citizen.

I have to agree with the posts above that were critical of Yuriko in Ballo. She doesn't have the allegro technique needed for this ballet. Why would ABT select Yuriko for this role? It makes no sense.

Faux Pas, I agree with you about Veronika's performance last night in Lilac Garden. Every gesture and expression was meaningful and nuanced. The prior night, Kristi Boone's performance made little or no impact. I also found that M. Thomas' youth made the ballet much more tragic and moving than when Kent performed it. I enjoyed Kent's performance as well, but it was very different from M. Thomas.

Wiles and Hallberg looked better last night than on Tues.

I had never seen the Tudor R&J. I thought Genadi's interpretation was bland.

I'd love to see a Part/Gomes R&J.

I, too, would love to see a Part-Gomes or Part-Bolle R&J. However, since there are a lot of overhead lifts, I think that works against casting very tall women like Part in this ballet.

Additional casting info. re smaller/soloist parts would be wonderful, but I'm very happy that we are getting advance information re principal casting. For full length ballets, which are the bread and butter of the ABT Met season, casting info is crucial to my decisions regarding which subscriptions to purchase. I think ABT's management realized that they could make a lot more income through early subscription sales if they publish the casting months in advance. Of course, there are always some changes, as we all know too well!

Thanks drb. I didn't realize that virtually all the casting was up on the website.

Siren would be an interesting role for Dvorovenko. She actually did this role a few years ago (with Jose Carreno, I think) when ABT did Prodigal at City Center, but I missed it. The cast I saw had Paloma as the Siren (and Angel as a very good Prodigal Son). In my opinion, that role did not suit Paloma. Siren would also be a good role for Stella.

Hi. I attended the Career Transition For Dancers gala last night at City Center. This year's program focused on Broadway. In prior years, the galas have highlighted more ballet and modern dance. I found this year's gala less satisfying than usual because a lot of the Broadway show excerpts, devoid of costuming and scenery, looked out of context and underwhelming. There was only one ballet offering. Herman Cornejo and Xiomara Reyes of ABT brought the house down with Le Corsaire PDD. For me, it was definitely the highlight of the evening. Another highlight offering was an excerpt of Pippin (which I have never seen). Bebe Neuwirth was one of the three dancers in the piece. This was great Fosse dancing.

I noticed that in Giselle this year, Julie Kent is dancing with Marcelo Gomes. I'm looking forward to this one. Last year Marcelo was partnered w. Paloma, which was less than ideal. I guess Swan Lake must be a real cash cow, since ABT has performed it every year at the MET for at least the last 10 years.

I was there last night. I had never before seen Overgrown Path. It was very moving. I'm looking forward to seeing it again. This was absolutely LUXURY casting. As for Leaves, Xiomara just didn't do a thing for me. Kent's rhapsodic, lyrical performance the night before was dramatic and touching. I didn't feel that way at all about Xiomara. However, the big revelation for me last night in Leaves was Melissa Thomas. I'm now looking forward to seeing her next week in the lead of Jardin. Herman looked very good in Theme, and effortlessly tossed off all of his jumps and turns. His only major mistake was in the lift at the very end. Sarah Lane did a wonderful job too. All in all, a wonderful night of dance. Did anyone else in the rear mez notice that someone was fumbling with a noisy plastic bag throughout Leaves. Some audience members are CLUELESS.

Hi. I was at last night's performance. I was in the Rear Mez and I could hear the laughter coming from off stage left. The laughter was incredibly loud. I enjoyed Baker's Dozen more this year than when I initially saw it last year. I thought Citizen was terrible. As FauxPas noted above, it was a bad imitation of Forsythe. The choreography was repetitive and tedious. Was there some big point we were supposed to derive when all the people dressed in street clothes came on stage? If so, I guess I missed it. Glitter falling to the stage floor is not an adequate substitute for interesting choreography. Yes, I agree Paloma looked great. Poor David Hallberg. His costume looked like an early Halloween costume. Men in bustiers and silver pants is a VERY BAD IDEA!!! One post above noted that Citizen will probably not remain in the future repertory. My question is how and why it got to the City Center stage at all in the first place. In Leaves, I thought the whole cast was terrific, and that Julie Kent was sublime. Her performance, in particular, was gorgeous. As for Theme, Wiles was pretty good. I also thought Stearns was mis-cast. There were times that Stearns could barely lift Wiles off the ground. Also, in his big solo, he ran out of gas in his jumps and started fudging the steps. Since many of ABT's heavy hitters are not around for this engagement (Steifel, Corella), I guess they worked with the team they had available.

This is very exciting. I guess her frequent partner at the Bolshoi, Ivan Vasiliev, is not joining her. I guess ABT has enough exciting men on its own roster already.

I made a return visit to City Center yesterday to see Program B for the second time. What lured me back was the Four Ts. Taras Domitro once again was absolutely incredible in the Melancholic section. The flexibility in his back is remarkable. I thought he was breathtaking in every detail. Unfortunately, I didn't particularly care for Lorena Fejoo's interpretation of Sanguanic. I thought Sarah Van Patten was much better in the role. It was good to see Sofiane Sylve one more time in Choleric, although I think she might have been better used in the Sanguine section.

in the case of "Concerto Gross," the dancers were wonderful but the

choreography was not.

I thought the dancers in Concerto Grosso were fantastic, but the "choreography" looked like classroom steps for an advanced men's class at a ballet academy.