abatt

ABT did Anastasia for one season many years ago, with Viviana Durante as a guest artist I believe. It ranks among the worst ballets I've ever seen. Not even the starry Ms. Osipova could motivate me to watch it again, ever.

I tuned in for the last few minutes of the gala. It was disappointing. Every other ballet company has managed to show extended portions, or entire ballets, from past performances. Why is ABT the only company that isn't doing that? Do they not have any past performance video to share? Is there a legal reason they can't do it? Glad I didn't waste a full hour or more on this. I switched into the sublime digital offering on the NYCB website, and it lifted my spirits.

Not sure if this was already posted. Free streaming of Raymonda tomorrow on Mariinsky TV. (Tereshkina, Paris)

I think NYCB will try to keep the same number of total performances, but attempt to cram as many weeks as possible into 2021 in the hope that this pandemic will abate in a few months. For example, if it could be worked out that shows during the winter and spring 2021 season added some Sunday evening performances because the fall season is cancelled, that could help to get the company on financial track. I think a lot also depends on how many weeks the Koch is available in 2021. I know they previously rented several weeks in January and March to Shen Yun, and at least one week in April usually is a rental to YAGP.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/05/arts/insurance-claims-coronavirus-arts.html

This has become a trend at NYCB. There are a lot more short women in principal roles that would look better on a taller woman. For me the most egregious examples of this trend is putting Tiler Peck in as Terpsichore.

Other arts organizations have announced that their top people are either taking no salary or that their executives are taking steep pay cuts during the pandemic. For example, Peter Gelb announced back in March that he is taking no salary until Met Opera can resume performances, and that all of the executives at the Met Opera are taking pay cuts. Does anyone know if McKenzie has similarly offered up his salary to take care of the dancers? I recognize that McKenie's earnings are nothing close to Gelb's.

The Joyce is the presenter of Pacific Northwest Ballet at the Koch. It's probably only a matter of time before they announce that cancellation.

My refund was posted to my credit card account today.

I wonder why ABT did not attempt to get this aid. ABT certainly had no trouble lining up legal assistance to investigate Marcelo Gomes. I have to imagine that they could have easily lined up the legal help to apply for this loan in a hurry.

https://www.seattletimes.com/entertainment/dance/pacific-northwest-ballet-receives-3-million-in-federal-coronavirus-aid-funds-to-cover-8-weeks-of-pay/ Not sure if this was posted elsewhere, but PNB got $3 million from the federal govt. to pay for 8 weeks of pay. Does anyone know if other ballet companies applied for this type of federal aid or, if so whether the application were granted?

https://allarts.org/schedule/?program=40996 I happened to stumble on this free opportunity to watch the Mariinsky Ballet in Jewels. Not sure when it was recorded, but Lopatkina and Zelensky appear in Jewels. If you are in NY and have Spectrum, it will be on channel 1276 at 5:23 PM this afternoon. Enjoy.

I just noticed on the Koch Theater website that a theatrical production (Notre Dame de Paris) scheduled for September 2020 is postponed to July of 2022. That's not a typo. 2022. I'm assuming the reason they have not posted any info on cancellation of PNB at the Koch for June 2020 is that all involved parties are searching for a way to reschedule the engagement if possible before making any announcement. The fact that we now have confirmation that a September 2020 engagement is not moving forward seems to be further confirmation that there probably will not be a fall season of ballet at NYCB in Sept/Oct 2020.

My question is why haven't the Pacific Northwest Ballet performances been cancelled. That engagement starts two days after Eifman.

A portion of the Osipova Pure Dance program is posted on the Sadlers Wells youtube channel for free. It includes Ratmansky's Valse Trieste, danced by Osipova and Hallberg. A beautiful pas and well worth checking out. It's only available for a limited time - until May 1.

In fairness, these refunds for ABT are being processed by the Met Opera, not by ABT. I'm sure the Met Opera is giving priority to refunding opera tickets. Additionally, the Met Opera is processing subscription ticket purchases for next season at the opera (if there is one!). I've noticed a little game being played by some other organizations, which is that even though the performance is cancelled, they don't process the refund until the performance date so that they can continue to earn interest income. As an example, I have an Encores subscription at City Center. They already announced that performances in May of Encores are cancelled. However, they will not process the refunds for the May performances until the actual performance date (May 6). Sleazy, in my opinion.

I have been waiting for some time for my ABT refund. I initially put in the refund request around two weeks ago, when they first announced the cancellation of the season. IN contrast, mY NYCB refund was posted to my credit card two days after I made the request.

I agree with California. People will not feel safe until a vaccine is created and most of the population has been vaccinated. Even if you already had the virus, the experts say that the immunity is only temporary.

The Met Opera has 3,800 seats, plus 200 standing room spots. Add the orchestra, stage crew, other staff and orchestra to that sum, and you have a gathering of around 5,000.

https://www.billboard.com/articles/business/touring/9359311/new-york-la-live-events-not-until-2021-mayors And NY's Mayor deBlasio agrees. No public gatherings until 2021.

https://news.yahoo.com/los-angeles-mayor-says-large-213731141.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly9zZWFyY2gueWFob28uY29tL3locy9zZWFyY2g_aHNwYXJ0PUxrcnkmaHNpbXA9eWhzLVNGMDEmdHlwZT1BTllTX0ExSzZCX2\ The mayor of Los Angeles has indicated that large gatherings will not be taking place until 2021. Assuming NY follows this thinking, this is a highly depressing reality.

Yes, all the drawbacks of living in New York City come into sharp focus when you remove culture, restaurants, sporting events and so on from the equation. This is just an overpriced, overcrowded, filthy city without any of the positives to counterbalance the negatives.

How sad. Will we ever get to give Stella the send off she deserves? This was to be the year of Tom Forster. How much longer will he have to wait for those opportunities.

At a certain point in the very very near future ABT is going to have to step up and make an announcement about the spring season. They are the last holdouts. (Broadway League just announced that shows won't open until June at the earliest. Every other arts organization has cancelled through the end of this season.)

Thank you for your post Christian. Stay strong and thank you for the work you and all medical professionals are doing. Best wishes to you and your family.