abatt

Casting is now available on the website for week 2 on the website.

LaFreniere and Kikta seem to be MIA thus far.

Based on a short film released by NYCB, Tiler Peck's new ballet apparently is set to Poulenc's Concerto for Two Pianos, and the costumes are designed by Zac Posen.

City Center would have no incentive to even attempt to move Ailey out of its decades-old December performance slot.  Ailey is the only company that remained loyal to City Center and never left for greener pastures.  In contrast, ABT bolted for the Koch for the fall season and never looked back once the Koch became available.  Ailey will always be the sole December tenant at City Center.

For Nutcracker, people want spectacle.  That's what the NYCB version offers that the ABT version can never offer at the same level.  Further, while ABT used to have a stable of great dancers, which may have served as motivation for balletomanes to venture out to BAM, they no longer have a strong roster.  

Alina has commissioned a new ballet, La Strada, in which she will star.

Alina Cojocaru: A Freelance Ballerina, Forging Her Own Path - The New York Times (nytimes.com)

Not sure how many people here remember Lois Kirschenbaum.  She was always at the Met  opera and at ABT.  I recall seeing her often up in the "cheap seats".  Turns out she was very frugal and saved a lot of money, which is being donated per her will to various  organizations, including ABT.

An Opera Superfan’s Surprise Gift: $1.7 Million for the Arts - The New York Times (nytimes.com)

The thing about the Murphy Bell performance is that Other Dances was created on and will forever be associated with Makarova and Baryshnikov, who both had significant relationships with ABT.  So on some level it makes sense that they would have 2 ABT dancers perform this work at NYCB.  Actually, I'm excited to see Bell in this work.   However, I think the age difference here  between Murphy and Bell is not ideal. 

No Mira Nadon listed.  Disappointed.  Hope she is well.

Also notice that LaFreniere is not cast at all in week one.

This was brilliant.  A   triumph.  

When is someone going to present it here in the US.  

Just booked my tixs.  Thanks!

The ARt Series artist this year is Wendy Whelan's husband.  

Thanks for pointing out that Clara Ruf Maldonado  is with PNB.  I recall seeing her name at NYCB but then lost track of what happened to her.  

1 hour ago, BalanchineFan said:

 

I believe the most recent dancer in that mold was Chase Finlay. if you discount hair color, Zachary Catazaro might qualify as being in the Martins mold too (technique aside). Martins had fixed, narrow ideas of what made a great dancer, imo.  I agree that things opened up once he left. 

l think it’s significant that there are more POC in the rehearsal room. More choreographers, more composers. With new ballets you never know what will ultimately work, but a more diverse group of people are getting a chance and that impacts dancers and audiences. 
I remember Taylor Stanley saying in an interview that Kyle Abraham was the first choreographer of color they encountered at NYCB. Stanley was already a principal. Imagine if that wasn’t a novel thing or if it happened earlier in a career, as it did for India Bradley. Different cultural backgrounds make for a richer, more supportive environment. 

I’m not surprised that Emma Von Enck shone as Dewdrop. I love her dancing. 

Isn’t Aaron Sanz just back from illness or injury? He was replaced for a spell during the fall season, IIRC. 

Albert Evans and Ulysses Dove, both African Americans, were choreographing at NyCB well before Abraham. Unfortunately, they both died young.

Yes, Sanz is returning from injury.  That might be an excuse for poor solo work, but I don't think it helps to explain partnering mishaps.

I saw today's matinee.  Emma V.E. was perfection as Dewdrop.  Space devouring, fearless and precise in her execution, she was dazzling.  More of her please!  

LaFreniere started out a bit stiff, and I find her arms as Sugarplum a bit sloppy at times, but it was a good performance.

Aaron Sanz was disappointing.  There is one portion when Sugarplum does a pirouette and the Cavalier must come in and take her hand in time for her to stay on pointe.  He was late, and she came off pointe.   There is portion  of the pas where she jumps up and he is supposed to sit her on his shoulder.  He did the shoulder lift-sit well the first time, but he could not execute this the second time.  He had to just put her down instead.

As for his solo work, In his turns he lost his center and ended sloppily.   

Clark did Coffee.  I agree with someone upthread who commented that her performance has no charisma or allure.  Just a bunch of steps.  

Takahashi did candy cane and was excellent.  At the end of the ballet he did not come out with the young candy cane folks to do a reprise of the hoop jumps.  He only came out in the section where he must partner the Dewdrop.  Hope he is okay.

i normally don't comment much on Marzipan, but Dutton O'Hara's pointe work is too weak to play the lead Marzipan Sheppardess. 

5 hours ago, uptowner said:

In the ten years that I’ve been paying attention to NYCB it has certainly become more visibly diverse, but very much “bottom up” so if you look at the younger corps especially. I guess another 10 years will tell whether this approach will build a more inclusive and diverse company up and down the ranks— are these dancers going to thrive, are they going to stay in the profession? How well are they mentored and supported? who will be promoted? But I do not agree that it’s necessarily exploitative to feature corps dancers in promotional materials, whether they are “on track” for promotion or not. Most dancers are corps, and they should be featured— the corps does a ton of dancing in that company (just look at nutcracker— unlike the soloists or principals, most corps are in every single show). Current leadership seems committed to changing things, even as they have to also celebrate and build on their legacy. And part of it will be PR and projecting a particular public image. Some of the work began under Martins, but he’s no longer at the helm to explain his intentions etc. 

By diverse are we also counting people of Asian or Latin  heritage.  Nadon is a principal, and is part Indian.  Kj Takahashi is of Japanese heritage.  Sebastian Villarini Velez is Puerto Rican.  Mejia is of Peruvian heritage.  Huxley's family is from the Philippines'.  So there is diversity on all levels of the Company.  Frankly, I believe the push for diversity started under Martins, although perhaps late in his tenure.  I doubt J. Stafford ever had an original thought about anything, so the diversity inclusion approach probably began when he was shadowing Martins, except Stafford's takeover of the head job came sooner than was expected.

Can anyone point to anything that Stafford has done during his tenure that was entirely original and not just a continuation of what Martins did?  

Martins definitely valued short dancers to an extreme degree because they can generally move faster than their taller counterparts.   The company principal roster did become shorter under his leadership. 

Bradley Cooper’s ‘Maestro’ Won’t Let Leonard Bernstein Fail - The New York Times (nytimes.com

Here is an interesting article written by the NY Times' music critic.  

I watched the movie last night and was disappointed.  The scenes of him conducting were so over-exaggerated they bordered on comical.  Best parts were seeing the scenes from Fancy Free and trying to identify the dancers.  Also enjoyed seeing sopranos Isabel Leonard and Rosa Feola.  Best Picture, Best Director?  I think not.

Tapfan listed all African American dancers in his/her post,  and used the word 'exploitation" to refer to the company's use of the images of  African American dancers in company advertisements and photos.  That was the specific comment to which I was responding when I referenced diversity, equity and inclusion goals of NYCB.

But yes, I agree that corps dancers of all races are also featured in photos.

Maybe the social media account of a major cultural institution isn't the best place for employee review.   I'm sure Wendy didn't really consider the potential implications when she decided to comment on Bradley's performance, but fails to similarly offer praise on social media to other dancers who are doing great work in new roles.  From my perspective it is poor management style.  One thing to say something in a company newsletter, entirely another to post it on Facebook or Twitter accounts read by large numbers of ticket buyers.  

I'm not sure most businesses have public social media accounts that are viewed by hundreds of people per day, as I believe NYCB's is.  And employee of the month is frequently based upon objective criteria like sales figures or number of new clients brought in by the employee.  Judgement of a ballet performance is almost entirely subjective. 

Given her last minute cancellation of her performance at Houston Ballet not long ago, I'm not sure how many out of town Lane fans would take a chance on traveling to see her in this Nutcracker show in CA.

I don't think Wendy is wrong to post about Bradley being the first African American woman to dance Dewdrop at the company.  But it is not appropriate for a manager to publicly comment on the quality of any employee's performance.  Does Wendy's silence on the debuts of other people in various roles this season mean that management was not happy with the work of those employees in their debuts?  Employee review and performance by management is a very sensitive topic best left to conversations in private, not in public social media posts by your managers. 

Ice Spice, Brian Jordan Alvarez and More Breakout Stars of 2023 - The New York Times (nytimes.com)

Jake Roxander made the NYTimes list of breakout stars of 2023.  Too bad ABT won't give the guy a lead role.

16 hours ago, ABT Fan said:

I received the Met season's promotional brochure today, and they will be celebrating Cornejo's 25th anniversary on July 19 in LWFC (this is not indicated on their website). I'm sure that will be a sell-out.

 

Not even a celebration of Cornejo could get me to purchase a ticket to LWFC again.  

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/13/theater/buena-vista-social-club-review.htm

Buena Vista Social Club - The Musical got a positive review, and the choreography received praise.  NY Times review attached.  I suspect this will go to Broadway next season.  Seeing it in January at its current Off-Broadway venue.

I skipped Nadon because I did not want to see Peter Walker in this.  Maybe next season she will get a different partner. 

2 hours ago, tutu said:

Oh, that sounds just wonderful.  I think that Bradley is just such a special dancer — such presence! — and with Nadon as SPF?  Utterly dreamy.  

If we can manage to get tickets without breaking the bank, we’ll try to see this cast.

Edited to Add:  Just called the box office — they confirmed that Nutcracker is completely sold out besides standing room for the run.  Bad news for us, but great news for the company!

Look online.  It is not sold out for the entire run.  I just looked at a date during the final week of the run and there were seats.