abatt

The problem with that is that you have paid full price to see half a program. ABT tickets aren't cheap. They should have given a parental age warning at the time subscription sales began. Since they failed to do that, they should offer a full refund to anyone who requests it regarding this program. We all know there is a snowball's chance in hell of that happening. Yes, by becoming so incensed about the gas chamber I forgot about the hood and the other violence in this.

California raises a great point about issuing a warning to parents. Many children will be seeing this program because it starts with Firebird. Can you imagine a little kid watching the second half of the program, and seeing a little girl be killed in a gas chamber? As far as I know, no warnings were ever issued by ABT that the content may be inappropriate for children under a certain age. It's irresponsible.

ABT has embraced works that are challenging. Ratmansky's Shostakovich trilogy comes to mind. It had overtones as well as specific overt references regarding the oppressive nature of the Soviet Union. However, unlike the McGregor piece, it did not trivialize suffering and oppression for a grand theatrical effect.

ABT is also the only ballet company that performs 8 consecutive weeks of mostly full length classics in a 3,800 seat house. The major European companies have a system where opera and ballet are performed simultaneously at the same venue . It is very difficult to have a stable of lead dancers who can perform without injury for 8 consecutive weeks. It is also difficult to attract audiences to 8 consecutive weeks of ballet, particularly when your main competitor is performing a few feet away. Also, European opera houses are much smaller and therefore easier to fill than the huge Met auditorium. All these factors have weighed into ABT's use of guest artists. Moreover, the guest artist invitations at ABT started a long time ago, before McKenzie ever took over. During the golden age of Carreno, Corella, Ananiashvilli and so on, they were not guest artists. They were full company members who performed with ABT during the entire Met season and for the most part during all ABT tours. I don't think the vast majority of principals now at ABT come close to the skill level and artistry level of the dancers we saw during the golden age. And I don't believe that situation is caused by lack of past opportunities to hone their skills. For example Seo and Stearns were both promoted at a relatively young age, got major roles as soloists, have been principals for years and have danced the classics many, many times. Neither one will ever be at the level of Nina Ananiashvilli or Angel Corella.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/22/arts/dance/review-abt-spring-gala.html FYI, see attached. While watching the McGregor work, it was never intimated during the entire ballet that this set piece would turn into a gas chamber. It was a verdant space with plants and light. As noted in the article, it was a space where the two little girls in the work simply stood, sometimes with Ferri. The change into a gas chamber during the final moments was, in my opinion, a way to gratuitously shock the audience. Now it will be known as the Gas Chamber Ballet.

My objection to this work relates to the gas chamber element of it. Absent that aspect, it would just be another piece of choreography I didn't much care for but had no particular reaction to one way or another. Ask yourselves this question. If McGregor had decided to raise his survival of the fittest theme by showing a slave beating on stage, do you think McKenzie would have allowed that to proceed? NO WAY. It would have been shut down at the first rehearsal. ABT is led by a tone deaf hypocrite. Allowing an instrumentality used to murder a race of people as a ballet gimmick crossed the line in a big way and trivialized the suffering endured by people who were and are victims of gassing.

We shall see what the lead critics say, but as far as selling tickets, this program has been a box office bomb. Virtually every performance this week was previously on TDF. Without Misty in Firebird, full priced ticket sales for this week would have been even more dismal. I don't think McGregor sells a lot of tickets in NYC. The one work he did for NYCB a few years ago has not been revived. In London McGregor may be much more popular.

On the way out of the theater last night, a complete stranger on the elevator asked me if I go to the Joyce theater downtown? I responded sometimes. She replied that the McGregor work is something that belongs at the Joyce, not at ABT at the Met. Her sentiment was that she doesn't go to see ABT for this type of work. I completely agree. Additionally, McKenzie seems to be hypersensitive when it comes to certain race issues, but he has completely MISSED THE BOAT that having a gas chamber killing on stage might be offensive to , say, audience members whose ancestors were actually murdered in gas chambers. CLUELESS. I guess the ABT political correctness machine only applies sometimes, but not in matters involving the gassing of millions of real people in real gas chambers. Nothing wrong with allowing a mechanism used in an attempt to obliterate an entire race from the planet to stand in as a theatrical gimmick.

It never dawned on me that your students would try to find a blog written by their teacher. Hope you can remain incognito with the new blog title.

Stella's Giselle did indeed have some lovely qualities, but overall I felt that there were so many technical flubs and limitations that it would have been better for her to have withdrawn than to dance the role in such a diminished way. Since her promotion two years ago, there has been a precipitous decline in her technique. Her Giselle last year was also diminished, but this year it was far worse.

I thought by now there would be an outpouring of comments about last night's performance. I had to miss the first half of the show, so I only saw AfterRite. In retrospect, I wish I had gone to the first half and skipped the second half. AfterRite had the usual McGregor hallmarks of push me, pull me, bend me, extend my limb in the most extreme awful position choreography. However, this was McGregor with some added grotesque twists. SPOILER ALERT SPOILER ALERT The set has a constructed box with clear plastic doors on the side of the stage. At the end of the ballet, there is a little girl in the box, and white gas starts filling into the box. In other words, the ending of the "ballet" has a little girl being gassed to death. Oh, and did I mention that a video recording device set up on the stage in front of the glass box is recording the gassing? Am I misinterpreting what was going on there? I sure hope so. Clearly McGregor was going for a grand theatrical effect. While the work did have some interesting ideas, as a Jew I found the gassing gimmick at the end completely offensive and inappropriate. Thank goodness I have no tickets for any additional performances of this program. Anyone else attend?

But how could he know anything about her personally, since he does not have a personal friendship or relationship with her. As a critic, his remarks about each dancer relates to what they did on stage that he observed, not what they are like off stage.

This was in another thread regarding the musical Carousel, so I thought some people might have missed it. (Craig is presently a dance captain at Carousel. He is on leave from ABT.) Tonight is Craig's final performance with ABT. He is retiring from the company. Michelle Dorrance has created a tap solo for him in her new piece that will premiere tonight at the gala.

I can understand putting large items like clothing and shoes in storage. However, for important documents, photos and papers, a bank vault would always seem to be the better choice. These storage places frequently have issues with water damage, mold and theft. Sorry to hear that she lost all these items.

I think he meant that Misty does not present any affectations and is not mannered. I was real happy that Lane and Simkin got favorable reviews. I couldn't see them this year because I couldn't miss work. Maybe next year Lane will get an evening Giselle. Any maybe, just maybe, she'll get a Swan Lake instead of the peasant pas!

I agree. Having Lane dance the peasant pas is just insulting. If memory serves, during the recent ABT tour, didn't McKenzie also give Lane the peasant pas in Swan Lake? Misty danced only one Giselle this week too. Why not giver her one of the peasant pas? Lane did two today.

I agree- Hee Seo and Bolle were absolutely wonderful tonight. I don't recall when I last saw Hee do Giselle, but this Romantic role suited her. And I'm so glad I got to see Bolle in this. Excellent acting, beautiful lines, strong partnering, and technique that other guys at ABT half his age can't begin to approach.

Osipova does the most difficult version of the hops on point. She hops forward, and then rotates 360 degrees while doing the hops. At least that's my recollection from what I've seen her do previously. We'll see what she does tonight. As Danny and the Juniors sang, Let's Go To The Hop. Today is the birthday of Hallberg, Osipova and Fonteyn. The ballet stars are aligned.

Nothing against Novak, but I thought Michael Trusnovec might end up as Taylor's successor.

During the golden years mentioned above, those stellar dancers were regular company members, not guest artists. They were trained all over the world - Cuba, Spain, Russia and so on - but they all worked for ABT as full time principals.

Have to agree with NYSusan. ABT is no longer a world class company. With a few exceptions, they are a very mediocre roster of dancers. There were never half empty houses in the days of Carreno, Corella, Ananiashvilli and Ferri in her prime.

Are photographers from the NYTimes allowed to photograph only certain performances, or all performances?

Question: When the NYTimes wants to use a photo, do they get it from ABT and get ABT's permission for use? Is ABT providing the photos to NYTimes? I'm not asking about the captioning of the photos.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/15/arts/dance/firebird-ballet-stravinsky-ratmansky.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fdance&action=click&contentCollection=dance&region=rank&module=package&version=highlights&contentPlacement=2&pgtype=sectionfront The NYTimes did it again in the above article about Firebird. Misty is the only person specifically named as being in the photo even though former principal Gomes and current principal Abrera are in the foreground of the photo. Y'all know that Misty's PR agent is also the PR agent of ABT, right? Explains a lot. Talk about an ethical conflict of interest!

The attachment indicates that it's Bouder and Gordon. Veyette is dancing with Hyltin. Thanks Susan!