abatt

I think ABT did Balanchine's Sylvia pdd a long time ago. I remember seeing Dvorovenko do it at City Center during an ABT Fall season. It costs a lot of money to make new productions of full length ballets. I think fundraising may drop in the coming seasons because of Martin's departure, so I doubt the company will be going on a spending spree to dump the old SL sets and costumes.

I'm not sure about the overall batting average of Balanchine and Robbins. They created a myriad of works which are either no longer performed either because the choreography is lost or because the work was not good enough to survive. Only the truly great works continue to be performed worldwide. Perhaps someone with more knowledge of the entire body of their work can comment further. I'm not sure about the cost effectiveness of new works. Martins had a lot expensive flops. Most notably, there was one season when he hired Calatravo to create the designs for a few new ballets, the majority of which flopped. Let's also not forget the Paul McCartney commission for Ocean's Kingdom, which will also probably never be seen again (thank goodness). But I think Martins at least made back all the money for the McCartney work because of the amount raised at the gala, where rich people were clamoring for tables in order to meet Sir Paul.

I suspect the reservations for the large block of rooms was made a long time ago, before the contract negotiations.

DeLuz was fantastic tonight in the Fall section of Four Seasons. At age 41 or thereabouts, he can do spins and jumps that men 15 years younger cannot execute properly. If he can only do it once a week, I'll take it.

Casting up for week 5. We're getting a new Juliet- Woodward (with Taylor Stanley as her Romeo). Terrific. I was hoping she would get a chance at that role.

To add insult to injury, they have decided to throw a "See The Music" presentation into Wednesday evening's show, right before the final ballet, Four Seasons. So in addition to having to sit through the awful Oltremare for 40 minutes, they are taking away another 10 or 15 minutes of the audience's time by holding us captive to the lecture. Why can't they do the lecture during the 20 minute intermission between Oltremare and Four Seasons?

The problem with mixing the old with the new is that not enough young, hip people come out to see the newish work, and the more conservative crowd also stays home. By way of example, Friday Feb 2 was an arts series program with Square Dance, Oltremare and Four Seasons, in that order. Of course it was a sell out because all tickets were $30, and there was free beer and a DJ after the show. Whoo hoo. However, the remaining three performances of that very same program were not selling, and were on TDF. That surprised me because Square Dance and Four Seasons are classics. However the fact that the 40 minute Oltremare was plopped into the middle of the program appears to have been a dis-incentive for most ticket buyers. Maybe they would have been able to sell more regular priced tickets if they would have put Oltremare last, so that people could leave after the two beloved classics. I'm not sure. But at these prices, people expect three high quality works. The All Balanchine nights seem to have sold very well without any ticket discounts.

In recent years, under Martins, the new works have been more about quantity than quality. In part, the overwhelming pile up of new works was motivated by these "Fashion Galas" dreamed up by Sarah Jessica Parker, with Martins' blessing. It was almost as if they attempted to line up as many high fashion designers as possible to rub elbows with the rich people at the gala, and the choreography and choreographers were an after thought. Some works that are created and experimented with at the choreographic institute simply don't belong on the stage of the Koch.

Is the Holiday Inn walking distance from the theater where they are performing? With many companies, that is a significant factor in which hotel they choose. For example, when the Mariinsky comes to Washington DC I know that they always select a hotel that is walking distance from the Kennedy Center.

The company makes the travel arrangement, including the hotel arrangements.

My impression is that once a work has been rehearsed and presented, it stays in the rep for a period of time. Generally, a rep work is performed 12 times over the course of nearly consecutive season. So for Red Violin, I think they did it 4 times in the fall 2017, plus 4 times in the winter. I expect to see it pop up for 4 performances sometime during the 18-19 season. Although an awful production, any full length sells lots of tickets. I'm not so sure they would ditch R&J. I'm hoping that the relentless flood of new works will be reduced somewhat going forward. People come out to see new Wheeldon, new Ratmansky and new Peck. I was there on the night of the Walker premiere. There were substantial numbers of empty seats that night. People are not buying tickets to see new Schumacher, new Walker, new [fill in the name]-.

The photography in the Paul Taylor brochure looks similar to the type of advertising that Alvin Ailey has been doing in recent years in its brochures. For Sara Mearns fans, she will be dancing with the Taylor company on certain dates at the Koch Theater in Isadora Duncan dances. Here is a review of performance of Duncan works that took place at a one night only gala last June. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/20/arts/dance/review-sara-mearns-joins-isadora-duncans-maenads-and-nymphs.html

Not surprised she's injured. She KILLED IT in Russian Seasons on Thursday. It was a magnificent performance. Wishing her well. Anyone know who will replace Mearns tonight?

Thanks for the info on the live stream.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/02/arts/dance/jacques-damboise-national-dance-institute.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fdance&action=click&contentCollection=dance&region=rank&module=package&version=highlights&contentPlacement=1&pgtype=sectionfront If anyone goes to this upcoming lecture, Balanchine Guys, please report. Sounds fascinating.

I was there last night for the debut of the Walker ballet. I thought it was much better than his first ballet for the company. It was attractive and conventional. It's not something I would mark my calendar for to seek out, but it's not something I would intentionally avoid either (like Spectral Evidence). It looks derivative of many other ballets, particularly some Wheeldon ballets, in terms of the partnering manipulations. I had not seen Red Violin since it's debut. Now there's a ballet I don't need to see again- ever. The only masterpiece on the roster last night was Russian Seasons. Mearns gave a tour de force performance as a young girl who is being forced to marry against her will. Amazing and unforgettable. I think she would be a fascinating choice to lead Les Noces when it returns in the Spring.

Just noticed that next week's casting has been updated. Veyette is replaced in the Fall section of Four Seasons by Catazaro. That part requires a virtuoso. Catazaro is a fine dancer in many respects, but he is no virtuoso. They should give that part to Huxley. The casting is particularly lopsided because the other leads in Fall are Bouder and Meija, both of whom are virtuosos.

We're talking about all the people that were interviewed by the Times complaining or alleging that Martins had either sexually harassed them, or physically assaulted them. Presumably those people, and others, were interviewed by the law firm conducting the investigation. It's not a question of guilt by association. If the allegations are deemed to be true after the investigation, who within management knew or should have known about the misconduct that occurred.

Just because people are willing to subject themselves to misconduct to get ahead doesn't mean that the misconduct should be tolerated. There may indeed be a steady flow of applicants to SAB, but the alleged mismanagement at the school and the company needs to be addressed regardless of whether they have a continuous influx of student applications.. However, I don't agree that any info about whether Martins had some DUI's, had disputes with his wife, cheated on his taxes, jay walked, or destroyed private property when he was a teenager have relevance. The issue is whether he committed sexual misconduct or physical assault during the course of his employment. This is about the power of an employer or teacher over students and employees. It's the exact same power issue that was at the heart of the Weinstein, Lauer and Rose debacles.

The difference is that Martins rotated in new SL casts over time = Reichlin, and most recently Megan Fairchild and Tiler Peck. .

I had the exact same reaction. I think it's intentional because any mention of Copeland might get them an extra "click" on the article.

Actually, the only lead debut roles for the R&J casts are the two new Romeos, Coll and Walker. All of the Juliets are repeats from prior seasons. In fact, Tiler Peck, Sterling Hyltin and Erica Pereira have been doing Juliet since the production debuted in 2007. Perhaps this will be their last season in the role. It would be nice to see some new Juliets. I recall being pleasantly surprised by Lauren Lovette and Chase Finlay in the leads. However, when I saw them they were still engaged to be married. I wonder if the chemistry will be the same this time, since they split up.

I seek that Veyette has been replaced in all of his shows this week. He is apparently injured.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/30/arts/dance/square-dance-balanchine-new-york-city-ballet.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Farts&action=click&contentCollection=arts&region=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=1&pgtype=sectionfront An interesting article on Square Dance.