abatt

I had the exact same reaction. Remember, this is written by the same critic who thinks Misty is a great actress.

Exactly what I was thinking!

Hallberg was often behind the music last night in Mozartiana, trying to catch up. Maybe being off stage has impacted his stamina and speed. Loved Seo and Gomes in Nutcracker. Also was very happy w. Murphy and Whiteside in Tchai pas.

Fascinating. Thanks for the tax return. Is the 2016 return available anywhere? I'm in the wrong line of business. Director of Marketing Timm makes $176,000?! Is he the mastermind behind prohibiting subscribers from buying additional tickets during subscriber priority week? Pure genius!!

Exactly, Tschai pas should be dangerous and exciting, not dull and boring. Too many memories of great performances of the past made me cringe during most of last night's performance. Agree with fond of fouettes that the Ratmansky was uncharacteristically gimmicky. It is definitely far from his best work. Here's hoping that his new ballet in the fall is a winner.

I thought the new Ratmansky ballet was fine, but definitely not among his best. With only four dancers, it looked swallowed up on that gigantic stage. It might look better at the Koch. Loved the dancers, though. Tschai pdd- I thought Boylston looked good, except that she opted for the easier version of the fouette section. Gorak was not impressive. (Simkin should have been doing the Tschai pdd, not Gorak.) The fish dives were so safe they were boring. Part was ethereal in Mozartiana. Hoven keeps surprising me. He seems to be ready for bigger assignments. Simkin looked like a little boy in that costume, but he danced well. I decided to skip AfterEffect, since I will see at Veronika's farewell on Sat afternoon.

I agree w. Vipa. Union rules require that management provide several months advance notice to a dancer as to whether their contract will be renewed.. Part has probably known about it for several months.

Well if it is a typo, then they have a real idiot in charge of drafting the press releases. I normally never boo at a performance, but if McKenzie shows his face at her farewell, I might just have to discard etiquette and boo.

Prayer is jut the first section of Mazartiana. That is strange. No other female dancer is listed for Mozartiana, so I assume she's doing the entire ballet.

It's possible Veronika did not want a big send off, particularly since she is being forced out.

I can certainly believe that she is being forced out, because McKenzie has pulled that stunt before (Reyes, for example).

I don't have an Instagram account, but perhaps someone who does can diplomatically write a comment on Part's page asking about these developments.

Mozartiana has never been a closing ballet. The signs are pointing to retirement on July 8 for Part.

Just back from tonight's performance. There were no post performance promotions tonight from the stage.

Since Misty is probably the only ballet dancer in history who held a press conference upon her promotion, I'm sure McKenzie notified Copeland well in advance to give her publicity team time to prepare.

Thanks. Mussel, has your crystal ball been activated yet regarding next season at ABT?

All of the Whipped Cream performances have been very well sold, if not sold out. I understand that it will return next season. This is the Ratmansky box office bonanza that ABT has been waiting and hoping for.

I think the choreography in Onegin is much easier than in many other ballets. That's why Hallberg agreed to do 2 Onegin's in one week.

Every one of the students and apprentices have parents, grandparents and siblings to sell tickets to. The Lang premiere may be artistically rather insignificant, but it will help fill the auditorium the night of the gala. I was not particularly impressed last year with ABT's performances of Symphonic Variations. I've seen video of better performances by the Royal Ballet. Maybe ABT's performances this fall will be better than last year. I wonder what roles they are planning for Hallberg.

A word to anyone hoping to attend. Last night was the first night of Midsummer Night' Swing. The event is held at Damrosch Park, to the left of the opera house. I was milling around the area, hoping to buy dinner before my ABT performance last night. (They have an area set up for food sales, with rotating culinary offerings.) The Park is completely blocked off from public access except for one security check point line. The security check line for bag inspection was very, very long, so I didn't even bother attempting to enter the Park. Plan ahead, and expect a wait to get in.

I'm assuming that the Harris Theater engagement will also feature the debut of ABT Principal Dancer Stella Abrera, and probably some other principals who have never appeared at Harris. The fact that ABT has chosen to ignore their other principals and exclusively tout Misty is insulting to the other dancers. Really, ABT, get a clue.

Mariinsky at the Kennedy Center, here we come. Skip ABT's fall season and spend your hard earned dollars in Washington DC in October to see La Bayadere.

Now that Millepied has a lot of free time, since he is no longer director of POB, it appears he is back on the market as a choreographer. Gulp.

No, I don't agree. They would never publish a document or brochure listing someone as a principal whose tenure as a principal had not yet gone into effect. There are all sorts of potential legal problems in doing that. It leaves open a potential for a claim by a dancer that he or she was entitled to compensation or benefits as a principal before the effective date of the promotion. I suppose they could put an asterisk with an explanation, but that would look silly and distracting. Even if someone is named as a principal tomorrow, their name would never go in as a principal into any material or booklet distributed to the press or the public prior to the date the new status became effective.

They don't give exclusive first rights for publication of the season info. In fact, Dale posted the official info on Ballet Alert shortly after the NY Times. The press release goes out by email to all press contacts at the same time. If you look at the last two years, the promotions were announced on June 30 and July 1. This is, I believe, directly keyed into when the Board meets at the end of the second business quarter. Of course, it is possible that there may not be any promotions to announce. Even if there are new principals, principal status is rarely immediate. It usually becomes effective a few weeks later. So it makes no difference whether they announced the fall season principal lineup today or next week. Either way, they would not be listing any additional principal names for the engagement.