Eileen

Does anyone have a clue who was chosen as apprentices with the company for next season?

Very interesting comments to Wakin's article (including mine!). Given the marketing mentality at NYCB, I have a great idea for an untapped resource: water! There is a water fountain on the orchestra level which is much used during intermission. Why not turn it into a spigot of money? It should be simple to add a slot for quarters, you put in a quarter, take a cup and a carefully measured 3 ounces of NYCB water pours out. This giving out free water is wasteful and leads to some patrons taking advantage and taking TWO cups of water. Charging just 25 cents a cup will discourage abuse of water resources, and provide a significant financial flow. Imagine the new Peter Martins ballets this will finance! And worth every penny.

Thank you, I just commented on Wakin's article.

I went to 14 performances of NYCBallet this past season. Next season I plan to attend none, because their price increases have made it prohibitive for me. We have yet to see what the effect of these price increases will be. By the way, when I looked at Chamber Music Society's website (Lincoln Center) there was a small notice that stage extensions are often used, so that the first row of the theater is G, not A. This is to me an indication of yet another performing arts institution reducing the number of seats so the theater will look more full. Not a good sign.

You reminded me of a golden moment in my younger life, when I was in college and could not afford to sit in the orchestra. I was standing in line before the performance for a ticket, and a stranger offered me without charge an orchestra ticket she couldn't use. It was for the shockingly expensive price of $20. This was probably around 1981-82. I was so grateful. Imagine - $20 for an orchestra ticket 30 years ago!

I took advantage of a discount program to get seats to black & white at $55. I know when repertoire is not going to sell at retail.

An article in today's Wall Street Journal highlights the long term benefits of loyalty and the negative effects of infidelity, both in marriage and at work. I draw a parallel to our relationship with NYC Ballet - many of us have long term loyalty to the company, and the raising of prices of single tickets is to me an act of betrayal of trust, of infidelity. It is healthy to stay with one long term relationship, and NYCB has added so much to my life. But I can no longer afford it. See the Wall Street Journal article at: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304887904576397801582783690.html?mod=WSJ_hp_MIDDLENexttoWhatsNewsSecond

You have perfectly expressed my own feelings. Time for me to move on. Balanchine ballet has nourished my soul for many years, but it is now too expensive for me. I think I will explore chamber music next season.

So they are trying to limit the supply of seats, thereby (theoretically) increasing demand (and ticket prices) for the seats they are willing to sell. I guess I will be phasing out my attendance at NYCB. They are trying to fill the house, and it was I guess demoralizing to see swaths of empty seats. I called the subscription department and the lady very patiently explained to me exactly which rows of the orchestra constituted which price sections. She said diplomatically that they are reserving certain sections of orchestra and 1st and 2nd ring (the least desirable seats in my interpretation) at low prices - $49 - so the 3rd and 4th ring subscribers can move down. I think single ticket buyers are very disadvantaged by this system, as our prices are going up substantially.

Dan Wakin told me City Ballet is phasing out the use of the 3rd and 4th ring - in effect closing them. Apparently they were not filling their house. They will only open the third and fourth ring for certain performances - I guess for the big sellers, like Nutcracker, Swan Lake, and Romeo & Juliet. That is NEWS.

I just got off the phone with Dan Wakin of the New York Times. I had written him on the subject of City Ballet price increases, and he is preparing an article on the subject for the Times. Keep an eye out for his article!

I will contact Daniel Wakin at the Times tomorrow and ask if he'd like to do a column on audience reaction to the new pricing policy. This thread already has almost a thousand views, which shows a lot of interest in the subject. He would be able to interview City Ballet executives.

Please do continue to post. I understand your position perfectly. Everyone has different priorities and it's mistaken to think someone in a poor seat is more devoted than someone in the front row.

I was referring, inexactly, to the cookies served at office functions with cookie on the bottom and lemon or chocolate filling and a twist of cream on top. Don't get me started!

"I only know I will miss it intensely." I wrote that yesterday. I have lost love, lost spaghetti and lost creamy cookies, and lost weight. The love I missed intensely eventually turned to indifference as I rebuilt my life. The spaghetti and creamy cookies I don't miss at all, as I have lost a lot of weight. My point is, intensely missing something is a temporary reaction to loss, and I will temporarily miss NYC Ballet. Then loss will turn to indifference as I take up new activities. I look forward to hearing from the executives of NYCBallet to my quite temperate letter about the Strike.

I wonder, too. I just wanted to mention now that I've had a chance to think out the implications of my Strike, that every time a performance takes place that I would have wanted to attend, I will deposit the amount of the ticket in my savings account. When my savings reach an appropriate amount, I will add them to my IRA or 401(k). It will be interesting to see what I've been spending on ballet. I only know I will miss it intensely.

I'm with you 100%. I will completely boycott the NYCB performances next year, and I think that my attendance of ABT will be severely curtailed after this season, too. Everybody who follows ballet knows how expensive it is to mount a first-rate production with marquee names, but ABT now charges $140 for prime orchestra seats (admittedly, some performances with top-tier guest dancers only) that cost $100 a couple of years ago. My income does not go up 20% a year, why should ABT's? NYCB doesn't even invite international stars, so their price hike is even less justified IMHO. You are brave. A Strike of Two Audience Members. Thank you.

I am sure that many repertory programs will be discounted at the Atrium now. Especially the mediocre "premiers" that are so ballyhooed, and turn out to be such disappointments. Partly what is weighing down City Ballet is its commitment to dismal new choreography. The much marketed Calatrava-designed ballets of last year - none were interesting except for Ratmansky's Namouna Divertissements. And these are expensive productions and I'm sure the choreographers are highly paid. I am aware of what it costs to do ballet at this level, but I do not think a recounting of the company's expenses is "wise". It is well known to anyone who follows cultural news. In the end, it does not pay for my ballet tickets, but artificially keeps prices inflated. My point is many of the costs are avoidable. This "strike" may be a blessimg in that it will give me a breather from familiar ballet repertory and allow me to experience new forms of art, and return to reading and learning.

Ballet is expensive, and the salaries paid to Peter Martins and the Executive Director could use some paring. Martins is paid over $600,000. He'd better butter up the donors, because the middle class is being priced out of his company performances. It's a good idea to go to Pennsylvania Ballet for Balanchine in Philadelphia. I intend to from time to time report on my strike, on my correspondence with company executives and on any responses. I feel very close to the dancers in this company, having watched them grow from Nutcracker to principal, but I cannot finance the exorbitant costs of City Ballet. NYCB should renegotiate with its unions and pare the salaries of its executives and artistic directors. More on the strike as the year progresses.

New York City Ballet is my passion and I attend as frequently as possible during the season. I picked up the subscription brochure for next season today - and I was shocked at the price increases. I can't subscribe at the savings due to family obligations, so I buy close to the date. In reaction to the City Ballet price increases, I have decided, after serious consideration, to go on strike as an audience member. At first I thought this would be a "ballet diet" - meaning seeing less. But that's not enough to express my deep disapproval of the price increases. Instead, I am going on strike. I will not attend next season AT ALL unless I can get a meaningful discount, either through the Atrium or some other manner. I am not stepping up to the box office and paying $149 for the best seats, and I am not going to sit in the 4th ring at this stage of my life. I am going on strike, I am rebuffing City Ballet based on their cavalier expectation that their audience will pay the higher charges. This one will not. What's your opinion? I'm writing to NYC Ballet management to express my rejection of their pricing policies and to announce my Strike of One. Does anyone want to join me?

Promotion? Who has been promoted and to what level?

She was replaced by Tess Reichlen, also replaced during Saturday matinee.

Saw Dancers' Choice last night. Craig Hall was very impressive in Apollo, strong and poetic. His leaps were airborne, his motions perfect, and he was totally in command in the complex pas de deux with Terpsichore. Polyhymnia and Calliope were played by Lauren Lovette and Ashly Isaacs, who were perky and charming. The audience gave Craig an immense ovation. I would not have chosen the very abstract pas de deux chosen by Amanda Hankes and Adrian Danchig-Waring - but! I got a chance to see Agon, after hearing the music many times on a CD of David Irving conducting NYCB repertoire, and that had accustomed me somewhat to its astringency. I was also very impressed by the video showing Wendy Whelan coaching a corps member, Sara Adams, in her role in Liturgy by Christopher Wheeldon. The generosity that Wendy displayed in choosing a previously unknown dancer, unnoticed except by Wendy, who noted her beautiful feet, her dancing, her potential. This was an act of pure generosity. Wendy had been picked out when she was younger for her potential, and she said that you need someone to give you a chance to - her word was "bloom". When I have met Wendy, I have been warmed by her warmth and impressed by her sheer lack of pretension. Exciting sighting at first intermission: Peter Martins and Darci Kistler in full regalia, proceeding through the hall with noble bearing, king and queen of the ballet.

I see, that explains the applause given her by the company and the audience's appreciation. I wasn't aware, thank you for telling me.

Saw Jewels again at today's matinee, the last performance, with different dancers in key roles. Rachel Rutherford replaced Abi Stafford in the principal role in Emeralds, and she was very popular with the audience and with her colleagues, who generously applauded her in curtain calls. But I do so love Jenny Ringer in the third variation I believe, her first solo, where her delicacy and refinement glow forth. In her second solo, she had a quality that I did not see in Rachel Rutherford, and that is sorrow. She was not acting, never that, but the music evoked a natural sorrow and she emanated humanity. I am not qualified to critique every entrechat six and pas de chat, but I do know a great artist when I see one, and Jenny Ringer has the inner depth that only come from experience of life and receptiveness to nuance. Her partner this time was Ask la Cour who greatly impressed with his noble bearing. He is definitely in the running for a principal role when Charles Askegaard retires. More on Charles later. In Rubies, Tess Reichlen played the tall role again, and she is perfection. For a change, Sterling Hylton was the secondary soloist and danced with Gonzalo Garcia. I think Sterling seemed rather severe in the angular Rubies music. I prefer her in more natural, emotive roles, like The Concert or Western Symphony. Replacing Sara Mearns and Jonathan Stafford, in a surprise announcment, were Maria and Charles Askegaard. Maria Kowroski is a marvel, her extensions 180 degrees, her demeanor carrying ballerina bearing. Charles Askegaard is a superb partner, totally strong, but his solo variations were not impressive. So who will be promoted? I'd vote for Ask le Cour based on his courtly bearing and his height in Emeralds. But Sean Suozzi is also impressive. Among corps members, I am impressed with Lydia Wellington, who is also quite beautiful, and would be a very watchable soloist. Of course, balance must be maintained between men and women in the company so if a man retires, it makes room for a soloist man, and a male corps de ballet member moves up. In which case it may well be Chase Finlay, who gracefully took his place in the corps de ballet this afternoon and at last Thursday's performance. Thursday he danced with Lydia Wellington, an attractive couple indeed. I always marvel at the fecundity of George Balanchine's choreographic output, the numerous patterns and repatternings in each ballet, the alternation of soloists with demi-soloists, the changes of position, the sheer complexity of his dance imagination. I believe Suki Schorer wrote, "Dance just poured out of him." How fortunate that I live so close to Lincoln Center that an afternoon at the ballet can be a moment's decision.