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Spring 2015: La Bayadere

Helene

By Helene
in American Ballet Theatre

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Amour

Amour

Posted
Posted

If Alina is replaced, it'll be a replacement of the replacement (Alina was replacing Smirnova). I thought she wasn't asked to begin with because she seems pretty unreliable. As soon as I heard Smirnova wasn't coming I exchanged that date for a second Kimin Kim performance.

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lafemme

lafemme

Posted
Posted

Oh goodness, I was considering buying a ticket last minute just to see her live for the first time. I'm already sad to have missed the chance to see Vishneva in Manon (even if it was just the one scene) and Polina S in Swan Lake. Of course injuries happen, but buying ballet tickets shouldn't feel like a game of luck and chance.

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Amour

Amour

Posted
Posted

I Yes, until the times they simply don't tell you in advance at all. You walk in to see a note stuck in your program saying Dancer .X is unable to perform tonight due to injury/illness. She/he will be replaced by Dancer Y. That's what happened to me one year when Vishneva withdrew from a SB. If Alina does pull out, let's hope Kochetkova hasn't gone back home to SF because she's the only other dancer who knows the role and is small enough for Herman to partner (I don't think Sarah Lane knows Nikiya but that would be a grand opportunity for her).

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lafemme

lafemme

Posted
Posted

Waiting until the last minute would be a perfectly sensible strategy. ABT almost never sells out, and it's often possible to snag a very nice seat the day before.

I think that's going to be my strategy in the future if I want to see something for the dancer, and not the overall ballet or corps, if they continue on with change after change. This is my first spring season at a ballet fan, (I essentially developed more than a passing interest in the art last June after seeing the Bolshoi) and at least I can say it's full of surprises! My concern is the "best" seats selling out when it's a particularly well loved artist, but perhaps it's better to have a decent seat and see my artist of choice rather than to have an excellent, expensive seat and be disappointed. Also, once I have seen the classics and most of the dancers I love, I imagine I'll be much less rigid. I will wait on Alina. If she is not performing that day, I can purchase a very cheap seat or see another La Bayadere, thank you.

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volcanohunter

volcanohunter

Posted
Posted

Yes, until the times they simply don't tell you in advance at all. You walk in to see a note stuck in your program saying Dancer .X is unable to perform tonight due to injury/illness. She/he will be replaced by Dancer Y.

Gosh, I could tell you about how I would make triple sure I would see the dancers I wanted at the Royal Opera House, which accepts tickets to sold out shows for re-sale up to an hour before the performance. But ticket holders have access to the restaurants an hour and a half before the performance, and since tickets are not scanned or torn, but merely inspected for the date and time (as of my last visit), it's entirely possible to enter, exit and re-enter again. Any last-minute cast changes are posted at the entrance to the stalls and amphitheater, and cast sheets are available at the program/ice cream stands. So 90 minutes before each show I would march right up to a notice board and inspect a cast sheet, fully prepared to surrender my ticket if met by a rude surprise. As it happens, I never encountered a change that put me off to that degree. On the other hand, I have been met with plenty of unpleasant surprises at ABT performances (the dreaded slip!), and its ticket policies are nowhere near as indulgent.

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Drew

Drew

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Posted

What a circus! Not being snarky here at all and I empathize with you, this is my first time with ABT for multiple performances and I can't believe the problems this company has with it's dancers.

It is not always like this. The season has had an unusually large number of cast changes. I have been coming into NY for years to see ABT for clusters of performances, and from time to time one of the ballerinas or male dancers I hope to see is out. But I have never experienced any thing like this year with tickets for a cluster of performances in which practically no originally announced cast is left standing. My dates in NY are set, so I cannot just trade tickets.However, whatever concerns I may have about this or that ABT policy, I do not blame the company for what seems to have been a perfect storm of leading dancer injuries.
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choriamb

choriamb

Posted
Posted

I don't experience anything like this with NYCB.

Eh, NYCB has its share of replacements...and similarly fails to supply dancers with similar qualities. For instance, I attended last Tuesday's NYCB Goldberg Variations/West Side Story bill specifically for Sara Mearns, Ashley Bouder, and Joaquin de Luz all of whom received last-minute replacements. (Who were all accomplished, but not my cup of tea in this work.)

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KarenAG

KarenAG

Posted
Posted

Eh, NYCB has its share of replacements...and similarly fails to supply dancers with similar qualities. For instance, I attended last Tuesday's NYCB Goldberg Variations/West Side Story bill specifically for Sara Mearns, Ashley Bouder, and Joaquin de Luz all of whom received last-minute replacements. (Who were all accomplished, but not my cup of tea in this work.)

Hi Choriamb,

Thanks for your comment. I'm sure NYCB does have its share of replacements and I don't see the company in NYC more than 3-4 times a year, but I do in Saratoga and it's just not been my experience to have casts change on me.

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KarenAG

KarenAG

Posted
Posted

It is not always like this. The season has had an unusually large number of cast changes. I have been coming into NY for years to see ABT for clusters of performances, and from time to time one of the ballerinas or male dancers I hope to see is out. But I have never experienced any thing like this year with tickets for a cluster of performances in which practically no originally announced cast is left standing. My dates in NY are set, so I cannot just trade tickets.However, whatever concerns I may have about this or that ABT policy, I do not blame the company for what seems to have been a perfect storm of leading dancer injuries.

Hi Drew,

Thank you for your response. I certainly don't blame anyone for dancers having injuries and maybe I didn't articulate well in my post that you commented on. What I mean is that perhaps the decisions being made aren't well thought out. Isn't Hee Seo being cast in all of Semionova's Bayaderes? What if she becomes injured as a result? Perhaps the roles should be spread among more dancers. Also, all the talk on the forum about certain dancers not being cast much, etc. So it seems to me that the company may be in some disarray, that's all.

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vipa

vipa

Posted
Posted

She's been replaced by Kochetkova for both performances.

I'm totally bummed. I have a June 3 ticket.

OK let's turn the whole season over to Hee Seo and Kochetkova. OK I am over reacting but there seems to be a stunning lack of imagination here on the part of KM.

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ABT Fan

ABT Fan

Posted
Posted

I'm totally bummed. I have a June 3 ticket.

OK let's turn the whole season over to Hee Seo and Kochetkova. OK I am over reacting but there seems to be a stunning lack of imagination here on the part of KM.

Couldn't agree more.

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