Spring 2019

[nubka]

1 hour ago, canbelto said:

All the NYCB dancers use Freeds. I think the principal women have more say in exactly how they want their shoe to be designed. Bouder's shoes IMO have always been a little louder than other shoes. It may just be her personal preference to have a harder block which will make more noise.

Bouder wears Bloch, unless she has now switched over to Freeds.

[vagansmom]

I've always hated it that dancers are supposed to wear one brand only simply when their company has some sort of deal with a brand, in this case Freeds. My daughter could never wear Freeds successfully. She tried and tried, but no Freeds, even the specially made ones she experimented with off and on for years, could accommodate her feet - exceedingly slender, extremely high arches, but with unusual toe lengths. Luckily, her company paid for her shoes even though they weren't standard. I wonder if the NYCB dancers who wear other makers have to pay some amount of money toward them since they're not Freeds. 

Bouder has such strong feet; it may be that her Blochs will last better through her performances than Freeds. 

[canbelto]

16 minutes ago, vagansmom said:

I've always hated it that dancers are supposed to wear one brand only simply when their company has some sort of deal with a brand, in this case Freeds. My daughter could never wear Freeds successfully. She tried and tried, but no Freeds, even the specially made ones she experimented with off and on for years, could accommodate her feet - exceedingly slender, extremely high arches, but with unusual toe lengths. Luckily, her company paid for her shoes even though they weren't standard. I wonder if the NYCB dancers who wear other makers have to pay some amount of money toward them since they're not Freeds. 

Bouder has such strong feet; it may be that her Blochs will last better through her performances than Freeds. 

I think Bouder has enough endorsements that she can probably afford Bloch shoes or Bloch is happy to have her as a spokesperson. I do wonder if some NYCB would do better were they given more choice of shoes. For instance I often wonder if Maria Kowroski would have done better with Gaynor Mindens. She's said many times that the extreme length and arch of her feet have given her chronic foot and ankle injuries throughout her career.

[StephinNYC]

Anyone know the runtime for Judah? I want to see DAAG tomorrow night, but can’t make the 8pm start time. 

[abatt]

2 hours ago, StephinNYC said:

Anyone know the runtime for Judah? I want to see DAAG tomorrow night, but can’t make the 8pm start time. 

I can make the 8 PM start time, but plan to intentionally arrive late in order miss Judah.  

[canbelto]

Anyone see Laracey debut in Symphony in Three Movements?

[cobweb]

I would like to hear reports on Laracey’s debut also. 

[tutu]

12 hours ago, StephinNYC said:

Anyone know the runtime for Judah? I want to see DAAG tomorrow night, but can’t make the 8pm start time. 

19 minutes, according to the City Ballet website. 

ETA: Oops, missed @Leah‘s answer above. Sorry for the double post.

Edited May 17, 2019 by tutu

[jeff-sh]

13 hours ago, cobweb said:

I would like to hear reports on Laracey’s debut also. 

She was nervous. Her face looked very tense with raised eyebrows the whole time

[cobweb]

Report on the matinee. Ramasar returned in the 4th movement of Brahms Schoenberg Quartet. It was great to see him back on the stage, and I was heartened by the warm, enthusiastic response he got from the audience. He looked great in that Hungarian outfit, with the white puffy shirt and ribbons flying everywhere, and he and Mearns danced up a storm. Glad he's back. 

[NYCgirl]

2 hours ago, cobweb said:

Report on the matinee. Ramasar returned in the 4th movement of Brahms Schoenberg Quartet. It was great to see him back on the stage, and I was heartened by the warm, enthusiastic response he got from the audience. He looked great in that Hungarian outfit, with the white puffy shirt and ribbons flying everywhere, and he and Mearns danced up a storm. Glad he's back. 

I agree, and am beyond glad he is back. The reaction of the audience both before and after was wonderful! The way he danced, and partnered Mearns was exactly what the audience has been missing, in my opinion. Sara Mearns was smiling, electric,  and looked like she was enjoying every second of dancing with him. I thought all of the principal dancers in Brahms were quite beautiful as well, especially Lauren Lovette in the second movement. While Lydia Wellington wasn't as impactful as Emily Kikta, I thought she made a great debut as well.

[vipa]

2 hours ago, cobweb said:

Report on the matinee. Ramasar returned in the 4th movement of Brahms Schoenberg Quartet. It was great to see him back on the stage, and I was heartened by the warm, enthusiastic response he got from the audience. He looked great in that Hungarian outfit, with the white puffy shirt and ribbons flying everywhere, and he and Mearns danced up a storm. Glad he's back. 

Glad to hear he's back and looking good. Thank you for including the audience response. 

[canbelto]

I'm at the Symph in 3 Movements with Laracey. Lovely dancer, wrong role. She doesn't have the speed for that double menage of pique turns and also cant quite master the thorny neoclassical angularity of the choreography.

[gallerina]

I’m at tonight’s performance as well, and agree regarding Laracey—as someone mentioned upthread, she looks tense and out of her element. It might be emphasized by her efforts to fit the choreography, but she looks a little frail to me, especially next to Taylor Stanley and Emilie Gerrity. 

[Helene]

Don't diagnose people on the site.  

The only people who are qualified to, ie, they are the person's doctors, wouldn't violate professional ethics by posting about it.

[KikiRVA]

Did Veyette dance today?  Curious how he’s looking.

[cobweb]

A few other comments about the matinee. I had a bad cold when I saw Brahms Schoenberg Quartet earlier in the week and dozed off during the middle two movements; not this afternoon! Overall I am really enjoying this piece, which is relatively new to me. Lydia Wellington looked lovely as the soloist in the first movement; she doesn't have Emily Kikta's height and verve, but rather brings a radiant softness and loveliness. I thought Lauren Lovette and Andrew Veyette looked very good as well in the second movement; this is my first time seeing Veyette since I don't know when, and it was good to see him and his attentive partnering back in action. 

In T&V, Anthony Huxley was having uncharacteristic difficulties in the pirouette-tour sequence, seemingly having trouble holding onto his center as he went up and down. On the final landing, he wound up on his butt on the floor. The rest of the performance was good, but not glowing. Presumably more performances/rehearsal will help. I find Huxley and Bouder mismatched, size-wise and temperament-wise. But Huxley is so beautiful I enjoyed it anyway. HIs port de bras is so beautiful I could watch that alone all day. 

Harrison Ball and Georgina Pazcoguin danced the Scherzo, but she did not join Ball for the curtain call. Hope it's not serious. 

I saw Joaquin de Luz in the audience again, more or less holding court, greeting people in the orchestra pit heartily, taking selfies with well-wishers, and chatting with everyone. 

[canbelto]

In the case of Ashley Laracey she's spoken publicly about having an eating disorder.

https://www.elle.com/culture/career-politics/a2508/ballerina-ashley-laracey-new-york-city-ballet-dancer/

But in any case her lack of muscle definition was really obvious in this leotard ballet. I also noticed that in the pas de deux she didn't really hold those odd poses where the female is lifted and has her legs upwards, feet flexed, the way I'm used to having them sustained. 

No diagnosis, just making observations on her performance tonight. I think she's a lovely dancer.

[Peg]

I did not attend either performance today but walked past the theater at 5 pm. Pazcoguin exited the side door as I walked by and was visibly limping. 

[lacdescygnes]

22 hours ago, cobweb said:

Report on the matinee. Ramasar returned in the 4th movement of Brahms Schoenberg Quartet. It was great to see him back on the stage, and I was heartened by the warm, enthusiastic response he got from the audience. He looked great in that Hungarian outfit, with the white puffy shirt and ribbons flying everywhere, and he and Mearns danced up a storm. Glad he's back. 

Thanks for reporting on this. I wonder how many people may have changed tickets rather than see Ramasar perform and have a negative reaction. I know I did for next weekend after casting was announced

[canbelto]

In which I review the two Brahms-Schoenberg casts, Dances at a Gathering, and some debuts in Symphony in Three Movements and The Times Are Racing:

https://humbledandoverwhelmed.blogspot.com/2019/05/spring-diaries-nycb-brings-back-brahms.html

[cobweb]

As I make my way through all four performances of the Brahms-Schoenberg Quartet/Tchai Suite #3 program, I am enjoying it a lot. Today, third performance. The more I see Brahms-Schoenberg Quartet the more I like it. Splendid dancing from all four principal couples plus the soloist (Wellington) from the first section. I would just have to single out the incredible Sara Mearns. I mean, she's always been incredible but this season she has propelled herself to another level altogether, with speed, strength, precision, and power that are breathtaking. 

In T&V, Huxley looked great, but I find him and Bouder to be such an odd match that it feels a little incoherent. 

 

[CTballetfan]

2 hours ago, lacdescygnes said:

Thanks for reporting on this. I wonder how many people may have changed tickets rather than see Ramasar perform and have a negative reaction. I know I did for next weekend after casting was announced

I was wondering if anyone on this board might have qualms about seeing Ramasar perform. I had a ticket for today’s matinee, but it would have been difficult to come in to the city today, so when I realized I would be seeing Ramasar, I had mixed feelings, and because of that and the challenges of making it to Manhattan today, I decided to exchange the ticket for a performance of Midsummer Night’s Dream. 

[Kathleen O'Connell]

1 hour ago, CTballetfan said:

I was wondering if anyone on this board might have qualms about seeing Ramasar perform. 

Eh. I see no reason to give him that much power. 

He's on the roster, like it or not. If there's a program I want to see, I plan to see it whether he's on the casting sheet or not.

Edited May 20, 2019 by Kathleen O'Connell

[FPF]

3 hours ago, CTballetfan said:

I was wondering if anyone on this board might have qualms about seeing Ramasar perform. I had a ticket for today’s matinee, but it would have been difficult to come in to the city today, so when I realized I would be seeing Ramasar, I had mixed feelings, and because of that and the challenges of making it to Manhattan today, I decided to exchange the ticket for a performance of Midsummer Night’s Dream. 

I would say that I'm neutral. I don't plan on avoiding a program just because he's cast. But I also wouldn't go out of my way to see him.