ABT Fall 2019 NY season

[Kathleen O'Connell]

1 minute ago, abatt said:

I plan on going to see Cornejo as Apollo if he is cast, but I think he is too short for the role.

I suppose it depends on who's cast as his muses. I always think Cornejo is too short for a role until I see him dance it; then I stop thinking about his height at all. 

Peter Boal was the shortest Apollo I can recall seeing dance Apollo live. (was Baryshinikov taller than Boal?) In my mind's eye, Apollo is a tall (or at least tall-ish) role, but it's also a porous one that's suited dancers of wildly divergent types. Boal and Hübbe, for instance.

[angelica]

1 hour ago, Olga said:

 

Agree, of course they have a right.  Too bad they don’t have the caliber of dancers they had for the premiere of Theme and Variations (relative to the respective time periods). Sure they might get better with practice but I would rather not watch and pay for the practice period. And as you said in your first paragraph, there are many other ballets which could have been programmed and would have made better use of the limited run. My guess is that ABT is so out of it they actually think programming Balanchine in NY will increase their audience. 

But I agree with others rhat many of the other ballets they are doing are less appealing. I am also very much looking forward to Seasons! 

If I'm not mistaken (and I may be), Sarah Lane has danced T&V with ABT in the past.

On the matter of ticketing, when I bought my tickets I asked about changing them (e.g., for a different cast) and they said you can change your tickets for a $20 fee. I know that's yet another fee, but my understanding had been that you can't change your tickets unless you're a subscriber.

 

[Olga]

58 minutes ago, Kathleen O'Connell said:

Well, you would certainly have every right not to buy tickets for programs with Balanchine on them. And although I'd like to see some Tudor, deMille, or Ashton, I'm not going to begrudge Cornejo an Apollo (if he's in fact getting one). In any event, doing more Tudor doesn't mean they can't do some Balanchine too. But they have to pick their Balanchine carefully, of course. 

I do think that there are some ABT dancers on the roster right now who could do justice to at least a few of the Balanchine ballets in ABT's rep if they were given the challenge of learning and performing the right roles. For instance, I think the current roster might yield a couple of creditable casts for Ballo della Regina. (It would help if ABT could bring itself to abandon the seniority system when it comes to casting. I'd be perfectly delighted with the opportunity to see what Skylar Brandt could do with Ballo. If the company needed to find

And I don't consider performing something new or unfamiliar "practice"; the best dancers deepen their artistry the more they do something. Watching that process can be its own reward.

Practice waa a flippant and unfortunate choice of words, reflecting perhaps my skepticism and frustration with the company — and how far from performance ready I found the 2017 foray into Balanchine.  But I will be seeing both Balanchine ballets. I look forward to Cornejo’s Apollo and I hope Theme and Variations is better than the Balanchine performances  I saw two years ago. 

Edited July 24, 2019 by Olga
Add, subtract

[abatt]

37 minutes ago, angelica said:

If I'm not mistaken (and I may be), Sarah Lane has danced T&V with ABT in the past.

On the matter of ticketing, when I bought my tickets I asked about changing them (e.g., for a different cast) and they said you can change your tickets for a $20 fee. I know that's yet another fee, but my understanding had been that you can't change your tickets unless you're a subscriber.

 

Since there are no subscriptions sold for the Koch theater engagement, I don't think that people who subscribed to the Met season would be permitted to free exchanges of any tickets purchased for the fall Koch season.

Edited July 24, 2019 by abatt

[ABT Fan]

Since Apollo is programmed the night of Cornejo’s 20th anniversary celebration, I’d expect him to be cast. He debuted this role at Vail a year or two ago.

And, yes Lane has done T&V before, many times. Her photo in the lead role is on both the ABT and the Koch sites for the fall season.

[angelica]

17 minutes ago, abatt said:

Since there are no subscriptions sold for the Koch theater engagement, I don't think that people who subscribed to the Met season would be permitted to free exchanges of any tickets purchased for the fall Koch season.

ITA in the case of the non-subs to ABT this fall. The point, though, is that you can change your tickets for $20.

 

[Marta]

1 hour ago, Kathleen O'Connell said:

I suppose it depends on who's cast as his muses. I always think Cornejo is too short for a role until I see him dance it; then I stop thinking about his height at all. 

Peter Boal was the shortest Apollo I can recall seeing dance Apollo live. (was Baryshinikov taller than Boal?) In my mind's eye, Apollo is a tall (or at least tall-ish) role, but it's also a porous one that's suited dancers of wildly divergent types. Boal and Hübbe, for instance.

I think Cornejo and Baryshnikov are the same height, either 5'6 or 5'7".  I remember Boal as being similar in height or even slightly taller.  I thought Martins was the greatest, he was a god. but also saw the other two and Hubbe and thought they were all  wonderful. 

[nanushka]

7 minutes ago, ABT Fan said:

Since Apollo is programmed the night of Cornejo’s 20th anniversary celebration, I’d expect him to be cast.

From the original season announcement:

Quote

The Company will present a program of works in honor of Principal Dancer Herman Cornejo on his 20th Anniversary with American Ballet Theatre. This special celebration on Saturday evening, October 26 will include Cornejo in works by George Balanchine and Tharp.

 

Edited July 24, 2019 by nanushka

[Kathleen O'Connell]

46 minutes ago, Olga said:

Practice waa a flippant and unfortunate choice of words, reflecting perhaps my skepticism and frustration with the company — and how far from performance ready I found the 2017 foray into Balanchine.  But I will be seeing both Balanchine ballets. I look forward to Cornejo’s Apollo and I hope Theme and Variations is better than the Balanchine performances  I saw two years ago. 

Oh, you have every right to be skeptical! ABT's choice of which Balanchine ballets to dance and which dancers to cast in them is not unerring, to put it politely. 

I'm actually feeling more positive about ABT than I have in a long while. I think a decade of Ratmansky has given them the makings of a company style; there is some up-and-coming talent that I find worth watching; and finally, I like that they're relying less and less on airlifted in talent. I'm cautiously hopeful and willing to be patient.  I wish they could find a more congenial NYC home than the Met, though.

[fondoffouettes]

Will we be seeing mostly debuts (at least company role debuts) in Apollo? On the ABT website, it lists Murphy as having danced Polyhymnia and Abrera as having danced Calliope, but I can't think of any other company members (besides the absent Hallberg) who would have previously danced the ballet with ABT. Assuming Murphy remains on maternity leave, is Abrera the only dancer who may reprise a role in the ballet? 

[ABT Fan]

29 minutes ago, nanushka said:

From the original season announcement:

 

That was my point! 😊 (Since others were wondering whether or not Cornejo would be cast as Apollo...).

[nanushka]

4 minutes ago, ABT Fan said:

That was my point! 😊 (Since others were wondering whether or not Cornejo would be cast as Apollo...).

Got it, just providing the official  confirmation that he has indeed been.

Edited July 24, 2019 by nanushka

[sandik]

4 hours ago, abatt said:

I've been to lots of galas where there is a disclosed mandatory contribution as part of the ticket price, but that contribution has always been TAX DEDUCTIBLE.  Your ticket comes with another piece of paper telling you the contribution portion for tax purposes.  What ABT is doing is forcing a charitable contribution, but not providing the customer with the option or the documentation to take it as a tax deduction.  Is this even legal?  Anyone with some spare time should write to the New York State AG's office  to inquire whether this is legal.

I thought about this after posting last night, and have a couple more thoughts. 

It's certainly legal, in that it's another fee, like the handling and processing fees.  You're right to say that if it were a donation, it would have to be treated as such (I don't know that they would issue a separate document for an amount that small, but it would be listed on the general receipt as a donation, and you could use that for tax purposes)  But if California's email receipt below is accurate, they are calling it a fee (something added onto the initial ticket price) and so it is not a donation.

21 hours ago, California said:

Looking at my own e-mail receipt for documentation - I don't remember an "ABT Costume Restoration Fee" before. 

DHKT Facility Fee : @$4
DHKT Service Fee : @$8
ABT Costume Restoration Fee : 

  @$2

Alongside the "disclosed mandatory contribution" for galas that abatt talks about above, many companies use that same strategy for subscription tickets at a certain level.  We've talked about that phenomenon many times here on BA, so I won't bore folks through repetition, except to say it's a pretty standard practice.  Whether we like it or not is a different question.

Edited July 24, 2019 by sandik

[California]

On 7/23/2019 at 2:13 PM, California said:

If you have ordered tickets (which went on sale on-line Monday) and have not yet received your print-at-home tickets, it seems their system is broken. Write to customercare@davidkochtheater.com with your e-mail receipt and they'll either hold your tickets at the box office or mail them through US mail.

UPDATE: The print-at-home tickets are working as of Wednesday. Just got mine.

[DeCoster]

On 7/17/2019 at 11:56 AM, NinaFan said:

Are you sure that it wasn't Reyes/Corella?  Or another possibility Herrera?  Not that I doubt your memories, but I don't remember Vishneva dancing at any of ABT's Fall seasons.  But someone please correct me if I'm wrong about any of this.  Guess I could start going through my playbills but it's not worth it.....

It wasn't a fall season performance.  It was one of those July 4 matinees at the Met, a mixed bill.

Edited: I found it.  (Not July 4, Memorial Day!)
"  The Memorial Day matinee at 2:00 P.M. on Monday, May 25 will feature Diana Vishneva's ABT debut in Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux."

My mom and I front row grand tier seats.  It was a memorable performance.  

In my searching I read that Misty copeland and Jared Matthews were to dance Tchai Pas that season.  Did that happen?

Edited July 25, 2019 by DeCoster

[nanushka]

16 minutes ago, DeCoster said:

In my searching I read that Misty copeland and Jared Matthews were to dance Tchai Pas that season.  Did that happen?

It's listed in her repertoire, though I'm not sure from when. I don't recall her dancing it when they did it two years ago (though I very well could be wrong about that).

Edited July 25, 2019 by nanushka

[onxmyxtoes]

47 minutes ago, nanushka said:

It's listed in her repertoire, though I'm not sure from when. I don't recall her dancing it when they did it two years ago (though I very well could be wrong about that).

I believe she did it at an awards show? Perhaps Kennedy Center Honors?

[FPF]

2 minutes ago, onxmyxtoes said:

I believe she did it at an awards show? Perhaps Kennedy Center Honors?

Yes, there's a video of her doing the woman's variation on YouTube:

It looks like Patricia McBride was the honoree.

She seems to have also done it at Vail in 2015:

 

[nanushka]

56 minutes ago, onxmyxtoes said:

I believe she did it at an awards show? Perhaps Kennedy Center Honors?

 

48 minutes ago, FPF said:

Yes, there's a video of her doing the woman's variation on YouTube:...She seems to have also done it at Vail in 2015...

Her ABT page says, "Her roles with the Company include..."

Were either of those appearances with ABT? If not, she may have danced it on one or more other occasions as well.

Edited July 25, 2019 by nanushka

[laurel]

As ABT Fan notes above, Lane and Cornejo have indeed performed T&V many times in the past.  Lane has several (blurry) clips posted on her Youtube page, featuring the two of them in rehearsal for T&V in 2011 at the State Academic Bolshoi Theater in Russia with Susan Jaffe coaching.  This is the longest of the clips.

 

[nanushka]

2 minutes ago, laurel said:

Lane has several (blurry) clips posted on her Youtube page, featuring the two of them in rehearsal for T&V in 2011 at the State Academic Bolshoi Theater in Russia with Susan Jaffe coaching.  This is the longest of the clips.

Ahhhhh, thank you so much for posting this! Even with the marked steps, there are some truly lovely moments there. And so interesting to see it from the other side. It's a charming video.

[NinaFan]

16 hours ago, DeCoster said:

It wasn't a fall season performance.  It was one of those July 4 matinees at the Met, a mixed bill.

Edited: I found it.  (Not July 4, Memorial Day!)
"  The Memorial Day matinee at 2:00 P.M. on Monday, May 25 will feature Diana Vishneva's ABT debut in Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux."

My mom and I front row grand tier seats.  It was a memorable performance. 
 

Wow, and thanks for the update!   It must have been a very exciting performance.  I am wondering if there was any chance I was there too, as I vaguely remember attending a Memorial Day matinee of a mixed bill some years back.  Now, I'm determined to go through my playbills as soon as it cools down a bit  as they're in the hot attic. 

[abatt]

16 hours ago, onxmyxtoes said:

I believe she did it at an awards show? Perhaps Kennedy Center Honors?

Copeland did that one section of Tschai Pas  for the Kennedy Center Honors.   It was an excerpt; she did not perform the entire work.

[tutu]

On 7/24/2019 at 1:25 PM, Kathleen O'Connell said:

I'm actually feeling more positive about ABT than I have in a long while. I think a decade of Ratmansky has given them the makings of a company style; there is some up-and-coming talent that I find worth watching; and finally, I like that they're relying less and less on airlifted in talent. I'm cautiously hopeful and willing to be patient.  

Me too. A number of the homegrown dancers really seem to have blossomed. Off the top of my head, Boylston, Shevchenko, Hurlin, and Brandt are examples of ABT dancers who have had the technical chops for a long time, but are now developing presence in a new way, at their own speeds—maybe because they’re getting more stage time, maybe because they’re getting more time working with Ratmansky, maybe something else? Whatever it is, there’s something more to a lot of these artists lately, and it’s inspired me to buy more tickets. 

[ABT Fan]

I just noticed that on ABT's homepage, in the lower right corner under ABT Highlights "Fall Season Announced" it states that casting will be announced in late August.

However, in true ABT form, I'm sure that announcement will contain only a partial casting list (which will undoubtedly change anyway 😐). Granted, for the premiers they need ample rehearsal time before deciding on the casts, but I find the dribbling out of the cast lists to be annoying. I'd rather they wait till they have everything sorted out.