California Posted January 13, 2022 Author Share Posted January 13, 2022 10 minutes ago, cobweb said: Isn't that when they usually announce the Levin Award winner? Any word on what they are doing with that this year? No mention on their web site for this luncheon. They do have a program: https://res.cloudinary.com/new-york-city-ballet/image/upload/v1641919045/Special-Events/2022-AL-Electronic-Invitation-V2 Link to comment
bellawood Posted January 14, 2022 Share Posted January 14, 2022 22 hours ago, BalanchineFan said: Ooh, maybe LaFreniere is doing the role Maria Kowroski did! From the casting order I think Sara is dancing that role. Isabella LaFreniere is dancing the role Sara used to dance (often with Taylor Stanley). I think Chan/Nadon are dancing the roles most recently danced by Joe Gordon/Unity that have a big jump for the guy at the beginning: https://www.instagram.com/p/B9DC2OUg2B4/?utm_medium=copy_link Link to comment
vipa Posted January 14, 2022 Share Posted January 14, 2022 I admit I'm a bit disappointed in the casting for the Balanchine works for the first week. Seniority wins the day. Guess I was hoping for something more fresh and adventurous. Maybe later in the season. This makes sense in terms of tradition and rehearsal hours. On another front, I wonder if/when Bouder will be back. She posted on instagram recently that she'd just started back to serious exercise. Link to comment
cobweb Posted January 14, 2022 Share Posted January 14, 2022 1 hour ago, vipa said: I admit I'm a bit disappointed in the casting for the Balanchine works for the first week. Agree. I would like to see a fresh approach. Link to comment
canbelto Posted January 14, 2022 Share Posted January 14, 2022 I think with the covid-shortened rehearsal period they might have just wanted people who already knew their roles. Link to comment
BalanchineFan Posted January 14, 2022 Share Posted January 14, 2022 On 1/11/2022 at 3:42 PM, Helene said: I think the starting place for a lot of this is "What you're used to." Think of the photos from the '70's of men's hair, which looks as odd to us as photos of now will look 20 years from now. Or the agony over men wearing tights and not those modesty shorts. Or the conical bra cups for women in leotards. Or the coup de pied vs. passe position for men's pirouettes. Or the completely different musculature and heights of featured dancers in the original ballets vs. today's dancers. There are some things, though, that aren't accepted across time, and I can only hope that this changes. OMG, the shorts men used to wear in those old pictures!! LOL. I thought those were so, so unnecessary, until a Dance in America broadcast came on while I was babysitting. Imagine teenage me, sitting down to watch Emeralds on Dance in America, way before VCRs and recording things was possible. One image of a male dancer and the kiddies ALL start screaming "BARE BOTTOMS!" and pointing at the TV. All four of them. They kept screaming and I really couldn't focus on the ballet. I guess I introduced those kids to a completely new experience. Link to comment
BalanchineFan Posted January 14, 2022 Share Posted January 14, 2022 I will miss Abi Stafford in Summerspace. She was spectacular. So composed and daring in all the Cunningham jumps and holds and craziness. Lydia Wellington was great in it, too. Link to comment
Susu_nyc Posted January 15, 2022 Share Posted January 15, 2022 Any thoughts as to what Unity and Sara Adams are rehearsing in Chun's instagram story? Unity responded to his story that she's working on some new things for winter season. https://www.instagram.com/stories/chunner/2750687378013416984/ Link to comment
claireasday Posted January 15, 2022 Share Posted January 15, 2022 @Susu_nyc, it's from the coda of Tschaikovsky Pas de Deux. Link to comment
Marta Posted January 15, 2022 Share Posted January 15, 2022 15 hours ago, BalanchineFan said: I will miss Abi Stafford in Summerspace. She was spectacular. So composed and daring in all the Cunningham jumps and holds and craziness. Lydia Wellington was great in it, too. I agree. Stafford was never a favorite, but she was terrific in Summerspace. Link to comment
BalanchineFan Posted January 15, 2022 Share Posted January 15, 2022 18 hours ago, Susu_nyc said: Any thoughts as to what Unity and Sara Adams are rehearsing in Chun's instagram story? Unity responded to his story that she's working on some new things for winter season. https://www.instagram.com/stories/chunner/2750687378013416984/ I don't recognize Sara Adams in the video. Unity is definitely working on Tschai Pas. The Emilie Gerrity photo is from Summerspace. I thought it looked like Mira Nadon in one of the Swan Lake ppd. or Swan Lake something... Where was Sara Adams? Was she behind one of those masks? Link to comment
Olga Posted January 18, 2022 Share Posted January 18, 2022 As far as I can tell NYCB is not requiring booster shots for admission to performances despite talk on Its website about being “deeply committed” to health and safety and putting “safety for all at the forefront.” Please tell me if I am wrong. The Met Opera and I believe Carnegie Hall are requiring booster proof. It is pretty well established that the two shot series of vaccines do not offer as much protection against Omicron as a booster would. While the CDC is keeping the definition of “fully vaccinated” at 2 shots (or 1 J & J) it is using the nomenclature of “optimally vaccinated” for the booster shot. They have their reasons for doing this in a country with deep resistance to any shots but I think City Ballet should do the right thing here. Link to comment
Balletwannabe Posted January 18, 2022 Share Posted January 18, 2022 (edited) Everyone who attends has gotten 2 shots already, people with a deep resistance are unvaccinated and not going, so I'm sure it's not to please that crowd, that makes no sense... I think they'll update this policy eventually. The School of American Ballet is requiring the booster for all their dancers coming this summer. Edited January 18, 2022 by Balletwannabe Link to comment
nanushka Posted January 18, 2022 Share Posted January 18, 2022 I agree @Olga and think you may be right @Balletwannabe. They were a bit slow to require the vaccine in the first place IIRC, so it may be just a matter of time. Link to comment
Marta Posted January 18, 2022 Share Posted January 18, 2022 58 minutes ago, nanushka said: I agree @Olga and think you may be right @Balletwannabe. They were a bit slow to require the vaccine in the first place IIRC, so it may be just a matter of time. I really think NYCB should follow the Met and require proof of booster. The Met hasn't had to cancel a performance yet. Link to comment
canbelto Posted January 18, 2022 Share Posted January 18, 2022 (edited) Think it might have to do with NYCB wanting to attract parents bringing kids. Kids (under 12) are not eligible for boosters yet, but they can get the double-dose vaccine. Edited January 18, 2022 by canbelto Link to comment
Marta Posted January 18, 2022 Share Posted January 18, 2022 17 minutes ago, canbelto said: Think it might have to do with NYCB wanting to attract parents bringing kids. Kids (under 12) are not eligible for boosters yet, but they can get the double-dose vaccine. Yes, true. However, NYCB can still follow the Met by allowing "fully vaccinated children age 5-11 to enter two weeks after they have received their final dose." Link to comment
mille-feuille Posted January 18, 2022 Share Posted January 18, 2022 (edited) On 1/13/2022 at 10:13 PM, cobweb said: Agree. I would like to see a fresh approach. Same here. I'm not sure whether I'll even go to the first week, which pains me to say. I'm not interested in Summerspace or DGV; I'll hold out for reports on Justin Peck's new work Partita. The All Balanchine programming is just odd. I've never been a big fan of Mozartiana. I love Rubies, but it feels weird to see it without Emeralds and Diamonds—although I may go to see Emily Kikta's Tall Girl. And La Valse... I already saw it twice in the fall! This program feels like a random grab-bag rather than a cohesive evening. Here's hoping for interesting casting for Serenade, Tschai Pas, and 4T's... Edited January 18, 2022 by mille-feuille Link to comment
canbelto Posted January 18, 2022 Share Posted January 18, 2022 I am looking forward to seeing Sterling Hyltin's Mozartiana again. Link to comment
nanushka Posted January 18, 2022 Share Posted January 18, 2022 8 hours ago, mille-feuille said: This program feels like a random grab-bag rather than a cohesive evening. I think that's what it is, in fact — i.e. they're putting together the programs they can based on the limitations they're currently facing. Link to comment
cobweb Posted January 18, 2022 Share Posted January 18, 2022 I hope this is not too "off topic" for this forum, but I wanted to alert Balanchine fans that Vienna State Opera Ballet currently has a livestream up that contains a beautifully prepared performance of Liebeslieder Walzer. It's already been up since, I think, Friday, so not sure how much longer. It's a very different kind of performance from what we last saw at NYCB, but very beautiful, and the music and singing is a model of ravishing clarity. Link to comment
vipa Posted January 18, 2022 Share Posted January 18, 2022 6 hours ago, nanushka said: I think that's what it is, in fact — i.e. they're putting together the programs they can based on the limitations they're currently facing. I agree that the limitations imposed by COVID, such as lack of rehearsal time and programs with no intermissions are challenging. Bless everyone for soldiering on. At the same time I find some programing choices puzzling including the frequency of La Valse and Slaughter. Unfortunately the new regime had little time to settle in before the pandemic hit, so I have no read on what they are about or what direction they are steering the ship, other than a seeming affinity for choreographers outside of the ballet idiom. Meanwhile I'm trying to choose wisely, in terms of programs and cast! Link to comment
Helene Posted January 18, 2022 Share Posted January 18, 2022 3 hours ago, cobweb said: I hope this is not too "off topic" for this forum, but I wanted to alert Balanchine fans that Vienna State Opera Ballet currently has a livestream up that contains a beautifully prepared performance of Liebeslieder Walzer. It's already been up since, I think, Friday, so not sure how much longer. It's a very different kind of performance from what we last saw at NYCB, but very beautiful, and the music and singing is a model of ravishing clarity. I agree -- I could listen to those musicians performing the Brahms on a perpetual tape loop! (For those who are interested, here are links to the lyrics and translations: Part 1, Part 2.) It was also great to see Bart Cook and Maria Calegari in the intermission feature talking about the ballet and staging and working in the studio with the dancers. They were both wonderful in the ballet in their time, although they danced different couples: Cook danced in the Hayden (then McBride, in the old taped version)/Jonathan Watts couple, while Calegari danced the Diana Adama/Bill Carter couple. Cook danced with McBride and Heather Watts in the '80's, and just as I typecast Watts as a leotard ballet dancer, I found that they were glorious together in this ballet. Any "unexpectedly" is on me. Link to comment
cobweb Posted January 18, 2022 Share Posted January 18, 2022 Come to think of it, if NYCB needs to focus on smaller-scale works, how about putting in Liebeslieder Walzer? It's smaller-scale than either La Valse or Slaughter, and I for one would be at every performance. Link to comment
nanushka Posted January 18, 2022 Share Posted January 18, 2022 (edited) 9 minutes ago, cobweb said: Come to think of it, if NYCB needs to focus on smaller-scale works, how about putting in Liebeslieder Walzer? It's smaller-scale than either La Valse or Slaughter, and I for one would be at every performance. But La Valse and Slaughter were both seen in the Fall, weren't they? While that makes them unexciting for those of us who attend numerous performances, I think that's precisely why they're programming them again. I suspect it's been very difficult for them to get in the studios with the recent COVID spike. Liebeslieder hasn't been done in a number of years so would require a good deal more rehearsal time. Not saying I don't agree it'd be great to have more variety — just that I don't think it's only about "smaller-scale works." (I think Diamonds was problematic not only because it's larger-scale but also because of the amount of rehearsal that means it'd require.) Edited January 18, 2022 by nanushka Link to comment
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