New York City Ballet 2022-2023 season

[Kathleen O'Connell]

14 hours ago, cobweb said:

ETA: Gerrity seems like an obvious choice. Not sure if she's done it before.

This would be my vote. I've seen Gerrity in a couple of Mearns' signature roles (e.g., the role Ratmansky made on her for Namouna) and they looked great on her. Gerrity has her own style, but the two dancers share a kind of fearless attack that certain roles call for and that Phelan, for one, doesn't have.

[vipa]

5 hours ago, BalanchineFan said:

Phelan has been dancing the lead in Walpurghisnacht in NYC, I believe. Or at least rehearsing it. I can't remember where I saw that. Maybe I saw her debut last winter...

Some weeks ago Phelan posted a bit from her Walpurgistnacht rehearsal, so I assumed she'd be second cast. 

 

 

[Emma]

I could've sworn I saw Mira Nadon in the back of Mearns' rehearsal photo for Walpurghisnacht.  She would be excellent.

[cobweb]

Week 2 casting is up, and Week 1 replacements. Gerrity debuts in Walpurgisnacht! I look forward to this, but I really hope Sara Mearns is okay. 

Also Ashley Hod debuts Firebird. Very surprised they didn't give this to Mira Nadon, who seems born for the role. 

Edited January 12, 2023 by cobweb

[brokenwing]

I would presume they are saving Mira for the Copeland ballet, as she is now anchoring that premiere. Excited for the debuts, but wishing Mearns the speediest recovery from whatever her ailments may be. 

[MarzipanShepherdess]

21 hours ago, bellawood said:

On Mira Nadon’s insta stories, surprise debut in aria I violin concerto — replacing Mearns — on Jan 17, 19 and 25, anyone going?

I have tickets for the 17th! Sad not to be seeing Sara, but a surprise debut from Mira is definitely the best possible consolation. I'll report back!

[vipa]

I just got a ticket for Copeland. I'll be seeing the 2nd cast. Unless I'm missing something Daniel Ulbricht is not in either cast (correct me if I'm wrong). This surprises me because Rodeo was done with Ulbricht in a pretty big role

Edited January 13, 2023 by vipa

[BalanchineFan]

On 1/10/2023 at 6:11 PM, On Pointe said:

Based on their recent ad campaigns,  NYCBallet appears to be trying to attract people who don't know much about ballet and what little they do know they don't much like.   In my opinion,  that's a mistake.  There's an old showbiz axiom that has implications in politics and other fields:  Always play to your strongest audience. 

One the other hand, if you always play to your strongest audience (and only to them) what does an art institution do when that audience dies off? How do they get younger people or new people in the seats? I imagine an institution’s strongest audience is going to show up regardless of advertising. That’s how I am as a balletomane. I know what I want to see and adverts aren’t going to change my mind or exert much influence. The advertising is for the newbies. 

Edited January 13, 2023 by BalanchineFan

[nanushka]

6 minutes ago, BalanchineFan said:

One the other hand, if you always play to your strongest audience (and only to them) what does an art institution do when that audience dies off? How do they get younger people or new people in the seats? I imagine an institution’s strongest audience is going to show up regardless of advertising. That’s how I am as a balletomane. I know what I want to see and adverts aren’t going to change my mind or exert much influence. The advertising is for the newbies. 

But if it's for the newbies, is it really giving them a good sense of what the pleasures of ballet (or even of these specific ballets) are going to be? Even if they're not playing to their strongest audience, I'd think it'd be a good idea to play to their true strengths — the experiential elements that really make the art form engaging and worth attending.

[abatt]

I think everyone has noticed that new audiences do come out for certain things, like the program in the fall that featured Solange Knowles' music. But I have to wonder whether  they will return.  The same thing happened many years ago when Peter Martins used a score by Paul McCartney.  My sense is that generally these are one time excursions to the ballet.  It is not a general interest in ballet, but an interest in a specific composer.  

Edited January 13, 2023 by abatt

[Balletwannabe]

Ballet has pointe work (unique to this art) which always fascinates the general public.  I don't know why they don't hone in on this in their marketing; it's the type of thing that gets shared on social media.  A general artsy-modern video like the one being referenced, is not interesresting at all and will not be shared, because there's nothing unique about it.  

Edited January 13, 2023 by Balletwannabe

[On Pointe]

2 hours ago, BalanchineFan said:

One the other hand, if you always play to your strongest audience (and only to them) what does an art institution do when that audience dies off? How do they get younger people or new people in the seats? I imagine an institution’s strongest audience is going to show up regardless of advertising. That’s how I am as a balletomane. I know what I want to see and adverts aren’t going to change my mind or exert much influence. The advertising is for the newbies. 

What attracts people to ballet in the first place?  For me it was the dancing,  not the art direction.  The first ballet I ever saw was NYCB's Nutcracker,  with Maria Tallchief as the Sugar Plum Fairy.  Nutcracker still largely sells out each year,  with the same choreography,  the same music,  the same costuming it has had for decades.  The audience for Nutcracker doesn't get older and then die off.    I don't think NYCB is going to junk Balanchine's  Nutcracker production in favor of some hot new choreographer's high concept version.  (At least I hope not!). The biggest mistake any business can make is to take their customer base for granted. 

If you want to attract new audiences to ballet you have to show them ballet dancers dancing in your advertising,   not flowers,  not dancers walking outdoors in street clothes.  People actually like dancing - two of the biggest current pop culture hits,  Wednesday and M3gan,  became breakouts because of their entertaining choreography.  Then you make performances accessible.  The biggest Broadway hits have low cost tickets available for every show - you can sit in the first row of Hamilton for a Hamilton - $10.00.  If you could see NYCB for about the same price as a movie ticket,  some people will attend out of curiosity,  and some of them will become hardcore fans.

 

[Helene]

If showing advertisements with ballet dancing is only appealing to its current, hardcore audience -- aside from Nutcracker -- then ballet has no future.   A few people showing up because they like artsy commercials are unlikely to show up a second time if they don't like what ballet is, and they're going to tell their friends, whether in person or on social media.

I don't know if this is still true in pandemic times, but there was a lot of hair-pulling about the aging of audiences, and someone did a study to find that younger older people were replacing older older people. Some of the reasoning was that when people became empty nesters, some of whom were downsizing and moving back to cities, they had time and more disposable income, as well as new proximity to performance venues.  

 

[BalanchineFan]

7 hours ago, On Pointe said:

Then you make performances accessible.  The biggest Broadway hits have low cost tickets available for every show - you can sit in the first row of Hamilton for a Hamilton - $10.00.  If you could see NYCB for about the same price as a movie ticket,  some people will attend out of curiosity,  and some of them will become hardcore fans.

NYCB does $30 tickets for those under 30. They have children cast in many productions, Nutcracker, Midsummer, Coppelia, as well as smaller child casts in Mozartiana, SB..  (I think there are at least 9 ballets in the rotating rep that have children in them.) These all help keep their audience young.

I never said they should update Nutcracker (heaven forfend!). My point was that these new ads are 1. probably in response to market research 2. recommended by an ad agency that has done that market research based on NYCB's stated goal, like expanding their audience 3. that WE are the strong core audience, and as such, our interest and attendance are not diminished by ads we dislike. Of course we don't like the ads. The ads aren't aimed at us. 

I'm glad to see all the things NYCB is doing to keep the institution strong. Glad of their online presence. Glad of the new ballets and really glad that they're keeping the Balanchine and Robbins rep vital.

In a related matter, Kurt Froman posted a clip from Davidsbundlertanze. Such a beautiful ballet. I was hoping it might be performed again, but I can't see the casting. Balanchine was great at developing dancers who were so distinctly themselves, different types, different strengths and affinities, even if their technique was all at a high standard. Davidsbundlertanze really needs different types of women.  I wonder who would do it now?

[vipa]

7 hours ago, Helene said:

I don't know if this is still true in pandemic times, but there was a lot of hair-pulling about the aging of audiences, and someone did a study to find that younger older people were replacing older older people. Some of the reasoning was that when people became empty nesters, some of whom were downsizing and moving back to cities, they had time and more disposable income, as well as new proximity to performance venues.  

It's funny. I've been reading for years and years that audiences for certain types of performances skew older, so it has to be that as older folks die off, new old folks replace them!

[Drew]

Regarding what @Heleneand @vipa said about older audiences being replaced by 'younger' older audiences--more than by young audiences--I have a corroborating anecdote.  (Apologies to anyone who read it when I first posted about it): I was at the Met opera for Trovatore a few years ago and  found myself sitting next to an elderly woman who had come in from out of town as part of a visit organized by the Met for legacy donors. She told me she and her husband had become opera goers & fans only post retirement. I assume they knew something about opera before then, but basically, she had made a very deliberate decision once retired that she and her husband needed a focus for their energies and became interested in opera--traveling to see performances and becoming dedicated fans and donors to the Met. 

Of course, arts organizations need to do outreach to younger audiences--and making cheap tickets available to select performances etc. is a great idea as well as other kinds of outreach at schools etc. (which the major companies do). It's great for the sake of all involved and great to plant seeds for later moments in life--but it does not surprise me that research suggests that it is 'younger' old audiences who mostly replace the dying older audiences. They are the ones who have not just money but time. 

And, whether that's right or wrong-- yes to publicizing and advertising DANCING! I did meet a young woman in her 20s excited by the video posted some years ago of Justin Peck and Robert Fairchild in the NY Subway...where they were dancing.  (That was to publicize The Times are Racing.)

12 hours ago, On Pointe said:

 

If you want to attract new audiences to ballet you have to show them ballet dancers dancing in your advertising,   not flowers,  not dancers walking outdoors in street clothes.  People actually like dancing - two of the biggest current pop culture hits,  Wednesday and M3gan, 

 

 

Edited January 14, 2023 by Drew

[On Pointe]

2 hours ago, BalanchineFan said:

NYCB does $30 tickets for those under 30. They have children cast in many productions, Nutcracker, Midsummer, Coppelia, as well as smaller child casts in Mozartiana, SB..  (I think there are at least 9 ballets in the rotating rep that have children in them.) These all help keep their audience young.

There seem to be more and more young people studying ballet seriously,  and while they won't all make a career of it,  hopefully they will remain fans in the future.  I did find it really sad that,  according to the series on SAB on Disney+,  the parents of the little girl from the Bronx who was cast in Nutcracker could not afford tickets to see her dance.

 

2 hours ago, BalanchineFan said:

My point was that these new ads are 1. probably in response to market research 2. recommended by an ad agency that has done that market research based on NYCB's stated goal, like expanding their audience 3. that WE are the strong core audience, and as such, our interest and attendance are not diminished by ads we dislike. Of course we don't like the ads. The ads aren't aimed at us. 

We get lots of Broadway shows in Chicago and while I was watching my YouTube feed this morning,  there were ads for the next batch,  Cats,  Annie and 1776 (pretty dreary lineup if you ask me!). All of them had kinetic scenes from the shows.  The one for Annie managed to squeeze in both Tomorrow and It's a Hard Knock Life in less than thirty seconds.  There were no abstract shots of flowers or fabric.  These are old shows that have had numerous productions and have already been made into films.  Everybody into Broadway is already very familiar with them,  but the shows took no chances with their commercials.  It could be that the ad agency and its market research working for NYCB are "too cool for school".  Do those ad campaigns really bring in new audiences?  We already know that they alienate some of the old audience.

[cobweb]

5 minutes ago, On Pointe said:It could be that the ad agency and its market research working for NYCB are "too cool for school". 

Just curious. Do we know which ad agency NYCB works with?

[brokenwing]

11 hours ago, BalanchineFan said:

 

In a related matter, Kurt Froman posted a clip from Davidsbundlertanze. Such a beautiful ballet. I was hoping it might be performed again, but I can't see the casting. Balanchine was great at developing dancers who were so distinctly themselves, different types, different strengths and affinities, even if their technique was all at a high standard. Davidsbundlertanze really needs different types of women.  I wonder who would do it now?

I would kill to see Mira in the Farrell role, but you're right that it's a tricky work to cast. Mearns is fantastic in Karin's part, Russell had a major breakthrough in the Luders role. Perhaps Miller would be good in Karin with some coaching? Laracey has done Kay's role before and I think many of the men (Chun, Gordon, Furlan, Sanz, Walker) would be elegant in it. 

[abatt]

Davidsbundertanze sadly has become a neglected masterpiece. NYCB hasn't done it for at least a decade.  

i also have to wonder whether they will ever  revive Bournonville Divert.

I wish they would give some other  ballets a rest.

[GB1216]

I’m in advertising/marketing and while I agree with the assessments above my guess is that budget is an issue.  To put together a shoot is exceedingly more expensive than an animated spot.  Considering all the budget issues of the last few years, lots of things had to be cut and marketing was absolutely one of them.  Compared to the older sleeping beauty spot which was fabulous this one was done at probably less than half the cost while also trying to preserve funds for a media buy.

Now could there have been a way to incorporate some animated point work from the rose? Probably.  I’m sure it was considered but for whatever reason scrapped.

[bellawood]

Sara Mearns just posted on her Instagram stories that she is taking a leave of absence from NYCB this winter but intends to return for the spring. 

[volcanohunter]

The little spot for Firebird features dancers and the actual score.

[nanushka]

2 hours ago, GB1216 said:

I’m in advertising/marketing and while I agree with the assessments above my guess is that budget is an issue.  To put together a shoot is exceedingly more expensive than an animated spot.  Considering all the budget issues of the last few years, lots of things had to be cut and marketing was absolutely one of them.  Compared to the older sleeping beauty spot which was fabulous this one was done at probably less than half the cost while also trying to preserve funds for a media buy.

Now could there have been a way to incorporate some animated point work from the rose? Probably.  I’m sure it was considered but for whatever reason scrapped.

It's the Peck-Copeland ad that I find most ill-considered. Sleeping Beauty is at least familiar to veteran ballet audiences, whereas NYCB must appeal to audiences unfamiliar with this new work (except for its recycled content). Two minutes of the same two dancers repeatedly performing the same dull cliche movements (all those clasped hands and cross-hatched arms) with (we're meant to assume) intensely meaningful earnestness. Not impressive, and definitely not something that makes me excited to see a new work.

Edited January 14, 2023 by nanushka

[vipa]

33 minutes ago, bellawood said:

Sara Mearns just posted on her Instagram stories that she is taking a leave of absence from NYCB this winter but intends to return for the spring. 

I jut wanted to add that in the same post, Mearns generously wished her colleagues well and encouraged everyone to go and see performances, naming the new Peck ballet in particular.