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New York City Ballet 2022-2023 season

California

By California
in New York City Ballet

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vipa

vipa

Posted
Posted
13 hours ago, MarzipanShepherdess said:

Yes, Zac Posen was in the audience and then came out on stage at the end. Megan LeCrone came out first, others were Maria Kowroski, Sterling Hyltin, Georgina Pazcoguin, Tiler Peck (in some very fabulous shiny silver heels), Indiana Woodward, Unity Phelan, Alexa Maxwell, Megan Fairchild, Ashley Bouder, Wendi and Jonathan. I think Sara Mearns too, can't remember everyone! 

Nice to hear that Ashley Bouder was there.

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Rose

Rose

Posted
Posted
On 5/1/2023 at 11:03 AM, vipa said:

Nice to hear that Ashley Bouder was there.

It's been a while since she was at an NYCB principal farewell. It looked like the dancers who came out after her were avoiding standing next to her with many of them clumped together off to her side. 

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matilda

matilda

Posted
Posted (edited)
18 hours ago, abatt said:

Chris Wheeldon’s ‘Dangerous and Exciting’ Adventure at City Ballet - The New York Times (nytimes.com)

Article on Wheeldon's new ballet.

Interesting that Isabella LaFreniere is featured in the article's lead photo but not listed in casting for that ballet. 

Huxley was wonderful and crisp in La Source last night. He smiles now more than he used to. Unfortunately his partner, Pereira, despite some lovely moments, brought the piece down, although not as bad as in Square Dance. While a casual balletgoer may not have noticed anything lacking, I've seen both Ashley Bouder and Indiana Woodward dance this and I know how exciting and beautiful it can be. No audible gasps in the theater last night during the fish dive; it was underwhelming. MacKinnon was fine as the soloist, but I preferred Jones. 

Was thrilled to see Sara Mearns back in Namouna. She killed it. Roman Mejia was also fantastic in a different interpretation of the role from Taylor Stanley. Pazcoguin and Laracey were good but neither blew me away. This is fittingly fun and sassy retirement vehicle for Pazcoguin. 

 

Edited by matilda
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abatt

abatt

Posted
Posted
53 minutes ago, matilda said:

Interesting that Isabella LaFreniere is featured in the article's lead photo but not listed in casting for that ballet. 

 

Maybe she trained as the second cast, in case Mearns was not able to return in time.

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FauxPas

FauxPas

Posted
Posted (edited)
3 hours ago, Fernie M said:

Does anyone know why Chan is not dancing tonight?

https://www.instagram.com/stories/chunner/3095398329618168341/?hl=en

I’m seated in the audience now.  Slip says:

Please note the following changes due to illness or injury.

“From You within Me”:

Conducted by Andrews Sill

Christina Clark will dance in place of Emily Kikta 

Aaron Sanz will dance in place of Chun Wai Chen

There was a loudspeaker announcement that Andres Zuniga was dancing in place of Christopher Grant.  

Edited by FauxPas
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cobweb

cobweb

Posted
Posted

Wow, hope Kikta, Chan, and Grant all return asap. All very valued! Also I notice on the casting sheet that Pollack replaces Coll in The Times are Racing. It has to be quite, quite awhile since Brittany Pollack appeared on the stage. Has she performed post-pandemic?

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Fernie M

Fernie M

Posted
Posted
2 hours ago, FauxPas said:

I’m seated in the audience now.  Slip says:

Please note the following changes due to illness or injury.

“From You within Me”:

Conducted by Andrews Sill

Christina Clark will dance in place of Emily Kikta 

Aaron Sanz will dance in place of Chun Wai Chen

There was a loudspeaker announcement that Andres Zuniga was dancing in place of Christopher Grant.  

Thank you and enjoy!

44 minutes ago, cobweb said:

Wow, hope Kikta, Chan, and Grant all return asap. All very valued! Also I notice on the casting sheet that Pollack replaces Coll in The Times are Racing. It has to be quite, quite awhile since Brittany Pollack appeared on the stage. Has she performed post-pandemic?

I thought it was just a typo regarding Coll/Pollack, I thought Meija was replacing him. But I could be completely wrong.

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pirouette

pirouette

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, cobweb said:

Wow, hope Kikta, Chan, and Grant all return asap. All very valued! Also I notice on the casting sheet that Pollack replaces Coll in The Times are Racing. It has to be quite, quite awhile since Brittany Pollack appeared on the stage. Has she performed post-pandemic?

Pollack danced in La Valse in Winter 2022 and Apollo in Spring 2022. She's had to sit out due to her tendinitis. More recently, she performed in The Times Are Racing during NYCB's tour in Madrid. 

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abatt

abatt

Posted
Posted (edited)

Since Times are Racing is a "sneaker ballet", I guess it would not aggravate her  injury. 

I was at the gala tonight.  Sara Mearns was mesmerizing in the Wheeldon ballet.  Her over the top dramatic style worked perfectly in this ballet. I also liked the pas for Walker and Sanz (replacing Chan). And the design backdrops and scrim were gorgeous.   I thought the weakest parts of the ballet involved the choreography for the corps.  

The next ballet, Standard Deviation, was a bore.  Most of the choreography was uninteresting.  The score was a newly commissioned jazz piece, which was sometimes overly loud and bombastic.   

Hate to say it, but Pollack doesn't dance big or bold enough to take over the lead role in Times are Racing.   Peter Walker should have taken this role.  Instead, he was cast in the smaller role originated by Justin Peck. Tiler and  Roman did a great job on the pas de deux.  

There were curtain speeches - way too many.  Four in total - including the architect of the closure of the 3rd and 4th rings, Kathryn Brown.  There was a lot of speechifying about how the company needs to diversify and attract new audiences.  They were very excited to announce that a study indicated that 46 percent of their audience was under the age of 50.    Maybe if they are  really interested in attracting new audiences, they should open up more seating so that people of moderate income can purchase  reasonably priced seats. 

 

 

Edited by abatt
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FauxPas

FauxPas

Posted
Posted (edited)

I stayed for the first two ballets.  "Times are Racing" I saw twice last season.  I left after the speeches.

Wheeldon's "From You Within Me" is set on Schoenberg's "Verklärte Nacht" (as is Antony Tudor's "Pillar of Fire")

The music radiates inner tension and melancholy.

There is a front scrim curtain by set and costume designer Kylie Manning depicting turbulent seas.

Lights behind the scrim revealed figures huddled in a circular formation rising and falling.  

The figures are identically dressed in dark red bodysuit leotards with some sheer sections.

Individual figures reach out from the group - Megan Fairchild (back from injury) and Sara Mearns.

Later the huddle disperses and we see ensemble choreography.

Then there are dances for Roman Mejia and Indiana Woodward, a pas de trois for Indiana Woodward, Megan Fairchild and Mejia.

Then a fraught male pas de deux for Peter Walker and Aaron Sanz (replacing Chun Wai Chan).

Sara Mearns in solos emerges as an outsider or renegade from the group.  Her costume changes from dark red to pale lavender.

Eventually in the final tableau, Mearns leaves the group and exits stage left into the unknown.  Mearns was very moving in the role.

I don't know what I thought of the ballet.  It was well done but didn't seem to have a "why" to it.  I didn't know where the emotions were coming from.  The Wheeldon choreography was good.

I was moved because Mearns was moving.  The rest I don't know.

I actually very much liked Alysa Pires' "Standard Deviation" which had more life.

I enjoyed the jazz score by Jack Frerer with Chris Hemingway on saxophone conducted by guest conductor Tara Simoncic.

The lighting by Mark Stanley was dramatic and theatrical, the costumes by Dana Osborne striking.

I felt that Pires was using the dancers' bodies in exciting ways and the choreography fit their bodies well.

Adrian Danchig-Waring, little seen earlier this season, looked really great.  Mira Nadon, partnered with him, looked sinuous, sensuous and commanding.

Tiler Peck had very fragmented, fast and daring solos and looked in her element.

There were lots of small solos for male soloists (including KJ Takahashi) that were showstopping miniatures.

The piece seemed creative, lively and very danceable and I enjoyed it more than the Wheeldon.

Edited by FauxPas
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