2023-2024 Season

[Fernie M]

Christina Clark?

[cobweb]

9 minutes ago, Fernie M said:

Christina Clark?

I found her a very un-impactful Tall Girl. It’s a mystery to me why they thought she was a good fit for this role. She doesn’t have the kind of bold, dynamic movement quality, nor the dramatic presence, called for here. At times it seemed to tax her technique as well. 

Edited September 22, 2023 by cobweb

[abatt]

1 hour ago, bellawood said:

I CAN'T WAIT! Seeing her Saturday night. I also changed my tix for Friday Oct 6 to see her Terpsichore debut Sat matinee. How was Emma in Rubies???

Emma was incredible. Clark needs improvement

Edited September 22, 2023 by abatt

[pirouette]

I agree with the reviews above. I went both yesterday and today, and it was interesting seeing the comparison. 

Nadon was exquisite in Emeralds, and Riccardo was a great partner for her. Megan LeCrone did not move me at all in her interpretation — it seemed like she was simply going through the steps/motions without much expression. Compared to Laracey last night, the difference was striking. 

Emma Von Enck was an absolute firecracker in Rubies. Super playful and musical and all around just TERRIFIC. I was sitting in the fourth ring and even from up there, you can FEEL the energy from her movements. Everyone around me was exclaiming about how great she was afterwards (during intermission). I can't wait for her to get more big roles!!! Sad to say that I agree about Christina Clark not bringing enough pizzazz to the Tall Girl role. To me, she seemed almost... shy? Or maybe delicate? 

Diamonds was lovely. I thought Isabella LaFreniere had a successful debut and was much more interesting than Phelan. I was sitting too high up to really make out any facial expressions (I was worried she would be smiling all throughout like people said she did for Tall Girl), but her dancing was beautiful. She danced big tonight, which I felt Phelan did not really do. Chun Wai Chan was also absolutely breathtaking — he is such a beautiful dancer. 

Great night overall! 

[abatt]

Agree with the above.  LaFreniere and Chan were very good together.  I preferred LaFreniere as compared to Phelan.  She danced expansively.  

The backbends of Mira in Emeralds were so deep.  Also, her role is often cast lately with a soubrette type (or an aging soubrette).  What a difference to have such an elegant dancer of great imagination in this role in Emeralds.  The only one criticism I have is sometimes Nadon's wrists were too floppy.  Since this is not a neoclassical ballet, I would hope she might fix that in later performances.  Nadon and Davide R. make a great pairing.  The weakest link here was LeCrone, who seems to have no imagination. 

More, more more of Emma.  What a sensational debut.  

 

[vipa]

Agree with Cobweb and Abatt that Emma Von Enck was sensational in Rubies in every way - sassy, playful, technically secure, musical. I am very hungry to see more of her. Also agree that Clark needs improvement, but given her typically languid movement quality, she did better than I expected and has something to build upon. Also agree that Nadon was wonderful in Emeralds. She is musically and stylistically sensitive. Her versatility is amazing, and she is at the start of her career with a lot of years ahead of her.

Diamonds, with LaFreniere and Chan has me still thinking about it. Chan was terrific. When he joined NYCB I loved his movement quality and stage presence, but thought he fell a bit short in the pure "white tights" roles, his tours were not quite clean, beats not  quite crisp, turns not quite polished. Things have really come together now, and it's all there.  I very much enjoyed all aspects of his performance. LaFreniere is something of a mystery to me, and I'm not sure I can adequately explain why. The pas started out well, then got better as she related to her partner, but at times her smile froze and I got the feeling she was holding back, just when I wanted her to do more. The performance felt cautious. Her solos sections had no mishaps, but I somehow felt she was getting through steps by the skin of her teeth. As I said, I don't know what to make of her. She seems very much a work in progress.

Just wanted to add, it was great to see the house so full. The fourth ring was even open.

Edited September 22, 2023 by vipa

[cobweb]

Emma von Enck not only stole the evening, she may have stolen the whole season! Like others above, a friend and I were sitting at intermission wondering what other big roles they can put her in. I see she's debuting 3rd movement of Symphony in C, MHO they should give her the first movement. How about Stars & Stripes? For this season, only the final week's casting has not come out yet, so I pray for Serenade, Russian girl. In addition to everything others have said above, I really enjoyed her facial expressions. She let go, uninhibited, joyful, sexy, and unafraid. Loved it!! I have to add, Jovani Furlan was fantastic as well, fun, intense, and beautiful. 

In Diamonds, I found Chun Wai Chan really, really beautiful. His tours are so clean, the positions and rotation are so clear in the air, nothing is smudged. He is a GEM. I find this kind of noble, restrained, clean, and committed dancing to be an inspiration -- not to wax too poetic, but it makes me feel good about life in general. Joseph Gordon, with a similar nobility, made me feel the same the night before. Isabella LaFreniere inspires more mixed feelings, but at least she is never boring, as I found Unity Phelan the night before. LaFreniere danced very large and expansive, and something about her also comes across as vulnerable and touches my heart. TBH, I loved her! I remember her first year of Firebird which looked very good, and the second year she added tremendous confidence and authority. I imagine the same for Diamonds. She has room to grow here, but this is an excellent start. I am convinced she is a very special dancer (note to @vipa!), and I am glad they gave her this important opportunity. 

A note on the pas de trois in Emeralds. Spartax Hoxha looked good. India Bradley is wonderfully fluid and airy. Mary Thomas MacKinnon gave it her all, she is a dancer with passion and imagination, and it made me want to see more of her. 

9 hours ago, pirouette said:

Sad to say that I agree about Christina Clark not bringing enough pizzazz to the Tall Girl role. To me, she seemed almost... shy? Or maybe delicate?

Agree. Her temperament is not right for this role. This is a missed opportunity for some other deserving corps member, or the most obvious choices, Ashley Hod or Miriam Miller.  

[abatt]

Forgot to mention that Sanz was replaced in Emeralds by Adrian D W.  I hope Sanz is not injured again.

[FayBallet]

On 9/20/2023 at 8:20 PM, vipa said:

Does anyone know if Suzi Pilarre was there, or either of the Neary sisters?

Yes, Pilarre was there, but I don’t know if she went on stage.

I went to a book talk on Wednesday about Serenade. Toni Bentley brought three of her friends, including Pilarre. Bentley called out Pilarre by name, but I don’t know if she named the others. They all said they were there, but one of them noted that she didn’t go on stage.

By the way, Bentley said she greatly enjoyed Tuesday night. She also said she had concerns with some of the technique she’d seen lately. I don’t know if that comment was about Tuesday.

Does anyone who went on Tuesday know which alum wearing pink was running to her seat after one of the intermissions (eliciting laughs from the audience)?

I’m so glad Janzen gets to retire with Diamonds. He and Sara made magic on Tuesday.

[Papagena]

25 minutes ago, FayBallet said:

By the way, Bentley said she greatly enjoyed Tuesday night. She also said she had concerns with some of the technique she’d seen lately. I don’t know if that comment was about Tuesday.

Interesting - I wonder if this means more basic technique (like clean turns / landings / precision etc) or that SAB/NYCB's Balanchine-specific techniques and style are being diluted a bit. 

[BalanchineFan]

1 hour ago, FayBallet said:

Does anyone who went on Tuesday know which alum wearing pink was running to her seat after one of the intermissions (eliciting laughs from the audience)?

I’m so glad Janzen gets to retire with Diamonds. He and Sara made magic on Tuesday.

I thought the pink clad intermission lover was Marika Anderson. I don't have any confirmation, but I thought the woman looked and acted like her.

Also, Domenika Afanasenkov danced both Emeralds and Diamonds on Tuesday!

[MarzipanShepherdess]

1 hour ago, BalanchineFan said:

I thought the pink clad intermission lover was Marika Anderson. I don't have any confirmation, but I thought the woman looked and acted like her.

Agree, she looked like Marika to me! 

[cobweb]

... after 3 nights in a row, I took a night off (and enjoyed a surprise impromptu flute concert in my building!!). Any reports? How were Mearns & Janzen?

[nycvillager]

Mearns & Janzen were both great tonight, as good as Tuesday night's performance I thought. Diamonds is such a wonderful ballet for him to finish up with. I'm catching all of his final performances this season, and can't believe he only has one more left. Very sad to see him go so soon. The fourth ring was open tonight and the house felt very full, and the performance didn't start til almost 8:15 with all the people trickling in way past 8. 

[BalanchineFan]

23 hours ago, cobweb said:

Emma von Enck not only stole the evening, she may have stolen the whole season! Like others above, a friend and I were sitting at intermission wondering what other big roles they can put her in. I see she's debuting 3rd movement of Symphony in C, MHO they should give her the first movement.

I find they often cast dancers in a hierarchy, like getting 3rd movement Bizet before first, or (in SB) doing Bluebird before the leads. I look forward to seeing Emma Von Enck in Symphony in C! I think she’ll be great and spritely with all those jumps. 
 

I’m also not surprised to hear that Isabelle LaFreniere was beautiful and expansive in Diamonds. Iirc, she was slated to debut the role with Zachary Catazaro (back when he was with NYCB). There’s an IG post with both of them in studio, in costume, somewhere. She’s a beautiful dancer and she’s been working on Diamonds for years. 

[Fernie M]

10 hours ago, cobweb said:

... after 3 nights in a row, I took a night off (and enjoyed a surprise impromptu flute concert in my building!!). Any reports? How were Mearns & Janzen?

Anything to report on Rubies and Emeralds?

[griffie]

Janzen looked wonderful, dancing at a very high level: clean, polished, courtly. I respect when older dancers retire when they sense the decline but the audience doesn't see it yet. Going out on a high note means your audience will always remember you in your prime. I thought Mearns was at her best; more classical, less mannered than I have seen her be in other roles. Technically she's dancing well and her star presence shines in Diamonds. 

Rubies was a delight. Mira Nadon is a treasure. She's a stage actress as well as divinely musical. There's something loose about her Tall Girl that seems so very American, very Balanchine - I just loved it. Huxley was excellent (he always is!) although he was more jazzily elegant and doesn't have the impishness I've enjoyed in some other dancers' interpretations. Megan Fairchild is superlative. She's so familiar with the choreography now, she can be playful and still keep control. She posted on her IG that she had tried some new things from her coaching with Patricia McBride and felt some worked onstage and some didn't. (I certainly didn't spot anything that didn't work.) I love that even after years as principal, Megan is constantly challenging herself to be the best dancer she can possibly be.

Emeralds: I was sitting very close to the stage, perhaps too close. The costumes for Emeralds are forgiving and show only the arms, shoulders and feet. Although her dancing was acceptable, if underpowered, Bouder's arms are so plump that she has hanging underarm flesh that jiggles especially on her bourees. Once I registered the jiggling I couldn't unsee it and kept noticing it throughout Emeralds. She is easily 15 pounds heavier than any other female dancer onstage and looked thick around the waist. I would guess at this point after so much time since her injury that she is having health issues, either mental or physical, and I wish her well, but think she should resolve them offstage. I'd be thrilled to see her back in top form but for now I will avoid her.

I know there are many opinions on the ballet aesthetic and weight. But for me, ballet is a visual art and when any one performer is too distracting it breaks the spell. IMO Management has responsibility to ticket-goers to provide a certain standard of visual excellence as well as technical excellence and I think they are not stepping up with Bouder.

Laracey was as lovely in Emeralds as everyone else has already mentioned. She has a gift of realizing all the positions fully while never disrupting flow. (I stand with all those who've written they wished she'd been made a principal.) Baily Jones and Alexa Maxwell were both terrific and beautifully matched. So much talent in that company! Chan, as mentioned upthread, keeps getting better every time I see him. Jewels highlights port de bras so a special mention to Olivia Boisson for her upper-body grace, I'd not really noticed her before but she's lovely.

[Papagena]

2 hours ago, griffie said:

Emeralds: I was sitting very close to the stage, perhaps too close. The costumes for Emeralds are forgiving and show only the arms, shoulders and feet. Although her dancing was acceptable, if underpowered, Bouder's arms are so plump that she has hanging underarm flesh that jiggles especially on her bourees. Once I registered the jiggling I couldn't unsee it and kept noticing it throughout Emeralds. She is easily 15 pounds heavier than any other female dancer onstage and looked thick around the waist. I would guess at this point after so much time since her injury that she is having health issues, either mental or physical, and I wish her well, but think she should resolve them offstage. I'd be thrilled to see her back in top form but for now I will avoid her.

I know there are many opinions on the ballet aesthetic and weight. But for me, ballet is a visual art and when any one performer is too distracting it breaks the spell. IMO Management has responsibility to ticket-goers to provide a certain standard of visual excellence as well as technical excellence and I think they are not stepping up with Bouder.

Laracey was as lovely in Emeralds as everyone else has already mentioned. She has a gift of realizing all the positions fully while never disrupting flow. (I stand with all those who've written they wished she'd been made a principal.) Baily Jones and Alexa Maxwell were both terrific and beautifully matched. So much talent in that company! Chan, as mentioned upthread, keeps getting better every time I see him. Jewels highlights port de bras so a special mention to Olivia Boisson for her upper-body grace, I'd not really noticed her before but she's lovely.

I actually found the opposite - her weight was completely acceptable but dancing was not. For me her arms were her most beautiful asset - their softer form made me think of the beautiful 19th century ballerinas. It was her technique and clear struggle to keep up with even corps member standards (not to mention the music) that was the distraction. Also she posted something on IG about those who support her and implying the other group are just 'haters' ... so odd. I was her biggest fan and hope she comes back stronger next time, but ranting about haters and that artists should be basically immune to criticism is weird social media echo chamber stuff. Comments like this that focus on her weight though, do not help the matter. 

Lynn Seymour and Carrie Imler faced criticisms about their weight, but they were paragons of artistry (Seymour) and technique (Imler) so they remained at the top of audience's must-see lists until their retirement. It's 100% possible to be heavier and an excellent ballet dancer. I hope that if Bouder works on regaining her technique and explores her artistry (and ... maybe some self reflection) people will leave the weight conversation alone. I can't imagine what it feels like for people to talk about your body when you probably already feel self conscious about it, and it overshadows conversations about the dancing itself. 

Olivia Boisson - I hope she has a future as an Emeralds lead. She's been in the company a while though, so not sure what her trajectory will look like in the coming years. I still remember her 'prayer' variation in Coppelia from way back so fondly - absolutely lovely. 

Edited September 23, 2023 by Papagena

[griffie]

Papagena, I'm glad that Bouder's weight was not an issue for you, even a positive; unfortunately it really wasn't that way for me. I can see that for a more Romantic-style piece like Emeralds, the plump arms and ample bosom would be pleasantly reminiscent of the 19th-century ballerinas. I might enjoy seeing ballets performed in the style of the day, with the body types popular then, as valid alternatives to today's aesthetics.

From a distance, the effect of Bouder's arms may have been very different even pleasing. But as close as I was the jiggling and contrast between Bouder and the extra-long willowy arms of Laracey, not to mention the slenderness of all the other dancers on the stage, was jarring. Many famous dancers have faced criticism for having put on a few pounds but (to me) we're not talking a Martine van Hamel kind of situation. I'm not someone who wants emaciated dancers, but I do think weight matters visually; I think Bouder's weight gain is enough that I doubt we'll see her full legs this fall season because it would so affect her line.

We did see different performances, and I didn't notice Bouder lagging or struggling technically - it was more that her dancing seemed to be unremarkable (which for Bouder may be criticism enough!). Her arabesque height, for example, seemed to match others' at the Friday night show. Others who are more familiar with her and the role than I am may have registered some issues but I thought her dancing was fine. 

[SingerWhoMoves]

Adding my 2 cents on Friday night’s performance.
I have been a huge Bouder fan for many years, but from the 4th ring, she really did seem out of place amongst the rest of the cast. Also, for me, her arms were pretty but it was a lack of suppleness in her torso and inability to match the penche lines of the rest of the dancers that was most disappointing to me. And yes, next to Ashley Laracey (who was just gorgeous) it was even more apparent. 
as for the rest of the evening, Mira is such a star and Megan and Anthony were playful and perfect. Megan is really better than ever and it’s delightful to watch. 
Sara and Russell were divine in Diamonds. You could sense the love and care between them and they really luxuriated in the grandeur of the choreography.  The corps were polished throughout the whole evening.
30 for 30 is definitely working as the house was full of young  audience members all dressed up for an evening at the ballet. I can’t help but wish there were other discounts for us over 30 though! Over $80 for a non-nutz 4th ring ticket really stings.  I very much miss the 4th ring society!

 

[l'histoire]

3 hours ago, Papagena said:

Also she posted something on IG about those who support her and implying the other group are just 'haters' ... so odd. 

I'm no great Bouder supporter (at least in terms of how she presents herself on social media), but this is a mischaracterization of what she posted. Like it or not, the woman has been subjected to absolutely horrific comments on her social media (and was apparently booed on the first night she debuted this season?). It was obvious to me she was "speaking" to the people who have been vicious to her on social media, not to people who'd just rather not see her. 

 

[Papagena]

10 minutes ago, l'histoire said:

(and was apparently booed on the first night she debuted this season?)

 

Was she? I didn't hear boos but maybe was sitting in a more enthusiastic section. Anyone else can confirm? 

[cobweb]

49 minutes ago, l'histoire said:

(and was apparently booed on the first night she debuted this season?)

I did not hear any boos. In fact, she got an enthusiastic welcome from what sounded like lots of young people/students(?). 

[Papagena]

9 minutes ago, cobweb said:

I did not hear any boos. In fact, she got an enthusiastic welcome from what sounded like lots of young people/students(?). 

It could be that someone misinterpreted 'woooos' for boos? I thought in general the audience was quite welcoming to everyone. I hope the dancers didn't interpret it that way if it wasn't actually happening, that would be rough for them. Where did this rumor come from? 

Edited September 23, 2023 by Papagena

[abatt]

There were no boos on Wed.  My impression from reading her ig is that anyone who is critical of her is a hater.