2023-2024 Season

[matilda]

Kikta and Miller are around the same height but Miller has smaller proportions and therefore looks like a more ideal match next to most of her tall male colleagues -- Walker, for example. Kikta was paired with Bolden for Nutcracker, so there's a possible pairing. I think Knight is also a good height/size. 

Love Kikta though and hope she gets that promotion. Chances are looking good based on her recent casting. Although I'm wondering if they would still have her learn and perform PC2 soloist if they were planning on promoting her to principal soon. That role normally goes to soloists. 

Edited October 6, 2023 by matilda

[MarzipanShepherdess]

Miriam Miller did get a major role in Copeland Dance Episodes earlier this year, so she seems to be in high favor with Justin Peck at least. Thought she was quite good in Copeland Dance Episodes and made the most of the opportunity.

Agree with those saying Kikta is promotion-ready; I found the decision to promote Gerrity ahead of her puzzling. 

[lmspear]

3 hours ago, abatt said:

I have not seen these new costumes, but they could not be worse than the awful Santo Loquasto costumes they are replacing.  Any photos of the costumes?

Segment on Who Cares starts at 2:56, including discussion with the NYCB costume shop.

https://youtu.be/O3xUU8gDnQc?si=yc9LSH_oymcMItHX

[matilda]

Gia did not like the costumes. 

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/06/arts/dance/new-york-city-ballet-gala-bourree-fantasque.html?unlocked_article_code=V3S7C1qVSIa8G7AiJRHFwkwjSip0PW_K0XYC7qv6T-LCTvOIVHHuRPpegQ4zwpkTGb5rT3wj0wxu8F2Vrz-NsWHbYVRN7BaiGRY4thPDeFFuEn_FmQJcZCuSBsSMgcumum5s-_99wTZxZbUyxGMZ3oM3tUV3y-THU52XEUjm5BPQO3JLDoxHTuYITa0RNuvuTzvQP5GJ-r1TDcsIO2n8yK6DIILv1OIeiL_U8kaezPoPPf6ll8k6_50v1VhlpoREn_cqrn6eZYhuxqIPG_56EEaet7lMbNH0B6Kjnbkg8EKRLnnlluvvl0zu0ivamfbufANLBzoE4bskZDqdYuz46wJMTbWiBerxEVwtzlknHqd5d4DQ2ZvFrg&smid=url-share

[Helene]

Thank you for the share!

Discussion of her critique of the non-costume aspects can take place in the Writings on Ballet forum:

https://balletalert.invisionzone.com/forum/25-writings-on-ballet/

I'd need to see them move and in context before finalizing my opinion.  They strike me as an attempt to indicate Fred and Ginger, but a lot of the choreography does not.

[BalanchineFan]

2 hours ago, cobweb said:

Kikta is very tall, Miller is taller. Surely Peter Walker can partner Kikta, but not sure about Bolden. No doubt that is a limiting factor, but given that they promoted so many tall women to soloist, I assume that means they're prepared to have at least one very tall principal. Right?? In any case, I find Kikta a far, far more intriguing dancer than Miriam Miller. 

Gilbert Bolden is quite tall and broad shouldered. He partnered Sara Mearns in Rotunda and Emilie Gerrity in Bourree Fantasque (he saved a very off balance attitude turn of Gerrity's on one of the shows. Very smooth). He often dances Mother Ginger. He's more muscular than Peter Walker. I don't see why anyone who has watched him onstage would have doubts about his partnering ability. I'd love to see him in something with either Isabelle LaFreniere or Emily Kikta.

[BalanchineFan]

1 hour ago, matilda said:

Kikta and Miller are around the same height but Miller has smaller proportions and therefore looks like a more ideal match next to most of her tall male colleagues -- Walker, for example. Kikta was paired with Bolden for Nutcracker, so there's a possible pairing. I think Knight is also a good height/size. 

Love Kikta though and hope she gets that promotion. Chances are looking good based on her recent casting. Although I'm wondering if they would still have her learn and perform PC2 soloist if they were planning on promoting her to principal soon. That role normally goes to soloists. 

Any large scale, Balanchine ballerina role, where you have solos and have to hold the stage yourself, alone or in front of the corps, is a try out for principal, IMO. Kikta getting that role is a good sign for her future. Plus, who wouldn't want to dance it!

And yes, to Kikta and Bolden!!!

As for the new costumes, they look very pretty but the skirts are too long for my taste. Ballerinas should show more leg. Still, I look forward to seeing them in action.

Edited October 6, 2023 by BalanchineFan

[volcanohunter]

1 hour ago, Helene said:

I'd need to see them move and in context before finalizing my opinion.  They strike me as an attempt to indicate Fred and Ginger, but a lot of the choreography does not.

My thoughts, too. I immediately wondered whether the length of skirt interferes with the choreography of "My One and Only" in particular.

P.S. On the other hand it appears the women were bare-legged, which would be decidedly un-Fred and Ginger and more "Barbie crashes the prom", as per Kourlas.

Edited October 6, 2023 by volcanohunter

[matilda]

I like the light pink costumes on Peck and Fairchild but don't care for the necklines and colors of the others, at least from the pictures.

Where did this costume come from? Seems perfect for the ballet: 

 

[yukionna4869]

I love that costume from the Kennedy Center honors. 

This is how the new costume looks in motion:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/CyEkqlbOYXE/?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

Edited October 6, 2023 by yukionna4869

[fondoffouettes]

47 minutes ago, matilda said:

I like the light pink costumes on Peck and Fairchild but don't care for the necklines and colors of the others, at least from the pictures.

Where did this costume come from? Seems perfect for the ballet: 

 

It looks like it was the costume that preceded the Santo Loquasto one that was introduced in 2013. Here's Peck in the costume in 2012:

https://dancetabs.com/2012/04/new-york-city-ballet-all-american-bill-washington/

A recent Instagram post from NYCB lists the history of the costumes as Karinska (1970), Ben Denson (1983), and Santo Loquasto (2013). So, I'm presuming it's the Denson design. 

I agree Peck looks lovely in the costume. The costumes in the background of the photo in the article linked above are a bit yikes-inducing. 

Edited October 6, 2023 by fondoffouettes

[Royal Blue]

 

No matter how far down any Balanchine ballet list —in terms of quality and substance— Western Symphony, Tarantella, Stars and Stripes, Bourrée Fantasque, Slaughter on Tenth Avenue and La Sonnambula may be considered, they all offered me great enjoyment this past week. Olivia MacKinnon, Indiana Woodward and Unity Phelan were glorious in Western Symphony. The dancing by Mira Nadon and Daniel Ulbricht in Stars and Stripes, and Emily Kikta in Bourrée Fantesque was similarly spectacular. With her stunningly gorgeous looks when her lush blonde hair is down and her high-flying kicking in Slaughter on Tenth Avenue, Miriam Miller stupefied me in the way she will soon proceed to do (as the Siren) the Prodigal Son. 

Practically any impersonation of a woman from the past (especially the nineteenth century) by Ashley Laracey moves this viewer deeply. Although I was miffed not to see her in "The Unanswered Question", she has happily returned to the stage rapidly. The exquisiteness of her artistry was evident in her dancing and portrayal of the Coquette in La Sonnambula too. (Incidentally, as well as ironically, my first real notice of Laracey was in Ivesiana.)

No one questions the great worth of Allegra Kent, Suki Schorer, Janie Taylor and others. However, in its staging, unique choreography and music, "The Unanswered Question" is brimming with spirituality and mystery! Despite the distraction of her hair covering her face at times, Sara Adams was indeed splendid in this phenomenal fragment. Viewing it only once this season was unfortunate. 

Tomorrow and the next few days, I expect torrential praise for this fall's second cast of Apollo in this subforum. My expectations for all the debuts are also high. This will not detract one iota, however, from the beauty of the performances by Unity Phelan, Emilie Gerrity, Sara Adams and Adrian Danchig-Waring in the first cast. In my opinion, Apollo is an extraordinarily beautiful ballet. 

During the past decade, how many times has New York City Ballet consummately performed Tschaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 2? Nevertheless, on Wednesday evening, with Sara Mearns and Tyler Angle as the leads, it registered as a more sublime work than ever. The expansiveness and refinement of the dancing by Mearns and Angle, combined with the resplendence of the music and the luminance of Emily Kikta and the rest of the troupe, transported one into a different, ethereal realm altogether.

Edited October 6, 2023 by Royal Blue

[BalanchineFan]

Jacques D'amboise coaching Who Cares? There's a picture in the beginning that shows the Karinska costumes in black and white. It's part of the preview. They look lovely. I think the new costumes would be improved by a pair of pinking shears, shortening the women's skirts, though the skirts do move when the dancers turn.

https://www.films.com/ecTitleDetail.aspx?TitleID=210057

[cubanmiamiboy]

3 hours ago, matilda said:

I like the light pink costumes on Peck and Fairchild but don't care for the necklines and colors of the others, at least from the pictures.

Where did this costume come from? Seems perfect for the ballet: 

 

They look like prom/homecoming dresses from Shein to me...

https://images.app.goo.gl/AEdKcwLCfjQi1qtB6

[cobweb]

Casting updates from the lobby. Unless I’m missing something it looks like Furlan is out for the remaining performances. He is replaced in the first movement of Symphony in C by Chan, and Chan is replaced in the 4th movement by Peter Walker. Lars Nelson is out of his assignments. Pollack replaced by Woodward in Symphony in C but still in for Orpheus. 

[volcanohunter]

3 hours ago, yukionna4869 said:

This is how the new costume looks in motion:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/CyEkqlbOYXE/?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

Oh yuck. That's not nice. Those jeweled and sequined panels really weigh down the skirt. 

3 hours ago, fondoffouettes said:

A recent Instagram post from NYCB lists the history of the costumes as Karinska (1970), Ben Denson (1983), and Santo Loquasto (2013). So, I'm presuming it's the Denson design.

I remember those designs having bigger stones around the neckline, at least initially, but by the time of the big Balanchine gala of 1993, Viviana Durante wore that design exactly.

[cubanmiamiboy]

I'm in orchestra right third row, and have been able to study this Sonmambula up close. I know I will get grilled by saying this, but Taylor Stanley was absolutely misscasted as The Poet. Here's the thing...what does The Poet has to do but looking dashing and prance around like a matinee idol...? Right. Absolutely NOTHING.  Stanley might be a great dancer, but dancing he's not doing here....and I'm sorry,  but pretty...pretty he's not.  I have seen pictures of Franklin on this, and there's definitely a Rudolph Valentino aesthetics going on, which Stanley didn't convey AT ALL.

Why then....????

Edited October 7, 2023 by cubanmiamiboy

[deanofdance]

Kitka and LaFreniere are very good, likable, athletic dancers who are also, relatively very tall with relatively large heads and faces.  They really do need a partner who is also larger and taller than they are (or who looks appropriate with them moving together).  I do see this as an issue, because when LaFreniere was partnered with Chan in Diamonds, he was just too small for her, and it seemed at times that I was watching the Trocks perform Diamonds, since both dancers seemed the same size to me as I was watching them perform on stage.   While I am looking forward to seeing Mira (swoon!) as Terpsichore in Apollo — part of me is thinking than Chan will just be overwhelmed on stage by the sheer physical size of his muses (all of whom can move very big through space) .  Chan isn’t a large dancer, so it is odd that he is partnering the largest ballerinas.  Yes, Bolden is larger framed, but he isn’t that tall — I think he can partner Mira, but Emily and Isabella are just proportionately larger so it is difficult to find a partner for them from the current crop of male principals and soloists.  I’ve observed several taller male Corps dancers — so there is hope.  I see Preston Chamblee back in action — bigger than before, but he wears it well —  I always thought he and Mira would be a good pair when they were both in the corps…

Edited October 7, 2023 by deanofdance

[cubanmiamiboy]

Tonight Ballet Imperial was absolutely EVERYTHING you could ask for...and then some more. Sara, Tyler and Emily were absolutely breathtaking. Because this is basically a partnering-focused rather than a bravura piece for the danseur, and Angle is an excellent one, he and Sara just sparkled. See...I have always imagined a little story with this ballet...a small story of the last Imperial Family. The main couple , of course , is Tsar Nicholas II and Tsarina Alexandra Fyodorovna. The soloist is the oldest daughter, Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna, just coming of age surrounded by suitors...and the smaller two other soloists, dancing at one point with the Tsar, are the Tsar's two sisters....Grand Duchesses Olga Alexandrovna and Ksenia Alexandrovna. And boy...was the Imperial couple regal! I imagine the careless times of this family surrounded by care free courtiers, with a deeper moment to emphasize the solid, splendid love the Emperor and Empress had for each other...at one point even showing a lost Emperor asking for his wife on each side of the stage to the female courtiers when she suddenly goes out of sight, to then return triumphantly with her in his shoulder after finding her. Again....they were all magnificent. Kikta was radiant, and Mearns owned the stage without having to look for audience validation.

The second pas de deux was like walking on clouds. So beautifully done...!!

Bravi tutti!!!!👏👏👏👏👏

[cobweb]

10 minutes ago, cubanmiamiboy said:

 

Tonight Ballet Imperial was absolutely EVERYTHING you could ask for...and then some more.

 

AGREE. Whatever ballet is supposed to be, this is it at its glorious best. 

[Dale]

I loath the new Who Cares? costumes with the force of a thousand suns and have been in a snit about them all day! They are too long, too heavy. They aren't opaque so you can't see the legs. A good portion of the ballet is the women's legs. The skirt should be at mid-thigh and should float. Not only that, they are completely unflattering to the women I saw in them. Only Peck looked remotely attractive. For the others, the bodice and neckline was unflattering and the tule tufts coming out from between the heavy jeweled panels, made everybody look heavy around the middle, rectangle-like. Just a complete disaster. If you had never seen Who Cares before and saw it now, you'd wonder "what's the point of this?" The dresses completely obscure the dance. And it's worn with bare legs. I'm not against bare legs in ballet, but you have these bridesmaid-like, tackily jeweled 60s-era looking cocktail dresses and then bare legs. I'm very salty about this!

I was much happier Wednesday. Apollo, however, was a bit off. Danchig-Waring danced beautifully in a sculptural way but he was a mature Apollo throughout, there was no progression. Maybe that's what we get in Balanchine's last truncated version of the ballet. It is harder for some dancers to make the first solos confidently danced but with a hint of gawky youth required without having that initial birth and wobbly earlier moments. The three muses...maybe they rehersed the ballet faster than it was played Wednesday night because I found all of them had to insert little bitty steps to fill out the some phrase because they finished early. Or something. I definitely saw steps I don't normally. Like, Phelan's Terpsichore. When she first comes out for her solo, she paws at the stage with her toe and then does a shift this way and that. But she added a few steps in there so that she pawed less and shifted more or maybe it was the other way around but I was like "huh?" The same in the middle of the solo when she sort of steps out in a circle and comes back where she is. This has gotten very exaggerated over the years - and now it's almost like a harkening back to the longer version of the ballet when Apollo makes his first gawky steps. The opening of the pas de deux also had an unwelcome change. When Apollo ends up on the ground then holds out his finger, Terpsichore walks on and as she does, Apollo looks away. She touches his finger and then she looks away. Then the high strings come on to begin the pas de deux, Apollo turns to look at her and then she looks at him. But on Wednesday night, I noticed he looked at her throughout. I don't remember if he eventually did look away but I definitely noticed that he didn't look away when he was supposed to. Sort of ruins that moment. Beyond that, the pas de deux was well done. 

I love La Sonnambula. There's an old thread somewhere on the board about ballets we love that are seldom done well. And this, for me, is one of them. I have felt in the past with some casting that the Sleepwalker was being done as some apparition, a Sylph or Willi. And because of that it was danced in a light, lightest, lighter way, with the steps sort of sketched in. She is not supernatural. The Sleepwalker is a real woman. Not a vision. Not an apparition. It is best when danced full out with proper weight given to the steps. I thought Unity Phelan, especially fresh off being coached by Allegra Kent, gave a marvelous performance. For once, there was minimal laughter during the pas deux, maybe because, like me, they had their heart in their throats. I admit to swallowing down a cry after the deep backbend and the way Unity stepped out of his encircled arms. The rest of the ballet could use some fresh eyes on it. The entertainment pas de deux was quite lovely with Jacqueline Bologna and Davide Riccardo. And Daniel Ulbricht lived up to his high standards as Harlequin. The Pastorale was a little underpowered as it was and then there was Lars Nelson's unfortunate injury. I do glory in any moment to see Olivia Boisson (and Kristen Segin) dance a soloist part.

Andrew Veyette projected the authority of the Baron well. I usually find Ashley Laracey's instincts quite good but is there a movement to make the Coquette a sympathetic character now? Maybe nobody likes playing the bad guy. Not that I think she should be played as some one dimensional vamp but her name is Coquette! I also think there was way too much reluctance to go into dinner with the Baron rather than the Poet now, with some extra bit of clutching at him before being swept off stage. The Coquette weighs her options pretty quickly and while there maybe a backwards glance, she's made her choice in that moment. The best move is to be the Baron's dinner partner, not stay behind with the Poet. I don't like this new change where she is seemingly torn from the Poet's arms with no agency. 

Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 2 was transporting. Loved Sara Mearns, as always. Tyler Angle provided way more than just able support, looking good in his solos. And Emily Kikta makes a statement in the solo role. I also loved seeing India Bradley and Bologna guide the cavalier and be guided by him in the 2nd movement as the corps rush through the arbor they provide. Now, these costumes I wasn't sure about. But I think they look better on stage than they do in photographs. I'm a convert on these. (although I do think that contract with Swarovski is a deal with the devil - everything now is bedazzled within an inch of its life). 

 

[fondoffouettes]

Regarding Who Cares? -- the lack of tights on the ballerinas seems like an odd choice to me and only reinforces the tacky cocktail dress vibe of the costumes. (Peck seems to be wearing tights in the footage posted by NYCB but not in the photos from the performance.) Those stiff fabric panels on the skirts are dreadful. It's almost like someone who is not a costume designer designed these costumes...

Edited October 7, 2023 by fondoffouettes

[abatt]

Tchai Piano No. 3 was indeed everything.  Mearns is a treasure.  Wish this was coming back later this season.

 

[cobweb]

38 minutes ago, Dale said:

I have felt in the past with some casting that the Sleepwalker was being done as some apparition, a Sylph or Willi. And because of that it was danced in a light, lightest, lighter way, with the steps sort of sketched in. She is not supernatural. The Sleepwalker is a real woman. Not a vision. Not an apparition.

Interesting comment, Dale. I guess, since she's called the Sleepwalker, that does imply she's a real woman, just very very asleep. But don't you think that, given the intensity of the sleep, not to mention her return to find and carry away the Poet, she seems to be supernatural? Curious if you are making this comment based on a reading or understanding of what Balanchine intended, or your own interpretation. I am very intrigued by the question of her nature. She doesn't seem human to me, but I don't really know how to understand her. 

[cobweb]

3 minutes ago, abatt said:

Wish this was coming back later this season.

Couldn't agree more. That was the first thing I checked when I got home. Disappointing!! Whatever my previous favorite ballet was (in truth, it shifts), all I want to see now is Ballet Imperial.