Nutcracker 2023

[BalanchineFan]

https://www.instagram.com/p/C09_GBwJ84N/

To me, Wendy is a champion and a connector of people. I see her IG comments as often as the posts. She congratulates former students, dancers who have left NYCB, apprentices who didn't get into the company (IIRC). She posts on politics and religion. She posts pictures of her cat. It always makes me feel warm towards her and towards other people to read her posts. 

[Jacqueline]

2 hours ago, BalanchineFan said:

Nutcracker is about so much more than Ballet. I was at the 1 o’clock matinee today. It was the perfect time to take a young child for the first time, as at least half the audience had done. I stood in the fourth Ring next to a parent whose daughter was a soldier in the first half. They would be leaving at intermission. She has a 5 pm show, too. 

The audience laughed at Fritz’s antics and several children gasped audibly when he broke the Nutcracker.  During intermission many children did their own dances inspired by what they had just seen. 

Alexandra Hutchinson was a lovely Dewdrop, athletic with strong balances and exceptional attitude turns. There are stylistic differences evident to those accustomed to seeing NYCB dancers in the role, she is less mannered in the arms and fingers, for example, but with her buoyant jump and graceful presence she had fans up to the 4th Ring. 

I was happy to see a new Marzipan, Lauren Collett. Dark haired and long limbed, her footwork was fleet and she seemed to take risks  stepping into pointe in a wide 2nd position. Shelby Mann and Zoe Bliss Magnusen were charming, well matched and secure as the Dolls

Unity Phelan and Joseph Gordon as SPF and Cavalier brought more glamour and  pyrotechnics. Phelan is more assured than last year, playing with the music and responding to the young prince, eating up space in her manege of turns. There’s a spectacular finish to her dancing. Gordon is a lovely prince, it’s amazing that such powerful jumps and turns can land so softly, silently. 

A different conductor was announced and at times a few dancers seemed to be at odds with the music. Candy Cane missed his last hoop jumps but finished nobly, making up for it in the coda. Mackenzie Soares’ Mother Ginger is the most strict and sober I’ve seen, the Polichinelles as delightful as ever. Coffee had to contend with a wailing child. Janelle Manzi danced ably, but doesn’t quite reach the seamless, languid heights of other Coffees. She doesn’t have Kikta’s height or length on her side.  Remembering Whelan in the role you had a sense of fires burning down below, some great engine stoking her along, whatever rhythm the choreography called for. 

As I left, a father was complimenting his child, carrying her in his arms, “Your first show. You were great!” I thought he, too, was parent to a young cast member, but no, he was just commending his toddler for behaving throughout her first live performance in the audience. Somehow, on this rainy Sunday, that seemed just as appropriate a Nutcracker moment as anything related to ballet. 

Thank you for that beautiful report, Balanchine Fan!  As someone who cannot be there, because of distance (I'm in Texas) or high ticket prices or sellouts, I appreciate it.  During the regular season(s) I feel like we get almost nightly reports thanks to all of our Ballet Alert friends on the ground, but not so during Nutcracker.  I'm glad Joseph Gordon -- one of my favorites -- is back.  

[BalanchineFan]

49 minutes ago, Jacqueline said:

Thank you for that beautiful report, Balanchine Fan!  As someone who cannot be there, because of distance (I'm in Texas) or high ticket prices or sellouts, I appreciate it.  During the regular season(s) I feel like we get almost nightly reports thanks to all of our Ballet Alert friends on the ground, but not so during Nutcracker.  I'm glad Joseph Gordon -- one of my favorites -- is back.  

You’re welcome.
Joseph Gordon looked wonderful, though the Cavalier isn’t around that much. I usually sit in the first ring. In a way, up in standing room you see as much of the audience as the ballet. 

[uptowner]

1 hour ago, BalanchineFan said:

https://www.instagram.com/p/C09_GBwJ84N/

To me, Wendy is a champion and a connector of people. I see her IG comments as often as the posts. She congratulates former students, dancers who have left NYCB, apprentices who didn't get into the company (IIRC). She posts on politics and religion. She posts pictures of her cat. It always makes me feel warm towards her and towards other people to read her posts. 

I agree that Whelan's instagram seems quite spontaneous-- & really not like its supervised by a PR dept. Having followed her for a while now, I really doubt this is how she is signaling management priorities and artistic direction. I am sure the dancers see this too (and its hard to imagine anyone is begrudging attention to Bradley on a historic debut, I think they are glad to see it). 

[uptowner]

I went to the 5PM show in standing room-- thanks to folks here for mentioning it because it seems to be a bit of a secret. $44 to stand behind the very last row of the 5th ring. But given what the 5th ring tickets cost, it feels like a good deal. You have to buy the tickets in person, day of. I did call ahead to make sure they were available. There were not many people up there in the standing room section. I am not sure how many performances I would want to see from that high up but it is a great view of snow and flowers. 

At the end of party scene, a child was wailing (I think saying that they didn't want to leave) and absolutely filled the theater with their laments until, presumably, they were taken out. It was pretty funny timing, almost mimicking the onstage action, and people were laughing. The theater was absolutely packed, lots of families, lots of people dressed up, a very festive feeling. Last minute casting change for sugar plum (Ashley Hod, in place of Emily Gerrity). 

Edited December 18, 2023 by uptowner

[Novice123]

On 12/16/2023 at 11:41 AM, abatt said:

I don't think Wendy is wrong to post about Bradley being the first African American woman to dance Dewdrop at the company.  But it is not appropriate for a manager to publicly comment on the quality of any employee's performance.  Does Wendy's silence on the debuts of other people in various roles this season mean that management was not happy with the work of those employees in their debuts?  Employee review and performance by management is a very sensitive topic best left to conversations in private, not in public social media posts by your managers. 

Managers internally praise their direct reports all the time.   Managers also externally praise their direct reports all the time.  It is not considered favoritism.  Employees of the month is a common practice where managers selected workers to be acknowledged.  They even post them publicly.  During and after a project, managers will direct praise on some workers.  I've praised and have received praised.  It is common practice in other industries.  Why would dance be different.  

[abatt]

I'm not sure most businesses have public social media accounts that are viewed by hundreds of people per day, as I believe NYCB's is.  And employee of the month is frequently based upon objective criteria like sales figures or number of new clients brought in by the employee.  Judgement of a ballet performance is almost entirely subjective. 

[Novice123]

59 minutes ago, abatt said:

I'm not sure most businesses have public social media accounts that are viewed by hundreds of people per day, as I believe NYCB's is.  And employee of the month is frequently based upon objective criteria like sales figures or number of new clients brought in by the employee.  Judgement of a ballet performance is almost entirely subjective. 

Employee of the month decisions in corporate are not objective.  I work for a multi billion dollar company in IT, notable mentions, promotions, etc.  all have large subjective components.  Are we saying that subjective judgments should be kept private?  Does this mean all critique at rehearsals should also be made sotto voce so the rest of the company will not know what was said.  

[abatt]

Maybe the social media account of a major cultural institution isn't the best place for employee review.   I'm sure Wendy didn't really consider the potential implications when she decided to comment on Bradley's performance, but fails to similarly offer praise on social media to other dancers who are doing great work in new roles.  From my perspective it is poor management style.  One thing to say something in a company newsletter, entirely another to post it on Facebook or Twitter accounts read by large numbers of ticket buyers.  

[On Pointe]

Wendy Whelan seems to be the balletic equivalent of Kamala Harris - a vice president who is a heartbeat away from being the actual power figure in the organization, but not an actual equal partner.  Her remarks about India Bradley would likely be a lot more problematic if they came from Jonathan Stafford.   

It's a minor quibble,  but I've read a number of articles about Bradley,  including the new one on the NYCB website,  and while they all mention that her mother danced with the  Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre,  they never mention her name.  Does anyone know the name of Bradley's mother?  I've followed the Ailey company for many years and I'd like to know.

[balletsoiree]

39 minutes ago, On Pointe said:

Wendy Whelan seems to be the balletic equivalent of Kamala Harris - a vice president who is a heartbeat away from being the actual power figure in the organization, but not an actual equal partner.  Her remarks about India Bradley would likely be a lot more problematic if they came from Jonathan Stafford.   

It's a minor quibble,  but I've read a number of articles about Bradley,  including the new one on the NYCB website,  and while they all mention that her mother danced with the  Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre,  they never mention her name.  Does anyone know the name of Bradley's mother?  I've followed the Ailey company for many years and I'd like to know.

IIRC her mother is also a dance teacher, but I don't think I've ever seen her name listed either!

[Helene]

Regardless of whether Employee of the Month criteria are objective, there is a formal structure around the awards.  They're aren't spontaneous, and they aren't announced in a personal way, here from a personal, not an institutional social media account.

For the most part, ballet company management makes its public statements and/or gestures by giving promotions and celebrating major anniversaries for principal dancers, retirements. and milesones  They can make formal statements at the time, or if they're prompted by journalists, which often happens with features.  Whelan almost doesn't cross a line by marking the milestone and giving a Brava, which is like a combination of "Congratulations" and "It's about time."  I think she does with the complement in the sandwich, but I don't think I'd get worked up about it if it happened here. 

The NYCB account marked the historic first in a way that we'd expect:

https://www.instagram.com/p/C04ucv7soLc/

Generally speaking, management usually toes the line, and it's the choreographers and class teachers who give it away more vocally.  Class teachers are either paying attention to, by giving corrections or asking dancers to come up front to demonstrate, or they aren't; our interpretations may or may not be accurate.   A lot of choreographers don't hold back, though: at the panel discussion/demo before a Forsythe program at PNB, Forsythe (half-?) jokingly asked Jahna Franziskonis if she wanted to come to Frankfurt.  Jacques d'Amboise lit up like a Christmas tree watching/coaching Lesley Rausch in "Diamonds."  All of the attention and body language, in addition to speech, often lets the watcher know how the person in the front of the room feels.

 

[BalanchineFan]

12 hours ago, Novice123 said:

Managers internally praise their direct reports all the time.   Managers also externally praise their direct reports all the time.  It is not considered favoritism.  Employees of the month is a common practice where managers selected workers to be acknowledged.  They even post them publicly.  During and after a project, managers will direct praise on some workers.  I've praised and have received praised.  It is common practice in other industries.  Why would dance be different.  

Very sensible. 
I remember the interviews when Jonathan Stafford and Wendy Whelan were announced and there was talk of changing the “backstage” culture at NYCB to be more open and supportive of their dancers and of diversity. Recognizing excellence is part and parcel of that. 

I’ve never heard India Bradley say who her mother is. I’ve read that the mother danced with Ailey (after being in Ailey 2 in her teens) and that the mother stayed 8or 10 years. She’s from NYC but they lived in Detroit when India was born. 

 

Edited December 19, 2023 by BalanchineFan

[sanity]

1 hour ago, BalanchineFan said:

Very sensible. 
I remember the interviews when Jonathan Stafford and Wendy Whelan were announced and there was talk of changing the “backstage” culture at NYCB to be more open and supportive of their dancers and of diversity. Recognizing excellence is part and parcel of that. 

I’ve never heard India Bradley say who her mother is. I’ve read that the mother danced with Ailey (after being in Ailey 2 in her teens) and that the mother stayed 8or 10 years. She’s from NYC but they lived in Detroit when India was born. 

 

Her mother is Judy Milner! https://www.instagram.com/p/Cqqlx0TsLtd/

[On Pointe]

Thank you for the information.  I was starting to think it was a state secret!

[vipa]

1 hour ago, On Pointe said:

Thank you for the information.  I was starting to think it was a state secret!

India Bradley did an episode of the podcast, Conversations on Dance, a couple of years ago and spoke about mother's background, as well has her own early training.

 

[On Pointe]

On 12/19/2023 at 1:34 PM, vipa said:

India Bradley did an episode of the podcast, Conversations on Dance, a couple of years ago and spoke about mother's background, as well has her own early training.

 

I found the other podcast,  but while IB talks about her early training and her mother's influence,  like the other interviews,  the mother's name is not mentioned.

[BalanchineFan]

I saw Erica Periera and Daniel Ulbricht in Nutcracker today. They gave a good show. Loads of children in the audience, like the other matinee I attended.

It was interesting to see the different choices they made. Ulbricht hangs in the air, rather than doing multiple beats on his cabrioles. It's clean and surprising. He just sails, airborne. Ashley Hod was lovely as Dewdrop. Sharp, clean and expansive. I remember her SPF from five years ago. She was nice then, but she's a different dancer, now.

I think I prefer this Marie and Prince. They seemed more ebullient, happy. Or maybe it's because school is out. One little Angel got a little behind and really took off to catch up.

I have never seen so many beautiful dresses for little girls. The audience is slaying.

[vipa]

21 hours ago, BalanchineFan said:

I saw Erica Periera and Daniel Ulbricht in Nutcracker today. They gave a good show. Loads of children in the audience, like the other matinee I attended.

It was interesting to see the different choices they made. Ulbricht hangs in the air, rather than doing multiple beats on his cabrioles. It's clean and surprising. He just sails, airborne. Ashley Hod was lovely as Dewdrop. Sharp, clean and expansive. I remember her SPF from five years ago. She was nice then, but she's a different dancer, now.

I think I prefer this Marie and Prince. They seemed more ebullient, happy. Or maybe it's because school is out. One little Angel got a little behind and really took off to catch up.

I have never seen so many beautiful dresses for little girls. The audience is slaying.

Thanks for this review BalanchineFan. I'm always glad when Ulbricht is allowed to expand beyond the Candy Cane type roles. 

[Novice123]

22 hours ago, BalanchineFan said:

I saw Erica Periera and Daniel Ulbricht in Nutcracker today. They gave a good show. Loads of children in the audience, like the other matinee I attended.

It was interesting to see the different choices they made. Ulbricht hangs in the air, rather than doing multiple beats on his cabrioles. It's clean and surprising. He just sails, airborne. Ashley Hod was lovely as Dewdrop. Sharp, clean and expansive. I remember her SPF from five years ago. She was nice then, but she's a different dancer, now.

I think I prefer this Marie and Prince. They seemed more ebullient, happy. Or maybe it's because school is out. One little Angel got a little behind and really took off to catch up.

I have never seen so many beautiful dresses for little girls. The audience is slaying.

I too saw Periera and Ulbricht in Nutcracker but it was NOT at NYCB!  They were guest artists for my local company.  Ulbricht has been guesting for many years and his Sugar Plum has always been another NYCB dancer so it is a treat.  I went to NYCB Nutcracker today (Saturday matinee) and the children were incredibly well behaved and very cute.  After the show you can see how excited they were.  Any dance performance that can get children to jump and spin is a good show.  I saw two little girls trying their version of the fish dive.  Maybe that was a bit risky.  

[abatt]

I saw today's matinee.  Emma V.E. was perfection as Dewdrop.  Space devouring, fearless and precise in her execution, she was dazzling.  More of her please!  

LaFreniere started out a bit stiff, and I find her arms as Sugarplum a bit sloppy at times, but it was a good performance.

Aaron Sanz was disappointing.  There is one portion when Sugarplum does a pirouette and the Cavalier must come in and take her hand in time for her to stay on pointe.  He was late, and she came off pointe.   There is portion  of the pas where she jumps up and he is supposed to sit her on his shoulder.  He did the shoulder lift-sit well the first time, but he could not execute this the second time.  He had to just put her down instead.

As for his solo work, In his turns he lost his center and ended sloppily.   

Clark did Coffee.  I agree with someone upthread who commented that her performance has no charisma or allure.  Just a bunch of steps.  

Takahashi did candy cane and was excellent.  At the end of the ballet he did not come out with the young candy cane folks to do a reprise of the hoop jumps.  He only came out in the section where he must partner the Dewdrop.  Hope he is okay.

i normally don't comment much on Marzipan, but Dutton O'Hara's pointe work is too weak to play the lead Marzipan Sheppardess. 

 

 

 

[Tapfan]

Since ABT hightailed it to the West Coast, Is City Ballet the only company in New York with a traditional production of The Nutcracker? 

[MarzipanShepherdess]

Saw last night's performance with Isabella LaFreniere, Aarón Sanz, and Emma Von Enck, and Wakana Ikegami as Marie and Finlay McC-VA as Fritz. As ever, the production is a joy and it's fun to see the theater so full and such a happy audience.

Wakana was a really great Marie. I recall reading that last year she was a party guest but stepped in to dance Marie for a few performances when one of the Maries got sick, learning the role in only four days. I especially enjoyed how winningly she conveyed Marie's sense of wonder throughout the ballet. Some of the Nutcracker kid leads have a rushed quality to their movement, but Wakana seemed really confident in the role, enough to add lots of detail to her performance.

I am generally a fan of Isabella and she had some beautiful moments (especially some particularly lovely balances) but to me she didn't nail that blend of regalness and warmth that I think great Sugarplums like Megan Fairchild or Sterling Hyltin have/had.  Emma Von Enck really stole the show for me. WOW! Dewdrop is a perfect spotlight for her ballon and warp-speed turns and every moment she was on stage was a delight. She seems more and more confident and playful on stage, I think 2024 will be a big year for her.

I love the Coffee solo and since Teresa and Georgina retired there's no one in the company I've thought really nailed it. Olivia Boisson is on her way there. She doesn't yet have the flexibility in her back that can make the solo so lush, but she brings a slinky mystery to it and has a perfect sense of the languorous phrasing that is often lacking. David Gabriel subbed for Cainan Weber in tea and was excellent, lots of elevation and energy. KJ Takashi was a great candycane, throwing in some extra hoop-hops and doing them on a diagonal. Olivia MacKinnon was a polished, precise Marzipan lead. 

 

[uptowner]

https://www.instagram.com/p/C1Zji38giTc/?igsh=bG41NWlncnU5eXB5
 

Bolden posted pics and videos of himself as cavalier with various sugar plums 

[cobweb]

8 minutes ago, uptowner said:

Bolden posted pics and videos of himself as cavalier with various sugar plums 

He looks great with Kikta!

I too would love to hear any reports from the final week of Nut.