NYC Ballet Fans, part 2

[emason]

I love Taylor Stanley. When he’s onstage I can’t look at anyone else.

 

[Andora]

As a Canadian who follows NYCB/ABT & their dancers on IG - I love this thread. I'm mildly hoping to take a vacation to NYC for shows during the 75th Anniversary series coming up, but we'll see. So far I'm the only one in my social circle who likes ballet enough to go to New York from Toronto for it. I've caught videos of Taylor Stanley in Apollo and . I find them so entrancing.

Speaking of - I missed seeing Sara Mearns as Juliet when she was here, closing out the role for Guillaume Cote. But honestly, I didn't try hard, as I find her too self-indulgent in terms of her "arteestry". (not sure that makes sense)

 

[emason]

OK, shoot me now. Last night I went to ABT (first time at a dance performance in over a year). My 2 least favorite dancers in the entire company, Isabella Boylston and James Whiteside, brought the house down in Neo by Ratmansky. This was a great vehicle for them and they were terrific; I may need to rethink my lack of fandom. First piece was Ballet Imperial and I must somehow have never seen it before, because I really disliked the music and I normally like Tchaikovsky and would have remembered the music if I had ever heard it before. Corp was ragged at the beginning: one male totally out of step with the others and one female in the back very late and rushed in her entrance. Principals were great but have no desire to see this again. Closing piece was Twyla Tharp’s In the Upper Room; I think Tharp is the most overrated choreographer of the 20th century and last night’s performance didn’t help. Piece went in too long and really needed to be tightened up; ABT is past its glory days and still has a way to go to recover their former status. Boylston, Whiteside, and Ratmansky for the win.

 

[kwanfan1818]

Ballet Imperial is set to Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 2, which NYCB now performs under that name with short tunics for the women. Depending on who stages BI, it is more or less the same choreography.

The Mariinsky ballet brought it as Piano Concerto No. 2 when they were at City Center for three weeks in the late 00's. It's the only thing I've ever liked Alina Somova in.

NYCB ballet fans* call it "The Ratmansky Effect": dancers looking their absolute best in Ratmansky's ballets.

*It might have come from a critic originally.

 

[emason]

The half of me that’s Jewish gets a Hanukkah present, the half that’s Christian gets a Christmas present, and the 100% of me that has a birthday today gets all the treats she wants, so I did what any sensible girl would do and went to see the Trocks. It was a shorter than usual but fun program. First up was Act 2 of Giselle; the fright wigs and OTT makeup for the Wilis were worth the ticket price alone - I wouldn’t want to run into those folks in any dark alley, for sure. I have no clue who danced what because it’s a Trocks tradition to have substitutes, but Giselle and Myrta were outstanding. After intermission there was a piece new to the Trocks this season: Symphony with music by Gounod and choreography by Durante Verzola, inspired by Balanchine’s Symphony in C. Pastel costumes, pancake tutus, tiaras, and fabulous dancing: the Trocks nailed it.

 

[Wyliefan]

Happy birthday! Glad you got to have such a treat!

 

[canbelto]

The half of me that’s Jewish gets a Hanukkah present, the half that’s Christian gets a Christmas present, and the 100% of me that has a birthday today gets all the treats she wants, so I did what any sensible girl would do and went to see the Trocks. It was a shorter than usual but fun program. First up was Act 2 of Giselle; the fright wigs and OTT makeup for the Wilis were worth the ticket price alone - I wouldn’t want to run into those folks in any dark alley, for sure. I have no clue who danced what because it’s a Trocks tradition to have substitutes, but Giselle and Myrta were outstanding. After intermission there was a piece new to the Trocks this season: Symphony with music by Gounod and choreography by Durante Verzola, inspired by Balanchine’s Symphony in C. Pastel costumes, pancake tutus, tiaras, and fabulous dancing: the Trocks nailed it.

I saw that program last week. It was amazing!

I wrote a review of it:

The Trocks: a loving tribute to Balanchine brightens up the holiday

This is a wonderful company and worth seeing in absolutely anything.

bachtrack.com

 

[emason]

That’s s great review, canbelto; thanks for posting it. Broad-shouldered Andrea Fabbri was terrific tonight, my favorite dancer of the evening.

 

[canbelto]

That’s s great review, canbelto; thanjs fir posting it. Broad-shouldered Andrea Fabbri was terrific tonight, my favorite dancer of the evening.

I love him! The way he so 'got' the Balanchine style, from the quick tendus to the somewhat exaggerated port de bras.

 

[canbelto]

I took my mom to see Nutcracker this afternoon. Beautiful performance with Mira Nadon as SPF, Peter Walker and Tiler Peck as Dewdrop. My mom loved it! She only complained that the violin interlude was too long and the lighting was too dark for the mouse scene. But loved everything else. She especially loved Candy Cane.

 

[Rob]

National Ballet of China is at Kennedy Center at the end of January. They are doing “Chinese New Year” which seems to be a Chinese New Year’s Eve Nutcracker. As a young Chinese girl celebrates the New Year, she embarks on a mystical journey through a world of festive Chinese customs. Tchaikovsky Nutcracker score.

Mid-February brings ABT Crime & Punishment. No casting posted yet. Has anyone seen it?

 

[canbelto]

National Ballet of China is at Kennedy Center at the end of January. They are doing “Chinese New Year” which seems to be a Chinese New Year’s Eve Nutcracker. As a young Chinese girl celebrates the New Year, she embarks on a mystical journey through a world of festive Chinese customs. Tchaikovsky Nutcracker score.

Mid-February brings ABT Crime & Punishment. No casting posted yet. Has anyone seen it?

Yes. It's ... really bad. I wrote a review of it:

American Ballet Theatre: Crime and Punishment punishes the audience

Great novels make bad ballets. There might be exceptions to this rule, but this isn't it.

bachtrack.com

 

[On My Own]

Yes. It's ... really bad. I wrote a review of it:

American Ballet Theatre: Crime and Punishment punishes the audience

Great novels make bad ballets. There might be exceptions to this rule, but this isn't it.

bachtrack.com

She also enjoys theater, opera, pop and classical music.

from your bio. mad respect to not say "figure skating" there.

 

[Rob]

Yes. It's ... really bad. I wrote a review of it:

American Ballet Theatre: Crime and Punishment punishes the audience

Great novels make bad ballets. There might be exceptions to this rule, but this isn't it.

bachtrack.com

Oh, wow, so much to look forward to, lol! I haven’t enjoyed most of ABT’s new story ballets (ugh to Bright Stream, Whipped Cream), but I was hoping that it was just because they were mostly Ratmansky for a while (I like Seven Sonatas, etc. but not his story ballets). Maybe I should read Crime & Punishment again since it’s been decades.

 

[Rob]

Yes. It's ... really bad. I wrote a review of it:

American Ballet Theatre: Crime and Punishment punishes the audience

Great novels make bad ballets. There might be exceptions to this rule, but this isn't it.

bachtrack.com

Well I saw it. I saw Breanne Granlund, Catherine Hurlin, Aran Bell, Skylar Brandt in the main roles. This novel just does not lend itself to storytelling in dance. Kinda hard to explain Raskolnikov’s theories in steps so it was just a lot of angst. I think the inspector had the best steps, and I agree the pas de deux with Hurlin/Bell was worthwhile. My non dancer friend thought it was spectacular!?! I saw Pickett’s The Crucible with the Scottish Ballet a year of so ago and I thought she did a good job of telling the story in interesting dance - it was far more powerful. Not every novel can make a good ballet - but at least it was different. It was very well danced though.