NYC Ballet Fans, part 2

I got my days off and was looking for hotels. I couldn't figure out why there seemed to be no rooms available at the beginning of the week and thought, "Huh? WTF could possibly be happening in DC in January?" :confused:
I figured it out eventually. :lol: There seem to be plenty of tickets available, so I'll sort that out after I've decided when to arrive.
 
Oh yeah that. Now that the ads are off the TV, I promptly forgot. It will probably clear out by the 22nd.
 
Daniil Simkin was promoted to Principal Dancer at ABT today: it's in his and ABT's tweets and FB pages, ABT has issued a press release, the NYT has picked up the story, and other companies and dancers are weighing in with congrats.

I also noticed that Denis Ten is one of his Twitter followers :respec:

Simkin has re-tweeted a number of figure skating posts, and here's a picture of him and Machida, I think after his most recent performances at Tokyo Ballet:
https://twitter.com/TheTokyoBallet/status/266879563437572096/photo/1
 
Some idiot from ABT called me at work and tried to get me to renew my subscription. Poor man! He made the mistake of asking me why I didn't want to renew, and I gave him an earful. :HA!: He must be new at the job, because after I went through all my rants against ABT, he asked if I would recommend ABT to my friends. :rolleyes:
I replied, "Hell no! I will tell them to see NYCB!"
Then he said it had been interesting talking to me and I should call him back if I changed my mind.
Fat chance!
My coworker had heard the whole conversation and said, "I can't believe you SAID those things!"
:lol:
 
Just got my ticket for "Alice" :)
I'll be going to the eveing performance on the 26th.
Rob, I hope we can meet up!
 
Went to Ballet West Nutcracker. What a cute production. Went out afterwards with the Artistic staff. My jrnhigh chum is a ballet mistress and it was her bday. Adam Sklute is such a nice guy. Had a Great conversation with Maestro Terrence Kern about the olden days when he conducted for Fonteyn etc.

Allison DeBona and Rex Tilton from the Breaking Pointe were sitting near us. Still friends. Made up "reality" feud. They told me that the really nice house where the 2young dancers Beckanne and Katie lived actually is the home of one of the board of directors. The girls don't live there at all. All made up. Much of the drama was directed and encouraged by the production. No surprises. The show is renewed, it will feature some of the same dancers and some different dancers as well.
 
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I think he was pursuing her, and she wasnt committed, but he also hooked up elsewhere during filming, and they are still having dinner together (with her brother) so she wasn't just the cold mean person they made her out to be. And he wasnt so heartbroken.

They didn't move the girls into the house - they just came in a few times and filmed like they were living there, particularly the exterior.

They apparently aren't featuring anyone who didn't take the drama cues last year because they were boring. Christiana?
 
They did get Christiana to cry and to !dmit she didn't like competition. I don't thinkn they'll get much more, though.
 
That was a very nice review for both her and her husband.

Rob said:
so she wasn't just the cold mean person they made her out to be.
Click to expand...
The only time I thought she was being :cat: was when she made a remark to Sisk about her "fat" ankles. I found Tilton to be obsessed and creepy, and every time she told him that it was his mishegas, I would think, "You go girl."
 
Rob said:
Joffrey Maverick of Dance show is on PBS tonight.
Click to expand...

I saw this at Symphony Space many months ago. Cannot overemphasize how great I thought it was. Thanks for the reminder; I'll try to catch it.

Went to both Program A and Program B of the Trocks. Their take on Paquita is my all-time favorite. Sorry,Adam Sklute, Rex Tilton and Ballet West, but the Paquita you brought to Fall for Dance cannot hold a candle to the Trocks. Olga (Robert Carter) Supphozova is a Super-Star. Also loved the Flames of Paris pas des deux, but didn't catch who was dancing.

Marge, where is your more in teknik review of when you went?
 
This is on my list of things to do next time we go to NYC. I absolutely must see the ballet! Is it hard to get tickets to? Expensive? I've never been to the ballet anywhere other than local productions of the Nutcracker. We are making NYC a yearly trip so I am already thinking about next year.
 
The Trocks are a touring company, so you have to check back here when there's more detail. It's says "USA" for July, but they might come through NYC to and from their other performances.

The two resident companies in NYC are American Ballet Theatre (ABT) and New York City Ballet (NYCB). New York City Opera has had a bunch of financial woes, and they gave up their times slots at the Koch Theater (formerly New York State Theater) in Lincoln Center, and both ABT and NYCB have taken up some of that time.

ABT does three sets of performances a year:
  • Fall, 30 October-10 November, mixed rep, at the Koch Theater, where the sight lines are so much better than at City Center, where ABT had been doing its Fall season. The contract runs for Fall 2013, 2014, and 2015.
  • "Nutcracker" (Alexei Ratmansky's version), at Brooklyn Academy of Music. According to the ABT website, dates are TBA. This year's dates were 7-16 December.
  • Met Season, this year from 13 May-6 July. It's usually mostly full-length ballets, with some mixed rep thrown in. Metropolitan Opera House.

NYCB also has three seasons now, four if you consider "Nutcracker" separately, all at the Koch Theater. This season's dates are:
  • Fall 2012 (September 18 - October 14)
  • Nutcracker 2012 (November 23 - December 30) This is the George Balanchine version, seen in the Macauley Culkin/NYCB film.
  • Winter 2013 (January 15 - February 24)
  • Spring 2013 (April 30 - June 9)

This is a newish schedule, with a new Fall season offset by a January break and a shortened spring season. They have to be out in time for ABT on the 30th, probably at least a week earlier, so I wouldn't expect them to go much later this year.

Usually the programs are mixed rep with some full-lengths thrown in. (Could be Peter Martins' "Swan Lake," "Romeo + Juliet," or "Sleeping Beauty" and Balanchine's "A Midsummer Night's Dream" or "Coppelia." I'm sure I'm forgetting something.)

The Met is a lot bigger than the Koch Theater. I used to get the cheapest seats in what was then the New York State Theater, and I was fine. I didn't really like to sit closer than the Second Ring, and I particularly liked Fourth Ring Rows A and B. At the Met, I really don't like to be in the top level (Family Circle) for ballet -- opera is a different story -- and prefer the Balcony or Dress Circle.

Once you decide on your dates, I'm sure Marge_Simpson, emason, and Rob can give you more detailed recommendations on what rep and casts to see (and avoid) and where to sit. ABT releases casting long in advance. NYCB only releases it a week in advance.
 
Hey, lucky NYC ballet people: The Royal Ballet''s Steven McRae will dance Lankendem in "Le Corsaire" and the Royal Danish Ballet's Al will be dancing Prince Desire in "The Sleeping Beauty" in ABT's spring/summer season at the Met. In return, Cory Stearns will dance at the Royal Ballet -- he received a full scholarship to the RB School after winning YAGP -- with role(s) TBA, and Isabella Boynton is going to go to Denmark to dance in the Royal Danish Ballet "Nutcracker."

I saw Steven McRae in a couple of things in London, and he was terrific. I wouldn't have pegged him for a character dancer, but you never know. I've never seen Alban Lendorf in a featured role, but from all accounts, he's a wonderful dancer.
 
I have to get up there to see Vishneva do something at ABT. Onegin?

Then I would like to see Semionova and Cojocaru. I was hoping they would bring someone down here to do Corsaire other than Kent, Reyes, Murphy, Herrera, Part and the usual people they bring here. I got Herrera on Thursday night. But bingo, Osipova is doing it Sunday matinee so I can trade in my seats for that or for the mixed bag so I can see Gomes do Moor's Pavane. Corsaire isn't my fave, and neither is Vasiliev, but if you have to see him do something, I guess Corsaire is the right kind of thing (other than cheesy Spartacus).
 
Works & Process tickets go on sale Monday. Info here:

http://www.guggenheim.org/new-york/calendar-and-events
I'm going to get a ticket for ABT even though I'm not subscribing this season. Hopefully Simpkin will be off "branding" himself somewhere that day and I will be spared having to watch him. Otherwise I will probably laugh hysterically if they introduce him as a "versatile dancer".
I might see Wendy Whalen; she's my favorite lady at NYCB.

I've seen Lendorf several times. Besides being a very nice dancer, he has amazing assets. ;) But I loathe ABT's "Sleeping Beauty" (I'm seeing NYCB's) so I will have to give it a miss.

Rob, don't forget, I will be in DC for "Alice". Hopefully we can meet up at some point. :)
 
What day do you get here?

ABT's Beauty is ZZZzzzzzzzz. If they don't get off that boat sometime soon I am going to drown myself.
 
I'm arriving on Wed the 23rd but I probably won't be up to much that evening. (due to my early train and general inability to wake up at ungodly hours, I will probably stay awake all night in order to make the train) I'm seeing "Alice" on Sat the 26th, and returning home on Monday the 28th. I'm up for dinner on any evening except Wed.
Especially if it is at CocoSala, Zaytinya, or Jaleo. ;)

I saw the original version of ABT's "new and improved" SB. It was a Saturday matinee, and I'd gotten mandated to do a double shift at work the night before. I got off from work at 8 AM and knew if I went home to get a few hours sleep, I'd never get out of bed and make it to the ballet. So I swilled lots of coffee and just stayed awake.
By the time I got to the theatre I was quite giddy from caffeine and sleep deprivation. I was in a grand tier box with a 30-ish woman and her young daughter, who became increasingly alarmed at my presence in the box. When the lights went down I had to stifle my laughter at the day-glow, "burger king" costumes and the transparent curtain that looked like it belonged in a shower. It only got worse from there, to the point where I was snorting out loud at the horrible production. I actually debated leaving at the intermission, but I decided to stick it out. But the woman and daughter moved to an unoccupied box for the 2nd act. They probably thought I was a dangerous lunatic. :lol:
 
Last week I received 3, yes, 3 brochures from ABT saying "last chance to renew your subscription!"
I would have thought that they would have deleted my name from their list after the earful I gave them. :eek:
Is anyone planning to see NYCB on Friday? If you are and you want to meet up, just say the word.
 
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