# Attending ballet performances



## Marsilius

As a very new member, I have been really struck by the number of people who post that they enjoy ballet or ballet scores, but have never actually seen a live on-stage performance.

Why is that? Is it that no live performances ever take place in the region where they live? Is it that they fear that, although they enjoy dipping into and out of DVDs or CDs, sitting through two or three hours virtually uninterrupted might be too much? Does ballet have such an effete image that men, in particular, are deterred from going (it's certainly true that, whenever I go, men are a small minority of the audience)? Or is there some other explanation?


----------



## sharik

too lazy to go out now that even supermarket food can be ordered as delivery and vids downloaded from the internet.


----------



## Morimur

sharik said:


> too lazy to go out now that even supermarket food can be ordered as delivery and vids downloaded from the internet.


A brave new world we're living in.


----------



## Ginger

I would love to see more ballet performances live but most theatres don't offer that many.


----------



## Pugg

Ginger said:


> I would love to see more ballet performances live but most theatres don't offer that many.


Not even in the cinema? 
I though the R.O.H did HD transmission also?


----------



## Ginger

Pugg said:


> Not even in the cinema?
> I though the R.O.H did HD transmission also?


Well yes, there are some shown in the cinemas, but compared to the number of operas, that are shown it's nothing. At least that's the case in Germany .... important theatres seem to focus on operas here. I love opera as well but you shouldn't let balletts 'disappear'


----------



## Pugg

Ginger said:


> Well yes, there are some shown in the cinemas, but compared to the number of operas, that are shown it's nothing. At least that's the case in Germany .... important theatres seem to focus on operas here. I love opera as well but you shouldn't let balletts 'disappear'


As your next door neighbour, we have the same "problem".


----------



## Scopitone

Damn, I just missed the HD screening of San Francisco Ballet's _Romeo & Juliet_ tonight.

Why did I have to go to my sister's house for taco dinner?


----------



## Scopitone

Checking Fathom Events, which is the company that shows these HD broadcasts in cinemas where I live, we get 1-2 different ballets every month starting in Oct. Plus at least one opera.

In Oct, Tristan _and _Don Giovanni.

And the Bolshoi Ballet.

And THE SHINING.

Who needs new movies when you have ballet, opera, and Kubrik?


----------



## Pugg

Scopitone said:


> Checking Fathom Events, which is the company that shows these HD broadcasts in cinemas where I live, we get 1-2 different ballets every month starting in Oct. Plus at least one opera.
> 
> In Oct, Tristan _and _Don Giovanni.
> 
> And the Bolshoi Ballet.
> 
> And THE SHINING.
> 
> Who needs new movies when you have ballet, opera, and Kubrik?


And a bit of good food, from time to time then it's suits me also.


----------



## jegreenwood

Marsilius said:


> As a very new member, I have been really struck by the number of people who post that they enjoy ballet or ballet scores, but have never actually seen a live on-stage performance.
> 
> Why is that? Is it that no live performances ever take place in the region where they live? Is it that they fear that, although they enjoy dipping into and out of DVDs or CDs, sitting through two or three hours virtually uninterrupted might be too much? *Does ballet have such an effete image that men, in particular, are deterred from going (it's certainly true that, whenever I go, men are a small minority of the audience)?* Or is there some other explanation?


My mistake (as a straight male) was not realizing at a younger age how good my pick-up chances were at the ballet. 

Seriously, I discovered the ballet about 10 years ago, and go frequently. I am fortunate to live in NYC which gives me ready access to the NYCB (where I have a subscription) and ABT plus many other companies.

And yes, if I am watching an evening performance of three short ballets, sometimes I lose focus by the third. But a DVD is not a true substitute for attendance in person. First, only a very small portion of e.g. Balanchine's work is preserved on video. And the camera changes the ballet. I want to choose what I look at on stage. When Balanchine participated in the Dance in America series in the 1970's he adjusted the dancing for the camera, so that is an exception. I don't know how often that is the case.


----------



## Pugg

jegreenwood said:


> My mistake (as a straight male) was not realizing at a younger age how good my pick-up chances were at the ballet.
> 
> Seriously, I discovered the ballet about 10 years ago, and go frequently. I am fortunate to live in NYC which gives me ready access to the NYCB (where I have a subscription) and ABT plus many other companies.
> 
> And yes, if I am watching an evening performance of three short ballets, sometimes I lose focus by the third. But a DVD is not a true substitute for attendance in person. First, only a very small portion of e.g. Balanchine's work is preserved on video. And the camera changes the ballet. I want to choose what I look at on stage. When Balanchine participated in the Dance in America series in the 1970's he adjusted the dancing for the camera, so that is an exception. I don't know how often that is the case.


 I am puzzled about that remark, doe it make a difference?


----------



## jegreenwood

Pugg said:


> I am puzzled about that remark, doe it make a difference?


I highlighted the portion to which I was responding, (and as the emoji suggests, it was supposed to be humorous). If I were not a straight male I wouldn't be interested in picking up the women who make up the majority of the audience.


----------



## Pugg

jegreenwood said:


> I highlighted the portion to which I was responding, (and as the emoji suggests, it was supposed to be humorous). If I were not a straight male I wouldn't be interested in picking up the women who make up the majority of the audience.


So you easily could have left that phrase out.:tiphat:


----------



## Poodle

Pugg said:


> So you easily could have left that phrase out.:tiphat:


Don't be cheeky now


----------



## Antiquarian

Anyone who has a problem with going to the ballet because they might be perceived as being effeminate, really has a problem. I once knew a fellow who would not wear pink or purple shirts because it "gave the wrong message". I think anyone should go to the ballet, if they think they would enjoy it.


----------



## Pugg

Antiquarian said:


> Anyone who has a problem with going to the ballet because they might be perceived as being effeminate, really has a problem. I once knew a fellow who would not wear pink or purple shirts because it "gave the wrong message". I think anyone should go to the ballet, if they think they would enjoy it.


Double like, 2016 and still judgemental, ridiculous .


----------



## jegreenwood

Pugg said:


> So you easily could have left that phrase out.:tiphat:


Re-reading my comment, no I could not have left it out, as it would have left the sentence ambiguous as to who my pick-up targets were.

Explaining a joke is always painful, but I was responding to OP's question about the fear of appearing effete, and my point to straight guys was that they should overcome their supposed fear, and take advantage of a great opportunity.


----------



## Zhdanov

jegreenwood said:


> my point to straight guys was that they should overcome their supposed fear,


no need to, because for example, i for one am straight and never felt any fear to proclaim love for ballet wherever i was.


----------



## jegreenwood

Zhdanov said:


> no need to, because for example, i for one am straight and never felt any fear to proclaim love for ballet wherever i was.


As do I. See the remainder of my first post.

But in my first paragraph, I was highlighting a bonus aspect - that it offered an opportunity for guys to pick up women where the odds were in his favor.


----------



## Johnnie Burgess

Antiquarian said:


> Anyone who has a problem with going to the ballet because they might be perceived as being effeminate, really has a problem. I once knew a fellow who would not wear pink or purple shirts because it "gave the wrong message". I think anyone should go to the ballet, if they think they would enjoy it.


I do not see anything wrong in wearing purple. I just do not care for the dancing in ballet.


----------



## Antiquarian

Johnnie Burgess said:


> I do not see anything wrong in wearing purple.


Neither do I! However, there are homophobes out there who really take their insecurities to extremes, is what I was attempting to convey. Makes one wonder whether they "doth protest too much", if you gather my meaning.


----------



## Pugg

Antiquarian said:


> Neither do I! However, there are homophobes out there who really take their insecurities to extremes, is what I was attempting to convey. Makes one wonder whether they "doth protest too much", if you gather my meaning.


As long ad people gibe them the attention they desperate seeks, it will go one, ignore the homophobe.


----------



## jegreenwood

Just received my tickets for the upcoming New York City Ballet season. Two performances during each of the fall, winter and spring seasons. (No "Nutcracker" though.) Really looking forward to Robbins "Dancers at a Gathering" (set to Chopin). I've only seen it once, quite a few years ago. Also looking forward to a second viewing of Ratmansky's "Pictures at an Exhibition."


----------



## jegreenwood

One of the new pleasures for me at New York City Ballet is its conductor - Andrew Litton. (He started last year, but I was away from New York during most of the season.)


----------



## Pyotr

As I previously mentioned you certainly are fortunate to be so close to a world-class company. I am sooo jealous. My neck of the woods is south New Jersey; the PA Ballet is a only a half-hour ride for me. I’m a subscriber to this company, which is well-funded and comprised of very talented performers. My main problem with them is their sparse schedule. Of course there is the Nutcracker—all companies roll out the Nutcracker in December—no problem there. After that however, they have nothing in January & February. Looking at the NYCB schedule for those two months, I see they perform on 41 days! (mouth watering)

The PA Ballet doesn’t get rolling again until March (when I’m in FL). I don’t get back until May when their season is just about over. Also, the PA Ballet has experienced a shakeup recently. Last year Roy Kaiser, Pennsylvania Ballet's artistic director for two decades, was replaced for no apparent reason except for the fact that he was doing it for too long. I never had a problem with any of his direction except for a few minor issues such as the sparse schedule and too much Balanchine, which I don’t want to get into now. 

The new artistic director is Angel Corella, who has replaced 50% of the cast, some of my favorites! His first traditional story ballet (I like the traditional story ballets the best) was Don Quixote, which I wasn’t thrilled with his choreography . He certainly has the resume to do the job so I’ll give him a pass on that, but it remains to be seen. I’m looking forward to Cinderella this Saturday.


----------



## Pyotr

As far as why there are not more men at Ballets, I never understood it. There are certainly plenty of men at classical music concerts. If one likes the music, then what’s the problem? My suggestion to these guys is that if you don’t like the sight of beautiful scantily-clad women, then close your eyes and enjoy the music!


----------



## Marsilius

Pyotr said:


> My suggestion to these guys is that if you don't like the sight of beautiful scantily-clad women, then close your eyes and enjoy the music!


I suspect that they'd be quite happy with looking at the women - but that the sight of the elegantly dancing male performers in traditional ballet costume would be too much of an affront for their traditional, narrow concept of masculinity.

Such men are not necessarily homophobes but they have a cultural outlook based on rigid gender stereotypes. Traditional classical ballet male dancers _superficially_ reject and so offend those stereotypical attitudes, though anyone with any insight knows that they need as much physical strength as any "masculine" sportsman.

Men who reject ballet on such grounds really don't know what they're missing but, in today's era of greater gender fluidity and openness to new cultural ideas, maybe we can expect such attitudes to begin to disappear.


----------



## Flamme

I was on Nutcracker and Swans lake in December and January, really enjoyed... But i notice i have to become a ballet lover, its a developing thing, not always complementary with liking classical music...


----------



## hpowders

The only time I was enthralled by a ballet performance was when I attended American Ballet Theater's version of Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet. Terrific!


----------



## znapschatz

hpowders said:


> The only time I was enthralled by a ballet performance was when I attended American Ballet Theater's version of Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet. Terrific!


That was the ballet that drew me in as a young guy in Cleveland. I don't remember the company, except it was touring from a city elsewhere - Britain, maybe? My then GF, a ballet aficionado and student of the art as a child, got us tickets for the performance. I was lukewarm about ballet, but willing to go anywhere with her. And then the performance did its work, and I left the auditorium a changed person. 
Well, maybe not changed, but I sure enjoyed it.


----------



## jegreenwood

Really enjoyed "The Hard Nut" last night - Mark Morris' unique version of "The Nutcracker."


----------



## Zhdanov

jegreenwood said:


> "The Hard Nut"


looks hard indeed, and heavy too; the choreographer obviously had no idea what the snow is like and thought it be akin to cobble or something.


----------



## jegreenwood

Zhdanov said:


> looks hard indeed, and heavy too; the choreographer obviously had no idea what the snow is like and thought it be akin to cobble or something.


Well . . . many of the dancers were men.

And the snow produced round after round of applause and cheers. As to what is it made of, the Times had an article last week:

'The Hard Nut'

PREMIERE 1991

COSTUMES Martin Pakledinaz. The dancers wear headpieces reminiscent of swirling dips of Dairy Queen, halter tops and tutus (women and men alike), each printed with an actual snowflake crystal design. "I don't even think about it being a man in a tutu," Mr. Estrada said. "We become the elements."

THE SNOW: WHAT IS IT? Paper punch-outs in the shapes of stars or the plus sign.

SNOW PER SHOW About 20 pounds are used for each performance, adding up to approximately 150 pounds for the run. Much of it is recycled from show to show.

WHY THROW IT? From Mr. Morris: "It's magic, and there was no space left in the rafters."

PROPER SNOW THROWING "It's just punch-holed pieces of paper so we can't have our hands bunched or closed too tightly or else it will thicken and become clumps of snow," Mr. Estrada said. "But we're also dancing so we have to make sure that our hands don't look like balls either. You release a finger, and snow comes out."

THE BIGGEST CHALLENGE "Breathing while dancing while these pieces of paper are falling into your face and your mouth," Mr. Estrada said.

IT'S NOT JUST ABOUT YOU "It covers your eyes a little bit," Mr. Estrada said, "so it can just be a blur and if somebody doesn't pay attention and misses a cue, it's a domino affect. It's its own avalanche of chaos."

FROM THE INSIDE "Mark's choreography in general is so intricate and specific, but the way in which he has us traveling in the space and in these very tight canons, the effect can only be realized if we're so concise and precise. It feels like we are the snow."


----------



## Zhdanov

jegreenwood said:


> And the snow produced round after round of applause and cheers.


as if it justifies anything...


----------



## Marsilius

That surely depends on the viewpoint from which you're seeing it. From that of an audience that's paid hard-earned money to be enjoyably entertained, the applause and cheers indicate that the production - including that snow - has succeeded in its purpose. Others may somewhat pompously disagree, but it was the audience that was applauding and cheering and without whose ticket purchases the show couldn't have gone on.


----------



## Zhdanov

Marsilius said:


> depends on the viewpoint from which you're seeing it. From that of an audience that's paid hard-earned money to be enjoyably entertained,


by that logic, should give them Michael Jackson, and thats it.


----------



## jegreenwood

Unfortunately, the dancers did not "moonwalk." They did do the hokey pokey and the hand jive during the Christmas party.


----------



## Vox Gabrieli

I would love to go one day, but studies keep me planted at home. Here's to one day experiencing Prokofiev in real life!


----------



## jegreenwood

Oops. Duplicate post


----------



## jegreenwood

Next week is ballet week for me.

I'm seeing this on Wednesday, and this a week from Sunday.


----------



## Pugg

jegreenwood said:


> Next week is ballet week for me.
> 
> I'm seeing this on Wednesday, and this a week from Sunday.


Good choices, do have a great time.


----------



## GodotsArrived

Talking of Mark Morris (a living genius if ever there was one) and given the Bach-ian predilections on this board, what do people think -- if they've seen it -- of Falling Down Stairs, Morris' homage to the third Cello Suite? For those unfamiliar, you can see the Sarabande here:


----------



## jegreenwood

GodotsArrived said:


> Talking of Mark Morris (a living genius if ever there was one) and given the Bach-ian predilections on this board, what do people think -- if they've seen it -- of Falling Down Stairs, Morris' homage to the third Cello Suite? For those unfamiliar, you can see the Sarabande here:


I agree he is a genius, but I didn't care for that work (watched on Youtube). Maybe live (or maybe without a cellist live on stage). I felt that the dancers overwhelmed the solo cello.

Bach I think presents a real challenge for choreographers - much of his music is so complex - and so complete on its own. The two Bach ballets that work for me are Balanchine's "Concerto Barocco" (his only Bach based work in the active repertoire) his and Paul Taylor's "Esplanade," both to his orchestral music. I'm sure there are others. Did Ashton ever use Bach?

I watched a live performance of Jerome Robbins' "Goldberg Variations" several years ago. Interesting for a while, but he couldn't sustain it (IMO) for the entire hour plus length.


----------



## GodotsArrived

Many years ago I saw John Neumeier's (Hamburg) ballet version of St Matthew Passion (in which he predictably cast himself as Jesus Christ). Actually, it worked quite well and was an engaging evening perhaps because the nature of that piece lent itself rather more to visual drama than the cello suites. So perhaps Bach can be danced after all. With regard to Falling Down Stairs I agree entirely with your observation above. By the way, SMP also worked better, in my opinion, than Neumeier's ballet to Mahler 3.

If you've never seen L'Allegro, try to. In my view that's Morris' masterpiece (well, one among many) and a perfect synthesis of dance and music. There's some nice footage here:


----------



## jegreenwood

GodotsArrived said:


> Many years ago I saw John Neumeier's (Hamburg) ballet version of St Matthew Passion (in which he predictably cast himself as Jesus Christ). Actually, it worked quite well and was an engaging evening perhaps because the nature of that piece lent itself rather more to visual drama than the cello suites. So perhaps Bach can be danced after all. With regard to Falling Down Stairs I agree entirely with your observation above. By the way, SMP also worked better, in my opinion, than Neumeier's ballet to Mahler 3.
> 
> If you've never seen L'Allegro, try to. In my view that's Morris' masterpiece (well, one among many) and a perfect synthesis of dance and music. There's some nice footage here:


That linked to the Cello Suite.

In New York, several years ago, Peter Sellars' staged (not choreographed) version of SMP with the Berlin Philharmonic drew a very mixed response.


----------



## jegreenwood

Just back from an evening of Balanchine. "Allegro Brillante" (to Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 3) and "The Four Temperaments" were wonderful. His one act version of "Swan Lake" (basically a variant of Act II) did nothing for me. It seemed to me as if someone told him the Company needed a "Swan Lake," and he replied "I'll throw something together." Apparently he used Ivanov's choreography as his source. (NYCB now has a complete "Swan Lake" choreographed by Peter Martins.)

And except for Odette, all of the swans were in black! The visual presentation was dark overall without the romance and mystery moonlight can bring.


----------



## lluissineu

My daughter studied ballet at Palma Conservatoire for some time, thus she loves ballet. We've atended some performances in cinema. I remember a wonderful Romeo and Juliet from Royal ballet in ROH. I'm not an especial lover of ballet (mainly Minkus ballets), but I like it (not as much as operas and concerts).

Next month we'll be visiting London and I've bought tickets for The Sleeping Beauty in ROH. I'm looking forward to atending to that ballet.


----------



## Pugg

lluissineu said:


> My daughter studied ballet at Palma Conservatoire for some time, thus she loves ballet. We've atended some performances in cinema. I remember a wonderful Romeo and Juliet from Royal ballet in ROH. I'm not an especial lover of ballet (mainly Minkus ballets), but I like it (not as much as operas and concerts).
> 
> Next month we'll be visiting London and I've bought tickets for The Sleeping Beauty in ROH. I'm looking forward to atending to that ballet.


Any famous dancers on the list?


----------



## MartinD28

The nice thing about being 48 is that I don't give a ***** what my male friends think of me going to the ballet. My wife first suggested it so I was on board. Watching the skill, athleticism, and pure artistic abilities of the males and females is amazing. 

I can't fathom being able to do such a thing. I probably would have resisted in my twenties but with age brings the ability of enjoying beauty.


----------



## Eddy Rodgers K

I like ballet but there isn't much of it performed where I live. I've only attended two stagings, both were The Nutcracker. In addition, I watched a performance of Daphnis et Chloë on YouTube once. I've mainly focused on opera this past year or two but I would like to learn more about ballet and enjoy some of its best works.


----------



## jegreenwood

Seeing it on video is not the same as seeing it live, but it can provide great pleasure. I mentioned in another thread that last month PBS, the U.S. public television network, broadcast two hour long shows of the New York City Ballet. They can be seen on the PBS website for another week or so.


----------



## Sandra

It is true unfortunately that not many ballets get to be performed live nowadays, especially not in a small town like here.. but i do remember my father taking me to see one nearby when i was 5 or so, that's pretty much all. Cant remember what it was called though haha :lol: I would just watch them on tv every sunday evenings.


----------



## jegreenwood

Looking forward to attending New York City Ballet twice in the next 5 days. A number of works I have never seen, including several premieres, mostly from young choreographers. Especially excited to see two works by Alexei Ratmansky: "Pictures at an Exhibition" which I've seen once and loved, and a new work.


----------



## jegreenwood

So, yesterday afternoon was a mixed bag. Peter Martins' ballet to Stravinsky's "Jeu de Cartes" was quite entertaining, and Alexei Ratmansky's new ballet, "Odessa" to music Leonid Desyatnikov (derived from a film score) was fascinating. I've seen the Pas de Deux from "After the Rain" (set to Part's "Spiegel in Spiegel") several times before, and I had a difficult time trying to sever the work from its interpretation by Wendy Whelan in what was one of her signature roles. It just seemed created for her individual physicality - because it was. 

The other two ballets were choreographed by dancers in the Company. The first, to Schumann's Introduction and Concert Allegro, had interesting moments but at times seemed overly busy. The final work to a jazz-like score did not catch my fancy, although I did enjoy the guitar centered jazz-like (Metheny-ish) score.


----------



## jegreenwood

Back again last night for a very satisfying evening. Highlights were:

"Carousel (A Dance)" set to the music from the musical
"Year of the Rabbit" set to music of Sufjan Stevens
and best of all
"Pictures at an Exhibition" set to - oh, well, you know. The piano version.

There were two shorter works as well, one set to Ravel and the other set to music from Christopher Rouse.

I don't know if any other companies are performing Ratmansky's "Pictures at an Exhibition," but I can't recommend it highly enough. It is simply one of the most entertaining ballet's I've ever seen.


----------



## JeffD

Edward Gorey, (google if you are not familiar, I am sure you will recognize his art), achieved perfect attendance at the New York City Ballet for 25 years running. Ballet is referenced directly or indirectly in many of his works.


----------



## hpowders

Fortunately my wife hates ballet. I'd rather watch baseball.


----------



## Zhdanov

hpowders said:


> Fortunately my wife hates ballet. I'd rather watch baseball.


why bother posting on a ballet thread then?


----------



## jegreenwood

hpowders said:


> Fortunately my wife hates ballet. I'd rather watch baseball.


Ballet at its very best:


----------



## Pugg

Zhdanov said:


> why bother posting on a ballet thread then?


Seeing man in tights perhaps. :devil:


----------



## bestellen

Here's to one day experiencing Prokofiev in real life!


----------



## hpowders

There are only two ballets I put my pants on for:

Prokofiev's Romeo & Juliet and Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker.

I've seen both multiple times and hope to see each, again.


----------



## JJF

Limited number of performances and excellent companies. I still travel with my family to a performance yearly.


----------



## Pugg

JJF said:


> Limited number of performances and excellent companies. I still travel with my family to a performance yearly.


Good on you, traditions should be kept.


----------



## JJF

In a world without a rudder, one must find and keep ones that keep one's ship on course. The more I return to things of `tradition', the happier I, and my family, seem to get. There must be something of harmony to these things our forefathers deemed to be important. Something I do not find in what is sold as `music' or `entertainment/entrainment' today.


----------



## jegreenwood

My season subscription tickets for New York City Ballet arrived yesterday. I am also looking forward to taking my grand niece to her first "Nutcracker" in December.

I checked out American Ballet Theater's NYC fall schedule, and I may try to catch something. However, the program I most wanted to see (Ratmansky's three ballets to the music of Shostakovich) is not being offered.


----------



## Zhdanov

jegreenwood said:


> the program I most wanted to see (Ratmansky's three ballets to the music of Shostakovich) is not being offered.


shame if so, these are a must see.


----------



## jegreenwood

Zhdanov said:


> shame if so, these are a must see.


I've seen Concerto DSCH, which was great. I hope to see the other two see the other two when ABT brings them back. Or maybe another company will pick them up (in a venue I can get to).

Edit - just checked Concerto DSCH (to Shostakovich's Piano Concerto No. 2) is not even part of the trilogy (which consists of ballets to Concerto No. 1, Symphony No. 9 and Chamber Symphony, which is an orchestrated version of String Quartet No. 8)


----------



## jegreenwood

Attended the program at New York City Ballet last night. Four works by active choreographers.

Liturgy by Christopher Wheeldon to Fratres by Part
Polyphonia by Wheeldon to piano music of Ligeti
Odessa by Alexei Ratmansky to film music of Leonid Desyatnikov
The Times are Racing by Justin Peck to recorded electronic music of Dan Deacon

I'd seen all but Liturgy before. My favorite was Odessa. Ratmansky is a brilliant choreographer, the best living choreographer I know.


----------



## jegreenwood

Anyone going to "The Nutcracker" this holiday season? I'm taking my 5 year old grand-niece on Sunday. Hope she's not too young.


----------



## Marsilius

I've made my own seasonal tradition of trying to see as many different _Nutcracker_ productions as possible. In the 2016/2017 winter months I took in performances by the English National Ballet, the Birmingham Royal Ballet and a touring production by a company from Siberia. This year I'll be checking out Scottish Ballet's production in Edinburgh just after Christmas.

Like all good ballets, _Nutcracker_ lends itself to many wonderful interpretations. My favourite video version is from San Francisco Ballet. It looks fabulous in Blu-ray on a 50" screen and I'd love to see it in real life one day.


----------



## Sissone

Are you going to see any ballet performances during Christmas?I am looking forward to watching The Sleeping Beauty on TV on Tue.26th./TV mezzo/


----------



## jegreenwood

Off to the ballet tonight - an all Balanchine program.

Divertimento No. 15 to Mozart
The Four Temperaments to a commissioned score by Hindemith
Chaconne to Gluck


----------



## jegreenwood

Back at the ballet this afternoon:

Square Dance choreographed by Balanchine with music by Vivaldi and Corelli (Corelli's Badinerie really does sound like square dance music just strangely scored)

Oltramare choreographed by Mauro Bigonzetti with music by Bruno Moretti

The Four Seasons choreographed by Jerome Robbins with music by . . . wait for it . . .







Verdi (ballet music mostly from the Paris version of I Vespri Sicilliana)


----------



## Sissone

I suppose it was performed by New York City Ballet,


----------



## jegreenwood

Sissone said:


> I suppose it was performed by New York City Ballet,


Yes - I have a subscription.


----------



## Sissone

jegreenwood said:


> Yes - I have a subscription.


I hope you will also enjoy other performances.What about Romeo and Juliet?


----------



## jegreenwood

Not this year. I might have, had it fit in with my schedule. I’ve seen it before.

I only began to appreciate ballet about a decade ago, when I discovered NYCB’s plotless dances. I’ve started to go back to the story ballets. (I will see “Coppelia” for the second time this spring.)

There’s an interesting article in the Times about a change to the choreography. Juliet’s father will no longer slap her. Peter Martis approved.


----------



## Sissone

jegreenwood said:


> Not this year. I might have, had it fit in with my schedule. I've seen it before.
> 
> I only began to appreciate ballet about a decade ago, when I discovered NYCB's plotless dances. I've started to go back to the story ballets. (I will see "Coppelia" for the second time this spring.)
> 
> There's an interesting article in the Times about a change to the choreography. Juliet's father will no longer slap her. Peter Martis approved.


To tell the truth,I also prefer story ballets to abstract compositions and contemporary dance.I love Coppelia,


----------



## sharkeysnight

I love going to the ballet. My mom was a ballet dancer, so I saw her many times as a kid dancing onstage (she was tall so she played a lot of comic roles) and it's still a treat to go. Sadly, it's also pretty expensive, at least as a hardscrabble millennial, but it's certainly thrilling. I particularly love new works, which often come with new music, but the classics are difficult to beat. Sadly my last trip to the ballet was interrupted by food poisoning - I managed to get through the entire performance (Swan Lake), but I was pretty miserable for the last two acts and bolted as soon as people stood to, uh, ovade. All that swirling tulle and the rich music going up and down...


----------



## jegreenwood

My final visit during NYCB's winter season. Highlight was Alexei Ratmansky's highly entertaining "Namouna, a Grand Divertissement," with music by Edouard Lalo.


----------



## Sissone

jegreenwood said:


> My final visit during NYCB's winter season. Highlight was Alexei Ratmansky's highly entertaining "Namouna, a Grand Divertissement," with music by Edouard Lalo.


I am sure you enjoyed your final visit during NYCBˇs winter season.Sara Mearns is a brilliant dancer.


----------



## sharkeysnight

My first trip here in Toronto - saw the new ballet Frame By Frame, about the animator Norman McLaren, directed by Robert LePage and choreographed by Guillaume Côté. I'm sort of familiar with LePage via his work in opera, totally unfamiliar with Côté, and fairly familiar with McLaren, though not enough to know offhand who was who in the ballet. The score was taken, I think, mostly from McLaren's films, and there were lots of audio effects, which meant no orchestra in the pit. I was in standing room in the fourth ring so I still had a pretty good view, but it seemed like it would be odd to be in the front of the orchestra with this yawning black chasm between you and the dancers.

The actual plot of the ballet was mostly chronological and depicted his evolution of style via inspiration from the people he met, as well as balletic recreations of his works. Some of these were more successful than others - a black-light version of "Chairy Tale" was cute but unnecessary, an otherwise pumping and energetic version of Synchromy was interrupted by an inexplicable twirling harlequin jester character, and while I know it's his most famous work, recreating Neighbors felt like killing time that could be better spent on McLaren himself. On the other hand, "Canon" was oddly astonishing, and the ballet's climax, a live version of Pas de deux, was strange and terrifying and beautiful. I felt like I was floating out of my shoes watching it.

It's funny that every review I've read has shot down the "Time" segment, which depicts McLaren's relationship with his partner Guy Glover with a set of colored lights downstage that project their overlapping shadows on a curtain upstage. I'm told it was generic, but it made me cry - maybe it's just because my husband and I were finally able to start our lives together, but the shadows overlapping and coming together and forming one figure broke me down.


----------



## jegreenwood

I was at New York City Ballet last night. It was a part of the Robbins Centenary celebration. The highlight for me was the first work - Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun." Robbins' choreography, of course. The dancing was wonderful. It's a pas de deux. The man, Kennard Henson, was from the corps, but he was wonderful as was his partner, Lauren Lovette. But most memorable was the orchestra conducted by Andrew Litton, the music director. On a number of occasions, I was distracted from the dancing by the beauty of the playing. That's rare for me at the ballet.

Edit - I should add that the next two ballets did not use the orchestra. The final item, an awkward amalgamation of dance moments from Robbins' Broadway musicals, did not work for me in any sense, including the musical arrangements. This was a shame as _Jerome Robbins' Broadway_ a full evening presentation on Broadway is a treasured memory.


----------



## Jeanette Townsend

I think it's a combination of different things. Some people are intimidated by sitting quietly and watching respectfully (you know, and not jumping and screaming to the point you aren't even aware of the performers; I don't understand how that is appealing, but I guess; whatever floats your boat). Others, as Ginger said, don't have access to ballet performances. And perhaps the ones that are available in their area are too expensive for them. Also, ballet is classical, not contemporary. I mean, there are probably contemporary dances in ballet, but it's not the modern way of dancing. And just like classical music, people think it's sophisticated (which I somewhat agree with; it's a sophisticated, graceful art, but in a good way), and stuffy. 
I think men are intimidated by it because it's percieved to be more feminine, even though there are male dancers, many composers are male, and it doesn't matter how "feminine" or "masculine" something is. People shouldn't allow superficial things like that stop them from enjoying something. But dancing in general is percieved to be more feminine. Which, by the way, I'm a teenaged girl and I hate dancing (general styles), and I know several men who love dancing (general styles). It depends a lot on individual personalities, as well as how they're raised. I wasn't raised to really care about gender stereotypes, but others have been. So if a guy was raised to believe that attending ballet would damage his macho ego, he probably wouldn't want to go to one for that reason. Again, it's foolish to me. There are no biological behavioral differences between genders. Yet people still feel the need to separate them.
I've never been to a ballet, but I'd love to next year. I think my aunt might enjoy it, too.


----------



## jegreenwood

^^^^^^^

Start the boy with Fancy Free.


----------



## wahidovic

sharkeysnight said:


> My first trip here in Toronto - saw the new ballet Frame By Frame, about the animator Norman McLaren, directed by Robert LePage and choreographed by Guillaume Côté. I'm sort of familiar with LePage via his work in opera, totally unfamiliar with Côté, and fairly familiar with McLaren, though not enough to know offhand who was who in the ballet. The score was taken, I think, mostly from McLaren's films, and there were lots of audio effects, which meant no orchestra in the pit. I was in standing room in the fourth ring so I still had a pretty good view, but it seemed like it would be odd to be in the front of the orchestra with this yawning black chasm between you and the dancers.
> 
> The actual plot of the ballet was mostly chronological and depicted his evolution of style via inspiration from the people he met, as well as balletic recreations of his works. Some of these were more successful than others - a black-light version of "Chairy Tale" was cute but unnecessary, an otherwise pumping and energetic version of Synchromy was interrupted by an inexplicable twirling harlequin jester character, and while I know it's his most famous work,Pnr Status TextNow VPN recreating Neighbors felt like killing time that could be better spent on McLaren himself. On the other hand, "Canon" was oddly astonishing, and the ballet's climax, a live version of Pas de deux, was strange and terrifying and beautiful. I felt like I was floating out of my shoes watching it.
> 
> It's funny that every review I've read has shot down the "Time" segment, which depicts McLaren's relationship with his partner Guy Glover with a set of colored lights downstage that project their overlapping shadows on a curtain upstage. I'm told it was generic, but it made me cry - maybe it's just because my husband and I were finally able to start our lives together, but the shadows overlapping and coming together and forming one figure broke me down.


why the shadows overlapping and coming together and forming one figure broke you ?


----------



## jegreenwood

Attended ballet yesterday afternoon - Tchaikovsky and Balanchine. First up was "Serenade," maybe my favorite ballet, certainly the one I've seen most often. But yesterday my enjoyment was severely compromised. The head of the man sitting in front of me prevented me from seeing the entire stage. I don't there's any other type of performance where this is more important. The need to see the entire body, the importance of seeing the corps as a group, the ability to follow speedy movement are critical, and in my case lost.


----------



## Pyotr

jegreenwood said:


> Attended ballet yesterday afternoon - Tchaikovsky and Balanchine. First up was "Serenade," maybe my favorite ballet, certainly the one I've seen most often. But yesterday my enjoyment was severely compromised. The head of the man sitting in front of me prevented me from seeing the entire stage. I don't there's any other type of performance where this is more important. The need to see the entire body, the importance of seeing the corps as a group, the ability to follow speedy movement are critical, and in my case lost.


That's not right, you should get a partial refund for the restricted view .

That happens all of the time at the Academy of Music in Philadelphia. The orchestra seats have "sunk" through the years and they were never very tiered to begin with. I would either get the first two rows of the orchestra, or an aisle seat on the sides, or the last row in the orchestra and bring a phonebook (or ask for a kids seat), or sit in the balcony.


----------



## Open Book

Pyotr said:


> That's not right, you should get a partial refund for the restricted view .


I doubt you'll get a refund just because a tall person happens to sit in front of you. That won't stop some people from trying.


----------



## Open Book

Marsilius said:


> Does ballet have such an effete image that men, in particular, are deterred from going (it's certainly true that, whenever I go, men are a small minority of the audience)? Or is there some other explanation?


For years I have attended dance performances at the Jacob's Pillow summer festival in the Berkshire Hills of Massachusetts. There isn't just ballet there, there is all sorts of dance: jazz, hip-hop, tap, modern, world, etc.. I have been pleasantly surprised to see that the audience consists of a healthy number of men. I would say it's 40% male. In fact, there are an awful lot of male-female couples. The audience skews older except for a few teens and twenty-somethings who are probably dancers themselves.

Most companies seem to sell out or nearly so, so the festival is doing very well. I wish they would get air conditioning, though. They have none and that seems needlessly hard on both dancers and audience.


----------



## Open Book

Jeanette Townsend said:


> I think men are intimidated by it because it's percieved to be more feminine, even though there are male dancers, many composers are male, and it doesn't matter how "feminine" or "masculine" something is. People shouldn't allow superficial things like that stop them from enjoying something. But dancing in general is percieved to be more feminine. Which, by the way, I'm a teenaged girl and I hate dancing (general styles), and I know several men who love dancing (general styles). It depends a lot on individual personalities, as well as how they're raised. I wasn't raised to really care about gender stereotypes, but others have been. So if a guy was raised to believe that attending ballet would damage his macho ego, he probably wouldn't want to go to one for that reason. Again, it's foolish to me. There are no biological behavioral differences between genders. Yet people still feel the need to separate them.


"There are no biological behavioral differences between genders."

Why do you think so? Is this a conclusion you arrived at on your own or is it something you were taught?

As for dance being perceived to be feminine, maybe this is true for ballet, but not for all types of dance, and not everywhere in the world. Is break dancing considered feminine?


----------



## Marsilius

Jeanette Townsend said:


> ...I wasn't raised to really care about gender stereotypes, but others have been. So if a guy was raised to believe that attending ballet would damage his macho ego, he probably wouldn't want to go to one for that reason...


I wonder how and when such a crude and misconceived perception (that ballet is "feminine" and therefore any man involved in or enjoying it must somehow be "effeminate") developed. After all, in the nineteenth century ballet-going was one of the best-known recreations of rampantly heterosexual men-about-town on the lookout for the prettiest girls in the _corps de ballet_, as was well documented at the Paris Opera and at the leading Russian theatres (Tsar Nicholas II's mistress was a ballerina). Men in those audiences were certainly not automatically considered effeminate.


----------



## Open Book

Marsilius said:


> I wonder how and when such a crude and misconceived perception (that ballet is "feminine" and therefore any man involved in or enjoying it must somehow be "effeminate") developed. After all, in the nineteenth century ballet-going was one of the best-known recreations of rampantly heterosexual men-about-town on the lookout for the prettiest girls in the _corps de ballet_, as was well documented at the Paris Opera and at the leading Russian theatres (Tsar Nicholas II's mistress was a ballerina). Men in those audiences were certainly not automatically considered effeminate.


Times have changed, though, and things could be different today. Just like classical music, ballet is not a part of popular culture anymore. I think most straight men today need a woman to drag them to the ballet, but once they start going most of them enjoy it.


----------



## Clouds Weep Snowflakes

Last year we had The Nutcracker here in Jerusalem, still working on visiting Bolshoi one day!


----------



## sharkeysnight

wahidovic said:


> why the shadows overlapping and coming together and forming one figure broke you ?


The piece was a document of their relationship, and the basic concept was that there were the two dancers, and there were, I think, five colored lights downstage pointing up at them, each a different color, so as they moved around their shadows overlapped in different ways. The music, if I remember it correctly, was both rhythmic and melancholy, suggesting the passage of time and its effect on the two men and their relationship, and the dance itself depicted it as being both loving and occasionally difficult. The shadows seemed to suggest the multitudes each of them contained, and for most of the segment there were six or eight or ten different silhouettes moving around, growing and shriking and blending, only occasionally in harmony.

At the end, when they've not only accepted each other for who they are but that time has passed them and that they are nearing the end of what they have together, they, in time with the rhythmic, melancholic movement, came together, all of their shadows coming and meeting to form one unified silhouette as the piece, and their lives, drew to a close. It was so beautiful and romantic, and since I saw it in my first couple of weeks after moving here to be with my husband I found it overwhelming.


----------



## LAS

Marsilius said:


> As a very new member, I have been really struck by the number of people who post that they enjoy ballet or ballet scores, but have never actually seen a live on-stage performance.
> 
> Why is that? Is it that no live performances ever take place in the region where they live? Is it that they fear that, although they enjoy dipping into and out of DVDs or CDs, sitting through two or three hours virtually uninterrupted might be too much? Does ballet have such an effete image that men, in particular, are deterred from going (it's certainly true that, whenever I go, men are a small minority of the audience)? Or is there some other explanation?


I'm fortunate enough to live in Boston where Boston Ballet has achieved world-wide status. And I'm fortunate enough to be able to afford season tickets for myself (hubby is not as entranced and it's ridiculous to pay for him too). If you buy affordable tickets the dancers are tiny and the perspective is not good. Although it's better than I thought it would be as I found out when we bought season tickets to broadway shows at the same theater to take our grandchildren to Madison.... cheaper than waiting for one shot tickets. We got THE CHEAPEST, and it was tolerable.

Are tickets so expensive in European countries? Is there more support for the arts there?


----------



## jegreenwood

LAS said:


> I'm fortunate enough to live in Boston where Boston Ballet has achieved world-wide status. And I'm fortunate enough to be able to afford season tickets for myself (hubby is not as entranced and it's ridiculous to pay for him too). If you buy affordable tickets the dancers are tiny and the perspective is not good. Although it's better than I thought it would be as I found out when we bought season tickets to broadway shows at the same theater to take our grandchildren to Madison.... cheaper than waiting for one shot tickets. We got THE CHEAPEST, and it was tolerable.
> 
> Are tickets so expensive in European countries? Is there more support for the arts there?


Top ticket price for NYCB is $195. From their website, I see the cheapest tickets are $35. Nutcracker costs more. Somewhat less with a subscription.

I just bought tickets for the Australian Ballet. The price was about the same. And, as I recall, the Royal Ballet may even be more expensive.

One more thing . . . did you mean Hamilton?


----------



## Marsilius

jegreenwood said:


> And, as I recall, the Royal Ballet may even be more expensive.


I've just bought tickets for the Bolshoi Ballet's visit to the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden (home of the Royal Ballet) - cost was £155 (=$204) each. Good stalls seats for the Royal Ballet itself are similarly priced.

On the other hand, you can pay just £10 (= $13) to stand behind the very back row of the stalls (actually surprisingly comfortable as there are padded sections of the back wall to rest against). That's very good for ballet as long as you are long-sighted, but it is less good for opera as the overhang of the floor above prevents you from seeing the surtitles above the stage. It's also a good way to explore an unfamiliar work without having spent too much cash if you end up not enjoying it.


----------



## Rogerx

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5460858/

The hype in the newspapers made us curious.
Well done by the makers and principal artiest

Not to be missed by ballet lovers.


----------



## jegreenwood

Spent a mostly joyful evening at NYCB last night. Ratmansky's "Pictures at an Exhibition" and Justin Peck's "Rodeo: Four Episodes" are explosions of dance (and in the case of "Pictures," of color). When the Hoedown music from "Rodeo" started and Sara Mearns skyrocketed onto the stage, I wanted to get up and dance yourself.

(The less said about the third ballet, the better.)


----------



## pianowillbebach

As a ballet dancer, it's hard to get people in the audience - even music lovers and patrons of other arts. Ballet is viewed as long and stuffy, and many people struggle with watching ballets where they don't fully understand the story (because, quite frankly, most ballets do a crap job of explaining the story/crafting choreography in a way to make it accessible). It's definitely hard to get men in the audience - a lot of our patrons are moms and daughters (typically dancers themselves, or they want to be) and older, wealthier ladies. 

And also, there's the main barrier. Many cities do not have ballets, and the places that do, they're typically quite expensive. Even if your city has a ballet performance, and it's in your price range, and you don't find ballet boring (because many people unfortunately do), it can be intimidating/hard to experience a type of art you haven't experienced before.


----------



## Rogerx

Must see ballet lovers!


----------



## jegreenwood

NYCB starts again this week with "Jewels." I haven't seen it in a few years, so I'm going on Saturday afternoon.

I've always thought the third part, "Diamonds," was a bit of a letdown, but in part that may be because I've only seen it at night, and I can get a bit tired. I've promised myself this time it will be the focus of my intention.

Music is by Faure, Stravinsky and Tchaikovsky.

BTW - a while back someone on this forum was asking about different national ballet styles. Each of the three parts of "Jewels" references the style of a different country: French, American and Russian.


----------



## jegreenwood

jegreenwood said:


> NYCB starts again this week with "Jewels." I haven't seen it in a few years, so I'm going on Saturday afternoon.
> 
> I've always thought the third part, "Diamonds," was a bit of a letdown, but in part that may be because I've only seen it at night, and I can get a bit tired. I've promised myself this time it will be the focus of my intention.
> 
> Music is by Faure, Stravinsky and Tchaikovsky.
> 
> BTW - a while back someone on this forum was asking about different national ballet styles. Each of the three parts of "Jewels" references the style of a different country: French, American and Russian.


Wouldn't you know it - "Diamonds" was the high point this afternoon, a feeling I shared with the rest of the audience who gave it a standing ovation. I've seen Maria Kowroski dance dozens of times, but not like this.  Her pas de deux with Tyler Angle (to the third movement of Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 3) was breathtaking.


----------



## jegreenwood

My second NYCB subscription performance tomorrow afternoon. The highlight is "Dancers at a Gathering," probably Jerome Robbins' greatest ballet set to about 20 pieces by Chopin (Mazurkas, Waltzes, Etudes etc.). I've seen it twice and have been bowled over each time.


----------



## vespertine

I'd love to attend more but here in Toronto it's a small fortune per ticket - much more expensive than the opera or the symphony. I browsed around online out of curiosity and found that tickets to each renowned classical ballet company in Europe except the Bolshoi were cheaper on average than the National Ballet of Canada (using _Swan Lake_ as an example). It's a shame really.


----------



## jegreenwood

And the NYCB winter season is underway.

I'll be seeing an all Stravinsky/Balanchine matinee on Sunday. I've seen most of the works before, but I can't recall seeing "Danses Concertantes." Certainly not in the past decade. And the "Stravinsky Violin Concerto" is a masterpiece.


----------



## jegreenwood

jegreenwood said:


> And the NYCB winter season is underway.
> 
> I'll be seeing an all Stravinsky/Balanchine matinee on Sunday. I've seen most of the works before, but I can't recall seeing "Danses Concertantes." Certainly not in the past decade. And the "Stravinsky Violin Concerto" is a masterpiece.


I definitely had not seen Danses Concertantes before. It's a light piece played directly to the audience. I think I even saw some faux-Fosse moves. Fun, not a masterpiece.

I was disappointed in Monumentum pro Gesualdo -specifically the corps work was sloppy. To my my mind, other companies have more precise corps, but the brilliance of NYCB's individual corps members usually makes up for it. Not in this case. Movements for Piano and Orchestra was fine as was the Violin Concerto. Interestingly, none of the female principals performed. I don't recall another instance of that.


----------



## jegreenwood

Going again tomorrow (unless my cold gets worse).

Seeing the new Ratmansky to music (actually mostly women speaking) by Peter Ablinger.

Also Christopher Wheeldon’s “Polyphonia," to Ligeti's piano music, as well as works by Robbins and Peck.


----------



## jegreenwood

I went despite my cold (and loaded up with hand sanitizer). 

"Polyphonia" was great. It's only the second time I've seen it, and I believe the first was prior to my ever seeing "Dances at a Gatherering." I'm not sure that describing it as the anti-Gathering is appropriate, but it used a similar technique - brief works with different pairings (in in several cases more that two dancers). But the dance was to Ligeti and not Chopin, so it called for a completely different language - and got it. By the way, a lot of the pieces were very early Ligeti and tonal.

The Peck was forgettable (and I have thus forgotten it). The Robbins (to Prokofiev's first violin concerto) was not bad, but didn't really stand out in any way. It was created for Baryshnikov, so maybe it just needs him.

The Ratmansky, "Voices" was interesting. The dance (mostly solos by women) is set to a work by Ablinger for piano accompanying the recorded spoken voices of various women. I think there were two I'd heard of, and the only one I remember right now is Nina Simone. On first viewing (and with my cold medication wearing me down, as this was last on the program), I found the voices distracting and had trouble focusing sometimes on the dance. Pretty silly as most of the voices were speaking foreign languages, which I couldn't follow in any event. Looking forward to seeing it again - perhaps first on the program.

And finally, anyone who claims that ballet does not evolve needs to check out "Polyphonia" and "Voices."


----------



## jegreenwood

This weekend it is "Swan Lake" featuring my favorite Teresa Reichlen, my favorite dancer in the NYCB. Alas, this was a last minute purchase, not part of my subscription, and I am sitting in the nosebleed section (4th balcony).


----------



## jegreenwood

jegreenwood said:


> This weekend it is "Swan Lake" featuring my favorite Teresa Reichlen, my favorite dancer in the NYCB. Alas, this was a last minute purchase, not part of my subscription, and I am sitting in the nosebleed section (4th balcony).


Highs and lows:

Tallest high - my seat - I was halfway up in the fourth ring.

Low - from that angle I could see the pattern of the corps quite clearly. And although the NYCB corps is remarkable in many ways, precision dancing in unison is a weak spot. The swans in the Mariinsky production are simply better in that respect.

Low - the production - I've seen five productions (including on video); this was the least appealing. Hated the sets; costumes for the interior scenes were garish (although several worked).

High - Teresa Reichlen - that's why I went, and she was terrific.

On other topics - two articles in the NY Times caught my eye:

One on Tiler Peck's (ongoing) recovery from a serious neck injury. She will dance Odette/Odile later this week.

The other on a (non-NYCB) dance performance last week that I missed: Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker's choreography set to the six Bach Cello Suites performed live by Jean-Guihen Queyras.


----------



## jegreenwood

Glad to be able to post in this thread again. Attended NYCB yesterday for the second time this fall. The always reliable/always moving “Serenade,” along with a work I had never seen, Jerome Robbins’ “Opus 19-The Dreamer.” I enjoyed every aspect of it except the title (which is why I had avoided it up until now). It immediately becomes one of my favorite Robbins works. Music was Prokofiev’s first violin concerto.

In between was a short work set to two Scarlatti sonatas. I have forgotten the title, I guess because I disliked every aspect of it. Even the two sonatas, which I know and have multiple recordings of. None anywhere close to the turgid tempo taken of the music. Which was weird because the dancers were dancing rapidly. 

It was Lauren Lovette’s farewell performance. She danced in both “Serenade” and “Opus 19.” At the end she was inundated with flowers, as dozens of people she knew (but except for some dancers, I don’t) congratulated her onstage.


----------



## FrankE

The tickets, travel and accommodation are dear.


----------



## Open Book

jegreenwood said:


> Glad to be able to post in this thread again. Attended NYCB yesterday for the second time this fall.


I like to read your accounts of ballet performances you have seen. I like that you don't give up even when responses are kind of quiet. I made a thread on Berlin Philharmonic live performances but slacked off because few people ever responded. I should be more like you and go back to it. Someone eventually does respond.

Just wondering, living in New York, do you ever attend performances of Dance Theater of Harlem? I have seen them twice and enjoyed them greatly. But I prefer my ballet modernized a little with other styles of dance mixed in.


----------



## jegreenwood

Open Book said:


> I like to read your accounts of ballet performances you have seen. I like that you don't give up even when responses are kind of quiet. I made a thread on Berlin Philharmonic live performances but slacked off because few people ever responded. I should be more like you and go back to it. Someone eventually does respond.
> 
> Just wondering, living in New York, do you ever attend performances of Dance Theater of Harlem? I have seen them twice and enjoyed them greatly. But I prefer my ballet modernized a little with other styles of dance mixed in.


Thank you. No, I have not attended Dance Theater of Harlem. Is there anything you can particularly recommend? I don't subscribe to any other company, but I will go when something catches my interest. I like the work of Alexei Ratmansky, which gets me to American Ballet Theater from time to time. (He has also created work for City Ballet.).


----------



## eljr

jegreenwood said:


> Attended NYCB yesterday


I shopped tickets for the NYCB just yesterday.

I am still inclined to not sit in a theater as the mask requirement just seems to take some of the ambiance and flush it in the toilet.

And then there is always the chance for a spike in cases between the time you purchase the tickets and attend the show.

In February of 2019 I bought a subscription to both the NY Philharmonic and Carnegie Hall for the 20-21 season and I had to wait more than a full year to have all my money returned. This too holds me back.

How do you find the mask requirement during a performance? (BTW, I do not advocate the abandonment of masks, I just think there requirements lessen the experience???)


----------



## jegreenwood

eljr said:


> I shopped tickets for the NYCB just yesterday.
> 
> I am still inclined to not sit in a theater as the mask requirement just seems to take some of the ambiance and flush it in the toilet.
> 
> And then there is always the chance for a spike in cases between the time you purchase the tickets and attend the show.
> 
> In February of 2019 I bought a subscription to both the NY Philharmonic and Carnegie Hall for the 20-21 season and I had to wait more than a full year to have all my money returned. This too holds me back.
> 
> How do you find the mask requirement during a performance? (BTW, I do not advocate the abandonment of masks, I just think there requirements lessen the experience???)


I've gotten to the point where sometimes I forget I have one on. I found some KN95s that are really comfortable. I'm back to theatergoing as well. What I like best is that the mask and vaccine mandates seem to be accepted by the audience. I worry more for the performers including the musicians.

NYCB eschewed intermissions during its fall season (often two at 20 minutes each). Makes for short programs.

And of course, I got my Moderna booster on the first day it became available.


----------



## eljr

jegreenwood said:


> I've gotten to the point where sometimes I forget I have one on. I found some KN95s that are really comfortable. I'm back to theatergoing as well. What I like best is that the mask and vaccine mandates seem to be accepted by the audience. I worry more for the performers including the musicians.
> 
> NYCB eschewed intermissions during its fall season (often two at 20 minutes each). Makes for short programs.
> 
> And of course, I got my *Moderna booster* on the first day it became available.


The half dose or the full dose?

Either way, you are bullet proof now (almost, lol) ..

I too am already boosted, Pfizer.


----------



## jegreenwood

eljr said:


> The half dose or the full dose?
> 
> Either way, you are bullet proof now (almost, lol) ..
> 
> I too am already boosted, Pfizer.


Half. Or that's what they told me.  Felt a little achy this morning. But then I didn't react very much to the first two doses.


----------



## Open Book

jegreenwood said:


> Thank you. No, I have not attended Dance Theater of Harlem. Is there anything you can particularly recommend? I don't subscribe to any other company, but I will go when something catches my interest. I like the work of Alexei Ratmansky, which gets me to American Ballet Theater from time to time. (He has also created work for City Ballet.).


I'm afraid I don't remember the names of any choreographers or the works I've seen. The company is well grounded in traditional ballet but often takes off from there, creatively mixing in other elements. The music could be traditional classical, modern classical, jazz, cabaret, other. I saw them years ago at Jacob's Pillow in western Massachusetts live. In the summer of 2020 during the pandemic there were no live performances but they put out a video on the Pillow website in which they danced a full program of four very diverse works.

Here's a Jacob's Pillow link of short excerpts from various companies' work. Search for Harlem and you'll see five videos and get an idea what they are like. Also read about them in Wikipedia, it names choreographers and works.

https://danceinteractive.jacobspillow.org/browse/era/


----------



## jegreenwood

Winter Season has begun at NYC Ballet. This afternoon "Mozartiana" "to Tchaikovsky's Suite, Rubies" to Stravinsky's Capriccio, and "Valses Nobles et Sentimentales/La Valse." I don't especially care for the Tchaikovsky piece, but I enjoyed the ballet on this, my second viewing. Just pure pleasure. Sterling Hylton was wonderful. I've seen "Rubies" a few times, both as part of "Jewels" and on its own. I was sad I didn't get to see Teresa Reichlen in it (one of her signature roles as far as I'm concerned), and ended up focusing on the corps. Ms. Reichlen announced her retirement at the end of this month, which is a shame. I will get to see her one more time next weekend. The Ravel was nicely done, and Sara Mearns was excellent.

Andrew Litton conducted, and the orchestra sounded quite nice - except the squeak in the Mozartiana clarinet solo.


----------



## Rogerx

jegreenwood said:


> Winter Season has begun at NYC Ballet. This afternoon "Mozartiana" "to Tchaikovsky's Suite, Rubies" to Stravinsky's Capriccio, and "Valses Nobles et Sentimentales/La Valse." I don't especially care for the Tchaikovsky piece, but I enjoyed the ballet on this, my second viewing. Just pure pleasure. Sterling Hylton was wonderful. I've seen "Rubies" a few times, both as part of "Jewels" and on its own. I was sad I didn't get to see Teresa Reichlen in it (one of her signature roles as far as I'm concerned), and ended up focusing on the corps. Ms. Reichlen announced her retirement at the end of this month, which is a shame. I will get to see her one more time next weekend. The Ravel was nicely done, and Sara Mearns was excellent.
> 
> Andrew Litton conducted, and the orchestra sounded quite nice - except the squeak in the Mozartiana clarinet solo.


Nice to see you can get to the performances at all, thank goodness I have my two classical channels , they do their best.


----------



## jegreenwood

Saturday at NYC Ballet. An interesting program. Two ballets I've seen and two new to me. Two that verge on modern dance and one with elements from Broadway. First was the Walpurgisnacht Ballet from "Faust." Good to see Sara Mearns ago in the principal row. I also have this on video. Lovely dancing, great opportunity to "see the music." My only problem was blurry vision - until I realized that with my N95 mask my progressive lenses were sitting too far up, and I was looking through the reading glass portion. 

Next came a new ballet for me - "The Unanswered Question" to music by Charles Ives. This was a section of a larger ballet - "Ivesiana,"and the program notes said that when Balanchine choreographed it in 1954, Ives' music was rarely heard. This was not traditional ballet at all. The female lead spent her time on the shoulders of four male dancers and the male lead was on the floor. And it was brilliant.

Following this was Robbins' "Moves" to - silence. The dance is performed without music, and it's fascinating. Interesting mixture of ballet with modern dance. And of course the dancers' timing is the key. A couple of hiccups and it could be a little shorter, but still fascinating.

Finally, "Slaughter on Tenth Avenue" originally from Rodgers and Hart's" On Your Toes." This was my last chance to see Teresa Reichlen as the Stripper. And she sure had the legs for it. Choreography is a blend of ballet and Broadway. It's a lot of fun with bodies dropping dead everywhere to Hershey Kay's beefed up orchestration. Balanchine choreographed three other shows for Rodgers and Hart (without ballets). I wish the dancing had been preserved.


----------



## Rogerx

Oh my goodness I envy you so much, all is still closed here , perhaps from February 15th onward, carefully reopening things.


----------



## jegreenwood

Back to City Ballet this weekend. An all Stravinsky performance including Balanchine’s abbreviated version of _The Firebird_ (using the music from the suite, I believe) and Symphony in Three Movements, which I don’t believe I’ve seen before. Andrew Litton conducting. I took a look at the cast of principals for the performance and barely recognized a name. There have been a number of retirements this season, and several principals were replaced (Covid? - numbers are up in NYC)

Two weeks later, I will be taking my grandniece to _Midsummer Night’s Dream._ Litton is again scheduled to conduct. And a lot of familiar names on stage. Working on an explanation of the plot, so she can follow along.


----------



## jegreenwood

jegreenwood said:


> Back to City Ballet this weekend. An all Stravinsky performance including Balanchine’s abbreviated version of _The Firebird_ (using the music from the suite, I believe) and *Symphony in Three Movements, which I don’t believe I’ve seen before*. Andrew Litton conducting. I took a look at the cast of principals for the performance and barely recognized a name. There have been a number of retirements this season, and several principals were replaced (Covid? - numbers are up in NYC)
> 
> Two weeks later, I will be taking my grandniece to _Midsummer Night’s Dream._ Litton is again scheduled to conduct. And a lot of familiar names on stage. Working on an explanation of the plot, so she can follow along.


I definitely never saw it before, because it is impossible to forget. It launches out of the gate and except for the pas de deux (called andante, but it seemed more of an allegretto to me) it maintained it through the end. Stravinsky composed the music during WWII and there certainly is a violence element in the energy, but because all three of the principal ballerinas were young, I got a sense youth as well.

That was definitely the highlight of the program. The rest was fine, including the very colorful Peck ballet, which was new to me, but not astonishing.


----------



## jegreenwood

jegreenwood said:


> . . . .
> 
> Two weeks later, I will be taking my grandniece to _Midsummer Night’s Dream._ Litton is again scheduled to conduct. And a lot of familiar names on stage. Working on an explanation of the plot, so she can follow along.


Yesterday was the day. It's the fourth time I've seen this ballet, and while I certainly enjoy it, I don't include it as a favorite. Unless I'm taking a 9-year old who has never seen it. She found it "awesome." I prepped her with a plot summary. She tried to figure out why my Apple Pencil wasn't working. (Success there too.) She heard the donkey braying in the overture; Litton's conducting made that especially obvious. The first act is about 75 minutes, but as best I can tell, she never lost interest. I do think she was happy that the second act is very short. I'm not sure if she recognized the Wedding March. At one point she said she did. But when was the last time you attended a wedding when they actually played it.


----------



## jegreenwood

NYCB Fall Season is here. This afternoon we had Balanchine’s _Stravinsky Violin Concerto, _which is one of his best and Alexei Ratmansky’s _Concerto DSCH_ to Shostakovich’s second piano concerto. First time I’ve seen it, and I loved it. Ratmansky at his best (and he often is) delights with original steps (lots of jumping up and down in this one). And a beautiful _pas de deux_ to the slow movement. The third ballet was _Everywhere We Go _choreographed by Justin Peck. I’ve enjoyed several of his works, but not this one. Empty steps to empty music (by Sufjan Stevens).


----------



## eljr

jegreenwood said:


> Empty steps to empty music (by Sufjan Stevens).


I'd be keen to hear this. Was it the Indie music Stevens generally works in that pushed you away? 

BTW, I assume masks are no longer required?


----------



## jegreenwood

Actually masks are still required.

I liked Peck's "Year of the Rabbit" set to an orchestrated version of Stevens' electronica a lot. But Stevens' commissioned score for "Everywhere we Go" suggested to me that he did not yet know how to write for ballet. For lack of a better term, it felt random. Stevens and Peck have worked together three more times, so maybe Stevens has improved. This season I am looking forward to a full length ballet set to Copland. He choreographed a portion of Rodeo recently, and it was wonderful.


----------



## Marsilius

On Saturday I watched Birmingham Royal Ballet perform_ Coppelia _at the Birmingham (UK) Hippodrome. I've never been particularly happy with the London production by the Royal Ballet: while the choreography (de Valois, I seem to recall) is fine, the production itself is rather small scale and the final Act is lit very low with a dingy blue colour palette that's quite at odds with the gloriously colourful score (the Bolshoi company gets it right in that respect with high-key lighting and bright primary colours). Birmingham's production is by Sir Peter Wright. He cleverly clarifies the plot in one or two places so that an unfamiliar audience will grasp things a bit more easily and the set and costume designs are very good indeed. My only criticism was that he doesn't end Act 2 with the vengeful toys circling the mad doctor threateningly in a moment that provides an appropriate degree of retribution. The dancing was absolutely first class, whether from soloists, featured artists or the energetic _corps de ballet. _ The standout performance came from Brandon Lawrence who danced the role of Franz with immense energy, skill and aplomb: technically, at least on Saturday, he was up there with my London favourite Vadim Muntagirov - with the bonus of an extra double dose of sheer charisma which the more reserved Muntagirov doesn't always manage to generate.


----------



## BachIsBest

jegreenwood said:


> Two weeks later, I will be taking my grandniece to _Midsummer Night’s Dream._ Litton is again scheduled to conduct. And a lot of familiar names on stage. Working on an explanation of the plot, so she can follow along.


Hey, I went to that one (I think the title is just _The Dream _or _Dream _ for some inscrutable reason)! What did you think?


----------



## Becca

_The Dream_ is a one act ballet by Frederick Ashton created for the Royal Ballet. _Midsummer Night's Dream_ is a 2 act ballet done by George Balanchine for the New York City Ballet. While they are both based on Shakespeare, they are quite different.


----------



## jegreenwood

BachIsBest said:


> Hey, I went to that one (I think the title is just _The Dream _or _Dream _ for some inscrutable reason)! What did you think?


What Becca said. 

I’ve only seen “The Dream” once, but I preferred it overall to Balanchine’s work. Both are definitely worth seeing.


----------



## BachIsBest

Becca said:


> _The Dream_ is a one act ballet by Frederick Ashton created for the Royal Ballet. _Midsummer Night's Dream_ is a 2 act ballet done by George Balanchine for the New York City Ballet. While they are both based on Shakespeare, they are quite different.


I see. My mistake. The confusion probably came from the fact both recently played in New York.


----------



## jegreenwood

BachIsBest said:


> I see. My mistake. The confusion probably came from the fact both recently played in New York.


Yes - _The Dream_ is in the American Ballet Theater repertoire. The Balanchine is New York City Ballet,


----------



## jegreenwood

Just got the brochure for American Ballet Theatre's summer season at the Met. While I am a subscriber to New York City Ballet, I attend ABT only occasionally. This year in addition to their productions of _Giselle, Swan Lake, _and _Romeo and Juliet_, they are presenting _Like Water for Chocolate. _Any reports on that? It got a mixed review in the New York Times.


----------

