Ballet at the Met, who's going?

Seeing Le Corsaire next which is my favorite. It show cases the cool athletic stuff the men can do. The others show off quite dainty women.

Actually I'm going Wed night as I want to see Carreno. His machismo is unusually well suited to Le Corsaire. Nina is dancing that night too, but this ballet doesn't really showcase her skills. Did you see Nina during the opening night doing the Masquerade Waltz? It was fun. Last year she did a dying swan routine for the opening night which was otherworldly.

I like to put this in every ballet thread, though it isn't really relevant. I saw this when the Kirov was in NY

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I saw Corella for the first time last week dancing the part of the slave in Le Corsaire. He's good. I find that opening night shows the best snippets of their season and I have more fun during that night than the rest of the season.

I'm seeing Giselle and Airs/La Slyphide as well. Traded in Sylvia for Swan Lake.

I saw this at the same Kirov run last spring: The next night was their opening Balanchine program. Half of City Ballet must have been there to check them out. The reasons depend on who you ask, but there are several: NYC is very expensive, there's stiff competition from the two big resident companies, NYC critics can make or break a company (though not one of the Kirov's stature, but this reason is given for smaller companies), and there aren't great theaters in NYC that outside companies can use. When the Kirov was in NYC last spring, they were cooped up in City Center, which, as you know, isn't an especially large or nice theater. In California, they have access to great theaters, very little local competition, and the weather is very nice here, too. On the bright side, a lot of the Russian stars do guest with ABT. The Bolshoi does tour this production, but besides one or two moments (like the adagio above), it's a pretty dated and inane ballet that shows its age --- it's one of those industrial Soviet ballets that celebrate the glory of the proletariat. There would probably have a been a tractor in there if they had half a chance. FWIW, there's a nice new video of it out (on BluRay as well) with Carlos Acosta guesting with the Bolshoi. --Andre

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BTW, my comments about theater space assumed a large company like the Kirov (ie. carrying around 100 dancers on tour), and as you probably know well, lots of smaller companies visit theaters like the Joyce and BAM.

Critics can be inconsistent and companies can perform inconsistently, too, but the current NYT critic is pretty good, knowledgeable, and writes well. I also find it ironic and surprising that many NYC-based dance fans (and I don't mean the people in this thread) are pretty provincial in their view of the dance world. The previous NYT critic before Macaulay was like this.

Personally, I don't care for ABT at all and think they're completely overrated. It's like an all-star pickup team: lots of talent, but no cohesion or style. The worst Giselle I've ever seen was an ABT production (Paloma was Giselle ... uggh!), and their new Sleeping Beauty is a complete waste of money and time. There are many American companies operating at a higher level than ABT: SFB, PNB, MCB, and Boston come to mind.

NYCB has been inconsistent, and, some say, irresponsible with their legacy, but I last saw them live in 2003, and really enjoyed them, too. Word from friends recently is that there's a new crop of dancers who are dancing really well. The few minutes I've skimmed over this past week's broadcast of their Romeo+Juliet showed a really good-looking company.

--Andre

I'm seeing it with Hallberg and Seo. I've only seen a snippet.


Best Sleeping Beauty I've seen is with Nureyev in Paris doing this solo at the end.


Last fall season even the ABT had to perform at CC. I saw the Kirov a few years ago at the Met. *shrug*