dance fan

On 04/10/2023 at 15:43, Emeralds said:

Could @Bruce Wall or other members who have attended NYCB this year tell me if you can get casting by clicking on the NYCB website? I’m sure I used to be able to see it on the website (could have mistaken this for another US company’s website though!) the week before the performance but can’t find it now. No rush, but anyone who’s seen it, would be grateful if you can tell us. Thanks! 

You can always find the latest Principal casting by clicking on the home "hamburger" (the two horizonal dashes, then hover over the first entry "Season & Ticket" and the pop up window will have Principal Casting near the bottom.

6 hours ago, Baker45 said:

Where do you stop if you think that not supporting ballet is an answer to anything. Ok so ballet disappears, which sport is next because they all have those issues when we talk about the top of the pyramid. Gymnastics, football. The answer is to find and stop these things happening not removing whole sports and arts from children's lives because of the behaviour of some people

I no longer support Russian ballet.  Does this mean Russian ballet is disappear?  Back in the 80's I supported divestment of South African companies.  These South African companies didn't disappear.  The question is whether each of us think that each of us have to make a decision as to whether we, an an individual support something.  The only thing that seems to work is to vote with our wallets.   This isn't "cancel culture" or "the woke mob".  If we don't like something, often times, the only thing that we can do is to stop spending money on it.  Until it hits them where it hurts, organizations and people within these organizations will not care and will not feel the need to change.  

On 16/09/2023 at 09:51, AnnabelCharles said:

I completely agree with this, LinMM. As with art more generally, I want to see and experience traditional ballets and also those that reinterpret classics or explore contemporary themes and attitudes. 

 

I also agree with your comments about the word 'woke'. It means concern for racial and social justice - and is something I find it hard to imagine anyone not thinking was important. Its use as a perjorative epithet is often inaccurate and can be unhelpfully divisive.

I used "woke" on purpose because I too believe that it has been taken over by conservative.  Unfortunately, my experience formed in that woke fortress called NYC is that many ballet fans, while professing to be liberals and progressive, they want their ballets to be war horses created by dead white men and dance by stick thin women.  For them, the reason why NYCB, ABT, Met Opera, NY Phil are all not doing well and season subscription numbers are low is due to all of these organization catering to the woke agenda.  They want their trusty classics back, performed in the classical manner.  While professing to be liberal, they would say that the newer works by women and people of color are unfortunately not good enough and should be perform elsewhere but NIMBY called the Lincoln Center. 

3 minutes ago, Lindsay said:

I don’t think you speak for all “people here” dance fan.  Ballet is one of the least “woke” (some might call it respectful by the way) of the major art forms.  To the extent that I often go to the ballet alone whereas I would never hesitate to bring friends to the theatre or concerts.  I am still stinging from inadvertently taking a shocked friend to a Bolshoi performance several years ago which contained blackface……

I think you support my point.  I said ballet fan may stop supporting ballet if it became "too woke" thus I'm saying that ballet fans are "not woke".  You appear to agree with me or at least partially because your claim is that ballet is the "least woke" of the "high arts".

On 13/09/2023 at 10:30, alison said:

She's on the theatre's board, but unaware that photography isn't allowed in the theatre

Did she have her AR-15 with her?  

People here enjoy watching ballet.  Almost nothing will convince them to stop watching ballet unless the ballet becomes "too woke".  As far as I can tell, the only thing that will make ballet fan stop attending and supporting it is if they think the ballet themselves are too woke, or the ballet organization are too woke.  Going the other way, and becoming more "non-woke" will only increase viewership.  Russian ballet companies are the least woke, and they are still revered as the gold standard.  People in the west are no longer able to watch Russian ballet companies perform but I'm certain that once the ban is lifted, people will come back in droves.  

Chinese workers are exploited but this didn't stop people from clamoring for iphones.  

This was in my YT feed.  

In NYC, every dance performances I've been to have had the "turn off your phone/silence your phone, taking of pictures or videos of the performance is strictly prohibited".  The one recent exception, I'd described above.  The glow from the phone is a distraction, full stop.  During the performance, I'm in favor of nobody using their phones for any reason. During the curtain calls and intermissions, I don't mind people using their phones as long as they are not using the speakers.  

If you have a digital camera with an electronic viewfinder (EVF), you can take photo and videos without distracting others around you.  You don't use the rear screen and use only the EVF.  If you cup the EVF with you hand, nobody can see the image projected within.  Bring the EVF to your eye while covering it, put you eye on the EVF and press the shutter button or record button.  

I did this while watching a Las Vegas performance.  I'd asked them prior if recording was allowed and they said yes.  Nevertheless, I didn't want to disturb those around me so I use the method described above. 

There was no announcement instructing the audience prior to the show.  I mentioned this to the manager and she was surprised by this.  There was a gentleman introducing the performers  and perhaps he was supposed to make the announcement and didn't.  I'm speculating.  The fact was no announcement was made.  The usher that I spoke with after the show said that they could do anymore, without adding more to the distraction.  Of course, they the ushers did enough damage in the first 40 minutes helping late arrivals to stumble their way finding their seats.  I'm not sure what else could be done.  Based on the behaviors of the audience, I think they would have rioted had the ushers tried to enforce better behaviors.  I won't comment on this but will repeat what the manager said to me.  "This audience doesn't appear to be your typical dance audience in New York.  They may not be familiar with how dance audience should behave.  Perhaps the silver lining, if there is one, is that attending this show will encourage them to attend more dance performances and in time they will learn proper behavior."  I make no comment when the manager said this and I will make no comment here.  I'm passing along the statement.  The manager did ask me if I was going to attend the next show "The National Ballet of Canada" and I replied yes.  

I am back from NYC watching Sara Baras Flamenco Festival at NY City Center. It was a matinee and the last show of the "Festival"  The show had no intermission but was 1:45 minutes.  After the show began, there was a steady flow of late arrivals who were "helped" by the ushers to find their seats.  I was subjected to the usher to may left and my right sweeping my field of vision with their  flashlights and late arrivals, stumbling in the dark in front of me for 40 minutes.  That right forty minutes of near constant disruption.   Not to be outdone by the late arrivals, there was a woman sitting one row behind to my left, she had her phone on full brightest the entire time, and during dramatic moments, when I'm trying to focus on the show , she would take a picture with the flash.  I gave up turning around and looking at her.  She didn't care.  One row below, a woman showed up 20 minutes late.  She would lean all the way forward blocking us, I tap her shoulder the first time she did it, I asked if she could lean back.  I gave up.  The man next to her, constantly check his phone for text messages.  The couple directly behind me was doing a running commentary of the show in Spanish.  Whenever there is a quiet moment, I can hear somewhere to my right and behind me, the voice of a male caller on the end chatting with someone in the hall.  This continued for most of the show.  The live music was fantastic but somebody thought they could do better so there was somebody playing flamenco music, different song mind you, on their phone.  The entire show, people were taking photos and videos, some using their flash.  The winner of the night was in the last 20 minutes, somebody decided to have a better vantage to take videos with the flash turned on.  This person climbed into the ledge to take their precious video.  

I spoke to the manager after the show.  I asked her if NY City Center has a new policy of letting people in during the show.  She sad, it depends on the performance.  The performer decides whether or not to let late arrivals in.  I said, there was no mentioning to audience to remain quiet, to not talking, to not use their phones, to not take videos.  She was surprised by that.  Another usher was there and the usher said, it was bad today for some reason.  They tried to ask people to stop talking, using their phones but they were too many infractions and they would be adding to the distractions.  What surprised me was they said it was bad inside the hall but also outside as well.  

New Yorker here.  Is it normal practice to buy programs?  In the States, we're given one.  Usually, they have more than needed.  Are those available for purchase more intricate than the programs included with ticket purchases in the US?

10 hours ago, Sim said:

Hi Dennis, and welcome to the forum!  The show has gone down very well here in London.  Do you know if they filmed it over there?  Many of us were unable to get to the shows here, and I would really love to see it.  I don't suppose it will be back any time soon, sadly. 

Hi Sim,

Unfortunately, very few performances are recorded in the States.  We all wish they would be but for some reason almost none are recorded or available for streaming.  

American in NY here.  I saw this program in NYC at NY City Center Fall for Dance.  Glad folks across the pond enjoyed it.  I agree it is very American.