Haglund's Heel

Program reminder - NYCB Fall Digital Season begins

Tonight at 8:00 PM 

www.nycballet.com

https://www.youtube.com/nycballet

https://www.facebook.com/nycballet

_{(available until Tuesday, October 6, at 8 PM EDT)}

SYMPHONY IN C (First Movement)
Ashley Bouder, Joseph Gordon**
Conductor: Clotilde Otranto. Filmed on 9/21/2018.

IVESIANA (“The Unanswered Question”)
Janie Taylor, Anthony Huxley
Conductor: Andrews Sill. Filmed on 5/1/2013.

LIEBESLIEDER WALZER (excerpt)
Maria Kowroski, Jonathan Stafford
Solo Pianists: Andrews Sill, Susan Walters. Filmed on 5/22/2012.

LIEBESLIEDER WALZER (excerpt)
Lauren Lovette*, Jared Angle
Solo Pianists: Andrews Sill, Susan Walters. Filmed on 1/20/2016.

EPISODES (excerpt)
Teresa Reichlen*, Adrian Danchig-Waring
Conductor: Daniel Capps. Filmed on 2/6/2020.

TSCHAIKOVSKY PAS DE DEUX
Tiler Peck, Joaquin De Luz
Conductor: Clotilde Otranto. Filmed on 9/21/2018.

STRAVINSKY VIOLIN CONCERTO (finale)
Sterling Hyltin, Ask la Cour, Sara Mearns, Taylor Stanley**
Conductor: Clotilde Otranto; Solo Violin: Kurt Nikkanen. Filmed on 9/21/2018.

 

NYCB, SAB, Catazaro, Ramasar, Longhitano win; Finlay doesn't.

Judge James D'Auguste dismissed Waterbury's claims against NYCB, SAB, Catazaro, Ramasar, and Longhitano, but will allow one claim against Finlay to proceed.

Can we please move on now? Can we please figure out how to get both Catazaro and Ramasar back on the ballet stage when that stage comes alive?

https://iapps.courts.state.ny.us/nyscef/DocumentList?docketId=rPLVUnskYCM89NLHno7z4g==&PageNum=3&narrow=

https://nypost.com/2020/09/28/nyc-ballet-cleared-in-porn-suit-as-case-against-ex-dancer-proceeds/

observations 9/23

Oh, dear.

The Metropolitan Opera has cancelled its season until September 2021. True, the mammoth scale of its stage productions requires a small city of workers and performers to pull off every night. Both the New York Philharmonic and NYCB are a little more flexible. But still, it does not bode well for arts in New York City, especially for ABT. However, people are often socially distanced with many seats between them at ABT's Met performances anyway; so, it may be a bit early to write off the company's spring season.

There will be stages in the U.S. and in other countries that will be open to ballet, but perhaps not here. That doesn't mean that NYCB can't put together a live digital season for a paying national and international audience and make it a profitable endeavor. TV programs are still being made; TV commercials are still being made -- good grief; movies are still being made. Jeopardy is still producing new shows with social distancing.

European ballet companies have spent a year on tour while their theaters were being refurbished. It's not unheard of and not unmanageable.

Walking by Lincoln Center today, Haglund couldn't help but note that the campus is abuzz with major repair & refurbishing activity. A worker even did a Bouder off the roof of the building behind David Geffen Hall on W. 65th this morning around 8:30. The EMTs came and carted him off to the hospital. It was reported that he's okay. It looks like Lincoln Center is not going to waste the time off.  Let's hope that the Met replaces the cushions in some of those strongly scented seats in Rows S & T of the side Orchestra.

It's days like this that we need the panda cam...

 

observations 9/10

It's great to hear that New York City Ballet will be presenting another digital season beginning Tuesday, September 29 with previously recorded performances of Tschaikovsky Pas de Deux and “The Unanswered Question” from Ivesiana, as well as excerpts from Episodes, Liebeslieder Walzer, Symphony in C, and Stravinsky Violin Concerto.  The season will include four weeks of previously recorded performances (each Tuesday at 8PM, available for a week) which will be augmented by two Saturday family-friendly performances. The season will conclude with recorded premieres by Justin Peck and a bevy of non-ballet choreographers who hope to coax applause from the stodgy, know nothing, can't let go of balletic standards, the medium is the message, we'll judge you in comparison to Balanchine until we die NYCB audience that is in no mood whatsoever to see the equivalent of garage ballet. Hullabaloo outdoors -- nuh uh. Not even for free.

And not from dancers who are convinced that they have experienced some special struggle during the past six months that others have not and that the only thing they know how to do is ask for a handout from NYCB patrons through an independent solicitation effort. We're not living in a time where anyone can claim entitlement to work only at a job he loves and wants to do. That is why thousands of New Yorkers who really are feeling hunger and have dependents who are suffering are knocking themselves out to get temporary jobs as census takers, contact tracers, seamless delivery people. How many dancers at NYCB would laugh at the idea of climbing on a bicycle to deliver food in order to make ends meet? Probably every one of them. If the dancers want to claim that they can't escape the city like the rich Manhattanites do, they shouldn't post photos of themselves on Instagram showing their beach vacations or playing with their pets while living at Mommy & Daddy's or otherwise having a fun time every day. It's looking more and more like ballet dancers in this city live in their own little bubble worlds where there is always an NYCB donor nearby who will give them a handout. They can put together a slick website and Instagram page, but they can't ask for a job doing anything other than what they love and want to do. Does anyone want to guess how many of these dancers have been using the past six months to try to build some skills that might get them temporary work? Our guess is that it would be a piddly poor number. How many actors in this city wait on tables, answer phones, deliver food, toil over tedious data entry when they're not employed in the job they love and want to do? A lot.

Oh yeah, we're cranky today.

It seems that ABT has stumbled its way into the news again. Graceless as ever. Such a tactless, formless, unprofessional, shameful way to unload Sarah Lane. Here's hoping that McKenzie gets the same treatment and gets it soon.

We're extremely happy for the promoted dancers who deserved it, and we recognize social promotion when we see it.

 

Chins up, Everybody

Today the Washington Post reported:

"At Lincoln Center, Timms said, plans are being worked out for a 400-seat socially distanced outdoor space for ballet and other arts"

Small steps, but steps nevertheless.

We're guessing that the outdoor space will be Damrosch Park which will be the perfect setting for the beginnings of a comeback. New York audiences have long sat through cold rains, 100 degree heat, and anything Mother Nature can throw at us to watch performances on that stage, and we will weather just about anything to get the music playing and the feet moving again. If somebody can figure out how to provide overhead heating for the stage area and if we are blessed with a mild November and December, we could make this work for months. In fact, Lincoln Center could run multiple outdoor stages simultaneously on its campus – there's room for a stage in front of the Met Opera as well. No wonder the Damrosch Park Corps de Azaleas has been such a vivacious and happy group lately!

However, there may be a problem with crowd control.

There are ways that the crowd can roll up its sleeves to help. Get serious about planning to get a vaccination. Let's hear none of this scare tactic poo-poo about vaccines that were produced a half century ago. Times have changed. Pharmaceutical science has made a few advances, to put it mildly. Don't be one of those people who wants to rely on everyone else getting the vaccine to protect them while they sit on the sidelines. Don't be one of those ____s who banners up with "Nobody's gonna force me to get a shot, social distance, wear a mask, or ever get tested. If I spread the virus to others, so be it; it's my right to do so."

The Phase III vaccine trials in the NYC area still need volunteers. The Pfizer trial is a 1:1 vaccine:placebo study. However, we have been told that once the trial vaccine is shown via data to be effective, there is an ethical obligation to offer it to those who received the placebo. Consider getting an early start by registering on the NYU Langone Vaccine Center website. NYU is currently recruiting for the Pfizer Phase III trial and will soon begin recruiting for Phase III of the Oxford/AstraZeneca trial. Every little bit of cooperation will help.

Again, every little bit of cooperation will help. People who are more likely to come in contact with the virus are especially encouraged to sign up to participate. Start here.  Get on the list now. The old folks who grew up during the polio epidemic of the 1940s and '50s have been turning out in droves for the Pfizer clinical trial. This is the generation that took the risks over a half century ago in the race to eliminate polio. It's time to let them pass the baton.

 

observations 7/26

Kennedy Center announced that it will rev-up to full scale performances in January 2021. The season includes ABT's Don Quixote in April, which, of course means that we will most likely see it during the shortened five-week season at The Met. NYCB will present A Midsummer's Night Dream in March. Alvin Ailey will open KC's dance card on February 2nd. Paul Taylor Dance Company and Ragamala Dance Company are part of the season, too. Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo makes its debut at the end of February with Jean-Christophe Maillot's Cinderella. You may recall that former NYCB dancers Christian Tworzyanski and Lydia Wellington now perform with that company. Subscriptions available right now.

Available here for $10:

How many new lame joke dances about wearing face masks do you think we will we see during the 2021 season? Hopefully none.

 

 

observations 7/19

The first installment of New York City Center's Studio 5 series, which featured Tiler Peck being coached by Merrill Ashley, was a bit dull perhaps because it was over-burdened with details. However, Tiler looked lovely.

July 30th may prove to be more interesting when Nina Ananiashvili provides some online Swan Lake mentoring to Sara Mearns. (Hopefully, the moderator will keep his gaping mouth closed.)

When Sara Mearns was 2 years old and presumably not quite yet in pointe shoes, Bolshoi ballerina Nina Ananiasvili was a guest artist at New York City Ballet along with the incredible Andris Liepa. Together they danced Raymonda Variations and Apollo. Both danced in Symphony in C but with different NYCB partners. Nina danced the 2nd Movement  with Otto Neubert, and Andris danced the 3rd Movement with Melinda Roy. This all occurred in 1988 – five years before Nina first danced with ABT.

Sometime following her stint with NYCB, Nina stared down the increasingly restrictive Bolshoi and told them that she would quit if they didn't allow her to dance with other companies in addition to the Bolshoi. They blinked first. In 1993, Nina found herself on ABT's stage which she would call her second home for the next 16 years.

We're looking forward to this session on July 30th which becomes available at noon for a full week. Even though Sara is considered by some to be a Titan in Swan Lake on her own stage, she has never danced Odette/Odile in a traditional Petipa/Ivanov version of the ballet. What are we missing because of that? Might Nina be able to influence Sara just as Ulyana Lopatkina influenced Maria Korowski's Swan Lake? Not likely if this session is their only meeting. What we can hope for is that they will establish a rapport that perhaps will lead to something more. Let's also hope that Sara chooses to wear a practice tutu instead of the cut-off, cut-up garb that dancers think helps them relate to the common folk who are more interested in athleticism than artistry. Over the past four months, fans have seen enough of this garb. We miss the real ballet costumes and magic that they convey. Besides, who in their right mind would consider not wearing a practice tutu to rehearse Swan Lake with an iconic Bolshoi ballerina such as Ananiashvili?

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People, listen.

We have to do better than this -- especially on 10th Ave in Hell's Kitchen where there seems to be a wide range of interpretive citizen compliance.

This is not HK Cool:

However, ten blocks south, this dude is definitely HK Classic Cool.

 

observations 7/10

Tonight at 8pm Lincoln Center at Home begins streaming its wonderful staged production of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Carousel with the New York Philharmonic. The performance features dancers Tiler Peck and Robert Fairchild and stars Kelli O'Hara, Nathan Gunn, Stephanie Blythe, Jessie Mueller and Kate Burton. The dancers are, of course, superb but, honestly, Stephanie Blythe steals the show as Nettie singing You'll Never Walk Alone.

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SAB's Workshop digital performance continues until Monday July 13th at 7pm.

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Only $13 on Etsy.

observations 7/8

We may not ever see a celebratory PR release from ABT about this, but yesterday's data dump by the SBA & Treasury shows that the company received between $5 million and $10 million in forgivable loan funds from the federal government's Payroll Protection Plan to retain 226 jobs.

The School of American Ballet received between $1 million and $2 million to retain zero jobs. That's right -- zippo jobs. If they don't spend 75% of the money on payroll but opt to spend it on other eligible expenses, the portion of the loan forgivable will be reduced. Haglund's 2013 1.4 GHz Apple processor loudly labored through the 26 MB 661,219 lines of .csv data dump but could not find any mention of NYCB, although it was reported somewhere yesterday that the company did receive funds. Maybe someone out there with a faster processor can glean more from the spreadsheet which can be downloaded here. [Edited to add: We found a much better, more easily searchable database here. Plug in the state and all or part of the name for results. This database shows N/A when # of jobs retained is zero.]

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater received between $2 million and $5 million to retain 419 jobs.

Ballet Hispanico received between $350,000 and $1 million to retain 29 jobs.

NY Phil received between $5 million and $10 million to retain 250 jobs.

NY City Center received between $2 million and $5 million to retain 194 jobs.

Even the New York City Opera received between $350,000 and $1 million to retain zero jobs. That's right--zippo jobs.

The shows will go on...maybe.

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An HH PSA:

WE

ARE

SERIOUS.

 

 

observations 7/1

Thank goodness there will be no spitting on the baseball field or in the dugout during the abbreviated MLB season this summer. Banned due to coronavirus concerns. Nor will the pitchers be allowed to lick their fingers before grasping the ball. Banned. How will they ever get their spit on the ball, you ask? Luckily, the commissioner didn’t think to ban actually licking the baseball; so perhaps we’ll see some of that. You know when the pitcher pauses before his wind-up and puts the glove right next to his face? Watch for a little tongue action this summer. But seriously, won’t it be great to see this little bit of recovery get going? We need some baseball relief from all these ballet videos.

It seems that more relief could be on the way just in time for mid-summer sales. Governor Cuomo found some special HEPA filters that he wants shopping malls to install in their HVAC systems to filter out coronavirus while thousands of customers wander around the malls leisurely shopping. That sounds like a good idea that could be adapted to theaters. Let’s hope NYCB was watching the Governor’s briefing the other day when he was talking about the filters, because his eyes really lit up. Surely NYCB could swipe a few bucks from its endowment cash pile of $220 million to purchase some HEPA filters for the theater’s ventilating system. They’re about $11 for a 2-pak for a Kirby sweeper. Listen, this would be the perfect excuse to raise those Facility Fees to $10 per ticket.

 

Wear a mask.

 

We're just foolin' with y'all.