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Attending ballet performances

48K views 202 replies 42 participants last post by  jegreenwood 
#1 ·
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?
 
#89 ·
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.
 
#90 ·
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.
 
#92 · (Edited)
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.
 
#98 ·
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?
 
#99 ·
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?
 
#102 ·
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.)
 
#103 ·
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.
 
#105 · (Edited)
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.
 
#106 · (Edited)
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.
 
#108 ·
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.
 
#110 ·
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.
 
#112 ·
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."
 
#114 ·
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.
 
#115 ·
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.
 
#117 ·
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.
 
#124 ·
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.
 
#126 · (Edited)
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.
 
#128 ·
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.
 
#129 · (Edited)
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.
 
#131 ·
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).
 
#133 ·
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.
 
#134 ·
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.
 
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