We are staying in Florence, Italy for about 3 weeks and just had the experience of seeing members of NYCB perform for one night, in an open air venue (in the Boboli gardens outside the Pitti Palace) in Florence. Phillip Neal, Yvonne Borree, Rachel Rutherford, Abi Stafford, Megan Fairchild, Jared Angle, and Tom Gold performed Apollo, Tchaikovsky PDD, the PDD from Diamonds, Twya Tharp's Junk Dances and Who Cares. I have to say it was a bit odd to see only a small portion of the company perform Who Cares and to see some altered choreography in Apollo (including a finale without the stairway). Nevertheless, it was great to see the dancers here in Europe. I thought Abi Stafford (in Tchaikovsky) and Tom Gold danced especially well and even Philip Neal did a better job (in Diamonds) than I thought he did in the spring at the State Theatre. Unfortunately, the venue was only about 25% full (as opposed to a fully sold out Momix performance last week). In my halting Italian, I managed to converse with some neighboring viewers who explained that Florentines simply are not that fond of ballet. In any case, I thoroughly enjoyed the evening and hope that the performance may have changed the mind of some Italians about going to see ballet.

What serendipity for you! And thanks for sharing this, Amour.

Could I bother you to ask for a complete bill of fare -- who danced exactly what? I'm eager to know.

Amour, you may be based away from NYCB's home -- Mr. B. revised Apollo in about 1980, when Mikhail Barishnikov joined NYCB (briefly). He deleted the prologue (with the "birth" scene) and, since he didn't need the structure with the stairs for that part, eliminated them from the end as well, altering the choreography (and shape) of the coda. I hope you enjoyed this new version.

There may be some discussion elsewhere on BT that may interest you about this.

Absolutely. Philip Neal,Rachel Rutherford, Yvonne Borre and Megan Fairchild danced Apollo (Megan was Terpsichore, Yvonne the first muse and Rachel the second). Abi Stafford and Jared Angle danced Tchaikovsky PDD; Philip Neal and Yvonne Borree danced Diamonds PDD; Tom Gold and Megan Fairchild danced Tharp's Junk Dances; Who Cares was danced by"tutti" (all 7 dancers listed above). I liked both Megan and Philip better than I have in NYC. Yvonne wasn't terribly good in Apollo but was somewhat better in Apollo. Tom Gold was great (and Junk Dances got the best response from the crowd). Who Cares was well performed but it was just strange to see it without the whole company. Still, I loved seeing the dancers outside (the venue has great sightlines, no matter where you sit) and in such an intimate-seeming performance (because of how few people attended).

Thanks, amour. How fortunate you are: not only to be spending 3 weeks in Florence -- but then finding that a troupe of hometown ballet dancers have just flown in to perform for you.

How were they billed? "Dancers [or Stars} of New York City Ballet"?

Am I right to assume that second "Apollo" is a typing slip for "Diamonds"?

Florence AND NYCB dancers!!! Mama Mia!!

This reminds me of when Merrill Ashley would take company members and Balanchine ballets to Hawaii. Not that I was ever lucky enough to go. Is one of the dancers the leader or organizer of this troupe?

It was billed as "Homage to George Balanchine" -Etoiles and Solisti dei New York City Ballet (Given the title, I don't know why they decided to perform the Tharp piece).

Oops, yes, I meant Diamonds.

I'm actually from NYC but haven't seen NYCB perform Apollo in many years (only ABT). I also didn't know about this later version - thank you for the info.

Thank you so much for writing about this! (Although I'm very jealous that you're in Florence ) I'm sorry the house wasn't full -- but not surprised. Several smaller companies have had to cancel Italian tours in the last few years for lack of ticket sales.

A dreadful thought: Is it possible that it's the "Balanchine" billing that didn't draw the crowd?

One hears a distressing amount of vaguely negative comments about Balanchine from the sort of people who do indeed claim to like Momix, Pilobolus, Cirque de Soleil, drama ballets, Movin On, rock or pop scores, and the more athletic contemporary stuff.

Maybe giving top billing to the "New York City Ballet" name would have been more appealing to the Florentines and tourists who saw the posters.

Ballet in the Boboli Garden, what an enchanting thought (now I'm getting jealous )

As far as I know, the only ballet company in Florence is the MaggioDanza company, associated with the Maggio Musicale Florentine; its new director after Sept 1 will be Vladimir Derevianko, former directof of the Dresden Ballet:

http://www.maggiofiorentino.com/ita/fondaz...azione4-1.shtml

That web page mentions Balanchine among other choreographers in their repertory, but I don't know which works (also next season they're going to perform Bournonville's "La Sylphide" staged by Frank Andersen).

I remember reading that Momix was extremely popular in Italy (from articles in the Italian-French-Spanish magazine "Balletto Oggi/ Ballet 2000") so I'm not surprised that its performances were sold out. Perhaps also the beginning of August is a somewhat "dead" period in Italy ? (in France, it would probably be... And for example there are hundreds of artistic festivals in July, and far less in August).

I think you're right. Last year we saw a company (not Maggia Danza) in Fiesole that was very much like Momix - there wasn't a large crowd but those that attended were appreciative.

It's true that starting with the last few days in July (and for all of August) Florence pretty much empties out and everyone goes on vacation (to the beach). In August the only large festivals are opera ones, in Verona and Lago di Puccini. But I think this discrepancy in attendance between Momix and NYCB had more to do with the type of dance than the fact that fewer locals were in town.

My sister live along the Arno and I visit often and have never noticed and ballet productions. I have seen opera at the Teatro Publico (the name I recall). I have discussed ballet with one ex pat friend of my sister who I am sure was there.

It's terribly hot now in Firenze.... 99° F the other day. I imagine most Florentines stay home and keep cool. But seeing the NYCB there WOULD be cool!

It has been VERY hot during the day but the nights actually (except for one or two) have been much cooler and breezy. Interestingly, though, when you walk around and see all the open windows (not to mention going into cafes or trattorias) you realize that air conditioning is simply not a basic here, in the way it is in the States. The agent who rented us the apt. where we are staying says she doesn't like air conditioning and doesn't have any in her home. So, I don't think the heat was the reason for the poor attendance. I think that Italians love opera first and if they go to see dance, it's going to be some kind of modern dance (unless you are in Milan or Rome where there are some opera house ballet companies).

Amour, I don't like air-conditioning either but I wouldn't stay in Athens in August unless I had to. Italy, like Greece, works at half speed from around the 25th of July till the 15th of August. Around this time anyone who can afford it leaves big cities for the coasts and islands.

This is not directly related to the heat - it could be raining torrential rains and the city would still be half empty. It has to do with the fact that mostly everyone else is also on holiday (that means clients, bosses, collaborators, civil servants, everyone) so it's the most convenient time to go away. Few people are left behind to miss you.

Momix is very popular in Italy but ballet is (still) popular. In my experience what makes or breaks such a mini tour is the advertising. My guess would be that Momix was widely advertised, probably on tv too and there was word of mouth from their previous visits, while the NYCB group had minimal advertising with posters and print ads. The time of year certainly didn't help...