I thought my computer monitor had lost color. But no, it looks as though www.nycballet.com has undergone a facelift - not to take away the grey, as some of us would like to do to our aging hair, but to add more of it. Despite the difficulty of navigation and (my continual pet peeve) the inability to make individual seat selections, the site at least used to look good. Now it's this ugly black-and-white thingy.

What were they thinking?

I find the black and white is refreshing. I only wish they'd hire a professional writer.

Well, to each his or her own. But I write for a living and would be happy to serve, so long as the compensation was attractive. At least under my watch you wouldn't encounter bizarrely structured sentences like this one:

"In January 2005, Mr. Ulbricht was promoted to the rank of soloist and principal dancer in May 2007."

I find the black and white almost painful to the eyes and not at all beckoning. When the musical snippet you get on the home page is Brahms or Tchaikovsky or some other lush Romantic, there's a jarring clash of sensibilities.

A number of the individual photos are well-done and really quite refreshing. The over-all look, however, does not work for me. And it's not appropriate for every ballet. Even The Nutcracker is in grey and white! (And the link to "More NYCB History," found on the Nutcracker page, does not work.)

http://www.nycballet.com/nutcracker/nutcracker.html

Agreeing with Bart...

And just wait until you see the overall look of these photos, in large poster-size, at the State Theater. The dancers look so cold and plastic, IMO.

I see your point there, but I don't experience it that way and, anyhow, I turned the speakers off when the music began, just as I try to tune out the video when I buy tickets in the lobby at the State Theater. Both decisions are of a piece with my preference for black and white over color here. When I used to go to a lot of rock concerts, I didn't want to hear the bands' music over the loudspeakers before the show. In the same way, if the photos were really remarkable or revealing I might like the color, but too many little color photos and larger cut out shots of familiar material tire my eye and diminish the magic. The black and white, on the other hand, strikes me as elegant. While I wait for the chance to see another performance, less is more.

But it's interesting to me that some of the most experienced viewers here feel differently, and if I was a newcomer to the ballet and just a casual fan I'd probably feel differently myself.

Has anyone noticed that the site also dumped that old-fashioned Balanchine Lyre as its logo? The new logo is a magnificent evocation of the choreography of The Ballet Master in Chief.
You would have thought R + J would have retained its +, thus evoking Edward Gorey..., but not, at least, on the home page.

Yes, what's with that? I believe I recently saw a reference somewhere to the lyre being the "former NYCB logo." Horrors! And in favor of what -- bland type?

I also don't like the black and white design of the site but just assumed it was a change and would be quite short-lived. It's too austere. Ballet needs to convey life and lushness.

Out of curiosity, since I couldn't find anything resembling a logo on the homepage, what is NYCB's new logo?

The lyre has it own page but it's barely visible there. The page's opening sentence is ambiguous:

The b&w shots on the website don't work for me. I think the scale is too small , the photos only take up a relatively small portion of the screen. They end up looking like old snapshots , but ones that aren't that interesting.

Sorry, I disagree. The black and white photograph on the website is gorgeous. It's even more beautiful (stunning really) at the NY State Theatre.
But to each his own (of course!).

I like the black-and-white well enough, but think 'THE SOLD-OUT SENSATION RETURNS' is hilarious, and also amusing is 'BALANCHINE'S GLITTERING, FULL-LENGTH AUDIENCE FAVORITE'. Sort of 'hard-sell, yet uncommonly exclusive.'

The closest thing I could find to a logo is the black square in the top-right corner that says
consistent with
and

Ah, but that would take all the color out of the writing, too. How can you resist rushing to the box office when you read:

"Nothing so opened the American mind or forged our national character as did the exploration of the American frontier. Western Symphony is a bonanza of frisky fillies and lonesome cowpokes whose rousing, non-stop finale brings the curtain down."

Quite right. I couldn't come with something like that in a zillion years.

Well, like the "+" in "Romeo AND Juliet," NYCB seems to be trying to take on a newer, more modern (or contemporary) visual formula. I think the photography is beautiful, but the site is boring visually. I also noted with interest that many of the large photos show a "black + white" couple. I have always loved the fact that this company has that mix and uses it (following Mr. B's lead), but wonder if this is being done just to be visually consistent.

I smell an attempt to reach younger people, and take on a new look. It's necessary to do, but what is the best approach?

Thanks for pointing that out, ViolinConcerto. I quite dislike the use of a '+' there. Romeo & Juliet can hardly offend viewers who are going to see bodies instead of screens. What will web designers start using next, in their quest to be ever more nerdy-chic?

I don't like the "+" either, but I suppose it's intended to attract the same young people who might go see "NEWYORKCITYBALLET." Now which was it that wrote that "For George Balanchine, it was always the Company rather than the individual dancers who was the star at New York City Ballet"?

The black and white theme doesn't thrill me -- but I do love that NYCB makes a regular effort to update their site. I wish some of the other major companies would pay their websites as much attention.

I LOVE the black and white photos; they have a wonderful elegance.

JIM

I love the b&W photos as an ad campaign but the B&W makes the website look dreary.

Video! At long last VIDEO!

The "Program Previews" seem to be same micro-documentaries we've seen of late in the lobby.

Thanks for mentioning it, I enjoyed pretty well the clip of Romeo Plus Juliet, but wouldn't run to see it. Sharp-looking, but not quite romantic. It looked more sparse and small than I want to see this. I wasn't very interested in Peter Martins philosophy about getting the teenagers to do the parts, although they're nicer-looking. I don't mind if Margot Fonteyn did it perfectly and was oldish.

Add me to the voices that love the new site. I think it looks contemporary and exciting.

And I think Balanchine would have loved the "+" in Romeo and Juliet and, in fact, anything that kept the company young and fresh and new.

If he were still around in 2008, he would have probably gotten rid of the lyre himself.

I'm glad you made that a speculative statement, but we really can't be sure-- he was changeable in the things he said*. The lyre was the symbol of the Imperial Academy, on their dress uniforms there were little lyres on their collars, and all his life he really held his school and the fact that it was supported by the Tsar in high regard.

At any rate, please join me in wishing Mr. B a happy 104th birthday, one day late (Jan 22, 1904). And note that the "block programming" means that Jan. 22nd is no longer called "New Combinations" night. Mr. Martins paid respects to Mr. B's birthday with that name, because Mr. B said that all he was doing was making "new combinations."

*There is a little book sold at the NYState Theater that is comprised of little quotes by Balanchine, and there are many contradictory statements.