Week 8 casting for Midsummer's Night Dream is now up:

http://www.nycballet.com/casting/wk8.html

I must admit to being rather disappointed that Darci Kistler is performing Titania in the first performance. I don't think she has the technique, at this stage of her career, to fully do the role justice (I have very fond memories of Sofiane Sylve in this role). I'm also a little disappointed that Yvonne Borree is performing the second act divertissement this season (with Marcovici) -- although I am very glad to see that Janie T. and Tyler A. will be doing the divertissement later in the week -- that should be very exciting, as will Tess Reichlen's Titania.

I too was surprised to see that Kistler is cast as Titania. I guess we can expect that until her retirement, she will revisit all of her old beloved roles, irrespective of her current ability to perform them well.

What?? Albert Evans not casted as Puck??
How sad!!

Hooray for Teresa!!!!!!

Perhaps this performance will finally convince Peter Martins to give her principal status...which she richly deserve!!

Albert didn't do Puck during the last MND run, either. It is sad, but perhaps he has outgrown the role and we're better left with the memories of his brilliant, poignant past performances of the role than to see him not able to deliver as he once did.

There is a discount code on Playbill.com. The code is bys09. It is good for 25% off all performances of MND.

Thank you for the code!

I just ordered a ticket, but through CenterCharge instead of the website, because the website doesn't have an option to pick up the ticket at the Box Office for US addresses, and I'm going to be leaving for the East Coast before it would get here by mail.

Not to mention that the seat I got through CenterCharge is a lot better than what the website offered as its best...

There is a piece by Alastair Macaulay in Sat. NY Times "Every Day a Different Ballet Star: How Cast Changes Cleanse the Palate" in which he raves about the performances of Teresa Reichlen, and bemoans the fact that she isn't given more performances. A wake up call to P. M.?
I will see MND Sunday.......Reichlen AND Ringer, I can't wait!

Okay people, there have been enough empty seats at the Met, and enough people at the Koch Theater, that I can only conclude that I am not the only Ballet Talker who has seen A Midsummer Night's Dream in a run that started Tuesday (and I don't even live here )

Teresa Reichlen's Titania was imperial, her long limbs smooth and reaching, her chest and shoulders open and expressive, and her head high on her neck, but loose and graceful. She was particularly lovely in the Pas de Deux with the Cavalier, each time she reached with her head back, her back flexed, and her focus to the rafters.

Gonzalo Garcia, who I'd seen in a number of roles with San Francisco Ballet, was Reichlen's Oberon, his first full performance after saving the day earlier in the week. While on the one hand, I've been blessed to have seen wonderful Oberons in the last 35 years, the downside is that I've been spoiled. I had always appreciated how difficult each individual section of the "Scherzo" is, and how hard it is to do so many difficult passes in a row, but what I didn't really understand was how hard it was to do all of those different types of dancing equally, or close to equally well. There was a heaviness to Garcia's dancing in this role -- and I'm a fan of juicy dancers -- and it was also uneven: he excelled in the sections with beats, performing them clearly and with wonderful ballon, but his jumping passes were a bit stolid. His presence and characterization as Oberon the king, though, were equal to anyone I've seen.

All of the lovers were new to me. Ask La Cour was a rough and tumble Demetrius, but he was not afraid to be the butt of the joke, which, for me, is key in the role. Robert Fairchild was a full-blooded Lysander; there was nothing wussy about his portrayal of a man in love. Dena Abergel's Helena was disappointing in the first Act: except for the opening phrases of her solo, she was so relentlessly on the beat that for me her performance was like connecting the dots. She looked more comfortable in a tutu in the second Act during the wedding scene. Sterling Hyltin's Hermia nearly stole the show. Although a very different dancer from the role's originator, Patricia McBride, Hyltin made me see the underlying qualities that inspired Balanchine's choreography, while putting her own stamp on it. Her characterization was as powerful and clear as her dancing.

The dancer who did steal the show was Troy Schumacher as Puck, an announced replacement for Sean Suozzi. His dancing was juicy, full-bodied, and clear, but the genius of it was that in his characterization, he avoided every obvious, cheap, guffaw-creating, slapstick moment in the ballet to which even the best Pucks I've seen have succumbed. One comic moment after another, he pulled back and created a moment of stillness, from which a quieter gesture hit the comic dead spot with complete clarity. It was masterful. Kudos to him

In their own ways, the lovers and Bottom's retinue embodied a disciplined approach to the mime, which often gets smushed together and is difficult to decipher. They slowed it down for a split second pause, and in that room created a dramatic moment without an over-the-top gesture, which made it that more dramatically appealing, because there are already so many over-the-top gestures built in, like the scene where each lover dismisses the one who is pursuing him or her. In the scene where Bottom's troupe sets up for the show, it was not the undifferentiated clowning I've often seen, but a precise scene in which each actor is given direction. Bottom was an endearing Henry Seth, who in the beginning of the Pas de Deux made some wonderfully actorish gestures, Bottom being, after all, an actor.

Savannah Lowery was all big jumps and smooth, wind-stirring fouettes as Hippolyta, well in the line of tall, muscular dancers I've seen in this role. Jason Fowler had a lot of presence as Theseus, especially in the Wedding Scene.

This was my first time seeing Janie Taylor and Tyler Angle; they danced the Act II Divertissement. I can't imagine that Taylor will ever be my kind of dancer. Despite some lovely legato phrasing, she just has physical characteristics that I dislike: broken wrists, foot wrap on pirouettes, and a head that is not loose on her shoulders; when she bent it back to to the side, she looked compressed. Angle, by contrast, danced tall and strong, with smooth pirouettes, and the presence of a cavalier, but especially with ease.

The Divertissement couples were very strong. Among the women, there was a shorter, dark-haired dancer I thought was especially fine; carbro, who saw the ABT program this afternoon, thought from the cast list and from my description it would have been Georgina Pazcoguin, if the program was correct.

The singers, Erin Morley and Alison Tupay, were wonderful, and the woman's chorus was strong and vibrant.

This was not Garcia's first full performance. He danced Oberon on Fri night as well.

NYCB 8 pm 20 June 2009
A Midsummer's Night Dream
Titania Maria Kowroski
Oberon Antonio Carmena
Puck Adam Hendrickson
Helena Faye Arthurs
Hermia Abi Stafford
Lysander Andrew Fayette
Demetrius Arch Higgins
Hippolyta Ana Sophia Scheller
Theseus Henry Seth
Titania's Cavalier Jason Fowler
Bottom Adrian Danchig-Waring
Butterfly Alina Dronova
Divertissement Yvone Borree/Sebastien Marcovici

Conductor Faycal Karoui
Soprano Erin Morley
Mezzo-Soprano Allison Tupay

Earlier this week I had a chance to watch two working rehearsals of MND with different casts preparing for their upcoming performances. Thus, before this performance I saw Kistler's and Reichlen's Titania, Jennifer Ringer/Philip Neal and Jamie Taylor/Tyler Angle in the Act II divertissement, Hyltin/Fairchild and Abergel/la Cour as well as Krohn/Ramasar and Somogui/J Stafford as the pairs of lovers, and so on. The rehearsals were a nice kind of preparation for the performance of this evening. I don't remember how long it's been since I last saw Midsummer's Night Dream, a Balanchine masterpiece, not least for his selection of Mendelssohn music.

Maria Korowski created a wondrous Titania -dancing with amplitude, luscious extensions, and a space-embracing presence. She was ably partnered by Jason Fowler as her cavalier. Adrian Danchig-Waring was an excellent Bottom, giving a subtle and poetic reading.

Antonio Carmena was an aristocratic Oberon, fulfilling all the technical demands of the role, even the glissades en arriere with developpes sauté en avant, with poise and equanimity.

Adam Hendrickson struck a nice balance in his choices with comedic
'lines' by stressing a steady hard-working character for the role. Compared to
the other Pucks I saw in rehearsal, I like his 'take' best.

Both lover-couples were amply gifted for their roles. I preferred of the two
the Hermia and Lysander of Abi Stafford and Andrew Veyette.
Both men gained nothing in having to wear those pageboy wigs. But their fencing skills were spiffy.

Ana Sophia Scheller was an athletic and soaring amazon. She was also impressive in the second act.

The SAB children were exceptionally at home on stage, garnering some enthusiastic audience applause.

The second act was graced by an exceptionally vibrant and precise ensemble led by Yvonne Borree and Sebastien Marcovicci. Ms Borree met the challenges of her role with poise, although a tightness in her shoulders and neck continue to mar her technically proficient dancing. Mr Marcovicci shows a pleasant stage personality, which, I for one, continue to enjoy.

The propelling force behind this performance was the conducting of Faycal Karaoui. Mr Karaoui showed us his love for the Mendelssohn music. The Mendelssohn music sounded wonderful.

NYCB 3 pm 21 June 2009
Midsummer's Night Dream
Titania Teresa Reichlen
Oberon Andrew Veyette
Puck Troy Shumacher (for Sean Suozzi)
Helena Dena Abergel
Demetrius Ask la Cour
Hermia Sterling Hyltin
Lysander Robert Fairchild
Hippolyta Savannah Lowery
Theseus Jason Fowler
Titania's cavalier Justin Peck
Bottom Henry Seth
Butterfly Brittany Pollack
Divertissement Act II Jenifer Ringer/Jared Angle


Teresa Reichlen truly glowed as Titania, her movements flowing into
elegant extensions, her body stretching into arabesques of golden lines.
That should be enough of purple prose to get my meaning: I really liked
her dancing; unmannered, musical and full. Her cavalier, Justin Peck,
provided her impeccable support.

Andrew Veyette's Oberon cut a fine figure, and danced his various sequences
with authority, although he left out each time one of the two developpes, in the sequence moving diagonally back.

Troy Shumacher (substituting for the listed Sean Suozzi) danced a
gentle, more lyrical Puck, harkening back to earlier interpretations of the role.

The couples of Athenian lovers were wonderfully drawn, one and all.
Sterling Hyltin was outstanding as Hermia throughout; she made of her solo variation an extremely moving dance study.
Ask la Cour, with his athletic grace, created a vivid portrait of Demetrius.

Other brilliant soloists were the Hippolyta of Savannah Lowery and the Butterfly of Brittany Pollack.

Jennifer Ringer and Jared Angle shone brightly in the demanding divertissement of Act II. Ms Ringer, with her open manner and solid technique, together with Mr Angle navigated the choppy waters of the supported adagio with such finesse and nonchalance that made sense of the ecstatic, liquid, final pose of the dance.

Maurice Kaplan conducted with authority.

Hindsight being what it is, with Osipova and Vassiliev out of Sunday's matinee of "Le Corsaire" at the Kennedy Center, I wish I had stayed in NYC to see this performance.

Ah, so he subbed for De Luz on Friday. Did anyone see his debut? He may have been a bit tired for Saturday.

I saw his performance on Fri night. I thought that he did a lovely job and didn't notice any of the heaviness that you noted. In fact, I thought he positively sprung about the stage. I expect two performances back to back, as well as the stress of having to jump in on Tues, perhaps took its toll on him by the Sat matinee.

Though I have to admit that, sadly, just about anyone would have looked good next to poor Darci Kistler's Titania. I am all for giving a legendary dancer her due, but to say that her performance on Fri was painful (both to the audience, and from the looks of it, her as well) would be an understatement of kindness. Her ankles and calves shook when she was en pointe. Her jumps had no height. Her form was sloppy. And from my second row seat, the fear in her eyes was apparent. I spent most of the time that she was onstage silently praying that she would get through it. And I sort of think that she did too. Happily, I had seen Maria Kowroski earlier this week, so that's the memory of Titania that I'll be keeping in my mind.

I enjoyed Ulbrict's Puck quite a bit, but I prefered Hendrickson's earlier this week.

For me, the night was made by Jenifer Ringer's Divertissement. Borree's performance in that role on Tuesday left me feeling empty. Ringer filled it, and then some. She was lovely.

I just noticed on the casting for Saratoga that Darci will be revisiting her role old role in Slaughter on 10th Avenue. Oy!

It was a shame to me. I really wanted to see her do justice to this role and to her legacy the other night. I've been following ballet for a relatively short period of time, but I'd like to think in that time, I've gained a decent appreciation for the art and, particularly, the NYCB company. I had seen Kistler in several pieces through the season and while she was not a stand-out performer to me, she hadn't embarassed herself either.

I had read several opinions online expressing that she was not up for the challenges of the role, and I was really rooting for her to prove them all wrong. I wanted her to succeed.

Physically, I'm not particularly optimistic that she's up to do Slaughter on 10th Avenue justice, either, but I hope that the more playful style and mood of that piece detracts a little from the obvious technical issues that she was having with Titania. Plus, there is the very real possibility that she was just having a particularly bad night. I do hope so. I understand the desire to hold out for another year to end on a nice even number. I definitely think she's earned that right. I just hope that the casting over the next year is done in a way that allows her to do justice to herself and to the ballets that she is dancing. I hope it isn't just a constant stream of allowing her a final visit to roles that she is no longer able to dance efficiently. Everyone in this scenario deserves better.

As someone who has loved and watched Ms. Kistler from her first week of performing (I was a college student) -- in her brief time in the corps (how exquisite she was) -- until now, I can understand the frustration of watching this once magnificent dancer (who has been riddled by injuries, as well) not live up to her own legacy. However, there's still usually some glimpse of the "past" Ms. Kistler -- the last true Balanchine ballerina -- in almost every performance. Surely, Ms. Kistler is not being cast against her will, which means that for whatever reason she wants to
revisit some of her best roles (and to have missed Ms. Kistler, in her day, as the "strip-tease" girl in "Slaughter on 10th Ave," was to miss a
a landmark performance).

I will be going to Saratoga again this year for a couple of performances, albeit not for Ms. Kistler's "Slaughter.." (I bought the tickets, and booked the hotel before the casting). That said, I am sure that the SPAC audiences will be thrilled to have her perform this role, and will overlook (at least those who remember her back in the day) what she can no longer do. Surely, this is Ms. Kistler's last SPAC visit (at least as a ballerina), and if she wants to dance this role, it's okay with me. She has earned this right.

Kistler clearly does think she has a right to keep dancing, but performers have a responsibility to their audience, and not just to the members of that audience who live in New York and have the opportunity to see multiple casts. I had just one chance to see Vienna Waltzes this year, and I didn't pay good money to see "some glimpse" of what the ballerina role in the Rosenkavalier section has to offer. She was wrong to go on stage when all she was capable of was a sketchy, creaky, lousy performance. Kistler and hubby swear fealty to Balanchine. Would he still be casting her? Hard to believe.

As I'm sure you know, Balanchine cast some dancers in roles when they were long past their prime (I saw some of them).

What might be "lousy" to you, might be "lovely" to someone else.

Finally, NYCB has a fairly liberal policy (even though the tickets say "no refunds or exchanges") of exchanging tickets (ABT does as well. I had to suddenly exchange a ticket this year, and the ABT box office was great about it). Also, the casting for NYCB, is always up well in advance.
Save for sudden injuries or illness (which, surprisingly, doesn't happen that often at NYCB), you can almost always choose your performance (and dancers). If you don't like a particular dancer in a particular performance, and there's no way you can adjust your own schedule, that's the just way the cookie crumbles.

Audiences to tour cities are going to judge the company by the state of the few, limited performances that are put on there, and most likely will take what they see as an indicator of the state of the company. Then they will decide whether to return, which is why casting for tours is such a tricky business.

Kistler is well beyond "well past her prime" from what I saw and what I've been reading, and is more often than not reviewed as lousy here and in print. And the Kennedy Center has no such liberal exchange policy, or at least doesn't publicize it. I wouldn't have taken advantage of it if they did, because I wanted to see other dancers in the other ballets.

I'm not asking for your sympathy.

With all due respect, DeborahB, I believe that you're speaking out of affection for Kistler rather than acknowledging the implications that truly inferior performances may have on the company. You seem to be working under the assumption that everyone - or even the majority of people - in the audience have the flexibility and know-how to avoid performances in which the ballerina may be cast due to sentimentality rather than ability.

I am sure that there are many long term patrons and subscribers who have also watched the progression of Kistler's career and are willing to overlook what many would consider to be flaws in her dance. However, in all honesty, those are not the people that the company currently needs to wow. I was recently at a Studio Talk and it was said that the "six million dollar question" was how to attract and keep a young audience. With the current recession, arts throughout the city have been hurt financially. It is acknowledged that the NYCB's core audience is getting older. The company needs to impress people who are sitting in the seats for the first time *now*, not just people who were sitting in the seats when a young Darci Kistler graced the stage. You simply can't assume that tourists, families, and new audience members are going to know one dancer from another, let alone know that they can go to the website a few weeks in advance to see who is slated to dance when. You can't assume that THEY will know that she's a legendary ballerina, a year short of retirement.

Presently, I represent the audience that the New York City Ballet needs in order to continue to thrive. I am fairly young. I am financially in a position to attend the ballet with some regularity. And I have friends who are in similiar positions. In fact my first experience with the NYCB was only a few short weeks ago when I saw the lovely Kathryn Morgan dance the role of Juliet. She was absolutely intoxicating, and before I even left the theatre, I was craving more. In every single week that followed, I attended the ballet at least twice. I purposely sat in a variety of seats to learn the perspectives of the theatre. I trained myself on who the dancers were. I studied the choreographers. I developed preferences. And most importantly, I brought friends. And I can tell you that if "Romeo + Juliet" and "A Midsummer Night's Dream" were reversed and the performance that I saw last Fri was my introduction to this company, I would not have likely returned (even though I easily prefered the actual ballet of AMND). By the time I attended last week I had seen enough and researched enough that I pretty much knew what to expect out of all the leads. I was attending with someone who was there for the first time. When the lights went up after Act I, the FIRST words out of her mouth were, "How old is Titania? She can't even get her leg up." She may not have known the technicalities and the nuances to look for, but she knew that it was not a good performance. Another friend who was not sitting with us was STILL able to tell that her entire leg was shaking, even though he was significantly further back in the house. This type of performance, quite simply, isn't fair to people who are paying top dollar for good seats. Nor is it going to inspire new audiences to return.

I mean no disrespect towards Darci Kistler. I admire her for what she has accomplished as well as what she represents. I think that she exhibits a personal lovliness and a natural graciousness. And I believe that she will always be an asset to the company through her dedication to passing on her craft. I absolutely agree that she has earned the right to see it through for another year. And I will even go so far as to say that she should continue to be cast in leading roles that a expert may see fault in but a neophyte like myself would find to be passable. Some roles are easier to "fake it". However when the quality of her performance has the potential to be so questionable that it would be offputting to someone who isn't nit-picking the little details, I believe that is where the line should be drawn.

Thanks for the perspective, Beatrice. Though I agree with you about Morgan (she along with her cast made a surprising case for Romeo + Juliet), to me the pernicious thing is if all you have to go on is the performance you see, what happens when someone decides that Romeo + Juliet is a better ballet than A Midsummer Night's Dream?

Very true, DeborahB, and I understand that sometimes his decisions really made people shake their heads, but I also think Beatrice is right to say that there is a line that shouldn't be crossed, and from her detailed and excellent report (thanks, Beatrice, I look forward to reading more from you!) Kistler may have crossed it as Titania.

Slaughter was one of the ballets Farrell relied on as her hip was failing her, so perhaps the style of movement required for it will be easier on Kistler - and on the audience.

I attended the Sunday MND with Teresa Reichlen's Titania, Andrew Veyette's Oberon, Troy Schumacher (for Sean Suozzi) as Puck and Jenifer Ringer with Jared Angle in the Act II Divert, and it was an excellent performance.

Helene saw much the same cast on Saturday (while I was enjoying ABT's Airs/LaSylphide across the nearly finished plaza), and I was dismayed to hear her less than enthusiastic response to Dena Abergel's Act I Helena. But I see why. It suffered by contrast to Sterling Hyltin's Hermia, which beautifully found the emotional content in the choreography. I don't know whether Sterling has innate talent as a dance actress or whether working on Juliet gave her insights, but she understood how to use the choreography for its fullest emotional impact. Dena, in the "temperamental" role, paled beside Sterling, even though Sterling danced the "sweet" role.

The big surprise for me was Georgina Pazcoguin's Butterfly. It would never have occurred to me to cast Georgina, who has excelled in earthy roles, in something so flitty-fluttery. However, she managed to bring those qualities to the performance and stamp it with her own personality.
Thanks to Kathleen and Deborah for the correction -- Brittany Pollack was our lovely Butterfly. I was also surprised by Helene's enthusiasm for Savannah Lowery's Hippolyta, but I have to hand it to her, she danced with a nice bold but cushy attack, and her Act I costume, with its orange chiffon cape, managed to obscure her stiff shoulders.

An Act I highlight was Oberon's Scherzo. I was knocked out by the perfect symmetry of Veyette's grands jetes a la seconde -- something that is rarely achieved. Rarely does the dancer's second leg reach the same level as the first one, but this was a textbook execution of that difficult step.

Reichlen's Titania was duly regal, not only in her general bearing but in how she luxuriated in every breathtaking developpe. She is not only blessed with beautifully shaped legs and feet, but she knows how to add an element of suspense as she unfolds the leg.

Ringer and JAngle brought the performance to a fine culmination with their tender pas de deux in the Act II Divertissement.

The season seemed to speed by, I didn't attend as many performances as I'd hoped to, and most of what I saw was performed at a very high level. This was a fitting way to close out the season, but it's going to feel like a very long time until November.

You do not speak for me, Beatrice, and you are indeed wrong when you say that I'm speaking out of affection for Ms. Kistler.
But I'm not going to argue this point with you as I have clearly stated my opinion.

And while we old folks (I'm 52, and have been devoted to NYCB since I was 19), appreciate "new" and/or younger patrons, that does not discount the value of people like me who attend multiple performances (and not just performances of NYCB) a week. Oh, and did I mention that both of my sons (one in his 4th year of med. school, and one about to be a freshman in college) practically grew up in various theatres (both ballet, broadway and off-broadway, as well as the London stage)? They too will help to ensure that companies like NYCB carry on (passing the torch, so to speak).

Yes, you have stated your opinion. However, *I* saw the performance on Fri night. You, I believe, did not. I have agreed with you that Ms Kister has earned the right to remain with the company. I have agreed with you that she deserves the right to return to SOME of her favorite roles. I will not, however, agree with you that she deserves the right to dance anything that she wants.

I certainly don't discount the opinions of more seasoned patrons. I am saying, quite frankly, that one of City Ballet's biggest, and most challenging, goals at the moment is attracting and retaining a new audience. And while I do not believe that long time patrons will stop attending because Darci Kistler isn't cast in certain roles, I believe new patrons may be turned off from returning to the City Ballet because she is. There are a great many opportunities to lay down a hundred dollars in this city, and if you have no outstanding loyalty towards the NYCB, it is not unresonable to assume that you'll find another one if the performances that you're introduced to are subpar. If one of the main goals of the company is to foster a new audience, I believe casting Darci Kistler as Titania is counterproductive to that goal. Moreover, I believe it's unfair to occasional patrons who do not have the flexibility or the finances to see specific or multiples casts.

You say that you are not speaking out of affection for Ms Kistler on this matter, so I must ask... what are you speaking from then? How do you believe that her performances in roles that her body cannot handle benefit the company at present? I'm not asking this sarcastically. I really do not understand your perspective. If you were coming from a point of sentimentality, I could understand, if not entirely agree with, your stance. However, if your opinion isn't stemming out of affection or sentimentality, I'm wondering what you think the benefit is to the company in keeping her in roles that she struggles through and which are generally recieved poorly.

Additionally, it's probably best not to assume that just because someone is new to the ballet, that they haven't also "practically grown up" in various theatres.

I was at the Sunday 6/21/09 matinee also: what Helene and Carbro said -- although I'm pretty sure Brittany Pollack was Butterfly, not Georgina Pazcougin. Either way, it was a terrific performance of Butterfly.

I really liked Veyette's characterization of Oberon -- he got the mix of noble and not-so-noble just right. I don't think I've seen anyone do the "am I not fabulous!" vamp while the little page holds his cape any better -- it was witty without being over-the-top, and told us enough about Oberon's vanity to make his decision to exact revenge comprehensible. (I always found Peter Boal's Oberon problematic in this regard -- he was just too darn noble to get into a believable snit over something as trivial as an ornament to his retinue.) Veyette made Oberon's delight with Hermia and Lysander and dismay over Helena and Demetrius palpable, too -- its a detail that can get lost amidst the bustle of the lovers' interactions, and since his sympathy is an important counterweight to his vanity, its a detail we need to see. Nailing the Scherzo is important, of course, but these little things are, too. Bravo.

Reichlen's Titania was beautifully danced, and I don't think there's a ballerina on the NYCB roster who looks more glorious in a lift. (Her Cavalier -- J. Peck -- deserves some credit for this too, of course.) She's also the first Titania I've seen whose manner suggested that the women in her retinue were her companions and not just her attendants -- i.e., young women of rank who were members of her court by right not obligation. There was a lovely bit if skirt-fluffing during the Nocturne when Reichlen unleashed an "I feel pretty" smile, the corps beamed back, and it felt like a moment of sisterhood.

Jason Fowler made Theseus' proposal to Hippolyta seem like a moment of genuine ardor and not just something that needs to be done to explain why they're leading off the wedding march.

It's time to dispense with Karinska's head-gear and let everyone perform in their own hair. Theseus' doge cap in Act II needs to be put in the shredder immediately. Ditto whatever it is that the Butterflies have on their heads. Oberon needs to keep the glitter in his hair, of course.

I haven't been to the NYCB Nutcracker in many years, and I contemplated purchasing a ticket for the opening night. However, in view of Kistler's trip down memory lane, I now have concerns that she might end up as the opening night Sugarplum. Therefore, I am passing on buying advanced tickets for Nutcracker.

You are right, Kathleen (I was there too), Brittany Pollack was Butterfly. She's been given quite a few choice plum demi and soloist roles this season and has always been delightful.

Abatt, I had exactly the same reaction as you. In my zeal to see MND again, after its hiatus last year, I bought tickets in advance (before casting went up) to the first performance, which in my experience usually has the most exciting cast. I was greatly, greatly disappointed to see Darci Kistler cast as Titania -- for the very first performance. But, I'd already bought my $100 ticket and so I went, and every time Titania was on stage (and she has some of the most gorgeous music in the ballet, too), I had to look elsewhere, at the corps, at Kaitlyn Gilliland -- anywhere but her, because she really destroyed my memories of what a fantastic role Titania really is. Thank goodness, I got to see Tess Reichlen on Saturday afternoon, what a breath of fresh air. I must add that Janie Taylor and Tyler Angle made a spectacular debut in the Act 2 pdd -- I think they will only get better the more they do it, but Janie, and Kathryn Morgan (best Sleeping Beauty pdd I've ever seen!) are my favorites of this past season.

In any case, I too, am not going to buy Nutcracker tickets in advance, which is my usual practice. Once bitten, twice shy. I'm not going to spend $100 to see Darci as Sugarplum. If she can be cast as Titania, and as the Striptease Girl, there's no limit. In this economy, especially, I can't afford to shell out for as many performances as I would like.

I am 55 years old. I have attended performances at NYCB and ABT (I grew up in Chicago) since 1980. I saw Rudolf Nureyev in the early 80's, when his dancing skills had greatly declined, but that didn't bother me nearly as much as seeing Darci dancing now. I had never seen Nureyev live during his heyday, but I definitely saw Darci live during hers. To me, it's always worse seeing a weak perforamnce from a dancer who used to be wonderful, than just seeing a plain old weak performance. I live in Staten Island and don't drive, so I can't go to the ballet during the evening. But if at all possible, I will switch any ticket during the 2010 Winter or Sprng seasons if Darci is going to be dancing. And NYCB only posts their casting schedule about two and a half weeks in advance, which is not very long. I left the final staging of Midsummer last week when I saw that Darci would be dancing Titania. I just couldn't bear seeing her perform the part at this stage in her career.

I think DeborahB explained above:



After many decades of watching ballet, I can say while this may sound like sentimentality, it's actually something quite different, based on cumulative experience and context. It's up to each viewer who has seen something unique which is about to be lost to decide how much it's worth to them to see that diminishing bit of something quite precious and irreplaceable. Some people do, but many who loved her in the past, from what I've read here, have given up completely, and are waiting for the 2010-11 2011-2012 season.

A newcomer looks at Kistler and will rarely see what DeborahB describes, because from most reviews here, it takes an effort to find it, and there's too much lost. I felt much the same way about Nureyev; even though I had seen him on film, by the time I saw him live, at the very end of his life, I could not see any of the qualities that made him great.

Nureyev was Nureyev, though, and I was not going to dismiss Paris Opera Ballet or La Scala Ballet, because what I had seen seemed to be a self-indulgent display and had little to do with either company. NYCB is another animal, and I can appreciate that someone new to the company watching will see what's in front of them without a very long-time context and come to the conclusion that it's not worth returning, especially since NYCB does not have a rep that allows dancers to age out through character roles, the way Bournonville does, or the way opera does, hence Leonie Rysanek's Kostelnička late in her career. (NYCB rep is pretty cruel that way.) It happens to dancers (and singers) who, as they grow older, give spotty performances, sometimes brilliant, sometimes off, ex: all of the "Good Kyra day"/"Bad Kyra day" reviews in the last few years of Nichols' career; a person who has no long-term interest and who sees an off performance will often dismiss the performer completely, long before the bad days are more the norm. I don't see that much argument that Kistler's bad days aren't the norm now.

I specifically recall that Darci was my very first Titania, and that Midsummer Night's Dream was the very first ballet I ever attended in the early to mid 1990s. After that experience, I started attending very regularly. She was very wonderful back then. However, if I were I newcomer to ballet and my first ballet experience was seeing Darci as Titania last week, I may never have come back.

Martins sees her dance more than most people do, and I suppose he still sees that uniqueness, at least some of the time. Still, when so many longtime observers and loyal audience members have said for years that they don't, I think the situation smacks of nepotism, and of, as Deborah put it (albeit in her defense), that she has a right to these roles. I think, rather, that she has a responsibility to the choreography, and to the audience, which increasingly wishes not to see her.

As for Nichols, my memory may be faulty, but I don't remember her poor reviews in later years being nearly so frequent or so intense. I do remember a Brahms-Schoenberg in 2005 in which I first noticed her diminishing skills and then quickly didn't care because she brought so much perfume to the role. I also saw her final performance, with ended with the Der Rosenkavalier section that Kistler has been performing, and there was no comparison. Nichols was beautiful all night long.

Nichols, in my opinion, was much wiser than Kistler in selecting her roles at the end of her career. Also, I think Nichols' technique was not as greatly diminished at the time of her retirement as Darci's current technique.

I don't disagree that Nichols retired before her good days were behind her, although when I saw her last, in "Scotch Symphony", even though it was hardly a "bad" day, she wasn't close to the dancer I had seen regularly decades before, nor was that to be expected.

Kistler made the decision when she was very young to do everything that Balanchine asked of her at a time when she needed to ease off and heal, and those injuries and weaknesses that were bred during the last few years of Balanchine's life have haunted her since, putting her at least a decade behind Nichols in dance health. I have no reason to think that she has any regrets about this, but the results are very clear.

The bottom line is that casting is Martins' decision and responsibility as the head of NYCB.

I can understand this, Colleen. I saw Nureyev when her first came to the West and also near the end. The decline in technique, energy, and sheer drive were sad. But there was still the mesmerising stage presence. Nureyev's "story" on stage near the end had nothing to do the choreography. It was about his defiance of mortality. Very soap-opera, but also very dramatic. Didn't someone say of Nureyev that having to give up the stage would be a kind of death? According to his biographers, Nureyev was acutely aware of his limitations towards the end, and what audiences would see on stage. He agonized over this. But he still could not give it up. That's the tragedy, I think.

I saw Kistler in her first season with the company, though not since the early 90s. With the exception of the interview segment at the start of NYCB's televised Swan Lake (1999) -- a performance she did not actually dance, due, I believe, to injury -- I don't know her mature work at all. I would have thought that the role of Lady Capulet would have been ideal for a glamourous lady at this stage of her career. But it was not. Her Lady Capulet last month was one of the strangest and saddest performances of this role I've ever seen.

Casting, as Helene says, is Peter Martins' decision. But surely the dancer has a say in what she requests and what she will accept. I'm sorry for Ms. Kistler and for her fans. Perhaps, like Nureyev, she just cannot give it up.

Martins' loyalty in casting some of his long-serving dancers (and not just Kistler) in roles that might be better served by others puts me in mind of Chicken George's telling Kizzie when they are finally reunited that he doesn't see her with his eyes, he sees her with his heart. It's an admirable sentiment in a husband or friend--and in an AD on occasion--but he has an obligation to be clear-eyed, too.

Martins might have given Kistler a ballet or two to help her close out her career with the grace and sweetness that she still has in abundance. As Helene pointed out, the NYCB rep isn't overstuffed with twilight roles and providing a few would be a real service.

edited to add: Duh! Lady Capulet! Thanks Bart - although I agree it doesn't necessarily serve Kistler well.

There are plenty of ballets in which Kistler can still do a respectable job. In fact, the only reason Papillions was revived, I believe, was to give Kistler an easy role she could handle. Ditto her role in Stabat Mater. I'm sure there are any number of ballets in the rep (mostly created by Martins) where Kistler would be cast appropriately. The problem is that she is also being cast in ballets that are clearly beyond her current abilities.

Thank you for answering. I can definitely understand and appreciate this sentiment to an extent. And as I mentioned before, I certainly understand the desire to let a legendary performer say her good-byes in her own way.

But I think the thing that differs here from the Nureyev situation for me (and please correct me if I'm wrong... as I mentioned, I still in the early stages of educating myself on the ballet) was that there was still a demand to see Nureyev. I believe his name had more of a box office draw outside of the ballet community than Kistler's does. And within the community I think there was a desire to see him before he retired. I think it was sort of understood towards the end that he was a performer at the end of his career, and people went into performances knowing this. I also think that perhaps even then, his technique exceeds what we're seeing from Kistler these days. My concern here is that is seems very few people want to see Kistler in these roles, except for Ms Kistler herself. I can't help but notice that the only person staunchly defending Kistler's "right" to dance Titania (and to a less degree the Striptease Girl) has/will not see either of those performers. If the idea that Kistler's current contribution to the NYCB is to allow her long term fans to see a glimpse of the ballerina that she once was, I find it interesting that this opportunity is not being more actively sought out. If the newcomers do not think that she belongs in the role and the occasional patrons do not think that she belongs in the role and the long term subscribers think that she deserves the role, but do not go out of their way to get that "glimpse", who exactly is being served?

I don't have my Playbills with me at the moment, but I believe I saw her in five roles this season. For me, personally, I thought that she did the most justice to Stabat Mater. In that piece I believe that I did see the glimpse of the ballerina she was. It was also a piece where the costumes potentially hid some of the shakiness in her leg and, more importantly, there were five other dancers onstage to help make the piece work. From what I've read, that ballet is not a favorite of most, but I actually enjoyed it quite a bit and thought that she did justice to her role.

EDIT: I see that abatt also posted about Stabat Mater while I was busy typing this up.

Kistler may not have had the sort of general celebrity that Nureyev had, but she was Balanchine's final ballerina and one of the major ones of her generation. She's not some random principal dancer who won't get off the stage. She inspires this sort of debate because of her level. If you never saw her, it's hard to understand it (I felt that confused twenty years ago seeing Patricia McBride or Suzanne Farrell at the very ends of their careers) and for those who did see her, we're torn between wanting to hold on to her and wanting to hold on to the dancer we remember.

So then do you actually pursue seeing her? Once again, I'm not asking sarcastically. I'm very interested in whether or not people are actively looking at the casting and saying "Kistler is dancing, I need to get tickets". The fraction of the population who seem to have the opposite reaction, appears to be very vocal, so I'd be interested in hearing from the people who are currently seeking out her performances . I'd also be interested to know which of those roles they'd like to see her in: whether they'd rather see her do a "better" job with easier role or if they'd rather see her go out in a "blaze of glory", so to speak with roles like Titania.

I've never seen "Papillions," so I can't comment on it as a vehicle for aging ballerinas. "Stabat Mater" is so problematic for me on so many levels that I'd hate to think of it as Kistler's farewell ballet, but I understand your point, Abatt.

What I had in mind was a gift along the lines of what Wheeldon gave Jock Soto near the end of his career in the duet from "After the Rain." Other dancers have taken on that role since his retirement, but he was unforgettable in it and I at least still compare their performances to his (and so far have found them worthy efforts but wanting). I don't know if the role made it any easier for Soto to leave the stage, but it made it less heartbreaking for me to say goodbye. And as Leigh pointed out, for those of us who saw Kistler in her glorious prime, it is heartbreaking to see her go. I'm stuck in the "can't look, can't look away" mode at the moment.

Martins isn't my favorite choreographer by a long shot, but he's skilled enough to craft a worthy retirement present for a treasured ballerina. Of course, it would mean not making her share the stage with the season's reigning ingenue ...

I saw a beautiful and moving performance of Liebeslieder Walzer a little over a week ago with Kistler, Whelan, Somogyi, and Taylor. I expect Kistler once danced her role with more power and freedom than she does now, but she was lovely and, for me, the ballet--which I had only seen once before many years ago--came through in a beautiful and moving ensemble performance. If I had never seen Kistler before nor known who she was I would have thought the same (as best I can judge). I had actually been watching her nervously as the performance began both because of what I had read and because of a performance of Davidsbundlertanze a few years ago that I had not cared for; within a few minutes that passed.

Like Stabat Mater, mentioned above, Liebeslieder is also an ensemble work and one in which the dancers wear gowns/long tutus--but it is also a very delicate and wonderful work of art, one of the greatest ballets in the repertory, so all the dancers get credit in my book.

Of course, this is not exactly a response to all the concerns being voiced above about the current range of her performances--concerns I understand. But, seeing so little deeply felt praise for Kistler in the present I thought I would at least register my appreciation.

Also: To the person who suggested that Nureyev at the end of his career probably had more technical chops than Kistler has now...From everything I have read and heard...not remotely. (Even at his supposed "height" I saw him once on one of the marathon tours in which he danced every night and found him dancing sloppily and looking exhausted. On other similar tours, I saw him give some of the greatest performances I ever hope to see.) A closer comparison for my taste though is Alicia Alonso whose dancing seems to have been an inspiration to her company and her audience considerably past the point when a newcomer to the ballet would have understood why she was on the stage and to have been so precisely because of her historical importance as a dancer and leader of the company. It may be American fans have less of that historical investment in their ballet stars ... and I take very seriously the views voiced above that Kistler may now be doing the choreography/the company a disservice. But as Leigh said, she is not just any principal dancer.

I saw Nureyev towards the end of his career - when POB came to New York, he squired Sylvie Guillem in Swan Lake - her debut performances in the US, I believe. I don't recall associating his debilitation with AIDS; I thought he was arthritic and in pain. It hurt to watch - and the contrast between his condition and the young Guillem's made it worse. As previously mentioned though, a hunger for the stage may have been there, but equally was the realization that he sold tickets and got bodies in the seats.

I remember Guillem's Odette-Odile during that visit, but she must also have danced with someone else. Nureyev got lots of publicity, though, as the head of the company.

I Googled and found this review of your performance, Leigh. It's by Anna Kisselgoff, who seems to have been impressed inspite of herself by Nureyev on stage.

http://www.nytimes.com/1988/06/27/arts/rev...from-paris.html

Her conclusion has the ring of truth:
There was still overwhelming stage-craft and charisma, obviously.

Not to be disrespectful of Kistler or anyone else, but I wonder whether Kistler was ever an "American ballet star" in the sense of having a broad following outside the NYC metro area. (The cognoscenti are a different matter entirely, it seems to me.)

HAS there ever been such a star? Fonteyn, yes. Nureyev, Baryshnikov, Makarova, yes. Possibly Villella. All sold tickets to broad-based audiences on the strength of their name and reputation. I'm trying to think of an American-born, American-trained ballet dancer who had the same pull, at least in the past 30 years or so.

Maybe Gelsey Kirkland

Unfortunately, Martins' stock in trade has not been choreographing for sweetness and grace. The closest things I saw to these qualities in his work were very early ballets, like "The Magic Flute" for Kistler and Killian (for SAB), and he did a fine piece d'occasion for Farrell in "Sophisticated Lady". Post hip replacement, Farrell was physically limited and Martins was sensitive to that, but that's not really Kistler's style, either.

It would have been great if there was a choreographer for whom she was an interest and muse and whose choreography reflected her qualities. It's easy to see why Titania would be such an appealing role.