Ballet on X, really.

[Bo1953]

Sorry it is not going to be on our The Edge sailing in November, looking forward to hearing more from those who actually have the experience...

 

bon voyage

[vtcruising]

10 hours ago, hiccups said:

I saw it on Equinox and really enjoyed it.  The performance was short enough that anyone can give it a chance and maybe discover they like it.  It was part of a show with a singer/violinist and another singer.  The audience was large.

Glad to hear you enjoyed it. I am not someone to seek out a ballet performance, but live in a rural area, so welcome the opportunity to experience this well-respected ballet company on a cruise. For me, a cruise is about experiencing new things against a backdrop of relaxation and pampering. I think it's great that X has partnered with ABT and hope they partner with other top notch companies to continue to bring us unique experiences. 🙂

[Alushar]

Love this idea would make me chose one cruise over another. Vive la difference! Hope it continues long enough for us to get on a participating cruise

[twins_to_alaska]

I'd watch!

[Fogfog]

Would enjoy it very much!

[cgolf2]

All I can hope for on the Apex is that they have Edgy shows in the main theater like we saw in January on the Edge and not this.

 

We saw the Nutcracker ballet once and both my wife and I didn't enjoy it. I watched intently and could never figure out what the point of the story was, reminds me of the Eden show;) The performers, both ballet and Eden, were very talented, just not for us.

[finny2]

I would love this! and I'm glad to see so many others who would as well. I hope it serves to be popular enough to continue and expand to all the ships.

[shipgeeks]

Do these sailings also offer ballet classes for passengers?  I believe Cunard do.

[orchestrapal]

21 minutes ago, cgolf2 said:

All I can hope for on the Apex is that they have Edgy shows in the main theater like we saw in January on the Edge and not this.

 

We saw the Nutcracker ballet once and both my wife and I didn't enjoy it. I watched intently and could never figure out what the point of the story was, reminds me of the Eden show;) The performers, both ballet and Eden, were very talented, just not for us.

 

VERY SAD👎😢

[british lady]

Looking forward to the Nutcracker on this years Christmas Cruise

[Bo1953]

1 minute ago, orchestrapal said:

 

VERY SAD👎😢

Nahh, not sad at all...

 

Each of us have our likes and desires in entertainment.

 

Some of us will like and some will not.

 

I think it provides a point of discussion the next day with those who may think or know they do not like such.

 

It is similar, IMO, to a previous discussion about music playing aboard several ships, some like and some do not....

 

I do understand regardless, to a great degree..

 

Bravo and bon voyage

[cgolf2]

10 minutes ago, orchestrapal said:

 

VERY SAD👎😢

 

Why is that? We tried and we didn't enjoy it, everyone's tastes are different. The performers were very talented, just not something we liked. We did stay for the whole show. I also don't like to dance either, two left feet;)

Edited August 28, 2019 by cgolf2

[Bo1953]

1 minute ago, cgolf2 said:

 

Why is that? We tried and we didn't enjoy it, everyone's tastes are different. The performers were very talented, just not something we liked. We did stay for the whole show. I also don't like to dance either, two left feet;)

LOL, if your spouse has two (2) right feet, then that might make for a great tango sequence... 😉

 

Quite true, everyone's taste is different ... I, for one, can appreciate that.

 

bon voyage

[TeeRick]

Celebrity is trying to expand its entertainment offerings.  Not a bad thing to do.  Just don't attend if you do not like ballet.  You have the same choice as other shows.  Based on demographics, ballet on Celebrity makes a bit more sense than ballet on Carnival.  I am more concerned frankly with safety of ballet dancers on a rocking ship.

[Orator]

From responses so far it appears that Celebrity made the right choice. I saw a dance group (ballet) on a Celebrity ship several years ago and they were fabulous! I entered the theater thinking that I should find a seat at the end of the aisle so that I could leave. Everyone stood as one for a standing ovation and the CD had them do a special afternoon performance. Once again a standing ovation from an overflow audience. A cruise with a variety of entertainment gives you the ability to sample some things that you wouldn't normally experience. I don't enjoy everything, but have been surprised both positively and negatively several times.

[4774Papa]

I love ballet, my favorite ballet moment was seeing Swan Lake at the Mariinsky Ballet in St. Petersburg.  Swan Lake is over an hour and a half, if I remember, perhaps longer.  That is too long for a cruise performance.  Wonder what ballets would be shown?

[vtcruising]

14 minutes ago, TeeRick said:

Celebrity is trying to expand its entertainment offerings.  Not a bad thing to do.  Just don't attend if you do not like ballet.  You have the same choice as other shows.  Based on demographics, ballet on Celebrity makes a bit more sense than ballet on Carnival.  I am more concerned frankly with safety of ballet dancers on a rocking ship.

Reminds me of a very rough cruise on the lovely Nordic Empress (later Empress of the Seas), which, 25 years ago presumably did not have the stabilizers we have today on ships. It was so bad that they had taped vomit bags to the rails in the elevators and stairways - it was the only cruise I have been on where the we were offered Dramamine by the waiter with our dinner. The theater show was quite interesting - the acrobats were missing their marks as the ship tilted one way or another and ended up stumbling or on the floor. No one got hurt, but they finally stopped and brought out a comedian who could barely talk because of his nausea and had to leave abruptly.

 

Luckily, things don't usually get that bad on modern ships. Maybe they modify the ballet performance to make it easier to do on a  moving ship, but your comment did make me think about some of the leaps and the precision needed to land correctly.

[Turtles06]

15 minutes ago, 4774Papa said:

I love ballet, my favorite ballet moment was seeing Swan Lake at the Mariinsky Ballet in St. Petersburg.  Swan Lake is over an hour and a half, if I remember, perhaps longer.  That is too long for a cruise performance.  Wonder what ballets would be shown?

 

I am going to guess that, on a cruise ship, they will not present a full ballet, but pieces from various works. Just a guess. (I’ll find out soon on the Summit!)  Also see comment 7 above from the poster who saw the ABT on the Equinox. 

Edited August 28, 2019 by Turtles06

[TeeRick]

4 minutes ago, vtcruising said:

Reminds me of a very rough cruise on the lovely Nordic Empress (later Empress of the Seas), which, 25 years ago presumably did not have the stabilizers we have today on ships. It was so bad that they had taped vomit bags to the rails in the elevators and stairways - it was the only cruise I have been on where the we were offered Dramamine by the waiter with our dinner. The theater show was quite interesting - the acrobats were missing their marks as the ship tilted one way or another and ended up stumbling or on the floor. No one got hurt, but they finally stopped and brought out a comedian who could barely talk because of his nausea and had to leave abruptly.

 

Luckily, things don't usually get that bad on modern ships. Maybe they modify the ballet performance to make it easier to do on a  moving ship, but your comment did make me think about some of the leaps and the precision needed to land correctly.

Yes precision and timing!  I have sailed on the RCCL behemoth ships Allure and Harmony.  They are as stable as a ship can be.  Even so they canceled their Aqua show a few times over the course of my cruises.  Part of it is high platform diving.  I always thought that was a bad idea for a cruise ship!  Even an enormous one.  A ship is a ship.  I  have seen professional ice skaters fall on several RCCL ships too due to rocking and rolling.  I wonder what kind of indemnity insurance covers the cruise line for these type of performances?

[hiccups]

1 hour ago, shipgeeks said:

Do these sailings also offer ballet classes for passengers?  I believe Cunard do.

I believe they did offer classes on our cruise in June.

[vtcruising]

From the X website:

 

American Ballet Theatre repertoire performing alongside our world class instrumentalists on select ships. Join the dancers for intimate seminars and ballet barre classes for adults and children that are sure to keep you on your toes.

 

For the holidays, ABT will perform one selection from the famed Nutcracker on Celebrity Equinox on the December 21, 2019 and December 28, 2019 sailings.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This review was from the Cruise Critic article that I posted above:

 

 

American Ballet Theatre

"Announced in February, Celebrity’s partnership with ABT brings performances, barre classes and seminars by company dancers to 12 sailings in 2019 and six in 2020, spread out among all ships in the fleet except Celebrity Edge. 

 

For this special sailing of Millennium, two of ABT's principal soloist dancers are onboard (a woman and a man). They offered a ballet barre class for up to 50 participants (anyone over the first 50 who showed up were welcome to stay and watch as the class was held on the stage in the theater), have participated in a Q&A and have performed twice.

 

The performance each time has been the same -- four pieces (one long, three short) from Swan Lake and a modern-style ballet -- but were on separate days, with one at 7 p.m. and the other at 9 p.m. to accommodate cruisers with early and late dinner seatings.

 

To say the theater has been packed would be an understatement. We spotted less than a handful of empty seats at the 9 p.m. show we attended and all of these were in the highest balcony and all the way to the sides where sightlines aren't the best. The audience was enthusiastic, clapping whenever the ballerina did something difficult (though only about half the audience offered a standing ovation).

 

The performance was magnificent but short, perhaps less than 30 minutes all total. The Swan Lake segment was separated from the modern piece by an electronic violinist who performed a combination of classic and modern music. One of our traveling companions commented he thought the show should have been longer and the violinist kept out (not everyone in our party agreed).

 

What was clear was that the ABT performances were a real draw, with bigger audiences than any other show we've attended. Judging by this reception, the line could do more sailings with ABT dancers onboard and get a good response from the cruisers."

[hiccups]

18 minutes ago, 4774Papa said:

I love ballet, my favorite ballet moment was seeing Swan Lake at the Mariinsky Ballet in St. Petersburg.  Swan Lake is over an hour and a half, if I remember, perhaps longer.  That is too long for a cruise performance.  Wonder what ballets would be shown?

They did not present a full ballet, just 2 or 3 performances.  IIRC, the third performance wasn't from a ballet--the male dancer had a solo performance that was quite athletic

[hcat]

Too bad folks only relate to Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty or Nutcracker (all wonderful)...But there are so many options, styles etc.  And it can be very modern and Edgey too!  Way beyond EDEN .,.,,

 

Getting into Manhattan is challenging for us these days  but during "snowbird season" we  look forward to performances at the Van Wezel...with the Sarasota Orchestra.  We will book Summit or Equinox  sometime for the chance to see the ABT.

Hope it continues...very exciting move by Celebrity!

 

Edited August 28, 2019 by hcat

[yellowhat]

Perhaps to enhance the ballet experience, I would really enjoy a casual 30 minute commentary from the Ballet Staff..their history, their travels, their performance experiences - 

..and to complete the event..have a 20 minute Q&A with a couple of the dancers.

Venue?:  Celebrity Central 

The Dancers work, train and dance their dream..it would be a thrill.

[Greyhound Crazy]

Absolutely love the ballet, as does my family. We'd be there in a heartbeat.