ABT Fan

Funny, I was just looking that up myself. It's usually at the end of the Met season. Last year it was the end of June. I expect Bell to be promoted. Would be shocked if he's not. I wonder if Shayer will finally get it, although coming off of a major injury he hasn't been cast in a large number of roles this season (which may or may not affect that). I would love to see Forster move up, but since he wasn't given a lead in a full-length I don't think management deems him worthy. (Discounting Jane Eyre. He'd need to be given a Siegfried, Prince Desire, etc). Would love to be wrong. I don't foresee any women being promoted to principal. I think it'll be a very short list this year. Added: I think when the promotions are announced, there will be at least one man joining as a principal (Mack?). With Bolle leaving, and it's super safe to say Lendorf is too, (and we all know the deal with the rest of the guys) they desperately need another leading man.

ABT has posted the ballets they're bringing to Vail on their website (yet they're still not on Vail's site). No casting is mentioned. https://www.abt.org/performances/master-calendar/ 7/26: Let me Sing Forever More (no mention of the choreographer) Swan Lake Act II pas de deux 7/27: James Whiteside World Premiere Sinatra Suite Don Q Act III pas de deux Jardin aux Lilas (can we hope this will be scheduled during the Fall season?) Also, Royal has posted on his Instagram that he'll be doing Apollo and is learning it from Damian Woetzel. That's apparently not part of ABT's schedule, but Vail's regular dance programming.

I had seen on Lane's Instagram a month or two back a short video of her rehearsing Manon (a scene with others, and not with Cornejo). They always start rehearsing Met ballets months in advance so presumably Lane and Cornejo already had rehearsals together. Obviously, he would have lost some (how much?) rehearsal time since he's been injured. So, I agree, how does one make that up, especially when it's a debut?

What a cutie pie! Is he signed up for ballet lessons yet? 😉 Congrats to Gillian and Ethan.

Really looking forward to seeing Brooklyn Mack in his ABT debut, yet disappointed that Cornejo is still injured and not able to dance. Sure hope he recovers by next week. Some other big debuts happening as well - Teuscher as Medora, K. Williams and Trenary as Gulnare, Hoven and Bell as Lankendem. Eager to read everyone's reports.

I also loved this ballet this afternoon. I can understand why some people don’t care for it. It’s not classical ballet so if that’s what you’re looking for it’s not going to be your taste. Yes there is ballet, but with heavy modern influences. I thought the story was quite clear throughout and did not think the choreography was repetitive in a bad way. I also did not think the choreography consisted of dragging the women around by their shoulder sockets. There was a lot of very inventive choreography with yes, plenty of overhead lifts. It worked. The dark and dreary sets and lighting were appropriate. This IS a dark and dreary story after all. I was sitting in row D in the orchestra so I realize that for others sitting further back it may make it difficult to see the action. They could light it up a bit more. The D-men’s purpose was very clear and they served to move the story along in creative ways. As the program noted, they were Jane’s inner demons, but they also manipulated the scenery and props, were the props themselves at times, and later played the party guests. Jonathan Klein in particular stood out among them. To my surprise, Boylston was fantastic. Quite perfect actually. (I strongly disliked her Juliet last year because I felt her acting was contrived and unbelievable.) Her acting as Jane was natural and clear and her dancing strong. And, since this wasn’t Swan Lake, for example, her arms and hands weren’t an issue. Forster, unsurprisingly, was also fantastic. He is an exceptional actor and his technique and partnering abilities have been overlooked by management, I think. They had a great chemistry that I wasn’t expecting. I would love to see them paired up in other things. Brandt filled in for Granlund as Young Jane again. Is Granlund injured? Too bad she was unable to dance as this was her first big assignment. Brandt was mostly very good but I thought she overacted at times. She has very big and expressive eyes, and at times it seemed like she was too aware of that. Trenary was funny and wonderful as Mrs. Fairfax. I look forward to seeing her in big roles someday soon, like Giselle, that will show off the dramatic abilities that she clearly possesses. The rest of the supporting cast was very commendable: Hoven as Brocklehurst, Lall as the precocious Adele, Lyle as St John Rivers, and Stephanie Williams as Bertha (she was also a surprise). I thought it was very clear at the end that Jane was finally confronting and fighting off her demons, the D-men, one by one, until she had conquered them. She rescued herself. Then she was able to rescue Rochester. Her stepping into the spotlight alone was a perfect ending.

Gillian is now a mama! Her son Ax was born today, on her best friend’s (Stella!) birthday no less.

I know this isn't R&J, that's why I said it "takes the cake". Their casting names are all off, but over the past few minutes they've begun to correct some. I'm pretty sure Ahn is doing Bluebird, but for some reason he's listed as Romeo on the Sleeping Beauty page. Major typo.

This page take the cake! Ahn as Romeo! https://www.abt.org/event_dates/sleeping-beauty-7-6-19-800pm/

They must be in the middle of updating everything because I just looked at the calendar 10 minutes ago and none of this was there. And, if you look at the Sleeping Beauty page, not on the calendar, they have some Bluebirds listed (Shayer), but only for some performances, and no Florine's. It seems like whenever they update their site, each individual update goes live instantly, as opposed to uploading all of the changes (and making sure they're correct) and having them hit the site at once. It's a bizarre system.

I guess I blocked that out....ugh

The one thing that may be in their (our) favor, is that this ballet wasn't a new commission by ABT. So, I imagine it costs less money to have it re-staged than made from scratch. Even if that isn't the case, they have not brought back The Tempest after it's Met debut a few years ago, which was a new commission (maybe a co-production with another company?). That ballet had really bad reviews, too. Thanks for everyone's reports. I'm not really looking forward to seeing it this weekend now, but will try to go with an open mind.

Worst: Ratmansky's The Tempest. At least they realized what a failure that was and never brought it back.

Hopefully, but since there are only 3 days between what was supposed to be his last Corsaire and his first Manon, I'm wondering out loud. This is his Des Grieux debut, too. Really hope he is well enough by next week.

Crap. But, I (and I'm sure others) had a feeling that would happen. Who is going to replace him in Manon? That is only next week, so that may be inevitable.....darn.

There's an article in The Times about Marston setting this work on ABT. See link below. Interestingly, Marston was initially supposed to create a new ballet for their fall season, but as McKenzie says in the article "Then a crisis loomed. A full-evening program planned for this year's Met season fell through". Hmmm. Since he says "program" and not ballet, sounds like another evening of rep ballets was supposed to be planned. Either way, wonder what that was supposed to be??? https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/04/arts/dance/jane-eyre-cathy-marston-american-ballet-theater.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Farts&action=click&contentCollection=arts&region=rank&module=package&version=highlights&contentPlacement=5&pgtype=sectionfront

Well, that doesn't sound promising. How were the other lead dancers?

Gonzalez has an Instagram story (public facing) showing him in costume and ballet slippers for Jane Eyre last night. Maybe it's a part that has very little dancing (and/or little or no partnering)? If anyone was there and and can comment, (and on the ballet itself, in the Jane Eyre thread...). At least he's not dealing with something serious, it seems.

Her other SL w/ Cornejo on 6/26 is also virtually sold out, except for few remaining seats in Family Circle and some of the partial view seats.

Copeland's Swan Lake's always sell out. 1) It's Swan Lake (a high selling ballet in it's own right) 2) It's Copeland Her other shows, such as Manon, are nowhere near selling out.

Too bad about Gonzalez, I was looking forward to seeing him as Lankendem; I also hope it's not serious. He was replaced last minute in Deuce Coupe on Friday (an announcement was made). I'm glad I'll get to see Hoven though, and Bell who replaced Hoven in the Sat eve. (They're both looking better than ever this season.) I'm cautiously optimistic regarding Cornejo, for Corsaire and his subsequent assignments....🤞

And, same here. I’m not interested in any of the female leads, but Forster is my big draw. And, very curious to see Granlund.

Back to Tharp Trio: Last night was a great night. I thought a lot of dancers, especially some corps men, did very well with the tricky and difficult partnering in all three pieces. Brahms-Haydn stand-outs were Lane and Pogossian (they looked very good together, and he is another one to watch), Brandt and Scott, and one of the soloist couples McBride and Lyle. This was my first time seeing Deuce Coupe. In general I liked it, but I wouldn’t fall over myself to see it again. I thought the graffiti backdrops looked a bit amateurish. Abrera was her usual glamorous and stylish self. Shevchenko was beautiful as the “ballerina “. Whiteside was terrific and funny in his too-short warp-speed solo. Bell, again, kept capturing my eye. I’m more and more impressed by him every time i see him. Hurlin looked really at ease with the choreography as did Ribagorda who filled in for Gonzalez. In the Upper Room was worth the whole ticket. What a genius ballet. There were some issues though. Brandt and Lyle missed a chair lift that should have been in sync with 2 other couples. They kind of stood there stunned for a second until Brandt high-fived Lyle to keep it going. Teuscher had several partnering misshaps with Bell and I believe Hoven. She tripped over Bell at one point. I think she was tired, though she didn’t look it, because they looked like the kind of flubs that can happen when your stamina is lagging. Even so, in this type of piece with this kind of choreography, I didn’t think the errors took away from the excellence that both Brandt and Teuscher displayed. It’s obviously a killer ballet and they both looked like they were having a blast. Bell, Forster, Hoven and Lyle were all terrific as well.

ABT’s school hasn’t been around that long (I can’t remember how many years and that info seems absent on their website). In recent years they’ve greatly expanded their curriculum, student body, outreach, and I’d argue, their reputation. Also, Cynthia Harvey, a former star who is known for her teaching ability is now in charge. It takes time to establish an international reputation and produce great dancers. But, if you check the bios of some of their current dancers including principals and soloists, many of them attended the school. There are a lot of (former) star dancers who never studied at SAB, Paris Opera or in Russia, like Bocca and Corella to name two. Maybe JKO will never produce an international star, but I think it is premature and short-sighted at this point to assume they never will. Added: as Aurora noted, they’ve already produced some standout soloists (and up and comers like Bell) who many of us predict will be well-deserved principals in the near future. I also have no problem with that.

There is a separate thread for the Tharp Trio, not specifically for In the Upper Room.