ord7916

I'm not sure why the above posted twice. But in response to Aurora - I suppose seductive is not the right word. Let's say lascivious.

Just back from tonight's performance and yes, Herman did go on. My first and only Manon was the Diana / Marcelo version and that remains not only the best ballet I ever saw, but also one of the best evenings I ever spent in any theater. So I have long been hesitant about seeing anyone else for fear of ruining that memory. Tonight's show did not equal that. Nothing ever will. But I was mostly pleased. The music is so glorious and the choreography is so ingenious that I felt a touch of the chills that I felt the first time. Just a touch, but that was good enough. I am not an expert on the technical aspects of ballet, so others can probably provide a better critique of that. But I thought Sarah was the best she's ever been in what seems like an unlikely role for her. Herman's dancing was nothing dramatic, but was fine, and he is adorable. ABT dancers often suffer from a lack of chemistry, though definitely not tonight. They were an ideal pair, with great passion and a very long steamy kiss in Act I. Blaine Hoven was good as Lescaut. Roman Zhurbin was the jailer, a role which he also played with Diana. I remember that being a wonderfully seductive scene, which it was not this time. Act III as a whole wasn't terribly exciting until the final scene. That is the scene by which all else will be judged. And while there was nothing particularly out of the ordinary, I thought they did it perfectly - exactly what we'd expected and hoped to see. The orchestra seemed mostly full, although there was a noticeable increase in empty seats after Act II. That included the lady siting next to me, though I cannot imagine why.

Just back from tonight's performance and yes, Herman did go on. My first and only Manon was the Diana / Marcelo version and that remains not only the best ballet I ever saw, but also one of the best evenings I ever spent in any theater. So I have long been hesitant about seeing anyone else for fear of ruining that memory. Tonight's show did not equal that. Nothing ever will. But I was mostly pleased. The music is so glorious and the choreography so ingenious - I loved seeing Sarah tossed around from one man to another - that I felt a touch of the chills that I felt the first time. Just a touch, but that was good enough. I am not an expert on the technical aspects of ballet, so others can probably provide a better critique of that. But I thought Sarah was the best she's ever been in what seems like an unlikely role for her. Herman's dancing was nothing dramatic, but was fine, and he is adorable. ABT dancers often suffer from a lack of chemistry, though definitely not tonight. They were an ideal pair, with great passion and a very long steamy kiss in Act I. Blaine Hoven was good as Lescaut. Roman Zhurbin was the jailer, a role which he also played with Diana. I remember that being a wonderfully seductive scene, which it was not this time. Act III as a whole wasn't terribly exciting until the final scene, the scene by which all else will be judged. And while there was nothing particularly out of the ordinary, I thought they did it perfectly - exactly what we'd expected and hoped to see. The orchestra seemed mostly full, with noticeable increase in empty seats after Act II. That included the lady siting next to me, though I cannot imagine why.

Why no Manon for Alban Lendorf? Has anyone watched the full Royal Danish Ballet version on Youtube? Probably the best (online) version ever.

Isabelle Boylston gave a great performance tonight. She did a compelling mad scene, her diagonal on the variation was brilliant, as was whatever she did when Giselle first encounters the willis (sorry I don't know the technical terms, they sort of looked like fouettes to me, but not exactly) The willis scenes were terrific. I have previously seen Hallberg and Cornejo as Albrecht and, sadly, neither did the entrechats six. Whiteside did and they were fine. I counted 26. Are there supposed to be 32? He partnered well. Was it believable that they are madly in love? Not exactly. But still a good performance. Loads of empty seats tonight, but lots of cheers from the audience.

I was on the way home from work today and decided on the spur of the moment to go tonight. Reluctantly, I must admit this was my first ABT of the season, my first ever Onegin, my first ever Ferri and my first ever Bolle. Without any previous versions to compare it to, I really enjoyed it. I'd agree that the second act is a let down, but the first was good and that final scene was amazing. Bolle was the highlight for me, And having come to ballet too late to see Angel Corella, Jose Carreno, Ethan Steifel or Julio Bocca, I at least got to see Alessandra Ferri. She looked sad the whole time, but I suppose that it fitting. I liked Sarah and Daniil and am a big James Whiteside fan, even if he had little to do. The corp was in splendid form in the intense company scene in act one. Some may quibble about the staging and scenery, but the former was unusually creative and the latter a big step up from some of the cheap stuff often on display. This was a nice diversion from tonight's unfortunate election news in Georgia.

I have a choice for SL between Orchestra Row K dead center and Row E center third seat from the aisle. Which would you choose? (I sat in row G on the aisle last night and it was perfect.)

This was my first ever Corsaire and it was one of my favorite ballet evenings ever. I loved the first two acts but found the third to be rather anti-climactic. Since this is all "seamless indulgence" as aptly noted above, why not move the pas de trois to the last act and let us leave on a high note? In any event, I loved Daniil and his 540s (thank you to Its The Mom for bringing that up since I never knew what a 540 was until looking it up just now). Cirio was amazing - this guy seemingly came out of nowhere. He is so intensely focused and his dancing is almost superhuman. Herman has always been one of my favorites, though I'd agree he was overshadowed here. It looked to me that he stopped in the middle of his manege and then started again. Sarah was beautiful and Maria K did some super fast turns. Are we to be believe that Conrad and Medora are madly in love? I didn't feel that, at least as embodied by Maria K and Herman. But so be it. I had a fabulous time.

Well, I tried calling and speaking to a supervisor about getting some comps as others have succeeded in doing. I spoke to a snooty guy who said they would not provide anything. I mentioned that I know that some people were given complimentary tickets as compensation. He said if that happened, that was at "somebody's" discretion and they don't give complimentary tickets because a performer was not there. It ended with "We sell performances, not performers."

For the record, people were not leaving in droves. The woman next to me left after Act I and there were a few more empty seats after each act. Most people who've paid $125+ are not about to walk out in the middle. And while it was not Diana Vishneva - and that was indeed disappointing - many of us found it somewhat enjoyable.

How would I go about getting one of these comps?

I was slightly under the weather today and was almost going to pass on tonight but how could I miss Diana and Marcelo. Not until around 7:20 did I notice the insert in the Playbill and get the news. This was my first RJ so I have nothing to compare it to, but I loved the balcony scene and the bedroom scene. Marcelo was.... Marcelo - great dancing, great acting, great stage presence, great looking. He brought out the best in Seo and I thought they had great chemistry - when they were together. Without him, she was unexciting. When Romeo died, you feel it. When Juliet dies, it just fizzles. Thomas Forester, Alexandre Hammoudi and Martine Van Hamel were all enjoyable to watch. And Craig Salstein was brilliant.

Omg. I am in my seat now and I just saw the note in the playbill. I had no idea. For those who were refused exchanges, are you subscribers? We are supposed to be able to exchange at will. Had I known I would have tried.

Interesting. I saw her fall, but I thought that was part of the show.

Huh? When was that?