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Amour

Senior Member
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  • Connection to/interest in ballet** (Please describe. Examples: fan, teacher, dancer, writer, avid balletgoer)
    dancer, balletgoer
  • City**
    NYc, NY

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  1. I love Larissa. It's a shame she left the Mariinsky. Dutch National Ballet gained a gem of a dancer.
  2. Fateyev demoted a blond girl who was a corpheé (I think her name is Elena Androsova) back to corps status.
  3. Mariinsky casting, when it does come out, is notorious for changing, When I went to London in August 2014 they kept changing the casting until the day of performance, But at a minimum, it would be nice to know what dancers are coming on the tour.
  4. Yes, it is called a Trios subscription because you have to select at least 3 performances (but can choose many more). They go on sale just after the regular series subscriptions have ended. You still get all the benefits of being a subscriber (free exchanges). This year because I REALLY wanted to see Ferri do R&J, I just decided to subscribe to that series and figure out whether I want to see the other 3 performances in that series later.
  5. There is a sign in the Koch, going from the orchestra to the promenade, saying food and drink are not allowed in the auditorium.
  6. The beginning of the livestream had terrible quality. Very jerky, went off transmission at one point (this was during the showing of a film about Lopatkina). Once they reached the Q&A part transmission was fine.
  7. Yesterday I saw both the matinee and evening (same casts for both) performances of the Balanchine black and white leotard ballets: Concerto Barocco, Monumentum pro Gesualdo, Movements for Piano and Orchestra, Episodes and the 4Ts. I have to say these were all impeccably performed! I think they were danced as well or better than in Balanchine's day. Because I sat in 2 different seats, (first row of First Ring afternoon, row F orchestra evening) they looked slightly different. In the afternoon, the program had seemed like a little too much of the same thing; in the evening, all the differences in the ballets became much more apparent. I have seen Sara Mearns and Tess Reichlen do the leads in Barocco several times and previously thought they were not well matched. Not so yesterday. I thought Tess' long limbed grandeur worked well with Sara's somewhat more compact frame. And Russell Janzen was terrific: musical and very strong, lifting Tess way overhead so many times. Ask (who has never been a favorite of mine) and Rebecca Krohn gave life and dimension to Monumentum and Movements. I prefer Monumentum because of the music and the aspects of court dancing. I think Movements is a little less accessible. The Stravinsky score is very atonal and, along with the flexed feet and turned in positions, it is, even today, very modern looking. As for Episodes, although I liked the Ricerta with Adrian DW and Sara the best (because of the use of a big corps and the music). I'm reserving my comments to the first movement, Opus 21 with Megan LeCtone and Andrew Scordato. I've seen Megan a lot; her spiky angularity suits the ballet. But Andrew was a revelation! Still in the corps, I've gotten used to seeing him in small roles. To see him front and center was a rare treat. Highly musical, a great partner, beautiful line and gorgeous, gorgeous feet. I really hope this is the beginning of more featured roles for him. Finally, 4Ts, I thought Anthony Huxley was a marvel in Melancholic. Those deep backbends, the sense of quiet. As for Ana Sophie and Tyler Angle in Sanguinic, they were a marvel! I had just watched Merrill Ashley and Daniel Duell do this variation the previous night and to my amazement, Ana Sophia and Tyler were better. The technique, the musicality, everything. Now I love Amar and thought he did a great job in Phlegmatic, but he is just not Adam Ludders. He is just not quite quirky enough, a bit too all American. Still, he got the most applause; people loved him. And Ashley Bouder in Choleric. I've seen her many times here and despite being pregnant, she danced in her usual stellar way. In fact, it's hard for me to picture anyone else in this role. When I go next Sunday, it will probably be a shock to see Megan LeCrone. BTW, coming after 2 nights of all new ballets, the difference between new ballet choreography and Balanchine (at least his leotard ballets) was stark. All this new choreography is fast, fast, fast and very athletic. There is much less sense of how to use the corps and what shapes look like from elevation. While some things have been gained (energy, excitement), a lot has been lost, particularly, how to pattern the corps into interesting shapes. I certainly think ballet is very much alive, but new ballet choreography bears little resemblance to the choreography of even 25 years ago (we probably have William Forsythe to thank for that). But whatever type of choreography it is, if it's well danced it's a pleasure!
  8. I guess I am an outlier in kind of liking the new ballet night (except for Brandstrup's Jeux). In fact I saw the evening 3 times. I did feel the Thatcher work Polaris was dull and a real waste of Tilet Peck's talents. But Binet's The Blue of Distance was well danced (everyone was a principal except Harrison Ball). And it really showcased Harrison Ball as the outsider in this group. Sporting a new, very blond crew cut, I didn't even recognize him the first time I saw the piece. But boy can he dance! Jumps and turns galore. So good for him. I believe I'm probably alone in liking Troy Schumacher's Common Ground but I loved it! Yes, the costumes are a little too colorful and someone should take a scissors to the long strings attached, but I loved the choreography. It almost entirely made up of jumps and has very high energy. Russell Janzen, Amar, Anthony Huxley and Tess Reichlen were fantastic, IMO. The Justin Peck piece I liked less well that Rōdē,ō, but it was serviceable. It did take me 3 viewings to figure out the structure, partly because everyone is so bizarrely made up (and hair slicked back) they are unrecognizable. But then I realized there are a series of PDDs; each person dances 2 but has a different partner for each one, as 1 member of the group peels off and another arrives. With her blond hair, black lipstick and white makeup, Ashley Bouder was almost unrecognizable (and, yes, she is not showing at all). As for Brandstrup's Jeux, I couldn't agree more with what abatt said. What in the world was going on in this ballet??? Not only did I wonder why Adrian is bouncing a ball but why, when all the other men are wearing suits and jazz shoes, is he dressed in jeans, a muscle t shirt and sneakers? It was though he missed the rehearsal for NY Export Jazz next week and wandered into this ballet that mistake. Equally horrifying (to me) were the drab gray costumes for the women were wearing.outfits that looked like type that prison guards would wear ar concentration camps. In conclusion, I guess I'm alone in basically enjoying the evening but we'll see which works (if any) enter the repertory.
  9. Amour

    Yulia Stepanova

    I must be blind because I scoured the website and did not see Yulia. There was one girl's picture without a name attached but it wasn't Yulia. BTW, to my surprise, David Hallberg is still listed as a principal.
  10. I don't see Veronika much but IMO Skorik is, at this point, technically stronger (I never thought I'd be saying that) and definitely has a much nicer line. Skorik still needs to build up her confidence, though, and begin to learn how to act. Still her improvement over the past years is remarkable. And because of these things and her training, yes, I think she's probably better than Veronika.
  11. It's a shame. Not that Skorik is bad. Now that she's gained some confidence, she's really improved and I would say she's better than any ABT ballerina except Gillian. Still Osmolkina, Novikova and Kolegova are much stronger, more compelling dancers. It's clear that, for some reason, Fataeyev just hates Vaganova trained dancers. He is doing everything to keep them in the corps (except for Shapran and Batoeva). I'm hoping hard working Ermakov gets promoted soon.
  12. I have the Works and Process pamphlet and I don't believe they are streaming anything this fall/winter season.
  13. I purchased the DVD from Arte France. It's called Les Graines D'Etoiles.
  14. Amour

    David Hallberg

    I agree. My understanding is that David only studied 1 summer at the POB.
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