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A Midsummer Night's Dream


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June 24 --

Outside the State Theater, the bandstand and dance floor for Midsummer Night's Swing were in place, and inside everything was magical for Dream. There were some insignificant glitches. For one thing, James Fayette's donkey head came flying off and disappeared instead of being removed by Albert Evans's Puck. It might even have worked better that way. I'm not sure of this, but the lighting seemed darker than usual. It could be my eyesight is fading. There were horn problems in the orchestra, under Andrea Quinn, and it seemed unusually subdued.

But the principals were all wonderful, in particular Peter Boal, whose Oberon is simply incomparable. And his performance was enthusiastically appreciated, which it sometimes isn't. He was loudly applauded at every exit and during his variations. I hadn't heard anything comparable since Villella's Oberon. Darci Kistler made you forget that her powers are waning, and Albert Evans was his usual exciting Puck. If only he'd be allowed to grow beyond this role...

The lovers were Ansanelli, Rutherford, Angle and Marcovici. Rutherford's solo as Hermia was more poignant and less frenetic than is sometimes the case; I liked Marcovici's Demetrius very much. Jennie Somogy was spectacular as Hippolyta. Amanda Edge's Butterfly was lovely. My only problem was with Charles Askegard as Titania's Cavalier -- and not really with him as with his costume, which made him resemble the Jolly Green Giant.

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Must be in the stars (astrologically speaking). Sounds just like what went wrong at ABT on Monday, but the headgear mishap occurred in Artemis, when early on, poor Marcelo lost one of his horns. And the other horns, in the orchestra pit, were problematical in the Ashton Dream. Maybe the Mendelsohn is just really, really difficult for hornplayers?

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Hi!

The ABT orchestra has been problematic all season, in particular the brass section. I attended one Romeo & Juliet and one Swan Lake, both late in the runs of the ballets, where the orchestra was so off as to be distracting from the dancing. It's something that needs to be addressed, as I think it's not fair to the dancers or the audience to have such poor quality of music, when for the most part, the dancing is so wonderful.

Whether or not it's justified, I tend to give a little more leeway to the NYCB orchestra, since their rep is so huge and varies so much day to day.

Kate

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The other butterflies (and I can't say I recognized them), were Alina Dronova, Jessica Flynn, Sterling Hylton, and Stephanie Zungre, along with Ojela Burkhard, Kristina Castaldo, Kelly Delaney, Ellie Dembo, Alice Kenney, Beatriz Stix, and Isabella Tobias.

Enjoy your out-of-town sojourn, Michael.

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Sneds/carbro: with the amazing amount of rain &, now, humidity, it is surprising that a single instrument in either orchestra can play in tune. The brass section is particularly affected but all instruments can go off pitch in an instant due to excessive moisture in the air.

I haven't found this to be a chronic problem, so am somewhat forgiving in this beastly weather.

Just imagine if they were playing Lohengrin ..:eek:

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I remember sitting way over on the sides of the second ring once and watching Midsummer. When the ground fog went pouring off the stage into the pit, I was fascinated with watching the string players "choke" way up on their instruments as the place got damper and damper. The tympani kept getting lower and lower, until the drummer brought them back on pitch with the pedals. Brasses don't go off pitch that badly during humid conditions, but boy do you ever have to work that spit-valve! I was a brass swing-boy once, so I could sympathize!

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Did anybody see Teresa Reichlen's performance as Hippolyta last night (Weds. June 25th)? It was her debut. She's been one I've had my eye on in the corps and I'm interested to see how things went. Also, any comments on Janie Taylor debuting as Helena/Hermia (I can't remember which one she was scheduled to do)? Did Nichols perform Titania as scheduled?

Sorry for all the questions, but I can't make it in to NYC to see Midsummer :D

So perhaps I can be filled in on what I missed.

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can anyone tell me ( i'm probably the only person who's ever wanted to know this) which little girl/s (two casts?) are playing the role of the little girl who appears to be some sort of follower of titania (i'm sorry, i dont know this ballet at all, so perhaps i've got all the names wrong)? she stands next to titania in the begining, and then titania and oberon have a fight over her (which involves oberon picking her up, carrying her two feet, putting her down, and having her walk back to titania, several times). does anyone know who i'm talking about? if you could tell me the name/s of this girl (i mean their name in real life, not the name of the character if she even has one), i'd be much obliged (i'm quite curious). thanks. :D

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Hi!

Nice performance tonight, but with a major gaff at the end...Puck did not fly. I was up very close and couldn't tell what the problem was, but ALbert Evans was never hooked to the wires. I wonder if the wires may have gotten twisted coming down, so that it was not safe to raise anyone. Nice ad-libbing by Evans though.

Kate

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I saw Ms. Reichlen this afternoon. She is a big, beautiful girl but for my taste way,way too immature for the part. Her jump is indeed good but Hippolyta is far more than a big jump. Ms. Reichlen's Hippolyta should be confined to the rehearsal studio, but given what we've been seeing lately, I won't be surprised if

Megan Fairchild turns up as the lead in the Divertissement! On a positive note, Miranda Weese was superb this afternoon.

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Sorry to see such a negative response about Reichlen. I think she should be given some credit (although I did not see her perform). She is very young. I, for one, want to see more of her. Then perhaps she won't look so "immature" to some. This will not be accomplished if she is "confined to the rehearsal studio."

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Hypollita is indeed more than a big jump, particularly in Act II with its somewhat regal pas de deux. Hypollita in Act II is becoming, if not exactly a Queen in Republican Athens, then at least its equivalent by marriage. And in Act I, Hypollita must sweep the stage. Somogyi is wonderful in this role. Petrav, I hope you will tell us a little more about where you felt Ms. Reichlen fell short and about how this could be improved?

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Standouts in the season's final performance were Korbes' sole Titania, vanKipnis' Hermia, Reichlen's Hippolyta and Hendrickson's Puck.

Having seen Korbes dance Titania two years ago as well as some wonderful performances in the course of this past season, I was prepared to enjoy her again, but I was not fully prepared for the extent of her growth since 2001. This Titania was a queen and a fairy -- both regal and whimsical. In both pas de deux, she showed herself to be among the very loveliest of the company's young adagio dancers. Beautiful line, exquisite musicality, gorgeous flow.

I was disappointed in Tom Gold's Oberon. He does not have the clean, precise petit allegro that is the heart of Oberon. Adam Hendrickson's Puck was -- predictably -- nicely conceptualized. If he lacked the fleetness we expect, it was still a more satisfying Puck than was Danny Ulbricht's technically brilliant but too over-the-top performance of Thursday night.

The human lovers were very good. Pascale van Kipnis crystallized Hermia's solo for me. Through her vivid dancing, I sensed for the first time that all those "clearing the cobwebs" port de bras were significant indicators not only of the obstacles in the forest, but also of those in her life.

Much has been said here and elsewhere in this forum of Tess Reichlen's electifying Hippolyta. There was nothing wrong with her performance that experience won't cure. She is a spectacular creature. I have never seen such huge leaps from a woman, and there's enormous potential there. I will be seeking out her performances in the future, hoping she gets the proper artistic nurturing as she gains experience. She does need time and room to grow up and has been unfairly thrown into two particularly challenging roles for her first solo forays. Of course, this would hardly have been the first case of insensitive casting at NYCB.

I was profoundly saddened to see Darci mug her way (facially, but even more bodily) through the Act II Divertissment. I will try to forget that aspect of a generally terrific season-ender.

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I saw two fabulous performances of MND over the weekend -- I was especially thrilled Friday night by Wendy Whelan and Jock Soto in the Divertissement. I simply don't see Whelan enough to be able to break down what makes her so great and so moving -- well, even if I saw her often I probably could not begin to do so --but I believe her to be one of the greatest ballerinas dancing today. Without in any way acting or even being at all extroverted, she managed to make every moment of the divertissement intimate a deep, humane, emotional life.

I found the whole performance Friday pretty wonderful all around (despite the problem with Puck's flight, mentioned above, at the end). I liked Evans' Puck and he did handle the gaff well. I'll add that I especially liked his dancing as Puck. I did not think he always timed his 'calling' gesture so as to seem as if he himself were magically generating the music. At the Saturday matinee I thought Hendrickson was even sharper and funnier in the role. My two Oberon's were Boal and Millepied. Boal is simply wonderful in this role -- fast, elegant, witty and not just in his dancing but also in the different 'moods' Oberon has to project, one following right on another throughout the ballet. Millepied has younger legs than Boal if not quite his beautiful lines and he danced at times more 'brilliantly' -- higher jumps, bigger beats, more pirouettes. The sheer virtuousity was a pleasure. And, to my delight, he seemed to enter into the role with the same seriousness and enthusiasm as Boal. I honestly think Boal, though, covered even more space in some of his low to the ground skimming moves.

I saw two great Titanias... Kowroski Friday night had just the right hint of pre-raphaelite sex kitten and danced lusciously. Nichols is not quite such a hot house flower as Kowroski, but her dancing looked utterly fresh, spacious, and natural. The lovers were terrific at both performances -- again with somewhat different strengths. As Helena, Ansanelli was more wittily melancholic than Janie Taylor who really just went through the motions when she had to pantomime. But Taylor's dancing was just as expressive as Ansanelli's and actually seemed larger scaled and even more precise, wild-yet-controled, during the more abrupt, twisted, flying sections of Helena's role than Ansanelli had been -- and when I saw Ansanelli I had thought it would be hard to do the role much more effectively. Friday's Hermia was Rutherford and Saturday's Van Kipnis. Both danced wonderfully, but I did think Van Kipnis seemed more comfortable telling a story. I too noticed the brushing away of the cobwebs but rather naively supposed she was trying to swat gnats away from her face. (Thanks Carbro for the more poetic explanation!) Friday, Amanda Edge's butterfuly was a little too small scaled and blurry in detail for my taste, but Carrie Lee Riggins filled things out nicely Saturday.

Really -- or, I should say in my opinion -- everyone in all the parts danced wonderfully with a sense of energy and fun and magic all disciplined into top notch dancing at both performances. The ensemble dancing in the divertissement was especially impressive (both casts). It is possible I suppose that I see so little dance these days that I have gone soft, but I thought the company looked great.

As a final note: Somogyi was ideal as Hippolyta -- exciting, strong, vivid. At the Saturday matinee performance one couldn't help but be impressed by Reichlin's iconic look in the same role -- the long, long legs and big jump especially. But she is new to the role and did not yet appear to have gotten under the skin of the choreography. At this performance the fouettes travelled from the first one to the last and the jumps were literally up and down; one would be breathtaking, another would lose steam. I certainly would enjoy seeing her again...

Oh a final, final note: At the matinee Miranda Weese and Philip Neal danced the divertissement. She danced with lightness and grace, but having just seen Whelan in the stratosphere the night before it was hard for me to appreciate as I ought to have done. On one of the threads about NYCB and ABT, someone was pointing out the bane of comparison and I suppose I may seem to be doing nothing but compare with this posting. I did very much enjoy both performances, and enjoyed comparing them too. In the end, though, I do now think Wendy Whelan pretty much incomparable.

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