ABT in Costa Mesa, CA

[Giannina]

Wed. night.

The program opened with “The Dream”, a dream of a ballet. Alessandra Ferri, Ethan Stiefel, Herman Cornejo and Julio Bragado-Young starred. They were wonderful, though Ferri was not the Ferri of yore. I love Julio Bragado-Young in the role of Bottom; his simplicity and confusion are heart-tugging. The final pas de deux is one of my favorite ballet moments. I first saw this ballet starring Sarah Wildor and I doubt I’ll ever find a better Ashton dancer than she is. The audience applauded everything; I mean everything! It was so distracting that I was on the verge of jumping up and shouting “Quiet, for Pete’s sake!”. The ballet was taped for future broadcast on PBS; that will be a treat.

Next came the pas de deux from “Don Quixote” (replacing “Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux”) starring Paloma Herrera and Gennadi Saveliev. Herrera has slimmed down and once more has sculpted legs. I never did relax during the ballet; Herrera and Gennadi seemed just a tad unsure of themselves and I feared disaster throughout. Herrera sacrificed some steps in order to hold a balance longer than musically required. For the fouette lovers I must say that Herrera did a bang-up job, though she did travel a bit; the first half were single followed by double; the last half all singles.

The evening ended with ABT’s new ballet “Within You Without You: A Tribute to George Harrison". Oh, dear! Well, it was nice to see Julie Kent loosen up a bit (she looked good…like she’d gained some weight). But, as the final song states, “My Sweet Lord”!!

Giannina

[Guest cececinderella]

I'm going to Don Quixote on Friday (the full show)! Are you going to see it? Well, i also wanted to ask if you're in the area, do you know any good ballet studios near by (I only know of Ballet Pacifica, but i don't know if i want to go there)

[Giannina]

I'm sorry, cececinderella, but I don't know of any studios.

Giannina

[Alexandra]

Thank you so much for that, Giannina. It's an odd program. Don Q and George Harrison and the Dream. :rolleyes: Being a "Dream" fan, I'm glad the audience liked it, although whooping and hollering throughout would be a distraction! Maybe the cameras got 'em excited.

[Alexandra]

From today's Links, Lewis Segal reviews this program for the LA Times. (It's well worth reading the entire review, especially for Dvorovenko fans , and I have to say I'm glad someone agrees with me that ABT's "adaptations of 19th century war horses" are "dreadful.")

A 'Dream' worth remembering

American Ballet Theatre so rarely performs anything in Southern California besides dreadful adaptations of 19th century war horses that it's something of a miracle to see the company dance up to the level of a choreographic masterpiece.

Like the Hollywood cliché in which an ordinary woman takes off her glasses and, voilà, is suddenly gorgeous, the company looked transformed and irresistible Tuesday in its first local performance of Frederick Ashton's sublime "The Dream."

....

Local performances by the Royal Ballet and the Joffrey Ballet have made the work familiar enough, but the new Ballet Theatre staging by Anthony Dowell (the original Oberon) and Christopher Carr projected every detail with such meticulous care that it became easy to fall in love with it — and this company — all over again.

[dragonfly7]

Alexandra- the quote about getting you to "fall in love" with the company certainly held true for me! I saw them last year for 'Nutcracker' and that was a treat, but last night's performance of "Dream" though exceeded my expectations! Herman Cornejo as Puck was explosive with those jumps. Giannina, I was rooted to my seat during the final pas de deux, each movement seemed to be drawn out to its fullest expression (port de bras, etc). And I also agree that the Don Q section had unsure moments (I could see Paloma Herrera from where I sat and I saw the uncertainty on her face during some sections), though it ended on a high note with the fouettes. "Something" was my favorite in the GHarrison tribute. All in all a great show. :3dnod: