ABT in Orange County

[drb]

ABT's site has posted casting, including a Hallberg/Part Apollo on May 4. Full casting (click "view full calendar"):

http://abt.org/

[art076]

Performances begin tonight in Orange County. Any other Ballet Talkers going?

Some very interesting debuts to look forward to this week, particularly for David Hallberg - he opens the run tonight as Apollo, and closes the run with his debut as Aminta in Ashton's Sylvia. Also, the company premiere of Cranko's Jeu de Cartes is tonight. I'm looking forward to this mixed rep, as well as to seeing Gillian Murphy in Sylvia on Friday; having see the Royal Ballet broadcast of this production, I think the role will fit her like a glove. Also excited because ABT's performances will end So Cal's several-months long ballet drought!

[sidwich]

Performances begin tonight in Orange County. Any other Ballet Talkers going?

I'll be at the Wiles/Hallberg performance of "Sylvia" on Sunday. I've so been looking forward to it!

[bart]

There's a snapshot of Wiles and Hallberg, taken in a rehearsal studio, on his blog:

http://www.thewinger.com/

You have to scroll down to April 25.

[nysusan]

Performances begin tonight in Orange County. Any other Ballet Talkers going?

Some very interesting debuts to look forward to this week, particularly for David Hallberg - he opens the run tonight as Apollo, and closes the run with his debut as Aminta in Ashton's Sylvia. Also, the company premiere of Cranko's Jeu de Cartes is tonight. I'm looking forward to this mixed rep, as well as to seeing Gillian Murphy in Sylvia on Friday; having see the Royal Ballet broadcast of this production, I think the role will fit her like a glove. Also excited because ABT's performances will end So Cal's several-months long ballet drought!

I'm soooo jealous of you, getting to see Hallberg's debut as Apollo. I've been waiting for this since they first announced the revival for last year's City Center season! I can barely wait for their NY season to start so, please report.

You are right about Sylvia fitting Murphy like a glove, she's wonderful in it. Enjoy!

Susan

[art076]

Some notes on the Tuesday, May 2 performance -

It was a lovely evening, highly enjoyable even if it was a bit rough around the edges.

Hallberg's debut was very promising, though understandably not fully formed yet. He tends to play the puppy-dog, wide-eye wondered Apollo throughout, instead of progressing from child through to adult elegance. Additionally, the dancing was weighty - the jumps landed with loud clunks, and his steps were heavy, as though he were over characterizing the role. That said, though, he will certainly grow into it and there was lots to like about his performance. He's got that incredibly strong elegance and posture, and his sheer tall blondness makes him appear god-like very naturally. Promising debut.

Apollo the ballet is always so enjoyable to me, no matter who seems to be dancing it. It's a breath of fresh air and the choreography is so incredibly perfect as it flows completely logically, yet always surprisingly, from step to step and form to form. The three muses were Julie Kent as Terpsichore, Gillian Murphy as Polyhymnia and Maria Ricetto as Calliope. Kent was lovely as Terpsichore - a kind of effortless grace, even if parts were a bit *too* soft at times. Murphy was fine in the trio bits, but her variation verged on clunky - salvaged somewhat at the end by her cute exclamation and run off stage. Ricetto looked the most Balanchinian of the bunch. The only bad part of the performance was when a cell phone nearly ruined the pas de deux for the audience; the dancing went on as usual, but I was jarred out of the performance.

Gong was quite the contrast to Apollo; Morris' choreography has a sort of forced musicality when it is played right next to Balanchine. But with the very fun score and equally amusing quirks in the choreography (a supported arabesque hop on point becomes a kind of jackhammer as it gets repeated with heavier emphasis repeatedly, for example - to the amused delight of the audience), one sees that Morris is going for a more witty effect than purely musical one. Misty Copeland stood out in the pink tutu role, partnering with Marcelo Gomes in the later pas de deux set to no music.

Jeu de Cartes was a company premiere and it's certainly a fun piece, though still a bit rough in many of the transitions last night. No one seemed entirely comfortable in anything yet, but again it looked like it will come together fully very soon. As if to show how they are still trying to figure everything out, curtain call was a mess with no one being quite sure when to bow, or who to bring on the conductor, etc.

The ballet is staged as a set of three vignettes with roughly 5 dancers each, with the "cards" trying to fit in and make a good poker hand of sorts - running around, bumping into each other, with off-beat choreography in tune to the angles of the Stravinsky score. Herman Cornejo was a bouncy Joker who wove between the three movements of the ballet - starting off as Queen Irina Dvorovenko's antagonizer in the 1st movement, then becoming the butt (literally) of the five mens' joke in the 2nd movement, to being a prankster who helps out the girl left out in the 3rd movement. Despite the plotless nature of the ballet, there is a kind of progression here for the Joker: from being cruel at first (making the Queen cry), to learning what it's like to be the object of a joke, to then using jokes to help someone.

THere was fantastic dancing in five variations during the second movement (the men were Julio Bragado-Young, Aaron Scott, Grant Delong, Jared Matthews and Gennadi Saveliev), and Erica Cornejo was the cute 5th-wheel girl, trying to get in between two dancing couples. Dvorovenko's performance was the showgirl performance of the evening, with huge extensions and big dancing - plus curtain call eating after the show - but the performance less characterization and more Dvorovenko-izing.

Overall, a fun evening and its great to see the company doing works like this when they usually only visit with story ballets. It will be interesting to see how my perspective of the ballets goes with cast 2 of the mixed rep tomorrow night (Dvorovenko will dance Terpsichore... which should be, well, interesting).

[PAmom]

Overall, a fun evening and its great to see the company doing works like this when they usually only visit with story ballets. It will be interesting to see how my perspective of the ballets goes with cast 2 of the mixed rep tomorrow night (Dvorovenko will dance Terpsichore... which should be, well, interesting).

Thank you so much, art076, from someone who so wishes to be there. I also am hoping sidwich or anyone attending Sunday's matinee will post their views.

t

[socalgal]

I am thrilled to be going Thursday evening to see Apollo with David Hallberg as Apollo.

Anyone else going on Thursday?

[art076]

Wednesday night -

Who knew Terpsichore was such a flirt? Irina Dvorovenko was as sultry and seductive as a Terpsichore could be... it was a bit startling. Eric Taub wrote on ballet.co that Dvorovenko's performances are like she is performing Kitri in every role - one can certainly see that here. Kitri attempted to live through Balanchine's muse. Though the technique and everything was there, I was not the biggest fan. On the other hand, Maxim Beloserkovsky was wonderful as Apollo - elegant and strong. There was a slight mishap with his costume that had him performing the virtually the whole ballet shirtless, but still it was a good performance.

Jeu de Cartes was even more fun the second time around. New York readers definitely have this to look forward to during the Met season.

There was an announced cast change at the beginning of the performance, with Gillian Murphy pulling out of her roles in both GOng and Jeu de Cartes. Hopefully she is ok, and we will still see her as Sylvia on Friday!

Socal gal: I won't be at Thursday, but please share your thoughts!

[PAmom]

Did anyone attend Sylvia? We had a friend who had never attended a ballet before go on Sunday. She could not get over how wonderful the costumes were. I would love to hear how things went for those shows.

[Memo]

I was at Sylvia on Sunday. I loved the costumes and set for the production. The corps work was the most enjoyable part of the production. The ABT corps seems to me to be the best in years. David Halburg is a star in the making. I really thought he did a wonderful job. I was however dissappointed in Michele Wiles performance. She seemed very tentative and almost afraid to use the stage. I know that Ashton Chor has a certain control and restraint to it, but I really felt she missed the mark on the interpretation of the role and technically I thought the performance was weak. There was alot of missed partnering. The landings were heavy and the arabesque lines were uninspiring.

I wonder if anyone else saw it and has input.

[sidwich]

I attended the Sunday performance as well, and I guess my initial impression was "work in progress." Overall, the sets and costumes are gorgeous, and the Ashton choreography is very worth seeing. I will say that although the preview talk explained that Act II was choreographed in the "style of Ashton" (as opposed to Acts I and III which are Ashton), to me, Act II still felt like it was from a different ballet than Acts I and III.

I adore Michelle Wiles, but I didn't feel it was her best performance. She still seemed to be feeling her way through the ballet, although I will say that the plot of "Sylvia" gives "Corsaire" a run for its money which probably doesn't help.

I lived in NY for many years and one of the things I living there and going to the ballet regularly was being able to see the young dancers progress through the company. I had the great pleasure of watching Gillian Murphy and Michelle Wiles go from apprentice to corp, and then soloist and principle. I moved to LA a few of years ago, so I missed that experience with David Hallberg. Although I still followed his progress secondhand through reports, so it was a bit jarring to see him not as the young dancer in the corp that I remember but as a principle dancer and the lead in a full-length story ballet.

But enough about that... as Memo said, Hallberg is clearly a star-in-the-making, tall, blonde, strong and dazzling. The one thing that struck me is that it was almost too much for the part of the poor shepherd. It was like Apollo came down, and did one of his masquerading as a poor shepherd numbers to seduce the young nymph.

Generally, the corp work was lovely, and I particularly enjoyed Misty Copeland and partner (I don't have the program in front of me) as the goats. If I had the opportunity, I'd love to see Wiles and Hallberg perform this again after they have a few more performances under their belts.

[art076]

I agree with the performance reports above for Sunday: Michele Wiles looked entirely uncomfortable as Sylvia, and her dancing was slow and awkward. At points, the conductor struggled to hold back the orchestra, but eventually the music just had to go on. There was no presence and very little was happing with her dramatically - just a very disappointing performance overall. Hallberg was wonderful in the little bits he had to do, though. There was an easy, pure classicism about his dancing and what a presence for a young principal!

On Friday, Gillian Murphy was more of what Sylvia should be - extremely strong technically, and very musical as well. Her first entrance, with the jetes and turns was like fireworks, and she kept it up throughout the first act.

The corps, on the other hand, needs some work with this ballet. They do not fit easily into the Ashton style - they all were stiff in the upper body, and the feet weren't able to move quickly enough around the steps. I also felt like many of them were performing the corps pieces in what I call "Nutcracker" mode: all pretty, little characterization or sense of purpose to the stage happenings. The farmers in the moonlight in Act 1, for example, looked like ballet school students who just happened to pick up village materials on their way to the stage. Sure, ABT is not going to be able to fit into this ballet as naturally as the Royal Ballet has been, but it still took a lot out of the ballet to see the company plodding through it. (And the corps was also LOUD - footfalls and jumps landed with clunks and thuds, all made even more noticeable when Gillian Murphy leaped onto the stage and ran around it with nary a sound.)

[richard53dog]

On Friday, Gillian Murphy was more of what Sylvia should be - extremely strong technically, and very musical as well. Her first entrance, with the jetes and turns was like fireworks, and she kept it up throughout the first act.

The corps, on the other hand, needs some work with this ballet. They do not fit easily into the Ashton style - they all were stiff in the upper body, and the feet weren't able to move quickly enough around the steps. I also felt like many of them were performing the corps pieces in what I call "Nutcracker" mode: all pretty, little characterization or sense of purpose to the stage happenings. The farmers in the moonlight in Act 1, for example, looked like ballet school students who just happened to pick up village materials on their way to the stage. Sure, ABT is not going to be able to fit into this ballet as naturally as the Royal Ballet has been, but it still took a lot out of the ballet to see the company plodding through it. (And the corps was also LOUD - footfalls and jumps landed with clunks and thuds, all made even more noticeable when Gillian Murphy leaped onto the stage and ran around it with nary a sound.)

art,

This sounds something like the performance I saw last June here in NY. Your description is a little disappointing, I was hoping by tackling it a second season that ABT (particularly the corps) had digested it a bit and that it worked more naturally. But I guess the idiom is tough for them, although they managed in The Dream. Sylvia seems like a very tough Ashton piece. I may still try to catch a performance this

Summer here.

Richard

[Andre Yew]

I saw the Sunday show, too, and agree with most of the comments. I also thought the corps was phoning it in, kind of just going through the steps, and neither they nor Wiles really had any of the Ashton style with its lush, feminine port de bras. In fact, their upper bodies just looked dead. The sole exception was Zhong-Jin Fang who was in the hunt party, and then danced Ceres (wearing the polka dot dress) in Act III. Nice expressive epaulement, head and arms. Arron Scott danced Eros very well, too, and Gennadi Saveliev did a good job with Orion. Kristi Boone danced Diana like how I expected the hunting party to: with some energy and attack.

--Andre

[socalgal]

Ditto to much of the above......however, I saw Sylvia on Saturday matinee with Julie Kent, Gennadi Saveliev, Sascha Radetsky and Craig Salstein. The principal casting did well IMO. However, this was my first viewing of the ballet in recent years. Julie's performance was restrained and she had some tentative moments. However, even when she bobbles something, I still love her dancing. Her technique and presentation are beautiful to watch no matter. Gennadi is one who dances text book. Love the way he sustains his grand jetes in mid air, but there is not much expression. Sascha was great as was Craig. And I would reiterate that Kristi Boone brought on stage the kind of energy that was missing the entire performance. The corps looked nice but limp. And I find no excuse for an entire line of corps girls to not point their feet in most every saute they did. They are all capable so it must be in the coaching and rehearsing.....more needs to be demanded of them to maintain the international status this company proclaims. Loved Sarah Lane as goat.

The sets and costumes with smooth story telling a la Ashton made an unmemorable ballet pleasant enough. The orchestra was delightful.

[PAmom]

You OC folks are the best, thanks for your insights! I hope the Sylvia corp polishes up a bit before Met season. I will be attending the 7/5 Sylvia matinee so will hopefully get to see the M. Wiles/D. Hallberg/C. Salstein/G. Saveliev cast.

t