Jump to content
This Site Uses Cookies. If You Want to Disable Cookies, Please See Your Browser Documentation. ×

2009 YAGP gala and Peter the Great gala


Recommended Posts

A press release from Yagp (the format might be a bit off but I think it's easy to see which casting belongs to which piece):

World’s largest student ballet competition celebrates

10th Anniversary with 3 performances at NY City Center

April 21 – Final Round of the competition (open to general public for the first time)

April 22 – “Stars of Today Meet the Stars of Tomorrow” – YAGP 10th Anniversary Gala

April 23 – “Peter the Great” Gala: A tribute to a legendary ballet teacher, Peter Pestov

TICKETS: $25-$150  CityTix ® 212.581.1212  www.nycitycenter.org  NY City Center Box Office

New York, NY (March 30, 2009) – World’s largest student ballet competition and festival - YOUTH AMERICA GRAND PRIX – will celebrate its 10th Anniversary with three spectacular performances at NY City Center on April 21-23, 2009.

THE FINAL ROUND OF THE COMPETITION (April 21, 2009 at 7:00pm) – Each year, over 5,000 talented young dance students audition worldwide at semi-final rounds conducted by YAGP around the globe. Only 300 of the most promising young dancers representing 30 countries on 5 continents are chosen for the New York City Finals. Open to general public for the first time, the FINAL ROUND will give New York audiences a unique opportunity to see 60 of the world’s best young dancers before they disperse around the world to study on scholarship at the world’s leading dance academies (over $250,000 in scholarships are presented annually at YAGP). TICKETS: $25 for all seat locations, available at NY City Center Box Office, at www.nycitycenter.org, or by calling CityTix® at 212.581.1212.

“STARS OF TODAY MEET THE STARS OF TOMORROW”: YAGP 10th Anniversary Gala (April 22, 2009 at 7:00pm)

The annually sold-out YAGP Galas have become synonymous with the discovery of new dancers, choreographers, and companies. The unique format of the Gala, featuring the performances of international ballet stars and introducing the world’s brightest young dance talent quickly became an audience favorite and, according to Clive Barnes of the New York Post, “the highlight of the New York ballet season.” The 10th Anniversary Celebration Gala will bring together 23 of the 250 YAGP alumni currently performing with over 50 companies around the globe, representing American Ballet Theatre, New York City Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Orlando Ballet, Corella Ballet, National Ballet of Canada, Stuttgart Ballet, Dresden State Opera Ballet, and MOMIX. SEE ATTACHED PROGRAM. TICKETS: $45-$150, available at NY City Center Box Office, at www.nycitycenter.org, or by calling CityTix® at 212.581.1212.

“PETER THE GREAT” GALA: A TRIBUTE TO A LEGENDARY BALLET TEACHER (April 23, 2009 at 7:00pm)

Vladimir Malakhov, Nikolai Tsiskaridze, Alexei Ratmansky and the last five Artistic Directors of the world-renowned Bolshoi Ballet – what do these instantly recognizable names have in common? They have all been trained by Peter Pestov, one of the greatest ballet teachers in history. This extraordinary evening will pay tribute to Mr. Pestov’s legacy by gathering some of his most acclaimed students in one spectacular Gala performance. The audience will be treated to never-before-seen archival footage and will witness an emotional coming together of several generations of dancers, choreographers and teachers celebrating the 80th birthday of the great architect behind their success. The Gala evening will be hosted by Alexei Ratmansky. SEE ATTACHED PROGRAM. TICKETS: $45-$150, available at NY City Center Box Office, at www.nycitycenter.org, or by calling CityTix® at 212.581.1212.

YOUTH AMERICA GRAND PRIX (YAGP) is America’s first and the world’s largest student ballet scholarship competition, founded in 1999 by two former Bolshoi Ballet dancers, Larissa and Gennadi Saveliev. Conducted annually throughout the U.S. and abroad (Brazil, Mexico, Japan, and Italy), YAGP is the “internet of the dance world,” a global network of opportunity connecting dancers, teachers, schools and companies all over the globe. Each year, YAGP culminates with a Final Round in New York City and a Gala performance at NY City Center. Since its inception, 25,000 young dancers have participated in YAGP worldwide competitions and workshops, over $2 million dollars have been awarded in scholarships to the world’s leading dance schools, and over 250 YAGP Alumni are now dancing with some 50 companies around the globe, including American Ballet Theatre, New York City Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, Boston Ballet, Stuttgart Ballet, Paris Opera Ballet, Eifman Ballet of St. Petersburg, and many others. For more information, visit WWW.YAGP.ORG.

YAGP 10th Anniversary Season is sponsored by Bloch, Capezio, Grishko, Gaynor Minden, Discount Dance Supply, Dance magazine, Dance Teacher magazine, Dance Spirit magazine, Dancer magazine, Pointe magazine, and Sylvia Co.

# # #

“STARS OF TODAY MEET THE STARS OF TOMORROW”

YAGP 10th ANNIVERSARY GALA

Wednesday, April 22, 2009 at 7pm

New York City Center

ACT I

Skylar Brandt (ABT JKO School),

Brooklyn Mack (Orlando Ballet) “Little Red Riding Hood” – WORLD PREMIERE

Choreography: Viktor Kabaniaev

Music: Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

Costumes by: Narciso Rodriguez

James Moore - NY DEBUT

(Pacific Northwest Ballet) “Mopey”

Choreography: Marco Goecke

Music: Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach

Hiroko Asami – NY DEBUT,

Raphael Courmes-Marquet

(Dresden State Opera Ballet)

“Reverence” - NY PREMIERE

Choreography: David Dawson

Music: Max Richter

Angelina Zuccarini (Stuttgart Ballet) –

NY DEBUT Lise Variation from “La Fille Mal Gardee”

Choreography: Frederick Ashton

Music: Ferdinand Hérold

Charles Andersen – NY DEBUT,

Eliabe D'Abadia – NY DEBUT

(Royal Danish Ballet) “The Jockey Dance”

Choreography: August Bournonville

Music: Carl Christian Møller

“Who Cares?” (excerpts)

Choreography: George Balanchine

© The George Balanchine Trust

Music: George Gershwin

Sara Mearns, Jared Angle

(New York City Ballet)

“The Man I Love” (excerpt #1)

Maria Kowroski **, Philip Neal

(New York City Ballet)

“Embraceable You” (excerpt #2)

Natalia Tapia , Matthew Golding

(Corella Ballet) – NY COMPANY DEBUT “Flames of Paris” Pas de Deux

Choreography: Vasily Vainonen

Music: Boris Asafiev

The YAGP 2009 Finalists “Grand Defilé”

Choreography: Carlos Dos Santos, Jr.

Music: Stephen Gunzenhauser

- Intermission -

PLEASE NOTE:

** Ms. Kowroski was invited to join the program as YAGP’s very first honoree.

Several finalists of the YAGP 2009 Student Ballet Competition will be selected to join ACT I of the program.

“STARS OF TODAY MEET THE STARS OF TOMORROW”

YAGP 10th ANNIVERSARY GALA

Wednesday, April 22, 2009 at 7pm

New York City Center

“Le Grand Pas de Quatre”

Choreography: Jules Perrot

Music: Cesare Pugni

Melanie Hamrick, Christine Schevchenko, Mary Thomas, Katherine Williams

(American Ballet Theatre)

“Adagio”

Ashley Bouder (New York City Ballet)

Maia Makhateli (Dutch National Ballet)

Irina Dvorovenko (American Ballet Theatre)

Yekaterina Kondaurova (Mariinsky Ballet)

“Lucile Grahn variation”

“Carlotta Grisi variation”

“Fanny Cerrito variation”

“Marie Taglioni variation”

Bouder, Makhateli, Dvorovenko, Kondaurova

“Coda”

Kiril Kulish (“Billy Elliot: The Musical”) “Electricity”

Choreography: Peter Darling

Music: Elton John

Karine Plantadit (Broadway Performer), Danny Tidwell “Good Times, Ha!” – WORLD PREMIERE

Choreography: Camille A. Brown

Music: The New York Allstars

Hee Seo, Cory Stearns

(American Ballet Theatre) “Romeo and Juliet” Balcony Pas de Deux

Choreography: Kenneth MacMillan

Music: Sergei Prokofiev

Steven Marshall, Partner TBA (MOMIX) “Tuu”

Choreography: Moses Pendleton

Music: Tuu

Gillian Murphy, Joseph Phillips

(American Ballet Theatre) “Tarantella”

Choreography: George Balanchine

Music: Louis Moreau Gottschalk

© The George Balanchine Trust

Bridgett Zehr, Zdenek Konvalina

(National Ballet of Canada) “The Prokofiev Pas de Deux”

Choreography: Chris Wheeldon

Music: Sergei Prokofiev

Victoria Tereshkina, Vladimir Shklyarov (Mariinsky Ballet); Sarah Lane, Marcelo Gomes (American Ballet Theatre),

Zachary Catazaro (New York City Ballet) “Le Corsaire” Suite

Choreography: Marius Petipa

Music: Richard Drigo

ACT II

Program subject to change.

“PETER THE GREAT” GALA: A TRIBUTE TO A LEGENDARY BALLET TEACHER

Thursday, April 23, 2009 at 7pm

New York City Center

This special program is a celebration of the life and work of a legendary ballet teacher, Peter Pestov.

It features rare archival footage, choreography and performances

by some of Mr. Pestov’s most celebrated students.

ACT I

“Peter the Great”

(Video presentation)

Introductory Remarks

Alexei Ratmansky

Graduating class,

John Cranko School of Stuttgart Ballet Class Demonstration

Teacher: Peter Pestov

Maria Kochetkova (San Francisco Ballet),

Gonzalo Garcia (New York City Ballet) “Raymonda” Pas de Deux - NY PREMIERE

Choreography: Yuri Possokhov

Music: Alexander Glazunov

Sascha Radetsky (Dutch National Ballet) “5 Tangos”

Choreography: Hans van Manen

Music: Astor Piazzola

Wendy Whelan, Benjamin Millepied

(New York City Ballet) “Concerto DSCH”

Choreography: Alexei Ratmansky

Music: Dmitri Shostakovich

Viktoria Tereshkina (Mariinsky Ballet),

Marcelo Gomes (American Ballet Theatre) “Manon” Pas de Deux

Choreography: Kenneth MacMillan

Music: Jules Massenet

Alicia Amatriain (Stuttgart Ballet),

Mikhail Kaniskin (Berlin State Opera Ballet) “In the Middle, Somewhat Elevated”

Choreography: William Forsythe

Music: Thom Willems

Vladimir Malakhov (Berlin State Opera Ballet) "La Vita Nuova - NY PREMIERE

Choreography: Ronald Savkovic

Music: Arshak Ghalumyan

Adiarys Almeida, Herman Cornejo,

Joseph Gatti (Corella Ballet) “Le Corsaire” Pas de Trois

Choreography: Marius Petipa

Music: Richard Drigo

- Intermission -

“PETER THE GREAT” GALA: A TRIBUTE TO A LEGENDARY BALLET TEACHER

Thursday, April 23, 2009 at 7pm

New York City Center

ACT II

Elizabeth Schmitt, Sam Zaldivar

(Dmitri Kulev Classical Ballet Academy) “Flower Festival in Genzano” Pas de Deux

Choreography: August Bournonville

Music: Eduard Helsted

Ekaterina Kondaurova, Islom Baimuradov

(Mariinsky Ballet) “Middle Duet”

Choreography: Alexei Ratmansky

Music: Yuri Khanon

Gennadi Saveliev (American Ballet Theatre) “Gopak”

Choreography: Rostislav Zakharov

Music: Vasily Solovyov-Sedoi

Karine Plantadit (Broadway performer),

Sascha Radetsky (Dutch National Ballet) “Sinatra Suite”

Choreography: Twyla Tharp

Music: Frank Sinatra

Vladimir Malakhov (Berlin State Opera Ballet) “Voyage”

Choreography: Renato Zanella

Music: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Alicia Amatriain (Stuttgart Ballet),

Mikhail Kaniskin (Berlin State Opera Ballet) “Le Grand Pas de Deux”

Choreography: Christian Spuck

Music: Gioachino Rossini

Nikolai Tsiskaridze (Bolshoi Ballet) “Narcissus”

Choreography: Kassyan Goliezovsky

Music: Nikolai Cherepnin

Viktoria Tereshkina, Vladimir Shklyarov

(Mariinsky Ballet) “Don Quixote” Pas de Deux

Choreography: Marius Petipa

Music: Richard Drigo

Closing Remarks

Alexei Ratmansky

Program subject to change.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks, Dale. If Terioshkina and Gomes perform the Manon pdd with the same intensity as they displayed at the recent Mariinsky Festival gala, then NYC is in for one heckuva treat. :dunno: It's also great to see two other Mariinsky dancers in the line-up -- 'Big Red' Kondaurova and Schklyarov.

Wouldn't it be great if the organizers could add an excerpt from Little Humpbacked Horse? We've got the Tsar-Maiden, Ivan and the Queen of the Seas headed for NYC!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The line up for both galas sounds just fabulous – there is lots and lots to look forward to. It would probably do well to remember that there are generally pretty substantial changes to the initial plans – but these plans sound great!

After Natalia's Mariinsky Festival reviews I can't wait to see Terioshkina and Gomes in the Manon pas de deux at the Peter the Great Gala. I'm also particularly looking forward to seeing DANNY TIDWELL (yippe!) at the Stars Gala along with Gillian Murphy & Joseph Phillips in Tarantella and all those wonderful overseas guests.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

RECESSION SPECIAL:

I have just been advised that a friend went to the box office for his Pestov Gala ticket, displayed the YAGP ticket he'd already bought and got a 25% discount on the Pestov.

Thank you, City Center!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks, Dale. If Terioshkina and Gomes perform the Manon pdd with the same intensity as they displayed at the recent Mariinsky Festival gala, then NYC is in for one heckuva treat. :) It's also great to see two other Mariinsky dancers in the line-up -- 'Big Red' Kondaurova and Schklyarov.

According to the YAGP site Gomes won't be performing; and only Kondaurova will be representing the Mariinsky. :dunno:

http://yagp.org/gala/index.html

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yes, Osipova and Vasiliev bowed-out a while back. A shame, as they were the absolute 'hits' of last year's YAGP Gala. I believe that Tsiskaridze will be the lone representative of the Bolshoi, unless there are last-minute surprises.

Extremely disappointing that Terioshkina & Schklyarov will not appear and that NYC will not be able to enjoy the Terioshkina/Gomes Manon pdd that thrilled us at the Mariinsky Festival last month. BOO to that! (I feel bad for nysusan and others who specifically were looking forward to this!)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It sure is disapointing to hear that we won't get to see Terioshkina & Gomes do the Manon Pas de deux. I just saw Gomes a couple of days ago with Patrelle Dances so at least his withdrawl isn't due to injury. Without the two of them and Schklyarov I guess we can forget about that Corsaire Suite which looked so good on paper. Also noticed that the YAGP site dosn't list Ashley Bouder who was supposed to dance the Grahn variation in the Grand Pas de Quatre. That's a shame but there are always lots of changes at a gala like this and there's still lots to look forward to. Did I mention Danny Tidwell? Tsiskaridze? Kondaurova? I'm also looking forward to seeing many familiar faces in unfamiliar roles - it will be fun even with all the cancellations!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

As of today, the morning of the gala, this is on the YAGP website:

The YAGP 10th Anniversary Gala will feature the finalists of the YAGP international student ballet competition alongside the all-YAGP-alumni star cast led by specially invited guest stars, Natalia Osipova and Ivan Vasiliev of Bolshoi Ballet.

I'm sorry, but if Osipova and Vasiliev are not performing, WHY are they still being advertised?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm sorry, but if Osipova and Vasiliev are not performing, WHY are they still being advertised?

Very good question! And ABT has come in for some criticism recently on the way they handled the issues surrounding Osipova's dates this coming June.

Compared to the sponsors of this event, well....never mind.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I attended Wednesday night’s Gala. This is the second time that I have been to the YAGP Gala. I attended back in 2007, but sadly I missed last year’s Gala. Tonight’s gala had many high points, a few technical glitches, and a few moments of brilliance.

I arrived at City Center at about 7:40 and while City Center was open, the doors of the theater remained closed a few more minutes. When the doors finally did open, there seemed to be no ushers to seat the people. Many members of the audience were not even seated when the house lights dimmed and they started showing the YAGP 10th Anniversary video presentation. People were walking around during most of the video. Then, Christopher Wheeldon came out as our emcee for the evening and repeated a lot of what we had just heard in the video.

The first part of Act I was the winners of the Gala. There was a problem with the music for the young lady who danced to "Harlequinade". Finally, everything was sorted out and thankfully it did not throw off any of these young dancers. Each performer was extraordinary in their own way. I wish I had a list of the performers, but the ones that stood out in mind are the ensemble number, the young lady who brought the chair out (I believe that the dance was called "Pisces"), the young lady who danced to “La Esmeralda”, and the young man who danced to "Hernando’s Hideaway". Christopher Wheeldon told us each name before they came out and I am sure the list will be posted somewhere on the Internet tomorrow.

Then, it was time for the Alumni part of the Gala. We began with “Little Red Riding Hood” with Skylar Brandt of the ABT Onassis School and Gleidson Soares Vasconcelos of the Cuban Classical Ballet of Miami. This was the actual fairy tale with a comic twist. I was surprised (as was the rest of the audience) to hear the shriek of Brandt when she realized that she was sitting on top of a wolf. But, this Red knew how to handle herself. It was a playful dance and the two leads looked like they were enjoying themselves.

Next, we had Charles Andersen and Eliabe D’Abadia of the Royal Danish Ballet in “The Jockey Dance”, with choreography by Bournonville. Like “Red Riding Hood”, Andersen and D’Abadia looked like they were having a lot of fun with this. They came out dressed in full riding gear, complete with riding crop, which they had no problem using on each other.

This was followed by Hiroko Asami and Raphael Coumes-Marquet of the Dresden State Opera Ballet in “Reverence”. After the two playful dances, we completely changed tempo with this very darkly lit and moody dance. The two leads were very good in conveying the emotion of the music by Max Richter.

The program listed Angelina Zuccarini of the Stuttgart Ballet as being next in a variation from “La Fille Mal Gardee”, but she was a no-show. Next up was James Moore from Pacific Northwest Ballet in “Mopey”. This was a very unique dance. Moore used every part of his body while running around the stage and on and off the stage. He exited by jumping up and down on his rear end while he was seated.

Bridgett Zehr and Zdenek Konvalina of the National Ballet of Canada were next in “The Prokofiev Pas de Deux”. Except for one small glitch in the dance (Konvalina was leaving the stage and it looked like Zehr tripped over him causing her to put her hand down on the ground to balance herself) this was a beautiful dance. Zehr showed so much control and flexibility during this number.

Our last alumni number was Natalia Tapia and Matthew Golding of Corella Ballet in the Pas de Deux from “Flames of Paris”. Golding is very tall for a dancer, but his height also helped him to get off the ground higher than most dancers. This is a showstopper and both dancers went all out in their solos. At one point, it looked like Tapia did either a quadruple or maybe even a quintuple pirouette.

Act I ended with all of the participants of the YAGP competition dancing to “Grand Defile”. Some of the dancers were so young and tiny. One little boy kept running out and he had such an incredible look of joy on his face, that he received applause without having to do anything. When all of the dancers came out, Sergey Gordeev came out to announce that the World Record was being set for most dancers on one stage on pointe at the same time. They actually had a lady representing the Guiness Book who was there with the official certificate.

Act II began with “Le Grand Pas de Quatre”. My only complaint about this was that the recording of the music sounded awful! They had four ballerinas from the American Ballet Theatre dance together – Melanie Hamrick, Christine Shevchenko, Mary Thomas, and Katherine Williams – and then four different ballerinas performed the individual solos. The four ladies at the beginning made a beautiful tableau when the curtain opened. They captured the grace and elegance of the nineteenth century Romantic ballet. I have to apologize in advance for what I am going to write next. One of the four (I am not sure who it was) is the chunkiest ballerina I have ever seen. Her dancing was lovely, but I was surprised.

Ashley Bouder of New York City Ballet danced the Lucile Grahn solo. Again, there was a technical problem with the music before her solo. Thankfully, the glitch did not affect her dancing. Maia Makhateli of Dutch National Ballet danced the Carlotta Grisi solo. Irina Dvorovenko of ABT (who got huge applause when she came out) danced the Fanny Cerrito solo. And finally, Yekaterina Kondaurova of the Mariinsky (who also got huge applause when she came out – everybody loves Big Red!) danced the Marie Taglioni solo. They were all beautiful. Of the four, I felt that Dvorovenko and Kondaurova were the standouts.

Then came an unexpected surprise. Kiril Kulish, the star of “Billy Elliot” sang and danced “Electricity” from the show. What a talented young man!

Then we had two dances from Balanchine’s “Who Cares?” Sara Mearns and Jared Angle from NYCB danced to “The Man I Love” and Maria Kowroski and Philip Neal (also from NYCB) danced to “Embraceable You”. Both dances were beautiful, playful, and romantic

Karine Plantadit and Danny Tidwell danced to “Good Times, Ha!” While both dancers showed great energy and comic timing in this difficult dance, I have to admit that this was my least favorite of the dances being performed tonight. After a while, the movements got a bit repetitive and it looked like Plantadit was getting tired.

Hee Seo and Cory Stearns of ABT danced to the Balcony Pas de Deux from “Romeo and Juliet”. Lovely Hee Seo remains my favorite soloist from American Ballet Theatre and I was very pleased to see that she will be dancing the lead in “Romeo and Juliet” during the spring. This was beautifully done tonight and it really made me look forward to seeing her in the full ballet. Two years ago when I went to the YAGP Gala, there was a group of screamers, who seemed to feel that every big trick had to be applauded or screamed about. Thankfully, they were not as vocal this year, but it was during this dance that I guess the “natives started getting restless”. The beautiful mood was broken by the screamers in the balcony who felt that they had to go “whoooo” when Seo and Stearns kissed.

Next on the program was supposed to be Gillian Murphy and Joseph Phillips of ABT in “Tarantella”, but that did not happen. Instead, we went right to Marcelo Gomes, who danced to “Percussion 4” from Bob Fosse’s “Dancin’”. Marcelo was absolutely incredible. I have had the pleasure of seeing him dance many times before, but not in anything like this. He showed a completely different side of himself and got a huge ovation when he was finished.

Then came the “Le Corsaire” Suite. We started out with Sarah Lane of ABT and Zachary Catazaro of NYCB and then we went to Victoria Tereshkina and Vladimir Shklyarov of the Mariinsky Ballet. There was also another unnamed dancer (he was dressed in the Conrad costume) who was having a really bad night. He went to do one of those moves that I call the “karate kick wheelbarrow” and it looked like his foot slipped right out from under him and he landed really hard on his rear end. Later on, he fudged a lift with Tereshkina and had to put her down kind of awkwardly. Lane was very pretty in her dance. Catazaro was wonderful. Tereshkina continues to amaze me. I saw her dance Gamzatti last year when the Mariinsky came to DC and then I saw her again last year in “Diana and Acteon” when the Mariinsky was at City Center. Shklyarov was wildly amazing. I thought he was going to spin out of control once or twice, but he kept it together. The screamers in the balcony were also out of control by this point.

Overall, a very good night. I feel very fortunate and thankful that I was able to attend this.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks for the report, Ceeszi! I was there too and agree that there were a few glitches with this year's gala but considered overall, it was a fun night. Regarding the performers - unfortunately that was definitely not Ashley Bouder in the Grand Pas De Quatre - it was Angelina Zuccarini, who I really enjoyed in the 1st variation. Big Red was the epitome of grace and elegance here as Taglioni. We got Jeni Ringer subbing for Sarah Mearns in the first pdd from Who Cares. As for the Corsaire Suite - Joseph Phillips partnered Sara Lane, and by process of elimination I believe that was Zachary Catazaro having the unfortunate night as Conrad. He is a big, handsome dancer who appears to have strong technique and elegant lines, so hopefully we will get to see him again on a better night.

The Corsaire Suite was interesting and lots of fun. Lane's dancing was pristine and lovely . Schklyarov and Tereshkina were wonderful - absolutely wonderful but both looked a bit out of control - like they were totally jet lagged, found themselves in front of a house full of screaming teenagers and decided to just let loose and have fun. It was something that I don't think we would see them do anywhere else. He pushed his pirouettes a la Corella and settled into a 5th position preparation with a little wiggle and a devilish smile. She was perfection, then about 3/4 of the way through the fouettee series at the end - I'm not sure what happened. I think she fell of point and then just put her other leg down and finished them off on the other leg and in the opposite direction. She did this all with a big smile, without missing a beat so I'm not even sure about what I saw - just that it was a pleasure to see her on the City Center stage again!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

indeed there was some confusion and substitution in the program.

Only the YAPG competitors for this year were duly announced.

The past YAPG etc. winners in the 'gala' part were not, so one had to know, and compare against the program what was and what was not what.

as noted, Bouder didn't appear (she was replaced as noted above in LE GRAND PAS DE QUATRE); Mearns was replaced by Ringer; TARANTELLA sheduled for Murphy & Phillips became the Pas d'esclave (for Gulnare and Lankedem) from LE CORSAIRE for Lane and Phillips and yes the dancer who did Conrad in the Medora (Tereshkina), Ali (Schklyarov) trio was Zachary Catazaro.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I had a great time at the YAGP gala. Tereshkina and Shklyrov (spell?) had an off night. I did notice that Tereshkina came off point, as noted above. Moreover, she seemed to have little control over her turns. They traveled all over the place towards the end of her variation. Ali the Slave was okay, but not thrilling. For me one highlight was seeing Kondourova. I wish they had given her more to do. By the way, Irina Dvorovenko has dyed her hair a copper reddish color, unless that was the stage lighting that created that effect. I enjoyed the City Ballet performers doing excerpts from Who Cares. It was nice to see someone other than Nilas Martins do The Man I Love duet w. Ringer. Hee Seo made an impressive debut as Juliet with Cory Stearns as her Romeo. I also enjoyed Sarah Lane w. Joe Phillips in an excerpt from Corsaire. Danny Tidwell is squandering his vast talents on junk, if last night's performance was any indication of what he has been doing lately, in my opinion. Marcelo's little solo dance was fun, sexy and extremely well danced. Poor Z. Catazaro of City Ballet had a terrible night, as noted above. I think any one of us Ballet Talkers could have done a better job running the house last night than the City Center staff. Totally inept.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Danny Tidwell is squandering his vast talents on junk, if last night's performance was any indication of what he has been doing lately, in my opinion. Marcelo's little solo dance was fun, sexy and extremely well danced.

As much as I love Danny I'm afraid I have to agree. The best I can say about him and his partner is that they looked like they were having fun. I wasn't. I was very surprised to see Marcelo scheduled to dance a Bob Fosse broadway solo. I'm sure it's never been danced quite that way before and while Fosse experts might take issue with some style elements I thought it was very entertaining. To me that was a great example of a classically trained dancer translating his skills to a different style and perhaps moving out of his comfort zone to try something different that still provided an appropriate platform for his skills and talent.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Danny Tidwell is squandering his vast talents on junk, if last night's performance was any indication of what he has been doing lately, in my opinion. Marcelo's little solo dance was fun, sexy and extremely well danced.

As much as I love Danny I'm afraid I have to agree. The best I can say about him and his partner is that they looked like they were having fun. I wasn't. I was very surprised to see Marcelo scheduled to dance a Bob Fosse broadway solo. I'm sure it's never been danced quite that way before and while Fosse experts might take issue with some style elements I thought it was very entertaining. To me that was a great example of a classically trained dancer translating his skills to a different style and perhaps moving out of his comfort zone to try something different that still provided an appropriate platform for his skills and talent.

Nysusan, How was Hee and Cory in the R and J PDD? Thanks.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks for all of the reports. It killed me to miss the gala this year. grrr...

So Tereshkina and Gomes were both there, after all? So perhaps the 'Manon pdd' may materialize at tonight's Peter the Great Gala, maybe? If so - hoorah!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

So Tereshkina and Gomes were both there, after all? So perhaps the 'Manon pdd' may materialize at tonight's Peter the Great Gala, maybe? If so - hoorah!

Natalia: The program last night also included a listing of the ballets to be performed at the Peter The Great gala tonight. The Tereshkina/Gomes Manon pdd is listed in the booklet. Hopefully it will be performed. I'll be going tonight.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Did anyone else find Danny Tidwell almost unrecognizable? With the chubby cheeks and the double chin & who knows what hiding under the floaty shirt, he was no longer the beautiful Spectre of three years ago.

Sad.

I noticed the considerable weight gain too. I had to look really hard to make sure it was really Danny because he looked completely different from his days at ABT.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...