Don Quixote Spring 2010

[sidwich]

It looks like they are cracking down on seat stealers. Right before the lights went down at the beginning of the show, a woman who had a ticket in the Family Circle tried to sneak into an empty seat in the Balcony. The usher politely told her two or three times that she must return to her own seat. The woman would not leave. As the lights went down, the usher gave her an ultimatum that she either return to her seat or security would be called. I guess she assumed that the usher was bluffing, as she refused to budge. Sure enough, when the lights came up at the end of the first act, she was escorted out by two security guards.

I would not put anything past the Met ushers. Several years ago when the Paris Opera Ballet visited the Met, an usher tried to kick me out of seat for which I had a ticket. She was only somewhat mollified when I showed it to her.

[Colleen Boresta]

As good as Xiomara Reyes was at the Saturday matinee of Don Q, I would have given anything to have seen Osipova's perfromance. (I am going to see her in Romeo and Juliet with Hallberg in July. I'm very excited about that.) I think it's very sad that Carreno is still dancing Don Q. I saw him dance the part in the 1990's and he wasn't just all right - he was sensational. It's a shame more dancers aren't like Julio Bocca. He started retiring roles when he felt he couldn't dance them as he had in the past.

On another note, I just looked at the ABT calendar and it says that Gomes will be dancing Act I of Don Q at the Alicia Alonso gala. Does anyone know what happened to Corella? Is he sick? Is he injured? I was very surprised to read that his technique isn't what it once was. Carreno has got to be close to 40 (or over 40), but Corella is only about 34. He should be at the height of his dancing abilities, shouldn't he?

Also, I know it's already been asked but how were Wiles and Stearns at the Monday matinee? I also agree with the many posters who've said Cory is being pushed too far too fast. AndI think Wiles is a little big for him. If I were Michele Wiles, I would be quite annoyed at being paired with Sterns so much this season. She's usually paired with Gomes and Hallberg. I like Cory Stearns, but I don't think he's at anywhere near their level of dancing and performing.

[Colleen Boresta]

I should have googled Carreno and Corella before I mentioned their ages. Carreno was born in May of 1968 which makes him 42. Corella was born in 1975 which makes him 34, soon to be 35. But my point is still the same. Carreno is already at retirement (for ballet dancers) age, but Corella is not.

[abatt]

On another note, I just looked at the ABT calendar and it says that Gomes will be dancing Act I of Don Q at the Alicia Alonso gala. Does anyone know what happened to Corella? Is he sick? Is he injured?

Corella was never scheduled to participate in the Alonso gala. Gomes was always listed as Paloma's partner for the gala.

[dufay]

Osipova had the audience in her palm. Amazing- not just technically, but her acting which I also loved in Giselle. I disagree that she didn't connect with Carreno. Unfortunately, he really looked diminished compared with her. His partnering hasn't suffered as much- he can still catch and lift. I wonder what Simkin is like as a partner ?

I'm also looking forward to seeing her in R & J.

[MakarovaFan]

Osipova owned the Met stage last night as soon as she bounded out onto it. Her ballon, elevation, turns are extraordinary. Never in my years of going to live performances have I seen a ballerina with that level of technique. Act I was my favorite since it was a showcase for Osipova's power -- and I mean power -- and her bubbly personality. She takes the soubrette direction with Kitri in terms of interpretation and it fits her like a glove. The technical peak of the performance were her double fouettes in the GPPD coda. She whipped them off with tremendous speed, control, placement and only had a tiny glitch at the end, but who cares. also, her grand jetes in Act I were mind-boggling. The girl just flies!

Carreno is not the dancer he was 10 years ago when I saw him in Theme & Variations and was very impressed. But his elegant style is intact, he's an excellent partner and had good rapport with Osipova.

Simkin was fabulous as the Gypsy leader. What a future he has ahead of him!

Great anecdote: My husband and I were standing in the vestibule when Jacques d'Amboise happened to stroll by. I asked him if he was enjoying the performance and what a response I got. "I've never seen it (Kitri) danced better, not even by Plisetskaya.", he said. Wow, high praise indeed coming from one of our greatest dancers. He was so sweet and easy to talk to. Golly, I got to meet Jacques d'Amboise!

I agree with the comment about the corps being sloppy in the Dream scene. Also, I hated Osipova's costume in Act III. The bell shaped skirt didn't flatter her at all. On youtube she can be seen in a red tutu and it looks great on her. Also, Carreno's top didn't seem to fit him correctly which was distracting. But, overall, a wonderful night and a dazzling introduction to the amazing Osipova.

[mimsyb]

I agree that Osipova was phenomenal; however, I found tonight's performance disappointing. Ospiova seemed to be dancing in a completely different production than everyone else. She did not seem truly engaged with anyone else on stage. I got the impression that Kitri didn't care about Basilio. I preferred her performance in Giselle because I found it much more integrated than her performance this evening.

She didn't seem to be dancing with Carreño as much as against him. I felt they had only a limited connection to one another although the connection seemed to grow as the evening progressed.

Simkin was amazing as the gypsy. Misty Copeland was very good too as his partner although she has much less to work with choreographically. Kristi Boone was thoroughly engaging as both Mercedes and the Queen of the Dryads. Julio Bragado-Young was very entertaining as Sancho Panza.

The corps was very sloppy tonight, especially towards the end of the dream scene and in the last act. There were several times when the orchestra audibly sped up to keep up with the dancers on stage (during the Queen's variation and during some of Kitri's variations). I thought the orchestra playing was unenergized, especially in the interludes.

Carreño is 42 according to wikipedia and 43 according to a 2006 article in the Times. I was quite pleasantly surprised by his Ali last year (I'm pretty sure it was last year). He danced beautifully then. He still danced beautifully tonight if in a "technically diminished" capacity.

I don't know that the ushers are cracking down on seat stealers. In my experience, they have never allowed people to move into unoccupied seats before the first act of any opera or ballet, provided, of course, that the ushers witness the person attempting to move to a better seat.

Of course, these comments are only my opinion. YMMV.

I would tend to agree. Osipova, while amazing, didn't seem to be in the same ballet as the rest of the cast. Not sure if that is good or bad. While one can applaud her unbelievable jumps (so many big jete's I lost count after awhile) and her fine foot work and her extensions that border on grotesque, still, no-one on stage came close to matching her. It was as if she was dropped into a small Regional company and told to perform. Sadly, none of the regular women came close to her on stage abilities. An example were her foot stabbing upstage bourree's in Act I. When it came time for the Flower girls to repeat the step, they looked like they'd never seen the step before. Now this could work in the ladies corps favor if Osipova inspires them to step it up a notch. This is what happened to the male dancers of the World when Nureyev first came West and also when Misha showed off his abilities. Maybe it's the ladies turn! Carreno, while better than I had hoped, sort of ran out of gas toward the end and walked and posed a lot. I guess he thought it was Osipova's night. The character roles were all well taken and Julio Bragado-Young continues to amaze with his comic turns in various roles. Kristi Boone was best as Queen of the Dryads, and in fact, I felt it was the best act, even for Osipova. Here she stayed within the lines of the classical form and glowed. No flashy steps, just purity of line and form. Very satisfying. Yuriko was OK as Amour, but my favorite is still Renata Pavam. A big disappointment was Jared Mathews as Espada. Sorry, there's just no "there, there". Gomes would have kicked up that action a lot. Overall, it was a fun and interesting evening, but not as satisfying as I'd hoped. The audience loves her, but I would hope it's not totally due to the underachieving of the rest of the cast. It's a good role for her and maybe she just needs to find her way with the rest of the company (and they with her). You can't be on stage and stand around and gape at the lead dancer. Three words. "She's not Nina"

[richard53dog]

I can't add too much to what others have already said about the Osipova/Carreno Don Quixote last night. But I also found Osipova a force of nature as Kitri; the role fits her to a tee and she tears up the stage in it. Her personality is enormous in this role but it's never over the top as can happen with some virtuoso performers. Carreno was much smaller scaled than the last time I saw him as Basilio back in 2004 with Nina but he remains very, very stylish as Basilio and also as a fine partner. There was nice chemistry between him and Osipova. H

Overall the performance wasn't the neatest or most energized for the company as a whole but it was certainly professional and very enjoyable.

[Colleen Boresta]

Thank you, Abatt, for letting me know that Gomes was always scheduled to dance Act I of Don Q on Thursday. You're right, of course. I guess I'm so used to Corella and Paloma dancing Don Q together that I thought they were performing together on June 3rd.

I have never been very impressed with Jared Matthews. I really don't understand why he's a soloist. There are many dancers still in the corps who are much better - Joseph Phillips and Eric Tamm to name two. And why wasn't Sascha Radetsky dancing Espada. I've seen him do the part a few times and he's great. I didn't see Cory Stearns as Basilio, but I think he fits the part of Espada better than he fits the part of Basilio in Don Q.

[FauxPas]

I agree with a lot of what has been written above except that I felt that Carreno was more than respectable and held his own. Admittedly he paled in comparison with his younger self and had to pace himself during the variations. But he was quite wonderful as a partner, still could do his "slow-down" turns and cut a dashing, sexy figure onstage. Carreno seems very canny as to what he can and cannot do. In the little dance duel with the Gypsy Boy in Act II, Simkin was throwing in 180 turns and backbends and heaven knows what steps. Carreno didn't attempt the steps Simkin was dancing and just did the pirouettes he does well.

Osipova has a really charming gamine stage presence and lots of good humor. Several of the solos in Act I seemed like I had never seen them before because I had never seen that kind of elevation and attack before. I have seen Nina Ananiashvili and Sylvie Guillem as Kitri (Vishneva too) and none of them had this kind of attack. Guillem had a lot of that abandon but not the ballon. It is a kind of athletic dancing and it was nice to see the classical discipline and elegance Osipova brought to the Act II Dulcinea sequence. Ananiashvili and others like Xiomara Reyes apply the jumps and bravura over a classical format as Kitri - still a ballerina. Osipova's Bolshoi style made her kind of a character dancer Kitri much like certain bravura male dancers brought a touch of Moiseyev peasant dancer acrobatics to danseur noble roles. It is a little bit of a different style but Osipova has lots of extra things to offer - she can do more with each step. Other ballerinas can tie the steps together in beautiful patterns but Osipova makes every moment pop. I was very surprised in the third act grand pas that Osipova after doing a very impressive balance eschewed the two balances with the promenades ending them not with a balance but a supported pirouette. I have never seen that done before. Also, Kitri and Basil only wear red when the PDD is done as an excerpt, white is worn in the full ballet since it is their wedding day. Kitri may be spirited and free but she would not wear anything but white on her wedding day!

I liked Jared Matthews better than Gennadi Saveliev as Espada and have enjoyed him in several things. Over the years there has been a tendency towards soloist stasis at ABT concerning talented male soloists. Good dancers like Parrish Maynard, Charles Askegard, Joaquin de Luz, Danny Tidwell and Carlos Molina left ABT because they knew they couldn't break that phalanx of principal male superstars (they had other reasons too I am sure). Sascha Radetsky was another that left for the Het Ballet to dance roles he was denied at ABT. It would be shameful if Sascha returned to ABT after being a principal in Europe and be stuck with the same secondary soloist roles as before. Corey Stearns is very fine and getting better all the time. But when Ethan, Max and Jose Manuel move on, I hope the plums aren't handed out only to him. Joseph Phillips also would make a fine Basilio with Sarah Lane as his Kitri. Simkin, Radetsky, Phillips, Tamm and others should not have to wait as long as Herman Cornejo did to dance leading male roles in classical ballets.

[Fleegull]

Here to echo what everyone has already said about Osipova and to add that her comic timing is genius and better than many actors out there today.

I really enjoyed Simkin and Misty Copeland as the gypsies. This is a pairing I would like to see again in the future. Naturally I would love to see Simkin as Basilio, paired with Osipova!

[Classic_Ballet]

I attended last night as well.

Its hard to explain my feelings about the performance, lets say I came out with very, very strong mixed feelings, something that i have rarely experienced before.

On one hand, there is no question that Osipova's POWER is unlike anything i have ever seen. Its truly unbelievable, not only her jumps but her extensions, speed and energy.

I could not believe my eyes, and I saw her giselle/sylphide and her opening night giselle excerpts this year as well, but this was different. She entered the stage flying from the side and landed almost in the center. After that, it was literally one OMG after the next, every single time when she came out, the audience gasped, for real, it was such a tremendous power, that again, i could not believe it. On Act two her jets were so huge..., especially here you could see the girls from the corp behind, so it was easier to get an idea of the elevation that she reaches......and I could go on and on.....

On the other hand, the technique didnt look clean to me, in general. For example, she always kicks her leg down way too much in the fouettes or keep it low too when in passe (in turns), which together with pulling her arms in, helps her to turn faster, def....... i dont know, its weird.....because the speed she reaches is also not normal, its pretty amazing, at the same time...... it just doesnt look pretty to me.....I dont see any control at all when doing pirouettes or any other turn, it always looks like she is got to do it fast otherwise she'll fall or will lose the center of her turns, as it happened last night a few times.

Her acting skills are not bad, but I just felt like she turned the whole performance into a circus/olympic competition or exhibition show. Its hard to explain, she was on one page, the company in a different one,....... is it because she is so powerful that I am not used to it ?

I also saw her too energetic, to a point of being out of control/music many times just to show her huge extensions/jumps and I did not like the fact that she changed so many things of the choreography, starting from act I, and including the balances of act III.

I am still confused, it was amazing, but also it didnt feel like ballet.....like Nina/Vishneva's Kitri, that I remember so well in my head.

It was definitely very unique.

Carreno partnered her beautifully, the lifting were amazing and the way she threw herself into his hands on Act 3 was also incredible, you could tell that she felt so secure.

In one of the one-handed lifting, she totally took her arms out of him, crazy ! Carreno danced so elegant and so clean ! Its unbeleivable that he can still dance that well at his age, def he is not the same as compared to when he was 30yo, but the control and the cleanliness is still the same, bravo !

The rest of the cast.......

Boone looked beautiful as Mercedes but I did not like her as queen of dryads, she fell of point/position at the end the italian fouettes, and her jetes were very poorly executed, i dont like her port-de bras either, to me, she looks a lot like Herrera on this kind of roles.

Kajiya was ok amour, but did not come close to Lane, who I agree, owns the role.

Sinkim was a marvel, also agree that I would love to see him in Basilio with Natalia (assuming he improves his partnering skills, of course)

Mathews was ok, but far from David/Marcelo on Espada.

[nysusan]

Osipova has a really charming gamine stage presence and lots of good humor. Several of the solos in Act I seemed like I had never seen them before because I had never seen that kind of elevation and attack before. I have seen Nina Ananiashvili and Sylvie Guillem as Kitri (Vishneva too) and none of them had this kind of attack. Guillem had a lot of that abandon but not the ballon. It is a kind of athletic dancing and it was nice to see the classical discipline and elegance Osipova brought to the Act II Dulcinea sequence. Ananiashvili and others like Xiomara Reyes apply the jumps and bravura over a classical format as Kitri - still a ballerina. Osipova's Bolshoi style made her kind of a character dancer Kitri much like certain bravura male dancers brought a touch of Moiseyev peasant dancer acrobatics to danseur noble roles. It is a little bit of a different style but Osipova has lots of extra things to offer - she can do more with each step. Other ballerinas can tie the steps together in beautiful patterns but Osipova makes every moment pop...

I liked Jared Matthews better than Gennadi Saveliev as Espada and have enjoyed him in several things.

I agree completely with your description of Osipova's Kitri, and I also enjoyed Matthews' Espada. He's a dancer I loved when he was in the corps and dancing small soloist roles, but I've felt that he started to flounder as soon as he was promoted to soloist. I think he's turned a corner this season, I saw great stage presence from him with Vishneva in Thais at the gala. There was some rough partnering but I put that down to limited rehearsal time since he replaced Carenno at short notice (and by the way he is now scheduled to dance with Vishneva in all her Thais performances, Carenno is partnering Ricetto). As Espada his long, elegant line served him well, his timing and flourishes were spot on and he showed just a bit of tonuge in cheek awareness along with the requisite bravado. I know this will be a minority opinion, but I much preferred him to Radetsky who danced Espada in the Wed matinee performance. Radetsky wasn't bad, he was fine, but he just doesn't have the beautiful long line & super stretch of a Hallberg or Matthews and he played the role very straight. Neither was one of the very best Espadas I've ever seen (Gomes, Hallberg, Baimuradov), but I definitely preferred Matthews to Radetsky.

On one hand, there is no question that Osipova's POWER is unlike anything i have ever seen. Its truly unbelievable, not only her jumps but her extensions, speed and energy.

I could not believe my eyes, and I saw her giselle/sylphide and her opening night giselle excerpts this year as well, but this was different. She entered the stage flying from the side and landed almost in the center. After that, it was literally one OMG after the next, every single time when she came out, the audience gasped, for real, it was such a tremendous power, that again, i could not believe it. On Act two her jets were so huge..., especially here you could see the girls from the corp behind, so it was easier to get an idea of the elevation that she reaches......and I could go on and on.....

On the other hand, the technique didnt look clean to me, in general. For example, she always kicks her leg down way too much in the fouettes or keep it low too when in passe (in turns), which together with pulling her arms in, helps her to turn faster, def....... i dont know, its weird.....because the speed she reaches is also not normal, its pretty amazing, at the same time...... it just doesnt look pretty to me.....I dont see any control at all when doing pirouettes or any other turn, it always looks like she is got to do it fast otherwise she'll fall or will lose the center of her turns, as it happened last night a few times.

Her acting skills are not bad, but I just felt like she turned the whole performance into a circus/olympic competition or exhibition show. Its hard to explain, she was on one page, the company in a different one,....... is it because she is so powerful that I am not used to it ?

I also saw her too energetic, to a point of being out of control/music many times just to show her huge extensions/jumps and I did not like the fact that she changed so many things of the choreography, starting from act I, and including the balances of act III.

I am still confused, it was amazing, but also it didnt feel like ballet.....like Nina/Vishneva's Kitri, that I remember so well in my head.

It was definitely very unique.

All quite true, IMO. These comments from Classic_Ballet & FauxPas, as well as others on the board strike me as a good description of Osipova as Kitri. She does not always exhibit the pristine classisicm and perfect technique which were hallmarks of the Mariinsky style, she is a Bolshoi ballerina and reminds me more of an old style Bolshoi dancer where bravura, bold character and astounding technical feats meant that the niceties sometimes fall by the wayside. It can be kind of circusy but I have no problem with that in DQ or in gala fare. It's how she will develop in the more refined classical roles which is the question and I found her Giselle and her Dryad scene very encouraging in that regard.

I liked Kristi Boone's Mercedes, it was well danced and very earthy. I don't think she has the epaulment for Queen of the Dryads and it looked like she was really powering her way thru the Italian fouettes with her upper body.

Simkin was INSANE as the lead pirate. An Osipova/Simkin partnership is a nice fantasy but he really needs to improve his partering and work on his upper body strength before he's ready for her...

Both Misty Copeland and Simone Messmer (Wed mat) were great as the lead pirate women but its such a small role...

Renata Pavin was wonderful as Amour (Wed mat), she had all the little skimming steps down perfectly and she managed to avoid being overly cute, unlike Kajiya . My favorite flower girl so far has been Hee Seo (on Wed).

As for the Wed matinee Kitri and Basilio - this is one of my favorite roles for Irina and she pulled out all the stops. She hit all the technical feats convincingly and her 3rd act fouettees were marvelous. Hallberg is just poetry in motion, he was wonderful to watch and he killed all of his variations but he just isn't a natural Basilio. Not because of his blond hair, because of his princely personality.

[christine174]

It has been very interesting to read the commentary on Osipova. I saw her in Giselle last year and Don Q on Tuesday. Both times I had the same reaction: Wow!!! ... followed by, she makes everyone else on stage look bad. (I saw her last year in Sylphide, too, but she didn't make as much of an impression there.) As somone else commented, she makes ABT look like a regional company. But that puzzles me, because it's not like I've never seen bravura dancing before. But when I'm watching Murphy whip off a series of triple fouettes, or Corella spin so fast his turn implodes on itself (don't know how else to describe it!), or Simkin do his dazzling ballet-cum-gymnastics thing, I'm not thinking to myself that no one else on stage is at their level. But that's what I think when I see Osipova. There's something about her that strikes me as "other," and I don't know if that has to do with the sheer level of her virtuosity, her style being different from ABT style (if ABT even has a consistent style), something about her stage personality, or... or what.

[Classic_Ballet]

It has been very interesting to read the commentary on Osipova. I saw her in Giselle last year and Don Q on Tuesday. Both times I had the same reaction: Wow!!! ... followed by, she makes everyone else on stage look bad. (I saw her last year in Sylphide, too, but she didn't make as much of an impression there.) As somone else commented, she makes ABT look like a regional company. But that puzzles me, because it's not like I've never seen bravura dancing before. But when I'm watching Murphy whip off a series of triple fouettes, or Corella spin so fast his turn implodes on itself (don't know how else to describe it!), or Simkin do his dazzling ballet-cum-gymnastics thing, I'm not thinking to myself that no one else on stage is at their level. But that's what I think when I see Osipova. There's something about her that strikes me as "other," and I don't know if that has to do with the sheer level of her virtuosity, her style being different from ABT style (if ABT even has a consistent style), something about her stage personality, or... or what.

In my opinion, it may be a little bit of everything, but i disagree on the idea that abt dancers look like regional dancers next to her. ABT dancers are extremely talented. Not to mention that most of the principals are second to none of the principals of the big companies in the world.

There is def a big disconnection between her and the rest of the company, and I think that's the reason why a lot of people are having this feeling, more than her brutal power eclipsing everybody else. In my opinion, its more a matter of Osipova not paying much attention to the rest of the people and being focused on herself. And in addition, there is also a big difference on style. As I said before, why did she change the coreography so much ? Its intriguing to me.

As talented as she is, honestly, she could fly over abt's Don Q version easily, however, she still danced it on her own way..........to me that says a lot about her dancing on her own style/comfort zone, rather than integrating herself into the whole company.

As a matter of fact, i know that this is a feeling that a lot of dancers in the company have, again, despite recognizing her prodigious technique.

They can easily tell when the principal is bringing them together in a perfomance or when she just dont pay attention to them at all.

This is just my opinion, though

The striking thing to me was the mixture of feelings that she left on me after the show.

[abatt]

Personally, I found the modficiations from the usual choreography in Osipova's variations fascinating and refreshing. I assume that this may be the way the Bolshoi trained her to perform the variations, but I don't know. Unlike performing a Balanchine work, which is subject to copyright and must be performed in accordance with the mandates of the Balanchine Police, the dancers who perform the old warhorses frequently make slight variations in the choreography in their own solos to suit their particular strengths. I noticed some slight changes in Osipova's dancing from the ABT norm when she danced Giselle, too.

As for the comment about other ABT dancers who are less than thrilled by the presence of guest artists appearing for one or two shows, this is how ABT operates. ABT has always operated under a "star" system, and has frequently imported international stars from other companies for guest appearances. As an audience member, I'm very happy that ABT makes efforts to bring us world renowned dancers here in New York. Let's face it, Osipova, Cojocaru and others help fill the enormous MET auditorium and sell loads of tickets. IN an 8 week season annually, trying to fill a 3,800 seat auditorium must be very challenging. Moreover, we tend to complain and/or not buy tickets when McKenzie uses some home team members for certain leading roles.

[Classic_Ballet]

As for the comment about other ABT dancers who are less than thrilled by the presence of guest artists appearing for one or two shows, this is how ABT operates. ABT has always operated under a "star" system, and has frequently imported international stars from other companies for guest appearances. As an audience member, I'm very happy that ABT makes efforts to bring us world renowned dancers here in New York. Let's face it, Osipova, Cojocaru and others help fill the enormous MET auditorium and sell loads of tickets. IN an 8 week season annually, trying to fill a 3,800 seat auditorium must be very challenging. Moreover, we tend to complain and/or not buy tickets when McKenzie uses some home team members for certain leading roles.

i am very happy about that too, one of the reasons why i enjoy the met season so much is because of the unique opportunity that we have to enjoy some of the biggest world stars dancing here. This season, having Osipova, Vishneva, Cojocaru and Bolle, is like...it cant get any better

and of course, its a huge help to fill the 3800 seats !

i was so glad to see the house packed on tuesday.

tonight is sold out as well

[Goldfish17]

It has been very interesting to read the commentary on Osipova. I saw her in Giselle last year and Don Q on Tuesday. Both times I had the same reaction: Wow!!! ... followed by, she makes everyone else on stage look bad. (I saw her last year in Sylphide, too, but she didn't make as much of an impression there.) As somone else commented, she makes ABT look like a regional company. But that puzzles me, because it's not like I've never seen bravura dancing before. But when I'm watching Murphy whip off a series of triple fouettes, or Corella spin so fast his turn implodes on itself (don't know how else to describe it!), or Simkin do his dazzling ballet-cum-gymnastics thing, I'm not thinking to myself that no one else on stage is at their level. But that's what I think when I see Osipova. There's something about her that strikes me as "other," and I don't know if that has to do with the sheer level of her virtuosity, her style being different from ABT style (if ABT even has a consistent style), something about her stage personality, or... or what.

May be Osipova should just jump a little lower! The same for her extensions. Also, she should cut back on energy, allow couple of sloppy movements here and there during scenes with corps de ballet - this way she'll blend right in!

[Adam]

Bravo, Goldfish. Funny, you don't hear opera fans objecting to someone singing better than the others!