106 replies to this topic

[Waelsung]

I saw Part in the opening performance, and she was ravishing.

I also saw the Tuesday performance and have to concur: Part was incredible - Beauty and Poetry incarnate - and her partnership with Gomes was out of this world. Osipova should add a very interesting dimension to the story. I had a ticket for Friday, but gave it away as a present to a very dear person and snatched a very good Orchestra seat for Saturday night instead. I wouldn't mind seeing Veronika again, but I just wanted somebody else to witness her great art, too.

[spinning2night]

absolutely thrilled to hear that all the casts this week have been quite exceptional and more than satisfactory (especially in regards to the Wed evening cast)
would love to hear how Veronika dealt with being substituted in...I'm sure she was given a heads up, but it's always nice to get an update on how she dealt with nerves

off topic: I much like many of you, have wanted Stella to get promoted to principal for the past 5/6 years. She definitely was on track when she was working on Giselle (personally I think that's a role that suits her better than Myrta), but her injury took her out of the game. While she's been recovered for a few years now, I think the severity/unpredictability and long recovery period of the injury (since it involves her lower leg/ankle/foot) makes promoting her risky. However, the most refreshing thing about Stella is that regardless of what role she is dancing, she really commits and embodies it fully; her versatility, control, and line makes her a beautiful dancer to watch. That alone makes her one of my favorite ballerina's at ABT who I can't imagine deserves a promotion more.

[abatt]

Like Ilya, I thought Cojocaru and Vasiliev were excellent together. I also felt that it was unfortunate that Copeland had to debut her Gamzatti as Vasiliev's partner. She barely left the ground, and he was flying through the air. It looked disjointed. Cojocaru's deep back bends were especially wonderful in Act I. Vasiliev has very bulky legs, a sometimes sloppy line, and the white tights did him no favors. However, he is exceptional in his spins and jumps. I also thought he did well in the characterization aspect. I wasn't very impressed w. Joe Phillips as Bronze Idol. Can we have Herman or Angel back in that role, just for one night?

[California]

No one has mentioned any technical problems for Cojocaru (unlike her Giselle last week). Were there visible problems that anyone noticed?

I also see that she will perform again this Monday, with a different partner (Cornejo) and Osipova as Gamzatti. Rehearsing the same role with two different partners in a matter of days is rather demanding, isn't it?

[Golden Idol]

Having seen Vasiliev before, I knew what to expect: big, big, big! Yes, it was thrilling. But pairing him with Misty... not a great idea. In Act 1, he almost lost hold of her in one of her deep bends and she gave him a very annoyed look. But, then, she was playing Gamzatti very haughty--not with the kind of pathos that Gillian can inject into the role and give it some sympathy--so perhaps it was all of a piece. (She did get some wild applause at the curtain calls.) That said, I have rarely seen the final act danced so well--Vasiliev turned Solor's delirium and despair into something of a mad scene. Much as I love Marcelo in this role, Vasiliev made the most of the drama in the final scene.

[abatt]

Misty seemed to have her own little cheering section somewhere in the auditorium. Every time she completed a variation, that section in particular would go nuts.

[annamicro]

No one has mentioned any technical problems for Cojocaru (unlike her Giselle last week). Were there visible problems that anyone noticed?

What an odd question... I'd rather like to know if she did anything of good, especially artistically. :-) I love her first solo at the sacred fire, I think at the moment nobody makes it in such a mystical and magical way. She danced la Bayadere for the last time in July 2009 and the memory of it still makes my heart beating faster: movements were having a special depth, a sort of higher density, as she was evoking and then moving in a fluid divine entity. Was anything of this there?

Anyway she hadn't any kind of thecnical of physical problem in La Sylphide in London on Monday. Her jumps were relevant, even though on that side she will never match Air Osipova :-) . I was surprised by her cabrioles: she was beating with such an energy that the noise made my think she could be wearing a pair of Mariinsky Czarda boots!

[puppytreats]

Did she change back into harem pants for the curtain call after the Kingdom of Shades tutu scene?

[puppytreats]

No one has mentioned any technical problems for Cojocaru (unlike her Giselle last week). Were there visible problems that anyone noticed?

What an odd question... I'd rather like to know if she did anything of good, especially artistically. :-) I

Asking if someone who is ill has recovered demonstrates concern, not necessarily malicious intentions. I don't think it is an odd question at all.

[abatt]

No technique problems have been mentioned because there weren't any to speak of. She was totally "on" last night. Her first act, in particular, was the most thrilling. Great fluidity of movement.

[annamicro]

Did she change back into harem pants for the curtain call after the Kingdom of Shades tutu scene?

Has Makarova Bayadere not the last act in New York? Usually it comes after the Shades.

[annamicro]

No one has mentioned any technical problems for Cojocaru (unlike her Giselle last week). Were there visible problems that anyone noticed?

What an odd question... I'd rather like to know if she did anything of good, especially artistically. :-) I

Asking if someone who is ill has recovered demonstrates concern, not necessarily malicious intentions. I don't think it is an odd question at all.

WHO is ill? Anyway, if that was the intention, it could have been asked in a better and gentler way, in my opinion. BTW the reports about Giselle are quite confusing: she can have had a bad night, of course, but a partnering virtuosity of Corella was considered the sign of an injury. Reading the comment, it seems he was so generous to make her fly across the stage without touching the ground (as Kobborg too almost always does): I don't understand how one can think a dancer on stage on pointe for 2 hours could have problem putting a foot on stage at that point!

[abatt]

[
Has Makarova Bayadere not the last act in New York? Usually it comes after the Shades.

Yes, we have the third act staged by Makarova. The Bronze Idol does his variation in that act, and Nikiya comes back in the harem pants outfit. I think NY and London have the same exact production.

[California]

No one has mentioned any technical problems for Cojocaru (unlike her Giselle last week). Were there visible problems that anyone noticed?

What an odd question... I'd rather like to know if she did anything of good, especially artistically. :-) I

Asking if someone who is ill has recovered demonstrates concern, not necessarily malicious intentions. I don't think it is an odd question at all.

WHO is ill? Anyway, if that was the intention, it could have been asked in a better and gentler way, in my opinion. BTW the reports about Giselle are quite confusing: she can have had a bad night, of course, but a partnering virtuosity of Corella was considered the sign of an injury. Reading the comment, it seems he was so generous to make her fly across the stage without touching the ground (as Kobborg too almost always does): I don't understand how one can think a dancer on stage on pointe for 2 hours could have problem putting a foot on stage at that point!

My apologies for inadvertently starting this exchange! I'm a huge Cojocaru fan. I got to see her in person a couple of years ago at the Met on "Super Saturday" in Beauty, and I've got three DVDs with the Royal (her Giselle, Beauty, Nutcracker). Her history of injuries and foot problems has been well-publicized for years, so when people discussed the changes in the Giselle choreography last week (coming off pointe in the first act hops, e.g. -- an unsupported sequence), that was alarming. I'm sure all of us who love her were hoping nothing serious had happened to her in the injury department. It's great to hear that the Bayadere went well and there's no lingering evidence of serious injury, at least that audience members could detect. That's all I was asking. Sorry!

[annamicro]

[
Has Makarova Bayadere not the last act in New York? Usually it comes after the Shades.

Yes, we have the third act staged by Makarova. The Bronze Idol does his variation in that act, and Nikiya comes back in the harem pants outfit. I think NY and London have the same exact production.

Not exacly the same because the costumes are different, but I'm pretty sure the choreography is exactly the same, as in La Scala, Hamburg Ballet, Corella Ballet and many others. And if I remember well, Nikiya is wearing that costume only in that scene (and there are not harem in La Bayadere).