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ABT's Spring Season at Kennedy Center-DC


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The remaining ballets in the mixed bill program (besides Ashton's The Dream) have been announced:

Mixed Repertory
(4/15 & 4/16)
Les Sylphides (Fokine/Chopin--orchestration by Britten)
Aftereffect (Gomes/Tchaikovsky--Souvenir de Florence, 1st Movement)
The Dream (Ashton/Mendelssohn)

Interestingly, the mixed bill had originally been promoted to be a 'tribute to Shakespeare'; that designation has been removed. Could it be the Ratmansky's The Tempest was in the original plans, pending the outcome of its premiere in NYC a month ago but did not pass muster to go on tour? It's suddenly not a Shakespeare Evening. Hmmmm...

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Casting now up for the April 2014 Kennedy Center engagement:

http://www.kennedy-center.org/events/?event=BOBSE

Kent, then Reyes, for the two THE DREAMS. Hee Seo will lead both performances of LES SYLPHIDES...hmmmmm.....

DON Qs may be a bit underwhelming, although I'm sure that Boylston/Simkin will set-off the fireworks at the Sat matinee. Ditto Vasiliev (with Herrera) on the Sunday afternoon.

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I saw Simkin in Don Q during the Met season in 2011 and he was wonderful - both in his dancing and his acting. HIs Kitri was Kajiya (did I spell her name right) and I thought she was miscast in the part. She's more of a lyrical, romantic dancer. I think Boylston will be a very good Kitri. As a matter of fact I'm almost positive my subscription ticket for Don Q during this Met season is for Boylston/Simkin. I always thought Kitri was Herrera's best role, but I haven't seen her dance it since 2004. I really enjoyed Vasiliev in Don Q (with Osipova, no longer with ABT, which I am very disappointed about) last year. If Herrera can still dance Kitri like she did back in 2004, she and Vasiliev should put on quite a show! We're talking about Don Q, not Swan Lake or Giselle or Sleeping Beaiuty.

I just looked at the ABT performance calendar and I see that Reyes/Cornejo are also dancing Don Q. I saw them dance this ballet twice and both were excellent. I also saw both Reyes in The Dream and she was very good. I have never seen Cornejo dance Puck live but from watching The Dream on dvd he's probably the best Puck dancing the part today. That being said, I saw Simkin dance Puck in 2011 and he was fantastic. It was like he lived in the air. I think Puck is one of Simkin's best roles. His Oberon was Cory Stearns and Simkin/Stearns had fantastic chemistry in 'The Dream'. I hope Simkin and Whiteside are as good togetherer. By the way, I found Oberon to be one of Stearns' best roles. And I have been impressed by the performances I've seen Whiteside give at ABT. And yes, I was right. I will be seeing Boylston/Simkin in Don Q this spring.

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The Kennedy Center is waiving handling fees on remaining ABT tickets. Mention code 176523 if ordering by phone.

There are also some $39 orchestra seats for 4/15, 4/16, and 4/18. Tickets have to be purchased by 4/12. Discount code is 176509. You can't use both offers on the same ticket purchase.

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Sorry to see Stearns is out, but happy to see Gorak gets another Les Sylphides.

Speaking of Gomes, I think he lives about a block from my office and I've seen him on my way to work a few times. This morning I noticed his strong, dancerly walk before I realized it was him. I must have smiled like a school girl when I passed him. Even on the street he is a sight to behold. Not a bad way to start the day. :)

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I saw yesterday's dress rehearsal, and it doesn't seem fair to review it, but I was pleased and surprised to see Sarah Lane as one of the fairies in The Dream. I don't know the company well enough to have recognized anyone else except the principals :Reyes, Whiteside, and Simkin. Are soloists usually cast as fairies in this ballet?

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Did anyone go to ABT last night? Reports?

I did! I did!

Unfortunately, I don't know where my program disappeared to. I'm getting ready to move, and my place is in shambles. The program started off a bit slow, with the dancing in Les Sylphides a bit less than the crisp standard of last year's ABT visit to the Kennedy Center. It's a ballet that's little more than a dance exhibition, so every imperfection is noticeable. They used a man from the corps as the male dancer, and it took a while for him to get comfortable. Lots of little extra steps to get his balance after the first few jumps off the solo. There was a little wavering amongst the corps and some spacing issues.

Aftereffect, like the program in general, started off slow, and at first I thought that I wasn't going to like it. But it eventually got cranking, with some nice athletic dancing for the men. I was unable to discern a theme, however.

The Dream was by far the best of the 3. Again, the start was a bit disconcerting since the ballet begins in the middle of the story. But that was quickly forgotten,as the dancing was up to the previous ABT standards. Julie Kent was very impressive as Titania and Herman Cornejo was outstanding as Puck. Unfortunately, the orchestra wasn't good at all. The tuba player totally muffed an important passage (and was almost as bad the 2nd night) and the horn players also clanked some notes. There were overall balance issues, with the strings being way too weak.

ETA: I just read the Washington Post review, and I agree with basically the entire review.

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I saw The Dream opening night but missed the first half of the program. It was a joyous performance of a beautiful, warm, funny, tender and moving ballet. There aren't enough superlatives in the language for Cornejo's Puck, who stole the show. The pas de deux, for me, didn't quite ignite. Kent was stylish and idiomatic, with gorgeous epaulement, but her dancing was somewhat careful. Gomes' technique wasn't perfect, either, as he had some trouble holding the attitudes in the mirror adagio (in the "Y pose"). Still, minor quibbles in what was a buoyant performance.

And, yes, the orchestra was somewhat sloppy, but I'll take the Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra any day over ABT's often wan, listless, and scrappy in-house band. The children's chorus did have a false entrance in the coda, which was somewhat distracting...

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All remaining orchestra seats for the Sat and Sun Don Q matinees are being discounted for $35. Offer Number "177159."

http://www.kennedy-center.org/events/?event=BOBSE&promotionno=177159

Wow, thanks for the link!
I'm headed to DC (unexpectedly!!!!) tomorrow for the matinee. As I live right outside of Philly, it's only a 2 and 1/2 hour drive for me. Can't beat 35 dollar tickets. Too bad I was going to go into work tomorrow to catch up on stuff and now I'm heading to the Kennedy center. It's my first time seeing Don Quixote. I also have tickets to the Wednesday matinee on 5/14.
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All remaining orchestra seats for the Sat and Sun Don Q matinees are being discounted for $35. Offer Number "177159."

http://www.kennedy-center.org/events/?event=BOBSE&promotionno=177159

Wow, thanks for the link!
I'm headed to DC (unexpectedly!!!!) tomorrow for the matinee. As I live right outside of Philly, it's only a 2 and 1/2 hour drive for me. Can't beat 35 dollar tickets. Too bad I was going to go into work tomorrow to catch up on stuff and now I'm heading to the Kennedy center. It's my first time seeing Don Quixote. I also have tickets to the Wednesday matinee on 5/14.

That's so cheap I'm almost tempted to go, and I don't really even like Don Quixote. However, if you're not familiar with the Kennedy Center, beware the $22 parking fee. Use one of the garages across the street, next to the Watergate, and you can save $10-12.

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All remaining orchestra seats for the Sat and Sun Don Q matinees are being discounted for $35. Offer Number "177159."

http://www.kennedy-center.org/events/?event=BOBSE&promotionno=177159

Wow, thanks for the link!
I'm headed to DC (unexpectedly!!!!) tomorrow for the matinee. As I live right outside of Philly, it's only a 2 and 1/2 hour drive for me. Can't beat 35 dollar tickets. Too bad I was going to go into work tomorrow to catch up on stuff and now I'm heading to the Kennedy center. It's my first time seeing Don Quixote. I also have tickets to the Wednesday matinee on 5/14.

That's so cheap I'm almost tempted to go, and I don't really even like Don Quixote. However, if you're not familiar with the Kennedy Center, beware the $22 parking fee. Use one of the garages across the street, next to the Watergate, and you can save $10-12.

On-street parking is free on Sundays. Just give yourself time to drive around a little to search for an available space. Downtown will probably be crowded during the day (though this week's heavy rain may have spoiled the cherry blossoms). There are also parking garages on I Street between 21st and 22nd and 22 Street between I Street and Penn. Ave. that charge $11 on evenings and weekends and are less than 2 blocks from the shuttle stop.

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All remaining orchestra seats for the Sat and Sun Don Q matinees are being discounted for $35. Offer Number "177159."

http://www.kennedy-center.org/events/?event=BOBSE&promotionno=177159

Wow, thanks for the link!
I'm headed to DC (unexpectedly!!!!) tomorrow for the matinee. As I live right outside of Philly, it's only a 2 and 1/2 hour drive for me. Can't beat 35 dollar tickets. Too bad I was going to go into work tomorrow to catch up on stuff and now I'm heading to the Kennedy center. It's my first time seeing Don Quixote. I also have tickets to the Wednesday matinee on 5/14.

That's so cheap I'm almost tempted to go, and I don't really even like Don Quixote. However, if you're not familiar with the Kennedy Center, beware the $22 parking fee. Use one of the garages across the street, next to the Watergate, and you can save $10-12.

On-street parking is free on Sundays. Just give yourself time to drive around a little to search for an available space. Downtown will probably be crowded during the day (though this week's heavy rain may have spoiled the cherry blossoms).

All remaining orchestra seats for the Sat and Sun Don Q matinees are being discounted for $35. Offer Number "177159."

http://www.kennedy-center.org/events/?event=BOBSE&promotionno=177159

If they ran any discount for Saturday evening I'd go for a 2nd time (I already have a ticket for Sunday). There are more than 500 tickets left for Saturday evening, over 600 left for the 2 matinees.

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