2014 Met Season

[onxmyxtoes]

wonder who is next in line for von rothbarth? With Matthews and Radetsky leaving and Whiteside, Sterns, and Hammoudi (hopefully) all performing Siegfried next year, we really need another 2-3 guys who can do the role!

[mimsyb]

wonder who is next in line for von rothbarth? With Matthews and Radetsky leaving and Whiteside, Sterns, and Hammoudi (hopefully) all performing Siegfried next year, we really need another 2-3 guys who can do the role!

I'd like to see Patrick Ogle or Thomas Forster given a shot at this role. Possibly Calvin Royal also.

[onxmyxtoes]

wonder who is next in line for von rothbarth? With Matthews and Radetsky leaving and Whiteside, Sterns, and Hammoudi (hopefully) all performing Siegfried next year, we really need another 2-3 guys who can do the role!

I'd like to see Patrick Ogle or Thomas Forster given a shot at this role. Possibly Calvin Royal also.

maybe they can have roman zhurbin do double-time as the swamp king AND the purple people eater!

[mimsyb]

maybe they can have roman zhurbin do double-time as the swamp king AND the purple people eater!

That's actually not a bad idea! Roman, while delicious as the evil one, is also not bad in the looks department and would make a dashing Purple Rothbart. He's an amazing actor and would bring lots of cunning and deception to the role. And I'm pretty sure he could dance it. We see him so often in character roles that we forget what a really fine dancer he is. Watch him in anything when he's not a" meanie "or a clown, and you'll see what I mean. ( I had always wished that Isaac Stappas could have done the Purple One when he was still in the company, but alas that never happened. Another fine theatrical actor/dancer ! And no-one was more handsome, IMO.) The only problem with this concept is in the first prelude scene when Rothbart becomes the Swamp guy in very quick fashion. Maybe a double could be used in this situation. But really, the concept makes very good sense. And what an opportunity that could be for any dancer in the company. To dance a dual role like that would be splendid!

[ABT Fan]

That is a very good idea! I'd love to see Zhurbin do both. I think Calvin Royal is a good choice too. So would be Gorak. And, I love calling this role "the purple people eater"!

[abatt]

Gorak seems too short. This role requires someone tall and imposing.

[mimsyb]

Gorak seems a bit diminutive for this role, and not capable of being sinister, but anything is possible.

[ABT Fan]

If height is a requirement for von Rothbart, it didn't prevent ABT from casting Vasiliev in the role. (Not that that was a success.......)

[nanushka]

If height is a requirement for von Rothbart, it didn't prevent ABT from casting Vasiliev in the role. (Not that that was a success.......)

Exactly, and he looked completely silly in the costume, because they kept those high boots on his rather short stocky legs. Not attractive.

[ABT Fan]

But, a major snafu is the link on ABT's website page promoting Smirnova's debut that is supposed to take you to a performance clip of her in Bayadere is now blocked by the video's owner as private, unless the owner has granted you access: http://www.abt.org/smirnova.asp. Seriously ABT? You don't make sure the clip is for public use or that you have the rights to it before posting it? Tacky. Perhaps this is ballet karma. ABT won't allow their performances to be taped and in return they can't distribute a clip of one of their biggest guest artists.

I realize taping performance and creating DVD's isn't cheap, but it's an investment that is not only important for the company's posterity, it's important for its dancers, for teaching/coaching, for the current audience, and for future audiences. Don't they realize how important social media is? That it's crucial nowadays in order to draw in more people and sell more tickets? Look at all of the performance links and videos on NYCB's website. With the number of retirements and resignations happening at the end of the Met Season, it's sad to think that we'll have no record of those dancers. Herrera is retiring next year and Kent and Reyes can't be too far behind. Gomes is one of ballet's most important male dancers. Do they not see the importance of capturing him on video while he's still in his prime?

So many things about this company are baffling me.

[Helene]

[Admin beanie on]

Unless blogs are by ballet professionals (ex: Tobi Tobias, Deborah Jowitt, dancers, companies), please no linking to them on BA!

[Admin beanie off]

[FauxPas]

A note about the June 9th "Cinderella" premiere. Corey Stearns seems to be out of the run but hopefully not because of lingering injury. James Whiteside has been moved from partnering Xiomara Reyes to partnering Hee Seo on the opening night premiere. Joseph Gorak has been tapped to be Ms. Reyes' Prince Charming - someone has been reading these pages about the unhealthy number of guest performers and the lack of opportunities for talented up and comers in the corps and soloist ranks. Stearns as of now is still scheduled to dance in "Manon" the week before and "Giselle" and "Swan Lake" later in June.

[nanushka]

A note about the June 9th "Cinderella" premiere. Corey Stearns seems to be out of the run but hopefully not because of lingering injury. James Whiteside has been moved from partnering Xiomara Reyes to partnering Hee Seo on the opening night premiere. Joseph Gorak has been tapped to be Ms. Reyes' Prince Charming - someone has been reading these pages about the unhealthy number of guest performers and the lack of opportunities for talented up and comers in the corps and soloist ranks. Stearns as of now is still scheduled to dance in "Manon" the week before and "Giselle" and "Swan Lake" later in June.

Do we know if Cory has danced the Ashton elsewhere? My guess would be that his injury has healed sufficiently to allow him to dance Manon but that he has lost necessary rehearsal time to learn the Cinderella role sufficiently.

[Dale]

Casting for the remaining weeks:

FIFTH WEEK

Mon. Eve., June 9, 7:30 P.M. CINDERELLA (Company Premiere) – Seo, Whiteside, Part

Tues. Eve., June 10, 7:30 P.M. CINDERELLA – Kent+, Gomes+, Abrera+

Wed. Mat., June 11, 2 P.M. CINDERELLA – Seo, Whiteside, Part

Wed. Eve., June 11, 7:30 P.M. CINDERELLA – Reyes+, Gorak+,Teuscher+

Thurs. Eve., June 12, 7:30 P.M. CINDERELLA – Murphy+, Hallberg+, Part

Fri. Eve., June 13, 7:30 P.M. CINDERELLA – Kent, Gomes, Abrera

Sat. Mat., June 14, 2 P.M. CINDERELLA – Reyes, Gorak, Teuscher

Sat. Eve., June 14, 8 P.M. CINDERELLA – Murphy, Hallberg, Abrera

SIXTH WEEK

Mon. Eve., June 16, 7:30 P.M. GISELLE – Vishneva, Gomes, Murphy

Tues. Eve., June 17, 7:30 P.M. GISELLE – Semionova++, Hallberg, Part

Wed. Mat., June 18, 2 P.M. GISELLE – Boylston+++, Whiteside+++, Teuscher

Wed. Eve., June 18, 7:30 P.M. GISELLE – Kent, Bolle, Abrera

Thurs. Eve., June 19, 7:30 P.M. GISELLE – Reyes, Matthews,+++ Watson**+++

Fri. Eve., June 20, 7:30 P.M. GISELLE – Herrera, Stearns, Part

Sat. Mat., June 21, 2 P.M. GISELLE – Seo, Hammoudi+, Teuscher

Sat. Eve., June 21, 8 P.M. GISELLE – Cojocaru, Cornejo, Abrera

** Exchange Artist

+Editors please note first time in a role:

Tues. June 10 – Kent (Cinderella), Gomes (The Prince), Abrera (Fairy Godmother) in Cinderella

Wed Eve., June 11 – Reyes (Cinderella), Gorak (The Prince), Teuscher (Fairy Godmother) in Cinderella

Thurs., June 12 – Murphy (Cinderella), Hallberg (The Prince) in Cinderella

Sat. Mat., June 21 – Hammoudi (Albrecht) in Giselle

++Editors please note first time in a role with ABT

Tues., June 17 – Semionova (Giselle) in Giselle

+++Editors please note first time in a role in New York:

Wed. Mat., June 18 – Boylston (Giselle), Whiteside (Albrecht) in Giselle

Thurs., June 19 – Matthews (Albrecht), Watson (Myrta) in Giselle

[Colleen Boresta]

After seeing his superb Solor I was looking forward to seeing Whiteside in Cinderella. That being said, I think it will be a good role for Gorak. I really want to see Gorak get bigger parts at ABT and move up to soloist and then who knows? I'll let you know after I see the June 14th matinee. On the subject of the good looking von Rothbart I don't the dancer needs to be tall but he does to be imposing and menancing. I saw Cory Stearns in this role a couple of times and he was not at all imposing. Cory often reminds reminds me of a puppy dog if that makes sense. He was a wonderful Prince Desire in Sleeping Beauty and though I've never seen him in the role I can see him as Prince Siegfried in Swan Lake. But in no way is Cory a good villain (in my opinion anyway).

[Drew]

After seeing his superb Solor I was looking forward to seeing Whiteside in Cinderella. That being said, I think it will be a good role for Gorak. I really want to see Gorak get bigger parts at ABT and move up to soloist and then who knows? I'll let you know after I see the June 14th matinee. On the subject of the good looking von Rothbart I don't the dancer needs to be tall but he does to be imposing and menancing. I saw Cory Stearns in this role a couple of times and he was not at all imposing. Cory often reminds reminds me of a puppy dog if that makes sense. He was a wonderful Prince Desire in Sleeping Beauty and though I've never seen him in the role I can see him as Prince Siegfried in Swan Lake. But in no way is Cory a good villain (in my opinion anyway).

I think he was reasonably successful as the villain/Iago in the Moor's Pavane, but perhaps that choreography helped him to find the inner bad guy...

[ABT Fan]

I thought Stearns was an excellent Iago in Moor's Pavane last fall. I haven't seen him as von Rothbart but I'm surprised to hear that he was not so great apparently. He did have the magnificent Roman Zhurbin to play opposite in Pavane; maybe he needs the tug-of-war dynamic to turn him into a bad guy.

[ABT Fan]

Dale: I was just looking on ABT's site and on the eve performance of June 14 it has Abrera listed as Cinderella, followed by Murphy (presumably for the Fairy Godmother) and then Hallberg. http://www.abt.org/calendar.aspx?startdate=6/1/2014

(The order is out of whack - for the other Cinderella performances it always lists Cinderella first followed by The Prince and then the Fairy Godmother.)

I got excited thinking Abrera was given a Cinderella but then I read your casting list and you have Abrera listed as F.G. Is the order on ABT's site more out of whack than I thought, meaning Abrera isn't cast as Cinderella?

[nanushka]

Dale: I was just looking on ABT's site and on the eve performance of June 14 it has Abrera listed as Cinderella, followed by Murphy (presumably for the Fairy Godmother) and then Hallberg. http://www.abt.org/calendar.aspx?startdate=6/1/2014

(The order is out of whack - for the other Cinderella performances it always lists Cinderella first followed by The Prince and then the Fairy Godmother.)

I got excited thinking Abrera was given a Cinderella but then I read your casting list and you have Abrera listed as F.G. Is the order on ABT's site more out of whack than I thought, meaning Abrera isn't cast as Cinderella?

I'm guessing that when someone went in to add "Abrera" they just accidentally entered it first on that list, instead of last like on the others. Murphy and Hallberg were previously listed in the same order before Abrera was added.

[ABT Fan]

That's what I was afraid of. Darn it.

[miliosr]

Stearns received some of his best reviews ever as the diabolical Moor's Friend (Iago) in The Moor's Pavane. Maybe the type of villain is key for him -- the suave and sexy purple Rothbart is very different from the cold, calculating Moor's Friend.

[cobweb]

Any reports on the Copeland- Cornejo Coppelia?

[RUKen]

Since nobody more articulate than I has responded to Cobweb, I will report that I attended the Copeland/Cornejo performance on Friday and thought that it was a triumph for Misty. There was one glitch in the Act 3 pas de deux (I'm not sure what was intended, but it was clear to me that a particular element was aborted); other than that, Misty danced and performed the role very well, and she had a large group of supporters in the audience. Herman Cornejo was his usual brilliant self. The corps was okay, but my spouse noted that they did not convey the Eastern European character of the mazurka particularly well, and one dancer seemed to be doing a different dance at the start before she got back in synch with the others. Overall, it was a very enjoyable performance.

Edited to add: I just found out that Yuriko Kajiya, who danced the Prayer solo as a late replacement on Friday (and also Saturday afternoon), had only begun learning the role two days earlier. Under those circumstances, she was fabulous.

RUKen

[abatt]

Yuriko also performed prayer at the Saturday matinee. She was engrossing. In contrast, Luciana Paris on Sat evening didn't seem to have a clue. I was happy that Sarah Lane performed so well at the Sat matinee,. The only apparent issue was at the end of her fouette sequence in the final act she came off pointe. Lack of concentration, perhaps. Simkin did an excellent job partnering her and of course pulled out all the stops in his solos. As good as the afternoon performance was, the evening performance was even better. Murphy has sparkling technique and her acting was much more natural than Sarah's. (Lane's acting looked studied in comparison.) Jared Matthews was very impressive, and his solos were beautfiully danced. It's a shame he and Yuriko are leaving.

[vipa]

Yuriko also performed prayer at the Saturday matinee. She was engrossing. In contrast, Luciana Paris on Sat evening didn't seem to have a clue. I was happy that Sarah Lane performed so well at the Sat matinee,. The only apparent issue was at the end of her fouette sequence in the final act she came off pointe. Lack of concentration, perhaps. Simkin did an excellent job partnering her and of course pulled out all the stops in his solos. As good as the afternoon performance was, the evening performance was even better. Murphy has sparkling technique and her acting was much more natural than Sarah's. (Lane's acting looked studied in comparison.) Jared Matthews was very impressive, and his solos were beautfiully danced. It's a shame he and Yuriko are leaving. A

Abatt thank you. I wish I could have been there. I have to say that Yuriko learning prayer just a couple of days earlier and doing it well doesn't impress me. It's not a multi layered dramatic role, it's a variation that many students learn in variation class. That said I'm please the Yuriko did it well. Houston Ballet is lucky. I'm also glad that Lane did well. Here's my beef about Lane. When she entered the corps of ABT and did Theme & Variations, I saw so much potential. How she is supposed to develop being given a Sleeping Beauty once every 5 years and a Coppelia one time only is beyond me. Again it points to the problem with ABT. Yuriko is smart to get out. She'll be able to develop more artistically and perform better roles. Boylston is having a lot of stuff thrown at her but is having technical difficulties (my observation). Again no development of talent. OK I'd better climb down off my soap box