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ABT 2017 Don Quixote


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11 minutes ago, California said:

 

I've been very interested in the praise for Shevchenko and wish I were in NYC to see this. Others have noted Ratmansky's talent for identifying potential and he seems to have picked out another winner four years ago. She was a replacement for Gillian Murphy in second cast in 2013 in Piano Concerto #1 in his Trilogy (presumably a decision made by Ratmansky).

 

Scroll down and you can see Acocella's praise for her: http://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/ratmansky-and-shostakovich-together-again

 

I saw Shevchenko in Piano Concerto #1 and she was outstanding. She danced like a seasoned soloist (still in the corps at the time), very confident and commanding with stellar technique. I'm so happy to hear the reports of her Kitri debut (along w/ Teuscher and the others). I didn't doubt she'd be great, but it's wonderful to hear just how amazing she was. ABT has a handful of female soloists who are rising stars.

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30 minutes ago, California said:

 

I've been very interested in the praise for Shevchenko and wish I were in NYC to see this. Others have noted Ratmansky's talent for identifying potential and he seems to have picked out another winner four years ago. She was a replacement for Gillian Murphy in second cast in 2013 in Piano Concerto #1 in his Trilogy (presumably a decision made by Ratmansky).

 

Scroll down and you can see Acocella's praise for her: http://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/ratmansky-and-shostakovich-together-again

 

That’s a terrific article, thank you for sharing.  After yesterday’s performance I could not help but wonder why Shevchenko has been languishing in the same roles for years (such as flower girl etc.).   I never expected such an incredible debut, and look forward to seeing her Myrta next week.   You could see how happy she was during the performance, especially one sparkling moment when she was smiling ear to ear during the second lift in the first act.  It wasn’t just a plastered on smile, but one of intense joy.

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29 minutes ago, AB'sMom said:

Ratmansky cast Lauren Bonfiglio, Catherine Hurlin and Tyler Maloney as the child leads in his first Nutcracker and they are all company members now, so I would agree that he has a talent for identifying potential.

While we're on the subject, Ratmansky also nurtured Osipova and Vasiliev, who were being overlooked by Bolshoi management:

 

". . .  in order to cast the company’s new ballets with people who actually wanted to do them, and would try to learn the necessary style, he had to tap young dancers, people who, in Tsiskaridze’s view, should have been waiting their turn. Under Ratmansky, a pair of sensational débutants, Natalia Osipova and Ivan Vasiliev, came up, both starting with him at age seventeen. "

 

This from Acocella in 2011: http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2011/06/27/dance-with-me

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I also saw Isabella and Daniil last night-- maybe I'm getting to be too cranky with my New York-audience high standards-- but I was almost disappointed. His tricks were fabulous as always, and his Basilio had a charming swagger, but they had little chemistry together. I know Isabella has a reputation for being a little sloppy in the upper body-- honestly its one of the things I like about her-- she seems alive, modern, and distinctly American in that way-- but last night it was too much. Her Kitri was having a great deal of fun, but with very little control and very careless in the upper body. I think Isabella is gorgeous and dynamic, but expected more maturity from her as someone who has been a principal for a few years now. She lets her face drop often, breaking character, during turns and interstitial steps. Her arms were a mess during the coda fouettes (30, single, traveling a ton, no fancy fan tricks-- she's young! So talented! Is it unreasonable to expect more fireworks?). Act I variation was fantastic, though. 

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4 hours ago, California said:

 

I've been very interested in the praise for Shevchenko and wish I were in NYC to see this. Others have noted Ratmansky's talent for identifying potential and he seems to have picked out another winner four years ago. She was a replacement for Gillian Murphy in second cast in 2013 in Piano Concerto #1 in his Trilogy (presumably a decision made by Ratmansky).

 

Scroll down and you can see Acocella's praise for her: http://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/ratmansky-and-shostakovich-together-again

 

And I believe he cast her in Seven Sonatas several years prior (2010 or 2011?) when she had only been in the corps a few years.

 

I feel like I may have the chance to see Shevchenko's Kitri tonight.  Gillian announced she is out with a sore hip: 

 

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I didn't think Boylston traveled "a ton".  She traveled a pretty straight line forward for some of the fouettes, but stopped traveling forward at around fouette 25, after which she remained in place.  I don't have a problem with someone traveling a straight line forward.  What is disconcerting is when people start zig zagging toward the wings and look like they might fall into the orchestra pit.  Boylston was in control.  I also was relieved and happy that she did all fast singles.  In the past she was greedy in trying to do triples, and then ended up coming off pointe.  She has learned it is better to do all neat,, fast singles than to lose control.   I thought her jumps were breathtakingly high and covered a huge amount of real estate.  Her Plisetskaya kicks in Act I were very impressive.  She has always had the issues with upper body/arm placement. It's a little better than before, but she still has a ways to go with that.   And yes, she sometimes does break character.  All in all, though, I was pleased with her performance and the progress she has made.

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19 hours ago, bingham said:

 Thanks for the report of today's matinee. Wish i could have seen it. Regarding Z Zhang, i'm sure, you meant his dancing of Basilio instead of Don Q in the future.

Haha yes!  I meant the lead in Don Q, of course.  :D

 

Who ended up dancing instead of Gillian tonight (Thursday)?

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19 hours ago, bingham said:

 Thanks for the report of today's matinee. Wish i could have seen it. Regarding Z Zhang, i'm sure, you meant his dancing of Basilio instead of Don Q in the future.

Haha yes!  I meant the lead in Don Q, of course.  :D

 

I hope Shevchenko/Lendorf weren't too tired to dance two days in a row!

Edited by Batsuchan
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I must give credit where it is due. Hee Seo successfully completed all of her Italian fouettes tonight.  Lendorf was better tonight than on Wed afternoon.  Shevchenko showed no signs of fatigue.  In fact, she was even more relaxed and into the performance than at her debut.

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On 5/16/2017 at 2:13 PM, chicagoballetomane said:

They're fairly challenging, but 32 fouetté turns is much more difficult, in my experience. There's no excuse for a professional dancer, let alone an ABT principal, not to be able to perform either type of fouetté. If you can't do it, do something else or have someone else dance the role.

 

AMEN to that!!!!??????

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1 hour ago, abatt said:

I must give credit where it is due. Hee Seo successfully completed all of her Italian fouettes tonight.  Lendorf was better tonight than on Wed afternoon.  Shevchenko showed no signs of fatigue.  In fact, she was even more relaxed and into the performance than at her debut.

 

   It would have been  better if KevinMc came out during the curtain calls and announced Christine's promotion to principal dancer. Just a wish...

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4 hours ago, cubanmiamiboy said:

Can somebody report on Copeland's Kitri,  please...? I have a friend's report about falls...less fouettes and some sort of less than a perfect performance. Anybody to confirm or deny such...?

I was at Copeland's performance.  I thought she did a fairly good job of it, actually better than I expected.  She did not fall anywhere.  She had difficulty holding herself up in the one-handed lift, making it difficult for Cirio to suspend her in the air for a length of time.  She seemed a bit nervous going into the grand pas de deux.  Her solo was fine, not amazing, but the audience (surprisingly) was tepid in their reaction to it (not the usual cheering reaction).  She started her fouettes upstate left and traveled down center, doing singles.  She didn't quite finish all of them (maybe 28), piqued out, and did a jete to the side of the stage for Cirio to start his turns.  Once again, I do not think she is a natural Kitri, so I think it was fairly good considering that.  

 

 

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16 hours ago, abatt said:

I must give credit where it is due. Hee Seo successfully completed all of her Italian fouettes tonight. 

I thought Hee Seo was excellent last night as Mercedes and QofD with gorgeous stag leaps and beautiful Italian fouettees.  In fact, overall, I thought this DonQ performance was one of her best to date.  Has she ever danced Kitri?  That role might bring her to yet another level of best dancing....in time. 

Last night, she was having a blast with the tall, strong, much improved, hot tamale James Whiteside. 

Edited by sz
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Christine was very good last night.  To me, she’s more of a natural Russian princess type, but she certainly proved she can handle a Principal role that she isn’t naturally suited for. 

I was most surprised by her fouettes at the end of the wedding pas, Act III, which were stunning, strong, so confidently and elegantly done after such a long, hard night of endless jumps and turns.  Every third fouette was a double with the fan above her head for the first 16 or 20….Then ended with a triple!!! Easy, breezy, beautiful.

Christine was a real pro dancing Kitri in two back to back performances.  Much respect goes to her for that....
Friends of mine who saw both of her performances said Christine was more "engaged" (acting it up tons, even hammy) in her second performance.  I had not expected that from such an elegant dancer, but loved seeing her surprise me.


At times, Christine seemed tired, and held back a little, but nevertheless she fought through to the end.  The Kitri character and technique for me ought to be spicy, earthy, sensual at times, fireworks at other times.  Christine was overall not that but she danced a very lovely, spirited debut in a very demanding role.

 

 

p.s.  Sarah Lane was perfection, absolutely gorgeous as Amour.  There are so many layers to her acting, and she makes the most of every moment creating sweet beauty instead of being cute.  Sarah's jumps and turns were also done with stunning accuracy.

 

Edited by sz
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Not sure if this is the correct place for this post, but Christine Shevchenko was interviewed by Gia Kourlas of the New York Times immediately following her Don Q debut on Wednesday.  This is the kind of piece I always looked forward to from Kourlas when she wrote for Time Out New York.

 

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/19/arts/dance/from-a-super-bunhead-to-a-lead-dancer-christine-schevchenko-american-ballet-theater-abt.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Farts&action=click&contentCollection=arts&region=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=2&pgtype=sectionfront

 

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13 minutes ago, laurel said:

Not sure if this is the correct place for this post, but Christine Shevchenko was interviewed by Gia Kourlas of the New York Times immediately following her Don Q debut on Wednesday.  This is the kind of piece I always looked forward to from Kourlas when she wrote for Time Out New York.

 

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/19/arts/dance/from-a-super-bunhead-to-a-lead-dancer-christine-schevchenko-american-ballet-theater-abt.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Farts&action=click&contentCollection=arts&region=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=2&pgtype=sectionfront

 

Nice interview. I wish ABT would get more publicity for their soloists they could be rising stars. ABT's publicity machine has always seemed inept to me. The Copeland frenzy fell into their laps.

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Unfortunate news to report.  Herman was apparently injured during the final act of tonight's ballet.  Blain Hoven came out in his Espada costume and performed Herman's final variation in the coda w. Maria.  I hope Herman is okay.   Herman was doing such a great job all night.  High jumps, fast spins and completely into the character.   Maria K.  can  still do amazing fouettes and hops on pointe.  For lack of a better way to describe it, in the wedding act she did the four cornered fouettes, which are very hard and are not often performed.  However, I think her technique has declined in other areas.  Her act I was underpowered.  She appears to have limited range of motion for both forward kicks and Plisetskaya kicks. Blaine showed tonight that his a real pro.  On a moment's notice he filled in for Herman. 

Edited by abatt
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Breaking news:  Herman did not finish DonQ tonight.  He abruptly did not finish his 3rd act.  This is my second DonQ of the week, I went one on Wednesday with Bella and Daniil.  Up to this point I have to say that the performance is so much better than Wednesday in terms of chemistry and energy.  Felicia.  Even the orchestra sounds to have more bravado.

 

So here's the play by play.  Herman was supposed to come out to do his Basilio solo, however there was a long pause.  Long enough for the audience to notice to know that something is not as usual.  Then 60 second later, Maria came out buying some time playing with her fan.  The conductor then instructed the orchestra to flip the page and they all did.  Then she starts doing her variation.  Then Blaine came out to finish the coda variation for Basilio.

 

I want to say BRAVO to Blaine for stepping up to the plate.  IMO, I knew that he was ready for a promotion after his performance as the Standard Bearer in The Green Table on October 25, 2015. and moreover his Aminta debut on May 11, 2016.  So happy and pround of Blaine!  He made it work and improvise till the end.  True professional.

 

Back to Herman, he unfortunately did not even come out for the bows at the end.  I really do wish him the best.  He is one of my favorite dancers in the roster.  He has high jumps, controlled pirouettes, and the sexiest latin flair that brings so much characterization to the role, IMO.

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Oh dear. I consider Cornejo one of the finest male dancers dancing today -- probably THE finest. I am thrilled every chance I get to see him dance, and I have tickets to see him next week. Reading Abatt's and Hyacinthhippo's reports on his withdrawal at the end of Don Quixote is deeply distressing. But whether or not he is able to dance next week, I hope this is not a serious injury or problem...and that he is back on stage soon! 

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Sorry to hear what happened last night to Cornejo. He is one of the three leads in Whipped Cream. I wonder if the other two leads as The Boy (Simkin and Cirio) will be also dancing Cornejo's performances or if ABT will be tapping one of the shortish virtuoso male corps members, such as Bell or Shayer,  to this role? Whatever - certainly wishing a speedy recovery for Herman Cornejo.

 

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