balletlover08

Since people are posting gala updates, Chloe is dancing a PDD with Kimin Kim at YAGP gala on Thursday. So excited to figure out which PDD and hopefully people take videos (I'm sure they will because of Kim). The photo was on instagram stories, I can download it if needed but it's on her story now.

2024 Spring Gala: Ballet Brilliance Swan Lake (Act II pas de deux) Boylston, Ahn Onegin (Olga and Lensky pas de deux) Brandt, Roxander Woolf Works (“Becomings” excerpt) Misseldine, Royal Romeo and Juliet (Act III pas de deux) Murphy, Forster Onegin (an Act I pas de deux) Shevchenko, Stearns Like Water for Chocolate (Act III pas de deux) Trenary, Cornejo Woolf Works (excerpt from “Tuesday”) Teuscher, Whiteside Swan Lake (Act III pas de deux) Hurlin, Bell

I'm unfamiliar with the ballet and the role of Tatiana. Are you shocked that Chloe was cast as Tatiana? Is that a role you think she can do well in? Otherwise, it's just Teuscher, Schevchenko and Seo for Tatiana right?

I agree on Misty. I think Gillian is still retiring semi soon but she's still dancing well. She does seem to spend a lot of time understandably with Ethan at ARB so I'm wondering if she might retire soon to join him there full time. Paris is retiring after this season (I believe) and I think Fang is on her way out also. Unsure about Hoven but I do think he's dancing less. I think Sunmi is getting new roles (perhaps Kitri soon) and she's been casted as the lead in Nutcracker and LWFC but those are probably lesser debuts than Chloe's O/O. I think if there are principal promotions after this met season it's likely only Chloe, if there are none then I could see the next principal promotions being both of them provided they both keep being cast in principal/leading roles.

Huge congratulations! All very well deserved. I think Roxander and Curley will both go far. When I saw Curley dance Von Rothbart at Kennedy Center he was amazing! Great acting and comedic timing. Everyone, also just loved him in the audience. I hope Takumi Miyaki also dances more Demi-soloist roles soon as I saw him as Neapolitan (next to Gonzalez I believe) and he was amazing! Great jumps and turns. I think there may be some future soloist promotions for the women also so perhaps Coker will be promoted there.

Oh it's going to be such a treat for you! She was amazing in her O/O debut at Kennedy Center. Also, she posts quite a lot on stories/reels so you can get a real feel for her dancing. I'm curious to see more swan lake snippets and Tatiana ones as she rehearses for them. I think it would be fun to speculate what principal roles she will dance next. I'm guessing Juliet (there should be one spot opening up soon from Gillian).

I just saw that iconic scene for the first time last Friday (Misseldine/Bell) and I think I too shed a tear. It's absolutely perfection and I wouldn't want it to change at all. Speaking of Buddy, we tend to have similar tastes in ballerinas so you should try to see Chloe Misseldine if you get the chance. I think you will like her dancing.

Oh no! How awful. I actually saw him friday afternoon outside of Kennedy Center. He walked so fast I lost him about halfway down the hallway. It's so hard when your body doesn't cooperate with you. I too hope he's better by the Met season. And yes, either way Curley should start rehearsing Siegfried. From what I've seen of him he would be great! I also saw him outside of Kennedy and he has a presence about him that makes everyone turn to look at him.

I went to the Misseldine/Bell matinee yesterday here are my thoughts! Warning it may be a little long because this was my first time at the ballet(not including local companies Nutcracker) and I was just so impressed by everything? I guess you can take my words with a grain of salt but I did travel to see it and I would absolutely travel again if the performance is this magnificent. Over the last few years, I have watched a ton of swan lake on YouTube from different companies but seeing in person is an EXPERIENCE. General thoughts, Kennedy center was absolutely gorgeous and I loved the hall of states, I felt tiny walking there. The sightline from my seat in Terrace Two was wonderful! I could see everything on stage clearly albeit from a Birds Eye view. It did give me a good sense of who dances big and who dances small. Coming from the classical music world I’m used to not clapping until the very end while ballet audiences seem to clap for everything: seeing the main character *clap*, the end of a variation *clap*, fouettes *clap*, pas de deux *clap*. It's fine when the dancers stop and bow but I feel like sometimes it's distracting when the dancers are still dancing and there’s no real break. I think the dancers do appreciate it though as I think the claps give them confidence. A lot of people there had no idea who was dancing, what the ballet was called or what company it was. They just showed up for a good time and luckily they enjoyed it and I heard a lot of them say they would be back. Most didn’t even realize that Chloe was debuting; they thought she was seasoned which is a high compliment in itself. Overall, the corps were in fine form here. They danced very well together especially in act II. Pas de Trois was Pauline Waski, Sierra Armstrong and Kento Sumitami. I felt that Kento stole the show and he definitely got the loudest applause up to that point. Sierra did well in her variation, nice turns! Pauline though seemed like she wasn’t getting a lot of oomph in her jumps and it just felt flat through her variation and her part of the pas de trois. I think Act II was my favorite. The corps de ballet, the white swan pas de deux ugh I could cry from the drama of it all. I am a fan of angst and these two delivered that. I thought the two of them had great chemistry and sold the story well. They are very evenly matched both technically and emotionally. The lifts in the pas de deux were magnificent, she seemed to float in the air for an extended time, heard lots of gasps in the audience and they also did supported pirouettes that seemed ages long. Also, Chloe has great arabesques, she really knows how to make them a moment and essentially freezes at the pinnacle. Cast her immediately in anything that requires lots of arabesques. Being tall, she has beautiful lines and a great port de bras. I didn't notice too many broken wrist moments but I might have been too far to see clearly. Her Odile was good too! Quite sultry and confident. She has a queenly demeanor to her and that was evident in her Odile. She was confident and assertive and one can easily see why Siegfried gets duped. I think she did a triple into a double attitude in her solo and it was done well. The fouettes were fine, traveled forward but stayed on beat and finished well. I didn't count but she filled out the beats to applause so good enough for me. I do think she was exhausted by the time she got to the fouettes so I was happy just to see them done! Jarod Curley did a fabulous job as Purple Rothbart. He had the audience eating out of his palms in the first few seconds of being on stage. He has natural comedic timing and his acting was perfect. Even from way up high, it was easy to understand. He also looked so very tall and princely, when will he be cast as Prince Siegfried? Act IV surprised me because I really enjoyed it. That final pas de deux between Odette and Siegfried almost made me cry because I knew the end was coming and it was like their final dance together. And then the jump into the lake (I think it's the lake they are jumping into right?) and then the reflection of them in the sun with the corps in front almost made me tear up. Maybe because this was my first swan lake but it just really hit me. Both Chloe and Aran received tons of well deserved applause and Chloe looked almost overwhelmed by it all at the curtain call. What a magnificent debut and I have no regrets about traveling to see it. It fulfilled a lifelong dream of mine to see Swan Lake in person so I am extremely satisfied. I am hoping to get to the Met in future seasons, if every cast danced like this I would see Swan Lake yearly.

She uses her neck and side profile so beautifully! I like her interpretation of Odette so far, and I can't wait to see it fully on Friday. I will report back afterwards!

Oh of course, I would be so happy to! What did you think of the rehearsal clips? I found it interesting that Susan Jaffe seems to be coaching Chloe herself, Cat hurlin seems to have hired outside help in Irina/Max to rehearse and Teuscher's clips had Irina K. in the background. Edit: Also saw Shevchenko was coached by Irina/Max and I assume Skylar is also. I wonder if Irina/Max have been hired on or are the dancers paying for the coaching? Yes, feels like Jaffe has given Chloe the best possible partner for her debut. But I believe Jaffe debuted herself with Alexander Godunov on the Met stage right? So she probably felt it was important to debut with a strong partner especially since Chloe's still pretty young for a recent ABT O/O debut.

So glad I saw this as I just purchased tickets! Planning to see ABT in person for the first time Friday Matinee (an O/O debut just seems so fun).

I’m going to guess that they will look to promote Chloe after this next met season if all goes well. She definitely has the casting of a pre principal met season right now. So maybe they will just promote post met season? Not sure!

Another bright spot is we may get some R&J debuts! I think skylar, Chloe and Sunmi could all be great as Juliet though I’m not sure there are that many Juliet’s available.

I think she does it when it’s a character that isn’t icy or commanding. I saw up close footage of her Odette and Odile during a gala. She has the tendency to do it in Odette (open mouth fish face) but not Odile. Hopefully Irina will fix it when they start rehearsing. Funnily enough her facial expressions for Odile were done quite well so I hope she figures out her Odette face before February. The smile also didn’t look pasted on when she did peasant pas or bridesmaids so idk why it’s happening in some roles and not others. Perhaps it’s nerves or wearing masks during rehearsal for too long haha. Wearing masks made me develop some odd facial expressions. Btw not hating on masks it was definitely necessary for a time.