nanushka Posted June 24, 2015 Share Posted June 24, 2015 Kudos too to Zhurbin's purple Rothbart! Zhurbin danced purple Rothbart?! If so, that's great news, and wish I could have seen it! What happened to Hammoudi, though? Link to comment
abatt Posted June 24, 2015 Share Posted June 24, 2015 Wait. Hammoudi was listed for the Purple Rothbart role for the Wed matinee. Was he replaced by Zhurbin? Zhurbin has never done that role. Link to comment
CTballetfan Posted June 24, 2015 Share Posted June 24, 2015 Curtain calls...crowd squealing bravos foriisty! Spectacular black swan pdd, despite a few piques after halfway through fouettés. Gorgeous! Kudos too to Zhurbin's purple Rothbart! Does this performance indicate that she has earned her promotion on merit, not just on self-promotion and audience building (I understand her performances were sold out early)? Link to comment
ABT Fan Posted June 24, 2015 Share Posted June 24, 2015 Zhurbin has always danced the other Rothbart (whom I call Swamp Monster). Did he really do PR? Link to comment
nanushka Posted June 24, 2015 Share Posted June 24, 2015 Does this performance indicate that she has earned her promotion on merit, not just on self-promotion and audience building (I understand her performances were sold out early)? Getting only halfway through the fouettés does not sound promising, though like all things Copeland I'm sure opinions in response to your question will be quite mixed. Don't expect a consensus to be reached anytime soon! Link to comment
Classic_Ballet Posted June 24, 2015 Share Posted June 24, 2015 Getting only halfway through the fouettés does not sound promising, though like all things Copeland I'm sure opinions in response to your question will be quite mixed. Don't expect a consensus to be reached anytime soon! even if she does 3 fouettes in the coda, falls off point, you name it..... she will be promoted anyways........ Link to comment
Natalia Posted June 24, 2015 Share Posted June 24, 2015 Program reads "Toman Zhurbin's and Alexander Hammoudi" for the two Rothbarts. Since Purple is the major role, assume Zhurbin???? Or Hammoudi. Link to comment
ABT Fan Posted June 24, 2015 Share Posted June 24, 2015 Program reads "Toman Zhurbin's and Alexander Hammoudi" for the two Rothbarts. Since Purple is the major role, assume Zhurbin???? Or Hammoudi. The program would break down the casting for all of the acts. I'm sure it says Hammoudi for Purple Rothbart in Act III. Link to comment
Kaysta Posted June 24, 2015 Share Posted June 24, 2015 Curtain calls...crowd squealing bravos foriisty! Spectacular black swan pdd, despite a few piques after halfway through fouettés. Overall, Gorgeous. She fell out of her fouettés again?I like Copeland, but using her name in the same sentence as Lopatkina's is going a bit overboard, no? Link to comment
Golden Idol Posted June 24, 2015 Share Posted June 24, 2015 I recently went down to DC because I wanted to see Acosta and Nunez dance Don Q and it was worth it--even if Acosta is at the end of his career and is of diminished power; and Nunez was absolutely first-rate. For someone from DC to come up to NYC to see... Copeland? Well, it's their time and money, and as Miss Brodie would say, for whose who like that sort of thing, that's the sort of thing they like. As for audiences cheering and squealing over her, I've seen this for myself at the Met when she has been in a featured role and--although I don't know whether it can be considered a claque--I'm glad they enjoyed themselves but I think they'd react to her the same way if all she did was she dance the Twist. They see a role model on stage more than they see a ballerina. I have never heard such hooting and screaming for any other dancer or from any other audience. Link to comment
NinaFan Posted June 24, 2015 Share Posted June 24, 2015 Program reads "Toman Zhurbin's and Alexander Hammoudi" for the two Rothbarts. Since Purple is the major role, assume Zhurbin???? Or Hammoudi. Cast names are usually listed in order of Swamp Thingy and Purple Rothbart. So as ABT Fan mentions, you should find Hammoudi's name by the Black Swan pdd (which is purple Rothbart). Link to comment
Natalia Posted June 24, 2015 Share Posted June 24, 2015 She fell out of her fouettés again? I like Copeland, but using her name in the same sentence as Lopatkina's is crazy talk. No. Copeland chose to perform the piques at the halfway point, as Plisetskaya and Kistler did. It was an extraordinary TOTAL PRIMA PERFORMANCE. I've never heard such energy for a Prima before, except for Alonso in the day. Changing fouettés to piques is far better than bombing the Rose Adagio, as recently happened to a slighter soloist. Link to comment
Josette Posted June 24, 2015 Share Posted June 24, 2015 Plisetskaya did all piqué turns at whirlwind speed in the Black Swan coda; she did not do fouettés. I do not know whether it was a choice or whether she had issues with fouettés. Maybe someone else knows. Link to comment
Natalia Posted June 24, 2015 Share Posted June 24, 2015 Thank you, Misty Copeland and ABT for one of the grandest performances of my 50+ years of ballet going (over 1,000 live performances in at least 40 countries with pro companies, spread out over six continents). This was a gem. I'm now happily on my way back to DC with a big smile on my face. Toot-toot! Link to comment
nysusan Posted June 24, 2015 Share Posted June 24, 2015 That was Hammoudi as purple VR. And in my book a soloist doesnt get to choose to substitute piques for fouettes. I have never seen that done at ABT. Never. Link to comment
SimonA Posted June 24, 2015 Share Posted June 24, 2015 No. Copeland chose to perform the piques at the halfway point, as Plisetskaya and Kistler did. It was an extraordinary TOTAL PRIMA PERFORMANCE. I've never heard such energy for a Prima before, except for Alonso in the day. Changing fouettés to piques is far better than bombing the Rose Adagio, as recently happened to a slighter soloist. I've been informed by another (usually reliable) observer that they weren't piqués but rather fast single pirouettes from 5th. Link to comment
DeCoster Posted June 24, 2015 Share Posted June 24, 2015 Misty did not do pique turns in the coda. She did about 16 fouettes, with quite a few doubles thrown in, then about 16 single pirouettes from 5th position in place. The pirouettes were not her grandest moment; however, I thought Misty was a divine Odette, and performed really really well today. Her characterization is in no way bland. She is very, very birdlike in her movements, her portrayal perhaps influenced by her Firebird. I have never seen her dance so well. Where her long feet could sometimes look clunky in the past, she has learned to articulate them so beautifully, and this was so evident today. Lovely fluttering bourees . . I don't have time to write more now, but overall, it was a phenomenal debut. And Whiteside was so strong in the 2nd act. What an asset to the company he is. That tricky turn that ends in the promenade . . . he was flawless! Link to comment
lavendera Posted June 24, 2015 Share Posted June 24, 2015 In response to Josette, it's believed by many people that Plisetskaya was incapable of performing 32 fouettes and opted to do piques instead. This is actually not correct. She could do fouettes and she could do 32. It was a personal choice of hers for this particular coda and interpretation (Swan Lake, Act III). I have to say that I've never seen a principal do a combination of fouette and pique for this, and my guess is that Copeland was "winding down", running out of steam, and was aware that she would not be able to complete them cleanly. This is really unfortunate. She is not Lopatkina nor is she Plisetskaya. I understand that she is a favorite and perhaps a role model. But, my opinion only is that she will need to perfect her technique and stamina and pull at least a nice clean set of single fouettes to continue to perform Swan Lake. Link to comment
lavendera Posted June 24, 2015 Share Posted June 24, 2015 I'm not in favor of changing choreography because of inadequacy of technique. Maybe somebody that is really familiar with Misty Copeland can tell me if she is indeed lacking in technical prowess. If this is the case, then I would not think she is principal material, even if she's really a draw at the box office. It's one thing to change the steps, a la Osipova or for the departed Plisetskaya due to interpretation and completely another if it's due to inadequate technique. I'll go out on a limb and say it's perhaps lack of technique. Link to comment
nysusan Posted June 24, 2015 Share Posted June 24, 2015 I've been informed by another (usually reliable) observer that they weren't piqués but rather fast single pirouettes from 5th.Thank you. They didn't look like piques to me but I wasn't sure how to describe them. They certainly weren't stationary, they traveled downstage & towards house left. I was very disappointed in her choice, and in ABT's choice to allow it. Link to comment
Amour Posted June 24, 2015 Share Posted June 24, 2015 She fell out of her fouettés again? I like Copeland, but using her name in the same sentence as Lopatkina's is crazy talk. ))) Link to comment
lavendera Posted June 24, 2015 Share Posted June 24, 2015 I agree with Amour. There is absolutely no way that Misty Copeland (at this point) can be compared to Uliana Lopatkina. They are simply not in the same league. Link to comment
Helene Posted June 24, 2015 Author Share Posted June 24, 2015 I'm not in favor of changing choreography because of inadequacy of technique. Then you might be surprised at how much you think is the choreography is not. A lot has been changed in the "After Petipa" productions. Odile's fouettes might not be one of them, but they were put in for a ballerina for whom these were a specialty, not because all of the greatest of her contemporaries could do them. Link to comment
lavendera Posted June 24, 2015 Share Posted June 24, 2015 That's true, but I don't believe that I have ever seen a variation in the 3rd Act of Swan Lake (Odile's) that included single pirouettes from a standing 5th position. I also would say that this change by Copeland wasn't an "interpretative" gesture but rather due to inadequacy of technique. She also has a problem with hopping en pointe. This should have been corrected long ago. Link to comment
lavendera Posted June 24, 2015 Share Posted June 24, 2015 And, if she was traveling down the stage doing them is even more egregious! Link to comment
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