CTballetfan Posted June 13, 2018 Share Posted June 13, 2018 Now that ABT will be coming into the home stretch, after a number of exhausting principal roles over the season, which of the principal casts do you think will have the energy and dynamism to make Don Quixote week look as fresh and exciting as the first week? Do you think after carrying so many leads this season Boylston will still be fresh? Or go with Murphy--this is one of her signature roles--or someone else? And what about the men? I haven't been able to get to ABT yet and would like to catch this--it's one of my favorites. Thanks for your advice. Link to comment
angelica Posted June 13, 2018 Share Posted June 13, 2018 Of all the dancers this season, the one who has stood out for me has been Sarah Lane. The Saturday, June 30th, matinee performance will be her debut as Kitri, and I think she's going to knock it out of the park. And with Herman Cornejo as her partner, they comprise Team A in my eyes. Catch Cornejo now, because who knows how many more years he'll be dancing. Sarah isn't dancing Juliet this week and won't be dancing Odette/Odile either. I'm sure she'll be dancing soloist roles in SL, but I think she'll be as fresh and exciting as she always is. I wouldn't miss that performance. Link to comment
laurel Posted June 14, 2018 Share Posted June 14, 2018 35 minutes ago, angelica said: Of all the dancers this season, the one who has stood out for me has been Sarah Lane. The Saturday, June 30th, matinee performance will be her debut as Kitri, and I think she's going to knock it out of the park. And with Herman Cornejo as her partner, they comprise Team A in my eyes. Catch Cornejo now, because who knows how many more years he'll be dancing. Sarah isn't dancing Juliet this week and won't be dancing Odette/Odile either. I'm sure she'll be dancing soloist roles in SL, but I think she'll be as fresh and exciting as she always is. I wouldn't miss that performance. In addition, I remember that years ago (2007 or 2008), Lane used her Lenore Annenberg Grant to travel to Spain to study flamenco. I'm hoping that some of the flavor of that training will come through during her performance as Kitri. With Cornejo as her partner, this may prove to be the most "Spanish" of the week's Don Q performances. Link to comment
CTballetfan Posted June 14, 2018 Author Share Posted June 14, 2018 Oh that I could come Saturday--I would love to see Lane and Cornejo--but that's the one day I can't come in. But thank you for your very welcome recommendations. I think I'll have to hope Boylston has not run out of gas. Link to comment
LadyBubbles Posted June 14, 2018 Share Posted June 14, 2018 Of all current ABT Kitri's, Murphy is my favorite and I definitely won't (hopefully) miss her performance this year as it may be her last. I hope she doesn't go for broke too much on her first performance like last year (I remember she had to pull out of her second performance because her first Kitri aggravated an injury). I won't be in town for Murphy's first Kitri, so it's double show Saturday for me. I hope Lane is practicing those fouettes day and night so we won't have a sad looking Kitri at the end of the PDD. I look forward to her debut, and Cornejo's Basilio. If you're interested in seeing Boylston, honestly it depends on what you want to see. She's not my favorite Kitri (or at any classical role for the matter), but at least you know she can do all the required steps and has a big jump. So, technique wise it should be a good show. Not to mention that she's matched with Simkin's Basilio, who will do anything to wow an audience. There's also Christine Schevchenko, whom I haven't seen in this role yet, but I heard she was wonderful in her debut last year. Link to comment
CTballetfan Posted June 14, 2018 Author Share Posted June 14, 2018 1 hour ago, LadyBubbles said: Of all current ABT Kitri's, Murphy is my favorite and I definitely won't (hopefully) miss her performance this year as it may be her last. I hope she doesn't go for broke too much on her first performance like last year (I remember she had to pull out of her second performance because her first Kitri aggravated an injury). I won't be in town for Murphy's first Kitri, so it's double show Saturday for me. I hope Lane is practicing those fouettes day and night so we won't have a sad looking Kitri at the end of the PDD. I look forward to her debut, and Cornejo's Basilio. If you're interested in seeing Boylston, honestly it depends on what you want to see. She's not my favorite Kitri (or at any classical role for the matter), but at least you know she can do all the required steps and has a big jump. So, technique wise it should be a good show. Not to mention that she's matched with Simkin's Basilio, who will do anything to wow an audience. There's also Christine Schevchenko, whom I haven't seen in this role yet, but I heard she was wonderful in her debut last year. Thank you, Lady Bubbles, I think I'll give Boylston a try b/c the date works best for me. I saw Murphy as Kitri about 7 years ago--great!--so I'll hold off a few days just in case I can make her Wed matinee. You are right--it might be her last in this role. Link to comment
angelica Posted June 14, 2018 Share Posted June 14, 2018 I love Shevchenko, but I won't go to any performance with Whiteside in a leading role. Link to comment
Inge Posted June 14, 2018 Share Posted June 14, 2018 (edited) 58 minutes ago, angelica said: I love Shevchenko, but I won't go to any performance with Whiteside in a leading role. Why doesn't ABT pair him more with Boylston? They have a good rapport and (sort of) similar dancing styles. Shevchenko is an ideal Kitri, but this is indeed a weird pairing. Maybe they just needed someone tall for her? While I loved Whiteside's Harlequin, I wish Shevchenko were able to dance with Lendorf again. They built a nice foundation last year with Don Q & Le Corsaire. Edited June 14, 2018 by Inge Link to comment
Kristen Posted June 14, 2018 Share Posted June 14, 2018 On 6/13/2018 at 7:18 PM, angelica said: Of all the dancers this season, the one who has stood out for me has been Sarah Lane. The Saturday, June 30th, matinee performance will be her debut as Kitri, and I think she's going to knock it out of the park. And with Herman Cornejo as her partner, they comprise Team A in my eyes. Catch Cornejo now, because who knows how many more years he'll be dancing. Sarah isn't dancing Juliet this week and won't be dancing Odette/Odile either. I'm sure she'll be dancing soloist roles in SL, but I think she'll be as fresh and exciting as she always is. I wouldn't miss that performance. Hope you are right. I have tickets to her DQ performance but having seen her completely blow her La Bayadere shades role and transmit her disappointment via face and body language, probably all the way to the family circle, I'm not as confident as you. Link to comment
angelica Posted June 15, 2018 Share Posted June 15, 2018 I had a very different response to her Bayadere debut. I thought she was exquisite except for the turns in the scarf dance, which were wobbly, I admit. But, at least in my eyes, the rest of her performance was gorgeous. Link to comment
aurora Posted June 15, 2018 Share Posted June 15, 2018 14 minutes ago, angelica said: I had a very different response to her Bayadere debut. I thought she was exquisite except for the turns in the scarf dance, which were wobbly, I admit. But, at least in my eyes, the rest of her performance was gorgeous. Kristen was talking about her turn at the first shade, which was not good. Link to comment
angelica Posted June 15, 2018 Share Posted June 15, 2018 3 minutes ago, aurora said: Kristen was talking about her turn at the first shade, which was not good. I'm not sure what you mean by her turn at the first shade. Link to comment
aurora Posted June 15, 2018 Share Posted June 15, 2018 Just now, angelica said: I'm not sure what you mean by her turn at the first shade. She performed one of the 3 shades on June 1st (I believe). There was discussion on here about how it was so beneath her to do a (barely) soloist role but she ended up falling off point in the rapid series of releves across the stage in arabesque and it was not a good showing. Link to comment
angelica Posted June 15, 2018 Share Posted June 15, 2018 16 minutes ago, aurora said: She performed one of the 3 shades on June 1st (I believe). There was discussion on here about how it was so beneath her to do a (barely) soloist role but she ended up falling off point in the rapid series of releves across the stage in arabesque and it was not a good showing. Thanks for the clarification, aurora. I missed that performance, but her debut as Nikiya was stunning. Link to comment
LadyBubbles Posted June 22, 2018 Share Posted June 22, 2018 I see that Lane has been posting rehearsal footage on her IG stories. It looks like she's going for gimmicks in the fouettes (standard singles with a few doubles with the fan over the head and hand on her hip). I hope she doesn't regret it. I'll be holding my breath for the whole 32 music counts. When Murphy does gimmick fouettes I feel at ease, but with everyone else I get anxious. Looking forward to my short stay in NYC again. It better not rain and thunder like there's no tomorrow this time 😁 Link to comment
aurora Posted June 22, 2018 Share Posted June 22, 2018 45 minutes ago, LadyBubbles said: I see that Lane has been posting rehearsal footage on her IG stories. It looks like she's going for gimmicks in the fouettes (standard singles with a few doubles with the fan over the head and hand on her hip). I hope she doesn't regret it. I'll be holding my breath for the whole 32 music counts. When Murphy does gimmick fouettes I feel at ease, but with everyone else I get anxious. Looking forward to my short stay in NYC again. It better not rain and thunder like there's no tomorrow this time 😁 No need to worry with Shevchenko or Teuscher Link to comment
ABT Fan Posted June 22, 2018 Share Posted June 22, 2018 6 hours ago, aurora said: No need to worry with Shevchenko or Teuscher Teuscher is not doing Kitri. But, regarding fouettes in general, given what I saw Teuscher do on Monday night in SL, traveling extensively forward then actually going backwards/sideways while just doing singles at that point (with a sloppy working leg/foot) that nearly got away from her, there's reason to worry about hers too. Link to comment
aurora Posted June 22, 2018 Share Posted June 22, 2018 1 hour ago, ABT Fan said: Teuscher is not doing Kitri. But, regarding fouettes in general, given what I saw Teuscher do on Monday night in SL, traveling extensively forward then actually going backwards/sideways while just doing singles at that point (with a sloppy working leg/foot) that nearly got away from her, there's reason to worry about hers too. She looked very solid last night (It sounds at least like yesterday was, overall, a more successful performance) She did travel but yesterday it was forward in a straight line, which I have no problem with. There was never any concern she would lose her grip on them (and I do tend towards nervous having seen plenty of dancers mess up the fouettes over the years!). Maybe opening night jitters got the best of her Monday! Link to comment
tutu Posted June 22, 2018 Share Posted June 22, 2018 3 hours ago, aurora said: She looked very solid last night (It sounds at least like yesterday was, overall, a more successful performance) Echoing Aurora, Teuscher’s fouettés were solid last night, right up to either a triple or quadruple pirouette to finish. Link to comment
abatt Posted June 22, 2018 Share Posted June 22, 2018 (edited) 1 minute ago, tutu said: Echoing Aurora, Teuscher’s fouettés were solid last night, right up to either a triple or quadruple pirouette to finish. It was indeed a quad pirouette. Edited June 22, 2018 by abatt Link to comment
angelica Posted June 22, 2018 Share Posted June 22, 2018 Do you think it was intentional that Teuscher travelled forward during her single fouettes? I was a little worried that she was going to fall off the stage. Link to comment
fondoffouettes Posted June 22, 2018 Share Posted June 22, 2018 (edited) 29 minutes ago, angelica said: Do you think it was intentional that Teuscher travelled forward during her single fouettes? I was a little worried that she was going to fall off the stage. I don't think it's ever intentional to travel during the SL fouettes, unless that's the only way you can manage to do them. The ideal is to not travel at all, but traveling forward is more attractive than traveling to the side, I think. And it's less discernible for anyone sitting in the orchestra. I agree with Aurora that I really don't mind forward traveling much at all. There was a short fouette sequence in the Kudelka Cinderella that I believed was choreographed so that the ballerina intentionally traveled. There may be other examples from other modern ballets, as well. But I can't think of any traveling fouettes in the 19th-century classics. Edited June 22, 2018 by fondoffouettes Link to comment
nanushka Posted June 22, 2018 Share Posted June 22, 2018 There's also a difference between "intentional" and "anticipated." She may well have known that, given the current state of her technique, she was likely to travel forward and so made accommodations for that, but that's different from intentionally choosing to travel forward. Link to comment
angelica Posted June 22, 2018 Share Posted June 22, 2018 Thank you, fondoffouettes and nanushka, that was exactly my question. Link to comment
its the mom Posted June 22, 2018 Share Posted June 22, 2018 3 hours ago, fondoffouettes said: I don't think it's ever intentional to travel during the SL fouettes, unless that's the only way you can manage to do them. The ideal is to not travel at all, but traveling forward is more attractive than traveling to the side, I think. And it's less discernible for anyone sitting in the orchestra. I agree with Aurora that I really don't mind forward traveling much at all. There was a short fouette sequence in the Kudelka Cinderella that I believed was choreographed so that the ballerina intentionally traveled. There may be other examples from other modern ballets, as well. But I can't think of any traveling fouettes in the 19th-century classics. There are traveling fouettes in the coda of some versions of The Nutcracker, but it is only a few: Link to comment
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