California

Yes, she received much of her training in Kiev: http://www.alinacojocaru.com/page2.htm

I was also at the Friday night performance and don't have much to add. I hadn't seen this production in a few years and don't remember details of omitted or simplified steps. Someone said here re: a Giselle that a gracious partner doesn't try to outshine his female partner. But Cornejo with Copeland in Act I showed no such restraint. In various side-by-side jetes he was so vastly superior -- height, stretch, etc. - that she looked even worse than she might have otherwise. But I think it's fine for Cornejo to dance to his own level. And he was spectacular in his variations -- very appreciative crowd. The tricky partnering with Alina seemed flawless to me. Is there a company anywhere with such noisy, clunky shoes? Copeland was the worst, but many women seem to have this problem. Yuk!

Dirac - I don't think we disagree. I'm not saying he is doing the correct thing now by criticizing Osipova, only offering an explanation for his changed behavior.

When I read this interview in February 2014, and Vasiliev refused to talk about the break-up, I (mistakenly) assumed she had dumped him. Perhaps others did, too, and now he's trying to correct the record: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/you/article-2551693/Ballets-new-boy-wonder.html

I was at opening night May 29. The ABT printed program says: "The Fairies."

Complete casting for the Royal's R&J this fall is posted: http://www.roh.org.uk/productions/romeo-and-juliet-by-kenneth-macmillan No Obraztsova.

I don't want to take this too far off on a tangent, but we have numerous examples of evolving language and just have to do our best to pay attention to current sensibilities. The distinguished U.S. Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall insisted on being called Negro, as he thought that was a term of respect paralleling Caucasian, and he loathed the then-emerging "Afro-American" or black or colored. Yet today, "Negro" is considered offensive and "people of color" respectful. I once met a group of University students from eastern Europe who had been taught that "black" is taboo - but had never been taught that the "N-word" is in fact taboo. We used to refer to American Indians, until we concluded that Native American was more respectful. Then we noticed that "Native American" includes Native Hawaiians and Native Alaskans, so we went back to American Indian. We have similarly evolving language in how we refer to "handicapped" or "disabled" or "challenged." The LA Times conducted a survey of readers in the 1980s about whether they should use the term Hispanic or Latino/a and opted for the latter (especially as many do not have heritage from Spain). The way we talk about people from the continent of Asia has similarly evolved. Everybody just needs to be as sensitive as we can and not take offense when somebody seems to be straying from our expected norms. Depending on context, I think it's often appropriate to correct somebody's usage and explain why (as I did with those university students).

Good point, Dreamer. That suggests that the casting list at KenCen might be a good heads-up on the recovery from injury: http://www.kennedy-center.org/calendar/event/BPBSH

Osipova just posted several images on her Instagram account, showing her at the Polunin Gala last night in London. Nothing of her dancing, just an evening gown. If she had been doing the Bayaderes originally scheduled, she could not have attended, so they couldn't have planned on this. What are the odds she'll be flying back for her R&J June 17? https://instagram.com/nataliaosipova86/

Another Macaulay review, this of Vishneva-Gomes and Osipova-McRae: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/30/arts/dance/review-an-abundance-of-giselles-with-debuts-and-farewells.html?partner=rss&emc=rss&smid=nytimesarts

Am I the only person bothered by the stereotypical "Chinese" character in the last act, identified as "Mandarin" in the program? Historic accuracy meets contemporary cultural sensitivities, I suppose.

Very scary fall. A few more details. In Act I, early on, she seemed to slip just a tad in the middle of the stage. I remember thinking: "is she not used to the surface of this stage? Lucky she didn't fall." At the very, very end, she skipped the penche at the grave, holding onto the cross. She also skipped tossing Albrecht a last lily. But I have no way of knowing if that was a change the two planned before or if this was a way of getting off-stage as quickly as possible. She did have some time off-stage after the fall and before this last sequence, so the shortening could have been arranged. I think they keep a physical therapist on-hand in the wings for emergencies. I remember reading a report long ago about Baryshnikov twisting something during a Giselle and the therapist popped a bone back into place, asking him: how much time off-stage? How much can I do before you have to go back on?

NYCB just posted on Facebook: I did not see her perform, so I don't have any judgment on the quality of her performance, but one day!!??**@!!

The cheers were so loud after both performances that I doubt anybody could hear the "boos," except for those of us in the immediate vicinity. But the interesting point is that people who looked like major donors (or perhaps future donors or lapsed donors) are unhappy about McKenzie and weren't embarrassed about letting bystanders know. These were not kids or groupies.

I was at both retirement performances and don't have a lot to add to the comments above. I did notice Macaulay at both (and at the Vishneva/Gomes Tuesday night), so perhaps we'll get an overview comparison of all. Cornejo did the brises instead of the entrechats, but they weren't well done. He only did a few and barely left the ground. Not the rapid-fire flying-off-the-ground we've all seen in the Baryshnikov-Makarova tape from 1977. Bolle-Herrera didn't do the tabletop lifts in Act II and substituted a simpler vertical lift. Cornejo-Reyes did the tabletops, but they looked very, very shaky. (Bolle-Kent and Vishneva-Gomes all did the tabletops.) I like Cornejo -- sparkling, crisp technique -- but his acting just didn't have the presence of either Bolle or Gomes. The greetings at the end were mostly the same people, although I saw Makarova in the afternoon (but not evening) and Nina in the evening (but not afternoon) - although it's entirely possible I overlooked them in the crowd. Both Herrera and Reyes seemed especially overjoyed to see Corella and he seemed really happy to be there. I gather chic young male dancers in New York are all into suits with super-tight very-short pants. Hope that fad passes quickly -- really looks awful on all of them. (Unlike the tights-jeans I see on super-skinny female dancers, the only people who should wear those things.) Reyes gave a flower back to almost everybody during the greetings - it was very touching and seemed to express her generosity of spirit to everyone. She also gave a hug to each and every corps member when they came on with single flowers. In the evening, I was sitting next to a very well-dressed and well-informed older couple who seemed to know everybody. Loud boos when McKenzie came on.

Not much to add to all the plaudits above. Very moving performance. Macaulay was in the audience. I hope he'll do an overview of the week's remaining Giselles. Gomes did what I call the "Baryshnikov ending," leaving a trail of lilies across the stage from the grave. Baryshnikov said that was his link to her. The others (so far) take one lily and stand in the middle looking upward to "heaven." The latter actually makes more sense in recognizing she's gone to "a better place" and is not just a dead body in the ground. Only 23 entrechats, but who's counting. I wish somebody this week would do the Baryshnikov brises, which I love.

I would love to see the film made of her performance with RNZ Ballet, but can't find any information about its release in North America on DVD (or streaming video). Has anyone else?

Gillian Murphy posted an interesting message on her Instagram account: Class act, but she must be wondering when she'll get her Giselle at ABT!

Here's the "Hitler youth" crack, from 2010: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/19/arts/dance/19gala.html?_r=0 Can you say "tasteless"? If he wanted to say something clever about the blond hair, how about saying it looked like he was auditioning for the Royal Danish Ballet. I'm surprised his editor let that one slip through.

I just started a new thread under "Writings" on reviews of the ABT Giselle. The Macaulay review of Abrera and Boylston just appeared on-line.

The NY Times review, by Macaulay, of Abrera's Giselle just appeared on-line: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/25/arts/dance/review-american-ballet-theaters-giselle-bounds-as-past-giselles-watch.html?ref=dance

I don't have much to add and especially agree with Amour's detailed review. A truly memorable evening and Stella deserved the lengthy curtain calls and standing ovation. The entire crowd seemed genuinely moved. I was also impressed with Shklyarov as a dancer himself and a wonderful, supportive partner. I'm glad Stella got to make her debut with him, especially considering how little rehearsal time they must have had. I hope they bring him back as a guest in future seasons. I counted 36 entrechats, although I still prefer the brises. (In the latter, Albrecht is looking right at Myrtha, under her spell, while in the entrechats he turns to look at the audience and Myrtha's power seems irrelevant.) I, too, was disappointed in the hops on pointe in Act I. She did fill up the music and stayed on pointe, but didn't cover much territory. The only technical weakness I noticed all evening. I was impressed with the "chugs" by the corps in Act II -- lines and positions were surprisingly uniform, compared to past performances. More trivia: I got a last-minute ticket when Stella's debut was announced and ended up in the front orchestra/side/fourth row. I'll avoid front orchestra like the plague in the future. Really atrocious sightlines. Heads constantly bobbing and weaving to see beyond the people in front. I will never understand why the rows slope downward away from the orchestra, making things even worse than they might otherwise be.

I also attended Thursday night. I had never seen any of these before. Rodeo is a real joy -- the post-modern take on the story of Rodeo is genius and, even without that, the patterns, formations, innovations were endlessly fascinating. The dancers seemed to be enjoying it, most especially Ulbricht. The Wheeldon is so complex in its structure that it needs multiple viewings to appreciate, and it's worth seeing again. The use of all that red in the sets and lead dancer, contrasting with the blue, was interesting, especially as it was also dominant in Ratmansky's piece to the same music. But I don't know if he had thoughts of Shostakovich's Soviet Union, as Ratmansky did. Would be interesting to know more. The Martins, on the other hand...I kept trying to understand why he is such a disappointment. The relationship to the music is so obvious -- staying with the beat, never the musical structure. Steps? Mundane and/or derivative. I saw echoes of Balanchine everywhere and not in a good way. They really should put his work last so people can leave early. I overhead long-time supporters I have seen at Friends rehearsals complaining -- "all that jumping, jumping - can't they do anything else?!" But I'm also not crazy about the score, which doesn't help.

I don't get this alumni reunion. Sounds like 200 of them will be at the performance at 8 pm Saturday. But no info at all about the "dancer seminar" or the JKO student performance, beyond the news release. I'm guessing those will not be open to the public or even Friends. If anybody knows more about this, please post.

The NYCB approach to subscriptions is great. If you buy tickets to at least six performances -- even if it's late in the game when you can pick your own seats and dates - they call that a subscription and don't charge for exchanges. Yesterday (Wednesday) I went to the box office to exchange my Saturday night ticket for Friday night. (I have to see Stella's Giselle, like many of you.) My tickets all said SUBS in the lower left and that's all they needed to make the exchange. No problem. I asked the agent if this generous exchange policy was only available to subscribers and he said, "Yes. That's one advantage of being a subscriber." If you buy 3-5 performances on "Create your own," you pay a $5 exchange fee, but that's still pretty reasonable. I tried the "trio" subscription at ABT and won't do that again. You can't pick your own seats. No discounts. You could do exchanges, but that only works best for New Yorkers.