California

Hee seemed tired in Act III. Low jumps, flat footed at one place in pique turn menage. Single fouettes - about 24. Yes - incredible ballon by Lall. Love to see her have more opportunities to show that off! Bell is the complete package. Acting throughout was nuanced and believable. Solid technique.

Hoven is in the print program. No print insert. But an announcement before the curtain

At intermission, Greg, director of development, confirmed: fall schedule announced Wednesday, July 19.

With apologies...he's on faculty at JKO school. International name.

I Am at the matinee. People at Friends desk said he is performing. I just saw him at company class on stage for Friends until 1 pm. The fact that he did not leave early made me wonder! Friends said fall schedule announced next week, although I don't know their source.

The Throw! Wow! And they also did that during the performance? What a treat!

The Gold Standard for Purple VR: Marcelo Gomes. (This video is strangely distorted, but you'll get the idea!) (I couldn't find a clip of Nina's retirement with Gomes and Corella, except for the bows.)

Interesting! I actually wish they would bring back Union Jack! No other company does it and that opening section with all the regiments is really something. Last performed in 2019. I remember an interview long ago that said no other company had requested it, probably because they have 70 dancers on stage at one point! Few companies are big enough to handle that, even with supplements from their schools.

Maybe I'm part of a small minority, but I much prefer the brises, which we saw with Baryshnikov. They work best with shorter men. Dramatically, Albrecht is looking at Myrtha as he progresses, under her command. For the entrechats, he has to turn away from her and look forward to the audience.

A now-retired principal at Colorado Ballet substituted the releve thing for the hops. Those who know the ballet were disappointed, but I guessed that most in the audience didn't know the difference. The fouette issue has been discussed ad nauseum here and elsewhere and we know there were great dancers who just couldn't do them. So they worked out an impressive substitution and that seemed okay to most. I haven't seen Trenary's hops, but from what I read here, I almost wish she would just work out a good substitution and let it go at that. It's also painful to watch those who barely move on the hops and cut them short when you know what's possible - which sounds like what Murphy did. (Shevchenko, as I remember from earlier performances, covered lots of territory in great form, as does Osipova.) It's worst when somebody starts the famous move, falls apart and then seems to scramble with something else to fill out the music. Better to just plan ahead with the substitution. (As Julia Child reportedly once said: however it comes out of the kitchen, that's what you intended.)

Apologies for an extremely trivial matter that I noticed: The NY Times spells ABT American Ballet Theater instead of the company's own American Ballet Theatre -- in the header, editor's note, and text. I found the same thing in several other articles in recent weeks on ABT. I assume the Times finds the spelling "theatre" pretentious and incorrect in the US, but it's a proper name!

Sad to hear about Cornejo's apparent decline. Some people do hang on just a little too long. I'll be very interested in the fall schedule to see if there are suitable retirement performances for both Murphy and Cornejo. She could do The Dream. I seriously doubt that he could do Etudes. Perhaps Other Dances?

Thanks for the tip! Some clips from the Camargo-Osipova Giselle. (Do check out her hops on point at 2:13 -- a full circle. Is that what Teuscher did? PS. Remember when we actually got to see Osipova at the Met with ABT? Another era, for sure!

Wish I could have seen Bell today. He's become my favorite to watch, especially after his Don Q last season. Interesting that he is the only male principal with two SLs this summer. If hints of Etudes this fall are true, he's one of the few men at ABT with the technique to handle the lead.

I found a really poor quality recording of Bouree Fantasque, but no credits. From some Googling, it seems that the School of American Ballet does excerpts every few years. E.g., https://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/11/arts/dance/11workshop.html https://www.facebook.com/SABNYC/posts/in-the-spirit-of-our-upcoming-virtual-workshop-celebration-were-sharing-another-/10157414177973870/

Thanks for these reports on the Segerstrom engagement. Wish I could have attended myself! Ratmansky has several photos on his Facebook page today and says that the run was sold out. From the glimpses of the audience I saw on Instagram, it does look like the entire theater was opened up. What's impressive about the Fugue: as I understand it, there's no record of the original choreography, so Ratmansky made that in the style of the ballet. It's impressive! I especially like the end, where Albrecht "flies" Giselle across the entire front of the stage. Long ago, I saw a clip of David Hallberg watching that and gasping!

I've been looking at the Segerstrom web site the last few days. It did list Gogidze for the first three with Shevchenko Sunday, although I don't know when they made that change. But I agree that they should have made some announcements when things differed from the print program. Some of the things that seem odd were in the original 1841 production, at least according to Ratmansky interviews last year. The ending where she sinks into the ground was reportedly a special effect the original producers loved, but has been understandably difficult to reproduce in later productions. I do like bringing Bathilde back on at the end and Giselle saying it was okay - something that wouldn't work well without that sinking ground. The passage for Albrecht with something other than the entrechats or brises is supposedly also from the original or at least early versionns. I wouldn't be surprised if the overall cast at Segerstrom varies somewhat from the cast at Kennedy Center in February or London last September. At least a few seem to have landed full-time positions at western companies. And we can't imagine the personal struggles many are going through right now.

Has anyone attended the UKB Giselle? Looks like Schevchenko is doing the Sunday matinee. Elizaveta Gogidze seems to have done the first three with different Albrecht's. I'm not sure, but it looks like they opened up all the tiers except the very top balcony. The Instagram postings are as moving as ever, singing the Ukrainian anthem with their flags at the end.

Just posted on Facebook: Join ABT on the Fourth of July at our 2 PM matinee performance of GISELLE at the Metropolitan Opera House! Purchase tickets using the promo code ABTFOURTH for 50% off select orchestra tickets. Limit of 4 tickets per order available through phone, web, or at the box office.

Yes -- great fun to see. Worth following both Ratmansky and UKB on social media. He has personally attended all their performances in London and the Kennedy Center, as busy as he is. His heart is clearly breaking over the continuing tragedy in Ukraine. He also regularly posts pictures of the devastation in the country, including the devastation to the cultural heritage. For anybody in southern California: go see this company. Definitely worthwhile.

Colorado Ballet just announced that they have commissioned a new ballet by Lauren Lovette for their Masterworks program in April 2024: Colorado Ballet’s 63rd Season concludes with Ballet MasterWorks. Audiences will see the return of George Balanchine’s scintillating masterpiece Rubies, choreographed to the music of Igor Stravinsky, Yoshihisa Arai’s Boléro, set to the infamous score by Maurice Ravel. The 2023/2024 Season’s annual repertory production will also feature a new commission choreographed by Lauren Lovette, former principal dancer with New York City Ballet. https://tickets.coloradoballet.org/events?view=list

Roster changes have been announced on their web site for 2023-24: https://coloradoballet.org/Dancers 35 dancers, including 7 apprentices Principal Retirements: Dana Benton, Yosvani Ramos Newly promoted from soloist: Christopher Moulton Soloist: Departure from the company: Nicolas Pelletier Demi-Soloist: Departure from the company: Melissa Zoebisch Corps: Promoted from Apprentice: Kenny Allen, Alexandra Gilliom Departure from the company: Francesca Martoccio Apprentices: New: Lily Bines, Mylie Buck, Leopold Foster, Tate Ryner, Lili Travaglia

On his Instagram in the comments, Peck says this ballet is coming to Chicago and maybe New York. Did anybody see it? https://www.instagram.com/p/Ct_z9Par_OR/

Did anybody see Peck's new ballet "Illinois" at Bard College last week? On Peck's Instagram stories, Baryshnikov attended opening night. The New York Times doesn't seem to have sent a critic. https://fishercenter.bard.edu/events/illinois/

Julie Kent has staged Swan Lake for the Washington Ballet. I wonder how long before she is able to make revisions in this one or do a new version entirely. No doubt Welch has some contractual rights, but still...