California

Just posted - Daniil Tuesday night:

Ferri did it in spring 2007, her retirement season. Interestingly, her partner was Bolle, in his debut in the role at the Met. https://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/13/arts/dance/13mano.html I don't know if they did it again between 2007 and 2014. Nothing turns up on Google and they don't have a complete history on the ABT web site. https://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/04/arts/dance/julie-kent-stars-in-american-ballet-theaters-manon.html

ABT last did Manon in 2014 -- a time when Hallberg was having serious problems with injury. Perhaps he realized this was not a good time to take on a new, demanding role. E.g., https://www.sfcv.org/reviews/none/david-hallberg-tells-all-in-a-body-of-work

He was injured and replaced by Shklyarov https://www.ft.com/content/c7b76190-3989-11e8-b161-65936015ebc3

It's possible he meant only ABT debut, but I don't see Manon in his long list of credits at ABT and elsewhere: https://www.abt.org/people/david-hallberg/?type=performer

I can't figure out how to copy this here, but he responded this morning to a tweet calling for a strike of gays by saying that he is rehearsing for his debut in Manon.

I noted a couple of years ago that Pennsylvania Ballet changed Aili to a "servant" rather than a "slave." At a pre-performance Q&A with Corella and one of the administrators, the latter said it was his idea. In ABT's program, is Aili still listed as a "slave"?

If you follow Bolle on Instagram, he just posted a new "story" -- video of the last moments of the final PdD with Bolle and Seo -- filmed by Cornejo. Can't see anything about costumes and they're setting up for Corsaire, of course. I love when she rushes away from him, falls forward, and he catches her under the arms at the last possible moment. High risk that you don't always see.

He's 38 years old and ABT likely won't do Manon again for 2-3 years, so he might sense that this is his last chance.

People might remember the uproar when Mack and the Washington Ballet were unable to work out an agreement. He will be a guest artist with the English National Ballet in Corsaire this winter, but they haven't announced casting dates yet: https://www.ballet.org.uk/people/brooklyn-mack/

Cornejo's name has disappeared from the Corsaire casting, but remains for Manon. Nothing new on his Instagram. Boo-hoo!

It was a co-production with National Ballet of Canada - which has never performed it. I assume they sent some people to NYC for the premiere to take a look... I sat through it twice at Koch. Never again.

Put me in the group that loves Manon. Can't get enough of it. Four extraordinary pas de deux for the principals and plenty of other dancing. MacMillan reportedly was fascinated with pairs figure skating when he choreographed it and you can see some efforts to emulate that (e.g., throw double twists). I agree about that final PdD -- extraordinary.

Whiteside was really in his element in Deuce Coupe and seemed to enjoy every moment! A small cultural moment: that speeded up sequence included a bit of floss, the dance kids are doing now. I saw floss injected into the Central City Opera's Magic Flute in July 2018! Seems to be like the macarena 15+ years ago.

New message just now: delivered June 4. I don't buy/read every dance biography that comes along, but I've become more interested in seeing how Ratmansky has reconstructed some of Petipa's work.

Amazon tells me today to expect it June 5. I'm pretty sure that was the original expectation.

In the Upper Room: Saturday night: What a surprise! Twyla reappeared for the bows at the end. She seemed to be enjoying every moment and the audience couldn't get enough of her. This has been such an appropriate and much-deserved tribute late in her career. Very glad they programmed this. These trios of important work by important living choreographers seems to be a successful approach to putting mixed bills onto the Met stage. Not sure who they might try this with in 2020, though.

I, too, wish they would revive this. Didn't a few other men briefly perform the Baryshnikov role before the ballet was retired? And a gala a few years back had an excerpt, which made us hope they would revive the entire work, but never did?

Oh, I didn't intend those as scare quotes. I was using the term in the slip in the program: "Herman Cornejo is injured and unable to dance this evening." (As opposed to, say, illness or schedule conflict...) Sorry for the confusion. The continuing silence on his Instagram is ominous.

A few quick comments (there is a separate thread on In the Upper Room) Cornejo was out with an injury. No word on his return. Deuce Coupe: I had never seen this before. It seemed like something out of a time capsule with the 60s music and dated costumes. I wondered how 20-somethings respond to this. The recorded sound was hideous -- they need to work on volume and get rid of the relentless raspiness/feedback/whatever that was so annoying for most of this. Whiteside has a speeded-up bit that brought the house down. The dancers seemed to loved doing this. Brahms-Haydn: This is a nice demonstration of Tharp's versatility in working in the classical vocabulary and showed off the dancers. Not one of her most memorable works, but worth seeing.

Just a few quick comments on the Thursday night opening program: Cornejo is still out with an "injury." [EDITED TO ADD: I didn't intend those as scare quotes. I was using the term in the slip in the program: "Herman Cornejo is injured and unable to dance this evening." Sorry for the confusion. The continuing silence on his Instagram is ominous. ] Cornejo and Paris were replaced in Brahms-Hayden by Brandt and Scott. Tharp came out at the end of the program to an enthusiastic standing ovation. What a treat. She refused the flowers the usher brought out and threw them into the empty orchestra pit. For several bows, she did a little jig getting to the front of the stage. I thought they overdid it with the smoke in the first few sections. It seemed like much more than they used last fall across the Plaza. The theater was just filled at some point. It was dialed back in the middle sections, then churned up again at the end.

Daniil Simkin mentions the "squeaky floor" at the Met. I haven't figured out what squeaky shoes must be like. I'm often bothered by clunky, noisy shoes, but squeaky? Something about the resin she puts on, in excess perhaps?

In fairness, it's possible this is a schedule conflict -- but if it were something like a family emergency or funeral, why not say that? The pattern from the past year certainly provides grounds for serious suspicion! That clip from Paris and her comments -- wow -- quite a variation!

I confess that when I first saw this information, I guessed that she just couldn't get the choreography and bailed. "Schedule conflict" is a more face-saving way to explain that than technical inability to do the steps (especially after the fouette embarrassment last year). Much of Ratmansky's choreography is fiendishly difficult -- the long series of hops on pointe, e.g. -- and a year or two ago, many on this board noted how much difficulty she was having with the steps. I doubt Ratmansky would have been happy letting her change/simplify his work.

From the tone of these messages, it sounds like Cornejo's injury is serious? Is something posted somewhere? I find it ominous that he's been silent on Instagram this week -- he's usually very active telling us about his favorite foods, exercise routines, etc., etc. Hallberg is also injury prone, of course, but we'll stay optimistic about that one for now!