Golden Idol

Puppytreats wrote: "I disagree with Golden Idol about Maxim. He was one of the most protective and princely Siegfried's I have seen. He was authoritative, yet deferential, at the same time, a perfect escort for his supermodel wife." I will happily agree to disagree. Maxim has never been a fave of mine, so you see where I'm coming from. But didn't you think he looked somewhat glassy-eyed? Watching him through my binocs I wondered if he'd had some cosmetic work done on his face and that's why it was so immobile. And I'm not so sure that being an escort to a supermodel wife is what Swan Lake calls for.

All the points made about Vasiliev are spot-on, and with his chunky thighs and rear end I don't think wearing white tights does him any favors. Still, if you know his style, you know what to expect from his performances, and he can be exciting; I'm looking forward to seeing his Solor. Although I felt the person who booed him was just being crass, I admit I was tempted to shout out, "Appalling solo violinist!" because the off-pitch notes kept coming and coming throughout the evening and there is no excuse for such poor playing. As much as I love Cojocaru, and she and A.C. were lovely in the Manon (they started off impetuous and built into ecstatic), you know what she lacks? Sexiness. When Vishneva danced that with Carreno (was it last year's gala or the year before?) she was volcanically sexy. At the end, when she tumbles elegantly to the floor and he moves in above and beside her, the eros is off the charts. That quality in Vishneva is what also makes her a voluptuous Black Swan, and she can even rein it in and transform the eros into blissed-out romance for the R&J pdd, as she absolutely did with Marcelo. For me, the dud of the evening was Irina and Maxim, who looked like they were phoning in their performances--glacial expressions on their faces throughout. But she certainly looked glamorous in her evening gown. (As did Marcelo in his tuxedo jacket, and I love seeing him wear eyeglasses. I once saw him on the subway wearing glasses, and I almost passed out.) One final comment: I was sitting in the Family Circle, and saw two corps members, Roman Zhurbin and Mikhail Ilyin, seated with their guests (one of whom, I think, was Joseph Carman). I wanted to go up to them and ask, Well, I know you're not in the gala, but is this where ABT seated you?--you're in the company, for goodness sake, couldn't they do better?

Does anyone know at which performances Angel will be dancing with Barcelona Ballet next week at City Center? (My ticket is for the first night.) Sorry to post this here, but on the topic under Barcelona Ballet it reads "You cannot reply to this topic."

It's perhaps a bit naughty of me to suggest this, but after Corella has left, and the air is cleared, might his ex-brother-in-law (and I do mean ex) Joaquin De Luz be lured back to ABT? At NYCB he usually dances the sort of virtuoso, romantic repertoire that fits in much more naturally at ABT, and the NYCB audiences go wild for him. It was so nice to see him back at ABT last year guesting as Benno in Carreno's farewell Swan Lake.

Option B - I agree completely about Eric Tamm (who I think has real danseur noble potential), less wholeheartedly about Jared Matthews (who gets better with each perf but too often appears simply blank on stage). None of the other men have that something extra that makes them obvious principal material. I like Phillips and Gorak, but they both look like kids--you can't cast them in leads. Simkin is great fun to watch, but he looks like a child. Salstein is the perfect clown and a wonderful dancer, but he's not a leading man and he knows it. Who else? Roddy Doble? Julio Bragado-Young? They should be a soloists, but not principals. Sascha? He continues to disappoint me, as he seems to make heavy weather of all his parts (someone on this site once said he "lands like a hammer"--all too true). Hammoudi? Not bad, but awfully variable. (I could see him as Solor, however.)So, whatever anyone wants to say about or against Kevin--and, yes, there's plenty to say--just who is there to nurture?

Do these guest artists' appearances help to fill in the TBA slots that looked to me as if they might have been pencilled in for Ethan, should he decide to dance with ABT one more season before retiring? Yes, I know, it's a double-edged situation, not conducive for grooming corps members or soloists to be principals, but since I don't have the disposable income to fly around the world and see these dancers with their home companies, for selfish reasons I'm actually rather pleased.

Abatt - I was in row B, a bit left of center. The view was excellent. In fact, I believe the somewhat elevated perspective intensified the impact of In the Upper Room (which I'd never seen before--okay, so shoot me) and I LOVED it. However, as you mentioned above, there is also no center aisle in the balcony, and this makes for some awkwardness. Like Alice Tully Hall, though, there's a reasonable amount of room in the row to pass by people without tripping over them or mashing their toes, but I do think the design decision to eliminate a center aisle was a poor one. Still, I will be back in the balcony on Saturday, as I wouldn't miss Company B for anything.

These programs do not appear to be selling well. No kidding. I was there on Tuesday night. I can't say what the status was in the high-rent district downstairs, but lots of empties in the balcony. I fail to understand why ABT so rarely offers discount tickets on TDF. They did so for very few perfs at the Met last summer, and there's nothing on TDF right now. They're shooting themselves in the foot (nothing new). By the way, is "Jackie" Xiomara's nickname? Cute!

I'm not actually replying to this topic (though the news about David and the Bolshoi is shocking--great for David, but still pretty shocking). I want to alert the site's administrator that the topic "Useful links to American Ballet Theatre" should be either revised or removed. It's almost ten years old and at least half of the websites listed are inactive or defunct. (Don't shoot the messenger!)

In light of the ecstatic reception given to the Manon PDD performed during last summer's Met season, and during this year's ABT opening night gala, the time is ripe to revive the whole thing. Diana and Marcelo, please? Oh, and yes, one guilty pleasure: Paquita - not performed by ABT since, I think, the eighties.