nanushka

A very small point, and I'm not sure how you define "regional company," but they typically do not fly in stars.

I suspect cobweb may have been thinking of the types of companies that ABT principals themselves often get flown in to for yearly Nutcrackers. That's not uncommon, is it?

I've pretty much resigned myself to the fact that Misty Copeland will be made principal at the end of this season. The box office and her PR team have made that a fait accompli, in my opinion. And fine, I understand that issues other than pure talent and skill need to be considered and accounted for.

How I actually feel about and interpret her promotion when it happens, though, will be completely dependent upon who else gets promoted along with her. Does either Stella or Sarah get promoted as well? (I have a really hard time imagining Kevin actually doing that, but setting that aside.) If so, then I'll consider it a fair deal, the sort of concession that needs to be made for the viability of the art as a business.

Ferri also did it no handed with Bocca.

This one is gorgeous! Very different, because he doesn't raise her up and down, but he has such strength.

See 6:34 here, is the difference more due to her being older than in the Eagling performance or perhaps due to Eagling's having more upper body strength and being able to do the lift differently?:

It's hard to tell which is cause and which is effect. Presumably they decided beforehand which of the two versions they would do, so both Juliet and Romeo are doing it differently. The form of support -- the mechanics of it -- looks quite different in Eagling vs. Corella. A very different form of support is needed when she's hands-free. It's likely easier for both dancers if Juliet is partly supporting herself with her arm, so it's hard to say whether it's due to her limitations, his limitations, both, or some other concern altogether.

I'm not sure if we're all talking about the same lift. What I think Amour is referring to is the lift at 6:15 in this video. Two of the three ABT's Juliets I saw this season had their downstage arm on Romeo's shoulder for balance, here you can see that Ferri is not holding onto him, and at the end of the lift she stretches both arms behind her, which Copeland & Seo did not do. I don't remember this particular moment from the Obraztsova/Cornejo performance.

Ah. I see now we're not. I thought the term "press lift" was referring to the one where he lifts her up and down repeatedly while he's kneeling.

Amazing how dizzyingly in love and abandoned Ferri & Eagling look here, this may be my favorite video of the balcony scene, ever.

I agree, nysusan! This scene was on my very first ballet video, a VHS called Ballet Favorites purchased in the lobby at a Cleveland Ballet performance of Swan Lake. It also had Makarova and Dowell in Act II of Swan Lake, Galina Mezentseva's Giselle mad scene, and Baryshnikov and Harvey's Don Q wedding PDD, among others. What an introduction! All four of those scenes have remained real touchstones for me.

Just for further comparison:

Fonteyn does a modified "hands-free" version (holding on at first then -- tentatively, and with much less abandon than Ferri w/Eagling -- letting go. The cued video is here.

Gelsey Kirkland does a hands-free version here with Dowell.

Both Juliets have the hand down on the press lifts. I'm not sure what the whole fuss is about.

The hands-free version looks far superior to me. Much more expressive of the passion of both characters. These two (the Center Stage one especially) pale by comparison to that moment in the Eagling/Ferri video. Much stiffer and less fully engaged in the moment.

YouTube search for Rome juliet balcony yields multiple performances. For someone relatively new to this, could you explain what ferri does differently?

In the press lift here, Ferri's arms are both extended and expressive. In many of the performances this week, Juliets have used their downstage arm for support, holding onto Romeo's downstage shoulder or upper arm.

Ok well I think an issue is that ppl who bought 4 R&J tickets don't actually like R&J the ballet. They like Ferri as Juliet, or Vishneva as Juliet. Which might be a reflection on MacMillan's choreography, or ABT's star system. I do know that when the Royal Ballet does these MacMillan warhorses the runs pretty much sell out whoever is dancing. And I think that stems from a more genuine appreciation/reverence for the ballet itself rather than the ballet as a star vehicle.

Not necessarily -- they just don't like R&J the ballet enough to see it 4 times just on its own merit! For the 3rd or 4th, if the star's not there, it doesn't cut it. That's not necessarily a lack of reverence for the ballet itself.

I do know that when the Royal Ballet does these MacMillan warhorses the runs pretty much sell out whoever is dancing. And I think that stems from a more genuine appreciation/reverence for the ballet itself rather than the ballet as a star vehicle.

That may be one explanation. There may be others. But it's true that R&J can get mighty tiresome at times, on a 2nd or 3rd performance, when one doesn't have the big scenes to look forward to.

It's not the feeling that you want to see a particular artist that I'm questioning. It's the concept that you are ENTITLED to see someone, whether that person is sick, injured or whatever....and that you must be compensated if you do not.

But you were also questioning those of us who choose to stay home or leave early and apparently don't have the proper levels of respect for the art or for the value of money to stick it out. I think your original post was painted with a very broad brush when now you're making a much finer point. I for one did not demand my money back, but I still felt implicated in what you were criticizing there.

I'm an ABT and NYCB subscriber too. I also choose my performances carefully. I brought friends new to ABT to see David Hallberg in SL last year. Well, we got James Whiteside. It wasn't the performance I had hoped for. But it was still worthwhile and the idea of demanding a refund because Hallberg was injured....well it didn't occur to me. Just one example. We've all had those experiences.

People outside Manhattan also follow the arts in the city and I dare say many of them also save money all year to travel, often great distances, to see performances of their choice. Their wish to see certain performers in "Cats" or anything else for that matter is no less valid than yours.

My point was not to demean Cats or "people outside Manhattan." My point was more that tourists coming to town for a Broadway show are often coming to a single performance and for the show as a whole. People going to their third performance of a ballet in a single week are often coming to see one or two specific dancers in one or two specific roles, because they've already seen the rest. And the rest often consists of third-rate music performed by a third-rate orchestra with painted-backdrop sets and lots of boring bits. That's a quite different experience than what you get on Broadway for the most part. When the stars you've come to see (and paid *extra* money to see -- because the prices are jacked up) aren't there, I don't think it's unreasonable to cut your losses and call it a night.

The comparison to "an expensive Broadway show" is not very apt. Many of us save up money all year and carefully choose tickets to performances during this 8-week season based on the dancers we're hoping to see. We've seen these same productions many times before -- we're not tourists coming into town for a single performance of Cats. ABT uses differential pricing because they know people are buying tickets to see specific dancers; that's their business model; they've said it themselves.

So yes, when we've already seen two or three performances of the exact same production in the same week, sometimes it does make sense just to stay home and eat the $125 or leave early rather than sit through a performance that's billed as a star vehicle when the star's not actually there.

Setting aside the question of whether Sarah Lane could have danced Juliet to Marcelo's Romeo (which I'll admit is an open question), how different things would be now if Osipova's Juliet had been given to Lane a week and a half ago instead of to Hee Seo. Lane has studied the role with Ferri; she'd have had a full week to rehearse with Marcelo; Seo would have still had two Juliets this week (since she was then scheduled for Monday and Tuesday); and Lane would have been ready to step in again last night with a partner she'd already been rehearsing with. And then we'd have had another home-grown dancer with onstage experience in an important role, and less audience fatigue with an overworked principal.

Again, I acknowledge there may have been a partnering issue there. But these are the sorts of changes (even if this specific one wouldn't quite have worked) that could allow a company like ABT to weather its inevitable problems of injuries and cancellations, while balancing the costs, benefits, and needs of both guest artists and home-team dancers in an ultimately more sustainable way.

It's quite amusing to hear ABT now say that they sell performances, not performers -- when we learned from that quickly yanked YouTube video of a prominent company spokesperson that that's not at all the way they work.

Also, I'm not sure a more junior principal can really say no when the AD tells her that she's dancing on a particular night. I've assumed that when a dancer is told she's on, then she's on unless there is a major physical problem preventing it.

Especially when, as I assume was the case last night, that junior principal is assigned as the cover for that particular performance. (It would make sense that Seo would have been the scheduled cover, since she'd already danced it with Gomes so it'd be relatively easy to swap her in.)

"Somewhat enjoyable" are not words I'd want to use to describe a performance by one of the world's foremost companies. I do not blame Seo. The woman does need help, both technically and in the acting department. My guess is she is exhausted, and doesn't know the meaning of the word "no". She's been asked to pick up the pieces in far too many instances; she may be as frustrated about it all as we are. Unlike Vishneva who can and does control how many and what roles she dances, Seo seems to say yes to it all and doesn't consider the end result. If nothing else, she should consider the very real possibility of becoming injured herself in doing all of what's being asked of her. The lady needs a rest! And ABT sorely needs to prepare others for every major role in it's rep. (both male and female). All of this uproar would be a tad more moot if a Vishneva "replacement" were of a higher standard. Or, at the very least, a "major discovery" of someone new to a role. How many times have we gone to NYCB to see say, a Bouder or Mearns perform and come away thrilled at the replacement? I'm just sayin'.....

The inevitable response: "But NYCB's rep is different, they don't do as many full-lengths, so it's easier to feel good about a replacement when you're not stuck with that person for the full evening, plus their corps and soloists get more opportunities since they don't do full-lengths." And yes, that's all true. But I think you're right about all this, mimsyb, and I think people would generally be more accepting of the replacements if there weren't SO MANY of them (especially this season) and if they weren't ALMOST ALWAYS the same person. This season looked so interesting and exciting on paper back when tickets went on sale, and now, near the end, it just sort of feels like it's been a bit of a slog.

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The dance of the Puss-in-Boots (Mr. Bekefi) and the White Cat (Ms. Anderson) was performed charmingly and was repeated.

Interesting -- I wasn't aware that there was a tradition of encores in ballet, as in opera.

I do feel for you -- 3 Hee Seo performances, when not a single one was originally scheduled to be her. This whole week has been an ABT disaster.

That about sums it up!

Gillian/Whiteside would seem to have been the right answer, but perhaps they weren't available or said "no".

I know it's not quite the same, but if a male principal pulled out sick on the day of a performance, would they yank the female principal from the part as well and bring in a whole new couple? Would that be considered acceptable? I doubt it. This is Gomes we're talking about -- a major ABT dancer and a big draw for many fans. And this isn't Sleeping Beauty, where the male principal hardly dances -- this is Romeo, who has far more stage time than Juliet. I'm almost certain that Gillian and Whiteside were not asked and did not say "no." Gomes was ready to dance, he had a partner ready with whom he'd rehearsed, and who was undoubtedly the cover scheduled for this evening. So they danced.

That said, I left after the balcony scene, which was perfectly fine, but just didn't have what I was looking for from Vishneva and Gomes together. When one doesn't have the two of them to look forward to in the big highlight scenes, the other long, dull stretches (Victor Barbee and Pascal Knopp going at it with big swords in a ridiculous, overwrought manner?), Romeo and Juliet becomes quite a drag.

I'm not sure we can assume that she was sick enough at mid-day yesterday (which is about the latest possible time she could have canceled early enough for the convenience of subscribers wishing to exchange) to know that she would not be able to dance tonight. It's certainly a disappointment, but do we really want to blame her for this?

Just spoke to Alexandria in the box office who gave me 2 comp tickets (orchestra) to try to make up for everything that's happened. They only have them for a few dates (1 being June 25th SL with Gillian but I had the RB that day). So I'm taking a Hee Seo Cinderella on June 29. I advise people to call and complain. The box office is responding.

Sorry you're having to see Hee Seo again, here's a ticket to see Hee Seo again.

I love it!

It may be convenient to throw Seo in because she & Gomes have danced it together but I just don't believe that Seo was the ONLY dancer who could step in and take all of Osipova's & Semionova's scheduled performances,and now this.

I wholly agree with the second part of this, and I understand that this latest change is particularly frustrating given that broader context. But taking this latest change on its own, I think it makes the most sense. There have been many other situations this year in which ABT management has stuck us with Seo instead of finding more ideal or even obvious solutions. I don't think this is one of those cases.

There may not be many who bought tickets only for Gomes, but given that Vishneva's out, many would still like the chance to see him dance. I simply don't think this is a case in which ABT is acting irresponsible or inconsiderate to its patrons -- however often it may do so.

Marcelo is a pro and the best partner at ABT. He could make it work with anyone on short notice. Why not just give Marcelo the night off and cast Murphy with Whiteside.

That's hardly an obvious solution. Many people would still be upset, as many will be there to see Marcelo as well. (This was, after all, his originally scheduled performance.) There are very few people who are seeing 3 or 4 casts this week and will have already seen these two dance together already. Even among subscribers, that's the case.

Unbelievable, this is the final straw. I know injuries happen but when did this turn into Seo Ballet Theater? If Vishneva is injured they have plenty of other dancers who could have been given this opportunity. People on this board have said that Juliet is Seo's best role. I hope so because there is nothing left for me to exchange this into, and if I don't like what I see I intend to boo. Loudly.

I'm sure it's Seo instead of Murphy because Murphy and Gomes wouldn't have rehearsed this together. In this particular case, it actually makes perfect sense for Seo to step in. I don't think ABT can be faulted for that particular decision.