nanushka

Personally, I prefer to read Gia Kourlas.

Gia Kourlas is a bit too obviously an access --- well, I won't use the noun. She writes fawningly over certain dancers with whom she seems to have the privilege of rubbing shoulders and is not sufficiently critical for my taste.

In other words, if only some of Abrera's dancing was luminous, that's just as it should have been. So the phrasing seems a little odd there...

It's only odd if you assume that, in Macaulay's eyes, the places where Stella's dancing was luminous perfectly matched up with the places where (to his mind) her dancing should have been luminous, and that the places where it was not luminous perfectly matched up with the places where it should not have been luminous.

Presumably, writing within the strict length constraints of a newspaper review, he meant to suggest that there were some places where her dancing should have been luminous but (in his eyes) was not.

"Some of her dancing was luminous, and all of it was stylish and heartfelt; but above all in Act II, where the dead Giselle dances to save her living lover, Albrecht, from death, she made it clear that dance was a spiritual act. Her steps were filled with yearning for him and devotion to dance itself." (56 words)

"He matched Ms. Abrera in terms of devotion: Ardor beamed outward from his steps. His dozens of glittering entrechat-six — his feet rapidly crisscrossing in the air while his arms slowly ascended as if to suggest he was reaching a transcendent delirium — will stay in memory." (45 words)

The rest of both paragraphs is background.

I don't mean to be annoying. I just think there's plenty of room to bash AM's reviews without taking cheap shots. In this particular case, I think he was completely fair.

To be accurate, he wrote twice as much about Shklyarov as about Stella. But he did say Stella's performance was "luminous".

Again, ???

Stella's paragraph is 121 words; Shklyarov's is 112.

Once again, this "critic" has shown that he does not exist in the same reality as I do, nor, I suspect, many others present at the Met last night. Why is this review essentially about Boylston??

???

The picture is of Stella, and each ballerina gets a paragraph, of which Stella's is the longer. Admittedly, higher explicit praise is given to Isabella, but 4 negative points are mentioned for her, with none for Stella.

I am no Macaulay apologist, and I usually disagree (often in substantial ways) with his reviews. But I think his description of Stella's performance is pretty fair, from what I saw. (I did not see the matinee. I found Stella's performance to be beautiful and moving but by no means perfect.) I hardly think, based on this review at least, that he deserves the scare quotes.

Vladimir Shklyarov, whose name, judging from the questions overheard around me, I alone in the audience knew how to pronounce...

I was able to figure out the pronunciation only from his brief "Meeting Mariinsky" interview on YT. My personal mnemonic is "As far as I'm a-WARE of, his name is pronounced vlad-mir SHKLAR-ov!"

As for other characters, Veronika Part was kind of unimpressive as Myrtha. It's almost like she knew it wasn't about her tonight and so she didn't care. Her jumps were ok but she didn't bother with any beats. None! Shame on you Veronika.

I didn't notice that deficiency in her performance, but if your interpretation is correct she at least showed that same recognition in a more positive way during the curtain calls, when she refused Shklyarov's gesture for her to come forward during the final bow (at about 6:08 in the YT video linked above).

It sounds like the moral of the story is that everything depends on which ticket agent you get and that, whatever their policies, their practices are erratic!

I wish they would just let Abrera and Shkylarov have their moment in the sun, without diluting it by adding bows for the alumni. They just had their party on Monday. Abrera has been waiting years for this spotlight.

Agree. Does this mean they'll get no before-the-curtain bows? That'd be too bad, as those are often special moments.

I thought sitting far left was better (that is far left when you are looking at the stage). When on the right, I completely missed the stuff that happened in front of the bassinet in the Prologue, missed the King/Queen acting, Carabosse's entrance in Act 1, the big kiss to wake up, etc. Obviously none of these are MAJOR issues, but I saw two from far left and one from far right, and sitting far left was my personal preference.

Thanks ksk04, that's helpful.

Anyone who's already seen the Ratmansky production:

If I'm planning to get an orchestra balance ticket (far to the side and midway back), which side would you suggest I sit on? In other words, are there any scenes for which you'd definitely want to be able to see one side or the other?

Thanks!

If you buy one trio subscription, do you then become categorized as a subscriber and able to exchange all other single tickets you might purchase that season?

I always sit in the orchestra at the Met. I like being around rows J, K, L, M although those are the priciest seats:(

As long as you're strategic about which side you're on (e.g. for R&J you need to be stage right in order to see the balcony), the orchestra balance seats can be an economical alternative. You don't want to be too close, or the angle will be particularly sharp. But around M, N, O, seats on the side (generally the first four or so are cheaper) can be decent.

I agree with Helene that dress circle is also a good option; it's another decent compromise between price and height/distance.

Do you mean, she allowed herself to be photographed on the red carpet? Did they have to be invited to have their picture taken? Were there a bunch of ABT dancers who were not allowed on it?

If I were given the opportunity to be the fly on a wall, I'd pick a wall where I could hear a lot more interesting things than this.

My understanding from the earlier report here (forget by whom) was that she got into her gown backstage at the Met, came out to the red carpet to get photographed, then went backstage again to get in costume to perform. If that's the case, I'm sure there were some eye rolls.

Really tacky for ABT to engage in this kind of bait and switch.

Maybe the tackiness was ABT's, maybe it was Osipova's and Sarafanov's.

I guess we are quite lucky that McKenzie decided to give Stella the one Giselle. We are lucky that he didn't stick Hee Seo into that Giselle, too.

Perhaps only because she would have been dancing that one two days in a row as well.

Gomes has not partnered Part in SL for quite a number of years. I think that's intentional, not a coincidence.

It wasn't very long ago that Gomes stepped in for an injured Stearns to partner her, though I can't recall exactly when or whether it was SL or perhaps Bayadere. Anyone recall? Maybe it was 2 years ago?

I bet Bolle and Gomes will not dance with Part (in SL) because she is too big.

We've gotten indications of this from Bolle before, but in the case of Gomes this would be a new development. (And it would be sad, because theirs was such a fantastic partnership!)

That Bayadère matinee should be very exciting for local Koreans. But yes, it is a lot of Swan Lakes, with only one day rest in between each, plus a Cinderella the following Monday. And will she really dance Juliet two days in a row with two different partners? It's asking a lot.

So she's going to dance Tuesday O/O, Thursday O/O, Saturday O/O, Monday Cinderella, Wednesday Cinderella. Why on earth would they decide it's best to have a single dancer do all that? What is the urgency here? Even if you don't want to give an opportunity to a dancer who's not already doing the role (e.g. Sarah's O/O), why not have some of the other current regulars (e.g. Part, Murphy) fill in for a few of the performances?

Official release:

Principal Dancer Hee Seo will replace Semionova as Nikiya in La Bayadère on Monday evening, June 1 and at the matinee on Saturday, June 6, and as Juliet on Monday evening, June 15. Seo will also replace Semionova as Odette/Odile on Monday evening, June 15 and Saturday evening, June 27.

Well, looking on the bright side, Hee Seo can certainly use the practice, but I wish there were more variety in the substitutions.

They probably won't be happy that Semionova dropped out. But they still have Shklyarov.

And Part. Everyone seems to forget that she's Russian too! I often think a truly Russian-sounding name would have made a huge difference for her career at ABT.

Not happening. Kochetkova is now listed for the gala Giselle assignment, replacing Semionova. Abrera still listed in the the Myrta role for the gala.

Makes total sense to have a non-ABT dancer perform in ABT's 75th Anniversary Gala.

Well, maybe only if you're Kevin McKenzie.

Following that link just now, though, I see it has been changed back to Semionova. What's the deal?!

And now it says Stella again!

Stella to debut Giselle with Shklyarov, replacing Semionova: http://metopera.org/metopera/season/single/reserve.aspx?perf=13274

Finally, better late than never.

Following that link just now, though, I see it has been changed back to Semionova. What's the deal?!

This is just the first week for ABT and already everyone seems a bit tired and slack. Sure there were a few glimmers here and there, but overall, just a bit disappointing. I'm sure things will get better........... won't they?

I remember some very similar comments being made on this forum at the start of another recent season – not sure whether it was last spring's or perhaps the most recent Nutcracker run. As I recall, though, things picked up and the company as a whole began to seem more committed and alive. Perhaps this is some sort of company quirk?