nanushka

A new affidavit has been filed in the Waterbury case, a statement by "former young patron Winston Nguyen." I found this bit interesting... ...so I looked up the video in question. I believe it must be this one, featuring Megan LeCrone: I'm not sure I agree with Nguyen's interpretation, but given all that's been going on at NYCB, it seems unwise to keep this out there.

After being not terribly impressed with an O/O from her a few years ago, I found Teuscher’s performance in NYC this year to be quite satisfying. Would love to hear your thoughts on Thursday’s, as I also quite liked Seo’s Odette (again after being previously less impressed) and Royal’s Rothbart.

Anyone going to this? Just out of curiosity: what’s it like there for the dancers in terms of climate control? Is there any cooling system for the stage? for backstage?

Isabella Boylston has been posting on Instagram about some individual steps and moments in this spring’s ballets, and her latest is on the 1890-style coupé jeté with pas de boureé:

Personally, I think Balanchine's works are great enough to withstand imperfect performances by an overall strong (if not at present top-tier or world-class) company of dancers and still give a lot of enjoyment. I'd much rather pay to see Balanchine done at 75% than a lot of other things done at 100%.

I agree, I thought they looked really great in that in the City Center event. I loved having the opportunity to see the piece and thought Teuscher, Shevchenko and Forster were all well cast.

Ah, that surprises me, given that he partnered Part, who's 5'9 off pointe. I don't have a vivid memory of how their heights compared, though.

He’d hardly tower over, say, Whiteside. (Stearns would be more I’d a problem, though less due to size — he’d just seem so much less dynamic than Forster.) And I don’t know that Forster is all that much taller than Hoven. I think the choreography would suit him quite well. I completely understand that there are other intangibles and matters of taste though. And as a separate note, to clarify my earlier comments: Forster is just my personal favorite. Setting him aside, my views on the current state of the male roster would remain the same.

Does the current roster (even counting Bell as a principal in all but title) seem sufficient then? Even for the Met season I’d argue that the ranks are too thin. Hallberg’s and Simkin’s travels (plus injuries, etc) all have to be factored into the mix. It’s McKenzie’s job to account for such things. Last week we had a corps dancer pick up two lead role performances (this dancing 4 of the 8) and drop a solo to get through it all.

I agree that he has recognized and promoted prodigious talent. (Another reason the psychological argument doesn't really work. Such dancers have been promoted throughout his tenure.) I wonder if he's quite as good at cultivating less prodigious talents. A really solid roster probably needs to be populated by both types: those who were born to be principals and those who were made principal. (I'm using "born to be" metaphorically — obviously tons of hard work goes into and comes out of both types.) He tried to cultivate Gorak, I think, but it didn't really work out. Same with Hammoudi. But I think for every 10 you try, you'll see results from...1 or 2? I don't think Forster has been given enough of those types of challenging technical roles. Why doesn't he dance Benno, for instance? (Hoven does.) He finally got Nutcracker this year, and by all the reports I saw on here he was quite impressive. He's done very well in Whipped Cream, I believe. I've generally found his ballroom Rothbart to be quite solid, arabesque balances aside (a quite unusual step in the male principal repertoire). He looked great in Symphonie Concertante last fall (a lot of partnering, but also some tougher short solos in the finale). If it were enough for significant talent to just rise to the top, the company would have more than three full-time male principals. There has to be more that could be done.

I’m certainly not offended but I also don’t think Forster has really been tested and/or failed such tests. Has he fallen short with any consistency in roles he’s been given?

He doesn’t seem to have been inhibited by such unconscious resistance in his exceptionally quick promotion (in multiple senses) of Aran Bell (who arguably even looks a bit like him in build and features — which I suppose could serve an argument in either direction). I’m not sure that psychologizing gets us far in understanding what’s up.

I'm shocked that the male principal roster is in the state it's currently in, but I'm not shocked that no new male principals got promoted. Who would that have been? I'd love to see Forster make principal, and maybe Hoven as well — but they haven't been given the sorts of roles dancers normally get before reaching that level. There's no one in the company now, I don't think, who could plausibly have been promoted to male principal at this particular point, given experiences to date. That reflects a failure of foresight and a failure to cultivate talent over recent years.

Given that this was a reconstruction and that the two pieces you mention from NYCB are Balanchine’s, I assume at least part of this is due to the preferences of the original choreographers, and perhaps not so much an ABT vs. NYCB issue. (Though NYCB at least somewhat = Balanchine, so there’s that.) I don’t recall a discussion of the pointe question in the (not terribly good) book about Balanchine’s creation of Mozartiana, but I’ll have to take a look.

Her absence from the new ballet was perhaps particularly noteworthy, given that there were roles for many featured dancers, and with multiple casts.

I saw yesterday's matinee and the first half of the evening performance. Seo gave a very creditable performance as Aurora. Both she and Trenary did standard, more delicate pas de chats in their entrance, rather than the "baby goat" leaps that Boylston described in her IG video and that Lane very strongly executed. I agree with @abatt that it was nice to be reminded that Aurora doesn't have to be performed by a petite dancer (Part, after all, gave some excellent performances in the previous production, especially once she became more technically secure in the second phase of her ABT career). That said, while I tend to be most drawn to tall dancers, Aurora (unlike e.g. Odette or Nikiya) is a role in which a shorter dancer can really give me everything I'm looking for. The biggest trouble spot for Seo was her rose adagio balances, both sets; that said, she redeemed herself with a stunning balance in the final arabesque pose. Even when the attitude balances are long and secure, that's truly rare to see, and it was an exciting conclusion. She also handled the seashell balance in the vision scene superbly. Her foot knocked the device as she was stepping up into it, but that didn't throw her off in the least, and she filled the music with a long, graceful balance, completely at ease — a true vision. Another highlight of the matinee was Brandt's Diamond Fairy. There are certain roles in which she can play up her sharpness to great effect, and this is one. K. Williams and Hoven weren't as strong in the Bluebird PDD as they were on Tuesday, Williams especially. Hoven was fine, just not quite as crisp, while Williams seemed less refined and a little tired. I could also sense the fatigue from Bell, particularly in his variation. Granted, my immediate comparison was Cornejo, who on Tuesday gave perhaps the best performance of it that I've seen. Bell's was certainly impressive overall, but I could see that he was powering through by the end. With his height and breadth, he looked almost as good as Gomes in the Act II costume. Tatiana Ratmansky was the queen at the matinee, and she has a wonderful stage face — so warm and expressive. Much better than Claire Davison, who's been used a lot this year in those sorts of roles (the SL and SB queens, and the SB countess), and who I find to be kind of a chilly blank (not a problem for the countess, but both queens need more). Marshall Whiteley also gave a dynamic performance as the wolf — unsurprisingly, as he always makes the most of even the smallest role. As a pirate downstage left in Act II of Corsaire, he kept drawing my eye away from the PDT with his enthusiastic reactions to the dancing. While I was only able to stay through Act I of the evening performance, it was a nice end to the season. Of the three Auroras I saw, Trenary gave the most spirited characterization in this act. Her demi-pointe chaînés were fast and tight (as were Hurlin's, the fairy Violente). As noted above, her first set of rose adagio balances were unimpressive, but in the second set she seemed much more at ease. After seeing the same lineup of fairies (Waski / S. Williams / Richardson / Brandt / Giangeruso) at my first two performances, and finding them generally unexciting (besides Brandt), I was glad to see a different lineup this time (Hamrick / Paris / McBride / Katsnelson / Hurlin). Overall, this group was stronger, with Hurlin and Paris especially so. There's a video from the production's first year on YouTube with Teuscher, Paris, Lane, Brandt and Abrera, though (Part as Lilac) — now those were the days! (As an aside, I wish McBride would tone down her stage face a bit. When she danced the flirtatious aristocrat who dances with Benno and Siegfried after the PDT in Swan Lake, she was really overdoing it. She's a very nice dancer, but even in the Met she tends to come across quite loud.) Teuscher was the afternoon's Lilac Fairy, and while she lacked some of Shevchenko's warmth she was perhaps even more technically secure in the variation (especially the pirouettes with arms in fifth). Abrera gave the overall strongest characterization (but I only saw her in the first half), though I agree with @aurora that she looked a little insecure in her variation. That variation is just completely packed with steps; every note of the music gets filled. That's what I love about it — it's one of the most exciting revelations of the Ratmansky production for me. But many dancers struggle to make it all seem fluid and musical. Shevchenko and Teuscher this year really mastered it in a way I don't think I've seen before. I was sorry to have to miss Acts II-III, especially Brandt's Florine and the rest of Trenary's performance, so thanks to those who've reported on them here. The second half of this season turned out to be really quite satisfying. I'm already excited for next year. Shevchenko is really becoming a star; Teuscher seems to be warming up, to complement her technical mastery; Whiteside has really been growing on me; Abrera is still dancing really, really well; Murphy should hopefully be back; Forster has been getting more opportunities (Symphonie Concertante at both Koch and City Center, Nutcracker in California, Sergei and Rochester here); Hurlin is clearly on her way up; Bell is already there; Trenary and Brandt are looking great as always. There's really nothing quite like the ABT Met season, and I just hope after 2020 and the calendar (and possible venue) shifts they work out a way to maintain the special spirit of this time of year.

David LaMarche strikes again. (At least, he was scheduled, according to the Met site.) He wreaked some havoc on the Seo/Stearns Swan Lake I saw as well. I think he's the weakest of the three ABT conductors and seems often inattentive to the dancers.

Maybe that gets covered when the prince hits the bullseye. 😁

That may still happen. New hires don't necessarily get announced at the same time as promotions within the company, I don't think.

Based on past casting trends, I would be surprised if he got more than one of those next year, though more than one would be a delightful surprise. (Alas, I fear it's also quite possible he won't get any of those.)

The only one that seemed possible (though a long shot) to me was Bell, since he’s so obviously favored by administration and male principals are in short supply. I would be delighted by Forster, but the casting this season didn’t make that seem feasible; ditto Hoven. They seem fully stocked with female principals at present, especially in comparison with the men.

Very much deserved by both! I will not be at all surprised if Bell dances mostly principal roles next Met season and is promoted again a year from now.

Does class usually end around noon? I thought it was more like 11.

I'm curious to see how Seo manages Aurora tomorrow, because while I've heard she's quite good in the role I have trouble really believing it (especially after watching Sarah Lane on Tuesday). I've avoided her in it in past years, but as the Met season draws to a close I often find myself collecting tickets for a few extra performances in anticipation of the long summer without NYCB and ABT in season, so I decided to do a double-header tomorrow, particularly to see Bell (really hope he does the variation!) and Abrera at the matinee.

Personally, I think she's lovely in some of her roles — e.g. her Odette this year was excellent, I thought (though not her Odile; the fouettés were kind of a disaster, leaving her at one point just hopping around on the ball of her foot). But she has some serious technical deficiencies that she has never really been able to overcome. So there are many roles for which she's partly well-suited (e.g. Giselle), but that have certain variations or elements (e.g. the pas seul) that can really give her trouble. Other roles are overall better fits for her (e.g. Juliet, I've heard — though I haven't seen her in it). While she's a lovely dancer, she's also a bit cool, and so even roles such as Manon that don't give her major technical challenges can be dramatically not a great fit. I don't dislike her overall, I just think she has (more in the past than nowadays) been vastly overused, almost as if she were an all-around superb dancer (which she's not — she has strengths and weaknesses, like all but the most exceptional stars).