nanushka

And please report back on your experiments! I was interested to read your thoughts on how challenging the pose might be.

Such videos don't exist — that's what makes it a reconstruction. If we had videos of what the dancing in Petipa's original Sleeping Beauty looked like, Ratmansky wouldn't have needed to do all the painstaking research that has gone into his production. He's trying to show us something about the history of ballet that would otherwise be lost to us. I'm not sure early-20th century step interpolations in a late-19th century ballet would be any more fresh and relevant for modern times. ABT does a lot of different ballets, and while they're interested in being fresh and relevant, they obviously see themselves as playing other cultural roles as well. I don't think that's due to a lack of understanding (i.e. I don't think they're trying to be fresh and relevant with their Sleeping Beauty and failing). There's an aesthetic justification for leaving out the fish dives as well: if a PDD ends with a fish dive as its final pose, it potentially detracts from the effect to have three others added before that. (ETA: Ratmansky may now be planning to leave out even that fourth and final one, which he didn’t before in the alternate version danced by Lane and Cornejo. Not sure.) That said, I'm certainly not against the inclusion of the fish dives — I don't have a strong enough inclination in either direction, so if an artist such as Ratmansky wants to show me something interesting about the history of this magnificent work, I'm quite willing to watch and appreciate what he's doing. (I enjoyed both versions in the previous runs of this production, with and without the fish dives, and I quite like the look of the pose in the image above, which I think is yet a third version.)

I think this is a smart move, if she's going to continue to dance the role — to do something she knows she can finish. Too bad about Hallberg. I wonder what's up with him these days — e.g. was this just an off night? not giving it everything he has? something else?

Reasonable mistake, the month and day were spot-on!

That's a year old. They've been soloists since then.

If anyone went this afternoon, I'd love to hear how Forster's second shot at ballroom Rothbart went. And if anyone has news (that's fit to post here) about tonight, I'd love to hear that as well. Thanks!

I do agree, actually. It wasn't to my taste — some of the styling and emphases seemed off to me — but it was most definitely clear and strong in intention.

Most often (not always) in the final week of the season, announced at the end of a weekday morning company class.

I went into last night not expecting too much, but with much curiosity. I've been lukewarm on Bell; I like Teuscher in some things but not particularly as O/O; I was curious about Sebastian in a major role. It was my third performance of the week and I didn't expect to be wowed. I wouldn't say I was, exactly — but I did really enjoy the performance overall, and am glad I went. Bell will probably never be a particular favorite of mine; his particular physique (I love tall dancers, but he also seems rather broad) and his general onstage affect are not my ideals, but it all works as a pretty complete package nonetheless. Act I had some impressive moments, though also some sloppiness (as mentioned above) in the final introspective solo. The Hamrick/S.Williams/Royal PDT was only so-so, with Royal as by far the strongest. Williams lacks buoyancy and Hamrick was uninspired. Interestingly, Gabe Shayer was front and center among the aristocrats in the waltz, but he was really just phoning it in. He looked really unimpressive, especially next to Ribagorda. Overall, I was impressed with Teuscher's Act II. I've come to accept her particular physical limitations (described above) that make her unideal for Odette, but setting those aside I found her performance to be thoughtful, accomplished, and even moving. I didn't like her mime, but her dancing was strong and often quite beautiful — again, with the above-mentioned reservations. She and Bell had very strong chemistry, and as others have observed previously on this thread, he seems to bring out the best in her (and especially some real warmth). Compared with Shevchenko, one real strength of Teuscher's performance was much crisper beats throughout the act, so important in this role. (I almost found her beats during the supported turns at the end of the adagio to be too fluttery — almost manic.) Shevy's exiting swan arms were far superior, though. Teuscher was clearly trying to do the thing where shifting the elbows from pointed up to pointed down gives the impression of wings, but it just looked jagged and awkward. Still, she did give the impression of a creature possessed, which is always dramatic. Trenary, Paris, Lall and Brandt were the cygnettes, and theirs was the strongest of the three I saw this week. (Monday was the same group but with Graniero for Lall.) They did well even on the pas de chats to stage right, though they got one full beat behind over the course of them (which was actually much better than gradually just getting like 3/4 of a beat behind and being completely out of time with the music). Katherine Williams and Cate Hurlin were very well matched as the two swans, and Hurlin looked especially great. In Act III, Gorak and Klein gave an excellent performance in the Neapolitan dance, even stronger than theirs on Monday night. Sebastian had some rough edges in his Rothbart solo, but he did better than Forster in managing the partnering of the four princesses, and he had the strongest balance of the three I saw in this. It was there, but it wasn't particularly beautiful, and a bit shaky. His sissones were particularly crisp and impressive. He was making some attempts at the dramatic acting, but it wasn't coming across too strongly, and he needs to keep working at it. It's also true, as mentioned above, that he appeared to really tire at the end. The Black Swan PDD was overall excellent. Bell gave a very strong performance in his variation, with impressive jump combinations in the final progression downstage. One thing that I really didn't like, though, was that after each combination he chose to go down on one knee; that seems like a rather odd choice in the middle of a variation, since it's a pose that I so strongly associate with the end of a solo. I don't see a strong artistic reason for punctuating a solo in that way; it seemed showy, and I'd rather see more continuous dancing. (That variation, especially in the fuller orchestration used by ABT, is about Siegfried's bursting passionate excitement for his beloved — why would he stop to pose?) Teuscher's solo was excellent — no surprise, since she's such a strong turner, and that's what it's really all about. I did not see any triple fouettés; I think she began with a triple pirouette into the fouettés, then did solid doubles until the B section, when she shifted to singles. They were very strong, though she did travel (I thought not only in the B section but also toward the end of the A section, and I thought not only downstage but also a bit to stage right — but I could be wrong). My one quibble (I don't begrudge a little traveling, as long as it's mostly downstage and not extreme) is that the doubles weren't done in any obvious connection with the music. Granted, it's pretty much impossible to do doubles strictly on the beat, but the whole sequence ended up just being pretty independent of what was happening in the orchestra, other than the timing of the shift from doubles to singles. Her backward hops in arabesque at the end of coda were stunning — those balances between each set were superb. Act IV was another strong sequence, with very solid partnering from Bell on those lifts, and with a dramatically strong performance from both. I was a bit too far to the right to see all but the start of Bell's leap at the end, but it must have been stunning because it got a lot of applause. I know many have complained about how unseemly it is for the audience to applaud at that point, but the way I see it is if a dancer is going to do something that's so obviously calculated to impress, one can hardly blame the audience for being impressed and spontaneously expressing that. If anyone were showing a lack of taste or tact at that point, it'd seem to be as much the dancer as the audience — but I don't really think that's the case. I'm very glad I went last night. It was not a Swan Lake for the ages — or even perhaps one that will stick in my memory for years to come — but there was a lot to enjoy.

Completely agree. I can see it happening — either because he really ends up fully deserving it or because they really need male principals and/or because he’s favored by administration. Whether it really does happen I’m not sure.

Thanks for writing, @Victura. I've never thought of Sebastian as a potential prince-type lead, but his getting the Rothbart debut is part of what led me to get a ticket for tonight — Bell being the other. Good for him for being the only one to really handle the balance out of the first four performances, even in a debut. Royal is looking great this year. He's really building further on the early promise he showed. I can see him making principal in another few years. There's a need for some greater consistency and refinement first, and a few good showings in full-length leading roles in the classics. ETA: It sounds like Sebastian may have filled in for Hammoudi last night, so he’s getting three shots at the role in his debut run, which is great. Unfortunate that Hanmoudi may be injured, given that he was perhaps having a potentially revitalizing season. (I’m not certain that’s the case but he at least looked better in Dnieper than I’ve seen him in years).

Well....Seo, Teuscher and their fans would. But I very much agree that Lane should get at least one if not two O/Os next year!

Especially after Tuesday night, I would definitely want to see that. It might not be idiomatic, but I'm fairly sure I'd enjoy it.

Fascinating! Thanks for digging that up!!

Herman looked pretty great in his alternating double tour-pirouette sequence at the end of his ballroom variation last night, judging by his IG story.

Yes, if there's an assigned cover for the role in every performance, and if those covers are often other dancers performing the role in the same run (both of which I believe are true), it seems highly unlikely that Lane would be assigned for Saturday night. On the other hand, it makes sense that she would have been assigned for Wednesday night.

That seems extremely unlikely to me. As much as I'd love to see a Lane/Cornejo Swan Lake, I don't think that's in the cards. Wasn't Misty giving Herman and Sarah kisses during the curtain calls last night?

Throughout the 11-12 years I've been following ABT and reading BA, there have always been cases like this, of dancers who are, on the one hand, much loved by many on here but are overlooked by McKenzie or, on the other hand, fairly unpopular among many on here but are given lots of opportunities. McKenzie's tastes and priorities when it comes to casting simply seem to differ (in often apparently inexplicable ways) from those of many of us here. I don't think the Black Swan thing has anything to do with it, but of course I don't know.

I just looked, and at least for the remaining performances, that's not really the case. Saturday matinee is the closest, but there are a lot of tickets for Thursday and Friday. Financially, for performing arts organizations, I believe the difference between a 90% capacity house and a 100% capacity house is quite significant. There are probably 250-300 seats available in orchestra for Friday night, and I believe that section's capacity is about 1350. Those are among the seats that bring in the most profit.

True. There's not a single ticket available for purchase in the entire house right now for Saturday night. Granted, that's with Hallberg as well, but still. (Was last night a sell-out as well, does anyone know?) Just as with the aging, much-maligned production, McKenzie has a strong incentive to keep casting Misty (especially in this particular role, which has such resonance for her fans and in ballet generally) as long as he can conceivably manage to do so, even if compromises (e.g. split casting, last-minute substitutions, changed steps) need to be made along the way.

Possibly. Though as long as McKenzie’s in charge he has a strong financial incentive to maintain the status quo (especially since it gets a minimum of 8 performances every single year in the Met season alone). We might get a cosmetic refreshment of the current production first.

So far, Rothbart's arabesque balance has been for this year what the fouettés were last year. Forster didn't really manage it, Royal didn't manage it either Tuesday or Wednesday night — how did Sebastian do on Wednesday afternoon?

The third-to-last paragraph of @FauxPas's review suggests that Misty looked like she might be dancing under strain: That seems to me to be the most likely explanation for what happened and why, though of course we have no way of knowing. But I suspect Misty didn't want to pull out completely (given the inevitable disappointment of her many ardent fans), and so this was a compromise to avoid either a disastrous performance or further injury.

Yes, sorry, I meant Saturday, as I was referring to Hallberg as well. Just mistyped.

I'd be very surprised. It made sense tonight, since Cornejo was Siegfried, but there's a very different Siegfried scheduled for Friday Saturday.