nanushka

Ugh. I was really hoping to see Murphy's Swan Lake one last time, and looking forward to seeing Forster as well. Now I'll have to decide if I still want to do a double-header that day — maybe not. I'd love to see Roxander do Benno, curious if he's cast.

Yes but on the other hand the uninterrupted entrechats are so much more evocative of Albrecht’s fated compulsion to dance. I always feel torn! — each option is compelling in its own way, when very well done.

I'm not clear on what the mistakes are, though. So far the only mistake I can recall being mentioned above from yesterday's performance is the hops. I also mentioned the Act 2 side-by-side assemblés, but there wasn't a mistake — they were just rather small. My impression of the performance was that the elements, in general, were all there — other than the hops. (As I've said, though, I don't have a perfectly step complete knowledge of the choreography) There were some elements (e.g. the dedans/dehors turns (with the music), the slow penchés, the opening spin in Act 2) that were quite good, I thought; there were a good number of elements that I thought were just fine, though. That's why, to me, it was not a very technically strong performance. By no means did it seem among the lower 50% of technical performances I've seen in ABT full-lengths, especially in recent years. It sounds like her artistic interpretation has grown a lot since she did the piece before; I found it to be extremely compelling. That doesn't mean I value artistry more than technique; it doesn't mean I don't want to see both. But I haven't gotten a clear sense of why people found her performance to be so very inapt, and inept, by the standards of ABT performances.

Certainly. To my eyes, the flaws in her technique were not so dire as a few others have suggested. The only “glaring omission” I recall was the hops, which she very smoothly transitioned to a sequence of relevés. I certainly don’t have every step memorized but I’ve seen the ballet many times. While not flawless, it seemed to me a fully realized performance — not a rehearsal. Similarly, while one may prefer one to the other, I think the brisés are a perfectly acceptable alternative to the entrechats. One doesn’t as often get to see the former, especially from a tall dancer, and I thought Whiteside’s looked better than many I’ve seen.

Speaking of potential promotions (and the male soloists currently taking up slots) where are Gorak, Hoven and Shayer? Have they performed at all this season? Shayer isn’t doing any Rothbarts; I’ll be very surprised if Hoven or (especially) Gorak does Benno. Perhaps they’re just being kept on payroll until contracts renew in August?

Probably true. That said, it sounds like the Giselles have overall been quite technically solid this year — no obvious duds. (I didn't see Seo, but it sounds like she's dancing quite well these days.) But I'll take a dramatically very alive and technically fine (not great) performance over a technically very strong but quite soulless one, like Brandt's. ("Coached within an inch of its life," someone above wrote; I thought that was a perfect description.) Trenary's was well worth seeing, in my opinion.

I think this is a perfect description of what I saw in her performance this afternoon. Was it technically perfect? No, certainly not. (Among other things, she had trouble again with the hops, as described in the article; but she quickly transitioned to a different approach that served her well for the remainder.) But I have rarely seen a dancer perform this role with more life instilled into every moment, especially throughout the first act. Trenary is a stage actress of a very high calibre. She was living the role. She and Whiteside made an excellent pair, too. The Act II lifts were breathtaking, as he held her high and she reached out out into space, not with strain but with expansion. (I also thought she came out of them quite a bit more gracefully than Brandt, using just one hand on Whiteside's shoulder rather than two.) That said, I often thought she could have danced bigger. (E.g., the side-by-side assemblés in Act 2, quite underwhelming.) As I said, it was not a perfect performance — but so dramatically satisfying.

Lovely article, indeed. I’m cautiously optimistic that Trenary will get more her due in terms of casting under Jaffe.

Yes, this has long been their house style and I have always found it really annoying. I agree that proper names should be respected and given accurately.

Yes, I got that as well, and I don't think the idea is really at odds with the facts about Russia that others have raised here. Those two ways of describing the role race plays (or doesn't) in contemporary Russia both seem understandable to me. (I have no first-hand experience of Russia, but both fit what I've heard and read elsewhere.)

I wonder if the piece is appearing in print. There's usually a note at the bottom of the page, if so, giving the date and section/page info.

Nor does he mention the numerous featured roles that do not fit his argument — e.g. Mercutio, Bluebird, the boy in Whipped Cream, Espada, peasant PDD, etc.. And the "why did I get promoted to soloist if they didn't think I was ready?" logic is just flawed. He was getting lots of soloist roles. What he wasn't getting were many principal roles. He implicitly criticizes ABT for promoting him "suddenly" in 2020, apparently due to his race, but he publicly pushed them on exactly that point in the lead-up to his promotion. https://www.instagram.com/p/CBxy5iJgh8H/?igshid=OGIzYTJhMTRmYQ== I have zero doubt that perceptions of race have been and continue to be an obstacle for many talented dancers at ABT and elsewhere, but I also don't think Gabe's essay is the best articulation of the problem. And in my opinion his dancing really was not up to the higher standard he suggests it was.

Ischuk and Curley were both very good on Wednesday as well. It seems the company has a lot of strong younger men now.

There's a thread on this in the Writings on Ballet forum:

Gabe writes in the Times: His full ABT repertory list is here. (For those without access to the full NYT text, try this link.)

Oh I disagree. I thought the lifts were very effective. He lifted her overhead, and then very slowly raised her higher and higher. As @fondoffouettes described it above, it looked like she would float away. I imagine it would have been rather easier for him to simply raise her up and keep her suspended.

Yes, that's the Boston Ballet recording I referred to above; a bit of info is very dimly visible at the opening.

I haven't watched it in quite awhile so don't have fresh recollections, but there is a video on YouTube of Boston Ballet performing Bourée Fantasque. The video is titled, simply, "Bourée Fantasque." There is also a detailed write-up in Reynolds' Repertory in Review (pp. 100-102).

OED definition A.1.b (with examples given from 1447 to 1664 and from 1952 onward): Failure to adhere to the preferences of certain conservative usage opiners does not constitute misuse.

Traditionally in the final week of the Met season — but the company is now under new artistic management, and the Met season now extends into late July (with new contracts, I believe, starting August 1). So the pattern may change or remain as it was.

Sounds like a great selling point for a ballet!

I assumed if it was a new role(s) she was stepping into, it might have been named, and I thought the NYT wording left open the possibility that these were board roles she’d already had. The timing is noteworthy, but it certainly may just be happenstance.

True. But the timing seems unnecessarily disruptive. I'd have expected her to depart either sooner or later if that's all it was.

Hunh. Very curious. Is it true for any, at this point?

I do not find, in general, that the current team is particularly skilled at putting programs together. For awhile, this was perhaps excusable due to COVID/post-COVID difficulties; but now it's quite clear they (IMO) just don't have a great sense for it.