nanushka

The Copeland fouetté video seems to have spawned a new one: a compilation from Nutcracker, Corsaire, SB (Florine), and two separate SLs, including a part of the earlier video. She definitely seems to have some troubles with classical choreography, though a similar compilation could probably be cobbled together for many prominent dancers. I wonder, though, if this new video will lead to a PR response, as the last one apparently did.

Love this.

Oh, I disagree. Sure, I've seen even better. Sure, I wouldn't have shrieked myself. But I think there are a lot of dancers who have a lot of self-respect who nonetheless don't often do turns of that quality. (Speed, evenness, clarity, control. Nothing showy, but clean and impressive.)

Nice sleuthing, fondoffouettes!

Sarah posts on IG about coaching from Irina and Max:

As another who grew up in a very small town (not quite so small as yours, though!) and was touched early by ballet, I loved reading your story. Welcome, enpunto! This site is rich with material and many conversations, both old and new, so enjoy!

Yes, with the existence of this video, Misty's performances at the Met this spring are going to be under particular scrutiny. I hope this serves as a catalyst for her and him to devise a technically sound, dramatically effective alternative (even, perhaps, eliminating the fouettés altogether). This is a crucial moment in the ballet, when Odile and Rothbart's seduction of Siegfried is clinched. A predictable technical problem at this point seems, to me, inexcusable. It's time to come up with a workable and effective solution.

Just bringing into the discussion here the YouTube video of Misty's fouettés. There was a discussion going in the ABT forum that included some breaches of board rules, but perhaps if we stay within bounds here, there could be some further productive discussion of the topic.

Oh, I do hope so. (Not that anyone gets injured — just that, if they do, Sarah steps in.) And yes, I believe she studied Juliet with Ferri — using grant money, I think? Re: the SL PDT, yes giving others a chance is one good reason to hope no. Another might be how it would feel for her to dance the PDT after doing O/O last year. (But of course I don't know her feelings.) A third is so that she could be fresh and ready to jump into O/O at any point.

Will KMcK have Sarah Lane dance the Swan Lake PDT this year? Predictions?

Yes, that's pretty much right, as I recall as well. I too would have to check the details at home. But in addition to that, the Act III role of Odile was rather different from the "black swan" character we have today. Wiley quotes extensively from the original libretto for the 1877 version, so I'll try to check the details there.

Yes, and I believe the Odile that music was written for was not the same Odile we now know from the later (1895?) staging of the work that has come down to us in the present. The narrative was rather different in the work's first iteration. There's a lot of great detail about this in Wiley's book Tchaikovsky's Ballets.

Sure. I meant that as a personal — but very strongly held! — opinion. I think the version with the steps is essential not only in that particular moment but as part of the whole fabric of the work, its unity of tone and style. I remember one critic — Goldner? — talking about Balanchine's genius for knowing which steps work together across a work to unify it and make the parts add up to a greater whole. This, for me, is a perfect example of that.

Huxley looked quite awkward partnering Tiler Peck this winter in Baiser. She was taller when on pointe, and she even appeared to possibly have a thicker waist and torso. (It may have just been an illusion, though, based on the fact that the difference in size one expects between a ballerina and her partner wasn't there.) The juxtaposition made both of them look rather odd, whereas I think they both look quite good on their own. How do Hyltin and Peck compare, physically? I don't have a clear enough sense of that.

I am sure you were not the only one on here who had that experience. I wasn't at that particular performance, but I've been at others after which some on here have written about things that I just completely missed — or that I saw, but interpreted very differently. No one's perspective on here is definitive, and we all have the potential to make observations that can illuminate others' experiences. I wouldn't let that particular sort of experience (what you described above) prevent you from sharing your thoughts here on what you've seen. That said, it can definitely be just as nice to view and appreciate and not feel the need to put into words any sort of response.

It is a special experience, I find. It may not be the ideal house for viewing ballet (by a long shot), but there's something exciting about settling in there for a dramatic full-length like Giselle. It feels like an event — and, if one is lucky, the dancing is of a quality to sustain that feeling.

I honestly forgot she was a principal.

Definitely. It’s essential — it’s in the music. It’s a perfect Balanchine moment.

In general, I am a fan of neither Boylston nor Copeland, and I'd probably be equally likely to see either of them, if those were my only choices. (Particularly in Giselle. I'd prefer to see either of them in other works.) If that's the case, I agree with the above suggestions: yes, definitely, to Cornejo and Abrera. (Though you're taking a risk with the former, especially. He's been plagued with injuries the past few years.) I also second the point about the likelihood that tickets are already scarcer for that performance, though, due to Copeland. In any case, enjoy!

Oh, looking forward to watching this, thanks so much for posting.

A night I will truly never forget!

Just to correct the record — though recognizing that you noted your uncertainty — my opinions are quite different from your characterization of them here. But I know that doesn't detract from the point you're actually making — which is a good one — about personal tastes.

This is a cogent analysis, and I mostly agree, but I would argue that it took too long for her to be cast the third time. I started following the company ca. 2007-08, and I'm pretty sure it was already balletomane lore that Stella had once been cast in Giselle and cancelled due to injury. Or if not, it was so within just a very few years after that. I certainly don't remember it actually happening; I only remember people talking about it having happened. So there was quite a bit of time between her earlier cancellations and the triumphant Giselle with Shklyarov two years ago. (That said, the subsequent Giselle last year already showed some technical decline. Which further supports the idea that she was kept waiting too long.)

I noticed it was glitchy on Sunday, so perhaps that's just the case again. I'm not aware of any policy/system change.

This is a very nice description and captures something that I, too, have seen in Hallberg's dancing at its best — with the above-posted video as an example (limited, of course, by its medium).