nanushka

It's striking to note that, with Vishneva's and Part's departures, ABT has only 6 female principals left: Abrera, Boylston, Copeland, Kochetkova, Murphy, Seo. Kochetkova danced hardly at all this season, and is also a principal with another company, so in a sense that leaves five –– two of whom have demonstrated fairly significant technical deficiencies this season and before. America's National Ballet Company® seriously needs an infusion of principal-level talent. But it's a serious shame that Part is being flung aside just when the ranks are so lacking in seasoned principal-level long-term experience. (They have 29 years among the six of them -– 15 of which are Murphy's alone!)

Quite impressive that, as of right now, 462 people have signed. I agree, I don't expect it to change anything, but it's a nice gesture of support.

Your description here is Boylston to a T. I remember reading numerous people on here in the year or so after she made principal saying things like, "Why isn't she getting better coaching to correct some of these problems?" For a young principal it seemed borderline excusable. Now it's really just gone on too long; I don't feel that she's developed much at all since her promotion. With Vishneva and Part gone, she will be the third most senior female principal (after Gillian and Hee). She has some very nice qualities as a dancer, but these problems are becoming unacceptable. But I suppose if she sees the sort of praise she's been getting in the Times and if she sees a dancer like Part, with very different qualities, getting fired, maybe she just thinks she's on exactly the right track?

It didn't help that, 4 or 5 minutes into the surprise intermission, the house lights flicked off for a second!

Turns out there's only one intermission in the Mozartiana/2PDDs/Aurora program, with one piece before and three after. I'm surprised, given that Aurora can't be much shorter than AfterEffect, and SLC and Nutcracker PDD are both supposed to be 13, I believe. I wonder why the discrepancy between the programs.

Mozartiana is 25-30 (depending on tempi); the two PDDs combined should be 25. So with two intermissions, Aurora's Wedding should start a little after 9. It's a little unclear exactly how much of Ratmansky's original Act 3 they'll cut out, and there are two pieces being inserted. I'd say a good estimate is you'll be on your way around 10.

Then again, it's only quite infrequently that others in the company post about Veronika in general –– at least among those I follow.

When are we going to get her book on Balanchine, which was first due out well over a decade ago?

My favorite bit was when they were all in a huddle at upstage center, near the end, giving themselves the heimlich.

Yes, it's there in the music. You need to see her launch.

EXACTLY! So well put. And to add yet another dimension to the seemingly impossible achievement, it must be musical even so!

Agreed on many points. There were some very nice moments from both dancers during this, but also a lot that was disappointing. Those backward hops of Boylston's were impressive but tasteless. If you're not going to pay attention to the music when dancing Balanchine, of all choreographers, what's the point? This is Tchai Pas, not Grand Pas Classique. The final lift was quite anti-climactic. It would've been better if they'd have just jetéd offstage and called it a night. And the fish dives –– especially the first one –– were quite unimpressive. He may as well have just lifted her straight up and tilted her on her side. It's true that Gorak did look much livelier than he has at other points this season. His sideways jumps with développé (don't know the term for them) were lovely. And yes, Boylston's unfortunate "crab claw" arms were back, especially during the manège of piqué turns. But you're right, Batsuchan, that lowering of her leg was quite impressive –– almost as impressive as Bouder in this video (at the 6:20 mark) that stuns me every time I watch it:

Mozartiana is a piece I really love, but, apart from the preghiera, I hadn't thought if of it as a particularly natural fit for Veronika Part; so in addition to the intense disappointment of learning that she was leaving ABT, I was also disappointed that this (and not, say, Odette/Odile or Nikiya) would be her final role. I shouldn't have been. I completely agree with Batsuchan: As it turned out, I felt that this was a perfect final piece to see Veronika dance. (I haven't yet gotten a ticket for Saturday; I'm worried the event would just be too upsetting for me, and the two performances I've seen from her this season have been so fulfilling that I might just leave it at those.) Between the preghiera, the tema promenade, the four solo variations, the two-part PDD, and the finale, Balanchine has devised so many differently toned ways of having his ballerina move through space that by the end you feel you've seen the complete catalogue of her finest attributes artfully and musically deployed by a true master. Even if you were to watch this ballet only from the dancers' waists up, there's enough variety and expressivity in the ports de bras to be endlessly engaged. Veronika was of course utterly gorgeous in the preghiera –– that kneeling back bend with the arms spread in communion with the heavens was a true sight to behold. The complete serenity of this first movement was exactly what I needed after the days of frustration, anger and disappointment I'd experienced in learning of her situation. I have to admit I wasn't able to fully register Simkin's performance in the gigue, being so affected by what came before, so I'm glad that I'll be seeing him again in it on Wednesday. My sense is that he restrained himself to the clarities of the Balanchine style more than I'd expected, though he was also less buoyant than I'd hoped. I was very impressed by Blaine Hoven's performance in the male variations. He seemed not to tire in the least, and those can be real killers. It's essentially 45 seconds on / 45 seconds off, for the entire stretch. The steps were clean and crisp throughout. Veronika smiled quite a lot during her variations, and I can imagine this annoying some viewers. (I read about this in some old BA posts on here, from previous ABT runs, in which it was suggested that Calegari may have even coached the lead ballerinas to do something like this.) For me, there's so much inventiveness in the choreography that I can't help smiling myself when seeing much of it, even for the umpteenth time, so it didn't particularly bother me. The first portion of the PDD, before the menuet girls run around, was one part that didn't work as well for me. It seemed a bit too studied and careful, whereas the effect of the pair's sinuous turns and twists around the stage can really be heightened by playing up the illusion of spontaneity –– especially since true spontaneity is so obviously impossible here, given how complicated the timing of the counterpoint is between the two bodies. The main PDD, to the violin solo, was quite lovely, with those arcing lifts particularly standing out. Supported pirouettes were on the whole fairly secure, and the various points at which chaînés, piqués and other turns are deliberately given in slower motion were particularly effective. The only really major problem spot was on the final pose, back-to-back, with the ballerina in supported arabesque. Veronika was clearly straining here (possibly supporting herself on her recently injured ankle?) and had to bring her leg down for a moment before raising it again. She looked quite shaky and uncomfortable, and I actually wish she had just kept the leg down at the end to maintain the final brief restfulness of the pose. Numerous critics have commented on the replications and mirrorings in the roles of this ballet –– the four little girls as versions of the four menuet girls as versions of the single ballerina, not to mention the contrasting male roles –– but it's Arlene Croce's description (reprinted in Going to the Dance) of the ballet's finale that best sums up for me why this felt like a perfect (if bittersweet) ending for Veronika's years of giving superb performances on the Met stage: As she returns, strolling at the end of the ballet, the cast assembles for the first time, its tiny ranks expanding with cosmic implication. Thus does the master choreographer aggrandize the gifts and presence of a ballerina. Thus does he reveal her, sovereign in her kingdom of ballet –– the one among the many who are one.

Actually I'm pretty sure that's what I saw on there over the weekend for premium orchestra.

I'll check later tonight when home. I've been debating for a week whether to go Saturday in addition to tonight and have looked at the seating chart a lot so I may be able to remember!

UGH if so that's in disgusting taste. Tickets were already at "Misty prices" before all this.

Kent would be very wise to snatch her up now, especially if Veronika has an interest in coaching after retirement from dancing.

HAHAHA! Or maybe a soon-to-be announced new principal. That'd be a nice gesture. Gotta keep laughing.

Anywhere along the Acela corridor sounds good to me! (Though I know that's not what you meant! )

The Times article has been updated yet again, with the following added: A spokeswoman for Ballet Theater said the company, which does not discuss personnel matters, would not comment further. Ms. Part was not available to comment on Monday.

If you scroll down to his earlier post, you can see the original wording of the article's title.

This is definitely a good point to keep in mind, in terms of the farewell performance itself. I can quite imagine Part wanting to make a quieter exit than many others. Though of course that's a separate issue from whether she wanted to make an exit at all at this particular time.

It's quite possible it was changed. Perhaps even at her own insistence.

The headline reads, "Veronika Part to Retire from American Ballet Theater [sic]." And reread the first paragraph: Veronika Part, the Russian-born ballerina who has been a principal dancer with American Ballet Theater since 2009, will retire from the company at the end of this season because her contract was not renewed for another year.

I would be surprised if he does, especially when the article says quite directly, "her contract has not been renewed." I know I, for one, would feel severely hard-pressed not to shout out some boos. The only thing that would stop me is the desire to avoid putting Veronika in an even more uncomfortable situation. And I completely share those feelings you describe. In particular, this whole thing has completely killed the excitement I was feeling leading up to any impending announcement of promotions. I feel disgusted.