NinaFan

1 hour ago, abatt said:

Is the schedule available  anywhere yet?

I can't find it anywhere.  I had looked at their "Master Calendar" but October was blank except for one unrelated event.

I almost changed my subscription package based on the ballets.  Now, I'm glad I left it alone.   If they've already changed three ballets, how many others will change.  I always map out my additional tickets well in advance.   I love most of the ballets anyway, but I almost revolved something very important around the Union Jack dates!  Anyway, like everyone on here, I'll keep checking NYCB for updates.

I'm always excited to see IN THE UPPER ROOM, but I can see most of the other ballets danced to perfection across the plaza.  I haven't found ABT fall seasons very exciting in a number of years, and this year doesn't appear to be any better.  And the last thing I want to see is Afterite.  

1 hour ago, Rick said:

A superb evening indeed. I've been lukewarm about Boylston in the past but she definitely won me over last night. Those fouettes - gosh, so effortless. And Simkin was phenomenal. Abrera and Royal too. My last Don Quixote was with Osipova/Vasiliev a few years ago. I think I enjoyed last night's performance even more.

The performance keeps going round and round in my head.  I'm a huge Osipova/Vasiliev fan, and I believe your comparison to them is very accurate. 

11 hours ago, canbelto said:

I'm very tired but I was there tonight and it was just one of those performances where everyone was on. I thought Katherine Williams made a wonderful debut as Queen of the Dryads. This role brings out the best in Isabella Boylston -- her jumps and balances were amazing. Fouettes good -- singles with doubles mixed in, little traveling. Simkin was spectacular. I lost count of how many 540's and 9-pirouettes in a row and saut de basques and whatever else he did. Stella Abrera and Calvin Royal were a really handsome Mercedes and Espada. Cate Hurlin and Cassandra Trenary also excellent as Kitri's friends.

I second that!  I was at the Boylston/Simkin performance last night and it absolutely spectacular!  It was perfection in every role.  I gave myself a sore throat from screaming so much.  Looking forward to Shevchenko /Whiteside tonight!

33 minutes ago, Amicos said:

This is my first post at BA, though I have been reading posts here for quite sometime. Sadly, I am only able to make it to NYC for an ABT show once a year. I envy those of you that can go to several! This year I chose Swan Lake (it's literally been 30 years since I've seen it) with Teuscher, Stearns and Zhurbin/Forster at the helm. Here's what I thought...

 

First, someone in a previous post had mentioned a swan puppet? I had no idea what that meant until the prologue. I've never seen von Rothbart wrestle a swan before and have to say I spontaneously chuckled. Fortunately, I caught myself before I actually made a noise! Someone also mentioned a "snooze fest" in Act 1 and some other parts of the ballet, which I was surprised by but have to admit, I found myself quite bored in sections. The costumes were beautiful though in some scenes looked quite heavy? Sets were lovely. Orchestra had a rocky start in the very beginning but settled well and played great. I absolutely love this music!

 

Now for the dancing...From my experience in the ballet world, arms are among the last to develop and not everyone truly masters them. Devon Teuscher, however, has with a vengeance. From the center of her back to the tips of her fingers, every bone and ligament was used. I was mesmerized by her Odette due to her use of her arms more than anything else. I had seen an interview of her once talking about her difficulty with long, luscious arabesques and unfortunately she is still struggling with them, which was a tad disappointing. Many of them didn't even reach 90 degrees. Her Odile was exciting, with a stark contrast to Odette as expected. Being a turner, she had no trouble with her fouettes, except I think they traveled way too much and the musicality could use improvement. She was also doing something with her acting towards the audience; giving these "ah ha, I'm fooling him" looks. Unfortunately, I don't think it worked. It was distracting, if not comical. Overall though, she is a lovely dancer and I really look forward to watching her mature.

 

Cory Stearns was not impressive to me at all. His physique and acting were good but he seemed heavy, too close to the ground in his jumps. His turns were a bit off as well. I was not impressed and even disappointed after I saw Tom Forster as purple Rothbart appear in Act 3. Wow! Why wasn't he Siegfried? His jumps soared, bravado shined. He commanded the stage for the short time he was on it. Hoping he gets more attention from KMc!

 

Stephanie Williams and Zhong-Jing Fang danced the big swans. The contrast was striking. Fang was light and airy. She held balances (attitude half turn) and had a gorgeous line. Williams however did not look good to me and was distracting in her heaviness (not talking about weight). I was a bit surprised for ABT, even corps members. The Cygnettes did a very good job; tight and clean. Catherine Hurlin, Katherine Williams and Blaine Hoven were up for the Pas de Trois and it was lovely. I do hope Hurlin makes soloist soon, would love to see what she is capable of over her career. The rest of the cast was good but I thought there was a lot of disparity among the dancers. Some were fresh, light on their feet, beautiful lines, clean turns, gorgeous feet, overall lovely technique. Others seemed heavy (again, not weight), bored maybe, a tad sloppy in parts. Could it be lack of rehearsal, rehearsal notes or attention?

 

 I thoroughly enjoyed myself and am glad I saw the show. Can't wait to see more!

Welcome to Ballet Alert Amicos, and thank you for your insightful review.   I missed Devon’s O/O this year, but I did get to see her debut last year.   It is so difficult to choose just one performance from an eight week season, but it sounds like chose carefully and enjoyed the performance. 

1 hour ago, California said:

Some time back, someone here said that it appeared from the casting they had given up on Hammoudi. He's another one I avoid. He just hasn't worked out as a must-see principal.

I agree, and doubt he will ever make it past soloist.  I think he shows great promise for character actor roles so sorely needed at ABT.  Someone has to fill the shoes of Salstein, Barbee, and Julio Bragado-Young to name a few.  I thought Hammoudi was very funny in Harlequinade, and was also a great Tybalt this year.  

Anyway, I hope he isn't injured.  

Just now, fondoffouettes said:

Wow! Had Hammoudi been scheduled for any additional Rothbarts, as well? Or just the one on Tuesday?

I just see the Tuesday on the casting sheet.

5 hours ago, abatt said:

By the way, once Copeland did pull out of her Harlequinades I bought tickets for those dates.  Brandt and Simkin were magnificent in Harlequinade.

Me too!  And yes, they were magnificent!

20 minutes ago, abatt said:

Anyone else notice that Whiteside is replacing Hammoudi in tomrrow night's SL (partnering Murphy)?  It's on the ABT calendar.

Wow that's three Swan Lakes, with two of them two days in a row!   

I saw Swan Lake on Tuesday night with Boylston/Simkin, and yesterday afternoon with Shevchenko/Whiteside.   Both were SPECTACULAR and the house was packed at both performances.

I've seen most of Boylston's Swan Lakes (starting with her debut with Simkin about six years ago) and she just keeps getting better and better.  Her Odile has always been terrific, but now her Odette has become so polished, that she is starting to remind me a bit of Ananiashvili.  Simkin was exciting as always, and is a perfect match for Bella.  His leap at the end always takes my breath away with his amazing height and deep arch of his back. 

Shevchenko was.....OMG gorgeous!   She was brilliant as both Odette and Odile.  She had exquisite swan like arms the likes of which I haven’t seen in quite a while, and simply put she was born to dance this role.  Whiteside danced well, and did an admirable job of partnering Christine.   I'm not sure why some posters on BA feel the need to avoid him so much that they wind up missing out on some pretty spectacular performances.   I don't seek him out, but I never let him stand in the way of seeing a particular dancer.  IMO, he always partners and dances well.

Aran Bell made a terrific debut as Von Rothbart.  Yes, Gomes is the real benchmark, but Aran made an incredible impression his first time out.  Great acting and strength, and I loved his smug smirk which was performed to perfection. 

3 hours ago, Ettore said:

Hello!

I do hope this isn't inappropriate to comment here regarding this, but I work for The Sarasota Ballet and I thought I would tell you that there is a rather large error on the Joyce website regarding the repertoire. I know we have spoken with the Joyce about this and hopefully it will be fixed on their site soon.

However, just for you all to know, the repertoire is the following:

Program 1

Sir Frederick Ashton's Monotones I & II   |   Ricardo Graziano's Symphony of Sorrows   |   Christopher Wheeldon's There Where She Loved

Program 2

Starts with Wheeldon's There Where She Loved and then to commemorate the 30th anniversary of Ashton's passing the program will include Monotones I & II and four Ashton diverts/extracts (La Chatte Métamorphosée en Femme; the pas de trois from Les Patineurs; Méditation from Thaïs; and the final pas de deux from The Two Pigeons, performed by Victoria Hulland and guest artist Marcelo Gomes).

I hope that clears up the mistake (and hopefully any disappointment as well!)

Thank you so much for all of the information!  I am looking forward to seeing The Sarasota Ballet, and also delighted that I will also be seeing Marcelo!

Bell/Teuscher R&J - What a spectacular performance!  Bell is a natural born Romeo with his boyish good looks, but that is just the icing on the cake.  His dancing, emotion and acting were exquisite!  I loved him from the moment he walked out on the stage to mess around with his two buddies.  He has wonderful chemistry with Devon who was a glorious and very lovely Juliet.   Like Bell, Devon shows great emotion in her acting.  They were so convincing that I could not stop myself from crying during the last scene which was extremely heartbreaking and beautiful.    

Gabe Shayer was a superb Mercutio, as were Luis Ribagorda as Benvolio and Hammoudi as Tybalt .  The entire supporting cast were really outstanding, which made for an exceptional performance.  The audience gave an immediate standing ovation and I was hoarse from screaming by the time we left.

The first time I saw Bell was when he guested in an Eglevsky Nutcracker when he was about 13 or 14.  He danced a number of different roles, and at the end of the performance they had a Q&A with the dancers.  My husband and I were able to move up to the front row for the Q&A.  Aran seemed so shy!  We knew he was going to become an extraordinary dancer someday, and feel privileged to have attended his first major role at ABT. 

We’re looking forward to his Von Rothbart next week, but really can’t wait to see him cast in more lead roles! 

I certainly hope Kevin promotes Aran and Gabe to soloist in the next few weeks.   Gabe is way overdue, and Aran has already proven that he needs to be fast tracked.

I’m looking forward to Bell's debut as Romeo tomorrow as well as his Von Rothbart next week.  I saw him in both of his Harlequinade roles last week and like many others on BA, I have been watching him as a corps dancer since he was hired.  He seems to have a lot of “front row” corps roles this season, and I was hoping that he was being groomed for larger roles.   It never occurred to me that he’d get a Romeo. I wish Lendorf had not missed his Romeo along with the entire season, but at least Aran is getting a chance in a principal role. 

If Aran is anywhere near as good as corps dancer Harrison Coll's debut as Romeo (NYCB), then we've got a real up and comer in Aran.

23 minutes ago, nysusan said:

I enjoyed them so much last year that I bought tickets to several performances right away without knowing what they would be performing, since it had not been announced.

Big mistake. I just looked at the Joyce's website and the rep is up. I could not be more disappointed. For a 6 performance run they are only performing 3 pieces plus 1 performance of "TBD Divertissements by Ricardo Graziano". And out of those 3 pieces only one is by Ashton. One. Only 1 Ashton. 

There is a special program for both shows on Saturday "(In honor of the 30^th anniversary of Ashton’s death)" consisting of:

Varii Capricci by Frederick Ashton
TBD Divertissements by Ricardo Graziano
Symphony of Sorrow by Ricardo Graziano

Don't ask me how that honors the anniversary of Ashton's death, unless Graziano is arranging Ashton divertissements, which I think would be unlikely.

And this is the program to be performed at all of the other performances:

There where she loved by Christopher Wheeldon
Symphony of Sorrow by Ricardo Graziano
Varii Capricci by Frederick Ashton

I am just amazed that this company that has made its reputation on its productions of Ashton's ballets is bringing such a small, weak rep with so little Ashton.

Next time I'll wait for them to announce the rep!

We only have tickets for Saturday, so it looks like we'll be seeing the "special" program.  I agree that it would be nice if Graziano is arranging Ashton divertissements....but who knows. 

I saw yesterday’s matinee with Simkin and Brandt.  I thought the ballet was very cute with the costumes and acting top notch.  As already mentioned, there is not a lot of dancing in the first act, but they made up for it in the second act.  The kids were cute, and danced well, but I thought they were used way too much.  We came to see ABT professionals, not the school. 

There were loads of kids and school groups in the audience, so maybe this is a good introduction to ballet. 

All of the leads were great.  Simkin was fabulous, funny, buoyant in his jumps, and he partnered Brandt well.  Brandt was adorable, danced exquisitely, and her hops on pointe were terrific.  It’s difficult to believe she learned the ballet on such short notice.   Hee Seo danced well and Hammoudi was very funny.   I would like to see him in some other funny character roles, such as Gamache.   

I’m looking forward to our second cast of Shayer, Trenary, Shevchenko and Hoven.  

Last night was absolutely spectacular.  Kimin Kim has amazing spring, height and gorgeous soft landings.  Hee Seo was quite lovely and very well suited for the role of Nikiya, and I thought they had very good chemistry.   Gillian’s Gamzatti was terrific as always.   The Kingdom of the shades was beautiful and the corps did themselves proud.  I wasn’t able to stay for the third act, so I don’t know how Gorak did as the Bronze Idol.  Did anyone see it? 

On 5/26/2018 at 6:55 AM, DanielBenton said:

Too bad since i already ordered a ticket for it on May 23!

I would hope that they would let you exchange the ticket.  I realize that casting and programs are subject to change, but this was only published a little over a month ago. 

On 5/24/2018 at 1:58 PM, Vs1 said:

Did anyone see signs on the show? 

Yes, the series focused quite a bit on their relationship

nysusan and cobweb - I love Union Jack too, and I actually screamed when I saw it on the schedule.  I was already planning out some of my ballets for next year, but couldn't find Union Jack on the online schedule.  Since I sure it was mid May, I grabbed the hard copy of the schedule, and realized they'd pulled the ballet.  I'm sure there are going to be many more people who are equally upset. 

I just noticed that Union Jack is no longer listed for Spring 2019!   My 2018/2019 subscription book has Union Jack listed for four performances, but NYCB’s website has Tschaikovsky Suite No. 3 replacing all of the Union Jack performances.  

6 hours ago, CharlieH said:

ITA on the horrible mess that is Something to Dance About. The Charleston was the one saving grace but we didn’t see enough. 

NYCB already does West Side Story Suite, with dancers in the roles. Mearns and her red bling dress in the Carlyle Crap are ALL WRONG as Puerto Rican Anita!!!!

The Fiddler “bottle dance” without the bottles...imagine the Manu Dance from Bayadere without a water jug on Manu’s head!

The #s from Funny Girl (from which Robbins was fired (?) before opening) and Gypsy are totally boring and useless. To add insult to injury, one of Robbins’ most celebrated B’way numbers - the Mack Sennett ballet from High Button Shoes, with the line of beach hut doors & everyone running in and out - is omitted. The one rarity that I expected to see went AWOL! Bummer.

Wow, I can't imagine this being viewed as an awful mess, but to each his own.  My husband and I loved "Something to Dance About"!  This was not meant to be a complete set of numbers from each show, so omissions of favorite scenes was no surprise.  We would have loved to have seen more too, but we thoroughly enjoyed what was presented.  The dancing was spectacular, and they did Broadway proud with all the quick changes of the beautiful and colorful costumes! 

1 hour ago, abatt said:

About H. Coll,  if there is any single person in the company who most deserves to get out of the corps immediately, it's Coll.

I agree and hope Coll is promoted ASAP.  No matter what he's dancing, I can't keep my eyes off him.  Also, loved his Romeo!

Arghhhh!  I received the e-mail with a "Mother's Day" discount code on Giselle as well!  I wish I had waited on my Giselle tickets which were single ticket add ons.   To be honest this has pretty much happened to me with NYCB where I am also a subscriber.  Last summer, right after ordering a bunch of add on performances, I received a code for BOGO for specific performances, some of which were the ones I had just ordered online.

1 hour ago, onxmyxtoes said:

Do you think it's possible that Lendorf hasn't learned Romeo yet (?) and that's why they took him out? I think he's done Solor before, so maybe he just needs to get in shape for the role instead of learning it.

Perhaps you're right.  I just looked at ABT's website, and it does not mention Romeo as being one of his roles.