NinaFan

Ivan Vasiliev was purple Rothbart. Oy. This was a very poor casting decision. I can imagine it looked great on paper (and I was actually excited to see him), but it just does not work. Rothbart needs to be commanding and controlling and truly overwhelmingly sexually magnetic. I hate to say it, but it's really hard to pull that off when you're the shortest man in the room. Though I know it's (probably) not true, at times it looked like Veronika had a good 6 inches on him. She was his equal, not his subordinate; he was her younger brother, not her father. Not helping the matter was the fact that they kept the costume's thigh-high boots, which unfortunately accentuated Vasiliev's short, stocky legs. (The shoulder pads also looked terrible on such a short, dense figure.) And it wasn't just appearance--his dancing was not up to the part. His leaps, as usual, were high and clean, but he did not come close to covering the entire stage in the manner of (to name the very best) Marcelo Gomes in this role. His balance on one leg was very short, and there was an unusual (for him) amount of effort apparent in his manipulations of the princesses' bodies. I know it was his debut in the role, but I really don't think this is fixable; he should not be assigned it again. I just found him completely unconvincing, and it really broke the whole performance for me.

Unfortunately, everything you said was true---I was appalled. I would take it a step further and question what he has to offer as a member of the Company.

What a shame it is that you are unable to see what Vasiliev has to offer as a member of the company. I cannot get enough of him. I confess that I haven’t seen his purple Rothbart, but I have seen him dance in Bright Stream, La Bayadere, Don Q, and Le Corsaire (both as Ali and Conrad). Perhaps he was miscast as purple Rothbart. If so, it will not be the first or the last time that a dancer is miscast. Or perhaps he needs to grow into the role. Or maybe he is just not your cup of tea. To be quite honest (and in my opinion of course), I have never seen a memorable or electrifying purple Rothbart until Gomes came along. He owns the role, and as always, sparkled once again on Monday night.

Since Vasiliev will be moving to London with Osipova, I worry that he will join a European company, and that I will no longer have the opportunity to see him dance with ABT. But I hope I am wrong, and that I will continue to have the pleasure of watching him dance in NY for many years to come.

Thanks for the replies. I may do the NYCB on Friday 6/7, though not for $155. Perhaps the $89 at the rear orchestra, but will that be too far away?

For the moment, I think I'll skip Le Corsaire, Sleeping Beauty and R&J and ABT, but as the dates get closer, who knows?

Assuming that you live in the nyc/tri state area - I would see the Le Corsaire Matinee on June 8 (In my opinion - this is a marvelous cast). Then when September rolls around, you can see NYCB during their 4 Week Season. Yes, Corsaire is silly, but it is a lot of fun. And it is jam packed with great dancing. You will get another shot at NYCB in just a few months, but ABT will not be doing the full length ballets again until next May.

Why are they charging $149 for toe shoes? Doesn't the company sell toe shoes on the promenade for about $20 per pair?

As California has mentioned, NYCB increased their pointe shoe prices. The prices increased well over a year ago. To boot, they only display a handful of shoes at each performance (and as in the past, they very rarely have ribbons). However, several times I have asked the sales person for specific dancer’s shoes which were not on display. They will usually check during the next act, and if they have them, they will bring them to the gift counter at the next intermission.

I agree with miliosr in many things, but not on this matter.

I just posted the following to my fb page

Daniil Simkin promoted to principal dancer at ABT? -- this is FINE WITH ME. Yes, he dances like an elf. Yes, he is a delicate man. No, he's probably not a big enough guy to partner ABT's ballerinas -- so let them hire a short ballerina. Simkin is a FABULOUS DANCER. He's a poet, with a fantastic instrument. He is not just a pyrotechnician -- he is a very sympathetic partner. Check this out: Kochetkova is also a TINY dancer, but look how big she moves, and how happy she looks with him. Please ABT, don't poach Kochetkova. We love her in San Francisco.

I second that Paul! I was so excited to hear that Daniil was promoted to Principal. I screamed with joy when I heard the news. I rarely miss any of his performances in New York. I consider him to be one of the most exciting dancers to have come along in years! He is emerging into a fine dance actor as well. Bravo ABT!

Her larger than life portrayal carried over into an actual physical over stepping of the stage at times. The Met stage is pretty big and if not big enough for her, it's all we've got, short of building her a new theater. She needs to learn to pace herself space wise so she doesn't step "out of frame" into the wings and out of the light as she is wont to do. Also, in the opening of the balcony scene she was totally out of light, hidden a bit upstage. If that was a "choice" it's misguided. Someone needs to tell her her marks for lighting. Odd that she couldn't "feel the moon" on her face. I guess I'm in the minority here, but I felt little passion between Osipova and Hallberg.

Sounds like perhaps a partial-view seat. There are many of those at the Met---many more than the management would officially admit. Osipova was certainly always "in the frame" (unlike in "Bayadere" where she did finish a variation inside the wing). She was very clearly visible throughout the opening of the balcony scene, "felt the moon" on her face---it was actually a very beautiful moment, and the passion between her and Hallberg was quite obvious from seat E12 in the orchestra.

As for the curtain call after the balcony scene, just plain poor taste.

As a practical matter, it's difficult to see what else they could have done. The audience just wouldn't leave for the intermission and wouldn't stop clapping. For a very, very, very long time. This was very unusual for ABT. I think their coming out for a bow was the only reasonable solution.

I hope I am pasting the quotes above correctly - please excuse me if they have not pasted properly

My comments:

Osipova/Hallberg’s Romeo and Juliet: While most members on Ballet Alert seemed to love the performance, I was quite surprised to read the negative comments such as “over the top” with regard to Osipova. I was at Monday night’s performance and thought it was spectacular, and in a class by itself. I have seen many of the world's greatest ballerinas dance Juliet, many of which have simply blown me away. I expected a lot from Osipova, but once again, she surpassed all expectations. WOW! I can't even begin to describe it, except to say, that both dancers were truly committed and believable. Natasha was so in the role that my entire heart simply ached, and I had to keep from crying. The audience was so engrossed, that you could hear a pin drop. The connection between this pair of dancers is very special, even down to David’s gentle kiss on Natasha’s forehead during the final curtain calls.

As far as the curtain call at the first intermission…that was brought on by the insistence of the audience. The dancers had no choice but to finally come out. The lights were on, and the audience demanded to show their appreciation. It may not be the custom, but I think it is unfair to pick on ABT for allowing it. The curtain was down, the house lights on, and they took a curtain call at the intermission.

On to the comment about Osipova’s face in the moonlight. I saw her face very clearly from my orchestra seat. I always make it a point of sitting on the left side of the orchestra for Romeo and Juliet so that I am sure to see the balcony scene clearly. Monday night was no exception. Osipova was not in the shadows. To quote Ilya: “She was very clearly visible throughout the opening of the balcony scene, "felt the moon" on her face”