NinaFan

33 minutes ago, abatt said:

For me the big news of the week of Swan Lake was Shevchenko and Aran Bell. Both are exquisite artists. How is it even possible that the young Mr. Bell is so marvelously polished at age 20?  

I agree.  He is quite amazing for his age.  He was gorgeous as Romeo last year, and he just keeps getting better.  Looking forward to his Sleeping Beauty.

As far as Shevchenko, Wow!   And to think,  we could have been seeing these gorgeous performances with her instead of a her being wasted as a flower girl year after year....

I also loved Boylston/Simkin's SL, and was so happy to see him back on the stage! 

Looks like they made more changes to the casting.  I haven't checked anything else, but I see that Vasiliev is no longer listed for Spartacus.

On 6/29/2019 at 12:06 AM, JuliaJ said:

...... whereas Whiteside, on Tuesday, seemed to channel his drag-queen alter-ego at times (and I mean that in the best of ways).

IMO Whiteside was an ideal and handsome prince.  He partnered beautifully and danced his solos with clarity and finesse. 

1 hour ago, nanushka said:

Too bad about Hallberg. I wonder what's up with him these days — e.g. was this just an off night? not giving it everything he has? something else?

I found him lacking in Manon as well.   He just isn't the dancer he was pre-injury.  That being said, he's still a wonderful and caring partner.

59 minutes ago, bingham said:

Any reports on the Boynston-Simkin SL?

Spectacular in every way!  Just coming off three days of Swan Lakes  (Shevchenko/Whiteside, Teuscher/Bell and Boylston/Simkin), and trying to catch up on non ballet related stuff, so I'm keeping this short and sweet. 

Boylston and Simkin have a wonderful rapport, and they performed Swan Lake ballet beautifully.   I've seen all of their Swan Lakes over the years, and they continue to outdo themselves.  Boylston is a very strong dancer, and both her Odette and Odile were stunning as were her thrilling fouettes.  You'd never have known Simkin was coming off an injury as he danced exquisitely.   I was so happy to see him back after his injury.

BTW- Hammoudi was out again, this time with Sebastian subbing for his Von Rothbart (Royal subbed on Tuesday night).  Sebastian appears to be getting more comfortable with the role.  It was a gorgeous performance by the leads and supporting cast.  

38 minutes ago, ABT Fan said:

I've never noticed this before. Is it common for a show to be sold out and then have some seats just appear?

Yes.  I've turned in seats for sold out performances which then re-appear on the seat map. 

2 minutes ago, ABT Fan said:

I will be mad as h*ll if Cornejo (or Lane) has to withdraw next week from their SB because they have the flu.

Let's hope not.  But you have to wonder why ABT would expose so many dancers and stagehands to the flu when all they had to do was have Lane dance the entire ballet.

5 minutes ago, Leah said:

Judging from the blowback she got in her Instagram comments alone from pulling out of Whipped Cream, I really don't blame her for insisting on going on. I hope that if Cornejo and others felt uncomfortable with her onstage they would have been comfortable speaking up.

Whether they speak up or not, it's selfish to put your fellow dancers in jeopardy.   The flu is contagious and the last thing Cornejo needs is to get sick after coming back from injury. 

22 hours ago, pherank said:

The Traveling Ballerina has posted the casting and choreographer information for Kochetkova's Joyce Theater appearances (the Joyce Theater website doesn't have this information yet).  A few San Francisco friends perform as well.

Program Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qq3T0ecWYdI


Maria Kochetkova: Catch Her If You Can

BACH DUET (from NEW SUITE)
Choreographer: William Forsythe
Dancers: Maria Kochetkova, Sebastian Kloborg

PAINTING GREYS
Choreographer: Myles Thatcher
Dancer: Carlo Di Lanno

TUÉ
Choreographer: Marco Goecke
Dancer: Drew Jacoby

DEGUNINO
Choreographer: Marcos Morau
Dancer: Maria Kochetkova

SWAN LAKE PAS DE DEUX
Choreographer: David Dawson
Dancers: Sofiane Sylve, Carlo Di Lanno

RACHEL, NEVADA
Choreographer: Drew Jacoby
Dancers: Maria Kochetkova, Drew Jacoby

AT THE END OF THE DAY
Choreographer: David Dawson
Dancers: Maria Kochetkova, Sebastian Kloborg

MASHA MACHINE
Choreographer: Jérôme Bel
Dancer: Maria Kochetkova

July 16 @ 7:30pm
July 17 @ 7:30pm
July 18 @ 8:00pm
July 19 @ 8:00pm
July 20 @ 2:00pm
July 20 @ 8:00pm
July 21 @ 2:00pm

 

Thank you for posting!

22 minutes ago, LadyCap said:

To be fair, Misty got a lot of flack, especially from her fans, for withdrawing completely from Whipped Cream. (Though the blowback might have been worse with such a nebulous excuse as "scheduling conflicts".)

No dancer wants to get the reputation of being the one who's always sick or always injured. I understand why Misty's fighting for this--even while agreeing it's not fair that Sarah Lane doesn't get her own O/O. 

 

eta: Clarifying my subject.

No one wants it,  but it happens to dancers, opera singers etc. who withdraw from performances more than the norm.  Vishneva seemed to cancel a lot, but I would have been upset if she chose to dance half a performance.  Just like opera goers who would have been upset if Pavarotti sang half of an opera.

7 minutes ago, Roberta said:

Maybe ABT is trying to show diversity within the paying audience, whenever dancers of color are cast, although I'm not sure how that will be proved, other than taking photos of the audience during intermissions. Credit cards used to purchase tix don't identify race, AFAIK.

 

Guess I'm confused by the point you are making.

2 minutes ago, mille-feuille said:

Kochetkova, I believe.

That's right...it was Kochetkova!  I had forgotten that!

4 hours ago, abatt said:

Agree one hundred percent.  Lane is not Misty's back-up dancer.  Lane has earned the right to be cast in her own SL.

If you can't do the steps, you shouldn't be assigned the role.  It's very simple.

Agreed

13 minutes ago, abatt said:

  Per Misty's public instagram, she was allegedly dancing with the flu last night.

I've never attended a performance where a dancer was sick before the performance and chose which sections to dance.  They withdraw completely. 

2 hours ago, BalletFan said:

I was there last night, too. What a surprise to have Sarah in Act III!! There's not much more that I can add to the conversation. She was absolutely amazing. I'm very happy for Sarah and wish she would get a shot at both Odette and Odile.

They gave her a shot at SL two years ago and she was positively gorgeous.   Why she hasn't been cast again is an absolute mystery.

4 minutes ago, nanushka said:

It's definitely possible — and I too would be surprised if there'd been no coordination between LaMarche and Seo — but my impression was that the tempo was just too fast for even a really technically strong dancer to keep up, if she expected to do the fouettés on the beat (which I suppose isn't necessarily a given).

There could well have been multiple problems at play, including a somewhat off night on Seo's part and a tempo that wasn't quite what they'd planned on LaMarche's part.

I imagine it's difficult when things go awry since it's all happening so quickly.   

Here's hoping Seo and LaMarche gets this resolved before her next performance.  By the way, thank you for your detailed review of last night.

4 hours ago, nanushka said:

Hee Seo had a very mixed night, with some of the best and some of the worst dancing I've seen from her. Her Act II was the former, overall. She was dramatically engaged, had lovely extensions, fluid port de bras, very nice speed, luxurious arabesques. Unfortunately her variation ended on a very slightly off note, as her finishing diagonal of turns was the weakest part of it. Then she waited a bit too long to come back onstage for her bow, and the applause wasn't perhaps as strong as expected, so there was that slightly awkward sense that the audience was responding to the dancer's call for applause rather than the dancer responding to the audience's call for a bow.

The first three portions of the Black Swan PDD were decent, though not as strong as Act II. In the coda, though, things really went awry. As mentioned above, LaMarche took the fouetté bars very fast — to the point that Seo couldn't possibly have performed them in time to the music. She began them well, warming up from a few singles to at least one double; but then trouble struck. She hadn't been traveling much, but suddenly she went sharply toward downstage right, almost tipping over. She fell off pointe a few times, and then actually had to do one full rotation just hopping around on the ball of her foot; she did manage to get back on track by the end, I think, though I may have been covering my eyes at that point. The coda continued to speed on toward its conclusion, and in the final supported pirouette, Seo again very nearly tipped right over to the right.

I would find it strange if the conductor did not work with Seo prior to her performance.  I've attended many rehearsals where the conductor works with the ballerina to get the timing just right.   Some want slower, some want faster....   I wasn't at her performance, but it sounds like  she had an off night, even with an awkwardly timed bow.  Is it possible that she planned to do the fouettes at a different speed, but wasn't able to manage them in performance? 

1 hour ago, ABT Fan said:

I'm also very much looking forward to seeing Shevchenko tonight. And, I'm curious to see if Whiteside has grown in this role since I last saw him in it several years ago with Part. He seems to be having a very good season, too. I'm less enthusiastic about seeing Hammoudi (I wish it were Forster), but maybe I'll be pleasantly surprised.

I saw Shevchenko/Whiteside's Swan Lake last year and Whiteside was wonderful, plus they have great chemistry.   Have fun tonight.  I can't wait!

canbelto -  I attend NYCB frequently, as well as the Joyce, but I think I've only seen her at ABT performances.    She stands out as she is just as gorgeous as when she was dancing with ABT.

CTballetfan and Canbelto - So that makes at least three Manon's for Irina.  

Speaking of Simkin, I hope he is well enough to dance on Thursday.  ABT still has him listed.......

I saw yesterday’s matinee with Boylston/Hallberg.  I thought Bolyston was positively stunning as Manon.  Her dancing and portrayal were superb.  Hallberg is still a terrific partner, but his solos were not especially exciting, nor was there much elevation.  I found Cornjeo far better, even coming off his injury.  As we know, Hallberg is just not the same dancer since being sidelined some years ago.  That being said, he still partnered Boylston beautifully.  As some others have mentioned on BA, he had some peculiar facial expressions throughout the performance.

I really loved Hoven yesterday.  While he was good in his debut Tuesday night, yesterday was even better.  He has definitely become more comfortable in the role.  Shevchenkco was priceless as Lescaut’s mistress, and a particular shout out to Hammoudi who was marvelous as Monsieur GM!

The audience gave an immediate, and well deserved standing ovation.

As an aside, Irina Dvorovenko was at the performance yesterday.  

Next on to my three Swan Lakes! 

2 hours ago, fondoffouettes said:

I'm only seeing Shevchenko, and I can't wait! She's the most interesting Swan Queen to me now that Part has left the company. I'd also relish the opportunity to see a more well-rehearsed O/O from Lane. 

Totally agree on both counts!  Shevchenko is by far the best O/O, and I would love to see Lane given another chance.  That being said, I am still seeing three SL's.

I thought Lane was gorgeous as Manon on Tuesday night, and Cornejo made for a superb Des Grieux.   Lane was absolutely stunning and she hit every dramatic nuance and gesture.  By the last scene I was totally exhausted and my heart was breaking for them both.   The audience went absolutely wild which was well deserved.

14 hours ago, ABT Fan said:

I am quite torn. I really want to see Bell's debut (I think he's going to be amazing) but last year Teuscher bored me to tears. It didn't help that she was paired with Stearns, but besides her non-existent character development and bland acting,

As we all know, sometimes one dancer brings out the best in another.  IMO Bell brings out the best in Teuscher.   But that's my opinion of course.  

4 minutes ago, alexL said:

I never thought Shevchenko is alarmingly thin- she looks perfectly normal to me.

I've seen her SL debut last year and indeed it was the highlight of that week. If I were to see just one SL performance this season I would probably see hers. I'm seeing Shevchenko, Teauscher and Boylston(to see Simkin but I might switch this one depending on his injury status) this season. Hopefully Teauscher can bring it this time cus her performances in last two years have been disappointing in many ways.

I have the same three SL casts.  Based on their chemistry in R&J,  I think Bell is going to be a great Siegfried for Teuscher.

7 hours ago, sandik said:

Does anyone know more about this event than the website currently lists?  Performances are just a couple months away, and there's no substantial information about programming that I can find, beyond this statement:

"The Joyce’s annual Ballet Festival is curated by Director of The Royal Ballet, Kevin O’Hare, who has invited several artists associated with The Royal Ballet to construct programs based on the theme of collaboration. Program A, crafted by O’Hare, features works by Fredrick Ashton, Merce Cunningham, and Royal Ballet company choreographers. Program B is shaped by and features Royal Ballet principal Lauren Cuthbertson, who performs choreography by Canada’s Robert Binet and more. Frequent Royal Ballet designer Jean-Marc Puissant hand-picks works for Program C, and Royal Ballet principal Edward Watson performs in and selects dances for Program D."

The idea is an interesting one -- we see the Royal here in the US infrequently, and then, usually in their warhorse mode, so programming based on some other aspects of their aesthetic could be fascinating, but if they want to generate some buzz, they need to give people something to work with.

I thought the same thing.  I can't make any sense of it since the program information is so nebulous.  My guess is that the Joyce wasn't provided with very much information.  I've noticed that they sometimes add information details as received.