ABT Fan

So, this is confusing. Per my other post on the SS casting thread, Cornejo was replaced by Royal at Saturday matinees performance, per ABT’s site and the Met Opera site. But Trenary has recently posted an IG story which Cornejo even re-posted of them doing a tech rehearsal. The scenery is clearly R&J so it’s from this week. The story was posted yesterday when I believe her tech rehearsal was. So is the updated casting wrong? Is Cornejo still going to perform Saturday? https://instagram.com/cassiepearlt?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

The discount code ABTPRIDE works on a lot of the seats. I got one for this performance myself. Code doesn’t work on the most expensive seats it seems, but orchestra down front on the side for example does.

Oh no!! Cornejo has been replaced by Royal at Saturday’s matinee. I mean no offense to Royal, but I was so looking forward to seeing Cornejo with Trenary! (And, I was thinking this was probably the first Met season in recent years that Cornejo wasn’t injured; although I don’t know the reason for the substitution.) Ugh.

They both still danced lead roles. Moore did Myrtha, Other Dances, I think Lilac Fairy, but never an O/O, Kitri etc.

Interesting idea, I hope they bring back Green Table. Agree, Roman was both terrific and terrifying in that. I see everyone’s point on Roman. He has always been a favorite of mine and I was over the moon when he was made a soloist years ago in recognition of his exceptional dramatic abilities. I found his promotion to principal so shocking because one it’s rare (now) at ABT to honor an actor and two I always consider how few principals there are (this isn’t NYCB) so I immediately think of a spot that could have gone to someone else (now or in the near future). But, my later point shouldn’t matter in terms of Roman and there isn’t a current male soloist waiting in the wings to be promoted imo. The one thing about Roman is that he makes the “smallest” role one of the most important. And, when you’re able to see multiple casts in a given ballet, like I did in DQ for example, even though there are other very good actors in the company, when you’re able to compare one role from one night to the next with Roman and other casts you can really see how exceptional he is.

Nope. Texas Ballet Theatre was once known as Dallas Forth Worth Ballet. Different company.

He was a principal dancer dancing principal roles before he transitioned mainly to character roles. I think that's the same with Michael Owen, but not certain.

This flabbergasts me. I love Zhurbin - he is a remarkable and invaluable actor. But, to principal? Have they ever promoted someone to principal before who only does character roles and rarely ever actually dances?

Yes, agree about Coker. It's Misseldine's first Met season, Park only joined as an apprentice last November! The soloist rank is now really lopsided, so many more women than men - and they only promoted one guy.

Yay! Hurlin promoted to principal, and Carmargo joining as principal. Promoted to soloist: McBride, Granlund, Misseldine, Han, Park. Surprised and disappointed that Curley was not included. But, major congrats to all of them! So well deserved.

I'd say that sure sounds like it!

I don’t see him in the video I posted earlier. Just rewatched it. Unless he’s standing on the side, but all the principals are in the center and he’s so tall you can’t miss him. Did anyone attend who can verify?

Bell is still listed for his Romeo tomorrow and Sat night. I keep checking...even though I don't really want to see Teuscher as Juliet (I like her in certain things but can't imagine her as a young, naive girl) I might grab a last min ticket to see him. That aside, do we think promotions will be announced this week? It's been their process in the past to announce the last wk of the Met season. The principal/soloist roster is packed so I guess it's possible there won't be any (or they won't happen till Jaffe takes over), but after Hurlin's triumphant debuts I'd be very surprised if she wasn't made a principal. As far as soloists, if there any promotions my guess/preference would be for Curley and Misseldine. If they can promote more, hopefully Coker. There are a bunch more that I think are in the mix, but they can't promote that many. McBride, Frenette, Klein, Granlund, Han, Park all have a chance I think. Also wondering if there will be any quiet retirements.

Her husband danced in Theme so I think she was mostly there for him. I don’t think she went on stage.

I did not, but ballet master Carlos Lopez posted some photos/videos on his IG of the McKenzie farewell. Lots of former dancers obv. Surprised to see Paloma on stage (and looking so happy) given how her retirement went and the cold shoulder she literally gave him. Stearns is also on stage. https://www.instagram.com/p/Cf1gDVAAkaG/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

I’m also shocked that Cornejo is doing 2 T&V less than 24 hours apart! I hope he eats his Wheeties (anyone else remember that?). I was wondering if removing Bell/Shev was a proactive move for R&J next week, for Bell really. We all know Theme is a killer. Bell has 2 Romeo’s starting Tuesday. Carmago, a guest artist is doing 3 shows to cover Stearns. Whiteside is out. If any other guy goes down from illness or injury they will be screwed. Forster/Royal only have one but this is both of their debuts and R&J is no picnic plus it has a lot of difficult partnering. Forster is getting up in years, would he have the stamina to take a second one (or a third?!) with very little rehearsal time with a new partner? Royal is younger but inexperienced with lead roles and again he’d be thrown in with very little rehearsal time with a new Juliet. Cornejo isn’t tall enough to partner any other Juliet but Boylston but she has Carmago (and no way could Cornejo take his shows heaven forbid he can’t dance). Of course, I could be way off and maybe Bell/Shev or at least one of them will be removed any minute now from the rest of the mixed bill, then we’ll know. Or it’s some other reason that we may never know.

I really wish I could have seen her debut.

Tonight was an interesting mixed bag. I went solely to see Forster, Curley and the pas de trios (Misseldine, Park, Han) but I was glad to see Murphy as this will probably be my last time seeing her in a lead role. It was a packed house and the audience was committed (and they loved Murphy). She is imo glaringly past her prime, but her devotion, artistry and depth of experience were still evident. Wonderful little nuances, esp in Act II, like a flick of the hand or a tilt of her head spoke volumes. Technically, I found it difficult to watch at times. She has always had legs of steel and is a born turner and she relied heavily on those natural talents throughout the ballet. I think tonight was very hard for her to get through and no doubt the pandemic and loss of subsequent performance opportunities were a cruel blow to this older artist. She seemed to be muscling through many passages, like the developes a la seconde in Act II - it was more like a kick or a whack to gain momentum so she could get up on her leg and complete the phrase. She's lost a lot of flexibility in her back, especially her upper back, and in her shoulders, chest and neck - I think the lack of movement of her upper body bothered me the most. Forster seemed to be picking her up more than he should have, there seemed to be little jump from her to aid in certain lifts. Always the queen of fouettés, she did all singles traveling forward a good deal and stopped around 25/26 clearly running out of gas while her elbows drooped low distorting the arm position. Her lower body was all power, while from the waist up she was weak and stiff (she did strike a few lovely attitude arabesques with a rather deep back bend, which I found surprising given everything else). I suppose when you know a dancer from when they were in top form, it's harder to see them at this stage. But, again despite her technical limitations now, she is still a queen and a superior artist. I was a bit disappointed in Forster, whom I love so much and am so glad to see he's finally getting the opportunities he should have had several years ago. Several of the more complicated turns (into arabesque for one) were botched a bit or he came out of them early and had to cover. His jetes were gorgeous as always and pirouettes were mostly very clean. What I found most surprising in him was a lack of character development, as he is one of the company's most gifted actors. It was a bit one note. I didn't feel his lament and struggle in Act I, while he pondered his mother's orders to marry. And, his grief was not palpable enough when he realized he betrayed Odette. His partnering was extraordinary though. Curley: wow, wow, wow! I had high hopes after seeing his Mithridates twice and man he did not disappoint. No one since Gomes has come even close to the authority, manipulation and sleazy charm necessary for a successful Purple VR. From his first entrance when he turned his back to the audience and swung his cape, he had everyone's attention. When all four princesses fell in line at his feet it was believable. This guy can't be more than 22 (he joined the corps 4 years ago) but he projected such natural power that it's hard to fathom his youth. Misseldine, Park and Han are the new dream team. Han has been in the corps for 9 years - where have they been hiding him?? I have never noticed him much and I think I had a rather neutral opinion of him. What incredible height he gains on every jump, with crisp, quick pirouettes. Misseldine I think will promoted at the end of the Met season. She is a very rare talent, much like Bell with a maturity and artistic sense way beyond her years and experience. All 3 danced with such natural joy, no forced or pasted on smiles, such an openness and expansiveness of their faces and upper bodies, and beautiful technique. Misseldine is going to sky rocket through the ranks. The corps from the swans to the aristocrats to the Act III character dancers looked better than I've seen them in years. I thought that after DQ and L&R as well. As noted in the other thread on SS casting the corps is chocked full of talent, bursting at the seems really, with hardly any place to go. The soloist roster needs to be either expanded and/or a few retirements are needed asap - it would be a real shame to keep some of these promising dancers metaphorically standing in the back waving a rose back and forth. And, they need soloists who can take on actual soloist, and some principal roles when principals fall ill or become injured. Misseldine, Park, Han, Curley, Coker, McBride are amongst those.

I’ve been wanting them to bring back Paquita for years now. They have so many dancers who would be brilliant in this, even at the corps level.

In case folks didn't see their ad on IG, ABT is offering a substantial discount (roughly 35% off) on the rest of the season using code ABTPRIDE. Not all performances and not all seats, but definitely some of the cheaper (on the side) orchestra seats (again, not all performances). I just snagged good orchestra seats to Murphy/Forster's SL on Wed and to Trenary/Cornejo's R&J on the 16th using this code (waiting to buy paid off). I noticed the discount works on some seats at tomorrow's SL (Seo/Bell) and the Wed matinee (Hurlin/Ahn) - if only I could go to those two, discount or not. It also works on some seats for T&V on the 8th and 9th matinee.

Anyone happen to know who is doing peasant pas tomorrow? And big swans?

Thank you for the much needed laugh! I think I will refer to this character like this from now on... So great to hear that Curley was as amazing as you said he was - his L&R last week was tremendous. I appreciate everyone's reviews. I still haven't bought a SL ticket so need to get on that.

I’ve not seen any announcement as to why and I see nothing on his IG.

R&J casting update: Carmargo replaces Stearns w/ Seo on opening night and is still paired with Boylston on 7/13. Stearns is still listed on 7/15 but I have a feeling that'll be updated soon. Poor Stearns, missing the entire season after 3 years - I hope he's ok.