ABT Fan

I pulled out my program from June 2017 and they were called “bazaar women” then.

14 minutes ago, MarzipanShepherdess said:

Am at tonight’s Corsaire and ABT has inserted a note into the program stating that they recognize the Ballet depicts “challenging subject matter” and “disturbing social norms of bygone eras”. They say they’ve adjusted certain scenes “in tone and character out of respect for those whose lives were marginalized” but “there may still be images some find offensive” and viewers should take them as a “reflection, not validation, of life in those times”. Very curious to see how the ballet has been tweaked! Will report later. 

Wow, how interesting. Yes, please report back afterwards. I will not be going till the weekend.

I saw that too and was curious. Maybe Forster has a secondary part that’ll require dancing with her (I don’t remember the ballet well enough to really guess). 

Funny, I was just looking that up myself.

It's usually at the end of the Met season. Last year it was the end of June.

I expect Bell to be promoted. Would be shocked if he's not. I wonder if Shayer will finally get it, although coming off of a major injury he hasn't been cast in a large number of roles this season (which may or may not affect that).

I would love to see Forster move up, but since he wasn't given a lead in a full-length I don't think management deems him worthy. (Discounting Jane Eyre. He'd need to be given a Siegfried, Prince Desire, etc). Would love to be wrong.

I don't foresee any women being promoted to principal.

I think it'll be a very short list this year.

Added: I think when the promotions are announced, there will be at least one man joining as a principal (Mack?). With Bolle leaving, and it's super safe to say Lendorf is too, (and we all know the deal with the rest of the guys) they desperately need another leading man.

ABT has posted the ballets they're bringing to Vail on their website (yet they're still not on Vail's site). No casting is mentioned.

https://www.abt.org/performances/master-calendar/

7/26:

Let me Sing Forever More (no mention of the choreographer)
Swan Lake Act II pas de deux

7/27:

James Whiteside World Premiere
Sinatra Suite
Don Q Act III pas de deux
Jardin aux Lilas (can we hope this will be scheduled during the Fall season?)

Also, Royal has posted on his Instagram that he'll be doing Apollo and is learning it from Damian Woetzel. That's apparently not part of ABT's schedule, but Vail's regular dance programming.

5 minutes ago, abatt said:

Since Manon is a new ballet for Cornejo, I have to wonder whether he even had enough (or any?) rehearsal time for this ballet given his injury.  Even if he is now recovered (which I don't know) how does he make up for the lost rehearsal time?

I had seen on Lane's Instagram a month or two back a short video of her rehearsing Manon (a scene with others, and not with Cornejo). They always start rehearsing Met ballets months in advance so presumably Lane and Cornejo already had rehearsals together. Obviously, he would have lost some (how much?) rehearsal time since he's been injured. So, I agree, how does one make that up, especially when it's a debut?

What a cutie pie! Is he signed up for ballet lessons yet? 😉

Congrats to Gillian and Ethan. 

Really looking forward to seeing Brooklyn Mack in his ABT debut, yet disappointed that Cornejo is still injured and not able to dance. Sure hope he recovers by next week.

Some other big debuts happening as well - Teuscher as Medora, K. Williams and Trenary as Gulnare, Hoven and Bell as Lankendem.

Eager to read everyone's reports.

I also loved this ballet this afternoon. I can understand why some people don’t care for it. It’s not classical ballet so if that’s what you’re looking for it’s not going to be your taste. Yes there is ballet, but with heavy modern influences. I thought the story was quite clear throughout and did not think the choreography was repetitive in a bad way. I also did not think the choreography consisted of dragging the women around by their shoulder sockets. There was a lot of very inventive choreography with yes, plenty of overhead lifts. It worked. 

The dark and dreary sets and lighting were appropriate. This IS a dark and dreary story after all. I was sitting in row D in the orchestra so I realize that for others sitting further back it may make it difficult to see the action. They could light it up a bit more. The D-men’s purpose was very clear and they served to move the story along in creative ways.  As the program noted, they were Jane’s inner demons, but they also manipulated the scenery and props, were the props themselves at times, and later played the party guests. Jonathan Klein in particular stood out among them.

To my surprise, Boylston was fantastic. Quite perfect actually. (I strongly disliked her Juliet last year because I felt her acting was contrived and unbelievable.) Her acting as Jane was natural and clear and her dancing strong. And, since this wasn’t Swan Lake, for example, her arms and hands weren’t an issue. Forster, unsurprisingly, was also fantastic. He is an exceptional actor and his technique and partnering abilities have been overlooked by management, I think. They had a great chemistry that I wasn’t expecting. I would love to see them paired up in other things.

Brandt filled in for Granlund as Young Jane again. Is Granlund injured? Too bad she was unable to dance as this was her first big assignment. Brandt was mostly very good but I thought she overacted at times. She has very big and expressive eyes, and at times it seemed like she was too aware of that.

Trenary was funny and wonderful as Mrs. Fairfax. I look forward to seeing her in big roles someday soon, like Giselle, that will show off the dramatic abilities that she clearly possesses. 

The rest of the supporting cast was very commendable: Hoven as Brocklehurst, Lall as the precocious Adele, Lyle as St John Rivers, and Stephanie Williams as Bertha (she was also a surprise). 

I thought it was very clear at the end that Jane was finally confronting and fighting off her demons, the D-men, one by one, until she had conquered them. She rescued herself. Then she was able to rescue Rochester. Her stepping into the spotlight alone was a perfect ending. 

Gillian is now a mama! Her son Ax was born today, on her best friend’s (Stella!) birthday no less.

Just now, angelica said:

This isn't in the ballet Romeo and Juliet. It is likely in the suite of dances in Sleeping Beauty at the wedding , including RR Hood, Hop O' My Thumb, etc.

I know this isn't R&J, that's why I said it "takes the cake". Their casting names are all off, but over the past few minutes they've begun to correct some. I'm pretty sure Ahn is doing Bluebird, but for some reason he's listed as Romeo on the Sleeping Beauty page. Major typo.

This page take the cake! Ahn as Romeo!

https://www.abt.org/event_dates/sleeping-beauty-7-6-19-800pm/

13 minutes ago, FauxPas said:

The master calendar on the ABT website is full of oddities currently.  They have retired ABT principal and current staff coach Keith Roberts listed as Prince Desiré partnering both Sarah Lane and Cassandra Trenary.  The Metropolitan Opera website lists Roberts as dancing Carabosse at those performances and Gorak partnering Trenary and Cornejo partnering Lane.  Sloppy!

Update:  Rechecked and the ABT calendar is being updated to include the Lilac Fairy and Carabosse but they have the order of the dancers wrong!

They must be in the middle of updating everything because I just looked at the calendar 10 minutes ago and none of this was there. And, if you look at the Sleeping Beauty page, not on the calendar, they have some Bluebirds listed (Shayer), but only for some performances, and no Florine's. It seems like whenever they update their site, each individual update goes live instantly, as opposed to uploading all of the changes (and making sure they're correct) and having them hit the site at once. It's a bizarre system.

13 minutes ago, abatt said:

Actually, they performed the Tempest both during the Fall season at the Koch where it premiered, and during the Spring season at the Met.  So they did cycle it through the rep enough times to perhaps break even.

I guess I blocked that out....ugh

10 minutes ago, nanushka said:

I'll be very curious to see if this gets scheduled again for next spring season. There seems to be a strong tendency for the company to repeat new productions for a second year, except in a cases where the first run has been really widely viewed as a dud.

The one thing that may be in their (our) favor, is that this ballet wasn't a new commission by ABT. So, I imagine it costs less money to have it re-staged than made from scratch.

Even if that isn't the case, they have not brought back The Tempest after it's Met debut a few years ago, which was a new commission (maybe a co-production with another company?). That ballet had really bad reviews, too.

Thanks for everyone's reports. I'm not really looking forward to seeing it this weekend now, but will try to go with an open mind.

Worst: Ratmansky's The Tempest.

At least they realized what a failure that was and never brought it back. 

3 minutes ago, NinaFan said:

 

They are still showing him in Manon, so maybe he'll be well enough to dance by then?

Hopefully, but since there are only 3 days between what was supposed to be his last Corsaire and his first Manon, I'm wondering out loud. This is his Des Grieux debut, too. Really hope he is well enough by next week.

8 minutes ago, NinaFan said:

ABT's site has been updated and now shows Cornejo replaced in both Corsaires.  Mack replaces him as Conrad on Tuesday night, and Whiteside replaces him on Saturday matinee.

Crap. But, I (and I'm sure others) had a feeling that would happen.

Who is going to replace him in Manon? That is only next week, so that may be inevitable.....darn.

There's an article in The Times about Marston setting this work on ABT. See link below.

Interestingly, Marston was initially supposed to create a new ballet for their fall season, but as McKenzie says in the article "Then a crisis loomed. A full-evening program planned for this year's Met season fell through".

Hmmm. Since he says "program" and not ballet, sounds like another evening of rep ballets was supposed to be planned. Either way, wonder what that was supposed to be???

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/04/arts/dance/jane-eyre-cathy-marston-american-ballet-theater.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Farts&action=click&contentCollection=arts&region=rank&module=package&version=highlights&contentPlacement=5&pgtype=sectionfront

2 minutes ago, mille-feuille said:

Well, it was definitely not my cup of tea.

Marston's Jane Eyre is light on sustained passages of ballet dancing and heavy on dramatic walking, inscrutable mime, and impassioned writhing and yanking. The most actual ballet we got was a pique arabesque now and then.

On the bright side, Whiteside was good as Rochester (or as good as he could've been, given that choreography). Many critical reviews praised Marston's storytelling abilities, but I found the details of the story (which I assume were contained in the aforementioned inscrutable mime and/or writhing and yanking) to be very muddy indeed.

Interested to hear what others on this board think.

Well, that doesn't sound promising.

How were the other lead dancers?

Gonzalez has an Instagram story (public facing) showing him in costume and ballet slippers for Jane Eyre last night. Maybe it's a part that has very little dancing (and/or little or no partnering)? If anyone was there and and can comment, (and on the ballet itself, in the Jane Eyre thread...). At least he's not dealing with something serious, it seems.

2 minutes ago, vendangeuse said:

It's also the only Swan Lake that Hallberg is dancing—and he is only performing three times this season. That performance has been quite well sold since single tickets went on sale. (I purchased a bunch of single tickets in addition to my subscription before they were released to the public, and was surprised to find how far back in the orchestra my seats were for this particular performance, despite ordering early and being an ABT member.)

Her other SL w/ Cornejo on 6/26 is also virtually sold out, except for few remaining seats in Family Circle and some of the partial view seats.

Copeland's Swan Lake's always sell out.

1) It's Swan Lake (a high selling ballet in it's own right)

2) It's Copeland

Her other shows, such as Manon, are nowhere near selling out.

Too bad about Gonzalez, I was looking forward to seeing him as Lankendem; I also hope it's not serious. He was replaced last minute in Deuce Coupe on Friday (an announcement was made).

I'm glad I'll get to see Hoven though, and Bell who replaced Hoven in the Sat eve. (They're both looking better than ever this season.)

I'm cautiously optimistic regarding Cornejo, for Corsaire and his subsequent assignments....🤞

1 hour ago, nanushka said:

Same here. I am going solely to see Thomas Forster finally get a crack at a full-length lead role on the Met stage. 

And, same here. I’m not interested in any of the female leads, but Forster is my big draw. And, very curious to see Granlund.