ABT Fan

1 minute ago, laurel said:

At least Lane will get another chance to perform.  Because it looks like she will be off all of next week.  Hoping Trenary will be back in time for the debut of the McGregor piece on Monday.  Not to mention her upcoming Gamzatti in Bayadere.

Yes, I agree with this completely. 

Lane has posted that she's doing a last minute peasant pas at today's matinee with Gorak. Trenary must be injured, like it seemed earlier, and Brandt and Hurlin can't do all of them. 

So I watched most of the replay. Markle looked happy and lovely but I didn't care for her dress. Too plain and I don't think it fit her well. It looked quite boxy in the body and the arms. Plain can be quite beautiful but this should have been more fitted. The tiara was beautiful. I have to admit that her hair was driving me nuts - the thick wisp that came undone on the left side of her face and that ended up sticking out behind her ear. Hairspray, honey! But, she and Harry looked very happy and I wish them a good life together!

Did Hallberg do the entrechats, I assume? How was his second act?

Did anyone watch or is currently watching the replay like me? 

3 minutes ago, eduardo said:

Please, excuse my lack of knowledge.

I never imagined that those hops on pointe in the first act variation were such a big deal. Is it that difficult or challenging?

I think I saw that many times and never thought it would be hard, but now I guess I'm wrong. I don't find that step particularly enjoyable or thrilling, perhaps with two exceptions (both with two legs): a variation from Raymonda and in Ballo della Regina, opening the legs from wide to wider.

Yes, they are very difficult to do well. The dancer is expected to travel a great distance while not falling off pointe, which requires a lot of strength, all while maintaining a relaxed upper body with lovely port de bras and showing no strain in the body or the face (and while remaining in character). It's much harder than it looks, but a principal *should* be able to do this.

1 hour ago, fondoffouettes said:

Also, I can't believe side orchestra balance tickets for tonight have gone up to $200 (I just didn't realize that particular section ever went so high, even with dynamic pricing.)

$35 isn't a lot for a ticket, but I think it's too much for standing room. 

Yes, precisely my point. Though I was quite close to giving in to that orchestra seat.

I'm curious though, where do you all see standing room availability? On the Met opera site? Where? 

I also hope Trenary is ok and that she'll be back soon. She has some big roles coming up.

Wow, this is surprising. I too assumed it would be Trusnovec when the time came.

27 minutes ago, cobweb said:

ABT Fan, did you consider standing room? I have had good luck with this. 

I did consider it, thanks. But, it's soooo far away obviously. I don't like to use opera glasses because you lose peripheral vision and I always wind up missing things.

32 minutes ago, Classic_Ballet said:

Luckily, we have a single world-class level show this year, I never thought it would happen but it did. I got my tickets and will be there tonight. The rest of the season, I ll attend a show here and there, but with little excitement overall. 

I never thought it would happen either, but my gamble didn't pay off. The few remaining tickets for tonight are astronomically expensive and too far away from the stage for me to justify it. So, I will have to experience it vicariously through everyone's reviews (please!). At least I did see this cast in Giselle once a few years ago. 

I do agree that there is a lot of mediocrity being pushed right now, and without going on about it (as I think most of us have already hashed this out in other threads) I am concerned about what's going right now and what will happen in just a few years. Someone mentioned "balance" up thread, and I agree that the AD doesn't seem to understand what that is, in many ways.

Thank you for that clip. I agree, and I think the music is just too fast today to stay on top of it. Speaking of music, I forgot to mention that in the second act the horns had some difficulty keeping it together. At one point, it sounded like one of the musicians either fell asleep or forgot what he/she was playing; they dropped out when they shouldn't have and then seemed to rush to get back on track, which sounded awkward to say the least.

Overall, Lane/Simkin/Shevchenko gave a magnificent performance this afternoon despite a few issues.

Lane and Simkin are two very young lovers, so perfectly matched here (and, why oh why are they not doing R&J???). Simkin plays Albrecht not like a cad but as a very young man bound by duty to marry Bathilde who could not help falling in love with Giselle. He naively doesn't think about how this could all end. Simkin's technique was in full force - beautifully controlled pirouettes, incredible jumps. Very fine acting and good partnering though he had a few problems.

Lane's first act was exquisite. So natural, sweet, innocent. Her hops on pointe were miraculous; she traveled all the way across the stage like it was nothing, all while maintaining her lovely port de bras and light upper body. The woman sitting behind me gasped and said "wow!" - just what I was thinking. Then Lane cut loose in a blazing series of pique turns. Her mad scene was just as disturbing as it was last year. Lane, I believe, goes into another realm here. It's like nothing I've never seen. 

Act II was glorious, though I agree that a few of Lane's jumps were low. She seemed tired or fatigued in a few places. I did not see that last year so I view that as a temporary negative. Lane's backwards spins at the beginning were at lightening speed. Her lightness and "wili-ness" was gorgeous and her port de bras as beautiful as always. This Giselle vividly demonstrated her complete forgiveness and undying love for the man who betrayed her. In the pas when Lane has to appear to float on a breeze, Simkin lifted her well but he didn't pull away from her once she was in arabesque which diminished the effect. In the first overhead press when Lane is horizontal, Lane was visibly wobbling in the air and she had to put her hand down on his shoulder before he quickly and pre-maturely brought her down. The second lift went better but was still not secure. (When she did her second Giselle last year with Cornejo, these lifts were rock solid.)  Simkin did the brises which were clean and precise, but his legs and upper body didn't have the necessary forward reach to convey Myrta's pull on him. Other than that, his solos were breathtaking.

Shevchenko was a commanding and evil Myrta. She is so strong and authoritative, despite a few bobbles on her opening arabesques. I think this will become one of her signature roles (I saw her debut last year which was just as powerful) and I suspect her O/O debut, in particular her Black Swan, will be fierce. She is also a good actress and her dismay and displeasure over Giselle's offerings and protection of Albrecht read beautifully. Rachel Richardson and Lauren Post (who was a last minute replacement for Trenary) were the lieutenants. They were well matched and danced well, though Post's legs didn't come together during the series of cabrioles.

As noted earlier, Hurlin and Shayer did the peasant pas. Hurlin looked a bit nervous (I believe this was a role debut) but her technique was solid and she is so lovely. She didn't have the command or secureness like Brandt or Trenary, but how could she at this point? Shayer was solid with those big, gorgeous jumps of his. In the past, I've noticed that he tends to do weird things with his face like mugging or just odd expressions, but I finally saw none of that today. He had a wonderful open face and smile throughout. I really hope to see both of them promoted at the end of the Met season.

Alexei Agoudine debuted as Hilarion, and his acting was very good. He's been in the corps for a long time and has remained in the background, except for acting roles. His dancing was ok, but the second act really needed someone with better technique.

Isadora Loyola was a regal Bathilde and I always enjoy seeing Roman Zhurbin (Prince of Courland) in anything. Lastly, Luis Ribagorda was back on the Met stage after 4 years as Wilfed. He is a fine actor with a strong presence and I'll bet he enjoyed sharing the stage again with his wife, our glorious Giselle.

Muted in general but us diehards stayed and demanded and got a second much-deserved curtain call. 

Extraordinary performance. Will write more later when I get home.

Lastly, as I was just picking up my coat, next to the counter is a large TV screen where Hallberg appeared on stage in costume marking a few things. I was prepared to stand there watching as long as possible but then it cut out very quickly. Darn.

1 hour ago, nanushka said:

My source on the ground tells me that Catherine Hurlin (with Gabe Shayer) is dancing the peasant PDD this afternoon. So wish I could be there, for this and so many other reasons!

Yes she and Gabe and they were terrific!

Act I, Lane - incredible, heartbreaking, stunning. Wow!

More later.....

19 minutes ago, nanushka said:

I have to say that one seems more excusable to me, at least somewhat. The other one was clearly an ensemble image, whereas here the Firebird herself is much more the focus of the image (in composition, color, etc. — not to mention being the title role). Still, it does certainly fit a broader pattern that seems to me to be problematic.

Edited to add:  That's not to say I disagree with the point abatt seems to be making — just that my first reaction to the more recent caption would not have been "Whaaa???" as it was to the earlier one.

I agree. This one doesn't bother me, for the reasons you say, and Abrera/Gomes are not up in the picture with her but hunched down and they blend in with the large ensemble. Also, the article is strictly about Firebird, so I get the emphasis on that character alone. The other picture's caption, that ignited this thread, was inexcusable.

I had forgotten that Copeland's PR agent is also the company's. That is just wrong.

33 minutes ago, nysusan said:

How could I forget to mention Thomas Forster's Hilarion! He was great, his dancing was fabulous and so was his acting. He was definitely more of an in love, protective Hilarion than a bad guy Hilarion. I'm so glad he's getting more prominent roles, he's one of my favorites. I think last night's Wilfred was Alexie Agoudine. He was fine, but with no dancing its not a role I pay much attention to. Susan Jones was Berthe and she always does the mime really well.

Seo's mad scene was pretty good. She had kind of a blank eyed "cornered animal" look on her face for most of it, but it worked. 

Thank you. I usually don't pay much attention to Wilfred either, but after seeing Patrick Frenette's emotional and very strong portrayal last year, I'm more tuned into that role now. I hope to get to see him in it again this wk. And, I agree about Jones' mime skills.

8 minutes ago, nysusan said:

Not being a Hee Seo fan I never really considered going to her Giselle. But then I realized that Bolle's only ABT appearances this season were with her in Giselle so I decided to go. I'm glad I did.

Bolle was fabulous - the gorgeous line and high extensions were all there. Plus great acting and leaps that a man half his age would be proud of. He does the entrechats in act 2 and they drew gasps from the crowd.

Seo's first act was about what I expected from her, a pretty but generic affair. Her technique was fine and her dancing had a nice, buoyant quality but she didn't really hold her arabesques and there was nothing distinctive about her phrasing. No mistakes in the hops on point and she changed the direction of her head and torso - but her hops didn't cover much ground. Her acting was very bland, too. I don't know if the problem is that her face isn't very expressive but until the betrayal  I only saw one expression - happy. No shading, no coloring - just happy. Then we came back for the second act and everything changed - she was beautiful. Her arms were soft as a sigh and her epaulment was wonderfully romantic.

Murphy's Myrtha was authoritative and commanding as ever and she looked to be in great shape. K. Williams and ZJ Fang were her lieutenants and they were both wonderful. Brandt and Gorak did the peasant pdd. Though his feet & line are always beautiful Gorak's dancing looked a little underpowered. Brandt, on the other hand, was gorgeous with beautiful phrasing and such a charming demeanor. A real Giselle in the making.

Thanks for your report. How was her mad scene? Was it "generic" as you say? I'm on the fence about buying a ticket to their Sat show; tickets are expensive at this point if you want to sit close enough to see faces.

And, I'm curious who played Hilarion and Wilfred and how they were? I think they've lost some Hilarion's recently, so I'm guessing some debuts may happen this year.

8 minutes ago, abatt said:

Additionally, she has previously performed Myrta numerous times, and I believe she has also performed Lead Maiden in Firebird previously.  So it's not like these were new roles that she just didn't have time to learn.  Very curious.  I'm still watching that casting like a hawk.

Exactly. I'm also keeping a sharp eye on the casting....

14 minutes ago, California said:

 I guess I never understood why people thought Abrera was injured and would cancel.

Because her Myrta tomorrow night was recast w/ Teuscher, and her two Lead Maiden's next week were also recast. Those book-mark her Giselle, which led many of us to believe she was injured, making her Giselle recast imminent. Apparently not.

Good news, I believe.

Simkin just posted an IG story showing Abrera and Stearns rehearsing the he-loves-me-knot scene on the Met stage. So, I'm assuming that's good news for Abrera and those who have tickets for her Giselle Thursday. The clip is very short and shows no real dancing, but she can't be injured, I suppose, if they're rehearsing.

Then why was her Myrta and both of her Lead Maiden's recast?

Cate Hurlin has now been cast in both of Abrera's Lead Maiden's, on the 22nd and the 24th. This is on ABT's site; strangely not yet on the Met Opera's site, which is usually updated quicker. I'm happy for Hurlin getting more opportunities, but worried about Abrera.

I have a feeling they're still trying to figure out who will replace her in Giselle; I don't think this one is an easy solution. Also, Stearns replaced Gomes in that performance, so I wonder if they'd put in an entirely different couple; Stearns has his original Giselle w/ Murphy on Saturday.

Eagerly awaiting the start of the season tomorrow with Giselle and looking forward to reading everyone's reports.

I still don't see any casting updates on Abrera for her Giselle this week.

To start things off, here's a video of Simkin getting schooled by the one-and-only Irina Kolpakova:

I wondered that too, about Stewart.

31 minutes ago, canbelto said:

Also if we want to use social media as a gage for how things might happen Stella has been ominously silent on social media for awhile and she's usually an extremely enthusiastic, active Instagram poster.

I noticed that too.

On May 11, 2018 at 12:02 PM, NinaFan said:

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!

I thought he was terrific in Agon a few weeks ago and he carries himself like a seasoned soloist. I imagine he'd be a perfect Romeo.