ABT Fan

Tonight was fabulous! I'll have to write more later, but Stella was beautiful, warm and gracious. As Batsuchan commented, she has the most gorgeous port de bras. Her Rose Adagio balances were very brief but her elegance made up for it. I was disappointed that several principals were not there to give her flowers at the end, but Gennadi Saveliev showed up as well as her adorable husband Sascha, of course. Side note: I'm sure this will be posted in the links section, but there's an interview with Trenary in the Times that was conducted right after her debut: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/01/arts/dance/cassandra-trenary-interview-sleeping-beauty-american-ballet-theater.html?smid=tw-nytimesarts&smtyp=cur

Thank you for the updates. So happy to hear that Trenary is dancing so beautifully! She certainly seems to be on the fast track!

I don't think this means he is leaving. He does a decent amount of guesting (Daniil Simkin's Intensio, Gemma Bond's pick up company, Vail, others) so I think he's alluding to a full summer of performing in new places, including ABT on tour. (I don't know if Intensio and Bond's troupes will be touring this summer and that he'll be with them; I'm just stating the other troupes that he's performed with recently, other than ABT.)

Gorak and Copeland did R&J during last year's Met season. I'm guessing Simkin has other performance commitments elsewhere during Wolf Trap.

Boy, do I wish I was there last night. Thanks to everyone for their reviews. Glad to hear the performance was so amazing! Hopefully, the younger generation was taking notes.

Seo did get Semionova's Juliet. Regarding Ferri, I'll be eagerly awaiting reviews of her performance (I saw Cheri w/ her and Cornejo, and they definitely have great chemistry). I guess we'll never know if her Juliet would have gone to someone else's debut if she wasn't performing. Cornejo would need a short partner obviously; would McKenzie have given it to Lane? Unlikely at this point. I guess it's pointless to speculate, but I think it's likely Copeland would have been cast again. She and Cornejo have danced together before and we all know she's box office gold. Only Copeland's and Ferri's R&J's have sold out.

Nice to see they'll have works by two female choreographers, especially Lovette.

Did anyone attend last night? And, eager to hear reports following tonight's dream cast of Vishneva and Gomes (and Scott)....

I agree with you completely.

Calvin Royal III and Gabe Stone Shayer have been dancing principal and soloist roles for years now, significantly in Ratmansky's ballets. So, I'm inclined to say they've been more developed by him than by McKenzie. Anyhow....I certainly hope they are promoted this year, especially Royal. Blaine Hoven has been on an upswing over the last year, and has been dancing better than ever (but, he may be over 30 now as he's been in the corps for 12 years). Sterling Baca is another one, but as we all know he's going to PA Ballet. So, leaving out Baca that's only three guys in the corps visibly being developed who have been regularly dancing lead roles (in addition to their corps work). Yeah, I agree. That's a problem.

That's been my perception too. SAB has always been the Harvard of ballet schools, but I think the JKO school's reputation is improving. Patrick Frenette, a second-year corps member, graduated from SAB. Not sure if there are others, but I was reading his bio for another reason and noticed this.

Yes to "On the Dnieper" ! I loved that ballet (and Part was exceptional in it). I agree Copeland is better suited to Myrtha, but she will get Giselle.

I agree if a choice has to be made, it would certainly be Copeland over Trenary. But, I'm guessing that if they do 8 performances of Giselle (a full week including 2 matinees) and there are 7 female principals who do the role or who would debut (Abrera, Boylston, Copeland, Kochetkova?, Semionova, Seo, Vishneva) then there'd be room for one more debut, unless someone gets to do it twice (Vishneva probably). I think we should add to the predictions list whether or not David Hallberg will return.

Last night was a very uneven night - some parts were brilliant and others were simply awful. I agree with others regarding Part last night. This was my first time seeing her O/O but I've seen her dance countless times and have never seen such stiffness in her back before. Some of the iconic O/O moments lost their impact because of this. Her arms, legs and portrayal (especially of Odette) was gorgeous though and the audience loved her. I also don't need to see exactly 32 fouettes (I never count them), but her working leg was turned in and she traveled a lot. There was no fire or attack and she looked rather precarious (I didn't count any doubles as others noticed). Also, her final leap wasn't a leap; she just fell forward off the cliff. But, I feel for her deeply having had such a bad partner as Whiteside. I was pretty astonished at how awful he was. I think this is the first full-length ballet I've seen him in as the lead (I think he's a good dancer but I don't love him so I try to choose other performances w/ better, in my opinion, male dancers). I didn't realize how bad of an actor he is as I've mostly seen him in pure dance roles. In the first act when Siegfried makes his entrance, that's usually a big moment, but he fell flat. After his mother has told him it's time for him to marry and Siegfried then walks around the stage alone while the corps dances, that's also an important part. Corella did that extremely well: you could really see and feel how conflicted he was, realizing it's time to grow up and accept not only adult but royal responsibilities. Whiteside was utterly blank. In fact, he was blank all the time - in his face, body.... And, I disagree that he was a strong partner to Part. Many of her supported turns were off balance and in one of the lifts she had to put her hand down onto his to support herself (it looked like she was going to fall forward). His technique was fine, even really good in some places like his solo in the first act - his control was impressive. But, overall it was still a very disappointing performance from him. And, totally agree that there was no chemistry between Part and him. Now...Gomes on the other hand...Yowza. Too bad we can't clone him so he can dance Purple Rothbart and Siegfried at the same performance. This was the first time I really believed that the party-goers and especially the four princesses were under the spell of P.R. What a delicious, evil, conniving (and commanding!) performance. There were so many nuances and wonderful touches - the way he picked up one the ladies and tossed her aside, not even looking at her, to focus on the "entranced" girl who bourrees towards him; how he dismissed the four princesses with a flick of his hand; his command of his cape; his Machiavellian laugh. Magnificent! The pas de trois was fantastic - Devon Teuscher and especially Christine Shevchenko have really blossomed into ballerinas. Wonderful technique, natural and happy expressions, gorgeous epaulment. If Calvin Royal III isn't promoted this year I'm going to be really upset. He's been performing principal and soloist parts for years now, and extremely well. He dances like a well-seasoned soloist and is a very good partner. It's time! Catherine Hurlin is an O/O in the making. It is hard to take my eyes off of her and she had a big night last night - the flirty girl, a big swan, and the Spanish princess. She and Royal look beautiful together. The four little swans were nearly perfect. Gabe Stone Shayer as one of the Neopolitans was great - he excels at big jumps. Jonathan Klein as his partner was also very good. The night really belonged to the supporting cast, with Gomes as the ring master.

If Don Q comes back, I predict a debut for Skylar Brandt as Kitri. She's a real spit-fire and she has incredible turns. And, if Cassandra Trenery continues her successful command of more leading and demanding roles (I suspect she will), I also predict another big debut for her too - maybe Giselle.

I will also be there and that night they're celebrating her 20th anniversary, so it should be quite a treat!

FINALLY...... I will get to see Veronika Part as O/O on Wednesday night, as this must be the first year in a long time that she wasn't relegated to a weekday matinee. Plus Gomes as Purple Rothbart (also a first for me) should make it quite an evening. Can't wait! Will be looking forward to reading others reviews for the run as well!

I would also love to see Bright Stream revived. Thanks to all for their comments on Cockerel. I debated on getting a ticket (and was afraid I'd miss out on something great), but am now glad I didn't!

I was there too and agree with much of what you write, vipa.Ulbricht was a fantastic Oberon. His jumps on the diagonal blew me away. Everything he did looked effortless; and no winding himself up before whipping off multiple pirouettes (a few fellas at ABT should take note of that). Reichlen is just gorgeous and Janzen was a strong and attentive partner. I was so happy that Ramasar was doing the pas this afternoon. He and Hyltin were lovely together, although I kept comparing her to Merrill Ashley's phrasing and musicality in his piece. It is the most beautiful choreography and the accopanying score is so sweet and tender I find myself holding my breath. At the end when Hyltin has to fall forward out of her arabesque into Ramasar, it looked like she got stuck at the top, but it was still a breathtaking moment and several people around me "ahhhhd" with delight and she turned and fell backwards in Ramasar's arms. (I wanted an immediate replay!) I had forgotten how charming and magical this ballet is as I haven't seen it in a long time. The children were adorable, and as usual extraordinarily rehearsed (though one little butterfly lost her way at one point but quickly got back into place). A wonderful afternoon.

If you look at her posting from 3 days ago (with the photo of Bottom sitting on the toilet!) she replies to someone and says she's just going on leave. But I agree that her tone in other postings makes it sound as if she's leaving for good.

On City Ballet's AOL series, Hall talked about his many injuries. Here's a short Pointe magazine article that talks about that. I agree that it's good news that he's transitioning now and will stay a part of the NYCB family. I always enjoyed seeing him dance. http://pointemagazine.com/news/craig-hall-talks-city-ballet/

Wouldn't Martins have needed approval from the board (for any promotion) beforehand?

DeCoster - I agree with you regarding Hoven and Hurlin (I haven't noticed Fang enough outside of typical corps roles to say either way). Hoven seems to be on an upsurge, starting with last year. Perhaps he'll finally make soloist? Hurlin, like you, I notice her every time she steps onstage and I see lots of big potential there. I also believe she's destined for great things!

So Martins makes 900K. Wow. Seriously, wow. But, as we both said, you still can't compare the two companies in terms of money, and I can't believe anyone could garner that much at ABT. I'd say that's impossible.

I've heard this before, and it sounds more like a crazy rumor. Being offered $1 million to run ABT is ludicrous (whether that's an annual salary or a combo of salary and signing bonus to lure him away from Argentina). ABT doesn't have that kind of cash. McKenzie makes less than 300K and even across the plaza, Peter Martins makes less than 700K and NYCB has a LOT more money than ABT.