ABT Fan

What an amazing career! I imagine her farewell performance will sell out in lightning speed.

Whaaaaaaaat? So many questions: what are his plans other than Flesh and Bone? Is he retiring or just leaving ABT? What about Stella?

Were these the roles she danced at ABT? If not, which ones did she perform? She danced one of the roles at ABT (I don't remember which one), but she was never given so many chances to dance the role at ABT anyway.

So great to see Messmer is getting so much stage time in good roles!

Thank you for posting this wonderful clip (great to see a snippet of Simone Messmer). I just wish it was longer!

I wish ABT would do this ballet.

Can you post a link or two? I haven't heard this.

Wow. I thought the Paris Opera dancers were very well taken care of. Perhaps not. Wonder what Millipied thinks of this.

Isabella Boylston was part of the exchange with RDB. She danced with them in December for their Nutcracker. I know she danced Dewdrop but I can't remember is she danced any other role in that production with them. nShe also danced the Sugar Plum Fairy. She will dance Gamzatti at MB in April. I hope she gets coaching in the role while she is there.Kevin is probably getting her ready for a promotion. Boylston's Twitter feed recently showed her getting coached by Tatyana Terekhova in St Petersburg for Giselle. With her debuting in that role next month, along with her past and upcoming guest appearances, I agree she's being groomed to be promoted. She's getting more opportunities (and principal parts) than any other soloist right now. I imagine it'll happen by the Met season (but I also imagined that other promotions - Gorak for one - would have been announced by now).

Isabella Boylston was part of the exchange with RDB. She danced with them in December for their Nutcracker. I know she danced Dewdrop but I can't remember is she danced any other role in that production with them.

I wonder if Smirnova and Tereshkina will perform La Bayadere together on the same night? On ABT's website, the evening performance of May 28 is still showing TBA for the entire principal cast. May 26 shows TBA for Gamzatti.

I disagree with that. Stiefel danced with NYCB for about 5 years, Zurich Ballet for one yr, and ABT for 15 years. He was dean at NCSA for 4 years and by the time he leaves NZB in the fall, that'll be 4 years there. I'd hardly say that's jumping from job to job or company to company. And, while at ABT during his later years, though he was dancing less he was also teaching, juggling his job at NCSA and later at NZB during his first year there. His long career at ABT (where he was much loved) would be appealing I think to the board if/when the time comes to choose a new AD. Of course there could be other highly qualified candidates too, but I think Stiefel would be great choice. I do think Damian Woetzel would be a great choice for AD at NYCB.

ABT will be doing Pillar of Fire and Push Comes to Shove. So, I'm going to hope/assume (with glee) that they'll be reviving those ballets for their Met season that summer!

I saw this in the NY Times today. I can't say I'm surprised only because NZ is very far from his family. From the recent reviews I've read, he's done a lot of wonderful things for that company, not the least of which is giving the company a more international presence. I really hope he comes back to NYC (to teach, or join a company as a ballet master, or...). And, I can't help but wonder if his time directing the RNZ Ballet (plus his teaching experience globally as well as his position as dean at NCSA) could position him to become the next AD of ABT.

It looks nothing like her.

What great questions, sasark. I agree with cubanmiamiboy, I'd say the most important technical sequences are the main pas de deux in Act II, the "4 little swans" (they dance all in a line holding hands until the final release - look for complete uniformity and staying on the music), the black swan pas de deux in Act III and the Act I pas de trois. I think the 32 fouettes are very important. Not necessarily doing 32 per se, but the technical mastery and staying in one place (not traveling all over the stage while doing them) is what counts. What really wraps it up for me, is a dancer who can master the dichotomous challenge of playing Odette and Odile. Frequently, you see a ballerina who can embody one really well, but not the other, and you end up feeling unfulfilled as a viewer. It's not just about technique. Which company are you seeing?

Ivan Nagy's obituary is now in the NY Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/26/arts/dance/ivan-nagy-star-of-american-ballet-theater-is-dead-at-70.html?ref=dance Nice to see it was written by Anna Kisselgoff. I had no idea he thought of performing as a “a miserable love affair.”

Cannot wait to see this next year!

Such surprising news. Very sad. I hope the NY Times prints a fitting obit.

Yes! And a soloist or two to principal.

I thought that Marcelo Gomes had hinted at that in his Twitter feed, but I was hoping it wasn't. Bragado-Young was a great actor; sorry to see him go. I wonder what he'll be doing now?

Hilarious! Just change up the music and the costumes and you have every contemporary routine on "So You Think You Can Dance".

For me it was a blizzard.

I went to this Saturday night (in a blizzard) and as others have said, $25 is pennies to spend to see Ferri and Cornejo. Granted they didn't "dance" much but their acting was superb. Cornejo, in what I'd call "the second half" of the show, nearly broke my heart; I felt he beautifully showed his torment between duty and love and the emotional aftereffects of war. I've always felt he was a good actor, but as abatt mentioned above his portrayals sometimes get lost on the huge Met stage. I was sitting in the 2nd row and could see every nuance. The choreography was not always impressive though (too many embraces and vertical lifts). Amy Irving was lovely. The scenery was impressive including the effect with the mirror. One embarrassing note: I got to meet Cornejo after the show (very briefly) and gushed like a giggly teenager. But, totally worth it!