Terez

Oh, so very sorry to hear Vitor Luiz has left. I very much enjoyed all his performances this past season in particular. Wishing him the best!

Just saw this too. Gasp! The instant I saw Misa K's name, my first thought was, "Who'd they lose?" Sensed that it was Scheller, because otherwise there would have been a "final performance" at the end of last season. Or have any senior principals just up and left, post-season? Glad to see Vladislav Kozlov still on the roster - I felt he was a bit underused last season and I really liked what he did do (but that could have simply been that he was performing other roles on nights I wasn't there). He paired wonderfully with WanTing Zhao. I see Nicolai Gorodiskii is no longer on roster; I never saw him perform at all last season. I guess that sometimes happens, too. (Injury?)

Gorgeous post, Meunier fan - so enjoyed reading it. (Wish I could have been there in London to watch it all, as well!)

Love the pics, but am not sure about the second female in red for that performance, in the second pic...

Couldn't feel happier!!! Congratulations to the two dancers on well deserved promotions!

Wow, they got that cast list up [relatively] early! Looks great. I'll be attending opening night; crossing fingers that there will be no replacements. (And all set to shrug philosophically when there are.)

Thrilled to see WanTing listed as the mermaid for 2nd cast. Agreed that both casts look very exciting. Am gnashing my teeth that I will likely have to miss this entire production. Sigh... So much good dance, so little time.

THRILLING news! I think the promotion for Conley was a no-brainer, particularly since learning he was a soloist at Tulsa Ballet before coming here. He's got a soloist's energy onstage. I saw that the minute he started dancing Russian during Nutcracker in December. I saw Esteban Hernandez dance 4 of 6 ballets last weekend, in Programs 5 and 6. He seemed to be getting stronger with each one. Although I do agree that Benjamin Freemantle has been looking sensational as well. And Max would have fit that "tall, princely, danceur noble" type, too. Ah well. As for Madison Keesler, YAY!!! I was sorry to see her leave, those years back, and happy to see her return. She's earned her promotion.

Well. My seeing this performance was doubly amazing, then. It's always so touching and poignant to watch a married couple in a pas de deux, especially one so poignant and emotionally loaded as Die Toteninsel. It is triply poignant now.

No, no no!!

Well, I loved Die Toteninsel [last Sat pm] and I'm not all that surprised. The music, after all. I was surprised how much I enjoyed "Rodeo" and I'm glad I got this chance to see a different side of Peck's choreography. I liked the contrast in stage lighting of all three of the program's ballets (I ranted about "dark" stage lighting in the thread for Program 5.) I liked the contrasts in the program in general (again, ranted in the other thread about this too-homogenous feeling I got from Program 5). The dancing in "Rodeo" was all supreme. So happy to see Sofiane Sylve, and she looked amazing. Nice pas de deus with Carlo. Esteban Hernandez was on fire all weekend long; the trio work with him, Wei Wang and Hansuke was well delivered. Ditto for the "other" group of males: Cauthorn, Freemantle, Castilla, Morse, Orza. Orchestra sounded wonderful; I will always gravitate to the ballets with orchestral classical music. Die Toteninsel was dark, yes (and not just figuratively), but it was supremely effective. So good to see Lauren Strongin dancing; she had a beautiful pas de deux with Joe Walsh, also a great dancer to see, whom I haven't seen enough of this season. The tireless Esteban Hernandez did a great job here, too, as did Luke Ingham (stepping in for Vitor Luiz), Dores André and Wei Wang. The whole cast looked great. I hope this one gets repeated next year; it's a winner. I was fine watching Bjork Ballet last year, but didn't feel compelled to see it a second time. Oh well. I'm not about to complain about surplus time spent watching these great dancers. Elizabeth Powell just tore up the stage in the role SVP had last year. She was very exciting to watch; it seems she is having a stunning season, growing as a dancer by leaps and bounds (no pun intended). Carmela Mayo danced the role Masha had last year - talk about an impossible act to follow. She did just fine, but wasn't able to produce the "wow" factor, and I would have been shocked if she had. Masha just isn't someone who can be easily subbed. But it was exciting to see Mayo give it a strong go. I also enjoyed seeing Ulrik Birkkjaer dance - another of those dancers I haven't gotten the chance to see too much of this past season. Great program.

Loved all your comments, Quiggin! (I failed to notice these last few posts/comments before I posted my own.

Reporting in from attending the Sun April 7th matinee performance. I'd seen the other program the night before, and that sort of colored my perspective. (Was that the reason I found myself thinking, "Here we go again, more guys lifting guys" and "great, more 'dark' lighting and music that challenges my ears"?) Pherank, you were right, that the "prize" was seeing Vladislav Kozlov, partnering in a pas de deus with one of my personal [underused] favorites, WanTing Zhao. I was just dazzled by that, in "...two united in a single soul...", which also wins the award for the most awkward title of the season (the decade?). Also very memorable was the pas de deux between Max and Sasha -- and to my favorite aria, "Lascia ch'io Piangia" - and thank goodness composer Daria Novo left this masterpiece by Handel free of the electronic whistles or creaks that made many of the other parts of the score "more interesting." (Her words, not mine. Definitely not mine.) Esteban Hernandez was amazing as Narcissus. So much energy, and he was very good at filling the stage space, in a way that seemed a bit lacking as The Bluebird in Sleeping Beauty. He'd had a big role in Die Toteninsel (LOVED it) the previous evening, and was in Rodeo and was in Bound To. Basically, it seemed like he was everywhere, and in a good way. He had to have been exhausted by the end of Sunday's program. Mixed feelings in general about Yuri's ballet. The moods were just too different, the "Narcissus" and countertenor (beautifully sung by Matheus Coura) theme, and then there's this "Hooked on Classics" rendition of Handel and an exuberant corps of 6 [or 8, or 4] dancers bounded around onstage, doing folksy Russian steps, and it just was too much of a stretch for me. A resounding "yes!" to what was said above, about the "Team USA" costumes. I was okay with the women's, but found the men's particularly unflattering. When their backs were to the audience, the look was distressingly feminine, so at odds with the men's strong dancing. Loved "Your Flesh..." and thought everyone danced it very well. Didn't get to see this one last year. Ethan Chudnow did a really good job in that male lead role (lots of solo dancing, so that might not be the right term). Sasha de Sola really stood out too - I don't see her in much contemporary dancing, it would seem, or I've certainly never had the "wow" factor happen, but I did on Sunday. Loved the pas de trois she shared with Elizabeth Mateer (who very much held her own alongside Sasha, always a delight to see with a corps dancer) and I believe it was Sean Bennett (someone correct me if I'm wrong) dancing with them. It was a delightful trio to watch. I was rather "meh" on "Bound To." The message was so crammed down the throat, I got it seconds into the first movement and was just irritably waiting for the cell phone theme to end. Yes, there was great dancing. My friend loved the music; I found it just "meh." Again, I can't help but imagine that I would have found it all much more energizing if it hadn't been following "Your Flesh" and the previous night's Bjork Ballet. I feel compelled to whine about the lighting -- why is "dark" lighting (an oxymoron, that) becoming so vogue? It annoys me. It makes me squint, to no effect. It seems to be cutting off some of my sensory abilities. Of the six ballets I saw over the weekend, it seems at least 4 had compromised lighting. (Thank goodness for Rodeo!) Whining aside, it was truly great dancing, all weekend long. While I would have liked to see the first cast of this program, it was very gratifying to see how wonderfully the second cast danced it all.

Additional casting... I'll be seeing the Sat pm performance, and am particularly looking forward to Die Toteninsel. Seems it's being reviewed well, and I'm crazy about the Rachmaninoff tone poem it's set to. Only regret is that I can't see both casts. Wednesday, April 3, 2019 – 7:30 pm Rodeo: Four Dance Episodes Choreography: Justin Peck Music: Aaron Copland Conductor: Ming Luke Dores Andre Ulrik Birkkjaer Max Cauthorn Daniel Deivison-Oliveira Cavan Conley Die Toteninsel Choreography: Liam Scarlett Music: Sergei Rachmaninoff Conductor: Martin West Esteban Hernandez Lauren Strongin Joseph Walsh Dores Andre Vitor Luiz Wei Wang Björk Ballet Choreography: Arthur Pita Music: Composers: Björk Gudmundsdottir, Alejandro Ghersi, and Sjón Conductor: Martin West Miranda Silveira Ellen Rose Hummel Madison Keesler Wei Wang Henry Sidford John-Paul Simoens Saturday, April 6, 2019 – 2:00 pm Rodeo: Four Dance Episodes Choreography: Justin Peck Music: Aaron Copland Conductor: Ming Luke Dores Andre Ulrik Birkkjaer Max Cauthorn Daniel Deivison-Oliveira Cavan Conley Die Toteninsel Choreography: Liam Scarlett Music: Sergei Rachmaninoff Conductor: Martin West Cavan Conley Jahna Frantziskonis Max Cauthorn WanTing Zhao Luke Ingham Steven Morse Björk Ballet Choreography: Arthur Pita Music: Composers: Björk Gudmundsdottir, Alejandro Ghersi, and Sjón Conductor: Ming Luke Miranda Silveira Ellen Rose Hummel Madison Keesler Wei Wang Henry Sidford John-Paul Simoens Saturday, April 6, 2019 – 8:00 pm Rodeo: Four Dance Episodes Choreography: Justin Peck Music: Aaron Copland Conductor: Martin West Sofiane Sylve Carlo Di Lanno Esteban Hernandez Hansuke Yamamoto Wei Wang Die Toteninsel Choreography: Liam Scarlett Music: Sergei Rachmaninoff Conductor: Martin West Esteban Hernandez Lauren Strongin Joseph Walsh Dores Andre Vitor Luiz Wei Wang Björk Ballet Choreography: Arthur Pita Music: Composers: Björk Gudmundsdottir, Alejandro Ghersi, and Sjón Conductor: Martin West Carmela Mayo Dores Andre Elizabeth Powell Joseph Walsh Luke Ingham Ulrik Birkkjaer