Kaysta

5 hours ago, JuliaJ said:

I also love Kammermusik. I wasn't crazy about Teresa Reichlen in this recording though. Her style of "attack" is different than Mearns' and she just looked overshadowed. Love her in other leggy modernist ballets though. 

I think the piece works particularly well when the two female dancers look and move alike, like the performance I saw at NYCB last fall with Unity Phelan and Emilie Gerrity. It was sometimes hard to tell them apart. 

Felt the same!  I usually love Reichlen but I literally could not stop watching Mearns.

Just watched the modern innovation program, and man do I really need to see all of Kammermusik.  Sara Mearns blew me away.  I don’t know how I’ve never seen that ballet but I can’t wait to someday see the whole thing in person.

Excited for the promotions, as I like all of those dancers.

I’m not going to stress over Lane until it’s confirmed that she is leaving, or has left.  Unless I’m missing something, I see nothing on her social media accounts that indicate she has left.

I’m deeply disappointed in ABT.  They used to be my favorite ballet company.  Now, I’d much rather spend my donation dollars at NYCB.  They are doing severe damage to their company by not having a digital presence.  I hope they recover but I’m not sure how much time and money I’ll be spending there when this is over.

Went to the premiere as I was already out in LA for a work trip.  I loved it.  Will write more tomorrow.

I’ll be interested to see what everyone else thinks about Hurlin’s Myrtha  in the spring.

The only disappointment from yesterday was the corps Willis.  They were a tad off, especially the hopping arabesques.  I could see heads bobbling at different speeds.  Not a horrible performance, just a bit off.

I thoroughly enjoyed Ahn and Brandt today (especially Act 2) but the star of the show was Catherine Hurlin.  WOW, she was a phenomenal Myrtha.  Her jumps were so light and airy, she flew across the stage.  She was impressively menacing.  Her portrayal had nuance, honestly probably the best Myrtha I’ve seen from ABT.  

I have tickets for Sunday.  Excited to see Skylar’s debut.

I’m also going on Saturday.  I’ve seen Teuscher as O/O but it will be my first time seeing Bell as Siegfried.  

Not feeling very talkative, but I agree they were fantastic.  I was very impressed with the whole company, but especially Nathalia Arja.  She was explosive in Walspurgisnacht.

Super happy for Kathryn Morgan

On 3/27/2019 at 1:00 AM, Drew said:

Weeellll that is now three of the dancers I was most looking forward to seeing off the tour--Tereshkina, Shakirova, and Shklyarov. Since Tereshkina is not injured, I find her absence especially painful.  (I don't know what the story is with Shklyarov...and Shakirova's injury has already been mentioned upthread...)

I have no complaints about anyone who IS coming--though I could wish the company had another Ali who was as potentially exciting as Kim. 

Edited because there is no point in worrying about Mariinsky casting until one is in the theater and the curtain up. So I will stick to worrying about my travel plans going smoothly.

I find it a bit irritating to see Shyklarov is performing with Staatsballet in Diamonds with Somova after pulling out of KC.  Guess he felt he had better things to do. 

Really disappointed in the casting changes.  Need to add a performance with Khoreva now.

I love Alexandra Hughes, she is one of my favorite dancers at PAB.  Though I will admit that I favor her in the Balanchine rep (what little is left at PAB), and have no clue what kind of Giselle she would be.

Excited about this season, I’m going to try to see them all.  Especially happy to get to see the Ratmansky R&J again.  Does Obratzsova ever tour?  I know she has littles, but would love to see her Juliet.

I’m excited to see Khoreva!  I may add on Tuesday night as well, because I love Tereshkina.

Just got my brochure from Wolf Trap and it looks like ABT will be performing Swan Lake 7/11-7/13.  Odettes are Hee, Misty and Devon and Siegfrieds are Cory, Herman and Aran.

Just saw this was posted in a different forum so feel free to delete.

On 1/20/2019 at 10:01 AM, cubanmiamiboy said:

A lifelong of medical career usually places your brain into binary gender mode. You know... working with organs, labs and such. What can I say.

Understand that this is really off topic now. My apologies.

Back to Polunin.

As a pathologist who holds organs in my hands everyday, I disagree with this.  A human heart is a human heart.  I can’t tell what gender someone is by inspecting their heart.   When I’m doing a gross examination of colon cancer, the colon looks identical in both men and women.   And given intersex conditions, even the reproductive track may not help me distinguish.  Binary gender is set by having hormones produced  in the correct ratio, and then strongly influenced by environment and culture.

Sorry to be off topic.  I am glad to see that Polunin’s posts have been deleted.

Glad I went.  Some bobbles by all 3, but the 3 leads were all great.  Outside of Tiler Peck, Smirnova may be my favorite current dancer.  I thought she was a hauntingly beautiful  Nikiya.

My only complaints besides the black faced kids (which is completely unnecessary and should be changed) is the camera work during the corps Kingdom of the Shades.  I don’t want to see close up shots during the Shades entrance.  I also was not that impressed with Shrainer or Chapykina’s solos.  But overall, an afternoon well spent!!!!

Olga was beautiful in the second act, even with a little bobble.  And watching Belyakov makes me realize how depleted the male principal ranks are at both NYC companies right now.

Other than the black faced children which makes me want to crawl in a hole....

i am LOVING this cast.  Super impressed with all 3 leads, especially Marchenkova, who may be the fiercest Gamzatti I’ve ever seen.

I have tickets for both performances on 2/2, so I’ll see Brandt and Lane.  Looking forward to seeing Harlequinade, as I didn’t have a chance to see it last spring.

That trailer is adorable!

I have tickets for both Balanchine programs on the 26th.  It’ll be my first time back in NYC since I moved to Baltimore last year, so I’m looking forward to it.  The evening Balanchine/Stravinsky program will be my first time viewing all of those ballets.   Will be so nice to have my ballet-loving soul restored by a whole day of Balanchine.

I’m also excited to see Mack!  Kind of hoping he could be brought on to guest more frequently.

I’m thrilled Smirnova is dancing the broadcast, her Diamonds was one of the highlights of ballet watching for me.  I can’t wait to see her Nikiya.