Kaysta

Agree with everything Angelica said above about the matinee today. I really enjoyed Semionova's Act 3 (she held that balance for a really long time!!). I think she is an amazing dancer, but there really wasn't that much of a difference, personality wise, between her Odette and Odile. She's just not soft enough for Odette. This was the first time I saw Stearns, and I thought he did a fine job. I sat in the back of the orchestra and thought his acting was fine. He did a good job partnering Semionova, I didn't see any shakiness in the lifts. My favorite part: The PdT in Act 1. Stella Abrera is so darn gorgeous. She has the most beautiful arms. While she was dancing, all I could think was she has perfect Giselle arms. Wish I could go to the Phillipines to see her Giselle. Also interesting...I sat next to a corps member's mother and got to talking about ABT. She pretty much confirmed the general thoughts everyone has had about the lack of opportunities/promotions for ABT corps/solists and the unfortunate situation of bringing in so many guest artists. That was my last ballet of the Met season. I feel sad. I think I'm going to have to get a subscription to NYCB, I don't think I can wait 10 months for next year.

Glad to hear someone else enjoyed Boylston's performance. I saw her Kitri and Giselle and thought they were great. Glad to hear she did a good job with O/O.

Well this stinks. I've never seen Halberg dance, which was the reason I switched my Wednesday ticket to the Saturday matinee.

I wonder who will be dancing for Halberg on Saturday? Would love to see Gomes, but that might be asking a bit much of the overworked guy! Based off the reviews, I'm actually disappointed I'm going to see Semionova. I should have kept my tickets for Part.

Went to the matinee today. I know some folks have some differing opinions on Isabella Boylston, but being a ballet newbie, I can't critique technique, only the way the dancing makes me feel, and I adored her Giselle. (I also liked her Kitri). She did a good job contrasting the two different styles between Act 1 and 2 and she had great chemistry with Whiteside. Whiteside has really grown on me since Don Quixote. I wasn't as impressed with his lifts in DQ but he did two beautiful boat lifts that didn't wobble at all. And I had to look up entrechats six to see what it was ( and someone else who was there, correct me if I'm wrong) but I'm pretty sure he did them. Lastly, I hope Devon Teuscher gets promoted to soloist. Every time I see her, she is amazing. My only complaint for the day was how rude the audience was today. They were clapping during weird times, coughing and hacking up a storm, and playing with their cellphones ( I was in the grand tier and could see the lights shining in the orchestra, while the ballet was going on!). Worst audience ever.

I am so jealous that I missed Monday night. Vishneva and Marcelo are amazing together. Sounds like they had another amazing performance!

Just got back from the matinee. Agree with others on Reyes/Gorak-they were great. But the two who stood out to me the most were Devon Teuscher (fairy godmother) and Arron Scott as the jester. I had never seen them before and thought they were great.

Thanks, ya'll. I just got my tickets for tomorrow night!

I was suppose to go today, but got overwhelmed at work and couldn't leave. I'm thinking about getting tickets for Thursday night or the matinee on Saturday. Any ballet-alerters who live in NYC--is the 1 train safe at 10 pm for a single gal to get back to Penn Station on a thursday night? I'd really like to see Murphy, I've never seen her live (only on the ABT Swan Lake video).

Anyone going tonight? I'll be seeing the Seo matinee on Wednesday. While i'm looking forward to it, I doubt anything will top Saturday.

I can't stop thinking about the Saturday performance. It still brings tears to my eyes, haha! My favorite moment, that keeps replaying in my head, is in act 3, when Gomes picked up Vishneva into a backbend into his arms. Her body was so completely limp (yet still made the most beautiful lines) and they started the pdd. Just one of many moments that took my breath away. On another note, don't know if this has been mentioned, but Misty Copeland autographed copies of her book that they are selling in the met opera shop. Thought that was pretty cool, considering they didn't increase the price.

Went to the matinee...will post more tomorrow but it was amazing. After seeing La Bayadere, I said the shades was going to be the highlight of the met season for me. I was so very wrong. Vishneva and Gomes were on a whole different level. I balled my eyes out I was so moved. I'm sure the folks sitting next to me thought I was crazy.

I'm seeing Vishneva on Saturday, can't wait!!

Saw the matinee today. Thought both Part and Whiteside were fantastic, much better than last weeks Don Q. I feel like Part is made to play Nikiya, her arms are so long and her lines are gorgeous. Whiteside was much steadier lifting her, and the two had very believable chemistry. I loved them both. Stella was Gamzatti, and I enjoyed her performance. She fell out of her fouettes in act one, but that was the only mistake I noticed (with my beginners eyes). I liked the way she played Gamzatti, she seemed to have almost a sinister quality. The act 3 solo was fabulous. The only other time I saw La Bayadere is the Royal Ballet video. Seeing act two in person will probably be the highlight of the met season for me. The corps was fantastic, and the room was so quiet at times, you could hear a pin drop. The three solos were all outstanding. In case you can't tell, I enjoyed this way more than Don Q!!!

I also have tickets for the Part Matinee. Looking forward to seeing Stella Abrera as Gamzatti!!!

I saw the Wednesday matinee. As I wrote in the ABT thread, and as others have said, Stella Abrera was stunning as Mercedes/QOD. I could not keep my eyes off her. Plus, it was fun to see her dance with Sasha! I liked Veronica Part and James Whiteside, but I (personally) didn't see as much chemistry between the two of them compared to the DC casting of Boylston/Simkin. Whiteside did look like he had a hard time lifting her once or twice. But Part was beautiful, and I look forward to seeing her next week in La Bayadere. I also agree with the positive reviews on Amour and the flower girls. Thought all three were fantastic.

I understand all of the love for Stella Abrera now. She was Mercedes/Queen of the Dryads at today's matinee, and she was fantastic. I couldn't take my eyes off of her. Add me to the Stella fan club.

We have a couple of other threads going on this. Yuriko Kajiya is also going to Houston. Yeah, I saw your post in the other thread. Sorry, don't leave the ABT forum all that often, so didn't see it over there. Didn't mention Kajiya here as its a thread about the male principals at ABT.

http://www.abt.org/insideabt/news_display.asp?News_ID=482

Anyone see the news? Jared Matthews is leaving for Houston ballet at the end of the Met season.

Just watched it. They did show entire Diamonds. Looked like Julie Diana and Zachary Hench danced the leads, they were both superb. This is the first time I saw Under the Sun pas de deux and it was fantastic. Couldn't tell who was dancing it? Was it Brooke Moore and Ian Hussey? I didn't enjoy the After the Rain segment as much as the others.

So I saw a picture of Boylston and Simkin standing next to each other on Gillian Murphy's twitter, and they are about the same height, however when Ms. Boylston is on point, she is taller than Simkin. I guess I was so enthralled with their dancing that I didn't notice the size difference!

I also went to today's matinee at the Kennedy Center. I don't have the technical knowledge that most posters here have, as I just saw my first full ballet last October. This was my first ABT performance, and I was blown away by the leads. I thought both Isabella Boylston and Daniil Simkin were extraordinary. I haven't seen many dancers (only the PA Ballet) but Simkin's turns and jumps took my breath away. I didn't really notice a size issue between the two, but my seats were in the rear orchestra, so maybe I was too far away to notice. I liked Misty Copeland as the Queen of the Dryads better than her Mercedes, and I thought Gemma Bond was good as Amour. Unlike Natalia, I wasn't as impressed with the first flower girl solo in act 3 , it looked a bit clumsy to me, but again, I don't have much technical knowledge, so what do I know. I get to see DQ again on the 14th in NY with Part and Whiteside. I look forward to seeing who will dance Mercedes and Espada and hope it's someone different so I can compare the two performances with different dancers. I think Boylston and Simkin will be hard to beat. Being a newly obsessed ballet nut is awesome, as everything is so new and exciting. Can't wait for the Met season to start!

Wow, thanks for the link! I'm headed to DC (unexpectedly!!!!) tomorrow for the matinee. As I live right outside of Philly, it's only a 2 and 1/2 hour drive for me. Can't beat 35 dollar tickets. Too bad I was going to go into work tomorrow to catch up on stuff and now I'm heading to the Kennedy center. It's my first time seeing Don Quixote. I also have tickets to the Wednesday matinee on 5/14.

I am so excited! I can't wait until May 14th!!!