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Kaysta

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Everything posted by Kaysta

  1. Oh!!! I didn't realize that, I've only seen ABT's production twice and It's been awhile. No wonder they seemed so similar!! 😆🤣 Thanks!
  2. Thanks,Drew. It's interesting because the ABT version also seems similar to the Royal Ballet version, which I do believe has the temple destruction scene and Gamzatti's Act 3 variation (I have the video of Nunez as a marvelous Gamzatti). I'm not familiar with the old school Soviet productions though. I'll check out YouTube to see if I can find the Vikharev reconstruction. While I missed seeing Gamzatti's last variation, I overall loved the production due to the strength of the Mariinsky dancers.
  3. Just out of curiosity, does anyone know if Gamzatti's 3rd act variation was part of the original production or added later? Before today, I had only seen ABT's version and was surprised the Mariinsky version ended with the shades and without the whole destruction of the temple scene.
  4. I concur with the wonderful reviews of Tereshkina and Kim. They were fantastic. Literally, the best Nikiya and Solor I've ever seen.
  5. I went to last night's performance. I was a little nervous, because while I have mostly loved Oksana Maslova, she has struck me as more of lyrical-type dancer, with gorgeous fluid movement and port de bras. I wasn't sure if she was up for one of Petipa's most demanding classical roles, and I worried if she could handle the balances in the Rose Adagio. I'm happy to say I was wrong! She was lovely. While she didn't hold the longest balances in the Rose Adagio and was pretty quick to grab her partner's hand with only a quick modest elevation of her arms en courrone (which isn't necessarily a bad thing, I don't want to see a Tamara Rojo thing going on at PAB), she still sailed through it quite well. I was nervous for her, but I didn't need to be. She was lovely. She does have a habit of overextension, which if you dislike that, it might take away from her performance. I thought her musicality was fantastic, with her steps accenting the music beautifully during her solo variations. Her characterization was exactly as I expect Aurora to be, sweet and girly in the first act, more mature in the second and third acts. Overall, a very strong performance! I also thought Baca was great. Sometimes I feel like he gets a bit over excited and might try to overdo his jumps and turns, which can lead to unclean landings. While there may have been a bit of that, I thought he was quite enjoyable to watch. He handled most of the lifts well and seems to be a very strong partner. The fish dives looked a little less smooth than I've seen done by others (notably Marcelo Gomes, but who can compare to Marcelo!), but he did accomplish them using only one hand. His solo variation was absolutely outstanding. And he really does play the part of the noble prince quite well. I was a wee bit disappointed in Torriesi's Lilac Fairy in the prologue, though I thought she was fine in the later acts. I think it comes down to style of dancing/port de bras for me. Maslova is so very Russian on stage (though she trained at Kiev) and has such beautiful arms and supple back, so Torriente (unfairly) looks less polished next to her, in my opinion. The production itself was pretty good, though very long. The third act included precious stones, Florine/Bluebird, White Cat/Puss n Boots, Little Red Riding Hood/Wolf, and then the pas de deux. Oh, and the garland waltz was absolutely stunning. Very well done (so much better than Ratmansky's ABT garland waltz, that looks too crowded on stage). I've seen Ratmansky's production so much that it was strange to go back to a more modern production. While I appreciate Ratmansky's, I enjoyed seeing more modern point work and modern variations. I would like to go back to see Pineiro, but she's performing tonight and I have too much work to do. So I have to decide if I want to see DiPiazza on Sunday. I won't be able to catch any other performances next week, as it's Marinsky Bayadere weekend. If anyone catches any additional casts, please let us know how it goes.
  6. When you click on the links for tickets you see availability for the amphitheater? I don't see any available tickets. I go to all of PAB performances in the Academy of Music, I haven't seen anyone sitting there in years. Family circle has some seats open, but many of the grayed out seats are obstructed views and aren't sold. It's confusing for sure.
  7. The amphitheater and parts of the family circle have extremely limited views and most of it is not even made available for sale, so it's not sold out. I sat in the amphitheater once for Nutcracker and you can't see the stage. I haven't seen it opened up in years (though maybe they still open it for Nutcracker). Much of the family circle is obstructed by pillars, so only select seats are available for purchase.
  8. I'm skipping the fall season as well. Timing wise, with Mariinsky Bayadere and work obligations, it doesn't work for me. It helps that I'm not that excited about the rep either, but if I didn't have prior obligations, I would try to see at least one performance.
  9. Casting is usually out by now, so I'm disappointed that we don't know who is dancing when for Sleeping Beauty. I'm assuming that Baca/Maslova will be opening night, as they are on all of the advertising materials. It's hard to know what to expect with both Sleeping Beauty and Swan Lake, as they are new productions done by Corella for this year. I enjoyed his Don Q and Le Corsaire, so I'm sure they'll be pretty good. Agree with the seating advice by California. There are a lot of pillars obstructing views, but I think the site does a good job at limiting those seats. Seats on the sides have pretty obstructed views (outside of the parterre boxes, which aren't so bad but are pretty expensive). I think the balcony center seats right behind the boxes are also pretty good, so long as you stay center.
  10. I just love Tiler. I think she may be my current favorite dancer. I get to see her this weekend, and I cannot wait.
  11. Kaysta

    Joy Womack

    According to her Instagram, she has accepted a position at Universal Ballet in South Korea.
  12. I think Kochetkova will dance in La Bayadere this spring. Hopefully that's all. I'd rather see Trenary, Brandt and Lane get the opportunities.
  13. I was planning on skipping the fall season at both NYCB and ABT as I have too much going on in the fall on weekends, but I ended up caving and nabbing tickets to both Mearns and Peck's matinee performances. I just cannot pass up a chance to see Peck dance.
  14. I think both Teuscher and Shevchenko would do well as Nikiya, so I hope they both get it. Lane should definitely get an O/O and it would be great to see her get a Juliet as well.
  15. Agreed, I think the photo is fine. I was expecting something hideous. I am also going to skip the fall season though. It's a shame that the Kennedy Center Mariinsky performances are the same week, or I'd try to sneak in at least one ABT fall performance.
  16. I live in Philly and I often make the trip down to DC to see major companies perform. It's about a 3 hr drive, or you could hope on the acella express. The Mariinsky is coming in october.
  17. Wow!!!!!! This blew me away! She was amazing. Thank you for posting this, I've never seen her dance before.
  18. Thanks to canbelto, I just watched the video of Olga Smirnova in Diamonds, and it is night and day better than Kovaleva. Don't get me wrong, Kovaleva is a very lovely dancer, and she has a very bright future ahead of her. She did a good job in Diamonds, and her technique was mostly fantastic, but she lacks the experience and maturity needed to deliver a dramatically resonating performance (like Smirnova and Mearns can). I would like to see Kovaleva in Diamonds again, maybe five years from now, because I think I'll have a different opinion. I now officially regret not seeing the Smirnova cast in person, but hopefully she'll come back to the US again at some point.
  19. Thanks, I'll look for it tonight. DeLuz was the highlight of today for me. He dances as if he's 20, I swear he must not age.
  20. I did. I was disappointed though the crowd loved her. I thought as stunningly beautiful as she is, she lacked the maturity and dramatic presence of Mearns. Rubies was out of this world though. wish I could have seen the Smirnova cast.
  21. I agree. And realistically, she should have been planning for this day. She is 39. Even if she couldn't foresee this, she had to know that the end was very near.
  22. 2? Vishneva willingly walked away as far as I've heard, so I wonder who she is talking about. Kochetkova?
  23. I don't know if she is taller, but I think she is bigger, more womanly. In no way am I saying she is too big or fat, I think she is stunningly gorgeous. I just think she is tall and solid (in comparison to someone waif-like, like Hee Seo), which might make it harder on partners who aren't as secure or strong.
  24. And playing devil's advocate here (in no way am I happy about Part leaving)...as has been discussed on this board, the current crop (pre-promotion) of principals have either had injury issues or cannot technically handle all of the roles in a typical Met season. While Part has been quite technically secure the last two years or so, she also isn't going to be cast in many of the Met season roles (like Giselle, Kitri, Juliet, ect.). McKenzie might have needed to move up Teuscher and Shevchenko to have competent technical dancers that can handle most of the met repertoire. Though I suppose he could put soloists in those principal roles, but if the dancers are dancing principal roles, don't they deserve the principal contract? I also wonder if a large part of this has to do with finding an adequate partner for Part. I found it odd that outside of Gomes, none of the principal men who have partnered her, came out to give her bouquets at her final performance. I'm not blaming Part for that, but outside of Gomes (who we all know is starting to pull back from roles and has less availability) and Hoven (who hasn't danced the "princely" roles yet), does the issue of an adequate partner play into all of this? It's a shame she couldn't have danced with someone like Camels, because that would have been a beautiful pairing.
  25. I didn't see Bethea on stage at all this season. Wonder if she was injured?
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