MarzipanShepherdess

This makes a lot of sense. There are certainly a number of great candidates to move up, excited to hear about the promotions.

Saw last night's Chloe/Aran Swan Lake. I thought the whole company looked great. Even the smaller roles were being done with a lot of artistry and flair. Zhong-Jing Fang was a very grand, ultra-elegant Queen Mother, and Cy Doherty made the final show-down between swamp VR and Siegfried look like a real, agonized fight to the death. Robare delighted as purple VR with gorgeous split jumps and an extraordinary long balance on demi. Neapolitan couldn't have been better, talk about luxury casting with both Miyake and Roxander whirling beside one another. The PPDT with Gonzalez, Beyer, and Granlund was excellent. Beyer, especially, was radiant with pristine footwork and super-high entrechat. And the corps as a whole looked so polished and beautifully in sync. I agree with everyone that Chloe is the most accomplished, full package O/O of the current crop of ABT ballerinas, but I was left wanting a bit more and look forward to seeing her grow in this role. She is so technically secure, she has the ideal base to build from to deepen her interpretation. Her lines were so gorgeous, and she has the fluid, expressive back the greatest Odettes have. I loved how she extended her phrases; her dancing felt spacious and assured. Some of her most effective moments for me were moments of pause, like the moment in Act IV where she looked at Aran for a count before rushing into his arms: it made her action feel like a considered choice to recommit herself to Siegfried despite his betrayal. Beautiful. I wanted more of those moments of dramatic weight. Her Act II Odette felt very dreamy and a bit remote which was effective for me to start but less so as the act went on; I thought her Act IV was stronger artistically because she let more emotion come through. I think she could amp up her Odile, drama-wise! It felt a little reined in (artistically, not technically). But her Odette and Odile did feel like fully differentiated characters, which is where some of the other ABT principals fall short for me. Bell danced gorgeously. I've never seen a more beautiful final leap, that image has stayed with me. Great partnering, he did the lifts so fluidly and quickly. Somewhere I think he could grow more is in fully inhabiting the character even in small moments. When he had something big to do (a manège etc) he nailed it. When he was partnering Chloe, he nailed it. But he faded out to me in a lot of Act I and Act III when he didn't have something big to do. Cornejo, for example, is really good at establishing who his Siegfried is right off the bat through little interactions with the party guests, the tutor, Benno. I think Bell could do more of that. His interpretation of Siegfried leans heavily Sad Siegfried (as opposed to Cad Siegfried, which we don't see so much of with this current crop of ABT men). It's inherently a more subdued interpretation, but one to which more color can still be brought. I really enjoyed the evening as a whole and definitely look forward to seeing Chloe and Aran again next year.

Yes please!! One of the most beautiful ballet scores IMO, such lush music. I think Hee Seo is the only one of the principals staying on after this season who has done the lead. Would still be a great role for her.

Opening night Sylvia was the most enjoyable evening I've had at ABT in some time! It was great to see the theater so full and to hear the audience so delighted. As others have said, all the principals looked great. Sylvia is such a feast of a role for a ballerina and Hurlin rose to the challenge to show off her range: fierce in Act I, slinkily seductive in Act II, tenderly triumphant in Act III. Royal is to my mind the most lushly romantic of all ABT's current male principals; how could even the sternest huntress not fall for that smile? Gonzalez had big big jumps and major presence as Eros. We got real luxury casting for the small roles, with the A team of the current soloists and corps very well-represented. I particularly enjoyed Breanne Granlund and Takumi Miyake as the extremely adorable goats, and it was great to Zimmi Coker back in a soloist role as Persephone (she makes the most out of even small roles). Sierra Armstrong's epaulement as Terpischore was gorgeous. And I really was struck by two new-to-me corps dancers, Cameron McCune and Nathan Vendt, who danced the very fast divertissement of Orion's attendants with aplomb. Very much hoping Jaffe bring this one back again soon.

I did think the bear (and the "waves" of silk in the storm scene) were impactful yet elegantly simple stage effects! Perhaps a relevant discussion point here is the immensity of the Met (IIRC the world's largest classical dance venue). I think it's a theater in which performances that are working more in "miniature" can unfortunately get lost and seem less impactful than they might in a more reasonably sized venue. I do think there are dancers who can work the magic of doing very restrained performances at the Met which nonetheless are incredibly compelling (I think immediately of some of Diana Vishneva's last Giselles with ABT, where her Giselle very much "spoke" in a whisper). But at the Met that's a battle not all dancers win. I was sitting towards the back of the orchestra Saturday night and I don't use opera glasses; perhaps Davison was doing a lot with her face etc that just didn't register to me. I am certainly glad to see Jaffe giving corps dancers, including Davison, opportunities in principal roles, and appreciate that she seems to do this kind of casting more liberally than McKenzie did.

Glad to have gotten to see Trenary's last performance as an ABT principal. My first time seeing Winter's Tale. This was a good role for Trenary to go out with, giving her ample opportunity to showcase her dramatic gifts. I was really moved by her physical fearlessness in Act I, in which she was literally throwing herself into the anguished duets with Herman. The deep trust they have in one another as partners was very evident. Trenary made vividly palpable Hermione's confusion and heartbreak in Act I and her journey to forgiveness in Act III. She will be missed and I hope to get to see her in Vienna someday! I agree with others that Davison was the weak link. Paulina is really a great role (a complex character with a lot of stage time who gets the final moments of the ballet on stage solo) but I felt like Davison was holding back, especially in her partnered scenes at the end of Act I. Trenary was going so full-out with similar choreography that Davison looked especially muted by comparison. Overall though, a great cast. Whiteside is reliably great at villains, giving us a charismatic Polixenes in Act I and then a swaggering brute in the later acts. And Herman's performance was really richly realized and detailed, down to how he used his fingers. For me, the costumes and particularly the sets didn't work. I found it a very odd choice to have those large Caspar David Friedrich knock-off paintings in Act I and III. I like this ballet as an addition to ABT's rep. Lots of good roles, and interesting choreography, especially for Leontes, and for Perdita and Floriezal in Act II. I thought the decision to end the ballet with Paulina sinking before the statue of the dead child was effective in acknowledging that though Shakespeare gives us a happy ending the consequences of Leontes' violence can't actually be fully undone.

Haven't seen Cornejo yet this year, but this is how I've felt about him the past few seasons. I think he's still a compelling performer, to my taste more so than a number of his fellow principals.

Agreed. Casting feels much more critical to me when choosing which ABT performances to see than which NYCB ballets to see. This used to work out in ABT's favor in my early days of seeing the company: I'd often see two casts of the same ballet in one week, if not three, because there were so many can't-miss dancers performing (Vishneva, Part, Cojacaru, Gomes, Corella, Hallberg, etc etc). In those days, I actually saw ABT more frequently than City Ballet for that reason. Today, it's by far the opposite. There are dancers I prioritize seeing at City Ballet, but given the nature of their rep the odds that I'll get to see a number of dancers I love and only a few (or no) dancers I don't find engaging in any given performance is pretty high. For this reason, I buy City Ballet tickets before casting has been announced all the time, whereas I'd never do that at ABT.

Great interview. I’m struck by the graciousness with which she’s approaching her retirement. It sounds like the final performance and all the work it demands of her is very much something she’s doing for her fans, more so than for herself, because she knows how important it is for them to see the end of her performing career honored. (In the interview she speaks about how she herself would have preferred to “just fade away into the background”.) I’m glad to have the chance to see her dance on stage one last time! ETA: I fail to see any real harm in Misty staying on the roster while she wasn’t performing. Having her name attached was arguably an asset to the company PR and press-wise. She did events during that time to promote the company. And we really have no idea whether Misty was continuing to receive compensation during the years she didn’t perform. It doesn't seem like her staying on the roster blocked anyone else’s ascent, either. Chloe Misseldine and Cate Hurlin both got promoted on reasonable timelines during Misty’s offstage years, and there doesn’t seem to be anyone else who was an obvious candidate to move up.

This afternoon's matinee was just...dreamy (sorry). But it was! I think if I were calling up my dream cast it would have a lot of overlap with this one. Sara was a luxuriant, radiant Titania, Ulbricht nailed every little moment of comedy, and when Taylor Stanley ascended on the wire at the end of the ballet, you practically thought "oh of course they can really fly", they were so ethereal the whole performance. Megan and Tyler were a refined, gracious duo in the divertissement, it registered like a long-married but still in love couple modeling for the newlyweds what their own unions might deepen into. Olivia MacKinnon made an impact in a small role as Butterfly. Loved seeing Ashley and Isabella as Helena and Hermia, what five star casting! And I thought Corti was dancing with much more confidence and presence as Hippolyta than in her debut last year: she's growing into the role. A beautiful end to the season!

I saw Corti's Hippolyta debut last summer and it was a work in progress. Especially in her unpartnered dancing in the first act, she looked tentative and hesitant in a role that really calls for confidence and attack. Hopefully this season she will be past some of the debut nerves and make more of an impact. I've enjoyed Corti in some other roles, particularly contemporary work.

Saw the Saturday afternoon "eclectic city ballet" program. Odesa was my favorite, great ballet with a really great cast. Ulbricht was the highlight for me, so menacing and every inch a gangster from his first entrance, leaning forward hungrily towards Alexa Maxwell as though ready to pounce. The lifts looked effortful for him, but everything else flowed beautifully. He and Maxwell are both such wonderful dancer-actors and it was thrilling to see them play off of each other. She managed to convey timidity while still always holding your eye. I've really missed seeing her this season, she is (once again!) IMO under-cast. Emma Von Enck brought so much grit and spikiness to her role, loved seeing her in a role that let her show off a different side to her dancing than we usually see. I think it was a good idea to give When We Fell a real premiere. I missed it in the digital season but enjoyed it onstage. Seeing Taylor Stanley dance Abraham is always such a joy, no one does it better and they never look more compelling or more themselves than when dancing Abraham. I really liked the shimmering metallic bodysuits which looked so fluid under the stage lighting.

I loved the Ravel program. Every ballet was wonderful and together they made such a satisfying, varied program. Bring this one back, please! Echo what others have said upthread about In G Major and Sonatine. Will add a bit more about Errante. This felt like a major moment for Dominika, in which she arrived as the principal ballerina she doubtless will be before too long. I went in unsure whether she could pull this one off despite her obvious talent. Errante requires so much charisma and could so easily look silly and kitschy. Dominika absolutely nailed it! Her take on the role is less mysterious and slinky than Mira's, but with plenty of her own flair. She leans into the "wanderer" aspect of the role and makes it a bit more playful. The other thing that really struck me about this performance of Errante was how much more I liked the ballet with Chun Wai Chan than with Aaron Sanz (who partnered Mira in the performance I saw last year). Mira is such a powerhouse, and Aaron didn't have enough presence of his own to go toe-to-toe with her. But Chun felt like Dominika's equal and that made the pas de deux so much more exciting. I found Sara Mearns incredibly moving in Pavane. It's a short piece but with so many emotional shadings to it and Sara brought them all to vivid life. I thought India's La Valse debut was a success with room to grow. She got better and better as the ballet went on but I wanted more color/drama from her earlier in the ballet. It's a good role for her, her jumps looked great.

Haha this is one of the joys of ballet for me: how different dancer can make something SO different out of the same role! Keeps me coming back to the theater season after season. I did not get to see as much of Janie Taylor as I would have liked during her too-brief career, sounds like I missed something special in her La Valse.

Nadon would be fabulous in La Valse. I have a harder time envisioning Miller in it. My memory of the La Valse lead is that she's darkly glamorous and even a bit wicked at the beginning (at least as danced by Mearns, the ballerina I've enjoyed in that role the most). Miller is a beautiful dancer who I enjoy very much in some of her rep, but I have not been as engaged by her in roles like the Siren that I think call for some similar qualities to the La Valse lead. I could see Kikta and LaFreniere being good in La Valse: they've got a real authority onstage, can shine in "dark" roles, and I think both would bring the requisite emotional OOMPH to the La Valse lead's downfall at the end of the ballet (especially LaFreniere).