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MarzipanShepherdess

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  • Connection to/interest in ballet** (Please describe. Examples: fan, teacher, dancer, writer, avid balletgoer)
    Avid balletgoer
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  1. Saw last night's Stars/Tarantella/Tschai Pas/Carnival performance. I thought Megan and Joe Gordon were excellent. Megan just nails that beaming sunniness with a bit of sass that Liberty Belle needs, and she knows this role like the back of her hand (while making it look like she still relishes it). She was the highlight for me, though the corps looked crisp and super synced all throughout. I marvel every time I see KJ Takahashi this season at how much he has grown in terms of his stage presence and confidence in just a year or so. He really is dancing like a future principal, as @matildasaid: not just technically, but in the way he holds the stage and fully inhabits the role. One of my favorite moments of his performance was actually one where he was resting between turning sequences, down on one knee at the front of the stage while the corps danced behind him. He made a series of facial expressions that said "You thought that was great? Well here I go again..." before taking off into his next turns. It projected the kind of confidence and connection with the audience that make principals like Daniel Ulbricht so compelling. Emma and Daniel in Tarantella: just jaw-dropping. Emma was so light and quick and confident, and made it look like she was having a great time even while executing the trickiest bits. I don't think I've ever seen a dancer move as fast onstage as Daniel in final series of manege jetes. He was just FLYING, it was absolutely astonishing. They both really went for broke the whole way and had a very fun rapport. Would love to see them cast together more. Tschai Pas: Very strong debuts from Indiana and Anthony. These roles feel like very good fits for their gifts. The last ballerina I saw in Tschai Pas was Tiler Peck who took it in a more bravura, dazzling direction: Indiana was more restrained but very compelling nonetheless. Her interpretation is more elegant, more lyrical, with lots of expressive "perfume" coming through in how she uses her hands and back. Carnival of the Animals: my first time seeing this. I think it's a really cute ballet for kids, I wouldn't see it again unless I was taking a child along though. The choreography is pretty thin and the solos are quite short. Given that, it seemed like many of the roles could have been nice opportunities to throw to the many, many promising corps dancers rather than to cast them with principals as was done last night. I can see the logic for casting a well-established principal as the swan (yes, Sara Mearns brought an emotional depth to the role of an aged former ballerina reflecting back on her dancing days that I'm sure a young corps dancer couldn't have) but the Lion, Baboon, Kangaroo, etc etc could have been fun opportunities to see rising talent. I was moved by how much Ashley Laracey made out of her pas de deux as the Cuckoo, though!
  2. Also looks a big season for Jules Mabie, who danced almost as much as Alec Knight and David Gabriel though he didn't have as many roles. It has felt like EVE and Alexa Maxwell's season on the ballerina side, and that's definitely affirmed by these numbers! Striking that Andy Veyette had so many debuts so far into his career (five!) It's interesting what just looking at the casting data illuminates and what it can't take into account. For example, Sara Adams and Jacqueline Bologna clearly danced a lot, with a good number of roles and debuts. But I wouldn't have thought of them as dancers who made big strides seasons in the way that India Bradley did, even though she danced less and had a similar number of roles/debuts, because Bradley got such a prominent debut in the first cast of the new Tiler Peck that got a lot of attention. Similarly with Afansenkov, she doesn't really pop in the casting data but because one of her two featured roles was a lead role in a pas de deux ballet, it seems clear she's seen as having potential some of her corps colleagues who danced more in more roles aren't seen to currently have. Thanks so much for collecting this data and tabulating it! @pirouette
  3. Echo the praise for Emma Von Enck and David Gabriel in Ballo last night. She danced wonderfully all throughout: effervescent, light, fleet. Her face looked quite tense at the beginning (debut nerves I'm sure) but after she got through her first solo she was just BEAMING for the rest of the ballet and it was lovely to see her joy in her face as well as her movements. I can't believe David Gabriel only joined the corps a year and a half ago. He feels like the full package already. Beautiful jumps, beautiful battement in the air, confident partnering. The four soloist also all were great. This was my first time seeing "In a Landscape" and I thought it was excellent. Glad Wendi and Jonathan chose to revive it. What a shame Albert Evans passed at such a young age and didn't have more years to continue choreographing. It's been a long time since I saw it, but I remember him dancing Bugaku and that felt like an influence (in addition to Agon, as @matildanoted): all the slowly intertwining limbs and the lifts and the 90 degree bent arms. Also Duo Concertant, with the repeated motif of the two dancers side by side facing out at the audience and taking each others hands. Even though the influences are clear, it felt like Evans had made something uniquely his own. I found the opening and closing passage, in which the male lead slowly stalks offstage with an arm extended and the ballerina is prone on the ground with an arm in the air, being pulled motionlessly across the floor by the invisible stagehands, to be quite moving. I was impressed by Knight's confident management of all the very tricky lifts (lots of flipping the ballerina upside down, etc) and by Afakensenkov's ability to hold the stage in a minimalist work like this, given how relatively new to the corps she is. Hallelujah Junction: it seems almost rude to me how much work Peter Martins puts the dancers through for so little ultimate impact (the choreography looks exhausting--I was close enough that I could hear some of the dancers panting, and it's not a short ballet!) Everyone performed capably but ultimately I find this quite a boring piece. The Concert: I hadn't seen this for at least five years and it was fun to revisit it. It's just charming. Alexa Maxwell is first-rate in the mad ballerina role; is there anyone in the company who could outshine her in Robbins at this point? She would be a great Coppelia if they ever bring that ballet back. Noticed Alexei Ratamansky was in the audience last night, maybe checking out all the debuts? I could see him making great use of Maxwell's dramatic chops and her comic flair.
  4. Was able to get a last minute ticket to yesterday's opus 19/solitude/symphony in three movements program, to my delight. Solitude is such a rich, powerful, layered work: I know it will reward repeat viewings. Bummed it's not coming back in the spring, fingers crossed for the fall! The whole cast was excellent, especially Joe Gordon who was searching, solemn, heart-broken yet not crushed, and Sara who was radiant and expansive, a Dark Angel with more tender shadings. Mira and KJ also stood out, their dancing adding some lift to contrast with the aching solos by Joe Gordon. Thinking of the dedication to the children of Ukraine in the program, I interpreted their roles as being child-like, in the way they whirled and leapt and hopped around, each paired with a kind of guardian dancer who often manipulated their body, catching them and pulling them back as they leapt away as a worried parent might with a child. The still form of the dancer playing the dead child felt all the more chilling with this contrast. I thought the piece ending as it had began, with Joe Gordon kneeling beside Theo Rocios (the student dancing the dead child) was so moving: though I felt there was something of hope in Gordon's final solo, Ratmansky ultimately reminds that this individual and international grief for those lost in the war will endure. Enjoyed Unity more in Opus 19 than anything else I've seen her in this season. The Dreamer is a perfect role for Taylor Stanley, who always registers as a dancer with great emotional depth, and here movingly conveyed the Dreamer's interiority. I find this to be a really interesting ballet as danced by Stanley: their Dreamer is playful yet narcissistic, even to the point of being casually cruel in how they pick up and drop the female lead as their attention flickers elsewhere. At the end, both dancers appear to be falling asleep with their head cradled by the other's palm. Is Stanley dreaming Phelan the whole time, or is she "real" and seduced by the Dreamer into joining his dreams? Fun ballet. Symphony in Three Movements is always a ballet I enjoy. Gabriel and Mabie stood out, with presence and refinement beyond their years, and Isabella ate up her role with lots of big dancing and attack. She's SO good in the Balanchine leotard ballets. Tiler is just indefatigable, one would never know she was just back from an injury. Erica Pereira seemed an odd casting choice and did not seem at ease.
  5. I agree. She's one of the best dancer-actresses in the company at the moment, which makes her a great fit for Robbins. I hope she gets a Titania spring season. I would have loved to have seen her in the Liebeslieder role Unity was dancing this season.
  6. Late posting this, but I was impressed by Tiler's company choreographic debut. I'd rather see it stay in the rep than pretty much any Martins ballet and a not inconsiderable number of the recent commissions (like the Reisens). She's got chops! And a good eye for casting, and she chose a great piece of music. She is really gifted at bringing out the most in her dancers, giving everyone ample opportunities to do what they do best: Mira looked extra-lush, Roman extra-playful and charismatic, India and Emma extra-quick and precise, etc. Would happily see this one again. Rotunda to me is a bit of a filler ballet: I don't dislike it, but I would feel no pang of disappointment if I never got to see it again. I think Peck utilizes a lot of the motifs he's exploring here to greater impact elsewhere. Though, I'll take any chance to see Daniel Ulbricht get to do something besides Jester/Fancy Free sailor type roles: he was the highlight of this for me, and was wonderful in Odesa as well. My first time seeing Odesa and I loved it! Indiana was just stunning in it and it's so inventive and engaging. I also loved the music Ratmansky chose. So excited for his forthcoming works with the company.
  7. Agree keeping the lights lower could help. A number of people in my section seemed quite confused when the lights went up and started bundling up to leave, thinking the ballet was over. All the talking and shifting around did certainly feel like a rather rude awakening from the dreamy spell of LW's first section. They could also just have an announcement at the beginning of the evening that Liebeslieder is performed in two sections with a pause in between (like when they announce 11th hour casting changes).
  8. For anyone so inclined, a number of the dancers have been posting a request on social media that audience members (especially donors and current KC ticket holders) contact ABT to (respectfully) voice their support. They suggest writing to contact@abt.org with the subject line "solidarity with ABT dancers and stage managers for a fair contract", and noting that as a ticket buyer and/or donor you support the strike authorization vote, and support the dancers and stage managers in their fight for a fair contract that pays a livable wage. If you won't attend performances until good faith active bargaining is in process, they suggest you note that in your email. Hopefully this is resolved favorably soon!
  9. Officially, the city defines a living wage as $16/hour which would annualize to $33,280 a year with full-time work. MIT's living wage calculator defines a living wage for a single childless adult in NYC as $22.51/hour ($46,820/year with full-time work). I'm sure there are other standards. AGMA's post doesn't cite whose definition of a living wage they are using.
  10. AGMA just posted ABT's dancers voted last night to authorize a strike, with 95% of the dancers in favor. The Instagram post notes the negotiations have stalled after 8 months and that the dancers have been working with an expired contract since September, and says ABT is currently offering only a 1% COL adjustment and proposing salaries that would leave 20% of the company living below NYC's living wage threshold. It also notes ABT dancers are now "significantly behind industry peers" in terms of work weeks and retirement contributions. Hoping for a speedy and just resolution for the dancers!
  11. AGMA just posted on Instagram that ABT's artists have authorized a strike, with 95% of the artists voting in favor. Good timing what with the sold-out KC run of Swan Lake, which the post mentions is now in jeopardy. Hoping for a speedy and just resolution for the dancers!
  12. Agreed. I found the 4Ts performance to be disappointing overall, but most of all Sebastian in Melancholic. I'm thinking of those "drooping" sections, especially, where the dancer's body appears weighed down; it can be so emotive and impactful, but last night it actually looked silly, like someone parodying sadness rather than inhabiting it. It felt like a real shame to see such an underpowered performance of one of the greatest Balanchine ballets. In the opening sections, I wanted so much more sharpness, definition, and speed from nearly everyone in the cast. India Bradley, to me, was the dancer who "got it": she looked like she was really meeting the choreography's challenges with a relish no one else in those early sections was. Brava to her. I thought Isabella came out strong and I was hopeful: I think Sanguinic COULD be a really good role for her, but she stumbled coming out of that series of turns early on and never seemed to recover her confidence. Emily Kikta was able to sustain her momentum; I still wanted more (Choleric can be so thrilling when someone really goes for broke in it, as Teresa Reichlen used to) but Emily's finding her way into this role and it suits her. Adrian deserves some kind of MVP award for showing the audience what 4Ts can be with an assured, committed performer. He was moving and really inhabited Phlegmatic fully. He saved the day! After the disappointment of 4Ts, last night's Liebeslieder felt like a feast. I thought everyone danced well, but Mira was the belle of this particular ball for me: a perfect blend of elegance and passion. She so completely embodies her roles, truly a dancer-actress who brings dramatic nuance to every little inclination of her head or wave of a finger. Tyler and Tiler were wonderful together, his deep gravitas a beautiful contrast with her quicksilver lightness. Whenever he swept down to his knees to kiss Tiler's hand my heart leapt. I may be in the minority here but despite not being the best height match I'd be into seeing the Roman and Unity partnership experiment continue. She is obviously a beautiful, technically accomplished dancer but she can be so FLAT and, frankly, boring, and Roman is never boring. Could he help bring out some livelier qualities to her dancing? Unity seemed more vivid last night than she usually does for me.
  13. Interesting that the casting notes Copeland Dance Episodes will now be performed with an intermission.
  14. Roman in Autumn was definitely the highlight for me as well. What an incredible artist he is. Last winter season I remember seeing KJ Takahashi in Copeland Dance Episodes and finding him impressive technically but not so developed with his stage presence: no more. He was a super-fun, charming faun. I was particularly impressed by Veyette and Angle’s strong partnering in ‘In The Night’ with all those lifts. Unity came across to me as more rushed than passionate at times: I think this is a role for her to grow into more. Sara Mearns seemed a bit tentative with some of her turns but the gravitas and charisma she brought to the role made her magnetic on stage. So glad she’s back. Stellar Fancy Free. I do agree it’s over-programmed but this cast has really nailed the roles. I thought MT MacKinnon was notably more confident and playful as the purse girl than she was in this role last year. Brava to her. Naomi Corti gave a sweet speech about how seeing Emily Kikta debut in Rubies while Naomi was a new SAB student had cemented her determination to join the company and been a lasting inspiration to her. Thought it was lovely of her to pay homage to another dancer like that.
  15. I agree that she is showing promise as a choreographer, after seeing her work at City Center! Based on Instagram teases it looks like Mira Nadon and India Bradley have significant roles in Tiler's upcoming work. I'm excited to see it. Still no second week casting. I wonder if the current COVID wave is hitting the company and scrambling casting.
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