MarzipanShepherdess

13 hours ago, abatt said:

Did anyone see last night's performance?  Reports?

I found it to be a disappointing performance overall. For me, Stella and James outshone Hee and Roberto. Their act II “drunk” pas de deuxs were the absolute highlight of the night for me (caveat: I left after Act II).

As @FauxPas noted, it was clear from Roberto’s first big act I solo that his technique has eroded significantly. There’s a bit in Act I where Des Grieux performs a diagonal series of leaps and he was barely getting off the ground at all. Looked really leaden and stiff throughout. I actually left after Act II because it just wasn’t how I wanted to remember Roberto’s dancing, and there wasn’t going to be any more dancing by James and Stella in Act III.

I didn’t feel like Hee gave me a reason to stay. I thought this might be a good role for her (she can be lovely as Juliet, another MacMillan heroine) and maybe it will be in time, but she was super-wooden last night. It’s such a challenge to make Manon’s shift from convent innocent to passionate lover to courtesan and so on feel coherent and Hee’s interpretation of the role doesn’t yet get there. Rather than chart the shifts in the character, she was just one-note throughout. 

What I learned last night is Manon is a ballet that is pretty unbearably boring for me if the central couple isn’t compelling. All the interesting dancing is really for the lead couple, except for the Act II pas de deux between Lascaut and his mistress. I have really enjoyed the ballet with Vishneva/Gomes and Vishneva/Malakhov, though, and am glad I have those memories! 

13 hours ago, abatt said:

There are a lot of roles that are now out of Abrera's reach technically, but it is criminal that McKenzie did not give her Manon. 

So true!

What a night!! 

Fantastic ABT debut from Brooklyn Mack. He was a wonderful, swaggering Conrad who had great chemistry with Skylar. I was so impressed by his technique and stage presence. Great elevation (like he’d been shot out of a cannon in his last pas de trois jump), gorgeous leaps (two particularly impressive splits in the air in act III), quick turns, strong lifts and attentive partnering: he was the full package. 

I’ve had the privilege of seeing Daniil’s incredible Ali before but he really outdid himself this time. As @tutu noted, he did a type of manège in the pas de trois almost no one else can do. He was, literally, jaw-dropping. He really pushed the limits of technique to the utmost yet looked utterly confident and at ease the whole time. Very “what, like it’s hard?” I hope someone with better technical vocabulary than me can give a fuller description! The audience went absolutely crazy.

That act II pas de trois was really just some of the most thrilling ballet I’ve seen in a long time. 3 great dancers firing on all cylinders. 

Has Skylar danced Medora at the Met before? She was wonderful:  super-fast and secure pirouettes, lush port de bras, expressive mime.

To return to the discussion about the changes to the ballet itself: 

while the Pasha is still bumbling and smarmy, the prayer caricature @fondoffouettes Referenced is gone—that was the only Act III change I noticed. I also recall now that in the old act I the enslaved women are ringed in by ropes in addition to being flogged: that’s all excised in the updated act I. I think they may have been roped together in Act II as well, but not in the new version. 

The statement itself doesn’t mention orientalism. This is the meat of it (there’s an intro bit about the artistic value of the ballet):

”as you prepare to experience ABT’s production of this classical ballet, we want to acknowledge the challenging subject matter depicted: slavery, piracy, and the subjugation of women. The original version of Le Corsaire premiered over 160years ago and is loosely based on Lord Byron’s 1814 epic poem of pirates, Pashas, and damsels in distress. it is situated in a time and place where slavery and polygamy were driving forces of the Economic and social landscape.

many great classics depict the disturbing social norms of bygone eras. In our Corsaire, ABT has chosen to adjust certain scenes in tone and character out of respect for those whose lives and stays were marginalized. There may still be images some find offensive but we hope our audience members will be transported to the period in which it is set and realize such scenes are a reflection, not a validation, of life in those times.” 

39 minutes ago, nanushka said:

Just curious: was the "inserted note" literally an inserted slip? (That would indicate that these were rather late changes.) Or was it printed in the program itself?

It’s printed in the program. @California Ali is still listed as “the slave”. 

The main change I noticed in Act I is that there is no longer that part where the “bazaar women” (did they used to be called slaves in the program? Can’t remember) are being flogged. Instead, they bouree together as a little cluster, hemmed in by a group of Lankendem’s lackeys. I -think- they may have had new, less revealing costumes but I could be wrong. Curious if anyone else who is here noticed anything! 

Also, I recall hazily that at the end of “Old act I” the pirates seem to be literally carrying off the enslaved women from the bazaar and the women don’t seem to be going happily. This time they aren’t being lifted and carried away, it looks more like the pirates are liberating them from the Bazaar and they’re cooperating. 

Am at tonight’s Corsaire and ABT has inserted a note into the program stating that they recognize the Ballet depicts “challenging subject matter” and “disturbing social norms of bygone eras”. They say they’ve adjusted certain scenes “in tone and character out of respect for those whose lives were marginalized” but “there may still be images some find offensive” and viewers should take them as a “reflection, not validation, of life in those times”. Very curious to see how the ballet has been tweaked! Will report later. 

54 minutes ago, nanushka said:

So interesting to read this. I wonder: are there any other story ballets that might pass the Bechdel test?

I honestly can’t think of one! Curious if anyone else can. 

For those not familiar, the Bechdel test refers to whether or not, in a movie, two or more female characters (with names) have a conversation together that is not about a man. 

On 6/6/2019 at 1:42 PM, NinaFan said:

Good point.  I just read several reviews, and yes, they are positive for the most part.  I have to assume Marston was satisfied with ABT's interpretation and dancing.  So what's changed? 

I agree with JMcN that a lot of it may be down to expectations from US audiences and critics vs English ones. From what I see (as an American who travels to Europe a few times a year and sees ballet when I’m there), European companies more often break from classical idiom and present more experimental work than American companies generally and certainly ABT. I think of the ENB’s “class war” version of Giselle for example, or Matthew Bourne’s New Directions productions which blur the lines between theater and ballet and takes direct inspiration from pop culture. Or POB, which commissions avant-grade work like Alexander Ekman’s Play.

I can certainly see how it’s not everyone’s cup of tea, and could be disappointing if you were showing up wanting to see something like one of ABT’s current story ballets, but I found a lot to like and admire in Jane Eyre.

It REALLY captures the novel and its characters, for one. I was so impressed by how quickly and clearly Marston established who each character was through their choreography. She is good at developing choreographic leitmotifs for each character that recur and deepen in meaning—for example, Jane’s crossing of her arms over her chest, with her hands covering her ears beautifully conveys how Jane protectively shuts down in the face of her childhood tormentors, but then the same gesture recurs with Rochester and you see how her early defense mechanisms are preventing her from embracing love. 

I wasn’t sure about the “d-men” at first (male corps dancers who represent Jane’s inner demons) but came to feel those passages powerfully embodied what it’s like to struggle with trauma and feel the past erupt into the present. I found it to be a very moving ballet, in this respect and others. 

I also found myself moved by how the ballet depicted female friendship (between Jane and Helen especially). It struck me that it is SO rare in ballet to see relationships shown between women that aren’t romantic rivalries, and to see stories that aren’t purely love stories. While obviously Jane eyre contains a love story, the novel is much more than that and Marston’s ballet honors that. It’s wonderful to see that in ballet. 

Thursday’s cast was quite good. James Whiteside, who I don’t usually enjoy in story ballets, was great as Rochester, capturing his journey from swaggering machismo to emotional tenderness. He’s having a good season. There were moments where I wanted more emotion from Devon, but overall it was a strong, committed performance. 

One of the pleasures of the ballet are that there are lots of interesting soloist roles. Stella Abrera as flirty, haughty Blanche Ingram, Zimmi Coker as giddy, girlish Adele Varens, Sarah Lane as the officious and tormented Mrs Fairfax, and Calvin Royal as the villainous Mr Brocklehurst all were fantastic and made a lot out of relatively small roles. I thought Cassandra Trenary could have given more dimension to Bertha Mason. Her dancing definitely captured the wild, unhinged aspect of the character effectively, though. 

Audience reaction on Thursday seemed very positive, from what I overheard from those seated near me. I may be in the minority here, but I hope Jane Eyre stays in ABT’s rep. It is quite unique in their repertoire and is such a rich dramatic ballet that I would enjoy seeing how different dancers embody the roles. I think there is also a lot of meaning and intelligence in the choreography and the way motifs echo across the ballet that it would be interesting to unpack in another viewing. 

Loved this program! Twyla joined the “in the upper room” cast for their final bows Monday night as well, which got about the most enthusiastic ovation I’ve seen at abt outside a dancer anniversary or farewell. 

I wish ABT would do more Tharp. This program seemed to get such a warm response both from the audience and from the dancers themselves, judging from Instagram and the curtain calls.

I’d only seen deuce coupe danced by the Joffrey and I preferred ABT’s rendition. The set could use a refresh, but despite being a millennial who could not care less about The Beach Boys I enjoyed the performance. It’s just FUN, and then becomes unexpectedly poignant in the last section danced to “cuddle up”. Standouts for me were Cassandra Trenary, who really captured the verve and playfulness of the piece perfectly and was just a joy to watch, Misty in her sexy solo, and James Whiteside. 

Not all of the dancers got the speed and humor of the piece—some seemed a bit “sleepy”. And though Katie Williams did a lovely job on the purely classical bits of her solos I didn’t think she quite nailed those occasional breaks into contemporary.

Brahms-Haydn: enjoyed this piece and was surprised to find Misty was the absolute highlight for me. She REALLY gets Tharp: the wit, the play, the grace, the flair, all of it. She looked really in command of the choreography and like she was having a ball. Curious to see as the season proceeds how much of this was due to Tharp suiting her so well, and how much was due to her new coaching regime. 

In the upper room: my favorite piece of Tharp’s. So great: exuberant and moving and clever all at once, and ABT did it justice. Zimmi, particularly, was a delight to watch and kept pace and high energy all the way through. 

I echo those who complained about the smoke. It was really overdone. My husband had to leave our orchestra seats about 10 minutes in as his eyes were burning. There was a lot of coughing from the grand tier. I am not particularly sensitive to smoke but found my eyes and throat were irritated afterward.the last time i saw ABT do this piece was at city center and I don’t recall this being an issue. Maybe they have to use much more smoke at the Met due to the theater size? 

On 5/19/2019 at 5:32 PM, BalletFan said:

 

If ABT ever does Act II as a stand alone, I’d go see it in a heartbeat.

I love this idea! I saw Harlequinade last year and felt once was enough for the full-length due to the lack of adult dancing when you take the ballet as a whole. But Act II,  or especially just the lark section, I would be glad to see again as stand-alones. 

Saw Wednesday night’s Ratmansky Trio, what a lovely evening! 

Seasons: a great addition to the rep. In the program, Ratmansky called it his “love letter” to ABT on their 10th anniversary and it really feels like one. It brims over with wonderful, distinctive solos that give many dancers a chance to shine (including those who don’t get the spotlight has frequently). Breanne Grandlund, a corps dance, doing one of the spring solos, stood out to me for the first time, as did Joo Ahn in the Winter segment. Catherine Hurlin I was already a big fan of, but she was absolutely stunning as a Bacchante. And Stella had a gorgeous, meaty role as the Spirit of the Corn. The Summer segment has a great sequence where students from JKO are incorporated in a way that actually deepens the choreography rather than distracts (obviously not always the case as in Harlequinade). It’s relatively long, so in future I’d rather see it as the first piece on a program rather than the last. 

Dnieper: I REALLY miss Veronika in the Natalia role. Seo looked beautiful but I didn’t get the emotional depth and nuance from her veronika brought. Shevchenko, though, is better than I remember Herrera ever being in the role when she premiered it. Intense, passionate, and emotionally compelling! She portrays the character’s torment so well you feel sympathy for her even though she’s not the most sympathetic character. Strong performances from James and, surprisingly, Cory in their roles (though Cory is no Marcelo). 

Songs of Bukovina has so much of interest, I felt like there was a lot I only really took in on my second viewing. Isabella danced the very tricky footwork and tempo changes very well. 

Thanks for your advice Mashinka and Meunier Fan! 

Hope this is OK to ask here—is wearing a tuxedo to a Saturday evening performance of the Royal Ballet something anyone does? Or is over-dressed? I’ve only seen RB in London a few times as I live in NY and I can’t remember how dressed up men were there.

Context: My husband and I are visiting from New York and will be seeing Osipova and Hallberg dance R+J on Saturday night. He has to pack a tuxedo for Glyndebourne and is wondering if he can also wear his tux for the RB performance. He wouldn’t want to be the only, or nearly only, man there in a tuxedo. 

3 hours ago, nanushka said:

India Bradley was in the corps and while I always like her dancing she was noticeably behind the beat compared with others onstage.

I noticed this winter season too—out of sync not just in tempo but with her port de bras. 

What a mess. Just when it seemed the waters were settling at City Ballet following the long-awaited appointment of successors to Martins, the AGMA decision rocks everything again. Whatever one feels about the validity of the AGMA decision, it’s certainly a nightmare for the company from a donor relations and PR standpoint, and it sounds like it is causing at least some internal tension as well. 

It will be interesting to see how much Ramasar is cast in the fall season, and with whom he dances. I for one will not attend any performances he dances in. 

Curious if anyone is familiar with Violetta? 

I came across Violetta as a performer in the recent Brendan Fernandes event at the Guggenheim. Was surprised to see she has 1.1 million Instagram followers! The only other ballet dancer I’m aware of with anywhere NEAR that many followers is of course Misty. Yet there is not too much information on Violetta’s dance career available and I don’t think she is well-known to balletomanes (correct me if I’m wrong!) 

She apparently was a member of Michele Wiles’ Ballet Next company previously, but isn’t part of the current website’s roster of dancers. She is friendly on IG with some of the ABT dancers like Isabella Boylston and Paulina Waski, posts some pictures from the ABT rehearsal studio, and is a co-host for their spring gala (along with her boyfriend the actor Ansel Elgort).

Has anyone seen her dance? I wonder where her relationship with ABT is headed. 

Her Instagram is @violetta. 

This year’s Guggenheim Young Collector’s party had a “ballet kink” theme. I attended and it was...interesting. 

They commissioned the artist Brendan Fernandes to stage a piece inspired by his work “Master and Form”. Apparently Fernandes spent much of his childhood training towards a career as a ballet dancer, only to have a career-ending injury after which he switched to studying visual art. I’m not sure what the original piece was like, but for the party they staged the piece in the Guggenheim’s rotunda. There was a cast of about 8 dancers, male and female, including Elina Miettinen who some will remember from her years in the ABT corps, and Violetta Komyshan, a dancer who was formerly with Ballet Next but now seems to be more of an Instagram “influencer”.

The dancers all had rope harnesses on their chests, and did simple choreography like bourées around the rig, while one dancer was suspended with rope from the rig itself. At some points the four female dancers broke away from the rig area and went up the rotunda ramp, using the side of the ramp like a ballet barre and doing some arabesques and plies while holding on to it.  Often one dancer would hold onto the rope trailing off another’s harness, pulling him/her around for a few minutes or forming a chain with several other dancers.

There wasn’t any real sense of momentum to the piece, it seemed like the dancers were improvising off of a pretty narrow set of rehearsed movements rather randomly. It got quite repetitive. My husband and I stayed at the party for about an hour and left, I think the whole piece ran for 3 hours (with different dancers rotating in and out).  

I was hoping for something a little more exciting from a dance point of view, but the piece was more interesting to watch than the video art or DJ performances usually featured at these types of events! 

Vogue write up:

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.vogue.com/article/the-guggenheim-young-collectors-party-2019/amp

Attended Thursday night’s performance. To me, the highs were high and the lows were...abysmal. I loathed Six Years Later, which was sadly the longest piece by a significant margin. It was self-indulgent, boring, and repetitive. Hallberg and Osipova couldn’t save it. 

In Absentia (Hallberg solo) wasn’t AS bad but it was pretty “meh”. The piece is staged with a TV set,  which Hallberg watches and returns to throughout the performance. A comment on the isolating nature of screen media consumption seemed intended, but it felt cliché and the choreography was pretty thin. 

Osipova was lovely to watch in Ave Maria but it felt like an odd choice of music. At least it provided the evening’s only opportunity to see her gorgeous jump.

I enjoyed Flutter and felt it was the best of the contemporary works.  Having only seen Osipova in classic roles like Giselle, it was fascinating to see her in a work that demanded such a totally different type of dancing. In Flutter the movements are loose and elastic—Osipova and her partner were flinging themselves around, yet both brought a grace and gravity to movements we think of as anthetical to such concepts. THIS was what I was hoping all the contemporary pieces would enable me to see Osipova doing, challenging herself with a different type of repertoire than her usual performances. But to me it was the only piece that lived up to that goal. 

Leaves are Fading was gorgeous as always, but to me the most exciting piece of the evening was Valse Triste (which Ratmansky choreographed for Osipova and Hallberg). So rich choreographically and it really showed off Osipova and Hallberg’s chemistry. As the piece built momentum, they looked like they were having the most amazing time on stage together. Great interplay between them and a sense that they were egging each other on to dance at their bests. The exuberance suddenly shifts at the very end of the piece, when there is a “fall” a la Serenade, and the music becomes more somber—but then the dancers pick up and continue, finishing with a series of sweeping, beautiful lifts. It felt like a miniature portrait of the ups and downs of any partnership, and how a successful one recovers from the “falls”. I hope I have a chance to see them perform it again someday. 

Even though I found some of the pieces disappointing, the Tudor and Ratmanksy works, and Flutter, saved the evening for me. 

Saw this afternoon’s program of Herman Schmerman, Principia, and The Runaway. 

Newest first: I found Principia really uneven. As an earlier poster said, the group choreography is the highlight. There is a repeated motif in which dancers clustered into tight circles around a single dancer, who breaks free and then touches another circle, starting the chain of movements over again—beautiful and engaging. But the pas de deux are really flat and choreographically repetitive. The work didn’t sustain my attention, which I found flagged outside of the group dances. I liked the music as music, but felt like it lacked momentum and was pretty scattered. The choreography felt this way too, a bit all over the place. Though the closing minutes of group dancing are strong, and the final position of dancers holding hands in one long chain at the very front of the stage with heads raised up is arresting, I was left wanting more from the work overall. 

Not so with the Runaway, which I loved. Very positive audience response, including a much-deserved standing ovation for Taylor Stanley. His dancing in this piece is the most exciting male dancing I’ve seen in a long while. He was able to instantly shift from the convulsive, shuddering movements that open the ballet into the most incredible, perfectly controlled balances. I didn’t want to take my eyes off him for even a moment, every gesture was so fully realized and captivating. 

The Runaway had great performances all around—a thrilling manege from Sara, especially. And I was glad to see Georgina dancing with all her wit and spark. I really hope NYCB commissions more work from Kyle Abraham. He definitely brought out the best in the dancers and created a unique, thought-provoking, and exciting work.

Herman Schmerman—as others have said, the structure is rather odd leaving you feeling like it’s really two ballets with two separate casts (the pas de deux was choreographed later). I enjoyed both (liked not loved), though I disliked the music and felt like it was really dated and kind of grating. 

On to Sleeping Beauty! 

Saw the Sunday matinee. Happy to be back at City Ballet! 

Serenade: amazing cast. Mearns (waltz girl), peck (Russian girl) and LeCrone (dark angel) exquisitely embodied each role.  Mearns, especially, was just breathtaking. It seems to be a minority opinion here, but I noticed the refurbished costumes and don’t mind them. 

Moziartiana: I was underwhelmed by Hyltin’s Preghiera which felt a bit emotionless, but the rest of her performance was stronger. Troy and Huxley were both great. 

Tchai Piano Concerto no. 2– I enjoyed bouder’s performance but Lauren king was the stand out for me. Sparkling, crisp, lovely dancing. She looked so happy to be on stage, beaming in a way that felt like a reflection of real joy rather than glued on in a pageant queen way as it does with some dancers. A few of the corps dancers looked REALLY under-rehearsed giving an overall ragged effect. When the corps were in their lines, you’d see 4 versions of the arm positions. 2 women had such awkward port de bras that I kept getting distracted by their jutting elbows and drooping wrists. Still, the performance overall had great energy and I enjoyed it. 

Looking forward to the rest of the season!

16 hours ago, fondoffouettes said:

I don't think anything has been fixed. I tried clearing my browser's cache and also using an incognito tab, but Shayer is still showing up for me in all of Abrera's roles.

Hmm. When I go to stella’s dancer page, her spring roles are all listed now. Also, in the master performance calendar her performances are visible:

https://www.abt.org/performances/master-calendar/

the website seems to be fixed—on the calendar, I now see Stella in her usual roles (Pierette, Tea Flower, Gulnare, etc). I assume she’ll do lilac fairies as well. I’m so glad we’ll be able to see her this season, I was heart-broken not to see her in the initial casting. 

I’m excited for Jane eyre, which is one of my favorite novels. Also glad the Ratmansky SB is back, and on the Dnieper. I won’t be seeing Harlequinade again, but everything else is something I’ll want to see. 

I attended the Thursday night performance and was so glad to have the opportunity to see such a great array of companies interpreting Balanchine.

Apollo was wonderful and I agree with the others praising Maria Khoreva. I think her enormous success building a following on Instagram and getting in the press has caused some to wonder how much she can really deliver onstage (I did!) but she is a glorious dancer. It’s hard to believe Terpischore is her first major role. She gave such a confident, nuanced, rich interpretation. I really hope we get to see more of her in NYC! 

I thought NYCB were the weakest that night. They just didn’t seem to be giving it their all. I am not a big Abi fan in general, but I love Maria and found even her to be a bit flat. The performance just did not have the sparkle I’ve seen NYCB give it in their home theater. SFB were stronger in their performance of Divertimento—I’d rather see a performance like theirs with energy but a stumble than a performance like NYCB’s which is technically fine but flat.

Anna Rose and Marcelino were fabulous in Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux, though. They really both went for it and danced with lots of brio and flair. Anna Rose nailed the backwards hops, and definitely did not play it safe with the fish dives, which provoked gasps and applause from the audience. 

Had the great pleasure of seeing Maria dance Terpischore this week in NYC. I’ve been following her on Instagram since her student days, and was wondering if she would be just an “Instagram dancer” who couldn’t deliver onstage.  She’s definitely a true talent! She gave a gorgeous, gorgeous performance. Outshone even the NYCB principal ballerinas on the same bill. 

34 minutes ago, fordhambae said:

How do you know they were fantasizing? How do you know they were not just joking? It’s not illegal to joke or fantasize for that matter...  Do you know how easy it is to take a text conversation out of context? 

Also if you read the complaint you will see that Catazaro said that he wasn’t interested and that he would feel too bad having a 3way.

 

And "just joking" about raping a junior colleague would be OK, in your opinion? At any company I've worked for, that kind of "joke" ALONE would be cause for immediate termination. Who would want to work with someone who joked about raping their colleagues?

It is truly amazing to me the behavior people seem to be willing to excuse from artists they favor.

The victim-blaming in this thread is getting insane, with all these statements about how Waterbury knew Finlay had “a kink” and insinuating that Waterbury got what was coming to her for not having broken up with him after he asked her to pose nude.

This is the same reasoning that is used to say that rape victims who wore sexy clothing or walked home alone at night were “asking for it”. No one deserves to have their consent violated! 

I understand that NYCB is a beloved institution that some feel is not culpable in these events, but it is perfectly possible to disagree with Waterbury’s suit against NYCB without descending to statements that imply abuse victims are complicit in their own abuse because they should have known better.