Victura

1 hour ago, Kaysta said:

Popular culture is obviously very accessible to many people, which can then lead them to have a greater appreciation of the arts.  If even a few of the people who came out to the ballet for Misty Copeland only, then go ahead and develop an appreciation for the art form and seek out non-Misty performances, than she has done good for this art form.   

I absolutely agree with this.

An anecdotal example: I saw a performance of La Bayadere a few years ago with Cojocaru and Cornejo that Copeland was also in. There were some clearly non-ballet Misty fans in front of me who applauded/cheered loudly at first every time she entered the stage. By the end of the performance, they cheered even louder for Cojocaru. I appreciated their enthusiasm and think Cojocaru definitely won over some new ballet fans that night.

Thank you, nanushka. I saw Part and Gomes partner together in a performance that was in the Gomes documentary, and they looked great together and was curious why they didn't partner each other more often. She has also spoken quite well of him and attended that documentary premiere and they seem quite friendly. But he has been retiring roles lately and is getting older, so it makes sense that he may want to prolong his ballet career for as long as possible and play to his strengths.

3 hours ago, alexL said:

I really miss the time when Gomes was able to partner up with Part. 

Why did they stop partnering each other?

I'll be seeing Shevchenko and Lendorf tomorrow! What a season for unexpected injuries, but also quite exciting to see the soloists' debuts!

If Murphy has to pull out of Swan Lake, who could replace her? I would've said Teuscher since she and Gomes partnered at the Kennedy Center, but she's doing the matinee that afternoon, so it seems doubtful they would have her do two performances in one day. Part, if she's recovered? 

Prior to coming to ABT, perhaps. But not since. Whiteside's first Met season with ABT as a soloist was very different from Cirio's.

I meant precisely since they came to ABT, in response to those who said Cirio was promoted faster than anyone before. Both were principals at Boston Ballet, both left to become soloists at ABT, and after one year, both were promoted to principal. Same trajectory.

I've loved seeing Cirio this Met season and am very glad that he's being promoted. Even if he's only done Colas this Met season, he was a principal and has done many leading roles at Boston Ballet. He basically followed the same track as James Whiteside, who was also promoted a year after joining. Cirio is not as short as Cornejo, has good partnering skills and greater range than Simkin, and he's pretty young, so I could see him staying for quite some time.

Sad for Sarah Lane, but hopefully she'll be next in line when there's an opening to the female principal roster.

Thanks so much RUKen!

Did anyone save the casting on their computer by chance?

It is just overall quite interesting to me that very little is mentioned the fact that Stella is a Filipino/American and maybe someone can confirm on BA that she maybe the first as well to become principal at ABT? I am glad to have found this article to finally give her some credit in the media: http://thefilam.net/archives/18842

Apparently Jeffrey Cirio is Flipino American too. Given ballet's diversity issue especially in NY (http://www.pointemagazine.com/issues/junejuly-2014/behind-ballets-diversity-problem), perhaps ABT should publicize these promotions along with Misty's. Was anything noted when Hee Seo was promoted? I haven't followed ABT for very long, but was there another Asian ballerina principal before her?

To go back to Julie's curtain calls - can anyone identify the woman who came out wearing an orange flowered dress, with short blond hair. Julie seemed especially pleased to see her; she then took her place next to Makarova who grasped her hand. Thanks!

I believe it was Julie's mother as someone beside me was telling another, I can't be certain but I did hear quite a few people mentioning how nice it was for her mother to be there.

Yes, that was Julie's mother, Jennifer Cox. She was also at Julie's Giselle performance earlier this season. A bit more about her and the Music and Motion program she founded at the Maryland Youth Ballet for children with disabilities: http://www.marylandyouthballet.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/MM-Bethesda-Magazine.pdf

I feel very badly for Hee Seo. She's been such a trouper taking on so many performances, filling in at the last minute for all these cancellations, which must be incredibly physically demanding and exhausting...and yet, she's incurring the wrath of so many simply because she's "not Osipova" or "not Vishneva." So many performances may not have happened if she weren't ready and willing to fill in when others could or would not. She may not be Vishneva/Semionova/Osipova/etc, but she does have some lovely qualities of her own that I'm glad some do appreciate. It signals a bigger problem with management if there is only one person who is able to pick up the slack, which is unfortunate due to the retirements, injuries, and illnesses this season, but Seo herself should not be blamed for this.

As an employee for ABT, she has certainly earned her keep, and I do hope she is compensated accordingly. They are both principals, but by this spring season's end, she will have appeared in 18 performances vs. Vishneva's...3.

Just saw that Hee Seo is now listed for tonight's performance. I haven't been checking the calendar lately, but it seems to be a very last minute substitution? Did something happen to Diana Vishneva?

Like the company's failure to record any of the past decade plus's best performances (so many fine dancers with next to nothing on video available to the public), this demonstrates a real neglect of the legacy.

I always wondered why there's so little video of ABT in recent years. Is this a decision on the part of the AD once again?

And speaking of lots of people on stage. The extras that walk in for the Prologue and also appear throughout in other scenes are a stitch! Some of those men look like they are truly on their last legs and are being dragged along by the women. Are the only guests invited to these parties all that old? (as another aside; I found it so re-assuring last week when I saw all the same old guys lining up in "Bayadere". They have been there FOREVER! One could barely walk and keep up. A job for life in that temple, I assume. Hahahaha!)

I was told that some of the supernumerary performers have been doing this for 40 years! Some are big donors, so I suppose they want to please them. With limited rehearsal time, I guess it makes sense to go with people who know what to do, but perhaps they should think about updating a bit in this arena as well.

From a financial standpoint, particularly if ABT is struggling as has been suggested, giving Misty an extra performance makes sense. Her Swan Lake is completely sold out, and last I checked, her Romeo and Juliet on Saturday was close to being sold out. I think the only other performances that have sold out this spring season are Julie Kent's farewell and the anniversary gala.

As for the shuffling of Hee Seo into Wednesday's performance, perhaps the thought was that replacing Osipova with a principal would look better on paper than replacing her with a soloist. (For what it's worth, I've seen Seo perform a few times and thought she was quite lovely.)

That said, I had been keeping hope alive that Alina Cojocaru could have graced us with her presence again, but alas, it was not to be...