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alexL

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  • Connection to/interest in ballet** (Please describe. Examples: fan, teacher, dancer, writer, avid balletgoer)
    fan
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    New York
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    NY

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  1. This isn't in HD but here's a recording by Miami City Ballet's Square Dance. I wish it was in higher resolution but one can still see how brilliant Delgado is.
  2. Kimin Kim did mention in an interview that Tereshkina is the easiest one to partner among the primas because she knows how to "sync" perfectly with her partners. He said something similar regarding Somova as well. Both are very considerate of their partners. I'm not alluding that Lane is inconsiderate of her partners...it was just an off night for both of them. Fyi, McKenzie used to ask the male principals who's their favorite to partner- I know that partnering business is trickier than this but this actually used to(and sometimes still does) happen. If you thought you were seeing certain dancers keep showing up on the cast&substitution list, that's the reason....
  3. I was wondering what's happened with the backdrop. Thank you for the backstory with Smekalov. I can't even imagine how embarrassed he must have been.... Batoeva is usually technically solid so I'm not sure why she struggled so much today. I'm sure she will redeem herself on Saturday evening.
  4. You are completely right about NYCB not known for uniformity. I pointed it out since someone had written that ABT shouldn't perform it because this ballet requires uniformity. That's simply not true although I do prefer it when they are more in unison. And yes, I'd rather see Shevchenko or even Teauscher in Mozartiana than Mearns. I don't think anyone can say any company's Balanchine is OBJECTIVELY disgusting and awful. One with SOME ballet background can't say such thing so lightly.
  5. If NYCB is qualified to dance the classics then ABT can dance Balanchine as they wish. Fyi, I've witnessed the worst pas de trois in my life at NYCB(a Benno who can't even finish his solo in double... pathetic. Unfortunately this dancer is a soloist now). Well, pas de trois is the least of their problem since that entire production is a mess including the dancing itself. Btw, NYCB can't even do justice to some Balanchine ballets anymore. Their latest Theme and Variations was the biggest letdown of the season. Plus, the NYCB corp were not uniform at all throughout their run of Symphony in C(I always sat on the 1st ring). Someone even addressed this issue under different topic in this forum. Each companies can mind their own business and if you are unhappy with the rep, you can always skip it. I do hope that ABT would perform more Tudor and Ashton in future.
  6. THANK YOU for this. I second every single word. I hope ABT doesn't change a thing in this production as long as they can.
  7. It was an insider info but now that she's posted it on her Instagram story it became official. Since it's not on her main Insta page I can't really tag it here.
  8. Seems like no one on this board is aware of this but Lane is replacing Copeland in the evening's performance.
  9. I never thought Shevchenko is alarmingly thin- she looks perfectly normal to me. I've seen her SL debut last year and indeed it was the highlight of that week. If I were to see just one SL performance this season I would probably see hers. I'm seeing Shevchenko, Teauscher and Boylston(to see Simkin but I might switch this one depending on his injury status) this season. Hopefully Teauscher can bring it this time cus her performances in last two years have been disappointing in many ways.
  10. ABT website is a bit slow at updating casting changes. According to the Met website, Simkin has been replaced by Hoven in all Manon performances. Who knows how long it will take for them to update his substitute for SL (I suspect his sub will be Whiteside)
  11. Although Blaine Hoven was a remarkable partner today(Lane literally floated in his lifts), he didn't do those grand plié landings for his Lankendem variation.(he just landed in fifth instead.) Maybe he was being cautious to avoid possible injuries. Nevertheless it was a little puzzling since I've never seen any Lankendem who's completely omitted that step. Mack was also a great partner but he looked rusty in the first act, especially the failed barrel turn... or was it 540? his air position was so off that I didn't even know what to make of it. He did an admirable job in the 2nd and 3rd act though(tough act to follow after Simkin. In my experience, the only Conrad who wasn't upstaged by Simkin was Vasiliev) Both Brandt and Lane were just lovely in every aspect. Lane's solo in the first act deserved more applause- sometimes you just wanna tell everyone that what they are seeing is more difficult than it looks!! Brandt had some technical problem in act 2 grand pas(over turned á la seconde etc) but she handled her nerves well and recovered quickly. Her fouettes were on spot with the tempo, perfectly musical. I'm also glad that she didn't open her mouth as often as she used to. Simkin- what can I say. In terms of the applause noise level he did overshadow the main couple. He even elevated his free leg in the arabesque position as he lifted Brandt overhead(á la Vasiliev.) The only visible mistake I could think of was the fudged chainé turns after landing the last saut de basque. My non balletomane friends didn't even know that was a mistake. I've been following his career since... well, his first competition in Japan and he never ceases to amaze me. Looking forward to seeing him again later this week. Out of the three odalisques Hurlin had the best port de bras and feet. She also had a handful of technical errors in her variation but I think she was just nervous on the opening night. I hope she improves as the week progresses. Regarding laurel's comment, this is how Simkin ended his variation:
  12. It is my wish to see Obratzova in this production of SB but it won't happen since there are so many Aurora candidates within ABT. They probably won't need any guest for the 2019 season with the exception of Ferri.
  13. Seeing the Bolshoi and NYCB Diamonds back to back last year wasn't a great idea. I didn't mind NYCB's corp at all throughout all these years until the super Jewels event where I was able to compare them in less then 24 hours. I was more bothered by their stiff upper body than nonuniformity though. As mentioned above, it's a tradeoff. One cannot have NYCB's legs and Russian epaulement at the same time(please let me know if such a dancer exists!).
  14. I'm glad to know that I wasn't the only one who felt this way. I've also noticed some sloppiness in Diamonds as well (throughout the 1st and 3rd act I sorely missed the Bolshoi demis from last yr). The principals were mostly good but also very out of sync in the 4th movement. I'm seeing it again in October at the City Center so hopefully they show some improvements.
  15. Given his workload in past 2 weeks(he danced as the lead gypsy in pretty much all DonQ I saw. This week he had to dance some corp roles every day on top of his principal assignments) this was an accident waiting to happen. I hope his injury isn't a serious one.
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