its the mom

6 minutes ago, abatt said:

Interesting how any time Hallberg or Copeland sneeze, there is a piece in the NY Times about it.  Cirio's departure didn't get any mention.

 

I don't think Cirio was ever able to gain a following.  It also is negative news that ABT is losing yet another principal male.  I would have to imagine that McKenzie is searching for someone else.  With Lendorf's injuries, Hallberg's limited schedule, Simkin only part-time, Cornejo nearing the 40 year old range, McKenzie will have to bring along some of his current soloists and corps members in addition to hiring from the outside.  I think this was indicated above in the thread. 

Do you think ABT is as attractive a company as it once was for young dancers? 

47 minutes ago, Drew said:

ENB is a touring company that appears all over the UK —in places and at theaters you won’t see the Royal Ballet, nor is it at the level of the Royal. I  just saw them in two performances of Sleeping Beauty at the London Coliseum...they do have some wonderful dancers (Cojocaru who joined after departing the Royal is one of the finest ballerinas I have ever seen). However, I found the quality of their pure classical dancing rather uneven up-and-down the ranks across two different casts. Both nights I attended I saw bobbles and weaknesses to an extent that I didn’t see when, say, ABT danced Ratmansky’s production —and ABT was far from perfect. On the other hand, I very much liked a couple of soloists and it also looked to my eyes as if the dancers had been given some serious stylistic guidance, and that is not to be dismissed. Moreover, Sleeping Beauty is the very toughest of tests when it comes to classical dancing, and I would guess the company makes a more consistently strong impression in other productions and more contemporary repertory especially. They do have some striking productions and seem to do some very interesting programming of newer work that has gotten them attention. Fondoffouettes just posted as I was typing and I think the point is very well made made that whatever the exact comparison to ABT, the opportunities for Cirio himself may be better at ENB.

It's interesting.  ENB is not at the level of Royal, but while I would have said once that ABT was the calibre of Royal, I no longer feel that way.  With the men at Royal, and the few strong men at the smaller company, ENB, I would say that London has some very strong dancers.  The group of men:  Hernandez, Caley, Robison, and now Cirio, along with a number of strong soloists, gives ENB a pretty good group of guys.  At ABT, once Cornejo and Hallberg are gone (and with Marcelo and Simkin at a limited engagement), what's left?   

19 minutes ago, Kathleen O'Connell said:

This may have been mentioned upthread, but Gray Davis' mother, Sherri Davis, founded The Georgia Academy of Dance and the Performing Arts in 1990.

I'd be surprised if Trenary left ABT at this point in her career. It's a prestigious company and she's clearly on the track to principal (as well she should be, IMO).

Are you sure that is Gray's mom?  I do not think it is.

16 hours ago, McJagger said:

My daughter attended a dress rehearsal of Paz de la Jolla the other night. Dylan Tedaldi spoke to the group in the intermission and said he was leaving the company to go to a contemporary company in Israel. 

Sorry to hear that, but I am sure Dylan will be successful in anything he does.

25 minutes ago, nanushka said:

Wow. He has not really been carrying (i.e. allowed to carry) a very full principal load while at ABT, but if he leaves the company, or reduces his commitment, this would still be a hit, given the current state of the male roster.

I think you probably hit the nail on the head.  He was not cast in principal roles.  

But then he says this on instagram:

27 minutes ago, volcanohunter said:

What the company really needs is a tall male principal to partner the taller young women Karen Kain has been advancing. What they've added instead are a short and a shortish male principal. Granted, the company performs almost no 19th-century ballet anymore, so the fact that Tedaldi could never play a leading man is less of an impediment than it once was. But he's also short. These men can't stand on each others' shoulders to partner Hannah Fischer or Alexandra MacDonald. The fundamental hole in the male ranks remains. (And it can't be filled by Brendan Saye or Christopher Gerty until they learn how to do a grand allegro manège, which, unfortunately, neither can at the moment.)

While I understand the dilemma with the tall women, Tedaldi could certainly play a leading man with the right woman.  He is no shorter than Cornejo or Simkin at ABT, and he certainly has the ability to carry a leading role, unless something has happened since he has been at NBoC.  I knew him as a student in Boston and in Hamburg.  

14 hours ago, mom2 said:

posted this afternoon on NBOC instagram:

nationalballet2018/19 Promotions: Congratulations to Skylar Campbell and Francesco Gabriele Frola on being promoted to Principal Dancer.

nationalballet2018/19 Promotions: Jack Bertinshaw will be promoted to First Soloist. 

nationalballet2018/19 Promotions: Congratulations to Christopher Gerty, Spencer Hack and Miyoko Koyasu who will be promoted to Second Soloist. 

It is shocking to me that Dylan Tedaldi would not be promoted.   Technically, he is amazing, and so strong at both classical and contemporary work.  

Well, it seems that Stella was happy with her partnership:

Because of my work schedule, I have been attending Tuesday evening performances.  It was a wonderful show last night.  Juliet is probably a better vehicle for Misty.  Herman was a heartthrob Romeo, and teamed up with Cirio as Mercutio and Gorak as Benvolio, it made for a very entertaining evening.  There was a mishap during the crypt scene.  I didn't see it, but one of the monks fell from above.  I am not sure if it was when they were descending the stairs or just at the entrance.  He was there throughout the whole scene, apparently.  (All of this I heard after from some of the dancers.)  When it came time for bows, we were wondering what was happening because there were no open curtain bows.  They did two sets of page bows instead.

I always find the storytelling of R&J somewhat weak and that bothers me.  Nevertheless, I am hoping to see Hallberg on Saturday night, if I can make it.  

36 minutes ago, fondoffouettes said:

And last year WC was a near sell-out. I assumed they programmed it for that week because they thought it could still sell well. And there will be tourists in town.

I'm disappointed to hear Klein has been replaced; I was looking forward to seeing a corps member get a shot at a leading role. 

Klein did perform the Boy in Whipped Cream on tour earlier in the season, I believe (at least in D.C.?)

Nice interview.  I know he will be missed by so many.  Thanks for sharing that.

13 minutes ago, canbelto said:

Hmm I think it's also a ballet that ABT can actually handle. For instance is La Bayadere a greater ballet? Yes, but the ABT corps struggle in La Bayadere to the extent that it almost makes it not worth doing. The smaller corps, shorter ballet, more rehearsal time with Ratmansky, makes Harlequinade something ABT can handle.

The problem, especially this Met season, is that the company was presenting two new ballets which took up a tremendous amount of rehearsal time.  Both choreographers were working up until near performance time on their ballets.  This eats into the rehearsal times for other ballets.  Additionally, ABT, in my opinion, has far too many lay-off periods.  The company is laid off for the whole month of November after the Koch season.  They come back for a very short rehearsal period for Nutcracker, and then have another several week lay-off.  After every tour (or almost every tour), there is another lay-off week.  Those weeks could be valuable in beginning to rehearse some of the warhorse ballets.  The schedule as it is puts a tremendous amount of pressure on the dancers.  Right now, they are rehearsing Romeo & Juliet during the day and then performing Harlequinade in the evenings.  It is nearly impossible to perfect something like the Shades scene under those conditions. 

22 hours ago, Helene said:

We haven't seen anything official yet, and there may be something printed in the Season Encores program this Sunday, but news of Samuelson leaving PNB breaks my heart.  She worked so hard to come back after long injury(ies?), and she was dancing more beautifully than ever after coming back.  While she's danced more featured roles in her career and notably, she was absolutely gorgeous in the corps of "La Source" last year. 

Thanks for letting me know that.  I do hope she continues.  She, Leta, Noelani, Carrie - all those from CPYB - are beautiful to watch.

28 minutes ago, aurora said:

I also love Fille Mal Gardee

Different tastes! That is fine. I was just really responding to the idea (not expressed by you) that the ballet was unsuccessful when clearly it is a matter of opinion as many of us didn't seem to find it so.

Fille is one of my favorites!

I would not say I loved this work, but I found it an extremely enjoyable night at the ballet.  I would say two is enough for me this week.  Generally speaking (and I know there are exceptions), I find that Ratmansky's first casts fare better.  They benefit from more closely working with him while he is setting the choreography and they tend to have more rehearsals.  Having said that, I actually really liked the sweetness of Cirio and Lane.  It was charming.  I felt their interpretation was less over the top, but I actually preferred it. Boylston is having an amazing season and she seems to just go from triumph to triumph.  She and Whiteside have a wonderful connection.  I have always loved James since his days in Boston, and this role was a good one for him, not requiring him to be the prince.  One complaint I do have is that I find his arch padding very distracting and I wish he would change that.  I preferred Murphy to Abrera in this one, which is unusual for me.  The role of Pierette is a much easier role than Columbine, so both Murphy and Abrera were able to shine.  The Columbine choreography is devilishly difficult, and both Boylston and Lane handled it well.  Not much to say about Hallberg other than what has been said.  It is always good to see him on stage, but I prefer seeing him dance, as most would probably agree.  I adored the children's sections.  It was fun to see the parents reacting to their children on stage, something I always relish at Nutcracker.  They were very well-rehearsed.  I sat very close to Misha the second evening, and he was clapping very enthusiastically for Cirio and Lane which was nice to see.  This is one of those ballets (like Nutcracker and Whipped Cream) I would see once a year and that would be enough.  

Yes, not a coincidence. He and Ana have dated on and off for several years, as evidenced by social media. Agreed, PeggyTulle. 

16 minutes ago, abatt said:

I have no specific information on why Misty is not appearing in Harlequinade.  However, I can offer these facts about her Sat evening performance of Bayadere.  She only completed 4 Italian fouettes in her big solo for Gamzatti, and filled out the rest of the music by doing something else.  In that same solo, she only completed a few regular fouettes, and then filled in the rest of the music by doing something else.  The audience cheered anyway: either they were completely unaware of the standard choreography or they knew but didn't care.   I don't think Ratmansky takes kindly to alterations of his choreography, whereas it seems to be standard practice now to permit alterations of works of classical choreography at ABT.  Petipa can't say no to these alterations.

(Boylston and Cirio were excellent in Bayadere.)

Yes, I noticed that abatt.  It goes right from the Italian fouettes to the regular ones.  She fared better on Thursday night with her fouettes.  Trying to gather my thoughts to post on the La Bayadere thread after seeing a few shows.  

Nicolai Goridiskii was hired as soloist at PA Ballet for the 2015-16 season, but then was gone from the roster after a few months.  I am not sure what happened or where he went after that.  

Does anyone know if Carli will continue to dance?  I hope so.  I mostly saw her as a student, but always appreciated her beautiful technique.

1 hour ago, nysusan said:

Taken out, taken herself out - same thing. She couldn't dance the role. I wouldn't assume that she "took herself out" to save her time and energy for another role. Nobody takes themselves out of the biggest premiere of the season by ABT's world famous resident choreographer unless its filled with difficult steps that they can't do.

It is certainly not the same thing.  She is dancing two Juliets, two Swan Lakes, two Whipped Creams, and another Bayadere in LA.  Not everyone loves dancing Ratmansky's work.  Cornejo is no longer dancing Whipped Cream.  He did dance Firebird, and although filled with ridiculous partnering, the solo work is not as taxing as that of Harlequinade and Whipped Cream.  I am not some huge Misty fan, and I do not know whether she can dance the role or not, but making it sound that admin took her out is wrong.

26 minutes ago, Fleurfairy said:

She was originally listed on the casting sheet as Columbine but was recently replaced by Skylar Brandt.

Yes, but that does not mean she was taken out.  We cannot assume that.  She could have taken herself out.   

45 minutes ago, Fleurfairy said:

Then it doesn't surprise me that they took Misty out of the role. This type of dancing is not exactly her forte. 

How do you know she was taken out?

9 hours ago, cargill said:

Everyone had hats and they were gorgeous!  Especially Boylston's in Act I.  I loved that the hats were part of the choreography, bobbing around.

 

I have to admit I have been a little worried about the hats and whether or not they would interfere with the dancing (or make it even more difficult for the dancers.)

While I was not fond of many aspects of this reconstruction, I don't think it was cheap or cheap looking.  Wendy Perron states that it cost $6 million (to be split with La Scala).  http://wendyperron.com/a-new-sleeping-beauty-but-why/