kaskait

I never read any of her books. I'll have to head to the library. But if her appearance on the documentary is indication of her writing, it is going to be a very dry experience. How did she get to control the message and be the voice of ballet? Who appointed her?

They do it all to put their names on the building (at New York State), hobnob with one another, make business deals and get their faces in the society columns. Being interested in ballet dancing is not on their radar except that it makes them look cultured. Believe me, people like Lucia Chase and Lincoln Kirstein are very rare. Probably always were rare.

That is it? So she really didn't have to dance. Heck, they could have hauled Natalie Portman up on stage to do that much.

What Swan Lake part did they actually perform? Part of Copeland's cause is for body acceptance in ballet. She thinks we should just overlook her muscular form. I think her overbuilt muscles are getting in the way of her dancing. When I look at pictures of her in the past, she wasn't always this overbuilt. On YT is a short clip of her in the ABT summer intensive 2000 performing Queen of the Dryads. She was very streamlined then. Granted she was still a teen, but she had past puberty and her growing years. Her body should not have changed to the significant degree we see now unless she began some kind of training that built her up. Maybe she thought it would make her look different from the rest. I don't know. I feel bad for Whiteside. He is the go to guy in the company now charged with the job of making technically questionable dancers like Seo and Copeland look decent. Mainly by carrying them around like luggage.

But Lane isn't and wasn't the only small Ballerina ever. There have been plenty of greats that were tiny (Kirkland). Plus once Lane is on pointe that jacks her up to almost 5'5. Her limbs are well proportioned, she doesn't look small. It comes down to the fact that she just isn't popular right now. I was hoping to see her in Swan Lake.

It seems the guest artist bookings are all falling apart this year. All the more reason for ABT to concentrate on their own dancers and groom many of them not just 2 or 3 favorites.

Osipova sustained an injury while at RB in March. I don't know if she fully recovered. If she is pulling out of performances, maybe she is still ailing.

Well, he used the bulk of his strength keeping Seo upright in the opening pas. I'm not surprised he was off his game. Seo, however, has no excuse.

No, he was wonderful with Abrera at the recent Guggenheim exhibition Almost a different dancer. What a wonderful thing it is not to be used as leaning post.

I think so as well. It has to do with that whole film fiasco. Because Lane wouldn't sit tight and allow a third rate actress hijack her career and lie her way to an Oscar. Now he won't let her dance SW because it would further prove Lane right, that she did the bulk of the dancing in the film.

I'm wondering how that happened as well. Maybe McKenzie wasn't wearing his glasses that day and mistook the two of them. Whatever the case, someone was on Abrera's side and I'm glad. She is one of the best dancers in the company and she deserved that part.

https://youtu.be/BkAOhe-4Q74 This is a Giselle clip from Starburst of Dance Gala 2014. Seo didn't even do the entrechat in the opening, that just seems lazy to me. There were a few balance issues as well. Good thing Whiteside was there for her to lean on. Later on, she seems to struggle a bit with stamina issues. And this is only a portion of the ballet. This is the dancer that will taking over the bulk of Semionova's performances this spring?

Thank you for the advice. But after deleting the seat and trying to reorder so many times, I finally just purchased it. But I'll keep what you recommended in mind the next time I order.

It would have been interesting if he tried to push Misty Copeland on the Russians. LOL. I think I would almost pay to see the fur fly on that one.

The last thing ABT should do is P off their Russian contingent. Since they count on them for their box office. They will NOT be happy with Seo.

Not even one Swan Lake for Lane? That is just petty. The very definition of the word. But then again, I'm not surprised. Lane would make all the rest of them look like turkeys.

I purchased a ticket to the Sarah Lamb's "The Dream". The website doesn't allow you to pick your seats though. I'm stuck in a middle seat (I like aisle seats). Oh well. I'm still excited.

They used to put skirts on furniture just on the off chance someone would get sexy thoughts about a sofa leg. CREEPY!

I was at yesterday's performance of Bournonville Divertissements and La Slyphide. I can heartily agree that Taylor Stanley was a true standout. I was a bit disappointed that they didn't substitute him in the Pas de Deux section. He did have the fast footwork down cold along with a gorgeous upper body form. In the Pas De Six, I was very impressed with Indiana Woodward. She was the only one who looked truly romantic and at home in the style. She had good musicality, dance phrasing and truly finished, elegant upper body form. The others seemed to struggle. Also the rest of the male dancers seemed a bit too tall for me. They struggled to pull in their long legs in time for the next few dance phrases. Although it wouldn't look as pretty, I think the ballet would be better if they had more dancers who were the same body type as Taylor Stanley. La Slyphide was wonderful. I loved Megan LeCrone as Effie and Andrew Veyette as James. Everyone in the company was so good. The sylph section was lovely. The only problem I had was their take on Madge. If she is played as a funny old lady, well than that makes James look like delusional monster. If she is truly evil, it turns James into a tragic figure. I lean toward the latter since it is a romantic ballet. So the NYCB version is a bit skewed and modern in that respect.

I forgot it was on. So I missed that ridiculous opening of a toe shoe being flung onto the stage. What I saw was awful. Nothing really about the company but basic stuff about ballet history. And then there would talk about what ballets ABT performed over the years, small truncated clips of ABT greats cut way too short and awful slo-mo shots of current dancers, none of them filmed to show them off in a good way. This is a disaster. What happened?

Yes, Puss and Boots is a creepy little number. But it was made by Victorians. Victorians were a creepy bunch. This dance is probably their idea of sexy.

They probably won't be happy that Semionova dropped out. But they still have Shklyarov.

That would be a good idea. Give everyone a sneak peak then do a little PR blitz announcing Abrera's performance on the 23rd.

This is going to be historic. A star will be born! Got my ticket. Oh yes.

Abrera as Giselle! I'm THERE!