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Getting back to last night, and the Trenary/ Shayer cast. As I mentioned I found the ballet delightful. Having gone in with the understanding of its historical context I appreciated the humor. The first act was fun and charming, and I found both Shayer and Trenary to be wonderful in their acting. Hoven was funny as well, and I imagine bringing his character to life would be extremely challenging. Shevchenko is lovely and I always find her to be a tremendous tactician.

Act 2 has a lot of dancing, more than expected given previous reviews. I found the children to be well rehearsed, and the first section was a delight. However, when they came back on and danced another whole section I felt it was too long and took away from what they did earlier. I would prefer to see Harlequin’s friends come back on or perhaps some variations at that point. As I said earlier Trenary was fantastic in act 2. She handled the extremely difficult choreography beautifully with a smile. I am not familiar with the choreography so I didn’t see any mistakes myself, I Just enjoyed the lovely dancing. Shayer was equally wonderful. This was great to see and he was certainly “on” last night. I thought Shevchenko was also beautiful in Act 2, her rock solid dancing is what I believe makes her a perfect Odette/Odile. 

The corps was lovely to watch. The larks especially appeared to float across the stage, an the visual was very appealing. This is one ballet I would love to see again.

Just a quick note, having just gotten out of tonight’s show.... I loved it! I understand some will and some won’t, but I approached it from the historical standpoint and went in prepared. More later but the principals were fabulous. Trenary’s Columbine was a dream! She slayed the difficult choreography with a smile on her face. Her acting is equally as good. Shayer was a great Harlequin, as well.

I am at the Saturday matinee. The first intermission report..... Trenary never disappoints! A fabulous first act debut, and I am completely enjoying both Teuscher and Ahn.  

A very enjoyable matinee today. Teuscher was lovely as Nakiya. I have never seen Ahn but I was very impressed with him and look forward to seeing him again. As I mentioned, Trenary was a wonderful Gamzatti. She really embodies the character and draws in the audience.

The corps in Act II was very good. It appears they have ironed out any rough edges; the audience was very appreciative with a sustained applause that lasted for quite some time. 

Overall a great day at the ballet. I am looking forward to Harlequinade later this week.

I am at the Saturday matinee. The first intermission report..... Trenary never disappoints! A fabulous first act debut, and I am completely enjoying both Teuscher and Ahn. 

Cassandra Trenary posted a lovely video on Instagram of her and Gabe Stone Shayer rehearsing Harlequinade. It appears to be a repost of a Dance Magazine article. I am very excited to see this new remake!

Hello Eduardo. I would suggest Boylston-Whiteside-Teuscher. I enjoy all of these dancers very much. Also, given Misty Copeland’s popularity with the general public you may be able to get better and less expensive seats for the Wednesday show as well. 

This is my opinion, of course, and I would be interested to see what others think.

I plan to support the soloists and up and coming dancers this season. I chose to come into town the beginning of June to see the Teuscher/Ahn/Trenary Bayadere on Saturday, June 2nd matinee, and the Trenary/Shayer Harlequinade on Wednesday, June 6th. I may also add another Harlequinade to see Sarah Lane. Given the controversial feelings surrounding some of the principals and casting decisions, as an audience I feel we should support those who clearly have talent and will be carrying this company into the future. There are many others I would love to add, but unfortunately time and resources limit my decisions. 

In addition, so sad Trenary wasn’t given Kitri. I saw her Don Q Pdd at Blaine Hovens Full Circle Gala and she was not only lovely and vivacious, she nailed the 32 fouettés without traveling. From the audience it appeared like she didn’t move an inch. 

Tickets for the Vail Dance Festival go on sale today, February 20th. Www.vaildance.org

I have two tickets for ABT at the Kennedy Center for Wednesday night, January 31. Balcony Row A, seats 124 and 126. I can meet you at the theater before the show. Message me if you are interested.

ABT Fan he was actually quite good! I can see some growth still needed in his technique and stage presence but he held his own and the audience enjoyed him very much.

I just saw Blaine Hoven’s Full Circle Gala presented by his home studio in Mobile Alabama last night. What a treat to see Hoven with Cassandra Trenary, Isabella Boylston, Stella Abrera, Christine Shevchenko, and Jose Sebastian! Trenary was the most amazing Kitri, not only in her artistry but in her technique. She nailed the 32 fouettés, was strong, charismatic and beautiful dancing with Hoven. Shevchenko also performed a wonderful Black Swan Pas with Sebastian and also completed the fouettés with just a bit of traveling. All of the dancers looked like they were enjoying every moment which made for a wonderful night at the ballet. 

Just saw this on Instagram. Cassandra Trenary rehearsing Columbine for the new Harlequinade with Irina Kulpakova https://instagram.com/p/BZoDjX_gNB1/ 

On 6/24/2017 at 9:20 PM, Mazurka said:

Thank you California and Abbat for your earlier posts on Stearns/ Abrera. - I would have missed this memorable performance without them...

 

Mr. McKenzie look no further - your Onegin cast is here, just needs a fraction of the marketing done for the Fluffed cream;  amazingly the house was not sold out this PM!

 

The 5 dancers, Abrera, Stearns, Trenary, Gorak, Hammoudi slipped into their characters seamlessly - the dancing was uniformly splendid throughout, any faults seemed minor when faced with such uniform excellence.

 

Cory portrays Onegin extremely well - elegant self assurance, jaded beyond words at the tender age of twenty-something, when not studiously indifferent, vaguely amused as when he takes a look at Tatiana's book.  He courts Olga with both mischief and a delicious maliciousness - as he impetuously  shatters Lensky's naive belief in his uncomplicated love.  Could he be jealous of such pure happiness? lovely jumps, elegant lines.  Cassandra was eagerly complicit their  dance together  was outstanding.  

 

Great chemistry with Stella in the mirror PDD,  a budding passion  which  finds its complement and culmination in the tormented final.  

 

Stella's Tatiana is masterful - she is Tatiana.  A wonderful moment when the torn letter slips through her fingers.  The scene where she and Onegin exit to the opposite sides of the scene at the end of Act 1, was truly poignant.  The final PDD from the start is a struggle not to succumb to her love for Onegin.   it was extremely touching and brought tears to my eyes. I found it appealing that she does not give back the letter to Oniegin as if it was revenge  as it sometimes is portrayed. 

I think Onegin requires freshness, and this cast has it in spades. 

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I am at the airport now and can take a moment to reflect on the performances I was able to attend this trip. Mazurka, I agree that this was a wonderful, heart-rending performance of Onegin! Opening Act 1 Trenary was fresh and exuberant, Olga from the first moment. I felt it took a while for Abrera to settle in but I then saw the character coming to life. Stearns was appropriately aloof combined with meanness... and Gorak seemed to come to life each time he came in contact with Trenary. And the duel scene! My heart was totally broken right along with Olga! Trenary's characterization was so gripping that I was still crying when the lights came up for intermission. The rest of the ballet continued to draw me in until the final, heart breaking scene. This is the first time to see Onegin so I don't have another cast to compare it to, but I had a totally satisfying afternoon of ballet.

I am looking very much forward to this ballet, having never seen it. However, I have chosen this year to attend and support the upcoming soloists.... Trenary, Brandt, Teuscher, and so on. I am going to see the Saturday matinee more so to see Trenary than anyone else, and I am staying over to see her in Whipped Cream Tuesday night. 

Bingham, you are correct. Davis won the Grand Prix at YAGP then went into ABT Studio Company. 

I think that there is a corps member who is quite suited to partner Part... Gray Davis. I understand that she rehearses with him quite often by request, and in fact has performed with him outside of ABT. He was injured a couple of years back and hasn't seemed to gain momentum yet again, but given the chance I think he would more than rise to the occasion.

On 6/11/2017 at 9:31 PM, alexL said:

Absolutely agree with Jayne. Veronika deserves better! Stearns' partnering has improved tons since he first became a principal but he is such a naturally wooden actor. As someone has pointed out, he doesn't have that "it" factor and I doubt that will ever change. Besides, he still makes some partnering mistakes here and there. Partnering wise, I think Whiteside is stronger but he is also not best suited for the prince roles... (I do however like him in DonQ or Le Corsaire)I really miss the time when Gomes was able to partner up with Part. 

 

Now that Bolle is limiting his performances at Met, maybe ABT can find a tall male dancer from outside for Part. I know there are some soloists or corps members who are tallish and talented but I don't think any one of them can match Part- at least not yet. I do see some promising talents but they need more experience to develop while Part doesn't have a lot of time left... I wouldn't be surprised if she retires within a few years.