Fleurfairy

Strange...

Can’t believe I’m missing this! If I were in the city, I would beg borrow or steal for a ticket!

With all the fouette problems in the company, you'd think these dancers would just stick to accomplishing clean, solid singles. Singles done well still look impressive and they are a lot easier than trying to throw in doubles and triples. At least, they were for me when I was dancing.

I suppose Misty will do her menage of pique turns again this year.

What more can be said? Lane was transcendent. One of her greatest roles to date - that and Giselle. She keeps getting better and better when dancers in her age group start slowing down and showing signs of diminishing technique. She's extraordinary. Her partnership with Cornejo is truly special -- just chemistry off the charts. 

At bows, I was close enough to see that she was crying. It must have been a wonderful and momentous experience for her.

On 6/14/2019 at 10:41 PM, ABT Fan said:

As for the women, I think it’s complicated. I don’t think there’s room at the top right now. How would Brandt and Trenary feel (and her fans) to be promoted but then NOT be given a Kitri, Giselle, O/O, etc. I don’t see how their current repertoire could be increased with the number of current female principals, especially once Murphy returns. They may be dancing a number of principal roles now but they are still carrying a soloist load as well. How many of us complained when Lane and Cirio were still doing peasant pas de trois as principals? (Though they were being underutilized for different reasons.)  Would we want to see the same happen to Brandt and Trenary? Also, there aren’t enough leading men to partner the current roster let alone more. I may feel differently tomorrow after I’ve see them both in leading roles, as so far this season I’ve only seen them in secondary or soloist parts, but I think they need another year at least before they’re promoted. Brandt needs to develop her artistic side (as with Shayer, it’s can’t be all about the tricks) and drop her self-conscious demeanor. Trenary needs more self confidence and both of them, esp Trenary, must learn to command the stage. However, I would hate for them to sit in soloist purgatory for several more years waiting for Murphy and Abrera to retire. Those ladies may be 40+ but as others have mentioned they could stick around for another 4 or 5 years. 

Agreed. There isn't room for Trenary/Brandt yet and there are principal women now that aren't getting enough roles. We'll have to see but I don't expect Murphy or Abrera to retire in the next couple of years. It seems like Abrera just made principal. As long as she is still able to do some of the easier roles, she likely will hang on as long as possible. And I expect Gillian will want to do a post-baby comeback like Maria K. 

Carlos Gonzalez is another candidate for promotion, although he had to bow out of Corsaire due to injury.

31 minutes ago, mille-feuille said:

Well, it was definitely not my cup of tea.

Marston's Jane Eyre is light on sustained passages of ballet dancing and heavy on dramatic walking, inscrutable mime, and impassioned writhing and yanking. The most actual ballet we got was a pique arabesque now and then.

On the bright side, Whiteside was good as Rochester (or as good as he could've been, given that choreography). Many critical reviews praised Marston's storytelling abilities, but I found the details of the story (which I assume were contained in the aforementioned inscrutable mime and/or writhing and yanking) to be very muddy indeed.

Interested to hear what others on this board think.

This is why I did not get tickets. It didn't look in the previews like there was any actual ballet dancing. 

Copeland announced on her IG account today that she is unable to do Whipped Cream due to "scheduling conflicts". I think Ratmansky is beyond her abilities at this point.  

I would hope they'd have an understudy for Cornejo in regards to his full-lengths. We know Lane pairs well with Gorak. And I've seen her dance nicely with Hammoudi should the need arise.

On Sarah Lane’s Instagram story, she posted a shot of counts for the Jane Eyre “wedding scene”. What part could she be playing at the wedding? I can only imagine some sort of corps part since none of the other major female characters in the book were at Jane’s wedding. 

I’d rather see a return of Cinderella and The Dream. Getting burnt out on the Ratmansky to be honest...

This is fabulous. I am so happy for her because god knows she's worked hard enough and wanted it more than anyone.

Nice to see Abi Stafford getting a Balanchine debut as well.

On 3/7/2019 at 11:01 AM, ABT Fan said:

 

Also, Luciana Paris is debuting Princess Praline in Iowa and Chicago, replacing Copeland (I have no idea why Copeland was replaced).

 

My guess is Copeland was having a hard time keeping up with the demands of the choreography. 

The common denominator between all three companies is Messmer. I don’t think she is someone that will be happy in traditional company life. She doesn’t seem to work well with others, quite frankly. One gets the impression that she wants it to be The Simone Messmer Show. 

9 hours ago, tutu said:

Not sure if this is the best place to put this, but according to a recent article in the Times today, Peter Martins moved around the Sleeping Beauty casting at the last minute.

 

Wow. Someone thinks very highly of herself. 

She is getting to the age where ballerinas are retiring roles. It nice to see her acknowledge that younger dancers deserve their place in these roles. 

NYCB seems to be having the same problem as ABT right now - a dearth of male principals (or lead role-ready males). ABT most needs shorter males to go with Lane, Copeland, Trenary, and Brandt. NYCB needs tall males, especially because the Angle brothers are nearing retirement and looking out of shape and Veyette has been phoning it in for several years now.

Much more development and training is needed in the pipeline for both companies. 

I think this happens quite a bit. They are wunderkinds and seem like shooting stars and then end up going nowhere. It's like college football players who win the Heisman and then they get to the NFL and are a bust. Sometimes crazy extensions and 9-revolution pirouettes just do not translate to company life or artistry.

On 12/26/2018 at 4:01 PM, cubanmiamiboy said:

I have always loved that section in the Collier/Dowell video, and think it a shame they've decided to excise it. Balanchine probably remembered it and recreated it with much success, I'd say. When it happens, no matter what, there are always audience members who gasp in awe. I believe many of then don't really realize about the sliding device.  So...I really hope that it never becomes "politically incorrect"🤔

 

Yes, the slide is one of those magical moments that fits perfectly in The Nutcracker. Even after seeing Balanchine's version 100 times, I'm still struck by the effect. 

After seeing that Collier/Dowell version, I understand why they eliminated the scarf trick. She looks very unsteady. It was probably too difficult to pull off while looking effortless.

Just now, vipa said:

She seems to be very interested in choreography projects, and a number of them are coming her way.

Yes, agreed. I will rephrase and say she is pulling away from her Principal dancer position and concentrating more on choreography and modeling projects.

Judging from the past several seasons, it seems like Lovette is pulling away from NYCB. It would not surprise me if she left the company altogether, let's put it that way.

2 hours ago, cobweb said:

High time for Ulbricht to debut in this role. Strike that. Long overdue. 

Any reports on the two new Soldier debuts welcome - tonight Kennard Henson, tomorrow Andres Zuniga. 

Henson was good - not as whiz-bang as some but he was secure and got a nice applause. 

As far as the rest of the performance tonight:

Lecrone indeed subbed in as Dewdrop for Reichlen. Lecrone was technically very good  but the real joy and exuberance Dewdrop should have was absent from her face. 

My eyes were drawn to Miriam Miller as Lead Flower. What a gorgeous presence she has. 

Alec Knight was an absolutely hilarious Mother Ginger. The audience loved him. 

Ulbricht was fantastic in Candy Cane as usual. 

I was very impressed with Woodward as Marzipan. She has a lovely quality.

What more can be said about Tiler? She was pure perfection as Sugar Plum. The fish dive at the end got a huge roar. Gordon seemed very secure in his partnering. Not one teeter the whole Pas de deux. 

One does get the impression from her Instagram posts that she's frequently teetering on the edge of certain failure or disaster. Whether that is all in her head, or if she really is declining in strength and ability is the question. I haven't seen her perform in many years so I can't make that judgment myself, so I'm always interested in reviews from audience members.

I had already bought tickets for the 4th so I lucked out and got Tiler Peck and Joseph Gordon.