Inge

19 minutes ago, Classic_Ballet said:

oh ok, got it, sorry about that

Ah sry didn't meant to sound so curt. I didn't remember the Los Angeles performances either until someone mentioned it on Lane's Instagram, and she replied bluntly: 

'Our cast won't be performing in LA.'

Ouch

21 minutes ago, Classic_Ballet said:

are you sure about this ? I checked, Teuscher got 2 Bayaderes, I believe, as did Seo and Boyslton. 

Teuscher seems to be the new AD favorite, KM has a clear tendency to "fall in love" for a dancer and then he will just have her/him do everything, like nothing would be enough, no matter how ready or how good or not so good she/he performs the roles given.... We had Seo ballet theater season a coupe of years ago, and she was clearly not ready for that, still nothing stopped him.

The casting this week is a good example of how bringing 1-2 world class dancers could help to lift the quality of the performances, give Teucher, Boylston and/or Seo one show each, so they get their chance, and bring someone exciting for the remaining shows.

Los Angeles. Teuscher/Ahn/Shevchenko have one. All Met casts have one except Lane/Cornejo.

2 hours ago, cubanmiamiboy said:

I did a repeat tonight on Bouder. Currently at intermezzo. She's one of the BEST Swannildas/Coppelias I have ever seen. Oh...how I would love now to see her Giselle...😔

Agreed. I was sad when I had to miss out on Tiler Peck's Swanilda but now I'm glad I saw Bouder instead! I can't imagine anyone else could be more charming and funny than she was tonight. And those rock solid balances! 

22 minutes ago, Barbara said:

I have a different opinion of the Saturday matinee. Devon was a mixed bag today. Her upper back was so stiff that I'm wondering if there is an injury and makes me wonder how her Swan Lake (which I loved last year) and Juliet will be. She suffered greatly in comparison to Sarah's soulful expressive turn on Wed. Where she excelled is her rock solid balances; she nailed the scarf variation. I thought Ahn was very raw with a long way to go as a good partner. Even his solos were not clean or exciting. No chemistry with either lead woman. (Why wasn't Tommy Forster given this opportunity? Or Blaine Hoven? Where has he been?) Trenary was excellent as Gamzatti! So glad to have her back. Her Italian fouettes were grand and solid. The shades were much improved today. I preferred the sharpness of Joey Gorak's Bronze Idol to Gabe's today; I often find him explosive but sloppy. All in all some things to like, others not so much. 

Her arms were beautiful, but I agree. I was very disappointed. I can't tell if people wax poetic about Devon because she's tall and glamorous, or if I'm just going to her 'off' nights. I'm still excited for her Swan Lake, especially since she's paired with Cory Stearns (I assume they're still together?)

Overall this performance was much better due to the corps finally synching up. But without a believable romance, there just wasn't much to care about. It just doesn't make sense that Teuscher + Ahn got 3 performances and Lane + Cornejo got 1 (why not 2 & 2?). Maybe Cornejo didn't want to go to LA? 

1 hour ago, alexL said:

Ashley Hod fell badly at the end of today's Mozartiana. Not sure how she fell- I was looking at Schumacher(who performed wonderfully. I actually attended today's performance to see him in this role) then I heard her scream and realized she had fallen on stage. She was able to walked off from the stage by herself but it looked very painful. I really hope the injury isn't too serious... 

Because of Ashley's injury Emilie Gerrity substitued her part in Pulcinella Variations(the announcement incorrectly stated Unity Phelan will substitute). She literally just had her lipsticks on without the usual pancake foundation. Thank god she was available to step in last minute. Another substitution was Daniel Applebaum who stepped in for Joseph Gordon in Glass Pieces(I'm assuming he's saving his body for tomorrow's debut in Coppelia)Bravo to all the dancers who kept the show going after such a startling accident. 

It was awful. Considering dancers are in pain quite often, it must have been pretty bad for her to scream like that. 

I don't know if it was just me but Mozartiana felt 'off' from the beginning. The ladies' quartet was by my favorite part, and Ashley was doing really beautiful work before she fell.

I hope all she needs is some ice and a good period of rest. At least it happened at the very end of the season. 

5 minutes ago, fondoffouettes said:

The evening left me wanting to see much, much more of the Lane/Cornejo partnership. Bayadere may not be the ideal vehicle for Lane, but I was still completely engaged with what she did with the role. 

I'm collecting my thoughts about the performance, but I agree 1000% about their partnership. They have such a natural, loving chemistry that's achingly romantic. I have troubling thinking of any other notable (current) ABT partnerships. 

5 hours ago, ABT Fan said:

Wow. Isabella Boylston said in an interview (or was it an Instagram post?) that Columbine has a lot of hops on pointe in her choreography, so I wonder if that's the reason for the change. Happy for Brandt though.

Lendorf has been completely removed from the season (even from Bayadere in LA), which many of us predicted would happen. Simkin replaces him in SL. Whiteside replaces him in DQ with Shevchenko. Good for Bell getting a Purple Rothbart debut (two shows). I have a feeling he replaces Lendorf in at least one of those. Happy Royal gets 3 PR's. Hope I can catch one of those. 

Bell may possess height, but he still carries such a boyish quality. I understand giving him a Romeo, but it will be difficult for me to buy him as the puppet master for Gillian's movie star Odile. 

I'm trying to see Monday's SL just to see Calvin in the Purple Rothbart role. I missed him last year, but it takes a lot of gravitas to pull off that costume and in photos he looked amazing. 

6 hours ago, FauxPas said:

So I saw the second cast of "AfteRite" last night.  Teuscher lacked Ferri's strengths and that may have been a good thing for the work as a whole. Teuscher was more blankly stoic and more easily manipulated.  And less emotive, but then she isn't Italian!    Her character was more weak, cowed, resigned and passive and it made more sense that she does not fight for the child.  You got the sense that she was not a strong or passionate woman alone, like Ferri, but a meek submissive member of some kind of cult or oppressive society.  She gave in to the dictate of the community, swallowed her maternal instincts and after one moment of weak defiance watched her child be sacrificed.

A note on the casting:  Isabella Boylston was in the Misty Copeland track of the photographer.  Gabe Stone Shayer was in Herman Cornejo's track and Daniil Simkin in Jeffrey Cirio's track.  Arron Scott was dancing the Blaine Hoven (anguished friend) role and Tom Forster was in James Whiteside's (shirtless) role.  The other dancers included Skylar Brandt, Catherine Hurlin, Marshall Whiteley, Tyler Maloney, Jose Sebastian, Courtney Shealy and Joo Wah Ahn.  Whiteley has a lot of stage presence and he is HUGE.  He is a strong partner but I noticed a tendency toward bulkiness in his frame - he needs to concentrate on keeping lean and vascular.  He also sweats a lot onstage.  His dancing is very good and he needs to be used more.

Initially I thought Shayer was in Cirio's track with Simkin in the Cornejo antagonist role.  This surprise casting was interesting and brought a whole different color to the piece.  Ferri and Cornejo have an intense personal chemistry onstage.  A pas de deux with them will look like it is sexual or romantic due to their chemistry and long partnership.  With Ferri and Cornejo it seemed like an erotic encounter turned into sadistic torture.  There was no sexual connection between Teuscher and Shayer - all that twisted partnering was from beginning to end about control and manipulation.  Shayer is actually shorter than Teuscher which made the image of her being lifted and rotated aloft by Shayer stranger and more disturbing.   Ferri and Cornejo were a hot pair and Teuscher and Shayer a cold pair, and cold somehow made better sense despite the loss in star quality.

I noticed a detail that had eluded me in the first viewing:  the Mother figure does start to try to fight the Antagonist after he turns on the gas in the greenhouse/gas chamber.  She tries to push him aside but he subdues her and pushed her to the ground.  It wasn't a tiger mother protecting her young but it was something - but too little too late and ineffectual.  The lower level of general drama and emoting with this alternate pair let moments like that stand out.

So was it GOOD?  No, not really but this cast, lacking some of the individual incandescence of the star duo in the other cast, did give more of a sense of ensemble and certain aspects played better.  Cornejo and Ferri deserve a better vehicle at ABT.  So do Teuscher and Shayer but they are lucky to get this.  Everybody was doing their best up there and looking good with what they were given.  But again my reaction was "Why are they doing that at that time and in that situation?"

"Firebird" was the same cast as Tuesday with Duncan Lyle returning replacing Roman Zhurbin as Kaschei.  Having seen this fine cast before I was less blindsided by their excellence and the headscratcher oddities and flaws in Ratmansky's choreography did stand out more to me this time.  I still had a good time but need a dose of Fokine, Balanchine or Tetley.

 

Thank you so much for the thorough and thoughtful review. It's really saying something that Afterite has spurred so many discussions and arguments. 

Devon Teuscher said in an Instagram post, 'Thank you to Wayne McGregor for giving us this Ballet and allowing me to truly explore it as an individual.'

This open space for interpretation is what made the piece so thrilling to me, and one I would like to revisit. Each cast is allowed to build their own Afterite society, relationships, rules. It's an interesting route to take. After so many lackluster new works lately, I can settle for interesting. 

6 hours ago, Ilovegiselle said:

I saw the show last night.  Besides the message of the choreography, I found the dancers to be dynamic... I love seeing all the stars on one stage at the same time. 

IMO, Alessandra Ferri has the most expressive feet... she is so dramatic and beautiful on stage still, I love it.

Yes! It was for me, extremely fulfilling. I'm not going to bother with a long review at this point, but if anyone wants to talk more about the dancers and performances than go back and forth on what is and is not outrageous, I'm here for it.

I'm glad I saw Afterite and plan on seeing it again. Herman Cornejo & Jeffrey Cirio's gorgeous pas de deux in the beginning...it was so nice to just watch them dance without all the bells and whistles. And each time I see Alessandra Ferri I'm reminded that she has no heir (ilovegiselle, your expressive feet comment is right on. Assoluta indeed!). I've also never seen Misty Copeland look more beautiful and confident. Etc. Etc. Every dancer made an impression on me. Even if you don't like the piece, the A cast is such a goldmine of dancers who all look deeply in tune with their given project. 

There are a few sections that feel like McGregor is phoning it in, or doesn't know how to bridge one part to the next. But after last spring's somewhat stale programing, I welcome this week's double bill with open arms. 

*shrug* I also really liked Firebird and found it to be charming and dreamlike and a welcome departure from the warhorses. The first maiden dance and the pas de quatre near the end could use some revisions, but Christine was marvelous (of course she was). She ate that role for lunch, making it look almost too easy. Thomas Forster started beautifully but seemed to have trouble partnering Christine. I was going to try and make Friday's performance but don't know if I see Devon as a Firebird. How did she do tonight? 

4 hours ago, cubanmiamiboy said:

I completely agree, Abatt. As a lifelong sympathizer to the Jewish race cause to merely exist in this world, I am completely appalled by your report. But it has been widely documented that, lately, political correctness doesn't go in every way. It is selected. I am going tonight, and just as I started the Happy Birthday on Natasha and David from the top of my lungs, I might be inclined to boo said section. I don't care. Won't be the first or last time .

Just remember that booing is probably the biggest compliment a 'Rite of Spring' choreographer can receive. 

54 minutes ago, angelica said:

I thought Katherine Williams danced a wonderful debut as Myrtha. As I said earlier, I think she set the gold standard for bourrees, and I wish she could have done them again the other way across the stage, as is done in many productions. I also enjoyed Christine Shevchenko's Myrtha, despite a teeny bit of wobbling in her opening balances (rare for her). But she came tearing out of the wings like a Wili on the warpath towards the end of act II, landing beautiful grand jetes with her back leg high in attitude.

Both Katherine and Christine are ready to carry the torch when it needs to be passed on.

Oh, good to hear! I saw Christine last year and loved her intensity, but this year's reports were more muddled. 

Hopefully Waski gets her chance soon as well. That injury must have been heartbreaking. 

11 minutes ago, nanushka said:

It strikes me that there have been numerous comments on a variety of dancers' low extensions throughout this thread.

I'm not a stickler for high extensions (in fact i think a lot of dancers overdue it), but Myrtha's deep penchées look weird when they're only at 90 degrees. I've actually never seen them as low as Teuscher did them last night. It was odd.  

This year's crop of Myrthas (played by dancers who have been fabulous in other roles), was really underwhelming. I didn't see Katharine Williams' debut and reports about her were few and far between. For those who've seen her, could she carry the torch when Gillian & Stella bow out of the role? 

14 minutes ago, cubanmiamiboy said:

The night didn't go completely smoothly for her though. Right after coming off Bolle's arms in the section where Giselle appears running the stage as a ghost in front of him for the first time and he takes her up and puts her down quickly for her to keep running into the wings, something happened. They were both very close to the props on the downstage wings, and either he stood on her way in or she took the wrong entrance around the folliage scenery, but she took a nasty fall. People gasped, and she disappeared from view very quickly. I was expecting even for her no to show again, but she did and she completed the ballet with no other bumps.

It looked like her foot caught the set. I think we were all holding our breath to see if she would come out again. 

And she delivered an absolute beauty of a performance! 

It seems like there's not a lot of excitement about this program, either from the dancers or potential audience members. Harlequinade has been getting all the PR love, so I'm worried that ABT isn't super confident in he end result of AFTERITE (admittedly, Harlequinade is easier to market and a more surefire box office success). 

I'll be going because even if it's a major disappointment, hearing Stravinsky live is never a loss. And Ferri + Cornejo = take my money. 

I also missed Firebird in its initial years but no one I've spoken with seems excited about seeing it again. Christine Schevchenko seems like a good fit for this, so I'm optimistic. 

18 minutes ago, vipa said:

Nice that Lane's performing more (I guess, I don't know how she feels about her schedule). However, it seems to me this would have been a great opportunity to put a promising corps member out there. P. Pas is not really super hard, and the partnering is very straight forward. Surely a lot of corps members are capable and know it. I'm just thinking about the way ABT develops or doesn't develop talent.

It's almost insulting, to be honest. They give the totally untested Aran Bell a Romeo but make a principal dancer dance the Peasant Pas? There are so many talented women in the corps. Any of last year's successful Odalisques could have done it. 

2 hours ago, cubanmiamiboy said:

I need to confess that I am EXTREMELY pleasantly surprised with Seo tonight.  Her Mad Scene was splendid. She was not the crazy lunatic a la Osipova, but more the blank minded ward patient. To be honest, I even enjoyed it more than Natasha's. Right now at intermezzo. 

One word for Bolle? The man RULES! ,😍😍😍😍

I agree! I went to this performance for Bolle only, and was shocked by how much Seo has blossomed. Her act I Giselle was so lovely, I absolutely bought that Albrecht would fall in love with her. And their second act was achingly romantic. Bolle must be some kind of vampire to still be able to turn out performances like that. I reminded my guests beforehand that he was 43, expecting some degradation of technique, but those lines! Those lifts! Those entrechats! 

My only disappointment was Devon Teuscher's underpowered Myrtha. Her arabesques were surprisingly low, and she lacked the wild eyes and convincing intimidation of Schevchenko's rendition last year. She was just sort of...there. 

April Giangeruso's Zulma, on the other hand, was a standout. Her tragic expression and powerful dancing wove a complete story of its own.