Jump to content
This Site Uses Cookies. If You Want to Disable Cookies, Please See Your Browser Documentation. ×

canbelto

Senior Member
  • Posts

    4,595
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Everything posted by canbelto

  1. I miss Gelsey Kirkland Ballet Academy's Nutcracker. I remember it being lovely. The whole thing is on YT:
  2. I also attended the von Enck/Mejia/Peck Nutcracker. Of the three performances I attended, I thought this was the best overall. Tiler Peck's Dewdrop remains the gold standard, and Emma von Enck is well on her way to being a great SPF. She's dainty, warm, with a lovely upper body. Roman Mejia was an excellent partner and great in the coda. If I have ONE quibble with Emma it's that as of now she's still slightly small scale. Miriam Miller was a sultry, spectacular Coffee and I am not usually a big fan of hers. Also really enjoyed Victor Abreu's Mother Ginger.
  3. I saw Mira Nadon in Dewdrop last Friday and SPF last Saturday. She was magnificent in both roles. Just so majestic with such a beautiful upper body.
  4. Mira Nadon subbed for Megan Fairchild in Dewdrop last night. Nadon was glorious -- expansive, fast, surprisingly strong jumper, and she could do those pirouettes in attitude that I've seen defeat so many Dewdrops. Unity Phelan was also excellent as SPF. I had seen her in the role before and she was tentative and charmless. Last night, she was majestic and beautiful. She has a very flexible back, and those climactic back bends were the highlight of the pas. She is also a fairly strong balancer and really held that final balance for applause. Adrian Danchig-Waring partnered her so well, although his solo in the coda was less impressive. The negative: Megan LeCrone in Coffee. Really sleep-walked through the role and no longer has the flexibility to make this solo work.
  5. Week 2 of Nut casting is out. Isabella La Freniere debuts as SPF: https://res.cloudinary.com/new-york-city-ballet/image/upload/v1700066878/Documents/Casting/NYCB_Casting_Nov_28-Dec_3_2023.pdf
  6. I am surprised with the reports about Murphy because I saw her last night and thought she was quite wonderful still.
  7. Russell Janzen is retiring. https://www.gramilano.com/2023/06/new-york-city-ballet-russell-janzen/?fbclid=IwAR0rMNe92QW64mxfPx-U2fnULPQ7vLVPV45dYsggFJic8G2N3RDVD3wlld4
  8. This is my review for bachtrack: https://bachtrack.com/review-like-water-for-chocolate-wheeldon-american-ballet-theatre-new-york-june-2023
  9. It's based on a movie and a book of the same name.
  10. I think the issue is also the extreme conservatism of the Met spring seasons. I've told this story before but I remember watching ABT do Duo Concertant one year and the audience around me was shocked and appalled.
  11. In the dance world, just from what I saw, the Pictures + Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty, and Gianna Reisen/Kyle Abraham programs at NYCB also sold extremely well to the point of selling out. At BAM the Ailey program I attended also sold very well. In KC, the Ratmansky Giselle recon was sold out. Natalia Osipova's City Center program was sold out. And with ABT, the fall program of Dream/Seasons also sold out.
  12. Disheartened by the negative comments about Love Letter (On Shuffle). I found it to be a very moving ballet, much better than The Runaway. The final duet was beautiful.
  13. One puzzling program was the program with Fancy Free/Agon/Brandenburg. Fancy Free was Jerome Robbins' first ballet, Brandenburg his last, so you'd think they could program something by Robbins in the middle years to see the growth. Agon being dropped in the middle was very puzzling.
  14. I went to both the afternoon and evening performances. Some standouts: Renee Spaltenstein and Victor Philp in La Source (evening). This was a very abridged version that skipped the second pas de deux altogether, but I loved their soft port de bras and Philp's elegant cabrioles. Kylie Williams was also wonderful in the soloist role. Very petite, doll-like dancer. Dakota Skye Blake was lovely in the Prayer variation of Coppelia. Long lines, beautiful bourrees. Agree that the Napoli pas de six + Tarantella was the highlight of the Workshop. Large cast, all of them great. I think the afternoon cast had slightly more pep. Wonderful day of ballet. I wonder who got taken into NYCB as apprentices.
  15. I was very disappointed in Unity Phelan's Swan Lake. There's a certain hardness to her upper body. She is also not very skilled at the slow, controlled adagio.
  16. Gina got a very nice sendoff. Huge ovation for a solo bow, and she was allowed to take some liberties in interpretation with the cigarette girl solo. In the audience I saw: Tess Reichlen, Sterling Hyltin, Ashley Bouder, Jared Angle, Tyler Angle and his husband Ralph, Russell Janzen, Claire Kretzschmar, Tiler Peck, and lots of others. So it was a special occasion where past and present NYCB dancers showed up for Gina.
  17. Lovely farewell. Harrison Ball danced the Bart Cook solo of Square Dance. Here are the curtain call videos I took:
  18. Domenika Afanasenkov was incredible in Afternoon of a Faun! She looks so much like Janie Taylor, it's eerie.
  19. Part of the issue is ABT not really having a home theater. Home theaters have their own camera systems to record performances for archival purposes. ABT only rents out theaters so they dont own that archival footage.
  20. There's a nice article about a convo between Sterling Hyltin and Dominika Afanasenkov about Afternoon of the Faun: https://www.nycballet.com/discover/stories/dominika-and-sterling-on-afternoon-a-faun/
  21. I went to the second performance and she was absolutely lovely. Secure in the Rose Adagio, serene in the wedding pas. I've seen MANY Auroras crash and burn with nerves, but her second performance was great. I guess I like her more than the people on this board. I really liked her in Piano Pieces and also Episodes.
  22. I went to opening night and my review for bachtrack is here: https://bachtrack.com/review-anima-animus-concerto-angels-atlas-national-ballet-of-canada-new-york-city-center-march-2023
  23. Sara Mearns is talking about body image issues and how it's caused her overwhelming anxiety: https://www.instagram.com/p/CpOPBtSuQK2/
  24. The Florine was Sara Adams, another diminutive brunette soloist who resembles Pereira a lot in looks.
  25. Suzanne Farrell was 20 when she was promoted to principal, so was Gelsey Kirkland. Patricia McBride was only 19. Of the current crop, Megan was 21 when she was promoted, Tiler was 20, Sterling Hyltin (now retired) was only 22.
×
×
  • Create New...