canbelto

Technically there are two "openings" in the principal women: Polina Semionova who sort of just packed her bags, had a baby, and never came back, and Diana Vishneva. Polina is tall, Diana is short. My guess is Sarah Lane is going to be the short girl who gets principal. Any guesses on the tall girl? Devon?

Misty? She's short enough to be partnered by Simkin.

Medora, Kitri, Juliet, Lise, are all calling out Sarah's name too ...

Well I enjoyed reading this profile but frankly I wish the NYTimes didn't so radically scale back its arts coverage. These soft focus pieces to me belong in Dance Magazine or another glossy magazine. I can't help but notice that as these pieces accumulate, the number of actual reviews diminishes.

I think Lane, Brandt, and Trenary have the best chances of being promoted because they have a strong advocate in Alexei Ratmansky. All three have been picked by Ratmansky for his productions and all three have delivered. And next year the reconstruction of Harlequinade will give the shorter women more opportunities as that's a role for shorter ballerinas.

If you said that Lane's Aurora danced small, I would have agreed. For some reason the two times I saw her in the Ratmansky production she just wasn't a good fit for the production. The costumes and sets seemed to drown her, and she was doing all the steps but without connecting much to the character. But Giselle is a whole different story. First her elevation is remarkable. Her buoyant jump engulfs the stage. Her mime is so clear. And the speed of her footwork sets her apart. Really, Giselle is her role. I'd also love to see her as Lise, Cinderella and Juliet. We can hope ...

I suppose it's too much to hope for an Uliana Lopatkina Bayadere

One thing that I noticed: many of the women in the ABT corps have feet that are sickled. This was the most obvious in the traveling arabesques across the stage.

I saw three Giselles: Murphy/Hallberg, Gomes/Abrera, and Lane/Cornejo. The last one is the one that will live in my memory. Lane is now on the short list of the greatest Giselle I've ever seen. Full thoughts on all three Giselles here: http://poisonivywalloftext.blogspot.com/2017/05/gisellex3-hello-david-bravo-marcelo.html

Yay! I was so bummed I couldn't see her on Saturday. Just picked up a ticket.

Hi I have one ticket for the SAB matinee performance that I can't use. Would love to sell it to someone who wants to go. PM me.

Per Alistair MacCaulay's instagram, this afternoon was Antonio Carmena's farewell to the company: Also Antonio's own instagram:

I saw program #9 of Here/Now and also two casts of Midsummer's Night Dream. I thought Here/Now #9 was one of the most depressing performances I've ever seen at NYCB. Complete thoughts on the Here/Now festival here: http://poisonivywalloftext.blogspot.com/2017/05/herenow-ends-with-whimper-little-foxes.html

I didn't know it was Clairemarie Osta's final performance when I saw her Giselle. But I do remember thinking that she was very special and very different from what I think of as the stereotypical Parisian etoile. Her Giselle wasn't as sophisticated and princessy as Aurelie Dupont or Dorothee Gilbert. She acted with more emotion, and overall it was an incredibly moving portrayal. I'm very honored that I saw it, now knowing that was the last time she danced.

I was there tonight. Uh, I thought it was more empty calories than anything. http://poisonivywalloftext.blogspot.com/2017/05/ratmanskys-whipped-cream-is-empty.html Here's a video I took of the curtain calls:

Ratmansky is staging a reconstruction of Harlequinade for ABT next season: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/22/arts/dance/alexei-ratmansky-plans-a-new-old-harlequinade-for-ballet-theater.html?smid=fb-share

Megan Fairchild graduated from college today. Congrats Megan!

The casting sheet for this week has been updated with various casting changes (and ballet changes): http://www.nycballet.com/NYCB/media/NYCBMediaLibrary/PDFs/Press/Casting/NYCB_Casting_May-16-21-2017_lobby051517.pdf

NYCB's website (not the casting page) has some program changes for the upcoming week. Herman Scherman pas de deux is dropped, After the Rain replaces it.

Indeed. I also think the casting for Here/Now has been odd. Sara Mearns and Amar Ramasar were dancing every night, sometimes twice a night. Not a surprise both got injured.

MSND casting still hasn't been posted yet. Wow.

I was there one horrible evening when Andy was dancing Donizetti Variations. He was clearly struggling and after one hard landing he stumbled offstage and did not return. Ashley danced the coda alone. He didn;t even come out for a curtain call. He was injured and taken out of the premiere Rodeo the day after -- Justin Peck took his place. He did come back from the injury but I've noticed that he's not quite the same dancer -- everything is more effortful. Nevertheless he remains a wonderful partner and obviously has the trust of Ashley Bouder and many other NYCB ballerinas.

Not to mention the Bolshoi has done Onegin a number of times, and they are usually very pro-active about live-streaming their new productions. But there has been no official HD livestream of Onegin.

It's concerning how quickly the injuries seem to be happening -- I just saw Amar and Sara dance beautifully last week and now they're both out.

Of the ones I know: Females: Sara Mearns Gretchen Smith Gina Pazcoguin Alston McGill Claire van Enck Of the men: Amar Ramasar Zachary Catazaro Anthony Huxley Preston Chamblee Silas Farley That's already 11. Yikes.