canbelto

I think Kevin McKenzie hasn't really changed. He's been AD of ABT since 1992. The difference was, for many years, his "system" worked because ABT had a roster of stars, with the occasional guest flown in. That's been his system, and to be honest, that's always been the ABT system (except maybe during the Baryshinikov era). What happened in the last few years though is that his roster of stars has retired (Ananiashvilli, Corella, Ferri, Stiefel, Bocca, now Kent), suffered severe injuries that have limited performance (Cornejo, Hallberg), and his new crop of handpicked favorites haven't developed artistically or technically the way the old-generation of ABT dancers did (Boylston, Seo, Stearns, Simkin). Whether that's due to lack of coaching, lack of rehearsal, or just general weakness is anyone's guess. Also, while Diana Vishneva and Roberto Bolle have proved to be pretty stalwart in their commitment to an ABT season, some of the other guest artists for whatever reason have not proved to be that reliable (Osipova, Vasiliev).

For those who have been wondering about Abi Stafford, now we know: Maria Kowroski announced today that she and Abi are both going on maternity leave. Abi's baby is due next month. Congrats Abi! https://instagram.com/p/3rNKGFjqlL/?taken-by=realmkowroski With Abi, Maria, and Carla Korbes all about to become new mothers, that's some serious ballet talent going into the human gene pool https://instagram.com/p/3oTn9xjqs4/?taken-by=realmkowroski

Wow I thought that was only me. When I did get Serenade back up again they were still in the opening corps parts but it was not a full view of the stage.

I attempted to view this. I say "attempted" because the stream cut out at so many times, and when I did finally get it running, I was quite frankly appalled at the picture quality. At times I had to take it on faith that Carla Korbes was dancing, as it was so blurry and out of focus. I also don't know why they couldn't get a full stage shot -- not even for the opening of Serenade. Instead it was relentless (blurry) close up after close up.

I'm kind of glad American in Paris got shut out. And I say this as a huge fan of Robbie Fairchild. I didn't feel like the choreography was even anywhere near Wheeldon's best. I thought Fairchild and Cope were great dancers but the show didn't give them a chance to act. I didn't feel like the show utilized the singing talents of Jill Paice, Max von Essen, and Brandon Uranowitz either. The arrangements for the Gershwin songs were really a travesty. But most of all, I felt that book by Craig Lucas should have been enough to disqualify it from Best Musical category. If you want to go light, at least make the book fun. Instead, the book was a mishmash of gay jokes (for Henri) turned into some semi-Schindler's List stuff in Act Two that I can only call Tony-baiting. It was very insipid. I felt like On the Town was really robbed. I saw the revival of The King and I and while Kelli was good Ken Watanabe wasn't and the revival wasn't all that inspired.

I was there this afternoon and last night. I thought overall this afternoon's performance was stronger. Last night Daniel Ulbricht wowed the crowd as Oberon but Reichlen was at her most inscrutable as Titania and Hyltin and Ramasar slightly miscast in the Act Two divertissement. Miriam Miller doesn't yet have the exquisite control over her limbs the way Tess Reichlen does but her comic timing is superior, and the Hyltin/Arthurs combo as the two Athenian women was way more enthralling than Pollack/Laracey from last night. Bouder was so secure in her Act Two divertissement. My full review here: http://poisonivywalloftext.blogspot.com/2015/06/midsummers-night-dream-exciting-debuts.html

This is Maria Kowroski's instagram tribute to Carla Korbes: https://instagram.com/p/3oTn9xjqs4/?taken-by=realmkowroski

I'll talk more about tonight's MSND performance after I see tomorrow's matinee as well but I just wanted to say: I could barely concentrate on the performance tonight (and neither could much of the first ring) as Elisabeth Moss was there! She was very pretty and petite and about a zillion people (myself included) went up to her and gushed about Mad Men.

I was there last night and agree that Cojocaru's Nikya is still one of the most spiritual portrayals. She had some shakiness with pirouettes but the plasticity of her upper body, her enormous and feather light jump, and her uniquely sweet stage presence make her a special performer. Herman lost some flexibility in his back and legs but he still has such enormous elevation (wonderful cabrioles!). Copeland was okay as Gamzatti -- she struggled a bit with the Italian fouette sequence in the betrothal scene. Skylar Brandt was a standout as the first shade, and Joseph Gorak maybe wasn't as powerful as some Bronze Idols but he was very elegant. Full review here: http://poisonivywalloftext.blogspot.com/2015/06/la-bayadere-brought-to-life.html

Another thing to keep in consideration: Swan Lake is a warhorse that you can probably see every season, but Cinderella (IIRC) is a loaned production and so it might not come back or be a permanent part of ABT's repertory.

I actually found Max von Essen the best all-around performer. He could sing, he could dance, and he made his character more than it was. In the first act his character was the constant target of gay jokes, and in the second act he became a kind of Schindler's List type (in one of the dumbest plot contrivances I've ever seen in any show) but Max von Essen made the character attractive, believable as a romantic rival, and he was a great dancer.

Robert Gottlieb likes it too: http://observer.com/2015/06/back-to-basics-sleeping-beauty-returns-to-its-source/

I think she's guested with the Royal in this role

I do agree with him re: Makarova's production. By stripping down so much of La Bayadere she's made it a somewhat empty star vehicle. The versions that other companies do involve character dancing and other variations that would give much more opportunities to the corps and soloists.

Ok well since I was the one who raised my eyebrows at the term "Chinoiserie" I'll just say that I find the idea that only in "Chinoiserie" would an Imperial dancer bend his elbows (but never in Aurora's variations) a rather offensive stereotype about how Chinese people use their arms and hands. And for the record I love Madama Butterfly and have never sat through that opera without crying but I always cringe when a Cio Cio San comes onstage with bent knees and elbows bent, hands together, as if that were the only way anyone from the East moves.

Evgenia Obraztsova just posted a picture of her at the Metropolitan so she is in town rehearsing presumably for R&J.

I'm astounded in the 21st century of the use of the world "Chinoiserie."

Here's a rather extended interview with Claude Bessy: http://www.ismeneb.com/Blog/Entries/2015/5/18_Paris_ballet_schools_iron_lady_speaks_frankly.html

I have this video. The real find is Patricia Wilde as the main girl in Square Dance. She's absolutely magnificent -- fast, powerful, basically everything we expect from Square Dance. The Sylvia pas de deux is rare footage we have of Allegra Kent at her peak. Kent always said that whenever they were filming her she was either coming back from injury or pregnant so there's no real good footage of her dance on film. The Sylvia is an exception.

cristian thanks for the photo of Spessivtseva. She definitely doesn't have a typical Aurora look. Her sad, downcast eyes make her seem like a natural Giselle or O/O but not really an Aurora. What I do find interesting is how her leggy, tapered musculature was already very, very different from the first Aurora, Carlotta Brianza:

Well as it happens I was looking up videos of the Vikharev reconstruction and am trying to digest that this was the first cast:

Well, about the dancing: I think Ratmansky's style serves some dancers better than others. For instance, I think Stella Abrera is someone who fit into the productions style and aesthetic beautifully. Just because she naturally dances in a rather modest, understated style. Her low to the ground sissones and lower attitudes didn't seem like affectations -- it's a continuation of how she normally dances. Skylar Brandt is someone I can also see fits very naturally into the production. Gillian Murphy and Marcelo Gomes less so ... Murphy wears Gaynor Mindens and didn't look comfortable executing the steps in demi-pointe. Gaynor Mindens are really designed for extra support in pointe work. Gomes I think is so used to extravagant, heavy partnering that the ban on overhead lifts and the shorter, pure cavalier role (no real variation until Act Three) made him seem diffident and disengaged. I think this production actually is the one production where it'd be very hard to fly in guests. Ratmansky demands (and gets) a tremendous amount of rehearsal time for his productions, and I'm not sure I can picture, say, Natalia Osipova performing pirouettes in demi-pointe.

Wow cristian beautiful pictures! Can't wait to hear more ...

Why are you so obsessed with exact recreations of productions? Even if they re-created the Bakst costumes to the exact detail is that desirable? Even in the Mariinsky's 1890 production they recreated the 1890 costumes to pretty close detail but they shortened the tutus of the women so they were not knee-length. And many successful Sleeping Beauty productions (ex: the Messel production for the Royal Ballet) were not recreations of anything but managed to create its own aesthetic. Anyway recreation of sets and the most lavish sets doesn't say anything about choreography. it seems as if Ratmansky's production has gone a long way in recreating authentic choreography. It's not perfect and I didn't love it all but it's certainly more choreographically correct than past ABT productions ... I guess I'm naive in going to ballet to see actual choreography and not the sets and costumes.

I too have mixed feelings about the Ratmansky production but please, please let's not anyone ever get nostalgic about the Kirkland production. It was the worst. The very worst. They kept cutting it after it premiered to take out the nonsense, so by the time it was retired it was basically reduced to nothing -- just a lot of glittery tutus and the very bare bones of SB choreography. It had no vision, no taste, it didn't tell the story. It was awful.