DPell

8 minutes ago, AB'sMom said:

It’s crazy to me that ABT doesn’t have a single male soloist to understudy principal roles and step in if there is an injury. With both Sterns and Whiteside out, they are depending heavily on a guest dancer. Ahn and Bell were both promoted to soloist in the fall of 2019, never had a Met season to dance as soloists, and are now dancing as principals. Maybe I have an excessive need for order, but their current system is a mess. Are they going to continue with the pattern of giving promising corp members soloist roles, promote them for a year to soloist, and then rush them into principal while the same few men languish in soloist purgatory? Cornejo isn’t getting any younger, nor is Whiteside or Sterns.

Royal has one Romeo, I’m surprised they didn’t give him one of Stearn’s performances.

5 hours ago, MoMo said:

Wednesday 7/6  matinee pas de trois should be Frenette, Coker, Granlund, so far. Big Swans Lavine and Post. 

Wednesday matinee is Frenette/Granlund/Coker per Patrick’s Instagram. 

On 6/30/2022 at 9:28 PM, ABT Fan said:

R&J casting update:

Carmargo replaces Stearns w/ Seo on opening night and is still paired with Boylston on 7/13. Stearns is still listed on 7/15 but I have a feeling that'll be updated soon.

Poor Stearns, missing the entire season after 3 years - I hope he's ok.

Per the Met website Carmargo is replacing Stearns on the 15th.

9 hours ago, Buddy said:

Devon Teuscher's White Swan Duet tonight (with Joo Won Ahn) was one of the most beautiful and possibly The Most Heartfeltly Committed that I've ever seen !

Absolutely Wonderful !

How was Ahn? I have a ticket to see him and Cate Hurlin next week. 

1 hour ago, nysusan said:

I saw L&R last night and have mixed feelings about it. I read  the synopsis (and the page in the program that discussed the "challenging subject matter") and had no trouble following the action.

 

Callirhoe's treatment didn't bother me either - this is based on a novel from ancient Greece where enslavement and subjugation of women was the norm. Perhaps we could have hoped that Ratmansky had chosen a different vehicle but this is what interested him and that's what you get.

 

I found it entertaining for the most part, though I did start to zone out a bit towards the end of the first act. I loved that there was so much dancing, and so many roles providing opportunities to see dancers who are not always spotlighted.

 

Biggest takeaway of the evening - who is Jarod Curley and why haven't I seen him before? He was great and I'm hoping to see a lot more of him in the future.

 

Biggest disappointment? Seeing Joey Gorak in the very minor role of one of the 3 suitors. It was an opportunity for the other 2 suitors, corpsmen Frenette & Tamm but a big step down for a soloist like Gorak.
 

In another small role I really liked Katherine Williams as the Queen of Sheba - she is definitely ready to take on more & bigger roles.

 

I liked Camargo as Dionysius - who I agree is the most sympathetic character in the whole story - but not sure how much I liked him. I need to see more of him to decide.

 

There was some great choreography for Chareas and my attention was riveted on Bell pretty much whenever he was on stage. I found Hurlin less compelling, perhaps due to the nature of her choreography.

 

And I agree with other posters who pointed out that you never really care about the characters - which is a major problem with this ballet!

I’m seeing the same cast on Saturday. Regarding Curley, I think he’s a relatively new corps member. He’s doing Ballroom Rothbart next week a few times, which I am looking forward too. 

12 minutes ago, ABT Fan said:

Fantastic to see two deserving corps dancers get cast, Klein and Pogossian. Anyone else remember Jeffrey Cirio in this part? Wow. Hope to see a few other corps fellas get Benvolio. 

Patrick Frenette is debuting Benvolio. https://www.instagram.com/p/CeUJzrcP3RT/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

21 minutes ago, abatt said:

Casting for Mercutio in R&J is now listed on the ABT website.

I’m excited about Jonathan Klein’s debut. He was fantastic with Luciana Paris as the Gypsy Couple the other day.

I saw Cate’s Kitri too, and after reading about the DC performances, I’m glad she seemed to improve. I did enjoy Ahn as well, he’s not as flashy as Daniil, but he did have a nice technique. Regarding Cy, he is actually an apprentice with the company. I’m sure we’ll see more of him in dancing roles through out the season.

I was in the house too , and I second Griffie’s statement. I haven’t seen much of Boylston, and I was pleasantly surprised with what I saw I really enjoyed her Dulcinea variation. I would like to add Lea Fleytoux was outstanding as Amour. 

Calvin Royal III is replacing Tom Forster as Espada, and Paulina Waski is replacing Remy Young as a flower girl at today’s matinee.

How were Brandt and Cornejo tonight?

After months of anticipation, I can’t believe that opening night of the season is here. 

4 hours ago, abatt said:

Right, they do not have a deep bench of talent, to put it mildly.  Maybe Roman Mejia from across the plaza has some extra time on his hands.  Now that would be a Basilio I would show up to even with Seo as Kitri!

Daniel Camargo seems like a solid choice too. He’s slated to do Dionysus in Love and Rage, on top of his other commitments.

2 hours ago, abatt said:

Casting update from the online calendar:

For the Don Q on June 15 (evening) Ahn is now listed as Basilio instead of Bell.  Also, the Met Opera site now has the Purple Rothbart casting.

 

33 minutes ago, abatt said:

I'm wondering why Bell was removed from Don Q on the Wednesday performance, but not from the Don Q gala performance on opening night.  Did he learn only one act of the ballet?  Or has the casting not been updated for the gala?  

Ahn and Hurlin did Don Q in NOLA, I don’t know if Ahn subbed in for Bell then too. Bell did Basillo in DC, so he knows the ballet.

On 5/28/2022 at 12:46 PM, angelica said:

Speaking of which, if you're willing to do a double header, on July 29th Shevchenko is dancing O/O at the matinee and Brandt is dancing the same role in the evening. How can anyone pass up that opportunity?

I definitely would, except the performances fall on my brother's birthday.

Patrick Frenette is also debuting Mithridates in Of Love and Rage this season. https://www.instagram.com/reel/CdegPljsKAl/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

On 5/13/2022 at 10:52 AM, FauxPas said:

Patrick Frenette, Cameron McCune, Jonathan Klein and Luigi Crispino are overdue for soloist opportunities.

13 hours ago, MoMo said:

With the female corps ladies, I would include Betsy McBride, Erica Lall, Zimmi C. , amongst others. 

I’d imagine we’ll see some of these dancers being promoted this year. There are eight soloists at the moment. Is the number of soloists normally low?

Patrick Frenette is debuting Benno this season. I'm glad he's getting roles like this following his Hilarion in the fall. https://www.instagram.com/tv/CdEj984pfno/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link 

6 hours ago, abatt said:

I would definitely go see Cornejo and Brandt in T&V.  I'm guessing the other lead couple will be Teucher and Stearns, because they performed it during the last T&V run. (Teucher was excellent.)  (the other lead couple was Lane and Gorak.  Is Gorak still with the company?)

He is. I think Ahn and Boylston also did T&V Fall 2019.

Cate shared the fan variation on her Instagram. https://www.instagram.com/tv/Cb54s_SJaEb/?utm_medium=copy_link

Did anyone see Bell and Hurlin’s debut this afternoon?

3 hours ago, California said:

Life is short and it's a long trip for me. I can't think of anything I'd rather do in DC right now.

Also looking forward to Bell, Simkin, Ahn, and Shevchenko. I have a sad feeling this will be the last season of Don Q for Cornejo. 

I can’t wait to hear what you think! I’m seeing 3 Don Q’s at the Met.

Daniil shared a segment of him in Don Q on his Instagram. Was anyone at the Norfolk Don Q performances, and will anyone be at the Kennedy Center Don Q performances?https://www.instagram.com/reel/Cbp7XkKD7XE/?utm_medium=copy_link

Espada/Mercedes casting is up. Gabe Stone Shayer and Cassandra June 13, 14, 15 (M), 18 (M). Calvin Royal III and Katherine Williams June 13 and 16. Thomas Forster and Devon Teuscher June 13 and 18 (E). Blaine Hoven and Zhong-Jing Fang June 15 (E). and Andrii Ishchuk and Luciana Paris June 17.

I posted in the ring section. Sorry.