TheAccidentalBalletomane

Concerning Klein, I thought he was very good and remember thinking he could be a good partner for Skylar or Cassandra. I seem to recall that he was quite good in Whipped Cream, as I believe he played the boy.... He has been focusing on his skin care business for quite some time. My guess is that this was his choice and had little to do with promotions.

I have been watching ABT carefully for about 12 years as a fan, seeing full ABT ballets and performances live at the MET and other Lincoln Center venues, City Center, etc... during that time. While I am not an x-dancer and do not have the language to describe or best critique as many of you, the nuances of talent and individual performances, I definitely have my preferences. For me, the newer crop of women principals especially Brandt, Shevchenko and Hurlin (sorry for any misspellings) are all very strong and Trenary too (but seems ABT likes her in more limited types of roles). I see these 4 as the foundation for years to come with Misty C and Murphy soon to retire and probably Hee See not far off. Messeldine sure seems like a wonderful dancer to me, and seems favored by Jaffe, and will likely be promoted next year, given all the roles she is getting. Park is young and I am sure will rise to a promotion soon enough. I feel that it is the men that is more of a wild-card for me with Stearns getting up there and Cornejo nearing the end of his career. For the future, it seems to me that Bell and Roxander are the two up and comers. I see Bell dancing with all the principals but a great deal with Hurlin and I see Roxander perhaps matching up with Brandt after Cornejo retires. Royal to me is a beautiful dancer but perhaps not as clean and proficient from what I can tell (by my own eyes, admittedly not as skilled as most of yours, and the critics). I feel Calvin has work to do to be the level of a Cornejo or Camargo or Bell, but perhaps he can be. All in all, as the top is soon to retire on both the men and woman's side, I feel only the men's side needs the most reinforcement whether from their own ranks or outside.

I am very much hoping it gets resolved before the Kennedy Center performances which I understand are mostly sold out! To lose that revenue would indeed be very bad for the company if not catastrophic. Thinking optimistically, it makes sense that the strike will be resolved before those performances as there will be tremendous pressure for the company to make a deal so that those ballets can go forward and money earned. The dancers deserve a contract that allows them to live decently in the area in which they call home base. It has always been tough for some of these dancers that have to bunch up with friends to live in small apartments or commute from other Boroughs. These are adults, not college kids, many with spouses and some with children. And there are the non-dancers that are integral to every performance. Please get this done ABT!!

HI, with ABT? Can you give us the details of that?

I think it is wonderful that ABT is in China. I hope they have a safe and fun journey! It saddens me that these wonderful dancers do not make more money. Personally, I believe that for wages to increase, you need to have more exposure of ballet to the public, not just ticket sales and wealthy benefactors. There is no reason why ballet, not merely classical, but contemporary as well, cannot be mainstreamed more. There is or at least was this major TV show in Russia called Big Ballet that was like American Idol but much bigger. 100s of millions watched this show. That's a staggering number. Why cannot there be more recording or simulcast of live ballet for those that can't attend live performances? You can post advertisements during intermission and generate money all sorts of ways. Perhaps the government could or should sponsor the arts more? (Not necessarily a popular view). NYCB has their own dedicated theatre while ABT does not, making it much more difficult for them financially, if I am not mistaken. Many people will never enjoy ballet simply because they are not exposed to it. I only gained a love of classical music after having to listen to it as part of a college course and I was smitten. I was at an ABT performance at the Met recently, and ran into a young man in his early 20s, a friend of a child. He told me his family was from Russia so that he grew up going to the ballet and learned to love it. It's about exposure. I wold like to think that one would appreciate dance through a story ballet that say Dancing with the Stars. I think the solution is exposure to our youth and expanding ballet to other media so more people can enjoy and participate in ballet.

Super excited about last night (Friday). Friends I spoke to have remarked that last night was stronger, overall, as compared to opening night. I really enjoyed all three ballets. I hope Roxander will work hard on his partnering, which understandably needs growth.I have always admired the way Herman enhances his partners with gracious modesty. As Herman is closer to retirement I hope Jaffe sees what others have said in this thread that Brandt and Roxander could be very strong match for story ballets. They are both supremely gifted technically and matched in terms of height. Loved the corps dancing last night, loved Christine, Skylar (always a personal favorite - some of her leaps were wow and incredibly fast spins and blurring footwork), The double pas work of the 4 leads in PC 1 looked incredibly difficult and seemed very precise. Roxander is already a star; and Hurlin was great in Etudes and also loved Trenary in PM. I wish there were more male up and comers, ABT does have Bell and now Roxander. I also feel that Royal is improving from when he was initially promoted. Thanks everyone, you are all so knowledgeable, I learn so much from this site.

Forster I believe is the tallest of the male principals and Bell is quite tall. I think Ahn is on the taller side as is Stearns and Royal. Bell, Ahn, Royal and Forster are relatively young. They hopefully match well with Hurlin, Shev. Devon T. and C. Messeldine (who I predict will be principal in a year or so). The biggest need probably is in one or more medium height to shorter males especially one or more that match well with Brandt and Trenary. Herman's wonderful career is winding down and he has occasional injuries. Brandt and Trenary will continue to be a huge part of ABT for the next 10 years. Perhaps Klein and Roxander should be promoted if they have the technique and Gonzales, possibly? Patrick F. perhaps? -- he is medium height.

I thought it was funny that you heard other dancers or stage crew etc. playing ping pong and chatting in the background while one of Brandt's colleagues was recording the internal live stream during the hops ... Its crazy that we can see these tidbits. The awakening scene seemed really fast. I assume the screens are also for people that want to sit out on the lawn? Of course, it was raining anyway, so I expect only the covered area was attended.

Brandt's instagram has some great footage. I heard that she danced masterfully. Forster is the tallest male principal I believe, taller than Bell. I do not mind Brandt dancing with the taller dancers and she has successfully performed with Bell. I assume Forster was the most experienced Albrecht available, so there was no choice in the matter. I know it is hard to partner with someone that you have not rehearsed with. Credit to both of them.

I heard from friends that are at Wolf T. tonight that rain (and lightening too) during the first act cooled down the theatre and it was not as bad as feared. Hope Herman is OK too. What a beautiful venue (when the weather cooperates). I heard that it went very well but waiting for a full report.

Just came back from the Met. Skylar Brandt was wonderful. I am emotionally drained. The crowd was as enthusiastic as I have ever seen it. Her partnering with Herman was beautiful. She appeared to take some risks on balances and double and triple fouettés that paid off with the crowd. I love the swans tonight and the music, it never gets old for me. BalletOmane, I agree.

NYSusan, I could not agree with you more. Here is one recent review. https://bachtrack.com/review-giselle-american-ballet-theatre-kevin-mckenzie-new-york-july-2023.

I saw the Camargo/Park LWFC cast on Friday (which I liked) and the Brandt (Tita)/Gonzales last night and can say with 100% assurance that the energy and general audience appreciation was superior last night than the earlier one last Friday. Other than Brandt, it was a case of non-principals. And I never got to see the first cast (I am sure that Trenary/Herman one was superb). After last night's performance, I spoke briefly to Chis W. by the stage door. He indicated to me he was thrilled with the performance although he used more flourishing words. Brandt to me gave an emotional, yet mature and confident interpretation of Tita and I believe she energized the production last night. But congratulations to Gonzales for a great debut of a huge role for him as a core member (I don't believe he is a soloist).. And, I give further credit to Brandt for seeming to easily partner with him and instill confidence in Gonzales who must have been quite nervous. Zimmie Coker was a standout to me too. In essence, very solid for the "4th cast", I liked it a lot. I agree with so many of you that the first act, especially could have had more interesting dancing etc... Really liked the music generally and the vocal solo in the final scene. I hope to hear from you all about Giselle, since I will be out of town, but back for SL.

THANK YOU Abatt for the correction!!!!! Of course, Davison was "Mama Elena" and Misseldine, Rosaura, the older sister (Fri). Embarrassed, especially after 10+ years of watching these dancers closely.... Now that my head is back on my shoulders, and recalling the other night (Fri) I still feel they all did a splendid job with their "acting" their roles and was fine with the casting and partnering. I thought Park (Tita), did a good job acting the role, at least with the storytelling in Act I. Although, she was a surprise to me to be cast when there are many other more senior ladies that could been given the role. I'm going to see a different cast this week, and will try to discern the differences in quality or cast preferences that others have pointed out. I am still learning. For me, Tita spends an inordinate amount of time being the heartbroken victim of her mother's cruel tradition. Its tiring and for me. There isn't enough initial dancing which might help establish Tita's and Pedro's initial love and connection and if I were to have one "wish" for the choreography, it would be to have more courtship dancing and more dancing surrounding Pedro's decision/agreement to marry Rosaura (and her consent) in the first place (which never makes sense to me). On another note, it was GREAT to be at the Met without a mask and seeing Lincoln Center busy and thriving, finally!!

I saw LWFC Fri night, w/ the Park/Misseldine/Brandt/Camargo/Bell Cast. The music conveyed the story fairly well and I enjoyed the Mexican/ethnic style sound and the conductor was very well received. I thought the acting was excellent throughout the cast, which is important since much of the first act, especially, was mostly storytelling and not very much interesting or challenging dancing, although I liked the use of the table and chairs to aid in creating interesting positions around the kitchen table and in other scenes. I note, in particular the acting of the mother (Misseldine) as the ultimate wicked mom; as it is hard for someone so angelic to pull off that character (and she did); and I had to do a double take watching a recent innocent P. Praline / Giselle, now the sister Gertrudis, turn into a woman overcome by desire with a man (men?) having their way with her in a frantic scene ending on horseback. It was fun and strange seeing these transformations -- congrats to these dancers. The dancing was more energetic and less dark of course with the celebration dancing with Gertrudis featured with the men in the campfire scene; some of which looked difficult (I cannot describe what Bell was doing but he was doing it very fast). The dancing/choreography definitely picked up in middle of the second act. I plan to go one more time to see Brandt dance Tita. I liked the imagery of the larger than life mother/Misseldine in the crazy long red hair-fro.. I felt it helped convey the correct emotions as to what Tita was feeling in her mind although I know you want to try to convey that with your dance movements. I will let others correct me on that. The Times felt that some of the costuming and special effects were a substitute for creative choreography, especially in the first Act and first half of the second. This is a fair point and am interested if others agree.

I agree with you MoMo that I think Skylar is a natural for R&J but more importantly I would imagine she would very much love to add it to her principal role repertoire. I think it is just a matter of time; and she deserves it with extremely strong reviews in all of her debuts. I also agree with Abatt that there are many principals for just a few roles. Skylar will likely be given the nod in the most technically demanding roles because she is among the finest technicians in the company if not the strongest. While R&J is demanding, it is not the same as dancing G, SL T&V or SB in my opinion. The upside here is that ABT has a really strong crop of Ballerinas and this is good for the company!

I was was expecting that Brandt would get an R&J debut too, and believe this is a natural role for her. I am not sure Susan Jaffe decided or solely decided the casting since those decisions were made while McKenzie was still in charge. Perhaps she will be interviewed and answer some of those questions on casting, direction etc.

There are a few factors. Both dancers appeared to have injuries over the last 18 months or so (based upon casting changes) which made it more challenging for them to partner as they were apparently injured at different times. And I suspect that the Whiteside injury also messed up the partnering decisions too. Hurlin was considered a natural Myrta and both are only recent principals. Both also match up well with several other principals. They will be dancing together a good deal, although I would like see Bell (as one of the strongest young male dancers) share his talents with several others too. I do think, without any real knowledge, that the casting for the Spring was probably determined by McKenzie.

The 7 Sonata post is excellent, thank you for that.

I too am surprised that a dancer with such little ABT experience was promoted so quickly over arguably those that are perhaps more "ready". I would assume McKenzie wanted to leave his mark on the way out and selected Park based upon his personal preferences and vision which is still his prerogative. However, Coker left a strong impression on many including me and I hope this does not discourage her and hope she will be promoted in the next round.

Here is the official link, in case nobody posted it. Congrats to those promoted. California, Interesting that SF has that category and you are probably on to something there. https://www.abt.org/2022-promotions-announced/

Here is an interesting article comparing Brandt's and Hurlin's O/O and loving both as two different but exceptional performances. https://criticaldance.org/american-ballet-theatre-remarkable-role-debuts/

I saw today’s (Saturday afternoon’s) T&V with Brandt and Cornejo and caught the open ballet class prior to the performance. The Met was very well sold today. The Orchestra was in very good form. It was supposed to be Brandt’s T&V debut but she and Herman had replaced the prior evening’s leads (which I assume was to be Bell and Shevchenko). Both Skylar and Herman should be applauded, specially, for their willingness to do back-to-back T&Vs; not to mention that they are both scheduled to perform in Single Eye this evening. Brandt has a history of having several debuts (Giselle and Le Corsaire for example) thrust upon her last minute; and we should assume that even a one-day change can greatly disrupt preparation. And as for Herman, for him to manage that double/triple-header at this point in his great career is astonishing. I hope they both got some rest and a good meal since they are about to perform again in an hour! I had never seen the ballet before and I greatly enjoyed it and thought it was fluid and somehow relaxing despite being technically difficult; the partnering was beautiful and the music inspirational. The season is just about over - with R&J still ahead -- and I want to congratulate the entire company for rising out of the pandemic with a strong and jam-packed shortened season. Wishing Whiteside and Bell (injured, per my program and replaced by Curley in ZigZag) complete recoveries. Based upon the reviews and comments and as a fan who saw several performances, there was overall a very strong set of debuts by at least two of the newer principal ballerinas; Brandt, Shevchenko (and expected for Trenary in R&J) and soon to be principal, Hurlin. Glad to have dance back to the Met. Thank you all for sharing your thoughts on the season and looking forward to reports from tonight.

I am so happy for Ms. Murphy and for Herman Cornejo too in that they are able to perform this year after a couple of wasted pandemic years. It would be a shame if they decided to retire during the pandemic. As these stars wind down, I think it is great to see the strong performances, especially of the younger ballerinas; Ms. Brandt (a personal favorite), Ms. Shevchenko, Ms. Hurlin, and soon Ms. Trenary (who will be dancing R&J). I feel it is a very strong new crop. as the recent Giselle, Don Q. and Swan Lake productions have illustrated. Congratulations to ABT.

I attended the Brandt/Cornejo DQ performance on Tuesday night. The Times had it spot on that Skaylar Brandt has become an exceptional actress as well as having full command of her technique and great polish. I hope to see this pair in T&V; and not sure how much longer Cornejo will be dancing so if you want to see him before his great career ends, no time like the present. Most sincerely, I want to congratulate all the dancers of ABT who still are forced to practice in masks and who have had far less performance and practice opportunities than they probably need to be sharp. And, most companies have had no significant revenue for a couple of years! Then consider so many other challenges at ABT; significant injuries, covid illnesses/positive tests disrupting casts and rehearsal time, retirements and the search for a new AD. And, some company members and staff are still greatly affected, directly or indirectly by the war in Ukraine. In this context IT IS WONDERFUL that the season has begun well and that the quality of ABT and, in particular, the performances of the relatively young principals, Brandt, Shevshenko, Hurlin & Bell, are mostly praised on this site.