Drew

Well, my Bayadere weekend was meant to be ballerina-centric, but what I got was three very fine (well, better than very fine) Solors--and a more uneven experience on the ballerina front. I did find Cojocaru, as noted above, beautiful and deeply moving as Nikiya--she gave a great performance. Seo had lovely moments (at the matinee) and despite rather minor problems with the scarf, a passage which also did not go altogether smoothly for Kochetkova, was much solider technically than I anticipated and she also showed some nice phrasing at times. But I think she needs a stronger stage presence at the least--or this performance did. Kochetkova was rather more secure throughout and Sarafanov lifted her at times as if she were a paper doll which was sort of charming, but Cojocaru is really in a different league from either Kochetkova or Seo. Her ethereal, haunting dancing makes even Bayadere's final Act seem a work of substance. However, every Solor I saw had remarkable qualities. Cornejo I already wrote about. Here I will add that Kim's large, easy flowing jumps were a pleasure as was his imperious, impetuous characterization of Solor. His height made some of the overhead lifts particularly striking, too, but I am not convinced he moves quite as beautifully as Cornejo or Sarafanov and I could wish his lines were a bit more elegant. Regarding Sarafanov...I found him dull, dull, dull with the Mikhailovsky, and not the most beautiful entrechats in the world (which he showed off in those performances) could convince me otherwise. Well, now, having seen his Saturday night Solor, I am a fan, fan, fan. Elegant, quality classical dancing infused with warmth. Someone on Twitter characterized his Solor as vulnerable--I think that is right, and it was quite unexpected to me as an interpretation. He truly seemed to adore Nikiya and slightly passively watched his life escaping his control in a way that made him seem very young and very human. He used his supple upper back in particular to convey his ardor and love at crucial moments including one particularly beautiful exit in Act II. There were even wonderful details of characterization like the way his arm dropped to the floor when he was sound asleep as his dream came to an end at the close of that same Act. And he seemed truly baffled when he awoke. His dramatic style can at times still be a little low key for my taste as in some of the closing melodrama where he seemed more stunned than anything else. But overall I thought this performance showed depth of feeling embodied within the utmost refined 'Mariinsky' classicism and first-rate technique. The younger Kim does get more air time so to speak, but I think the hugest jumps I saw all weekend were the two absolutely spectacular 'demi-character' leaps over the sacred fire by Head Fakir Gabe Stone Shayer. Really stunning. And if he can do THAT when he takes on classical variations, then 'the sky is the limit' for his career as well as his jumps. (I continue to find Gamzatti a rather thankless role and had reservations about all three I saw, including Murphy, despite some beautifully centered turns and generally the strongest dancing and miming of all three. The others were Copeland and Boylston. At least Boylston brought some seeming spontaneity to her dancing--in a strange way I enjoyed her the most without thinking she danced the best.)

I also was struck by the 'danciness' of her solo. Looking forward to seeing more of her.

A very beautiful and deeply felt performance from Cojocaru. The splendid Cornejo was her match -- they are ardent classicists so to speak. I though the company, which I missed last year, looked good all evening, despite some shaking in the opening of the shades scene. And although I enjoyed all three shade soloists individually--Brandt, Williams, and Trenary--I didn't think they looked that great dancing together as a trio (a not unfamiliar ABT problem); Brandt especially, though, was impressive in her variation.Also loved Gorak as the Golden Idol; he made his solo look like real dancing, not just an acrobatic gimmick. Copeland's Gamzatti made more of an impression on me in the final act than in the Petipa of Act I, though she had her moments in the Act I divertissement. I had a similar reaction to her in the role once before. But I have to agree that this evening was about Cojocaru and Cornejo and their extraordinary artistry. I continue to find this one of ABT's most visually beautiful productions.

Perhaps my happiest memory of her dancing with ABT was a very energetic and exciting performance in Ratmansky's Piano Concerto No. 1 (from the Shostakovich trilogy though performed on its own)--she was fantastic.

Decidedly...

Fantastic news! Congrats to Simone Messmer and MCB. Very much hope I can find a way to see her.

Cinderella is very different from Swan Lake but it is a twentieth-century masterwork very much in the spirit of nineteenth-century ballets such as Sleeping Beauty which Ashton obviously had in mind. It's charming and a fairy tale--but not trivial and has particularly remarkable classical variations for soloists (the four seasons sequence is worthy of a British Petipa) and a beautiful pas de deux for Cinderella and the Prince at the Ball. It's Ashton--requiring not just lyricism but quickness and full use of the upper body, and it's not bravura -- there is nothing comparable to the Black Swan pas de deux. I suppose ABT dancers may have trouble with some of the intricacies (I have only seen it with the Royal), but most of them should be very good. The Royal's Nunez is dancing at least one performance too. Before making a final decision you might want to listen to the music (or for that matter check out excerpts of the ballet on youtube)--the score is Prokoviev and has many beautiful melodies including some of his most beautiful walzes, but it's slightly dark, even sour in tone at times. One criticism of the ballet that even admirers sometimes make is that there is too much "schtick" for the Stepmother and stepsisters; I never minded much, but in any case consider it a small price to pay for the classical sequences and the delights of the ballerina part. (It's not as if the ABT version of Swan Lake doesn't have weak spots.) Though great leads and secondary dancers make a big difference many of its wonderful qualities are well-nigh cast-proof and ABT has several different quality dancers dancing the lead this time round, so even if there are cast changes you have a good chance of seeing someone you are likely to enjoy. That said, if you want a Swan Lake fix--well, obviously Cinderella is not really "like" Swan Lake ...

That's a very encouraging report ; hope we get glimpses of some of them when the Royal comes to U.S. even if only in lesser roles...

I found Vinogradova a delight in her solo roles during the Bolshoi's U.S. tour -- I didn't see her as Phrygia which she also danced -- and she must be one of the most beautiful women on the ballet stage today. (I could wish Vasiliev had been more careful in what he said, but at the end of same interview in which he gives the impression he left Osipova for Vinogradova, the interviewer adds, without quoting directly, that Vasiliev later indicated that the relationship with Osipova was already over when he met Vinogradova, so maybe he regretted his earlier words. At least, to give the benefit of the doubt. But yes, just plain old discretion -- as in not answering those questions -- would be better.)

The performance sounds wonderful. I think that several of those dancers have danced in Morgen before--I remember seeing Reichlen, Isaacs, and Catazaro dance the ballet in the Fall; don't know about the others.

Wonderful photos--my thanks, too, for posting.

Kirkland has gotten a lot of praise for her productions with her academy/company...However I assume the lack of success of her earlier collaboration on Sleeping Beauty with ABT would be seen as a decided negative. The dancing, which she 'coached,' did win praise from critics...

The Mariinsky is over twice the size of ABT and regularly fields performances of full length classics at home and on tour at the same time. And there were still bitter complaints the year they brought in outsider-to-the-company (though not to the school) Esina as a 'guest principal.' And indeed moderate complaints about their hiring of Shapran and Bondareva as prominent soloists when they had not risen through the ranks etc.And if you want to read opinions of people who think (rightly or wrongly) that lesser talent is being over-cast and major talent being left to wither on the vine, you can do no no better than check out the internet chatter about the Mariinsky (including at times on this site) whose director gets as much figurative vitriol thrown in his face as the director of the Bolshoi got literal ... As far as companies in disarray go: the Mariinsky announced three major new revivals at the beginning of the year all of which are now on hold. ABT has just premiered an important new production of a major classic, that is of interest to ballet fans all over the world. Too soon to know how successful it is, but in my judgement no ABT Sleeping Beauty has ever been of this much interest as a production to this many people across the ballet spectrum. And Sleeping Beauty is not just any old ballet. It is THE definitive Petipa ballet. Of course,I am not saying ABT is 'better' than the Mariinsky, a company whose greatness seems to transcend all kinds of disarray and is incomparable in certain ballets. I just want to clarify that you can hear analogous complaints about the Mariinsky as about ABT. ABT has something of a ballerina crisis--at least I think they do, though I am hardly the last word and I will have a better sense after I have seen more of Seo and Boylston in the next few weeks (as I hope). A ballerina crisis is not a trivial thing, but a decade ago people were saying the same thing about NYCB (and not without exaggeration in that case either). People thought Martins was a disaster and obviously to blame. Well what do they think now when the company is offering great ballerina performances right and left? Regarding ABT making money...it is well to remember that even when they make money, they are, in fact, not making the money needed to cover the costs of being a major ballet company or they would not need donors. And there is a limit to how much they can afford to lose and still be ABT. The company has real problems; I don't doubt it. For myself, I also wish the repertory at the Met were more varied (something I believe is partly a money issue as well)... I infer that their dancers could often use more coaching etc. Anyway, we will see how changes in personnel shake out in the next couple of seasons.

What was reported on this site was that David Koch spoke at a reception held after the ballet not at the premier itself. However, I have no doubt he is...well...what he is. Love reading these reports about the new production. Thanks to everyone writing. (And Laurel: I just looked up Edmund Dulac. Wow!) Cannot wait to see it!

And/or was that way of dancing closer to the sources to which he is also returning? (At least as he and his collaborators interpret those sources...)

I would prefer that whoever succeeds Mckenzie have a history with ABT and substantial experience with nineteenth-century classics. A succession may or may not happen anytime soon, but I also believe that whoever the next ABT director is, s/he likely will run into many of the same problems Mckenzie has run into...

It is not always like this. The season has had an unusually large number of cast changes. I have been coming into NY for years to see ABT for clusters of performances, and from time to time one of the ballerinas or male dancers I hope to see is out. But I have never experienced any thing like this year with tickets for a cluster of performances in which practically no originally announced cast is left standing. My dates in NY are set, so I cannot just trade tickets.However, whatever concerns I may have about this or that ABT policy, I do not blame the company for what seems to have been a perfect storm of leading dancer injuries.

I would have been dazzled and cheering for her in the theater, but I fear that's my thought too. Heroics after any sort of injury may make that injury a lot worse. We don't know that she is injured, but...

Photos from the May 26th gala (including Smirnova and Chudin): http://www.jackdevant.com/benois-de-la-danse-2015-gala/

Thank you--even better!

A Petipa gala? Bravo!!

I do not know the exact NYCB policy, but I think it is wise for a company to exercise such control VERY lightly...one can imagine the controversies, poor impact on morale etc. if it were otherwise.

"Motionless expression of the face etc." does not sound like Osipova's Act I Giselle to me. Thank you Ilya for the translation.

That video (which certainly isn't my style--I stopped watching less than half-way through) is four years old. I'd call that a little past the statute of limitations on objecting to a company's PR methods. But actually it's not clear to me what the video's relation is to the company's PR in any case, since a dancer posted it on his own channel. I have never watched "Girls," but I see someone in the youtube comments section had the same reaction -- that the video looked like something from HBO's "Girls."

I have to wear glasses and have this problem; that is, like you I can't see anything without glasses and switching back and forth between glasses and opera glasses is no solution. For many years I didn't use opera glasses at all. But....I finally found a small pair (at the Met shop) that I could use comfortably and without fear of scratching my glasses etc. They were not cheap--but I was able to experiment with them a bit before the purchase. (That is, experiment with putting them over my glasses and looking at things; obviously the Met store didn't let me take them for a 'test drive' in the theater.) It turned out to be one of my best purchases, so, it might be worth experimenting around, though I realize everyone experiences these things differently. I feel like I'm too young to be getting shorter, but more and more often I have problems seeing over people's heads at the Met (and elsewhere) and now sit upstairs for a number of performances even though I enjoy being closer. Opera glasses over glasses will never be ideal, but finding a reasonably workable pair has been a boon.