Papagena

Agreed! He was always formidable dancer and a fantastic partner, but something happened this season in which he has bloomed into a true prince of the stage. One of the few nycb male principals I organize my casting preferences around. I took a ballet newbie with me to another performance and afterwards he was gushing over how Chan's presence reminded him of the great stars of Classic Hollywood or Wong Kar-Wai films, not only for his movie star looks but also his interiority as a dancer.

Yeah she mentioned that she learned it much earlier (19!) but due to injuries and different circumstances never got to perform it until later in her career. Agreed it should be in the rep more frequently. Does anyone know if there is any particular reason why they wouldn't alternate with Midsummer? I wonder if all the children in the third act make it harder to coordinate/rehearse. Because every time I've seen it, the house was really full and the audience was rapturous.

Swanilda was my favorite Bouder role! Not only her technique, but her doll-like face juxtaposed with her signature fieriness was tailor made for this character. Plus last time we had Joseph Gordon dancing with her, who was so dashing and will be missed this year. Still can't believe Emma Von Enck was not cast. Peck, Pereira, and Fairchild have already done it and a fresh take would have been very welcome and exciting.

Wanted to echo the praise for Huxley here since at first Peck + Chan overtook my impressions of the evening - Huxley was so cat-like in his soft landings and effortless movement. He plays the musical interactions so well, with a curiosity that really does seem as if he is listening to the piano and violin for the first time. Fairchild was also really feeling the depth of the music last night. I love Duo but can totally understand why it doesn't land with everyone. I do think that it was a brilliant choice as a transition between TPC2 (my favorite) and Glass Pieces (my husband's favorite). We also brought a friend/ballet newbie to the performance and I was surprised to hear they were the most affected by Duo out of the three! Another expertly curated program from NYCB.

Chun Wai Chan's portion with the weaving women through the breathtaking moment when he backs away and bows, alone on the stage ... transcendent. I've never seen him own a role as completely as this one, nor have I seen it performed more beautifully than he did tonight (admittedly I have not seen this ballet a ton of times). Splendid, career-high work from Peck as well, but it was Chan who stuck in my mind. .

Thank you. Not sure why anyone would have a problem with Jaffe going to London to watch Misseldine during the off season? It would be a missed opportunity if she did not go. International ballet legend Nina Ananiashvili asked young ABT star to headline her Swan Lake, which doubled as Misseldine's major principal debut in London. Misseldine is an ambassador of sorts for Jaffe's new era at ABT, so this was also a networking and publicity opportunity for Jaffe. Jaffe's close focus on her for a couple years has paid off. And who's to say that Jaffe is not actively looking for the next star to mentor as we speak?

It's not a full length partnering role, which is usually one of the major tests before a male dancer is promoted.

That's a really interesting point. Becomings definitely has sexual undertones (since gender and sexual discovery all play a part in Orlando), but last night it didn't feel overdone at all. I was close enough to see the central duo pretty clearly - not front row/video recording distance, but I think Osipova danced it a bit warmer, whereas Hurlin was more knife-like as you mentioned. I actually like both interpretations, and appreciate that each dancer was dancing in a way they felt most comfortable/aligned with. Now I realize that perhaps the piece is more affected by individual interpretation than I initially assumed. I couldn't help but think about this in Act III, watching all the corps dancers lift her (with a touch of pre-lift anxiety in some). It was a beautiful. And what an experience of a lifetime for young Lea Fleytoux! Ferri mentioned in her IG post how much it has meant to her to work with this new generation and it showed in the generosity of her performance.

I have some qualms about WW but I found the experience as a whole incredibly enriching and am still thinking about it. If it returns I'd buy tickets again in a heartbeat, and invite more casual or newbie ballet goers. I took a guest who is not a balletomane and it changed their view of ballet for the better (aka they asked about coming back to see another before the season is up). The first act was lovely but suffered the most from Richter's score, notably during the Septimus solo. Royal had the audience in the palm of his hand and didn't need the relentless, endlessly crescendoing cello music to get his point across. This is also a section of some of the stronger choreography, and did not need so much noise. I adored the chemistry and interactions between the three women (here Lea Fleytoux, Cassandra Trenary, and Alessandra Ferri). I also felt the final section of Act I captured the essence of Mrs Dalloway's memories set in an English Garden extremely well - down to the stuffy costuming and characterization of Roman Zhurbin's Richard (he melts into roles so well that I feel he is never given a proper callout). Becomings was glorious, though I can see why it has proven to be the most divisive. It had a cold and curious sexual charge, almost a frantic yearning or relentless will of all 'characters' in the piece to find their way through time. Siebert calling them 'wax figures' is mind boggling to me. I found the lights tastefully done (all the complaints about strobes etc were overstated in my opinion). I agree with others suggestion it be kept as a standalone for double bills - I will never get tired of watching different dancers tear into it. In terms of music, I felt that this section was the only one where Richter's score fully worked, and that he actually made interesting artistic choices here. I have never heard so many people crying around me in The Met as I did last night in Act III. What else is there to say about Ferri, who can convey so much just by lifting her arm? I'm curious as to why WW was received so well in the UK and at La Scala, but was mixed here in the US. Also I wonder how harshly we might react to some of the admittedly ridiculous classic ballets we all love if they didn't have 100+ years of nostalgia padding (not saying that WW will be around in 100 years, just that I notice many tend to approach new works with defenses up). If anyone is on the fence I highly suggest popping in for tonight's show.

Wouldn't tearing it up quickly be closer to kicking him in the shins than tearing the letter up slowly... I've seen Tatianas tear the letter up quickly with no audience applause.

Thank you for this comment - I was really encouraged seeing the enthusiastic audience reactions last night via Instagram and wondered about the vibe in the theater. ABT is a strange company in terms of reputation - despite their considerable ups and downs, their glory days are imprinted into minds of ballet students (and some audiences). There are few US-based companies that had as many superstar dancers or as much glamour as ABT did in the 70s and late 90s/early 00s. So I think there is always a nostalgia factor as well as the hope that you'd be the dancer to slide right on time for another Golden Era at ABT. It's difficult because their Golden Eras seem to rely on star dancers, while NYCB has a more holistic greatness due to their rep, dancers, and adaptability.

Honestly I'm surprised that Onegin on a Tuesday (and without an international superstar like Ferri or Vishneva) filled that many seats. 2500 is equivalent to filling the theater across the plaza.

I believe Deborah MacMillan still approves the leads? Or maybe it's just the ballet licensing. Someone correct me if I'm wrong but the MacMillan estate doesn't seem to have the same unpredictable reputation as the Cranko estate in terms of removing dancers after being cast. It's clear that ABT had no basis for believing this could happen. Is this a first for an ABT Cranko ballet?

Hope to be proven wrong but for me, Shevchenko and Stearns are some of the least dramatically dynamic dancers - three Onegin shows? It's so odd that they were both pulled completly. I know weird things can happen that spur emergency 'solutions' that aren't great in retrospect, but I wonder what happened.

Thank you! We can all pretend we have good ideas or know what would work, but most of our suggestions wouldn't do a thing to fix ABT's problems (and many would be giant duds). Jaffe is making hundreds of decisions, and the small ones can be just as important than the big visible ones. I can almost guarantee that a good amount of the suggestions on this board have been considered. All these calls for Jaffe to accomplish great things in the first two years totally negate the realities that she can't pop into a company and start executing new ideas left and right. It doesn't work for corporations and it doesn't work for ABT.