bingham

As the mother of one of the dancers who was cut from NYCB, Matthew Renko, I can vouch that for him at least, it was shock, as well as to his friends, and even a couple of the ballet masters/mistresses. But one has to be pragmatic, these are tough times, and in tough times the arts are always going to take a hit. Let's face it, it's cheaper to use apprentices and first year corp than second, or third, or whatever. And Matthew has also been pragmatic. As one of the shortest male dancers, no matter how talented, he knows he doesn't have the versitility that a taller male would have. He understands that, although the point was driven home when he was recommended for an audition for the Twyla Tharp "Sinatra" production. He went, was told after the audition they liked his dancing but they were hiring a swing and he wasn't tall enough.

He's hanging in there, though. He's got a gig dancing in "Aida" and some film thing after that.

Over the past few years posters have left an occasional favorable comment of Matthew's performance(s). For all you that did, thank you.

Matthew was a definite stand out in the corps of NYCB, and to be seriously considered by Twyla is a testament to his talent and abilities.

I wish him the best of luck. Please keep us BTers up to date on his progress and whereabouts.

He is listed in the MetOpera playbill .I'm not sure if it is just for the Ratmansky-choreographed Aida

bingham, with all due respect but my recollection of the "Thais" pas de deux is that it has a ton of lifts and the ballerina has to look very light and ethereal. It works best with a small, compact ballerina like Xiomara Reyes, Sarah Lane, Diana Vishneva or even Julie Kent. There was a BBC documentary aired on either A&E or Bravo fifteen years ago (when they were arts channels) profiling Viviana Durante where Antoinette Sibley was coaching her in "Thais" and mentioned that her lightness and compact frame made her ideal for it. There was thrilling footage of Durante seemingly light as a hummingbird being wafted through the air in various positions.

Now Part did manage to be light and ethereal in Bournonville's "La Sylphide" in a terre a terre choreographic mode. However, I think that she is wrong for "Thais" in other ways - she has a lot of arms and legs to maneuver in some tight partnering moves and there is a lot of tossing around in lifts and major acrobatics here and there. However, I am always thrilled when proved very wrong with Ms. Part and Marcelo the Magnificent would more than hold up his end as he always does.

Faux Pas , i recently watched a video of Thais PDD. You are probably right, it need someone light and ethereal to make it work.

In the Contact section of her website, Diana Vishneva states that"she plan to dance "lady of the Camellias" in the next ABT season".

Oh wow. I can't imagine anything I'd like to see more than those two Ashton pas de deux—if they can come anywhere near the Sibley/Dowell performances in the Dowell documentary at the NYPL, which are sublime. I've seen the Bussell/Cope version of Awakening and it didn't have the same magic.

Veronika and Marcelo would be great in the Thais PDD

There's this little thing I love of Kirkland's ending, and it is the way that she, after those crazy pique turns,simply goes down on her mum's feet, in such a humility gesture, or almost if the previous craziness had been something that had happened beyond her own comprehension...I don't know...like if she wasn't even aware of that sudden display of energy...like if her mind was kind of "divided" in between two worlds, the real one and the one that she is just about to enter...that of madness. This is the first time I see this. All the ballerinas usually opt for the "Ta-daah!/look-at-how-great-did-I-just-danced!"

BRAVA GELSEY!!!

Is there any more recording of that Giselle?

It's too bad that Sae-eun was not asked to join the main company.She was one of the most talented of the ABT2 dancers. I have a feeling that it is due to the poor economy and not her talent that ABT did not picked her.

How did ABT fare in the tickets sale during this terrible economy?The performances that i attended seems pretty well attended(except for a Monday night performance of Sylvia where there were a lot of empty seats in the orchestra). Frankly, i was expecting a catastrophic season(boxoffice-wise) last May. Any opinions?

Carbro, Thanks for the wonderful report. Now, i feel worse for missing that performance.

In the interest of promptness, I will report that Stearns acquitted himself admirably and Seo scored an unqualified triumph in their shared New York debut (having performed the role a few months ago in Detroit). Bravi! I will edit this post to flesh out the evening, which was special for other reasons.

Carbro, Eagerly awaiting your report on Seo-Stearn R and J.It looks like nobody else was there.

A lot more than last night. Anna Wintour and Natalia Vodianova were in the audience. I'm still excited I saw Vodianova in person, wow.

Excuse my ignorance but who is Natalia Vodianova?

Too bad for SFco. I would not be surprised if Isaac Hernandez is headed to ABT, are are many competition winners. Also, wasn't Hernandez an ABT II performer for a while? ABT usually tries to hold onto such dancers.

I was very surprised when he joined SFB and not ABT. He was with the ABT2 for a season or 2.

Great news if the commercial world is finally waking up. But I don't suppose Charlie Rose on PBS counts as a "late night talk show" to the rest of the pop world, because at least on that program, several current and former ballet dancers have appeared.

Of course I will never forget when ballet dancers appeared on Mike Douglas (was it Makarova/Nagy?) long after Mr. Sullivan was no longer with us.

Cynthia G,Fernando B, Martine VH and Alexander Godunov appeared in Merv Griffin Show( not sure if t was an afternoon show?)

When was the last time that a ballet dancer was a guest on one of the late night talk shows?

Great question, Farrell Fan. Does anyone have an answer to this?

I'm sure M. Barysnikov was a guest in one of the late-night talk shows but this was after he became an "actor".

Michele was radiant last night and seemed so relaxed and natural. Even her much-criticized smile seemed natural. She ,obviously,enjoyed her new partner. Roberto had no difficulty in partnering her . The entrance to the PDD,where he was carrying her in his shoulder brought applause from the audience. I thought this was one of Ashton's most beautiful PDD. ABT should definitely keep Roberto.

The rest of the cast was also better than Monday's night particularly D Simkin and C Stearns.The orchetra was almost filled ( better than Monday) and the audience was very responsive.I hope this will encourage ABT to present more Ashton. ( La Fille, Two pigeons or his Cinderella) in the future

It was my first viewing of G Murphy as Sylvia(missed her in 2005) She was wonderful esp in the 2nd and 3rd act.Max was in his usual elegant style but a bit bland.

The house was not sold out( maybe because it was monday?) I hope it will do better later in the week.People are posting that Ashton( and Tudor) are being neglected by ballet companies but when they are presented, the response is not encouraging for the artistic directors to present them again.Maybe, Sylvia is not best Ashton but i remember that when ABT did a very well-received La Fille Mal gardee, it was not a big boxoffice sucess either.

BTW, S Abrera was replaced at the last minute in the 3rd act (there was no slip in the program) Anybody knows the dancer who replaced her??

I seem to recall that D Vishneva did not dance SL at the Kirov until she danced it in the west(ABT?). Maybe,Evgenia can do the same. We sure would be happy to see her dance it here.

What's the reason of her not dancing "Swan Lake"? Her height?

Just a quick diversion from the descriptions of Nina's farewell (I so wish I had been there!) to say that in the Sat matinee David Hallberg was absolute perfection! In addition to the glorious lines and footwork, his acting is first rate and the attention to detail is remarkable. This Siefgried did NOT leave the throne but welcomed each princess, interacted with them and had lovely moments "talking" to the Queen. This is a complete artist. And one more quick note - granted Cory Stearns is not yet the VonRothbart of Marcelo but I believe he has great potential in this role. I think he will become a worthy successor - certainly the best I've seen apart from Marcelo. That's all - back to Nina!

Angel also stayed in his seat during the national dances, interacting with the princesses and the Queen.

Nina was just unforgetable and so gracious to everyone( to the corp, orchestra and to her audience). I wish i could have seen her in "a month In the country" and "Onegin"(Did she danced these roles in other companies?)

It's just one day before the big ballet premiere of the White Nights -- the revival of Yakobsen's SHURALE -- and still no casting announcements on the Mariinsky website or the posters in front of the theater. An earlier (June 2) announcement of Evgenia Obraztsova (Simbiuke, the bird maiden), Mikhail Lobukhin (Ali Batir, the hero) and Leonid Sarafanov (Shurale, the monster) as the opening night stars was retracted within days that it went up, you may recall, as per Rosa's posts, above. Also, the lovely Ekaterina Osmolkina and Denis Matvienko had earlier been announced as the leads of the 2nd cast and that, too, was retracted. [However, reliable sources say that Obraztsova may still be the opening Siumbike...was seen in the costume shop, being fitted with the Siumbike costumes. Ditto Osmolkina, for 2nd cast. No flexible gymnast was seen in the costume shop that day.]

Ninel Kurgapkina -- coach of Obraztsova -- who passed away a month ago, was the leading stager, along with Tatyana Terekhova -- coach of Somova and, I think, Osmolkina. After Kurgapkina's death, Terekhova took over as leading stager. Whose charge will show up on the stage tomorrow night, for the honor of the opening night? It's the biggest mystery in the St. Petersburg ballet world.

Link to story of ballet:

http://www.mariinsky.ru/en/playbill/playbi...09/6/28/1_2000/

In the link to Maryinsky-Playbill you provided, Obsbratsova,D Matvienko and A Sergeyev are listed for the openning night.

Thank you both for the advice. If I'm able to go, I think I'll just spend the extra $7 and get a Family Circle seat.

Back on topic, I had noticed the Sylvia micro-site--it looks lovely and contains a synopsis, biographies of Ashton and Délibes, and more. Thank you, ABT.

For the same price as a FC seat, you can get a Dress Circle (or any level) stand. Stand (for the first act) with me! It's a good vantage point.

BTW, Mat or Eve?

Everyone, I urge you to view the mini-site promptly. I delayed with the previous On the Dneiper mini-site, and when I went back, it had been disabled.

Sylvia does'nt seem to be selling well . Even the night with D Vishneva has a lot of seats available. It might not be one of Ashton's best ballet but it is still,imo, a lovely ballet.I urge people to see it.We might not get to see it again for a while.

I am really tempted to go to NY to see the Wednesday performance, but the only seat I can afford is a balcony box, which is described as having a partial view. Is this worth it?

Don't!! You will hardly see anything. You might as well go to the Family Circle. Bring a good binocular.

Isabel Guerin is staging " Other Dances". Is she THE Isabelle Guerin, a famous,now retired,Etoile of Paris Opera Ballet? She did dance Other Dances at POB.

On Gomes as the Act III von Rothbart on Monday, the NY Post had this to say: "Choreographer and director Kevin McKenzie conceived the villain Von Rothbart as both an evil sorcerer and an irresistible sex magnet, an idea that's not nearly as good as it sounds. . Marcelo Gomes created the role and usually makes a case for it through sheer charisma, but this time he pushed from charisma to sleaze."

The reviewer, our own Leigh Witchel, goes on to ask, "But shouldn't a company with the best dancers be performing the best versions of the ballets?" to which I reply, Where's the challenge in that?

Thanks, all, for your comments. Keep 'em coming. I haven't yet seen a Swan this week, but will towards the end of its run.

But you have seen the La sylphide of Veronika and Hee. Please give us your report. :blush:

Veronika was very beautiful last night and really gave the appearance of being light through her movements. She seems to have "lost" some weight from the last time i saw her(Saturday night,the 13th) as Myrtha. She danced all the Bournonville-steps including the jumps very well.The real surprise was C Stearns who danced and mimed very well.

I was very surprised to see very many empty seats.I don't understand why La Sylphide is not more popular in the US. It has everything that a full-lenght ballet should have. Maybe,people find it too short, too much mime? or confuse it with Les Sylphides?

I enjoyed Airs very much. The entire cast was admirable including K Boone, M Copeland and esp A Scott

Was anyone else sorely disappointed by tonight's performance? (Nina/Hallberg). I thought Airs was especially awful tonight.

I skipped Airs on Tues. I really enjoyed Hallberg's performance. However, Nina was disappointing. She seemed to be lacking in energy, and was very earthbound. I enjoyed her acting, and she played the death scene to the hilt. However,her diminished technique resulted, for me, in an unsatisfying performance overall.

Anyone has seen Part's debut?