nysusan

I know I'm going to be in a huge minority about this but I think the Grigorovich Swan Lake is a masterpiece - it's a very personal, innovative and powerful take on the original, realized by purely choreographic means and without retorting to the total rewrite a la Neumeier. Sure, it's not a love story we're all used to, but a rather philosophical parable about the duality (or even duplicity) of human nature. As Dostoevsky said, "God and devil are fighting, and their battlefield is the human soul" - this is what Grigorovich is all about here. The soul in his SL is, of course, Siegfried's who is being torn apart from the inside by good and evil forces contained within him. He loses the battle at the end and is defeated by the villainous, treacherous, destructive part of his own self.

I found all this heartbreaking and was literally in tears as the curtain went down.

I agree with your take on the production, this is certainly Sigfried's story rather than Odettes - and thats why I don't like it. I think the story is much more powerful when it is about her struggle to break free, to be human again, to find love. However tonight I will try to see it through your eyes.

I also agree with your assessment of Zakharova. I saw her in Bayadere with ABT & in DQ, Pharoah's Daughter & Bright Stream with the Bolshoi. I saw her then as one of the world's greatest technicians however I didn't like her. I found her extensions distracting and she always seemed cold & uninvolved. I saw her O/O on opening night and loved it. I thought her line, musicality and the distinctness of her plastique suited Odette beautifully and found her to be very emotionally involved and expressive. I also loved her Odile and frankly, I wish I'd gotten a ticket for last night, I'd love to have seen her again. Instead I got Nikulina, who I thought was totally undistinguished. Liked Ovcharenko, though and I really love watching the soloists.

Brava Veronika!!!!

Someone on the ABT wishlist thread wished for Fabrice Calmels as a guest artist to partner he. That would be my wish too - they'd make an incredible Giselle & Albrecht.

Has Alina ever danced with any of the ABT men except Cornejo and Hallberg? We know that Hallberg is out for the rest of the season. We know that Cornejo has been out since Saturday with an unspecified illness/injury (per the program slip). Perhaps ABT was hoping Cornejo was sufficiently healed to dance tonight, and that didn't happen. I'm so bummed to be deprived of Alina's O/O yet again but I wouldn't blame her for not wanting to dance with an unfamiliar partner on short notice.

Hope they're prepping someone for Puck next week...

I have had serious reservations about Hee Seo - very much in the "too much, too soon" camp but she was absolutely stunning in the adagio sections last night. What a gorgeous body, breathtaking line, flowing dancing. A great, evocative portrayal of a seductive Odile and a poignent Odette. That balance she took was just unbelievable - I haven't seen one like that since Cynthia Gregory, though her characterization of Odile was more along the lines of Makarova's charming seductress. Unfortunately, as others have described, her technical deficiencies became glaringly apparent as soon as she began the black Swan solo.

I'm very sorry Murphy was injured however I think this may be the last time I go to see her Swan Lake. She is simply not a natural adagio dancer. You can tell that she's been working on it, she has improved greatly but I still find her Odette lacking and unmoving, and that's 2/3 of the show.

Cojocaru is very light, ethereal, and sometimes seems to vaporize into thin air. But she's also very loving and human, if that makes sense. She's sort of like Galina Ulanova, who also didn't seem like a "ghost" in Act Two.

My question is not so much how she was able to visually do the choreography, though, but rather how the choreography makes narrative sense in that sort of interpretation. It seems to me that, at least early in her Act II interactions with Albrecht, Giselle can't possibly be acting of her own volition. What reason could she have for running around, appearing and disappearing like that? She (it seems to me) must be "possessed" -- and in fact we see direct evidence of that as Myrtha conjures her and causes her to dance. It's only over the course of the act that Giselle is able to gradually break free of that possession and, from the power of her love and forgiveness of Albrecht, attempt to save him. That's what we see happening when Myrtha approaches Giselle and Albrecht downstage right with the branch, which (it turns out) no longer has power over Giselle.

I'm trying to imagine a different way of successfully interpreting the "metaphysics" of Act II, but having some difficulty.

Its not that she wasn't a ghost, or wasn't under Myrtha's control - its just that she still showed the same characteristics as she did when she was alive. She was no longer flesh and blood but her essence, her personality still came through.

With regard to the performance, I was disappointed that Cojacaru only sketched the hops on pointe - she did them but they didn't travel more than maybe a foot. I also missed the traditional act 2 press lift where the ballerina's legs are stretched out behind her and her body is parallell to the ground. I found this photo which illustrates it pretty well:

Image Viewer

Maria Mosina took on ballet's most difficult role with the ferocity of a prize fighter. Here she gets a lift from Alexei Tyukov in Colorado Ballet's "Giselle." (P...

View on www.denverpost.com

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This is the traditional version and to me, this gives the illusion that she is floating above Albrecht's head. They did a press lift but not the traditional, if I recall correctly she was more upright and only 1 leg was behind her, the other was bent with toe to knee.

But these are minor quibbles, overall I thought Cojocaru's dancing was beautiful - light, airy, supremely musical and so very expressive. She is today's ultimate example of a traditional Giselle - sweet, innocent & trusting. In the early part of the 2nd act I could swear she was using her legs to flirt with her Albrecht!

And Hallberg - from the moment he stepped onto the stage last night I knew this was going to be a different performance from the one he gave with Semionova. He was such the arrogant aristocrat until Giselle came out and then you could see that he was smitten but still, all the signs of privilege were there, you could tell that he wasn't just one of the villagers. He and Cojocaru had great chemistry together and I felt that the size difference only underscored their characters' differences in status & experience. I wish he had done the entrechats because they are a much better fit for him, but it was not to be.

I remember two years ago there was an an afternoon performance with Osipova/Hallberg, and an evening performance with Vishneva/Gomes. Both of them blew me away, even though they were very different interpretations. One didn't make me appreciate the other less.

That's what I was remembering - not Vishneva/Gomes and Cojocaru/Kobberg but Osipova/Hallberg and Vishneva/Gomes on the same day. Each completely different and both absolutely amazing. And I remember that the emotional connection between Hallberg & Osipova was extremely intense - so I guess he and Semionova are not the best pairing. Kind of the way he and Wiles just didn't jell in their early days as principals.

Yesterday's performance was magnificent. Vishneva, Gomes & Murphy all wove a magic spell. Murphy showed no sign of her recent injury, Vishneva was mesmerizing and Marcelo, well - he was Marcelo!

All of the soloists were good, too - Agoudine, Lane, Copeland, Teuscher, Kajiya. Craig Salstein danced Bronze idol. He was good, but nowhere near Simkin's level - let alone Corella and Cornejo.

BALLET ALERT:

According to ABT's calendar Boylston replaces Murphy tonight. What a pity. Veyette is still in.

http://www.abt.org/calendar.aspx

I voted for Steifel, though Ratmansky would have been my first choice. I think Golden Idol is right, the board is highly unlikely to get rid of McKenzie, but we can still hope...

ABT has posted the opening night gala performance w. casting. Stearns is not on the list of performers. I think it's reasonable to conclude he will not make it to his Don Q assignments during week one. Who is his replacement and when will they tell us? I wonder if he we will be out the entire season.

The only other ABT dancer cast as Basilio who is tall enough to partner Semionova is Whiteside. Will they have Gomes step into Basilio, as he did in Washington DC.?

I wish Stearns all the best, but I've been waiting YEARS for them to partner Part w. either Gomes or Bolle in SL. If that happens, I will get myself to the box office as fast as possible to buy a tix for Part's Wed matinee SL.

I just checked the ABT calendar and noticed that Whiteside is scheduled with Part for the Bayadere. I remember that having been a TBA, not sure when they updated it.

No offense to Corey but I agree 100% with abatt - while I wouldn't consider taking time off work to see him and Part in Swan lake I will ABSOLUTELY take 2 days off - 1 to rush out an get the tickets and another to go to the matinee - if they schedule Gomes or Bolle with her for that SL. I would probably even go if they cast Whiteside. I'm not crazy about him but I think they could be good together.

As much as Corey has improved he just comes across as too immature to be her Siegfried, and I've been waiting and waiting for "the powers that be" to give this greatest of Odettes a suitable partner once again.

I wonder if there's any reason why all the performances with Ms. Part in major parts (no pun whatsoever) are matinees this season? For me it sadly means that I will miss all her outings, except for Myrtha, since I work and cannot attend ballet during the day.

One or two I would understand, but all? Is ABT management trying to tell us something?

Those were my thoughts exactly. This will be the first time I'm missing her O/O since she joined the company. I'm very upset that I will only be able to see her Bayadere this season and I'm trying not to read anything into this - but its hard not to.

I agree that Stella has been treated badly at ABT and she deserved better. However,Radetsky is another matter entirely. He is not a strong partner. I've seen many instances of that problem over the years. I'm not talking about physical strength. I'm talking about his level of skill. In addition, sometimes he can be be exciting in terms of his jumping ability, but he often lands with a big thud. In addition, he lacks a beautiful classical line. He is more suited to modern works like Tharp. I don't think there was ever much realistic hope that Radetsky would have have been promoted to principal at ABT. I cannot buy into the above comparison between Radetsky and Steifel. They are like apples and oranges.

McKenzie's job isn't to be a cheerleader or morale booster. His job is to keep the money coming in from donors and from ticket purchases. If inviting guest artists to sell out the 3,000 seat Met auditorium is part of keeping the company in the black instead of in the red, so be it.

I agree about Radetsky. I am a big fan of his and hate to see him go but I never expected to see him promoted to principal. One of my favorite memories of him is a heartbreaking Petrushka he did a few years ago. He's given some great performances but he certainly has his limitations. I've noticed all the flaws abatt mentions plus he isn't quite tall enough to partner most of ABTs principal women and he doesn't compare with the other male principals in terms of technique and line. As for his partnering,I remember him partnering his wife a couple of years ago - maybe in the peasent pas de deux? - and it was not pretty. I felt bad for her.

As for Stella, I truly do dot understand why she was been passed over for roles and promotions. There MUST be something going on behind the scenes, otherwise its just inexplicable

When I saw so many local dancers listed for the YAGP Galas I wasn't that keen on going but bought tickets anyway. Now YAGP has listed the programs as well as the dancers on their website and I'm so glad I got my tickets because some of the casting sounds fantastic. There is a lot of new choreography both nights but Friday night's combinations are what I'm most looking forward to:

- Lauren Lovette & Herman Cornejo in the Rubies Pas de Deux

- Ashley Bouder & Semyon Chudin in a Pas de Deux from La Sylphide

- Alicia Graf & Daniil Simkin in Pas de Duke - I LOVE the Ailey men but can't wait to see this with a shorthish ballet virtuoso to contrast with the tall Ailey woman!

- Olga Smirnova & Semyon Chudin in Diamonds Pas de Deux - finally live in NY and in the House of Balanchine!

You can see the full lists here: http://www.yagp.org/wordpress/?page_id=2947

And here: http://www.yagp.org/wordpress/?page_id=2984

I've seen several tweets today congratulating him on his promotion to soloist - that's great news!

Is anyone going to the Met box office tomorrow to exchange tickets. What time does the line start??

I'm going. The box office opens at noon.

I went after work yesterday and they had all the kinks worked out. I got the discount with no problem, also there was no line whatsover.

I'm really excited about this engagement - maybe even more excited about the Bolshoi. I'm looking forward to seeing a traditional Giselle, and Messerer's Flames of Paris.

Its always great to see Osipova & Vasiliev - together or apart - but I'm REALLY looking forward to seeing Sarafanov again. He is such a great dancer and I haven't seen him live since he left the Mariinsky. Then there are Victor Lebedev & Kristina Shapran, two top Vaganova Academy graduates who chose not to join the mothership (Shapran & Smirnova were the 2 top female graduates in their year). I've also heard good things about Bondarova and Voronstsova so bring it on!

I enjoyed both performances on Saturday but neither was great. I liked Esina more than most. Her plastique is totally different from the current fashion at the Mariinsky. She doesn't have that super stretched looked and doesn't carry her rib cage far forward like most ballerinas do when they're used to dancing on raked stages. She used her upper body in a softer, more sculptural way. Askerov was much improved from his performance in California last year and I thought they made a good couple.

I also enjoyed Kolegova more than last year. Her dancing was never the problem, but last time I found her interpretation unfocused. This time I felt more of her Odette's story and found her to be more expressive (though she is still very much on the remote side). I didn't like Zuyzin at all. His dancing was mediocre and his characterization was totally bland. At least as bad as Ivanchenko.

All of the soloists were great and I really can't pick a favorite of the 3 jesters I've seen. But I think the most outstanding male soloist has been Ernest Latypev. Wow, what gorgeous line and great elevation. I've also really been enjoying old favorite Nadia Gonchar and new favorite Nadezhda Batoeva and I even caught Anna Lavrienko in 1 performance of the Neopolitan dance on Friday night.

I found this picture online:

http://www.dcmetrotheaterarts.com/2014/01/29/mariinsky-ballets-swan-lake-at-the-kennedy-center-by-carolyn-kelemen/

Looks less like a wig than hair extensions.

This is pretty much exactly what his hair looked like on Friday night, so no bubble wig!

Count me as one more witness to the miraculous transformation of Alina Somova. I could hardly believe it was the same dancer who grated on my nerves so many times before. Gone were the awkward transitional steps, the lack of musicality, the uncontrollable flying limbs and constant 180 degree extensions. Her Odette was just gorgeous, beautifully classical, beautiful line, strong technique and strong acting. She reverted just a tiny bit in the black act but thats ok, she was vamping.

I don't know what the problem was with Schklyarov on opening night, but he was his usual fantastic self tonight. No wig, no partnering problems, beautiful double tours and a series of absolutely gasp inducing grand jetes in his 2nd black swan solo variation.

As always, the #1 star of the night was the Mariinsky corps. Bravi.

So glad to hear that Somova has improved - now I'm REALLY looking forward to this weekend. Strange to hear all the reports about Schklyarov's difficulties - that's very unusual. He is usually spot on technically and a very good actor.

No Obraztsova?

Just my thought.

Hmmm... lets think about this. One of the greatest Giselles of our generation is not performing in DC while 4 hours away in NY Vishneva, Part & Cojocaru are all appearing in Bayadere that weekend. Where do you think I will be? And a Jewels on Sunday is the cherry on top of my ice cream sundae! So glad the Bolshoi didn't force me to make tough choices.

Oh joy. A 10 AM start on a Sunday makes it even less appealing to attend. But thanks for the info.

Thats a tough one but Obraztsova & Smirnova might be too much to resist. Here's 1/19 casting from the Bolshoi site:

Ivan Alexeyev

Vladislav Lantratov

Evgenia Obraztsova

Anna Tikhomirova

Yanina Parienko

Igor Tsvirko

Ana Turazashvili

Xenia Averina

Bruna Gaglianone Cantanhede

Svetlana Gnedova

Alesya Gradova

Anastasia Gubanova

Olga Klypina

Elizaveta Kruteleva

Irina Serenkova

Anastasia Shilova

Margarita Shrainer

Ekaterina Krysanova

Vyacheslav Lopatin

Ekaterina Shipulina

Batyr Annadurdyev

Mikhail Kochan

Mikhail Kryuchkov

Alexander Vorobiyov

Daria Bochkova

Bruna Gaglianone Cantanhede

Daria Gurevich

Daria Khokhlova

Yulia Lunkina

Ilona Matsiy

Svetlana Pavlova

Maria Vinogradova

Semyon Chudin

Olga Smirnova

Ivan Alexeyev

Artemy Belyakov

Angelina Karpova (Vlashinets)

Anna Okuneva

Ana Turazashvili

Maria Vinogradova

Klim Yefimov

Dmitry Yefremov

Pavel Sorokin