paolo

Anyone seeing Danny Tidwell or Zhong-Jing Fang, please announce it at the very top of your commentary. DANNY TODWELL- should have shaved his arm pits! Otherwise, he was fine, but wobbly at entrance. Very talented dancer, but Cornejo was far superior.

Yes, both Thursday and Saturday night performances are also being filmed.

While Ferri may not be what once she once was, she remains an extraordinary presence on stage. I disagree with Ari that "no one onstage (except Gennady Saveliev, that wonderful character dancer, as Hilarion) displays the slightest emotional investment in what they're doing." I think Ferri has aways "knuckled over." Ferri was invested (although Bocca less so), and Kent and Carreno certainly were, as I think, was Part. New sets desperately needed for ABT's Giselle.

So, what did y'all think of Ferri and Bocca and Part tonight?

McKerrow was good, not as clean as she used to be. Mad scene not entirely believable but she does want to make you feel for her, but only partially successful in this regard.

Julie Kent was exquisite, mesmerizing, transporting. If possible, she may be even better than before- maybe it's the motherhood thing. Jose was also very, very good and an excellent actor (far better acting than Ethan). Both peasant pas de deux have been well received, with Herman Cornejo especially explosive and controlled but Saviliev also quite good. The right line in Act II on Tuesday was a bit out of whack. Just read Sarah Kaufman's review. I agree with her about Julie, Jose, Herman Cornejo, and Xiomara. I did find the first paragraph strange. She seems to suggest the secondary dancers were lacking, but then seems to praise all. I wish whoever designs the sets for POB would help out ABT with that gloomy set. I think Angel will be an extraordinary Petrouchka.

Kent, Carreno

Does anyone out there collect ABT memorabilia? Does anyone have a list of ABT programs over the years (not Playbills but like annuals)? or other ABT items? Also, autographs?

What is Sarah Kaufman's problem with ABT? Huge article in the Washington Post this morning that spends paragraphs and paragraphs basically criticizing ABT for not doing true 40s ballets as part of the Kennedy Center's 40s Festival. An interesting ABT article could have been written on the eve of their first two week stint in DC in years, about Herman Cornejo, and the Swan Lake telecast, and the Fokine works (well, some was said about this). Ms. Kaufman has always been rather hard on ABT and rather forgiving of other, far less talented companies.

Some seem to interpret this question as to who dances the most beautifully. On straight looks, mine are: A. Asylmuratova Christine Dunham Isabel Guerin Sylvie Guillem Susan Jaffe Julie Kent Moira Shearer Silja Schandorff Tamara Toumanova As beautiful as Fonteyn and Farrell were as dancers, they just cannot be on this list.

Not that unusual, especially for ABT. Doesn't Bocca direct a group in Argentina, and Nina in Georgia. And also, Sylvie at La Scala.

As I recall, Ballet Theatre changed its name to American Ballet Theatre in 1957 or so when it was doing State Dept. sponsored tours abroad.

One more thing about Wed. night. Granted, the music is very soft, but Darci Kistler made an unbelievable amount of noise with her landings and steps. Even when she was being partnered and was being lowered down, she still made noise.

I agree with Ari that the Wed. evening performance was generally well-danced and also that it lacked excitement. Boal was wonderful as Apollo and, having never seen her dance before, I thought Ansanelli was most impressive. On the other hand, I thought Symphony in C was far from crisp and clean- the dancers being unable to keep up with the tempo with alarming frequency. Reminded me a little of the ABT Raymonda in this regard. Wow, that Kowroski has some legs and feet. As for Joaquin de Luz, rather than shoot him, I was so thankful that someone on stage expressed some emotion and looked they he enjoyed being there. He danced well, by the way. Other than de Luz, the performances did lack excitement. Is it always this way with NYCB? Is emotion discouraged?

I saw all four of the performances at the Kennedy Center. I agree that the company has suffered significantly from the absence of David Richardson. It is the acting that is missing from so many performances. While Ethan Stiefel is a marvelous and strong dancer, he cannot effectively express any emotion (similar problem with his cartoonish performance in Le Corsaire). On the other hand, Carreno is a masterful actor and his acting in La Bayadere should be the standard to which others should strive. I believe it is the first time a male dancer has brought me to (almost) tears. I noticed no one has mentioned Ashley Tuttle in this thread but although she is a gifted dancer with many admirable qualities, acting is not one of them, and I have grown weary of her plastered stewardess grin. As for the Bronze (Golden) Idol, it is always an audience favorite and while Salstein was good, Cornejo was very, very good, and Lopez just down a notch. I love Stella Abrera and think we can expect wonderful things from her, but her Gamzatti was a bit stiff (IMHO). Irina is OK but also not an effective actress. Wiles was very good and Murphy I also liked. But, still I must ask generally, where is the acting? Where is the passion?

Alex gave an extraordinary performance as Juliet last year at the Met in Julio Bocca's final performance as Romeo. She is always a wonderful Juliet, but that night she was extra special.

I found the programming of the mixed bill in DC quite odd. Two rather similar pieces (Duato and Harrison) and the awkward Raymonda. Should have had more variety. As for the Harrison piece, it was purportedly, at least in part, an effort to encourage younger audiences. But, anyone who really remembers the Beatles has to be at least 50, not exactly the truly younger audience ABT should be attempting to attract.

Actually, the Times does not refer to ABT as Ballet Theatre, but even more shockingly as Ballet Theater. I have called the Times about this continuing error in spelling and they explained basically that "theater" is the correct spelling, that their software kicks out the spelling THEATRE, and that they can't be bothered to change it each time. I explained that American Ballet Theatre is a proper name and, as such, they really have no right to change the spelling. They don't care.