FauxPas

For those who have been put off by the high price or scarcity of tickets for "Cinderella" next week. The box office has now opened up the Fourth Ring for all shows Wednesday through Sunday afternoon. The first two rows in the center are $91.00 but the rest are $29.00 plus the $2 service charge. Get them while they last.

Another thing to notice about review nights - usually the review night is the opening night of the run of that particular ballet/program. Usually, ABT has distributed the first performance of the run among the principal ballerinas. Part in the past has often danced the first "Swan Lake", "Bayadere" or "Sleeping Beauty" since she made principal. (The New York reviewers sometimes will skip casting they have reviewed before and concentrate on role debuts or guest appearances). Spring 2014 Part has no first performances of the run of any ballet. Semionova has the first Don Q and T&V. Hee Seo has the first Cinderella. Kent has the first Manon. Vishneva has the first Bayadere and Giselle. Misty Copeland has the first Coppelia. Murphy has the first Swan Lake and Dream Titania. Herrera, Reyes and Part have nada. Herrera and Reyes are veterans at this point with some diminishment of technique (that doesn't stop Kent though). Part is at the peak of her maturity. So it is clear that ABT is starting to sideline some principals from major opportunities. I also must mention that Part has made significant strides in the last few seasons getting lots of new roles (Kitri, Sylvia et al.) and more performances. The downside is that she hasn't been dancing with Bolle or Gomes who are her best partners. Though Part seems to not have problems with Cory, at least onstage, the difference in their stature as artists is clearly evident onstage. Part cannot work on the highest level due to his bland, low impact acting and shaky partnering. I also must add that Part is a full-time member of the company year round, like Semionova (a proviso in her hiring), Herrera, Kent, Reyes, Boylston, Seo et al. but unlike Murphy and Vishneva who have commitments elsewhere. it is all rather distressing and except for a few exceptions - Lane stuck with the matinee of T&V but getting a Coppelia, Gorak in Coppelia, etc. this is a distressing picture of the company. If Part decides to leave ABT for say English National Ballet or god bless us, the Royal Ballet, ABT is really screwed for principal ballerinas. Herrera, Reyes and Kent are not going to be dancing much longer - ditto Vishneva though she is a star and is already moving into less technically showy, more dramatic parts. Semionova is an excellent dancer but doesn't move or excite the balletomanes in the way Part does. Murphy is spending a lot of time in New Zealand. Seo has yet to show that she can carry other roles than Giselle or Juliet with authority and technical command. Boylston is growing by leaps and bounds and is pulling her weight. Lane and Abrera I honestly don't know why they are still there. Misty Copeland I think is a charismatic and fine dancer and versatile but not a heavy hitter in the 19th century classics. In five years this is going to be a decimated company.

One recent trend in McKenzie's promotions is his preference for tall, danseur noble types - similar to himself when he was a younger man and active performer. Corey Stearns, James Whiteside and Alexandre Hammoudi are all tall, elongated, long-limbed types. Dancers like Joseph Philips, Eric Tamm and Joseph Gorak are not all that tall - short to medium. One could posit that all three of these smaller men are better dancers though Whiteside is impressive and versatile from what I have seen of him this season. Hallberg and Gomes, the current premier danseurs of the company, are both over six feet but no one is complaining about their fast rise. The tall Thomas Forster is getting two "Sylphides" poet performances later this month, Gorak one and Tamm none. Look at the fairly long period the short virtuoso Herman Cornejo spent as a soloist compared with the meteoric rise of Stearns and Whiteside. Also Cornejo even after making principal was still mostly dancing soloist roles and had to wait years before getting Albrecht rather than Peasant PDD, Siegfried rather than Benno, Prince Desiré rather than Bluebird and Basilio rather than Lead Gypsy Dancer. So the big guys rise faster than the demi-caractere shorter guys in McKenzie's company. Congrats to Mr. Whiteside who is a hard-working dancer who successfully took on many new roles in his first season with the company. Onward and upward - he is sorely needed.

Here are some more casting suggestions: Stella Abrera as Titania, Giselle, Odette/Odile (this might be pushing her hard), Nikiya, Ashton Cinderella and Manon Sascha Radetsky as Frantz, Lescaut, Oberon

I think the "former" principal might refer to Osipova. Perhaps we might get her "Swan Lake"? Don Q: I'll get another chance to see Part as Kitri - hopefully not a matinee. Otherwise, yawn... Classics Splendor: what are the splendors revealed in this program? La Bayadere: I get to catch up on Semionova and Ivan Vasiliev who I missed last time. Manon: something for Julie Kent and Vishneva but also Cojocaru if ABT still is inviting her as an annual guest. Giselle: Since Gillian has unveiled her Giselle in NZ maybe she will bring the title role to NYC? What about Part? Ashton Cinderella: okay I am excited about this. WIll Gillian get the opening night? Another brilliant redhead allegro technician created it - Moira Shearer. Margot Fonteyn was the original casting choice but was injured - she later made it her own. Julie Julie Kent would have been a gorgeous Ashton Cinderella 15 years ago. I suspect Kevin will push Hee Seo into this - I hope her technique is up to it. Part is a good choice. Boylston will get some performances - maybe the opening night! Swan Lake: perhaps Osipova unveiling her Odette/Odile - otherwise, yawn... Coppélia: this doesn't have any interesting casting possiblities for me. I have seen everyone in it. All Shakespearean: "The Dream", "The Tempest" and "Moor's Pavane"? Vishneva and Kent were lovely as Titania but another good guest role for Cojocaru. Casting suggestions: Cojocaru as Titania, Ashton Cinderella, Odette/Odile, Manon, Giselle etc. Osipova as Odette/Odile (Giselle, Coppelia, Kitri but I suspect she is booked) Gillian Murphy as Giselle, Ashton Cinderella Denis Matvienko as Basilio, Albrecht, Siegfried Joseph Gorak as Albrecht, Des Grieux, Prince in Cinderella Sarah Lane as Manon, Coppelia, Cinderella

What I find dispiriting is that McKenzie is letting so many of the talented men in the corps slip away. Mikhail Ilyin, Joseph Phillips, Vitali Krauchenka, Roddy Doble... Ratmansky utilized Joe Phillips as Herman Cornejo's alternate in "Seven Sonatas". Ratmansky develops and rewards young talent regardless of rank. I think ABT maybe needs to start thinking about promoting Joseph Gorak and giving him several new roles. It seems that these corps men have decided it is better to be elsewhere - anywhere else in the case of Vladivostok... I also notice that Gabe Stone Shayer has major roles in the new Ratmansky ballets. He is not someone I have noticed before and seems to be fairly new to the company. He is the alternate Ariel in the "Tempest" and has a role in the Shostakovich evening in the Fall City Center season. Can anyone tell us about him?

I would argue that ABT not dancing Mayerling IS a loss, even for the sole reason that Marcelo Gomes would be fascinating in the Crown Prince Rudolf role. And even though the ballet is dominated by Rudolf, it does have several interesting parts for ballerinas--namely Mary Vetsera, Marie Larisch, Empress Elisabeth, and Princess Stephanie, which I feel could be danced well by several of ABT's dancers (Vishneva for Vetsera and Part for Larisch immediately come to mind). David Hallberg's strong acting as the anti-hero title character of "Onegin" and as the tormented outcast in Ratmansky's "Chamber Symphony" in the Shostakovich Trilogy also suggests to me that he would be a wonderful Prince Rudolf. However, I saw the ballet danced by the Royal on tour in the 1990's with Mukhamedov and Durante in the leads and found it an overstuffed, choreographically impoverished bore. Marcelo Gomes with his excellent partnering skills and physical strength and natural flamboyance and swagger is more than ready to take on Petruchio in the Cranko "Taming of the Shrew".

A lot of the critics felt that the Holmes/McKenzie "Raymonda" looked too "My Little Pony" or "Barbie goes Medieval". McKenzie also went the Disney route with his "Sleeping Beauty" which I will see tonight. Frankly, I say acquire the La Scala staging by Sergei Vikharev. BTW: in a conversation with Diana Vishneva at the stage door I mentioned the fact that she hadn't danced Raymonda in New York. Vishneva replied that it was in her repertory at the Mariinsky but that the ABT production was not up to their standard. It deterred her from requesting the role with ABT.

ABT's website has a listing of all the ballets in its repertory over the years: http://www.abt.org/education/archive/index.html The Birgit Cullberg "Miss Julie" was very highly regarded back in the day. It is still in the repertory of some European houses. "La Fille Mal Gardée" would be a wonderful ballet to revive because with the abundance of short male principals, the role of Colas would be easy to cast. That part can work with a smaller more demi-caractère danseur. Simkin, Cornejo (moving up from Alain), Vasiliev (with some coaching) and hopefully Gorak would all be excellent in the part. Lise would still fit Murphy, Reyes and Herrera and Sarah Lane, Osipova and Boylston would all excel in it. But since ABT is adding the Ashton "Cinderella" and is likely reviving the Ashton "The Dream" as half of the Shakespeare double bill with Ratmansky's "The Tempest" that would create a glut of Ashton. Many of the works that have not been revived in ages are the shorter works by ABT's founding choreographers: Tudor and DeMille. I am talking "Pillar of Fire", "Fall River Legend", "Billy the Kid", "Undertow", "Dim Lustre", "Les Patineurs" "Dark Elegies" - ballets that ABT established its artistic identity with. The big kahuna here is the Tudor "Romeo and Juliet" which is trembling on the brink of extinction - the last generation of dancers and coaches who know the work are quite old now. According to an interview by Kevin McKenzie the essential missing element is the scenery by Eugene Berman. The sets would cost millions today to reproduce despite the fact that they were probably painted flats. This is something the Doris Duke or Nureyev foundations or National Endowment for the Humanities should pounce on. ABT did do the "Anastasia" by MacMillan for one season - in the full-length version. I didn't see it (traveling that month) but it was not well received. The shorter version is superior. Vishneva might be an interesting choice for the title role but it isn't a great ballet from what I have heard. ABT has never done MacMillan's "Mayerling" and I am not sure that is a loss. (We won't mention "Winter Dreams", "The Prince of the Pagodas" or *shudder* "The Judas Tree" - my only positive takeaway from that monstrosity was Irek Mukhamedov in a torn wifebeater and tight jeans). I saw the Cranko "Taming of the Shrew" with Ferri and Bocca (and Gomes as Lucentio) and loved it with them. Didn't see it again. Supposedly it wasn't revived because the dancers hated doing it.

I saw "Sylvia" on Monday, Tuesday night and the Wednesday matinee. Here are some comparisons: Sylvia: Gillian Murphy danced superbly and I loved her mime. She actually tried to build an emotional arc to the character and she was charming. Gillian and Marcelo had wonderful chemistry onstage and she looked genuinely enamored of him in the final act. Polina Semionova has a flawless effortless technique and great personal beauty. Gillian has a more athleticism in her dancing (fine for a warlike Amazon) and sort of snaps into her positions and steps. Her dancing has physical force. Polina was totally smooth and even - it all looked effortless and sort of the same. Her dancing lacked dynamic levels for me even if her body is stunning and the steps are all nailed without difficulty. It didn't mean enough. Semionova's acting was lovely and she is a beautiful woman with a sinuous body - her odalisque-type harem dance in Act II with Orion was the best of all. Part's regal beauty and great stature made a perfect vision as Sylvia. Her Act I was excellent throughout though there were places where I felt the last-minute change of partner and the lack of rehearsal and experience showed. She seemed a little unsure of how to place herself on the Amazons' bows in the Act I entrance pas. Also Veronika still has bad trouble with unsupported pirouettes - supported ones as well - she has a tendency to spin off-center, tipping off the vertical and nearly falling out. I have seen her struggle with these in the Shades scene in "Bayadere" and also in a recent rehearsal of "Corsaire" she had problems with a combination in the Act II pas de trois based on unsupported spins. Here the trouble came in the Act III pas de deux where Sylvia has to do an unsupported pirouette and Aminta rushes in and catches her - she nearly collapsed on the first one and Marcelo jumped in early to steady her. She did better on the second one but it was a fraught moment. Otherwise, Part's phrasing, broad jumps (I think as impressive as Osipova's) and musicality were gorgeous. A very fine debut that will improve if and when she gets a chance to repeat and refine it. Aminta: Gomes bring a lot of passion, impulsivity and more dramatic variety to the role. He dances it wonderfully. Bolle has the carriage and nobility and plays a simpler, more passive, romantic character. He is more classical and stylized in his execution of the choreography - Gomes hurls himself into the steps whereas Bolle is more a classical statue striking gorgeous poses. Glad I don't have to choose between the two. Orion: All three danced really well. Corey Stearns had the blandest characterization but may have danced it the best with stunning split jumps. Jared Matthews was working the old-school Bolshoi Vakhtang Chabukiani/Gedeminas Taranda popping-eyes, manically grinning savage ballet wild man routine. He was a lot of fun. Very over the top in just the right way. Whiteside had a very good balance of strong dance technique, imposing physique and stage presence. Eros: Both Simkin and Salstein were fine. Simkin more easily morphed into a god-like divinity and his dancing was very aerial in Act III. Salstein relished the humor of the old-man magician impersonation. He also danced strongly in Act III with fine scissoring jumps. Shout out to Joseph Gorak and Sarah Lane as the Goats in Act III - what dancing and stunning style! They got cheers. Arron Scott and Gemma Bond were also fine on Wednesday afternoon. Leann Underwood was lovely in the mostly mime role of Diana on Tuesday. Stella Abrera was a vision of loveliness as Ceres on Tuesday. I liked Roddy Doble's concerned Greek shepherd who finds the fallen Aminta on Tuesday night. BTW: in the past the coaching of the corps has been poor in this ballet. Usually the dance of Fauns and Nymphs in the first scene was a shambles. I only found out what Ashton intended when I watched the video from the Royal Ballet with Bussell and Bolle. It looked much better this time around and many soloists like Isabella Boylston and Misty Copeland were filling out the corps as Sylvia's attendants in Act III.

Herman danced "La Sylphide" with Osipova and they looked fine together. But a lot of Bournonville is the ballerina and premier danseur dancing side by side - not as many lifts or promenades. I think Paloma fits the category of mid-height ballerinas who often prefer tall partners with Murphy, Vishneva and Kent. Herrera in her early ABT career was partnered with Angel Corella but eventually she was more often paired with Carreno, Gomes or Stiefel. Stiefel and Carreno were mid-height and Corella a little below that. I felt that Murphy looked too mature and womanly and slightly too tall when dancing with Corella. Corella and Cojocaru were perfect together but only danced Giselle together at ABT. Corella never consistently found the perfect partner at ABT - unlike Bocca/Ferri, Vishneva/Malakhov or Vishneva/Gomes, Ballerina-Fill-In-the-Blank/Gomes. Now with Malakhov, Stiefel, Corella and Carreno retired, ABT lacks a mid-height or a little taller male principal. They have got very tall men like Gomes, Hallberg, Bolle, Stearns and Hammoudi. And then the short guys like Simkin, Cornejo, Vasiliev, Salstein, etc. Denis Matvienko is a little above middle height and partners well with Murphy.

Puppytreats, it is an important part of the canon because it is Petipa - however, how much "Petipa" it contains and how "Petipa" it is danced depends on the company and the version of the choreography that is danced. Petipa choreographed the ballet for the Bolshoi in Moscow in 1869 and restaged it in St. Petersburg in 1871. If you read Cyril Beaumont's "Complete Book of Ballets", he got a synopsis of Petipa's original 1871 St. Petersburg version and it is very different from the ballet as it is danced today. The story has many other characters and includes more of Don Quixote as protagonist and less Kitri and Basilio. The wikipedia article also includes this synopsis: http://en.wikipedia....uixote_(ballet) The Alexander Gorsky Bolshoi revision of 1900 that he restaged in St. Petersburg in 1902 is the basis for all modern revivals. It cuts out a lot of the story and mime and adds much more character dancing. That version, much altered is what ABT performs today. So we are several steps away from Petipa. The Bolshoi does a very circusy, everything-including-the-kitchen-sink version staged by Alexander Fadeyechev (that is the one they toured to NYC in 2005 - is it still used?). The Maryinsky-Kirov version has details that western versions don't use - children interspersed with the Dryads in the Act II "Dream" sequence for example that once you see it you miss it when it isn't there. That dream sequence is the most authentic original "Petipa" choreography. Ideally, Kitri would exude the demi-caractère Spanish dancer bravura of a Bolshoi ballerina in Act I, morph into a pure classical "Mariinsky" ballerina as Dulcinea in Act II's "Dream" sequence and then combine both qualities in Act III. She needs to dance in multiple styles and not just be a jumper/athlete virtuoso. Just like Violetta in "La Traviata" needs a soprano with a different voice for each act. Similar to Odette/Odile in "Swan Lake" she asks the interpreter to dance in many different styles - be proficient in both adagio and allegro. Nina Ananiashvili had all of these qualities. I also saw Sylvie Guillem as Kitri circa 1991 who could be very classical and very daring. Soubrettes can work too - provided they have great technical strength.

I checked out the alternate casting last night, Joseph Gorak danced so superbly in "Drink to me Only with Thine Eyes" - but he also blended into the ensemble while Marcelo, in the same role, could not help but stand out. Gorak also has a very pliable back and fluid arms - you notice the beautiful feet and clean jumps but I was impressed by his port de bras. He had a windswept quality. As Natalya Petrovna in "A Month in the Country", Hee Seo was interestingly different from Julie Kent. Her acting is more innocent, spontaneous - less calculated. Her face and manner have a kind of transparency. While Julie Kent is a glamorous mature woman trying to recapture the youthful passion that passed her by, Hee Seo is a young woman married to an older man who is frustrated and acting out covertly. She is less the aggressor and more the victim of her own vulnerability and emotional needs. Julie was a bit more the cougar. Hee Seo has very fluid skimming bourrees, great speed and more flexibility in the upper body. It all looked effortless - though Julie danced with a certain gorgeous regal quality on Wednesday night. David Hallberg as the Tutor also seemed younger and more innocent - probably closer to Turgenev. His Beliaev is a naive, charming young man who also was a bit of a romantic dreamer. While Bolle seemed more a man of the world - aware of his own attractiveness - Hallberg was more bewildered about all the female desire he stirred up. Sarah Lane was more of a spitfire than Gemma Bond as Vera. Impulsive and quick-witted and with a temper when crossed. I felt that Hee Seo, Hallberg, Lane and Messmer all surpassed dancing wise the first night cast. Daniil Simkin is a stronger dancer than Arron Scott but he also kind of stuck out with his flamboyance. Scott seemed more part of the ensemble - not a star turn. Roddy Doble had strong stage presence as Rakitin and the chameleon-like Roman Zhurbin added another old-man impersonation to his many disguises. "Symphony in C" starts out very badly but does get better as it goes along. As I said the orchestra is a problem and the corps lacks emsemble, speed, style and articulation. The first movement needs syncopation and the dancers need to dance off the beat at times and always anticipate the beat not drag behind it. Stella Abrera, infinitely better than the tired and dowdy Paloma Herrera, had the right attack, elegance and speed. But everything around her kept her from pulling the First Movement together. Semionova certainly looks gorgeous and has technique for days. With help from Gomes, she tied the steps together so it all looked seamless. I felt that Semionova had more flow than Part but less involvement - it was a touch cold and proficient. Osipova and Vasiliev did have the speed, buoyancy and attack needed but kept themselves within Balanchine's framework. They maintained a sense of style and you could see not the virtuoso whiz kids but elegant classicists who disciplined their physical ability to the music and choreography. Simone Messmer's whiplash pirouettes in the finale showed that she could keep up with any principal in the company - she is a fantastic dancer with power that ABT has not seen fit to fully utilize. Abrera, Osipova, Messmer and definitely in her dancing Semionova all had a great "Symphony in C" within them but the framework surrounding and supporting them was too unsteady.

Cross-posted from other thread: mussel, on 22 May 2013 - 12:23 AM, said: "Osipova & Vasiliev were at the dress rehearsal this afternoon, so all is well, her absence from the gala was just a pre-caution." FauxPas, on 23 May 2013 - 01:41 PM, said: "Osipova danced the third movement of "Symphony in C" yesterday afternoon - quite well according to report. I will see her tonight. However, Herman Cornejo is injured (per a note in the program at last night's performance). He was replaced by a very fine Ivan Vasiliev whose sloppy showboating mannerisms were nowhere in evidence dancing Balanchine. He looked wonderful." mimsyb, on 23 May 2013 - 02:55 PM, said: "Agreed. He didn't (nor did she at the matinee) "over dance" the third. But I wasn't impressed with how he looked in the black costume. Against all the other ABT men who looked so sleek, he came across as looking a bit "rumpled." But at least he can do a really clean entre-chat-cinq and that counted. Can someone tell me please. At the opening step combination in the third, was there ever a double sau-de-basque. I seem to recall that happening with a few of the male dancers of yore. Just wondering. My amazement wasn't so much with the Russian duo as with the absolute gorgeous-ness of Stella in the 1st movement! OMG! Sheer perfection. Tell me again why this woman is not a principle? And then there was the outrageous beauty of Polina and Marcello leading the 2nd. Words elude me. For a ballet that tells no story, the two of them spoke volumns. For me the cast from Wednesday matinee in all three ballets was the one to see. Happily, I get to see them again tonight!" I attended the Mixed Bill on Wednesday night. I thought that "Drink to me Only with Thine Eyes" looked a little lost on the huge Met stage. However, those who saw the piece at City Center said it looked too cramped on that smaller stage and the twelve dancers needed the larger stage space of the Met to do the jumps and running back and forth, Marcelo Gomes and Isabella Boylston had the more bravura solos. Sascha Radetsky, Hee Seo and Simone Messmer did beautiful things. I felt that I needed to be closer to them. "A Month in the Country" had a lovely set and costumes for the ladies. At her second performance, I felt that Julie Kent had relaxed into a lovely, nuanced portrayal - I didn't see any overacting or obviousness in her characterization. Natalya Petrovna is not a tragic heroine like Tatyana in "Onegin" or Anna Karenina - she is a bored somewhat selfish woman in a serious comedy. Kent balanced the flighty, self-centered qualities of Natalya with her frustrated longing for real love and passion. Her dealings with her ward showed a coldly self-serving, manipulative side. Kent however remained sympathetic throughout. The choreography is full of petit allegro and batterie - no big pirouettes or bravura that would overtax Kent's diminished technique. I always felt that Kent had an "Antoinette Sibley" English kind of purity to her dancing - Ashton suits her well (except for Sylvia which she couldn't handle). I agree that Natalya Petrovna would have been a wonderful part for Vishneva - or Irina Dvorovenko for that matter (as it was for Natalia Makarova). Maybe next year - ABT seems to be cutting down Vishneva's repertory and number of appearances. Gemma Bond comes directly from the English Royal Ballet School tradition and her Vera was beautifully danced and acted. Bond seems to be breaking out of the corps this season - Roddy Doble as well. Jared Matthews seemed too young in the mostly acting role of Rakitin. Victor Barbee was convincingly befuddled as the older husband. Roberto Bolle as Beliaev was hampered by silly facial hair and a truly schlumpy ugly costume. It looked like cheap washed-out powder blue lounging pajamas and discolored horribly when he began to sweat. It is a testament to his great personal beauty and presence that he was totally convincing as an irresistable object of female desire in that horrible costume. (He brings Italian fans to New York to see him - some were seated beside me and skipped the last ballet) I agree on the excellence of Daniil Simkin and Stella Abrera in their roles - though Abrera had rather little to do and the part could have easily gone to a corps dancer like Luciana Paris or Isabella Loyola. The piece seemed well mounted. The "Symphony in C" initially lacked the sharpness and precision (and musical polish) of the NYCB version. (The orchestra and corps at ABT are not as good as their counterparts across the plaza) I thought the costumes (after Karinska) were lovely. The corps looked fuzzy in the first movement and everyone seemed to be dancing behind the beat. Then it started to come into focus. Paloma Herrera was unmemorable in the first movement though James Whiteside is excellent. Veronika on her second night had no noticeable wobbles and didn't look shaky to me. However she was kind of going from step to step and this choreography (which should suit her perfectly) needs to unfurl like a skein of spun silk. Corey was an attentive retiring partner. The third movement had a charming animated Xiomara Reyes partnered by a buoyant, happy Ivan Vasiliev. As I said he was finishing his steps, pointing his feet and left all his sloppy showboating Soviet ways behind him. Very disciplined classical dancing. Fourth movement had a bubbly Sarah Lane (no spills yesterday) and a dashing Sascha Radetsky. It ended better than it started. Still needs a little more speed, precise articulation and "le chic" to be great.

Osipova danced the third movement of "Symphony in C" yesterday afternoon - quite well according to report. I will see her tonight. However, Herman Cornejo is injured (per a note in the program at last night's performance). He was replaced by a very fine Ivan Vasiliev whose sloppy showboating mannerisms were nowhere in evidence dancing Balanchine. He looked wonderful.

I did a double day of "Onegin" on Wednesday. I will be out of town on Friday/Saturday so Vishneva/Gomes will wait until Monday and I will miss Dvorovenko's farewell. The matinee had the stronger pair of women, the evening performance had the better men. Definitely Irina was the star of the matinee performance. Her technique is still excellent - as Tatiana's Act II solo pas with its many pirouettes and changes in direction showed. As an actress she showed a firm command of the character and its many changes throughout with many striking details of characterization. If in her final scene with Onegin the passion seemed a little manufactured, that had to do with her Onegin, Corey Stearns. Corey is always improving and this was a very well-danced performance. His partnering in the Letter/Dream pas de deux in Act I in particular was very accomplished and secure. And this is after I nearly bit my nails off wondering if he was going to drop Irina in their "Dame aux Camellias" performances two seasons ago. But he is callow onstage and pairing him with a mature, accomplished ballerina like Dvorovenko (or Part) just shows his lack of maturity. He couldn't match her intensity and he lacked sexual allure seeming bland. He had been very well coached but the dramatic fire wasn't there. Gemma Bond stepped out of the corps to dance Olga and was lovely. Beautiful footwork. Compared with the boistrous Osipova last season, she is a gently cheerful English rose, not quite the giddy hoyden that the Russian star gave us. But it was a very well danced and lovely portrayal - more please. In fact how about some Lilac Fairies later this season? Or a Princess Florine or Dryad Queen in "Don Q" (not Amour - Gemma is too tall). Bond is definitely as strong if not stronger than several soloist women. Blaine Hoven has lost weight losing that thickness around the middle and upper thighs that plagued him recently and he is in good technical form. He listed a bit to one side during a pirouette turn in his first solo but from then on danced well. Vitali Krauchenka was a wonderful courtly, formal and convincingly old world aristocrat Prince Gremin. Anyway, Irina will have a triumph at her farewell on Saturday if she can match what she did on Wednesday afternoon. I actually rather like Hallberg's Onegin right from the beginning. It sort of gave him an opportunity to show us the dark side of his blond princes - the hauteur, comtempt for inferiors, self-regard and boredom that might lurk behind Albrecht's or Siegfried's princely facade. His dancing looked fine and I was watching his facial expressions through binoculars and he was always reacting in an interesting way. Hee Seo has a lovely natural unaffected smile and manner onstage and her Tatiana seemed very fresh and guileless but also a touch bland compared with Dvorovenko and Vishneva. Seo doesn't yet project the same level of dramatic detail or inner life as they can suggest. However, Seo can more easily evoke the physicality of a young teenage girl than more experienced ballerinas. She also is very light which made her seem like a feather during all the lifts in the pas de deuxs with Onegin in Act I and III. Joseph Gorak has wonderful feet and a beautiful jump, clean beats and gorgeous line - he was a sweet boyish Lensky. Again, how about some Bluebirds if he hasn't danced the role before at ABT? Benvolio in R&J too. Yuriko Kajiya is always very adept and rather colorless - same goes for her Olga. She did bring out the shapes of the choreography very accurately but lacked any real warmth. Roddy Doble was a very physically imposing, commanding but tender Prince Gremin. I think ABT goes a little overboard with the gray hair they put on Onegin in Act III - it is supposed to be 7 or 10 years later not 20 or 30.

Regarding the smoke and lighting effects in "In the Upper Room" - I found the effect less striking this time because the back of the stage was more brightly lit than in the past. When I first saw this ballet at City Center some years ago the back of the stage was very dark. When the dancers walked into the smoke enveloped pool of light center stage (created by lamps positioned in the wings) it looked like they were materializing from some void. This time you could see the curtains at the back of the stage where they were entering from. My guess is that there were problems with visibility or maybe the stage floor? But that wasn't the case back then.

From my experience with Alexei Ratmansky, he is a force for good in this world. At the Bolshoi he promoted dancers who were being shamefully held back by previous administrations (Lunkina, Masha Alexandrova - I was present when he personally announced Lunkina's promotion from the Met stage after a performance of "Bright Stream"). Ratmansky also found and developed bright young talents immediately (Osipova, Vasiliev et al.). At ABT he latched on to Part when her present and future were cloudy and doubtful and his continued support definitely was a factor in the dramatic turnaround in her fortunes at ABT. Casting Radetsky and Abrera together to create central roles in this important new work definitely is sending a message to upper management. May I also mention that though I imagine that Cornejo was a miracle on the Lone Man role, Jared Matthews continued his good work from last Summer in "Onegin" and other works. As for Cory, though he has disappointed in the past (mainly in the big classic story ballets) I still feel he has a lot to offer and a lot of potential for improvement and achievement. I never have felt the urge to write him off completely. His Albrecht last summer I felt also showed acting improvement. BTW: Cory was also quite nice as the the Lover in Tudor's "Lilac Garden" and Part was sensational in the same performance as "An Episode in his Past" . She really has the right look and personality for those dramatic ballets from the 1940's as "Moor's Pavane" showed! Note to ABT: schedule a longer City Center season next year - your main company dancers like Craig Salstein, Simone Messmer, Sascha and Stella et al. really benefit from this repertory. Too much emphasis on full-length classics is where these dancers really suffer. Just seeing Messmer or Cornejo change from modern dance to contemporary ballet to neoclassical or classical ballet is a revelation. They need it and the company as a whole needs it - the variety in the repertory enriches everyone.

I saw the Saturday night program which sadly was the only program I saw. Saturday evening October 20: Symphony #9 (Alexei Ratmansky): I think this is the best work that Ratmansky has done so far at ABT and I can't wait to see what he does with the other two pieces and how it all shapes up as a whole. The cast was Roberto Bolle and Veronika Part as the main, serious couple with Sascha Radetsky and a gorgeous Stella Abrera as the other, lighthearted couple with Jared Matthews as the lone jumping male dancer. Like Balanchine, Ratmansky has used different groups of dancers to embody certain emotions or themes in the music. We see the more joyous assertive Radetsky/Abrera couple leading the corps in various formations. The serious couple, Bolle and Part look on in wonderment at their self-confidence and exuberance. They tentatively take the stage and dance a searching, meditative pas de deux. The groups alternate with the Part and Bolle couple seeming to gain a sense of their own place in this group. It seems to end in mid-sentence but on a positive note - again one has to see where this fits in the larger, full-evening work. I don't know if this is the first, second or third piece in the work. It feels like either a beginning or middle section. Many people who had seen both casts preferred Part to Semionova though Tobi Tobias felt that Part was soap opera emoting and over the top. I loved Part's warmth and felt that she gave an emotional center to the piece. BTW: about injuries and slippery falls - one of the corps girls (Isabella Loyola? hard to tell they all had identical hairstyles and dresses) slipped and fell badly but recovered after a few moments. So maybe there is a problem with the floor there. The Moor's Pavane (José Limon): I saw this piece done by the New York Theatre Ballet last year at Florence Gould Hall on a small stage with pre-recorded music. It was very interesting to see it done in a larger theater with live music (and a dream cast). The choreography uses real Renaissance dances and groupings to tell the story in a primal, stripped down fashion. It is quite effective even in a large space. Marcelo Gomes I knew had the emotional range for the Othello role since he has already done the part superbly in Lar Lubovitch's version (I saw him with Alessandra Ferri's lovely Desdemona in her last season at ABT). Julie Kent looked lovely and her elegant lyricism is perfect for the role - I was high up in the balcony and she didn't look too mature to me. There is no pointe work here and she probably is overqualified technically for the piece - interpretively I found her ideal. Veronika Part returned as the Friend's Wife (the Emilia figure) looking voluptuous and decadent in a scarlet gown. The role of Emilia is more complicit in this version than she is in the play seeming to be a rather amoral but not malicious voluptuary. Part made it clear when the story turned to murder and betrayal that she felt used and wronged by the turn of events. Cory Stearns did some of the best acting I have seen from him. I think that he needs careful coaching and the stager from the Limon Foundation, Clay Taliaferro did a wonderful job with him. He was wonderfully subtle and insinuating. In the Upper Room (Twyla Tharp): Cornejo was injured so Craig Salstein stepped in for him and a joyous Eric Tamm replaced Salstein in his track. Luciana Paris replaced Kristi Boone as one of the "Stomping Girls in Sneakers". This piece is a real audience pleaser. Sascha Radetsky once told me when I spoke to him on the street that he loves this ballet and he gave a wonderful performance (by the way his tattoos were covered by a concealer makeup though other dancers were proudly displaying theirs). Simone Messmer was a revelation as the other "Stomping Girl in Sneakers" - she didn't look like a classical ballerina at all - compare this with her magnificently danced Gamzatti this past summer! Like any front-rank ABT ballerina she covers a wide gamut of styles. I endorse the description of her as having a "Kurt Weill" quality. Isabella Boylston danced the main "Ballerina girl in red pointe shoes and leg warmers" role that Paloma Herrera (not dancing this engagement) has done so well with in the past. Boylston really seemed in her element as a modern ballerina and owned the stage. Salstein had a few bad moments partnering Messmer in some tricky lifts and catches but I suspect that is was unfamiliarity as they probably hadn't rehearsed it together. Otherwise Craig was great as was Arron Scott and all the men. The piece does drag a bit in the middle but is a great "Big Finish" for a mixed bill. The audience was shouting and stomping at the end.

Well very few companies are hiring 40-something dancers. It says somewhere that Max debuted professionally in 1990 when he probably was a teenager. So he is forty or above. Max and Irina had big guesting engagements worldwide. It precluded their participation in the tours and Fall City Center gigs with ABT. They are not included in the City Center season this year or on any of the tours. Frankly, they probably could still dance the Iago and Emilia roles in "The Moor's Pavane" rather well. The only outside engagements they have right now are some "Nutcracker" performances in December - one series in a high school auditorium. http://www.festivalballet.org/fbt/nutcracker2012.html It is probably worth it staying on just to be able to market himself as a current ABT principal. It would help them get outside gigs. The other big question is "Why is ABT keeping Max B on the roster - paying him - and then not casting him?". Do they have a per performance contract or is it a seasonal contract? Maybe Max has a benefactor (Theresa Khawly in the past) who keeps sponsoring his contract.

I went yet again last night (when are we going to see these dancers again in NY? I am still obsessing over the one "La Bayadere" cast I missed back in 1996 with Marie-Claude Pietragalla and Manuel Legris - two dancers I never saw live). The cast was led by Dorothée Gilbert and Josua Hoffalt, both under 30 (unlike the 35 to 40ish other casts dancing this week and last). The whole cast skewed younger. In seeing many Giselles over the years I have noticed that young dancers bring a certain unaffected natural youth and innocence to Giselle and Albrecht. The characters being and seeming very young and inexperienced helps the story seem inevitable and also makes the protagonists' naiveté, mistakes and exuberance more sympthetic and credible. Older dancers bring years of experience to the dramatic details, a sense of style and often more emotional depth to the story. Gilbert was easily and by a long shot, the best-danced Giselle of this engagement (I am seeing Osta tonight but she is retiring as of tomorrow). She has long, supple flexible limbs with great strength in footwork and turns. So you got the long lyrical romantic line without sacrificing brilliance and speed in the more bravura passages. As an actress, Gilbert is no match for Ciaravola but has a sunny girlish quality - she is a joyous Giselle experiencing the first heady rush of romantic love. She has a lovely natural smile onstage and it lit up the whole first act. The darker more tragic colors of the character were not as easily available to her. Her mad scene was done correctly but didn't convince me on a deeper level and the reactions of the other characters seemed muted. In the second act, Gilbert was on fire - whiplash turns when Giselle spins backwards when reanimated by Myrtha. She often extended the crests of phrases by balancing on pointe before darting into the wings. The audience went nuts for her. She did a very fast backwards bourree offstage that had the audience roaring. Both she and Hoffalt were applauded for individual steps in their solos. Only glitch was in Giselle's final backward glide offstage, Gilbert didn't gauge where the leg of the drop was and bumped into a canvas tree trunk. She had been perfect in every way before but I am sure that is all she was thinking about afterwards! I know how that it is! Josua Hoffalt is a medium height dancer and lacks the personal magnetism and looks of Ganio and Paquette. Hoffalt's acting is decent enough but not as specific as Ganio and he doesn't have the ballet prince glamor of Paquette. However, dance-wise, his technique was much better. All the POB men have terrific batterie but sometimes come down from jumps or assemblé turns hard on the foot and shakily. Not Hoffalt - his line was very stretched and all his landings were clean and precise. His second act variation was the best so far and he also got huge waves of applause in Act II. He also danced a very long series of entrechats sixes including maybe an extra set before he quit. (Nicolas Le Riche back in the day could have beat him but I am not so sure about today). Both Gilbert and Hoffalt have a natural bouyancy in their movements which the audience reacted to very enthusiastically. Axel Ibot and Heloise Bourdon were the Peasant PDD couple. Ibot is a charmer with stunning batterie and a light arched jump. His first solo was absolutely perfect (better than on Saturday afternoon) but in the second solo he came down sloppily and nearly spilled over when landing backwards from a turn. Some assemblé turns finished with his feet out of position. Definitely a world-class dancer in there but to my eyes a little green and in need of some further polishing. Heloise Bourdon has gorgeous long arched feet and airy precise technique. She was a joy to watch - very graceful and elegant. Yann Saiz had a brooding sexy presence as Hilarion - I might have chosen him over Albrecht. In Act II, Laura Hecquet danced Myrtha extremely well but lacks the authority and height of Gillot. On the other hand, like Gilbert and Hoffalt all the technical challenges were easily handled by her - the bourrees were silent, tiny but very smooth. I think I am liking the slow bourrees as they give Myrtha more regal and sinister grace. Like a dark storm cloud slowly rolling in. The other way makes her frenetic and more overtly dramatic. The wilis corps was very precise last night. I still don't like some of the changes to the choreography - the fast and jagged "digging dirt" upward swerves of the wilis arms. I also don't like the hordes of Wilis that scare away the dice-throwers. It diminishes the wonder of Myrtha's first appearance onstage. Anyway, there was a lot of young people up in the fourth ring and a standing ovation afterwards. Lots of yelling and screaming enthusiasm. I think the Paris Opera Ballet dancers are really enjoying their stay in New York - for many of them their last tour probably.

I will be going to Osta's last-ever Giselle next Thursday. Meanwhile, I saw the opening night and Saturday matinee. Isabelle Ciaravola had more of the true romantic spirit in her epaulement and arm movements than Dupont who is essentially a classical ballerina doing Romantic. Ciaravola is not young (she joined the corps de ballet in 1990 at the age of 18) but she projects willowy youth and openness of spirit. She is indeed a very fine dramatic actress and brought a spiritual dimension to the second act. Dupont on Friday reminded me of late-career Susan Jaffe as Giselle. Jaffe was more naturally a Myrtha (which she danced in the 80's and 90's with Ferri and Bocca) with her strong line and cool glamour. However, Susan Jaffe improved as an actress a great deal so that even if she couldn't be a shy innocent teenager, she could act one in a very detailed and precise manner. The second act shows a more impassive, mature spirit Giselle and Jaffe was fine in the second act. I had the same reaction to Dupont - it was not a glossed-over performance dramatically - she worked out many convincing and intelligent moments. But the spirit and face are of a strong, capable and sophisticated woman. Also Dupont's physicality as a ballerina is classical. In the second act which is pure dance, she convinced me. However, I have seen Giselles from late career Maximova and Fracci through Ferri to Vishneva and Cojocaru today. Dupont didn't have that emotional intensity or the sheer dance power of Osipova. Ciaravola is petite but with a small torso with proportionally very long arms and legs. So she can float while revolving on pointe slowly and can hover in a balance. There is a willowy lightness to her movements that is very Giselle. Her face which is not a young face (though the heavy makeup causes her to look older) is constantly mirroring her emotions. There was a feeling of spontaneity in her reactions - nothing looked overly worked out. In the mad scene the moment where she stumbles over the sword was shockingly spontaneous and seemed a stage accident though it was not. Neither Dupont or Ciaravola have the deep penchées or flexible backs of the Russian ballerinas but Ciaravola has Russian arms. She was very light in Act II and kept a sense of emotional through line - she was going to save Albrecht and redeem their love on a higher level. She is a wonderful dancer and actress. Karl Paquette was a fine Albrecht but again like Ganio he only really clicked dramatically and dance-wise in Act II. He seemed efficient technically but sometimes blank in Act I despite perfect blond prince looks and manner. In the second act grand pas he really brought his best game. His partnering of Ciaravola was excellent. The supporting cast was much better at the Saturday matinee and the orchestra played much better. Marie-Agnes Gillot has the frightening authority and technical chops for a definitive Myrtha (her bourrees were also slow - clearly the choice of the stagers) much stronger than Cozette. Axel Ibot had lots of verve and charm in the Peasant Pas de Deux and Heloise Bourdon was charming and graceful. Audric Bezard was much more dramatically propulsive and charismatc than the opening night Hilarion, Vincent Chaillet.

Though his name was not listed in initial casting releases, Axel Ibot is dancing the Bastille Day Saturday matinee at 2 p.m. tomorrow with Mlle. Bourdon. He is also dancing the July 18th performance as well.

I saw Roddy Doble dance Solor's solo from the Kingdom of the Shades scene in "La Bayadere". He was a guest alumni performer at the final round of the 2009 New York International Ballet Competition. He isn't just big - the guy can move. His only mistake was that the stage was too small for his last round of barrel turns and he banged into the backdrop. He could do more. I suspect that Alexandre Hammoudi's precipitous rise to soloist was the need for a tall soloist from the corps. Several medium and shorter dancers who are way more polished and reliable technically than Hammoudi were passed over.

I saw both the Wednesday night opener and went back again last night. Every ballet seemed to be dialed down in energy and excitement due to the casting. I happened to enjoy "Suite en Blanc" but Emilie Cozette though accomplished technically was not match for Marie-Agnes Gillot as the Cigarette solo. She does everything right but leaves no impression. The rest of the dancers were good. "Arlesienne" and "Bolero" depend a lot on the intensity and charisma of the lead performers. Benjamin Pech was no match for Jeremie Belingard's passion and dance power. Belingard really threw himself wildly into the turns and jumps suggesting real emotional desperation. Pech is good but doesn't have the emotional or physical power. In "Bolero" Marie-Agnes Gillot was very precise, cool and knew what every move meant. But she doesn't have the animal magnetism that Nicolas Le Riche has - it was a different story. Also, Gillot isn't exactly a naturally sensual dancer. All depends on the casting.