aurora

I know a lot of people don't like Whiteside very much on here, but there is no way that is anything but a VAST improvement!

Why would the original ending suggest Japanese spies? In any case this meant they went with a "happier" ending. I'm not saying it was Messerer and Dolinskaïa's personal preference.

You said yesterday: "The 'happy ending' was introduced by Asaf Messerer and Evgeniya Dolinskaïa in their 1937 production of Swan lake at Bolchoï. If you know what has been happening in Soviet Union in 1937, you should not be surprised that this was then the only possible ending. Sergeev simply inserted that ending into his Kirov production, most likely he was forced to do that. We know that Grigorovich's version of 1969 had the tragic ending, but he was forced by the party authorities to revert to what was euphemistically called the "optimistic" ending." But it wasn't because they wanted a more "optimistic" ending?

I do (as clearly do a lot of other people). It loses all poignancy with a slapped on happy ending. The original ending HAS good triumphing over evil. It was modified because people wanted a "happier" ending. This is the same reason Prokofiev wanted to tack one on R&J. That is the parallel I was making--obviously the libretti are quite different and from different types of sources.

It was also packed last week for R&J weds matinee.

But good triumphs over evil in the original text. That is the point. Their deaths free them and free the remaining swans. I agree with Drew. The "happy" ending is a jarring dissonant note to the entire story. Does it ruin a good performance for me? No, but it leaves a very sour note at the end. I mean you might as well have gone along with Prokofiev's idiotic idea of making Romeo & Juliet live happily ever after.

Sounds feasible to me. Especially when considered in combination with the current lack of soloists (2, effectively) --who would normally expect to do many (if not all) of these roles.

She performed one of the 3 shades on June 1st (I believe). There was discussion on here about how it was so beneath her to do a (barely) soloist role but she ended up falling off point in the rapid series of releves across the stage in arabesque and it was not a good showing.

Kristen was talking about her turn at the first shade, which was not good.

Certainly, but it is not documented with regards to Johnsey.

The unnamed friend who partners pierette

Angelica--I'm not meaning to imply your eyesight is poorer than most, but rather to let you know (as you said you hadn't seen it yet) that the mime in this ballet is quite broadly performed (whereas not all dancers really broadcast the mime in Odette's meeting Seigfried in Swan Lake for example), perhaps because this is, at its heart, a rather slapstick comedy. I can imagine it would be easier to see from closer, but the first cast made it quite legible even at some distance.

On Monday it read perfectly clearly from dress circle. Not everyone understands all the mime certainly (not saying that of people here) and perhaps that is a problem for some viewers. When they do a ballet like this, which is mime heavy, another promo video they might want to consider is a primer on ballet mime.

Oh good, we're back to agreeing!

I also love Fille Mal Gardee Different tastes! That is fine. I was just really responding to the idea (not expressed by you) that the ballet was unsuccessful when clearly it is a matter of opinion as many of us didn't seem to find it so.

See I thought it was so successful that I ran out and bought additional tickets. I thought it was a perfect endearing gem of a ballet. I can see why people wanting large scale wizzbang dancing might have been disappointed but that doesn't mean the program was unsuccessful. It means it wasn't successful for you. And the kids Monday were perfect.

I thought it was fantastic. And I generally get bored as hell at kids dancing in the ballet. So your mileage may vary.

Having a sillier plot than Corsaire takes some doing! (I think your explanation makes a lot of sense, that just struck me)

At least ours don't have Solor bearing his!! 😂 I really really really think that is a horrific look I agree they should have reviews, but I'm not surprised. Last year was really bad re: reviews as well. So much so I tweeted at him about it. And he promptly blocked me.

Romeo is no walk in the park and he's still doing that....

I feel similarly. I like her and am interested in seeing her. But she hasn't utterly wowed me yet. I thought her first attempt at Nikiya was good but on the cautious/reserved side. While she was a bit stiffer (back especially) than usual she still didn't have that brittle quality Wiles did. Wiles I believe only ever danced Gamzatti.

Agreed. It is a problem with the packed met season certainly. I would say I really didn't think the corps looked bad tonight. There were bobbles certainly in that side developee after they are all in formation, but I don't think I've ever seen that NOT have bobbles. No one looked like they were going to lose it tonight.

Why do we think this 3 shades cast was a last minute switch? They were listed in the program. She did 4? 5? releves and then stopped walked and eventually did a few more before the end of the sequence. Honestly if I saw a dancer in the corps do that I'd think they'd be lucky to ever get another shot at a solo.

Interestingly Lane had the worst go of the first shade variation I've ever seen.

The Shades trio I saw weds was not a mess nor did other reports indicate they were. I'm not sure how this in any way fixes the Shades issue. Both Cornejo and Simkin regularly (at least in the past, and long after being made principal) do soloist parts. As does Cirio.