aurora

corpse dancing? please tell me you are talking about the dancing of the corps de ballet. Not being snarky. Really confused (and slightly disturbed).

I agree wholeheartedly with pretty much everything fondoffouettees wrote in the above review. I'd like to add a few things. Firstly that although I am not really a Stella fan (she is very clean and reliable, but I find she lacks amplitude), she really was lovely yesterday. She had charisma as Mercedes and seemed if, not to sizzle as some do, to have some real spark, perhaps because it is one of the last opportunities she'll have to dance that role opposite Sasha, who if not the best Espada technically, was having a fantastic time with the role and doing it with real panache. and there was real crystalline beauty to her vision scene, and as stated her Italian fouettes were lovely. I'd like to second the partnership between Part and Whiteside. They seem to have fun together, she clearly trusts him. Even if she gets slightly off on a turn there is no sense of panic, she knows he will right her, and he does. There is a rapport that there has NEVER been with her and Cory. It is enjoyable to watch them together. They are believable as a couple. As for her dancing, the marked improvement in her turning is worth noting. The speed and attack of her pique turns is at a new level and her fouettes, which used to slow in the later revolutions did not do so (or at least not to the same extent). There was no question as to whether she would finish them. Not only was Shevchenko good as one of the flower girls, but so was Brandt, I thought. Moreover they were well matched (although not originally intended to be so). I'm not sure if they are paired in other performances, but you would never have thought the pairing was a last minute one. I also thought that Graniero was exceptional as Amour. She was slightly behind the music in the beginning of her variation, but not in a way that indicated an error, rather she was synchopating the variation (I don't know how to put it otherwise). She was really exceptional. I've seen it many times and it was one of the best renditions I've seen. Lastly, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE REPLACE THOSE HORRIBLE COSTUMES FOR THE GYPSY MEN. They look like the are refugees from an 80s metal hair band. They are horrific. I feel sorry for those poor dancers every time I see this. They don't look like gypsies at all and honestly they could be replaced for almost no money at all. It is embarrassing...

Jackson is a guest not a principal

Her Kitri was wonderful last season. The only problem, and it arises again this year, was and will be her partner, who is simply not up to her caliber. Her Bayadere and her O/O are unsurpassed. On the other hand I thought her partner last year was good (James Whiteside) and she seemed to have a good rapport with him, which I certainly can't say of Cory Stearns.

It was a new role for her last year, so she's only done it once before in NY. I saw it, and enjoyed it. I'll be going again this time. She doesn't have the technical explosiveness of some dancers, but she had no issues with her technique in it, and she looked like she was having a lot of fun with it--it showed! No indications of nerves or hesitation. The dream scene (the most "classical" and thus more what I associate with her) was unsurprisingly gorgeous.

Best typo/freudian slip ever!

This is true. And I think it shows he is not *absolutely* wedded to his physical ideal. But the fact is, he does feel the need to mention her physical "deficiencies" (and he clearly sees them as such) in nearly every review of her, no matter how much he praises her (which, indeed he does!). Clearly physique is not everything to him. But it is a lot. I also would suggest that he is more wedded to a specific physical ideal with regards to male dancers than female ones.

That may be the funniest typo/mental image ever! I don't think Cory would make a good Odile...

Sara Mearns

I don't know. I can't do NYCBs very often. I find it pretty but boring. I love Ratmansky/ABT's. I saw 2 performances (Sunday eve with Part/Gomes and Weds with Kajiya and Matthews) and thought they were just as wonderful as Macaulay did in his NYTimes review. The second performance (with a generally more junior cast) had some issues, but they were minor (cannon failed to fire, very junior couple given the 2nd doll solo in act I had a bit of a spill, one of the Spanish dancers had a small costume malfunction) but both were stellar performances and there were no problems in the pdd in either.

Slightly off topic but one of ABTs young african american dancers just received a very nice accolade: http://nymag.com/news/articles/reasonstoloveny/2013/calvin-royal-iii/

You mean not acceptable by our standards. They are apparently acceptable by 21st century Russian standards. It's one thing for Womack to complain about improper sexual advances made to her. But it's not our place as outsiders to protest their system. It's only our place to support Russians who do. I wasn't aware we were governed by the prime directive. By this reasoning, it is not our place as outsiders to criticize such practices as female genital mutilation. While I agree it is much more productive for such criticism to come from within a culture, that doesn't mean we have to say or feel that practices that we find morally objectionable are fine because we are outsiders.

That would be a borough in London.

Thank you, abatt, but does that landing make the entire variation "complete hash"? My ballet teacher says that things go wrong all the time in ballet, and that dancers have to learn to "save" those moments. If we excoriate dancers for every fall, misstep, or poor landing, then we're in danger of creating an atmosphere of unforgiving criticism. Of course we want perfection, but perfection in ballet is elusive. I think we would do better to "savor" the good moments. That was the main disaster of that variation. But that is a very "simple" (not to be confused with easy) variation meant to illustrate poetry. I saw little elegance or poetry in it. Rather, desperate clutching and grasping to not fall over, combined with mediocre lines and no musicality or poetry. On the other hand I thought he was excellent in the moor's pavane on saturday.

He did seem to enjoy dancing with semionova and did quite well with her. I thought she was lovely. I assumed he, however was just happy not to be doing his solo, given the complete hash he made of it. It was perhaps the worst thing I've ever seen an ABT performer do, on any level.

Natalia, I haven't yet seen this season, but I agree with you on both dancers. They have made major strides in the last few seasons. It would also be lovely if they are promoted together as they have been a couple for years. Can't wait to see some performances this weekend, the great divergence of opinions on the works on offer is actually building my anticipation...

There are a couple of tall( over 6 ft ) and strong- looking members of the corp, Gray Davis and Thomas Forster,who could partner Veronika if given a chance. Thomas partnered her in S in C in LA last July. I thought she looked quite good with Whiteside last year, and he seemed to have little difficulty partnering her.

I don't think it is fair to say that it is necessarily an aesthetic preference on the part of McKenzie for tall dancers, but rather (at least in part) a necessity. If you look at the female principals, many of them are tall, they require tall partners. They also require strong partners. Cornejo certainly deserves his principal status, but he was for a long time hampered by his height (not "right" for all roles) and more importantly, by his poor partnering skills (which are still not a strong suit for him, but have recently improved). I also think Tamm is tall. I was impressed by James Whiteside last season and am very happy for him.

I wouldn't actually. I am sure they would be beautiful but I think they would have the same icy coldness he does with semionova. I find him much more interesting with Osipova. She brings out his emotions, and he's a good stylistic influence on her. I actually like Semionova a great deal, but agree that Hallberg is not an ideal partner for her and wouldn't be for Smirnova either. I would be curious to see Smirnova pair with Ruslan Skvortsov: I loved his Siegfried in London and think that he could be the dancer to draw more emotion out of her. I like Semionova too. They just don't seem to bring much out of each other emotionally when paired.

I wouldn't actually. I am sure they would be beautiful but I think they would have the same icy coldness he does with semionova. I find him much more interesting with Osipova. She brings out his emotions, and he's a good stylistic influence on her.

Thanks Helene! As a heads up, a NYTimes obit is forthcoming.

You can see some more of the same attitude in this: http://tinyurl.com/mh9lh99

I thought other people might enjoy this, from when he retired: http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/entertainment/classic-wqxr-voice-signs-53-yrs-article-1.566128

I haven't seen an obituary yet, but it was announced on the radio and by other announcers on WQXR on twitter that Lloyd Moss, who worked at WQXR from 1953-2006 has died. He was funny and a true wit, who quoted the 2000 year old man on his (now defunct) wqxr page, and responded in answer to "what is the one thing people should know about you but don't" "That I'm devestatingly handsome." I've missed him since he went off the air and miss him even more now. RIP

actually something very much like this happened last fall in one of the performances of the Ratmansky shostakovich piece. Cornejo was injured on stage and for his next (?) entrance Jared Matthews was in costume and in place.