aurora

.....Semionova and Gomes in the Ratmansky premiere (in plain black unitards) (two photos)....

I see that ABT is planning to 'break the bank' with luxurious costumes! woo-hoo....

Yep. Like Balanchine and all those worthless leotard ballets... ;)

Sad to see her go although, at 95, she certainly led a full life.

I always remember her from High Society w/ Armstrong, Crosby, Kelly and Sinatra. They don't make 'em like that any more!

People in NY might want to check the schedule at BAM. It is being shown very soon (I don't think it happened already) as part of the Grace Kelly festival they are doing...

ah, last names are not nearly exotic once translated. Giuseppe Verdi after all is Joe Green in English. ;)

And Paolo Uccello is Paul Bird

My hands still hurt from clapping so hard during tonight's performance. Spectacular. Vasilev was even more electrifying than on Wed. Osipova was perfection - a pure delight in every way. Every spin was phenomenal. Every jump was sky high. Tonight was the best I've ever seen Yuriko dance (as Gulnare). Jared was very good, although he doesn't have the phenomenal technique of some of the other men who performed the role earlier this week. Kobborg was an excellent partner, but his solos were underpowered. The house looked very well sold.

Phenomenal night - Yuriko made me wonder why Seo was being promoted instead of her. Okay, call Vasiliev a "circus animal", vulgar, etc. but if you were there you saw his astounding performance and a "theater animal" - how he loves the audience and vice versa! Osipova - perfection, absolutely. A night to remember.

I find Yuriko kind of stiff, especially in swan lake- mostly in her arms. I also find uncertainty in her turns, but i think this can be said about Seo as well.

did you see her in this? She was certainly (well in my opinion) neither stiff nor uncertain. Then again I thought she was fantastic when I saw her this season in the pas de trois in SL. I do not remember feeling this way about her previous to this season (I missed last season entirely).

I really thought she was a revelation.

I'm with Kristen. Give the lady a promotion. Or at least some more full lengths. ASAP. She is being largely neglected in the discussions of which soloists deserve to move up, but as far as I'm concerned, she's the one I would like to see more of most right now.

Vishneva learned the role of Aurora for the ABT production and performed it exactly once during the initial run of this current production. (She called in sick for performance number two of that run.) She has never done it at ABT since (though I did see her do SB with the Mariinsky in DC 2 or 3 years ago). I would not expect to see her Aurora at ABT again.

I have no idea what her motivations are, but if she REALLY IS acting the way people on this board credit her with (and you all do it without criticizing her)--refusing to dance with anyone but Marcello, refusing to do roles to the point of calling in sick to avoid them, etc--then I really think she should be a "guest artist" and free up one of the principal positions. I know she is a star, but that is being a Diva.

If you are going to be in a company you should treat it with a modicum of respect.

I have no idea if any of this is true. Its the impression, however, I've gotten from what people here who seem to be her fans are saying.

I expect Vishneva will dance A Month in the Country. If you look at her reps past several years she seemed to move away from the 19th century Russian to 20th century narrative at ABT. It's like as she's saying "If I want to dance the Russian classics I'd rather do the real things at the Mariinsky than your water downed versions, so I'll dance the roles I don't normally do at MT".

I rather hope not. That sounds snotty, so lets not put words in her mouth. Maybe she is just happy to take advantage of different rep than she has access to there.

Anyway it isn't like the Mariinsky was exactly eager to give her swan lake, if I remember correctly. And as problematic as ABT's is, I'd rather have it, with the mime passages and sad (if truncated) ending intact.

Happy ending and no "I am the queen of the swans" mime is watered down as far as I'm concerned.

Do we have any info re guest artists. Are Osipova and Vasiliev coming back?

On the ABT web site and in the print programs, Osipova is listed as a regular principal, with Vasiliev listed as a guest. That doesn't mean they'll perform with ABT year-round, of course, and they're both missing from the fall season. But doesn't it seem safe to assume they'll be at the Met spring 2013 season?

Sorry to have been repetitive. Also, Osipova did at least do some of the touring gigs last year, possibly because of Firebird, but she was definitely with ABT at least sometime beyond the MET season.

Do we have any info re guest artists. Are Osipova and Vasiliev coming back? Cojocaru? Muntagirov? I've never seen Month in The Country, so I'm happy about that addition to the rep.

Osipova is not a guest artist, she is a company member in the same way as vishneva, so she at least should be there unless that situation changes...

Electrifying, spectacular, perfection. All there. Why do I come away feeling I've just been to the circus?

it's le corsaire?

I don't know, I thought it was a great performance. And to second the kudos for Yuriko...I hadn't seen her in some time until I saw her earlier this season in the SL pas de trois. I was REALLY impressed. And after tonight I was even more so. I want to see her in a full length main role, stat. I think Aurora would suit her well.

The ticket sales for Corsaire have been scary!! There are far too many orchestra seats available for the upcoming shows to feel good. I wonder why this is, especially because there is a DVD version of ABT performing the ballet. It seems like the general ballet-watching public should be familiar with the ballet and willing to go.

Yesterday matinee had some empty seats up in family circle, but the rest was quite full.

A LOT of people are out of town this weekend, which would likely explain it.

From Gia Kourlas' New York Times review of Angel Corella's farewell:

Consistent principal men are becoming an endangered species at Ballet Theater. Next Saturday Ethan Stiefel, dancing in "Le Corsaire," will also retire from the company. For me, there only three active and able male principals remaining: Marcelo Gomes, David Hallberg and Cory Stearns. The current roster of male soloists isn't exactly overflowing with principal material.

I would add Herman Cornejo to the list of "active and able male principals," but I'm no fan of Cory Stearns.

no kidding. that stood out to me as well. I know he [Cornejo] doesn't do every role but still...

I'm not sure how well it will sell, although I'm generally happy with the rep. A lot of their stars do not appear at the City Center season, and they have performed In the Upper Room often during the last few City Center seasons. It makes sense for them to invest in a Ratmansky ballet for the Fall. They have repeatedly turned to mediocre (or worse) choreographers to create new works for the fall season, and not one of those new works has been good enough to see the light of day in subsequent seasons. That has been a total waste of resources, in my opinion.

Well, this will be the test for the proposition (expounded often on this board) that there is still an audience at ABT for something other than the multi-act story ballets from the 19th century, won't it? But for the new Ratmansky work, every one of the works on the Fall bill has a long pedigree with ABT and all of them have survived the test of time. So, if the Fall season doesn't sell, then we know for sure that all ABT's audience wants are story ballets with imported Russians in them. (At which point, you might as well start calling ABT Russian-American Ballet Theatre.)

I don't think that is totally fair--they have had 2 mixed bills this MET season, both of which I saw, and both of which had pretty good houses for the performances I saw.

The issue is, that the MET is a huge opera house. One of the largest in the world, and it is harder to sell (seemingly) the same number of tickets for a mixed bill as it is Swan Lake. That shouldn't be nearly the same problem at City Center, which is a much smaller house. Of course if it does sell badly, well then...

Am I to assume that Polina is the most technically competent ballerina at ABT right now...? Should I jump on a plane to go see her...?

don't knock the home team. For technical competence I'd say Gillian Murphy is pretty stellar (it isn't her only virtue but...)

I'll also hazard a mention for Paloma Herrera, who may not always be what one wants in romantic or even classical roles, but never has technical issues!

^{I thought Veronika was radiant last night, although it did not match her epic performance in 2009 w. Roberto Bolle. She certainly deserves a better partner than Stearns, but she is learning to make do with the cards she is dealt at ABT. Cory is improving a bit each year. However, I felt he was mostly blank last night. The pas de trois dancers were Lane, Kajiya and Simkin. They were wonderful. The two big swans were Abrera and Seo. Marcelo nearly stole the show as Purple Rothbart. He was magnetic and he generated such excitement from the audience. Sadly, I'm not looking forward to seeing any of the other Rothbarts this season.}

^{It was very well sold, and I think every youngster in the tri state area must have been seated in the balcony/family circle. Disaster struck in the final moments of the ballet, when a youngster decided to scream at the top of his lungs during the most hushed moments of the final act, disturbing 3,800 people. I believe the screamer and his parents were escorted out, but the incident already ruined the magic. Oh well.}

Thanks! I didn't have my program and I knew I was going to mangle the spelling of Kajiya's name. She was astonishingly good and didn't deserve that from me

While I hate screaming children and it *was* disturbing, the fact that the screaming child started, as if on cue, with the appearance of swamp-thing Rothbart was actually rather hilarious. Someone did NOT LIKE the swamp creature!!

(It didn't ruin the magic for me, I found it pretty easy to get back into the last moments, fortunately!)

Whoever stagehand closed the curtain too early at the end of Act II should be fired. It's the moment when Veronika's Odette turned her back against the audience en pointe and flipped her "wings" to "fly" away into wing. It's one of the most pivotal moments of the ballet, Odile repeated the same move during Act III, it's that moment Siegfried being duped into believing that Odile was his true love. What we needed was just another 10 sec. I was robbed one of the most beautiful moments. BTW, Veronika deserved a better partner.

While I agree on your point about Stearns, I actually think he partnered her well. I just don't think he has much emotional range or register. And his solos are...fine. Not bad. Not good though.

He was attentive and there were no bobbles or difficulties from where I sat (unlike some previous times Ive seen them together).

No time for a review now, but she was confident and beautiful. Beginning with an exquisite balance upon her entrance and going forward from there.

Everyone was in good form. The pas-de-trois was fantastic--best I've seen it in a long time. The cygnets were excellent.

And GOMES as Purple Rothbart. Really, nothing more needs to say about that. He owns that part and is the only man who can look sexy in that ridiculous costume.

Really a very good night.

Maybe the issue will boil down to economics. She seems to have a strong p.r. team and other support.

I'm sure some of it has to do with PR but people can't convince people uninterested in ballet that they are interested in it. Misty clearly is reaching an audience that has been untapped here previously. There were a lot more African American patrons in the seats on sat (when she had been scheduled to dance) than normally are seen at the MET. To their credit, they showed up anyway (and from the lobby talk they already knew). But I think to chalk that up to PR alone, or even primarily, is overly cynical (I'm not saying *you* were doing so).

An audience that has not seen themselves represented is doing so in Misty, and they are clearly very excited about it. I think that is all for the good.

This is not an argument for promotion, nor against it. Just an observation.

....Also, the average height of professional dancers has been increasing since Nureyev and Baryshnikov. Simkin would have had an easier time regarding his height 30 years ago.

Also, the initial concerns about Simkins' petit size had to do with overall small musculature and bone structure (narrowish shoulder line) and not just height. He was more the delicate type, like Sarafanov at the start of his career. ...My understanding is that Simkin has bulked up, so this may no longer be a problem.

He still seems very slight and boyish to me...

And even with his more virile type, Cornejo has had a real struggle getting the princely principal roles (I don't mean doing them, I mean being seen as right for them). And partnering is still his weakest point.

What search online? Are there any stats on what percentage of the grads of JKO School now have contracts w. ABT?

You asked if it ranked among the coveted schools talented students would flock to. Judging by the number of people online expressing interest in it or NYCB--"which should I choose?" It seems that talented students are taking it seriously.

I said it was a preliminary search and didn't realize you were asking for stats on placement. It seemed you were asking about appeal to students, whether THEY felt it was a good program and my impression (preliminarily) is that the answer was yes.

A recent article (2012) about the school in Dance Magazine (i think?) notes their high placement rate in recent years.

How many of the kids at the JKO school will actually make it into the company, and of those how many will make it out of the corps? It seems to me that there are many prestigious ballet schools in the US (SAB being the most important), but the JKO School doesn't necessarily rank very highly among the most coveted programs that the highly talented students will flock to. Am I wrong?

Judging from a preliminary search online, I would hazard that you are.

Thank you, Drew, for the beautiful descriptions of the Ratmansky Firebird above, which convey so well what I saw as well. I was ready for a disappointing experience, based on many of the reviews here and elsewhere. But despite some flaws, I found it to be a really wonderful complete work, very imaginative and funny and -- yes -- musical, even if perhaps not so perfectly in tune with the music as Ashton was with Mendelssohn's.

I've already expressed that I enjoyed the Ratmansky Firebird but I saw it again this weekend and felt the same way on second viewing (was it me or did he change it and do more with the Apples than when it was programmed with Apollo? Or did I just notice more this time?) But I wanted to second Nanushka's comment's about Drew's post. I thought it was a really nice summation of how I felt about the piece generally.

I was recently at a performance, where a friend of a friend, who is Russian made some very interesting points which relate to the idea of nationalism in ballet. She stated that she disliked watching American ballet companies because the body types were too varied and unattractive- too many girls with short arms, short necks, and so on. She made these statements by referring to race, as well, but I won't repeat that part. She contrasted this to Russia, where she believes that dancers who lack beautful proportions generally never make it into the company, or at least never make it out of the corps. Since America is seen as a "melting pot", I guess this notion also carries over to ballet as well. Haven't we all commented about how sloppy and varied the ABT corps sometimes looks? Maybe the Russian corps looks so good due, in part, to the relative uniformity of the dancers' bodies in comparison to elsewhere.

If that is the argument I think you better include her racist comments because that is basically the argument

Alina was a pleasure as Juliet. It was a lovely performance. It was not overplayed - just right. I've come to the conclusion that I'm not a big fan of Kobborg. I know he's no youngster, but his performance early in the ballet when he dances w. his friends before entering the ball was very poorly done. He seemed to warm up and improve as the ballet went on. Much of the time he looked like he was marking the steps instead of performing full out. I fail to understand why ABT keeps inviting him, unless Alina requires it as part of a package deal.

I did enjoy his characterization, however. I just wish he hadn't required the early part of the ballet to warm up. Or maybe it was reserving his energy. Whatever it was, it was a bit of a disappointment.

Responding to myself here! I'm still caffeinating....

I just wanted to clarify that I thought his slow start was somewhat of a disappointment, not that the night/performance was. They (unsurprisingly as they are of course a couple) had a really lovely and touching rapport. And it was on the whole very very well danced.

I also wanted to say that while salstein is of course not Cornejo as Mercutio, he made the role his own and did a very nice job with the difficult mandolin dance. For me to enjoy someone else dancing that as much as I did, so soon after seeing Cornejo in the role says a lot about the quality of performance. Kudos to Salstein!

Alina was a pleasure as Juliet. It was a lovely performance. It was not overplayed - just right. I've come to the conclusion that I'm not a big fan of Kobborg. I know he's no youngster, but his performance early in the ballet when he dances w. his friends before entering the ball was very poorly done. He seemed to warm up and improve as the ballet went on. Much of the time he looked like he was marking the steps instead of performing full out. I fail to understand why ABT keeps inviting him, unless Alina requires it as part of a package deal.

That was exactly my thought. That it looked like he was marking. Especially after watching David etch out those steps so beautifully just a few nights earlier. I also thought he improved. He did dance fairly well in the ballroom scene, and even better in the balcony scene.

You just don't get the architecture of the steps though.

I did enjoy his characterization, however. I just wish he hadn't required the early part of the ballet to warm up. Or maybe it was reserving his energy. Whatever it was, it was a bit of a disappointment.

While an "over the top" Juliet can seem right for a girl of thirteen, newly in love, Osipova carried it to an extreme. While all that athletic running about might be fine if someday ABT decides to field a soccer team, for me she just came off like a spoiled nine year old. It negated her formidable technique and left her with no vulnerability. Her grinning mouth and athleticism would somehow seem better suited to the cowgirl in "Rodeo" than a Renaissance maiden. (actually, "Rodeo" would be a good role for Osipova). Her larger than life portrayal carried over into an actual physical over stepping of the stage at times. The Met stage is pretty big and if not big enough for her, it's all we've got, short of building her a new theater. She needs to learn to pace herself space wise so she doesn't step "out of frame" into the wings and out of the light as she is wont to do. Also, in the opening of the balcony scene she was totally out of light, hidden a bit upstage. If that was a "choice" it's misguided. Someone needs to tell her her marks for lighting. Odd that she couldn't "feel the moon" on her face. I guess I'm in the minority here, but I felt little passion between Osipova and Hallberg. They just didn't seem to be on the same page emotionally. The steps were all there, but so was the calculation in front of everything they did. Friday's Vishneva/Gomes was as seamless as it comes. Last night was all jittery stops and starts. "Arm up, check." "Leg whipped around, check. On and on it went. Even in death, she looked more like she was rock climbing than reaching out to her lover. As for the curtain call after the balcony scene, just plain poor taste. I know, you see it in Europe and Russia all the time, but to break the fourth wall at that particular moment and bring them out as mere dancers (surprise!), was, in my opinion a very poor choice on ABT's part to allow it. Treat the audience like a mob scene and they will only be encouraged.

As for the rest of the ballet, Cornejo was his absolute best and saved the night for me. His ovation at the final call was well deserved. And Sasha as Tybalt was astonishingly good!

To me she was completely vulnerable, and they were completely emotionally in sync. I thought it was one of the most emotionally gripping R&Js I've ever seen. She and Hallberg have a complete and utter rapport that is magical. It did not seem calculated to me.

I used to think that the non-stop grinning was a 'Russian thing' with the role of Terpsichore (e.g., Assylmuratova & Zakharova) until I saw Part, who had the more appropriately serious visage.

I wish I'd seen that. One thing I remember about Part as Terpsichore at the Met in '99 is her grin.

I also remember that grin in '99, I remember all of ABT's muses grinning from ear to ear with Dvorovenko batting her eyelashes at the audience. This time they were all more appropriate, with Part only smiling at a point somewhere around the middle of the pdd. That, to me, is acceptable. Although I agree that,overall, Apollo was very soft compared to what we're used to I enjoyed the performance with the exception of Hee Seo who was simply miscast as Polyhymnia. Hallberg was gorgeous, as were Part & Abrera.

There is some sort of confusion here--

in 1999 Part was not with ABT. She may have done this in 99 (she danced it with Kirov) but she was not one of ABT's muses grinning etc.