aurora

3 minutes ago, ABT Fan said:

Shevchenko and Lane are the only O/O I would see (again). Although, next year I might see Teuscher again only to see Bell as Siegfried. 

I thought Teuscher was excellent this year--much better than last.

12 minutes ago, California said:

I haven't bothered with the ABT Swan Lake in years, since Marcelo departed. If they cast Sarah Lane in 2020, that would bring me back, especially if she does it with Cornejo! I suspect others share my views on this.

In my opinion, you are missing out by not seeing Shevchenko in the role! (Not that Sarah wouldn't be reason to come back too, but there are other good reasons to see it)

2 minutes ago, On Pointe said:

Not sure there's a rulebook,  but relationships,  affairs,  and openly dating often cool down to a friends with benefits situation.  Even marriages - I know of divorced couples who are no longer in love but continue to have sex.

So far as we know, what you describe above has no relationship (pun intended) to the situation between Finlay and Waterbury.

Nor is that at all what you implied happened in your earlier post about "friends with benefits" where you said:

15 minutes ago, On Pointe said:

One could say that all affairs are relationships,  but not all relationships are affairs.  In the case of Waterbury vs. Finlay,  she believed she was in a relationship,  but apparently he just notched it up as another affair.  They weren't planning a marriage,  they didn't  live together.  Many people today might describe them as "friends with benefits"

A statement which does, btw, seem to acknowledge that there is a perceived distinction between an affair and a relationship.

Just now, On Pointe said:

One could say that all affairs are relationships,  but not all relationships are affairs.  In the case of Waterbury vs. Finlay,  she believed she was in a relationship,  but apparently he just notched it up as another affair.  They weren't planning a marriage,  they didn't  live together.  Many people today might describe them as "friends with benefits"

Friends with benefits describes a situation quite different from what they were involved in.

Friends with benefits do not openly date for a year and a half.

41 minutes ago, dirac said:

Doesn't imply anything of the sort, AFAIK. Nowadays, it is true, many people are more likely to say "relationship" when in another era they would refer to an "affair."  There are also common references tp "brief affairs," "long-running affairs," "on-and-off affairs." An extramarital affair is so-called because one or both of the persons involved are married.

In other words, you can say that Finlay and Waterbury "had an affair" or you can say they were "in a relationship." Both would be accurate and neither is necessarily invidious. I imagine  people do say "in a relationship" when they want to emphasize the seriousness of the involvement, but historically "affair" can refer to  a light or intense relationship. 

Historically does not mean common usage today. 

On 7/12/2019 at 10:16 PM, Rock said:

I'm not sure the word affair has anything to do with marriage. Also, relationship usually implies something more serious, and more trusting, than what we're talking about here.

definition of affair

1aaffairs plural : commercial, professional, public, or personal business handles the company's public affairsan expert in foreign affairs

b: MATTER, CONCERNHow I choose to live is my affair, not yours.

2: a procedure, action, or occasion only vaguely specifiedalso : an object or collection of objects only vaguely specified Their house was a 2-story affair. 

3or less commonly affaire

a: a romantic or passionate attachment typically of limited duration : LIAISONsense 2bhad an affair with a coworker

b: a matter occasioning public anxiety, controversy, or scandal : CASEthe Watergate affair of the early 1970s

 

As commonly used, affair implies something illicit.

They dated for over a year. That is a relationship. I can't believe anyone would actually argue otherwise.

1 hour ago, On Pointe said:

This Nguyen  affidavit is really bizarre.  Pearl-clutching from an indicted thief and embezzler,  over private affairs that are none of his business.  He really undermines Waterbury's suit.  Evidently everybody in the vicinity of Lincoln Center knew Finlay's reputation as a lothario,  and his penchant for soliciting and sharing naughty photos.  Everybody except Waterbury,  a consenting adult who willingly engaged in an affair with him.  It reminds me of the punchline of the song The Old Lady and the Snake - "You knew damn well I was a snake before you took me in." 

Nguyen seems to be one of those social butterflies who just can't pass up the chance to involve himself in a juicy story.

An affair? Neither of them were married. It is called a relationship.

26 minutes ago, abatt said:

I believe there are often other factors at work that have nothing to do with talent or ability when a marginal dancer  is elevated to principal at ABT.  Was it mere coincidence that Hee Seo made principal at the end of the 2012 Met Opera season, shortly before ABT embarked upon its tour to Asia (including South Korea)? 

I know people love to attribute ulterior motives to all these decisions, but I'd guess that yes, it was mere coincidence.

Giving her principal roles on that tour, why of course I'm sure that was, to a degree, calculated to appeal to the audience.

But I can't imagine it would make much (or any) of a difference to the audience size whether the Korean dancer playing the lead was a soloist or principal. Certainly not enough of a difference to off set the jump in salary they would have to pay her (and continue to pay her for years).

58 minutes ago, canbelto said:

It’s really hard to tell what happens once a dancer makes principal. Remember Michele Wiles? Here Seo? And to a lesser extent Devon Teuscher? Both great soloists who just weren’t/aren’t interesting in principal roles, 

otoh Christine Shevchenko is someone who has grown by leaps and bounds since making principal. 

Devon looked excellent this season.

Hee (who I had avoided for a while)  was in some ways the most technically secure of the 3 Auroras I saw (Sarah Lane and Cassie Trenary the others). And was lovely and gracious throughout. Really a lovely Aurora.

People see and appreciate different things!

That said, I agree totally on Michele Wiles and Shevy. And I'd even grant that Devon seemed to have a bit of a rough season last year.

5 minutes ago, cobweb said:

That's interesting about the different talent pools, and the little girls in NYCB's Mozartiana do seem quite young (definitely younger than in that photo with Veronika). But even if girls are on pointe in their training, they could still appear in soft slippers on stage. 

Which I think must be the case. These girls look definitely old enough to be on pointe: https://www.nycballet.com/ballets/m/mozartiana.aspx

It is kind of interesting, considering Balanchine's insistence that women do classes entirely on pointe.

Even in the intermediate levels at SAB (a million years ago) we were told to wear de-shanked pointe shoes for regular class instead of ballet slippers.

1 hour ago, ABT Fan said:

Since Bell has already done Romeo, Siegried and Prince Desire, I suspect he’ll debut Solor and/or Albrecht next year. Bayadere he’d be paired with Teuscher I imagine. Hmm...for Giselle, could we see a double debut with Trenary? Or, would he be paired with Seo? Regarding Hurlin and the other female soloists, they have a lot of competition for lead parts (unlike Bell), especially assuming Murphy will be back by then. Watch the casting for the winter tours!

I imagine Ahn will get a debut or two as well (and be cast in Bayadere again).

6 hours ago, naomikage said:

Mai Aihara will also be leaving ABT

So too is Kaho Ogawa, although she hasn't posted on her IG yet (or wasn't last night), the going away of both Kaho and Mai is noted on Betsy McBride's IG story.

8 minutes ago, fondoffouettes said:

Abrera was just as wonderful she was last night. 

 

I thought she was by far the worst of the Lilac fairies I saw (Shevchenko and Teusher being the others).

I didn't see her previous performances this year in Lilac, so I thought it must have just been an off night, but if people who saw multiple ones are saying she was wonderful this evening, I guess they just saw something I didn't.

Her solo was very insecure, and jerky, and she had a lot of trouble with the move seen in that instagram video.

1 hour ago, fondoffouettes said:

Melanie Hamrick will be retiring this fall. A few of these departures usually come to light at the end of the Met season, but I haven’t heard of any others yet. I’d expect maybe Gemma Bond, who is focused on choreography these days? I can’t remember the last time I’ve seen her dance.

 

Gemma Bond had a baby last spring, I believe. She's been doing some character stuff (including today) but I don't think she's been dancing since then.

Joowon Ahn and Aran Bell were promoted to soloist! Congratulations!!!

8 minutes ago, bingham said:

The season is ending and there are still no promotions?😾👎🏽🙏

They were announced this day (the day before the end of the season) in 2017 so they could still be coming

25 minutes ago, nanushka said:

Personally, I think she's lovely in some of her roles — e.g. her Odette this year was excellent, I thought (though not her Odile; the fouettés were kind of a disaster, leaving her at one point just hopping around on the ball of her foot). But she has some serious technical deficiencies that she has never really been able to overcome. So there are many roles for which she's partly well-suited (e.g. Giselle), but that have certain variations or elements (e.g. the pas seul) that can really give her trouble. Other roles are overall better fits for her (e.g. Juliet, I've heard — though I haven't seen her in it). While she's a lovely dancer, she's also a bit cool, and so even roles such as Manon that don't give her major technical challenges can be dramatically not a great fit.

In general I agree, and I do think of her as a dancer with technical weaknesses.

That said, her rehearsal of Act II of Sleeping Beauty on Monday was very very strong. It might be less technically challenging than Act I, but it certainly has its difficulties, and she looked secure through all of them. She held the balance on the seashell device impressively long and with total confidence. It was one of the best executions of that trick that I've seen.

Of course a rehearsal is not a performance and perhaps nerves result in a less clean performance when she's actually doing the ballet. Still I was very impressed!

I have seen her as Juliet with Marcelo (2 years ago I think? Maybe 3) and she was fabulous.

On 7/1/2019 at 1:22 PM, ABT Fan said:

Bell is replacing Whiteside in tonight's opening night performance w/ Boylston.

https://www.abt.org/performances/master-calendar/

Whiteside has now posted on IG about why he was replaced in Sleeping Beauty:

1 hour ago, fondoffouettes said:

And regarding the fairies in Act III, if you consider them fairies, I was really surprised by the degree of sloppiness in spacing, synchronization, and uniformity in how high legs were raised (which is a big focus in this reconstruction) among the sapphire, silver and gold fairies. They were Melanie Hamrick, Courtney Lavine, and I forget the third and unfortunately don't have my program with me. Lavine particularly seemed to lag behind and seem a bit sloppy in her poses. I've always seen this section danced so cleanly and sharply, but it was really off last night. Teuscher, however, was stellar as Diamond. It's true luxury casting to have dancers like her and Shevchenko cast in the role. 

Brittany DeGrofft was gold.

2 hours ago, nanushka said:

(There were a few substitutions announced before the program, including Keith Roberts for Nancy Raffa as Carabosse; I didn't hear the others that followed and it's possible one might have been a fairy, but I don't think so.)

I think 2 women were announced as changes (or maybe x replacing y, so only one change).

The other announced change was that Alexei Agoutine (sp) replaced K. Roberts as Catalbutte.

7 minutes ago, California said:

Cornejo just posted rehearsal footage on his "stories" on Instagram -- it shows him rehearsing this move with Brandt. Sorry, but it's pretty disappointing. Interested in what others think. Unfortunately, I don't see a way to post those "stories" elsewhere.

Lane not Brandt

13 minutes ago, Roberta said:

The world no longer revolves around a few elitist arts lovers (of the old-style European variety) who are privileged enough to live in one of a handful of expensive cities with major opera houses.

At the end of the day, the NYTimes and other traditional or online newspapers don't want to spend resources to cater to - what? - about 50-100 persons? -  for whom English is the primary language and who really care about reviews of specific classical performances. How many Engl-reading  individuals really care? I'm guessing that all 50-100 of them post or lurk on Ballet Alert or balletcoforum.

I think you somewhat underestimate the number of people who care about the arts.

1 hour ago, onxmyxtoes said:

Major SNOOZE

There's a reason why those drawings are kept in a MUSEUM. You look at the photo of Helpman and it's obvious that he wouldn't have had the strength to do the one handed knee fish dive in the pas de deux. But the art and dancers evolve... and so do the audiences. If I wanted to see the original footage, I'd watch a video at the library.

I see the value of studying the notations and incorporating into the choreography, but I really don't understand why a reconstruction of the ballet done in the 1800s is something that should be in the permanent rep. There's a lack of understanding of what ABT needs today to keep fresh and relevant in the modern times. 

 

While the fish dives have been typical in the west, I believe to this day the Russian companies do not do them. I don't think people call their versions a "snooze" or un-evolved for this.

I personally like the fish dives, but in the context of this version omitting them seems the obvious choice.

3 hours ago, nanushka said:

Overall, I was impressed with Teuscher's Act II. I've come to accept her particular physical limitations (described above) that make her unideal for Odette, but setting those aside I found her performance to be thoughtful, accomplished, and even moving. I didn't like her mime, but her dancing was strong and often quite beautiful — again, with the above-mentioned reservations. She and Bell had very strong chemistry, and as others have observed previously on this thread, he seems to bring out the best in her (and especially some real warmth).

...

I'm very glad I went last night. It was not a Swan Lake for the ages — or even perhaps one that will stick in my memory for years to come — but there was a lot to enjoy.

Generally I agree with nanushka about this performance, with minor caveats/things to add.

I'm rather more enthusiastic about it. Particularly on Bell who, I felt not only brought out the best in Teuscher, but also acted very well on his own--He made a much more believable character of Siegfried than just about anyone I've seen in a long while (I also had no problems with the tours to one knee--its show offy, but the entire PDD is about showing off).

l'd also like to call attention to not only Teuscher's incredibly emotional performance, which I found very moving, but also to her phrasing, which I thought was excellent. She played with the music, drawing out some movements, dancing with almost syncopation at others. There were no little stops before end poses in pirouettes and other partnered bits as I saw in the (excellent) Shevchenko SL the other night. It was a very well thought out and executed performance. The way she caressed his hair in act IV as she forgave him was really moving.

The only point on which I'd strongly disagree is on Devon's mime--which was strongly executed and clear.

I loved Shevchenko's performance on Tuesday, but in act II when she said that if someone loves her and swears then she will be a swan no more---she glossed over the no more, it was not clear nor visible and lost its meaning.

Teuscher's mime was more legible, elegant, and the emphasis with which she proclaimed death in Act IV was chilling.

Just now, ABT Fan said:

Lendorf? That’s a puzzle.

Indeed!

I mean he is around seemingly, and frequently attends ABT. We know he had serious injuries, but despite his long absence he is still listed on the roster. There just hasn't been any information about what is going on for a long time...

1 minute ago, abatt said:

Lendorf is listed.  I hope he makes it back, but who knows.

No Hallberg.  He would be the one person I would be most interested in seeing perform Apollo.

I wonder if Calvin will get a shot at it--he is learning it at the moment (for Vail).