tutu

Any updates from this weekend's performances?

Two more things, before I forget: A very nice pas de trois from Lane, Kajiya, and Simkin (who seems to be partnering well with Lane in particular). Kajiya's got quite the jump, doesn't she? And of course, a shout-out to the women of the corps. I've been attending ABT SLs for years, but I thought the swan princesses' ports de bras were especially lovely last night.

Most readers of this board probably already know this, but for those who don't: Gomes is purple Rothbart in the ABT Swan Lake on DVD from 2005 (along with Corella and Murphy): http://www.amazon.com/Tchaikovsky-American-Ballet-Theatre-Corella/dp/B000AYEI9A/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1371569322&sr=8-1&keywords=swan+lake+abt It's distressing that so few of Gomes' performances are available on DVD. The great thing about Gomes' performance, to my mind, was that it wasn't necessarily an effort to "showboat" technically. While Gomes, of course, showed crystalline technique, his character came first. He was downright seductive!

Last night's Semionova / Hallberg performance was a triumph—and let's not forget a glittering Marcelo Gomes as von Rothbart!

Thank you for linking to this, cantdance. Certainly offers a very interesting perspective.

Noticed a "Hipolito, En" among the corps for Diamonds—do we have a younger Hipolito on the rise?

Sara Adams, Callie Bachman, Alina Dronova, and Kristin Segan appeared in a segment on "Sesame Street" titled "Peeps in our Hood." They talk a bit about their special shoes, their favorite steps, the five positions, and perform the Cygnets' dance from Swan Lake.

In Act I: Edited: turns out I don't know how to embed video here after all. Link , though.

That's going to be one beautiful (and talented) child!

Theater was maybe 70% for Friday night's performance, which seems better than one would expect, given the circumstances. Naturally, Tiler and Sterling were stunners in the new Peck, and quite a strong performance from the corps in Symphony in C—they seemed completely energized.

Now I'm really feeling sorry for myself that I cannot go to their performance... You and me both, sandik. I still miss watching Noelani.

Skorik's weaknesses and off pointe moments have become such norm. Will she embody the "New Mariinsky Ballerina" concept...? IMHO, I'd have to disagree—it seems like there's a real improvement. There are moments of weakness in the Bayadere, but they're outnumbered, to my mind, by moments of exceptional beauty. Her lines are incredible. That GPC variation (famous, of course, for being fiendishly difficult) is also encouraging. See: going for the fourth pirouette at 0:45, see a regal port de bras, see those legs, feet, and turnout, and most importantly, see a much more confident dancer who no longer seems to be on the edge of tears. I never thought I'd be drinking the Skorik Kool-Aid, but I'm looking forward to what comes next.

Anybody get to see Leta Biasucci as Clara? Or Chelsea Adomaitis or Elizabeth Murphy as Flora?

Slick on a computer, but not mobile-friendly. I usually decide to get tickets on the day or night of, so the difficulty navigating the site from a phone is pretty frustrating. That, ...is one of three dancers picture on the front page for "Meet Our Dancers."

Thank you so much for sharing! I recognized Teresa Reichlen, Amar Ramasar, Sterling Hyltin, and Chase Finley—who were the other three dancers?

I'm right with you on this. The dancers are extraordinary, but I came away with a newfound appreciation for the attack, musicality, and speed you see in Balanchine-trained dancers, especially at the corps level. For the 1st, I think you really need a principal with strong articulation in the lower half, which Somova doesn't have. She seemed woefully miscast. Lopatkina was a revelation in 2nd, a complete dream, and the corps looked best here. Obrazstova was fabulous in 3rd (those feet!), but the corps was kind of a mess (relatively speaking—this is the Mariinsky, after all, and the corps as a whole looks more unified and better-rehearsed than just about any company I've ever seen). All in all, a pretty fantastic showing.

My thoughts exactly on both fronts. Simkin's variation was nowhere near what we've come to expect out of him, but it was more than made up for by Lane. She was absolutely extraordinary last night. Copeland was "forceful" enough to look quite out of place among the rest of the fairies, all of whom seemed to be exhibiting the limpidity described by a certain critic to great effect. Messmer in particular was pretty fantastic. And Cojocaru? Such a beautiful Beauty—I have no words.

Younger than most of the suggestions already, but anybody know anything about Jose Sebastian? I noticed his lines in the Beauty corps last night—and I believe he's on the tall side. As for females, Meghan Hinkis always catches my eye for her artistic maturity (even where we see her now, in corps parts that aren't "showy"), and according to YouTube, at least, she's got technique for days. Christine Shevchenko and Melanie Hamrick also seem to possess a real presence. In the next couple years, I'd vote for Hee Seo and would love to see Simone Messmer continue to develop. Sascha's a head-bangingly obvious choice among the men. Anybody keeping an eye on tour casting? While I presume that KM has gotta fill up the Met, it can't be such an issue in certain of the domestic tours—and that has been where younger dancers have gotten shots earlier, right?

The page is now defunct.

The performance can be seen here, starting at around 28 minutes in.

Thanks itsthemom! Any word on casting for Lead Butterfly?

I'm fairly certain that's Chelsea Adomaitis—she appears to be wearing the same clothing in the video still.

Just to be clear, from what I've gathered, the final tally has Leanne Duge, Sokvannara Sar, Mara Vinson, and Jordan Pacitti leaving the company for various reasons or retiring. Is this correct?

Was I the only one to completely miss the fact that Puanani Brown, a former apprentice with City Ballet, joined ABT? She's listed as a member of the corps here.

Agreed!!! Also, looking forward to seeing some of the more "junior" dancers—especially after reading their posts on PNB's Facebook.