Amour

Just back from NYCB. Unfortunately all the cast changes were correct. In fact, for the first time I can recall, there was actually a written insert inside each program with them. They were Pereira for Bouder in Raymonda Variations. For Martins' Morgen they were Tess for Maria, Rebecca Krohn for Sara and Zach Catazaro for Amar. For Morgen I didn't find the changes too terrible. For Raymonda they were. Despite all this, the house was full. First Raymonda Variations. This is a very difficult ballet, extremely fast, lots of jumps (and gargouillades, Italians), hops on point, quick turns. Generally very tough stuff. Generally , there are 9 variations; judging from the insert, they simply cut two, since we saw 7. (It looks like they cut one lead male and one lead female variation.). The variations were executed by 5 soloists or corps women - Brittany Pollack, Kristen Segin, Megan LeCrone, Megan Mann. and Savannah Lowery. There is also a corps of 7 additional women (and I still can't tell if Emilie Gerrity or Indiana Woodward is the one I like) There is only 1 man - Joaquin - in the whole ballet. There was also one PDD for Erica and Joaquin. Each variation has something unique about it; it may have all hops on pointe or another one have have lots of turns. I thought the first two variations, performed by by Brittany Pollack and Kristen Segin were the best (I think Kristen had the hops on point). But with the exception of Savannah Lowery falling briefly off pointe, they were all executed pretty flawlessly. Well done ladies. But Erica, oh Erica. Oy. Why does Peter keep putting her into ballets Ashley generally dances? To teach her a lesson? To humiliate her? To show her some " Tough love"? Poor girl. Yes, she did all the steps (I think) required of her but just barely. And they had to cut two variations. Erica made a feeble attempt to play with the music (Holding an arabesque a little longer) but she fell out of it. The fact is she is not the whiz kid virtuoso Ashley is. No one else is.But I think Erica could be a lot better than she is, if they started her more slowly, with less difficult roles. Erica seems to suffer from a debilitating lack of confidence and has zero stage presence or charisma. Part of it is her tiny frame. She is short and very thin. As a result, to make up for a lack of physical presence (and some technical issues) she ABSOLUTELY needs to learn stage presence and how to project confidence. (As a small modern dancer I learned that lesson a long time ago). She needs to take a cue from her male colleagues - De Luz, Ullbricht and Cornejo . These guys are all small but they're some of the most beloved dancer because they have PERSONALITY andd CHARM.Right now, when she finishes a solo, she looks like she's about to cry. That, to my mind, is her worst enemy. You could see the charismatic Joaquin trying to buoy her but she was already lost to her inner demons. So in sum, Raymonda Variations is a good piece (a great one, really) but it needs leads who can pull it off. Martins' Mogen is a tiresome ballet about 3 couples and the nature of love. The piece is all about the ballerina, the man never does a solo, he just partners and lifts her. Each of the 3 female leads get steps that would show their best assets. The first girl (Maria/tonight Tess) gets to unfurl her long limbs in a variety of directions. The second girl - Sterling gets to fly around and jump into her partner's arms. The third girl (Sara, tonight Rebecca) gets to swoon dramatically a lot. I'm not generally a Sterling fan but I thought she was great in this; confident throwing herself into her partner's (Justin?) arms in a variety of poses. She was brave,light on her feet, quick and fearless. Tess showed of her beautiful long limbs. Rebecca isn't nearly as dramatic as Sara but she's a good dancer and did her best. The men are cavaliers, they never get a solo (they were Catazaro, Peck and Ask La Cour). Zach was having an ok night and Ask, while boring, is a decent partner. But Justin Peck? He needs to stop dancing and just choreograph. He looks sloppy and out of shape. You might not see it in the next piece - N.Y. Export: Opus Jazz - but it was more than apparent in Morgen. Do yourself and the audience a favor, Justin, and just choreograph! BTW, I have to give props to the wonderful soprano - Marjorie Owens- who beautifully sang the Richard Strauss music. Very well done and she got more applause than any of the dancers. As for the Robbins piece, it is a candy colored sneaker "ballet" (really not ballet at all). It's really a jazz piece, kind of reminiscent of West Side Story but not as much fun. Lots of finger snapping, hunched backs, quirky, bent arms, flexed feet and turned in jazz pirouettes. You might find it fun or you might find it really dated (I found it a bit of both.). Gina Pazcoguin was the lead woman and has such great energy and style for the piece. Since there are only about 20 dancers, it was the first time I got to really see new corps member Preston Chamblee dance. He's tall, handsome and has good technique. Now he just needs to slim down a bit. He is significantly larger than his colleagues (though by no means fat). But this is really a nothing piece. A lot of people left at the end of Morgen. It's not really my cup of tea, either, but I wanted to see how the dancers did. As a final thought, despite this being opening night for Giselle at ABT, Macauley was at NYCB. I guess that like me, he still prefers NYCB, even when their best casts are out. (But that leaves Seibert or Gia to write the Giselle review).

Yes, it counts as a subscription. I've already done 3 exchanges (I have the Trios), no problem whatsoever.

Wait - I just saw online all the cast changes listed are for May 27, not tonight (May 22). I guess we'll see when I get to the theatre. Just called the box office and they haven't been informed of any cast changes for tonight:)

Same here:(( The cast changes were announced too late for an exchange, but that's the only reason I'm going.

I've had the experience that if you add performances to the. ABT Trio (Create Your Own) and dynamic pricing has kicked in you'll be charged that higher rate for those performances. I've always had more than 6 performances for the Trios. On the other hand, if you simply exchange tickets, you are not charged. I think it really depends on which ticket agent you get:(. ABT ticket agents have a long way to catch up to the NYCB knowledgable and helpful ones.

Sara Mearns has tweeted that her calf is not good and may take lots of time to recover. I assume that means she's out of Morgen tonight and Bournonville Divertissements on Sunday afternoon:( Also, who knows what else. She probably is trying desperately to save herself for several Midummer performances in week 6. Feel better Sara!

I know ticket policies are AMAZING at the ROH (we were there in August to see the Maryinsky). If only they were half as flexible here.

I Yes, until the times they simply don't tell you in advance at all. You walk in to see a note stuck in your program saying Dancer .X is unable to perform tonight due to injury/illness. She/he will be replaced by Dancer Y. That's what happened to me one year when Vishneva withdrew from a SB. If Alina does pull out, let's hope Kochetkova hasn't gone back home to SF because she's the only other dancer who knows the role and is small enough for Herman to partner (I don't think Sarah Lane knows Nikiya but that would be a grand opportunity for her).

If Alina is replaced, it'll be a replacement of the replacement (Alina was replacing Smirnova). I thought she wasn't asked to begin with because she seems pretty unreliable. As soon as I heard Smirnova wasn't coming I exchanged that date for a second Kimin Kim performance.

It's SO late to be announcing this. I'm trying to understand what ABT is doing by announcing this so late. The alumni listed were either in at the gala or live in NYC. Where's Bocca, Mckerrow, Stiefel, Corella, Carreno? I'm trying to contact my friend who is an ABT alum to find out if she knew in advance and is attending (she lives in Chicago). I'm thrilled I got tickets to this performance long ago because of Shklyarov. But to have Stella as Giselle is an extra special treat.

Yes, you can easily exchange. However, at ABT if you purchase extra performances and dynamic pricing has kicked in you'll be charged the dynamic price. In contrast, at NYCB, if you buy extra performances and you are a subscriber (even a Create a Your Own) you'll never be charged anything above the subscriber rate for a seat.

I have a Trio subscription and I got 13 performances, purchased over the phone. I have had no problem exchanging for other dates, no dynamic pricing added. Also, for the few performances where I didn't like my seats, I've looked online now, seen what is available based on the seating chart and changed my seats, specifically requesting the seats I wanted. No problem. Yesterday I changed my row T orchestra seats for row L (now available based on the seating chart) for the June 1 Kimin Kim Bayadere. Of course, you have to do this at the box office and I live a short subway ride away.

I've found ABT phone ticket agents to be unhelpful and not knowledgeable about their policies. It's only when I go to the box office I get someone who is. It's a shame you live so far away and can't get to the box office in person. If you got a trios subscription (as I did) that should still be considered a subscription.

My point was really how stupidly they captioned the pictures.

I thought I saw a bump one night (why I suspected) but the next night it was gone.

"The ABT star Misty Copelsnd"???? Geez. She's not even a principal yet. Just shows you what all that PR will buy. Too bad there was no picture of Vishneva (and her ugly outfit). Now SHE's a star.

I suspected but now it's public. Congrats to Maria!!!

I always sit in the orchestra at the Met. I like being around rows J, K, L, M although those are the priciest seats:(

I was reviewing the gala programs today. I noticed Hee Seo has no sponson I'm very surprised.

She looks beautiful and seems very lovely.

Also James Whiteside posed and he did perform.

I'm sorry about that Mirseng1. I guess that means next year I'll stick to the Trios subscription but I'll only buy that 3 minimum performances. After this year's fiasco in casting, I'd rather pay a few dollars more for dynamic pricing than lose all my money on the bait and switch stuff they've pulled this year.I decided to keep my Kimin Kim Bayaderes because he's so phenomenal. It'll be interesting to see him completely dance Hee Seo off the stage. BTW, I didn't see David Hallberg at all last night, either on stage at the end or in the audience. Did anyone else spot him?

There is an apprentice, Clara Miller, who did the SAB Workshop performance of Western Symphony but I have no idea who M. Miller is.I may have to go to this performance because Anthony Huxley is Oberon. And I ADORE him. He has gotten so many new roles this season. If he isn't promoted after this season, I will be very, very surprised.

Earlier today I was unsuccessful at getting my money back for the formerly Osipova/Sarafanov SB. I was,however, easily able to exchange my ticket for a Gillian Cinderella (I'm already seeing Nunez). The ticket agent seemed weary, like she'd already been barraged by complaints.

"Like being trapped at an increasingly desperate pitch meeting". LOL