Amour

Mercutio should be a "star" role--full of charisma and energy and brilliantly danced. At the Royal, major male principals (Dowell and Wall) would sometimes alternate in the roles of Romeo and Mercutio. And let's not forget that Dowell was the original Benvolio. Romeo should, as a dancer, be first among equals of course, but the whole sense of a ballet company's masculine strength should be on display.

What I saw left me thrilled but also a little worried about the state of the company.

I agree that the Mercutios at both Saturday performances were below par. I remember about 7 years ago when Cornejo and Joaquin de Luz would alternate in the role, lighting up the stage with their incredible technical skills and charisma. I agree that dancing "together" does not make a performance; it is simply the least an ensemble can do.

I ,too, am worried about the state of this company. With the exception of Gillian, I feel the ranks of female principals (excluding the guest stars such as Vishneva and Osipova) is very thin. (Alastair Macaulay lamented this in a NYT article about one month ago) Julie Kent is getting on (and showing it in her technical skills) while IMO there is also some dead weight at the top. Wiles is not capable of pulling off a R&J and Paloma only barely. Veronika has too much inconsistency (some good roles and good nights, other times not so.) Xiomara has improved but IMO doesn't have the technique or emotional depth for a Swan Lake. The male principals used to be the best but that generation is now either gone or aging (Bocca, Malakhov, Corella, Carreno, Stiefel). Only Cornejo, Hallberg and Gomes are living up to ABT's reputation as a bastion for excellent male principals. The soloist ranks of women are swelling but do we see any sign that any one of these women will be made a principal anytime soon?

ABT needs to be more proactive in promoting and cultivating their younger talent before these dancers get fed up and move on to other companies. And yes, more rehearsal/coaching time is needed; roles like Puck (in "The Dream") or the demi-soloist roles in ballets like Swan Lake and La Bayadere are not throw away roles and should not be given to just anyone. Mediocre performances should not be acceptable. ABT may never be the Kirov (or Bolshoi) but it needs to live up to a higher standard of performance than it currently seems to be satisfied with.

I think Kevin M will invite Osipova again next year.

And please bring back the superlative artists Ferri, Bocca, and McKerrow. Without having had these great dancers contributing behind the scenes as coaches, I don't think this season would have been as successful as it was.

With the exception of her very first performance with ABT, I've seen every Juliet Vishneva has done here. They were all extraordinary, until tonight. She changes her approach to a role constantly, and tonight it just didn't work for me. As others have said, she went from a child to a very knowing, elegant woman in a flash. It didn't make sense for the character or the story and and it never developed any further from there. Her dancing was beautiful but it just seemed wrong for the character, and this most dramatic of dancers left me completely unmoved.

My impression is that Vishneva's approach to Juliet is very reminiscent of Ferri's. The changes in Vishneva's different performances different years may actually be the result of the different Romeos she has danced with (my recollection is that in Vishneva's first ABT performance as Juliet, Malakhov was Romeo). Perhaps, though, Vishneva's approach tonight was a bit more studied than previously. I think it is quite interesting that it was Ferri who coached Osipova. Undoubtedly, this great artist (and now coach) probably encouraged Osipova to put her own stamp/interpretation on the role of Juliet. This may have played a part in why Osipova's interpretation of Juliet was so different from those I have seen before and (agreeing with Ambonnay and nysusan) more nuanced in her transition from child to woman.

OSIPOVA + HALLBERG = MAGICAL

They were each individually amazing, but their collaboration was really magical. :blush:

I was so unimpressed by the Gomes/Vishneva performance (more Gomes -- see below), and harbored so many memories from the matinee Hallberg/Osipova performance, that I left tonight's performance right after the marriage scene. Vishneva was good, but definitely not at the level of Osipova -- more on that when I charge up my iphone and get my notes.

I have to disagree with Ambonnay. I thought that Osipova was wonderful - her footwork (especially the bourees), leaps and extensions were technically cleaner and stronger than Vishneva's. However, I felt that Vishneva's upper body, her lines (i.e., her hands and feet being at the same level when lifted by Gomes in the balcony scene), the wonderful expressiveness of her arms and hands, her musical phrasing and the range of her emotions were superior to Osipova. I thought that Hallberg's dancing was technically stronger, had better lines and was certainly more classical than Gomes' but I enjoyed Gomes' rapport with Vishneva more than Hallberg's with Osipova. I also think Gomes did a better job of making Vishneva seem like a dead weight in the crypt scene, than Hallberg did with Osipova. As a result, I enjoyed the balcony, bedroom and crypt scenes more in the Vishneva/Gomes performance. That being said, this was Osipova's debut in this role (Vishneva has been doing it for several years and this is at least the 3rd time I have seen her perform it). I thought both Osipova and Vishneva's performances were truly excellent and I'm sure Osipova's will change and get even better with time.

As for the other scenes, I felt that ensemble work was much better in the matinee performance than in the evening. Hallberg, Matthews and Hoven were always together and individually strong. In the evening, Gomes, Salstein and Simkin did what IMO was a poor job in the pas de trois before the ballroom scene and in the street scenes and none of them ever danced together. I'm sorry to say that Simkin was almost always off the music (generally behind but sometimes ahead) and I think Hoven did a better job as Benvolio. The matinee was also the first time I have seen anyone other than Frederick Franklin perform the role of Friar (Clinton Luckett did). It was interesting to see Luckett get down on his knees and raise his arms to the sky, at one point, to pray with Juliet. But of course we all love Franklin and, in the evening, he received so much applause at his entrance that the orchestra had to begin their theme again. I also preferred Kristi Boone at the matinee to Stella Abrera in the evening, as Lady Capulet.

All in all, it was a wonderful day with two very strong (and different) performances. I'm already looking forward to ABT's season next year.

This a fairly recent BelAir Classique release that can be purchased in either DVD or blu-ray formats. It contains two ballets: the complete Fokine version of the Firebird and Le Sacre du Printemps. The version of the Firebird is identical to a version released a few years ago on a DVD titled "The Kirov Celebrates Nijihsky" (though it was really a celebration of Fokine, since every ballet on the DVD was choreographed by him). On the earlier DVD, the role of the Firebird was danced by Diana Vishneva. On this newer release, it is performed by Kondaurova,with Ilya Kuznetsov as Ivan, Marianna Pavlova as the Princess and Vladimir Ponomarev as Kashchei. Personally, I prefer the version with Vishneva (she has more spirit and sparkle in her dancing) but the sound here is much better and the orchestra is conducted by Gergiev.

The version of Le Sacre du Printemps is the supposedly original version; some may have seen it performed in the 70's and 80's by the Joffrey Ballet. The Kirov's is a very good performance of the work and for those who never saw the Joffrey version, it is probably well-worth watching. Again, the sound is terrific.

I read awhile ago Sarah Lane had used some grant money to get coaching from Alessandra Ferri for Juliet...probably wouldn't turn out that bad with Ferri guiding you.

I was very happy to read in today's NYT that Ferri is coaching Osipova for R&J. That bodes VERY well for Osipova since IMO Ferri was the most perfect Juliet of all time.

I watched it all again after reading this thread so I could keep track a little better who was rehearsing what, things that ended up in performance.. I think there is great value in taking it all in without tracking everything - as an experience, but I needed another viewing to really make the connection of the evolution of rehearsal to performance (on my little TV and not being familiar with POB dancers, everyone looks about the same to me) and let's face it, I wanted to see again some selections of quite exquisite technique.

For those people who want to own "La Danse" it will be available on DVD starting July 12th,2010 from Wiseman's website, zipporah.com. Later in July, the website states that a blue ray option will be available. Zipporah.com is the only place to buy Wiseman documentaries, since he doesn't make them available through commercial sites like Amazon.com. While checking out "La Danse" , balletomanes might also look for "Ballet", the documentary on ABT that was filmed around 1990-19991. To my mind, this is an even better documentary than "La Danse" and contains the only filmed version of Ferri and Bocca dancing Macmillan's Romeo and Juliet bedroom scene.

I'm disappointed about Corella also. Wonder why this is happening.

To my eye, for the last two seasons Corella has looked out of shape technically and has also gained weight. In addition, even in his prime, he had some difficulty with the lifts in Romeo and Juliet (you can see him laboring with Ferri in the balcony scene, in the La Scala production of R&J that is on DVD). The fact that Diana also loves Marcelo (and might not feel as secure with Corella) all point towards reasons why this cast change happened.

No posts on the past few days of performances! I would love to hear more reviews and impressions!

Just saw Friday night's All Classic program. Xiomara substituted for Irina in Allegro Brilliante and I thought she was marvelous; she actually reminded me a bit of Patricia McBride. She not only had the technique down solidly but she had the right attack and musicality that ABT dancers sometimes lack when dancing Balanchine. At this point, I have to say that I generally enjoy ABT performances of both Balanchine and Robins works more than the City Ballet performances partially because the ABT dancers' technique is so outstanding.

The other highlight of the evening was the Manon pdd with Vishneva and Gomes. Vishneva was touching, romantic, and the flexibility and expressiveness of her upper body make her mesmerizing to watch. The chemistry with Gomes was definitely there and they received a standing ovation afterwards.

I found the Tudor choreograpy for the Romeo and Juliet bedroom scene to be rather dull and the score (neither the Prokofiev or Tchaikovsky music was used but rathaer a prelude by Delius) to be similarly dull. Gillian wasn't terribly convincing as a passionate Juliet though Hallberg made the most of the choreography (this season he is wonderful to watch even if he isn't even moving on stage). The Thais pdd was a bit more interesting and I thought Maria Riccetto was quite good in the female role.

As for The Dream, though it was fairly well danced it just didn't hold a candle to the original performances with Ferri, Stiefel and Cornejo. (I saw their first performance of the piece in 2002 and also a year later in 2003). Carlos Lopez, as Puck, suffered the most in this comparison; however I feel that Ethan, at that point in his career, gave a more elegant, funny and technically solid performance as Oberon than Gomes did tonight. Julie Kent was more sweet than imperious as Titania; overall, I thought she was convincing but just not as wonderful as the incomparable Alessandra Ferri. Karin Ellis-Wentz, Kristi Boone, Saveliev and Zhurbin all gave good performances as the star-crossed lovers and Isaac Stappas made the most of his role as Bottom (if I remember correctly, he generally played the role in the 2002 production, as well).

All in all, it was a program worth seeing, even if some pieces were better than othersl.

There is a more gracious or polite way to critique what one may perceive a dancer's flaws to be and then there is Macauley's way. In the case of Ethan, for example, Macauley simply could have simply said he felt the role called for a dark haired dancer, and Ethan's hair was too blond for the role. Saying what he did that implies some association between Ethan's choice of his hair color and Ethan's political beliefs ( which I am certain to not include fascist thinking) To bring the word "Nazi" ( a VERY loaded word) into the review changes the whole tone of the commentary and makes it nasty and personal. And has been notes, Macauley often remarks on matters that do not concern either technique or dramatic proficiency but are simply physical features (hair color or length, the attractiveness of a dancer, etc.) that are his personal preferences. That has been my criticism of Macauley since he arrived. He certainly has a right to his opinions (and is paid to express them) but they should be limited and it is the very unpleasant and IMO unpofessional way that he expresses them that often degrades his reviews into personal attacks.

Yeah, I thought that was an unnecessarily harsh word myself, because even 'no longer capable of executing most of the difficult steps' is quite sufficient, and is what he meant. Although I'd rather be called 'wretched' than 'a dweeb'. He's probably still reeling from that.

Darci suffered from serious back problems and a surgery during the 90's. I have to give her tremendous credit for continuing her career when most others would have given up. Also, in typical McAuley style, the word "wretched" was gratuitously nasty; after all this was Darci's final performance and the review was summing up her career and should have been gracious to a dancer who was, at times, incredibly wonderful to watch. As an aside, I saw Darci dance both Stravinsky ballets a week earlier and think she did a more than credible job with Momentum (although in Movements her attack and ability to attain the proper positions were lacking).

In any case, I believe this is the first time I have read a review of a final performance that takes a jab at the dancer. In my opinion, it was inappropriate to be so harsh; one should be gracious as possible in these circumstances. I am truly tired of McAuley's tiresome, petulant and often personal attacks on dancers he doesn't care for.

I have to agree with canbelto. I thought that of the 3 roles Osipova has performed here, this was her weakest. She struggled during the Rose Adagio and,in general, her performance lacked the charm and lightness that I thought she would she would bring to it. David Hallberg, on the other hand was marvelous - a perfect prince; he was elegant, classical and technically superb. My favorite performances of the evening, however, were those of Daniil Simkin and Sarah Lane as the Bluebird couple. His elevation and her crispness were wonderful and the two of them did bring down the house.

I also agree about Michele Wiles being a very disappointing Lilac Fairly. I have never been a fan of her dancing and tonight I thought this was one of her worst performances. In all her years as a principal she has never lost the rigidity of her head and arms - there is no expressiveness at all. Even worse, I thought the attributes she formerly displayed in her lower body have deteriorated. Her jumps lacked elevation and strength and her extensions were low. She has little stage presence and projection and really no theatrical charisma. It seems a shame that she stays as a principal when there are so many other talented soloists (Lane, Riccetto and Kajiya, for example) waiting in the wings with small roles that don't adequately display their talents. ABT really needs some additional good principal ballerinas; maybe it's time for a little turnover, bringing up some of the younger dancers while they are still young, in their prime and can truly develop as artists.

Finally, I must say that this Disneyfied production of Sleeping Beauty is really lacking. So much of the ballet's original beautiful choreography has been either changed or entirely eliminated ( I especially miss the variations in the last act). It's a shame. Maybe some day ABT will return to the older version of the ballet.

I also attended Tuesday's performance and came away incredibly disappointed! Rarely have I seen an ABT production that at the very least has a few redeeming aspects. I felt both Vishneva and Gomes were clearly not at their best and together had zero chemistry. He danced his ballet and she danced hers. Vishneva is lucky to have a facility and a technique that even on a bad night can look pretty good, but Tuesday she merely phoned in her role. And her blank mask of a face was totally devoid of any emotion, let alone passion for Solar. Gomes seemed to be struggling technically. His menage of double sau de basques were off center every single time and he barely made it through them. (just one example). Gillian's Gamzatti showed early promise but just ran out of gas by Act III. Her musical timing was rushed and un distinguished. Both Victor Barbee and Gennadi Saveliev seemed to have cement in their limbs. The Shades were off musically and technically. Since when is it allowed to have different heights on the arabesques and to come out of poses at different times in the music? The beauty of that moment is the purity of the unison. The pas d'Action was a mess from both the men and women. No where was there a meshing of minds about how that section should be danced. By the time Danil Simkin came on as the Golden Idol it was too little, too late. Perhaps everyone was feeling the response to the opening Gala. Everyone seemed to be dancing under water. Too soon in the season to look so exhausted! I think ABT would do better to begin a season with something lighter ("Don Q") so to get everyone's sea legs underneath them a bit. I exchanged my Thursday night ticket (a repeat of the casting of Tuesday) so to avoid further disappointment and will hope different casting will bring this ballet to life.

I just came back from Thursday night's performance. Unfortunately, I agree with virtually all you say, except about Gillian's Gamzatti. Vishneva definitely seemed to be "phoning it in" and was simply flat and uninteresting to watch. This was a great disappointment as I generally love her performances and still remember the first time I ever saw her (performing Nikiya with the Kirov in Bayadere in NYC). She had little to no chemistry with Gomes, though I actually found him more interesting than her to watch. It is indeed lucky that she has such a prodigious technique that she can rest on.

I did, however, find Gillian's Gamzatti to be dramatically quite intriguing. She dances the role as an aggressive woman, possessively keeping tabs on her man and asserting her authority (as opposed to a disappointed woman desperately trying to hang on to her man). In this interpretation, of the 3 principals (Gamzatti, Solar and Nikiya) Gamzatti is the one who clearly wields the most power. This interpretation was new to me, and I found it quite interesting and very well done. Gillian's performance was far more interesting and nuanced, I thought, than Vishneva's Nikiya.

I also felt the corps was lagging and not up to par. Where have the back port de bras gone, in Act 2? And yes, the arabesques and arms were of different heights and off musically. At least some of the soloist Shades (Sarah Lane especially) seemed to be making a good effort and succeeding.

All in all an indifferent performance that leaves me fervently hoping that ABT pulls it together for the other ballets this season.

Did anyone see Friday night's performance with Reyes and Cornejo? I'm very curious how he did in his first Romeo in NY.

Did anyone see Paloma and Gomes perform RJ last night?

Unfortunately, I was a bit disappointed by the end of last night's performance. The last time I watched this production was Ferri's retirement and I absolutely loved it, but last night wasn't very captivating. I'm probably in the very, very small minority because it seemed like everyone around me enjoyed it so my opinion is definitely just my opinion.

Having been lucky enough to see Ferri and Bocca do Romeo and Juliet several times, I, too agree that they were the best ever and seeing anyone else is always a bit of a disappointment. This is the second time I've seen Vishneva perform Juliet (the first was a few years ago with Malahkov) but I liked her performance less last night than a few years ago. Vishenva seems to model her interpretation on Ferri's but she dances with less reckless abandon and passion than Ferri. While the balcony and bedroom scenes were acceptable, I felt she was just doing steps during a lot of the ballroom scene. Also I thought Vishneva failed to dance with that girlish quality (that Ferri retained up to her final performance) that Juliet is supposed to have, except in the few moments with her nurse.

While Gomes did a fairly good job as Romeo I simply didn't find him interesting to watch and I thought the chemistry with Vishneva wasn't there. I just didn't believe he was a young man passionately in love - I actually found Cornejo far more compelling dramatically than Gomes, even though Mercutio is a secondary role. Compared to Bocca, Gomes also took some shortcuts with the choreography. For instance, in the balcony scene he went into a passe after only a half attitude rear turn instead of doing a whole revolution.

For me, the best part of the evening was Cornejo as Mercutio. His charm and dramatic capabilities seem to get better every year and of course he is wonderful technically.

For those people who never saw Ferri and Bocca perform Romeo and Juliet together or who, like me, regret that a DVD of their full Romeo and Juliet was never released, a documentary titled "Ballet" shows them performing both the balcony and bedroom scenes in Copenhagen in 1990. The documentary, by Fredrick Wiseman, is not available on commercial sites like Amazon but can be purchased through his production company - Zipporah films.

I also saw Diana Vishneva and Ethan Stiefel perform tonight and was absolutely enthralled. It's my third time seeing Sylvia (having seen it years ago with Paloma and again this past Monday with Gillian). Watching it tonight with such a stellar performances was like watching an entirely different ballet. The clarity and difficulty of the pointe work and the balances have never been so clear to me as Vishneva made them. She was a forceful presence in the first act, but was transformed into a seductive temptress in the Act 2 in a way I've never seen before. She is also able to convey the forcefulness of the role through her acting and lower body, but her upper body is always fluid, liquid and extremely expressive. A world class ballerina! We are lucky to see her in so many roles this season.

While I thought Ethan did a commendable job, it looked like he was straining, particularly in Act 1, having trouble with balance and achieving an elegant line (in a way that Maxim, on Monday did not). However, his acting was very good and made up for some of the technical difficulties.

Sylvia's attendants were also more harmonious than in Monday's performance and Sarah Lane and Daniil Simkin were terrific as the goats.

In sum, this performance gave me a whole new take on this ballet - I hope I get the opportunity to see Diana Vishneva perform it again some time soon.

I was excited to see Herman in the Corsaire dress rehearsal yesterday! Jose Carreno rehearsed the Slave in the first act but after intermission there was Herman as the Slave. He marked his solo but did some of the pirouettes. I hope this means he has recovered from his injury and will be performing the remainder of the season.

I'm sorry to report that Cornejo was out again last night, replaced by Simkin in the role of Lankendem in Le Corsaire. While I was very sorry to [again] have missed Cornejo, Simkin was marvelous with perfect pirouettes and and astounding leaps. Although ABT has yet to take Cornejo out for the rest of the week, my hunch is that he may miss his Corsaire performances. Hopefully, he will be recovered enough to perform in Prodigal Son next week.

Sunday evening's performance allowed me to see some 2nd casts and dancers I don't often see in lead roles. For me, the revelation of the evening was Simone Messmer. She was excellent as the primary Lover-in-Experience in Pillar of Fire- very technical, with a fluid upper body and beautiful extensions and balance. But when I realized the spitfire with the blond short hair in Company B was also Simone (she looks very different in the Tudor work) I was truly amazed. Of all the dancers in this work (and that includes the astounding Cornejo and a lively Gillian) she really embodied the Taylor style. She danced with her whole body, moving her head along with her shoulders and back (many ballet dancers seem to hold their heads too stiffly in modern dance pieces), jutting out her hips, without sacrificing an iota of technique. More important, she danced with a super energy and really looked like she was having fun (and that sense that dancers are having fun with the work is so critical to Taylor pieces). She really embodied the joy of dance that is not only key to Company B but to dancing in general. Kudos to her.

As for the other pieces on the program, Riccetto and Blaine Hoven danced Baker's Dozen very well, but I missed seeing Gillian Murphy, who always dances Tharp works so well. It seems to be tough for ABT dancers to incorporate Tharp's shimmying, swaying legs, and hips and shoulders into their technique. Other than Riccetto and Hoven,most of the dancers seemed a bit too stiff and I thought this made the piece seem a bit bland. As for Stallings' Citizen, Sarah Lane gave a strong performance in the lead role. As for Pillar of Fire, I have never been a fan of Michelle Wiles, and while I enjoyed all the other dancers, her wooden and slightly sloppy interpretation of Hagar marred my pleasure in viewing the piece.

The ABT responded to my "complaint" with some blather about every bit of marketing literature about ticket sales explains that there are no refunds and that they reserve the right to make cast changes.

She also stated that exchanges are possible for subscription tickets something like a week before tickets go on sale to the general public.

Maybe they should not even publish casting and turn it into you see the cast that they stand up for that performance. Somehow I don't think ballet (or opera fans) would bite at that approach, though it's coming down to it by "default". This is the third or fourth ABT season where they have made cast changes for the performance I selected specifically for the casting - lots of them. Is this the ABT or are all ballet companies doing this? I don't think opera fans would cotton to so many principal cast changes as the ABT seems to do.

Generally, they allow exchanges until the day of performance. You don't need to give a reason why.

You can't get the latest casting online but every few days, but the Met box office prints out casting. This printout always has the latest casting changes and can be picked up where the other promotional material is. You can also call the box office and they will tell you casting, based on this printout.

For those of you who have tickets to performances that Diana Vishneva was to be in over the next 2 weeks, the new printout of ABT casting reveals that she is not dancing. On Thursday, she will be replaced by Nina Ananiashvilli in Swan Lake; in the new Tharp work (next week) her role will be danced by Maria Riccetto. Having specially picked my subscription series to select the dates Vishneva was performing I am very disappointed that she will be out. I only hope she will perform the remaining dates she was scheduled for.

I'm surprised to hear this about Russian audiences. About 4 years ago, when the Kirov Opera performed at the Met in July, the audience was probably 75% Russian but everyone was quiet during performances (although quite social, as NYers are, at intermission). I also don't recall anyone being disruptive during the last visits by the Bolshoi ballet (2 yrs. ago at the Met) or the Kirov ballet (5 yrs. ago in NY?).

The composer's brief program note for "From Here On Out" mentions Bach as an inspiration, but says nothing about the clear reference to the opening of Tchaikovsky's Pathetique at the beginning of the piece. I'm still scratching my head over it. Does anybody have any idea what connection the composer was trying to make?

I attended the Works and Process where Nico Muhly and Ormsby Wilkins spent a good deal of time discussing how the music for From Here on Out was conceived and composed. There was no mention of Tchaikovsky, only Bach (and a good deal of time about how Nico composed on his computer and later transposed to piano for the dancers to rehearse to). I, myself, didn't hear any musical reference to Tchaikovsky, especially with all the different individual voicing of instruments. Others have mentioned Glass (whose work Nico was conducting at the time of the work's conception) may have been an inspiration.

Saturday evening, October 27th

The costumes were appealing. As was mentioned above, the dancers started out in some very stiff fabric (black skirts with wraps) but shortly thereafter, the women appeared in black leotards that were sheer but for where they shouldn't have been sheer. It looked like everything was cut out except for those certain areas.

Hoven is so flexible in the back and hips that he tends to throw it away and can look a bit ballerina-ish, particularly when he flaps his wrists. He really has a lot to offer in the technique area.

I'm familiar with Rucci as a fashion designer and this highlighted the difference between fashion and costume design. Rucci is known for his intricate cutting and he is the only American designer allowed to show in haute couture (vs. pret-a-porter) shows. He often uses stiff fabrics (especially skirts) while tops are often made of sheer tulle with black bras showing through. He also has spoken about his being inspired by Japanese art. C to C's costumes were characteristic Rucci and the opening moments of the ballet reminded me of the Kursawa films "Seven Samurai" and "Rashomon". However, the initial outfits looked really difficult to manipulate and move in. They definitely worked theatrically but I think other designers (Michael Kors, Isaac Mizrahi) have done more function dance costumes.

I'm also very enthusiastic about Hoven but was disappointed in his partnering in From Here on Out. Of all this men, I thought his partnering was the most awkward. He held Sarawanee about 2 feet in front of him, as though she were some bad smelling fish. As an admirer of Bocca, Baryshnikov and Peter Martins, I've seen that a great male dancer must not only be a virtuoso but be willing to occasionally take back seat to his ballerina, let her have the limelight. And as Bocca/Ferri illustrate, in the best partnerships, the man and woman mesh both physically and emotionally. I sensed that Hoven was unwilling to relinquish the spotlight when dancing with his partner. I hope he realizes that showing off your partner will enhance your performance, not detract from it.

Saturday night was another success for ABT with performances of 3 contemporary ballets: Clear, the debut of Jorma Elo's C to C, and Millepied's From Here On Out.

Paloma Herrera danced the female role in Clear tonight (Carreno was the male lead) and she was a true revelation. I have seen Clear several times, with Julie Kent and Xiomara as the female leads, and never understood the role the woman plays in this ballet or even why there is a female part. ( I generally focus on the male bravura and humorous movement gestures) Tonight, Paloma brought a very different sensibility to the female role than other ballerinas - much more dramatic and classical. Her performance was filled with lyricism, fluidity and romanticism and, in some isolated moments, I almost felt like I was watching her Nikya in Act One of Bayadere. Yet her interpretation made me understand that this woman is a sexual object being passed around (or passing herself around) from one man to another. The ballet's final image, where Paloma tenderly looks at Carreno, touches his face and then reaches up longingly to the sky, as the spotlight narrows around them, was absolutely stunning! They truly conveyed the sense of a couple whose relationship has had difficulties but has now overcome the challenges. Bravo to all.

The second ballet was the debut of the much heralded C to C, with Jorma Elo as choreographer, Phil Glass as the composer, Chuck Close as set designer and Ralph Rucci as costume designer. The ballet makes much of theatrics in terms of its lighting, set and costuming (the 6 dancers initially come out in full length, black samurai- type outfits and stand still, evenly spaced across the stage; then parts of the outfits are then taken off by one dancer who goes to the others and helps them out of part of the outfit). Thankfully, the thick costumes gradually come off (one could see the difficulties the dancers had moving their legs underneath the stiff fabric). Meanwhile the background set is first a huge close up photograph of Chuck Close, later replaced by one of Glass. The movement style is all about supple backs and arms, as the dancers manipulate their bodies rather like inchworms flexibly rolling through their backs and then jerk a bit in a quirky fashion. Kristi Boone really excelled at this and Misty Copeland, while not quite as flexible, also did a great job. But by using only 6 dancers and mainly seeing them in solos or separate PDD, I missed seeing shapes and patterns moving across a stage. Generally , I felt this work didn't really expand any movement idiom and depended too much on the above mentioned theatrical elements to sustain it. I have to say I found Elo's Glow-Stop much more inventive.

Last but not least was From Here on Out. Millepied's work has 12 dancers (tonight, Gillian and David Hallberg were the leads) who eventually dance as male-female pairs. His choreography here seems to echo some of Lar Lubovitch's early modern dance works with the dancers often moving forward in a rolling fashion (like waves) as they hold on to each other. At other moments, as in a trio where 2 women lead a man, I was reminded of moments in Balanchine's Apollo. Much (but not all) of this piece consists of PDD with the Gillian/Hallberg one being the longest. Like the other 2 pieces tonight, From Here on Out is high energy and requires dancers to really commit to the movement. Unfortunately, tonight the generally versatile Gillian showed energy but not much passion, so it was up to the other dancers to carry the piece, which they did admirably (especially Isabella Boylston). Nico Muhly's original score (which I had heard portions of at the Guggenheim Works and Process) was interesting, especially with the voicing of so many different orchestral instruments, and helped greatly bring the piece to life.