Amour

Today for the first time EVER, I was charged the difference between the dynamic price and what I paid as a subscriber. So I guess the policies do depend on who you get as a ticket agent. And this was to dump my Osipova (ya, right) R&J ticket for this Saturday's SB with Diana. I complained vigorously that ABT should take a cue from NYCB on how to treat subscribers. If I had had more time I would have asked for a manager.

I just saw the production for the first time tonight and, given all the different reviews, was surprised that I basically liked it. I mourn the loss of the traditional Lilac Fairy role (and didn't care much for her choreography in Act 1, especially losing those slow développes to the side). Also Prince Deiree without any jumps, just batterie, I did not like. Also, like canbelto, I really miss the overhead lift between Bluebird and Princess Florine, as well as her upwards gestures. But Diana Vishneva was spectacular, just phenomenal. She did an attitude balance in the Vision Scene that lasted at least 15 seconds. I see some wrote about the unsupported deep cambree in Act 3 already. Well, that took me by surprise. Diana held hers for about 10 seconds. She also whipped off some triple pirouettes in the Wedding Scene. And such beautiful epaulement, use of arms and hands!! Gorgeous:)) The low attitudes and arabesques didn't bother me so much but the low extensions to the side and front did. Also the manège on releve instead of pointe is not for me. The coup de pied instead of passé (or retire) didn't bother me so much because of the long tutus. I thought Sarah Lane was just gorgeous as the 3rd Fairy (Breadcrumb?). Poor Stella was stuck in the new version of the Fairy Violente. I really don't like how Ratmansky has changed what we've been used to seeing (I call it the traditional version) of this variation. The way the fingers now point to the same side, elbows crossed is just one piece of it. Stella looked uncomfortable and it was unflattering to her lyrical style. Although some of the costumes are great, some are insane. Those hats on the fairy cavaliers? How do those guys manage to do any tours at all? And Joey Gorak was the cavaliere in those mushroom pantaloons. You could see all that draping fabric was hindering him from doing his entrechats. Also, the foot high beehive wig on the Queen. IMO, also insane. But Tatiana Ratmansky ( the Queen tonight) is a gorgeous woman. I would have loved to have seen her back when she was a dancer. Also the fabric for the jewel Fairies (Diamond, Gold, Silver, Sapphire) looked a little tacky close up, or like you went wild with a bedazzling gun. But the queen's outfit as well as Aurora's looked quite beautiful. The house was packed tonight. I was in row K orchestra but when I looked all around, it looked sold out, even standing room. A very dressy crowd, too. A lot of people were there including Misha (whom I have never seen at an ABT performance since he left as AD), Diana's parents, Allegra Kent (or course she's there all the time). Maybe their first sold out show. Too late now for more detailed thoughts. Maybe more tomorrow.

I think the whole RB is on DVD. You can probably rent if from Netflix.

I was at the matinee today, as well. Miriam Miller is a beautiful dancer. Tall, pretty, with very long limbs, she is cast in the Tess/Maria mold. I thought that for someone who is still technically an SAB student (she was named an apprentice early) she danced with great confidence. Her very fast bourrees, her slow, lovely développes, her big sissones were truly wonderful. I know she is only an apprentice now; to make it into the corps you have to log in a certain number of performances. But I feel certain we are seeing a future star. I'm too excited about Anthony's promotion to review his performance other than I thought it was great. I leave it to others to critique. Jumping from Act 1 to Act 2, I thought the divert with Ashley and Adrian D-W was fantastic. This was not the lyrical, gracious PDD of Tiler & Tyler, it was the athletic one, the "Osipova" one. Ashley is just such a virtuoso. She played with the music by holding every arabesque, really every pose, extra long and then catching up to the music. In her promenade, she kept her leg at 90 degrees (Tiler's was lower) and had absolutely no problems. And Adrian matched her, doing multiple pirouettes, some jumps, but mainly showing Ashley off. For me, these two are some of NYCB's more idiosyncratic dancers. They don't look like anyone else. They don't dance like anyone else. They don't always dance "pretty", but they always show off their technical chops. I like this pairing a lot. As an aside, Leonid Sarafanov was at the performance this afternoon, attending with a somewhat older Russian woman who used to teach at SAB. The one blip on the afternoon was an approximately 4 year old who sat behind me and kept talking in a full, loud voice THE ENTIRE TIME, despite her mother's shushing. There were a lot of kids today but none as poorly behaved as this one. Parents, if your child is too young, has a short attention span or otherwise can't behave in a theatre, either take them outside the auditorium or leave them home. It's extremely thoughtless to those around you who paid more than 100 dollars (I was in the orchestra, so $134 to be exact) to see the performance. I made a mental note to myself that if that ever happens again I will complain to an usher.

Congrats to all 3. Very well deserved! I'm so excited about Anthony, I can just forget sleeping tonight:)

NYCB has tweeted that Lauren Lovette and Anthony Huxley have been promoted to principal dancer and Ashly Isaacs to soloist. Huge congrats to them all!!! Well done, Peter:)

A few things. I totally agree with you about Sarafanov with the Mik. He was exceptionally dull. On Wednesday though, the old Sarafanov I fell in love with from YT showed up. I do think that what distinguishes him from Kim (and maybe Cornejo) is his epaulement and entire carriage of his body. I think Kim has nice enough lines. But Kim is a virtuoso and Sarafanov is an elegant, refined danseur noble. We haven't really seen anyone like Sarafanov basically since Fateyev came in and seemed to be dismantling and undermining Vaganova training by not promoting any of Vaganova trained dancers, except Batoeva. Sergeyev, Stepin, even Yermakov, they are all flatlined. Lucky for Shklyarov he got promoted early or was lucky (he was still a soloist under Vahziev)..

Saturday night's performance was the same cast as vipa saw: Tess Reichlen as Titania, Danny Ulbricht as Oberon, Troy Schumacher as Puck, Amar and Sterling in the divertissement. I have to say I disagree a bit about the performance. I thought Tess was just wonderful. I enjoyed her more than Maria on Tuesday night. Those long limbs that stretch to infinity. Her dancing was surpremely assured and confident. And I thought she was a terrific actress and comedienne. Her miming was very clear, especially when she emphatically tells Oberon he can't have the little boy. I haven't seen such an authoritative Titania since I saw Alessandra Ferri in Ashton's The Dream. The one shaky part was her PDD with her cavalier, who was Justin Peck, and that's because he was a mess. Such strained, labored partnering. He really struggled in the PDD. And when Tess jumped onto his shoulders, for a moment I thought he was going to drop her:( And his beats were terrible. He really needs to just concentrate on choreographing and, IMO, stop dancing. I love Danny and he was as fantastic as abatt and vipa said. But I think the reason he doesn't get many roles are his proportions. His legs and arms are short. And his thighs are very thick. Some nights it doesn't bother so much (like if he wears black) but tonight in those white tights it did. Still he is a fantastic dancer and, like Tess, also a great actor. All the sequences of their fight and then their reuniting at the end was crystal clear.and yes, his high jumps, ability to cover space and his batterie are great. But until Joaquin retires, he's going to be the short guy that gets roles (unless Huxley is promoted and it becomes him), Danny is just not going to get enough roles. I really liked Troy Schumacher as Puck (now there is a choreographer who can still dance). He was funny, speedy, his runs in the air were perfect. He also did a lot less mugging than Antonio Carmena, which I preferred. And Claire Von Enck as the butterfly was perfect. This role really suits her. She was delightfully light, perfect attitude turns, great pointe work. And thanks to the wig and makeup she didn't look 12 years old but like an adult. It's clear she is being fast tracked (I think she's only been in the company a year or two) and she deserves it. Unlike opening night the lovers were all soloists or corps members. I thought opening night (where they were principals) was better. Rebecca Krohn was certainly more convincing than Brittany Pollack as the lovelorn Helena. But I do really like Ashley Laracey (Hermia tonight). She's very pretty, has beautiful proportions and a wonderful line. To me, she like a "Balanchine ballerina" : long legs and neck, small head, very pretty and with a great plastique. Definitely, one to watch. I was surprised that Gina Pazcoguin was not fiercer as Hippolyta; she usually displays such spirit. And yes, her fouettes did travel. Sterling and Amar in the divertissement I didn't care for. After seeing the perfection of Tiler and Tyler on Tuesday....well these don't have it. Try as she might Sterling simply does not have Tiler's musicality or ability to exude graciousness. She also not nearly as assured technically as Tiler. Also I almost always find her vanilla bland (like tonight). And Amar is not anywhere as good a partner as Tyler Angle (of course, who is?). Also, again not near as strong technically as Tyler Angle. And I didn't see much chemistry (not that there has to be a lot in Balanchine but there should be some). So I thought the divertissement was blah tonight and enjoyed Act 1 much more than Act 2. The pairing I'm most interested in seeing, though, is Ashley Bouder with Adrian Danchig-Waring later today. Now THAT should be interesting. I have to add the audience was extremely enthusiastic tonight. Also, like canbelto, I was very excited to see Elizabeth Moss (aka Peggy Olsen from Mad Men) on the promenade at intermission. Thank goodness I sat in the orchestra (she was in the first ring) so I wasn't distracted during the performance. What really surprised me was how short she is: probably 5'2" max. She's also not glamorous or twig thin. She just looks like a regular person. Still it was exciting to see a famous actor (supposedly she went to SAB for awhile). I didn't get to talk to her, though. Now onto the debut of Miriam Miller and Anthony Huxley. Can't wait. EVERYONE I know is going. I think the house is completely sold out!

I saw Xiomara and her husband in the lobby at intermission at today's Bayadere matinee. I have to say I was very surprised. After the things she said to the press about her retirement, I never thought I'd see her at any ABT performances again, except maybe Julie's farewell.

About today's matinee, I have to add that Stella Abrera's 3rd shade variation was gorgeous, just GORGEOUS!!! It was 100x better than Luciana Paris (1st variation) or Devon Teuscher (2nd variation). Paris was adequate but Teuscher struggled. But Stella....what an artist. The way she uses her arms, her plastique is just fantastic. To think that she hasn't been promoted and never may be is a crime. Shame on Kevin:(

Totally agree. Very sad to have none of them back this year, especially Tereshkina. As I believe abatt said earlier up thread doing those développes to the back in the death scene while never coming off pointe is something I will never forget.

I thought that happened this afternoon at the Bayadere with Kim, Seo & Gillian. I thought Seo looked much stronger than Monday. Much better Act 1, better use of her arms, more sensual, more plasticity. OK, yes she fell off pointe about 3 times during the Shades scarf dance but she covered it pretty well. And Gillian seemed energized. Her jumps, fouettes & Italian fouettes were much better than Monday. And boy, can she turn!!! I think she did a quintuple pirouette in the wedding scene. Kim seemed slightly toned down from Monday but still fantastic. His jumps, air turns, whizzing fast chainees are just out of this world! The partnering with Seo looked a little labored again but no such partnering problems with Gillian. I truly hope ABT invites him back next year. He's such a phenomena!!

Here's the review from the NYT of the afternoon cast. http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/01/arts/dance/review-school-of-american-ballet-workshop-includes-harlequinade.html?rref=arts/dance&module=Ribbon&version=origin&region=Header&action=click&contentCollection=Dance&pgtype=article

Simone Messmer has announced on her Facebook page that she's joining MCB as a principal. I don't know if it's a good fit but I wish her the best. https://www.facebook.com/miamicityballet/photos/a.78049846089.90769.10244171089/10152788832526090/?type=1&theater

I'm not seeing any this year. After 8 wonderful Mariinsky SLs (4 in London, 4 at BAM) I can't bear to see the horrible ABT production. And there are no dancers I want to see as O/O. I'm just going to the RB that week.

He was also a great teacher. I took a few Horton technique classes from him in the 1980's. He remained committed to teaching long after he stopped dancing.

I think if I ever see a performance where Hee doesn't make a noticeable mistake I'll fall off my chair!

The Mariinsky epaulement still is better than any American or British but it's just not what it was 15-20 years ago.

Just wanted to say a few more things about Wednesday night. Sarah Lane was one of the 3 Shades (Misty and Devon Teuscher were the other 2). Sarah was just exquisite. She danced the first shade, which looks to be the hardest. Lots of pirouettes and all those releves to pointe that go almost all the way across the stage. Her turns were perfect, she didn't fall out of one. And the releves done perfectly. Her line in arabesque, her arms, the way she holds her head is so classical. Seeing her dance next to Misty was very revealing of Misty's inelegant dancing. Also Sarah looks to be and inch or two shorter than Misty and about half her size. Interestingly, Sarah's variation got cheers and bravos from the audience. Misty got polite applause. Gabe Stone Shayer was the head fakir in Act 1. He was good, nice jumps, very "wild" but not as impressive as Aaron Scott on Monday. And Scott was not as good as Craig Salstein on Monday as the Bronze Idol. I thought he hit all his poses too hard, with too much attack. BTW, I happened to see Kevin last night during intermission. He was running down the stairs from the parterre. He met my gaze and I thought of telling him how I think he's ruining ABT. But, instead, I kept silent and just glared.

IMO, the reason the partnering with Seo looked so labored was because Seo doesn't lift herself up. She's just like a sack of potatoes. If you're like that no one, not even Marcelo, is going to make partnering look good. And Kim is not the strongest partner in the world. But still, I think the problem was mainly with Seo.

I didn't mean that sentence to sound disparaging (which it may have). It's just the current talents of the Mariinsky have less and less of the refined style and gorgeous epaulement. After having seen the Mariinsky this winter at both BAM and in DC I dug out an old DVD that had Paquita with Makhalina in the lead and Lezhnina in a variation. The deterioration of style was really evident. The loss of full epaulement in the latest dancers is quite evident. In past years Kimin Kim would probably not have been accepted into the Mariinsky (not trained at the Vaganova). Now he's the company's poster boy. Hope that explains what I meant:)

Well I saw Kochetkova tonight (in place of Osipova) and Sarafanov and Boylston. Actually, it wasn't bad at all. Once you get past the fact that Maria looks like a 12 year old pre-teen (and it's tough to overlook) she was a lovely Nikiya. Like 1,000, no 10,000 times better than Hee Seo. She was very sensual and riveting in Act 1, scene 1. She has fluidity because of her tremendous flexibility and is a good actor (I was in Row K of the orchestra). This was the best I've ever seen her dance. She was really quite moving. I really was so moved in the Shades scene. It was wonderful. If she's poached by ABT, that's ok with me. Sarafanov is just not (or maybe its no longer) the bravura, technical whiz kid that Kim is. But he was still very good. His jumps while not that high, are still high enough. His grand jetes, though low, are very fast and cover a lot of space. His chainees are not as speedy as Kim's but they're cleaner, always keeping a tight fifth. He still is quite flexible, and his cambres were gorgeous and moving. And his acting was quite good, a surprise after his Giselle with the Mik this fall. And he still has the gorgeous epaulement, carriage and refinement of a Mariinsky dancer. It's just, it's the Mariinsky of a decade ago. Most important, though, Sarafanov didn't overwhelm his partners. He danced with them and blended into the company nicely. I thought he was a good partner to both Maria and Isabella. Judging from his smile at the curtain call (though you really can't tell anything from that) he was happy with his performance. As for Bella, I liked her. She was not as steely as Gillian. When she found out about Nikiya she put her head in her hands and wept. She seemed a lot less mean and malicious in her characterizations. Her technique was quite good-better than Gillian's on Monday. She has a great jump, her Italian fouettes were good and her regular ones also quite good though they still travel a lot. In the wedding scene she looked quite lyrical and she's also an excellent turner. So nothing to complain about. I think both her technique and artistry have grown since she made principal one year ago. More on the secondary characters later today.

Macauley has the highest praise for the PDD with Tiler Peck and Tyler Angle. Finally, he got it right. http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/04/arts/dance/review-new-york-city-ballet-with-heartfelt-pas-de-deux-in-a-midsummer-nights-dream.html?ref=dance

Tonight was the opening Midsummer. Maria was Titania, Joaquin was Oberon while Puck was Antonio Carmena. The couples were: Helena: Rebecca Krohn, Hermia:Sterling Hyltin, Lysander: Jared Angle, and Demetrius: Amar Ramasar. Hippolyta, Queen of the Amazons was Savannah Lowery, Theseus: Joshua Thew, Titantia's suitor: Ask la Cour and Bottom: Adrian Danchig-Waring. The Divertissement is Act 2 was danced by Tiler Peck and Tyler Angle. I thought Maria and Joaquin did well if not special. IMO, he is looking a bit long in the tooth (he's 39) while Maria struggled a bit in her partnering. She tried to be imperious but somehow with short Joaquin it read a bit humorous instead like a couple really arguing. I think it's the height difference. Actually, with the exception of Sara (Andie Vyette is her Oberon) most of the Titantia's have short Oberon's. I thought the humor should come from Puck and the situation, not the casting of Titania/Oberon. Still, Joaquin dancing was great: his petit batterie and jumps excellent. But the grandeur in the finale was kind of lacking because of the height. Maria had better luck in her PDD with Ask La Cour (who is quite tall) she was able to still stretch and unfurl her long limbs but I also saw a lot of shaking (I sat in orchestra row P) in her penchee balances. It could be the pregnancy is finally affecting her dancing. The couples threw themselves into their who is in love with who mix up pretty well. I liked Rebecca the best. She really threw herself around, taking risks and helping make the situation come alive. Sterling was too small and bland for my taste and both Amar and Jared wore ridiculous looking wigs. They need better ones. I thought Antonio Carmena did an excellent job as Puck, especially considering this was . his debut. The attack of all his gestures was great and his grand jetes flew high and fast over the stage. No he is not Cornejo (Puck, in Ashton's The Dream) or Ulbricht, but he did a very nice job. The little kids were sweet and very talented and there were clearly lots of parents in the audience. Savannah Lowery was a strong Hippolyta. She has a Sara Mearns type of body which I don't really find attractive unless you're as talented as Sara. And Savannnah is not. Still, both her dancing and acting were strong. So Act 1 went off without a hitch. A little unspectacular but serviceable. My favorite part of the ballet is actually Act 2. Not much story but lots of dancing. Tiler Peck and Tyler Angle did the divertissement and they were exquisite, just perfect. Tiler is so musical and, as is becoming frequent with her, played with the music. Her arms and upper body are so expressive and her dancing so open, generous and inviting, it's a pleasure. She did multiple, multiple pirouettes, her arms floating from first to fifth position. Also, though she kept her arabesque leg low (maybe 80 degrees) those numerous promenades went so smoothly, without a hitch. And with the best partner in the company -Tyler Angle- she had every reason to feel safe extending herself. In contrast, when I saw Oxana Skorik (Mariinsky) dance the divertissement in London last summer she struggled mightily. Skorik kept her arabesque leg high (like 120 degrees) but you could see how hard she was working in the PDD, all the shaking during the promenades and turns. I was afraid she was going to fall off pointe (she didn't). Having seen a less assured divertissement makes you realize just how hard the choreography is and we are blessed to have some very special ballerinas like Tiler and danseurs like Tyler who can pull it off. Extraordinary. I also have to give a shoutout to Andrew Scordato, Danny Applebaum and especially Devin Alberda for their great work as demis in the divertissement. Devin is especially elegant and charming and his partnering has really improved this year. He deserves a promotion to soloist. So overall, a wonderful Midsummer. I'm seeing 2 more, on Saturday evening and Sunday matinee. I'll be curious how they compare.

Although I'm also seeing Vishneva, I agree completely with laurel. I saw Sarah last night in a small role in Bayadere and she has such a pure, classical line and is a terrific turner. She didn't fall out of even one pirouette. And Herman's wonderful. But he's not getting any younger and keeps getting injured. Last night as Gamzatti, I thought Gillian looked tired and (I hate to say it) old. She's not getting any younger, either. So I would stick to Lane/Cornejo, I have tickets to both but my husband only agreed to see Sarah (and he generally loves Diana).