Roberto Dini

I second the thanks. I had no idea these performances were available online.

Hmm. I've been avoiding itunes like the plague, but I might have to investigate it.

Has Dancers ever been released on dvd? I don't think so, but was wondering whether anyone knows otherwise.

I wonder whether there will be an encore presentation?

As much as I love Veronika Part's dancing, I have to admit that Zina's opening dance in The Bright Stream (holding the book) didn't make much sense to me when I saw her dance it. It was only when I saw Xiomara dance it at a later performance that I really got how the music and the steps were meant to go together. Someone mentioned above that they never seek out her performances but are always pleasantly surprised; that's been my experience several times this season. I'm glad to hear that others appreciate her too. I always look forward to seeing her dance and wanted to see her this season, but I could not renew my subscriptions this season for financial reasons, so I only saw three performances.

I did not see Reyes' Aurora this season, but I remember thoroughly enjoying her in the role. She seems to have an innate sense of musicality that elevates her dancing to another level. I wish I could describe this better. I remember her dancing in Kudulka's Désir had a such a level of musicality that it was a completely different piece than when others danced the same part--one performance seemed like an incredible feat of athleticism while Reyes' was a work of art.

Thanks for clarifying your initial post. Although i'm glad that Onegin is coming back, I'm a bit disappointed that La Fille...is not in the list. I would love to see La Fille again too.

From both a business and practical standpoint, this will never happen. What would be the financial motivation to spend money tracking and publishing guest artists schedules. An artist has an obligation to fulfill the requirements of his or her contract. Beyond that is speculation. Every company is trying to get people to buy tickets, not warn them of the possibility that an artist might not appear. Also, how would ABT, or any company for that matter, publish and keep such information up to date? And to what end? What's in it for them?

why? where? and out of curiosity does this affect Kristi Boone's status with the company? I agree Isaac Stappas' leaving is a great loss for ABT. His dancing and his acting ability always make for engaging performances. I would like to see more of him.

I love this clip. Here's a link to Petit's obit in the NY Times. Roland Petit, Choreographer, Dies at 87

Yeah, I love how he always complains that ABT audiences are suckers for athletic feats, going ga-ga over fouettes, etc. -- but this once when it serves his "argument" he decides to interpret those gasps as "not because of its virtuosity but because of its unexpected rightness." Give me a break. I couldn't agree with you more.

Your opening tag had a "/" in front of it. That's why it didn't work. You can see what your post will look like by using the "Preview Post" button below the post window. For example, when I previewed my message, it warned me that my post had an unequal number of open and close quote tags because you began your message with a close quote tag. I was able to remedy this and quote your message by notating your message as a code snippet.

Thank you for sharing this information.

From reading some of these posts, one might think that partnering is a one-way street. The woman shows up, dances and the man partners her. But she can help or hinder her partner in many ways--the way she arches her back or how she pushes off from the floor, for example. It is a partnership after all, and whether evident or not, the woman might be contributing to the partnering problems.

To quote someone, just hit the reply button. Their post will appear between the quote tags. You can edit it to include only the relevant part of the post to which you are responding. I'm assuming the soloist is the concertmaster and had a strict audition process. I've often wondered but have never dug out my programs to check whether there's any overlap between the MET Opera orchestra and ABT.

Having seen Part and Bolle dance Swan Lake, I would hardly call her miscast. She danced a stellar performance of Swan Lake that night. I believe she will again. Before that performance, I didn't understand the adulation that people had given her; however, her dancing that evening made me see what everyone was talking about. It was a revelation compared to her early Sleeping Beauty performances. Regardless of how she performed with Stearns, I don't think she is miscast in Swan Lake.

Here's a link to the NYTimes review of Carreño's farewell: NYTimes Review and the accompanying slide show of photos: slide show.

Hallberg tweeted a picture of the boot he is in. It goes from his foot to his knee. Looks like a serious sprain. I doubt he can recover in one week, for Sleeping Beauty. Very disappointed, I have tickets for Swan Lake with Semionova and Sleeping Beauty with Osipova. But Hallberg's recovery is priority. I've seen the picture, and it looks to me like a standard boot used to isolate the ankle. I don't know whether one can judge the severity of the injury from the size of the boot.

The violin solo playing has been distressing. I wonder why?

I saw the ad you're referring to. Wiles looks really strange in the photo. She is wearing a black cape that totally hides her figure. You can see the ad here: Our Town NY Archives It's in the June 23, 2011 edition, p. 7.

I admit I just saw dyed black hair and heard someone say that was Osipova, so I could very well be mistaken.

I understand most of these programs require proof of age. Unfortunately, I'm aging out of most of these deals.

I thought it was spectacular. The cast was Odette - Julie Kent, Odile - Gillian Murphy, Siegfried Jose Manuel Carreño, Queen - Susan Jaffe, Wolfgang - Victor Barbee, Benno - Joaquin De Luz, von Rothbart - Isaac Stappas and David Hallberg, Pas de Trois - De Luz, Sarah Lane & Yuriko Kajiya. Carreño's dancing was beautiful. He got a huge welcome on his entrance. I'll miss the control he has in his turns. I won't be as harsh as Amour on Kent's performance. She had some lovely moments while Gillian Murphy had comparatively a multitude of lovely moments. She has the flexibility in her back that Kent lacks. I still find it amusing that, in this production, Odile doesn't exit with Rothbart at the end of Act III. Where does she run off to? The kitchen? It was nice to see De Luz dancing with ABT again. His Benno is superior to the soloists I've seen in the role lately (last year). (This is the only Swan Lake I'm seeing this season.) Hallberg was amazing. Gomes and he own the role of Rothbart, and it was wonderful to see him. The cygnets (Gemma Bond, Marian Butler, Misty Copeland, Maria Ricetto) were good. They even got their head movements together although I have yet to see a performance where they all seem to be using the same focal points. The two swans were Simone Messmer and Melanie Hamrick. The house appeared to be sold out. There was a lot of talking/shouting that I couldn't make out at the beginning of the 1st Act, followed by the requisite and repeated shushing from fellow audience members. Some of this, I think, had to do with people still being seating as the performance began. Sadly, the women seated next to me and behind me felt compelled to sing along with the score at different points throughout the evening. The woman next to me whispered to her companion throughout the entire performance, used her phone to light up her program and checked her text messages too. The orchestra has sounded better. There were a lot of clunkers tonight. The violin soloist had pitch problems in the 2nd act. Overall, his 3rd act solo was better, but it still wasn't at the level it should be. The ovation at the end was very moving. Carreño turned and knelt to the company at what would have been the end of a regular evening's curtain call. Then they brought up the curtain on him alone. And then the company came out one by one to hug him and give him flowers. I didn't recognize everyone, but they included this evening's cast members, natch, De Luz and Jaffe, Xiomara Reyes, Paloma Herrera, Natalia Osipova, Julio Bocca, Marcelo Gomes, Maxim Beloserkovsky(?) and Cory Stearns. I'm not sure who the older man was, who hugged him before Kevin McKenzie.

I remember Erica Cornejo diving under the curtain for her curtain call too. It was very funny.

I agree. I remember the lighting and set design made it difficult to see the dancers' lines and being disappointed in Cinderella's costumes. One of the bright notes was Erica Cornejo's performance as one of the stepsisters. Her dancing and comedic timing were impeccable.