Rosa

In response to jilaney and MJ: the plot synopsis in the program says that the King and Queen are told by Lilac Fairy that they must leave the kingdom and leave Aurora to her destiny, and the Queen cries a river of tears that Prince Desire will drink from.

Never heard of a SB with that plot twist. Anyone know what the point is of Prince Desire drinking from the river of tears?

And thank you so much nysusan and Haglund's for the reviews of yesterday's performances.

Yes, more please!! Hurray for Part and Gomes!!!

I thought it was odd that Carabosse handed Aurora an undisguised spindle; other productions I’ve seen has the needle hidden in a bouquet of flowers. It doesn’t make sense…one would assume people would have warned her about playing around with spindles or someone would have snatched it away from her earlier.

In Dowell's production for the Royal Ballet Carabosse also simply handed a spindle to Aurora. She may have been warned about playing with spindles but she probably had never seen one before to realize the danger.

No problem, carbro. I was starting to fear it was my computer or something. And you're welcome.

It is on the ABT calendar under performances. Murphy/Stiefel for June 2nd, 8PM.

Is it possible Kent could be the backup if it is decided Part won't perform opening night?

Well, Murphy now will be doing two SBs. She replaces Kent June 2, evening with Stiefel. And Wiles will be Lilac opening night.

Thanks for the link. Those photos are beautiful!

Thanks Dale.

Looks like Hallberg will do SB with Diana. He'll perform it twice on the 9th, first with Gillian and then with Diana.

That is very disappointing news!!! Is there any word yet on who will be Malakhov's replacement(s)?

I finally saw this twice this weekend and overall was impressed. The lighting, sets, and costumes were lovely. The camera angles were very good, especially the wide and overhead shots that allowed me to admire the corps in Act 1 and the swans in Acts 2 and 4; only the extreme closeups of the hands were annoying and, IMO, unnecessary. The Paris Opera Orchestra, conducted by Vello Pahn, was magnificent. Nureyev's choreography was very good; I noticed that some dances were unchanged from his first staging for the Vienna Opera Ballet (the prince's solos in Acts 1 and 2, the dance of the swans and adagio in Act 4), and some others had a mix of old and new steps (act 1 waltz, the finale).

Last time Siegfried died in a flood, this time he perished at the hands of Rothbart...in a dream. Having the story be turned into a dream (I got the impression everything was unreal, even Siegfried's birthday celebration) was very interesting, I'm still not sure just what I think about it. And making Wolfgang and Rothbart a duel role was also puzzling (though not as disturbing as Nureyev's Nutcracker when Clara dreamed her prince was really Drosselmeier ). Did Siegfried just randomly choose his tutor to be his enemy? Or was there more to it?

The dancing: the POB has beautiful beautiful footwork. The corps de ballet was excellent in Act 1 (the waltz gave me goosebumps), and the international dances of Act 3 were impressive (Carborne in Czardas and Ould-Braham and Belingard in Neapolitan stood out). The Parisian swans were gorgeous, very graceful. They tie with the Russians for being my favorite swans. The Act 1 pas de trois was well danced by Emmanuel Thibault, Nolwenn Daniel, and Dorothée Gilber.

Karl Paquette as Wolfgang/Rothbart was very good, dancing and acting. He was a constant lurking, orchestrating presence as he whispered in Siegfried's ear and gave instructions to the corps in the first act and later to Odile at the ball. What was this tutor's motive?

The leading roles are my main issue with this version. Agnès Letestu and José Martinez are pleasing to watch with very good clean dancing. But I could not connect with their characters and there was little chemistry between the two. Letestu's Odette was very cold, more fitting for the Ice Princess Turandot than the vulnerable Swan Queen. She feared nothing: not Siegfried at their first meeting, nor even really Rothbart. In Act 4 she was very unconvincing when she forgave Siegfried. As a dazzling Odile Letestu was more effective, though she hardly imitated Odette to deceive Siegfried. Martinez's acting was disappointing. His facial expressions hardly changed throughout the ballet. In the closeups he looked only slightly interested in the action he observed or took part in. Only at the end of Act 3 when he realized he had betrayed Odette did Martinez, for a moment, appear to be Siegfried instead of playing the role.

Some last thoughts: I always like it when Siegfried is on stage with Odette during her solo in Act 2. I can't place my finger on it, but when he is there watching her, it adds a little something to the whole dance for me. I was pleased that was the case in this version.

In Act 3, Siegfried told his mother he wanted to marry Odile. There were no big smiles, vigorous nodding, or huge sighs of relief that the prince would marry and continue the royal succession. This queen didn't immediately agree. She just stood there looking at him. He knelt and clasped her hands, begging. Still the queen seemed unsure. I'd never seen any queen do that before and found it very intriguing. And when she started asking Siegfried if he loved Odile, she looked far from pleased when Rothbart cut in and asked it.

During the finale close to the end, at one point Rothbart and Siegfried were performing the same steps, at the same time and a moment after the other. It reminded me of the Bolshoi Bessmertnova/Bogatyrev Swan Lake in which Rothbart often mirrored Siegfried's movements.

Overall, this is a Swan Lake worth seeing.

Congratulations to all the dancers!!!

I find it a bit interesting that Sterling is the only woman who was promoted. Does NYCB usually promote more men dancers than female dancers?

drb, thank you for the wonderful review of Peiffer+Pereira. I'm glad it was such a good performance.

If you go to abt.org now, there's a photo of Part and Gomes in Sleeping Beauty.

Pretty! I wish I could see Part and Gomes.

That Swan Lake video of Erica is wonderful. Does anyone know who was her partner?

I really liked Peter Martins' comments in Episode 8.

Look forward to reading reviews and accounts of opening night!!

Yes indeed! Awesome part seven!!

Yes, she did.

"They put a gun to my head. I am a coward," says Kirkland. "I didn't intend to do the role, but I hope I can bring something to it."

I'll certainly envy those who will attend the performances that will allow them to say: "I saw Kirkland's Carabosse!"

Me too! Reading that part about Gelsey performing made me smile. The whole article was very interesting.

It certainly would be different to see the Romeo & Juliet Balcony PdD with two Juliets. :grinning-smiley-001:

I never knew Giselle wasn't a wili anymore at end. I always thought she stayed one. Thanks for the explanation rg and Mel.

I was wondering what happened to Giselle after Act 2. Was she still under Myrtha's power even though she had saved Albrecht? Did she take part in causing men to dance to their deaths? Did the Wilis still cause men to dance until they died or were they permanently defeated by Giselle's act of love?

What do you all think?

Welcome, Holly! Pleased to meet you.

Osipova and Vasiliev will dance Don Q again. How exciting!

I wonder if they will do Swan Lake soon? I saw it when it premiered in 2004 and would like to see it again.