fondoffouettes

Okay, that's good to hear, nana and Batsuchan. Some of my most amazing memories EVER are with these two (together and separate), so I don't mean to diss them. I've just found that it's become a bit of a Marcelo and Diana show in recent years, with curtain calls in which they look ready to conceive a child together.

I love both Vishneva and Gomes, but aspects of their partnership have become borderline maudlin in recent years. Too much of a good thing. I can still enjoy them in ballets like Romeo and Juliet and Giselle, but I don't think I can bear their gushing emotions in a sub-par ballet like Onegin. I never thought I'd forgo seeing Visheva in her farewell year, but her dancing has been so mannered over the past four or five seasons. She's like an overly ripe hothouse fruit in these ballet-dramas.

Also, they tried to be cheap with the curtain calls, as they've done with matinees all season. The audience wouldn't leave and kept applauding, banging and hollering -- after the house lights came up -- until they gave Veronika another solo curtain call. Also what a class act Whiteside was. He let her bask in the initial curtain call all by herself and then joined her later. I'm too overwhelmed with emotion to write much more at the moment but will give a complete report later.

Yes! It was the most comfortable I've ever seen her in them (the fouettes). Also, she was basically liquid sex in the pas de deux. Wish I could come up for a more refined way of saying it, but WOW.

Intermission update: The Swan Queen has arrived! A majestic and magisterial account of Odette. I watched the adagio through tear-filled eyes. Veronika is a different creature all together -- those arms, that sorrowful face, the bird-like twitches of her head. A few other notes: the flexibility in her back and legs seems to have gone back to pre-injury levels. Those luscious developees are back. Funnily enough, given the recent talk on here about switching legs during turns, something similar happened at the end of the adagio. Part switched legs during each of the finger turns -- it definitely looked planned ahead of time and I have no idea what the reasoning behind it may have been. Perhaps her most recent injury is a foot or ankle one. Pristine dancing from Whiteside and quite fine partnering. He seems more dramatically committed than in the past. Calvin Royal was quite impressive in the pas de trois. And Martine van Hamel is an excellent Queen. I dont usually count fouettes in Act III because I'm usually so overwhelmed in that moment but will try to do so today since they've become a hot topic on here!

What's unbelievable is that People magazine covered this. How pop culture's interest in ballet, opera and classical music has waned...

I don't think this is necessarily a fair assessment. The reactions last night were pretty much in accordance with what happened onstage. The biggest applause, I believe, came after the adagio of the Act II pdd and Simkin's varation in the Act III pdd. Lane didn't garner an outsized reaction to either of her variations, nor for the fouettes that ended unfortunately. The evening didn't have the feeling of a love-fest, though certainly anticipation was high among people who have followed Lane's career.

Just to clarify -- I'm 100% in agreement that performers should be judged on what they perform onstage. But I think it's impossible to be completely uninfluenced by information that comes from their offstage lives. Obviously, knowing that Boylston was injured makes me completely reconsider her choice to replace the fouettes with a different sequence. It doesn't mean I wouldn't still be disappointed; but, it certainly makes me empathetic to her situation. Frankly, if she had been an opera singer, there would have been a slip or announcement begging the audience for their indulgence (as often happens when a singer performs while sick). Ballet dancers don't get that luxury; they just have to perform like everything is a-okay all the time. So, I'm glad for little snippets of information from social media because otherwise I'd have no idea why a dancer may be performing sub-par or substituting steps. It allows me to judge them more fairly. I don't think it's a matter of "making excuses." It's a matter of me being able to judge a dancer with all available information. Also, I just want to point out that neither Lane nor Boylston have been whiny or making excuses in their Instagram posts. The image of Sarah's many cold medications was just a three-second clip in a video story that contained a bunch of other (happy, positive) Swan Lake-related imagery. However, I think there are certainly dancers that can overdo it a bit. As much as I LOVE Sara Mearns, she has a habit of posting lots of cryptic messages about feeling unsupported or having horrible days. It does make me feel bad for her, but it can be a bit much at times.

I couldn't agree more. I'd like to think Hammoudi was having an off day, but he's looked sloppy and unprepared so many times now. The thing is -- I don't want to see him in the soloist rep, either! He looked so underwhelming the one time I saw him as (purple) Rothbart. Maybe he can do character roles and some select soloist roles (Hilarion? Orion in Sylvia?), as well. And they can keep him on the back burner as an emergency partner when needed. Hammoudi can't coast on his good looks and tall frame any longer.

That's true, but Seo has nothing to lose. She's been flubbing choreography for years, before and after becoming a principal, and it's had no negative impact on her career. She still gets cast frequently. I'm sure Lane felt like a lot was riding on last night, and she was also sick. I thought she held it together pretty well, all things considered. I wouldn't go so far as to say she broke character.

I actually think those little pickup steps are beautiful and I much prefer when a dancer elects to do those in the Tchai pas rather than focus on throwing in multiples; it's much more musical. I can sort of imagine them being incorporated into Swan Lake, alternated with traditional singles, maybe.

So are the fouette sequences in Don Q and Corsaire actually 32 as well? I've always felt like there are more in SL, but it could just be that there's so much anticipation for those ones.

I think this sums up pretty well how I felt about Lane, as well. Her characterizations exceeded my expectations, with Odette being a more comfortable technical fit (at least given the limited rehearsal time she must have had.) I thought she inhabited Odile quite well and managed to convey seduction and evil despite her naturally joyful/sweet demeanor. The technical glitches mostly cropped up in Act III. The supported pirouettes did not look comfortable. Lane when into the turns with a lot of attack but it seemed like Simkin wasn't really able to handle it. The fouette issue has already been covered, but I agree that it's fine for a dancer to just go for singles. Part, who is not a natural turner at all, always just does singles (with the exception of one Corsaire several years ago when she whipped out a ton of gorgeous doubles). She's never had a disaster, even if maybe she only gets to 28 or so. I was really taken with Lendorf as Rothbart. I felt like he made the role his own; lots of virility and charisma. And he didn't try to imitate Gomes' sort of campy approach, which I do love. Lendorf was forceful and dazzling. Gorak looked beautiful but as other have noted, he does exactly what Hallberg used to do; he makes a very serious "concentrating face" when he does supported pirouettes and then immediately relaxes and goes back to his pleasant, normal stage face. Hallberg grew out of it, so certainly Gorak could, too. Act IV was really, really beautiful. Simkin executed all the lifts perfectly. And both he and Lane brought so much emotion to the act. I usually hate when the leap turns into a bravura feat that garners applause (it should be a profoundly sad moment). I don't mind when dancers gently fling themselves in, as I think that's more in keeping with the mood. That said, I think this was thet one instance in which I really did love a bravura leap. Simkin looked INCREDIBLE. Oh, and his Act III variation was probably among the most beautiful I've ever seen. It was very stylish and not show-boaty.

Yeah, I mean, it was an abrupt and startling ending to the sequence, but there wasn't all that much music left (just enough time for her to do a beautiful arabesque and hold it for quite a while, which was impressive since she must have been frazzled by how her fouettes ended.) No time for a back-up plan to go into effect because she was already so close to the end. Kudos to her for throwing in that beautiful arabesque and holding it to bide her time before Simkin came out. I agree with canbelto and nanunshka -- it was heartbreaking that it couldn't be a moment of triumph for her.

Just wanted to add: No visible nerves from Lane. I would have never guessed this was her first outing in the role with ABT. She looked so authoritative She struck and held some gorgeous arabesques.

Intermission update: a complete triumph for Lane in my opinion! GORGEOUS adagio in the pas de deux, with some of the best partnering I've ever seen from Simkin. Lane's face filled with pathos. Gorgeous arms and swan movements. Simkin looking so polished and mature. WOW.

Yes! I noticed this, as well. Her upper body was fully engaged, in a state of constant motion, with movements extending to her fingertips. I just wanted a bit more of a swan-like quality to her port de bras. But I think that could come with time. I feel like I focused a bit on the negative in my previous post, so I just want to clarify that I think Teuscher danced beautifully today. I'm just looking forward to where she takes the role in the future. And, yeah, Hammoudi's trial period is up. The thing is, he's also going to dance the soloist rep sloppily. He's blessed with good looks and a tall physique. That's what he has going for him at this point. He should be dancing the swamp monster Rothbart.

This afternoon's Swan Lake was a bit of a mixed bag. I've been a big admirer of Teuscher, but her recent comments in the NYT about her strengths/weaknesses in this ballet were reflected in her performance today. Her Odette doesn't really luxuriate in the poses, and her arabesques aren't particularly attractive. She tended to snap into a pose and then immediately come out of it. Quite a few of her developees were very low and somewhat clipped; others looked fine. She seems to lack flexibility in her back, as well. But it was a committed performance, and she's clearly put a lot of thought into the dramatic aspects of the role. Her port de bras is quite lovely, though, for the most part, she doesn't really attempt to do swan-like arms. For her big exit at the end of Act II, she beautifully illustrated the pull that Rothbart had over her, though she was almost off the stage by the time she attempted to do any swan movements with her arms. The strongest part of the act was probably the adagio section of the pas de deux, which was executed quite flawlessly by Teuscher and Hammoudi. However, overall, the act left me cold; there wasn't a ton of emotion shared between the two leads. Odile suits Teuscher better at this point, at least technically. She's a natural turner, though all her turns weren't exactly spot-on. Her variation was very well done. The adagio was marred by a botched lift (not a complete disaster; but not good) and some unbelievably wonky violin playing during the part when Teuscher is supposed to hold a balance. She didn't really attempt to hold the balance, but I think the horrendous violin could have been to blame. The fouettes are no issue whatsoever for Teuscher, but I just wish they had been more musical. She started out doing only doubles, but they didn't go at all with the music; I think it works much better with the music when the dancer elects to do singles with multiples thrown in. The doubles she executed looked fine but they didn't mesh with the music at all. She traveled quite a bit, but not terribly, during the doubles, and then transitioned to singles, at which point the traveling ceased; a nice clean finish, too. Royal looked excellent as Rothbart. He perhaps doesn't have the command and charisma that will come with more outings of the role, but his technique was really exceptional. The only thing I found odd was that he didn't try to hold the arabesque on demi-pointe at all. There seemed to be some hesitation before he started it and then he just did an arabesque and immediately moved on. That special moment became a non-moment. I'm sort of burying the bad news of the afternoon: Hammoudi was kind of a mess overall. No partnering glitches to speak of besides that lift in the black swan pdd, but much of his solo work looked really sloppy. Underpowered jumps, bad landings, botched finishes to turns. And he didn't bring much dramatically to the table until Act IV, when I thought he was very emotive. Zhiyao Zhang was excellent as Benno. Gorgeous leaps and great partnering. The two female dancers in the pas de trois were Zhong-Jing Fang and April Giangeruso. Fang looked great and injected a lot of personality into her dancing. Giangeruso danced the jumpy role that has all the little beats in the air. I thought she looked earthbound and underpowered; really underwhelming. It's hard to imagine why she was cast in this role, unless she's looked completely different in the rehearsal room. Nancy Raffa Kate Lydon didn't work for me as the Queen. Maybe it would be better if she were part of an all-around short cast, but she just looked tiny next to everyone else. And she doesn't bring a lot of presence in that role. I'd definitely like to see Teuscher in Swan Lake again, but with a different partner. I'd also like to see her let go a bit more in Act III, and act more seductive and evil. I'm not sure if the Act II issues are fixable, but I guess we'll see as she grows into the role.

Is Nina available to fill in, should ABT need her?

Speaking of that overhead lift... I'd be curious to hear how it went off in the actual performance, in addition to any other details of Shevchenko's debut, of course!

I attended this evening's Corsaire with the petite cast, and it offered a lot of what you look for in a thrilling, silly Corsaire. First off -- brava to Skylar Brandt for a very strong debut. Since she's such a small dancer, I wasn't sure she'd have enough presence to carry the role, but she was luminous and high-spirited and showed no visible nerves. As ridiculous as it sounds, my favorite part of her Act I was how adorable she acted toward the Pascha. Those big expressive eyes! I could be completely wrong, but I thought perhaps she elected to do fewer leaps than others do in this act? Others on this board will know much better than I. She was very strong in Act II. Probably the biggest shocker (in a good way!) were the lightning-fast supported pirouettes that she and Cornejo executed. They did two extraordinary sets of supported pirouettes -- one during the main pas de deux and the other at the beginning of the bedroom pas de deux. It looked like Brandt was spinning like a top; both the speed and number of revolutions were like nothing I've seen. Ultra-fast supported pirouettes are something I associate with ballet videos from the 1950s to 70s -- and something I wish we saw more of today. Brandt's variation had a significant bobble in one of the turns (in that series that travels downstage), but she recovered quickly and didn't seem fazed. Her fouettes were quite strong, with many doubles thrown in; the traveling was quite pronounced, but she never seemed out of control. And she ended with what looked like a perfectly controlled quadruple! Cornejo seemed to be holding back a bit when he first came onstage in Act I, but it was exceptional dancing by any standard. One quibble about his Act I -- he barely articulated Conrad's gesture in which he puts both arms to the side, with hands pointed up at right angles. His upper body in general kind of seemed like a bit of an afterthought, which isn't surprising given his recent calf injury. All of his partnering of Brandt was exceptional. And if he held back at some points, he also knew when to bring out the astounding leaps. The bedroom pas de deux was quite lovely, though the overhead lift looked as awkward as it has with most other Corsaire casts in recent years. She was pretty much parallel to the stage, rather than vertical (like Julie Kent is in the classic video). But it was clean; just not particularly attractive. Simkin was his usually gasp-inducing self! He did two 540s at the end of his variation and brought the house down. Not too much to add -- just imagine everything Simkin usually does, and with perfect finesse. Lane was SO beautiful. Her elegance and regal bearing actually seem a bit out of place in Corsaire, which can devolve into a trick-fest. She was beautiful in the first section of the pas de deux, despite a veil that came half undone and draped over her face in an awkward manner. And to my eyes, her variation with the fouettes thrown in was flawless. And such airy leaps. There's been a lot of talk recently about what roles would suit her. Maybe this is a bit of a wild card, but how about Raymonda, in the unlikely event ABT brings it back anytime soon? I kind of see her in the Aurora/Raymonda vein when it comes to Petipa ballets, though I'd certainly look forward to her O/O, as well. The Odalisques were Cassandra Trenary, Katherine Williams and Catherine Hurlin (I think this is the first time I've seen her do a variation). They didn't look perfect together as a trio, especially in the first section, but individually they were quite lovely, despite a bobble here and there. Hurlin did the variation with all the turns, which seems like it must be a real beast. She managed to keep her composure, even as one turn kind of got away from her. Salstein as Birbanto and Zhurbin as the Pascha brought much welcome humor to their roles. I left before the last act (not because the performance was lacking in any way), so I look forward to reports of the jardin anime.

The Wilis' traveling arabesque hops weren't as tight as in previous seasons (at least at the Lane/Simkin matinee and last night's performance). Usually they are super impressive and rightfully earn their applause in that section. But in other sections of the ballet the corps looked fine to me.

I was at both performances today. DeCoster's post really sums up exactly how I felt about the matinee performance, so I won't add too much. Lane gave a very detailed, naturalistic performance and really inhabited the role. She's a naturally sunny dancer so the smiling doesn't really bother me at all. Her powerful mad scene really caught me off guard -- it's the most moving one I've seen in recent memory and I'm glad she didn't overly milk it, like Vishneva has done in recent seasons. Overall, it felt like an artistically mature performance; I would have never guessed it was her debut. The praise for all of Simkin's gorgeous leaps and spins is 100% justified! There was a lot of energy in the house for the evening performance, with Hallberg's return to a princely role. He was the beautiful dancer I remember, impossibly gorgeous feet and all. I got the sense that he was maybe being a bit cautious with some of the jumps, but it's difficult to say since it's been such a long while since I've seen him as Albrecht, and it almost didn't really matter. His interpretation of Albrecht felt a bit dark, melancholy, introverted, as if he didn't know what he had gotten himself into with the ebullient Giselle of Murphy. Murphy's Giselle was robust and full of life in the first act, but I have to say I was disappointed overall in her performance (I may be in the minority here, given the strong reaction of the audience). Her characterization in the first act was pretty one-note, and I think she missed a lot of opportunities to add details to her acting. Technically, she was super solid, and her solo was perfect -- with lovely hops on point and a super fast manege of turns at the end. But is Giselle really supposed to be about super fast turns? Her mad scene was the low point of the act for me. She seemed overly concerned with her hair, first making sure it was distributed properly and then making sure it didn't get in her face. And then she went about the standard motions, just acting sort of sad throughout. Murphy started out pretty well in Act II (nice spinning arabesques), but she looked rather leaden in many of the leaps/hops. The ones right after the spinning arabesques actually looked really odd and I wondered if she might be injured. Murphy pretty much danced the entire Act II as a zombie -- not a lot going on in terms of characterization. Hallberg's dancing was beautiful -- with entrechat six that went on forever! I'm just not convinced his pairing with Murphy was ideal from a dramatic standpoint. It never really came together for me. The highlight of the evening for me, Hallberg's exciting return aside, was Abrera as Myrtha. It's probably the single most beautiful Myrtha performance I've seen at ABT. Her port de bras was to die for -- everything you'd want in a Romantic ballerina. And she didn't let a single moment go by without infusing it with drama and personality. An absolutely authoritative interpretation of the role. She really brought me into the world of the Wilis; I'm afraid Murphy brought me out of it. And David was along for the ride with his beautiful, super noble dancing.

Clarification on Cornejo's injury, from his Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/herman.cornejo.official/

Maybe the Turkish hackers are to blame!