Goldfish17

I was there on May 23rd.

Paloma Herrera and Cory Stearns showcased excellent technique in AB, all poses and movements looked precise and elegant.

David Hallberg was dancing instead of injured Herman Cornejo in Chaikovsky PDD. He was almost breathtaking! Although him and Xiomara Reyes, in my opinion, do not make perfect partners - their PDD was very special and memorable.

Mozartiana with Nina Ananiashvili, Angel Corella and Graig Salstein did not seemed long to me. Their performance did not create big picture for me, but rather several little peices which were beautiful, but did not nessesary connect with each other.

T&V with Gillian Murphy and Marcelo Gomes and corps de ballet was a highlight of the evening!

Overall impression of the May 23 performance - there was lots of good energy in the air, you could feel that dancers are excited to do this program.

I would defiantly go for the Orchestra seats. Whether you have seats in row F (6 row from the stage) or in row Z (6 row from the back) it is still Prime Orchestra. Although you might loose some point work in row F, it is still so much better then DC, which is REALLY high and far from the stage in the Metropolitan Opera.

I am the same height as you are, and seeing around heads in the Orchestra is never a special problem.

I liked Michelle's dress, it looked even better in the papers and on TV.

So did I.

It was an exciting evening.

Michell Obama was wearing elegant knee-length dark gray dress. I did not realize how tall she actually is!

She seemed a little nervous during her speech and she looked very touched by standing ovation.

Veronika Part surrounded by 4 girls from JKO in gorges black costumes in Mozartiana gave a memorable opening to the Gala.

Le Defile was a big success! All JKO students were amazing. What a promising next generation of artists!

I absolutely loved Xiomara Reyes in La Sylphide! She seemed literally weightless and her dancing was poetic and gentle. Herman Cornejo's jumps and foot work are unbelievable. Corps de ballet were better then ever!

Ceeszi - I totally agree with you on Hancock's Piece d'Occasion. It looked unfinished and silly. May be I did not get it.

I wonder, who choreographed it?

Then, we had the Pas de Deux a Trois from Le Corsaire which is always a showstopper, especially when you have Angel Corella as Ali the Slave. His partner was a radiant Irina Dvorovenko and the other male dancer was David Hallberg. Poor Hallberg was kind of outperformed by Corella. Angel went all out and a few time it looked like he was wildly out of control, but he held it together.

Irina was dancing in light blue tutu, which was beautiful but did not balanced very well with color of Ali's pants and Grotto.

The costume is new ( last year is was dark blue), but color mismatch is still there.

Thanks for the update, Dale!

Any idea how early should we arrive to the theater?

Would it be out of bounds to simply call ABT and ask what's up?

It's certainly worth a try. How would one call ABT? Does anyone have a telephone number that doesn't go through the Metropolitan Opera House? I'd be willing to make the call.

Angelica

Okay, I found the telephone number. I will call them during office hours on Monday or Tuesday and will report back for anyone who is interested.

Angelica

This is very strange, indeed. Angelica, please let us know if you find out something.

This article in Wall Street Journal's magazine, describes the ballet as an "unorthodox love triangle in the Ukraine."

Hmmm ... I wonder what distinguishes an "unorthodox" love triangle from your plain old orthodox one?

HOW SAD

I saw her in Bolshoi Theater - in Nutcracker and in Anjuta. It was absolutely magical!

She was truly noble ballerina.

My sincere condolences to her mother and to her husband.

Ekaterina, rest in peace.

CONGRATULATIONS VERONIKA!

Wonderful news right before the beginning of season!

Congratulations to Julie and Victor! I will miss her this spring season..

Hopefully it is an opportunity to see Veronica Part on stage more often.

Thanks to a donor, a selection of $25 orchestra seats will be sold at the beginning of each week. Check out the announcement:

http://www.nycballet.com/ticketing/single/w09/25.html

What a nice surprise!

Thank you so much for this information, Dale!

As I mentioned elsewhere, "The Nutcracker" is a ballet for adults not for children and it is a pity to see it being given in something like a pantomime which it most definitely is not.

I absolutely agree. In my opinion, Nutcracker is much deeper then just children's Christmas story.

Of couse, it does not mean that children can not injoy it.

I think the ballet should be enjoyable to adults, but it should bring back childhood memories, or at least a feeling of warmth and nostalgia. Tchaikovsky, one of the most emotional of composers, made the Nutcracker score by turns playful and gentle. Grigorivich's sledgehammer style of choreography just doesn't work, in my opinion. And memories of great individual performances are not the same as evaluating choreography.

Grigorovich's Nutcracker bring back bring back a plenty of wonderful childhood memories to me. I watched many different artists dancing in it - and I feel that Grigorovich's choreography is both deep and magical.

I was just wondering - how long ago and where did you see this performance?

I think the worst Nutcracker is Grigorivich's. Lots of people onstage all the time, doing nothing in particular, ugly sets, ugly costumes. Contains the usual beefy bravura dancing for the Prince which basically prevents the Prince from being danced by anyone other than the heroic dancers. Doesn't have a drop of childish imagination.

I probably saw a different Nutcracker by different Grigorovich

i guess by 'dancing' one refers here to 'ballet' dancing, but act one of GB's NUTCRACKER honors most of the 'dancing' Tchaikovsky and Petipa envisioned for the scenario of THE NUTCRACKER.

there are the dances of the 'dolls' - in GB's case Columbine, Harlequin and the Soldier, and the social dances of the children with the fathers and the traditional, social-gathering concluding dance known then and in the context of THE NUTCARCKER as the "Grandfather's dance" composed to conclude the first scene.

I was just describing my first impression of seeing George Balanchine's Nutcracker in a contrast with Grigorovich's production in Bolshoj Theather - which is the one I grew up with.

No dancing?! What about the snowflakes?!

You are right - no dancing apart from snowflakes at the end.

Here is her Waltz, 1940:

http://ru.youtube.com/watch?v=REKu3XahS2E

But remember, Act I before the transformation is set in "the real world", and the dancers dance real, if idealized versions of social dances of the mid-nineteenth century. There is much mime in Act I, intercut with dance steps. It's part of the production sensibility of the original Nutcracker, and when you stop to think, much of the Classico-Romantic repertoire. Giselle dances and mimes simultaneously, so does the Sylphide. Replacing mime with technical dancing does many works a grave disservice, in my opinion.

I agree - but where is the dancing AFTER transformation, before the Snow?

Volcanohunter already mentioned Mary's bed going round and round on stage..

I am wondering - is there a version where Mary is being danced by a child before transformation and as adult dancer after?

Another great tape to get, is what may have been his final "Nutcracker" with his wife Maximova at the Bolshoi - Kultur video 1987. They looked sooo young and in love, and they were perfect. It was the best "Nutcracker" I had ever seen. It was a fully realized performance and one of many definitive records of their partnership.

I saw Maksimova and Vasiliev in Nutcracker at Bolshoi when I was a child and completely agree - it is the best one I had ever seen.

Back to the topic - Balanchine's version of The Nutcracker is the only major version I have seen live, and it is enchanting in every possible sense of the word.

I saw my first Nutcracker at Bolshoi Theater in Moscow and it still appears to me "enchanting in every possible sense of the word".

It was Grigorovich's version where Mary and Nutcracker are danced by adults.

GB Nutcracker was the first ballet I saw when I came to New York - I was very surprised (if not shocked) to see no dancing in Act I. I was wondering if this is going to be like that for the rest of the ballet and was thinking about leaving.

Over time I grew into loving GB Nutcracker, but I still find Act I quite boring and feel that majical music is being "waisted"

Please find herewith a link to an obituary which I found very interesting. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries...eshinskaya.html

It sounds like Olga Lepeshinskaya was an outstanding person and wonderfull dancer.

May she rest in peace.

It seems strange to me to blame an artist for being Stalin's favorite. As far as I know, Stalin also liked Michael Bulgakhov.

I know there are lots of posts on the Nutcracker, but I was wondering... ever Nutcracker I ever see seems to disappoint me... none of them seem to fulfil the potential of the music and the setting. The one that has nearest fulfilled my expectations is the PNB's version. Which versions do you all love? Which version should I seek out and see so that I can actually be pleased by the Nutcracker?

Bolshoi Theater Nutcracker directed by Grigorovich is my all times favorite.

I was at yesterdays 1 PM show and just wanted to report Pereira and Peiffer were brilliant there technique was impeccable. I look forward to seeing this pairing in the future

BSS

I was also there - what a pleasant afternoon! Sterling Hylting's Dewdrop was bright and memorable and Teresa's Reichlen's Coffee was captivating. Also, Giovani Villalobos stood out as Candy Cane.

I was very curious to see Erica Pereira and Allen Peiffer.

Coda was absolutely passionate and also impeccable technically.

But I have to agree with NYSusan that Erica's Sugar Plum is sort of "embryonic" - it feels like she is testing out her magic power (Can I really do that? Will those kids listen to me?)

I am looking forward to see Erica and Allen again and again in the future.

What a fantastic evening yesterday! . I am so happy I choose it to see Giselle.

Xiomara Reyes's performance was breathtaking. Mad scene was deeply touching, truly tragic and so intimate!

And Second Act - oh my God! It was hard to believe that those girls who danced willies are actually flash and blood - no, they really were spirits!

Xiomara was absolutely weightless.

Did anybody noticed that to dancers stumbled and almost fall in almost the same spot on the left side of the stage? First Yuriko Kajiya and then Gemma Bond, who had to step aside to weight until other 5 girls finish combination..

Isaac Stappas' spectacular jumps in Act II made some people in audience gasp for air.