theo

So Minnesota gets Gisselle and DC gets something border line contemporary. I live an hour from Philadelphia. Philadelphia ballet does the classics and their dancers are very good. That's where I'll go. Sorry ABT but Ms. Jaffe is playing fast and loose with the programming. I'm not sure who she thinks her audience is,

I have the same question. The fact that she's bringing Crime and Punishment to the Kennedy Center is a disappointment, since that's where I go to see ABT. Swan Lake completely sold out this past season. Classics sell. Not sure how the new ballet will translate to ticket sales. I for one will not be buying any for Crime and Punishment.

I'm pretty disappointed with with it; particularly where ABT is concerned. With the exception of a Balanchine Nutcracker and Coppelia, neither of which interests me, it leans contemporary in my opinion. I will pass. Such a shame. I'm sure others will be happy though.

Yes, I think both bingham and Drew make good points. He is out there in the world but he keeps a low profile personally. I think that's admirable also. My selfish side would like to hear more about where he is dancing though.

I totally agree. I saw him dance with Chloe for her debut in Swan Lake and he is the whole package. He doesn't seem to have a high profile though. Not sure why that is.

I just came back from the early matinee (Noon) performance of Giselle. I agree with Wallis. I sat in the third row center aisle (parquet row CC) and if you're into seeing the articulation of feet, you need to sit further back. The seats are slightly staggered so there isn't a head right in front of your face. The parquet box seats looked like they would provide a good view. The performance was lovely, by the way. Nayara Lopes was our Giselle and I thought she was endearing, and engaging. She danced well and brought a tear to my eye at the end of act II. The Wilis had their act together. It's my first time seeing this company dance and I enjoyed them.

Chloe just posted a few really nice photos from her Swan Lake performance on her Instagram. It brought me right back there. She really was magnificent! https://www.instagram.com/p/C4HUiwKgAz0/?img_index=4

Buddy, I look forward to reading what you write about Chloe and I agree with Balletlover08, it will be fun to speculate on new roles for her. I think she would be a lovely Juliet! I think that role is a must for her.

I saw him walking Friday afternoon also. He must have been on his way to the rehearsal where he got injured. The poor guy. That's a tough one. I wish him a speedy recovery.

Yes, her mom is Yan Chen. My husband and I saw them both at a restaurant the night before the performance. Chloe left early but I did I say hello to Ms. Chan and said that I wished Chloe "merde" for her performance. Ms. Chen was very gracious and remarked that Chloe was nervous. Well, there were no sign of nerves during what I would consider an historic debut by Chloe. As Hippolyta mentioned earlier in this thread, "She was stunning. The sold out theatre was absolutely rapt during the Act II pas de deux with Aran Bell and then broke into wild applause at the end. " There was a lot of enthusiastic applause throughout the performance and everybody around me, myself included just kept whispering "wow". I found her performance nuanced and her interpretation to be honest, very well acted, and beautifully danced. She is the whole package. She and Aran made a good partnership. At the end of the performance, there was more wild applause and a spontaneous leap out of seats (I was in the Orchestra section near the front) as they were given a well deserved standing ovation. She absolutely knocked it out of the park! As if that wasn't gift enough, we saw Chloe late in the evening as we were returning from the evening performance (Hee and Cory. They were good). She was heading out for a walk as we were going into our hotel. I could not help but say hello and tell her how magnificent we thought she was. She was so genuinely grateful and gracious. I think I started to gush a little, but she returned it. She said that she had a great time on stage and that she was so grateful for the support of the people who come to see the performances. What a lovely, lovely, person. May she have a bright and beautiful career ahead of her! Let me not forget to mention Jarod Curley, who I also thought was a very charismatic and fun.

I have tickets to see this performance. I purchased them before I knew the casting. Oddly enough I purchased front row seats which I haven't done in ages. At the Kennedy Center you can't see feet from the front row but decided to go for it anyway. Now I'm glad that I did.

Exactly

I am also crossing my fingers for Cassie at the Kennedy Center!!

Totally agree about the Kennedy Center! They sold out most of the performances of R&J this year. I know ABT is looking for new audiences, but as many people have noted here , much of their established audience wants to see the classics from them. NYCB and a plethora of decent regional companies offer a wide variety of less classical, as well as new and contemporary work. ABT's failure to understand their audience is going to continue to hurt them. I do hope they reconsider the Met season and remove some of the LWFC performances in favor of either something they're already doing this year, or maybe even add SB or DQ. The later is probably logistically and financially unfeasible at this stage of the game though.

I just checked the website. Elwince Magbitang is now cast as Puck for the performance that had been "TBA".

Looks like Bell is actually scheduled for this evening's performance of ZigZag. Curley had been scheduled for the matinee already, if I'm not mistaken. Fingers crossed for Aran Bell that he is able to dance the rest of his scheduled performances.

Actually, as of this moment, it doesn't even say "Dancer" anymore. Sad. I wish her all the best.

Yes, very upsetting about Sarah. I guess I'm not surprised either though.

I don't see Stella Abrera listed as principal. They may be updating the site? Also, Sarah Lane is no longer on the roster.

I would have gladly donated to watch that performance. Sadly, it appears I'm not exclusive enough. Huge mistake. I am happy to pay for a virtual performance given the opportunity. Sorry ABT dancers.

Congratulations to her. Despite my feelings about the Paquita redux overall, I thought Maria Shirinkina looked really good. So much improved from Corsaire last year, transformed actually. Didn't think of it until now. Out of a shadow maybe. Good for her!!!

I was at the Saturday Matinee. I will stop short of saying I hated it. It was like one long and ridiculous can-can-equivalent. I couldn't follow it, and I really didn't care. It was all just a mish-mash of silly. I have never seen Tereshkina dance live, and she did not disappoint, but I felt like there was no meat to her roll in this ballet. I got the sense that she could have done it all in her sleep. Such a waste of what looks to be a great ballerina. Yea, her fouettes were great, but hardly worth sitting through three hours of pure nonsense. I will say this though, I totally agree with cubanmiamiboy, and others who have mentioned the wonderful Vaganova kids. They were a delight. It was like going back in time. I hope when the Mariinsky returns next year, they bring something with some kind of emotional substance, or any kind of substance. Perhaps I'm in the minority here, but I need some kind of drama when I'm seeing a ballet. A circus in pointe shoes is not for me.

I would love to see her dance Giselle at KC. I am confident she will not disappoint. Nobody should think for a moment that she is a simple "Kitri". DC has already warmed to her charm. We saw her Columbine this year.

Brooklyn Mack maybe? He's on the roster as a guest artist and He's Local to the DC area. Regarding Brandt as Giselle, I saw some footage of her dancing the roll during a Russian ballet-competition-type-TV-show. I think she has the potential to pull it off.

Love reading these reports. So happy for Sarah!! Anybody see Aran Bell's debut at the matinee yesterday?