onxmyxtoes

quick note from me. The most touching gesture was in the last act when Diana Vishneva is crawling toward Marcelo Gomes on the tomb, pulls him by the collar to be closer to her, then kissed her hand and touched his lips. Heart-wrenching... This is one of those times that I don't want a performance to be ephemeral. It was a gift to be able to watch those two tonight. 2nd note: I noticed the crowd wasn't very rowdy/cheery. But honestly, I think it is because everyone was so entranced. It was hard for me to snap back into reality even once curtain calls began.

It was also Time Out http://www.timeout.com/newyork/dance/ballerina-irina-dvorovenko-talks-about-american-ballet-theatre-and-on-your-toes-1

I went last evening (Boylston/Simkin) and was pleasantly surprised and impressed. It was Isabella's Met debut (but even if it wasn't), and she did Ana amazing job. She kept a smile on her face the entire time and looked strong and confident. I felt as though the role suited her very well. She looked very comfortable with the choreography, and I have a feeling that she has been coached and training for this for a very long time. In other ballets, sometimes her port de bras can be a bit distracting, but I was not bothered by them in this ballet (think like Paloma Herrera). I really enjoyed Simkin in this role; I think it suits his personality and dancing style. His tricks were aptly displayed last night and everything was done cleanly- he ended every turn on releve! You could tell that they enjoyed dancing together, but Daniil really needs to work on supporting her turns. He butchered almost all of them. The best supported turns were when he barely touched her, otherwise it looked like he was putting her off balance and then churning butter (did someone else use that analogy for Part/Whiteside)? Daniil and Isabella did a nice job with the one handed lifts. The supporting cast was very mismatched. Whiteside and Seo were Espada and Mercedes. I hope they are never paired together again. Granted, I had seen Radetsky/Abrera in these roles the night before, but they just completely lacked chemistry. I did not appreciate Whiteside's interpretation at all. He made the role more comedic and garish than Radetsky. I also didn't find his quality of movement to be as fine as Radetsky. I feel bad for Sascha because he's obviously more capable than James, but it looks like any potential opportunity will go to James instead of him. Seo doesn't have the seductress quality needed for Mercedes, so she was just serviceable in that role. However, I was very pleased by her Queen of the Dryads, especially after reading all the bad reviews here. In the dream scene, she looked lovely and mastered every single technical aspect, even the Italian fouttees. Her developes to the side were the most beautiful and sustained that I have seen in a while. It was very impressive. Special shout outs need to be made to Nicole Grenario, Arron Scott, and Julio Bragado Young. Nicole danced Amour and was absolutely perfect. She had the quickness, lightness and a nymph-like quality that Gemma Bond lacked the night before. Her little pas de courous were so perky that she really looked adorable on stage and they were audible coos from the audience. Arron Scott as the head gypsy was a joy to watch. He's big in his movements, but as precise as a pinpoint. Julio's Gamanche was spot-on. People here were raving on Craig's Gamanche (which I really enjoyed), but Julio made some comedic choices that were absolutely hilarious. Simone Messmer and Sarah Lane were Kitri's friends. Another mismatch, in my opionion; their sizes are quite different and so are their styles. The Copeland/Kajiya pairing from the night before was a much better match. The role is not very exciting, and their solos seem a bit superfluous stuck in the middle of Kitri's and Basillo's pas de deux. Back to Isabella and Simkin- they were a great pair and they looked very happy and gracious after the performance was over. The audience was more full than I expected- maybe 80% in the orchestra (can anyone confirm). Curtain calls were nice and they were many cheers for Simkin, Boylston, Whiteside, and Seo.

i think the june 10 R&J with Vishneva Gomes is THE ONE show not to miss this season.

4mrdncr -- I read somewhere (was it twitter? a dancer blog?) that they stayed in Spain for an extra 5 days because of Hurricane Sandy. However, rehearsals had to keep going, and Angel let them use his studios!

Thank you, abatt! There is actually an ADA seat that I am interested in purchasing for myself. Thanks!

what is the policy on City Center's ADA tickets? Who qualifies to buy them and when are they released?

no Gomes, Hallberg, or Murphy

Anyone have ideas about the pricing for the tickets?

Phenomenal night - Yuriko made me wonder why Seo was being promoted instead of her. Okay, call Vasiliev a "circus animal", vulgar, etc. but if you were there you saw his astounding performance and a "theater animal" - how he loves the audience and vice versa! Osipova - perfection, absolutely. A night to remember. I find Yuriko kind of stiff, especially in swan lake- mostly in her arms. I also find uncertainty in her turns, but i think this can be said about Seo as well. did you see her in this? She was certainly (well in my opinion) neither stiff nor uncertain. Then again I thought she was fantastic when I saw her this season in the pas de trois in SL. I do not remember feeling this way about her previous to this season (I missed last season entirely). I really thought she was a revelation. I'm with Kristen. Give the lady a promotion. Or at least some more full lengths. ASAP. She is being largely neglected in the discussions of which soloists deserve to move up, but as far as I'm concerned, she's the one I would like to see more of most right now. I watched her in the pas de trois and as a Swan (big or little, i forgot) in Swan Lake; in Onegin as the sister (my memory is fading!!); in Corsaire as Gulnare and I believe in the harlem trio (embarrassed by how I can't remember any names of the roles at the moment!). I just think she lacks fluidity in her upper body and does not use the mobility in her neck to bring all the lines together.

I think it'd be smarter if they started around the 10th and went until the 24th... Would catch the New Yorkers and the tourists visiting for Christmas

Phenomenal night - Yuriko made me wonder why Seo was being promoted instead of her. Okay, call Vasiliev a "circus animal", vulgar, etc. but if you were there you saw his astounding performance and a "theater animal" - how he loves the audience and vice versa! Osipova - perfection, absolutely. A night to remember. I find Yuriko kind of stiff, especially in swan lake- mostly in her arms. I also find uncertainty in her turns, but i think this can be said about Seo as well.

Tom Forester may be in the making for Part- he is tall enough and looked lovely with her at the Gala performance.

Hi theo, I also got the same link from the most recent ABT's Pointe of View newsletter. Not sure if that's the only place ABT gave out the link... I saw it on their facebook page, I believe

wanted to mention that Arron's Mercutio is also top notch!! He's among the cleanest movers in the company!!

The ticket sales for Corsaire have been scary!! There are far too many orchestra seats available for the upcoming shows to feel good. I wonder why this is, especially because there is a DVD version of ABT performing the ballet. It seems like the general ballet-watching public should be familiar with the ballet and willing to go.

Misty is 29 and Stella is 33. Both of them are around prime age and need opportunities now!

Forget reading my review about the bows. It's on youtube:

My review from the Corella Farewell performance on June 28, 2012. (please note that this post is written first thing in the morning without edits!) First of all, I am having trouble digesting the fact that the events of last night actually took place. The evening was truly sensational and emotional for all who were present. Somehow, I was very lucky and ended up sitting in (what has been named on this board) the best seat of the house, Orchestra K 117. Thus, I had the ideal view to see the full picture, yet be able to really see the emotion on the dancers, but most importantly, Corella's face. The curtain calls were particularly interesting and endearing. They began with the normal set of bows, with the swan on stage and then the soloists taking their bows. Once Angel and Paloma came on stage, the entire theatre was roaring. Paloma presented her bouquets of flowered at Angel's feet. Angel was a bit bashful and tried to play off the bows like any other performance- putting to focus on the ballerina. The curtain went down, and opened to Angel alone on the stage, and again the audience went wild for him. There was bountiful cheering, stomping, clapping; the whole house was one their feet in appreciation. (should also note that many people sitting in the back of the orchestra moved to the front to get a closer view). After Angel accepted the applause, Paloma brought him a bouquet. This began the series of flower presentations starting with Gillian Murphy, then Julie Kent and her 2 children, followed by Xiomara, then Irina. Subsequently, the male principals brought wreaths for Angel, first Maxim, then Cory (who tried to put it around his neck), then David (who tried to throw it at Angel like a frisbee). Next was Marcelo and then Herman (who shared 2 long hugs with Angel). The surprise "guest" male principals were Ethan Stiefel and then Jose Carreno! However the biggest surprise, and most touching, was when Carmen Corella came on stage. This was when Angel seemed to break down emotionally a bit, as he shared a very very lengthy hug with her and seemed to not want to let go. Some other guests to the stage (presenting flowers) were Victor Barbee, Irina K., the conductor (forgot whom!), Clinton Luckett,Nancy Raffa, and of course Kevin. Then the whole company came on stage and threw roses at Mr. Corella. The audience kept clapping throughout the whole time, and finally confetti was shot into the air. Angel looked so bashful- like he couldn't comprehend the immense support he was receiving. He kept shrugging his shoulders like a little boy. Finally, he did not know what else to do except do an impressively fast set of a la second turns ending in multiple pirouettes. After what seemed like an endless amount of applause, it seemed like Angel signaled for the curtain to close. Then the out of the curtain calls began- the soloists came out again, but then it was all about Angel. People in general were not leaving. Leaving the theatre meant accepting that Angel would not be dancing there anymore. Angel came out for about 6 solo curtain calls. The last one was after about 5 minutes of fanatics (including myself) not leaving and creating a joint clap encouraging him to come out one last time. He was very very gracious, and jokingly told us to go home by waving us out the theatre. Sadly, we had to let him go and truly say goodbye to his performances at the Met. PERFORMANCE REVIEW: Pre-performance, the theatre was buzzing with anticipation for the show to begin. When Angel stepped on stage the reception was so enthusiastic- I don't think anyone wanted to stop clapping. This was the first of many moments that I got teary-eyed, and I couldn't take my eyes off him for the rest of the night I noticed during the maypole dance that he looked very pensive and was looking down a lot. When he finally looked up, I could see him taking it all in. He realized the magnitude of this performance and needed to take in one of his last looks of the met opera house. His solos were very good and he looked joyous on the stage. Act II: The white swan pas was so emotional. You could feel the energy right before it started. The two of them performed beautifully. Odette's sorrow and Siegfriend's compassion felt so real- and probably because it was real for Paloma and Angel. Watching Angel's eyes and his subtle head movements reminded me why he is such a lovely partner. He stayed completely entranced by Odette the whole time. Act III: Everyone wanted the ethnic dances to be over! (they were done well. but everyone wanted to watch the black swan pas!) Oh one thing to note is that Angel changed into black tights for Act III. He hadn't done that in the past, and it made me realize that he isn't the same dancer he was 10 years ago. Once the pas began, no one in the audience dared to take a breath. It looked like the two of them were smiling like teenagers. It was slightly out of character, but beautiful at the same time. Angel's solo was fantastic. He had some really nice turns, clean tours and his boyish passion that everyone loves. Once he finished his solo, the audience roared again. And he let them. He looked out into the audience and stood there in appreciation for all of their love. This was the point when I (and many others) began sobbing. This bow was luxuriously long, but not long enough. There was an awkward pause between Paloma's solo and Angel's- she took a long time to bow and there was about 5 seconds of silence between the time she was off the stage and Angel got back on. But when he got back on, he exploded. He flew threw the air with his grande jetes and ended with a beautiful series of pirouettes. Paloma did her fouettes and actually got precariously close to being completely off balance However, Angel's a la second turns were unbelievably fast and clean. The audience went wild. The end of the pas was so dramatic. It was like Angel's complete surrender to Paloma's Odile. Act IV: was very somber and emotional, aligning well to the feeling of the evening. Something that was a bit disappointing was how Odette and Siegfried died. Paloma chose to stand at the edge and fall into the ocean, and Angel opted for the same type of death. I guess I was expecting a more dramatic end, perhaps one last jump to the death. OTHER NOTES: I actually was not thrilled with the supporting cast of last night. I think Monday's and Tuesday's were better. Actually, I was very surprised by Paloma's technical decline. I was not surprised that Angel was not able to dance the way he had in the Swan Lake DVD because he hasn't been performing full time for many years. Paloma's performance seemed far from effortless and she made noticeable technical adaptions. One was in Odette's solo, when she did the double ronde de jambe into a side extension, she opted to stay on flat for the 2 ronde de jambes instead of being on pointe. It also seemed like her side extensions were much lower than they used to be. Her balances were still very lovely and impressive. Gennadi replaced Blaine Hoven for Benno, and I didn't think it was a good match. He and Angel had no rapport, and it seems like he was almost telephoning the performance. Hee Seo did the jumping variation in the pas de trois and was my favorite (compared to Stella and Simone). Hee really can jump. Melanie Hamrick was underwhelming. Her performance was colorless and she makes this really offputting expression whenever she turns. Jared Matthews was the most technically adept von Rothbart that I saw this week (compared to Sascha and Alex H.) His sissones were really impressive and he looked solid overall. He definitely took an almost comedic approach to the role, which I'm not sure I liked. However, I was very impressed by him! His boots ripped in the middle of his variation, and I was so distracted and worried that they would cause problems for him. (they were no longer thigh-high, but knee-highs!) Maria Riccetto, Nicole Graniero, Sarah Lane and Yuriko did the 4 swans. It was very nicely done. I think Maria and Yuriko are too tall for the others though. Also, Yuriko's upper body looked so stiff when she was doing swan arms. She stood out from the rest of the 31 swans. Christine Shevchenko and Devon Teuscher were competent Big Swans. They're still young and will have time to grow in that role. Simone Messmer was great in Czards. Spanish dance was great (however if anyone gets to watch Tom Forester in that role, he is the best!) Neapolitan was fantastic. Grant deLong and Luis were perfectly synced and each of them had very beautiful and high in number turns. They were reminiscent of young Angel in their energy. That's pretty much all I have time for right now. I apologize that this was not beautifully written and that it is very long.

From this AP article: http://hosted2.ap.org/CARIE/6b85546689744819aa7a64cd3ca6cee6/Article_2012-06-27-US-A-Dancer's-Farewell/id-24b56f76e53c44a798ce9fbd5942a6a4 Regarding tonight's performance of Swan Lake. "But Thursday will also be the last time, he says, that he dances a full-length ballet" This is not incredibly surprising to me, but terribly disappointing. I will cherish tonight even more than I thought.

Thanks for those videos- a great way to get in the mood for tonight!

Don't have time for a few review, but wanted to say that I was much more impressed by last night's performance (Marcelo and Gillian) than Tuesday evening's performance (David and Polina). That's not to say that I did not thoroughly enjoy David/Polina- I left the theatre sated, joyful, and energized. It was a truly beautiful performance, but I felt slightly removed from the two of them (which is surprising because David IS one of my favorite dancers). I think their performance triumphed in being the most aesthetic- both of their lines! But, I felt some lacking in the emotional department; it almost felt like they were guest artists dancing with some other company. These thoughts were confirmed after I watched the performance by Marcelo and Gillian. The two of them were electric and emotionally engaging. I felt a greater sense of "company" when I watched them- the corps de ballet in all the acts looked better, too! Marcelo and Gillian seemed to recognize the audience, almost to the point of breaking the "fourth wall." But this swooped me up and made the performance much more intimate. At intermission, I heard some commentary that Polina was more of a story teller than Gillian. I completely disagree. Polina's miming felt murky and unclear; while Gillian's miming was so exact that I picked up more elements of the story that I hadn't in prior years. I'm looking forward to tonight's farewell to Angel Corella. There will be no shortage of emotion!

This was exactly the case. I was watching Sascha very closely. He was very focused on his pirouette and landing, and it almost seemed like he got caught up in the moment and forgot that he needed to go support Stella in her pirouette. You could actually see him lose composure and just booked it to the front of the stage, not very gracefully. All in all, though, I think he was a fantastic Benno! I thought Maria was great and will be sad to see her go after this season. Hopefully she comes back!

^ That made my evening (other than watching Corella in Giselle tonight). My ticket for Corella's last ABT performance is Center Orchestra Row K on the aisle.

This was actually David's initiative. Colbert signed the shoes as a gift to David. However, Hallberg, always thinking about others, decided to raise money for ABT's JKO school with the shoes. Mr. Hallberg is not only a premiere dancer, but he is a true role-model in character.