angelica

Thanks, abatt! Somewhere I saw a clip that included this and the two other debutantes, Sarah Lane and Gillian Murphy.

Has anyone heard anything about how well the debuts in Giselle went in Oman?

You can now buy "performance only" tickets to the Gala performance of Whipped Cream on the regular ABT web site. Just as an example, there are Row A Dress Circle tickets available (admittedly not center, but not terrible) for $100. I'm going to the Gala performance, but If I were free for the Tuesday Cornejo Whipped Cream, I would also go to that.

I suspect that today the site was sluggish because this was the first day that single tickets were made available to the general public, so that traffic to the site was especially heavy. It's good that you did it today, especially if seats are going quickly.

I do think the hunt is quite a procession. But you got me on R&J!

And of course Act 1 of Giselle with its procession of royalty, including two borzois, who every once and awhile don't obey their handlers' commands, which makes for an amusing moment. I imagine the dog gets fired after such a performance. And Romeo and Juliet (Act II?)

I'm a member (at the Patron level) and bought tickets by phone today, including performance-only tickets for the Gala. I was allowed to pick my seats and the representative was both knowledgeable and helpful.

I'm a fan of Sarah Lane also, and would love to see her promoted to Principal.

Vipa, I totally agree. I never buy tickets for any of her performances. And it would be a tribute to the reigning Swan Queen if Veronika could get two performances of SL in a season before it's too late.

That's a great image, dirac, and probably exactly right!

Having just seen the performance of Walpurgisnacht (on a recording I made of the PBS airing) I'm a newly converted fan of Sara Mearns. I saw her live last week in Thou Swell, and I must say that when performing alongside Rebecca Krohn and Teresa Reichlin, Mearns looked, to my eyes, very wide. The sash around her waist in the blue costume only emphasized that. However, in Walpurgisnacht I thought she was sensational in every way and I'm so glad to have this on DVD so that I can watch it many times. I think Macaulay's comments were well deserved.

So glad I could help this forum in some small way, since I derive such pleasure from reading it, as well as some great tips--got a front row seat in the second ring at NYCB because a member (can't remember who) was kind enough to post when casting went up. And that is just one example.

And I just realized, Helene, that I could have searched my Trash folder for Ballet Alert and deleted the ABT posts and sent the NYCB ones all at once, instead of a gazillion separate emails. Well, hopefully there will not be a next time, but if there is, that's what I'll do. In the meantime thanks for this great forum. Also, you may have noticed that sometimes two and three posts are in a single email, if they were together in my Trash folder.

ABT Fan, thanks so much for posting the clip of Sarah and Daniil. I am definitely going to see her debut. She has posted a few other clips online (e.g., studio rehearsal clip of her opening Aurora variation) and it's always such a joy to see such beautiful dancing/acting. We've waited a long time for this Giselle.

mnacenani, if you haven't seen the DVD of Nina Ananiashvili dancing O/O at the age of 29 with the State Ballet of Perm, I highly recommend that you do so because I think you'll find what you're looking for. Her partner, Alexei Fadeyechev, alas, is extremely dull, but Nina is extraordinary. I learned later that she didn't even know they were filming her that night. The DVD is probably available on Amazon and also from that web site that sells many ballet videos, I think it's Kultur.

Osiel Gouneo is the embodiment of every great male dancer I've ever seen, all in one package: Nureyev, Baryshnikov, Hallberg, Stiefel, Corella, Carreno.

At this point, I have a severe case of Hallberg Deprivation, and am so excited that he's coming back. I'd go to see him in almost anything. I hope that ABT gets its spring season casting sorted out soon, because casts have been shuffled around so much I may have to change all six performances of my six-performance subscription!

I think of the role of Purple Rothbart as a stepping stone towards larger roles. I remember when Marcelo Gomes first danced it and then leapt into principal roles the next year. I don't remember the others who were on that trajectory, but I know there were some. Sterling Baca danced the role last season and then became a principal dancer at Corella's Pennsylvania Ballet.

As a fan of Sascha Radetsky, I lasted all of 30 minutes, but I'm bailing now. Thanks again for the link, laurel!

Thanks, Laurel! I am a Sascha Radetsky fan, especially after attending a Spotlight Seminar in which he talked about his career in ballet as well as his writing. And I'm a fan of Stella as well (which has nothing to do with this movie, but still....) This will be great to watch during tomorrow's winter weather advisory. Again, thanks so much!

Thanks, Kaysta. I won't give it another thought. (But if anyone knows....) : )

I don't get the Hallmark channel so couldn't watch this. It was up on YouTube for maybe half a minute before they took it down. There are websites that you can sign up for a month's free trial that claim to show it, but I don't want to sign up for them. Is there any other way to see the movie? I think Sascha is adorable and probably could stomach the cliches just to see his sweet face.

We took our granddaughter to Swan Lake for her fourth birthday--ABT with Michele Wiles and David Hallberg. Not my favorite Odette, but it was a matinee and we were afraid she'd fall asleep in the evening. My granddaughter had already watched it often on DVD (with Nina Ananashvili dancing with the State Ballet of Perm). She was mesmerized throughout, didn't move a muscle. Everyone around us commented on how much she seemed to love it--which she did. She has been taking ballet lessons ever since.

Met Box Office: Are you listening?

Dancerboy90210, I know it may be asking for the moon, but I "second" every one of your wishes for Abrera. I, too, am a huge and longtime Abrera fan, and want to see her in the leading role of every single major ballet in the spring season.