angelica

Kaysta, there should be a "like" button because I totally agree. (And I think we're not supposed to post something if it's simply that I agree. Is that true?)

What on earth is Kevin waiting for, to promote Stella?

This reminds me of another "Late Giselle" - Irina Chistyakova, a soloist of the Mariinsky, who was finally allowed to dance Giselle in her last year of service. It was a huge triumph and her long-time fans filled the theatre. Many shed tears of joy that night. Alas, it was too late for a promotion and she was never made principal.

I hope that Stella will be luckier than Chistyakova and actually be promoted to principal before she retires.

McKenzie should have promoted her from the stage, after the performance. Isn't that what they do (or did) at Paris Opera Ballet?

Now all I ask for is a positive review of Stella's performance from our "friends" at The New York Times!

I was able to figure out the pronunciation only from his brief "Meeting Mariinsky" interview on YT. My personal mnemonic is "As far as I'm a-WARE of, his name is pronounced vlad-mir SHKLAR-ov!"

Yes, nanushka, you are quite right, except that in Russian the L in SHKLA is palatalized (which is reflected in the Y as part of the spelling), but if you don't know what that means, that's okay, it's still good. I studied Russian in college and I made that statement half as a joke, although it's true that I had everyone seated around me asking and trying to get it right. It's a mouthful, even for a Russian. And the R should be rolled.

Last night, after Stella Abrera’s New York debut in Giselle, the audience erupted with such thunderous applause and choruses of bravos that the Metropolitan Opera House shook from the sonic boom. This was an audience whose members knew they were in for greatness, having waited years to see this remarkable dancer perform the role she was destined to dance. Not since the likes of Ekaterina Maximova in the 1960s has there been a Giselle so innocent and wronged in Act I and so ghostlike and ethereal in Act II. The romantic shapes her body made in the air were iconic, and the perfection of her technique showed every step with a singular distinction. Oh, that I lived to see this performance!

Vladimir Shklyarov, whose name, judging from the questions overheard around me, I alone in the audience knew how to pronounce, was a fine partner for Stella. They had wonderful chemistry and his technique was formidable. His graciousness toward Stella in the curtain calls was exemplary—he knew that this evening was about her, and that he had danced with one of the greats.

Veronika Part was ferocious as Myrta, tearing up the stage with her mighty leaps and leading the wili corps to do what wilis do. Thomas Forster was an excellent Hilarion. It was wonderful to see such fine acting on his part from Row C Orchestra, although it may not have registered further up and back in the house. Of the leading wilis, Christine Shevchenko stood out with the fluidity of her body as she danced the role of Moyna.

I bought a ticket for Stella's Giselle the moment I heard. And with Shklyarov and Part no less! I hope that between the Semionova fans who keep their tickets and the Stella fans who buy theirs, that the house will be really full. I'm going to scream my brains out at the curtain calls.

Yes, I agree that review was inexplicable and I fear that a promotion is not likely if the Times critics take such a dim view of her dancing.

Sometimes it feels as if casting and promotion decisions are made by The New York Times critics, who seem to make a point of actively discouraging attendance at ABT performances.

Tuesday night's luminous Lane/Cornejo performance"

So glad to read this, nysusan. I thought Lane and Cornejo were phenomenal and that their partnering was absolutely on the mark. When they were dancing in parallel their port de bras were completely in synch. In addition, Lane smiled throughout the fiendishly difficult choreography and Cornjeo tossed off his turns with his customary aplomb, all the while making appropriate eye contact with each other in a way that made me think this might be the beginning of a new partnership, now that Reyes is retiring. I think they both have enough good years remaining for this to happen. And perhaps Sarah will finally get her well deserved promotion.

Personally, I find this to be a bit of bait and switch. If the company knows they need to pull a lead principal, they should announce that more than 24 hours before the performance, when the audience can exchange tickets. Or they should abandon the 24 hour policy and/or allow people to exchange tickets over the phone, as NYCB does. Not doing so, is not improving the company's reputation, IMO.

I definitely think they should allow ticket changes over the phone. For any reason, not only cast changes. I'm not sure, but I think the policy of having to give them the actual ticket is the Met's policy, i.e., not ABT's. Does anyone know for sure?

For god sake, no more Hee Seo......at this rate I will end up quitting ballet after being a very loyal abt fan for more than 15 years ..

Reyes danced Desdemona with Rasta Thomas the last time abt performed it, and she was fab.

More Abrera, anyone?

I think the term should be reserved for generalizing from specific behavior to a person’s overall character.

Re: ad hominem criticism. I agree kfw, which is my point. If Misty makes ad hominem remarks about others, which some people on this board are saying she has done, then she should be asked to document the basis of her remarks. I don't think retaliation in kind is what is called for.

Actually, my real point is that the mother-in-the-elevator standard holds us to too high a bar as far as reviewing performances. It doesn't permit us to truthfully report our thoughts and feelings about the dancers and performances we see. I do think, however, that we should report thoughtfully and not impulsively.

Actually, I do post under my real name and would be happy to reveal the rest of it.

A guideline that has been suggested on this board from time to time is the "would you say it to the dancer's mother while riding together in an elevator" test. Not a bad one, even though I'm ashamed to say I sometimes forget it.

There are so many things I could say about certain dancers in the context of a review or assessment that I would never say to the dancers' mothers in an elevator. The elevator standard suggests to me the pollyannish cliche that if you don't have something nice to say to someone, then don't say anything at all. Any professional dance critic worth his/her salt would have to override the elevator standard, although certain critics, perhaps Macaulay, might actually tell Part's mother that Part is "statuesque" (damning with faint praise) or Jenifer Ringer's mother that she had "one too many sugarplums" (calling her overweight).

I think that what we need to avoid are what are called "ad hominem" arguments, i.e., making criticisms of a dancer's character or personal life rather than of the dancer's performance. In the case of Misty Copeland, this would mean that it would be okay to cite an absence of classical line, if that is what the critic saw, but not to call her a "liar" if she says something with which a critic might disagree.

There are limits to bulky muscles in ballet because it breaks the line, the geometric shapes the human body makes in this particular art form. Even men in the art form work hard to ensure that they do not develop a Schwarzenegger physique. It not only breaks the line, it inhibits movement.

You can see the problem in Copeland's form, her stiff upper body, the over powered pushes to get her body moving and at times ungainly balances. This is all due to the over muscled look that she favors and wishes to force the art form to accept. The very reason it is not accepted shows in her dancing.

There isn't only a problem of over built muscles, she also has a severe hyperextension in the knee that is frightening to behold. If she doesn't try to correct this problem, it will eventually destroy her career, such that it is. But I don't blame her for the hyper extension fetish, this is a current problem in the ballet world. I see it in many dancers now. It isn't something that should be accepted. Indeed, until recently dancers who showed this deformity were told to leave ballet for health reasons.

A certain degree of hyperextension has become the norm for a corps dancer to be a Shade in Bayadere. When the women line up at both sides of the stage after the opening adagio of that scene, you can see every dancer with the same degree of hyperextension in the knee as if reflected in receding mirrors. I agree that Copeland's hyperextension is excessive and breaks the line. I have also, for example, found Semionova's upper arm and shoulder muscles overdeveloped. In contrast, despite her purported deficiency in stamina and technique, Seo has the perfect ballet body and a perfect line, which may have helped catapult her from the corps to principal in a heartbeat. As for Boylston, it boggles the mind.

Sure, Macaulay (along with everyone else) loves Sarah Mearns, but he also recognizes and talks about the Balanchinean ideal. That ideal isn't arbitrary, it relates to many of the ballets Balanchine made, and with how he wanted them danced. It's not subjective, which is what I was saying to Tapfan.

I, for one, do not love Sara Mearns.

There is also such a thing as unconscious racism, something outside one's awareness, but residing in the limbic system from the environment in which one grew up. I doubt many people would openly confess to being racist, but I think there are realms in which it exists in people nevertheless. For example, one could argue, objectively, that the corps de ballet in ballets such as Swan Lake must have a uniform appearance, that that is the reason not to bring someone into a company. Is that racism or an objective artistic decision?

I think it's wonderful that companies are becoming more diverse, albeit s-l-o-w-l-y. Perhaps diversity will become the new normal.

What are you referring to?

I'm referring to Macaulay's adoration of Sara Mearns and the fact that Mearns does not have anything like a classic Balanchine body, as well as Tapfan's phrasing "Try telling that to Abrera and Lane fans," of which I'm one.

I think that people's perceptions are highly subjective, and when one person is making the final decision of (a) whom to promote or (b) whom to praise, that subjectivity is something that cannot be ignored.

My point is that, other factors being equal - and you don't know all the other factors, like who else was available and what qualities they had - Balanchine training and a classic Balanchine body are highly important factors in getting hired at NYCB.

Try telling that to Alastair Macaulay.

I know this has been said so many times before, but the fact that Stella hasn't been able to dance a Giselle at the Met has to be one of the greatest injustices in modern ballet! While I've always thought she would be an excellent Giselle, the clip from Works and Process shows that she is light years ahead of the majority of the women getting the opportunity to add Giselle to their repertory. I imagine she would make a great Juliet as well. Such a shame that ABT hasn't allowed her to blossom. If she can dance that well at a works and process, I can only imagine how well she would do on the Met stage, with lights, live orchestra, and an entire corp de ballet around her.

Dancerboy90210, I couldn't agree more. I have been saying the same thing for years, like a broken record. In fact, Stella was cast in the Wednesday matinee of Giselle several years ago, but then she got injured, as dancers do, and had to be replaced. She was cast again the following year, but apparently she wasn't completely healed, because she was replaced again. But then her injury healed and she was fine. As fine as fine could be. In fact, she was well enough to dance 10 Auroras in 30 days with the Royal New Zealand Ballet a couple of years ago. And recently danced a Giselle in the Philippines with James Whiteside, her partner at the W&P event. And recently with someone else in the Australian Ballet. Why hasn't ABT's artistic management given her another chance at the role? It boggles the mind.

My computer connected to the live stream via UStream, and whenever an ad popped up a notice appeared that I could skip the ads by subscribing to UStream for $3.99 per month, which I wasn't about to do. But I imagine others had the opportunity to opt out of the ads (for a price). The only dancing that was interrupted for me was the middle of Rodeo. Thankfully, the other interruptions were during the conversations.

Ahhhh, there we go!

I'm on the W&P page but nothing is happening. It says off line. Is anybody getting on it?

I thought ABT was done with Cojocaru, so I'm surprised. I was hoping they would invite Tereshkina and Shklyarov back. I'm not a fan of Cojocaru at this stage in her career (I think she's ruined her body) and have zero interest in seeing Misty. I'll be exchanging my ticket for the second Kimin Kim/ Semionova performance.

I'll be exchanging my ticket too. Not sure yet for which performance, but Kimin Kim is a good guess. Cojocaru is NOT a satisfactory replacement for Smirnova! i would have definitely gone to see Stella.

AlbanyGirl - Let me reiterate what Drew said - this is a very expensive habit, or hobby, or whatever you want call it. In my twenties, newly employed, I pooled all my $$ to buy ABT tickets for their appearances in Miami (Baryshnikov, Makarova, etc.). It's 35 years later and I promise I've dropped a bundle on plane tickets, hotel bills and ballet tickets and trust me, it's all worth it.

One year when I had tickets to four performances of Giselle, my husband asked me "Does anybody else go to four performances of the same ballet in one week?" Wasn't he surprised, when we went together to a Spotlight Seminar, to learn that some people go to every performance of Giselle. In fact, some people (not I) go to every performance of the entire season! That's their "summer vacation." Yes, Kristen and AlbanyGirl, I agree that it's totally worth it.

exchanges at the box office can be made up to 24 yrs before the performance.

Now that takes some planning!

Thank you for my laugh of the day!

Margot Fonteyn as Aurora and Alessandra Ferri as Juliet had the ability to portray youthfulness long after their youth.

I'm definitely going to see Lane/Cornejo. I saw Lane dance Aurora several years ago and she was absolutely beautiful and technically assured. She nailed a sequence of triple pirouettes that I will never forget. She is a very fine actress as well.