angelica

7 minutes ago, stuben said:

I guess I should have been clearer and thanks for adding to this. I didn't mean that she quit, I recall of her feeling about her leaving, however, I recall how she was treated similarly at the time. With so much unknown about how 'bias" and "vendettas" work within, I do wonder how many others left for similar reasons (not sure principals or soloists). We will never know.

I do believe that Herrera, Kent, and Reyes did not go gentle into ABT retirement.

13 minutes ago, cobweb said:

... and taking a quick scroll through Sarah's public-facing instagram, I don't see a single photo with Cornejo in it. Seems like there was a significant falling out. 

So strange, after a fabulous success in Manon last spring.

20 minutes ago, abatt said:

Smirnova, Osipova and Kim - OH MY!  I'm there.

I can't get that grid attachment to open.

Same here. Is there a url?

46 minutes ago, stuben said:

My thoughts exactly since choreographers like Ratmansky can't be at every single performance once of every single company, I would think it is up to each company's artist leadership and staff to follow through ?! In this case, seems like there is a lack-there-of, and for what it is worth who is really left to coach these days? Jaffe, Irina & Max, Reyes, Kent, Gomes (if he had stayed) would all have been wonderful coaches, sadly there is a lack of leadership to employ such talent!

Some dancers pay for outside coaching, and it shows in their dancing. I think the particular dancer of whom we speak has taken acting lessons, but is so secure in her legs and feet that she doesn't realize anything is wrong with her upper body and port de bras. It is the responsibility of the artistic staff to educate her about this.

13 minutes ago, abatt said:

I think that when Ratmansky is present and preparing dancers for a new work, he must point out all of the flaws and problems.  Once the revival of the work comes, there is probably nobody paying attention to the details of how  Boylston is performing the the work.  All of those awful tendencies just creep back into the performance, unchecked.

It shouldn't have to take the presence of any single choreographer to point out a dancer's flaws, since these appear in every ballet she dances. Somebody on the artistic staff needs to coach her or else present her with the need to get an outside coach, as many dancers do. There are too many ballets I have to avoid because she is dancing the leading role.

42 minutes ago, FauxPas said:

I attended the "Masters" program on Thursday, October 17th and last night the 22nd.

Theme and Variations:  Frankly the slow tempos could be seen as adding grandeur and lyricism to the work if the dancing has enough amplitude and strength.  Devon Teuscher and Cory Stearns who are taller and longer-limbed than the other cast filled out the broader phrases better.  Stearns is also an excellent partner and carried himself well except for his solo in which he struggled through the multiple turns traveling a lot around the stage.  Teuscher really shone in the ballerina role - she actually has a Balanchine ballerina body - very elongated.  Also she is an excellent turner as the late Alicia Alonso was.  She looked like a queen on that stage.  I was sitting quite close to the stage last Thursday and Sarah did not look nervous or tight to me.  Her problems were her conductor and her partner - not small ones which can seriously derail a dancer's performance.  Otherwise, she looked lovely.  Her problem is that she is small and those slow tempos make her dancing look small and brittle because she lacks the amplitude to fill them out.  Faster tempos and a strong partner and she would sparkle in T&V like Tiler Peck and Ashley Bouder do at NYCB.  Gorak was exactly as described by the previous posters and his lack of development is disappointing in the extreme.  His coach is Keith Roberts and Gorak mentioned in an interview that upper body strength is a problem with him and that he was training to correct that.  Frankly, nothing has come of that and he is exactly in the same place he was when he started at ABT.

A Gathering of Ghosts:  I agree that this is no masterpiece.  I found it enjoyable because of Herman and a few of the supporting dancers like Christine Schevchenko and Skylar Brandt.  Herman's solos are the best thing in it and reminded me of how well Tharp worked with Mikhail Baryshnikov in the 1970's and early 1980's.  There was that same creativity and sense of fun and she released something in both Misha and Herman that was not seen with other choreographers.  When the costumes weren't pretty, they were humorous.  My advice is to totally ignore any suggestion of plot or individual characters - you can ignore "Greased Lightning" and "Madame de Stael" and "Murasaki" as they don't really show up in the choreography.  It's just Catherine Hurlin in silver shorts, Joo Won Ahn and Aran Bell up there.  And that isn't a bad thing.

The Seasons:  A choreographic masterpiece.  The weird color palette and discordant designs of the costumes and the lack of scenic designs are a problem.  I agree with the poster above who said that it looks better on the Koch/State Theater stage.  Aran Bell is just out of his teen and had a huge growth spurt less than five years ago - I think he is still growing into his new 6 foot plus body.  Hence his odd posture, etc.  He will blossom into a tall, handsome man with maturation.  The casting changes last night were Zimmi Coker replacing Cassandra Trenary as Rose, Cassandra Trenary replacing Catherine Hurlin as Autumn Bacchante.  So Hurlin was the odd woman out but she danced earlier that evening in the Tharp and is scheduled to dance in the "New Romantics" program tonight.  I suspect fatigue from a demanding schedule of performances and rehearsals is the culprit.  Stella Abrera looked so gorgeous as the Spirit of the Corn - her port de bras really looked creamy and magical and Tom Forster was an excellent partner.  He is ready for Siegfried and Albrecht.  

 

I do not think that FauxPas made any faux pas and I agree with everything said above. I saw the same program last Saturday night and was so disappointed with The Seasons, about which I'd heard such good things. With Abrera dancing the Spirit of the Corn instead of Boylston, the ballet took on a whole new elegance worthy of calling it a masterpiece.

Watching T&V, I didn't see how it could be danced any faster by Devon and Cory, who seemed to fill out every musical phrase. if it were danced any faster it would have looked jerky and manic.

I also want to give a shout-out to Courtney Lavine as Hail. I thought she did a beautiful job and I'm glad to see her breaking out of the corps into demi roles. And another shout-out to Zimmi Coker of the corps, who looked completely at one with the three soloists. I really enjoy seeing corps dancers getting demi roles and maybe moving up through the ranks.

27 minutes ago, cobweb said:

I believe Coker is also significantly more petite than Hurlin. She has a rounder face, while Hurlin's is more oval.

Thanks, Cobweb. That will help a lot sitting in the second ring. I love to sit in Row A Orchestra, but the Koch prices are prohibitive. My sweet spot is Row A second ring.

1 hour ago, Sal said:

Yes, Zimmi has the bright red hair.

Thank you, Sal. I'm going twice more this week, so it will feel better for me because I like to know who is dancing what.

Was Zimmi Coker the dancer with bright red hair and Catherine Hurlin the dancer with red hair but not so bright? I was sitting in the second ring and can't quite make out the faces unless I know the dancers really well.

4 minutes ago, stuben said:

: ".... it took several more years for him to be assigned the roles he craved and felt he deserved. …. 

My recollection is that when Cornejo first joined ABT he was told that he would never dance major princely roles in full-length ballets because he was too short. Then, as luck would have it, petite Xiomara Reyes joined the company, and Cornejo immediately had a partner who was just the right size. From that moment, he began to be assigned princely roles opposite Reyes as his partner. It made me so happy at the time that this was happening. His ability to take on these major roles was apparent from the get-go.

59 minutes ago, Lena C. said:

Yes I agree. Very disappointing, especially since Cornejo has said that Lane is one of his favored, long time partners. We don't know the full story or decisions that went into this casting but still rather strange. Regarding Apollo, I don't see why Lane isn't included. She's certainly been Cornejo's partner longer than Brandt or Trenary. 

Perhaps Herman's sister, Erica, is dancing the female roles? Still, the casting should show this.

14 minutes ago, Leah said:

I read some portions of Callirhoe, the book it's based on, in college. As I recall the story was indeed very silly. But do we really go to the ballet to see intelligent plot?

Oh God, another Ratmansky full-length.

What is Of Love and Rage? I've never heard of it until now.

17 minutes ago, abatt said:

Since there are no subscriptions sold for the Koch theater engagement, I don't think that people who subscribed to the Met season would be permitted to free exchanges of any tickets purchased for the fall Koch season.

ITA in the case of the non-subs to ABT this fall. The point, though, is that you can change your tickets for $20.

1 hour ago, Olga said:

 

Agree, of course they have a right.  Too bad they don’t have the caliber of dancers they had for the premiere of Theme and Variations (relative to the respective time periods). Sure they might get better with practice but I would rather not watch and pay for the practice period. And as you said in your first paragraph, there are many other ballets which could have been programmed and would have made better use of the limited run. My guess is that ABT is so out of it they actually think programming Balanchine in NY will increase their audience. 

But I agree with others rhat many of the other ballets they are doing are less appealing. I am also very much looking forward to Seasons! 

If I'm not mistaken (and I may be), Sarah Lane has danced T&V with ABT in the past.

On the matter of ticketing, when I bought my tickets I asked about changing them (e.g., for a different cast) and they said you can change your tickets for a $20 fee. I know that's yet another fee, but my understanding had been that you can't change your tickets unless you're a subscriber.

2 hours ago, fondoffouettes said:

That's very sad. I remember her detailing her leg surgery on Instagram. She seemed to be one of the most promising corps dancers. 

I totally agree. I even bought a pair of her autographed pointe shoes, before I knew of her retirement, so I'll always remember her.

7 minutes ago, Amicos said:

Agreed...and a real disservice to the company as a whole.

This leaves open the possibility that McKenzie will want to import guest artists in the future. For a time he presided over a roster of exceptional male principals. Perhaps he never felt equal to them, and doesn't want to have that feeling again. There's obviously something going on in his brain, whether conscious (financials) or unconscious (competition). Or he's just bumbling along from season to season.

21 minutes ago, aurora said:

I imagine Ahn will get a debut or two as well (and be cast in Bayadere again).

He really stepped up to the plate this season.

It seems to me that there are several (maybe more) members of BA who would be excellent ballet reviewers for the Times. I'm thinking of sandik, pherank, and Quiggin, since they most recently posted, among others. If anyone here would like to pitch themselves to the Times as the successor to AM, we would all certainly benefit. You probably get free tickets to performances, great seats, and maybe even a travel and entertainment expense account for interviews and travel abroad. Just a thought.....

3 minutes ago, Jack Reed said:

I think it's an elitist attitude to which we can all aspire! 

Oh, I love you, Jack Reed!

5 minutes ago, nanushka said:

Hasn’t ballet typically perceived itself as being stuck in the middle: too lowbrow to be taken seriously by the serious arts connoisseurs, too highbrow to appeal to the masses?

My former ballet teacher used to say that ballet is a Fine Art, like painting, and is not in the same category as other forms of dance. This is, indeed, an elitist attitude to which I wholly subscribe.

I've been watching the PBS News Hour for a couple of years now, and they have an "arts" component they call "Canvas." I have never seen a single segment on ballet. Moreover, I can't remember a single segment on any form of dance. I should write to them. (Maybe we all should.) It would have been nice to see something about ABT BEFORE the opening of the Spring season. And then one afterwards.

On 6/28/2019 at 9:05 AM, Fleurfairy said:

This whole ABT Met season has been mostly devoid of performance reviews from the NYT. What happened to Siebert?

Isn't Siebert mostly a modern dance guy?

Lane proved her principal dancer chops long before she was promoted to Principal Dancer, but last night she outdid herself, delivering a heart-stopping performance that took every risk and nailed it, along with her fellow principal Herman Cornejo. Her dancing was, indeed, "transcendent," as Fleurfairy noted above, both technically, and emotionally. I've long been a fan of Lane's and hope that this Manon will give her access to more performances of Giselle, Swan Lake, and Romeo and Juliet.

I'd like to put in a plug here for Courtney Lavine, who is a beautiful dancer and finally got to take a curtain call outside the curtain with her fellow harlot (was that Betsy McBride?).

15 minutes ago, Leah said:

My mistake! I think Part said something about her sponsor renewing their contribution and ABT refusing it, so I was confused.

I guess that's possible if ABT decided not to renew her contract.