Ambonnay

The New York Times arts season overview (part of tomorrow's newspaper) provides the following snippets on the ABT's Met 2010 season: "After its Avery Fisher experiment, ABT returns to the tried and true for its spring season, including 'Swan Lake', 'Don Quixote' and the company premiere of John Neumeier's 'Lady of the Camelias'. But not all business is as usual: there will a roughly two-week repertory festival, including works by Ashton, Tudor, Balanchine and Robbins, and the flawed but stirring 'On the Dnieper', Alexei Ratmansky's first ballet as the company's artist in residence. May 17-July 10." Elsewhere, Alastair M notes: "And is it too much to hope that the artistic director, Kevin McKenzie, will have revised his 'Swan Lake' and 'Sleeping Beauty' productions? As we last saw them, both were seriously flawed. But the season will contain two weeks of mixed repertory, including two one-act ballets by Ashton ('The Dream' and 'Birthday Offering') and -- new acquisitions in Ballet Theater repertory -- two of Ashton's most exquisite pas de deux (the 'Awakening' pas de deux from 'The Sleeping Beauty' and the 'Thais' Meditation)."

I noticed that the ABT has a tour package on offer on its website, to visit China (including Xian and the Terracotta Warriors) while the ABT is touring there: http://www.abt.org/pdfs/2009PatronTourChina.pdf I can't make this particular tour (and the tour is, not unexpectedly, on the expensive side), but I wonder if the ABT has offered this type of travel package in the past, with the ABT company tour of foreign countries?

I don't think she will be made a soloist until at least a year or two after the next female soloist is made, who is Hee Seo. And I think Simone's current repertoire suggests it could be a longer period than that.

I have no information about SR's situation and his departure from the ABT. However, I imagine that he may have left because he thought his chances of making principal were not good. Nothing has materially chanced since SR left, except for things that are not helpful to SR's chances in this regard: (1) promotion of Cory Stearns to soloist, and his increased prominence within the company, (2) continued good progression of Gomes and Hallberg, and expansion of their repertoires, (3) addition of Daniil S, who can take on a lot of the soloist roles that SR used to perform, and (4) addition of R Bolle as ABT principal. Now, how can SR feel better about advancement beyond soloist at the ABT?

Another topic on this board, from Dale, describes Hallberg and Gomes' participation in the "Kings of the Dance" performances at City Center. http://ballettalk.invisionzone.com/index.p...;hl=kings+dance "KINGS OF THE DANCE February 19 – 21, 2010 On Sale Now The critically-acclaimed Kings of the Dance are back onstage at New York City Center! After a triumphant 10-city Russian tour in 2007-2008 that included sold-out performances in Moscow and St. Petersburg, Ardani Artists presents a new program that will include David Hallberg (USA), Jose Manuel Carreño (Cuba), Joaquin De Luz (Spain), and Nikolay Tsiskaridze (Russia), as well as new Kings Marcelo Gomes (Brazil), Dennis Matvienko (Ukraine) and Guillaume Cote (Canada). The three-act performance will include choreography by Frederick Ashton, José Limón, Nacho Duato, Roland Petit, Anton Dolin, Boris Eifman, and Christopher Wheeldon. New York City Center is first stop on the upcoming four-week world tour of Russia, Ukraine, Moldova, Belarus, Estonia, Lithuania, and Latvia." Note that tickets are available now , even though tickets to the Corella company's performances are not available until next month.

Below is an article on why the Tulsa Ballet chose the pieces it is presenting: http://www.tulsaworld.com/Scene/article.as...D7_TulsaB575200 http://www.tulsaworld.com/scene/article.as...D1_TulsaB909740 (Tulsa World review) Unfortunately, at least today's NYT review by Gia Kourlas was not necessarily what Tulsa Ballet may have been hoping for. I'm going to the Joyce tomorrow, and will provide a report.

Here is the information for the upcoming Friday and Saturday, at Central Park's Summer Stage. The performance is free. http://www.summerstage.org/index1.aspx?BD=21391 On Friday, there will be "a world premiere by choreographer Christopher Wheeldon, set to new music by Martha Wainwright, both commissioned by City Parks Foundation."

CityCenter has published the individual line-ups for each day of the "Fall for Dance" program. D Vishneva performs "Dying Swan" on October 2 and 3. http://www.citycenter.org/tickets/producti...anceNumber=4579 http://www.nycitycenter.org/content/ffd09/10.aspx The performances on each evening are as follows: The Australian Ballet Le Spectre de la Rose Sang Jijia Snow Diana Vishneva, Prima Ballerina of the Mariinksy Theatre Dying Swan Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater Revelations Tickets begin to be available September 13 at 11am, and are $10 each

The Guggenehim NY has an ABT event on Sunday, October 11 and Monday, October 12: "American Ballet Theatre: The Art of Adaptation American Ballet Theatre dancers will perform excerpts to illustrate the challenges of creating and presenting ballet for nontraditional dance spaces. Discussions will highlight ABT’s first ever performances on the stage of Lincoln Center’s Avery Fisher Hall, and ABT ballet masters and mistresses will talk about the role they play in helping choreographers and dancers adapt to different spaces." http://www.guggenheim.org/new-york/educati...events-schedule http://www.guggenheim.org/images/content/p...n/wp_fall09.pdf Participating dancers are not specified. Tickets are quite reasonable at $10-30. Series subscriptions are now available, but there is only one ABT program included (the Sunday and Monday performances are presumably the same). Single tickets on sale September 4, at 1 pm NY time.

June 24, 2009 Matinee Michele Wiles/David Hallberg Benno: Carlos Lopez von Rothbart, Act III: Gennadi Saveliev (subbing for Cory Stearns ) Pas de Trois: Misty Copeland, Yuriko Kajiya, Carlos Lopez Aristocrats include: Hee Seo, Eric Tamm Cygnettes: Gemma Bond, Marian Butler, Caroline Duprot, Jacquelyn Reyes Two Swans: Simone Messmer, Nicole Curry Regular swans: include Hee Seo, Isabella Boylston Hungarian Princess: Marian Butler (subbing for Melissa Thomas) Spanish Princess: Leann Underood Italian Princess: Renata Pavam Polish Princess: Hee Seo Czardas: include Simone Messmer, Julio Bragado-Young I attended today's matinee, featuring Michele Wiles and David Hallberg. Even though this is my favorite ABT pair and I have always liked their Swan Lake, I found the performance slightly disappointing, and strangely more because of Hallberg's introspective and quite reserved Prince than Michele's Odette or Odile. It must be stated that Hallberg still dances extremely beautifully -- with jumps, landings, extension, lines that are lyrical and excellently executed. Nobody can legitmately find fault with his technique or his overall visual presentation. Nor can one fault his relatively classical and understated approach to the role of the Prince -- it is commendable in today's world. My goodness -- through the last moment of his appearance when he jumps off the cliff after Odette does --- he looks incredible. But what is it about Hallberg's Siegfried that left me slightly disappointed? Maybe that his Siegfried was ever so slightly too even-keeled in general. That he was acting largely using his face, although his body displayed at all times gorgeous lines and its own intrinsic pristine form. That he was quite serious-looking in Act III, even after Odile showed up, not really even smiling or exhibiting obvious joy until after the Odile fouettes. (I appreciate one can be enthralled and fall for somebody without portraying obvious joy.) These thoughts are quite difficult for me to express, given that I appreciate all of Hallberg's performances (including today's) a great deal. Michele's Odette and Odile continue to be quite appealing to me, although I appreciate that is not a universally shared sentiment. Alas, the applause for her was so limited at the end that she (and others) did not even appear from behind the curtains the way the dancers normally do, after the "large" curtain closes for the second time. I don't know if that is less abnormal in view of the fact this is a matinee, but I would think not. There were some children in the audience, including one who cried a bit during the pre-intermission period and had to be taken away. Overall, Michele and David remain very accomplished dancing Swan Lake in my eyes. Today, though, there was a tiny bit of something missing. My pet peeves: Neighbors opening candy wrappers nosily, chewing candy or gum, in a way you can hear during the performance.

I agree with Corella still being amazing. I never saw him in his younger years, but his technical capabilities are still much much more than good, even if they might not be what they once were. I agree Corella is much better than any other danseur at the ABT, with the exception of Hallberg, who, for me, is at least at Corella's present-day level from an overall evaluation perspective and has the potential to grow into more. But Hallberg, despite all his commendable qualities, is not (yet) a superb actor (with that not being a negative, because sometimes I think Hallberg chooses subtlety and finesse over more obvious ways of acting communication). Also, Hallberg has the benefit of a beautiful natural physique and elegant frame, and height and handsomeness. While Corella is handsome as well and has an open, inviting face, Corella did not start off with those all of those natural advantages and therefore is to be particularly commended for his remarkable achievements. Corella's acting is so much better than any ABT principal's (male or female) I have seen. Many small changes in body position, meaningful glances at his partner, the way he might sway his head, or shift his hand -- all of those things can, in some ways, be said to be more than "acting" and to make his acting blur with his overall "occupation" of the role of Prince Siegfried. It is quite amazing that Corella can do so much with just his face, although it is his whole body that is involved in expressing what is happening with the Prince throughout. And yet Corella's acting doesn't seem contrived. It seemed natural and genuine.

I've noticed that it sometimes matters what magnification of binoculars I use. It is not necessarily the case that highest magnification is the best, as that also limits the "scope" (as your post suggests) of what is seen, depending on where I sit. So, this sounds like a trivial thing, but I have more than one pair of binos for ballet viewing purposes and, if have time, I will look at the ticket and seat number/placement when picking which of my binos to bring along. On Gomes as the Act III von Rothbart on Monday, the NY Post had this to say: "Choreographer and director Kevin McKenzie conceived the villain Von Rothbart as both an evil sorcerer and an irresistible sex magnet, an idea that's not nearly as good as it sounds. . Marcelo Gomes created the role and usually makes a case for it through sheer charisma, but this time he pushed from charisma to sleaze." I wouldn't have framed the observation in the last part of the last quoted sentence so harshly, but I would agree with its content. A rare negative assessment this season for Gomes. http://www.nypost.com/seven/06242009/enter...ight_175814.htm

I've come up with another objection to the overture, although you may not be able to comment on today's version. After von Rothbart grabs the young Odette and lifts her in the air, she is lifted and held in a series of stark, rapidly shifting positions, before the part with the stuffed swan. The unnecessarily "posy" and dramatic nature of each of those Odette positions does not seem in keeping with any other part of the ballet. Those positions are even more dramatic and rapidly placed together than certain very tension-filled moments in the ballet later on. So I think the choreographic style in the preclude is not appropriately matched to the remainder of the ballet.

wow that's really harsh! I don't claim to be tactful. Nor, for that matter, do I aim to be even handed in my descriptions. For example, I really appreciate Hallberg and Corella's performances and I rarely find their performances less than very good.

June 23 Swan Lake Gillian Murphy/Angel Corella Benno: Jared Mathews von Rothbart, Act III: Gennadi Saveliev Queen Mother: Nancy Raffa Pas de trois: Maria Riccetto, Stella Abrera, Jared Mathews Aristocrats (the program's term) in Act I: include Hee Seo, Isabella Boylston and Blaine Hoven Cygnettes: Yuriko Kajiya, Sarah Lane, Anne Milewski, Renta Pavam Two Swans: Leann Underwood, Melanie Hamrick Regular swans include Hee Seo, Isabella Boylston Hungarian Princess: Marian Butler Spanish Princess: Sarah Lane Italian Princess: Gemma Bond Polish Princess: Isabella Boylston Czardas: Includes Simone Messmer (subbing for Kristi Boone), Patrick Ogle, Blaine Hoven, Eric Tamm I attended tonight's performance of Swan Lake. I had been curious about this pairing after having watched the PBS TV program featuring the same. Corella's performance was outstanding. I was very impressed with Angel Corella's portrayl of the Prince. Very expressive face, head tilt, eye contact (at appropriate times), very communicative body stance and strong engagement with everything and everyone around him throughout the performance. In Act I, for example, when he sees the different couples around him, Corella is able to convincingly convey his loneliness and feeling left out. During Act II dancing with Odette, he showed, at various relevant times and in a moving way, yearning, amazement, a feeling of needing to explore more and engage Odette more, a sense of being empassioned somewhat, and a sense of elegant and somewhat smoldering urgency. I found his acting (including his body and face expressiveness and positioning, and his mime) excellent. His jumps and other technical aspects were very good -- not great -- but way more than the level sufficient to be very effective overall in the role of the Prince. During Act III, after Corella sees Odile, his face glows and he communicates the joy he feels as he dances with her. He almost floats, as he was so immersed in the moment and in Odile. He practically beams with happiness. I found Corella's overall performance to be excellent. He seemed so much more vibrant and full of life than Maxim B from Monday evening. I did notice, however, that Corella's upper legs seemed a little bit more filled out than in the PBS video. That did not adversely affect anything; I just noted it. I didn't notice it during Corella's also oustanding (but normal for him) performances this season as Ali the slave in the Le Corsaires seen or in his very good performance as The Prodigal Son. Maybe the white leotards the Prince wears in Swan Lake are not helpful. To me, Gillian was generally effective. She was more emotive as Odette than Irina D, but it doesn't take much to be able to say that about a ballerina. But still, for reasons I cannot quite pinpoint, I found both her Odette and her Odile less than entirely satisfying. Her black swan fouettes were exciting, expectedly. A number of multiple turns, and interesting (and appropriate) differences in arm positions. She was at times using her arms to facilitate the turn like many ballerinas do, but, at other times, holding her arms in the air in a nice position. At other times, her arms were elbow height and more hand to elbow. She conveyed energy during the fouettes. One thing that should not matter, but that I found not visually appealing about Gillian's Odette costume: The costume from far looks like a bustier on top, but it is actually held up by two sections of skin-colored gauze that secure the bustier and form more of a sleeveless top. In Gillian's case, her gauze section was many shades more intense than her natural tone and was not visually appealing. I found Saveliev's depiction of von Rothbart in Act III to be poor. His dancing did not seem crisp, and some of his jumps seemed, to me at least, poor. Also, Saveliev's physique is of the stocky type in the upper body, and his lines are compromised by that, at least to me. Jared Mathews was alright -- not as animated as Simkin, in the role of Benno. Maybe Jared Mathews was not the best Benno to cast when Corella is the Prince. Jared's height makes Corella look shorter than if, say, Simkin were utilized. At least Jared was better as Benno, however, than he was as the guy who pursued Giselle and was killed by the Wilis during the Hallberg/Osipova Giselle performance (with a wonderful performance by Hallberg). I enjoyed a Bailey's Irish cream, on the rocks ($14), during intermission.

I guess the monster is a closer call for me than the stuffed swan and the first scene re: the young Odette. The reason being that, maybe by splitting the less-dance-intensive aspects of the von Rothbart role from the more substantive portions in Act III, it is easier to entice a principal or another interesting danseur to dance the Act III von Rothbart role even though it of course does not involve the male lead in the ballet (without having to worry about the less attractive aspects of the von Rothbart role from a substantive dance component perspective). If the von Rothbart that is not dancing did not have a mask (or other headgear), the audience would be able to tell that it was not the same danseur. Of the eight dancing von Rothbart roles this season at the Met, two are taken by Gomes and one by Hallberg. On the other hand, having a mask on the non-dancing von Rothbart does not mean one has to stick with the current monster costume now used to cover the body of von Rothbart. That is pretty bad. Getting back to last night's Gomes in Act III, there was a funny part where von Rothbart had already captivated the four princesses at the ball. He has already danced with each of them individually. Then, the four are in a "square" formation and he is in the middle. Von Rothbart then lifts one of the princesses almost straight up, while she has her hands relatively close to her body and doesn't move. He then sort of easily, but not forcefully, plonks her down. He then repeated this for one of the other princesses. It kind of made the princesses look like dolls/putty in his hands.

I know the very first scene in Act I has already been a debated aspect of the current ABT Swan Lake production. But I still fail to see why it was added -- it takes the possibility of different interpretations away from how Odette became entrapped as a swan by von Rothbart. It makes Odette seem like she was entrapped by von Rothbart because of girlish naivete, even though the synopsis in the program describes this as having occurred many years ago. Then, the final part of the scene involves von Rothbart (now with the "monster" costume on) holding a fake white swan the length of one's arm, next to himself. This seems to involve a certain "force feeding" of information to the audience that does not seem called for.

I agree Hee Seo will clearly be promoted to soloist soon. I wonder if that happens only once a year, as occurred recently with Cory Stearns, in which case Seo will have to wait almost another year? When you get your own La Sylphide with Hallberg, one evening performance of Romeo & Juliet, and then one more performance of the same in LA, and these are not substitutions but intended for you and these are also not your first performances as Juliet after having been a non-apprentice member of the corps for only three years, you are about to be elevated. http://www.abt.org/dancers/detail.asp?Dancer_ID=155

I wasn't sure whether having approximately the same facial expressions throughout Act II (and, for the Prince, Act I) is a more "Russian" presentation, or a presentation particular to this pair. In Act II, the only time I felt Odette's experiencing something emotional was the initial fear she had of the Prince. Maybe Irina D thinks that she is "acting" very subtly with her eyes, but I was using my binoculars a lot and I didn't think that was achieved, if that was her intent. In Act III, as Odile, she more effectively used seductive or expressive eyes (looking from the left or right at the Price). I didn't think her "intended-to-be-fluidly-flying-wings-mimicking" arm movements during Act II were that special or fluid, around the time when she exits. I thought Michele Wiles' rendition of that was markedly better. I also was surprised by how Irina D does not seem as well-proportioned a ballerina as I thought she would be. She looked a bit less tall and elegant than I had expected, and her legs and torso didn't look particularly lean and long relative to her head and neck. I'm not saying Irina D isn't beautiful or that her overall proportions are not pleasing. She is just a bit different from what I had expected. Now that you mention it, Simkin did seem slightly slightly hectic towards the end of the Act I pas de trois. But I think that was because he had to move between the ballerinas on either side of him quickly. He was barely able to do it. BTW, Sarah Lane might be a good soloist for Simkin to work more with. While I don't particularly like Sarah Lane's dancing, her height seems to allow Simkin to look taller relative to her. While Simkin's height is not ideal, he does have nice lines for his height. But he also looks young (because he is), and I wonder how that will affect his advancement. He's certainly getting relatively plummy roles for a new soloist, although some roles he has had this season have been due to injuries (eg Cornejo's injury for the bazaar owner's role in Le Corsaire allowed Simkin to fill in during both the Herrera/Hallberg and Murphy/Hallberg Le Corsaire performances).

I saw the performance of Swan Lake featuring Irina Dvorovenko/Maxim Beloserkovsky tonight. Dancing van Rothbart: Gomes Benno: Daniil Simkin Act I Pas de Trois: Simkin, Sarah Lane, Isabella Boylston Cygnettes: Yuriko Kajiya, Marian Butler, Misty Copeland, Maria Riccetto Two Swans: *Hee Seo* and Stella Abrera Regular swans include Kristi Boone, Leann Underwood Princesses: Misty Copeland, Luciana Paris, Anne Milewski, Yuriko Kajiya Act III Dances: --Czardas: Marian Butler and Alexi Agoudine leading -- Spanish Dance: *Cory Stearns*, Maria Bystrova, Roman Zhurbin, Karen Uphoff -- Neapolitan: Joseph Phillips, Craig Salstein -- Mazurka: Includes Leann Underwood, Alexandre Hammoudi, Patrick Ogle, *Eric Tamm* This is my first time viewing either member of the lead couple in any role. I found Irina D a very calm Odette who was beautiful, but not moving in Act II. She was more effective in Act III -- as Odile. I didn't like Maxim B's prince. Perhaps it is due to his recent injury (which prompted Hallberg to be substituted for Maxim B's role beside Nina A last week) or his not being among the younger danseurs, but his jumps lacked height. His face has a "plastic", almost face-lifted kind of look that was only deviated from rarely (one deviation was in the final scene as he showed anguish as Odette is about to go to her doom). I have to say that the only ABT Swan Lakes I have seen are Hallberg/Wiles versions. And that is my preferred ABT pairing (even as the pairing was emerging over time), so it's in some ways unfair, but, not unexpectedly, I far preferred the Hallberg/Wiles versions from prior years to tonight's performance. But that doesn't mean, obviously, that somebody else would feel the same way. I did enjoy tonight's performance -- Irina D's interpretation more than Maxim B's. Happily, Daniil Simkin was Benno. He was very good in the peasant pas de trois, and continued to display very high jumps, nice entrechats, and good acting for ballet. I notice that Daniil portrays a young joviality that is suited for Benno, but that somehow does not seem inappropriate. He adds to the stage presentation overall even when he is on the side lines, by interacting with the less central characters and judiciously using his arms in particular. Strong potential in this young danseur, and it's quite exciting to contemplate how Daniil will evolve at the ABT. In particular, in the first scene in Act II, as Benno and the Prince are in the forest (before the Prince sees the swan), Benno does only one jump, but it is high jump and it is shortly after a jump by the Prince. The difference in height achieved was pretty noticeable. Not that height in jumps is everything, but Maxim B's jumps lacked lightness as well as height. To me, Gomes' version of von Rothbart in Act III is over the top. His evil laughs seem too evident, his demeanor too contrivedly villainous and unidimensional. Before the 7:30 pm performance, I didn't have much time. So I had a smoked salmon plate at the Revlon Bar ($10). The condiments are the same as those for the smoked salmon appetizer at the Grand Tier restaurant, although the latter dish is more expensive and contains a larger portion of salmon . Garnishes are the same: Diced egg white; finely diced egg yolk; capers; diced onion; a dense creme fraiche on the side. There was also sangria ($9 for a small-ish glass) served at the side of the Revlon Bar that had the food (not the half that served the wine only). The sangria was a bit too sweet for me, but the diced green apple and the diced orange (skin on) mitigated that a bit. There were tall round (but small diameter) tables one can stand beside indoors. Some of these tables permitted a good view of the red Chagall giant mural (one of the two at the Met). Outside, despite the rain, there were people seated at tables on the covered terrace). The two Chagalls were recently made collateral on loans obtained by the Met.

I can see taking a step down to join a larger company, but, in Ilyin's case, he was principal at one point at Miami City Ballet and he took the step down from principal to corps. And he wasn't moving from a teeny teeny company to the ABT. http://www.abt.org/dancers/detail.asp?Dancer_ID=215 "Born in St. Petersburg, Russia, Mikhail Ilyin graduated from the Vaganova Ballet Academy in 1998. In 1999, he joined the Boston Ballet for two years, then Miami City Ballet where he became in principal in 2003..... He has been an Artist-in-Residence with Ballet Mississippi since 2005." Now, that being said, based on his performances in "Airs", I didn't perceive that Ilyin deserved elevation from the ABT corps (although it is difficult to make an evaluation based on observing him in only one piece). On ABT having had little room at the top on the male side, I can see that. Particularly given how prolific Gomes and Hallberg have been in learning new works, and how they seem to be able to take on any type of danseur role (given that they are relatively tall, have powerful jumps and techniques, and yet can also participate in more reflective roles). Both Gomes and Hallberg seem to be able to take on a lot of new roles each ABT season. When you consider how recently Hallberg has been principal, it seems, at least to me, impressive that he has been able to become (1) one of the main partners for Gillian Murphy, herself a very prolific ballerina, particularly in recent periods as Ethan S has become more beset with injury, (2) retained being the preferred partner of Michelle Wiles, (3) done meaningful work with P Herrera (even though he is not necessarily her single preferred partner), (4) begun to partner Hee Seo (query whether that is more than a temporary thing) at times and (5) partnered various other people on occasion, including some soloists.

It's not the first time this has happened, that a principal elsewhere joins ABT's corps. I think the hope is that they will rise up through ABT and get to perform beyond their old regional area. Also, I don't know if this plays into it much, but principals don't get to dance as much.... Unless a person who was a principal elsewhere has a better chance at faster ascension to ABT solosit and then ABT principal, it wouldn't very generally seem like a good trade-off for "big fish-little pond to little fish-big pond" because of the limitations that age can impose on a person. If a person has to make his or her way through the ABT ranks like normal, by the time he or she has made principal a second time (if ever), a number of years will have been utilized.

In Airs, although he was the least featured of the three danseurs, on Thursday night and during the Saturday matinee, I found Eric Tamm to have the most elegant lines. http://www.abt.org/dancers/detail.asp?Dancer_ID=159 (Tamm) Interestingly, the current program contains an article on how there is an ABT-quasi-affiliated school that feeds certain people into ABT II, if things pan out for them. Eric Tamm is described in that article as being a danseur with both jump power and elegant lines, and I agree with that. The article noted that Tamm on one occasion subbed for Cornejo when the latter was injured. However, still on the two "Airs" performances involving Tamm, Mikhail Ilyin was considerably shorter than Tamm and Patrick Ogle and I am not sure that was the best arrangement. http://www.abt.org/dancers/detail.asp?Dancer_ID=215 When I looked up Ilyin's bio, I noticed that he had once been a principal at the Miami City Ballet. Ilyin joined ABT as a corps member in 2008. I wondered to myself why a former principal would join another company (even the ABT) as a corps member? I wonder if there is some background on that. I liked the "Airs" performance on Thursday, with the Tamm cast, better than the one on Tuesday. I guess casting Seo in La Sylphide and the other roles she gets to play this season confirm she is going to become soloist soon, deservedly: http://www.abt.org/dancers/detail.asp?Dancer_ID=155

Thanks. I love food and wine -- this might not be the place to say it, but more than ballet

Hi, I live in New York and have watched ballet for a few years. I found this board last year, and have been reading since. I watch mostly the ABT, and prefer attending performances featuring David Hallberg when work and personal obligations permit. I travel quite a bit for work, so unfortunately I am unable to attend certain performances I would like to. In those cases, I am particularly grateful for reports posted by others on the board. I don't know much about ballet, although I am trying to change that.