abatt

Oops. My bad. I should have said Skylar.

Thanks for posting the Sardi's photos. Love it.

I thought Sarah Lane had a rocky Rose Adagio, but improved substantially for the rest of the ballet. Sarah started out very strong, but when she had to do the balances there were wobbles, until she finally came off pointe. She immediately got back on pointe. Also, the leg that was in attitude kept moving when it should have been still. Her vision scene was more soulful than Murphy's. Herman and Lane did not do the fish dives in the wedding scene. I did not care for the choreography that was substituted. It was too easy and robbed the wedding pdd of excitement. Herman was stellar in his solo- much better that Gomes performed last night. He is an extraordinary dancer, but an iffy partner. There were some minor partnering issues. I liked Stella and Hoven in the Bluebird section. Devon was fine as Lilac, but she does not have the beautiful port de bras that Stella has. There was a problem with the boat. You could see that it was stuck for a moment. They finally got it moving into the position where it needed to be. You could see the rope that was being pulled to move the boat. Last night in the Vision scene, after Aurora is on the pedestal, you could see her running off the pedestal and into the wings because the lighting cue was off. Today that problem was fixed. Herman needs a new tailor. He looked like he was wearing Gomes' jacket in the vision scene. The sleeves, in particular, looked ridiculously long on him. I liked Trenary as Diamond, but I thought Boylston had more charisma and authority. Interested in reading any comments on tonight's show.

Definitely. Gomes' costume seemed to be a direct quote of George Washington's garb.

Yes, I saw it this AM. They were adorable.

For people who have access to Time Warner Cable, the tv show On Stage on station NY1 has an interview w. R. Fairchild and L. Cope this weekend. The show will air tonight and Sun night at 7:30PM and tomorrow at 9:30 AM.

Given the apparent cost, I suspect it will be long lasting. It is also unique and distinctive in terms of the choreography.

Murphy has danced Nikiya, but she was not cast in that role this season. I think Kochetkova's invitations have been solely because Herman needs a tiny little partner, and KM refuses to give roles to tiny little Sarah Lane. Therefore, he must look outside the company for Herman's partners. KM has offered Kochetkova less this season (one show only) than prior seasons. It's just a matter of circumstances that she now has 3 Bayaderes instead of one. If he were really interested in her as a permanent company member, he would not have invited her for only one show this season.

I generally enjoyed the production. No expense was spared. Costumes must have cost a fortune. Very interesting to see the differences in the choreography from the productions I'm used to seeing. I wish the Prince had more to do. I also wish Lilac had more dancing. It's now largely a character part. Great work from Gillian and Marcelo, as well as Boylston, Trenary and Simkin. I was hoping that the precious metal dances would be even more extensive, as they are at NYCB. My only criticism of Murphy is that her vision scene lacked mystery and a sense of longing. Perhaps its the nature of this choreography in this production that diminishes the effectiveness of the vision scene. The Marge Simpson wig for the Queen must go. Wigs for the fairies are also very distracting and ugly. In particular, one fairy had what looked like an antena on her headpiece, and every time she moved it bobbed up and down. So distracting. This was certainly a grand spectacle ballet.

Ansanelli was excellent in Balanchine, especially the neoclassical ballets. She had difficulty with the "classics" like SB. That's partially why she went to RB- to learn the technique needed to dance more classical roles.

For some reason, the side boxes on every other level except the Parterre level are officially listed as partial view. I don't know why they refuse to classify the Parterre level side boxes as partial view as well. Having sat in a side parterre box one season when I first started going to ABT many moons ago, I feel that they are definitely partial view. For the opera I don't mind, but for ballet where the visual component is crucial, the boxes are a disaster in my opinion. (Not to mention that people move so close to you in their chairs to jockey for a position that you feel they might as well be seated in your lap.) Obviously the center parterre boxes (front row especially) have a great view, but those are the "high roller" seats which most "regular" people cannot even gain access to.

I definitely do NOT want to see Kochetkova as Nikiya, but I want to see Sarafanov. Kochetkova would seem to be the only available potential option if Osipova can't dance. I doubt Cojocaru would be willing to step in for an additional show. Sarafanov needs a smallish partner. Not much left to exchange into at this point even if I wanted to switch out of a Bayadere, given the huge number of cast changes that have already occurred.

If Osipova is unable to do her Bayadere's, that raises quite a few questions. When will they tell us? Will Sarafanov still do his Solors, but with a new partner, or was it a "package deal" like the ill-fated Smirnova/Chudin Bayadere casting? Who would replace her if she can't perform?

I don't understand why Mearns' interpretation of La Valse is considered bad or wrong, even though it allegedly diverges from the way LeClerq did it. Mearns arrives as a wild party girl looking for fun and adventure, and she gets more than she bargained for when she is enticed by the death figure. Why does she have to come in as an innocent type from the start? In a way, Mearns' version makes more sense because she is easily corrupted.

Devin Alberda's personal channel is not in any way related to NYCB's PR. How are you even linking the two? NYCB has no right to interfere with Devon's personal activities. Free speech anyone?!!

Surprised, but happy. I loved Winter's Tale. I thought it was his best full length ballet to date- far superior to his Cinderella or Alice in Wonderland. This is such an exciting time for Wheeldon. He is favored to win various awards for An American in Paris at the Tony Awards on June 7.

Regarding the run of Giselles, I neglected to mention how much I enjoyed Skylar Brandt in the peasant pdd. I believe she was in the Wed matinee cast, but I'm starting forget which peasants were in which casts. Skylar's clean lines, perfect turns, lovely port de bras made a big impression on me. I'm excitied to see how she progresses within the company. Very much a future Giselle or Juliet, although under the McKenzie reign one can never predict the trajectory of a career that seems bright.

Osipova was brilliant tonight. I hope she is not badly injured. It seemed like an eternity before she got up off of the floor after her fall. None of the other Giselles at ABT had her elevation, speed or technique. When she first entered in Act II, she was a whirlwind. A tornado. She is also a phenomenal actress in this ballet. The hops on point were thrilling. As has become her custom, in Act I she covered tons of real estate in her hops on point, and in the middle she rotates 360 degrees. Unreal. Nobody else can even attempt that..

Reyes' acting struck me as among the most naturalistic of the principal dancers. She was the least mannered, and I mean that as a high compliment. Given her stature and her demeanor, I felt that she, more than most other ballerinas, could most convincingly become the character she was portraying. There was a complete honesty and forthrightness in her portrayals of roles like Giselle and Juliet.

It may have been impolite to boo, but under the circumstances it is certainly understandable. Reyes' interviews have stated that she would have stayed and danced at ABT another 2 or 3 years. The implication of her words is that McKenzie forced her to retire. That, as well as various other McKenzie policies, are boo-worthy, in my opinion.

I was at Paloma's farewell. Giselle was never her greatest role, but she gave an excellent performance. Bolle was magnificent. Paloma was very warm with everyone who came out during Paloma's bows, until McKenzie came out. You could see her body stiffen up when McKenzie approached. However, she did make history under McKenzie's leadership- the youngest principal at ABT. Back in the day, those were exciting times when the two teenagers, Paloma and Angel, regularly wowed the crowds with their technical brilliance and exuberance. The crowd went wild when Angel came out, as the memories of their performances together flooded the collective memories of the cheering audience.

Mearns is still apparently on the injured list. This week's casting was updated again today, and Mearns is replaced by Pollack in Mercurial.

I enjoyed last night's performance very much. Not much to add to the above comments. We are lucky to have the Vishneva-Gomes partnership performing at the Met every season. Abrera had a heavy workload last week, and again this week. I was disappointed that we missed her Myrta, but can't blame her for getting a night off. This was my first Teuscher Myrta. I also thought she lacked authority. Maybe that will develop in the future.

Just to clarify, Tiler Peck is not injured. She is taking over Bouder's role this week in Goldberg Variation, and she is also cast as the lead in Rodeo. I guess she already has too many lead role assignments for the week, and that's why they took her out of Raymonda. (Mearns is still listed for Mercurial, but if she can't make it back I believe Tiler may have to cover the lead in that ballet too._

Well the casting sheet online is updated, and Erica Pereira is now listed for all of the Raymonda Variations this week. Tiler Peck is not doing the role. Mearns is still listed for her roles, so perhaps there is hope for her return? (Bouder is removed from all of her roles this week.)