abatt

Alicia Graf did a lot to raise the profile of the Ailey company, I think. The reviews, expecially in the NY Times, of her performances were always very positive, sometimes ecstatic. I'm pretty sure that a number of years ago, the NY Times listed her performances in its top ten end of year roundup as among the most pleasurable dancegoing performances of the year. She has a skill set - a classically trained ballet dancer - - which most of the Ailey women lack. Although Ailey is a "modern" company that does not perform on pointe, Graf just looks better than almost any other Ailey women in the choreography she is assigned to perform. In addition to her high skill level, her proportions are awe inspiring. In addition, she has beautifully arched feet and a gorgeously flexible back. Sadly, the same cannot be said of a lot of the other Ailey ladies. The difference is palpable on stage. That's why, among other reasons, they took a chance on Graf despite her history of illness/injury. She is capable of a much higher level of dancing than almost any of the other women in the Ailey company. Personally, once I learned that Graf was injured, I decided to skip their engagement at the Koch in June. If Graf doesn't return for the December 2014 Ailey seasons at City Center, I will probably take a break from seeing the company. They do post their casting in advance.

She's worthy or carrying the message. She is a very fine soloist, particularly in modern ballets. I don't think anyone here is disputing that she is a fine soloist. The issue is that McKenzie appears to think that being a ballet "evangelist" should translate into casting for principal roles, although others at the soloist level appear to be more deserving of being cast. Casting is like a zero sum game for the dancers. Also, the use of the term "evangelist" is misleading here. I assume Misty was compensated by Payless for the use of her name/image, so this is as much about economic profit as about spreading the joy of ballet as far as the Payless deal goes. Nothing wrong with making a little extra $$$ to supplement the ABT salary.

Graf danced at Ailey for a few years then retired due to injuriies. After about 2 years, she returned to Ailey and came out of retirement because her injuries had healed. Most recently, she had significant back surgery and has been out of Ailey since April 2014. Not sure if or when she will return to the stage. Based on her history of significant injuries, I can't really dispute NYCB's unwillingness to take a chance on her. Once you have a long history of illness or injury, NYCB does not go out of its way to hire you (see Kathryn Morgan).

Alicia Graf was a ballet superstar. I saw her perform the Balachine rep, as well as other material, many times before DTH went under. She did master ballet at the highest level.

If McKenzie doesn't see the potential for improvement in the performances of either Hammoudi or Copeland in their debut performances in Australia, he might not cast them in NY in these roles at all. He gave Maria Ricetto one chance at a Giselle in NY, but never cast her in it again. I'm not sure if she was given an out-of-town Giselle before her Met debut. As a I recall, she had some serious problems with executing portions of the choreography.

Agree that the ballet vocabulary for Spartacus was very limited. I'm ready for some brilliant Balanchine now.

I beg to differ. If they were going to pick a short soloist for SL, it should have gone to Lane, not Copeland. Lane is a superior dancer, and has also performed the role with Corella Ballet. Merit should win out, but it doesn't. Do we really want ABT to become a company where roles are based on a popularity contest instead of quality? This is a very slippery slope.

Wasn't referring to the sex tape. In fact, didn't even realize that there was a sex tape. Was referring to the fact that Kim and Misty are both publicity seekers. If you read my original post it was in the context of Misty's quest for publicity. She uses the media to become more famous and gain traction at ABT for better roles. Contrast this with Hallberg, who initially became famous due to his brilliant dancing and his inviitation to join the Bolshoi, which was then followed by the media seeking him out for interviews. Not vice versa - ie - Misty is famous for her personal story and other non dancing factors, not for her dancing. Hope this clarifies that the comparison had nothing to do with sex tapes.

The lighting last night was much better than on Friday. On Friday there was too much red-orange, which was hurting my eyes. Last night the lighting was less harsh, I thought. Agree that Kryssanova was miscast as Aegina. I thought all the other leads did very well and I enjoyed their performances. I assume that by the next tour to NY (whenever that may be), both Vinogradova and Tikhamerova will have risen to new heights within the company. They are two standouts that I was not previously aware of before this tour. Smirnova is already a star, and I assume her stardom will grow in the coming years. All the lead men I saw during the tour were impressive. This Bolshoi tour, including the wonderful Tsar's Bride two weeks ago, has made this a very memorable summer.

I was at last night's Spartacus. I had seen this ballet live before. For me, it's a mixture of sublime beauty in some passages and hilarious excess in other passages. The romantic pdd are quite beautiful. The choreography for the corps of men stomping around is boring and repetitive. The biggest laugh for me was Zakharova's pole dance in the last act. Aegina suits her perfectly. I liked Nikulina as Phyrigia. Maybe not the greatest actress but she executed the choreography very well. The lead men were impressive in physically daunting roles. However, I still recall seeing Ivan Vasiliev at the KC a few years ago as Spartacus, and I thought he was more consistently exciting and intense than Lobukhin.

Oddly, the other day at the Koch they dispensed with bag checks at the front door, but placed numerous security guards in front of the theater. If you're paying lip service to security, why not continue with the superficial bag inspection at the front doors.

Most people in "regular" jobs (desk jobs) miss little or no work from this disease. They may feel more tired until the doctor finally figures out that it's underactive thyroid and prescribes the meds. Morgan's experience of losing years of her career is not the norm.

I'm not sure that Morgan can lose the weight and still be healthy. The weight gain and fatigue are symptoms of the disease. It's a chronic problem. It's also an issue of stamina. For any other occupation, one could just take the synthroid and go on living a perfectly normal life. However, in an occupation involving such extreme physical demands, business as usual just isn't possible. She missed several years of performances at NYCB, and there is no proof whatsoever that she could (a) lose the weight and (b) keep up with a rigorous schedule required of members of the NYCB or a similar caliber company. It's not a matter of being angry that she broke her contract. It is likely that she just cannot do the job anymore. On the one hand, I admire her tenacity. However, on the other hand I thinkk she would have been wise to use the last few years to get an education and try to develop skills or connections for jobs in the event that she could no longer dance. She needs to be realistic. As for being unlucky regarding the amount of time for diagnosis, I recall that Kathryn is adopted. Therefore she has no family history available in order to assist in diagnosing potential hereditary diseases. I think thyroid diseases tend to have hereditary elements.

Francis Veyette is Andrew Veyette's brother.

The Balanchine works are staged by the Balanchine police, so the fact that Angel is not a Balanchine specialist may not matter that much ultimately.

So happy Angel got this job. He lost so much trying to get the company in Spain off the ground, including some of his own personal wealth that he sunk into the company. Do we think that any ABT dancers who are fed up might eventually defect to PA ballet.

Agree with above. Misty has become a publicity machine. She has become the Kim Kardashian of ballet. If you have a TV camera or a publication, Misty will be there to tell and retell and retell again her sad story. The combo of her and Hammoudi making their debuts makes me cringe. Neither one is ready for prime time in their lead roles. Hamoudi was awful as Rothbart. The technique was lacking. I can't even imagine him pulling off the lead in this ballet at this point. I wonder if Kevin will be bold enough to use that combo in NYC. If so, I'll be anywhere else except the Met. Reyes is not on the tour. I guess Gomes will do Rothbart. Lucky Aussies.

I saw all three casts. The lead men (Basilio) were terrific in all three casts. My favorite of the three Kitris was Krysanova. Kretova had some very fine moments, but there was an overall lack of polish which I assume will improve with additional performances in the role. Most disappointing was Alexandrova. Although she had fun with the characterization, the diminshment of her technique was evident. Time and injury are taking their toll. All of the character dancers were fabulous. As noted above, on the night Alexandrova performed I too wished that our Kitri was Tikhemerova. Nikulina's Dryad Queen was disappointing. Smironova was wonderfully lyrical as Dryad Queen. Next up is Spartacus. I saw Vasiliev do the role a few years ago at the KC. Will any of the men on the tour measure up to my memory of Vasiliev? We'll see.

I've seen NYCB and ABT sometimes perform at FFD. It's usually just a pdd, not a complete ballet with a big cast. It is a pain to get tickets, The whole point of the festival is to keep the prices cheap so that people who normally can't afford to attend a dance performance can afford the prices. Actually, they raised the prices last year, I think from $10 to $15. By the time you're done paying the handling and facility fees, the price really isn't that much higher than buying the cheeapest price level at the NYCB box office (avoid handling fee).

So far no info on what companies will be presented. However, the City Center website indicates that the Festival will run from Oct 8-Oct 19, 2014, and tickets will go on sale Sept. 14 at 11 AM. I'm sure the festival will sell out, as it does every year. However, it has traditionally been in Sept. This year they have moved it to October, which causes a direct conflict with the NYCB Fall season.

Sometimes fame can become a distraction. Hallberg seems to be constantly in the press, giving interviews and going to events. (He now has a press agent, according to one article I read.) Maybe all these events are depleting valuable time and energy. I think the spotlight has been particularly bright lately during this Bolshoi tour to NY.

Tikho seems like a Bolshoi ballerina with similar qualities as Osipova. I too saw Alexandrova a decade ago at the Met in Don Q, but a lot has happened since then. I'm not sure she will have the same amount of gas in the tank as she did a decade ago. We'll find out tomorrow.

Lantratov was replaced on Sat evening as Evil Genius. Hope it was just fatigue. The same dancer did Evil Genius on Sat evening and Sun afternoon, and on Sunday afternoon he looked exhausted. Don't have my program handy to identify him by name.

The festival doesn/t have anything to do with standing room policy or policy re release of the ADA seats. That was Koch theater management. The very same issues arise re release of ADA seats for NYCB.

She was not merely actig w. her face. The manner in which she curved her back, tilted her head, delicately moved her arms enhanced the drama. All these details, together with excellent technique and palpable chemistry between the leads, made for a ver memorable evening.