abatt

From your lips to McKenzie's ears. However, McKenzie appears to be deaf on the subject of Stella Abrera, unfortunately.

I only recall them doing two MacMillans during a single season around the time that Ferri retired. The only two ballets that remained in her rep at that point were R&J and Manon. I was also at the Sat. evening performance, and it was less than 50% full in the balcony. The performance was a real let down compared to the afternoon.

Happiness is watching Maria K. dance Titania.

Cinderella. How disappointing. I assume this is the Ratmansky version.

Great to see you too Colleen and all the other ballet alert friends. The Sat. matinee was even more electrifying than the Gomes/Vishneva performance earlier in the week because it was a special anniversary celebraton, and also because their second performance is generally even better than their first. It was the first time all season that the house was well sold.

Yes, ABT has gotten out of control with price increases. There is a week night performance I was considering going to in early July. They have raised the price in the balcony from $46 to $55, even though they have barely sold any seats in the balcony. It seems that the price increases are not "dynamically" based on the number of tickets sold (ie, prices for popular shows increase). It just seems like they raised all prices in certain sections irrespective of whether they are selling badly or well. It's not that I cannot afford the extra few dollars, but it bothers me because I feel like I'm being nickeled and dimed by ABT. Added: I ran into a friend last week who bought a standing room ticket, and he told me that they had raised those prices too.

Fans of Karine Plantadit (Come Fly Away) will likely be able to see her dance this Sunday (June 8) on the Tony Awards. She is part of the dance ensemble of After Midnight, which is up for Best New Musical.

I saw the Kent/Bolle cast last night. Bolle hardly performs with ABT, so it was a rare treat to see this wonderful dancer. He is, in my opinion, every bit as good as Marcelo in this ballet in terms of acting and technical achievement. I enjoyed Kent's performance, although when compared to Semionova and Vishneva you can easily see her technical limitations these days, especially in the diminished flexibility of her back. Simkin and Stella were both terrific. However, I think it was a bad idea to cast Simkin as Kent's brother. That was not the familial relationship that one thought of when seeing them together. ABT should have used someone like Whiteside in this cast, who is at least a bit older looking. Once again, the Met was largely empty. Ticket sales for this ballet have been dismal, except for the Vishneva cast.

I hadn't revisited this topic for a few days, and I see that it has morphed into a topic about the benefits of new choreography. While I agree with the idea that new choreography is important to the company, sometimes it turns into pandering to new audiences (see Ocean's Kingdom, Bal de Couture) with works that are trash just to have a celebrity name attached to the pursuit (Valentino, Paul McCartney, Stella McCartney). Also, I think the Diamond Project put too much focus on churning out massive numbers of new works without keeping an eye on quality ("Call Me Ben").

I would wait and see if anything opens up for Monday Vishneva and grab it. Keep checking the website daily, a few times a day. You would be amazaed at the seats that become available the day of or day before the performance.

I was at last night's Manon too. (Sorry I missed you Batsuchan!) I went in with low expectations. It was a good performance, but not a great one. First, although Stearns has been injured, he seemed fully recovered and didn't have any problem with executing the choreography. Semionova was goregous, and her extensions of her super long limbs in this choreography was a pleasure. There was not much chemistry between the leads, so this performance did not have the excitement or passion of the Vishneva-Gomes pairing. Cory did a fine job with all the tricky lifts, and Polina is certainly a difficult assignment because of her size. Whiteside was a much better bad guy than Cornejo, and he danced magnificently. Part was miscast, I thought, or maybe just having an off night. Tuesday night was well sold, but last night the house was a ghost town. Very poor ticket sales.

I was surprised and worried for him by the fact that he was using his own personal funds to help buoy up this venture. I hope he can make back the money he lost from his own personal funds. I sat next to him and Christopher Wheeldon at the State Theater once years ago when they were a couple. They were both extremely nice and friendly.

Menstruation leave? Do any American companies provide that?

Maybe they will do a DVD for their 75th Anniversary next season? Hopefully maybe a PBS Great Performances in honor of the anniversary?

I'd be happy if the released a DVD now and then. It hasn't happened in years.

There is more casting up on the ABT website now regarding the Dream and The Tempest. Happily, Herman has been relieved of his silly role in the Tempest, and will return to one of his greatest roles, as Puck, in the Dream. Simkin and Salstein each get one Puck. Herman gets two Pucks as part of the Murphy/Hallberg cast.

I'm sorry this pursuit did not work out for him. He sacrificed a lot to pursue his goal. I hope he returns to the US to perform, although clearly it will not be with ABT.

There is a dancer whose first name is Lyrica? Sounds ready made for a life in the arts.

The truly great choreography is in the few sections for the two lead performers. Most of the choreography for the corps and the secondary leads is not terribly difficult or impressive. Reyes has done the role before w. ABT, but from what I recall she did not get good reviews. I would LOVE to see Part in this as the lead (and also as Juliet in R&J), but she may be too tall for all those difficult lifts. Manon is probably Kent's best role at her present age. I'll see her on Thursday.

I watch very little televison, but I've seen numerous ads for ABT on TV here in NY City in recent weeks. I think they are still going "old school" with their approach to advertising, relying on print and TV ads instead of more updated approaches like videos on their website. After all, people who are visiting their website are already fans and are probably buying tickets already. They would not be reaching new customers that way.

Yes, spectacurlar dancing from Gomes and Vishneva in what, in my opinion, is a pretty awful ballet. Without great leads, this ballet becomes dull very fast. Herman was also pretty amazing. Expecting even more high wattage electricity at the Saturday matinee for Vishneva's 10th anniversary celebration. The house looked well sold compared to the earlier weeks of the season.

Messmer decided not to return to SFB next season. You missed a lengthy discussion about it under a different thread.

Sara Mearns is far from stick thin but she is one of NYCB's most lauded ballerinas.

There were posts on Coppelia under the 2014 Met season thread.

A few have broken through the ranks through years of toil from corps to principal- Murphy, Gomes, Stearns, Seo, Herrera, Kent, Hallberg, Wiles, H. Cornejo - to principal. It is nearly impossible, though. The promotion standards at NYCB are much more relaxed and liberal across the plaza. There are principals at NYCB who, in my opinion, would never have been promoted to principal at ABT.