abatt

Oh yes. I'm expecting that the prices for the Whelan farewell will be very high.

Principal Amar Ramasar looks nothing like any New England prep school students I'm aware of. He is of Pakistani origin, I believe - South Asia rather than East Asia.

The main difference I became aware of in observing Lane's performance in contrast to Murphy's is that Murphy owns the stage when she is on. She dominates the action. Lane has little stage presence and tends to fade and blend into the corps members on stage. I think this is due to the fact that Lane has so few lead roles, and therefore has not learned to develop stage charisma, projection and presence. There almost seems to be a lack of confidence in her presentation of herself sometimes.

This is not what I've heard. I've heard that subscribers will receive invitations this summer for the Whelan farewell. I've never heard that Saturday evening subscribers in particular are getting tickets ahead of other subscribers. As noted above, the Whelan farewell is not availabel on any subscription. Can anyone with a current Sat evening subscription confirm this - did your renewal contain a Whelan farewell ticket offer?

Yuriko also performed prayer at the Saturday matinee. She was engrossing. In contrast, Luciana Paris on Sat evening didn't seem to have a clue. I was happy that Sarah Lane performed so well at the Sat matinee,. The only apparent issue was at the end of her fouette sequence in the final act she came off pointe. Lack of concentration, perhaps. Simkin did an excellent job partnering her and of course pulled out all the stops in his solos. As good as the afternoon performance was, the evening performance was even better. Murphy has sparkling technique and her acting was much more natural than Sarah's. (Lane's acting looked studied in comparison.) Jared Matthews was very impressive, and his solos were beautfiully danced. It's a shame he and Yuriko are leaving.

I saw Friday evening's performance. As stellar as Tiler Peck and R. Fairchild have been in the past in Who Cares, Friday's performance was even more electric. Perhaps because these two are getting married shortly, there is a level of intense romance now in their performance that surpasses their past triumphs in these roles. (Stellar technique too, as always!) They were also brilliant in the solos. Forget all these faux romances in ballet. This is the real deal, and it shows.

There were some excellent casts presented for these Bayaderes. Despite that fact, ticket sales were not stellar for any of the performances I attended The best sold was probably the Sat evening show w. Cojocaru. The opening night Vishneva/Gomes sold, but definitely not a sell out either.

Nina used to sometimes drop one of her roses into the orchestra pit as a sign of gratitude to the orchestra. Classy. California, yes, we are talking about the choreography shown in the youtube clip you posted beginning at 1:42. Last night she held the pointe while in arabesque for much longer than in the youtube clip.

Does Tereshkina do this regularly at the Mariinsky Bayadere's? Do all the Mariinsky ballerinas do this? Astounding.

JUst a word about Tereshkina's performance last night. In the final scene of the first act, Nikiya stands on point, and then lifts one leg into arabesque while the foot of the working leg rolls down off the pointe. Tereshkina did something I have NEVER seen anyone do. Her working leg remained on pointe the entire time as she lifted the free leg into arabesque and held the position. She did this twice. Never a bobble or a hesitation. The foot on pointe remained rock solid,steady and fully in control. It was amazing - superhuman. I always enjoy seeing Stella, but it was disheartening to see her as the third shade. The other two shades were corps members

Eifman is returning to NY City Center with "Tender is the Night" on May 22-24, 2015. Tickets are already on sale. Going head to head with ABT and NYCB is a bad idea.

This Ardani production is coming to NY City Center March 7-8, 2015. Tickets are on sale already. Program is 1. Excertps from Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui’s Mea Culpa, 2. Passo by Ohad Naharin 3. Facda by Arthur Pita Is this the same program they are bringing to California in July?

I agree with most of what Faux Pas said above, with a couple of caveats. I thought Murphy was disappointing. She lacked fluidity and lyricism. She is a much better Gamzatti. Regarding Nedak, he was very engaging. Good actor. Tall, strong presence. Good technique, but not a flashy trickster. A very elegant dancer. I also must mention the Bronze Idol on Tues. evening, Z. Zhang. He is one to watch. Though he can definitely use some additional polishing, he was the best of the Idol's I've seen this season, and he seems to have very strong technique. I thought Semionova's Nikiya on Monday evening was her best performance with ABT. She is often bland, but this role suited her well. Her gorgeous line and extension were marvelous.

Since Tereshkina and Shkylarov are regularly paired together at the Mariinsky, lack of familiarity will not be an issue for them.

Holy cow. Major casting change. Didn't even notice that Gorak got Cinderellas w. Reyes. Stearns is out of Cinderella and Whiteside moves into the slot as Hee Seo's partner. Interesting developments. So is Cory going to make it his Manon assignments next week. He's still listed as of today.

Gorak seems too short. This role requires someone tall and imposing.

I was there last night too. I thought Smirnova's dancing was lovely and technically assured, but her portrayal was dramatically somewhat inert. I can't really blame her for lack of chmeistry for Muntigirov. When you have two dancers who barely know one another and have never danced together, how can you expect the kind of relationship that sizzles, like a Vishneva/Gomes pairing? Muntigirov was much, much better than the last time I saw him at ABT two years ago. This was not a Bayadere for the ages, but it was certainly at least very good. Considering that Smirnova is only 22 years old, I would say she has immense talent and promise. I would happily see her again at the Met or elsewhere.

For those who have not picked up the lobby casting sheets at the MET, the most recent casting sheet lists the casting for the Rothbart role in SL: Jared Matthews: 6/23, 6/25 matinee Hammoudi - 6/24, 6/25 evening Whiteside: 6/26, 6/28 evening Radetsky 6/27 Stearns 6/28 matinee I guess Gomes has given up the role. Sad, since he was so terrific in the role.

LA Dance Project is coming to Brooklyn Academy of Music in October 2014. Program info is: Choreography by Benjamin Millepied, Justin Peck, and William Forsythe Featuring a special appearance by eighth blackbird BAM Howard Gilman Opera House (30 Lafayette Ave) Oct 16—18 at 7:30pm Reflections (NY Premiere) Choreography by Benjamin Millepied in collaboration with the company Music by David Lang Visual concept by Barbara Kruger Murder Ballades (NY Premiere) Choreography by Justin Peck Music by Bryce Dessner Visual concept by Sterling Ruby Quintett Choreography by William Forsythe Music by Gavin Bryars

They were casting Ramasar and Hyltin as the "alternate" cast for Who Cares last season. They were fine, but nothing like Peck and Fairchild. I can't imagine Megan Fairchild and Ask LaCour as the leads in this ballet. Sorry to have missed Peck in Other Dances.

Myrta is from Giselle. Hee Seo is dancing Gamzatti in Bayadere tonight. That was cubanmiamiboy's point.

This is not the first time in my experience. They omitted it once last season when Sara Mearns was injured but wanted to dance her scheduled Diamonds performance. The omissions are definitely planned in advance. I wish they would inform the audience of the omission in advance, too.

I think the scherzo was cut on Sunday because J. Stafford had already danced in Emeralds, and he probably requested that the scherzo be cut because it would be too much for him. I can tell you that the full scherzo was performed by Mearns w. LaCour at the Sat matinee.

Here's some more info on "Little Dancer", the Susan Stroman project which will star NYCB's Tiler Peck. Apparently musical theater actor Jason Danieley will co-star. http://www.playbill.com/news/article/191512-Broadways-Best-Gather-to-Honor-Susan-Stroman-Plus-a-Surprise-Preview-of-Little-Dancer?tsrc=nx I hope this comes to NYC eventually.

I checked Murphy's twitter page. She says that she's ready for a throwdown for her man Marcelo Gomes tonight. Bring it on girl!