abatt

Sadly, Wendy Whelan will not be touring the US with Restless Creature this Spring due to continued injury. Happily, she expects to be well enought to appear with NYCB by the Spring Season. Looking forward to seeing her back on stage. http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/02/07/recoveringfrom-surgery-whelan-postpones-national-dance-tour/?ref=arts

Lauren Lovette made a spectacular debut in DAAG in the Apricot role last night. She moved with dizzying abandon and perfect timing. Ringer brought tears to my eyes as the girl in Pink. She was luminous and gorgeous. She touches the soul in this role. Joseph Gordon did Brick. He is new to me, but he did an excellent job. Lauren King also had a very fine debut in Blue. Rebecca Krohn often looked mechanical in Mauve, and she didn't have much chemistry w. Ramasar in Green. (Far superior were the earlier performances of Mearns and Adrain D-W in Mauve and Green a week ago.)I didn't stay for Union Jack. How was La Bouder in Wrens?

Masterpieces are timeless, so it's not surprising that Jewels, and most other Balanchine works, still look so good.

Jon Stafford used to partner Mearns in Diamonds. I guess they need to train new people now that he is leaving. Chase Finlay would have been a fascinating choice, but I guess he is still injured since he has not been cast all season.

Also interesting that Ivan Vasiliev is dancing Bayadere with Kondaurova, and he is listed as being with the Mikhailovsky. Holding out hope that Vasiliev will also dance Solor with ABT at least once this Spring.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/06/arts/music/olympics-spotlight-for-russias-musical-profile.html?ref=arts The NY Times also ran an article about Gergiev and the Olympics. (see attached) The Post also briefly mentioned Gergiev's role in the opening ceremony, referring to him as a "local musician". Ya gotta love the NY Post.

There are a lot of performers at ABT who are not technically "guest artists", but in reality are just that. As examples, I would list Vishneva, Hallberg, Bolle and Vasiliev. While some of these people have a long history with ABT, the reality is that their appearances are minimal. Hallberg's numero uno devotion is now to the Bolshoi.

I attended last night's performance. Bal de Couture is very dull in terms of the choreography, and every time Janie Taylor's big, billowing sleeve covered her face or her partner's, it reinforced how inept and unsuitable these Valentino designs are for ballet. I once again marveled at the inventiveness of Wheeldon's DGV. I'm a big fan of this ballet. Maria K. was absolutely stunning. Her long lines and sensuous interpretation are perfectly suited to this ballet. The entire cast performed well, although I thought Megan Fairchild looked out of place in this ballet. She is not a leotard ballet kind of dancer. (Based on the casting list, it looks like Lauren Lovette is debuting in Maria's role next week w. Hall as her partner. I have a hard time imagining how someone so short could make an impression in this role.) Four Seasons was the final ballet of the evening. Special mention for the lovely and lyrical performances of Mearns and J. Angle in the Spring Section of the ballet. It chased away these awful winter days from my mind for a few minutes. DeLuz, Bouder and Ulbricht were firing on all cylinders in the Fall secton with bravura execution of their difficult parts. (I thought Bouder's mugging for the audience became a bit distracting. Arguably since this is a show off role, the mugging was not entirely out of place .)

Macauley has been carping about heterosexual partnering in new ballets for years in reference to many other choreographs other than Scarlett.

FYI, there is a program change in February. The New Martins work that was scheduled to premiere in late Feb. (on a program w. La Valse, Walspurginacht and Faun) is not ready yet, so Acheron (new L. Scarlett ballet) is replacing the New Martins ballet. Yeah, I don't have sit through Vespro and Spectral Evidence to see Acheron.

Schklyarov was back to his usual wonderful high level of dancing on Friday night. I also thought Somova's Act III (black swan act) was much better performed on Friday than Tuesday. So glad that the KC brings this troupe to the East Coast every year.

I'm not sure that Spartacus is going to be a huge draw for the general public in comparison to Don Q and SL.

I agree that Askerov was the best Siegfried of the Mariinsky run. He has a beautiful technique, and he also did very well with the acting. I wasn't quite as turned off as Natalia by Esina. Popov was fantastic in the pas de trois. Good to see you last night, Natalia!

If I had to guess, I would bet it will be appearances with the Mik in the Fall at the Koch. As for the debacle on phone sales for the summer festival, the people who are working the phones are working under a supervisor who is applying a very stringent set of rules regarding ticket packages. After being completely frustrated on the phone, I went to the box office a few days later and was able to make my purchases with no hassles. The person who is supervising the phone sales is reading restrictions into the terms of the package offers which are not in writing, but only in his own mind. Ridiculous.

I attended last night's performance. Kolegova is a beautiful woman with strong technical skills. However, for me she was too cold. Her performance lacked drama and I never felt any empathy for her plight. The only time she displayed any emotion was at the very end after Rothbart dies. Zyuzin was pretty good, but not remarkable. The Joker on opening night was better than last's night's performer, who sometimes had sloppy landings and unclear shapes in the air.(My playbill is not immediately available so I don't have his name.)

Wonderful news about Alexandrova! Going back a few posts regarding ticket purchasing for the Bolshoi's performances at the Koch Theater, based on my personal experience the treatment you get on the phone is VASTLY different from the treatment at the box office windows. I will NEVER purchase on the phone again. The box office was much more liberal.

Hello from D.C.! Natalia, sorry I missed you last night. For any ballet alert people who want to meet up at intermission, meet up spot is the JFK bust or the orchestra level. I'll be going tonight, Thurs and Friday. I have to agree w. Natalia. Somova is vastly improved as an artist. There is a new maturity in her performance. She did a beautiful job last night. The only thing that still bothers me is the strange way she does her fouettes. Her adagio work was especially impressive. I did not count them, but I would note that she did some doubles (and maybe a triple?) fouettes in the Black Swan section. I was not so impressed w. Schklyarov. Last night he seemed like he was out of it. He improved somewhat during the black swan act, but overall it was not an impressive display. Have to agree that the Joker and Rothbart were wonderful. They easily eclipsed Schklyarov. Among the supporting players, I very much enjoyed one of the female Spanish dancers.

For some reason he did not generate much buzz during his guest appearances with ABT.

There is an article in the NY Times (with accompanying video) about the art installation by JR at the Koch Theater. I assume it will appear in the Links section, but here is the link http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/27/arts/dance/a-giant-photoconnectsfanstoballet-stars.html?hp It mentions that the installation will be open to the public during certain hours. Glad to see it is such a hit. I have to agree with everyone who posted above on the maginficent performances of Mearns, Angle and Korowski in Concerto B. last week, as well as the sublime R. Fairchild and Tiler Peck in Who Cares. To the list of kudos I must add a knockout performance by Sterling Hyltin in Rubies. She was brilliant. Per the NYCB website, these are the public viewing hours and dates: PUBLIC VIEWING HOURS The installation will also be on display during all performances taking place during NYCB’s 2014 Winter Season, January 21 through March 2. The David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center will also hold one week of open hours for the general public to view the exhibition free of charge on the following dates: Sunday, February 2 through Sunday, February 9, with hours on Sundays from 10 AM to 1 PM; Monday to Friday from 10 AM to 5 PM; and Saturday from 10 AM to noon.

I heard it in the big house. Netrebko is incredible. Her vocal capabilities are at their peak, and she is a very charismatic presence on stage. She is terrific in comedic roles, especially.

From the way the roles are listed, I assumed Bouder is doing Wrens. I thought it was odd too, but maybe they are trying something new. We'll see.

I find the feathers in the hair of the corps women in Diamonds particularly distracting in the current version of the NYCB costuming. I don't think the old costumes had feathers. However, I can live with the feathers, as the most urgent costume change must be for the corps in Who Cares. A rare disaster for designer Santo Loquasto.

The interesting thing about figure skating is that due to past scandals regarding scoring, the scoring has become so mathematically precise. Every jump, spin and footwork sequence is judged with mathematical precision. There is a little wiggle room in the artistic component scores, but that's it. The "claques" have little or no influence over the scoring at ISU events. They can cheer and boo all they want, but I don't think it has any influence on scores anymore.

Maybe the cameras were there because of the upcoming HD broadcast. Have they been releasing the HD Royal Ballet performances on DVD?

I attended last night's performance of Jewels. First a remark about the art installation by "JR". Very interesting and fun to look at. It's best viewed from above. In fact, the best opportunity to look at is when hardly anyone is on the Promenade level, so if you can get to the theater a little early before the masses arrive you can get an unobstructed view of the overall design. This was a very creative idea. The only thing that struckt me as a little odd was that while everyone was in white, one dancer (female) is clad in a nude colored leotard. Not sure why he decided to make that artistic choice. The theater was pretty well sold. Bouder is now at the peak of her performance skills. Last night's performance in Emeralds was technically masterful and lyrical. Jared Angle looks out of shape, but was a good partner for Bouder. I have sometimes found Mearns' performance in Emeralds to be overwrought and too melodramatic. Last night she seemed to tone that down, and I found her performance more mature and satisfying than in the past. J. Stafford did a fine job. Reichlin was sizzling as Rubies tall girl. DeLuz was high flying in his solos, but there was a partnering error which nearly sent M. Fairchild to the floor. Diamonds, as always, was sublime. The evening was a balm for these cold, depressing winter days.