abatt

Since it is the time for year-end lists, I thought people might be interested in this topic.

For me, the bests included:

- The rare visit to New York City of the Paris Opera Ballet. The company has many remarkable artists, and we didn't even get to see all of them on the tour! Let's hope that we don't have to wait another 15 years to see them again here in NYC.

-Wheeldon's DGV. Yes, I know it premiered a few years ago, but it was new to me when it finally came to New York in 2012. Every time I saw it I was able to discern nuances and details in the choreography that I had not previously noticed. I hope this one comes back in the NYCB rep soon. It was very inventive. Kudos to NYCB for staging an All Wheeldon evening. Let' s hope there are many more.

-Sara Mearns in Russian Seasons. In her debut as the girl in red, she danced with absolute abandon. That performance has stayed in my mind for many months.

- ABT. There were so many highs. The magnificent second Swan Lake performance of Hallberg and Semionova. The Gomes-Vishneva Onegins. The Cojocaru-Vasiliev Bayadere. The Corella and Steifel farewells. The Corsaires with Osipova, Vasiliev, Gomes, Cornejo and so on. Too many excellent performances to even mention. Also the new Ratmansky ballet, Symphony No. 9. I can't wait to see it again.

-Emerging Pictures films. These broadcasts of Bolshoi performances are fascinating and give us the opportunity to see world class artists. Keep them coming!

-Olga Smirnova: I've only seen her once live, at the Stars of the 21st Century gala a few months ago. I seen her on video too. This woman seems to have it all. I can't wait to see more of her.

-Legends in Dance Gala honoring Makarova. There were so many great dancers on that stage dancing at full tilt to pay honor to one of the greatest ever.

Worst:

Australian Ballet Swan Lake.

Sylvie Guillem at the Koch Theater

Ratmansky's Firebird.

The Don G. set looks lavish compared to Ballo. I'm getting used to cheap looking new productions at the Met, since they have become very, very common under the leadership of Gelb in these difficult economic times. New, however, doesn't mean improved. Gelb is spending money fast and furious to create all these new productions, and to run the HD program, but revenue is down. The Met is now resorting to selling bonds (see link below) to raise revenue. (Check out the line in the article where they refer to Hurricane Sandy as a cause of revenue dropping. The Met was only closed for two performances, I believe, due to the Hurricane.)

http://www.bloomberg...enue-drops.html

I've seen this production at the Met Opera twice. I thought the singing was quite wonderful, but I could not stand the production. This looked like a low budget production, and it looked even cheaper on the grand Met stage. Most of the vast stage is bare. I'm sure that the close up camera work that was probably done in the HD broadcast nicely masked this issue. Also, I thought the metaphor of Icarus flying too close to the sun was heavy handed and obvious. Kathleen Kim cavorting around the stage with the fake wings was laughable. She looked ridiculous. The cutesy vaudville routine later in the opera was over the top.

This film does not seem to be getting much love in terms of nominations/year-end best of lists. No SAG nominations, no awards from various film critics associations, to my kjnowledge. I suspect it may get nominations for non-acting categories, like costumes.

That is lucky. If you go please let us know how you enjoy the O/V Don Q.

More casting nuggets courtesy of the Ardani Artists website. Vasiliev is cast in Sleeping Beauty on July 1 and 3. I presume he is doing Bluebird. Osipova and Vasiliev are now listed for the Don Q on May 25, which corresponds to the info on the ABT website.

Vasiliev will tour with ABT to Los Angeles this summer, and he will appear in Corsaire in LA on July 12, 13 and 14.

I happen to be watching the show Good Eats today, and host Alton Brown demonstrated how to make sugarplums. (In addition to my passiojn for ballet, I enjoy cooking. ) Here is his recipe. It is essentally chopped dried fruits (figs, prunes, apricots), chopped nuts and toasted spices which are melded together by honey and shaped into balls. The balls are then rolled in sugar.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/sugarplums-recipe/index.html

Glad to see Adam Hendrickson is guesting as Herr Drosselmeyer this week and next. He retired last season, but I met him a while ago and he has such a puckish demeanor, offstage as well as on. I'm glad he's still dancing. What a talent! It was too bad he was just not as technically spectacular as Daniel Ullbricht, who blows away all competition. Hendrickson would be able to extend his career in a different company - Boston or Pennsylvania or Peter Boal's company? I wonder what he's doing.

Hendrickson works for Weapons Specialists, LTD, a theatrical property house based in New York that specializes in on-set weapons consulting, coordination and choreography. Hendrickson was first introduced to the company in 2007 when they worked with NYCB to stage the sword fighting scenes for Martins’ Romeo + Juliet. FYI, he is married to NYCB principal Rebecca Krohn.

Ardani updated its website re Semionova's schedule. In additon to the dates already announced on ABT's own website, she will be doing Symphony in C on May 22 matinee and May 23 evening. She will be performing in the Ratmansky triple bill on May 31 and June 1.

For anyone interested in ABT's performances in Hong Kong, she will also be making numerous appearances during that engagement. She is NOT listed for any appearances in Washington D.C.,

I'm not sure if this article was previously posted. It is from the NY Times. The director, Joe Wright, says he conceives of Anna K. as a "ballet with words", and discusses at length the incorporation of choreography in the film. Enjoy.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/24/arts/dance/sidi-larbi-cherkaouis-choreography-for-anna-karenina.html?pagewanted=all

I don't think Ratmansky likes being an administrator, and all the politics that go along with the job. He seems to like having the freedom to visit many different ballet companies to create new works. He has signed a long term - very long term- contract with ABT.

Compared to the vast majority of Broadway theaters, I think the seats at the MET are very comfortable and spacious. Broadway seats are intentionally designed to be very tight with no leg room in order to increase the number of seats.

Thanks for posting this clip. My TV station (NBC) only shows the singles competitions. As a result, I have not been able to see any pairs or ice dancing performances this season.

The Australia and the POB were at the Koch, not the Met. Mariinsky was at the Met.

The Met is planning renovation work during the "quiet" summer months. The renovations will take place during the next four years. I think these renovation plans may kill the possibility of seeing any ballet company there during the summer months, after the ABT season finishes.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/06/arts/music/metropolitan-opera-embarks-on-60-million-renovation.html?ref=arts

Yes, it does make perfect sense that he would be Rothbart. As to whether he is too short for Part, you should have seen Vasiliev lift Part in the Corsaire last summer, where Vasiliev was Ali and Part was Medora (Stearns was Conrad.). Vasiliev lifted Part with NO PROBLEM WHATSOEVER. He is very strong. I felt more comfortable when Veronika was lifted by Vasiliev than I did when she was lifted by Stearns.

I'm not sure whether the Ardani site would only list "lead" roles. I had not thought of the possibility that Vasiliev might be doing Purple Rothbart.

Speaking of Misty, I read an interview that Herman recently gave regarding his injury. He mentioned that in the Ratmansky Symphony No. 9, he was originally supposed to have a partner, but Ratmansky changed Herman's part to solos because Herman's intended partner was injured. I'm guessing that Misty was supposed to be Herman's partner. She was conspicuously absent during the City Center season.

There is a lot of juicy casting info now on the Ardani website regarding Osipova and Vasiliev's upcoming ABT performances, as follows:

Osipova:

Apr 14 matinee of Corsaire in Washington DC

Symphony in C at the Met - May 22 matinee, May 23

Don Q at the Met- May 28

All Ratmansky Bill at the Met: May 31

Corsaire at the Met:- June 4 and 8

R&J at the Met - June 14

Syliva at the Met- June 27 and 29

Vasiliev:

Corsaire in DC:- Apr 13 matinee and 14 matinee

Symphony in C at the Met - May 22 matinee and May 23

Don Q at the Met - May 28

All Ratmansky at the Met - May 31

Corsaire at the Met- June 4, 5, 7 and 8

Swan Lake at the Met- June 18 and 22

Sylvia - June 27 and 29

The ABT website lists O/V doing Don Q on both 5/25 and 5/28, but the Ardani site lists only the 5/28 date.

So Vasiliev is doing Swan Lake at the Met, but Osipova is not?? I bet that will change. Also, the dates listed for Vasiliev in SL make no sense, since the ABT site lists 6/18 for Part/Stears and 6/22 evening for Herrera/Stearns.

No info on which movement in Symphony in C they will perform, but I would bet the 3rd.

Although Semionova is an Ardani artist,, there is no casting info for her on the Ardani site.

Ugh. NYCB switched the program back to Bal de Couture. I guess I'll be taking a long coffee break before Diamonds.

I can't recall where I read it, but the Bourne Sleeping Beauty will be coming to New York City next season.

I noticed a program change on the NYCB website. Martins' Bal de Couture, which he created for the Valentino celebration at the fall gala, has been dropped from the winter season. It is replaced by Waltz of the Flowers. This is how the program is now listed on the NYCB website page regarding the Tschai. festival.

Jan 24, 25, 26 Eve, 27

Divertimento from “Le Baiser de la Fée”

Tschaikovsky Pas de Deux

Waltz of the Flowers

Diamonds

Sara Mearns had posted on her twitter page that she is in D.C. too. Thrilled to read that she is in rehearsal for Swan Lake for the NYCB Winter Season.

I can't disagree that Simkin's partnering is sometimes weak. However, Cory Stearns is also a weak partner (but has improved somewhat over time), but Stearns has none of the technical mastery that Simkin has. I also recall that David Hallberg, when he was transitioning from soloist to principal, was a mediocre partner, but improved over time.

He doesn't seem to be cast for many principal roles at the Met. Three Corsaires, one Sleeping Beauty (with Lane), one Nutcracker next month (with Lane), one Swan Lake (with Boylston). Ratmansky didn't use him in either cast for the new Symphony #9 this fall. (I have no idea what any of that means. Perhaps others do.)

Hi California. Simkin also has a Don Q with Boylston at the Met, and I'm sure he will repeat his role as Lensky in Eugene Onegin, which is second lead role. I'd also bet that he is cast in the third movement of Symphony in C, though there is no casting announced yet. I saw his Don Q a few years ago with Kajiya, and I thought he was wonderful. .