abatt

Have a wonderful time. Safe travels.

I'm not sure how well it will sell, although I'm generally happy with the rep. A lot of their stars do not appear at the City Center season, and they have performed In the Upper Room often during the last few City Center seasons. It makes sense for them to invest in a Ratmansky ballet for the Fall. They have repeatedly turned to mediocre (or worse) choreographers to create new works for the fall season, and not one of those new works has been good enough to see the light of day in subsequent seasons. That has been a total waste of resources, in my opinion.

Casting is not posted until a few weeks before the performances. The tickets go on sale well before the casting is announced.

It's the end of an era. Corella and Herrera performed with great emotional depth tonight. Neither dancer has the same level of technique as when they first burst on to the ABT scene, but they certainly gave it their all. The audience gave Corella a memorable, roaring send off. In return, he tossed off one of his trademark superfast spins. He will be missed.

Cubanmiamiboy, have you looked at any you tube clips of Semionova to get a better idea of what you think. Semionova is now part of the ABT "home team", so you will be able to see her next season.

ABT has been having Wed matinees at City Center, so it will probably be a seven performance run. As noted they usually give a discount if you buy multiple performances, but they charge you a processing fee, so the discount evaporates pretty quickly. The only way you can avoid all the fees is to buy at the box office, which opens many weeks later than the online and phone sales.

OnxMyxToes, I completely agree with you about the Gomes/Muphy performance. It was electrifying. I had no emotional investment whatsoever in the Hallberg-Semionova performance. It was academically beautiful but emotionally empty. In contrast, last night was thrilling in every way. Murphy's mime was completely clear. The pliancy of her spine was gorgeous. She was completely adept at conveying the story, and at delivering the technical goods with ease. This was the best SL I've seen from her. Oh, and did I mention that not only did she do triples in the Black Swan section, but she added flapping swan arm embellishments while she was spinning. Gomes is always phenomenal. Personally, I couldn't care less that his line isn't as beautiful as Hallberg's. He brings so much to every performance. The details were just amazing, and the end was heartbreaking. His Olympic dive off the cliff capped an unbelievably brilliant performance. Sascha was Purple Rothbart. Like most of the guys who do this role, he has trouble balancing on demi pointe and shakes. (Marcelo did this perfectly on Monday night). Also, Sascha looked like he could barely lift the tiny princesses. If you can't lift Fang with ease, who can you lift? The audience started to applaud spontanteously during the 4 Little Cygnet variation. I've never seen that happen. I left last night's performance completely elated. It had everthing that seemed to be lacking during Monday and Tuesday nights. I'm happy to read about the success of Simkin and Boylston. Natalia mentions that Sarah Lane would be a great partner for Simkin in SL. Sarah has actually danced the lead with Angel Corella at Barcelona Ballet in Spani. Unlikely that McKenzie will ever give her this role, so we may all have to take a group trip to Spain.

Here's an article on Corella's farewell. I laughed out loud when I read his plans for the day after his farewell. Anyone who has been to Levain Bakery knows that 2 of their cookies have some SERIOUS (but delicious) calories. Sooo sad he is leaving ABT, but hopefully we will see him w. Barcelona Ballet soon again in New York. http://www.nypost.co...jUkbdryVeg5HeBM

I thought Semionova's technique was excellent, but I was somehow not very moved by her Odette until the final act. She has the perfect body for this ballet - long limbs, a long neck. She is a beautiful and well proportioned dancer, and it is a pleasure to watch a dancer with so much technical security and skill. However, I wasn't feeling the tragedy of her story until the very end, when she seemed to take the acting up a notch or two. Hallberg was quite wonderful. Gorgeous line. Also, unlike Stearns, Hallberg knows how use his time on stage to convey bits of acting that tell us his conflicts. Semionova was totally "on" in the Black Swan section - triples, check. Tease- check. However, for a lot of the Black Swan act she had a plastered on smile that was the same plastered on smile I saw at Apollo. I have to agree w. Batsuchen that her performance of SL last year w. Gomes was more engaging than her performance w. Hallberg. Gomes is always so passionate that he elevates his partners to new heights - literally and figuratively. Is it any wonder that every lady in the company wants to be his partner? Hamoudi started out well, but he really does not have the charisma for the role. Also, in the portion where he must balance on demi pointe he was shaky. I thought Stella looked a bit tired in the peasant pas de trois. She also came off pointe in Act I, but that may have been due to inept partnering by her husband. The house was again packed. This ballet regularly sells out the house no matter who is performing. No wonder ABT keeps bringing it back every season.

Bolle has not done any SL's at ABT since the 2009 one with Part. I guess he is not interested in doing it, and he can pick and choose what he wants to do. Bolle is, in my opinion, the only partner at ABT who is age appropriate for Kent at this stage.

I wasn't sure if the Swamp Thing was the cause of the outburst, SL should have a ratings system like the movies, like not appropriate for children under age--------.

I thought Veronika was radiant last night, although it did not match her epic performance in 2009 w. Roberto Bolle. She certainly deserves a better partner than Stearns, but she is learning to make do with the cards she is dealt at ABT. Cory is improving a bit each year. However, I felt he was mostly blank last night. The pas de trois dancers were Lane, Kajiya and Simkin. They were wonderful. The two big swans were Abrera and Seo. Marcelo nearly stole the show as Purple Rothbart. He was magnetic and he generated such excitement from the audience. Sadly, I'm not looking forward to seeing any of the other Rothbarts this season. It was very well sold, and I think every youngster in the tri state area must have been seated in the balcony/family circle. Disaster struck in the final moments of the ballet, when a youngster decided to scream at the top of his lungs during the most hushed moments of the final act, disturbing 3,800 people. I believe the screamer and his parents were escorted out, but the incident already ruined the magic. Oh well.

In addition, Craig Hall is a soloist. They also have Lara Tong in the corps.

I have to agree with Misty that a variety of stylistic backrgrounds for the principals is a positive, sandik. It would be a negative for the corps and soloist parts, where unison are important. However, for the principal roles it is fascinating to see people from various backgrounds perform in somewhat different styles. These full length ballets that are ABT's bread and butter allow for these diverse approaches. However, in a company like NYCB, I don't think a diversity of training styles always works. As an example, a few years ago Peter Martins invited two stars of the POB to perform Rubies. It looked nothing like the Rubies we usually see because the dancers were not proficient in the neoclassical style.

ksk04, thanks for that fine detective work about the Leaves are Fading. This is looking like an excellent fall season.

Thanks Simon. This means they will hire an orchestra this year for the City Center engagement.

What search online? Are there any stats on what percentage of the grads of JKO School now have contracts w. ABT?

I didn't think there was more involvement with the apples. I thought the Firebird had more to do than when this was first presented, although I can't say specifically what the changes were. I thought Herman was a much better Ivan than Gomes as far as the solo work was concerned. Herman has a more pliant back, and he gave shapes to his solos that I never realized were there when Gomes performed it. However, Gomes was a much better partner for Osipova than Cornejo. I still found most of Firebird interminable and unmusical on subsequent viewings this weekend. Murphy and Hallberg were terrific on Sat. afternoon in the Dream. Salstein was clearly not at the same level of ability as Simkin or Cornejo as Puck.

How many of the kids at the JKO school will actually make it into the company, and of those how many will make it out of the corps? It seems to me that there are many prestigious ballet schools in the US (SAB being the most important), but the JKO School doesn't necessarily rank very highly among the most coveted programs that the highly talented students will flock to. Am I wrong?

MakarovaFan, I believe there is another showing of the Raymonda next Sunday, July 1 at Big Cinemas Manhattan at 11 AM, in case you're interested. I saw it yesterday at that theater and thought it was wonderful.

I saw last night's Dream, and it was truly a dream cast. Julie Kent (Titania) was positively radiant and danced exquisitely. Gomes had it all- wonderful characterization, excellent mastery of the choreography. While Simkin may not be a wonderful Cornejo in the Puck role, he was very, very good. He did not show the shapes of the choreography as well as Cornejo. Unlike Thursday, last night's attendance was respectable but moderate. I didn't stay for Firebird.

I was recently at a performance, where a friend of a friend, who is Russian made some very interesting points which relate to the idea of nationalism in ballet. She stated that she disliked watching American ballet companies because the body types were too varied and unattractive- too many girls with short arms, short necks, and so on. She made these statements by referring to race, as well, but I won't repeat that part. She contrasted this to Russia, where she believes that dancers who lack beautful proportions generally never make it into the company, or at least never make it out of the corps. Since America is seen as a "melting pot", I guess this notion also carries over to ballet as well. Haven't we all commented about how sloppy and varied the ABT corps sometimes looks? Maybe the Russian corps looks so good due, in part, to the relative uniformity of the dancers' bodies in comparison to elsewhere.

Personally, although I have enjoyed Misty's performances, I think she has a long way to go to be considered for promotion to principal. Has she ever danced a principal role where she was the focus for the entire evening in a full length ballet? Not to my recollection.Gamzatti is a short, although pivotal, role. Look at how long Part had to toil as a soloist before her promotion, and she had already danced numerous leading roles w. the Kirov and ABT. Don't even get me started on how Stella has been (mis)treated. Also, do we really want to promote someone for "political" reasons and "ethnic balance" reasons? I don't think so. Promotions should be based on merit, not politics or ethnicity. Moreover, if we are aiming for "ethnic balance", why wouldn't Hee Seo, Yuriko or Stella be equally viable candidates? They are ethnic minorities too. At least Hee Seo has danced a signficant number of lead roles at ABT. (Just to be clear, I don't think Hee Seo or Yuriko are presently ready to be promoted either. Hee Seo has great potential for future promotion based on merit, not ethnicity.)

I went to the opening night of the Dream /Firebird last night. Cornejo was brilliant as Puck. His jumps are so high, and his spins are so fast and precise that it takes your breath away. He plays the character as endearing and comical. Cory Stearns had some lovely lines, but his dancing looked lethargic, especially the spins. He was not adept at the quick changes in direction in the Scherzo. Xiomara is a very sweet Titania, but her small stature robs her of commanding authority. The star crossed lovers were played to perfection by Stella, Maria Ricetto, Jared and Sascha. I did not stay for the Firebird, because I will be seeing it again over the weekend. The house was pretty well sold.

This one looks like a pass for me, especially since I have already made two trips to DC in 2012 (January for the Mariinsky triple bill, June for Bolshoi's Coppelia). The decision for me may ultimately turn on what ABT decides to perform at City Center here in New York, as their engagement occurs during the same week as the Mariinsky DC engagement. Hopefully, ABT will not pull the same stunt as last season of selecting only works that do not require an orchestra.