abatt

Barbara, O'Neals Restaurant has closed for good. I believe the property was bought out by a new landlord. I also saw Irina's performance on Friday. Her dancing is exquisite. She has a supple, pliant back, long beautiful extensions, and a gorgeous line. The problem I have with her in this role is that she overacts, to the point where the acting becomes distracting and takes you right out of the story. Cory, on the other hand, tends to be blank much of the time as Romeo. I thought it was his least effective role of the season. (He also had difficulty in the lift in the balcony scene, in which he is on his knees and must hoist Juliet above him in a press lift.)

I thought both performances yesterday were wonderful, although very different interpretations. I saw so much of Ferri in Osipova's performance. In the scene in the first act where Romeo is first discovered by Tybalt and Juliet is asking her nurse why everyone is so angry, the expression on Osipova's face when the nurse whispers the response was unlike anyone else's I have ever seen. In that instant, the entire tragedy was foreshadowed in her expression. I agree that Osipova was a more tragic figure because she seems considerably more fragile and girlish than Vishneva. What a day! What a privilege!

So far, I've seen the R&Js on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday. Unfortunately, none of the performances were at the same level as those we used to see regularly from Ferri and Bocca. I have high hopes for Osipova, too, since she was coached by Ferri. I thought overall Julie Kent was the most effective of the Juliets in the way she used her limbs and the flexibility of her upper body. Kent's performance was also very detailed, as in the use use of her hands (discussed above). My favorite Romeo to date in this run has been Hallberg. I agree with all the praise of him that was discussed above regarding his gorgeous line. Gomes is very good, but his classical technique is not at the same level as Hallberg's. None of the Mercutio casts came close to matching Herman Cornejo. I thought Paloma's performance was inattentive to details which help develop character. Murphy was fine, but not particularly memorable. My favorite Tybalt was Stappas last night. He was the most effective in conveying the hatred between the two families. I was having a conversation with a friend at intermission regarding the reason that Juliet's mother is so distraught over Tybalt's death. I recall reading a review many years ago in which Anna Kisselgoff (I think) indicated that the ABT production intimates that an affair is taking place between Juliet's mother and Tybalt. I had never noticed this before reading that review, but as I have paid closer attention over subsequent viewings I realize the validity of Kisselgoff's comment. (I don't recall any such relationship intimated in the play.) Any comments on that point?

It was Jared Matthews.

The lifts in this ballet are very difficult for the men to carry off. In fact, I have noticed that the men tend to give up the role of Romeo relatively early as compared to other ballets. Tall, robust women like Wiles and Part are generally not cast as Juliet, I think, because of the lifts. The women that tend to get cast are short and small, or very thin women like Kent and Vishneva.

The fact that Cornejo is so short severely limits his ability to fill in when someone is injured. I would think that he could have partnered Osipova, but since she appears to enjoy working w. Hallberg, I doubt they would switch her to Cornejo for her role debut. Poor Gomes. He is being overworked.

I'm disappointed too (nothing against Gomes, who I enjoy immensely). I hope that Corella comes back to ABT next season. It would, in my opinion, be a real loss if they lose him.

I just noticed on the ABT website that Corella is replaced by Gomes for the Sat evening R&J with Vishneva. Gomes is now scheduled to dance Romeo 3 times next week.

I saw Wednesday's performance. It was my second viewing of the Hallberg, Murphy, Cornejo Dream. It was a wonderful performance. A few years ago I wasn't terribly impressed with Hallberg. However, he has worked hard since his promotion to principal and it has paid off. He is now a stellar dancer. All the cast members were fantastic. The audience, though, seemed to be very sleepy as compared with the opening night of this program a few weeks ago. This was my third viewing of Birthday Offering. I like the ballet, and I thought Stella and Eric were superior to Max and Irina in the leads. Hee Seo was GORGEOUS in Thais. I wish I could see her Wed. matinee of Juliet next week but I can't miss work that day. I'm not a big fan of the Awakening pdd, regardless of who performs it. I'm seeing tonight's performance.

I saw the first half of Glover's show at the Joyce last night. (My husband was not feeling well, so we left at intermission.) The dancing was wonderrful, with fast and furious percussive footwork delivered by Savion. However, the show was odd insofar as Savion spent a great deal of time talking with the audience. He is not a good speaker, so this element of the show didn't work well. He started out by dancing with his back to the audience. He explained that he wanted the audience to focus on the footwork and the percussive sounds of the tap, rather than on his face. After the opening number, he performed the rest of the show in the usual manner, facing the audience. At one point the lights were turned out so that the audience would listen intently to the sounds of his footwork. He launched into listing all the great tap dancers that have preceeded him, and in faux dramatic fashion, kept saying "I am the son of (fill in tap dancer name); dance is my father." It was strange, and he doesn't have the dramatic heft to make this speech interesting. The speech went on for way too long. I wish he would have just stopped talking and simply dance. Overall, I would give the dance aspect of the show an A, and the other elements (spoken word, monotonous background music) a C. I also wanted to comment on the issues of musicality and his overall bearing. Savion has always been someone who intentionally set out to dance on his own terms. If people like Fred Astaire and the old time tappers were the model of elegance, line and grace, then Savion is intentionally the anti-Fred Astaire. His method is to focus solely on the percussive power and speed of his footwork. He has nver been interested in having elegant upper body lines. If you're interested in the old time tap show, this is not a show for you, and Savion will not be your cup of tea. He has always come out on stage with the dreads and the tee shirt, and he makes no apology for that. I accept him as a great tap artist,and I respect his choice to break out from the traditional presentation of tap. He is not "musical" because the music is often only background atmosphere; it generally does not form the basis or foundation for the percussive sounds he is tapping. In fact, in my opinion he needs no music. His feet supply the music. Literally, you can hear the dance.

I think Seven Sonatas is a small chamber work that would be swallowed up on the gigantic MET stage. In my opinion, the best part of Known by Heart is the "Junk Man" pdd. I remember Ethan Steifel and Susan Jaffe were excellent in this when it premiered. I recall seeing Irina and Max perform the Junk Man pdd at a gala a few years ago. It looked like a completely different ballet (and I don't mean in a good way). I think it's likely we will get Manon next year because they always put in a full length MacMillan, and they've done R&J two consecutive years.

ABT has posted info on its website regarding the ballets it will perform at the Kennedy Center in Jan 2011. They include Lilac Garden and Theme & Variations, as well as Bright Stream. They have also posted the ballets they will perform in London in 2011, which includes Tharps's Know By Heart, Seven Sonatas, Millipied's Everything Doesn't Happen All At Once (why does he give these absurd, verbose titles to his ballets?!), Lilac G., T&V, Duo Concertante, and Company B. I hope we in NY get Lilac Garden and T&V next season. Anybody have any inside info on whether we will be getting those ballets next season?

NYCB has come up with much more absurd titles. like "Girls Night Out". For the upcoming year, they have a program titled See The Music. Given the awful content of the program, I'm guessing Balanchine is spinning in his grave from the use of his own words in this manner.

Macauley definitely gets too personal. He complains about hair color, the fact that some dancers keep their mouths open while dancing, and other things that have nothing to do with dance itself. He recently commented that Ethan Steifel looked like a Hitler youth because of the super blonde color of his hair. He has made similar nasty remarks about the color of Maxim B's haircolor (when Max was blonde). He also couldn't resist a jibe at Darci when she went from blonde to brown. He constantly complains that dancers have their mouths "hanging" open during performances, particularly about Abi Stafford. Even if the dancer's mouth was open for only a few seconds in an entire performance, he feels the need to highlight it in the review. It's one thing for people on a forum board to note such things as hair color. It'a entirely different when a critic of the NY Times devotes space in a review to such matters. In my opinion, he ventures into improper territory that is too personal.

I agree that there is nothing wrong with her hair. I'm not sure why Macauley refers to her "mane" as "mere shtick" in the article, though.

Macauley at the Times couldn't resist some last zingers at Darci. I was pleased as I read the initial paragraphs of the review, as he recounted her past glory. Then, it was time for the zingers, calling her performance in M&M "wretched", and alluding to her hair. I'm sure she was expecting it, and she probably doesn't really give a ---- about what he says. It's her last performance; give it a rest, Alastair.

I'm seeing the show on Thursday. I've always liked his previous shows at the Joyce (except for the over-amplification).

Hee Seo is back on the schedule for Wed. night's Thais. Seo was originally scheduled for the Wed. evening performance, but a few days ago they had changed it to Ricetto. I'm glad it has changed back to Seo, since I would rather see her than Ricetto in this role.

I was looking on the NYCB website, and it appears that Call Me Ben has been deleted from the schedule for next year. Looks like Peter Martins does pay some attention to the critics and the fans.

Is there confirmation that Camellias is coming back next year? I had not heard that before. Also, I'm sure that Duo Concertante is designed to to give Kent work. This has become a go-to ballet for aging dancers. It's also cheap, since the costumes are practice leotards.

\ I was there. With respect to partnering issues, Stearns was better on Friday with Wilesthan on Monday with Part. His lifts were higher and more secure than on Monday. However, he still has a bad habit of being rough in putting down his ballerina after a difficult lift, as though he is putting down a couch. I thought his acting was better on Monday, because Veronika is so intense that she inspires her partner to similarly burn with greater intensity. Wiles is very strong technically, and she performed all of the steps well. Notably, she has added the rubber arm trick to her arsenal. That's the move that Nina used to do, where her arms undulate as though they are boneless in the exit of Act II, where her back is facing the audience. However, the poetry and pathos in the performances of Vishneva, Kent and Part were absent in Wiles' interpretation, in my opinion. Wiles should pay more attention to using her upper body in an expressive manner. Also, she frequently doesn't fully finish a movement with her arms, thereby diminishing the overall impact of the movement. Wiles was very strong technically, performing many double fouettes in the Black act. Cory was about the same in the Black act as on Monday in his technical abilities. Saviliev was replaced by Radetsky as Purple Rothbart on Friday. The prologue looked particularly silly, since Wiles is so much taller on pointe than Radetsky. Since all of us folks who post on this board see so much ballet, it was interesting to hear the perspective of my friend, who goes to one ballet approx. every two years. She loved it and was very impressed with the entire cast, except for Purple Rothbart. She didn't think he had the charisma or ability to play someone who was the center of attraction. She also thought the the Green Monster Rothbart was silly. I agree!

Hi Colleen. I was at the matinee too. I'm sorry I missed you. I wanted to add that Gillian embellished her quad turns by using varying arm positions. Sometimes her arms were encircled over her head, but then should would switch it up with undulating swan arms during the turns. Hers was the best, from a technique standpoint, of all of the Black Swans this year at ABT in my opinion.

Didn't Wiles come out of ABT II?

Any info on who is replacing Irina as Juliet?

I didn't know about the cast change for tonight until I ran into NYSusan during the second intermission at NYCB. After a few minutes of discussion w. my husband, we decided to skip the final piece at NYCB and sat in the lobby of the Met to watch Veronika and David on the TV monitors. We saw almost the entire Act III and all of Act IV. I enjoyed the Veronika/David performance very much. Thanks NYSusan.