abatt

23 minutes ago, nanushka said:

Possible. But at least the ones seated near me yesterday (who seemed to be starting much of the cheering) were young, student-aged fans at a holiday matinee, at a time of year when many ballet students are in town. And I believe many of the seats they were in hadn't sold well until a day or two before, when the company may have released them for discounted tickets.

Good point.  I think the company gets a tax deduction if it gives away tickets for educational purposes.   The family circle and certain parts of the balcony seemed to have a lot of kids.

2 hours ago, AB'sMom said:

It’s crazy to me that ABT doesn’t have a single male soloist to understudy principal roles and step in if there is an injury. With both Sterns and Whiteside out, they are depending heavily on a guest dancer. Ahn and Bell were both promoted to soloist in the fall of 2019, never had a Met season to dance as soloists, and are now dancing as principals. Maybe I have an excessive need for order, but their current system is a mess. Are they going to continue with the pattern of giving promising corp members soloist roles, promote them for a year to soloist, and then rush them into principal while the same few men languish in soloist purgatory? Cornejo isn’t getting any younger, nor is Whiteside or Sterns.

This has been a problem with ABT for a long time.  They are too short staffed to run a multi-week season of consecutive full length ballets because they do not have enough lead principals (or soloists who can actually dance principal roles).  What always ends up happening is that when people drop out due to injury, the other principals who are still healthy and young have to pick up the slack.  This has happened over and over, during the course of many years.  

I too was a little disappointed in Shevchenko's performance.  Her technique was strong but she needed to employ better use of her upper body - arms, neck, head.  There was not much drama in her performance.  Not much chemistry with Royal either.  Somehow I recall liking Shechenko's O/O more during the 2019 run.  As for the arm maneuvers in Act III, I think she was just trying to add difficulty to the fouette section.  I thought she was very effective in Act III and showed impressive technical ability. 

I liked Royal's characterization and stage presence.  He is a much better actor than Ahn, who is mostly wooden. However, Act III exposes all weaknesses.  Royal is doing the exact same variation as Bell and Ahn.  When Royal landed his double tours, his feet were not in the correct position.  He has enough experience that he quickly tried to cover this up by correcting his position after he landed.  Also, his spins can be slow.  I was much more impressed with Bell and Ahn as far as technical ability and precision.

Cobweb, I suspect that ABT will revive T&V for the Fall Season, so you may have another opportunity to see it then.

I was at both the afternoon and evening shows.  While I do see improvement in Boylston (I last saw her in SL with Lendorf in 2017, I think), she still did not move me at all.  A very lovely technician, but not much poetry in my opinion.  Carmargo is a very strong dramatic dancer and he was doing very well technically too - stretched lines, high jumps.  However, in the ballroom scene I felt that he bit off a little more than he could chew.  He went for five double tours in rapid succession.  None of the landings were very good.  I would have preferred fewer double tours with better precision in the landings. 

Now for the evening show.  Aran Bell is the real deal.  Charismatic stage presence, good acting skills, excellent technical skills.  He is a must see dancer as far as I'm concerned.  And Hee Seo was utterly sublime in the lakeside scenes in Acts II and IV with Bell.  Her flexible back, and gorgeous arms made all the difference.  These two dancers had chemistry together.  They were the only couple of the run who actually brought a tear to my eye.  Hee's solos in Act II were fine.  Act III was going well for Hee until the dreaded fouettes. She started out strong with nice crisp singles, and she traveled forward (but not to the side wings).  At a certain point she was slowing down, evidently getting tired.  Then she came off point, did one more fouette and stopped.  It was fine because she filled out most of the music.  Aran Bell did the same  variation that Ahn did.  Overall he did a fine job in Act III.  Big jumps, good spins.  And the last act was sublime - a real heartbreaker.  Dramatic adagio is Hee's forte in my opinion, and she was great.  Such deep back bends and sorrowful employment of her neck, head, arms and eyes.  Aran Bell did an Olympic quality dive into the lake at the end.  He jumped so high off that cliff that I gasped.  Possibly the most exquisite jump into the lake I have ever seen at ABT.   

The thing about Ahn is that he seems to do easier variations than some others. As an example of what I'm talking about, in the ballroom scene, Herman did multiple double tours in a row, whereas Aha did the variation as double tour, followed by a piroutte, then another double tour.  At the end of the variation Herman completed with another double tour for effect. Herman is considerably older than Ahn, but Herman's choice of the choreography he performed in the variation was so much more difficult (and thrilling).   I understand that Ahn has to dance SL three times, but Herman only had to dance it once.  However, I really hope that going forward Ahn decides to step up and do the more difficult variation options in these classical ballets.  Ahn is a perfectly proportioned beautiful dancer.  But he needs to add more virtuoso content.

So Camargo is dancing three Romeo's in a week.  That's a lot - too much really.

Looking forward to seeing him in Swan Lake this afternoon.  I

9 minutes ago, nanushka said:

Wow, so Teuscher and Ahn get two perfs and the KM event instead of Shevy/Bell. I wonder why.

I think the casting change on T&V is due to cascading problems for the rest of that mixed bill program and the need to replace Stearns in both Zig Zag  and Single Eye.

I agree with Faux Pas in that I don't think we can attribute Brandt's current limitations in SL to either Max or Irina.  The buck stops with Brandt herself.   Also, Brandt's debut was successful in many ways.  It just wasn't an absolute triumph.  She needs more experience in this.  Throughout the performance, I got the sense that this role in this theater was her dream come true at last.  I would see her again in future runs of this to see her progress, although I'm not a fan of short Swan Lake leads.  It was a very respectable debut in one of the most difficult roles in the classical  rep.

Added - I think a lot of dancers don't realize that certain tendencies are distracting on stage.  A number of years ago when Murphy was still a soloist the NY Times specifically mentioned that Murphy's mouth was hanging open during a performance.  After that, Murphy corrected the problem.  I doubt anyone at ABT told Zimmie that her mouth is too frequently hanging open.  I also doubt anyone told Frenette that his makeup looked terrible.  I remember an article where Devon said that she got some training elsewhere because of an award she won, and for the first time they pointed out that she raised her eyebrows when she did fouettes.  So we know there is insufficient training at ABT, and that polishing has to come from the outside.  Although sometimes this board can get a bit mean, there are also valid critiques that the dancers may never hear from their coaches.

5 minutes ago, fondoffouettes said:

 

Frenette's cheeks were indeed incredibly rosy. I was wondering if maybe he didn't get full makeup coverage and his flushed cheeks were showing through. But I couldn't really tell from where I was sitting. An over application of makeup like you say makes more sense. 

 

It was too much blush or bronzer on the cheeks, but also too much eye makeup.  I thought it was distracting.

Note about Frenette.  A very promising dancer.  Was this his debut as Benno?  I wasn't sure.  Nice elevation and line.  But tone down that facial makeup!  Way too much.

I thought Brandt's performance was a good debut, with work still to be done.  I thought she was more in her element in Act III than as Odette.  She seems to have been drilled in hitting positions, which sometimes made her phrasing as Odette look too harsh, particularly in the Lakeside scene pas with Herman.  One thing I really liked about Devon's performance, in contrast to Brandt, is how Devon would slowly unfurl her limbs in the adagio sections of the ballet. 

Cornejo is always a delight, but I have to wonder how many more SL's are in his future.   He is not as much of a virtuoso as he once once was due to age, but he remains many levels above most of the male principals at ABT both in technical ability and stage presence.

I did not like Shayer as Purple Rothbart.  I thought he looked at bit sloppy and struggled with some of the big partnering moments.  But even more than that, his short stature does not work for this role.

Added- No doubt about it.  Brandt can definitely hold balances for a very long time.

Still waiting for a Siegfried who matches my memories of Gomes and Bolle as the  romantic lead here.

Jose Sebastian made a very strong debut as  Purple Rothbart last night.  I would like to see him in other supporting roles to get a better sense of his technique and partnering. 

The McKenzie version would be better if they restored Act IV.  Right now it's mostly an opportunity to change the scenery while a few swans run around aimlessly in front of the curtain while the scenery is being changed. 

By the way, the stage hands need to be told to be quiet while they are doing the set change between Act III and Act IV.  Last night, event though I was up in the balcony, I could hear them talking while they changed the scenery at this juncture.

I guess the best word I can use to describe Devon in this is grandeur.   She brings majesty to Odette. 

I have always liked Devon in SL.  She keeps getting better in the role.  Her long limbs are put to full use here in creating a gorgeous Odette, fully stretched lines and beautiful use of her arms, neck and back.   She handled the ballroom scene allegro work with attack, knocking out multiple doubles in the fouette portion with very little traveling.  Ahn's work was  respectable, but never electrifying.  He had no trouble with the partnering.  His big solo in Act I was beautifully done.  He has gorgeous lines and his legs are extremely long.  However, his work in the ballroom scene tended to be a bit conservative. Hopefully he will gain confidence as the run continues.  As might be anticipated, I felt there was no chemistry between the lead couple.

I thought J. Sebastian did a great job as Purple Rothbart.  He had a commanding presence, and he executed the choreography without difficulty.  

Benno was Hoven, who danced with Hurlin and Williams.

22 hours ago, cobweb said:

 I've seen Gillian Murphy so many times in this role that I'd like to see someone else, but I cannot abide Isabella Boylston. On the other hand, I would like to see Daniel Carmago, who is paired with Boylston. Pas de trois casting might be determinative, wish they would post that. 

Having the same feeling.  Very interested to see Camargo, but not Boylston.  So far I've resisted the urge to buy tickets for Camargo in either SL or R&J because I don't want to see Boylston.  However, it's unlikely we will see Camargo again at ABT after this season, so that may tip the balance in favor of attending.  I certainly would never have bought tickets for Hee Seo's SL, but I really wanted to see Bell.  Seo at least can do good adagio work.  Boylston, in my opinion, is strictly an allegro dancer without much dramatic ability.

If ABT has another 5 week season next summer, it's unclear whether they would present Love and Rage again, given that they are already committed to presenting Like Water for Chocolate.  On the other hand, given the amount of expense of the production and the amount of rehearsal time, they will need to present Love & Rage for at least one more cycle.

I agree that while Hurlin and Bell are both superb dancers, their acting was rather one note compared to  the more nuanced acting of Shevy and Forster.

Someone mentioned Dark Elegies above.  ABT has not done that in years.  I would love to see that again.  In the present incarnation of the company, a rep program often means one major classical ballet plus two modern junky ballets .

I preferred Shevchenko in Love and Rage.  She's much better at communicating emotion than Hurlin.  Both ladies are wonderful, fluid  dancers. I preferred Aran Bell to Forster, but Forster was pretty good.  Blain Hoven made no impression in the role that Camargo did in the first cast.  Having seen it a second time and with a better grasp of who all these characters are, I still came away with the impression that this was an overstuffed mess of a ballet.  Maybe there's a reason few people have studied or are familiar with the source material.

Too many cooks spoil the broth.  Too many men who fall instantly in love with the ballerina spoils the ballet.

Onwards to Swan Lake.  Looking forward to seeing more of Mr. Curley.

1 hour ago, Papagena said:

Agreed, so many ballets would be better served here! 

I think the problem is that their marketing team does not view ABT as a brand or understand what kind of brand they want it to be - and leadership is leaning into their brand of the past 30 years. Mushy branding and advertising can tank anything from beverages to ballets. NYCB has a very clear brand. 
 

Based on the ads I've seen on TV and in the subway for ABT over the last few months, ABT is very much branding itself as presenter of full length classics.  The ads I've seen feature Swan Lake and Romeo and Juliet.   ABT has been and will always continue to be primarily a presenter of  full length classics.  That is what their audience wants and has come to expect.

  ABT has the advantage of having essentially a monopoly in NYC in presenting the classics.  Although NYCB sometime does a full length classic, their dancers don't specialize in this material.  Also, NYCB has the dubious distinction of having the ugliest R&J and SL productions and costumes.

I attended last night.  Very much enjoyed Tharp's Waiting at the Station.  Very entertaining.

I was happy to see Diamonds. However, the lead ballerina, Rausch, was in my opinion no match for the exquisite performances of our home team at NYCB.  Particularly in her solo, there was none of the expansive, go for broke dancing I'm used to seeing from Mearns.  The male lead (don't have my program so I can't recall who danced it) was wonderful.  He dances with elegance and refinement,  and his landings were in perfect fifth position.

Grateful for this visit from PNB. 

Bell had no trouble with the torch lifts on Monday. 

8 minutes ago, nysusan said:

Fonteyn/Nureyev- ah, those were the days! But you don't have to go back that far for ABT Met SRO performances, you don't even have to go back to the days of Makarova  or Kirkland and Baryshnikov. Didn't Vishneva & Gomes sell out the Met? Ferri/Bocca? Ananiashvilli? Cojocaru at her guest appearances? If they didn't completely sell out the Met, I recall those performances being extremely well sold, it was very hard to get a good seat.

 

 

Yes, when the roster had Vishneva, Gomes, Ferri, Bocca, Carreno, Corella, Ananiashvilli and so on, the house was almost always well sold.  All of those dancers were full time ABT principals, not guest artists.  None were celebrities outside of the insular world of ballet, but the ballet audience understood the quality of the work of these artists and showed up in droves to see them. So maybe poor sales are attributable to the general lack of high level dancers at the company, and not the rep itself.  There are some wonderful dancers now at ABT, but many are untested in major lead roles. Truthfully, these days only Copeland sells out the house, and that is due to her celebrity and her status as a role model for certain audiences.

Given Forster's age, I'm not sure that he's a likely candidate for additional, unscheduled assignments.

I think they will just use one of the other Romeo's to fill in for Stearns.  The likely candidates are Camargo and Royal. Each has only one Romeo assignment right now.  However, since Camargo is a more experienced dancer, I'm guessing Camargo will get the assignment.

As for Curley as Rothbart, based on his excellent performance in Love and Rage, I think he has the potential to be a fine Rothbart.

Per the ABT website, Ahn replaces Stearns in Swan Lake. 

Added  - So now we wait to find out who will replace Stearns in R&J with Hee Seo.  My guess is Camargo.  If that turns out to be the case I might buy a ticket.