abatt
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Posts posted by abatt
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I did not feel sorry for Trusova. Scherbakova skated better than Trusova and therefore she won by some 4 points. Trusova has almost no artistry or interpretive skills. Also, she faltered on some of her jumps. Scherbakova was the clear winner, fair and square. Trusova's infantile outburst was disgraceful.
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Alexandra Trusova's tantrum and unsportsmanlike conduct was almost a fitting end to the Ladies Competition. I know she's only 17, but it was disgusting.
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https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/14/sports/olympics/valieva-drug-test-heart-medications.html
This story is unraveling quickly. It turns out Valieva had 3 heart meds in her sample, but only one is banned. So she was gulping a cocktail of meds to increase endurance? Kick her out of the games now. Don't blame grandpa.
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I think the damage to the other athletes who will win medals should be factored in. The medal ceremony and having your country's anthem played as your flag is waving is part of the experience of a lifelong quest to be an Olympic medalist. The other medalists are now robbed of this experience because of the conduct of one skater and her entourage. Not fair.
Just heard on the news that KV (through her attorney) has claimed that the contamination occurred because of a medication her grandfather takes. Sounds fishy to me, unless her grandfather ground up his medication and put it into KV's food or drink. I regularly administer medication to my mother, so it's possible that traces of medication remain on my hands if I don't wash them after touching the med. However, would a 15 year old have any direct contact with the meds of her grandfather? Not likely.
Up until this point I had sympathy for KV due to her age, but this explanation seems so false that I've lost any sympathy.
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NY Times review of Ratmansky's Swan Lake
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/13/arts/dance/swan-lake-miami-city-ballet-review.html
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1 hour ago, cubanmiamiboy said:
Double take yesterday. Matinee and evening.
The Valse Campetre has become an eye tearing moment for me. I usually respond better, in ballet, to group dances rather than individual ones. In other words....I'm not a stage door type of guy, if you know what I mean. And the valse is glorious. The patterns are spectacular, and very "Imperial ballet " looking. It is ALL about the stools. At one point the whole group suddenly makes a pattern resembling a bouquet of flowers. The up and down from and to the stools has to be done VERY quickly and placement needs to be achieved super fast. It is quite nerve wracking at times. I saw a couple of almost accidents that, thankfully, never happened.
The mazurka dresses are glorious. I keep looking at the skirts pattern, trying to capture the way they are constructed, because they truly look out of a 1950's Christian Dior catalogue. They have that right volume and length of the couturier's post war "New Look", and they basically have a dance of their own. Floaty and ethereal. Kuddos to the costume designer.
Odile's variation is SUPER quick. Ratmansky went for the tempo usually found in the original piano renditions of it, Tchaikovsky's piano piece "L'Espiegle ".
Fouetteometer alert: 25 singles for Samantha Hope Galler.
Did Ratmansky instructed the ballerinas to stop after 25, I wonder....? There's a famous quote of Legnani I read somewhere amused at how her perceived 32 hadn't really been so. 😄
Nah....that's not what's happening, and we all know it right...😶
Thanks for your reports.
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I saw "highlights" of the rhythm dance last night on NBC. However, it looks like the entire rhythm dance may be repeated today on USA Network. Looks like USA will carry the free dance tonight at 8:30PM.
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I think the prolonged recovery period for James Whiteside may have prompted Simkin's return to ABT. Not wishing anything bad on Whiteside, but I hope Simkin also appears at the Met this Spring. Also, Covid international travel restrictions appear to be less onerous, so that may also influence the situation for Simkin's motivation to come to the US..
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https://www.yahoo.com/news/mystery-delay-figure-skating-medals-115958721.html
Well this is a shocker. Wonder kid Kamila Valyeva tested positive for an illegal drug, but since she is only 15 she cannot be deemed responsible for the banned substance. The lawyers are banging heads about whether Russia is going to be stripped of its gold medal in the Team figure skating event.
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3 hours ago, Kathleen O'Connell said:
I attended the third performance of Partita (Sat 1/29/22 Evening) and Roomful of Teeth performed live at that one. I also attended the Sun 2/6/22 matinee, and the cast performed to a recording.
Roomful of Teeth was miked at the performance I saw: I suspect that at least some of the sounds they make wouldn't carry to the back of the theater.
Thanks for clarifying. So Roomful of Teeth was performing live, but they are also using a recording?
I'm not talking about using a microphone. They are not opera singers so I don't expect them to sing without a mic.
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30 minutes ago, KikiRVA said:
-I quite liked Partita. Sorry to have missed the live vocals.
A friend told me they were using recorded vocals for Partita, but I wasn't sure if they were doing that for every Partita performance. So if you missed the premiere night, apparently you will not be able to hear live music for Partita. I think that's a first for NYCB, and not a good development as far as I'm concerned. One of the selling points of seeing this company is live music. I don't recall them ever using live music for a premiere and then switching to canned music for all remaining shows.
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https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/06/sports/olympics/covid-olympics-numbers.html
Zhou has tested positive for Covid. He may be unable to compete if a second test comes back positive.
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Without intermissions, they cannot stage ballets that have sets. For example, Prodigal, Swan Lake, Slaughter.
The Met Opera has also shut all concessions EXCEPT for food available on the Grand Tier level. To me that makes no sense.
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I thought last night demonstrated why the US should have sent Malinin instead of Zhou. Zhou is consistently inconsistent.
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21 minutes ago, cobweb said:
Oh, and I find it annoying that there are absolutely no snacks or sandwiches available. Why??
They are trying to create a safer environment whether nobody has a reason to take off their mask while in the building. That's why there are no more food or drink offerings.
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I was happy to see Tiler Peck's Mozartiana. It was a much more successful debut that her Rubies performance. Her Prayer opening reminded me of the beauty of her second act performances in Midsummer Nights Dream, one of her best roles. However, as noted above, it was obvious that she cannot do the iconic back bend. She tilted her head back a little bit. Her musicality and technique throughout the remainder of the ballet made for a fine performance, but Ms. Mearns remains my favorite of the current roster of ballerinas in this role. Harrison Ball was an eager and attentive partner, but I wish he had more elevation in his dancing. I did not care at all for Troy S. in the Gigue.
Incredible performances from all in Rubies. Thrilling from beginning to end. I thought that Mejia would be too short for Hyltin, but they actually looked very good together.
I vote for Nadon as Siren in Prodigal ASAP.
La Valse was well done. Woodward looked like the sweet innocent in La Valse.
I saw Walpurgisnacht in the afternoon just to see Mearns in this ballet. She dances with abandon. Love it. I am a big fan of Janzen but he seems to be having some issues this season with landing jumps.
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1 hour ago, volcanohunter said:
All the more reason to hope they lose their tainted profits in court.
"The representative revealed that the show’s principal cast members weren’t prepared to answer questions about controversies surrounding the late musician."
What?
The cast members are there to perform their roles. It's not their job to attempt to answer questions about Michael Jackson's behavior.
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Janzen was an excellent partner, but his footwork in his solo could have been a little cleaner.
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Both LaFreniere and Kikta were excellent as the tall girl in Rubies. But the tone of the performances were very different. Kikta knows how to flirtatiously vamp in this role, which is exactly what is needed. The constant grin of LaFreniere didn't bother me, but it robbed her performance of the sense that she is the sexy master of ceremonies. More sweet than dangerous.
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I also thought Tiler Peck was not at her absolute best last night. (Has she done this role in Vail? With Cornejo?) She certainly was good, but I was hoping for more. Maybe she needs to settle into the role and into her partnership with Huxley.
The performance last night that did put a huge smile on my face was the brilliance, energy and verve of Sara Mearns in Mozartiana. It was pure joy to behold.
I didn't stay for La Valse.
The Third and Fourth rings were empty. The first and second rings had substantial numbers of unsold seats. People, it seems, are not venturing out to the theater. It was depressing to think that this All Balanchine program doesn't sell.
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MJ The Musical opened last night. Here is the NY Times review.
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/01/theater/mj-musical-review.html
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1 hour ago, canbelto said:
Roman Mejia replaces Andrew Veyette in Rubies. Can't wait to see his debut!
This is perfect casting for the male lead. However, I'm having trouble imagining him dancing with Hyltin. He should be partnered with Peck.
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https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/28/arts/dance/review-justin-peck-partita-new-york-city-ballet.html
Review of last night's performance. I largely missed the Peck work due to a homeless man who decided to go for a stroll on the subway tracks, grinding all trains to a halt on my subway line.
Cunningham's Summerspace was well done, but not my cup of tea. Veyette was replaced by Villani Velez.
I absolutely LOVED the cast of DGV. Every one of the lead dancers crackled with energy and electricity. My only quibble was that Furlan was not entirely secure in his partnering of LaFreniere in the big overhead lifts.
The program noted that Bradley and Ricardo are indeed the Janice Levin winners.
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2022 Winter Olympics
in Artistic Sports
Posted
In any other country, I would say that she has more Olympic competitions in her future. Under the system in Russia, however, the fact is that most of the women figure skaters are gone after one Olympic cycle. There will be a 15 year old waiting in the wings who can do a quintuple jump, and team Tuberidze will always promote that skater. Unlike the US and some other countries, where figure skaters are around competition for a up to a decade on the senior circuit, this simply does not happen in Russian ladies figure skating.