abatt

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/25/arts/dance/city-ballet-swan-lake.html NY Times review of the various SL casts. I do wish NYCB would preserve Mearns' SL on film. It is exquisite. I thought her performance with Cote rivaled the best performances I have seen over the years, such as the old days of Nina Ananiashvilli at ABT. Additionally, I thought she had more of a deep connection to Cote than with any of her prior NYCB partners (i.e., the Angle brothers).

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/25/arts/dance/clive-barnes-awards-finalists.html Nominees include India Bradley and Roman Mejia from NYCB and Aran Bell from ABT.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/24/arts/dance/west-side-story-dance.html Dance critic Gia Kourlas reviews WSS.

I think Odile was always going to be a big stretch for Lovette. She is not a company member who is regularly given killer technical roles. Those roles go to Bouder, Fairchild and Peck. Under Martins, the very difficult roles also used to go to Indiana Woodward. I think Lovette is more of a lyrical dancer, but that's not enough for this role. Aurora was a difficult role, but it does not require a great turner. Lovette just seemed unprepared and under-rehearsed. This does not speak well for the preparation provided by our current management team.

I did not see the Lovette Ball matinee. Just wanted to add that Fairchild is more than competent in executing the choreography. Although I find her upper body too stiff, she has strong enough technique to justify casting her in the role. From what I saw of Lovette's performance on Friday, she does not appear to have the technique required for the role.

I agree. I saw Fairchild and Garcia on Thursday. They were very bland and forgettable. Next revival I will skip Lovette and Fairchild.

How could you miss it? He had to give up a career that he worked years and years to train for. Ironically, if he had not resigned I truly believe that the company would have been required to offer him his job back. He is also a defendant in a civil lawsuit, incurring legal fees and potentially subject to having to pay damages, depending on the outcome of the case. Those are the consequences.

I would rate Lovette's performance tonight as a Gentleman's C. She does have a beautiful line as Odette, but her arms and hands were very sloppy. I kept seeing the claw like fingers that I usually see from Boylston across the plaza. I didn't see any acting from her. She had this stern concentrating expression on her face most of the time, like she was trying to remember the steps during the lakeside scene. Her dancing in the ballroom act was not ready for prime time, or for the stage of the Koch. It wasn't nerves. I just don't believe she has the technique to be cast in this role. IN her first solo section of the ballroom scene, most of her spins were out of control and done poorly. In the section with the fouettes, she was traveling a great deal. She did 18 fouettes, the last two of which she came off pointe. Then she tried to fill up the rest of the music with some spins around the stage (like Misty does) but she didn't even do enough of those to fill out the rest of the music. Ball did fine, although he could certainly use some polish.

I was thinking the exact same thing.

I think Lane would be welcomed at PA Ballet if she wanted to go there. But she is now quite senior at ABT, and I'm sure her salary and benefits at ABT would far exceed anything that she could earn elsewhere. Moreover, assuming that Luis Ribagorda's time before leaving was added in to calculate his tenure when he returned, he is also getting a senior corps salary. I recall Lane once saying in an interview years ago that she wants to start a family, so I think that must also be a factor in all this too.

With this kind of review Ramasar might be back at NYCB a lot sooner than anticipated. I thought the review was spot on. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/20/theater/west-side-story-review-sharks-vs-jets-vs-video.htmI I also saw a review from the WP, which gave the show a much more positive review.

The guest artist shows will be the only sell outs of the season, except for the Swan Lakes, which usually sell very well regardless of who is cast. ABT's own dancers generally are not remotely in the same league as Osipova, Smirnova and Kim. The only ABT dancers who I would classify as truly spectacular are Herman Cornejo and Daniil Simikin.

Just curious. Did anyone see Aran Bell's debut as Albrecht? I don't recall seeing any comments on this thread about Bell's debut.

Presumably, they could also rent the Met Opera House during February, while the opera is on hiatus. However, I'd be very cautious about purchasing any ABT tickets during snow season. When they did Nutcracker at BAM a number of years ago there was a blizzard. They refused to offer any kind of exchange for people holding tickets.

Yes! It was very clear she was being cautious in the way you mentioned. She can still spin like a top as Odile, but she was too conservative as Odette. In fact, I believe they made one change to the choreography. Late in Act 4 Odette is supposed to do a deep backbend while leaning on Siegfried's thigh. Instead, Peck sat on the floor in a stretched position. This was evidently planned in advance. Joseph Gordon was spectacular. Christian, have a safe trip home and looking forward to seeing you at your next ballet trip.

I think Simkin has a pretty good fan base in New York, more so than dancers like Whiteside or Stearns. So it is surprising to me that Simkin is getting only one performance during an 8 week season. If they just want to have a guest artist relationship with him, similar to Bolle's arrangement, that's fine. But I'm assuming that we may not see Simkin again with ABT after this Spring season.

Since Abrera is leaving, and they probably intend to revive the Seasons on tours and possibly again in NYC, it makes sense for them to train someone new in Abrera's role.

Gorak has no chance anymore of moving up to principal. Numerous men on the soloist level are easily going to surpass him.

Although Lane is usually cast with short men, there is no reason why she could not also be cast with any medium or tall dancer. In fact, she danced with Stearns in VA in Swan Lake in a side gig. If McKenzie isn't using her much, I don't think it's because there is nobody to partner her. The fact that McKenzie never again cast her in her own Swan Lake after just one performance a few years ago says a lot about what he thinks. It's even more insulting that he then used Lane for the ballroom scene only in SL when Misty had the flu and couldn't make it through the entire ballet, even though Misty's version of the ballroom scene is considerably easier compared to what any other ABT ballerina does. McKenzie clearly has little respect for Lane and her talents.

Having seen several Swan Lakes in close proximity, it's fair to say that Bouder rules in the ballroom scene. She has technique to spare, and takes risks that payoff and send the audience into a frenzy. Her weakness, in my opinion, is Odette. She certainly does the steps, but her back is not pliant or flexible. As an example of what I'm talking about, at the end of the lakeside scene Odette moves forward and stays in place while the corps of swans move around her. Instead of just standing in place in a static swan pose, which is what Bouder did, Mearns takes the opportunity to bend her torso all the way forward, as though she may be taking water from the lake. When she straighten up, Mearns then bends backwards, arching her back quite a bit. There are many little moments like this as Odette where Mearns makes full use of her head, back and torso to create character. Bouder doesn't do these things, and is therefore much less successful as Odette.

I agree with that. If Lane has something to say, then just say it. Don't speak in riddles or code. Also, I never thought of Hope Hicks as one of America's philosophical guiding lights. Oy.

I think the only other person besides Brandt who was in the running for a Giselle debut but has not yet gotten a chance is Trenary. She seems like a good fit for Giselle, more so than Shevchenko, who strikes me as better at the Petipa roles than the romantic role of Giselle.

So how expensive is it to get coaching from Irina and Max on the side? We know that Royal is doing it, and he is getting a soloist salary. We also know that Lane has done the same in the past, and that Shevchenko is also getting coaching from them. Murphy got her coaching initially at New Zealand ballet, where she did Giselle many times years before McKenzie ever gave her the role at ABT. Stella also did numerous Giselle performances at Australian ballet before she got the role at ABT by virtue of the fact that Semionova cancelled her entire ABT season. So knowing the role, and having performed the role many times, doesn't serve as a guarantee that McKenzie will give you the role.

Despite the fact that Brandt comes from a well off family which donates to ABT, I've never felt that Brandt was getting opportunities at ABT that were not deserved or the result of favoritism.

There is at least one other ABT ballerina who is cast in roles based on financial considerations rather than artistry. I'm glad Brandt, Irina and Max have "liked" Sarah's post. It's clear that a lot of ABT dancers are investing in themselves. The article mentions that Calvin Royal and Shevchenko also get outside help from Irina and Max.