abatt

Sadly, Cornejo is again cast in SL with Copeland. I would like to see him again in this role, but..... Ahn got one lead. I already closed out of the calendar so I have already forgotten what role. Senior moment.

Not a problem. Good news should be repeated often! Calvin got two Romeos and an Albrecht!! Gorak got back his Romeo role for one show, and also got two Deisire performances. Hoven and Hammoudi got zip. added: Shevchenko is getting one Giselle (plus a Myrta).

If you click on the names of individual dancers on the company website, you can see what roles they have scheduled for spring. Example, Hurlin is getting Aurora in the spring. Forster gets two SL!! and Albrecht and Romeo!! Trenary got a Juliet And Lane Finally gets a Juliet!

Smirnova, Osipova and Kim - OH MY! I'm there. I can't get that grid attachment to open.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/13/arts/dance/review-abt-american-ballet-theater-swan-lake-isabella-boylston-alban-lendorf.html Maybe, but the issues with her torso and neck have been noticed, at least by the NY Times, as a negative limitation on her success in certain roles.

Partner implies exclusivity. That's not the nature of the Melanie Mick relationship. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-7595963/Film-producer-Noor-Alfallah-25-insists-age-didnt-matter-dating-Sir-Mick-Jagger-76.html

Liaison being a refined manner of saying Mick's (most recent) baby mama.

I think that when Ratmansky is present and preparing dancers for a new work, he must point out all of the flaws and problems. Once the revival of the work comes, there is probably nobody paying attention to the details of how Boylston is performing the the work. All of those awful tendencies just creep back into the performance, unchecked.

Agree completely. Devon was again excellent in T&V. She danced with more freedom and joy than on opening night. Also agree about Stella. The Spirit of the Corn looks like an athletic romp of jumps and spins when Boylston does it. Abrera brings elegance and eloquence to the role that was completely lacking in Boylston's performances. I missed Hurlin in Winter (Hail) from the Seasons though. The role she does in Winter requires break neck speed, and last night it looked labored and slow.

I have a question about the Mariinsky's performance of Emeralds. I see in the casting that only two leads are listed for that ballet. Does the company omit the section that Balanchine added to 'Emeralds' in 1976 = an extra duet and a septet that ends with three men each sinking poetically to one knee. I know that they omitted that section when the Mariinsky (Kirov) toured their Jewels in the US in the arly 2000's (around 2002). Do they continue to omit the 1976 additional choreography?

Yes, I remember Nichols and Miranda Weese as the ballerinas in T&V at NYCB back in the day - both commanding Ballerinas with a capital B. I really don't understand the current trend in casting T&V at NYCB. I too would love to see some taller ladies cast in T&V. It is said that short guys can better handle the demanding male solo, but I have vivid memories of Damian Woetzel thrillingly dancing the male lead.

The announcement of the Spring season should be very interesting. It seems that there will be many debuts in important lead roles. Anyone know what is happening with Hammoudi. He seems to have disappeared.

So did everyone catch Melanie's observation that promotions at ABT are "political".

With respect to the comparison of ABT and NYCB in T&V, NYCB has been casting soubrette types in the lead role for a very long time - Megan Fairchild, Tiler Peck, Bouder. For me, it is always interesting to see a regal type of ballerina take on the role, such as Devon Teuscher.

That first Giselle, with Shkylarov, was exceptional. It was much better technically than her Giselle two years later at Marcelo Gomes's 20th Anniversary. I assume she will be paired with Whiteside, since he is partnering her in her Feb. 2020 D.C. Giselle performance. I would like, however, to see her dance with Hallberg just once.

If they do Don Q early in the season, Abrera will probably be Mercedes. They don;'t announce that info until much closer to the performance date because it's a secondary role.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/21/arts/dance/stella-abrera-retiring-from-ABT.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Farts&action=click&contentCollection=arts&region=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=1&pgtype=sectionfront Here is a related article in the NY Times on Stella's decision to retire. Catch her as Spirit of the Corn tomorrow if you can. Her interpretation and performance is very different from Boylston's interpretation of the same role. No surprise there!

Gorak had trouble lifting Xiomara Reyes in a Cinderella performance years ago. This is a continuous issue for him.

Personally, I didn't notice any significant problems in Lane's performance last night, except that there were a few moments when she was off the music. I thought she did quite well in the role overall.

The music at ABT for Balanchine ballets is always played at a glacial pace compared to NYCB.

I enjoyed the Twyla ballet more on the second viewing, because I decided to ignore the character names in the program for each dancer and just focus on the dance. I still felt that the costumes were a negative distraction. Aside from Gorak's error at the very end when he was unable to lift lane to his shoulder, his double tours were sloppy. I think he did about 4 and gave up. There was still plenty of music left when he should have been doing additional double tours. Instead, he raised his arms and lowered himself to one knee to assume the final position of that section of the choreography. His performance explains why he will never move up to principal Awful. If ABT doesn't have men who can handle the demands of a ballet, they should not perform the ballet. How this company has declined. Their male roster used to be the best anywhere. The Seasons was utter brilliance. Loved it. It is a masterpiece. By the way, I don't regard McKenzie's hesitation in casting short dancers in certain roles as paternalism. In fact, I wish McKenzie would exercise more discretion in assigning roles. As an example, I feel that both Cornejo and Copeland are too short for their roles in Apollo. One size does not fit all for ballet roles. Sometimes length of the limbs is part of the aesthetic of the choreography.

I saw the Tharp ballet last night. It was baffling, to say the least. Part of the problem was that Tharp decided to give character names to each of the dancers, as though there was some plot driving the ballet. If there was a plot, I never figured it out. Some of the choreography was interesting, but a lot of it was dull. This was not top level Tharp work by any means. I also wish the costumes had been less tacky and flamboyant. The costumes were often distractingly awful. Poor Herman looked like he was wearing an old Elvis jumpsuit, and in the end had to wrap himself in a big tacky silver curtain. Poor Stephanie Williams had to wear an outfit that only emphasized her broad shoulders and wide torso. The only costume that looked good was Shevchenko's. Herman definitely deserves a better ballet than this for his anniversary. The Lang piece was brief and harmlessly generic. However, some of the songs used in the recording are identical to ones used in Balanchine's Who Cares. I thought about hom much better Balanchine's choreography was as compared to Lang's. The best ballet on the program was T&V. I thought Teuscher made a marvelous debut. Cory was a good partner, but when he had to do the series of double tours he veered significantly to the side of the stage by the end. Also, his feet were never in proper position on the landings. (I miss DeLuz. Will we again see anyone with his technical brilliance in this ballet?) Despite some shortcomings in the performance, this ballet was pure joy. The head of Celebrity Cruises went on for what seemed an eternity after she was awarded some bogus award by ABT. Nate Berkus (no idea who he is or how to spell his name) gave a speech. Boylston and Whiteside also gave speeches. Way too many boring speeches.

Oh, and the Balanchine Trust does not allow modification of choreographed steps.

Am I correct that the only other role Copeland is scheduled for during the Koch season besides Terpsichore is Deuce Coupe - a non-ballet role? I would be thrilled if Lane replaced Copeland in Apollo. Unfortunately, we won't know if there will actually be a replacement until shortly before showtime.

I agree with you. I doubt that this stage version will last for a full year. I don't interpret Ramasar's words as indicative of a permanent departure. He is merely expressing his thanks to people in the company, thereby demonstrating that his mandatory sensitivity training has paid off.