abatt

All of the SL's are sell outs or near sell outs, so I'm not buying into the idea that McKenzie needs to give Misty multiple Swan Lakes to boost ticket sales. Yes, that theory works for lesser titles that the public is unfamiliar with, but SL tickets sells very well regardless of casting.

Lane could have danced with SL Simkin, as she did in her debut SL two years ago. All kinds of casting choices were possible, but instead McKenzie decided that Hee Seo and Misty both had to have two SL shows. In summary, the two weakest technicians in the company are each given two performances of one of the most difficult roles in the classical rep. That's what I call brilliant planning. I'm not convinced that these developments are due to an injury. It is equally likely that general deterioration due to age is the cause of Misty's limitations. I would love to know if Misty herself decided to withdraw from Act III, or if McKenzie determined that she was unfit to dance Act III.

Agree one hundred percent. Lane is not Misty's back-up dancer. Lane has earned the right to be cast in her own SL. If you can't do the steps, you shouldn't be assigned the role. It's very simple.

I was referring to Sat evening, when Copeland is scheduled to dance with Hallberg.

I would have loved to see that. So pissed I didn't look at ballet alert this evening until now. Do we think Sarah will be filling in again on Sat evening? If so, I will move heaven and earth to get a ticket for Sat evening. Was the info on the cast change posted anywhere in advance of the show, because the ABT calendar only lists Copeland for tonight. SL was MIsty's only difficult classical role of the season. The Tharp Brahms work is a large ensemble piece, so Misty's role was relatively short. Jane Eyre and Manon are not heavy duty classical roles, and her role in Deuce Coupe was not classical. Based on this development, the "scheduling conflict" excuse for her withdrawal from Ratmansky's Whipped Cream is looking even more flimsy.

As others mentioned with regard to the Bolle Seo performance, it was a fine performance, but certainly not a Manon for the ages. Seo is an attractive dancer with lovely qualities, but blandness creeps into her performances. Bolle, however, has keen dramatic abilities and stage charisma. Even though he is diminished technically, I felt that he gave an excellent performance. James Whiteside and Stella Abrera were vivid and did nearly steal the show last night. It was wonderful to have Bolle on the Met Opera stage for so many years, even if he only gave a few performances per season. He was a world class artist.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/21/arts/dance/catherine-hurlin-american-ballet-theater.html Great article about Hurlin.

According to Hallberg's website, he is scheduled to do Manon at ROH in the fall with Osipova.

Any reports on the Hallberg - Boylston Manon?

There are a lot of roles that are now out of Abrera's reach technically, but it is criminal that McKenzie did not give her Manon.

Did anyone see last night's performance? Reports?

Hallberg never adds performances at ABT these days. He only subtracts.

I thought Trenary's debut last night was strong, except that in her series of diagonal spins in the first act she had some difficulty. Her performance in the third act was more secure. I agree that she seems to lack authority, but perhaps that will improve over time. Shevchenko, however, seems to get stronger and dances with more authority with every additional performance. She was excellent as Medora.

I never really focused on Bell before in a solo role. I missed his debut last season as Romeo. He was very impressive as Lankendem in his debut last night. The difference between Bell's performance and Hoven's performance on Tuesday in the same role was stark. I thought Hoven on Tuesday gave an adequate, able performance. Bell, however, had some soaring jumps, landed the signature Lankadem jumps with deeply bent knees, and did a very fine job partnering. My only criticism was that his spins seemed a little slow. Clearly he has great potential as a lead dancer.

Oh no. So disappointed. He always gives his audience everything he has in his arsenal, and he is one of the few bright lights at ABT among the male principal dancers. Apart from potentially having to reassign his secondary role in Manon, what happens to his SL with Boylston. The ONLY reason I was willing to make a return visit to Boylston's SL was to see Simkin. By the way I agree with everyone above who said his Ali on Tuesday was magnificent.

Actually, I think SL is a ballet that sells very well regardless of who is cast. They need Copeland to sell the lesser titles, like Harlequinade and Jane Eyre.

https://www.metopera.org/season/2019-abt/manon/ approximately 2hrs, 30 minutes, per the Met Opera website.

if ABT does Lilac Garden in the Fall, I will be thrilled. I've seen my fill of Sinatra Suite, but I think they would revive it for Herman Cornejo. I don't recall that Damian Woetzel ever did Apollo at NYCB. I always wished for it, but it never happened. That was the era when the role always went to Boal, Hubbe and Nilas Martins only. The only other member of NYCB during that era who did the role was Philip Neal, but he did it with the Suzanne Farrell Company, not at NYCB.

Since Manon is a new ballet for Cornejo, I have to wonder whether he even had enough (or any?) rehearsal time for this ballet given his injury. Even if he is now recovered (which I don't know) how does he make up for the lost rehearsal time?

I saw this ballet again last night with Copeland and Stearns. I thought Copeland's movement was much more fluid than Boylston's performance last Wednesday. In fairness, though, I saw Boylston's first performance, whereas this was Misty's third performance. This choreography suits Misty's strengths, so I am surprised that she got the role of Jane by default only after Murphy withdrew for maternity leave. I found Forster to be a more moving Rochester than Stearns. On this second viewing, I still came away feeling that this work has far too little ballet. Even though I was seated much closer to the stage last night (Row K orchestra) than last week (balcony with binoculars), I still felt that the use of scrims and the dark lighting were problematic.

Well said. It is strange that they loaded the more recognizable ballets like Swan Lake and Sleeping Beauty into the final weeks of the season. They may get their biggest audiences after the school year is finished, so maybe they believe that the best way to capitalize on that market is to offer the well known classics during the late June-early July time period.

I think that if you go into this expecting to see ballet because, you know, it's called American Ballet Theatre, you will be disappointed. If you are willing to accept the "modern dance" aspects of this choreography (push me, pull me, roll on the floor) you are more likely to enjoy the performance. I'm wondering what the expectations are when people go to see Northern Ballet of England, as opposed to their expectations when they go see ABT. For me, trying to dismiss the poor choreography by calling it a psychological ballet or "expressionistic" is not a valid pass. As pointed out in the NYTimes, there are many psychological ballets that are great (A Month in The Country, Lilac Garden). They use the classical idiom as their mode of expression.

Danceviewtimes also liked the performance, particularly Devon Teuscher.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/06/arts/paul-taylor-dance.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Farts&action=click&contentCollection=arts&region=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=3&pgtype=sectionfront Here is an article about a number of important dancers who are retiring from the Taylor company. I can't imagine what the company will be like without some of these beloved, wonderful dancers.

I'm running to the box office to exchange out of my Eyre tickets for this weekend. Can't you exchange your tickets?