2005: Highlights & Lowlights

[BalletNut]

It's that time of year again!

What, in your opinion, were the high and low points of the year 2005 in ballet?

[Farrell Fan]

The high point was the Suzanne Farrell Ballet's revival of Balanchine's Don Quixote in June. Low point was NYCB's dreary opening night in November, with no Balanchine on the program.

[drb]

High Points:

1. Performance of the year: Veronika Part. Odette/Odile, the July 4th performance. The Met-filling terror at first sight of Marcelo Gomes (the male Prince performance of the year), and the magic moment when terror transformed into hope.

2. Multi-act ballets:

Ansanelli's Harlequinade at NYCB, the best I have ever seen in this role, she had it all, and then left...

Vishneva's ABT debut in Giselle, elevated Angel and brought back the glory days of Baryshnikov/Makarova/Kirkland.

McKerrow's ABT Giselle farewell, the last performance of ABT's deepest Giselle since those same glory days, fully meriting the 27 minute standing ovation.

3. New ballets:

After the Rain, by Christopher Wheeldon, NYCB. Both for itself, and for Wendy's greatest performance and the last chance to display ballet's greatest partner, Jock Soto.

Bright Stream, Ratmansky/Bolshoi. Pure joy, displaying this incredibly talented company.

4. Great shorter performances:

Alina Cojocaru, Giselle Act 2 excerpts, at the February Stars Gala. The World's Assoluta, in my experience second only to Farrell. She inhabits a role like no other.

Tess Reichlen, Rubies, NYCB. In 4 decades of Jewels, the best "second" soloist I've seen. In all likelihood, the next Great One.

Ashley Bouder in Ballo della Regina, NYCB. America's Prima, she defines Joy.

Natalia Osipova, Don Q, Bolshoi. How can a corps girl with a one-minute solo dominate super-star leads? That's how!

Lows:

1A. The lack of coaching (by former Muses) at NYCB. So much fabulous talent left incomplete.

1B. Extraordinary young talent frozen out of opportunities at ABT. A generation held back. If only one of our other American companies could raid this talent pool: there's enough there to build a third major company.

[bart]

In south Florida.

High points:

Edward Villella's revival of Prodigal Son for Miami City Ballet this fall/ plus eerily beautiful La Valse and Sonnambula last spring. Balanchine, danced by young, carefully nurtured, sensitively coached dancers, still rocks!

Ballet Florida's October program of contemporary works, danced with style, energy, commitment, joie de vivre. Especially Trey McIntyre's "Second Before the Ground," which impresses me more each time I've seen it.

Low points:

I guess I missed them. Unless you allow me to mention ME in class, falling down and banging my head on a standing metal barre during my first series of over-enthusiastic, technically-challenged pique pirouettes across the floor. CLANG !!! The head was alright. The left glut was not. :blush:

[Hans]

High point: The Kirov corps de ballet in Le Corsaire at the Kennedy Center.

Low point: The Kirov principals in Le Corsaire at the Kennedy Center.

[bart]

In previous years there have been lots of interesting posts on this topic. What happened in 2005?

What do YOU think were the highlights and lowlights of your personal ballet season?

[dachnitsa]

My Bolshoi review 2005

Highlights

Swan Lake, 29th June, last ballet performance before the closing of the old stage for reconstruction (at least until the beginning of 2008)

The theatre was fully packed. Extra chairs were set wherever there was space. It was pouring outside and a lot of people were late - total confusion and chaos reigned. Even when the orchestra started to play, some people were still searching for their seats.

When the curtain opened and everybody was finally settled the tension gradually vanished until everyone was absorbed by the performance.

All of the dancers gave their absolute maximum, but what made the evening unforgettable was Nadezhda Gracheva. Her Odette was so exquisite, of such a beauty and melancholy that it was completely overwhelming. I sat there with the tears rolling down my cheeks ... (later I realized that I was far from being the only one with red eyes.)

Another highlight this year was Nelli Kobakhidze’s debut as the miller’s wife in Tricorne.

Even if this might be more for the MVP thread, I would like to mention Mariya Allash, Olga Stebletsova, Nelli K. (once again), Gennadiy Yanin, Mark Peretokin and Andrey Uvarov, who set (at least small) highlights in all of their performances.

Lowlight

Swanlake, November 23rd, opening of the Maya Plisetskaya festival.

Siegfrid (and subsequently Odette/Odile) had to be replaced on short notice because of the illness of Andrey Uvarov.

The substitute Siegfried was … dreadful in the first act and mediocre in the second. I do not want to go into details, but more than once I held my breath or closed my eyes because I was afraid that he might drop Odette (once again Nadezhda Gracheva).

Nadezhda was obviously so affected by this, that her Odette was just a shadow of the above mentioned and Odile’s 32 fouettes went astray.

Even if the other dancing (especially the swan corps, the “evil genius” and the princesses) was fine it was definitely the worst performance I have ever seen in the Bolshoi. I wonder what Maya Plisetskaya was feeling about it – at least her presence and the long (!) standing ovations for her made that evening memorable in a positive way as well.

[jllaney]

My favorite moment was the Bolshoi orchestra's playing of Shostakovich's Bright Stream score at the Met over the summer. Their sound was so pure and rich they made the Met seem like a 500 seat theatre.

My low point was not hearing them play the Spartacus score that same week when I had the chance.

[canbelto]

Highlights:

- the February ballet stars gala, in which I got to see Alina Cojocaru and Diana Vishneva. Considering how I had to move away from NY soon afterwards I am so glad I got this opportunity.

- getting up at 6:00 and driving 5 hours to Detroit to see the Kirov in the Sleeping Beauty. I was so exhausted by the end of the day I could barely move, but I'm so glad I did it. And I got to see Yulia Bolshakova as Florine. This girl has PROMISING written all over her.

- the continued release of ballet on dvd, a great sign (for me).

Lowlights:

- moving away from NYC, and thus missing Vishneva's Giselle

- the Kirov wigs. The male wigs looked like dead squirrels, the female wigs looked like they might fall off with a stiff wind.

[nysusan]

Highs: #1 by a mile – Hallberg & Abrerra in Faun. I’ve never particularly liked this ballet but they really showed me how spellbinding it can be.

Other highs - Lopatkina & Vishneva started the year off on a high note in the Kirov Spectacular in DC in January. I loved Lopatkina in La Valse, she managed to combine sophistication and innocence. Who says the girl has to be a wide eyed ingénue?

ABT’s production of Sylvia at the Met and their entire City Center season, especially Hallberg as Death in Green Table & Part in Les Sylphides. Lots of opportunities for talented soloists & corps members – E. Cornejo, C. Corella, Jared Matthews, Kristi Boone, Stappas, Salstein, Abrera, Ricetto, the list goes on and on. Kaleidoscope – not great, but not bad. An interesting, new classical/neoclassical ballet.

Tess Reichlin in 4Ts and Rubies, Whelan with Boal in Apollo. Tchai Suite # 3 was spectacular every time I saw it. After the Rain was deeply moving and eerily beautiful

Cojacaru & Kobborg in the Giselle Pas de Deux and Lacarra and Pierre in La Prisonnierre Pas de Deux at the Stars gala

Lunkina in the underwater scene in Pharaoh’s Daughter, she was the definition of ethereal. The Bright Stream was the big question mark in the Bolshoi’s NY season, and it was a sleeper hit. Especially with Marie Alexandrova & Tsiskaridze in the leads. It was great to see the Met sold out night after night, with long lines for standing room & cancellations

Vishneva, Lopatkina & Co in Sleeping Beauty. I seem to be in the minority but I really enjoyed the Sergeyev staging. Of course, I’m not really familiar with any other stagings except the Martins version…

Rasta Thomas with Lar Lubavitch’s company. Everything else about the evening was totally forgettable but he burst out on the stage like a shooting star. First time I’d seen him but I will seek him out in the future…

Lows: Somova & Sarafanov in The Kirov Spectacular in DC in January. Spectacularly awful. An American in Paris. Danny Tidwell leaving ABT, Ansanelli leaving NYCB, Boal & Soto’s retirements

[ViolinConcerto]

High point: Bouder in "Ballo."

Can't manage to scrape up a low point. But, I must have missed something that everyone else sees, because when I saw Reichlin do "Rubies," I thought she didn't/couldn't "finish" the steps. Maybe it was an off night for her....or me.