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Nutcracker casting at Segerstrom Center


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That is incorrect. If you open the link, you will see that although Part's picture appears, she will not dance her scheduled performance in Connecticut. Part is replaced by Lauren Lovette as Ask La Cour's partner. The website states that Part is unable to appear due to injury. That should be interesting. One of the shortest members of NYCB dancing with one of the tallest. Actually, I'm very glad I opened that link because I had no idea Stella was dancing on Sunday in Connecticut. Will have to see if I can convince Mr. Abatt, who is a big Stella fan, to schlep out to Connecticut to see this.

Please, Mr. Abatt, do schlep out to Connecticut to see Stella so that you can tell us about the performance. I would love to go too, but am already committed for that day.

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I have now seen three performances, Murphy/Whiteside, Abrera/Hammoudi, and Boylston/Stearns. If time allows I would like to see more as overall I love this production and the individual personality that Ratmansky gives to his characters. For each viewing I discover more details. Each performance had moments of beauty and a few mishaps, but I want to touch briefly on the Boylston/Stearns performance as I'm happy to report that my experience was very different from Josette who reported earlier in the thread. I was seated in the Orchestra near the stage and had an excellent and close view of the dancers. After the failed "torch" lift, I was impressed by how professionally both Ms. Boylston and Mr. Stearns handled the situation. For a first time viewer the failed lift may not even have registered. Ms. Boylston's dancing was strong and completely in character. There was not a trace of looking upset, just the opposite, Ms. Boylston and Mr. Stearns both radiated warmth toward each other and to the audience. Ms. Boylston got multiple brava's and a warm applause after her variation, and there was a standing ovation for the lead couple at the end. I went with two friends who like me adored the leads and the production.

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It seems like after doing ABT's nutcracker, Sarah Lane is going to guest perform Clara with SF ballet with Vitor Luiz on Dec 22 and 23! No doubt she will be beautiful! https://www.sfballet.org/tickets/casting

That IS interesting. I'm not sure we can attribute any special meaning to this guesting though. I do wonder what sort of connections Lane has to SFB people (I only know that she was born in SF, but she's lived on the East Coast most of her life).

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That IS interesting. I'm not sure we can attribute any special meaning to this guesting though. I do wonder what sort of connections Lane has to SFB people (I only know that she was born in SF, but she's lived on the East Coast most of her life).

I say bravo to Lane, no matter how she may have landed the gig. Since ABT is not going to promote her, she might as well get out there and let other companies see how good she is. It's also great for her to receive coaching and instruction outside of ABT; she's spent her entire professional career there, and every opportunity she has to break free of that insular world offers a great chance to improve her dancing.

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I say bravo to Lane, no matter how she may have landed the gig. Since ABT is not going to promote her, she might as well get out there and let other companies see how good she is. It's also great for her to receive coaching and instruction outside of ABT; she's spent her entire professional career there, and every opportunity she has to break free of that insular world offers a great chance to improve her dancing.

Exactly right.

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What a pleasure last evening's performance brought to the audience and to myself. It was my first for this production. After having read the years of reviews both here and in the periodicals, it was a pleasure to see this magically mystifying and musical production. ABT is dancing with an increased exuberance and sense of theatricality. Simply, this production renewed my wonder of ballet. It restored my little girl love of ballet. As a teacher of ballet, it is so easy to become jaded. At times ballet can become less thrilling than the memory of the love. This production reminded me why I love ballet so much.

As for the much discussed failed torch lift of the Boylston/Stearns 1st pairing, seamlessly beautiful. Ms. Boylston and Mr. Stearns compliment one another beautifully. There was magic happening on the stage last evening.

Bravo ABT! Bravi to Ms. Boylston and Mr. Stearns!

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Discovered this on Facebook--sensational Soviet dancing with a fab torchlift (beginning around 2:35), and the choreography is attributed to Gorsky in 1906. Perhaps one of the ballet historians on this site can comment on that? It's easy to imagine the Soviets added their own touches...

https://www.facebook.com/christianmindris/videos/1675585082689350/?fref=nf

I highly recommend watching the whole thing for wonderful 'old school' Russian/Soviet dancing--lifts, tosses, etc.

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On 12/5/2015 at 2:05 PM, California said:

I saw that, too. Please compare it with the one-armed lift that starts at 1:24 in this rehearsal clip from several years ago. Mosina and Tyukov are both Russian-trained (she at Bolshoi, he at Perm). I saw them do it again last weekend and it's as amazing as ever. I've heard this referred to as the (a?) Grigorovich lift, but am not sure where that name originated. In any event, Ratmansky's Russian roots are very evident in that passage:

 

It's Nutcracker season, so I thought I'd post a new rehearsal clip of the same sequence, with the Torchlift starting at 1:21. Maria Mosina retires at the end of this season. As in the earlier one, her partner is Alexei Tyukov. This one is in the new building, in the company rehearsal room as large as the Opera House stage. He doesn't hold this with one arm as long as usual:

 

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