ABT 2017 Spring Season at The Met

[vipa]

Very interesting points. In the old days ABT did tour more, giving dancers an opportunity to develop. ABT no longer does those tours but I see that some dancers do outside gigs as a way of developing. Boylston did Vall under Damien and Sarah Lane has been working with Daniel Ulbricht's group. I could be wrong, but I don't think those kind of opportunities were as numerous as they are now. 

 

Sarah Lane went to the Marinsky? I didn't know that.

[Fleurfairy]

Sarah Lane also guested with San Francisco Ballet last year in their Nutcracker - she danced the Pas De Deux. 

[laurel]

14 minutes ago, vipa said:

Sarah Lane went to the Marinsky? I didn't know that.

I think that Jayne was simply offering some examples to support her hypothesis:   "So, if Cory Sterns had gone to the RB, or if Sarah Lane had gone to the Mariinsky . . . "  It's funny to think about, because if Lane really HAD guested with the Mariinsky, everyone on this board would have known about it the instant it happened, and would still be talking about it, even years later.    Sarah Lane actually toured last summer with Roberto Bolle and friends, and posted some fun clips on Instagram of her rehearsals.  It looked like she was having a great time.

[volcanohunter]

3 hours ago, Fraildove said:

He also said the same thing about difficulty obtaining visas as well as the huge rise in cost of the sponsoring agencies to secure those visas. So my question is, do you think that might have something to do without ABT's lack of guest artists, and if so do you think that if the political tensions die down that perhaps we will see a reamergance of the Russian Guests back on the ABT roster?

 

I seem to recall that not that long ago Edward Watson couldn't appear at a gala as scheduled because of visa difficulties. He wouldn't have needed a visa to enter the United States--the UK is part of the Visa Waiver Program--but employment visas can be hard to get, period.

[California]

18 hours ago, ABT Fan said:

Both of Ferri's Onegin performances, less than 2 weeks away, have a TON of seats available. So, unless that changes quickly, their hope and gamble that she would bring in the crowds hasn't worked this time.

 

I just looked at Onegin week tickets. The only cast that's selling well is Vishneva-Gomes, especially her final performance Friday night. Hallberg, Bolle, Ferri, Abrera - nobody seems to be bringing them in, in great numbers. In previous seasons, the local community of Russian expats seemed loyal to any Russian dancer, but they haven't had much to choose from this season.

[Jayne]

Sorry if I wasn't clear (posting whilst tired encourages poor grammar choices....just ask a certain occupant of a certain house painted white).  

 

Cory Stearns did do an exchange and Sarah guested in Spain.  But I think exchanges are easier for visa approvals (looks less like foreigners stealing American jobs).  

 

I wouldn't mind some guest exchanges with American companies: would love to see some yearlong exchanges with RB, POB, NBoC,  etc.  But also with some big American city companies.  

Edited June 11, 2017 by Jayne

[Dreamer]

13 hours ago, Jayne said:

I wouldn't mind some guest exchanges with American companies: would love to see some yearlong exchanges with RB, POB, NBoC,  etc.  But also with some big American city companies.  

 

I like the idea of guest exchanges between American ballet companies.  When Corey Sterns danced Onegin a few years ago with SFB, it was this appearance that sparked my interest in ABT and I started traveling to see company's performances in NYC and Southern California.

[Jayne]

Perhaps a tall, strong American male principal on exchange to ABT would get Veronika Part more performances?  

 

 

Edited June 11, 2017 by Jayne

[angelica]

28 minutes ago, Jayne said:

Perhaps a tall, strong American male principal on exchange to ABT would get Veronika Part more performances?  

 

 

 

Do you have anyone in mind? I think that's a great idea. Better happen soon!

 

Edited June 11, 2017 by angelica
addition

[nysusan]

37 minutes ago, Jayne said:

Perhaps a tall, strong American male principal on exchange to ABT would get Veronika Part more performances?  

 

 

 

9 minutes ago, angelica said:

 

Do you have anyone in mind? I think that's a great idea. Better happen soon!

 

 

Fabrice Calmels!!!!!  Not American, but a dancer with an American company. He and Part have guested together, I'd love to see them together at ABT

[ABT Fan]

38 minutes ago, Jayne said:

Perhaps a tall, strong American male principal on exchange to ABT would get Veronika Part more performances?  

 

 

 

Fabrice Calmels would be gorgeous with Part. But, my sense is that finding her a better partner is not a priority for ABT.

[canbelto]

Cory Stearns is a good partner for Veronika. He's not an exciting dancer at all and there's not much chemistry between them but in terms of partnering he handles the challenges pretty well.

[Jayne]

Veronika deserves better than that

[nanushka]

59 minutes ago, canbelto said:

Cory Stearns is a good partner for Veronika. He's not an exciting dancer at all and there's not much chemistry between them but in terms of partnering he handles the challenges pretty well.

 

20 minutes ago, Jayne said:

Veronika deserves better than that

 

Yeah, there's quite a lot more to a truly successful partnership than just handling the challenges. Veronika's strengths are not about whiz-bang technical feats. The chemistry is a crucial ingredient.

[alexL]

Absolutely agree with Jayne. Veronika deserves better! Stearns' partnering has improved tons since he first became a principal but he is such a naturally wooden actor. As someone has pointed out, he doesn't have that "it" factor and I doubt that will ever change. Besides, he still makes some partnering mistakes here and there. Partnering wise, I think Whiteside is stronger but he is also not best suited for the prince roles... (I do however like him in DonQ or Le Corsaire)I really miss the time when Gomes was able to partner up with Part. 

 

Now that Bolle is limiting his performances at Met, maybe ABT can find a tall male dancer from outside for Part. I know there are some soloists or corps members who are tallish and talented but I don't think any one of them can match Part- at least not yet. I do see some promising talents but they need more experience to develop while Part doesn't have a lot of time left... I wouldn't be surprised if she retires within a few years. 

[Victura]

3 hours ago, alexL said:

I really miss the time when Gomes was able to partner up with Part. 

 

Why did they stop partnering each other?

[nanushka]

7 hours ago, Victura said:

 

Why did they stop partnering each other?

 

I don't know that there's any clearly documented answer to that, but it's true that Gomes has been scaling back over recent years -- e.g. dropping certain roles such as Solor and others from his rep. I get the sense that he's being quite mindful of marshaling his strengths so he can continue to give the best possible performances for as long as possible.

 

Sometimes people like to talk about Part as if she's some kind of Amazonian freak of nature and while that's certainly not true she is definitely on the taller end and I imagine that lifting her is rather taxing even for so strong a partner as Gomes.

 

Edited to add:

And speaking of Solor, I thought Veronika had quite a good partnership with Denys Nedak two years ago in Bayadère. He was a good match for her lyric intensity and was a strong partner. I'd love to see him come back to be her Siegfried next year.

Edited June 12, 2017 by nanushka

[Victura]

Thank you, nanushka. I saw Part and Gomes partner together in a performance that was in the Gomes documentary, and they looked great together and was curious why they didn't partner each other more often. She has also spoken quite well of him and attended that documentary premiere and they seem quite friendly. But he has been retiring roles lately and is getting older, so it makes sense that he may want to prolong his ballet career for as long as possible and play to his strengths.

[nanushka]

3 minutes ago, Victura said:

Thank you, nanushka. I saw Part and Gomes partner together in a performance that was in the Gomes documentary, and they looked great together and was curious why they didn't partner each other more often. She has also spoken quite well of him and attended that documentary premiere and they seem quite friendly. But he has been retiring roles lately and is getting older, so it makes sense that he may want to prolong his ballet career for as long as possible and play to his strengths.

 

There's so little footage of her, professional or otherwise, so I'll definitely be looking for that. They also dance the white swan PDD in the 2013 YAGP video titled Ballet's Greatest Hits (available on Amazon). It's basically a gala performance, though so not at all with the same intensity as their full-length staged performances. But the video includes some interview segments in which, as I recall, the two of them are sitting together and she's gushing about what it's like to be partnered by him. (And she's certainly not the only ballerina I've heard talk that way.)

[California]

4 hours ago, nanushka said:

 

I don't know that there's any clearly documented answer to that, but it's true that Gomes has been scaling back over recent years -- e.g. dropping certain roles such as Solor and others from his rep. I get the sense that he's being quite mindful of marshaling his strengths so he can continue to give the best possible performances for as long as possible.

 

In the Gomes documentary, he says his performance of La Bayadere with Vishneva in Japan is the last time he will do that role -- and that was filmed several years ago.

 

He did the first act of Don Quixote at the Alonso birthday celebration (was that in 2010?) and I'm pretty sure he hasn't done it since. Corella said recently that Don Q is a young man's role

[ABT Fan]

10 minutes ago, California said:

He did the first act of Don Quixote at the Alonso birthday celebration (was that in 2010?) and I'm pretty sure he hasn't done it since. Corella said recently that Don Q is a young man's role

 

Well, as much as I'd like to still see Gomes in pretty much everything, I admire his awareness and respect for his instrument by retiring some roles before he does. I imagine McKenzie would love to have him still dance Don Q, Solor, and any other role he no longer does even if the technique isn't up to what he could do before. His characterizations and partnering alone would make them wonderful performances, and he still has a very clean and admirable technique within his range.

 

Separately, Devon Teuscher is 5'7 and Gomes partnered her in D.C. in SL (and I understand that went really well). Part is 5'8 but that inch must be enough to make a difference for him. I'm guessing that may be the same reason Bolle no longer seems to dance w/ her as well as he's 40+. They were gorgeous together.

[Golden Idol]

I am more than a little surprised by the lukewarm ticket sales to both of Ferri's Onegins next week; both are now available on TDF. However, it suggests to me that ABT audiences want to see only one performance of Onegin and if that's so, the one they'll choose is Vishneva's farewell. (I'm going to both.)

 

In related Ferri news: I was in London last week, and saw three performances of the Ashton mixed bill, one of which featured Ferri in Marguerite and Armand. Osipova worked hard, sweat a lot, and gave a bravura performance; Zenaida Yanowsky, in her farewell to Covent Garden, gave an aristocratic, thoroughly professional performance; and then Ferri absolutely sold me. She inhabited Marguerite down to the bone. Totally marvellous.

[clrtt]

On 6/11/2017 at 9:31 PM, alexL said:

Absolutely agree with Jayne. Veronika deserves better! Stearns' partnering has improved tons since he first became a principal but he is such a naturally wooden actor. As someone has pointed out, he doesn't have that "it" factor and I doubt that will ever change. Besides, he still makes some partnering mistakes here and there. Partnering wise, I think Whiteside is stronger but he is also not best suited for the prince roles... (I do however like him in DonQ or Le Corsaire)I really miss the time when Gomes was able to partner up with Part. 

 

Now that Bolle is limiting his performances at Met, maybe ABT can find a tall male dancer from outside for Part. I know there are some soloists or corps members who are tallish and talented but I don't think any one of them can match Part- at least not yet. I do see some promising talents but they need more experience to develop while Part doesn't have a lot of time left... I wouldn't be surprised if she retires within a few years. 

 

[clrtt]

I think that there is a corps member who is quite suited to partner Part... Gray Davis. I understand that she rehearses with him quite often by request, and in fact has performed with him outside of ABT. He was injured a couple of years back and hasn't seemed to gain momentum yet again, but given the chance I think he would more than rise to the occasion.

[Natalia]

28 minutes ago, clrtt said:

I think that there is a corps member who is quite suited to partner Part... Gray Davis. I understand that she rehearses with him quite often by request, and in fact has performed with him outside of ABT. He was injured a couple of years back and hasn't seemed to gain momentum yet again, but given the chance I think he would more than rise to the occasion.

 

Isn't Gray Davis the "hero" who jumped last week onto the NY Subway tracks to rescue a man who had been pushed in? I seem to recall reading that his back had been hurt in that incident but maybe not too seriously?