California Posted March 6, 2020 Share Posted March 6, 2020 21 minutes ago, Josette said: Sarah Lane, an expressive dancer, would be beautiful in Of Love and Rage. Ratmansky has cast her in the past, which makes one wonder. ABT is probably assuming this will be a big hit they will do again in spring 2021. Very depressing to connect those dots... Link to comment
Olga Posted March 6, 2020 Share Posted March 6, 2020 2 hours ago, Leah said: I think it’s telling that she thanks everyone but the choreographer, but I’m probably reading too much into it. I don’t think so. It’s a pretty obvious omission given that it’s a premiere of a ballet. And she knows and has worked with the choreographer. Strikes me as another one of her weird, indirectly hostile posts. I love her dancing but I’m getting turned off to her. Link to comment
pherank Posted March 6, 2020 Share Posted March 6, 2020 2 hours ago, AB'sMom said: I wish I knew more about ballet so I could give better commentary. The best way I can explain things would be to say that rather than being a ballet where there is a lot of mime and people standing on the sides of the stage, broken up by stretches of either the Corp de ballet or a pas de deux or a solo (I know that’s a broad generalization), nearly everyone on stage is moving most of the time. I did sometimes wish for a break in the busyness of it all, thinking it would perhaps make the dramatic moments more dramatic. But I loved that conversations were shorts bursts of choreography, if that makes any sense, and that they used a chorus of dancers since it is a staple of Greek drama. The men in particular seemed to get more choreography than is typical. I’ll see how I feel after at least one more viewing. For now I’ll say that I loved the choreography but wasn’t emotionally moved by the story. All valid observations, AB'sMom. Much contemporary choreography suffers from hyper-kinetic movement syndrome. 😉 Since traditional forms of narrative and pacing are being abandoned in many of these works (and in the music they are built upon), we're dependent on the choreographer to invent new dramatic structures. Your observation that too much 'busyness' only serves to obscure the drama intended for particular movements/steps is a good one. In less successful contemporary ballets we often end up with more continuous 'white noise' than attractive visual music - precisely because of this busyness factor. I would think that if any choreographer is sensitive to evolving balletic structures it would be Ratmansky, so it's interesting to hear that he may experiencing the same pitfalls as other contemporary choreographers. Or is it all simply an experiment on his part? (How to sustain movement for the length of a typical ballet.) Link to comment
Kathleen O'Connell Posted March 6, 2020 Share Posted March 6, 2020 29 minutes ago, pherank said: Since traditional forms of narrative and pacing are being abandoned in many of these works (and in the music they are built upon), we're dependent on the choreographer to invent new dramatic structures. I may be in a minority of one, but I don't find Ratmansky to be a particularly good storyteller, nor particularly adept at dramatic pacing, and this includes some of his reconstructed heritage works as well as his own narrative ballets. Namouna, for all its glorious nuttiness feels more like a coherent story to me than, say, The Tempest, perhaps because it riffs on so many of the tropes that characterize classic story ballets. Link to comment
JuliaJ Posted March 6, 2020 Share Posted March 6, 2020 I read Lane's post as simply giving shoutouts to people who are less likely to receive shoutouts than the choreographer and the lead dancers -- the corps dancers and the people behind the scenes with whom she works closely. And she did hashtag "#alexeiratmansky" in the post. As to her lack of casting, Ratmansky also has used Boylston numerous times and did not cast her in this.... same with Trenary and probably others. Given that there are only three casts, there are only so many slots to go around. (Of course, I think Lane is significantly under-casted in the spring season, but I'm not reading too much into the situation with this particular ballet.) Link to comment
nanushka Posted March 6, 2020 Share Posted March 6, 2020 47 minutes ago, mussel said: What's the running time? The ABT website lists it as 140 minutes. Link to comment
LadyBubbles Posted March 6, 2020 Share Posted March 6, 2020 Are any petite dancers cast in leading roles? Maybe this is a "tall" ballet. Boylston, Copeland, Lane, Trenary, and Brandt are all missing. It's nice that the corps ladies who are not doing a leading role get a shoutout outside of the occasional story taken from the wings. Often times, corps dancers get a lot of encouraging posts when they debut a principal role, but many of them will never get that chance so it's nice to be recognized. Also, that's a very lovely picture. Link to comment
LadyBubbles Posted March 7, 2020 Share Posted March 7, 2020 I haven't seen the ballet but I'd give Hurlin a break for now. It's her first time being the lead and doing a role like this, not to mention that she had the responsibility of premiering this ballet, while Bell has had experience in roles that require emoting and has been the lead many times before. We'll see how she does in the Spring. The nerves should go down a little bit by then, so then we can really judge her expression and emotion in this role. Link to comment
Fleurfairy Posted March 7, 2020 Share Posted March 7, 2020 I think this was just a ballet suited to taller dancers. And Hurlin seems to be the new company golden girl so they want to capitalize on that. Re: Lane’s photo and caption...Strange that Lane is not cast in The Seasons although she created the role. And why a “TBA” in its place? Doesn’t make sense. Link to comment
Josette Posted March 7, 2020 Share Posted March 7, 2020 (edited) I feel like I saw a different ballet tonight. Shevchenko and Forster were extraordinary: gorgeous dancing and so expressive and moving. They took my breath away and transformed the ballet. I can't wait to see them again on Saturday evening. The entire cast looked more settled in and danced very well. Edited March 7, 2020 by Josette Link to comment
AB'sMom Posted March 7, 2020 Share Posted March 7, 2020 Hee Seo/Calvin Royal are dancing Saturday night. Shevchenko and Forster are dancing Sunday matinee. Link to comment
cubanmiamiboy Posted March 7, 2020 Share Posted March 7, 2020 17 hours ago, Kathleen O'Connell said: Namouna, for all its glorious nuttiness feels more like a coherent story to me than, say, The Tempest... Don't remind me that I jumped on a plane once to see this. All my recollections are of Marcelo Ina huge beard looking like Moses and a frikin' boat spinning onstage. I slept through the whole thing. His LHBH and Anna Karenina-(saw them both in Russia)- I also found soporific as well. Not a fan at all of his own material, but certainly love his reconstructions. Link to comment
tutu Posted March 7, 2020 Share Posted March 7, 2020 Speaking of story, to echo someone’s earlier post, is there a synopsis anywhere? Link to comment
Helene Posted March 7, 2020 Share Posted March 7, 2020 A reminder that "I heard" will result in a deleted post. News is either official, or it shouldn't be posted. We can't read IM's and wouldn't if we could. You can IM any news you want, as long as you are not abusive or someone tells you not to contact them. Link to comment
ABT Fan Posted March 7, 2020 Author Share Posted March 7, 2020 There’s a synopsis here: https://www.abt.org/scfta-presents-world-premiere-of-love-and-rage/ Link to comment
tutu Posted March 7, 2020 Share Posted March 7, 2020 9 minutes ago, ABT Fan said: There’s a synopsis here: https://www.abt.org/scfta-presents-world-premiere-of-love-and-rage/ Thank you! My goodness, this sounds like true drama... Link to comment
Amy Reusch Posted March 9, 2020 Share Posted March 9, 2020 On 3/6/2020 at 6:12 PM, nanushka said: The ABT website lists it as 140 minutes. Surely that is including intermission? Link to comment
nanushka Posted March 9, 2020 Share Posted March 9, 2020 (edited) 8 hours ago, Amy Reusch said: Surely that is including intermission? Yes, it would seem so. For comparison, Swan Lake is listed as 145 minutes, while another page breaks down the two parts as 70 and 45 minutes, leaving 30 minutes for intermission. Edited March 9, 2020 by nanushka Link to comment
Amy Reusch Posted March 9, 2020 Share Posted March 9, 2020 That is still a long ballet... Romeo & Juliet carries two hours... is the story strong enough to hold the audience that long? Link to comment
AB'sMom Posted March 9, 2020 Share Posted March 9, 2020 I think so. It’s a lot of story to pack in. It didn’t feel long. Link to comment
Username Posted March 9, 2020 Share Posted March 9, 2020 33 minutes ago, Amy Reusch said: That is still a long ballet... Romeo & Juliet carries two hours... is the story strong enough to hold the audience that long? A lot of action, a lot of drama. Kept everyone fully engaged. Link to comment
Amy Reusch Posted March 9, 2020 Share Posted March 9, 2020 Good to know... Ratmansky has been good, I believe, in carrying the story. I don't get to see much these days, but in the little I have seen has been brushing up of old classics, he's done an excellent job with telling the story... Link to comment
Roberta Posted March 9, 2020 Share Posted March 9, 2020 (edited) 14 hours ago, Amy Reusch said: Surely that is including intermission? Yes. Act I lasts exactly 60 minutes, while Act II is 44 mins. The lone intermission was about 30 minutes. The ballet began about 5-6 minutes after the 7:30pm official starting time. No complaints. It went by very quickly. Such a great ballet, especially the Hurlin/Bell/Whiteside-led cast, although I also enjoyed Shevchenko/Forster/Hoven. The corps de ballet was spectacular in all shows, dancing difficult, substantive choreography in every scene. I missed 3rd-cast Seo/Bell/Ahn on Sunday. Bell subbed for an indisposed Calvin Royal, who was originally announced to partner Seo on Sat night. Switches were made so that Bell would not have to do two performances in one day. Wishing Royal a speedy recovery. Edited March 9, 2020 by Roberta Link to comment
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