ABT 2020 Nutcracker Costa Mesa

[ABT Fan]

Casting has been announced.

Ahn gets a Prince debut opposite Lane.

Bell also gets his Prince debut opposite Boylston (he has only done the pas de deux previously).

Cornejo and Whiteside are not cast (I imagine they have other commitments or plans).

https://www.abt.org/events/the-nutcracker/

 

[nanushka]

Very glad to see that Forster and Shevchenko — who got very positive reviews on this forum for their performances last year — are again cast together.

[Barbara]

This is my dream pairing. Hope to get to see them together at the Met in the future! 

[ksk04]

Luck of the draw got me Shevchenko/Forster for one performance (loved them last year) and I just exchanged the other ticket to a Lane/Ahn performance.

[Lena C.]

12 minutes ago, ksk04 said:

Luck of the draw got me Shevchenko/Forster for one performance (loved them last year) and I just exchanged the other ticket to a Lane/Ahn performance.

The two best casts! 

[nanushka]

14 minutes ago, Lena C. said:

The two best casts! 

Seriously. I’m so jealous!

[Josette]

Fantastic! I've been waiting for the casting and will buy my tickets to the Schevchenko-Forster performances tomorrow. They were terrific last year.  

[AB'sMom]

I don’t know if anyone is interested, but if you join the Pas de Deux Guild at Segerstrom (which supports the ABT Gillespie School) you get two tickets to the Nutcracker dress rehearsal. 

[Josette]

I did not know that, AB'sMom.  Thank you. 

[California]

On 9/12/2019 at 6:51 PM, AB'sMom said:

I don’t know if anyone is interested, but if you join the Pas de Deux Guild at Segerstrom (which supports the ABT Gillespie School) you get two tickets to the Nutcracker dress rehearsal. 

When I visited Segerstrom a few years ago to see the ABT Nutcracker, ABT Friends were also admitted to the opening day dress rehearsal. I can't remember if ABT contacted me or if I wrote to them. Dress rehearsals at out-of-town venues are included in the ABT Friends benefits. That was the rehearsal when we expected to see Joseph Gorak and then abruptly got word that he had cancelled and a last-minute sub in practice clothes appeared.

[JanLevNYC]

I do wish I could attend one of these performances!  Enjoy, Costa Mesa!

[DaniGirl]

On 11/16/2019 at 4:44 PM, JanLevNYC said:

I do wish I could attend one of these performances!  Enjoy, Costa Mesa!

That's my old stomping ground!  I plan on returning for one show.  Ill share a report!  

[California]

Rehearsal clip of Bell and Boylston in the PdD -- am I mixed up or have they substituted a different lift for the notorious torch lift?

 

[AB'sMom]

This is just a different section. The same clip is posted on Aran Bell’s Instagram and Isabella commented, “...still shook that you got me up in that torch.”

[California]

7 hours ago, AB'sMom said:

This is just a different section. The same clip is posted on Aran Bell’s Instagram and Isabella commented, “...still shook that you got me up in that torch.”

I wish they'd post THAT clip. She says she'll post the entire thing on her IG TV, but I'm not finding that.

[LadyBubbles]

Video is up now

 

Torch lift was a struggle and almost didn't happen, but he managed to get her up. I'm sure it will be fine with a bit more rehearsal and once they get their timing right.

Edited December 8, 2019 by LadyBubbles

[California]

31 minutes ago, LadyBubbles said:

Torch lift was a struggle and almost didn't happen, but he manage to get her up. I'm sure it will be fine with a bit more rehearsal and once they get their timing right.

Thanks for posting. Fun to watch. He is being given quite the run of the rep, isn't he?

[California]

Just posted by ABT: Hoven and Copeland nail the torch lift. Nice to see more non-Russians doing this.

 

[canbelto]

It's a myth that the Bolshoi dancers always nail the torch lift. 

For instance here it is decidedly not a seamless lift:

This is much better:

 

 

[California]

24 minutes ago, canbelto said:

It's a myth that the Bolshoi dancers always nail the torch lift. 

For instance here it is decidedly not a seamless lift: ...

This is much better:

 

Hah! Thanks for posting. The first one looks more like (most) ABT dancers a few years ago -- essentially, like climbing up a ladder. Yuk.

[maps]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rOUSvVFpG8w  ‎"The Nutcracker" (N. Tsiskaridze - A. Vorontsova) 31.12.2009‎.  Watch pre then post torch lift 1 arm carry.  Post torch she's perfectly angled with her head at 7 and feet 1 o'clock respectively.  Copeland and Hoven are so secure-look great.  It's wonderful that the dancers post the process.  Sadly I've never seen the Ratmansky… is it Clara/Marie throughout or a sugar plum?  

 

[California]

14 minutes ago, maps said:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rOUSvVFpG8w  ‎"The Nutcracker" (N. Tsiskaridze - A. Vorontsova) 31.12.2009‎.  Watch pre then post torch lift 1 arm carry.  Post torch she's perfectly angled with her head at 7 and feet 1 o'clock respectively.  Copeland and Hoven are so secure-look great.  It's wonderful that the dancers post the process.  Sadly I've never seen the Ratmansky… is it Clara/Marie throughout or a sugar plum?  

 

Pretty impressive from the Bolshoi, where Ratmansky was director from 2004-2008, so he was of course familiar with that move. Although it's great to see more non-Russians master the torch lift, the only people I've seen do the one-armed version you see in that youtube clip (at 3:14) are Russian (including two retired Russians from Colorado Ballet -- Alexei Tyukov and Maria Mosina). I wonder if Ratmansky is nudging the ABT principals to work toward that someday. 

[nanushka]

1 hour ago, maps said:

Sadly I've never seen the Ratmansky… is it Clara/Marie throughout or a sugar plum?  

The adult dancers are basically a fantasy projection (at least that's my interpretation) of the young Clara and Prince. They're obviously meant to double the children, as their adult counterparts. It's a pretty great solution to the (I think) inherent narrative problem of the ballet — i.e. that the most emotionally impactful dancing is done by ceremonial characters, unless adults play the children, which doesn't really work.

Edited December 9, 2019 by nanushka

[volcanohunter]

The mirror pas de deux in Onegin includes a torch lift, albeit starting from a stationary position and traveling backwards. So it's not as though ABT dancers were completely unfamiliar with the idea. 

I once saw a Canadian dancer do the Onegin lift one-handed, which was much more impressive and perilous, cosidering that he couldn't see where he was going. He was also smiling from ear to ear as he did it. In retrospect it was probably the most impressive feat of partering I have ever seen.

[Fleurfairy]

It hurts my forearm just watching this lift! 😖 Hoven and Copeland executed it beautifully though. He's one of the best lifters in the company, of course mostly ignored by McKenzie.