Jump to content
This Site Uses Cookies. If You Want to Disable Cookies, Please See Your Browser Documentation. ×

ABT - Nutcracker at Segerstrom 2021


Recommended Posts

16 hours ago, canbelto said:

Sending healing vibes to Whiteside. It sounds like he will be out for the spring season.

And off topic, but he has a really nice speaking voice.

I've always enjoyed his voice as well - did you ever listen to his podcast? I'm not sure if he does that anymore, but he's also a good commentator and host.

 

14 hours ago, abatt said:

Sorry to hear this.  I hope Whiteside's surgery goes well.

ABT was already stretched thin.  Who are they going to recruit to take all of Whiteside's assignments.  Every male principal already has a lot to do. 

They can absolutely give Ahn more to do - he only has 2 Basilio's and one Siegfried. He could take Romeo for one (that would be a debut) and be cast with Boylston.

They have some male corps dancers, whom they've given some opportunities to in the past, who could use greater challenges and I believe would rise to the occasion. I saw Gonzalez with Lane in Harlequinade and he was excellent. He has virtuoso technique and is a great partner - he would make a great, and natural, Basilio. They could shuffle that casting to make it work for height purposes: replace Whiteside who is with Seo and pair Ahn/Seo. And, then replace Ahn with Boylston and cast Gonzalez. There, I fixed DQ. 😉

Ahn only has one Siegfried, so they give him one more with Boylston. I could see them giving Bell a 3rd one, as they love to load him up. 

I think the ship has sailed on Hoven, as management has made clear, so I'd be surprised if they gave him any leads. They need to start developing more male corps dancers by giving them some principal roles - their 4 male soloists, for various reasons, aren't principal material.

Best wishes to Whiteside for a speedy recovery! Maybe he'll be able to return next Fall.

Link to comment
14 minutes ago, ABT Fan said:

They can absolutely give Ahn more to do - he only has 2 Basilio's and one Siegfried. He could take Romeo for one (that would be a debut) and be cast with Boylston.

. .. . Ahn only has one Siegfried, so they give him one more with Boylston. I could see them giving Bell a 3rd one, as they love to load him up. 

Agree on Ahn. I don't remember noticing him before, but he was spectacular with Teuscher at the Thursday 12/16 ABT Nutcracker. 

PS: They nailed the torch lift, for what it's worth, but Teuscher with Stears at the Sat mat flubbed it badly -- she made it as far as his shoulder, where she sat down. That was the only torch lift that wasn't beautifully done in the performances I saw with Bell-Hurlin and Bell-Shevchenko. Still, though, nobody does a one-armed version.

Link to comment

How was Hurlin

25 minutes ago, California said:

Agree on Ahn. I don't remember noticing him before, but he was spectacular with Teuscher at the Thursday 12/16 ABT Nutcracker. 

PS: They nailed the torch lift, for what it's worth, but Teuscher with Stears at the Sat mat flubbed it badly -- she made it as far as his shoulder, where she sat down. That was the only torch lift that wasn't beautifully done in the performances I saw with Bell-Hurlin and Bell-Shevchenko. Still, though, nobody does a one-armed version.

How was Bell Hurlin and Bell Shevchenko.

Link to comment
3 minutes ago, abatt said:

How was Bell Hurlin and Bell Shevchenko.

I am a huge fan of all three and really enjoyed their performances. I hope they are not over-doing it casting Bell -- three consecutive evenings (Fri-Sat-Sun) with two partners. But he's young (23) so I guess they figure he can handle it. He replaced Forster partnering Shevchenko. Teuscher replaced Hee Seo Sat matinee with Stearns. 

One detail I noticed: ABT Official posted photos of Hurlin as young Clara in the original performances (with Murphy) and now with Hurlin grown up. Murphy wore a pancake-style tutu and Hurlin was in point shoes. I much prefer the longer above-knee skirt they use now for the grown-up -- it makes her seem more human. And young Clara is now only in soft shoes.

It was also interesting that they had loads of very young children, all masked -- except for Clara and her brother. I assume they worked this out with local health officials months ago for rehearsals. The masks on young kids work fine, as they do in the Colorado Ballet performances. I wonder why NYCB wasn't able to work this out with NYC officials.

Link to comment

Young Clara never wore pointe shoes in the production, so they must have just had her in pointe shoes for the photo with Murphy when she was young. It’s interesting to me that they used to use slightly older kids for the role of Clara. Hurlin did it when she was 14 and 15. Now the kids are almost always younger. My daughter did it when she was 11 and 12 (though I think she was the youngest at 11). There was one 14-year-old in Costa Mesa, but she was very small. The average age definitely seems to be around 12 now.

Link to comment
4 hours ago, AB'sMom said:

Young Clara never wore pointe shoes in the production, so they must have just had her in pointe shoes for the photo with Murphy when she was young. It’s interesting to me that they used to use slightly older kids for the role of Clara. Hurlin did it when she was 14 and 15. Now the kids are almost always younger. My daughter did it when she was 11 and 12 (though I think she was the youngest at 11). There was one 14-year-old in Costa Mesa, but she was very small. The average age definitely seems to be around 12 now.

Here's the older photo with Murphy in the pancake tutu and Hurlin in pointe shoes: 7d8072e47a5f6e00b7ec79f44863e296.jpg

I never saw the BAM performances, so I don't know about young Clara in those. 

Link to comment

According to the master calendar, in addition to the Met season they also have twelve Don Quixotes to cast in the spring for Kennedy Center as well as performances in Norfolk, VA and New Orleans. Without Whiteside, they may end up casting Forster or Royal, but I'm not sure either of those guys have Basilio in them. They may very well need to pull from the corps -- didn't Sung Woo Han dance the pas de deux with Hurlin on tours last summer? -- or maybe they'll give Simkin, Brooklyn Mack, or other possible guest artists a call. Otherwise, 20 Don Quixotes over three months seems like too much for Stearns, Ahn, Bell, and Cornejo to split on their own.  

Link to comment
10 minutes ago, JuliaJ said:

According to the master calendar, in addition to the Met season they also have twelve Don Quixotes to cast in the spring for Kennedy Center as well as performances in Norfolk, VA and New Orleans. Without Whiteside, they may end up casting Forster or Royal, but I'm not sure either of those guys have Basilio in them. They may very well need to pull from the corps -- didn't Sung Woo Han dance the pas de deux with Hurlin on tours last summer? -- or maybe they'll give Simkin, Brooklyn Mack, or other possible guest artists a call. Otherwise, 20 Don Quixotes over three months seems like too much for Stearns, Ahn, Bell, and Cornejo to split on their own.  

Add Kimin Kim of the Mariinsky to the list of guest stars we'd be very fortunate to see again.  He visited several  years ago for La Bayadere, as I remember. 

Link to comment
1 hour ago, JuliaJ said:

According to the master calendar, in addition to the Met season they also have twelve Don Quixotes to cast in the spring for Kennedy Center as well as performances in Norfolk, VA and New Orleans. Without Whiteside, they may end up casting Forster or Royal, but I'm not sure either of those guys have Basilio in them. They may very well need to pull from the corps -- didn't Sung Woo Han dance the pas de deux with Hurlin on tours last summer? -- or maybe they'll give Simkin, Brooklyn Mack, or other possible guest artists a call. Otherwise, 20 Don Quixotes over three months seems like too much for Stearns, Ahn, Bell, and Cornejo to split on their own.  

I agree with everything you wrote here. Yes, Han did the pas with Hurlin this summer, but I think that was a necessary choice; I don't see him carrying a lead at all. Cornejo won't be able to sub in; his current allotment is a lot for him now IMO. I saw Forster as Espada, and he was terrific, but I don't see him as Basilio. He could be surprising though. Royal doesn't have the technique. Would also love to see Simkin and Mack guest star. 

1 hour ago, California said:

Add Kimin Kim of the Mariinsky to the list of guest stars we'd be very fortunate to see again.  He visited several  years ago for La Bayadere, as I remember. 

Kim would make an amazing guest star for DQ. His Solor at the Met a few years ago was astonishing.

Edited by ABT Fan
Link to comment
On 12/23/2021 at 3:04 PM, ABT Fan said:

I agree with everything you wrote here. Yes, Han did the pas with Hurlin this summer, but I think that was a necessary choice; I don't see him carrying a lead at all. Cornejo won't be able to sub in; his current allotment is a lot for him now IMO. I saw Forster as Espada, and he was terrific, but I don't see him as Basilio. He could be surprising though. Royal doesn't have the technique. Would also love to see Simkin and Mack guest star. 

Kim would make an amazing guest star for DQ. His Solor at the Met a few years ago was astonishing.

Kim is a fine dancer and perfect for the role of Basilio. He seems to dance with quite a bit of ego (just my opinion) and if he guests again, I hope they integrate him into the production a bit. I would like to see him develop more of a relationship with the dancers at ABT. I thought his Solor was very "guest-y" as in here I am, here are my tricks, aren't I great! rather than furthering the storytelling or making the audience feel anything other than awe. Great dancer, great potential, not quite an artist in this setting. Just my opinion, and it could change at any moment given what Kim does the next time he sets foot onstage.

Sorry to hear about James Whiteside's injury. He's chronicling his recovery on IG, for those who want to follow.

Link to comment
1 hour ago, BalanchineFan said:

Kim is a fine dancer and perfect for the role of Basilio. He seems to dance with quite a bit of ego (just my opinion) and if he guests again, I hope they integrate him into the production a bit. I would like to see him develop more of a relationship with the dancers at ABT. I thought his Solor was very "guest-y" as in here I am, here are my tricks, aren't I great! rather than furthering the storytelling or making the audience feel anything other than awe. Great dancer, great potential, not quite an artist in this setting. Just my opinion, and it could change at any moment given what Kim does the next time he sets foot onstage.

I see your point. I would agree that he danced with ego, however, besides the tricks I believe he possesses great charisma and stage presence, had terrific chemistry with Seo, and was very fluid and even luxurious in his phrasing. So, IMO I witnessed more than just tricks. 
 

Guest stars rarely integrate into the company, they usually just fly in/fly out for their one or two Met performances, which is kind of the point. They almost never go on tour with them. I see your point here as well, but I’m not sure how they could become more of a company member when as a guest they are scheduled for a very limited number of performances.

Link to comment
21 hours ago, ABT Fan said:

I see your point. I would agree that he danced with ego, however, besides the tricks I believe he possesses great charisma and stage presence, had terrific chemistry with Seo, and was very fluid and even luxurious in his phrasing. So, IMO I witnessed more than just tricks. 
 

Guest stars rarely integrate into the company, they usually just fly in/fly out for their one or two Met performances, which is kind of the point. They almost never go on tour with them. I see your point here as well, but I’m not sure how they could become more of a company member when as a guest they are scheduled for a very limited number of performances.

Maybe the partnership with Seo is a place to start, then. I agree, he has a great deal of charisma.

I hope the new AD will address some of these guest artist issues. What you describe wasn't always the case. I was a huge fan of ABT in the late 1970's and 80's. Baryshnikov and Makarova started out as guests, IIRC. So did Gelsey Kirkland and Rudolf Nureyev. For me, the point would be to have a continuing, growing relationship with any guests, so that partnerships, artistic relationships, inclusion in new works, etc might be part of the "guesting" package eventually. And to look for artists who want to build on the connection with ABT.

Link to comment
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...