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Nutcracker 2021

canbelto

By canbelto
in New York City Ballet

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cobweb

cobweb

Posted
Posted

Unity Phelan is a beautiful dancer, but I have doubts about her in Swan Lake. It's hard to put into words, all I can think is that she seems too flimsy for the role. I'd be glad to be proven wrong, of course. On the other hand, I can totally see Emilie Gerrity as O/O. She has the grand, dynamic presence needed. I'd be there in heartbeat!

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abatt

abatt

Posted
Posted

I'm thinking they would pick Woodward before Gerrity, just because Woodward is a principal.  I think that's why they used Lovette, who was clearly outside of her technique wheelhouse.  Woodward could  definitely handle the technical demands of the role, I believe.

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cobweb

cobweb

Posted
Posted
44 minutes ago, abatt said:

I'm thinking they would pick Woodward before Gerrity, just because Woodward is a principal.  I think that's why they used Lovette, who was clearly outside of her technique wheelhouse.  Woodward could  definitely handle the technical demands of the role, I believe.

Maybe so, and no doubt they are looking for new roles for the new principals. I would love to see Woodward in SL. But, didn't Sara Mearns get her "big break" by doing Swan Lake while still in the corps?

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Helene

Helene

Posted
Posted

Yes, Means did.

I've only seen NYCB on video since the gala I attended in the mid teens, but thanks to those who so kindly identified dancers from my "Who's the dancer third from the left at the beginning of the second movement?" questions, I'd see Gerrity in anything if I had a chance.

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abatt

abatt

Posted
Posted
14 minutes ago, cobweb said:

Maybe so, and no doubt they are looking for new roles for the new principals. I would love to see Woodward in SL. But, didn't Sara Mearns get her "big break" by doing Swan Lake while still in the corps?

Yes, Mearns was cast in SL by Martins while she was still in the corps. 

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canbelto

canbelto

Posted
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Posted

Woodward likely won't get SL this year simply because it seems that shorter, more compact dancers like Tiler Peck and Megan Fairchild had to "wait" before they got O/O. Both Tiler and Megan had to wait till 2017. Sterling Hyltin also had to wait till 2011, four years after she was made principal.

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BalanchineFan

BalanchineFan

Posted
Posted
15 hours ago, Susu_nyc said:

Did anyone see Nadon or LaFreniere this week as Dewdrop?  

No, I saw Emily Kikta as Dewdrop. She was gorgeous, as was Phelan as SPF. Phelan brings a lot of glamour to the role, dancing fully and authoritatively. Harrison Coll was the Cavalier. (They did beautiful shoulder sit jumps for those who are keeping track). Kikta was a real highlight, the role and the jumps showcasing her long legs and her clarity of movement. Roman Mejia did not dance Candy Cane. KJ Takahashi replaced him and David Gabriel (an apprentice, I believe) took over for Takahashi as Tea. Both were great. I was happy to see Alexa Maxwell in Tea, and also Ashley Hod and Christopher Grant leading Hot Chocolate.

The only time I noticed that the children were older (taller) was during the Angels scene.  They seem to have the world's shortest, smallest 12 year old playing Fritz.

Anyone looking for debuts, they are likely to be announced right before curtain as replacements. So, so many dancers have done so many different Nutcracker roles over the past weeks and years I'm surprised there are still dancers that have NOT done the roles. If you debut 18 women in SPF any given year, it's got to reduce the number of possible debuts for a while.

I remember Kathryn Morgan saying that there were about 14 things in the SPF ppd that could go terribly wrong. She didn't list them, but every so often I wonder if I, myself, could make a list, just based on watching from the audience and what ballerinas say in interviews.

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RUKen

RUKen

Posted
Posted (edited)
On 12/19/2021 at 2:54 PM, abatt said:

I'm thinking they would pick Woodward before Gerrity, just because Woodward is a principal.  I think that's why they used Lovette, who was clearly outside of her technique wheelhouse.  Woodward could  definitely handle the technical demands of the role, I believe.

Deleted 

Edited by RUKen
For some reason, I had read "Gerrity" as "Phelan".  Please carry on...
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bellawood

bellawood

Posted
Posted
23 hours ago, canbelto said:

Reichlen, Bouder, and Mearns are currently out of commission. Idk if all three could come back before the Winter Season.

Does anyone know what's up with Reichlen? Is Joe Gordon out too? He hasn't danced since the first week and when Megan Fairchild danced with Peter Walker she said he was "the fourth partner" -- I had to think Garcia, Gordon and Ball were all out for that show. And it seems that Stanley has been out since the fall?

Megan Fairchild should get a gold medal for the number of SPF/dewdrops she is doing this season. I also see that Ashley Hod is also getting quite a few toward the end of the run.

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BalanchineFan

BalanchineFan

Posted
Posted

Unity Phelan performed the Swan Lake ppd (white swan judging from the pics) in 2018 at Vail with Corey Stearns. Phelan often seems to emphasize her legato lines but she's capable of speed and great allegro attack as well. There's a section in Nutcracker where she starts upstage left, something like soutenu, pas de chat, soutenu, pas de chat, etc. and her attack and clarity are remarkable. Watching her dig into the beginning of the Agon ppd  - there's footage of Agon on Phelan's IG  (2017?) she's worked on it with Heather Watts over the years a lot - also gives me hope for great success in SL. I just hate the Martins version, however. 

https://www.instagram.com/p/BmWMsX_jrPd/         https://www.instagram.com/p/BXJewyujYew/

Also, I agree about Megan Fairchild. Someone should vote her this year's SPF MVP.

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BalanchineFan

BalanchineFan

Posted
Posted

I'm so sorry they had to cancel performances. I hope everyone is ok. It seems I got there just in time. I saw the Sunday 5 pm show. It was really fantastic. I have a friend performing in another show the NY Times article mentions. They had been hoping to resume A Christmas Carol on Dec 27th, but I guess that's finished now, too. 

I hope everyone is safe and healthy wherever you are! Keep those masks on. They work.

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cobweb

cobweb

Posted
Posted

If anyone sees the final week of Nutcracker, please post reviews.

Also, I'm just wondering about the long-term viability of this strategy of cancelling for cases of omicron. Without knowing the extent of the outbreaks that led to NYCB and Broadway cancellations, it's hard to form an opinion. But if people aren't symptomatic, is this really necessary? They can test and mask all they want, but this variant is so transmissible that it seems like anyone could get it riding the subway home. I fear for the Winter NYCB season. Can anyone help me out here with the logic? I'm all in favor of masking and vaccine requirements (and I'm triple-vaxxed despite getting extremely unwell from the second and third shots), but I don't think these shutdowns are sustainable, or (???) necessary.

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