balletlover08 Posted December 7, 2022 Share Posted December 7, 2022 On 11/16/2022 at 1:49 PM, ABT Fan said: Susan Jaffe probably decided the Met casting. But, agree that Hurlin/Bell should be cast together. I'm so perplexed: 12 performances of Like Water?? No Ratmansky? No retirement announcements? I'm disappointed Seo/Camargo aren't paired together in R&J again, though I know that only happened because Stearns had to bow out last summer. Trenary is debuting in Like Water, so assuming Brandt will be too (I really thought she'd get a Juliet this year). One hope: with the Giselle debuts of Teuscher and Hurlin, that means both of them will most likely only do one Myrtha, leaving room for Myrtha debuts. Fingers crossed for Misseldine. Well, casting for Giselle on the Duke tour has been announced and you got your wish, Misseldine is debuting as Myrtha in the Boylston/Ahn cast Saturday matinee. Here's the link https://dukeperformances.duke.edu/events/abt-american-ballet-theatre-giselle-2/. No other Myrtha debuts I think (Hurlin was injured last time when she was supposed to do Myrtha so maybe technically her). There is a TBD for Brandt/Cornejo's cast but that might be filled by Trenary? Link to comment
ABT Fan Posted December 7, 2022 Share Posted December 7, 2022 9 hours ago, balletlover08 said: Well, casting for Giselle on the Duke tour has been announced and you got your wish, Misseldine is debuting as Myrtha in the Boylston/Ahn cast Saturday matinee. Here's the link https://dukeperformances.duke.edu/events/abt-american-ballet-theatre-giselle-2/. No other Myrtha debuts I think (Hurlin was injured last time when she was supposed to do Myrtha so maybe technically her). There is a TBD for Brandt/Cornejo's cast but that might be filled by Trenary? Fantastic! I doubt Trenary would debut Myrtha, imo I don’t see her in that role and she does Giselle now. Thank you for sharing. Link to comment
matilda Posted December 16, 2022 Share Posted December 16, 2022 (edited) Kennedy Center Romeo and Juliet casting is on the master calendar now... Hurlin gets an early debut. Also nice to see Bell and Teuscher get opening night (they were amazing at the Met last spring) and a primetime Friday night slot for Trenary. Edited December 16, 2022 by matilda Link to comment
TheAccidentalBalletomane Posted December 19, 2022 Share Posted December 19, 2022 On 11/16/2022 at 2:30 PM, abatt said: Why does McKenzie refuse to put Bell with Hurlin in a classical ballet? Ratmansky had the good sense to pair them together. There are a few factors. Both dancers appeared to have injuries over the last 18 months or so (based upon casting changes) which made it more challenging for them to partner as they were apparently injured at different times. And I suspect that the Whiteside injury also messed up the partnering decisions too. Hurlin was considered a natural Myrta and both are only recent principals. Both also match up well with several other principals. They will be dancing together a good deal, although I would like see Bell (as one of the strongest young male dancers) share his talents with several others too. I do think, without any real knowledge, that the casting for the Spring was probably determined by McKenzie. Link to comment
TheAccidentalBalletomane Posted December 19, 2022 Share Posted December 19, 2022 On 11/16/2022 at 2:49 PM, ABT Fan said: Susan Jaffe probably decided the Met casting. But, agree that Hurlin/Bell should be cast together. I'm so perplexed: 12 performances of Like Water?? No Ratmansky? No retirement announcements? I'm disappointed Seo/Camargo aren't paired together in R&J again, though I know that only happened because Stearns had to bow out last summer. Trenary is debuting in Like Water, so assuming Brandt will be too (I really thought she'd get a Juliet this year). One hope: with the Giselle debuts of Teuscher and Hurlin, that means both of them will most likely only do one Myrtha, leaving room for Myrtha debuts. Fingers crossed for Misseldine. I was was expecting that Brandt would get an R&J debut too, and believe this is a natural role for her. I am not sure Susan Jaffe decided or solely decided the casting since those decisions were made while McKenzie was still in charge. Perhaps she will be interviewed and answer some of those questions on casting, direction etc. Link to comment
DPell Posted January 2, 2023 Share Posted January 2, 2023 (edited) I'm hope casting for The Segerstrom run of Like Water for Chocolate goes up soon. I'm looking forward to potential Met season casting. Edited January 2, 2023 by DPell Link to comment
vipa Posted January 10, 2023 Share Posted January 10, 2023 In looking at ABT's Met season offerings I sincerely hope that Like Water for Chocolate has a lot of dancing for a lot of people, particularly the men in the corps. The other ballets: Giselle, Swan Lake, and R&J are pretty skimpy when it comes to dancing for the men, outside of principal and soloist roles, and there are no rep shows. Link to comment
stuben Posted January 10, 2023 Share Posted January 10, 2023 14 hours ago, vipa said: In looking at ABT's Met season offerings I sincerely hope that Like Water for Chocolate has a lot of dancing for a lot of people, particularly the men in the corps. The other ballets: Giselle, Swan Lake, and R&J are pretty skimpy when it comes to dancing for the men, outside of principal and soloist roles, and there are no rep shows. Found this from NYTimes: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/03/arts/dance/review-ballet-like-water-for-chocolate.html?smid=url-share ".... Choreographically though, it is only intermittently interesting; often it feels trapped in Story Ballet Land, a world in which activities are demonstratively telegraphed in the service of exposition..." From this bit within review I would assume there is more "theatre" than "ballet". Link to comment
Josette Posted January 14, 2023 Share Posted January 14, 2023 I attended the general rehearsal in London for Like Water for Chocolate and saw four performances, all three casts. I loved it. Some will love it, some will not. It was a huge success in London with the superb dance-actors of The Royal Ballet. At Segerstrom Center for the Performing Arts FB, you can see two of the protagonists, as posted on January 8, 2023. 665 Link to comment
Becki Lee Posted February 4, 2023 Share Posted February 4, 2023 Cassie took over the ABT Instagram today. Some hints at her and Herman in Like Water for Chocolate. And a few others but I am not familiar with the characters/storyline. Link to comment
Becki Lee Posted February 10, 2023 Share Posted February 10, 2023 Saw some tour casting for the Stonybrook stop on Instagram. Mostly typical but thought this one was interesting: SOME ASSEMBLY REQUIRED Principals: Katherine Williams, Jarod Curley Link to comment
ABT Fan Posted February 10, 2023 Share Posted February 10, 2023 1 hour ago, Becki Lee said: Saw some tour casting for the Stonybrook stop on Instagram. Mostly typical but thought this one was interesting: SOME ASSEMBLY REQUIRED Principals: Katherine Williams, Jarod Curley That's very interesting - happy to see that opportunity for both of them. And, here's another interesting casting announcement: Hee Seo is debuting as Myrtha April 22. https://www.abt.org/performances/master-calendar/ Link to comment
DPell Posted February 10, 2023 Share Posted February 10, 2023 16 hours ago, ABT Fan said: That's very interesting - happy to see that opportunity for both of them. And, here's another interesting casting announcement: Hee Seo is debuting as Myrtha April 22. https://www.abt.org/performances/master-calendar/ Good for Curley and Williams. It’s nice to see them getting more opportunities. Curley had a pretty big Fall 2021/Met 22. I have to go through my programs from last season to see what Williams danced. Link to comment
Helene Posted February 14, 2023 Share Posted February 14, 2023 From Coco Lavine's Instagram, a short rehearsal clip from "Like Water for Chocolate": https://www.instagram.com/p/Con9P2vD_j3/ Link to comment
Becki Lee Posted February 16, 2023 Share Posted February 16, 2023 A little random, but can anyone tell me what it’s like to go to a performance on a gala night? Does it feel regular (especially for a very regular person like me! :))?? I am a teacher with a short window between school and summer school! Link to comment
California Posted February 16, 2023 Author Share Posted February 16, 2023 31 minutes ago, Becki Lee said: A little random, but can anyone tell me what it’s like to go to a performance on a gala night? Does it feel regular (especially for a very regular person like me! :))?? I am a teacher with a short window between school and summer school! I went to ABT's opening night gala on June 13, 2022, as an ordinary audience member. The people in expensive clothes who attended the fancy receptions and dinners were in the Orchestra. The rest of us were above in tiers and boxes. But it was fun to see the performances and the hoop-la. Link to comment
stuben Posted February 20, 2023 Share Posted February 20, 2023 (edited) Now that the country has come out of Covid lockdowns, and with all that is going on in the country and world, it would be nice to be able to escape to a "fantasyland" in the theatre, with some joyous ballets and happiness. I am asking myself (and please don't get me wrong as I love the listed ballets individually) why these choices all in one season? Such sad ballets are all about love, yet they are about love lost and women suffering from these losses. It would be fine to have one or two of these ballets mixed with perhaps one or two cheerful full lengths! I know there is the "Mixed Rep" but that in itself is nothing compared to what NYCB just presented, and I am glad I caught the NYCB Sleeping Beauty and Fancy Free. How about bringing back Rodeo or Gaîté Parisienne, just something more cheerful to escape to vs escaping into tears and death? Again, this is just IMHO. Edited February 20, 2023 by stuben Link to comment
MoMo Posted February 22, 2023 Share Posted February 22, 2023 In spirit, I agree with you. We need happier ballets. How about Etudes or Bruch Violin Concerto? But ABT’s choices bring me joy, because they are danced so well, even though they are sad. ( I have a friend, a non ballet person, who asks me every time “Does someone die in the ballet “? It bothers him. But he goes anyway! ) Link to comment
California Posted February 22, 2023 Author Share Posted February 22, 2023 (edited) 8 hours ago, MoMo said: How about Etudes or Bruch Violin Concerto? Years ago there was a discussion here about Tippet's Bruch Violin Concerto, which premiered in 1987. Something about Kevin and the stager. But Colorado Ballet does it every few years and will do it again this April. The artistic director here is Gil Boggs; he had been a principal in the 80s so I assume that's why he likes it and presents it. Jaffe was in the original cast - perhaps she'll revive it? https://www.abt.org/ballet/bruch-violin-concerto-no-1/ EDITED TO ADD: Note that Amanda McKerrow and John Gardner were also in the original production. Both are now "Director of Repertoire" at ABT. There is a tiny clip of the ending of Etudes in The Turning Point (1977). ABT premiered it in 1961. I don't remember seeing it on ABT's schedule in the past decade (at least), but San Francisco did it in 2019. It's a killer ballet and very exciting. Are the current ABT principals up to it? https://www.abt.org/ballet/etudes/ Edited February 22, 2023 by California Link to comment
nanushka Posted February 22, 2023 Share Posted February 22, 2023 ABT has only 4 weeks at the Met now, and mixed programs do not generally sell at all well there. I think it makes sense for them to focus on full-length ballets and save the mixed programs for the Koch. And even there, I hope they'll continue to do one full-length each fall. I also hope that under Jaffe's leadership they'll find some additional opportunities to perform in NYC — and to perform more in general. Maybe then they can return to more of the shorter pieces they used to do. Link to comment
matilda Posted February 22, 2023 Share Posted February 22, 2023 (edited) My sense from listening to a recent interview with Jaffe (I forget who it was with, but the link was posted here by someone) is that she loves story ballets and contemporary work. I think she said they already had a one-act Cathy Marston "ballet" programmed for fall 2023, although that would have been McKenzie's programming choice, not hers. Hopefully there will still be a full length. The problem with ABT mixed reps is that for the past however many years, the company has proven mostly incapable of putting on a decent program. Even if a program has a Tudor masterpiece or a classic like Sinfonietta, I'm likely to avoid it if "Zig Zag" or anything with political posturing is also on the bill. At NYCB you sometimes have to worry that *one* ballet on the program will be bad. At ABT there's typically just *one* good 20 or 30-minute ballet next to two clunkers. (An exception was the recent fall program with "The Seasons" and "The Dream" -- that was great.) It's hard for me to justify the cost of the ticket for only 25ish minutes of great ballet. The mediocre mixed bills seem to always sell badly so I don't know what the company thinks it's doing. So yes, I hope Jaffe has a better pulse on what the audience wants. Edited February 22, 2023 by matilda Link to comment
abatt Posted February 22, 2023 Share Posted February 22, 2023 27 minutes ago, matilda said: My sense from listening to a recent interview with Jaffe (I forget who it was with, but the link was posted here by someone) is that she loves story ballets and contemporary work. I think she said they already had a one-act Cathy Marston "ballet" programmed for fall 2023, although that would have been McKenzie's programming choice, not hers. Hopefully there will still be a full length. The Marston one act is Summer and Smoke, which will premiere at Houston Ballet next month. Link to comment
Becki Lee Posted February 23, 2023 Share Posted February 23, 2023 Misty was on James podcast and said Dec 2023 Nutcracker is her return target (which she noted will be four years since she was last on stage!) but then mentioned Romeo and Juliet and Giselle the following Spring. Link to comment
nanushka Posted February 23, 2023 Share Posted February 23, 2023 They can't possibly be planning to do R&J and Giselle again in NYC in 2024, can they? After this summer, they'll have done both ballets twice already in the preceding two years. Especially for R&J, that is way too much. Link to comment
ABT Fan Posted February 23, 2023 Share Posted February 23, 2023 51 minutes ago, nanushka said: They can't possibly be planning to do R&J and Giselle again in NYC in 2024, can they? After this summer, they'll have done both ballets twice already in the preceding two years. Especially for R&J, that is way too much. Absolutely, way too much and I'll be extremely disappointed if that's the case. Maybe that was more of her wish (or assumed) list and not guaranteed programming. Also, it'll be interesting to see how they navigate casting when she returns. Nine principal women including her. And, she usually dances with Cornejo. So, what does that mean for Brandt and Trenary? Link to comment
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