ABT Giselle: Met 2023

[Rose1186]

That’s fine - let’s just flip it… why are men given a pass for doing the entrechat sixes without questioning their fitness for the role, but women are not given any leeway?

Also, I think… although maybe I’m wrong… that many (most?) of the men who do the brises now are doing them because they are easier for them to pull off, and not to honor the original choreo.

[FauxPas]

When I saw Trenary as Giselle at the Koch in 2021, I had problems with both her first and second acts.  The second act lacked ballon and lightness and Trenary's Giselle seemed still human, not a spirit.  I agree with NYSusan about the bratty, petulant and overly flirtatious first act.  I think people forget that by the mid-90's, the otherwise ideal Alessandra Ferri started to have technical difficulties with the hops on pointe and started canceling her Giselle performances at ABT.  Then there was the opposite problem with Paloma Herrera who could nail the diagonal of hops but was a flat, earthbound Giselle in Act II.  (Herrera improved a lot at her 2015 Giselle farewell, where nevertheless Roberto Bolle stole the show with an endless series of entrechats in Act II which required the music to repeat - probably my personal record for Albrecht entrechats!)  You can't always have everything.  But I too am surprised by Trenary's difficulties since she was so good as Aurora in "Sleeping Beauty" which is a very difficult classical ballerina role.  She is very intelligent.  Also Trenary is not a beginner, she has been with the company since 2011.

I think it is a shame that ABT has kind of abandoned its Antony Tudor repertoire since that is one place where Trenary could really shine - bringing humanity and psychology into ballet.  Like a latter day Nora Kaye.  Also her earthiness and charm would work well in DeMille ballets.  

I rather agree with Abatt that I found Murphy enjoyable as Giselle and her technique is still remarkable.  Agreed that she didn't cover much ground in the hops and stopped a little early but the rest of her Act I solo was impressive.  Her natural way of moving - sharp, clean, straight back and neck - is sort of antithetical to Romantic style but she still managed well.  Forster is a beautiful, if limited, danseur noble and his acting was very credible throughout, his partnering rock solid and his dancing clean and well-shaped.  The entrechats were high and tight but he ended them a little early - no shame there.  Overall he is beautiful to watch, if not a virtuoso.

I think Misseldine could profitably look at Devon Teuscher's port de bras as Myrta - her arm movements were so elegant and timed with the music.  Yes some of the arabesques were low and the penché turns stiff but Devon had a lot of style.

Edited July 10, 2023 by FauxPas

[Kathleen O'Connell]

10 hours ago, California said:

Maybe I'm part of a small minority, but I much prefer the brises

I'm part of that small minority too. I also loathe the hops on pointe; in fact, I loathe any hops on pointe. I think they look like a circus trick and flatter no one. (Your mileage may vary of course.) They're not the thing I'm going to judge a Giselle by, although I agree that it's better to work out a valid and expressive substitute in advance and just do that. 

An aside, I saw Trenary's 2021 Giselle. I don't remember the hops on pointe, but I do remember her mad scene, which was first rate.

[fondoffouettes]

11 minutes ago, Kathleen O'Connell said:

I'm part of that small minority too. I also loathe the hops on pointe; in fact, I loathe any hops on pointe.

I think Isabella Boylston might agree with you! (I enjoyed this video she made a while back.)

https://www.instagram.com/p/Co8Bie1AZIe/?hl=en

[Kathleen O'Connell]

2 minutes ago, fondoffouettes said:

I think Isabella Boylston might agree with you! (I enjoyed this video she made a while back.)

https://www.instagram.com/p/Co8Bie1AZIe/?hl=en

🤣 

[NinaFan]

Early 90’sish I remember watching a lovely ABT soloist having a lot of difficulty performing the Italian fouettes at rehearsal.   I felt so sorry for her as she was beautiful in everything else.  But the role required the Italian fouettes.  As is common at rehearsals, the ballet mistress continued to work with the dancer during the break (and likely continued to do so before her actual performance).  I saw her debut a day or so after rehearsal and she was terrific.   She obviously worked on the Italian fouettes and by the time her performance rolled around she absolutely nailed it.   Had she not been able to do the choreography I would have hoped that ABT would not have continued to cast her in the role.  There were other ballets where she could (and did) shine.  She went on to become a much beloved principal at ABT (now retired).  I never felt she was very strong technically, but she was indeed a lovely dancer.   (I purposely left her name out so as not to cause issues with any of her fans)

Whether it be hops on pointe, fouettes, entrechat sixes, brises, etc, if I don’t see a ballet danced as it supposed to be danced, I feel cheated.   Too many changes to simplified choreography weakens the product.

[matilda]

There's a certain thrill of watching difficult ballet choreography, especially when there are tricks like fouettés or hops on point, and thinking, "will she do it?!" While suspense is part of the fun, I need to be very confident going in that the dancer can pull it off. I'm not going to bother seeing a cast that I don't think can execute all of the steps with aplomb. (As discussed, this is a problem at ABT right now: where a dancer you love might be paired with someone mediocre or "past their prime.") Artistry is crucial and drama is important but I'm 100% in the camp of thinking the dancer needs to first be able to complete the choreography, at least at a top-tier company like ABT.

I'll take Brandt's technically pristine dancing any day. 

Edited July 10, 2023 by matilda

[nanushka]

Balanchine, for one, seemed to realize that not every dancer — even at top-tier companies — can perform every step or sequence effectively, and so when coaching an old role on a new dancer would simply change that problematic element. If a dancer can bring something interesting and exciting to a role, he seems to have felt, why should one step or sequence prevent that? Just change it, no big deal — that, as I gather, was his attitude. These works have been performed for 50, 100, 150+ years, and they've changed over that time — even the steps actually notated have undoubtedly changed, in subtle ways. That's what happens in a performing art, and especially in one like dance where transmission comes not primarily through a text, but from individual dancer to individual dancer.

Edited July 10, 2023 by nanushka

[dirac]

On 7/10/2023 at 4:10 PM, nanushka said:

Balanchine, for one, seemed to realize that not every dancer — even at top-tier companies — can perform every step or sequence effectively, and so when coaching an old role on a new dancer would simply change that problematic element. If a dancer can bring something interesting and exciting to a role, he seems to have felt, why should one step or sequence prevent that? Just change it, no big deal — that, as I gather, was his attitude. These works have been performed for 50, 100, 150+ years, and they've changed over that time — even the steps actually notated have undoubtedly changed, in subtle ways. That's what happens in a performing art, and especially in one like dance where transmission comes not primarily through a text, but from individual dancer to individual dancer.

Not always. When Merrill Ashley was having trouble with the repeated double fouettes in the turning variation in “Who Cares?” originally danced by Marnee Morris, she asked him if singles would do if she did them with special speed and brio and he said, “No, dear, doubles.” She said that if a dancer made a genuine effort at a difficult step and still couldn’t do it, he would make a change, but not before the dancer had really tried. It is true on other occasions that he would just change the step. Of course, those were his own ballets.

Certainly changes and adjustments happen over time, but it seems to me that steps that have become closely associated with a ballet or a role should be made with caution. I am not crazy about hops on pointe, but I would miss Giselle’s (and Ashley’s in Ballo della Regina).