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ABT Met Season 2024

California

By California
in American Ballet Theatre

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California

California

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On 11/16/2023 at 4:20 PM, Golden Idol said:

Can you just imagine Roxander as Ali?  If only Jaffe weren't so stupidly PC. I am already in Bayadere and Corsaire withdrawal.

Philadelphia Ballet did Corsaire in 2017. They renamed Aili as a "servant" instead of a slave. At one of their Q&As before a performance, I asked whose idea that was -- the marketing manager.  That's as far as they went in modifying for contemporary sensibilities. 

https://philadelphiaballet.org/past-performances/le-corsaire/

They were planning to do Bayadere in March 2020. I can't remember if the entire run was cancelled because of COVID or whether they were able to perform it. In any event, if they reschedule for the 24-25 season, I'll be there!

https://philadelphiaballet.org/past-performances/la-bayadere/

When Opera Colorado performed Turandot in May 2023, they included a long statement in the program explaining why the depictions of Chinese culture were harmful and offensive. It ended: "How do we preserve these musical masterpieces while embracing our commitment to social responsibility?" I hope we'll get to see Tamara Rojo's take on Raymonda in North America. Is a drastic retelling of the story the answer? Is it enough to include the extensive acknowledgement of problems that Opera Colorado pursued? 

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choriamb

choriamb

Posted
Posted

I think that the summer casting quirks are less about favoritism than stabilizing the newest crop of men. Because the upside to this summer's rep is all of the relatively-lightweight-but-visible vehicles for men who are still developing:  I'll be attending for that reason more than any other.

Boylston, Trenary, and Brandt's light workload makes more sense if they're being paired with male up-and-comers (Curley, Ischuk, Roxander, Gonzalez, etc.) who would benefit from technically strong, shorter partners as Olga/Lensky in Onegin and in Woolf Works. The new guys will need more rehearsal time.  Likewise, I suspect Bell's season is relatively quiet so that he can spend time rehearsing with Misseldine for her Swan Lake debut.

Teuscher's marquee debuts are balanced with outings to support a dancer who is still developing in LWFC, Swan Lake, and Nutcracker. (Which isn't a knock on Ahn:  unlike Forster/Royal/Shevchenko/Teuscher, he wasn't really given lightweight or comedic roles in which to develop his stage legs before being thrown into lead roles. One consistent, unflappable partner for a few seasons can work wonders with that.)

Also, I think the casting suggests that Murphy, Whiteside, and Stearns won't retire this season given that they're all dancing at least three ballets and two are debuting roles. The past ABT principals that I recall danced at most 2 ballets in their final seasons, presumably, to keep them uninjured so that their splashy sendoff occurs without a hitch. And I can't imagine Cornejo retiring in LWFC.

(All that being said, I'm sad we won't see Murphy or Trenary as Tatiana...but glad that Murphy is getting to take on Ferri's role in Woolf Works.)

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volcanohunter

volcanohunter

Posted
Posted

Decisions on Onegin casting are made exclusively by the Cranko estate. Notable dancers who never got to perform the piece with the Royal Ballet included Sylvie Guillem and Jonathan Cope, the latter being a real head-scratcher. The National Ballet of Canada is performing it right now with a junior soloist making his debut as Onegin and a couple of corps members dancing Lensky, ahead of more senior dancers and getting more performances than a debutant principal.

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Drew

Drew

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Posted (edited)
On 11/23/2023 at 6:50 PM, California said:

I hope we'll get to see Tamara Rojo's take on Raymonda in North America. Is a drastic retelling of the story the answer? Is it enough to include the extensive acknowledgement of problems that Opera Colorado pursued? 

I am curious to see Rojo's version. Perhaps San Francisco will do it, though my seeing it would still be a long shot!

Based on the video performance that was broadcast by the Dutch National Ballet, I'd say the Rachel Beaujean Raymonda -- traditional with just tweaks to the story -- worked very well and, as best I can judge retains the ballet's classical aura more than Rojo's 'Victorian novel' re-imagining seems to do (that's my term for it, not hers).  Beaujean's is the production I would love to see ABT perform; I think it would suit them very well.

Edited by Drew
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California

California

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1 hour ago, Becki Lee said:

Skylar and Daniil are dancing a Giselle in Minnesota in March!!

Where did you see the announcement? Is that ABT?

EDITED TO ADD: It's the Metropolitan Ballet: March 23-24

https://metroballetacademy.org/ballet-performances-events-twin-cities/2024/3/16/giselle-dx6kj

https://www.tickets.umn.edu/northrop/Online/default.asp?BOparam::WScontent::loadArticle::permalink=MetropolitanBallet&BOparam::WScontent::loadArticle::context_id=

Edited by California
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Belka

Belka

Posted
Posted (edited)

I saw Devon Teuscher in what I believe was her O/O debut (with Marcelo Gomes) years ago at the Kennedy Center. What do you all recommend, is Misseldine the show to see for this KC run? I have never seen Catherine Hurlin or Christine Shevchenko perform either.

Edited by Belka
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FauxPas

FauxPas

Posted
Posted (edited)
10 hours ago, Belka said:

I saw Devon Teuscher in what I believe was her O/O debut (with Marcelo Gomes) years ago at the Kennedy Center. What do you all recommend, is Misseldine the show to see for this KC run? I have never seen Catherine Hurlin or Christine Shevchenko perform either.

I think all three are worth seeing.  Take a look at the Prince Siegfried and see where your preferences are there. Misseldine has Aran Bell, so that's a yes.  Hurlin has Whiteside who has had injuries and is never at his very best in pure "prince" roles.  So a maybe there.  I have seen Schevchenko and Royal, and though I like her, I am less sold on him and I think their partnership is so-so.  Maybe a pass on that one.

Edited by FauxPas
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ABT Fan

ABT Fan

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Posted
29 minutes ago, FauxPas said:

I think all three are worth seeing.  Take a look at the Prince Siegfried and see where your preferences are there. Misseldine has Aran Bell, so that's a yes.  Hurlin has Whiteside who has had injuries and is never at his very best in pure "prince" roles.  So a maybe there.  I have seen Schevchenko and Royal, and though I like her, I am less sold on him and I think their partnership is so-so.  Maybe a pass on that one.

I agree completely.

I’d also add for Belka, keep in mind that it’s Misseldine’s SL debut and also her first lead in a full length. Some folks care more about who is doing O/O (and nailing the fouettés, etc) than the overall partnership and who is doing Siegfried. So if your preference is the former go with Hurlin, otherwise Misseldine (who I suspect will be beautiful and Bell is a must see). 

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ABT Fan

ABT Fan

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Posted

I received the Met season's promotional brochure today, and they will be celebrating Cornejo's 25th anniversary on July 19 in LWFC (this is not indicated on their website). I'm sure that will be a sell-out.

I know several of us have said this before, but I really wish they'd list secondary casting along with the principals (instead of waiting till closer to the performance dates). I want to know who is dancing Olga, Lensky, Purple Von Rothbart, Mercutio, etc. For some of us, that is nearly as important (and sometimes the tie-breaker on deciding on which performance to see). 

I really hope Coker will get Olga, Roxander/Curley/Frenette a Lensky, Roxander a Benno, Curley a Tybalt....

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abatt

abatt

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Posted
16 hours ago, ABT Fan said:

I received the Met season's promotional brochure today, and they will be celebrating Cornejo's 25th anniversary on July 19 in LWFC (this is not indicated on their website). I'm sure that will be a sell-out.

 

Not even a celebration of Cornejo could get me to purchase a ticket to LWFC again.  

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California

California

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2 hours ago, abatt said:

Not even a celebration of Cornejo could get me to purchase a ticket to LWFC again.  

You have to wonder if scheduling the Cornejo event at LWFC was an attempt at shoring up attendance! Doesn't seem to be working on this site! I watched the Royal Ballet stream last year and decided not to bother seeing it in the theater. 

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Drew

Drew

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Posted (edited)

I enjoyed Like Water for Chocolate at ABT--I found it emotionally compelling and theatrically ambitious in ways I enjoyed. And though the Royal broadcast was excellent, I thought ABT did a very effective job with the ballet over the three different casts I saw. Several dancers even seemed exceptional to me and, though I don't think it's fair to compare video performances to the ones I saw on stage since video fails to capture much of the visceral excitement of dance/mime performances even as it sometimes heightens the impact of facial expressions and gestures captured in close up, I will at least say that I can think of several ABT performances in the ballet that on stage seemed more effective than what was able to come through on video (Lavine and Hurlin among others).

I'd rather see ABT focus more on classical and neo-classical works.  I love the fact that they dance Ashton regularly; reviving Etudes seemed smart.  And I'm hoping they continue to keep the admittedly modest Tudor repertory in rotation as they barely seem to do. And, though I like LWFC better than others who have posted here, I too am surprised they are bringing it back so soon. But if the season were better balanced overall--as this one is not (Onegin AND R&J AND LWFC + Woolf Works as the company premier with just one 19th-century classic)--then I would see LWFC as an interesting addition to the rep and great challenge for the dancers. I would certainly attend the evening honoring Cornejo in a role that I thought he danced quite beautifully just last summer.

 

Edited by Drew
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aurora

aurora

Posted
Posted
21 hours ago, Drew said:

I enjoyed Like Water for Chocolate at ABT--I found it emotionally compelling and theatrically ambitious in ways I enjoyed. And though the Royal broadcast was excellent, I thought ABT did a very effective job with the ballet over the three different casts I saw. Several dancers even seemed exceptional to me and, though I don't think it's fair to compare video performances to the ones I saw on stage since video fails to capture much of the visceral excitement of dance/mime performances even as it sometimes heightens the impact of facial expressions and gestures captured in close up, I will at least say that I can think of several ABT performances in the ballet that on stage seemed more effective than what was able to come through on video (Lavine and Hurlin among others).

I'd rather see ABT focus more on classical and neo-classical works.  I love the fact that they dance Ashton regularly; reviving Etudes seemed smart.  And I'm hoping they continue to keep the admittedly modest Tudor repertory in rotation as they barely seem to do. And, though I like LWFC better than others who have posted here, I too am surprised they are bringing it back so soon. But if the season were better balanced overall--as this one is not (Onegin AND R&J AND LWFC + Woolf Works as the company premier with just one 19th-century classic)--then I would see LWFC as an interesting addition to the rep and great challenge for the dancers. I would certainly attend the evening honoring Cornejo in a role that I thought he danced quite beautifully just last summer.

 

I'm 100% in agreement with Drew.

I saw 2 of the casts last year and was sorry to not be seeing the third. I also felt that the story worked much better for me on the second viewing. The first time I was busy trying to follow the complicated compressed storyline and missed a lot of the nuances which I appreciated much more the second time round.

 

Do I consider it a must see ballet for me? Well no, but I very much enjoyed it and will be happy to see it again.

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California

California

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1 hour ago, DPell said:

Carlos just  posted a story a of Daniil in the studio.

I'm still hoping Daniil does Lensky in their Onegin in June, but he does have other interests in New York. Can they afford him? Would he sell tickets?

On his own Instagram, it appears he is in NYC for his new film:

Excited for @studiosimkin’s cinematic dance experience, “one” to have its NY premiere tonight at the Dance on Camera Film Festival (@dancefilms) at Film at Lincoln Center (@filmlinc). Shown today at 6pm at the “Classical Combinations” showing.

Created and Produced by @studiosimkin
Directed by @matt_bussmann
Choreography by @therealdaviddawson
Music by @petergregson
Costume by @leonemanuelblanck
Production Company @dance_masterclass

Edited by California
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NinaFan

NinaFan

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On 12/15/2023 at 4:27 PM, Drew said:

...... I don't think it's fair to compare video performances to the ones I saw on stage since video fails to capture much of the visceral excitement of dance/mime performances even as it sometimes heightens the impact of facial expressions and gestures captured in close up.....

I agree.  Nothing compares to seeing a ballet on stage and a live performance should never be compared to video/streaming.  It's just not the same.  I've even seen video of an actual performance I've seen onstage, and it was not even close to what I saw and felt in the theater.  When you are in the audience you can appreciate every little nuance as well as focus on what you want to focus on, as opposed to just seeing the sections that have been presented/filmed.

 

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