World Ballet Day 2023 - ABT

[Caballetfan]

Anyone watch ABT’s offerings for World Ballet Day 2023? I was pleased to see them participate this year, and particularly enjoyed watching their full company class, led by Susan Jaffe. I love watching dancers in class v. performance because it’s such a different dynamic, and interesting how some dancers are better at performing on stage than in class, and in some cases vice versa…

A few thoughts:

- Susan Jaffe seems like a lovely, approachable, down to earth person (at least in this vid). I enjoyed her overall warmth and engagement with the dancers throughout. Some of her combos at both barre and center seemed kinda simple (aside from the turn combination which had the female dancers end in a dramatic attetude pose - that was fun).

- Chloe Misseldine is great at barre work, but lacks a bit of control in center exercises. Her striking “look” (tall, ballerina proportions, etc.) really make her stand out, and I found my eye gravitating toward her whenever she was onscreen.

- Jake Roxander looks younger and shorter in class than on stage.

- Dancers who stood out to me in terms of solid technique and overall presence were SunMi Park, Elisabeth Beyer, Sierra Armstrong, and (to my surprise, as I’ve been semi-critical of her technique in the past) Cassandra Trenary, who I thought displayed a lot of control throughout in addition to an artistic flair that separated her from the others. Wish she had opted to wear pointe shoes in center. 

- Glad to see the Cindies, as per usual, giving “BFF.” Cute that they stood next to each other at barre and laughed/joked around playfully between combinations. 

-Surprised by how understated and unmemorable some of the principals were in this outing: Skyler Brandt and the aforementioned Isabella Boylston - both ordinarily extraordinary “show women” - kind of faded into the background throughout; I saw glimpses of Devon Teuscher here and there - looking solid, but also a bit dry. No Gil Murphy, Hee Seo, Cate Hurlin. And aside from James, where were all the male principals??

- Might be an unpopular opinion, but Carlos Gonzalez just doesn’t do it for me. He’s technically OK (aside from stiff shoulders), but he lacks a certain charisma and gravitas. I always want “more” when watching him. Also was it just me, or did it seem like he was vying for Jaffe’s attention during center - always going in the first group and positioning himself up front.

- The positioning of the cameras was frustrating at times. At barre, you could barely see any of the dancers along the back wall or far left. Far left/right dancers during center exercises were also outta luck in terms of making it into frame. I much prefer the roving cameras Royal Ballet uses for their World Ballet Day company class vids. They go up and down the aisles and you feel like you’re “in it.”

-Oh Lord, some of the fouettés on display here we’re rough…I know it’s class, but the lack of rotation and overall stiffness from some of the (I’m guessing?) younger/newer company members was a bit shocking. Conversely…Beyer really delivered on her fouetttes. Was pleased to hear Jaffe verbally compliment her during center and really excited about what the future holds for her!

[Drew]

12 hours ago, Caballetfan said:

Anyone watch ABT’s offerings for World Ballet Day 2023? I was pleased to see them participate this year, and particularly enjoyed watching their full company class, led by Susan Jaffe. I love watching dancers in class v. performance because it’s such a different dynamic, and interesting how some dancers are better at performing on stage than in class, and in some cases vice versa…

A

- Dancers who stood out to me in terms of solid technique and overall presence were SunMi Park, Elisabeth Beyer, Sierra Armstrong, and (to my surprise, as I’ve been semi-critical of her technique in the past) Cassandra Trenary, who I thought displayed a lot of control throughout in addition to an artistic flair that separated her from the others. Wish she had opted to wear pointe shoes in center. 

-

A (short) conversation is going on under the World Ballet Day "heads up" thread --I will say here, though, that I, too, was quite struck by Trenary's gracefulness even when just doing pliés...yes, "artistic flair."

[MRR]

Interesting, I thought Gonzalez stood out in the class.  He's never caught my eye onstage, but have not seen him do anything featured.  I thought Frenette who is talked up quite a lot on this forum looked comparatively mediocre.  De la Nuez has potential. 

Mostly agree on the women.  Misseldine is striking but she has an extremely shallow plié.  Beyer looks ready for soloist roles, at a minimum.  Fangqi Li looks lovely, even doing a stunning balance in arabesque penché at one point.

Catherine Hurlin and Daniel Camargo (who took barre, way in the back) also rehearsed Don Q pas with Kolpakova:

 

Edited November 3, 2023 by MRR

[MoMo]

1 hour ago, MRR said:

Interesting, I thought Gonzalez stood out in the class.  He's never caught my eye onstage, but have not seen him do anything featured.  I thought Frenette who is talked up quite a lot on this forum looked comparatively mediocre.  De la Nuez has potential. 

Mostly agree on the women.  Misseldine is striking but she has an extremely shallow plié.  Beyer looks ready for soloist roles, at a minimum.  Fangqi Li looks lovely, even doing a stunning balance in arabesque penché at one point.

Catherine Hurlin and Daniel Camargo (who took barre, way in the back) also rehearsed Don Q pas with Kolpakova:

 

I disagree about Patrick Frenette. I thought he looked strong. Especially his cabrioles. And Susan complimented him a few times. And Irina Kopalkova is a treasure. What a wonderful teacher. 

[AB'sMom]

I’ve seen a lot of taller dancers with shallow pliés/tight achilles. I think it’s often a physiological thing with longer limbs.

[On Pointe]

I did not find the ABT class especially interesting,  which is fine.  Company class isn't a performance.  That said,  considering that this was for World Ballet Day,  seen around the world and some viewers first glimpse of the company,  the apparent lack of preparation was surprising.  Susan Jaffe appeared to be making it up as they went along,  which is a common practice,  but her barre and center exercises were a bit disconnected and even dull.  Her teaching outfit however was not.  It was,  as they say,  definitely a look.  I've never before seen anyone teach class in clogs.

Jaffe seemed to give the men a lot more personal attention than the women.  Whole groups were ignored while she gave detailed corrections to one dancer at a time.  But maybe that was just this class.  Lots of diversity of size and body type in the current company.  All in all,  they looked quite good,  although they didn't put much effort into accurately performing the combinations as given.

[Drew]

Perhaps ABT fans of Marcelo Gomes are all aware of his World Ballet Day class for Dresden Semperoper Ballett--but in case not:

 

[bingham]

8 hours ago, Drew said:

Perhaps ABT fans of Marcelo Gomes are all aware of his World Ballet Day class for Dresden Semperoper Ballett--but in case not:

 

That was impressive. How old is Marcelo? Is he still dancing in Dresden? 

[fondoffouettes]

19 minutes ago, bingham said:

That was impressive. How old is Marcelo? Is he still dancing in Dresden? 

He's 44. I get the impression from his social media and the company's website that he's fully transitioned to administration and is no longer dancing with the company. I'm glad to learn he's landed a permanent post after serving as artistic advisor to the company. 

[stuben]

22 hours ago, On Pointe said:

I did not find the ABT class especially interesting,  which is fine.  Company class isn't a performance.  That said,  considering that this was for World Ballet Day,  seen around the world and some viewers first glimpse of the company,  the apparent lack of preparation was surprising.  Susan Jaffe appeared to be making it up as they went along,  which is a common practice,  but her barre and center exercises were a bit disconnected and even dull.  Her teaching outfit however was not.  It was,  as they say,  definitely a look.  I've never before seen anyone teach class in clogs.

Jaffe seemed to give the men a lot more personal attention than the women.  Whole groups were ignored while she gave detailed corrections to one dancer at a time.  But maybe that was just this class.  Lots of diversity of size and body type in the current company.  All in all,  they looked quite good,  although they didn't put much effort into accurately performing the combinations as given.

 

17 hours ago, Drew said:

Perhaps ABT fans of Marcelo Gomes are all aware of his World Ballet Day class for Dresden Semperoper Ballett--but in case not:

 

Thank you for this video Drew and totally agree with On Pointe!! Guess ABT doesn’t care about best foot forward these days. This video of Marcelo made me miss those golden years even more 😔 when dancers can actually act vs just being acrobats. Good technique is great but I’ve always loved a dancer who can draw me into the performance with good theatrical ability, and why I miss Gomes, Part, Kent, Reyes, and never forget Hallberg! Something that’s lacking these days.

Edited November 6, 2023 by stuben

[volcanohunter]

9 hours ago, fondoffouettes said:

He's 44. I get the impression from his social media and the company's website that he's fully transitioned to administration and is no longer dancing with the company. I'm glad to learn he's landed a permanent post after serving as artistic advisor to the company. 

Tamara Rojo left her job at English National Ballet ahead of schedule to take over San Francisco Ballet. Then Aaron Watkin left the Semperoper Ballett to take over at English National Ballet. Gomes is helping to keep things running until a new director is appointed in Dresden.

[Fosca]

Marcelo Gomes danced Romeo in David Dawsons's version at Dresden recently, he is still dancing at galas in Europe, f.e. at the last Prix de Lausanne. Dresden has found a new AD, the Swiss-Canadian choreographer Kinsun Chan is starting with season 2024/25. I don't know if Gomes will stay at Dresden.