ABt Onegin Met 2024

[Josette]

I saw The Royal Ballet and ABT dance Woolf Works multiple times.  I love this ballet and get more from it at each performance I attend.  The Insights programs don't give even a taste of what Woolf Works is like to experience in the theatre.  With ABT, I greatly liked both Hee Seo and Gillian Murphy,  and, of course, Alessandra Ferri is supreme.  I saw her perform it twice just a year ago in spring of 2023 and I would be a fool to say she gave half of her performance from when she created the role.  If you appreciate a true artist, please go and see her.  The dancers in both companies love this ballet.  It's worth seeing and forming your own opinion upon experiencing it.    

Edited June 21 by Josette
word left out

[cobweb]

Thank you to @Drew and @Josette for your comments on Woolf Works! You have persuaded me it's worth giving a chance. Will report back. 

[its the mom]

1 hour ago, Josette said:

I saw The Royal Ballet and ABT dance Woolf Works multiple times.  I love this ballet and get more from it at each performance I attend.  The Insights programs don't give even a taste of what Woolf Works is like to experience in the theatre.  With ABT, I greatly liked both Hee Seo and Gillian Murphy,  and, of course, Alessandra Ferri is supreme.  I saw her perform it twice just a year ago in spring of 2023 and I would be a fool to say she gave half of her performance from when she created the role.  If you appreciate a true artist, please go and see her.  The dancers in both companies love this ballet.  It's worth seeing and forming your own opinion upon experiencing it.    

"The dancers in both companies love this ballet ..." This statement is worth repeating and hopefully audience members can understand that dancers want to experience more than just Swan Lake and Sleeping Beauty over and over again. I wish I could get there to see this one!

[ABT Fan]

Did anyone go last night? And, if anyone attends this evening, I’d like to hear about it.

[aurora]

14 minutes ago, ABT Fan said:

Did anyone go last night? And, if anyone attends this evening, I’d like to hear about it.

I went last night and thought it was fabulous.

I absolutely loved both sets of leads.

I found Misseldine very moving. She's somewhat introspective, in her approach but her performance built and built, and the end was really quite heartbreaking. It doesn't hurt that her body is just about perfect for ballet. What lines!

I enjoyed it a lot more than I anticipated, if I'm honest. It isn't my favorite ballet. And while I know that you're not supposed to think Lensky just about deserves what he gets, it was his own stupid jealousy that got him killed. He also treats Olga pretty abominably once she's allowed someone else to flirt with her.

 

 

 

[California]

I saw Misseldine/Forster again on Thursday. She seemed to enjoy the performance more this second time. Bell-Hurlin were again Lensky-Olga and were just fine.

On Friday night, Shevchenko-Stearns repeated opening night, but Skylar Brandt and Joo Won Ahn were new as Olga-Lensky. She was spirited and playful. Ahn seems to be prepared with appropriate facial expressions at the right times -- smile, scowl, sad, angry -- but it doesn't really communicate effectively and I don't know what the solution is.

Irina Dvorovenko seems to have been at every performance, raving about all of them on Instagram. Cory Stearns was her partner when she did Tatiana:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C8dnXJsoMEw/

[Golden Idol]

Attended Friday evening's performance, and while I enjoyed it, does anyone know why the complete cast change? Not just one or two dancers, the entire cast! Although I'm no particular fan of Cory, his aloofness suits the character of Onegin (ditto the imperious Oberon, in which he excels). Is Camargo injured? Any info anyone can provide?

[nanushka]

3 minutes ago, Golden Idol said:

...does anyone know why the complete cast change? 

Quick answer: no. There's been extensive discussion of these casting changes over on the "ABT Met Season 2024" thread, starting about halfway down page 20, when they were announced.

 

Edited Saturday at 02:06 PM by nanushka

[Golden Idol]

Thank you, Nanushka. I now see the discussion in the other thread, which I'd overlooked.

[California]

4 minutes ago, nanushka said:

Quick answer: no. There's been extensive discussion of these casting changes over on the "ABT Met Season 2024" thread, starting about halfway down page 20, when they were announced.

Interesting to me: these changes were announced over a week ago and there is nothing on social media from any of the dancers about why. It's almost as if orders went out to keep quiet so as not to offend...X?

[Dancemom]

25 minutes ago, California said:

Interesting to me: these changes were announced over a week ago and there is nothing on social media from any of the dancers about why. It's almost as if orders went out to keep quiet so as not to offend...X?

You would likely be surprised by how much goes on behind the scenes that never shows up on social media.  These dancers are like a big family, and fiercely protective of each other.  It has nothing to do with “orders to keep quiet.”

[stuben]

26 minutes ago, Dancemom said:

You would likely be surprised by how much goes on behind the scenes that never shows up on social media.  These dancers are like a big family, and fiercely protective of each other.  It has nothing to do with “orders to keep quiet.”

It’s also possible, like any company, the code of silence would avoid any retaliation from management, and I’m sure with the economy nobody would want to take that chance.

[Helene]

It hadn’t been complete radio silence: Teuscher posted to social media about her disappointment, and some past and present dancers weighed in on the thread:

https://www.instagram.com/p/C8U7_CAuIlb/?igsh=MW1kNXRtNnkzNDEyeQ==

That is about as close of a manifesto as dancers can generally make without sinking their careers.

“Orders” don’t have to be explicit for people to self-censor, like at any workplace, including self-employment.

 

[ABT Fan]

33 minutes ago, Helene said:

It hadn’t been complete radio silence: Teuscher posted to social media about her disappointment, and some past and present dancers weighed in on the thread:

https://www.instagram.com/p/C8U7_CAuIlb/?igsh=MW1kNXRtNnkzNDEyeQ==

That is about as close of a manifesto as dancers can generally make without sinking their careers.

“Orders” don’t have to be explicit for people to self-censor, like at any workplace, including self-employment.

 

Agree. Anything else said in this case by anyone would risk them not being cast in any future Cranko ballet (let alone the issues they could have with ABT management). We know that ABT tends to repeat a new or “new” full length the following year, so we may see Onegin next season too. 

[Mary Mellowdew]

I was there Friday night. I had never before seen it and did not expect to like it, as I generally don't care much for ABT's fairytale fare (like them much better in the olden days, like maybe up to the 70s).. Was wondering during  which intermission I would leave. In the end I stayed for the whole thing,.  so I guess it was better than I expected, though I did leave as soon as the curtain came down as everyone in front of me  had immediately jumped to their feet and started cheering (some even before he curtain fell) and I could not see the cast for the curtain calls

I thought Stearns was fine. I was surprised to see that video of him partnering Dvorovenko -- he must have been practically a child, or at least barely a principal the, as I think he was promoted to principal around 2011, which I think was around the time she retired (I remember being in Palermo, Italy in the fall of 2012, taking a tour of the opera house there, seeing a poster for an upcoming performance by her and her husband,  and thinking to myself gee I thought she had retired, but then realizing her "retirement" was likely only from ABT, not from gigs like Palermo).'

I guess Shevchenko's dancing was okay, but she struck me as way too old to play a  teenager, or maybe she was just acting too old./ninnyish I just thought she was not credible as the person I believed she was supposed to be playing. I thought Brandt was fine for her role and Ahn was not  as bad as I feared he might be.

I thought the scene in her bedroom when Onegin returns was way too  drawn out. Too much anguish and dithering . I would have just told that guy to f..k offf and get out of my bedroom . I got the impression Tatiana was anguished  because she was thinking of giving him a second chance. Don't know who was responsible for that -- the author, the choreographer, the stager? And I think that was an example of other shortcomings I saw -- too much drama and anxious carrying on, too much fancy partnering, and not enough real dancing (though the corps certainly  looked good). 

When I was deciding yesterday afternoon whether I would go at all, largely because of the heat, I thought well the music is Tchaikovsky, so can't be all that bad -- if I don't like the ballet I can just close my eyes and listen to the music, but was actually disappointed in the music, which I'm not sure I'd ever heard before. The music is often the deciding factor for me in ballets, which may be  one of the reasons why I prefer NYCB to ABT. I've learned so much about music, and enjoyed myself, at NYCB. 

Edited Saturday at 07:52 PM by Mary Mellowdew

[nanushka]

16 minutes ago, Mary Mellowdew said:

When I was deciding yesterday afternoon whether I would go at all, largely because of the heat, I thought well the music is Tchaikovsky, so can't be all that bad -- if I don't like the ballet I can just close my eyes and listen to the music, but was actually disappointed in the music, which I'm not sure I'd ever heard before. The music is often the deciding factor for me in ballets, which may be  one of the reasons why I prefer NYCB to ABT. I've learned so much about music, and enjoyed myself, at NYCB. 

Here is some information on the score, which includes a number of Tchaikovsky piano works orchestrated by Kurt-Heinz Stolze. Though it's Tchaikovsky, a lot would depend on the skill of those orchestrations. I've only seen the ballet once — and I left at one of the intermissions, as you'd intended to. Not my thing. But I don't think I paid enough attention to the music to have any real sense of what I thought about it.

[volcanohunter]

The music for the "mirror" pas de deux largely comes from a Romeo and Juliet duet for soprano and tenor by Tchaikovsky. He never turned the piece into a complete opera. Some of the music he recycled into the Romeo and Juliet overture-fantasy. Much of it was recycled by Kurt-Heinz Stolze for the "mirror duet." Ratmansky included the duet, sung, I think, in German, in his Tchaikovsky Overtures, prior to launching into the overture proper.

 

The final pas de deux is a condensed version of Tchaikovsky's symphonic poem Francesca da Rimini. So while there are cuts to the score, and an allusion to the earlier duet, the orchestration is Tchaikovsky’s. 

Nearly all of the music in Act 2 were originally solo piano pieces.

[matilda]

I ended up buying a ticket for today's matinee because of the praise on this forum for Seo and Whiteside's Wednesday performance. After seeing Misseldine and Forster earlier this week, who I greatly enjoyed, I was curious to see more a more "actor-ly" interpretation. Seo has gotten a lot of criticism here over the years, so I haven't really sought her out. Now I'm starting to regret that! (I have tickets for her Woolf Works next week.) Her Tatiana was a fully formed character down to every little detail, and she has a lovely fluid quality to her dancing. The scenes with Whiteside were wildly passionate and she really threw herself into those pas de deux. Misseldine is a superior technician than Seo, and Forster has more classical elegance and line than Whiteside, but this pairing had the dramatic chops and experience going for them. 

I liked Trenary's Olga, and Royal was fine as Lensky, but Hurlin and Bell made more of an impression in those parts, especially Bell. 

[abatt]

2 hours ago, matilda said:

ISeo has gotten a lot of criticism here over the years, so I haven't really sought her out. Now I'm starting to regret that! (I have tickets for her Woolf Works next week.) Her Tatiana was a fully formed character down to every little detail, and she has a lovely fluid quality to her dancing. The scenes with Whiteside were wildly passionate and she really threw herself into those pas de deux. Misseldine is a superior technician than Seo, and Forster has more classical elegance and line than Whiteside, but this pairing had the dramatic chops and experience going for them. 

I liked Trenary's Olga, and Royal was fine as Lensky, but Hurlin and Bell made more of an impression in those parts, especially Bell. 

Completely agree.  Seo and Whiteside were by far the best of the three couples that ABT used for this ballet.  Whiteside's partnering was seamless and I thought his characterization was very detailed. I am not normally a huge fan of Whiteside but this role suited him.   His regret in the final act was palpable, and neither Stearns nor Forster equaled Whiteside.  And Seo.  Whew.  Wonderful performance. Don't go see her in a role that has lots of technical requirements.  But in this, which does not have killer technical demands. she excels.  Her performance was very detailed, and she made clear her dramatic arc from young unsophisticated girl to mature woman.  Loved this performance.  None of the other Tatiana's acted as well as Seo. 

I was less impressed with this Olga-Lensky pairing.  I thought Coker/Roxander and HurlinBell were much more accomplished than Royal Trenary.  

So why did Jaffe decide that Tatiana should be danced by women who were so tall they could be on a basketball team?  This role needs a medium sized ballerina.  Apart from acting issues, I just think Misseldine  is far too tall and big for partnering this intricate.  I think the same would have been true of Teuscher.

  

 

Edited Sunday at 12:32 AM by abatt

[matilda]

11 hours ago, abatt said:

So why did Jaffe decide that Tatiana should be danced by women who were so tall they could be on a basketball team?  This role needs a medium sized ballerina.  Apart from acting issues, I just think Misseldine  is far too tall and big for partnering this intricate.  I think the same would have been true of Teuscher.

According to this Dance Magazine article from four years ago, Misseldine is only 5'7, so not actually that tall (unless she had a late growth spurt after that). Quote from her: "Having everyone know my mother was an ABT soloist definitely puts more pressure on me because I want to be like her in the future. Sometimes people try to compare us, but we have very different physiques—she is 5′ 2″ and I’m 5′ 7.″

She has long limbs though, so she does look taller. Teuscher is also 5'7. Shevchenko is maybe 5'8. I can't find Seo's height anywhere but I would guess she's around 5'6?

[Royal Blue]

On 6/21/2024 at 1:35 PM, Josette said:

I saw The Royal Ballet and ABT dance Woolf Works multiple times.  I love this ballet and get more from it at each performance I attend.... The dancers in both companies love this ballet.   

 

On 6/21/2024 at 2:55 PM, its the mom said:

"The dancers in both companies love this ballet ..." This statement is worth repeating and hopefully audience members can understand that dancers want to experience more than just Swan Lake and Sleeping Beauty over and over again.

 

Swan Lake and The Sleeping Beauty are essential ballets and should always, of course, be performed as beautifully as possible. That said, I am elated to hear the dancers of American Ballet Theatre love Woolf Works (like their counterparts at The Royal Ballet). From my multiple viewings of it both on stream and DVD, I find it a superb and poignant work, despite never having read any of Virginia Woolf's novels. Enthusiasm about a work from both sides of the footlights is conducive to powerful performances. 

[ABT Fan]

Footage shot from backstage of Misseldine’s and Forster’s final pas:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C8kjvIBvHk8/?igsh=enllYjJvazUwdnVu

[Royal Blue]

A picture may be worth a thousand words, but any selection of words can spawn countless others, which—well-placed beside one another by a great writer—have the potential to engage the imagination endlessly. Reading a renowned work in translation is obviously problematic. However, that is often the only reasonable choice available. Even a quick reading of Eugene Onegin in English makes it abundantly clear how complicated it is to attempt to translate this Russian classic into the language of dance! It is not necessary to have expertise in choreography to perceive serious flaws and shortcomings in Onegin. Nevertheless, it is a wonderful ballet, whose first act in particular tempts one to rationalize various choices its choreographer made.

What does Alexander Pushkin have to say through his verse novel about the country of Russia, during his time and beyond, or how any society in general functions and the different social classes and people in it, about art, nature, poetry, passion, sex, marriage, friendship, manhood and womanhood, jealousy, infidelity and boredom, misunderstandings and miscommunications among individuals, about the fashions of the day in opposition to eternal values, country life versus city life, the passing of time and gaining of knowledge and perspective, the importance, beauty as well as disappointment of dreams, about innocence, hostility, regret, loss, redemption, the psychology of love? Although respect is always due to all great dancers of the past, such questions matter more than who danced Tatiana and Onegin in a ballet version 10 or 50 years ago. Occasional revivals of Onegin allow those of us who either missed past performances or have poor memory retention, or who are new to the ballet, not only to be thrilled once again by the art form but also to have the opportunity to enhance our understanding of life and the world by being induced to consider the above subjects.

I enjoyed watching all three casts of the ballet this season: Christine Shevchenko with Cory Stearns, Hee Seo with James Whiteside, and Chloe Misseldine with Thomas Forster. In contrast to the spectacular dancing and lifts of the other couples, Misseldine was more cautious with Forster during the two thrilling pas de deux of the work. Yet what elegant figures both nonetheless displayed throughout all their interactions! During the bedroom scene, my eyes were riveted on each of the three Tatianas as they sat at the writing table, penning that famous and heartbreaking love letter. Perhaps the most delicate acting came from the experienced Seo here, but how enchanting to observe all three briefly reenacting this indelible moment! And how strikingly gorgeous the room appears in the colorful lighting suffusing it during the exhilarating dream sequence that follows. Nor can one fail to notice the way a large “magical mirror" located upstage in the center interestingly serves as the focal point in this scene. 

Reading the novel beforehand inclined me to view Onegin more sympathetically than ever, his egregious behavior at times notwithstanding. Consequently, among the most beautiful moments in the ballet (for me) are his interpolated dreamy, poetic solos in the middle of the pas de deux with Tatiana during the first scene. Early in Act III, the section with Onegin and various members of the female corps is similarly touching. Watching Stearns, Whiteside and Forster impeccably dance these parts of the ballet was a highlight of this year's run of Onegin.

At virtually every performance of Onegin, the rousing sequence of jetés executed diagonally twice across the stage, with Lensky and Olga as the leading couple, never fails to thrill. Three of the four sets of dancers who assumed these two secondary but vital roles this season are principal dancers. The other couple, consisting of a soloist (Jake Roxander) and a member of the corps (Zimmi Coker), performed splendidly. One of the other Lenskys, Aran Bell, was particularly brilliant and persuasive, both in his dancing and acting.  

Having slept poorly, Saturday's matinée with Seo and Whiteside followed too closely on the heels of the previous evening's dazzling performance with Shevchenko and Stearns (unfortunate applause erupted three times during the bedroom pas de deux Friday). However, the afternoon ended on a superlative note with one of the most emotional and searing renditions of a pas de deux I have ever witnessed at the ballet. As pointed out above, Whiteside's ability to express profound and genuine contrition was deeply moving. And the fearlessness and fluidity exhibited during the execution of some demanding partnering were breathtaking and admirable. Unkind critics would complain of excess, but both dancers truly gave it their all, and Seo appeared visibly moved at the curtain call. 

There are slight movements in the choreography of the concluding pas de deux that seem ungainly and questionable. However, that is nothing compared to the false impression it gives about what is happening with the characters in Pushkin's story. I love to watch it and understand the demands of theater, but there is simply no turmoil in Tatiana's heart regarding her decision to reject Onegin, regardless of her abiding love for him. The emotion engendered in Tatiana and the reader at the end of the verse novel is boundless and limitless, but sober and inward. Although it ensures the novel's everlasting worth, it is material that simply cannot be translated into the language of dance.

[abatt]

Yes, I agree that Misseldine tended to be cautious in her pas's with Forster.  I am told by someone who saw the invited dress rehearsal that these two still had not fully worked out the difficult maneuvers of the pas by the time of the dress rehearsal.  That's the drawback of having such a tall Tatiana.  On pointe Chloe appears to be as tall as forster.  Already treacherous lifts become even more difficult.

Something else that is apparent is that Chloe has a tendency of showing the audience her preparation for a movement.  She comes to a stop, gets herself into position, stands for a moment, and then does the movement required in the choreography (i.e., a spin or a lift to be executed by her parner).  This habit detracts from the dramatic flow of the work.  Hee Seo does not have this habit, and as a result  her performance looks like it is unfolding before you for the first time.  This is an area where Miseeldine's limited experience in lead roles makes a difference.

 

One more comment on Onegin.  In order to be true to the story, Tatiana is not tearing up Onegin's letter out of spite to get back at him for rejecting her.  She is conflicted, not vindictive.   She stays with Gremin because she will not bring dishonor to him or to herself.   When the ballerina playing Tatiana is too aggressive in shoving Onegin's letter back in his face and tearing it up, it makes her character seem vindictive.   

Edited Monday at 07:23 PM by abatt