Haha, I kept my TV on (for once) after SYTYCD ended and I just overheard some story on Fox News about an ABT dancer who also models. I turned around to face the screen and there was our Cory Stearns, lifting Stella Abrera in Benjamin Millepied’s Everything Doesn’t Happen at Once during ABT’s recent season at Avery Fisher Hall! I didn’t hear the first part of the story because I wasn’t really paying attention, but apparently Cory was standing in line at a deli and was discovered by some modeling agent. He’s now a model, as well as of course, an up and coming ABT danseur. Then they showed an excerpt of a music video he did with Kylie Minogue, which he apparently made when he was 17 — so a few years ago. Wow — I’d never seen it: he made her look like a real dancer.

Then they had a little interview with him. They asked him if he had a girlfriend and he laughed and said no, he’s currently available, but added that he prefers dancers. Funny how male ballet dancers (well, the straight ones) always do that. Female dancers seem more willing to “date outside the box” so to speak. Hmmm…

Anyway, since I didn’t get the first part of the story I have no idea what the point was — is he in a new modeling spread in some magazine this month? Did anyone else see it?

Photo of Veronika Part in The Dying Swan, taken from Vogue; photos of the three premieres coming as soon as I receive them.

After ABT’s fall season opening night gala performance last night, the really wonderful James Wolcott and Laura Jacobs took friend Siobhan and me out for dinner at Shun Lee (I’d never been there — but wow, excellent excellent food!) and when Laura asked me if I was going to write about the performance, I kind of rolled my eyes and said, “I’ll try!” We all agreed that dance is absolutely the hardest art form to review, especially on seeing a dance for the first time. Let alone THREE dances seen for the first time. With visual art you can stand there all day and examine at it, with music you have recordings and scores, film critics generally see a movie several times before writing a review. With dance you have one chance — often one split mili-second — to remember a half an hour or so of movement, images, patterns, structure, costumes, music, lighting — everything. It’s impossible. Since starting this blog I have so much more respect for dance critics.

Anyway, there were three premieres last night: Seven Sonatas by Alexei Ratmansky, One of Three by Aszure Barton, and Everything Doesn’t Happen at Once by Benjamin Millepied. Also on the bill was a performance by Veronika Part of Fokine’s The Dying Swan. ABT performed, for the first time, in Lincoln Center’s Avery Fisher Hall, a concert hall not accustomed to housing dance performances. (ABT usually holds its fall season in City Center, but changed venues because of City Center’s renovation plans.)

I’m going to be seeing each premiere a couple more times this season and prefer to write after I’ve seen each more than once. But since the season is so short (it ends October 10, this Saturday), I’ll write something up front. These are only first impressions though, and I’ve found I see so many more things with repeated viewings.

Honestly, everything kind of blended together for me. Part of this was because of the sparseness of the Avery Fisher stage — there were no sets, no wings, no curtains — so dancers warmed up onstage before us, giving each piece a kind of Cabaret-like feel; and part of it was because costumes for each piece were all black and white. I remember lots of black, lots of white and the hardwood of that stage.

1) Ratmansky’s Seven Sonatas was performed to Domenico Scarlatti music by three male-female couples: David Hallberg and Julie Kent, Herman Cornejo and Xiomara Reyes, and Gennadi Saveliev and Stella Abrera. Costumes were all white — flowing dresses for the women, classical tights and 18th-Century tops for the men. The movement was a combination of classical and modern and, though the ballet was generally story-less, each couple seemed to have a little narrative: Cornejo and Reyes were the young, playful couple, Herman full of high jumps with many beats of the feet that really wowed the crowd and Xiomara dizzying rapid multiple turns. At one point Herman did this crazy turn in the air, landed on his back, and caught her. Crowd went wild.

Abrera and Saveliev seemed to be a more mature couple, perhaps in mourning. It seemed Abrera was a woman, possibly a mother, who’d lost a child or something — Saveliev seemed to be trying to console her and keep her from self-destructing. It seemed like she kept trying to break free of him and reach out to some invisible thing.

I’m not sure what Hallberg and Kent were meant to represent except maybe a modern couple — they seemed to have the most modern movement. David appeared to be trapped in a box and he kept pushing out; he had a lot of quick movement with fast stops in different directions and a lot of it in parallel — not turned-out — position. Julie had a lot of sharp, staccato movement. They could’ve also been a courting couple: at one point, David was on one knee and he invited Julie to run at him and jump on him. When she did, he took her into this lovely lift. It’s sweet and many in the audience lightly laughed.

The ballet was broken into duets and solos and bookended by two ensemble movements, the first pretty and lyrical, the latter more chaotic as they all perform their very different movement motifs at once, some trying on others’ movement styles — everyone does the staccato arm patterns for a while, etc. At the end, the women lay on the floor and the men wrapped their bodies over them.

One other thing: our David Hallberg is sporting longish hair these days I think it looks good, and fun for a change! Funny thing is, he’s so beautiful and glamorous, I tend to get jealous if him, even though he’s a man… which I guess should be kind of odd…

2) Barton’s One of Three was set to Maurice Ravel’s Violin Sonata in G and danced by a whole slew of tuxedoed men, and three women — Gillian Murphy, Misty Copeland, and Paloma Herrera. Why is it that women choreographers tend to use men so much more! (And female dance-writers tend to focus on male dancers — is this feminist?)

Anyway, the piece begins with Cory Stearns walking out dressed in a tux and black jazz shoes. He does a little solo and his movements are all modern, angular, which contrasted in an intriguing way with the tux. I don’t know if it was his being a bit weirded out by the curtainless stage (which forced him to walk out in the dark with all of us watching) or whether it was part of the character, but he seemed to have this loopy smile in the beginning, that was really rather endearing. I chatted with a friend during intermission and she felt just the same.

Anyway, soon Cory was joined by more tuxedoed men, and then by Gillian, who came prancing out in a long white cocktail gown with her radiant red hair tied back into a sleek twist. The men would kind of veer toward her, sideways, their bodies leading their heads in, to me, a rather amusing way. Gillian’s character was very haughty, very glam and posh and she acted like she was ordering the men around with her little finger. The men often seemed led by their bodies, moving first with the back, or at times one leg would take a step, the rest of the body reluctant to follow (I noticed that most with Jared Matthews, who I thought was dancing at his best last night). I found this a very interesting movement motif.

Misty Copeland was the lead character in the second movement. She wore a short black and white dress, her costume and character more flirty and wild. But same thing — she seemed to kind of taunt her tuxedoed men.

And third movement was led by Paloma, wearing a black lacey top and black pants. She smiled a lot more than Misty and Gillian, but she seemed to move in a slinky, sexually-empowered way, like a tanguera.

Now that I think about it, though there were many more men here, the women seemed to have all the power. Fun!

3) Next on was Part’s Dying Swan, which was really poignant, as I knew it would be. It’s a very short piece, but it’s funny how the ballerina can really do it however she wants to; I just saw Diana Vishneva perform this in the Fall For Dance Festival and her Dying Swan was very different. Whereas Diana spent most of the time on her toes, bourreeing, Veronika spent more time on the floor, one leg stretched out before her (like in above picture), then rising again to her toes for one more breath. Diana’s swan seemed to flutter about more, like she was fighting death, she lay down only at the very end. Veronika kept holding her arms up in front of her, her wrists bent and her hands cupped over, as if to foreshadow what would happen to her body. In general, Veronika’s swan accepted and approached death more gracefully or willingly, but Diana’s, with that broad wingspan, at times really looked strikingly birdlike. I don’t know if I can say I liked one interpretation better than the other — both were breathtaking and both very poignant.

Did anyone else see both swans?

4) And the program ended with Millepied’s Everything Doesn’t Happen at Once, set to David Lang music that was at times mellifluous and at times cacophonous or eerie. He used a large group of dancers but Marcelo Gomes, Isabella Boylston and Daniil Simkin had the main parts and so stood out the most (and Kristi Boone shone in a smaller role).

There was a lot going on here — both in the music and in the dance, and I felt that, unlike with Millepied’s earlier piece for ABT — From Here on Out — composed to music by Nico Muhly (who was in the audience) — in this one the movement kept up, didn’t let the music outshine it. The stage is set up to resemble — at least to me — a pool. Dancers would gather around it and watch the people dancing in the lit-up center. At the beginning there seemed to be a swimming motif, with large, rounded arm movements resembling breaststrokes. Movement is also evocative of birds as well though, and some of the same lifts were present as in Millepied’s recent work for NYCB, where the women are perched on the men’s shoulders, their arms outstretched sideways.

In the middle part, Marcelo and Isabella have a rather haunting solo. The ballet is generally story-less but as far as I could make out any narrative, it appeared she was sort of struggling against him. He seemed very careful and gentle with her (in sharp contrast to a later, more hostile duet he has with the super-strong Kristi Boone, who seemed to be either Isabella’s competitor or her double), but she — Isabella — nevertheless kept trying to push away from Marcelo as he held her. The duet ends with them walking toward the back of the stage holding hands, connected, but her body is lunging as far as possible away from his. A rather warped relationship.

Then there’s a rather amusing section where bravura dancer Daniil Simkin is struggling with a bunch of women. He tries to break free of them but then he keeps throwing himself into their arms, making them catch him in these rather breathtaking group lifts — one of them ending in a perfect split in the air. And he has a bunch of crazy multiple pirouettes that had the audience audibly gasping. It all went with his character though, who seemed rather crazed, like he may have just escaped from an asylum or something. I kept wondering who else was ever going to be able to perform that role…

I didn’t go to the gala party but in addition to Muhly, I saw Alessandra Ferri in the audience, one of the Billy Elliots, and apparently Natalie Portman was there.

Anyway, I’ll write more at the end of the season, when I’ve seen these new dances a few more times. Here is Haglund’s review.

Photo by Fabrizio Ferri of Cory Stearns, Alexandre Hammoudi and Grant DeLong, from ABT website.

The Guggenheim Museum has just released its Works & Process events schedule for the fall and there’s some good stuff coming up.

On October 11 and 12 ABT will give a program, entitled, The Art of Adaptation, in which dancers will perform portions of the company’s upcoming contemporary season, held this year at Avery Fisher Hall, and panelists will discuss how they’re adapting work for a non-dance venue. (The company is performing at Avery Fisher this year because City Center, where they usually have their fall season, is going to be temporarily closed for remodelling). It hasn’t yet been revealled who the dancers or moderators will be, but I’ll let you know when I do!

On September 23 and 25 there will be a new dance / music commission inspired by artist Vasily Kandinsky’s Blue Rider Almanac of 1912, performed at the Miller Theater at Columbia University. Music is by the Brentano String Quartet, soprano Susan Naruki, and pianist Sarah Rothenberg; the dancing will be by Armitage Gone! Dance. This, along with a couple of art installations in the museum and another music piece, is commissioned in conjuction with a Kandinsky retrospective to show in the main museum.

On September 11 and 12, young choreographers Larry Keigwin and Peter Quanz are each showing a piece they’ve made to Steve Reich’s Pulitzer-winning Double Sextet. Dancers will be from Keigwin + Company and the Royal Winnipeg Ballet. Reich will participate in the panel discussion on the 12th.

And, finally, on October 24 and 25, Shen Wei Dance Arts will perform in celebration of the company’s 10th anniversary and Shen Wei will discuss his creative process.

There are other, non-dance events as well, including a talk on “Sex Stress and Music,” a world premiere by composer Charles Wuorinen, and a spoken word performance inspired by Kandinsky’s Yellow Sound (1912) in which actress Isabella Rossellini will read and Mexican artist Rafael Lozano-Hemmer will generate an array of colors from the sound of her voice. Very cool-sounding!

The schedule’s not yet on line but it’ll be here when it is.

Photo by John Grigaitis. My review of their very promising Met debut in those roles is here.

Because there aren’t nearly enough pictures of Roberto Bolle online, let me just post one more…

So, it all ended Saturday night with Roberto Bolle and Irina Dvorovenko dancing the leads once again in Romeo and Juliet. I’d already seen the same cast earlier in the week and so didn’t get another ticket, but I decided to watch from the Met lobby where they have a couple of high def screens.

I actually did this on Friday night as well for the Herman Cornejo / Xiomara Reyes cast, until I ran into some new friends during intermission who’d snagged a couple of tickets outside from patrons who had to leave for one reason or another. They gave me ticket marked Grand Tier, where I’d never sat before. Well, I didn’t know we weren’t supposed to do that! My friends went in before me and after seeing the hard time the usher gave them (he said all tickets are non-transferrable, but he seemed more irked that she’d made up a story about meeting friends for drinks and then getting stuck or something!), I was about to run back out and resume my place in front of the screen. But then the usher just kind of nodded and laughed and rolled his eyes. “It’s okay, it’s the end of the season. You’ve all got to see your Romeo and Juliet,” he said, softening.

(photo of Cornejo and Reyes by Gene Schiavone)

Funny, though, I hadn’t thought of the ticket-swap thing, but another new friend recently suggested it to me as a way to get in, particularly to the opera, which is always sold out here practically minutes after tickets go on sale. And then I remembered reading in a Jonathan Ames book (I think it was The Extra Man, which is now a movie, no?…) where two characters regularly do this, again with the opera. I had no idea it was frowned upon — I mean if the other patrons aren’t coming back…

Anyway, Grand Tier was nice for a change! Different perspective being raised a little above the stage like that. Xiomara and Herman were very good. I liked them much better than the first time I saw them in this — performing the balcony pas de deux at an opening night gala a couple of years back. Xiomara acted everything well and really brought the part to life and, because of her powerful final scenes, Herman really didn’t end up outshining her. And what I really liked about Herman’s Romeo is that he danced him so that at the beginning, he’s a show-off, a dancing show-off of course. The other Romeos kind of dance him at the beginning as if he’s immature, reckless with the sword-fighting, etc. But Herman gave his Romeo a character arc that makes more sense for him given his immense dance skill. So all of that jumping around stage at the beginning of the balcony scene makes sense to me now. And for the first time I noticed that during the balcony scene, Romeo does an extra pirouette right after Juliet takes his hand. It’s as if to say, wait a minute, just one more trick for you! I think I first noticed it with Herman because it was so swift and sharp and pronounced, like typical Herman! And then of course his Romeo grows up and learns to become a partner.

I also really liked the scene where Herman’s Romeo and his two friends, Benvolio (Daniil Simkin) and Mercutio (Carlos Lopez), are play-sparring before they crash the Capulet ball. For once all three men were about the same height, and were perfectly spaced apart onstage (the dancers playing these characters aren’t always), and their movements were all perfectly in sync. I think some choreography that either requires very intricate footwork or that is very evocative of something (like play-fencing here) tends to look better on smaller bodies, particularly smaller bodies that move so well and are capable of making such sharp, enunciated movements. I was still watching from the screen downstairs at that point and it was really visually stunning.

Anyway, back to Roberto and Irina.

(photo by MIRA, from ABT website)

Roberto and Irina were beautiful again. And again I really liked Irina’s very real final scene, where her Juliet simply backs into Romeo’s body while walking backward, horrified at the sight of a corpse next to her. No melodrama whatsoever, all very genuine and it really moved me. I wanted to cry for her when she collapsed on seeing Romeo.

The lobby screens of course are not really the ideal place to view dance and of course don’t substitute for buying a ticket and going inside — there’s a lot of talking, ushers going through this rather intense ritual of closing the ticket windows and changing the signs above the booths, moving the expandable line-holders and untaping house manager phone cords from the front walls, and just goofing with each other (on Friday night, the ushers all started singing “One Day More” from Les Miserables in anticipation of the season ending!) Not to mention all the tourists who have to venture in and ask if what’s going on on the screen is actually live, what play it is, who the dancers are, etc. etc.

Still, you do see certain things you miss inside. I noticed, for example, how Roberto takes up space on the stage and how that makes him so much more visible than the other Romeos (excepting Marcelo). On Friday night (Herman and Xiomara in the leads), a tourist came in and asked me what the ballet was, then asked me to point out the main characters to her. It was during the scene where Juliet and Paris are dancing and Romeo’s watching. I actually had a hard time pointing out Romeo to her because Herman was kind of lost in the crowd. If you looked for him, you found him and he was doing what he was supposed to be doing: noticing Juliet and watching her intently. But you had to look for him. I also remembered someone in the audience on David and Gillian day remarking that she couldn’t figure out who Romeo was for half the first act. And then I also remembered thinking how Cory Stearns always kept to the corners and how it made him so much less visible than Hee Seo as Juliet.

But I noticed on Saturday night watching Roberto Bolle on the screen that it’s impossible not to see him, and not because he’s tall and handsome, but because he’s standing far away from the rest of the crowd, practically circling right around Paris and Juliet, the only ones who are centerstage, like a shark. When it’s time, he aggressively goes right in, and pushes Paris aside by literally standing in the very space Paris is currently occupying. Everyone in the lobby watching the screen giggled, some laughed and some swooned when he dove in like that. The other Romeos kind of approach Juliet hesitantly, as if to say, “excuse me, I’m kind of attracted to you.” But he was all, “I want you and you want me too!” The camera is perfectly centered and I watched for the rest of the performance how Roberto is always as close to center stage as he can possibly be and still be doing what he’s supposed to be doing. Not being a performer myself, it made me realize that there is an art to stagecraft — it’s not only about dancing well and looking good, there is actually an art to how to use the stage well. I think Roberto is the most mature and experienced of all the Romeos and the younger dancers could learn a lot about that from watching him.

Anyway, I was to meet some of my new friends at the stage door, so after all the curtain calls I waited about fifteen minutes — until the ushers said they were closing the house — then walked downstairs (the Met stage door is basically in the underground Lincoln Center parking lot). I didn’t see my friends at first but ran into choreographer Avi Scher who was there to chat with friends. I was talking to him a little bit when Alexandre Hammoudi, who danced Paris (and who I liked recently as Orion in Sylvia), exited. He and Avi are apparently friends because he stopped to talk. Alexandre was the sweetest guy — kept congratulating Avi on his recent successes with his company (at Jacob’s Pillow, at City Center). And he has the most charming smile and accent My new crush

(headshot from ABT)

Anyway, weirdest thing when Irina and Roberto exited. Irina exited first and got mobbed. By the time she got down to where I was standing she seemed really frazzled, like she really needed to get out of there. Max Beloserkovsky (her husband) was with her. They were being nice and polite and responding to people who wanted to say hello and get a picture but they seemed like they really needed to be somewhere. She’s so tiny, and so beautiful in person. Both of them are.

Then Roberto made his grand exit / crowd entrace last and he seemed the same. It was crowded, like it was for Swan Lake, but a little less so, but he seemed like he really needed to be somewhere in a huff as well. I wondered when the company is flying out to L.A.; Irina and Roberto are to open the Los Angeles season this Thursday but I figured they weren’t leaving for a few days.

Anyway, he was stopping for some pictures and autographs, but not many. You really had to be an aggressive fan to get a photo with him. Then, this guy beside me with a monster camera asked him for something as he passed by us — I assumed it was a picture — and his eyes got wide and he said “no, no” and shook his head rapidly, smiled and looked quickly away. I wondered what was such a big deal — maybe the guy wanted to take a video and wanted him to talk into the camera or something, because why balk at yet another picture?

Anyway, rather hilariously, Roberto just started walking briskly through the crowd. If you didn’t practically downright clobber him, you weren’t getting a picture or autograph or anything.

So, he was walking through the crowded hallway kind of snaking through the crowd acting as if none of those people were actually there to see him (which I guess is nice; if a dancer makes this huge exit and dramatically opens his arms out to the crowd like Evita, you’d think, how frigging presumptuous, right). Well people didn’t really know what to do. So everyone just kind of started following him! At this point, I spotted my friend I was to meet in the crowd and I called out and tapped on her shoulder. “Come on!” she said, motioning for me to follow as well. So I followed. Haha, he was like an unintentional Pied Piper leading us all through the underground Lincoln Center maze.

He stopped near the exit to the parking lot for a few more pictures and autographs.

And then he just stopped, and stood there, and no one knew what to do! I don’t know if he even realized there was this huge group of people who’d followed him outside and were eagerly awaiting his next move.

It was like we didn’t want the season to end and he was the last performer to leave and we were all kind of devastated! We didn’t want him to go home, and we didn’t want to go home ourselves (it didn’t help that it was POURING with kind of frightening thunder and lightening).

Finally, he went off with a couple of incredibly lucky women (who we surmised were agents and the like) and we all stood watching as he exited southside of the lot by Fordham Law School. My friend called out “Ciao, ciao, Roberto.” And then others joined in. He turned around one last time and nodded and said bye.

And we just kept standing there while he walked out into the pouring rain with those women. No umbrella. “He needs an umbrella,” someone said. “I think we should go,” someone else said. After his increasingly small figure finally disappeared into the distance, my new friends and I walked back through the maze to the north exit. Everyone else who was still out there followed. Everyone had their heads down and looked so forlorn! Under the 67th Street scaffolding my friends and I chatted for a while about the season and this final performance and some of the dancers we like and our own dancing. Then, probably about an hour later, a cab came by honking and I told them to take it. They got in reluctantly. We vowed to find each other again next season and hang out and keep up via blogs and facebook until then.

So nice making new ballet friends! And I met several this season. But so horrible when the season ends. I hate this feeling!

Photo by Gene Schiavone, taken from his website.

Hee Seo and Cory Stearns made their Met debuts in the R & J leads last Thursday night and if it isn’t clear from what I’ve blogged and tweeted before, and by this post’s title, I was completely blown away, particularly by Seo. It’s so hard to describe what you really love about a dancer, but I think with her it’s that she combines what I love about Diana Vishneva with what I love about Veronika Part. She dances the steps — particularly the bourrees, as Marie noted, in her own particular way that shows why the choreographer put them there in the first place (I’m thinking mainly of the tip toe steps first away from Paris, shunning him, then, in the following scene, toward him but ever so cautiously and completely without desire, then in a criss-cross pattern toward the bottle of fake poison). And she’s also a powerhouse of an actress, really taking you there with her, always in the moment, never being the least bit melodramatic, never “acting,” but always completely real. She’s somehow able to say so much just with her eyes, without even widening the lids without even making any kind of frown — just by having definite, intense thought that is somehow readable to the audience. And even though she’s so subtle, she somehow projects out to everyone. It’s really amazing — I really don’t know how an actress or a dancer does something like that.

There were places where I loved Irina Dvorovenko (at the very end — she doesn’t run around that crypt like a drama queen with her head cut off; instead she approaches the corpses, covers her mouth in fear, trips over Romeo, crumples into a ball and bawls — what anyone would do), and places where I loved Diana Vishneva (at the beginning, when playing the lute for Romeo, falling in love with him, especially the balcony scene). But I loved Hee Seo in every scene. There wasn’t a place where she wasn’t so completely in the moment and where she wasn’t able to make you feel exactly what she was feeling.

Photo by Samuel Zakuto, from TONY.

Her Romeo was Cory Stearns, who I liked but thought was very very nervous and let it influence his dancing. I know from David Hallberg via the Winger message board that this is the hardest role for a male lead, and it’s clear just from watching all those pas de deux how true that is. All those crazy high lifts, particularly the very last scene, where she’s limp as a rag doll. I can imagine having your Met debut must be terribly nerve-wracking for any man dancing Romeo, particularly a young one. I could tell he was shaky up front on the jumps — some of the landings were not so steady. He did seem to calm down, though, and kind of let himself get into the role, and he seemed to be doing much better by the second act (I think getting through the balcony pdd without any mishaps must always be a big relief!) But he also just seemed generally shy throughout, not wanting to take up space, not wanting to be seen, kind of relegating his Romeo to the corners of the stage. And that’s not good. Romeo needs to be aggressive to get his love, to avenge his friend’s death; Romeo needs to stand out.

And then during the curtain calls, same thing. They only took one. But people were going nuts with applause and were tossing bouquet after bouquet up there. They (Cory mainly, since he was leading her) just kind of walked away from the flowers and went back behind the curtain, as if hiding, and didn’t come back out again. I’m sure it was just nerves and awkwardness and not really knowing how to take all the applause, but I felt sorry for him because he didn’t really seem to understand how much people loved their performance. The company was also having a celebration for Frederic Franklin (who still plays Friar Laurence and who turned 95 in June), and I’m sure he was conscious of them wanting to start those festivities as well. But still, they could have taken one more curtain call!

Franklin was so cute! My pictures didn’t turn out too well because of the dark stage but here he is amid the balloons and surrounded by the cast. Seo and Stearns are to the far left, and ABT artistic director Kevin McKenzie is patting him on the shoulder. When he first came out onstage as Friar Laurence, everyone gave him so much applause that he had to come out of character, and walk out to the front of the stage to take a bow. He wore the sweetest little smile! We should all be like this at 95. And beyond.

One other mention: Daniil Simkin danced Benvolio, my first time seeing him in this ballet. I loved him, of course. In her post, Marie reminded me of that extra jab of the sword he took when dancing the mock-sparring scene with Romeo and Mercutio before the three crash the Capulet ball. If I remember correctly the jab was at Romeo and when Cory turned around, Simkin made clear he was just joking. It was a moment of playful camaraderie and I remember thinking these three — Simkin, Stearns and Craig Salstein as Mercutio — made, of any of the casts, the most believable trio of young friends. I also thought though it was a bit of foreshadowing of what was to come. So, I loved that he made that choice. I think Daniil is such a character, such a good actor as well as obviously a good dancer, I wasn’t sure why McKenzie didn’t cast him as Mercutio at all this run. He seems like the quintessential Mercutio and I saw every performance but one and am pretty sure he never danced it.

So, in the future, I would love to see Simkin dance Mercutio, and I would also love to see Hee Seo dance with Marcelo Gomes or Roberto Bolle as her Romeo.

Thank you so much, you guys, for all the wonderful comments on my Veronika Part on Letterman post, and for the comments on all of my ABT and SYTYCD posts. I’ve been so busy at the Met I haven’t had time to respond to most of them but I really greatly appreciate them!

I am writing my review of the fabulous debut of Hee Seo and Cory Stearns as Romeo and Juliet. And, I also inadvertently snuck in (more on that soon) to see Herman Cornejo and Xiomara Reyes dance the leads last night and will write a bit about that too (they were both much better than the last time I saw them in these roles — Xiomara’s performance was very moving and I loved Herman’s unique interpretation of Romeo).

In the meantime, James Wolcott posts his thoughts on Veronika Part’s Letterman appearance. Also, he spotted her in Madison Square Park at his wife, Laura Jacobs’ reading of her latest novel, The Bird Catcher (which I’m reading now)! I keep missing these Jacobs readings! Probably because I’m too busy lately to read blogs and keep up with all of her appearances, and Barnes and Noble has for some reason taken me off of their events updates list. Anyway, in his post, James Wolcott also identifies the maker of Veronika’s gorgeous Letterman appearance dress, Christian Cota, which Haglund finds in Cota’s collection.

In light of all of my waxing on the swan dives, a contact of Marcelo sent me a photo of his:

I didn’t see Marcelo’s Siegfried this season (I was making a point of it to see people other than my regulars this time around), so it wasn’t fresh on my mind, but from this picture it looks — wow, breathtaking!

Finally, regarding not the swan dives per se but Swan Lake in general, a new ballet-going friend of mine, author Marie Mutsuki Mockett, has a very interesting post (with lots of videos) about the evolution of Odette. Ooh, and I see she now also has a post on Cory and Hee’s Romeo and Juliet (which I saw with her)!

Today’s the last day of ABT in NY. Sadness! Matinee is David Hallberg and Gillian Murphy and tonight is Roberto Bolle and Irina Dvorovenko. And then, they’re on to LA. for all the celebrity viewings… I hope there are bloggers out there?… I don’t know if Jen and Jolene have time for a trip down the coast.  Ooh, but look, they do have a video of Veronika on Letterman!

I wish they would have discussed this picture

Did you guys see it? If you missed it, basically, it was short but sweet. IMO they had Daniel Radcliffe on for far too long and her not enough, but … Anyway, he introduced her, called American Ballet Theater one of the most prestigious ballet companies, and remarked that they’d never had a ballet dancer on the show … except for Richard Simmons… — which garnered lots of laughs.

She came out in this gorgeous blue strapless satin-y-looking tea-length dress. She seemed a bit nervous, but who wouldn’t be?! David Letterman was sweet though and I think his silly questions and funny demeanor kind of calmed her, made her laugh. He asked her where she was from in Russia and she said yes, I am from St. Petersburg, in Russia. She has a beautiful thick Russian accent and her understanding of English is probably not perfect but so what — I think she was endearing to his audience because of her Russianness. I think it’s very hard to learn English if you’re Russian and vice versa for us.

He asked her what their schools were like in Russia, she said they were good. He asked if she always knew she wanted to be a ballerina and she said someone had told her family that she had pretty, long legs and so must become a ballet dancer. But then she kind of laughed at herself, shook her head and said no one in her family knows anything about ballet. “Well, except you,” he said, and everyone laughed.

Then he put some pictures of her up to the camera and had her explain what they were. The first was of her doing an arabesque in — I’m not sure which ballet it was. She named the step, and he asked her if it hurt! She laughed (as did the audience). The other picture was of her as Odette at the end of Swan Lake, preparing to commit suicide by jumping off the cliff and into the lake. She called it “the final pose” of the ballet and explained that she jumps onto a mat under the stage. He asked if it hurt and she laughed again and said no. My question of course is — but does David Hallberg’s flamboyant swan dive hurt? He’s got to land on his belly. That mat must be thick!

Photo by Rosalie O’Connor, taken from The Winger.

And that was all of the pictures unfortunately. I really wish they would have shown one like the one up top, of the no hands fish dive. (photo by Gene Schiavone, by the way). She could have explained how hard it is (and, in Dave’s lingo, how much it hurts ) and of course she could have talked all about her wonderful partner, that Marcelo Gomes

Or this picture too

Anything with a fancy lift, basically. Photo also by Gene Schiavone.

Then he whipped out some toe shoes and gave them to her. They must have discussed beforehand what she’d do with them because she seemed to grab them and begin putting them on right away. The camera homed in on her feet, so we all watched her tie the ribbons. Then she got up and he led her out to the non-carpeted area and she went on pointe. She took him by the hands and lifted her leg up in back of her, in arabesque, and kind of motioned for him to walk her around like in a promenade. But he didn’t really get it and instead emulated her, lifting his leg up in back too, in a very funky-looking attitude. It was all very cute.

And then it was over, too soon.

Anyway, I was out at ABT tonight being completely floored by Hee Seo’s absolutely stunning, tear-jerking portrayal of Juliet (best I’ve seen since Alessandra Ferri, honestly), and then having a little after-performance bite to eat at Ollie’s with a couple of fun new ballet / writer / publishing friends (the best kind!), who I met in the blogosphere (the best place to meet!) Write-up soon of Seo and Cory Stearns (who was very good too, albeit a bit nervous — but excellent chemistry those two!) But, because I still live in the dark ages home entertainment-system-wise and still use a VCR to record, I could only record one show — and had to choose Veronika over SYTYCD results. If anyone could fill me in on the latter, would be much appreciated!

Part arriving at Letterman earlier today. Image taken from here.

Herman Cornejo and Xiomara Reyes, photo by Gene Schiavone from Ballet.co.

Finally, Pashmina week is here!

I couldn’t find any pictures of the pashmina lifts, but watch this video — two occur around 430-440 and 528-532. By the way, that clip, from a BBC broadcast apparently, is really good — the Royal’s Darcey Bussell talks about MacMillan’s gorgeous balcony pas de deux and then it’s performed by the great Carlos Acosta and Tamara Rojo.

Anyway, last night’s debut cast at ABT was Marcelo Gomes and Diana Vishneva in the leads. It was excellent. The audience collectively rose to its feet right after the curtain went down on the two lovers, dead in the crypt, and hardly anyone sat down or left until after the final curtain call. And a significant amount of people didn’t even want to leave then, after all the lights came up. I don’t think I’ve ever seen quite that kind of crowd reaction before. Diana was the best I’ve ever seen her (she’s really growing on me). The end was a bit melodramatic and overdone, but that aside, her performance was brilliant — perfectly and passionately danced and in character throughout. And the bourrees Marcelo is always perfect. He’s the lifting king in this very lift-heavy ballet. And he’s of course very romantic and passionate to boot He’s never not completely made my night at ABT. He kissed Diana on the lips during curtain call; audience went “awwwwwww!”

Herman Cornejo danced Mercutio, and, believe me, there’s no one better for that part. No one! Audience went wild over him, nearly as much as the leads. Veronika Part replaced Stella Abrera as Lady Capulet. It’s not a dancing role but a very serious acting one. I’ve never seen a more tragic Lady Capulet. I really felt her horror at Tybalt’s death. I almost cried with her. Isaac Stappas was a very good Tybalt, very virile, very threatening, but ultimately vulnerable. And Carlos Lopez was a very good Benvolio — he landed all of his jumps very well

And 95-year-old Frederic Franklin played Friar Lawrence (and got loads of applause for it when he first appeared onstage — for a minute I thought they were going to have to stop the music so he could take a bow!) Above photo of Franklin, with Marcelo Gomes as Romeo and Julie Kent as Juliet, from Liverpool Daily.

So the rest of the week: Marcelo will dance Romeo once more, on Wednesday night, with Paloma Herrera as Juliet. Tonight (Tuesday) and Saturday night Roberto Bolle dances with Irina Dvorovenko (a must-see performance). Wednesday and Saturday matinees are David Hallberg and Gillian Murphy. And Friday night are Herman Cornejo and Xiomara Reyes in the leads. Thursday night’s performance should be special: the young Hee Seo and Cory Stearns are making their debuts in the roles, and, according to the Playbill, there is also to be a little celebration that night in honor of Franklin, who will again play Friar Lawrence.

Pretty amazing to still be onstage at 95!

At a celebration earlier this year, from Liverpool Daily Post (sweet article too).

Photo by Andrew Testa, of Franklin dancing in the 1940s, from Judith Mackrell’s Guardian column.

For ABT’s schedule and ticket info, go here.

(headshot by Jade Young)

I had an insane weekend (out from early evening until not so early next morning both Friday and Saturday at Brooklyn ballroom competition, with ABT Saturday matinee of Sylvia sandwiched in between. Then spent all day today doctoring ballroom photos –mostly frustratingly unsuccessfully– then met with a friend to discuss a possible excursion to Jacob’s Pillow this summer.) Anyway, I haven’t slept in some time and have to get up early tomorrow morning so I have to make this short, but I saw Sylvia Saturday afternoon. Cast was Marcelo as Aminta, Paloma Herrera in the lead, Alexandre Hammoudi as Orion (making his debut in the role I believe), Arron Scott as the god Eros, and Kristi Boone as the goddess Diana. This viewing confirmed that Marcelo is still my favorite dancer, far and above over Roberto Bolle

Roberto has beautiful lines and a tall, long-limbed, lean-muscled body and all (and of course he’s really handsome) but Marcelo is a better actor, his facial expressions are more visible, he uses movement to convey meaning well, and his movements have more strength and sharpness and are just athletically astounding. Not that it has to be a competition of course! I was just worrying myself that I might be changing favorites They’re each very endearing of course in their own special way — Roberto has a sweet boyish shyness about him while Marcelo seems more graciously personable, but all of the principals have a certain quality that endears them to you — that’s why they’re principals.

Anyway, I love how desperately Marcelo was searching for Paloma’s Sylvia at the beginning, how in love with her he was, how he prayed to Eros, how he took Sylvia’s arrow in his heart when running desperately to protect the god, etc. etc.. Even that glimpse we get of him behind the scrim when Eros shows Sylvia, still in Orion’s cave, that Aminta is looking for her — even though he’s just in a static pose, he looks so forlorn it’s just heartbreaking! And his movement is all so enunciated and precise — his jumps were stellar; I noticed for example, that every time he did one of those jumps where he brings the first leg up in attitude (that Roberto is doing in the photo here), he brought the first foot all the way up to the other thigh. But all of the jumps were there to show Aminta’s quiet desperation, not necessarily for show. And of course Marcelo’s swooping fish dives are to die for.

(photo by Gene Schiavone of Marcelo as Orion from past productions, taken from here; I couldn’t find any of him as Aminta)

I do have to point out Roberto’s gorgeous feet though. I noticed them as he’d walk, slowly and pensively, tracing the ground with pointed toes. They’re very flexible, like Veronika Part feet.

(image taken from here)

Paloma Herrera was the most athletic of the Sylvias I saw (I didn’t see Gillian Murphy in this role). I said earlier that those jetes look very difficult — well, not on Paloma; she made them look like cake! She pulled everything off with such ease. I liked her better though in the first act. She really seemed like a nymph elated with success from her hunt, very happy with herself, very independent, and very annoyed at what she perceives as Eros’s intrusiveness into her life. I thought she was less compelling in the second and third acts, where she’s held in captivity by Orion and then is reunited with Aminta. I felt like those parts — particularly the captivity scene — became a bit Corsaire-like, just kind of about the silly theatrics. Apollinaire Scherr mentions that you never really know what you’re going to get with Paloma, how into the character she’s going to be, and I have to agree. I’ve loved her and felt she was really into the character at times and at others just thought she was so so. She’s always a spectacular dancer though.

(Paloma as Sylvia, photo by Gene Schiavone, taken from ABT website)

Alexandre Hammoudi was excellent as Orion, the evil hunter. He acted the part very well, reacted well to Marcelo — I loved his early scene where he does a wicked dance over Aminta’s limp body — and his spectacular jumps with his legs slicing through the air like swords really showed his wickedness and formidableness.

Arron Scott danced Eros as a very good god, smiling a lot, particularly when he whipped off the old man-healer costume. Daniil Simkin’s Eros was a bit mischievous, but Arron’s was all heroic. He danced the bravura solo in the third act with all the nimble-footed kick-flicks very well.

I loved Kristi Boone, again, as Diana. I also thought a lot of Sylvia’s fellow huntress-nymphs stood out: Isabella Boylston for her expressiveness and Romantic touch, Simone Messmer and her completely original style and sense of timing, Sarah Lane for her sweet eagerness, and I liked Jared Matthews and Leann Underwood in the last scene as Ceres and Jaseion. I definitely prefer Jared in more movement-focused, non-dramatic parts. And conversely, I like Cory Stearns in the more dramatic parts. He danced Apollo with Maria Bystrova as Terpsichore, and while both danced well and were very regal, I just think Cory excels in acting parts. Also Anne Milewski and Carlos Lopez gave quite a show as the cute goats, as did Alexei Agoudine and Luis Ribagorda as Orion’s slaves. Very good Fourth of July production!

Oh but only thing — it being a matinee, and a holiday one at that — there were so many little children in the audience. One had a crying fit right during the hardest-looking part of the last act, with all the difficult partnering for Marcelo and Paloma — the huge overhead lifts and the fish dives! And I mean CRYING FIT. The poor mother! But Marcelo and Paloma kept their concentration and delivered same as always. Audience went wild with applause — partly, I’m sure for that reason alone!

Yesterday I had one of those crazed balletomane days where I went to both matinee and evening performances of Sylvia at ABT. Cast for matinee was the esteemed Diana Vishneva as Sylvia, forever-a-heartthrob Ethan Stiefel as Aminta, the shepherd in love with her, Jared Matthews as Orion, the evil hunter, and Craig Salstein as Eros, or Cupid.

Michele Wiles as Sylvia, photo by Rosalie O’Connor, from ABT’s website.

Second cast, which, with the exception of Vishneva was overall far better, was Michele Wiles in the lead, Roberto Bolle as Aminta, Cory Stearns as Orion, and Daniil Simkin as Eros. In the second cast, Kristi Boone also stood out as Diana, the goddess of the hunt and of chastity, and both goats Misty Copeland and Craig Salstein; Carlos Lopez in the first cast was a good goat (feel a bit funny saying that). Both Terpsichores I saw really magically devoured the stage quite well: Simone Messmer and Veronika Part.

Roberto Bolle as Aminta, photo by Johan Persson, from BalletCo.

Anyway, this is my first time seeing a full-length Frederick Ashton ballet and now I’m curious to see more. It reminded me a bit of Midsummer Night’s Dream, with the gods and nymphs and the love unrequited and then requited theme and the mystical, enchanting, dream-like quality of it all.

Here’s the story: scantily-clad Aminta the shepherd is in love with Sylvia, one of goddess Diana’s nymphs who, at the top of the ballet has just led a very successful hunt. She and her fellow huntresses celebrate their victorious hunt. Then, having renounced love, Sylvia taunts the god Eros, who, painted in silver and wearing a leaf fig over his private parts, spends the first act standing atop a pedestal. (This is a very fun ballet.) Evil Orion is also in love with Sylvia and seeks to possess her.

Continue reading ‘TWO SYLVIAS: ROBERTO BOLLE & MICHELE WILES AND DIANA VISHNEVA & ETHAN STIEFEL’

Here’s a photo, by Rosalie O’Conner, to go along with my two earlier posts. This was the couple I was going on about so in James Kudelka’s Desir; a photo wasn’t available earlier. I found it in Tobi Tobias’s just-posted blog entry, summing up ABT’s eventful season, which is definitely read-worthy. She talks about the two above (like me, she loved Boylston); Alexei Ratmansky’s On the Dneiper; Natalia Osipova guesting (she felt just about the same as I about the Bolshoi ballerina); and Nina Ananiashvili’s farewell performance. I am working on my review of that; in the meantime, see my album. And do read Tobias!

(Ethan Stiefel and Gillian Murphy, photo Rosalie O’Connor, from Daily Mail)

Yep, here come the Swans! Tonight begins ABT’s Swan Lake week.

I had another hard time choosing casts. I ended up opting for the ones I haven’t yet seen, but they are really all worth seeing:

Tonight, Monday, beautiful, dramatic Irina Dvorovenko and Maxim Beloserkovsky open the ballet, with my favorite Marcelo Gomes as the villain von Rothbart;

Tuesday are powerhouse Gillian Murphy dancing with forever enchanting Angel Corella;

Wednesday and Saturday matinees are David Hallberg and Michele Wiles with my new fave Cory Stearns as the villain;

Wednesday evening is critically acclaimed Diana Vishneva and Marcelo Gomes (this time as Prince Siegfried);

Thursday night are Paloma Herrera and Ethan Stiefel (fingers crossed he’s recovered from his injury);

Friday night is my favorite Vernonika Part with Italian star Roberto Bolle and David Hallberg as von Roth;

And the week will end Saturday night with the knockout, perhaps the biggest night of the entire season: widely beloved Georgian ballerina Nina Ananiashvili will give her farewell performance with ABT. She’s dancing with Angel Corella, and Marcelo again as von Roth.

Photo by Nancy Ellison, from ABT website)

Photo of Larry Keigwin by Tom Caravaglia, taken from Bates.

Meanwhile downtown, don’t forget about Keigwin + Company at the Joyce, opening Tuesday night, and alternating nights with Nicholas Leichter Dance.

Photo by Samuel Zakuto, from TONY)

I saw two more Sylphide casts last week at ABT: Cory Stearns and Veronika Part, and David Hallberg and Hee Seo, debuting in the lead role. I think Cory debuted as well?… will have to check. Anyway, the casts were different but each really drew me into the story. Cory Stearns in particular really blew me away with his ability to do that. I almost cried at the end when he killed his beloved sylph, and I’m not a crier. (For the ballet’s story, see my earlier post). He’s a young new soloist and really an excellent actor, as well as dancer. His James was young (almost too young to get married ) and really easily swept away by Veronika’s sweet sylph. He was enchanted but is too much the gentleman and didn’t want to hurt his fiance. But then he couldn’t help himself either; he was just too captivated by her. Veronika was a sweet sylph — not at all tantalizing or tormenting the poor man in his dreams, but really just in love with him.

Here, in Le Corsaire, photo by Marty Sohl, taken from ExploreDance.

It turned to tragedy so fast. The whole way through it was like a love story, and you’re so happy when he’s finally with her in the forest, when they’re finally together. And the way Veronika got so excited about his scarf when he began waving it about; it was just heartbreaking when she died from it. Even though I knew what was coming it was so unexpected. I think these two were a very good pair. They’re both great actors who really bring the story to life, who really make you feel like you’re in the moment going through it with them.

And their dancing was excellent — Veronika’s leaps across the stage drawing him away from his Scottish wedding dance were breathtaking. I’d go after her too. And he was excellent — during his solo variations with the high jumps with the beating of the feet and the twisty turning jumps alternating directions, and during the Scottish-styled dancing. He’s tall and his jumps have such height and majesty. He sometimes gets a bit tired but he was really pumped in this, didn’t tire at all.

I’ve long loved Veronika and her ability to draw you deeply and emotionally into her character’s story, but I haven’t really seen much of Cory and he just really blew me away with his acting. I expected him to do all the jumps right, but I didn’t expect for him to take me away to this other world like he did and almost make me cry in the end. Read Gia Kourlas’s interview with him here — he’s quite chatty

Photo of Hee Seo, photographer unknown, taken from Korea.net.

The other cast was David Hallberg and Hee Seo, who I really enjoyed as well. Hee Seo was a physically much smaller, more delicate sylph and I loved the way she held her hands. She’d hold one arm out before her bent at the elbow and rest her other elbow on that hand, then hold her one hand to her face and her head cocked to the side. It was sweet but very otherworldly. Veronika’s sylph was very human, it was more like a love story than a man being haunted by an ethereal creature. But Hee Seo’s sylph was not of this world. She was a dream.

And finally, David Hallberg. Well, in my opinion he tends to overact just a bit. I think he tends toward Russian-style melodrama. But then I don’t know if it’s just me sitting in orchestra thinking that. He may be projecting well to the back of the house. I always forget how big that opera house is. I want to tell him to just calm down and be himself, be himself in the given situation — that’s what acting is (or at least that’s what I was taught). Especially with a ballet like this where he really is just a guy getting married, and having second thoughts in the form of this mysterious creature who starts playing with his mind.

In any event, overacting or not, it honestly doesn’t really matter to me. I’m so drawn to him somehow. Whenever he is onstage I can’t take my eyes off of him. I don’t know whether it’s because he wrote for The Winger and it was so easy to comment on his posts and kind of “talk to him” that way, making him more “real” and human and personable or what, but my eye is just drawn to him and won’t leave him for the entire time he’s onstage. And of course his movement is itself otherworldly. Those feet are ethereal, just like his sylph

Anyway, it will be wonderful to watch Hee Seo and Cory Stearns pair in Romeo and Juliet later this season. For now, onto the Swans!

(Desir, photo by Cylla von Tiedemann, from ABT website)

On the Dnieper grew on me after seeing it the second time on Tuesday night, with the new cast, although I still generally preferred the first cast. If you missed my earlier post on Ratmansky’s new ballet, it’s here. Second cast was: Jose Carreno as Sergei the returning soldier; Hee Seo as Natalia, his betrothed; Diana Vishneva as Olga, the flirt who steals his heart; and Alexandre Hammoudi as Olga’s volatile fiance.

I absolutely loved Diana as Olga. She and Hee Seo, who was excellent as well, really drove home the ballet’s pathos and heartbreak. A BalletTalk poster said that with Diana, Olga became the central character and I think they’re right. Diana’s Olga was the most dynamic character in the whole thing; she really underwent a change in those mere 40 minutes. And it was believable. She starts out this carefree and careless flirtatious girl, frolicking around, teasing Sergei, teasing her boyfriend. And when her flirtatiousness with Sergei sets the whole disastrous string of events in motion — Sergei falls for her and she for him, her fiance has an emotional breakdown and beats Sergei, her parents are distraught, and she realizes what she and Sergei have done to poor Natalia — she really grows up, overnight, becomes a totally different person, takes responsibility for her actions. When she and Sergei bow to Natalia at the end in a prayer for forgiveness, before running off to their new life together, you feel equal heartbreak for both women.

Hee Seo and Veronika Part were equally compelling, although Seo seemed a little younger and more naive up front and I didn’t notice the holding out of the arms and the resting of the head on the shoulder like I did with Veronika. Jose, who’s generally ABT’s best actor I think (he never overdoes it; everything is authentic), was good as Sergei, but different from Marcelo. Jose seemed to be searching for something at the beginning, trying to rediscover his hometown with those short, staccato steps in each direction. His movements at the beginning were more modern than ballet, sharp and staccato at points, like he was unnerved that he didn’t recognize things or that things were different. (That kind of movement is more visible on a smaller body though.) Marcelo didn’t seem as sad or desperate up front. But then when torn between the two women, with Jose I  didn’t notice the back and forth of the jumps, this way and that, as I did with Marcelo. The jumps first to one woman, then the other, are my favorite Sergei movement trait, along with the throwing himself to the ground in anguish, almost like a half push-up.

Alexandre Hammoudi was a very different fiance from David Hallberg. Alexandre was quieter, especially up front, not seeming to realize the potential dangers of Olga’s flirtatiousness. He underwent a character change, like Diana’s Olga, then, becoming aggrieved and angry when he realized what had happened. David was more volatile up front, as if that was fundamentally part of the fiance’s character. Those extremely fast-paced steps during his anger scene were not as pronounced with Alexandre as with David. It looked more like he was kicking up leaves (which they had strewn on the ground); with David he was using those feet like daggers. David made such an impression with that character, and specifically that going nuts scene — I’m never going to forget it; I’m never going to forget that insane, almost terrifying, tap dance.

Okay, can I stop talking about this ballet now and focus on the other Prokofiev pieces?!

I generally wasn’t in love with Desir (photo at top of post) by James Kudelka, at least not as it was danced here. The movement is lovely and much of it original and the dancers are excellent but something was just lacking and I can’t figure out exactly what. It’s a ballet about several different couples, and I think my problem is that all the couples are basically the same, at least the way it’s being danced by ABT. With someone like Tharp or Robbins, different couples have different issues — there’s a romantic couple, a sexed-up couple, a fighting couple, etc. Here, the first two couples on first, dressed in fiery red — the women in long, flowing dresses that really whirl when they turn, the men in brown pants and long-sleeved colored tops –  both seem passionate and in love, all but Gillian Murphy from the first night’s cast, wearing bright smiles. But I don’t know if the happy smiles are supposed to be there. Some of the movement is rather chaotic. The woman seems to want to go one way and the man keeps turning her the other, mid-air. Gillian was the only one who made this dramatic, as if there was something not quite right going on between the characters. Apollinaire Scherr noticed that as well; read her very insightful comments on the whole program here (scroll down).

Then we move to a set of four couples, all dancing at once. My favorite part of the whole ballet is the men of these couples. At one point, men and women split and the men all dance together, followed by the women doing a group dance. When the men group dance in this way, each is doing his own thing — one jumping arms up toward the sky as if in ecstasy, another jeteing back and forth as if confused, another spinning himself into a whirlwind, etc. Then the women dance and they all do exactly the same thing — hold up their skirts and tip toe around, jump waving the skirts all about, all in unison, in sync. They’re all the same character — what does this say about men and women? Then, the couples pair up again, each man to a woman, and there’s one really funny part where the women stand still and the men do a bunch of high, twisty turning jumps,their limbs flying — as if to protest, “what’s up with that?,” “how can you say that to me?” It’s very funny, very evocative of real life relationships. The audience seemed to laugh louder on the first night though.

Still, in all, the couple who stood out to me the most is the more adagio one with all the beautiful lifts. The second night it was danced by Jared Matthews and Maria Riccetto, who were very good, but there was just something extra special about Cory Stearns and Isabella Boylston that really took my breath away the first night. Another performance I’m not going to forget.

And then Prodigal Son. This isn’t really my favorite ballet and I don’t honestly see how critics can trash Boris Eifman so and love this. What’s with all that fist-pounding on the thighs, the wide-mouthed screams at what, being asked to get water from the well with his sisters? How melodramatic is that? I know it’s a classic now, but I feel if it premiered today people would laugh and roll their eyes. Unless Balanchine meant for parts of it to be funny, like that up front melodrama, and the “sex” scenes. Anyway, read Apollinaire’s comments about Prodigal too, though; she made me appreciate it more, and talked about how certain dancers can play up the immaturity in those early thigh-pounding scenes so that it doesn’t look so full of melodrama.

Herman Cornejo as the son and Michele Wiles as the Siren danced the leads on opening night; Angel Corella and Kristi Boone the second night. Unfortunately I have to miss the third cast — the magnificent Daniil Simkin and the tantalizingly beautiful Irina Dvorovenko. If anyone sees them, please report! I’m dying to know how they do together!

Herman was excellent dance-wise. As expected, he nailed all those high-flying, angst-ridden jumps at the beginning. He danced a little more carefully than Angel, who had a minor slip at the beginning, then looked like he might fall on his way down that slide in the middle section. But I felt Angel delivered on the drama better; he took me through the emotions with him. The way he watched his Siren, he was like a little boy mesmerized. It made you mesmerized by her too. And then the way he danced with her — it was like an awkward, boy losing his virginity, sex scene. I’ve never seen it quite look like that before, though it’s probably supposed to! Then when he was robbed and left to die (Herman was really shockingly stunning  in this part too — he was a horrid sight, his body up there, leaning almost lifeless against the cross-like slide), and came crawling back home body all dirt-encrusted, then into his father’s arms, like a baby. It does end up being very emotionally compelling, silly as it is at the top. I’d like to see Herman in this later, after he’s had a few goes at it. I think if he could up the drama more, he’d be perfect.

Kristi so far has been my favorite Siren! This role I find a bit inherently awkward too — all that wrapping the long train of her costume around her legs, crouching to get it between her thighs. It almost always looks more weird than sexy, but somehow Kristi whipped the fabric around so fast, it was spellbinding, practically had a dominatrix feel. And then when she does those — what I call upside-down crab walks — where she’s on her hands and toe pointes, belly up and she walks past him develope-ing her legs up with each step, spider-like — most dancers kick straight up, but Kristi’s developes went all the way back, practically to her chest. It looked so much more tantalizing than I’ve seen that before. Kristi’s pointed toes are so pronounced, her feet practically look like ensnaring sickles — she probably has a better Siren body than anyone (except for maybe Veronika Part — I wonder if she’ll ever be cast?)

Okay, I’m done. Sorry I keep writing so much! If anyone sees the Daniil / Irina Prodigal cast, please let me know!

I had a crazy day. This afternoon I went to the Guggenheim to see this new ScentOpera – an opera told entirely through music and smell (each seat had a little microphone that blew the scents into your face) — which I’ll write about soon. Suffice it to say it was very interesting and I think Nico Muhly has found his niche: composing for smell — because, unlike with dance, his music most definitely did not overpower these whiffs at all, at least not as created by perfumier Christophe Laudamiel. I nearly passed out from “Funky Green Impostor.”

Anyway, more about that soon.

Tonight was the premiere of ABT’s new resident artist Alexei Ratmansky’s first ballet for the company — a night for which many have been waiting ever so eagerly. For those not up on the ballet-world gossip: Mr. Ratmansky (from the Ukraine, and former artistic director of the Bolshoi) initially was rumored to be contemplating taking the resident choreographer position at NYCB. Then he didn’t and everyone was depressed because Christopher Wheeldon was leaving to start his own company and everyone really liked Ratmansky and wanted to see more of his work stateside. Then, next thing everyone hears is that he’s accepted the same from ABT, making everyone happy but confused — NYCB is known for being more daring and contemporary in its repertoire; ABT sticks more to the traditional classical story ballets. Ratmansky,who was leaving the Bolshoi because he wanted more of a challenge (the Bolshoi’s rep is akin to ABT’s), seemed a better fit for NYCB.

Anyway, I was expecting tonight something along the lines of Concerto DSCH or something he’s done for NYCB (which is all that I’ve seen by him): a contemporary Balanchine-esque ballet without a linear narrative but with a discernible theme and with original, clever, thought-provoking choreography. Instead, On the Dnieper (the Dnieper is a river in the Ukraine), set to Prokofiev’s music of the same name, is a story ballet that I found to be about three parts Tudor, one part Robbins (with some of the fight scenes).

It’s the story of Sergei (danced by Marcelo Gomes), a young soldier who returns home, after war, to his fiance Natalia (Veronika Part), only to realize he no longer loves her but is attracted to Olga (Paloma Herrera), a flighty, flirtatious local girl who is betrothed to another man (David Hallberg). After a brief encounter, Olga falls for Sergei and begins to doubt her love for her fiance. One evening at a party, Olga dances with her fiance and Sergei becomes jealous and challenges the fiance to a fight. Sergei is felled, and Natalia rescues him — picks him up, cleans him off. But soon Olga is back. Natalia, after trying desperately and unsuccessfully to win Sergei back, heartbroken, does what she knows she must for the man she loves — helps him escape with Olga.

It reminded me of Antony Tudor because there’s a lot of drama — albeit without all the heavy psychology — a lot of hurt, wounded tragic characters with broken dreams, unrequited love, painful sadness that just reverberates through the whole auditorium. And the characters each seem to have a way of moving unique to them: Marcelo’s Sergei jumps back and forth a lot with lots of beats of the feet — as if he can’t decide whom to choose, what to do, as if he’s torn.

David Hallberg’s fiance is rather borderline psychopathic, highly impassioned (to make an understatement) but almost frighteningly controlling of Paloma’s Olga. After the way David had described his character on the Winger, I was expecting a reprisal of his “friend” in Tudor’s Pillar of Fire or his R&J Paris – -vulnerable and hurt but proud and trying to bear his pain noblely in a way that made me want Juliet to leave Romeo for him. That’s not what we got at all! Our first viewing of him is slicing madly through the air at Paloma and her friends as if to say, stop everything, I’m here. Besides the jumps and aggressive arms, he has a lot of crazy fast footwork throughout. At one point, when his jealousy is getting the better of him, he starts shuffling his feet so fast, he actually looks down at them, stunned, like he really can’t control them. A way out-of-control Fred Astaire.

Paloma is all about the fickle, flirtatious girlish jumps. And Veronika is more adagio, and she keeps extending her arms both to one side, then laying her head on that shoulder as if an expression of her loyalty and devotion to Sergei. Later, when she realizes he’s drawn to another woman, this movement looks more like a prayer that he’ll return to her. Veronika is heartbreaking and she’s the emotional centerpiece to the ballet. You really want to cry for her at the end.

I think it’s a good ballet — a little slow in places, but generally compelling and with meaningful movement that echos the characters’ desires and actions. It just surprised me that it wasn’t what I’m used to from him. I think after seeing so much NYCB, I’m becoming so enamored of Balanchine and non-narrative contemporary rep of the kind he’s done on that company. I hope that not all of the work he’ll do for ABT will be story ballets. I hope he will do some Concerto  DSCH and Russian Seasons and Dreams of Japan-like ballets for ABT as well. ABT’s dancers are so brilliant; it’s fascinating watching what they can do with those kinds of movement-heavy, dramatically open-ended kinds of dances.

Also on the program — which I’ll write more about after seeing the other casts — were Balanchine’s Prodigal Son (danced tonight by Herman Cornejo, replacing Ethan Stiefel, who’s still out with an injury), and James Kudelka’s Desir. Desir is about several different relationships — mostly couples — about sexual angst, romance, fighting, etc. I liked parts of it but not all (I’ll write more about it after more viewings), but what really floored me was a beautifully romantic pas de deux with sweeping lift after sweeping lift performed by Cory Stearns and Isabella Boylston. I’ve never really seen Isabella before and Cory I have but not much, and he’s definitely never stood out as much as he did tonight. Those lifts looked hard and he didn’t tire one bit. He was the ideal strong male partner, showing her off, making her look beautiful, giving her such gorgeous height, sweeping her up through the air, without being the least bit show-off-y himself. He was all about her and they both shone. They were breathtaking. And I’m definitely not the only one who thought so. The audience went wild with applause when they took their bows. They got even more applause than Gillian Murphy and Blaine Hoven! (who were excellent as the angst-ridden couple who eventually gets it together in the end). I’m glad Kevin McKenzie gives young dancers these kinds of chances to stand out.

More soon on the rest of the ballets, and hopefully some pictures as well.

(photo of Marcelo Gomes and Veronika Part, by Gene Schiavone, taken from ballet.co.uk)

So ABT is in the midst of its week-long Balanchine-Tchaikovsky program, which began last night, after Monday’s opening night gala. I’ve gone to both performances thus far, last night’s and this afternoon’s.

Last night I was seated next to Irlan Silva — ABT studio company dancer, and movie star! (actually, I’d noticed his dancing before the movie; I was only drawn to the movie because it was about Brazil, and only when I was sitting there during the Tribeca Film Festival did I realize I’d seen one of the documentary’s subjects before!) Anyway, he seemed really polite and quiet, but then he applauded and hooted loudly during dancer bows, so is obviously very supportive. I like seeing dancers at performances; Julio Bocca wasn’t right about everyone when he said young people are too into their cell phones these days to watch and learn. And, today I saw Ashley Bouder (of New York City ballet), sitting in the front orchestra.

Also last night, on the way in I saw Laura Jacobs. I wanted to thank her for sending me an advance copy of her new novel, but she appeared to be engaged in conversation and I didn’t want to interrupt. I didn’t see her husband, but I assume Mr. Wolcott was there at some point since this was Veronika Part’s first full performance of the season, and as principal ballerina!

Anyway, first on was Allegro Brillante, danced by Ethan Stiefel and Gillian Murphy. Today it was danced by Xiomara Reyes and Daniil Simkin. I noticed both in this and in the two Mozartianas that I saw that there seems to be a difference between the way Russians and Americans (Latin Americans included) dance Balanchine.

Continue reading ‘I WANT TO DO FISH DIVES WITH MARCELO’

(photo of Commedia by Erin Baiano)

(photo by John Ross, of Commedia)

Last weekend’s Works and Process event at the Guggenheim focused on Christopher Wheeldon’s recent ballet, Commedia, and the costume and set designers, Isabel Toledo and Ruben Toledo, respectively.

Isabel Toledo is of course best known for this dress:

(photographer unknown, image taken from Huffington Post) — Michelle Obama’s inauguration dress. Interestingly, we learned at the event that she found out Obama was wearing the dress just as Wheeldon’s Morphoses was premiering the ballet at the Sydney Dance Festival in Australia. (she was with the company there; we saw some footage of that, shot by Wheeldon on his point and shoot).

Commedia, which I’ve wrote about briefly here, is a sweet ballet in the style of Italian Commedia dell’arte and involves a set of traveling performers. Wheeldon made it in honor of the centenary this year of Ballets Russes (you may have seen the excellent documentary on that company that showed here a couple of years ago and is now on DVD); Commedia will be performed again when Morphoses returns this fall to Sadler’s Wells in London and then NY City Center. Commedia is set to a score by Stravinsky, which Michel Fokine had used for his ballet, Pulcinella, which Ballets Russes performed.

The Toledos designed the costumes and stage sets, and it was really interesting hearing the three talk about their collaboration. Isabel was very personable, very chatty, and though she’s Cuban-born, her accent sounded perfectly American. She talked about how much more difficult it was than she expected to design costumes for a dance

Continue reading ‘ISABEL TOLEDO AND CHRISTOPHER WHEELDON AT GUGGENHEIM’