Tag: Craig Salstein

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HEE SEO: MY FAVORITE JULIET SINCE ALESSANDRA FERRI

 

 

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.

 

 

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!

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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.

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ROBERTO BOLLE CATCHES BOUQUET FOR IRINA DVOROVENKO, AND A KISS IN SEPIA

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I know now why I fell so for Roberto Bolle when he danced here with Alessandra Ferri two years ago: Romeo is his role. This is the best I’ve seen him this season. He thoroughly inhabited the character — from flirting with the prostitutes, to dreaming of Rosaline, falling for Juliet, raging uncontrollably at Tybalt after he kills his friend, immediately and horribly regretting what he does to Tybalt, and to his heart-clenching grief on finding Juliet seemingly dead.

Both he and Irina acted perfectly — no melodrama, no underacting, nothing the least bit overwrought — they were just two young people in love whose situation tornadoed suddenly and tragically out of their control. I preferred Irina’s death scene to Diana Vishneva’s the night before. Irina didn’t do any of the throwing the arms up and the head back; she just kind of contorted her body and cried while she realized what she had to do. Which, to me, was more real — less spectacle, but more real. And they danced superbly. I’ve never seen him dance so well — he nailed every twisted jump, his turns were faster and more precise than I’ve ever seen them, and the lifts were gorgeous. Very perfectly pashmina!

Craig Salstein was an excellent Mercutio, acting the part probably better than anyone (as I’d expect him to). Something rather funny happened at the beginning of the mandolin dance, though. Craig tossed aside his mandolin with a bit too much gusto and whoever was supposed to catch it didn’t and the thing went flying through the air like a saucer, sailing right over Roberto’s head, nearly missing it, and continuing on straight into the wings, where it made a very loud crash. Everyone onstage laughed as did the audience, and Craig shrugged his shoulders, smiled cutely, and continued on with his dance. I couldn’t stop laughing throughout that whole dance. It was okay, though — it’s a rather frivolous scene, pre-double homicides. Would be pretty wild though if the lead was knocked out by an out of control prop.

Jared Matthews not only danced Benvolio very well but acted the role well too. I didn’t catch him doing any of his usual cliched gestures and he genuinely seemed like Romeo’s playful friend. I think everyone feels at home in this ballet. I really think it’s all-around ABT’s best production.

Anyway, I’ll write more later. But now I have to go to bed. So … I can get up and go back for more ABT šŸ™‚

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TWO SYLVIAS: ROBERTO BOLLE & MICHELE WILES AND DIANA VISHNEVA & ETHAN STIEFEL

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.

 

 

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.

 

 

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”

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ROBERTO BOLLE AND VERONIKA PART IN ABT’S SWAN LAKE

 

 

It’s kind of hard for me to be my usual enthusiastic self after hearing about the death of Pina Bausch earlier today, but I’m getting too far behind on blog posts to take the rest of the day off, so I’ll try.

Of course, I should have written about this performance earlier, but I was too busy at the stage door that evening, and then I’ve had a ballet every night since then. Anyway, hope I can make sense of my notes!

Overall impression was that they both — Veronika and Roberto — gave a beautiful, stunning performance, that he did very well when dancing on his own, that she did very well both on her own and when being partnered by him, and that she out-acted him. By a long shot. I have been told that (despite posing for photos like this) he is actually rather shy, though, and it did kind of seem like that at the stage door, so I think maybe he needs to get used to a ballerina for a while, and will do much better the more comfortable he gets. The reason I say that is because I loved him so much in Romeo and Juliet two years ago, and he danced wonderfully and completely comfortably with Alessandra Ferri. I think it’s just a matter of getting used to our ballerinas and perhaps American audiences.

Whenever he was on his own, his dancing and acting were solid. I really felt like I saw Odette flying away after Siegfried’s encounter with her, as Bolle’s sad eyes traced her imaginary path along the ceiling. And his early solo, when Siegfried is at the party, pre-Odette, and he’s feeling alone and ill at ease with his mother’s demands that he choose a wife, Bolle really conveyed that mixed emotion, confusion, loneliness. Later, his jumps were stellar. It just seemed that whenever he partnered Veronika, he was concentrating so hard, he had no time for emotion. So, Angel, Ethan, and Marcelo (when I last saw him as Siegfried, a year ago, anyway), were more passionate. But others think differently. Read Haglund (an excellent newish ballet blog by the way!) for a different take on Bolle’s performance.

 

 

Veronika was just gorgeous, and so passionate. She did her usual thing of taking me on her character’s journey with her, of making me feel Odette’s plight and pain, and Odile’s desires as well. She has such sweep and breadth, when he’d take her down into an arabesque penchee on pointe, her arms brushed the floor. And her extensions are always so breathtaking, and the overhead lifts — they are both so tall they were just spectacular, she just touched the sky. In the Black Swan Pas de Deux, she did the straight fouettes, as did Nina Ananiashvili the following night (review coming soon!) She has such height she moves a bit slower than other ballerinas and she didn’t really make the 32 fouettes, but who cares. She really devoured the stage with those fouettes, and when she did her turns around its perimeter. What’s important in that scene is how you eat up all the space around you and command the attention of the audience and poor Siegfried, and you can do that in a variety of ways — a ridiculous number of turns is only one. She had a really wicked smile all throughout that scene! I really love her!

Hehe, one other thing: poor Roberto. No one told him that, thanks to a certain David Hallberg, New York audiences are accustomed to an all-out Olympic gold medal-level Swan Dive off the cliff and into the lake at the end šŸ™‚ Or perhaps he didn’t want to out swan dive his lady, because Veronika just kind of tossed herself off the cliff. Either way, Roberto followed her with a slight jump, not even really a jump — almost like he was falling into the water as well. Of course I’m partly joking about the need for an extravagant suicide jump, but I do have to say, in my quest to see casts other than my regulars this season, I did so miss that Hallberg dive!

A couple of other things: I have a bunch of stars next to Craig Salstein’s name in my Playbill so he must have done something I liked… Oh yes, he was one of the two Neapolitan high-bouncing jumping jack guys in the court scene. I also have written “violins ***” which reminds me that I thought the violinist was very good during von Rothbart’s seduction of the court ladies scene. I always forget about the hard-working orchestra!

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ROBERTO BOLLE’S ABT DEBUT

Well, I guess it’s not literally his ABT debut since he danced Romeo and Juliet with Alessandra Ferri for her farewell performance (during which I totally fell for him). But it’s his first performance as a member of the company.

 

Tonight (or last night, rather, seeing as how it’s now after midnight), he danced Count Albrecht in Giselle (description of that ballet here, if you’re unfamiliar with it).

Well, as much as I loved him as Romeo, I wasn’t quite as in love with his Albrecht, especially after seeing Marcelo in this role on Monday night. Maybe I’m just not used to his style. During intermission, a friend told me he thought it was very operatic, very Italian opera, which I took to mean, very melodramatic with lots of overdone mime and emotion and all. The acting just seemed so overwrought, like he was being a danseur onstage and not a real man in love with this girl. And the weeping at her grave, the running to her body and crying over her after her collapse — it all seemed unreal. But like I said maybe that’s just another style and I’m not used to it. It is rather interesting to have people from all over the world dancing on the Met stage bringing their different aesthetics.

The man does have gorgeously long thin legs, though, and some of his jumps were downright spellbinding. And he’s also a wonderfully strong partner, lifting Paloma Herrera’s Giselle way up over his head, while she lifted her leg up in the air seemingly with the greatest of ease. They were really beautiful together, dance-wise.

When he did the jumps during the would-be -dance-to-death scene, I noticed (now that I’m completely fixated on this!) that he didn’t throw his head back like Marcelo (and from what commenter Marie says, Angel too). Rather, he lunged his upper body a bit toward the side, and very slowly, like I’ve seen the Russian men do, very Romantic-looking. And then he’d fall to the ground, but he didn’t throw himself down like Marcelo — it was just like a stumble ending in a fall. So, it was more Romantic than tragic if that makes sense. His movement was lighter and more flowing, like a wave, emotional but not so evocative of near death and inner torment and prayer for salvation.

Oh, my favorite moment for him though was when he did these continuous jumps with many many entrechats (rapid braiding of the feet). I know they’re in the choreography but he did them and did them and did them, he just didn’t stop. I really didn’t know when he’d stop. He almost didn’t. The audience went nuts. He really didn’t stop until he, as a dancer — I think, couldn’t go on anymore. So, he literally tired himself out; his Albrecht literally danced until he almost collapsed.

I liked Paloma in the lead but she wasn’t dancing with the same aesthetic; she was more human, which is perhaps why they didn’t seem a proper match (which I overheard said during intermission). I liked her mad scene — it wasn’t over the top. And she did these hops during the Wilis scene like no one else. She looked up to the sky and she jumped and jumped, and it was like a longing to return to life. It was so sad.

The only thing I didn’t like about her Giselle was that she kept clutching her heart. We all know she has a weak heart, but if you had a heart condition you wouldn’t necessarily grab at your chest all the time; you’d grab a hold of a bench or another person, etc. to keep from fainting, you’d pat your sweat-covered head, etc. There are other, more authentic signs of a problem heart.

I really liked Isaac Stappas as Hilarion. His Hilarion was still strong and angry (understandably) about Albrecht’s betrayal, but he was also vulnerable and hurt. He took Giselle’s rejection of him nobly. And his dance to death scene was heartbreaking. He kept doing those slow-motion, galloping leaps toward Michele Wiles’s fabulous Myrta with his hands raised toward her, sometimes together as if in prayer. He was really begging her to let him live.

There was only one very small thing I didn’t like about his performance: at one point, he sees Albrecht’s sword, and realizes it belongs to him. So, he turns his back to the audience and points to the castle. Too much. We know the sword belongs to Albrecht and Albrecht lives in the castle. He only needs to look at the castle, if even that.

Michele Wiles’s interpretation of Myrta is more complicated than Gillian Murphy’s I think. Michele’s Myrta initially seemed colder and more unforgiving but then I realized that was really only on the surface. When Giselle covers Albrecht in protection, Michele’s Myrta turns her back, her way of saying “go ahead, dance together, but just for a while.” And then she keeps turning around to peek at them, and, seeing them continuing to dance, rapidly turns back again, as if the only way she can let him live is if she pretends not to see that he’s there. But then she knows he’s there, so pretending to look the other way is a conscious decision to let him continue living. I like Michele’s Myrta.

Misty Copeland and Craig Salstein were excellent as the peasants — I don’t really like this pas de deux, it’s honestly a bit boring to me, but they brought everything they could to it. Kristi Boone and Simone Messmer captured my attention in the Wilis scene as Myrta’s two right-hand Wilis, Zulma and Moyna. Kristi’s so strong and her body always carries such graceful power and control, and Simone — from what I’ve seen of her at least — has this rather bewitching presence (for lack of a better term). There’s just something about her that captivates your attention.

Audience went completely mad during curtain call. There were lots of Italians in that audience, at least where I was sitting. Practically the whole orchestra rose in standing ovation while the curtain was still going down on the final act. When Roberto came out for his solo bow it was pandemonium people were cheering so loudly!

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SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE, SEASON 5, WEEK 1

I was at NYCBallet last night and then absolutely needed to go out to O’Neals afterward with my friend to discuss Tiler Peck’s brilliant performance in Mercurial Manouevres (and yes, Ashley Bouder in Lifecasting, whom my friend has an enormous crush on šŸ™‚Ā  — we got kicked out of O’Neals at 12:15 a.m. – -ridiculous that they close that early; that’s why ballet isn’t attracting young audiences — there are no bars open late in the Lincoln Ctr area…argh!) Anyway, I’m watching the recording this morning. Here’s my recap:

First on, popper Phillip and contemporary dancer Jeanine dancing to a Tabitha and Napolean hip hop routine. The first dance of the season. It was pretty good. I thought she did really well, especially for a contemporary dancer. I think she even kind of outdanced him! It wasn’t tremendously memorable to me, but was good.

Next, Asuka and Vitolio, in a Tyce DiOrio Broadway routine. She has ballet training and he grew up in an orphanage, so interesting combo. Cute. His opening jump didn’t have much height but other than that everything went well — great solo, side-by-side movement, good lifts — she has great lines. And he had a good multiple pirouette in there. I really enjoyed Vitolio — I thought he stood out much more than she. Mary’s nuts. They didn’t just “do their steps, do the right thing.” They gave it a lot of umph. I think the character was totally there. Nigel’s critical too — what are the judges on?

Third, Karla and Jonathan’s Cha Cha choreographed by Tony Meredith. So, Karla has danced on Broadway, toured with Wicked, and Jonathan’s a Salsa dancer who started dancing after seeing this show. (I like how we’re learning a bit about these couples now). Eh. It was okay. But her legs were too bent, she didn’t straighten enough, and it looked like it was lacking in precision and leg lines. He was pretty good. It didn’t look anything like a professional Latin routine though. She looked like a Broadway dancer doing Latin. Judges are all going wild though. Judges sure like sexy.

Fourth is Randi and Evan’s Tyce DiOrio Broadway routine. Randi’s from a small town and big family and not used to flash. Evan’s the Broadway dancer, from Michigan, who most stood out to me during auditions. He kind of reminds me of Craig Salstein — which means, I really really like him! So, she says she’s married and doesn’t like doing sexy, romantic things with Evan — because dance is real of course, it’s not an act. It took them a bit to get into the mood of it, but when they did, Wow! That really blew me away — so passionate. He did a very nice tour jete in the middle, she had very lovely leg lines, beautiful lifts, and some excellent staccato movement (are they called isolations in contemporary?) in the middle, emphasizing every body part, and, as Nigel says, exhibiting excellent control. Really fabulous movement. I’m so glad the judges like them. If they didn’t I was going to be beyond annoyed.

Fifth, Paris, a contemporary dancer, was in a car accident and has no sensation below her knee on one leg. Wow. She’s paired with Tony, a hip hop dancer. He chose dance over sports in high school. Good for him šŸ™‚ They’re dancing to a Tabitha and Napolean hip hop routine. Oh, I remember him from auditions — the comical guy who kept flashing the photos of Nigel during his routines. I liked him, personality-wise, though I didn’t think his dancing was anything to write home about. Well, I thought the choreography here was a little bland, but I do think they did as well as they could. Or, maybe it’s as Adam says, that they didn’t have enough attack. They were fine, but there needs to be more. They were a little too soft and bouncy.

Sixth are contemporary dancers Caitlin and Jason. She has a gymnastic background (I remember liking her in audition; I was really rooting for her, when it seemed her sister’d be the one to make it). They’re doing a Bollywood routine by Nicole (I didn’t get the choreographer’s exact name). Whoa, that was excellent! My favorite dance so far! Everything was so excellent — he is just oozing with charisma, and a really natural dance ability. And she has gorgeous lines. Beautiful lift up front, loved the low-to-the-ground deep knee bounces, excellent plastique — beautiful lines with the wrists and hands and feet. Whoa. He’s my favorite so far. Nice to go with the Slumdog Millionaire song as well.

Janette and Brandon. She’s a Latin dancer from a Cuban family and learned to dance at home. Brandon is that contemporary dancer who during auditions some of the judges wanted to die for and two couldn’t at all understand the fuss. It was something that annoyed me during auditions, because we didn’t get to see a whole lot of him and so couldn’t take a side and participate in the debate. So, now we’ll see. They’re doing a Foxtrot. Wow, that was really pretty, ended up being a nice Foxtrot once they got into it — it did take them a little bit though, but once they loosened up and swayed their upper bodies, it had some real spice. Not at all one of those stiff Standard dances you sometimes see when both partners are too nervous. That ending lift sequence was gorgeous. He did have charisma but I’m still with Mia — he’s okay but I’m still waiting to see what Mary and Nigel were going on so about during auditions.

Ashley and Kupono are doing a Jazz routine by Wade Robson. So they’re crash test dummies. Wade Robson is so weird! I thought it was more rubbery than robotic, but I guess that’s right — right? Crash test dummies are rubber so they can bounce all about. It was good. I thought he outshone her. I like how he made those nervous little flutters ripple throughout his body. That looked hard and he did it well. She was a little too fluid, which normally would be proper for contemporary dance, but here it wasn’t quite right. Mary likes her though.

Melissa, the ballet dancer (“I’m strictly a ballerina, also called a buff ballerina and naughty ballerina”) is partnered with contemporary dancer Ade. They’re doing contemporary with Mandy Moore. Whoa, tied with the Bollywood for my favorite of the night! She was gorgeous — like a bird, she just flew! Adam Shankman is crying! She’s 29, the oldest dancer on the show, and he tells her she’s living proof that we get better with age. He says her power is profound. He’s right! Mary screams! She keeps saying the quality of the movement, the quality of the movement, you can’t deny training, you can’t deny training. Yes, you can see all the ballet training — she lifted herself in those lifts. And did you see how high she danced on releve! Oh, for all the people who aren’t watching because of Alex Wong, she is so worth watching the show for this season! Poor Ade — I didn’t even notice him — though I did notice one jete where he made a perfect split, which was marvelous. And he’s a good, strong partner.

Finally, Kayla and Max are doing a WOO HOO, Louis van Amstel samba! Welcome to SYTYCD, Louis šŸ™‚Ā  Max is Russian, a ballroom dancer. Kayla’s contemporary, from a single-headed household; it was a struggle for her to take dance lessons as a child, but they managed. Aw, Louis’s being so nice — telling her he can’t believe she hasn’t done ballroom before šŸ™‚ But, you know, I was disappointed. The music totally outshone them. He didn’t do much for me, unfortunately. He didn’t have the flash I’ve seen in most male Latin dancers. His hips weren’t that fluid and his movement range wasn’t that wide, and his rhythmic sensibilities just didn’t seem to be all there. Maybe he was nervous. Maybe he’ll get better. She was very good, although she didn’t looke like a proper Latin dancer. But how could she be expected to be at this point — she’s contemporary. That back kick was stunning. The judges are going nuts, though, and Mary did her crazed hot tamale train screams. I don’t know, I didn’t see what they did.

My favorites of the night: the lyrical Mandy Moore routine and the Bollywood number, and dancers Melissa, Jason, Evan, and Kupono. I can’t believe someone is going home already tonight.

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TESTOSTERONE OVERFLOW AT ABT LAST NIGHT!

Things got a bit crazy on the Met stage last night! With Craig Salstein madly shooting off his guns as the up-to-no-good pirate Birbanto, Marcelo Gomes as the wily, endearingly ferocious head pirate Conrad, and Jose Manuel Carreno as the fiercely unslave-like Ali the slave, I thought someone might get hurt.

This (pretty much uncontestedly silly) ballet tells the story of a group of pirates that happen upon a Turkish bazaar at which women are being auctioned off as slaves. Conrad the loveably aggressive head pirate falls for Medora, one of the women the big Pasha has just bought. Then power struggles ensue: he and his men steal her, Lankendem the bazaar owner steals her back, and so on. Of course Medora and Conrad eventually end up together. Their ship crashes as they flee the Pasha, but they end up safe on a glacier, forever together.

 

Craig Salstein is always very dramatic, always great with character and he often dances the lovable nerd, but his Birbanto here was all testosterone, more traitor than friend to Conrad. His dancing was excellent — all those crazy kicking jumps high and precise. Seriously, when he decided to turn against Marcelo’s brawny Conrad, it was like Pirates of the Caribbean (not the movie but the Disney ride — which is actually kind of scary; you never know what deep-voiced, gun-fire-laden brawl is coming up around the next corner).

After a wicked solo, Marcelo took what seemed like a minutes-long series of bows in character, throwing his arms about in the air, pumping his fists. Maybe they were in character … maybe they were in dancer persona meant to say, “I nailed it, look at me!” In any event, the crowd went nuts. You’ve got to have guts to do that!

Nina Ananiashvili danced Medora. She is a very lively, very dramatic dancer and she was my favorite Medora so far. She wasn’t quite as athletically strong as Paloma but she did a wicked series of fouettes in the second Act and her projection of character more than made up. She really vamped up the sweetness and innocense, as did Sarah Lane as the slave girl Gulnare (I felt sorry for Sarah as she was getting shown and sold by Lankendem; Yuriko Kajiya’s Gulnare was more playful and carefree about her situation).

My favorite part: Nina flung herself with wild abandon into Marcelo’s arms during the bedroom scene! And of course he did crazy dives with her, tossing her small body around like a doll. So I finally got my flings with wild passionate abandon that I’ve missed in all the Tchaikovsky PDDs of late! Thank you Nina šŸ˜€

Jose was Jose. His Ali is far more masculine, more just-one-of-the-guys than Angel Corella’s, whose is more of a protective guardian angel. When Jose’s Ali went to wake up Conrad after he’d been tricked into a deep sleep by Birbanto’s poisoned rose, I thought he was going to toss him across the room. When Angel’s Ali did the same, he lightly but urgently plucked at David Hallberg’s chest. Jose doesn’t do Angel’s “genie spins” — the up and down movement with the standing leg during the multiple pirouettes that drives the audience stark raving mad. His turns looks more brawny and muscly and powerful. Angel is definitely more flamboyant. It kind of does look like he’s tweaking his nipples šŸ™‚

 

Gennadi Saveliev was Lankendem. He delivered well on all those barrel turns with the legs slicing through the air, same as Daniil Simkin. He’s a much taller man than Daniil and his long limbs made some of those turning jumps look really spectacular. I don’t think he has the tautness and control of Daniil, but he was still stunning.

The three Odalisques were well danced by Simone Messmer, Renata Pavam and Kristi Boone. Kristi, again, really stood out to me with her strong legs and sharply pointed feet and miraculously held-out arabesques. I can’t wait to see her Siren in Prodigal Son next week!

At the end, bows went on forever and a day and Nina and Marcelo were bombarded with bouquets from the left side of the theater. During curtain calls, Nina girlishly pulled him along to the opposite side of the stage so they could receive more flowers šŸ™‚ Sweet night. I think her many fans are slowly trying to prepare themselves for her upcoming retirement.

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Favorites of 2008

Okay, here’s my (late) list of favorites from 2008: (click on highlights to read what I wrote about each dance)

Favorite overall dance of the year:

Revelations by Alvin Ailey. Because the movement language — a unique blend of American Modern with African — is highly evocative, richly varied, and, because it’s set in a specific time and place recognizable to most if not all of us, it’s imbued with meaning and feeling accessible to everyone. And because it speaks to the human condition like no other dance I’ve ever seen. I’m still looking for something to top this and don’t know if I’ll ever find it.

 

Favorite new dances:

1) Nimrod Freed’s PeepDance in Central Park;

 

Continue reading “Favorites of 2008”

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Still Here

I know you’re not ever supposed to start posts saying ‘I’m sorry for not posting in forever.’ But I normally write once or more per day, so, really, I’m sorry for not posting in forever! I’m just working on this ridiculously hard short story that really should be a novel (it’s 20,000 words right now and I’ve already cut out a bunch of stuff)– and hopefully it will be someday. Well, it will be, but I don’t know if it will ever be a published novel. The industry isn’t looking too good these days and I don’t know if I have the nerve to self-publish…

Anyway, I went to see Alvin Ailey on Sunday night (Blues Suite — my first time seeing it– liked but didn’t love it; Flowers, about Janis Joplin, which grew on me, especially the dream sequence with all the hilarious but uber sexy ’60’sĀ  era bootie shorts and leg fringe; and Revelations, which I could honestly see about 30 times per season — basically every night they do it — and never tire of it). I still have to blog about the two Ailey works that were new to me this season — Blues Suite and Masekela Langage, the second of which I loved. More about that later.

I always get very depressed around this time of year and I think it has a lot to do with Alvin Ailey ending their City Center season. I always get depressed when dance company seasons end but more so with this group than any other.

I also need to write my end-of-the-year favorites list (probably going to go with Nimrod Freed’s PeepDance as my overall favorite and Craig Salstein’s Time for ABT for new choreography, ABT’s Tudor Centennial and Alvin Ailey’s 50th anniversary celebrations for events), but I want to do links, and I don’t have time to do that now. Also desperately trying to make myself well. I somehow caught a nasty cold, which I want to be gone by tomorrow night so I can go out with friends and have a reasonably good time.

So, will blog soon! In the meantime, please check out dance tweeters and their tweets (see previous post). And have a most festive New Year’s eve!