American Ballet Theatre - Spring Season 2012!! — Page 2

PJ- I was at Giselle tonight too and loved it. Julie Kent is my favorite. So elegant, so vulnerable. Gomes isn't exactly chopped liver either. :)

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Love, love, love, Julie Kent! She's definitely my favorite Giselle. I'm seeing Cojocaru tomorrow night. I have never seen her dance before, but I'm mainly there to see Angel Corella's last Albrecht as an ABT principal.

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Updated On: 5/16/12 at 09:15 AM

PJ, I was working as a local dresser for ABT when they were on tour some years ago now. That dachshund of Marcello's was so adorable. Since I ended up getting assigned to the male principals, and none of the pieces they were presenting had any quick changes for the principals, I basically ended up sitting in his dressing room playing with the dog for two nights.

I saw Giselle on Thursday evening mainly to see Angel Corella's last Albrecht with ABT.

I will say he was a huge disappointment. I haven't seen him dance in several years, and his dancing in Act 2 was very flat. No spring in his leaps;, no connection to Giselle. His Act 1 was very good though.

Alina Cojocaru on the other hand was probably the best danced Giselle I have ever seen in the 20+ years I have seen this particular ballet. She was exciting to watch.

Also loved Gillian Murphy as Myrtha. I have no clue as to why she has never danced the role of Giselle. She'd be perfect.

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The NY Times reviewed 3 of the last performances, and the reviewer seemed to like him. I've seen him at the top of his game and what I saw on Thursday was not even close.

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PalJoey, I'd love to see Vasiliev, but the only other time I'm going this year is to Angel's final on June 28th. I'm going with my mom. If it was just me, I'd actually sell my ticket.

I should also clarify, he wasn't bad by any means, he was just missing the spark and energy that I was accustomed to seeing in the past.

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The Kingdom of Shades is stunning. I don't think I've ever seen Veronika Part dance.

I also love Misty Copeland and wish they'd promote her to principal. I think she'd make a lovely Giselle.

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The Shades scene, particularly the entrance really is astounding. It seems to have set the template for the "white" acts in all the subsequent Russian ballets. Bayadere is one of my favorites, partly because it does have such a convulated, kinda silly story--I know many felt it was a detriment at the time, and there was a big push to fire him as the official Imperial ballet composer and start using legit composers like Tchiaikovsky and Glazunov but I even love Minkus' oom pa pa score.

And I love that Makarova's production at ABT reinstates the climactic last scene with the destruction of the palace (although much edited for time)--I never understood why most productions just end with the Shades which storywise doesn't make much sense (even if the story doesn't make much sense anyway). The only other version I know of that keeps it is the reconstructed original version the Mariinsky has, but they often just do the Soviet version in repertoire (the reconstruction runs over four hours with intermissions).

Whizzer glad you had a great time and enjoyed the show. I've seen the ballet a number of times where Gamzatti has been played by a more appealing dancer than Nikiya, but I guess it's also in a way an easier role to play. When I was a kid and fiirst knew the ballet, I did always find the ending a bit odd--the apotheosis with Nikiya and Solor reunited--Solor never seemed to deserve her. I have no idea what it says about my character, but I don't find that as much as I've gotten older...

Who danced the Bronze Statue solo when you went?

There is at least one recording of the score from years before Ratmansky rediscovered the ballet, but the one I have isn't very "dansant"--it's treated much more as an orchestral piece. I'm surprised the Bolshoi hasn't done a recording post their success with Ratmansky's version, though it's been shown in cinemas which is how I saw it.

It really is a fun piece, and one that deserves to be considered something of a modern classic. I'm glad ABT has kept it in their repertoire.

Dottie- I thought of you last night because Misty Copeland played the Milkmaid and she was very good. I agree that she would make a fine Giselle.

Hallberg is such a tall, big fellow you should think he could be a clumsy guy, always tripping over himself if you didn't know he was such a graceful dancer. He definitely plays up the physical aspect of the comedy; he's so unbelievable as a woman that the guy really must be a fool to buy into it!

Danil Simkin was the bronze statue in La Bayadere and was excellent. For a second I thought he was a woman in that production, so I can understand how you found him believable in Bright Stream.

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PalJoey, I used to say the same thing about NYCB until I saw Amar Ramasar and Ashley Bouder dance. Those two are exceptional in everything I've seen them in.

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Regarding Amar, I first saw him in DC when in was in the corps of Symphony in C. He just stood out, so I was not surprised when he was finally promoted to principal. I recently saw him in West Side Story Suite and the male lead in a Gershwin piece (can't recall name) in DC, and as the Cavalier in The Nutcracker.

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PalJoey, yes, Who Cares is the ballet.

Amar as stage presence for days and there is something about him that reminds me of Jose Manuel Carreno. He knows how to partner, he shines when he needs to, and he just looks like he loves to dance.

One of my favorite NYCB pieces is Christopher Wheeldon's, "Carousel, a Dance". I saw it several years ago in DC and haven't seen it on their schedule since. Just to hear the Carousel Waltz performed by a large orchestra was worth it, but the beautiful choreography that went along with it was breathtaking. Benjamin Millepied danced the male lead in that one.

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