NYC Ballet Fans, part 2

Jubak

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Have tickets to see Hallberg dance in Cinderella next Thursday night. Gillian Murphy is scheduled to dance but not certain if she is still on the DL.
 

Jubak

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Just got back from "Cinderella" with Hallberg & Gillian Murphy. Beautiful production, although I am over the cardboard looking flat sets that they keep using. At least the costumes are gorgeous. Really a splendid evening. These "prince" parts suit him so well. His dancing was incredibly light and precise. Gillian keeps a high standard for herself. She fell off pointe once, which I have never seen her do, but considering she had been injured & on the DL list, I personally can forgive her. The Times didn't seem to like the Court Jester role, calling it "trite" (Luis Ribagorda, who is in the Corps) but I thought he was pretty impressive and the role didn't bother me.
 

Marge_Simpson

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She's got paparazzi following her around the city now, and probably lurking around the backstage entrance to the theatre. I can't imagine ABT's pleased with the publicity - will they even renew her contract for next season?
 

Rob

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Whaaat? I am sorry, I don't care if Mick is a legend, who cheats on Jose Carreno with an old man? Hamrick was one of the soloists in Les Sylphides when ABT was at Kennedy Center. She was good, but definitely not a prima.

Last night, Diana Vishneva did the best Giselle I have ever seen in my life. And Gomes has to be one of the best partners ever.
 

Jubak

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Agreed, Rob. Mick? He must have pheromones that we don't understand, unless it's a star fcuk for her. ABT probably doesn't give a whit about the publicity. Anything free can put 'em in the seats! Glad you enjoyed the Giselle. I love Marcelo. He's great dancer, partner & one heck of a nice guy!
 

emason

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Last night, Diana Vishneva did the best Giselle I have ever seen in my life. And Gomes has to be one of the best partners ever.

Vishneva probably did the best Giselle I ever saw also.

I went the following night to see Semionova and Hallberg. Alas, it was a misfire. Hallberg danced well, but I wasn't enthralled, and I think he got lost in the shuffle. Looking back on it, I think Semionova got the acts backwards; she was a little too light and ethereal in the first act and not nearly light and ethereal enough in the second.

The biggest problem, however, was Veronika Part as Myrta - NOT! Myrta is an implacable bitch; Part was way too soft and wimpy in the role, and technically she wasn't having a good night either.

Major Snark Award: Luis Ribagorda was Albrecht's squire, and the costume for that role (which doesn't look good on anyone) looked really bad on him. I thought I was looking at a little kid playing dress up drag in the Trocks' costume closet. It was hard to take anything in the first act seriously after that.
 

kwanfan1818

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For you Marge_Simpson: my favorite critic just tweeted:

Wow, Alexandre Hammoudi if @ABTBallet was born to play Albrecht. Very exciting debut so far."​
 

Jubak

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So happy for Alex to have gotten a good tweet! He had such a bad injury last year and now, finally, is on the comeback trail. He as supposed to tryout Albrecht in Minnesota this past winter but ABT pulled him out as being now quite ready. Now, he is!

The page 6 article is correct. I have a complete inside source that told me that Hamrick may be in real trouble. She had called out "sick" was caught with Mick in Switzerland by the paparazzi. But the source also said that she broke off the engagement after her fling in Japan with Mick. I guess she is very naive. Since she met Carreno when she was 17, and never really dated anyone else, she is setting herself up for a major fall. I wouldn't want to be her at ABT with all the whispering going on right now. Page 6 took her down a notch from a Prima Ballerina to a Soloist - no folks, she was dancing a solo, but she still is not a soloist.
 

Marge_Simpson

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I adore Alex.....besides being a lovely dancer, he is SO handsome. :swoon:
I saw him dance in March, at the Guggenheim's "Bach Interpreted" thing. He had v.nice chemistry with Stella Abrera, I thought, and seemed fully healed at the time...I just he must have reaggravated the injury? (and speaking of injuries, what's happened to Gray Davis, another corps member who should be a soloist? When I saw "Cinderella last weekend, I saw him on crutches, with a cast on)
You can watch the program here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UinOCbrACPk

I love Works and Process. (especially since a certain AD with poor public speaking skills no longer partcipates :lol:) One of the best I've seen was when PNB was here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5L6tiO4Y5o

PNB also has a nice series of "Unveiling Giselle" videos, the first can be seen here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQDkCsWUum8
 
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kwanfan1818

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Too bad the film clips are from the 2011 production of Giselle (Kaori Nakamura, Lucien Postlewaite -- now with Les Ballets de Monte Carlo -- and Maria Chapman, now the preggerina on the right). The costumes and sets were rented, and we've never gotten over the dead animal around Hilarion's neck.

The new costumes are :swoon:
 
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Jubak

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Marge, Alex was fine but I think the company didn't want to risk re-injury. I think he's really valued by the company. He was very disappointed that he wasn't going. As far as Gray Davis, he re-injured himself. No surgery, though.
 

kwanfan1818

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What's not listed (yet) on the Joyce website is that the PNB Joyce program will include a world premiere by Justin Peck to George Antheil's music (at least the music listed on the PNB website). It won't make its Seattle premiere until November.

"Tide Harmonic" premiered at the end of the season-before-last, and the Cerrudo was new this past Spring. "Tide Harmonic" is in the Wheeldon leotard ballet style -- Polyphonia, After the Rain -- and the central PDD reads a lot differently depending on who is dancing it. Unfortunately, Maria Chapman, who took over the role when Carla Korbes was injured, is about to give birth, and October seems a bit soon, but if Kaori Nakamura at near-40 could dance Giselle three months after giving birth, you never know. Cerrudo's piece is in the contemporary generic style that's starting to become a blur to me, but it has a strong section. Again, unfortunately, the woman who danced the female role in that section, Rachel Foster, is pregnant and is scheduled to give birth in September. I know who'd I cast in her place, but it will look very different no matter who else is cast: Foster is unique.

The Wheeldon and the Peck are targeted for the NY audience the way casting Korbes, Seth Orza, and Sarah Ricard Orza as much as possible is. The Cerrudo was commissioned as part of the Rudolf Nureyev Prize awarded by the Joyce, so it was going to be on the program no matter what.
 

Marge_Simpson

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Err......I've got lots of tickets. :lol:

July 25 - Pilobolus
Aug 9 - Pilobolus
Oct 10 - PNB
Oct 18 (Matinee) Lar Lubovitch
Nov 7 - Flamenco
I'm planning to see the Trocks, but I don't know which dates yet, and I'll probably do Complexions, too.

I also renewed my subscription for NYCB. I'm hoping to go to Wendy Whalen's farewell performance, but tickets aren't on sale for that yet. Supposedly subscribers will have priority.
Mark Morris on Aug 8.
And "Alice in Wonderland" on Sept 12.

ABT is supposed to be at the Koch in October, but they haven't announced anything yet.
Are you coming to the topless ballet this Friday?
 

emason

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Are you coming to the topless ballet this Friday?

Most likely not as I have a busy weekend coming up, but I'm not making a final decision until I see how work goes on Friday. I don't imagine I'll have trouble picking up a ticket at the last moment.

From your list, I'm interested in PNB, Flamenco and the Trocks. I'm going to order some tickets later today; I'll let you know if I get anything on the days you are going.
 

Rob

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Are you coming to the topless ballet this Friday?

I saw the topless ballet at Kennedy Center. It was good. Best piece of the night. I was not so crazy about the first piece, and Rubies was a bit flat to me -- none of the dancers stood out as amazing in the first two pieces.
 

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