Monday, June 25, 2012

Way to bury the lead....

Yes, I have been quite delinquent in blogging about the American Ballet Theatre performances I've seen the past few weeks.  I'll get there - still forming my thoughts a bit.  

HOWEVER, in case anyone missed it buried at the end of the exciting Ratmansky/ShostakovichABT news item today (3 new 1-act ballets), ABT's NY City Center "season" has been reduced from the shameful six days last fall to now only FIVE days this year (October 16th-20th).  And, it's the same week the wonderful Aspen Santa Fe Ballet is coming to the Joyce Theater.

How I miss the 2-3 week fall seasons that ABT used to do when I first moved to NYC not that long ago.  That's where so many of ABT's non-principal, non-guest artists have their chance to shine - and where ABT gets to show off its contemporary strengths.  Is Kevin McKenzie just not a fan of this genre of ballet?  Because without it, in my opinion ABT's relevance is greatly weakened, and so many of its dancers wasted.

City Center is where I first came to love dancers like Stella Abrera, Marian Butler, Alex Hammoudi, Nicole Graniero, Skylar Brandt, Kristi Boone, and so many more.  City Center is where I fully appreciate the talents of Gillian Murphy, and further fall in love with Marcelo Gomes, Julie Kent, Simone Messmer, Misty Copeland and Herman Cornejo.  

I understand that City Center is an expensive theater for ABT - but there have to be better solutions than limiting the run to 5 days.  

Well, just another reason ABT is making me sad in 2012, I guess.

Tuesday, June 5, 2012

What Fools These Mortals Be (ABT La Bayadere, May 26, 2012 Matinee)

No matter how many times I see American Ballet Theatre's production of La Bayadere, I still don't love it (more on that below) as a whole even though there are perennially wonderful and unique elements.  Also on the plus side, each performance seems to have different highlights, each dancer brings something different to each of the lead roles. And, like in this performance, when someone brings something special to one the non-dancing character roles - it can become a more balanced, slightly more credible story.