The best and worst of ABT at City Center (October 2012)

So I was absolutely intending to blog about all seven performances of ABT at City Center last week, but I've worked 80+ hours this week and haven't yet had the time to organize all the many thoughts into prose.  So, I thought I'd share some "awards" (most of which were run by and agreed to by my friend and comrade-in-madness for my ballet marathon week).  So here goes (after the jump):

ABT City Center (and Bard) Casting - thoughts?

So the bulk of the American Ballet Theatre fall season casting for City Center just went up online.  Thoughts? Gripes? Cheers?  

Here it is:

Some overdue (sigh) and under-elaborated applause

So I totally fell down on the job blogging during ABT Met season...and pretty much about everything fun I've done since.  Lots of notes, thoughts, floating around in my brain that still need to get put down on "paper"...hopefully I'll be struck with some inspiration soon.  Sometimes I have a nagging feeling that blogging about life takes the life out of my experiences, and I just don't want to share.  I'll be seeing every ABT performance at City Center in October (I got a little swept up in the moment when my friend suggested that insanity) - so I'm hoping to be back up and running before then.

A few under-elaborated thoughts to tide you over - 10+ positive things that have stayed with me now almost 8 weeks removed from ABT Met season 2012:

Victory to the Home Team: ABT at City Center (Wednesday, November 9, 2011)

Say what you will about Kevin McKenzie’s increasingly lackluster programming choices, there was something exciting about November 9th's repertory program by American Ballet Theatre. I left with such a jolt of electricity that I couldn’t fall asleep until well after 4 am. Notwithstanding some turnover in the ranks since ABT did longer fall seasons in 2006 and 2007, Wednesday night was a return to the well-rehearsed, passionate, joyful and exceptionally strong group of dancers I remembered from City Center seasons past. This night showed some rumblings of something I couldn't quite yet put into words - something that would become a loud and clear statement by some of the dancers later in the week.

ABT's Nutcracker: A Small Plea

As much as I, too, usually go for performances starring the glorious Marcelo Gomes, Herman Cornejo or the other ABT principals, I'm sending out this little plea into the blogosphere:

If you're planning to see American Ballet Theatre's Nutcracker by Ratmansky this season at BAM or The Kennedy Center (and you SHOULD!), PLEASE opt for the shows starring soloists Yuriko Kajiya, Maria Riccetto or Sarah Lane.  If you haven't seen them before, each of these ladies will win your hearts with her sparkle, presence and grace. 

Let's show ABT we all love and support their home-grown talent, and the continuing influx of guest artists with slavic last names is not needed (especially to the almost complete exclusion of opportunities for the existing soloists not named Seo or Boylston).  

Cheers, and a sincere thanks to those of you who do hear my plea and go out and support these beautiful ballerinas this Winter!

(Click here for the link to the December 2011 ABT calendar with casting)

A tragic night at the ballet...the Mariinsky's Anna Karenina (June 14th)

So...with low expectations (based on other reviews) I went to see the Mariinsky's Anna Karenina last night at Lincoln Center. I didn't love Tolstoy's book, and I liked this ballet even less.  

The Bright Stream Redux - Stellllllaaaaaa!!!! (June 15, 2011)

Somewhat impulsively, I decided to see Wednesday night's final performance of Ratmanksy's The Bright Stream.  Partly in the hopes of erasing Tuesday's The Lesson from my mind, partly out of curiosity to see Cory Stearns as the Sylph, and partly in need of some inspiration from Stella Abrera...off I went to see my third cast of this production. I'm so very glad I did. 

American Ballet Theatre's new Russian star: The Bright Stream

A little background before my thoughts on Saturday's matinee....

When I travelled down to Washington, D.C. on a frozen weekend in late January to see ABT's premiere of Alexei Ratmansky's The Bright Stream, I didn't know what to expect.  I'd seen a few pictures, but purposefully hadn't done any research on the Bolshoi's production.  I wanted to see it with fresh eyes, no expectations.    

Within minutes of the orchestra's beginning note of the joyful Shostakovich score, I was hooked.  

The Bright Stream turned out to be a refreshingly joyous vehicle for ABT - and although set in Soviet Russia, it somehow seems like a modern continuation picking up at the point where de Mille, Robbins and Tudor left ABT years ago.

Wheeldon’s Thirteen Diversions, Two Missed Opportunities and One Deep Bench

Well, I have mixed thoughts about last night’s mixed bill at American Ballet Theatre.  On one hand, there were a lot of things wrong with the program: uninspiring and even mundane choreography (ahem, Mr. Millepied?), a costume choice that may have been trying too hard (again, Mr. Millepied?), unfortunate miscasting or unnecessary use of two or three principal dancers......but really not much of what was wrong with the performance can be attributed to the dancers.  Not really.  On the other hand, there was Wheeldon’s “Thirteen Diversions,” which was well danced, lit, costumed and choreographed.  And, there were a few very strong performances by members of the corps de ballet and soloists in Ratmansky’s Dumbarton that, if you were really seeing, reminded me what I love about ABT, and gave me back more than a glimmer of hope for the company’s future.