Boston Ballet.....getting ready.

So it's been almost 3 years since I blogged....I found it was dampening my enjoyment of the ballet to critique and complain.  A lot has changed since then, but not all for the better.

Since then, my dream came true when American Ballet Theatre finally (finally!) promoted the beautiful and gracious Stella Abrera to principal.  Since then, Yuriko Kajiya and Jared Matthews are now winning the west down in Houston.  Maria Riccetto was just nominated for a Benois for her work down in Uruguay.  Cedar Lake is no more (the saddest news of all), but at least Ebony Williams is killing it dancing with Beyoncé.

But also in this time away, ABT has also promoted and given many performances to other newer principals I can't bear to watch.  In many cases I'd rather watch a corps member do a lead role than these dancers.  It makes me sad and wistful for 2005-2007 when ABT was a shining cosmos of near perfection.  Times have changed.

Honestly, that actually helped with my decision to escape New York City and venture back north.  It's been about six months now.   But I miss the Joyce Theater and Lincoln Center. I miss City Center and Alvin Ailey.  I miss all the international theater companies coming through.  I miss ABT - well, some of the company anyway.  Very few touring companies up here in New England.  

Boston Ballet's Le Corsaire came too soon after my move, so I skipped it.  I wasn't ready to let new dancers into my heart.  (I may never be ready, actually, as I've only seen one performance of Corsaire since the a-ma-zing night Ethan Stiefel retired.  I can't imagine any four principals ever coming close to that night.) The upcoming presentation by Boston Ballet (Forsythe/Artifact) doesn't tempt me much, so I'm waiting for the Kylián/Wings of Wax program at the end of March to venture into new waters.  I've already got tickets to see their Sleeping Beauty in April though, and then hoping to make it to New York for at least a couple of ABT performances.  As Haglund would say, the Stella Acela is ready and waiting.  And as long as Alessandra Ferri continues to dance, I will continue to find a way to be there.

I know a little about Boston Ballet, and grew up watching their Nutcracker, but not enough yet to have any opinion.  Anyone have any thoughts to share?

Shall I be a ballerinerd once again?  

 

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:

Bridesmaids (ABT La Bayadere, May 23, 2012)

Thanks to a stroke of luck and no will to resist the desire to see Stella Abrera's only Gamzatti this season (and Jeff Golladay's last soloist role on the Met stage), I impulsively raced up to Lincoln Center, hit the box office with 7 minutes to spare and settled myself into a fabulous center orchestra seat for American Ballet Theatre's La Bayadere.  Never one of my favorites, La Bayadere is lighter on plot than most and doesn't boast the richest of scores.  As a result, I've never seen a full principal cast bring it entirely to life, and this viewing was no exception.  It did, however, have its moments.  And most of those were delivered by Stella Abrera.

A little love letter to the ballet.

For those of use who love ballet, it can be so hard to understand why the rest of the world doesn't see what we see, can't feel what we feel.   How do most people not experience the same overpowering physical exhilaration we feel when merely sitting and watching, yes watching, a ballet dancer living their dream on stage?  The freedom when technique meets ability meets passion in just one human being on the stage ripples out into the audience and fills every muscle, every cell in my body with energy and implausible possibility.  

Perhaps this what other people feel when watching athletes like Michael Phelps, Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, Nastia Liukin or Dara Torres.  But while I root for these athletes and love to watch them strive, the feeling I get as a spectator is so different than watching ballet.  I feel nerves and hopes for these athletes, I feel the stress of pretending my will as a spectator can help them win, but still I don't feel their work with them.  But when I watch Marcelo Gomes in an abstract contemporary piece (or almost anything really), or Alessandra Ferri as Manon, or Julie Kent's sheer strength during the endless, countless overhead lifts in Lady of the Camellias, or Ethan Stiefel as Albrecht in Giselle, or Simone Messmer in this November's Volpi pas de deux, or Stella Abrera in Meadow or as Emilia in Othello, or Ulyana Lopatkina as Giselle, or Michael Trusnovec from Paul Taylor Dance, or so many more....I can't explain how but I think I get just a little bit of what they must be feeling while flying or turning, while forcing extreme tension into their limbs to make the tiniest moves important, while living so inside the music that it appears to be emanating out of their bodies rather than the orchestra pit, while letting everything go, to make the biggest leaps soar.

Have love for ABT soloists....will travel.

So while time and money cruelly prevented me from traveling to New Zealand this fall to see Stella Abrera's much-praised debut season as Aurora in Sleeping Beauty with Ethan's Stiefel's Royal New Zealand Ballet...when I heard that American Ballet Theatre had scheduled soloists Yuriko Kajiya and Jared Matthews for their first (and arguably overdue) Giselle, I knew I was going no matter where it would be.  
March 25th. Chicago.  Be there.  

In related news, when ABT came asking for my subscription renewal, I politely explained that while I absolutely love ABT, and anyone who knows me will tell you no less, I subscribe to see (and donate to support) ABT dancers - not guest artists - and so would be holding off on buying any tickets until the schedule is more set closer to the performance dates.  

I want to see Misty Copeland. I want to see Stella Abrera (who frustratingly is scheduled for large roles currently only on Wednesday matinees at Met).  I want to see Jared Matthews, Yuriko Kajiya, Herman Cornejo, Sascha Radetsky, Simone Messmer, Joseph Gorak, Arron Scott, Brittany deGrofft, Christine Shevchenko, Adrienne Schulte, Nicole Graniero, Julio-Bragado Young, Alex Hammoudi, Gray Davis, Roddy Doble, Roman Zhurbin, Eric Tamm, Sarah Lane.....and all of the other hard working, dedicated, beautiful dancers ABT has selected and trained year after year.   If the powers that be think these dancers are not ready - the powers have no one to blame but themselves.  Give these dancers the opportunities and more coaching and they will give every ounce of their determination and energy to be ready. To be more than ready.  To fly.

I want the dancers to be inspired, to have opportunities to grow and mature before our eyes.  I want to show them we support them - and for them to have their turns to inspire us. I want to see artistry and emotion, rather than flashy jumps (to the extent they are accompanied by lackluster partnering and hammy acting). I want ABT to bring back the longer fall season which highlights both the amazing contemporary power of so many of these dancers, and gives more of the company real opportunities to shine.

Dancers like Marcelo Gomes were not created in a day; he was given the chances to push himself along the way.  The younger dancers of ABT deserve no less.

So this Met season, and around the country and around the world - I encourage you all to go see and support ABT, and as many times as you can afford....but perhaps pay a little more attention to the casting this year, and try to support the company dancers rather than the guest principals.  You may be surprised at how much their fire will inspire you and win your hearts.  They will not disappoint.

For me....if Sarah Lane should finally get her full length debut during the US tour...I for one will be doing my utmost to be there.  If Misty Copeland wasn't scheduled for Firebird at Met season, you can bet I would be flying out to California to see that too.

The only thing I can really do to make my feelings heard is put my money where my mouth is.  And so, this year, and until a change is made, I will.

And....ABT Met Season 2012 is surely going to cause Haglund some more G.A.S.

American Ballet Theatre announced its Spring 2012 season today, and contrary to my hopes, but for a technicality - the appearance of Natalia Osipova now on the principals page of the ABT website (i.e. she's no longer a guest artist) - the scheduled guest artist leads look to have increased, rather than decreased, from 2011. 

Quick Notes on ABT's Swan Lake with the Unstoppable Marcelo Gomes and Polina Semionova (July 2nd evening)

So clearly I'm never going to get the long version of this review written, but I wanted to at least post the curtain call video below and share a couple of thoughts. 

What can I say about him this season that I haven't already said about the truly unstoppable Marcelo Gomes?  This Met season he went from being one of my favorite dancers, to probably my favorite dancer of all time, any genre (though Gregory Hines still comes a close 2nd).

More cast changes at ABT

Looks like David Hallberg is getting some well needed time to heal his sprained ankle for The Bright Stream performances in LA later this month.  This just in from ABT:

A fairy tale told by many different authors - ABT's Cinderella (June 25th evening)

People seem to have really loved or loathed American Ballet Theatre’s production of James Kudelka’s Cinderella this season.  Based on the evening performance on Saturday, June 25^th, I’m on the fence (which probably contributed to the lateness of this review).  Overall, I liked it less than I had in previous years, but some of the things I DID like were things that had been missing in those past viewings.

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. 

An expected promotion at American Ballet Theatre (and another that seems it will never come)

This just in from ABT, "Isabella Boylston has been promoted to the rank of Soloist with American Ballet Theatre, it was announced today by Artistic Director Kevin McKenzie. The promotion is effective immediately."   I think most of us knew this was coming sometime this season, and it seems to be perfect timing to create some buzz around Bella's leading performance in Ratmansky's The Bright Stream which opens later this week.  Congrats to her on a well-deserved promotion!  The full announcement can be found here.

**On a related note, will ABT NEVER promote Stella Abrera to principal?? She's so much more inspiring to watch than existing principals Part or Wiles, and this season Stella seems to be performing many of the same principal roles as Murphy, Part and Wiles in Thirteen Diversions, Giselle, The Bright Stream, Lady of the Camellias and Cinderella.  Come on McKenzie - give us Stella as Giselle or Odette/Odille already!!  How about Desdemona next year? Pleeeeeeeasssse?