observations 2/27

ABT and New York City Center will stream A Ratmansky Celebration beginning on March 23rd. The program, which was recently taped on stage at City Center, will be available on demand through April 18th. For $25, here's what we'll see.

"Rose Adagio" from The Sleeping Beauty
Cast: Skylar Brandt, Aran Bell, Patrick Frenette, Blaine Hoven, and Tyler Maloney

Seven Sonatas Second Movement
Cast: Herman Cornejo, Luciana Paris, Carlos Gonzalez, Devon Teuscher

The Seasons Pas de Deux
Cast: Isabella Boylston and James Whiteside

Bernstein in a Bubble World Premiere
Choreography by Alexei Ratmansky
Music by Leonard Bernstein (Divertimento)
Lighting Design by Brad Fields
Cast: Aran Bell, Skylar Brandt, Patrick Frenette, Blaine Hoven, Catherine Hurlin, Tyler Maloney, and Cassandra Trenary

As always with ABT, the casting determines whether it's watchable or not. The opportunity to see Skylar Brandt's nascent Rose Adagio should not be missed. This Aurora has been incubating for more than a year under the attentive, obsessed-with-detail coaching of Irina Dvorovenko and Max Beloserkovsky. We are, indeed, fortunate to get a glimpse of what may turn out to be not only a dream Aurora, but Ratmansky's dream Aurora as well.

The Rose Adagio segment was assembled by Nancy Raffa during a quarantine bubble in Silver Bay. The featured princes, which thankfully include Blaine Hoven and Patrick Frenette, are a first rate team of partners.

Missing from this taped performance are Tom Forster and Christine Shevchenko. They would have made a particularly attractive pair in The Seasons PdD.

So, $25 to watch a couple of PdDs, 1/7 of Seven Sonatas, and a new piece may or may not turn out to be worth the price.

Tickets for the stream go on sale on March 1st at noon on the NY City Center website.