We're plenty excited about the NYCB premiere of La Sylphide tonight. Those props had better behave themselves.
All of the upcoming casts are fantastic: Hyltin & DeLuz, Bouder & Veyette, Peck & Garcia, and Lovette & Huxley. You know, Huxley could soon be our new Herman. Not that we need a new Herman, but it's always nice to have twice what you need. Speaking of Herman, let's take a look at 19-year-old Herman and his sister Erica dancing a little La Sylphide:
And Nikolaj Hübbe:
And Herman again:
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The folks at the The Music Center in LA announced that ABT will bring (cue the throat clearing noises) Ratmansky's Firebird to the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in July of 2016. That gives us an inkling of what we'll have to avoid during next year's Met Season.
24 responses to “observations 5/7”
Wow! Thank you for the links to Herman in La Sylphide. I am a HUGE fan of pretty much everything he does but I never thought of him as a Bournonville dancer. How wrong I was. Those precise beats and elegant port de bras. Just gorgeous.
Wow! Thank you for the links to Herman in La Sylphide. I am a HUGE fan of pretty much everything he does but I never thought of him as a Bournonville dancer. How wrong I was. Those precise beats and elegant port de bras. Just gorgeous.
Jennifer, Herman is in a league of his own, isn’t he? The last time I saw him dance La Sylphide was with Gelsey Kirkland’s Academy in 2012 and he was remarkable. There was, at one point, a video of the performance for sale through BlindingLight Videos but I don’t know if it is still available. There is so little of Herman’s dancing preserved and it is such a shame.
Jennifer, Herman is in a league of his own, isn’t he? The last time I saw him dance La Sylphide was with Gelsey Kirkland’s Academy in 2012 and he was remarkable. There was, at one point, a video of the performance for sale through BlindingLight Videos but I don’t know if it is still available. There is so little of Herman’s dancing preserved and it is such a shame.
I just cannot fanthom Bouder as Sylphide. Lovette is I believe being pushed into soloist and lead roles she is not capable of doing justice to, she still seems artistically immature. Tyler Peck I also don’t think of her as Sylphide material, her arms are way too jazzy, more so than Bouder. Hyltin out of the four cast, that’s the one I plan to see. I know some NYCB fans think she doesn’t anchor lead roles or project onstage as much as Mearns or fan fave Peck, but I think La Sylphide is a ballet where she would shine.
I just cannot fanthom Bouder as Sylphide. Lovette is I believe being pushed into soloist and lead roles she is not capable of doing justice to, she still seems artistically immature. Tyler Peck I also don’t think of her as Sylphide material, her arms are way too jazzy, more so than Bouder. Hyltin out of the four cast, that’s the one I plan to see. I know some NYCB fans think she doesn’t anchor lead roles or project onstage as much as Mearns or fan fave Peck, but I think La Sylphide is a ballet where she would shine.
I groaned when I saw that we will have Ratmansky’s Firebird for a weekend of performances by ABT next season in L.A., presumably because the title role will be danced by someone brought up in Southern California who seems to have a local fan base as witnessed when she danced a tidy, small-scale Princess Florine a few months ago. I was at the premiere in Orange County and thought the charismatic Simone Messmer (sigh) the stand-out with David Hallberg a close second; Osipova was surprisingly ill-at-ease on that evening. On a happier note, how great to these snippets of Herman Cornejo.
I groaned when I saw that we will have Ratmansky’s Firebird for a weekend of performances by ABT next season in L.A., presumably because the title role will be danced by someone brought up in Southern California who seems to have a local fan base as witnessed when she danced a tidy, small-scale Princess Florine a few months ago. I was at the premiere in Orange County and thought the charismatic Simone Messmer (sigh) the stand-out with David Hallberg a close second; Osipova was surprisingly ill-at-ease on that evening. On a happier note, how great to these snippets of Herman Cornejo.
You know why they are doing Firebird. Because Kevin needed something he can sell with his faux-principal Boylston and soon-to-be-faux-principal Misty in the lead – with such terrible choreography and costumes it will be harder for the untrained eye to tell he’s lost his mind….
You know why they are doing Firebird. Because Kevin needed something he can sell with his faux-principal Boylston and soon-to-be-faux-principal Misty in the lead – with such terrible choreography and costumes it will be harder for the untrained eye to tell he’s lost his mind….
I totally agree, Rachel. But LA is not going to reward ABT like they expect. ABT will eventually fail there, too, and their excuses will be the same. If LA had the makings of an audience gold mine for ballet, the San Francisco Ballet would have set up shop there long ago. The Joffrey tried it for a decade.
So in 2016 McKenzie is going to feature his worst dancers (Boylston and Copeland) in a dreadful ballet with tasteless designs. Maybe he’s banking on LA liking and relating to the Elvis suit that Cornejo wears in the production.
I totally agree, Rachel. But LA is not going to reward ABT like they expect. ABT will eventually fail there, too, and their excuses will be the same. If LA had the makings of an audience gold mine for ballet, the San Francisco Ballet would have set up shop there long ago. The Joffrey tried it for a decade.
So in 2016 McKenzie is going to feature his worst dancers (Boylston and Copeland) in a dreadful ballet with tasteless designs. Maybe he’s banking on LA liking and relating to the Elvis suit that Cornejo wears in the production.
Herman is stunning.
Herman is stunning.
What would we do without Herman?
What would we do without Herman?
Easy to answer: Without Herman, we’d go to the ballet less often.
Easy to answer: Without Herman, we’d go to the ballet less often.
Herman is perfect in this!! Who knew he had such great batterie? If De Luz had even approached that level (or Hubbe’s) I’d be happy. I thought Sterling was a lovely Sylph; this is a role that suits her.
Herman is perfect in this!! Who knew he had such great batterie? If De Luz had even approached that level (or Hubbe’s) I’d be happy. I thought Sterling was a lovely Sylph; this is a role that suits her.
When De Luz was in his early 20s at ABT (along with Corella and Bocca and so many great ones when it sometimes seemed like Spain vs. Argentina in the World Cup), his batterie approached Herman’s, who in this clip is 19 years old. Even Herman no longer does Herman like when he was 19 years old and tearing up the stage with his sister, but his James in La Sylphide is still unbelievable.
The difference between a 19-year-old and a 39-year-old when facing down the allegro as James in La Sylphide is a lot more than just 20 years.
When De Luz was in his early 20s at ABT (along with Corella and Bocca and so many great ones when it sometimes seemed like Spain vs. Argentina in the World Cup), his batterie approached Herman’s, who in this clip is 19 years old. Even Herman no longer does Herman like when he was 19 years old and tearing up the stage with his sister, but his James in La Sylphide is still unbelievable.
The difference between a 19-year-old and a 39-year-old when facing down the allegro as James in La Sylphide is a lot more than just 20 years.
That difference also includes injuries, which leave their mark.
That difference also includes injuries, which leave their mark.