Several years ago when ABT was trying to enforce a disciplined dynamic pricing model, they preferred to have empty seats rather than sell them at a reduced price. So they had empty seats – lots of them. And people talked about it – a lot and in negative terms. So, now they’ve come to realize that if they give away lots of unsellable tickets, sell some at half-price, and put a good number of screaming students or clueless out-of-towners in the seats, there are fools who will talk about the enthusiastic crowd and how there were so many people at the performance. Duh. Crowd/herd mentality is a very real phenomenon in the theater and can have a major impact on the performers on stage. And yes, it can be manipulated.
ABT closed out its season with a week of Frederick Ashton’s Cinderella with mostly fine performances. It is still very troubling to see that our Prince Charmings (Whiteside, Hammoudi, & Gorak; Haglund missed the Stearns/Seo cast) have not been able to manage the manege of double saute de basques to arabesque that Ashton’s most celebrated Prince, Sir Anthony Dowell, blew around the stage nearly a half century ago or the wonderfully musical soutenu/double tour combination with which he concluded his variation. Oftentimes, we have to curb our application of presentism to ballet – that tendency to measure the abilities of past performers by the technical standards of today’s generation of whiz-bang tricksters. But what is the opposite of presentism in ballet – where the standards and accomplishments of past dancers exceed today’s? We suggest Dowellism. Come on, ABT men, where is your pride?
This dumbing down of the standards by ABT was doubly hard to take this year having just come off of a week of the Royal Ballet’s presentation of The Dream in which neither of the Oberons carried Sir Anthony’s theatrical inflections which should have been more carefully passed down to the current generation. Loyalist-Dowellist – guilty as charged.
By the way, we forgot to mention how pleasant the Royal Ballet’s traditional costumes in The Dream were compared to ABT’s new, ugly, boring creations which the company unveiled last time around. We hope that ABT quickly put those on eBay because they were a complete miss.
Saturday’s matinee Cinderella cast of Stella Abrera, Joseph Gorak, and Devon Teuscher repeated their exquisite performances from Wednesday with even more aplomb, percipience of Ashton’s style, and blessedly pristine dancing. So much beauty on stage . . .
Arron Scott as the Jester at this performance and Craig Salstein at the Saturday evening performance gave good interpretations. However, we can’t get out of our minds the utter mastery of Luis Ribagorda in this role last year. Brilliant dancing aside, his animated conversations with his stick puppet were priceless.
Veronika Part’s Fairy Godmother on Saturday evening was radiant, and full of grace and musical goodness – old time religion that we keep coming back to. Sarah Lane’s Fairy Spring in the afternoon's evening's performance was exceptional among a crew of outstanding interpreters this week.
We’re so looking forward in the coming year or two to seeing our new principal, Stella Abrera, in some of those roles that should have been hers a decade ago: Nikiya, Aurora, Titania, and Medora to name a few, and of course, many repeats of her glorious Giselle.
One of the new lights burning brightest is Devon Teuscher whose Fairy Godmother and Fairy Summer in Cinderella were marked by serene beauty and formidable technique. As we’ve noted before, she is elegant and scrubbed clean of annoying mannerisms and bad habits – unlike Isabella Boylston whose Fairy Godmother was part hillbilly.
What a relief that this season is over. We need a long rest from the over-promotion of mediocrity, the shameless shameful misuse of race and ethnicity as marketing gimmicks, the short-changing of true artistry, the harmful reliance on imports, and the clumsy mismanagement that ABT has become more known for than its dancing.
The final H.H. Pump Bump is bestowed upon Sarah Lane, who despite glorious superior dancing throughout the year, came up on the wrong end of the color spectrum when it came time for promotion. Few misunderstand exactly what happened. We hope that ABT finds a way to restore its integrity but we won’t place any bets on it.
36 responses to “ABT season ends
pluses and minuses”
The theater was packed at yesterday afternoon’s performance. I admit that I wouldn’t gone to the ballet had it not been for the cheap ticket, $25 for the last tier, last row. Stella radiated even from that far back.
I wouldn’t be surprised if Kevin steps down this year as the head of ABT. With Misty’s pr campaign that wine her a hollow principal promotion, Sarah Lane being passed over, relying on foreign dancers to bring in spark, some of the dancers mediocre dancing skills, selling of cheap tickets just to name a few must be weighing him down. I couldn’t imaging this mess going on during past years.
The theater was packed at yesterday afternoon’s performance. I admit that I wouldn’t gone to the ballet had it not been for the cheap ticket, $25 for the last tier, last row. Stella radiated even from that far back.
I wouldn’t be surprised if Kevin steps down this year as the head of ABT. With Misty’s pr campaign that wine her a hollow principal promotion, Sarah Lane being passed over, relying on foreign dancers to bring in spark, some of the dancers mediocre dancing skills, selling of cheap tickets just to name a few must be weighing him down. I couldn’t imaging this mess going on during past years.
Let’s hope you’re right. Unfortunately, his lackluster leadership has been going on for quite some time. The board members are more invested in him as a friend than they are invested in the wellbeing of ABT. McKenzie is a classic example of the entrenched director.
Let’s hope you’re right. Unfortunately, his lackluster leadership has been going on for quite some time. The board members are more invested in him as a friend than they are invested in the wellbeing of ABT. McKenzie is a classic example of the entrenched director.
So I can’t help but ask, any impressions on Nunez?
So I can’t help but ask, any impressions on Nunez?
Hi MRR. I appreciated many of Nunez’s details. For instance, in her Act II solo there are arabesques coming forward when Cinderella pauses a second to (perilously) look back over her shoulder at the Prince. I did not see our Cinderellas accomplish that with the same clarity. I appreciated the liveliness of her background work when the Step-sisters were doing their schtick. Overall, I was impressed by the strength of her dancing, but not captivated by her Cinderella.
Hi MRR. I appreciated many of Nunez’s details. For instance, in her Act II solo there are arabesques coming forward when Cinderella pauses a second to (perilously) look back over her shoulder at the Prince. I did not see our Cinderellas accomplish that with the same clarity. I appreciated the liveliness of her background work when the Step-sisters were doing their schtick. Overall, I was impressed by the strength of her dancing, but not captivated by her Cinderella.
Boston Ballet fan here. When Boston did Ashton’s Cinderella, all of the men did the manege, but only Cirio did the soutenu/double tour combination. He will be missed in Boston. I remembered that Thomas Garvey, a reviewer and blogger in Boston, had been impressed with his Ashton, so I looked it up. He said, “Misa Kuranaga and Jeffrey Cirio, as the title heroine and her Prince Charming, looked as if they’d been dancing Ashton all their lives.” Do you think perhaps Somes set it differently on the ABT men?
Boston Ballet fan here. When Boston did Ashton’s Cinderella, all of the men did the manege, but only Cirio did the soutenu/double tour combination. He will be missed in Boston. I remembered that Thomas Garvey, a reviewer and blogger in Boston, had been impressed with his Ashton, so I looked it up. He said, “Misa Kuranaga and Jeffrey Cirio, as the title heroine and her Prince Charming, looked as if they’d been dancing Ashton all their lives.” Do you think perhaps Somes set it differently on the ABT men?
What were your thoughts on Gillian Murphy? Every time I see her I’m awed by her dynamic turns and gentle port de bras and musical charm. She has all the athletic flash of some of these imports, but she applies it with elegant, classical technique. She pushes the art forward without absolving it of its essential qualities (coughOsipovacough). I was a little leery of seeing her Cinderella as I tend to think of her as a womanly queen, rather than a girlish princess, but I was surprised by how delicate she could be. It’s a shame she wasn’t partnered with someone more worthy of her but honestly I didn’t even look at him most of the time she’s just so magical.
Speaking of which, poor Hammoudi, I had to close my eyes during that variation. There’s no way he CAN’T do double tours en l’air, that’s a requirement for joining the company. Methinks he has a bad case of nerves and needs a stiff drink before he goes out there–and a few more years doing soloist parts before he’s allowed lead roles. Thoughts?
Also, interesting sidenote, Murphy and Stella Abrera have been best friends since 1995 and maids of honor at each others weddings. Murphy’s Instagram is about a third Stella. It’s especially interesting to see which company members are genuine friends and which ones have each others backs (coughnotMistycough). For your investigative purposes: https://instagram.com/gillianemurphy/
What were your thoughts on Gillian Murphy? Every time I see her I’m awed by her dynamic turns and gentle port de bras and musical charm. She has all the athletic flash of some of these imports, but she applies it with elegant, classical technique. She pushes the art forward without absolving it of its essential qualities (coughOsipovacough). I was a little leery of seeing her Cinderella as I tend to think of her as a womanly queen, rather than a girlish princess, but I was surprised by how delicate she could be. It’s a shame she wasn’t partnered with someone more worthy of her but honestly I didn’t even look at him most of the time she’s just so magical.
Speaking of which, poor Hammoudi, I had to close my eyes during that variation. There’s no way he CAN’T do double tours en l’air, that’s a requirement for joining the company. Methinks he has a bad case of nerves and needs a stiff drink before he goes out there–and a few more years doing soloist parts before he’s allowed lead roles. Thoughts?
Also, interesting sidenote, Murphy and Stella Abrera have been best friends since 1995 and maids of honor at each others weddings. Murphy’s Instagram is about a third Stella. It’s especially interesting to see which company members are genuine friends and which ones have each others backs (coughnotMistycough). For your investigative purposes: https://instagram.com/gillianemurphy/
Also:
STELLA STELLA STELLA OMG YAS STELLA STELLA STELLA IT’S ABOUT TIME
I felt that deserved it’s own post.
Also:
STELLA STELLA STELLA OMG YAS STELLA STELLA STELLA IT’S ABOUT TIME
I felt that deserved it’s own post.
Hi Balcony Member.
I don’t know what Wendy Somes did. Maybe she looked at the lot of ABT Princes and said “Oy, what am I going to do with these?”
Hi Balcony Member.
I don’t know what Wendy Somes did. Maybe she looked at the lot of ABT Princes and said “Oy, what am I going to do with these?”
Hi Haglund, I’m kinda glad that you weren’t captivated by Marianela Nunez. I had a feeling she wasn’t my type of dancer so I only went to Stella’s performance, which was, not surprisingly, magnificent. Now I don’t feel I missed someone great.
I do hope they get Stella up and running so that we see her in more and more ballets. Finally our dreams have come true, although I realize that it was a case of the stars and planets aligning themselves in exactly the configuration necessary to make her promotion happen.
Hi Haglund, I’m kinda glad that you weren’t captivated by Marianela Nunez. I had a feeling she wasn’t my type of dancer so I only went to Stella’s performance, which was, not surprisingly, magnificent. Now I don’t feel I missed someone great.
I do hope they get Stella up and running so that we see her in more and more ballets. Finally our dreams have come true, although I realize that it was a case of the stars and planets aligning themselves in exactly the configuration necessary to make her promotion happen.
Angelica,
I hope so, too. I hope this promotion wasn’t simply a realization by ABT that she’s been carrying a principal load for many years for which they finally decided to recognize her. We need to see her in some more major leading roles. Considering how well she has handled Symphony in C and Symphony Concertante, I’d like to see her in T&V and Bruch Violin Concerto which ABT can’t seem to arrange to repeat. And, of course, Nikiya, Medora, etc. etc.
Angelica,
I hope so, too. I hope this promotion wasn’t simply a realization by ABT that she’s been carrying a principal load for many years for which they finally decided to recognize her. We need to see her in some more major leading roles. Considering how well she has handled Symphony in C and Symphony Concertante, I’d like to see her in T&V and Bruch Violin Concerto which ABT can’t seem to arrange to repeat. And, of course, Nikiya, Medora, etc. etc.
I saw both Cinderellas on Saturday: the matinee with Stella Abrera and the evening performance with Marianela Nunez. It seems that a lot of people are raving about Marienela, but she didn’t really do anything for me. I was definitely more moved by Stella’s interpretation than Marienela’s. Perhaps Marienela is better technically–I’m not sure. But in my opinion, Stella was absolutely exquisite as Cinderella. During one of the intermissions, an usher said to me: “Wow! She [Stella] is REALLY good!!”
I saw both Cinderellas on Saturday: the matinee with Stella Abrera and the evening performance with Marianela Nunez. It seems that a lot of people are raving about Marienela, but she didn’t really do anything for me. I was definitely more moved by Stella’s interpretation than Marienela’s. Perhaps Marienela is better technically–I’m not sure. But in my opinion, Stella was absolutely exquisite as Cinderella. During one of the intermissions, an usher said to me: “Wow! She [Stella] is REALLY good!!”
Hi B.
Marianela was lovely but I think I would probably enjoy her a lot more in something like Don Quixote.
Hi B.
Marianela was lovely but I think I would probably enjoy her a lot more in something like Don Quixote.
Thank you so much for a season of wonderful pieces and reviews! I look forward to reading every new post. Are you going to The National Ballet of China? I’m sorry that I’m going to miss them (I’ve never seen them), but I’m heading up to SPAC and NYCB tomorrow for a bit. And you are right — Nela is great in Don Q (although as you know, I’m a huge Nela fan, period). Thanks again, Haglund!
Thank you so much for a season of wonderful pieces and reviews! I look forward to reading every new post. Are you going to The National Ballet of China? I’m sorry that I’m going to miss them (I’ve never seen them), but I’m heading up to SPAC and NYCB tomorrow for a bit. And you are right — Nela is great in Don Q (although as you know, I’m a huge Nela fan, period). Thanks again, Haglund!
Thanks, Deb.
Unfortunately, I have to skip the National Ballet of China this year.
I imagine that NYCB’s La Sylphide outdoors at SPAC is going to be especially magical.
Thanks, Deb.
Unfortunately, I have to skip the National Ballet of China this year.
I imagine that NYCB’s La Sylphide outdoors at SPAC is going to be especially magical.
Did you happen to see Gillian’s Cinderella, and if so, what were your thoughts?
Did you happen to see Gillian’s Cinderella, and if so, what were your thoughts?
Hi Julia.
Yes, I did see Gillian’s first performance of Cinderella this year. She was quite charming but I didn’t think that her match-up with Alex Hammoudi in this particular ballet did anything for her. Her own variations were superb, especially the manege of turns that visibly accelerated. Her bourrees were the fastest, most skimming of all the Cinderellas who I saw. As I mentioned elsewhere, that tricky step where Cinderella moves downstage with arabesques in which she looks back over her shoulder as though checking twice to see whether the Prince was really back there, were clear only in Marianela Nunez’s case. In some respects, I think I’ve enjoyed Gillian’s characterization more in the Kudelka Cinderella with the 1930s theme, but that may have been just because she was dancing with Hallberg.
Hammoudi’s partnering was good and reliable as far as I could see. It’s his solo work that tends to fall apart when it comes time for turns or turning jumps. There is clearly a need for him to invest his own time in cleaning up his skills. We all really got gypped out of a stunning moment when each Prince bailed on doing the manege of saute de basques. Again, let me say that I didn’t see Stearns’ performances, and do not know what he did with the choreography.
Hi Julia.
Yes, I did see Gillian’s first performance of Cinderella this year. She was quite charming but I didn’t think that her match-up with Alex Hammoudi in this particular ballet did anything for her. Her own variations were superb, especially the manege of turns that visibly accelerated. Her bourrees were the fastest, most skimming of all the Cinderellas who I saw. As I mentioned elsewhere, that tricky step where Cinderella moves downstage with arabesques in which she looks back over her shoulder as though checking twice to see whether the Prince was really back there, were clear only in Marianela Nunez’s case. In some respects, I think I’ve enjoyed Gillian’s characterization more in the Kudelka Cinderella with the 1930s theme, but that may have been just because she was dancing with Hallberg.
Hammoudi’s partnering was good and reliable as far as I could see. It’s his solo work that tends to fall apart when it comes time for turns or turning jumps. There is clearly a need for him to invest his own time in cleaning up his skills. We all really got gypped out of a stunning moment when each Prince bailed on doing the manege of saute de basques. Again, let me say that I didn’t see Stearns’ performances, and do not know what he did with the choreography.
Going back to your earlier comment, Haglund, Marianela was fantastic as Kitri in the D.C. performance I saw of her. Cinderella I saw her perform in London a few years ago and was not as impressed. I would say Kitri is her best role, having seen her also as O/O, Lilac, Aurora, Swanhilda, Mitzi Caspar, and Olga in Onegin.
Going back to your earlier comment, Haglund, Marianela was fantastic as Kitri in the D.C. performance I saw of her. Cinderella I saw her perform in London a few years ago and was not as impressed. I would say Kitri is her best role, having seen her also as O/O, Lilac, Aurora, Swanhilda, Mitzi Caspar, and Olga in Onegin.
I look forward to more Gorak next year! It has been fun watching him grow.
I look forward to more Gorak next year! It has been fun watching him grow.