Haglund's Heel

ABT's The Bright Stream – A Collective Riot

When Haglund decided to attend the Saturday matinee performance of Alexei Ratmansky’s The Bright Stream at The Kennedy Center, he didn’t realize that it would be about characters who pretend to be who they aren’t, chase after what they shouldn’t have, are unfaithful, accept lavish gifts from outsiders, and the principal character is a community amusements organizer – in short, another theatrical depiction of Washington, DC.  But it was very funny.

The Bright Stream has a long, detailed libretto without having a story of much depth or significance.  Le Corsaire is weighty by comparison.   Lots of hilarious things happen over a two day period; many characters are introduced; relationships are developed.  It’s more of a collection of crazy episodes that are woven together without really being related.  But the thin threads of this weave certainly did provide the dancers with opportunities to strut their extraordinary stuff and act up a storm.

Xiomara Reyes as Zina, a local amusements organizer, Herman Cornejo as Pyotr, her husband, Isabella Boylston as the Ballerina, and Daniil Simkin as the Ballet Dancer were all dead serious about their comedy and executed it with expert timing and the astonishing technique that we have to fight ourselves not to take for granted.  Xiomara and Herman tore through turns and allegro while making it look not only pretty, but effortless.  No punching the steps by these two.

Both pairs of dancers had PdDs filled with the swirling, swooning, and (yeah!) big lifts to the shoulder – especially a nice one that has the woman being held in sort of a fish position and the man just whips her up over his shoulder. Boy, did Simkin make this look easy – it was as smooth as Vasiliy Alekseyev snatching his way to the Olympic gold medal.  Isabella was down and then all of sudden she was up on his shoulder – all in one move.  Beautiful. Simkin’s pointe work as the sylph was hilarious.   He went for every move with 110% commitment – and while all of it might not have been especially pretty, it always succeeded in getting him where he was trying to go in unique fashion. 

Let’s talk about the exceptional debut by Isabella in what was, Haglund believes, her first principal role in a full length ballet.  She nailed it.  She has always gotten the steps.  The girl not only jumps like a deer, but unlike some other big jumpers with bigger press followings, the shapes of Isabella’s legs and flexible feet while in the air are beautiful.  And today, she made a big, big statement about her theatrical value to this company.   Yep, we got ourselves another one – another dance actress hatched out on stage before our very eyes. 

Craig Salstein as the Accordion Player and Maria Riccetto as Galya, the school girl, are going to get their own spin-off sit-com.   The audience screamed as Salstein leered at and pursued the wide-eyed Riccetto while burning up the floor with Ratmansky’s imaginative allegro. 

Susan Jones nearly stole the show as the Anxious-to-be-younger-than-she-is Dacha Dweller who pursued Simkin and the Dacha Dweller (Clinton Luckett) while wearing pointe shoes, a red dress, a red wig and while carrying a fan as though she was Kitri in Don Quixote.   Then she picked up the rifle and – oh, heck, Haglund isn’t going to spoil everything for those who plan to see this production in the spring at the Met.

Isaac Stappas, Simone Messmer, and Alexei Agoudine contributed memorable performances as the Tractor Driver/dog, Milkmaid, and Inspector of Quality.  Isaac was initially outfitted in the basic farmer overalls without a shirt which did a lot to dress up the rather drab scenery and costumes.  Maybe the drab was an intentional pullback for fear of experiencing the wrath that was dealt in connection with the Sleeping Beauty costumes.  However, when Haglund saw the top of the front curtain which appeared to be an almost neon red/pink with drawings of the hammer & sickle, rakes, sheaves of wheat, airplane(?), and sun,  he thought “Oh, no, here we go again with the promiscuous palettes.”  But that wasn’t to be.  The costumes, except for the Tractor Driver's and Ms. Anxious-to-be-younger’s, were quite drab, and the lighting was way too dark in almost every scene.  What gives with all the diminished lighting at The Kennedy Center?

The corps work was spirited and there was interesting choreography for the Highlanders and Fieldworkers that involved some unexpected bends of the torsos.   

The orchestra sounded super.  Maybe the richness was the result of the hall being so much smaller than the Met, or maybe it was the result of better musicianship – whatever it was, it was nice.

Haglund looks forward to seeing The Bright Stream at the Met in the spring and hopes that he has the opportunity to see Isabella and Simkin together again in this production.  We honestly do not need a guest artist for this – or anything else.

A grand and successful effort by everyone this afternoon, but the special Pump Bump Award with custom-ordered accordion strap is bestowed upon Isabella Boylston and Craig Salstein for their huge performances.

 

ABT – Complete Casting for The Bright Stream

Here's the full casting for tonight's premiere (also Saturday night) and the Saturday and Sunday matinee performances as printed in the Playbill distributed on Wednesday evening:

ABT – The Nutcracker – Cornejo & Reyes 12/30

Haglund saw his final Nutcracker of the season yesterday afternoon when Herman Cornejo and Xiomara Reyes took the stage for the first time as principals in ABT’s new production at BAM.  Sitting in a part of the theater he had yet to try out during the ABT run, he realized what a glaring oversight it has been not to write about Jennifer Tipton’s marvelous lighting of this production.  Her shadowing of Drosselmeyer and the Mice in Act One and later the Flowers peering through the front gate of the Land of the Sugar Plum Fairy in Act Two delighted the audience.  As the faces of the Flowers appeared from the dark into the line of light at the gate, Haglund overheard a male voice remark “Aren’t they beautiful!”  And yes, they were.  Those Flowers got a lot of attention from the audience, especially when they were tossed in the air from Bumble Bee to Bumble Bee, one after another, first from the left and then from the right, over and over, as the brass played the melody from Waltz of the Flowers.

Tipton’s lighting of the final PdD, where the doors at the back of the stage open and the grownup Clara and the Nutcracker Prince emerge to come face to face with their child versions who then leave us through those same doors, looked almost heavenly.  It was some of the most complimentary lighting for men in white tights that Haglund has ever seen, and yesterday, when applied to Herman Cornejo, made him look like the Prince of all the other Princes.  Sorry all you big guys, but those dark curls and sculpted thighs are the kind of prince we all dream about. 

 

Cornejo dispatched Ratmansky’s complicated allegro effortlessly.  Let’s face it, the guy’s legs slice up allegro like a teppanyaki chef’s flying knives.  Reyes looked a bit unsettled with the fast choreography but she fully realized the magical transformation from Little Clara to grownup with a charming “Is this happening to me?” expression of disbelief.

Some of the superb details of the PdDs probably escaped the casual Nutcracker audience members.  But how interesting it was to see in the supported finger pirouettes that the ballerina changed her spot so that she looked at her Prince with each revolution instead of out at the audience.  How dramatic it was to see the Prince conclude a blistering variation to one knee with his head bowed and arm stretched to the front like a toy Nutcracker might have done.   How touching to see the The Nutcracker Prince pause in the same pose initially formed by The Nutcracker Boy with his arms outstretched, face and chest lifted toward the heavens – all under Tipton’s wondrous lighting.

Some of the PdD’s supported moves suffered awkwardness, including the final pose, but for the most part, it was yet another fantastic interpretation of this story.

 

The Kitchen Scene, which included the ever-theatrical cook, Jeffrey Golladay, dancing maids, the Nanny/Sugar Plum Fairy (the fabulous Zhong-Jing Fang at all the performances which Haglund saw), and of course the mice, is but one of the many unique pluses of this new production.  Haglund surmises that some might have been disappointed with it because there is nothing that can be attributed to Balanchine.  It is all different and original.  There are no overdoses of saute arabesque, glissade, saute de chat, no showy dew drop, and no hula hoop.  No doubt, when Balanchine decided to capitalize on the nation’s mid-century fixation with the circus-inspired hula hoop in his Nutcracker, eyes rolled and heads shook, but that hula hoop gimmick has worked pretty well for a half century – even when the hula hoop fad died long ago. 

 

Ratmansky’s version of The Nutcracker for ABT, with its uniquely beautiful Snow Scene and Waltz of the Flowers, and its unique concept of viewing the story through young Clara’s perspective will have a growing and lasting impact.  What do you bet we see Kitchen Scenes crop up in little Nutcracker productions all over the country before too long?

 

Back to yesterday’s performance – there were many fine efforts. The Nutcracker Sisters managed their difficult en dehor fouette, en dedan, en dehor sequence with gleaming precision. The Russians held the audience in the palms of their hands with their perfect comedic timing.  The Snowflakes were glistening perfection. But, oh, those Flowers, those dresses.  Not since Veronika Part showed up on David Letterman in that teal Christian Cota number has Haglund been so infatuated with fashion as he has been with Richard Hudson’s pink ruffles for the Waltz of the Flowers. He needs one of those dresses.

 

So, once again, to the Waltz of the Flowers, Haglund bestows a stylish pink satin Christian Louboutin Pump Bump Award:

ABT – Kajiya & Hammoudi Breakout 12/27

A small but enthusiastic crowd braved impassable roads, nonfunctioning subways, and no street parking to see ABT’s The Nutcracker at BAM where Yuriko Kajiya and Alexandre Hammoudi delivered their anticipated breakout performances.  After seeing them in dress rehearsal a couple of weeks ago, Haglund warned everyone not to miss this.  It was spectacular.  Their take on the story was like Part’s and Gomes’ and was characterized by youthful exuberance.

 

Hammoudi came out of his overly-reserved shell and allowed us to see what a charming, funny guy he can be.  He backed up his charisma with incredibly articulate batterie.  The swish, swish, swish of his entrechat six could be heard in the Orchestra level and images of Hammoudi’s crossed arched feet are burned into Haglund’s memory.  Huge, effortless leaps and beautifully balanced pirouettes were his to throw our way time and time again.

 

Kajiya glistened in true ballerina form – the sweeping motion of her leg as it went from front to side to back at a thankfully moderate height and the delicate way in which she placed her pointes to the floor made one hear the music all the more clearly.  Kajiya’s phrasing and musicality have always been admired in her solo work but it hasn’t been that often that we’ve had the opportunity to see it utilized in a PdD.  Last night, she and Hammoudi were so in tune with one another that Haglund wished the PdD would never end.

 

Their Grigorovich Lift came closer to success than any of the other ABT casts that Haglund has seen so far, but it really is not anywhere near what it should be.  Here is a You Tube clip of how it was done at the Bolshoi.  Victoria Luchkina and Mikhail Zinoviev blow it out at about 3:10 of this clip.  Note the smoothness of the entry into the lift and how Zinovev extends his left arm.  The cast in the live-streamed performance of the Bolshoi on December 19 was as bold, if not bolder.  The ballerina flung herself at the prince’s chest and he lifted her like she was paper. 

 

A five minute counseling session with Mr. Grigorovich would probably yield impressive results from Hammoudi and Kajiya or Cornejo and Reyes on the second try.  Here, call him up, (Tel.: + 7 495 692 08 18), get him on a SKYPE connection, and let’s put this baby to bed.

 

Little Clara and The Nutcracker Boy were Lauren Ann Bonfiglio and Kai Monroe.  Both were wonderfully charming.  Haglund loves how the Little Claras are just a tad  bit taller than The Nutcracker Boys as it is with most 12 year olds.  It took him back to the days when he and his friends went to a weekly mandatory Friday night “Party Wagon” arranged by our parents and the elementary school where we all learned how to waltz and fox trot and behave in adult social situations.  Doing a box step to Bobby Vinton’s Blue Velvet changed us.   

 

Haglund knows that he wasn’t the first one to notice the facial resemblance of Lauren Ann to a much missed Bolshoi ballerina in her student days.  The same round, wide eyes had the same magical effect.  For more pictures of some of our legends as youngsters, go here. 

 

Justin Souriau-Levine once again stole the show as the Little Mouse.  His pratfalls, belly flops, and slides to the knees as he scurries around are delivered with perfect comedic timing.  As cute as he is, Haglund hopes he doesn’t grow so much in 2011 that he can’t reprise his role next year.

 

No negatives in the dancing last night.  Have to say though that the orchestra was not tip-top.  The overture didn’t have the magical effect and the horns at the beginning of the Waltz of the Flowers were a little off.  Maybe it had something to do with the snow storm that prevented everyone from getting to the pit as refreshed as they could have been.  Or maybe there were some players absent or substituted, as there were with the little soldiers – who carried on very, very well.

 

We have less than a week of performances left.  Cornejo and Reyes will be on stage for the first time this Thursday and for the final performance next Sunday evening.  Don’t miss this Nutcracker, People. 

 

Last night’s show was terrific and those in attendance were happy that they braved the crappy weather to come out and see Kajiya’s and Hammoudi’s breakout performances.  The Pump Bump Award, a Prada purple satin and jeweled beauty, goes to them:

ABT – Simkin & Riccetto – Exquisite Debuts 12/24

Today Haglund had the privilege of watching Daniil Simkin in his debut as a Prince in an ABT full length production.  He and Maria Riccetto were The Nutcracker Prince and Clara, the Princess, at a morning performance of the new Ratmansky Nutcracker at BAM.  Their performance was magical, in part, because of their youthfulness, not in spite of it.  They also shared the genuine warmth and joy of dancing with one another that we saw with Veronika Part and Marcelo Gomes on Wednesday night.  They physically complimented one another in their form and demeanor; it was a very good match up of artists.  

 

It would have been impossible for Simkin not to respond to Riccetto’s gorgeous smile – at its broadest, the nose crinkles and the eyes sparkle with excitement.  She’s the Tiffany version of the ballerina in terms of brilliance, clarity, and style. 

For his part, Simkin waltzed Riccetto around, lifted her, swirled her, turned her, caught her, and eventually proposed to her with great charm and efficiency.  She leaped up toward him and before you knew it, she was up on the back of his shoulder in a jete position while he spun her around at a thrilling speed.  Multiple times, she ran toward him, he threw her up in the air for a single revolution, and smoothly caught her as she came down.  For someone rather small, he’s got might and a great deal of coordination. 

The Grigorovich lift in the final grand pas was adapted close to the way Murphy and Hallberg did it last night but seemed more secure.  Why can’t our dancers coordinate and pump this lift as Grigorovich’s dancers do?  She runs, she jumps, he grabs her leg, presses her up, rotates her with his hand under her butt.  All bets and money are now on Cornejo and Reyes to score this lift and save our dignity.

 

Of the three casts Haglund has seen so far, Simkin and Riccetto mimed the final proposal and wedding the clearest and most theatrically.  It was worth an instant replay, but that will have to wait until Sunday at 1 p.m.  So much good dancing to see, and so little time.

 

Simkin's and Riccetto's were not the only brilliant performances today.  If Joseph Gorak was impressive on the first night of previews in the Chinese section, he was sensational this morning.  Here is a dancer for whom no step is so small that it should not be executed fully and brilliantly.  This guy’s dancing has details, details, and more details.  Every step is always just slightly clearer than anyone else, slightly more emphatic, slightly more exacting.  He stands out by doing everything slightly better than everyone else doing the same step.  It must annoy the hell out of a lot of people with whom he dances, but it sure is a joy to watch.

 

The Arabian section had some difficulty today, technically and theatrically.  They need to study Radetsky and group to find the comedic pulse of this section.  The Recruit and the Canteen Keeper had uneven performances.  That final pose for the Recruit where the right leg is held up in the air seems to be presenting balance problems for most everyone.

 

Vitali Krauchenka was another great, great Mouse King today.  It has been extremely effective to have such tall dancers as the Mouse King who has seven heads, but it would also be a hoot to see the likes of a Danny Devito-sized Mouse King.

 

The two Russian section casts that Haglund has seen have been very well put together and seemed to have worked out unique details of their own.  All very entertaining.

 

Haglund is loving the silvery Snowflakes and the pink sugary Flowers more and more and more.  Beautiful corps work by all today. 

 

This lovely Christian Louboutin Pump Bump Award is bestowed upon the exquisite Waltz of the Flowers:

 

 

 

 

 

 

ABT: Mousedemonium at the Ballet 12/23

Tonight was the official premiere of ABT’s new production of The Nutcracker.  Last night was the unofficial premiere which, like tonight, also rocked the house at BAM.

 

First off, we of course had the obligatory speeches.  Kevin McKenzie thanked the generous donors and especially the lead donor David Koch who gave $2.5 million for this project.  Everyone applauded. Then Koch came out on the stage to receive a presentation from McKenzie – a framed drawing of the little red Nutcracker Prince.  Everyone applauded.  Koch must have been a little nervous about the reception he would receive, given all the hoopla in the press about his Tea Party funding, because after McKenzie’s presentation, he said, “Thank you, Peter” forgetting for a moment that he was not at Lincoln Center.  He quickly corrected himself and was good natured about the slip-up.  No matter what one may think of Koch’s politics, giving $2.5 million dollars for a new Nutcracker was deeply generous.  He deserved the very warm applause, and he deserves our ongoing thanks for his contributions that allow New York’s world class ballet companies to thrive in an impossible economic climate.

 

Besides Koch’s slip of the tongue, there was one other slip up.  One of the Bumble Bees attempted to pollinate one of the Flowers and their costumes became attached.  One of the costumes ripped open baring the chest of . . . the Bumble Bee.  They struggled with each other for a moment while everyone else continued to dance.  When it became apparent that they would either have to dance forever attached or leave the stage, the Bumble Bee made a quick-thinking theatrical motion to wings, and the two ran off.  A few bars later, the Bumble Bee buzzed back on stage and subsequently the Flower blossomed once again from wings.  Just another memory made on Opening Night.

 

Little Clara and The Nutcracker Boy, Catherine Hurlin and Tyler Maloney, performed wonderfully.  Both have serious theatrical chops and lived their stories impressively.  But tonight it was Mousedemonium.  Totally.  If last night, the Little Mouse (Justin Souriau-Levine) was a scene stealer, then tonight he was in Little Mouse take-no-prisoners mode.  When it was time for him to climb out of the copper pot in the Kitchen Scene, Justin exercised the authority of Spartacumouse – throwing the lid of the pot down on the table with a crash and bounding out.   Standing down stage wiggling his little mouse arms and legs at the audience, it appeared that Conductor Ormsby Wilkins might have to wave him off, but then the little one smelled the action behind him and quickly sped away.

 

The soloists and corps dancers were the same as last night with the exceptions of Sarah Lane and Daniil Simkin who performed the Chinese section with great energy and finesse. 

 

Clara, the Princess, and the Nutcracker Prince were Gillian Murphy and David Hallberg.  Tonight was decidedly different than last night.  It was much cooler and much more traditional in feeling than the glorious, at times wild, energy of Part and Gomes the night before.  While Murphy's and Hallberg's lines and pirouettes may have been cleaner and conservative, their dancing didn’t really connect them to the younger Clara and the Nutcracker Boy.  Many will prefer the calmer, more traditional approach, but Haglund was so overwhelmed by Part and Gomes’ take on the whole story that tonight was a bit of a let-down.  No one can really legitimately voice any complaints about the technique, though; it was pristine.  Murphy and Hallberg approached the Grigorovich lift differently.  She releved and he just picked her up and walked forward.  There was a little bit of a bobble in her extended leg but there was never any threat of the pose dismantling.  Hopefully one of the principal couples will find the courage to execute this lift in the true spirit of Grigorovich.

 

All in all, another wonderful night at the ballet.  Haglund will now go to sleep in his clothes so that he can get a fast start to Brooklyn for tomorrow’s 11 a.m. performance.  But before retiring, he needs to bestow upon this wonderful cast a lovely pink sherbet Pump Bump Award which would, as with last night’s award, look lovely under those Waltz of the Flowers costumes:

A Merry Christmas from ABT - 12/22

Just when you thought that your due diligence (snooping) revealed everything that "Santa" was to bring on Christmas, you get a surprise gift that makes you sit back and wonder How did they know I wanted that? and Where were they hiding it?

 

ABT’s first preview performance of The Nutcracker last night was a sold-out event.  Must say, and Chelsea Clinton will agree because she was also there last night, that this is one heck of a Christmas gift.  While preview performances aren’t routine when it comes to ballets, it was probably a good idea in this case where there was unfamiliar choreography and extensive new scenery and costumes to be tested on an unfamiliar stage that wasn’t available until hours before the first performance.  Throw in 28 kids in the cast and that’s a lot of variables to manage.  But ABT managed them superbly last night, and we had ourselves a World Class Premiere. 

 

In a nutshell, this Nutcracker has charm, imagination, and warmth, and will require multiple trips to BAM to absorb and enjoy all of the details.  Alexei Ratmansky has inserted new humor and humanity into the classic and has created it more from little Clara’s perspective than most other grand productions.  One stroke of brilliance was when Clara and The Nutcracker Boy – Athena Petrizzo and Philip Perez — came face to face with themselves as the adult Princess and Prince – Veronika Part and Marcelo Gomes.   The couples mirrored one another with a bit of mime and then as Part and Gomes began to waltz, the children performed the identical movement downstage – clearly dreaming and seeing themselves as grownups.  Then the children sat face to face spotlit in the downstage corner while Part and Gomes performed a dreamy PdD to the In the Tree musical section. 

 

Ratmansky’s two grand PdDs employed the Princess and Prince within Clara’s vision of what grownup dancing would be like.  Part and Gomes were playful in the snow combining serious, elegant technique with teasing one another.  The Prince pretended that he was going to drop the Princess.  That simply heightened the excitement for the Princess who was beaming her beautiful smile throughout.  They chased each other around the stage with childlike excitement – of course while turning, jumping, and teasing one another.  The Princess had a little bit of Titiana in her personality, as most little girls do. 

 

The choreography had a lot of off-center aspects to it.  It was pretty thrilling to see Part have such confidence in Gomes that she really did throw herself into the lifts and falls as though she was daring him and challenging him to catch her.  Where in the strictly classic version, a pirouette that lists off to the side would look wrong, here the spinning while the listing occurred looked magnificent.  The variations employed the same aesthetic where falling off balance was an important element which conveyed the hyper-excitement of the moment.  These were not the perfect Prince and Princess of past productions; these were a Prince and Princess having the times of their lives in the snow, a little girl’s dream of dancing the way one can dance only in her own dreams – full out, taking risks that reality would not reward and having it all her way. 

 

The opening scene which occurs in The Kitchen was another stroke of genius. The Little Mouse who terrorized the maids in the kitchen, escaped defeat in the The Battle Scene and roamed The Kingdom of the Sweets was brilliantly performed by Justin Souriau-Levine.  He was the smallest, most scrawny little creature on the stage, and when his mouse head came off during bows, he looked even smaller.  What a terrific job this young man did.  Haglund went home hoping to find little mice in the house.

 

The soldiers’ choreography was challenging and the kids, who included an original Billy Elliot, Trent Kowalik, managed it skillfully.  Bunched as a group, the soldiers moved and flipped directions to address the advancing mice led by the seven-headed, seven-tailed Mouse King, Thomas Forster. 

 

Columbine and Harlequin were Gemma Bond and Craig Salstein.  The variations were technically charged with beats and pointe work that both managed seamlessly.  Meaghan Hinkis and Luis Ribagorda were the Recruit and Canteen Keeper in the same scene and danced fabulously.

 

The choreography of the Snow Scene was inventive and linear whereas the choreography of the Flowers seemed more circular.  Haglund observed this from the Orchestra level and is looking forward to seeing it from the upper level tonight.  Little Clara and The Little Nutcracker played all around within the snow until the storm’s intensity grew to a dangerous size and began to threaten them.  Drosselmeyer, played by Victor Barbee, rescued them before the storm evolved into a beautiful blizzard. 

 

The variations of The Kingdom of the Sweets were, as far as Haglund knows, unique in every respect to this production.  The Nutcracker had Sisters – Isabella Boylston, Melanie Hamrick, Yuriko Kajiya, Simone Messmer, Leann Underwood – who danced in green trimmed tophats and long tutus.  All were beautiful with articulate pointes, but as has been the trend the last couple of seasons, the eyes were drawn to Hamrick who is offering an emerging artistry that somebody better capitalize on quickly.

 

The Arabian section was lead by Sascha Radetsky with Nicola Curry, Isadora Loyola, Kelley Potter, and Devon Teuscher.  Haglund is going to say this before the Old Donut Hole at the New York Times does.  Radetsky looked like he’s been sampling the Sugar Plums.  It was apparent along his rectus abdominis muscle between the Number 3 and Number 4 tendinous inscription bands of his eight-pack.  Then, there were Sugar Plums sticking out of the back – oh, wait, they could have been Trapezius Plums.  Haglund will examine Radetsky with the binoculars later this week and report back.  No small by-the-way, Radetsky’s Number One Sugar Plum has been much missed so far.

 

Radetsky’s Arabian character bit off a little more than he could chew with the four ladies.  They pursued him relentlessly and wouldn’t allow him to sample any one of them for long before the rest intervened.  All were hysterical.  Isadora Loyola is finally getting a bit more to do, and it is becoming all the more apparent that she has some Ferri-like qualities.

 

The Spanish section included Maria Riccetto and Jared Matthews, Jessica Saund and Alexandre Hammoudi, Misty Copeland and Blaine Hoven.  Their costumes of chocolate and red were, well, delicious.  The swish of the petticoats could be heard in the Orchestra level as these couples hot-sauced their ways around the stage. 

 

What an unexpected treat to see the talented Joseph Gorek given an opportunity to shine.  He and Marian Butler danced the Chinese section splendidly.  Gorek had a mile-high leap with cat-like soft landings.

 

The Bees (Forster, Daniel Mantei, Ribagorda, Eric Tamm)  in striking yellow and black costumes, with especially attractive black lips, were to die for as they buzzed around the beautiful flowers.  These were the best costumes in the Kingdom of the Sweets.  The flowers had a French taste to them with layers and layers of pink icing.  Absolutely stunning.  There was a lot of material to those flowers, and each lady wore it beautifully.

 

Haglund knows that he’s forgetting to mention some of the many other characters in this fantastic new production.  But suffice to say, this is a wonderful new full-length Nutcracker with grand costumes, grand scenery, and above all grand dancing.  A little bit of a non-traditional Pump Bump Award is in order.  Here is a beautiful pink Steve Madden number which would look delicious with the Waltz of the Flowers costumes:

 

ABT Nutcracker sneak peek

It’s coming together, Folks.  It is REALLY coming together. 

 

Haglund spent the afternoon at a dress rehearsal for ABT’s new Nutcracker.  This was a working dress rehearsal at the NJPAC where things looked a bit cramped but nevertheless, it was a good substitute stage for the BAM facility that is in use until about 48 hours before the first scheduled ABT performance.  Haglund is not going to give away any details, but let’s just say the mice are going to steal this show.  And within about three or four stage rehearsals the kids may take it all over.

 

The Nutcracker principals performing in costume today were Yuriko Kajiya and Alexandre Hammoudi.  If you don’t have a ticket to one of their dates, you are going to miss their BREAK-OUT performances – break-out in a very big way.  Trust ole Haglund, you are going to be surprised like you never expected.  Also performing, but in practice clothes, were Veronika Part and Marcelo Gomes who made the one old-time Bolshoi lift in the PdD look, well, bolshoi-er than you can imagine with Veronika about 10 feet up in the air.  Whew!  Absolutely gorgeous.

 

Come on, People, get your tickets!  The trip out to BAM from Manhattan is no big deal – 2,3,4,5,N,R,Q,B,D, and A&C with connections to G all get you within a very short walk of the opera house.  Easy.

Works & Process – ABT's New Nutcracker

Haglund enjoyed the Guggenheim's Works & Process presentation last evening that gave us a peek at the new ABT Nutcracker which opens at the Brooklyn Academy of Music on December 22nd.  Wes Chapman, Alexei Ratmansky, Richard Hudson, and Ormsby Wilkins were the panelists.  Performers included kids, corps de ballet, soloist Daniil Simkin, and Daniel Waite was the pianst.

 

Right up front, let's get it out there for everyone to grumble about:  the sandwiches are now quite literally the size of postage stamps.  If Haglund makes another little donation to Works & Process, it will be with the stipulation that it go toward upsizing the sandwiches.

 

So far, there is nothing to grumble about with regard to this new Nutcracker.  Whether it will be strong enough to become a classic production, only time will tell.  But so far, there's been nothing weird and nothing grossly over-colored.  In fact, Haglund was fairly impressed with the sets and costumes which are rich in details and imaginative. 

Ratmansky and Wilkins discussed their devotion to the Tchaikovsky score in its original form, and promised that they are committed to staying true to the composer's original tempi - nothing will be slowed down in order to stuff in technique nor will anything be sped up to accommodate individual tastes.  It will be heard as Tchaikovsky intended us to hear it.  Looking forward to that.

 

The small bits of choreography that were on display included the Spanish Dance, Clara and the Nutcracker Prince during the Snow Scene, the principal male solo from the Grand PdD, and the Russian Dance.  Simkin's solo was full of challenging beats that Ratmansky wanted a bit more quickly and clearly from Simkin:  the second leg needed to close more quickly on the travelling assemble; the entry into that assemble had to begin with a stretching up of the body and a leaning/falling movement into the step; the beats had to work on the way up instead of waiting until the top of the jump. 

Yep, Haglund will look for all of this come December - from all of the Princes.  The high degree of difficulty in Simkin's solo raised the speculation that there may be more than one version of the choreography for the Princes.  Hope that's not the case.  If there is a commitment to stay true to the score, then there should be a commitment that everyone has to do the choreography. 

 

In the second installment of Works & Process tonight, Veronika Part will participate in the section of the program dedicated to principal coaching by Ratmansky.  Veronika in a white tutu, even a practice tutu = Magic.

 

The most interesting aspect of last night's program was listening to Wilkins discuss Tchaikovsky's emotional state at the time he composed the Nutcracker score and the undertones of sadness or depression that accompany the beauty in the music.  He also made a passing reference to the company's trip to Cuba.  It was obvious from his enthusiasm that he was itching to speak more about it, but had to stay on message for this program.  Wouldn't it be a nice evening if someone put together a debriefing presentation of the week in Havana?

 

Anyway, we all have a lot of Nutcracker tickets to buy this year, so let's get those wallets open.  Not only do we all have to see both the ABT and NYCB productions, but the 15th anniversary production of  The Yorkville Nutcracker by Francis Patrelle is a must-see, and on December 19th, the Bolshoi Ballet's Nutcracker will be broadcast LIVE by Emerging Pictures' fantastic new Ballet in Cinema effort in cinemas across the country (Cinema 59 in Manhattan).  More on this later.

 

 

ABT @ AFH – A-Rat scores, Yankees win!

Upon opening its first season at Avery Fisher Hall this evening, American Ballet Theatre just may have acquired the distinction of becoming the only company ever to present seasons at all three of the major venues on the Lincoln Center campus: New York State Theater, Metropolitan Opera House, and now Avery Fisher Hall. Quite remarkable.

Even if tonight’s program was a mixed success, it was an evening of repertory perhaps nearly as mixed as that which Miss Chase concocked during ABT’s formative years.  It was 70 years ago this month that she and about 16 dancers were furiously preparing for what would be the January debut performances of Ballet Theatre: Les Sylphides, Carnavale, Jardin aux Lilas, Judgment of Paris, Dark Elegies, The Great American Goof, Giselle, Swan Lake, La Fille Mal Gardee were all in the works at that time – even before a theater had been found and reserved for the performances.   There’s probably no point in wondering if the choreography being created these days represents an evolution or devolution - it’s probably both.

Before we got to see any dance this evening, however, we had to listen to a couple of bimbos with 2nd grade reading skills read “their” prepared remarks to open the evening.  Normally McKenzie delivers this annoyance and manages to do so without giggling, butt swinging, and stumbling over his own words. Thankfully, the ladies tumbled to the bottoms of their pages relatively quickly but then presented their behinds in a slow walk across the stage for their exits.

Alexei Ratmansky’s Seven Sonatas opened the program to music by Domenico Scarlatti.  This was a beautiful offering, stunningly danced by Julie Kent, Xiomara Reyes, Stella Abrera, David Hallberg, Herman Cornejo, and Gennadi Saveliev.  Dressed in simple white dresses with bare legs, the ladies flirted with their partners and frequently changed partners – perhaps just sampling what was out there – but all eventually ended up with whom they were destined to be.  The men were spectacular in their individual allegro sections, but it was the women who teased out the gaiety and underlying melancholy in the beautiful sonatas. Abrera was breathtaking in her pas de deux with Saveliev. Her gentle, sweeping lyricism and long, effortless line wove through the adagio exquisitely.  Haglund is so grateful to see her back on stage after such a long and unfair absence.

Aszure Barton’s One of Three to Ravel's Violin Sonata in G proved to be quite a disappointment, not to mention a waste of money.  It had more than a little “college phys ed major dance requirement” element to it.  Basically it was a concoction of elementary ballet steps (lots of legs to the ears) and modern dance cliché movements.  ABT’s Make a Dance program for middle schoolers could produce something with better content.

The three women in the cast, Gillian Murphy, Misty Copeland, and Paloma Herrera, each had her own confrontations with groups of men. Murphy’s long white dress was designed to draw attention to her bust.  Her choreography was a few arabesques and some facial expressions.  Copeland’s costume – with revealing halter neck and white skirt, was designed to draw attention to her bust and her hyper-extended legs and hyper cavus feet.  Paloma, who is becoming all too adept at successfully selling the mediocre choreography that has been turning up during the Fall seasons, managed to sell it once again with charm, charisma, and attack-and-get-it-over-with drive. Her connection with the audience was immediate upon her entrance, and her rapport with partner Carlos Lopez was excellent.

Haglund has admitted that he adores these dancers so much that he would pay money just to watch them push grocery carts down the supermarket aisle, but he doesn’t ever want to see this Barton piece again.  No thank you.

Following One of Three, Veronika Part performed Michel Fokine's The Dying Swan.  She was heartbreakingly beautiful, but the lighting design for the performance was either really bad or non-existent.  Haglund is used to seeing The Dying Swan on a darkened stage with the Swan lit brightly.  Because both the pianist and cellist were positioned on the stage, the stage was lit more brightly than it should have been which detracted from the otherwise glorious performance.

Benjamin Millepied presented  Everything Doesn’t Happen At Once to a collection of music by David Lang of Bang on a Can fame.  It was Einstein who enlightened us with “The only reason for Time is so everything doesn’t happen at once.”  While Millepied surely does not present as a choreographic Einstein, he has managed to put together a dance that has a strong beginning, a strong ending, and things of interest connecting the two.  He used a large group of dancers, 24 in all, and moved them in mass in criss-cross patterns and straight horizontal and vertical lines. He uses way too much pedestrian movement as segue to little dances and pas de deux. In fact, it seemed like there was more pedestrian movement than dance.  That might be a good tool to use for Robbins’ Glass Pieces, but Glass Pieces has already been done.  We don’t need a repeat or something imitative. Without meaning to go all Crowe Ransomish, Haglund thinks that the piece stands on its own without the benefit of a lot explanation from Millepied and makes a non-narrative choreographic statement.  In other words, Millepied is finally cooking with gas. If the piece has a high wow factor – and it does, unashamedly – well so does Le Corsaire.  And what’s more wow than vaulting off a cliff to one’s death in a lake below?

The dancers were terrific in Millepied’s piece, particularly Maria Riccetto and Danil Simkin in their individual efforts.  Simkin displayed his gymdanstics skills with flying leaps and multiple pirouettes at warp speed.  All of it very thrilling, but yes, rather commercial.  The central pas de deux was danced by Isabella Boylston and Marcelo Gomes - not a good match-up.  Isabella has all the feet and legs that she needs but still presents as a corps dancer with a rather dead expression on her face.  Haglund was happy to see Isabella's progress in classical roles during the Spring season at the Met when she was forced to bring more to the performance aspect of her dancing and he hopes to see that again.

Haglund had a good time this evening and awards this Golden Cleats Pump Bump to Ratmansky’s Seven Sonatas .

 

Go Yankees

 

Copyright © 2009

 

One for the Dnieper

Haglund took in a fourth performance of ABT's On the Dnieper on Friday night.  Like others, he feels badly that he has not  been able to warm up to the piece as he had hoped.  So he returned one last time to look at the beautiful scenery and search for more positive elements in the production.  He hopes that proper investment will be made in revising Dnieper, e.g., pumping up the libretto, inserting other Prokofiev music that includes peaks and valleys, and reducing the steppiness, so that it will become a staple in the repertory.  In spite of what might have been lacking, the extraordinary dancers gave it their all, and won one for the Dnieper.

Bringing a rep piece with a war background to the land of Tudor, Joos, and Robbins is a somewhat risky undertaking.  The depth of their pieces may be why all the questions are being asked about the story in Dnieper.  The story counts a lot.  It's not just a sketching on which to mount a bunch of steps.

So on to Giselle where the story is paramount.  Haglund may die with her six nights in a row, but oh, it will be worth it.

 

 

ABT - Prokofiev Celebration – 6/1

Alexei Ratmansky, newly signed celebrity free agent, stepped to the Yankee mound for the first time tonight.  The expectations and pressure were enormous.  The entire Steinbrenner family was in the house watching.  Feeling the pressure, A-Rat threw every pitch in his arsenal as fast and as hard as he could from Inning 1 through Inning 9.  He impressively struck out a number of hitters, but he had to throw a lot of pitches to do it.  The poor catcher was exhausted before the 7th Inning Stretch.  With the help of his teammates, all of whom are destined for the Hall of Fame, A-Rat ecked out the win.  He's off the schneid.  Now he can relax and get down to the business of figuring out how he can use his unique finesse and imaginative pitching to help the team going forward - without wearing out the catchers.

On the Dnieper by Alexei Ratmansky premiered tonight to a fairly packed house at American Ballet Theatre.  Haglund found the Prokofiev score underwhelming - perhaps just underwhelming for dance.  Even though he generally loves Prokofiev, he couldn't attach to the music emotionally or find the story within the music.   Ratmansky's choreography for the most part was incredibly steppy, if not crammed with steps, particularly for the corps.  Less might be more.  A lot less might be best.  That's all Haglund has to complain about. 

There were some truly interesting and innovative minutes in the piece, most notably a solo for Veronika Part which was stunning for the speed, direction and level changes, and demands on Ms. Part's technique. As they used to say about the Reds Hall of Fame catcher Johnny Bench: Veronika's speed is deceptive.  She's actually slower than she looks. Well not tonight folks.  She kicked up a whole lot of cherry blossoms with amazing speed.  Her performance as Natalia, the one Sergei discards in favor of a younger, peppier Olga, was extremely involved and believable.  Nobody, and Haglund means nobody, does Victim as well as Veronika.  A wonderful performance tonight.

Some of the other highlights were the final PdD between Sergei (Marcelo Gomes) and Olga (Paloma Herrera) as they received the resigned Natalia's best wishes and went off on their happy ways.  Lush, romantic, not crammed with unnecessary technique, it really was beautifully worn by Marcelo and Paloma.  Also, it may be the most likeable, hummable part of the music.

Another striking moment was the brief PdD between Sergei and his mother, Georgina Parkinson.  Haglund moved to the edge of his chair wondering what might become of this.  But it was all innocent, and very, very interesting as well as enjoyable to see Georgina dancing again.

David Hallberg was Olga's fiance who got dumped for Marcelo.  He had a couple of very complex solos.  It was nice to watch David move through the choreography, but it was never quite clear what his character was supposed to be portraying in the movement.

Haglund loved the scenery:  cherry trees in full bloom, a HUGE moon that changed throughout the night, long wooden fences that occassionally were moved around by the dancers to suggest a change in location, and cherry blossoms all over the floor.  It was worthy of a Met opera.

The other two pieces on the program were Balanchine's Prodigal Son and Kudelka's Desir.  Herman Cornejo and Michele Wiles were terrific in the Prodigal Son leads as were Sean Stewart and Arron Scott as the servants and Vitali Krauchenka as the Father.  One had to guess that the pain in Herman's face as he crawled around on his knees might be real.  His final scene following the exit of the Siren was downright good drama, and Krauchenka's eyes of the Father as he carried the Son home were fantastic!  Michele gave a first rate performance.  The role suits her perfectly, and she was a convincing dangerous seductress.  Haglund believes she probably was a better match with Cornejo than she would have been with the originally cast Stiefel.

Desir was nonstop pyro-partnering for three main couples and three corps couples.  It was all very interesting for the first 10 minutes, but thereafter, it was a repeat of most everything that came before.  Blaine Hoven and Gillian Murphy manuevered through their very athletic PdDs very masterfully.  When a few of the cherry blossoms from the final ballet, On the Dnieper, started to descend from the ceiling, Blaine and Gillian smiled, but it didn't phase them.  Carlos Lopez and Misty Copeland performed PdDs that were even more athletic, and then Cory Stearns and Isabella Boylston performed a pretzel pas which showcased Isabella's beautiful feet and extensions, and her full throttle force.  They received loud applause and bravos from one particular section of the orchestra. 

Haglund awards this minature rose petal filled stiletto Pump Bump for, as one audience member commented, "an unusual, inventive program with great dancing - but not always the type of choreography we're used to."

  

  

 

Copyright © 2009

 

 

On the Dnieper - ABT microsite

Check this out!  A new ABT microsite has just been uploaded that contains pictures and video for the new Ratmansky piece On the Dnieper.  The sets and lighting look impressive, truly Met design quality.  If they can pull off that glistening floor, it will be incredible. The still photos and video really make this look enticing.

Nice job!