Haglund's Heel

ABT – Nina's Last Le Corsaire – 5/30

Le Corsaire got a spectacular season send-off tonight as Nina Ananiashvili performed the role of Medora for the last time. Orchestrating the send-off and making sure that Nina would give an unforgettable performance was Marcelo Gomes as Conrad.  Nina's first Ali eleven years ago was also her final Ali tonight – Jose Manuel Carreno.  These three along with Maria Riccetto (Gulnare), Carlos Lopez (Birbante), Daniil Simkin (Lankendem) and Roman Zhurbin as the hilarious Pasha gave some of the most full-hearted performances Haglund has ever seen from them.

Marcelo seduced Nina into spectacular flying catches, including one during bows, and spun her through so many revolutions during pirouettes that it made the audience start spotting their heads.  To entice Nina into good old fashion Bolshoi horizontal leaps into his arms, he prompted her with the Bolshoi-Irek-Spartacus stomping stance and motioned with his outstretched arms, "Come on, give it to me baby." Well, that's how Haglund interpreted it.  And that's how Nina interpreted it, because she took the dare and came flying at Marcelo time and time again.  Thrilling.  And thank you both.

The final scene on the rock following the ship sinking found Marcelo lifting Nina high over his head in an arabesque with her arms gloriously raised.  As mentioned, that was followed by Marcelo racing to center stage during bows, turning to the wings and motioning to Nina who then came flying out and landed horizontally in Marcelo's arms.  That sent the audience and especially the Flower Guy into ecstasy.  His bouquets and his aim during curtain calls have been impressive this week.

Nina was superb this evening and gave a beautiful and rock solid performance as Medora - one we will not forget.  Ditto for Marcelo.  Every one of his performances is now better than the last one.  How does he do it?!

J.M.'s Ali was gorgeous as usual and he was most attentive to Nina.  It must have been a little bittersweet for him this evening.  Their final Giselle together will be a tearjerker.

Maria as Gulnare was exquisite.  She has grown so much in the past year, particularly in the area of confidence.  She just may be the right partner for Daniil Simkin.  With her very straight and beautifully held back and new refinement, she fits well with his Russian style.  He was lifting her easily in their PdD, and it was impressive to see how slowly he could lower Maria from those lifts.

Daniil's own performance was just so packed with incredible stuff that the audience went crazy for him.  The pirouette preparations are Xerox copies every time.  Each one is exactly the same, and the end result is always a half dozen or more blistering revolutions.  Maybe going forward, ABT can always apply makeup that makes him look older.   The facial hair did the trick during his Le Corsaire performances making his youthful appearance much less of a handicap.  Of course, Daniil without paint would make a startling Prodigal Son - someday?

Carlos Lopez was once again fantastic as the nasty, grizzly Birbanto.  No step, no trick, no jesture was without story packed into it.  What a week Carlos has had!

Roman Zhurban gave a brilliant performance as the Pasha.  His antics and improv with the choreography commanded so much attention from the audience that he nearly, but not quite, eclipsed Nina.  He took so much of the character even farther than Victor Barbee does and was as impressive as could be.

It's hard to believe that Le Corsaire is over for the season.  Given what we continue to see from these ABT men, it would be a crime not to give them the opportunity to dance and act in this production again next year.  There just is no other full length ballet that highlights them the way this one does.  In spite of snide remarks from certain newspaper critics, this production still packs people into the house.

In honor of Nina's final Le Corsaire, Haglund awards this Weitzman diamond stiletto Pump Bump:

 

Copyright © 2009

ABT – Herman's Ali, finally! Le Corsaire 5/29

Herman Cornejo definitely staked out his claim to the role of Ali in tonight's performance of Le Corsaire.  Holy moly!  For someone who is supposed to be injured, he tore through his variations tossing off near-ceiling height leaps and speedy a la seconde turns like he had just been shot out of a cannon.   Powerful shoulders as well.  And exactly why have we had to wait all these years to see this Ali? 

In the Ali-on-deck circle - Craig Salstein as Birbanto who gave a riveting performance tonight with legs slicing through the choreography like the sword he carried.  A big, big performance in dancing and drama.

Xiomara Reyes and Gennadi Saveliev were a perfect match as Medora and Conrad.   She was pristine and charming; he was an unusually gallant pirate absolutely head over heels in love with his Medora.  Xiomara is quite the speedy turner when she’s let loose as she was tonight in piques and chaines.  Her Act II PdD with Saveliev was truly beautiful and so sensitive to the music.  Saveliev later did a full diagonal of his supersized and sensational revoltades which the audience just ate up.  His other jumps were okay, but he puts on the brakes too soon after landing like he’s taking a little rest before the next jump.  It would be so spectacular if he would just keep the momentum going.

Misty Copeland’s performance as Gulnare was a very happy surprise.  What an improvement over her performances last season.  Much more elegance.  Much less muscle.  Her upper body is far more relaxed and the line of the arm, wrist and hand is now quite lovely.   The only problem that Haglund saw tonight was the first position of the arms.  Misty tends to bring the hands in toward her, sometimes almost touching the backs of her hands together before opening to second or taking them up to fifth and on occasion coming close to wiping the nose on the way up. 

Jared Matthews as Lankendem is still trying to break through acting-wise.  The dancing is just fine, but he needs to be a much bigger personality on stage and not be afraid to improvise.  There is so much naturalness to like about him, but he just doesn’t seem to have that burning desire or energy to take everything to the next level.

Odalisques were Maria Riccetto, Stella Abrera, and Isabella Boylston.  Maria and Stella were perfectly beautiful. Stella looks sufficiently mended to dance Myrta at the matinee – let’s hope she gets the nod.  Isabella had some uncertain moments in her variations.  Her grand jetes were not good.  She got the front leg up, but she didn’t travel forward in the air.  Instead, she pulled the leg way back under her to land.  It was quite jarring. 

In honor of Herman's winged feet this evening, Haglund awards him this fine Pump Bump:

 

 Copyright © 2009

Lincoln Center's Fountain - A Smoking Ashtray

The Lincoln Center fountain is finished and open for sitting.  Doesn't it look like a smoking ashtray?  Supposedly its design is similar to the roof on the new restaurant that is in the area where the old reflecting pool was.  Yawn.

Anonymous sources connected with the L.C. security detail said that they are not happy with the new fountain design.  Whereas before when the beautiful stone fountain was in place, they had considerable difficulty keeping people out of the water.  Not only does the new fountain have lower seating, but there is more than ample room under the seating for little children to climb into the water.  Basically, it's now ugly and an attractive nuisance. 

 

The little curvy things underneath?  They're water hoses.  Nice!

Copyright © 2009

ABT – Nasty Sexy Pirates. More, more, more! Le Corsaire 5/27

Ah, those nasty sexy pirates.  More, more, more!

 

Another terrific Le Corsaire by American Ballet Theatre with its ageless wonder, Jose Manuel Carreno, creating audience ecstasy with his flight and fleet and, oh yeah, his six-pack and sex appeal.  Due to some reshuffling of Ali casting this week, J.M. found himself dancing the role at both the matinee and evening performances.  No doubt, in between curtains, he found time to do 10,000 crunches and one-arm pushups.  He is magnificent dancing in this role and a magnificent god to look at.

 

Conrad had a tough time stealing the spotlight tonight but Marcelo Gomes brought out his best snarling and damn near his best dancing confronting everyone on stage and then sneering at the audience!  He’s in fantastic condition with a gorgeous flexibility in his back and arabesque and go-for-broke pirouettes that elicited an audience response of “Are you kidding me?!” 

 

Our Medora this evening was Nina Ananiashvili who demonstrated yet again, as she has done for these past 16 years, the magic that has melted hearts and the grandeur of a true ballerina.  Haglund believes that after two Le Corsaires, two Giselles, and two La Sylphides in the coming weeks, Nina will be in close to the best shape of her life for her final Swan Lake.  There were many glorious moments last night including in Act II when J.M. pressed Nina over his head with two fully extended arms while she was in one of those leg-in-arabesque-with-other-leg-in-passé -with-arms-raised-in-fifth poses.  Haglund prays that Nancy Ellison had her camera ready for that one.  Nina was so fully engaged with all of the other performers on stage, including the slave girls chained at the rear.  She could have rested while the other principals were center stage, but she didn’t.  She delivered a little mime lesson right in the faces of those young corps girls hopefully inspiring them to embrace the importance of becoming complete performers.

 

That said, Haglund had to stop himself from pulling out his cell to dial up 1-800-Tutu-Police when Nina came out after the first intermission with that purple thing on.  After the second intermission, she returned with a beautiful white tutu.  Surely she mixed up her Act II and Act III costumes.  Somebody please say that’s what happened.

 

Craig Salstein, like Carlos Lopez the night before, was dancing at his best as Birbanto.  This is such a terrific principal role, and can even be the showstopper that Ali is.  Sarah Lane in her debut as Gulnare gave a good first performance and will find her way in this role.  She may have been listening too much to the harping on her smiley ways, because now she has a fixed expression of raised eyebrows with a half smile.  For pete’s sake, all she has to do is vary her expression.  It’s about variety of expression, not whether the grill is always out there or not. 

 

Gennadi Saveliev, as Lankendem, completed the principal cast and delivered a fantastic diagonal of his signature whatchamacallit move that no one else does along with a circle of fabulous flying barrel turns.  His Lankendem was lovable low-life through and through.

 

Much thanks to the entire corps – especially the pirates –, soloists, and principals for another rip-roaring performance!

 

Nasty sexy pirates.  More, more, more!

 

 

 

Copyright © 2009

ABT – Le Corsaire 5/26

The pirates are back!  Tall, blond and suave.  Short, blond and suave.

 

What’s wrong with this picture?

 

Nothing.  Absolutely nothing.

 

You could put a carrot top on stage as Conrad or Lankendem in American Ballet Theatre’s Le Corsaire and this would still be an all around enjoyable and highly entertaining production that is perfect for introducing the reluctant or uninformed to the art form.  It’s a good “date ballet.”  It’s a good Mom and Pop ballet.  It’s a good kids’ ballet.

 

Tonight’s opening of Le Corsaire included outstanding performances by all of the principals with a top-notch effort from Carlos Lopez as Birbanto, Conrad’s friend.   Carlos really stepped out tonight and delivered some of the best dancing and best characterization Haglund has ever seen from him.  Fierce jumping, swaggering, sneering, and some pretty good pirouettes were all in place tonight.

 

David Hallberg and Paloma Herrera were sensational as Conrad and Medora delivering the right balance of spectacular and lyrical, always complimenting one another, and were especially beautiful in the lush Act II PdD.   Haglund’s friend remarked on Paloma’s transformation, “She’s all ballerina now.” 

 

Daniil Simkin as Lankendem was simply incredible!   Huge jumps.  Huge turns.  Pirouettes followed by a one-legged push into a double tour.  But that wasn’t all.  His Lankendem was funny, engaging, animated and had all the sleaze of a Manhattan landlord.  An absolutely terrific performance!

 

Yuriko Kajiya was a lovely Gulnare with gorgeous endless arms and jumps where she seemed to suspend in mid-air.

 

Angel Corella as Ali was, well, what hasn’t been said about this performance over the past decade?  No matter how many times one sees Angel’s bursts of energy in Act II, it is still amazing.  Haglund dares to say that Corella has made this production the success that it is.  That’s not to lessen the contributions of others such as Bocca and Carreno, but when you remember Le Corsaire performances at ABT, Corella bursts to the forefront.  What a happy, happy time he has given us.  How lucky we are.  It is unfortunate, however, that the introduction of a most obnoxious blue tutu into the PdT mix has really done Ali a disservice by making his costume appear dull and dirty.  Now the tutu grabs all of the light leaving Ali dancing with inadequate lighting and spoiling some of the spectacular effect of what he does.  Who could possibly think that the addition of that blue tutu was an artistic improvement?  It really sucks.

 

And last, but not least, Stella Abrera is back on her feet!  Tonight she performed beautifully as one of the three Odalisques, the others being Maria Riccetto and Isabella Boylston.   Pristine, sparkling, and always perfectly turned out, Stella made an encouraging comeback for which we are most grateful.  Haglund is so happy that he awards her this extraordinary Chanel Pump Bump award:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Copyright © 2009

ABT - Balanchine/Tchaikovsky Spectacular 5/23

Haglund pulled a double shift at the Met today, as did his anti-friend Alastair. 

In the lobby entrance at this evening’s performance, the dreaded sign was posted prominently which clearly stated that Herman Cornejo was injured and could not dance.   While on a post-performance excursion at the Whole Foods salad bar, Haglund heard from a complete stranger that Herman was going to have knee surgery.  Here’s hoping that’s not the case, but if it is, we know that it will work out fine and that Herman has a large supportive group of people who will work hard to ensure that it does.

At today’s matinee, there was a sign as well which stated that Max Beloserkovsky was injured and could not dance.   This is another tragic loss so early in the season.  The new production of La Sylphide seems in jeopardy because of these two injuries.

But this week also included an important comeback worth noting.  After a very long absence, Julio Bragado-Young stepped back onto the Met stage with big strong legs and an incredibly happy face.  He danced in Theme and Variations at today’s matinee and looked outstanding.   Welcome back Julio!

With Herman out, it fell to David Hallberg to come to the rescue of Xiomara Reyes and the Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux this evening.   And oh, oh, oh, what a rescue it was.   Haglund was so enthralled with the rapport and nuances between these dancers that he began to hallucinate and see scenery on the stage:  a little cottage with a dead pheasant hanging on the door, a bench with a daisy, and all of a sudden Xiomara was wearing blue instead of pink.  Here was a partner for Hallberg who did not equal or surpass him in brute strength and force.  Instead, she flirted around him like a cute little pixie, and his response was wonder and warmth and delight.  Haglund hopes that we get to see this partnership grow and that in the unfortunate event that Herman cannot dance the Saturday matinee Giselle, Hallberg will get the nod.

Poor Xiomara, she really deserved a purple heart after enduring the matinee Allegro Brillante with Daniil Simkin.  There is just nothing that makes that partnership appealing.  Reyes was a good sport throughout the piece, and to his credit, Daniil didn’t flub anything badly.  But he’s very laid back, and has a singular expression that quite frankly is not believable.  He looks young enough to be Reyes’ son.

There were some highlights to the performance, however.   Apprentice Joseph Gorak came charging out of the ABT II incubator this season and was a real head turner today.  Sharp, jumps like a deer, gorgeous feet, likeable face.  As in performances earlier this week, Eric Tamm made it worth keeping a keen eye on the corps, too.

The evening Allegro Brilliante just underscored the fact that Cory Stearns should not be dancing in these pieces and that the ABT women principals should not be subjected to him.  Here’s Haglund’s assessment of Stearns:

Height A+
Looks A-
Pirouettes B+
Beats C-
Elevation C
Arabesque D
Partnering B
Acting C-

Tonight’s partnering with Paloma Herrera wasn’t a disaster, but it sure was a mismatch.  She was the glowing ballerina; he was some kind of Sigma Chi frat boy who wasn’t trying too terribly hard to make an impression.  Why, pray tell, is his arabesque so low?

The matinee Tchai PdD was danced by Misty Copeland and Jared Matthews.  It was serviceable, but lacked the delicacy, nuance and elegance that mark the other current ABT interpretations.  Copeland applied such force to a series of turns that she very nearly landed on her fanny.  Haglund’s anti-friend will probably applaud that in his review next week.

Mozartiana was more interesting at the Matinee, but more entertaining in the evening.  Veronika Part and Blaine Hoven (substituting for Beloserkovsky) performed at the Matinee.  Veronika’s performance seemed to have more energy than her first two this week.  She made more of an effort to complete her pirouettes and vary the mood throughout the piece.  Blaine did very, very well, and Haglund was surprised by the sunny confidence that Blaine displayed.  He tried numerous times to engage Veronika with a smile or a kind look, but she just would have nothing to do with him.  Haglund would not describe her as “being a pill” but close to it.

Nina Ananiashvili’s and Angel Corella’s evening Mozartiana was pure play and fun.   This is a piece that Nina could dance until she’s seventy.  But let’s hope not.  She really applied herself to the music and to the amusing concept of the ballet.  While Angel is now the ultimate partner for Nina, this ballet did not play to his strengths.  His lines were a little muddy now and then.

Both programs concluded with Theme and Variations.   Stearns and Yuriko Kajiya performed at the matinee.  Gillian Murphy and Marcelo Gomes performed in the evening.  Kajiya embellished the steps with her signature musicality and beautiful phrasing.  Murphy was blazing speed, blazing pirouettes, blazing everything – but pretty as well.  Stearns was exactly as described above.  Gomes was perfection once again.  He was firing all pistons tonight and gave an intense and crowd-pleasing performance.

Haglund has had enough of these all-Balanchine programs.  Bring on those pirates!

For the tickling surprise and sheer enjoyment of their Tchai PdD, Haglund awards Xiomara and David this Pump Bump:

 

 

 

Copyright © 2009

NYCB – Romeo + Juliet on Live from Lincoln Center 5/21

One of the best aspects of watching the NYCB’s Romeo + Juliet on PBS’s Live from Lincoln Center last evening was the remote control. After experiencing several minutes of anguish while watching the dancers cavort about in their leprechaun green draperies, Haglund discovered that he could use the remote control to switch off ALL of the color. So he did, and subsequently found that watching the production in black and white was a less offensive experience.

But all in all, these dancers deserve better, much better.

Peter Martins’s desperate borrowing of many creative aspects from Kenneth MacMillan’s genius choreography was low class, and the close camera angles last night made the borrowings all the more apparent.

Robert Fairchild and Sterling Hyltin as R+J danced superbly with some light weight dramatic input. But what should we expect given the virtual absence of theatrical training at the institution? In any event, it was nice to see these wonderful dancers featured so prominently.  And Joaquin De Luz was a credible Tibalt who delivered an all around good performance with impressive fencing.

For Peter Martin's production, however, Haglund awards this pile of crocks:

 

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!

ABT – Allegro Brilliante, Tchai PdD, Mozartiana, T&V 5/19

Paloma Herrera and Marcelo Gomes delivered a Tchaikovsky PdD more stunning than Balanchine could ever have imagined his piece could be.   It was, in a word, perfect.  Balanchine’s choreography was a walk in the park for these two phenomenal dancers.  They embellished it with simple elegance and each built on the other’s skillful efforts.  Marcelo’s pirouettes and grand jetes were exceptional tonight with one multiple pirouette so perfectly balanced that he savored its ending like he was sipping  Dom Perignon.  Paloma’s upper body was beautiful and quietly expressive thereby making the incredible articulation of the legs and feet more apparent. 

This was not always the case.   Haglund remembers maybe 5 or 6 seasons ago at City Center noticing the beginning of the Paloma transformation in a Paquita PdD where there seemed to be a mature sense of values developing.   Over these past five years, we have watched her evolve into a uniquely gifted and beautiful artist.  Bravo to both.

Tonight Haglund observed what might be the beginning of another such transformation.   Theme and Variations led by Michele Wiles and David Hallberg was quite a contrast to what we saw last fall at City Center.  Subdued is not the right word to describe Michele's performance tonight.  Perhaps thoughtful or measured or balanced or royal or perhaps all of those words.  There was no slam bam in-your-face technical boasting.  It seemed that great care was being taken not to emphasize the tricks if that would compromise the elegance.  Michele came closer to bringing herself in balance with David tonight – if that makes any sense.  As usual, David was all elegance and easy ballon.  The beautiful articulation in his legs and feet is always admired and appreciated. 

The program this evening included Allegro Brilliante with Gillian Murphy and Ethan Stiefel.  It had a couple of rough spots, but was an enjoyable performance none the less.  Haglund continues to be troubled by Gillian’s clunky looking shoes.  They make her feet look archless and stiff – all of which is exacerbated by the shine and color of the shoe satin.  The corps was outstanding with Eric Tamm especially noticeable for his aplomb and attention to detail.  Whenever before has a simple step back with the opening of the arm and turn of the wrist been worth the price of a ticket?!   Mr. Tamm is prince material from top to bottom. 

Mozartiana was the middle piece of the program with Veronika Part and Max Beloserkovsky.   Veronika was absolutely beautiful throughout, but had some difficulty with her turns.  Max was handsome and attentive but, at times, had his very talented  hands full trying to keep Veronika on track in their PdD.  Mozartiana is a little long and has enough twirling around and bourrees for three ballets.  The black and white costumes were pretty and were a nice relief from the pink/peach/bubblegum costumes on the rest of the program.

Haglund awards this Pump Bump to the Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux because it was perfect.

 

 

 

Copyright © 2009

ABT – Opening Night Gala 5/18

American Ballet Theatre put about 200 of its best feet forward this evening at its Opening Night Gala performance.  But let’s talk about arms – specifically, Obama vs. Kennedy vs. Vishneva.  

Caroline came before a podium in front of the curtain to read her prepared remarks about the importance and quality of the ABT school named after her mother.  Clearly she has been working out more than in past years.   She looked great – great bare arms, great hair, short speech.  She introduced Michelle Obama who came to the podium with awesome bare arms along with some very kind remarks about ABT and the importance of the arts to us all.  Not even when Caroline crushed her note cards to flex her biceps did she come close to Mrs. Obama’s steely limbs.   The contest was over, however, when Diana Vishneva appeared in the balcony PdD with Marcelo Gomes.  Diana claims that she sculpts her arms by swimming.    While she may have had the unfair advantage of Brad Field’s overhead lighting this evening, make no mistake, those definitely are not swimmer’s arms.

All in all, it was an unusually glamorous and well attended event .  Attendance was certainly enhanced by Mrs. Obama’s appearance.  She, in turn, was probably thrilled beyond words to see Ivanka Trump there.   Haglund was thrilled that Senator Chuck Schumer addressed the audience about how he argued to use some of the stimulus package money for arts in New York.  

The opening piece on the program was an excerpt from Balanchine’s Mozartiana performed by Veronika Part and four little girls from the JKO school.  Ms. Part was absolutely and gloriously beautiful and confident.   However, Haglund found the opening round-shouldered pose a bit odd.  Undoubtedly, that’s how Maria Calegari set it, but it was still not particularly pleasing.

Next came about 50 students from Levels 5, 6 and 7 of the JKO school in Le Defile led by none other than Billy Elliot himself, David Alvarez, who is in Level 6.  David got to do a little partnering, a few pirouettes, and was cute as a button.   All of the kids were tidy and the young men were especially impressive with their several measures of consecutive entrechat seises.   Haglund will allow that there was more reason than usual to show off the JKO kids at this gala, but he hopes that this doesn’t become an annual event.  After all, this is the Met.  Would the Met Opera march out a bunch of kiddies at its Gala to sing arias?  Don’t think so.  Would the NY Phil march out a bunch of kiddie violin players to perform at its Gala?  Don’t think so.

The third piece on the program was an excerpt from Act II of La Sylphide with Xiomara Reyes, Herman Cornejo and the full corps.   The costumes were exquisite!   Herman and Xiomara were exquisite!  Even though the pas de bourrée couru did not look especially Danish, the sum total of Herman’s electrifying beats and Xiomara’s bright and delicate mischief assures that this new production will be a hit.

Gillian Murphy and Ethan Stiefel gave a dazzling and grown-up rendition of Balanchine’s Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux.    Unquestionably a powerful technician, Ms. Murphy was especially delicate in this evening’s interpretation.   Mr. Steifel’s elevation continues to be startling even though Haglund has been watching it for twenty years.  It was evident from both that they enjoyed the opportunity to dance with each other.

The Sylvia Hunt Scene, performed by Michele Wiles and a superb corps, followed the Tchai PdD.  Ms. Wiles was a strong and strong-willed Sylvia and looked like a million dollars in the costume.   Haglund cannot wait to see if Roberto Bolle can persuade Ms. Wiles to reveal the heart and beauty under that all-business exterior.

Waltz Masquerade, a piece d’occasion by Alexei Ratmansky for Nina Ananiashvili, to Khachaturian’s music was a bit silly.   Beloserkovsky, Corella, Carreno, and Gomes dressed in suits stood at the four corners of the stage holding candelabras while Nina danced about the stage in a red dress doing Nina’s favorite steps.  She then pretended to faint.  They rushed to her rescue, and then competed for her attention.  The piece wasn’t a compliment to anyone – dancers or choreographer. 

Following the intermission, Gomes and Vishneva gave us a most passionate balcony PdD from Romeo and Juliet.  This is definitely going to be a performance not to miss.  Bring a fan.

The next piece was the white swan PdD from Swan Lake with Paloma Herrera and Max Beloserkovsky.   It was quite beautiful and kind of refreshing to see these two dance together.

The Le Corsaire PdT followed with David Hallberg, Irina Dvorovenko and Angel Corella.  Irina was wearing a less ostentatious blue tutu, but it still clashed badly with Ali’s costume.  No doubt, every one of the 4000 people at the Met were comparing the picture of the beautiful PdT tutu on the front of the Playbill with the costumes on stage and were wondering why ABT messed with perfection.  Corella danced like a crazy person –.unbelievably incredible!  No doubt, he wanted Michelle Obama never to forget him.  She won’t.  Corella’s bursts of energy this evening were the most intense that Haglund has ever seen from him.   Nearly suicidal.   Irina, however, was at times dancing like a caricature of herself.   It was very distracting to see her flip her tension-filled, claw-like hands around in a very un-medora-like way.  Hallberg, as Conrad, retained his sensibilities and gave a mature, traditional performance in spite of the craziness around him.  Whew.

Guest artist, Herbie Hancock, took the stage and performed a  jazz piano piece d’occasion complete with mood lighting and cameo appearances  by Jose Manuel Carreno and Stella Abrera.   J.M. only did what looked like a little improv.  Stella was strictly decorative and didn’t dance a step.  She sat on the floor and then sat on the piano bench looking like a million bucks in her black dress and pedestrian shoes.  Haglund powered up his binoculars to examine Stella’s feet for any evidence that she might secretly be wearing a cam walker tonight.  He saw no evidence of that.  So, how much longer is it going to be before we see her back in action? 

The gala evening ended with the finale from Theme and Variations led by Sarah Lane and Daniil Simkin.  Sarah was gorgeous, if not imperial looking.  Daniil was out of his element tonight.  He had noticeable difficulty cramming all the movement into the tempo.   He is so young looking, and looked as young as David Alvarez this evening.  He has the jump-strength of ten people, but he is very slow.  McKenzie is going to have to do something to bring this kid up to speed – literally.   The T&V corps of men and women were tack sharp and elegant beyond words.

Haglund enjoyed the evening a great deal.  It was nice to see such a full house with so many people giving each other air-kisses and bending over backwards to be polite and complimentary.  If the arts bring out this kind of behavior from the masses, it’s all the more reason to give it government support.   In honor of this evening, Haglund opened up the trap door in the floor of his closet and fished out his criminally expensive Pump Bump Award, the Gucci coke:

Copyright © 2009