Haglund's Heel

Not Enough Swan Yet??

The curtain call during which Nina, Angel and Marcelo repeated "The Throw" is now on YouTube!   Bless the criminal who filmed it!  Thank you. Thank you.

 

Swan This, Swan That

James Wolcott is on Cloud Nine over at Vanity Fair after seeing Veronika's Swan Lake: Veronika Lake! 

Tonya Plank scouted the stage door after the performance and got some great photos of Roberto and Veronika:  Swan Lake Samba Girl.

Former ABT corps dancer turned photographer Erin Baiano has a photo collection from Nina's final Swan Lake on the NY Times website.  Erin's own website has some gorgeous examples of her work:  Erin Baiano Photography.

 

 

ABT – Swan Lake – Ananiashvili, Corella, Gomes 6/27

There is no 12-Step Program for Swan Lake. You just wake up one morning to realize that all the white stuff is gone and there’s not a supplier in sight. It’s cold turkey. The shakes set in - mostly in the arms - up and down, up and down. You try to calm yourself, breathe deeply, and go into a zone where you relive the past week. The memories will have to suffice for another year.

Last night Nina Ananiashvili delivered a definitive Swan Lake, her last. Those memories will have to last our lifetimes - unless of course the film of the performance which took place from the first Grand Tier Box house-right is rightfully released to the public - preferably to public television. Fat chance.

Nina’s arms were unbelievably expressive last night - at times appearing boneless, at other times like a broken wing over her head, at still other times speaking mime with unmistakable clarity. When explaining to Siegfried how her mother’s tears filled the lake, Nina’s elbows came close to her waist and the arms and hands completely unfolded from her face down her front and one saw the tears fall from the tips of her fingers. So perfectly done. That face - a face that could not be more perfect for conveying Odette’s intense sorrow and Odile’s false-heartedness - how we will miss that face.

At the end of Act II when most Odettes bourree off stage with their backs to the audience, Nina faced front, dark eyes haunting and soulful, and floated off, arms rippling like waves - eerie and beautiful at the same time. Will we ever again see such undulating and expressive arms? Hopefully, Ms. Abrera and Ms. Boone are already working daily to sculpt the effect for their own futures.

Nina’s Odile was so well crafted and danced. One of the perennial highlights of her performance is when she eyes Siegfried and begins to mockingly imitate Odette with a diagonal of bourrees. Masterful. No one pulls that off like Nina. Last night, Nina’s technique defied her 45 years of age. Every arabesque, pirouette, and passe releve were beautiful. Her performance was a wonderful, lasting gift to us all.

Nina got considerable assistance from Angel Corella with his impeccable partnering and intense emoting. And Marcelo Gomes, with his wicked and seductive Von Rothbart, incited the devil in Nina’s Odile.  During the final pirouette of the Black Swan PdD, Gomes, cape flying, snuck up behind Nina.  When Haglund saw Gomes approaching from behind, he could not help but yelp, Oh no, what's he going to do now!?!  Gomes drove Nina through the pirouette and then picked her up and tossed her at Corella who caught her in a fish dive - sending the audience into a frenzy.  This move was, of course, later repeated by the three of them in front of the curtain amid a mass of flowers and a screaming audience.

Talk about flowers. Endless flowers. Such joy on everyone’s faces. Such love for Nina. Everyone presented flowers to her except for Ormsby Wilkins who presented her with his baton. Nina imbedded herself in the corps for a bow and tossed one of her many bouquets into the orchestra pit. So appreciative of everyone. Such class.

How we will miss her.

　Copyright © 2009

　

　

ABT – Swan Lake – Bolle, Part 6/26

Bello, bello, bello ! красивейше, красивейше, красивейше ! Magnifico, magnifico, magnifico! 

Пышно , пышно, пышно! Grazie molto! Grazie molto! Grazie molto! спасибо, спасибо, спасибо!

Roberto Bolle and Veronika Part did what The Babe and A-Rod were never able to do at Yankee Stadium. They knocked it out of the park last night. Mixing Russian passion with Italian glamour and British finish, they created a fairytale of such beauty and grandeur that it felt like we’d just been handed the World Series without having to sweat.

A few years ago when Alessandra Ferri brought Bolle in for her Farewell Performances as her “gift” to us, as she said, Haglund was suspect. He danced well with her and was easy on the eyes, but something kept many from believing he was the real deal. Could he pass muster without Ferri?

Bolle is the Real Deal. He’s the updated version of Old School with Dowell good manners and Nureyev influence in presentation. Haglund loves men who step over the line, so to speak, and push their techniques to and over the edge. But it is ever so refreshing also to run into one for whom it would be unthinkable to do so. Those who have become accustomed to the fiery brilliance of so many of our Siegfrieds may find Bolle’s resistence to overstatement underwhelming. They would also find Dowell and Bruhn underwhelming. Haglund thinks Bolle is to die for and hopes that we never have another week of Swan Lakes without Bolle and Part.

Haglund thought that Bolle would handle Siegfried’s solo in Act I better, because his strengths include his extensions and slow opening lines. No doubt he will be working on that turn that finishes in arabesque with the renverse so that it will be dazzling the next time. The DVDs of his Sylvia with Bussell and the YouTube clip of Excelsior illustrate his remarkable ability at this speed.

Whatever complaints Veronika Part may have had in the past concerning ABT, she should be kissing McKenzie’s feet for handing her Bolle. And her glorious performance last night pretty much sealed the deal for Bolle as well. He knew that he had an exceptional bird in hand, one that will add much glamour to his already stellar reputation and career. He should add her to his Bolle & Friends tour just to do the Act II PdD.

Veronika’s performance last night was the most complete, balanced, confident, elegant, heartfelt Swan Lake that Haglund has seen from her during her years with ABT. Whereas before, her bobbles were a noticeable distraction and impairment to her performances, the little off balances are now simply danced through like every other accomplished ballerina does. Makarova, Ferri, Gregory, Murphy, and even Paloma have had off moments in each and every performance, but they danced right through them - and tonight, so did Veronica. Brava!

Haglund is glad that Veronica’s White Swan costume underwent a change between Acts II and IV to remove that sleeveless skin colored mesh shirt that was attached to the bodice. Yuck!

The lifts were spectacular. The choice of the big arabesque lift replacing the “overhead and around” lift was a good one. Less difficult, but with greater reward. Every time Roberto and Veronika embraced, it was a picture that Haglund wanted for his wall. No doubt about it, they are the fairytale.

And a word for the tall, dark super standing on the balcony during Act III - You lucky dog.

Gennadi Saveliev does not have the Gomes or Hallberg effect, but he’s still darned good at portraying a very traditional Von Rothbart. He was evil and untrustworthy, and danced very well. Roman Zhurbin was once again fantastic as the ugly V.R. swamp thing. His Act IV contact with Bolle was very good. His death scene nearly got the bad guy our sympathies.

The orchestra! Ormsby Wilkins is a rock star! He made the orchestra sound like it was double its size last night. Such a great job. Such depth of emotion coming from the pit. He really deserves to have his picture and bio on the ABT website. Come on, people.

Someone must have given the Corps and Soloists one heck of a pep talk, because they were, across the board, sensational and all danced like they were principals.

Blaine Hoven replaced Jared Matthews as Benno and was the best Haglund has seen him dance all season. Still flaps his wrists and hands like a Firebird when doing entrechat seises, because he insists on holding his palms down instead of turned forward. (How he ever got a passing grade in Conover’s class at NCSA with those hands is a mystery.) Hands-while-jumping-notwithstanding, he was terrific, and a perfect partner to Stella Abrera and Maria Riccetto who both also delivered the best PdT performances Haglund has ever seen from them.

Stella was exquisite, high energy, on spot turns, easy jumps, and a beautiful smile. True, Siegfried could not take his eyes off of Stella during either her solos or the trio dancing because she was a strong candidate for his love. But Haglund could tell and at this point was actually reading Roberto’s mind as he sized up Stella for next year’s Giselle. “I want to share lilies with her,“ he thought. Yes, indeed. We want to see you do that, too.

The Neapolitans, Craig Salstein and Joseph Phillips, were the best so far this season. Tremendous performances and technique from both. They rocketed their ways through four and five revolution pirouettes - not turns, but real pirouettes - and stirred the audience into interruptive applause. What a great job. Haglund demands to see Salstein as the handsome Von Rothbart next year and will start an ugly petition if need be.

Simone Messmer and Nicola Curry as the Big Swans were beautiful. Such different dancers, with at times Nicola looking like Veronika’s little sister. Lovely grand jetes from both. And Messmer with Julio Bragado-Young (and Wilkins’ conducting) led the Czardas to brilliance in Act III.

The Corps de Ballet again was simply astonishing in its beauty.

A tremendous effort from everyone last night and a blue ribbon First Position Pump Bump Award for all:

 

Copyright © 2009

ABT – Swan Lake – Herrera, Stiefel, Hallberg 6/25

Some brief comments on Thursday evening’s Swan Lake with Paloma Herrera, Ethan Stiefel, and David Hallberg.

Haglund could not appreciate the match-up of Herrera and Stiefel. The rapport seemed artificial with Stiefel straining in the acting area. Herrera needs a much more vibrant partner to bounce her characters off of and to give her the courage to open up more on stage.

The dancing result was mixed. Herrera’s was impeccable, if at times understated. Stiefel was clearly economizing his movement. While there were bright moments in his performance, it was something of a struggle during much of the evening. The effects of compounding injuries? Probably, but also the effect of a part time commitment to ABT and to performing. Roger Clemmons once was asked why he trains so hard 365 days a year. He replied that after a certain age, there are no days off.

Hallberg was a satanic, choleric Von Rothbart. He suspended his princely good manners, and maximized the ruthless, evil nature of the character with his hands and face and dancing close to the point of losing control. His blue eyes were seemingly bulging with hate when he first confronted Siegfried, and Stiefel had a bit of a struggle maintaining a straight face. Another fantastic performance from Hallberg.

The PdT was danced by Blaine Hoven, Melanie Hamrick, and Hee Seo. This seemed to be a more even and complimentary trio of dancers than some of the other casts. Blaine’s a good partner and had the confidence of both Hamrick and Seo.

The Neapolitan faired less well. Arron Scott and Mikhail Ilyin seemed under-rehearsed and under-energized.

It’s funny how the smallest things can dent a performance. Haglund was enjoying the corps in Act II until he noticed one tall blonde dancer in the very back house-left who looked as though she had not gone through the ABT JKO school. Her hands were noticeably mal-formed, or should we say, uneducated. They stuck out and diminished the beauty of the line of swans which the other dancers tried so hard to maintain.

Haglund forgot to mention yesterday that Thomas Forster is back in the line-up.  His excitement was apparent and most welcomed.  Also, last night, Joseph Gorak made quite an impression as one of the Peasants.  He has a very open face that radiates warmth and excitement, and he's very alert to everything that is going on around him to the extent that Corella always is.  Looking forward to the future.

For last night's performance, Haglund awards this little sequined flat Pump Bump:

  

Copyright © 2009

　

　

　

　

ABT – Swan Lake – Vishneva, Gomes 6/24

One hopes that Diana Vishneva, at the very least, bought Marcelo Gomes a beer after last night’s ABT performance of Swan Lake.

It was hard to imagine a more perfect partner for Diana than Marcelo. Forget that they compliment each other physically. It was the emotional connection and the trust between these dancers that drove last night’s performance to its unexpected peak. Marcelo gave Diana everything she could possibly need in order for her to bring forth her most heartfelt Odette and most tantalizing Odile.

The White Swan PdD was made all the more exquisite by its noticeable slow tempo. Oh god, slow is good. We all know that. Rather than punctuating the final penche arabesque with a drop of the wrist as is customary, Diana slightly turned her head to the side and allowed her arm to continue falling through the moment even when the music had ended. One felt the audience lose its collective breath and then gasp for the air it needed to express its exultation.

The Act IV PdD was just as beautiful but with an even greater sense of resignation and love that made their ultimate resolution the right one. As in the Act II PdD, Diana’s phrasing included moving through the end of the music which magnified her sorrow beautifully. Haglund loves the music in this Act IV PdD more than that in Act II, and is grateful for the way Ormsby Wilkins always inspires the orchestra in this section.

The Black Swan PdD was as thrilling as expected. Marcelo’s huge grand jetes and tour jetes were explosive. His pirouettes were thrilling for their acute endings to the knee. Siegfried’s joyous confusion in finding that his Odette had such a spunky side was terrific. Imagine – the last time he saw her she was a sniveling basket case; and now, she’s this hot, little swan-fox flouncing and flirting in black.  Of course, he’s thrilled!

Diana’s Black Swan variations were taken right to the edge of disaster - as they should be.  Every aspect of Odile should be excessive and overdone. She nearly fell out of her fouettes during a double revolution but regained composure and began laughing during the remaining turns.  While winding up for her final supported pirouette, she mouthed the notes along with the brass and then let rip eight or nine revolutions. Siegfried went to his knee clutching her hand, and Odile threw her head back and laughed sending the crowd into a frenzy.

The supporting cast tonight was grand. Roman Zhurbin as the Von Rothbart swamp thing was wonderfully over the top.  Great job, Roman!  Jared Matthews as the handsome Von Rothbart was better in his jumps and turns than earlier in the season.  It’s a thankless job having to try to compete with Gomes in this role, but somebody’s got to do it.  Unfortunately, McKenzie sees this role as a tall prince-to-be opportunity which pretty much eliminates a lot of good dancers who could pull off the character elements brilliantly, perhaps as brilliantly as Gomes.  Stappas, Zhurbin, Salstein, Stewart and Lopez would all be fabulous Von Rothbarts.  And Simkin would be hysterical relief in the role.  Hopefully, McKenzie will find a more flexible attitude in the casting next year.

Simkin, Lane, and Boylston danced the PdT again with the same great result.  Isabella is a bit too tall to be dancing with the other two, but she mostly stands out for her clarity and gorgeous feet and legs.  She’s having a great season.  Here’s hoping that she’s kept out of the morose contemporary rep and continues to be pushed into classical roles that require her to concentrate on much more than the steps.  She’s making great strides.

Abrera and Heo repeated as the Big Swans.  Stella looked refreshed and more like herself.  However long it takes, Haglund will wait patiently for this girl to come back full force and will of course continue to scrutinize and obsess over her every step until she does.

The Neapolitan duo was Blaine Hoven and Grant DeLong.  A great match-up, and both danced exceptionally well.  Blaine, Blaine, Blaine, Blaine, Blaine.  Haglund was nearly ready to Bravo the guy as loud as he could. Perfect, gorgeous quadruple pirouettes to the left.  Huge jumps with strong, strong arm and leg lines.  And then at the end he just got a little over-excited with how well he was doing, and for the last jumps where the leg goes up the back to passe, he let those wrists and hands start flapping like a Firebird.  What’s it going to take to correct this - shock treatment?!

Finally, the Corps men and women were stupendous. Beautiful lines for the ladies in both White Acts.  Haglund shakes his head when he hears critics unfairly swipe at this Corps for being ragged or off and then drawing some unfavorable comparison to the Kirov.  Honestly, people should take a step back and think about what they are really saying.  Granted, the Kirov has a wonderful technical tradition and a school to carry it forward.  But, it achieves more than half of its results through exclusion. There are no black dancers, no Asian dancers, no Latino dancers, no women dancers with noticeable busts, no diversity to speak of.  When one pines for Kirov corps results, one is pining for cultural purity.  And when one starts to list toward the idea of cultural purity being a worthwhile endeavor, well - a history lesson is in order.

Vishneva and Gomes were incredible, but once again, the Corps de Ballet brought the story to life.  A Haglund's Heel Pump Bump Award (Prada silk garden sandals) for the ladies and gentlemen of the Corps:

 

 

Copyright © 2009

 

 

Swan Lake = Cash Cow

A glance at the Met Opera's ticket site shows that the Swan Lakes for Wednesday through Saturday evenings are close to sold out,  Most evenings are sold well into the penultimate row of the Family Circle.  Pretty incredible.  Hope this showing secures it a spot in next year's lineup again. 

ABT should develop Geek Subscription packages of 5 Swan Lakes or 5 Giselles. They could come with a little ABT Geek beanie with propeller.  Haglund would wear his proudly.

 

 

ABT – Swan Lake – Opening Night 6/22

ABT opened a week of Swan Lake performances last night with Irina Dvorovenko as Odette/Odile and Max Beloserkovsky as Prince Siegfried. The house was packed, and the crowd was enthusiastic.

Haglund had mixed feelings about the highly stylized, super-punctuated performance that Irina gave. At times it was spectacular - particularly in her Odile sequences. At times it was a little excessive – sometimes overwhelming Max’s performance. Irina’s Odile was better in part because she had Marcelo Gomes’ bigger-than-life Von Rothbart to work off of which balanced any excesses that she employed. Her arabesque balances were incredible last night.  Her fouettes were supersonic singles that were as pleasing to watch as anyone else’s triple revolutions.

When partnering Odette, Max’s Siegfried pretty much disappeared.  For ages, that’s exactly how it was supposed to be. The partner was invisible and his job was to make the ballerina look like a miracle.  But times have changed.  We now expect partners to be the passion-equivalent of their ballerinas. As much as this married couple enjoys dancing with one another, each might benefit from experiencing the spontaneity of dancing Swan Lake with other partners.

Max’s variations in the Black Swan PdD were not the best Haglund has ever seem him perform.  However, his pirouettes were secure and ended in beautiful fourth positions with opened arms after four neat revolutions. Every good pirouette lead to an even better one. His grand jetes, while perhaps not remarkable when compared to other leading dancers in the company, were respectable.

Max is not an emotional actor and he pretty much stuck to the script during Acts I and II, but he loosened up considerably as he road out each beautiful pirouette in Acts III and IV.

A minor complaint - both Odette and Siegfried had fairly unspectacular suicides off the cliff. Both had to immediately look for the mattress below like there was some chance that they would miss it.  Don’t they rehearse this part? Come on guys, go for it!

Marcelo Gomes’ Von Rothbart was brilliant – of course. Decadent and delicious evil.  Isaac Stappas as the uglier half was sufficiently hideous, and he got to enjoy yet another excruciating death scene.

Daniil Simkin as Benno appeared as a wiz-kid. However, he’s got some very mature mime skills, and he impressively engaged Beloserkovsky’s Siegfried throughout Act I. His PdT with Isabella Boylston and Sarah Lane was quite good and he employed that tour en l’air from one foot that is pretty remarkable. But Isabella was a bit too tall for him to partner. Sarah Lane performed the PdT as well as ever and Haglund saw her change facial expressions three times. But the happy surprise was Isabella. She was gorgeous. Beautifully articulate feet and legs. Beautiful and very expressive face. She sometimes over-pitched her upper body forward on her grand jetes, but other than that, she was stunning.  What a beautiful dancer.

The Cygnettes (Kajiya, Butler, Copeland, Riccetto) could not have been more perfect. Clone-like to the point that it looked like each had cracked her shoe shanks in the exact same place. The audience erupted wildly at the conclusion of their dance. They were perfect.

The Big Swans were Hee Seo and Stella Abrera. Good performances although it looked like Stella was struggling a bit with the grand jetes.

Joe Phillips’ and Craig Salstein ‘s Neapolitan dance was packed full of four revolution pirouettes with Phillips squeaking out a fifth spin on one occasion. They were a good match-up.

The Spanish Dance was performed by Maria Bystrova,& Roman Zhurban and Sarah Smith & Cory Stearns. Zhurban captured the Spanish flair perfectly whereas Stearns conveyed the same character as in La Sylphide, Allegro Brilliante, Theme and Variations, etc., but he got the steps better. Bystrova was a beauty and Smith did quite well considering that she was a last minute replacement for Karen Uphoff.

Finally, the Corps was exquisite. Beautifully breathing as one. While Haglund wishes that certain elements of the Act IV choreography would be restored, what is there is ravishing and the final scene with the swans disappearing beneath the fog is always beautiful no matter how many times one sees it.

A special Pump Bump Award for the Corps de Ballet:

 

Copyright © 2009

 

ABT – Airs / La Sylphide – Part, Stearns, Salstein 6/20

All the way home on the train after seeing the final performance of ABT‘s Airs/La Sylphide, Haglund sparred with his internal editor.  She can be such a humorless b____.  But tonight she’s twirling around a strongly-scented pink scarf, so Haglund will mind his Ps and Qs.

Another fine performance of Airs with Sean Stewart as the standout and Simone Messmer not far behind. Stewart was the only one of the men who was able to coordinate his head and arms with the sharpness one sees in Taylor dancers. Messmer has this Francie Hubor thing going which is so beautiful to watch. 

La Sylphide was heaven when Veronika Part and Craig Salstein were dancing but painful when Cory Stearns was dancing or standing around trying to figure out what to do with his face and hands. Veronika was stunningly beautiful in the Sylphide costume and danced like a dream. It was such a pleasure to see her in a work that required lightness, speed, and joy. She pulled it off remarkably well in spite of having to dance with a pile of cold, bland mashed potatoes.

Craig Salstein as Gurn was brilliant in both character and dancing. His Bournonville backward traveling grand jetes entournant were so pleasurable to watch because he managed to turn his head back over his shoulder to the front so clearly and quickly - whereas the load of mashed potatoes failed consistently. And Salstein’s batterie was swift and clean - a treat to see.

Now to the mashed potatoes. Haglund doesn’t see how McKenzie can continue to put Stearns on stage in principal roles when he is so sub-par and ineffective - not to mention how it denies so many better dancers these opportunities. Yes, this guy is tall and handsome in some respects and seems genuine in his efforts, but he’s not delivering. Haglund has seen 50 year old women attach beats to eschappes better than Stearns did tonight. His eschappes didn’t even open to second position. They were in some sloppy first position. Of all the backward traveling grand jetes he had to do, he only managed to look back over his shoulder once. His acting was worse than his dancing. Nothing there. Nothing. Cold, bland mashed potatoes.  Just awful.  Why does McKenzie hold Stearns to lower standards than those to which he holds everyone else?

Haglund is putting all of it behind him now. In only six days, the world will be made perfect for a short time when Prince Roberto Bolle lifts the hands of Veronika’s Odette to begin the White Swan Pas de Deux.  Let the quivering and sobbing begin.

For tonight's performance, Haglund awards this curly cue Pump Bump to the Sylphide and Gurn:

 

 

 

Copyright © 2009

 

ABT – Airs - Stewart; La Sylphide - Ananiashvili & Hallberg 6/16

Last night’s performance of Airs with a cast made up of corps members Kelley Boyd, Simone Messmer, Luciana Paris, Leann Underwood, Roddy Doble, Joseph Phillips, and Sean Stewart just proved that Sean Stewart must have committed some awful, even capital, crime for which he is now being punished by denying him leading roles throughout the ABT repertory. The man danced head and shoulders above every other person on the stage in Airs last night (and those the night before) – but oh yeah, his crime? – he’s short and there are only so many shrimp roles to go around. His second offense – he left ABT for several years during which he accumulated experience that made him a better dancer than if he had stayed. His third offense – he’s not a kid. It’s three strikes and he’s incarcerated in the corps for life. This guy has brilliant classical and contemporary techniques and a powerful stage presence – powerful enough to force Haglund to go back to see a second performance of the gag-inducing Citizen last fall at City Center just to see Stewart. 

La Sylphide with the cast of Nina Ananiashvili, David Hallberg, Carlos Lopez, Marian Butler and Nancy Raffa was sensational. Nina and David were more expressive and in tune with each other than Osipova and Cornejo the night before. The technique was down a notch, but still brilliant. The whole performance seemed more Bournonville-authentic – perhaps because of the tall blond dancing James who could not help but make people remember the tall blond who danced the role in the 1960’s.   One oops last night.  The wedding ring dropped to the floor when Sylphide tried to grab it away from James.  There was a momentary look of uh-oh on James' face, but then he knelt down, picked up the ring and presented it to the Sylphide.  Haglund would have preferred to see both of them dive to the floor for it and wrestle a bit, but oh well.

Carlos Lopez was fantastic as Gurn - acting and dancing with great energy and charm. Effortless technique and joyous in his variations. Haglund enjoyed Carlos’ dancing last night in La Sylphide as much as he did a few weeks ago when Carlos’ gave us such spectacular performances as Birbante in Le Corsaire.

Marian Butler more than held her own with the star power on stage last night. Her Effie was very cute and funny, particularly in her dramatic collapses in tears.

Nancy Raffa as Madge, the Witch - give her a Tony for this one. That James was able to maintain his face and composure when Madge looked up and loudly hissed at him was no small bit of magic in itself. The Witch as drawn by Nancy Raffa is worth the price of the ticket - as entertaining as anything you’ll ever encounter on the streets in the East Village.

Haglund awards this little East Village beauty Pump Bump to Madge and company for another great one:

 

 

Copyright © 2009