Haglund's Heel

ABT – Airs, La Sylphide – 6/15

After an exhilarating and exhausting week of Giselles, ABT opened the second half of its Met season with a program that included Paul Taylor’s Airs and Bournonville’s La Sylphide.

The dancers took to Airs like ducks to water. Versatility is a trademark of today’s ABT dancer, and Kristi Boone, Misty Copeland, Nicola Curry, Anne Milewski, Blaine Hoven, Arron Scott and Isaac Stappas curved, flowed and spiraled their ways through the choreography like a breeze. The second cast to be seen Tuesday evening includes Sean Stewart who was on Scotsman duty the first night. To watch Stewart dance is to observe the epitome of versatility. Haglund looks forward to the performance. 

La Sylphide hasn’t been seen for quite a while here, and it was nice to see it back, although it might have seemed a bit light, content- and story-wise, coming on the heels of Giselle. The scenery and costumes by Desmond Heeley are gorgeous. The choreography originally staged by Eric Bruhn was danced brilliantly by Herman Cornejo (James), Natalia Osipova (La Sylphide, replacing an injured Xiomara Reyes), Daniil Simkin (Gurn), Gemma Bond (Effie) and Nancy Raffa as Madge, the Witch. The Witch won - in the story and in terms of performances.

Raffa’s Madge stirred up one heck of a brew last night bringing this story to full life. Briefly, James’s marital plans with Effie are interrupted by the Sylphide who takes a liking to James and steals the wedding ring that he is about to give to Effie. Only James can see Sylphide, with whom he is now obsessed, and so, when he is observed by Gurn and others chasing her around, it appears to them that James has gone bonkers. Gurn wants Effie for himself, and Madge makes it happen by sending James off to chase Sylphide with a poisoned scarf .  He catches her, wraps the scarf around her, her wings fall off, and she dies.

Osipova’s Sylphide was Supersprite, flying over the scene in a single bound sprinkling her mischief everywhere. She was charming and childish with wickedly fast feet. Unfortunately, Haglund went to the ABT Gala where he got a glimpse of Xiomara Reyes dancing an excerpt from Act II, and he spent last evening frequently wondering what it all will look like with her in the lead. Reyes will be the ultimate Sylphide, and Haglund hopes that we get to see her at the Saturday matinee.

Cornejo’s James delivered incredible batterie with entrechat quatres and seises opening and closing his eschappes, compass-drawn ronde jambes en l’air, and a whole lot of turning brise-this and brise-that stuff that was spectacular in speed and clarity. Never has Haglund enjoyed looking under a man’s skirt so much. Cornejo was just phenomenal. However, like his Albrecht, his James character was sketchy and needs to be more theatrically animated and engaged.

Simkin’s Gurn was terrific in terms of characterization but the Bournonville technique was not exactly a walk in the park for the wunderkind. He was quite good in his variations, but he had to make a big effort.

Gemma Bond was a cute and convincing Effie. The corps men and women were superb last night. Isabella Boylston stepped out briefly in Act II and was delicate and charming. Haglund thought he spotted Melissa Thomas among the Sylphides even though she was not listed in the cast. It was very nice to see her back in the lineup.

 A winged Pump Bump Award for an enjoyable evening:

 

 

Copyright © 2009

 

Thanks, Mr. Wolcott.

Thanks for the shout-out for Haglund's Heel yesterday in your Vanity Fair blog entry about Osipova's Giselle!

Much appreciated and quite unexpected.

 

ABT – Giselle – Osipova, Hallberg 6/13

For the first few minutes last night, Haglund thought that perhaps we were coming out of the starting gate with the mad scene.  Giselle scrunched up her face, whined and sniveled uncontrollably, went back and forth between broadly smiling and terribly worried, held herself with rounded shoulders and was, in a nutshell, a very stressed out teenager.  But then the dancing began.

Natalia Osipova made her ABT debut as Giselle with David Hallberg's newly-minted Albrecht last night to a packed house that even included Billy Elliot.  Haglund went to the theater expecting to see Osipova's already legendary jumps, but he was unprepared for the unusual Act I interpretation of Giselle as helpless and almost infantile.  But there's plenty of room for this and many other interpretations, especially when they are accompanied by blazing technique that is intelligently employed for characterization.

Many dancers build their characters like carpenters, pound pound, bang bang.  A few carve out their characters like artistic cabinetmakers.  Natalia is most certainly a cabinetmaker with every tool bit at her disposal.  You may not necessarily like some of the ornateness of the artistry, but you cannot disagree that it is unique, fully thought out, and, yes, it grows on you the more you look at it.

Giselle's Act II awakening spin was the wildest, most explosive tornadic spin that Haglund has ever seen or ever wants to see.  Giselle's skirt became a blur like in some Fabrizio Ferri photo.  The whole variation was riveting from start to finish.  The whole Act II was riveting from start to finish.

And Hallberg! – Never did Haglund expect in a million years this kind of Albrecht to come pouring out of David on what was merely his third performance in the role.  Kudos to him and to ABT for the way in which they accommodated Osipova by deferring to her Bolshoi version of the choreography in many, many instances.  It made the whole evening that more special. 

Hallberg painted the character of Albrecht with huge, emotional, sweeping strokes unlike what we have ever seen from him.  The depth of his torment over Giselle's death and the magnitude of his sadness while at her grave was startling.  Such a fine performance. 

Veronika Part contributed mightily as Myrta with her glorious beauty and expansive leaps.

Jared Matthews as Hilarion was perhaps a bit overwhelmed by what was going on around him.  Not a bad performance.  But not any where close to what Isaac Stappas accomplishes each time in the role.  Jared blew the timing when pointing a maddening Giselle to her mother - probably out of excitement.  His Act II variations were well danced but unremarkable in their drama.

The Peasant PdD was acceptable.  Hee Seo and Blaine Hoven managed everything securely.  His work at the gym is starting to take its toll on his overall line and aesthetic.  He still employs flowery arms and wrists, and last night his pointer finger was way out of control.  Other than those complaints, Haglund was thrilled to see his gorgeous jumps, sunny smile, articulate feet and sensitive partnering of Hee Seo.  Blaine is another favorite who needs a good shove in the right direction before he stumbles off the beaten path to obscurity. 

The corps has been sensational most of the week.  There has been so much to talk about with regard to principal performances that not enough has been said about the corps.  Standouts this week included Sean Stewart, Roman Zhurbin, Eric Tamm, Grant DeLong, Joe Phillips, Julio Bragado-Young, Isabella Boylston, Isadora Loyola, Simone Messmer, Leann Underwood, Renata Pavam, Katherine Williams and the stunning-all-season Luciana Paris.

Haglund only attended six of the eight Giselles this season, but given the large audiences, he hopes it signals to ABT to bring Giselle back again next year.  With so many encouraging new principals and returning favorites it would be such a crime not to cut them loose in this again next year.  As the story goes, Yogi was sitting in the clubhouse pouring over his ABT subscription brochure.  He pushed his cap back, looked up and said, "An ABT season without Giselle is like a World Series without the Yankees – it ain't official."

This week of Giselles deserves the Haglund's Heel Medal of Honor:

 

Copyright © 2009

ABT – Giselle – Riccetto, Cornejo 6/13

Substituting on very short notice for an injured Xiomara Reyes, Maria Riccetto performed only the third Giselle of her career.  Herman Cornejo as Albrecht performed his fourth.  Both are works in early process.  Both are strong in the same areas.  Both are weak in the same areas.  Neither dancer yet seems comfortable stepping out of his/her own person and completely into another character.  Maria layered Giselle manner over Maria, and Herman layered Albrecht manner over Herman.   

The strength of this performance was in the dancers' abilities to meet the individual technical demands.  Maria was a delicate flower of a Giselle who no doubt was at the top of every suitor's list in the village.  She has a gorgeous smile that is especially charming when it grows so big that her eyes crinkle. In the past year, we've come to expect beautifully articulated positions and feet from Maria, and she did not disappoint on Saturday afternoon.  And she was absolutely secure in all of her variations with no nerves in sight.  Herman, too, gave us killer steps throughout.  The partnering, however, was another story.

The audience pretty much missed the iconic images of the two overhead lifts in Act II.  Maria probably could have lifted Herman over her head more easily.  Granted, Maria is slightly taller than Herman when on pointe, so that may have contributed to their struggle.  But how many partners of legends past – Gregory, van Hamel – were shorter than their ballerinas and had to figure out how to make it work?  On the positive side, the Act II pose with Albrecht on one knee with Giselle leaning against him in arabesque was breathtakingly beautiful in its simplicity and length.

Maria is a natural Giselle and Haglund looks forward to watching her character develop over time.  Nor will Herman's Albrecht ever be skipped; however, he needs to do considerable homework on character development.

The Peasant PdD by Yuriko Kajiya and Carlos Lopez was a mixed result.  Haglund didn't see that either dancer complimented the other.  They just seemed to be thrown together because they were both short soloists.  Carlos danced to the very edge of his capacity, but muffed many jump landings.  Those that he managed to plie for worked reasonably well.  Yuriko was lovely and a technical marvel.  She actually went all the way to her knee before pushing into the double pirouettes – something we haven't seen a lot of.

The highlights of this afternoon's performance were Isaac Stappas as Hilarion and finally ,after an absence of more than a year, Stella Abrera as Myrta.  Isaac has really carved out a very complex  " like me, hate me, I am who I am "  character for Hilarion.  The guy holds your attention on stage whether he's standing still or engaged in a flurry of counter clockwise chaines against the circling Wilis.  Haglund was thinking what a fantastic Crown Prince Rudolf he would be, if only . . . .

Stella's Myrta was one of astonishing beauty, poise, revenge, grace, and revenge again.  Poor Hilarion.  It was a pretty terrifying end for him.  He should have saved his begging, because he never had a chance with this Myrta.  Stella's grand jetes had such a flowing quality that she too looked like a spirit.  Haglund prefers her type of leap where the front leg goes up and the body travels forward to the landing as opposed to the increasingly popular "get the front leg up high, jut the knee a second time, and pull the front leg way back under for a clompy landing."  It's been way too long since we've had the opportunity to enjoy Stella's gorgeous lines and unique phrasings.  The audience was clearly very happy to see her back, and Haglund could not resist a few bravas for her as well.

Haglund awards this unique winged Pump Bump to Hilarion and Myrta for their complete and very stirring performances today.

  

 

Copyrightr © 2009

ABT – Giselle – Ananiashvili and Carreno, one last time 6/12

Why did it have to end tonight?!  Why couldn't they just keep dancing, begging for his life with her rushing in to save him each time?!  Haglund wanted to get lost in this Giselle performance forever.  The magic was that incredible. 

But it had to come to an end.  The last of Nina's Giselles.  The last time she would dance with Jose Manuel Carreno.  Too many lasts not to be sad.

Nina's Act I Giselle this evening was at maximum frisky.  She was a life-loving innocent who was also a playful tease who knew how to get away and knew when to get caught.  Jose Manuel's Albrecht was initially into the chase for Giselle for the sport of it with his enthusiasm building each time Giselle got away.  She wove her charm throughout the village and ultimately Albrecht could not resist falling in love with her.

Act I included superb acting from all the players and a fine Peasant PdD from Daniil Simkin and Sarah Lane.  Sarah's new half smile with the turned up eyebrows is growing old now.  Tonight there was a Stepford Wives look on her face that, while pretty, was also eerie. 

Nina's variations were gorgeous with sustained attitude turns, rapid fire chaines, beautiful pique arabesques that ended in plie penche, and you'd never guess she was retiring given the breadth and ease of her grand jetes.  The foreshadowing of her mad scene was brilliant, especially in her interaction with Kristi Boone's grand Bathilde where you could tell there was something that was just not "right" with Giselle. 

JM exhibited a wonderful ebullience throughout Act I.  He appeared to be truly enjoying himself and had great rapport with Nina and with Gennadi Saveliev who was a fresh and dynamic Hilarion this evening.  JM's variations were solid and technically clean and of course included his beautiful pirouettes with lingering balances.  When his Albrecht was confronted by Bathilde and her father about Giselle, Albrecht tried to lie his way out of it.  When later he knelt by Giselle's lifeless body, his grief was convincing and his anger at Hilarion real.

Act II was nothing but magic.  Gillian Murphy's Myrta was merciless. But she also brought forth a Myrta who was still hurting and could only ease her pain by inflicting it on men who wandered into her territory.  Her opening bourres, furious and smooth, elicited gasps from the audience.   Moyna and Zulma were danced by Isabella Boylston and See Heo, respectively. 

Nina and JM were sublime in Act II.  The weightlessness of a mere spirit prevailed throughout Nina's dancing - thanks in no small way to JM's exceptional partnering.  The lifts were drop dead gorgeous with her skirt always falling to its perfect shape.  Her backward moving entrechat quatres and mini sautes coupes were stunning.  Her jumps were soaring.

JM chose to do the brisees on the diagonal instead of the entrechat seises.  Haglund prefers the brisees and always finds them more dramatic because of their ending confrontation with Myrta.  JM dramatically powered his brisees down the diagonal twice followed by his final jumping variations where he landed in a heap on the floor, broken at last,  just as the clock struck four o'clock.

When Giselle returned to her grave for the last time, Albrecht gathered a bouquet of lillies from around her cross and let them drop one at a time as he slowly walked backward to the middle of the stage.  There he knelt and pressed the one remaining lily to his cheek as the curtain closed.

It was a great, great performance.  The house was packed.  The audience was so very appreciative and demanded that Nina and JM come before the curtain time and time again.  There were a lot of bouquets thrown tonight, and Nina nearly got zonked in the head with a huge spray of loose flowers.

There's only one Pump Bump worthy of a performance like the one we saw this evening, and that's the
Golden First Position Pump Bump Award:

 

Copyright © 2009

 

ABT – Giselle – Herrera, Bolle 6/11

Some brief notes on tonight’s performance which was Roberto Bolle’s inaugural Giselle at ABT with Paloma Herrera in the title role.

Every time you go to the theater and hear a different actor’s voice boom, “To be or not to be,” it’s a different theatrical experience. The words are the same, the literal meanings of the words are the same, but the theatrical experience always feels different. And so it was tonight with Roberto Bolle delivering an Albrecht who was elegant, well-mannered, European upper crust who quite simply did not realize that he could not mix it up with the common class. It’s been a while since we’ve seen such a basic interpretation. But it was refreshing and worked exceedingly well.

Tall, with matinee idol good looks, classically beautiful in line, and the discipline never to step over that line of European upper crust good taste, Bolle was a more than pleasing Albrecht. Every gesture and expression was sincere and every step had a sense of integrity. He’s a huge man and yet his landings from jumps were soft and controlled. He landed jumps in arabesques that were 90 degrees and did not waver. His pirouettes, were moderate in terms of number of revolutions, but were so tidy and elegant, it didn’t matter how many times he went around. He’s style and substance.

Haglund likes Bolle a lot. His understated style and sense of values are a nice addition to the spectacular and very individual Albrechts which we already enjoy.

Tonight was Bolle’s first performance with Paloma Herrera - all of his previous performances here have been with Alessandra Ferri. Haglund thought that they were a good match and were pleasing to watch together. Paloma’s Giselle has always been unfairly criticized as not being emotive. She does not have big doe-like eyes the way Julie Kent, Vishneva, Ananiashvili and Dvorovenko have which in a way is a disadvantage because her emotion is more difficult to see. But the emotion is there, and it was there tonight in a big way.

Also on display tonight were her impossibly beautiful feet and legs which can, as we saw, accomplish a romantic line. The work that she has invested in developing her Act II port de bras paid off, because she was freakin’ gorgeous tonight. Soft, limpid, beautifully formed arms and hands.

Isaac Stappas turned in a brilliant performance as Hilarion. No problems with the horn prop tonight. His terror and pleading at Myrta’s feet was good theater.

Michele Wiles was Myrta for the second time this week and faired better than her first performance which was somewhat rugged. Haglund thinks that her costume is too high in the front and should be cut down. Also, the fabric looks too thick and reflects too much light.

Tonight’s peasant PdD was danced quite well by Misty Copeland and Craig Salstein. Misty made an honest and very successful effort to dial back the bravura and stay in happy peasant character. More than once did Haglund reflect on how wonderful it will be to see her Lise in La Fille Mal Gardee.

This is turning out to be such a great week of Giselles. For tonight’s performance, Haglund presents this elegant slingback Pump Bump Award:

 

 

Copyright © 2009

 

ABT – Giselle – Vishneva, Corella 6/9

Another powerful portrayal of love, betrayal, revenge, and forgiveness tonight in ABT's Giselle.   Tonight Diana Vishneva and Angel Corella took the stage, and the next thing Haglund realized, it was10:00 p.m. and he'd just clapped his hands red.  A tremendous effort by everyone tonight made this performance spectacular. 

Vishneva gave an exquisite performance from the time she stepped out of her cottage until she returned to her grave after freeing Albrecht.  The manner in which she used her eyes to convey that she was now a spirit and no longer an earthly being was brilliant.  Her Act II variation that began with the saute double ronde jambe was simply stunning in its clarity while being so delicate.  As she was doing her speedy entrechat quatres, a layer of tulle magically flew up into her face and stayed there for a second or two as she danced making the whole scene even more other-worldly.

Corella gave a masterful performance as well – expending a vast array of emotions while resisting any temptation to push the tricks too far.  His partnering was impeccable. [Sidebar:  Haglund was for the second night in a row sitting around people who were opera crossovers.  Tonight he heard someone explain with committed confusion how she had come specifically to see Corella, because "he was with the Met Opera before he went with ABT" and she "saw him dance with Borodina in La Giaconda."  Don't picture that immediately before trying to fall asleep. For the record, Corella did indeed dance as a guest artist in La Giaconda a few seasons ago with Italian ballerina Letizia Giuliani.]

Isaac Stappas was a terrific Hilarion - maybe the best ever.  He's caring and obnoxious at the same time and you're kind of relieved when the Wilies hurl him into the lake.

The Peasant PdD was performed wonderfully by Sarah Lane and Daniil Simkin.  They looked like a pair of teenagers, but it worked - peasant teenagers.  Simkin engineered one particularly impressive series of turns, which at the end of' he seemed to chuckle at himself knowing full well that the audience was about to go crazy.

Michele Wiles was a commanding Myrta, but Haglund thinks that maybe this is not such a good role for her.  Michele needs to rethink her upper body, in particular, her arms.  They are thin but without sufficient muscularity to enable the lighting to bounce off various levels along the arm and shoulder to create the shadows that make beautiful ballet arms (Vishneva, Herrera, Kayija).  A little more definition in the shoulders would probably go a long way toward calling attention to the head and face area and thus to the emotional aspect of her dancing.  That said, her Myrta tonight was fierce and relentless.

Melanie Hamrick was a Moyna in progress.  She's got the steps, but needs to add a lot more artistry to it. 

Last but not least, Lovely Stella Abrera administered a little test run via Zulma this evening and blew Haglund away with her astonishingly beautiful port de bras.  Gorgeous beyond description.

Haglund awards this Gucci Pump Bump for tonight's masterful performances.

Copyright © 2009

 

ABT – Giselle – Ananiashvili & Gomes 6/8

Audience linger is usually a good sign.  And so it was tonight that people were slow to leave the theater after Giselle, lingering on the Grand Tier level – just talking, and wandering up from Orchestra –  some holding hands or an arm around the shoulder of the one next him.  It was kind of uncharacteristic for the New York audience which is usually hell bent to get to the train or get out of the parking ramp or get through the tunnel as soon after the curtain comes down as is possible.  Haglund thinks that this lingering was a sign that we were touched by the performance we saw, that it moved us to reconsider the connection between love and forgiveness or perhaps just to slow down and reconsider what's important to us.

Nina Ananiashvili's portrayal of Giselle tonight was neither naive nor young girlish .  It was an ageless portrayal where one did not notice who was young and who was not.  It was a full portrayal without melodramatics.  It was a classic portrayal without being passe.

Most of the memorable moments came in Act II as they usually do:  Giselle's awakening spin followed by an arabesque that grew for five counts, or so it seemed; Giselle pouring the lillies over Albrecht as he knelt near her grave; in the PdD, where generally dancers slowly developpe forward, cambre back and then rapidly fouette around to the front, Nina chose to ever so slowly make that turn to the front to brilliant effect.

Marcelo Gomes as Albrecht brought humanity to the character with a series of desperate entrechat seises that ended with him in a crumpled heap on the floor and with his final scene in which he fully realized the consequences of his betrayal and how he had lost the greatest love of his life.

There were good performances from Gillian Murphy as Myrta, Isabella Boylston as Moyna, and Yuriko Kajiya as Zulma.  Gillian conveyed both anger and hurt which was a nice change from her scowling man-eating Myrta.  Isabella's beautiful feet could not be missed under her long skirt.  Her solos were quite lovely, but Haglund worries about the studied, sometimes wooden expression on her face.  Yuriko was heaven to watch, sheer heaven.  She's a musical phrasing maven.

Gennadi Saveliev was a Hilarion who Haglund sensed he had seen many times before.  It was a little too canned and formulaic, but the dancing was very good - as always. 

The Peasant PdD was danced by Maria Riccetto and Jared Matthews.  Nuh-uh.  Not for them.  Maria's technique was super but she caught a lot of balances that seemed calculated instead of spontaneous.  There wasn't much happy peasant in either of them.  Jared has to work on his jumps - those are not soloist level jumps.  He has a nice demeanor and likable presence, and he doesn't hold back when dancing, but he's got to work on those jumps and on articulating his feet.

Haglund was enjoying the corps work immensely until a lapse of concentration house right caused a Wili to be up when she was supposed to be down and then down when she was supposed to be up.  This Wili usually is meticulous; so, Haglund will let it slide for tonight.

Haglund awards this climbing rose Pump Bump for a very enjoyable evening.

 

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.

 

 

On Haglund's Calendar - MacMillan's Elite Syncopations

Tulsa Ballet visits the Joyce Theater August 10-15 with an eclectic program that includes Kenneth MacMillan's Elite Syncopations, Nacho Duarto's Por Vos Muero, and something by Korean choreographer Young Soon Hue called This Is Your Life,  based, of course, on that delightful television program in the 1950s-60s.  The mystery remains whether the choreographer used Ralph Edwards' version as inspiration or Johnny Carson's and Dom DeLuise's memorable send-up of poor, unsuspecting  Burt Reynolds.  This really opens up so many choreographic avenues:  why not a new ballet based on the old TV program Queen for a Day with Ja-a-ack Bailey?