Haglund's Heel

Cat Food

Haglund just returned from Petco-where the pets go - with a big supply of Fancy Feast.  It's 50 cents per can compared to 90 cents at the Food Extortion supermarket in Manhattan.  While at Petco-where the pets go, Haglund met Chesty, a lady bulldog with major pecs who was doing the sniff & drool on everyone's feet with a free repeat on anyone with naked toes.  Chesty waddled up the cat food aisle sniffing & drooling on the cans of food on the bottom shelf – life for her is good.   Haglund bagged a couple of cans of Fancy Feast with Chesty's drool to bring home to his cats who are now both happy and alarmed with their new stash.  Happy and alarmed cats - handle with care - and keep them away from any ––

 

Ring, ring, ring.   Oh, damn, who is that!

 

Haglund:    Hello?

Voice:        Can we talk?

Haglund:    Who is this?

Voice:        I need your help.

Haglund:    Who IS this?

Voice:        Let's refer to me as L1-L3, okay?

Haglund:    L1-L3?? O-o-o-o-o-oh.  [Sneering]

L1-L3:        I read your blog all the time –

Haglund:    – and sometimes borrow from it –

L1-L3:        – well yes, that too.  I'm in such a conflicted state and you are the only one I can turn to.

Haglund:    Uh huh.

L1-L3:        You know about my carnal cravings for David Hallberg.

Haglund:    Uh huh.

L1-L3:        You know how I adore that darling Natalia Osipova.  I've hyped her to the point of hyperventilating.

Haglund:    Uh huh.

L1-L3:        You know how I detest Kenneth MacMillan and love skewering his choreography whenever possible.

Haglund:    Yep.

L1-L3:        So here I am – sitting in L1 – wondering what the heck I'm going to write about this performance.

Haglund:    Uh, the performance doesn't start for another minute.

L1-L3:        But I have deadlines and cannot diddle-piddle about.

Haglund:    So, what do you want from me?

L1-L3:        Tell me which is better: "I can almost tolerate this production with Mr. Hallberg and Ms. Osipova in the leads" OR "I could learn to live with this trashy choreography if Mr. Hallberg and Ms Osipova were dancing it."

Haglund:    Asshole.  Good-bye.

L1-L3:        Wait – don't hang up on me – please, I need you –

[Click]  Here Kitty Kitty.  Kiss kiss.  Here Kitty Kitty.

LeBron SchmeBron

Who needs him.

What a wimp.

New York has a freakin' ballerina who can jump higher than LeBron James.  We'll put Osipova up against him with her toe shoes tied together any old time, any old place.

Who needs him.

What a wimp.

ABT – Romeo and Juliet – Cornejo & Reyes

Wednesday night was the best Romeo and Juliet that Haglund has seen since Ferri and Bocca retired.  Xiomara Reyes and Herman Cornejo were absolutely convincing as the star-crossed lovers.  Not only that, but the entire cast took the intensity up a notch.  How unfair that these two remarkable artists do not get a second performance this week.

 

There was an honesty in Romeo's and Juliet's love last evening that has been absent and much missed for a few years.  Cornejo, besides dancing superbly – as it now goes without saying – displayed a wonderful combination of scrappiness and tenderness.  Reyes was every inch the young girl who was at once innocent but also ready to leap into love and bed with Romeo.  The emotional intensity of their pas de deux was driven in no small way by Reyes' theatrical mastery.  She engaged Cornejo with every step and he couldn't help but respond perfectly. 

 

Haglund was mightily impressed with the smoothness of the partnering in the pas de deuxs.  There were no meaningful glitches that he could see, and Cornejo had no problem pressing Reyes over his head whether he was standing or kneeling.  Nor did the partnering look careful or calculated; it just looked natural.

 

Carlos Lopez had a fantastic evening as Mercutio!  His dancing was especially strong in his solos – turns were well balanced with very good speed, legwork was clean, footwork was clear, and his own acting was on spot.  Daniil Simkin as Benvolio did reasonably well.  He certainly looked the part of a youthful troublemaker.  However, he had some problems with accents.  When Lopez and Cornejo were firing off steps with the accents into the floor, Simkin sometimes accented an overly large movement into the air.  So, it looked like the three of them were off sometimes.  Also, Simkin has enormous flexibility that isn't always appropriate to utilize in the Benvolio context.  Grand battements a la seconde to the ear are just a bit too ballerina-ish for Benvolio.  Same with trying to hold the arabesque overly-long.  It's pretty, but not right for the role.

 

The Mandolin guys were again fantastic.  It was very difficult not to continually follow Joe Gorak in this group.  He is simply the most gorgeous combination of feet, legs, elevation, arabesque and smile to come along since we all first spotted Hallberg nearly a decade ago.  We have so much to look forward to with this young man, so much.

 

Sascha Radetsky and Gennadi Saveliev switched parts this evening.  Radetsky was Tybalt and Saveliev was Paris.  Radetsky gave a very powerful and detailed portrayal.  More than any other Tybalt, he made it crystal clear that when he rammed his sword through Mercutio, it was an accident.  He gave one look of regret that lasted about a half of a nanosecond and then watched with satisfaction as Mercutio danced to his death.  His fencing with Mercutio and Romeo was aggressive and always looked spontaneous as opposed to choreographed.

 

Saveliev's Paris had a heart.  It appeared that he truly wanted Juliet to accept him and love him instead of just acting like he was entitled to her. 

 

Stella Abrera and Victor Barbee were bigger than life as Lady and Lord Capulet.  These were huge performances that contributed mightily to drama.  Everyone continues to talk about Stella – as in, why don't we see more of her and why isn't she a principal?

 

Alexei Agoudine gave convincing performances as Escalus and Friar Laurence.  The best Escalus Haglund can remember ever seeing was Kirk Peterson whose face literally reddened with anger at the quarrelling families.  He was not someone who you disobeyed once he said to stop fighting.

 

The harlots – Misty Copeland, Kristi Boone and Anne Milewski – were exceptionally earthy – in a very good way.  Romeo's little dance with Harlot Misty where she realizes that he's not going to come her way was very touching.

 

One of the great pleasures of this production are the gorgeous Nicholas Georgiadis scenery and costumes.  The rich variant shades of brown, red, yellow and green used throughout are a pleasing and dramatic palette – and a lot more artistically meaningful than that awful Crayola mish-mash in Sleeping Beauty.

Haglund has only seen the Monday and Wednesday evening Romeo and Juliet performances thus far.  Where Monday night's emotional output might be equated with "scars that never felt a  wound"  [Act II, Scene II], Wednesday night's tore the heart out of the audience.  A great job from everyone.  Haglund bestows this sterling silver Pump Bump Award on Herman Cornejo and Xiomara Reyes for revitalizing this drama and returning a good amount of the magic to it:

ABT – Romeo and Juliet – 7/5

ABT's week of Romeo and Juliet got off to a strong start last evening with Julie Kent, Marcelo Gomes and Herman Cornejo in the leads and a superb supporting cast of Gennadi Saveliev, Carlos Lopez, Sascha Radetsky, Stella Abrera and Victor Barbee.

Haglund admires so many aspects of Kent's dancing in this production, most notably her beautiful arabesque lines and expressive port de bras.  Marcelo was outstanding in his solos, whipping his turns and leaps with enormous energy.  The dancing was a joy to watch; however, the overall quality of their portrayals was more grand and royal than young and desperately in love.  There's never been any need for a ballerina to actually be young in this role, and in fact, many older dancers have given richer and more meaningful portrayals of young love than most of the younger casts.  One aspect of Kent's performance which Haglund has never been able to accept happily is the Act III bedroom scene in which Juliet is supposed to lean against the bed motionless while the Prokofiev music whirls around her.  It is one of the most emotional and compelling moments in the ballet.  Kent, instead of staring straight out at the audience, rolls her head around and blinks into the lights and thus destroys the intended dramatic effect of the moment.  Whatever the reason Kent has declined to perform this moment in the ballet as it should be, and as it is most effective, let's hope that none of the younger dancers coming up in this role ever follows her example.

Herman Cornejo and the Mandolin Players were excellent.  All of those hopping turns in attitude just looked fantastic.  In fact, Haglund really didn't begin paying full attention to what was going on on the stage until Cornejo started dancing.  Can't wait to see him with Xiomara on Wednesday evening.

This week's performances are dedicated to Georgina Parkinson, longtime coach and ballet mistress, who expired last year.  Audiences knew her more recently as Lady Capulet, although she performed the title role of Juliet to great acclaim many years earlier with the Royal Ballet.  Last night's Lady Capulet was performed with astonishing drama by Stella Abrera.  Haglund noted Abrera's ability to walk exactly like the elderly Parkinson walked down the stairs in a rush to get to the dead Tybalt.  Her moments of terror, anger and sobbing grief would have given Ms. Parkinson a run for her money.

Haglund will update this review with his selection for the Pump Bump Award just as soon as his computer with its shoe closet is returned from the shop.

Update 7/7:

During the evening Haglund kept hearing a gentleman behind him explaining to his guests that the fantastic actress in the role of Lady Capulet was Stella Abrera and he went on to explain what a tremendously talented dancer she is.  Then, on the way down the steps after the performance, Haglund heard another man remarking what a powerful performance Stella had given during the evening.  People are aware of Stella's talent and abilities – not from hype manufactured by the media or by ABT – but as the result of seeing her dancing over the years.  She has come by her reputation honestly, through dancing that employs integrity and reliability and is just freakin' gorgeous to watch.  So, Haglund has climbed to the top shelf of his shoe closet to fish out this lovely Pump Bump Award of lace and pearls for the lovely Stella:

 

ABT All-Classic Program 7/2

ABT presented the final installment of its All-Classic Program Friday night.

 

Balanchine's Allegro Brillante was performed by Xiomara Reyes (substituting for Irina Dvorovenko) and Max Beloserkovsky.  Gosh darn, if they weren't a cute pair.  Maybe it's her size, maybe it's her twinkling eyes, maybe it's her infectious smile – but Reyes brings out warm qualities in her partners that we don't see when other ballerinas dance with them.  We saw it last year when she danced the Tchaikovsky PdD with Hallberg; we saw it when she guided Herman Cornejo through his first two Albrechts; we saw it earlier this season when she danced in Lady of the Camellias opposite Jared Matthews; and we saw it again last night when she danced with Max in Allegro Brillante.  She inspires their confidence.  She inspires them to fully enjoy every minute that they are on stage.  Match her up with any man in the company, and you'll get a bigger performance from him.  Don't miss Xiomara Reyes with Herman Cornejo in Romeo and Juliet this Wednesday.

 

Reyes dispatched the steps of Allegro Brillante with confidence and authority.  Haglund loved seeing her have the opportunity to pump a couple of fine triple pirouettes and finish them with a look to the Grand Tier that said, Wasn't that good?  Well, yes it was, thank you.  Max had no trouble at all with the fiendish allegro and it was nice to see him in such good shape and dancing so strongly. 

 

Tudor's Romeo and Juliet Farewell PdD was performed by Gillian Murphy and David Hallberg.  It was okay, but is not a piece that would draw Haglund to the theater to see more of it.  He would rather see many of the other brilliant Tudor works instead - most notably Dark Elegies and Lilac Garden.

 

Ashton's Thais PdD, the gift of the season, received another glorious performance in the hands of Maria Riccetto and Jared Matthews.   Her extended backbend over Jared's shoulders was quite a spectacular sight.  Jared's performances with Vishneva were captivating, but here with Riccetto, he has a partner who compliments him wonderfully.  Once again the audience went bonkers at the end. 

 

Diana Vishneva and Jose Manuel Carreno made a much better showing in the Manon PdD than the other night.  He is so freakin' hot that we just have to find a way to keep that fire burning for a couple of more seasons - maybe Manon with Vishneva will keep it stoked.  We shall keep our fingers crossed.

 

The final performance of The Dream with Julie Kent, Marcelo Gomes and Carlos Lopez was truly enjoyable.  Haglund thought that Lopez did a fantastic job as Puck - second only to Cornejo.  Isaac Stappas as Bottom and Gray Davis, Roddy Doble, Luis Ribagorda, Arron Scott, and Sean Stewart as the Rustics were hilarious whether in the foreground or the background.   Kent and Marcelo were wonderful, though not as vibrant as in their earlier performance.  A few more of the steps seem to be on the verge of leaving Kent's technical range.  There was a very funny Carol Burnett/Harvey Korman moment last night when Kent's long hair got twirled-up in Gomes' crown.  It took him a moment to realize there was a problem and the reason why Julie was boureeing after him.  They both had to fight for their composure.

Another great evening of rep, and not surprising, the Haglund's Heel Pump Bump Award is bestowed on Maria and Jared for transporting the audience to Egypt with their five minutes of bliss in the Thais PdD.

 

Corella OUT of Romeo & Juliet on July 10

Supposedly Angel is ill.  That could mean anything:

Sick of McKenzie for shutting him out of the season.

Sick of seeing ABT represented this season as Osipova & Others.

Sick of not getting to dance with whom he wants to dance.

And of course, it could also mean the flu, fatigue, a few extra pounds, any of the traditional ballet illnesses, or more likely an illness negotiated by management.

Whatever the reason, we hope that it is resolved so that Angel is not shut out of the new Nutcracker, not shut out of the Washington DC tour, not shut out of the London tour, and above all returned to us for at least one performance each and every week next season at the Met.

This season has been harmed terribly by Corella's absence.  It is ABT's admission of sin when it knows it has to plant numerous pictures of Corella throughout the brochures in order to attract ticket buyers while denying Corella a full plate of performances.

Haglund is pissed.  Really pissed off good.

ABT Premieres Program 7/1

It is that time of the ABT season when Haglund becomes a true Ballet Warrior.  It would take a big event to cause him to lose focus on that 30 performance mark, and he's hoping that LeBron James will wait just one more week before signing with the Knicks so that Haglund can concentrate on finishing the task at hand.  LBJ is going to pick up our doggie basketball team by its ears, and before you can say Zen x 10, Phil Jackson will want to be here, too.  It's in the stars, folks.

 

Last night was the final performance of the ABT Premieres Program although you can still see most of it at the Saturday matinee and evening performances repackaged as the All-American Program. 

 

The Brahms-Haydn Variations by Twyla Tharp was given another fine performance.  It was led by the brilliance of  Stella Abrera and Alexandre Hammoudi and a smooth as the-pinot-noir-at-the-Grand-Tier-bar PdD by Xiomara Reyes and Herman Cornejo.  The Reyes/Cornejo Romeo and Juliet performance is Wednesday evening, and no one should miss it. 

 

Although Haglund has not yet found a way to fully appreciate Ratmansky's On the Dnieper, he definitely appreciates the opportunity to see soloists Gennadi Saveliev, Simone Messmer, and Maria Riccetto and corps member Eric Tamm throw their dramatic weight around.  Tamm was dynamite as Messmer's dumped fiance.  His every step was filled with story and his fiery allegro solo was intensely dramatic.  Saveliev was the most realistic Sergei of the three cast in this role since its inception.  He was believable as the soldier returning from war and one could understand how that whole experience might change him.  Life is short and you should be with the one who you truly love, he danced.  Haglund presumptively looks forward to seeing Saveliev in Lilac Garden the next time it's presented here. 

 

Messmer and Riccetto were determined to get their stories told no matter how many steps they had to dance to do it.  And there were a lot of steps.  Loads and loads of steps.  Just about every step in the book.  But these ladies danced beautifully and each could have been just as believable dancing in the other's role. 

 

Haglund had some mixed feelings about Fancy Free with Craig Salstein, David Hallberg, Marcelo Gomes, Kristi Boone, Julie Kent, and Karen Uphoff in the leads.  It was danced well by everyone and the three fellows clearly had camaraderie but an authenticity evident in the other two casts was missing here.  Haglund cannot put his finger on it but to say that these guys didn't come across as sailors out on the town and the comedy seemed pushed at times.  That's not to say that it wasn't a completely enjoyable performance, but it wasn't at the level of Cornejo, Stiefel and Carreno or Simkin, Lopez and Radetsky.  By the way, Cornejo will be subbing for Simkin in Saturday night's F.F. cast according to the lasting casting sheet.

Haglund doesn't often award Pump Bumps for ballets that he doesn't care for, but the performances of Saveliev, Tamm, Riccetto and Messmer in On the Dnieper were so strong dramatically and technically that he must bestow this coveted honor, represented here by Gucci gold, on them:

ABT – All Ashton Program 6/30

The last of the All-Ashton Programs Wednesday evening had almost too many stand-out performances to cover, but Haglund will do his best.  However, he wants to take a moment to recommend to the Met Opera House staff that their intital announcement to the audience to silence phones and pagers be amended to include that patrons should clear the phlegm from their throats before the music starts.  Wasn't that the most annoying, disgusting display of lack of restraint by an audience this season?  And it seemed that as soon as one person started, others joined in.  The ushers should be equipped with throat trowels in order to address this problem in the future. 

 

Birthday Offering's cast led by Stella Abrera and Eric Tamm was gorgeous.  Stella was glorious and confident in the role originated by Margot Fonteyn and made all of those fast cabrioles in her variation look light and easy.  As she slowly lowered into a penche arabesque in their PdD, Tamm took a look at her and then looked out to the audience as if to say "Have you ever seen anything quite so beautiful?"  Preciseness in the footwork and beautifully correct style in the upper body are Stella's calling cards now.  Ashton, Petipa, Tharp, Tudor, MacMillan, Balanchine – whatever the style, she captures the true accent and is one of the most versatile interpretors of the company's repertory today.  Haglund's fingers are crossed tightly in hopes that we will finally get to witness her debut as Giselle next year – which is possible unless McKenzie gives her performance away to some guest artist.  Tamm has got so much going for him in the elegance, technique, and theatrical departments that it is hard to be patient and wait for him to get some more meaningful opportunities.  Haglund hopes that he is giving a lot of thought to Albrecht even though he may have to wait a while for the performance opportunity.  We're certainly already thinking about it.

 

The other ladies in Birthday Offering were Misty Copeland, Isabella Boylston, Melanie Hamrick (subbing for Veronika Part), Simone Messmer, Maria Riccetto and Leann Underwood.  All were beautiful and each truly looked like a principal ballerina.  The gentlemen in the Mazurka were Craig Salstein, Daniil Simkin, Tom Forster (subbing for Gennadi Saveliev), Blaine Hoven, Jared Matthews, and Alexandre Hammoudi.  They all acquitted themselves handsomely.

 

If you missed either last night's or Tuesday night's performance of Thais PdD with Hee Seo and Sascha Radetsky, then you missed one of the highlights of the two repertory weeks.  Of course, Massenet's "Meditation" enters the nervous system like the highest quality Egyptian pharmaceutical, and Anthony Dowell's costumes are a dream of a combination of just the right amount revealed with just the right amount covered up in a glorious orange.  But the dancers turned their five minutes of pas de deux into the event of the evening.  Radetsky's partnering made Seo look like a miracle, and she exploited every opportunity to fill the music with her plush lines.  This is a tough PdD that required enormous sustained strength from Radetsky and complicated balancing by Seo on top of his back and shoulders.  The lighting, still uncredited in the Playbill, contributed much to the fantasy.  The audience was overcome by what it saw and insisted that Seo and Radetsky appear again and again to receive its sustained and well-deserved applause. 

 

The Awakening Pas de Deux by Paloma Herrera and Cory Stearns seemed like a loud snore after Thais.  Haglund just wanted to get to the bar and sip a little champagne while he thought over what he'd just seen Seo and Radetsky perform.  Awakening is another piece that isn't strong enough to stand on its own in a mixed repertory bill.  Herrera dispatched the steps as well as could be and was in full Sleeping Beauty character.  Stearns kind of shuffled through some of his variation and looked tired.  He was trying to lift the right leg into a weak arabesque using his hip instead of his back.  Gotta place the blame squarely on teachers and staff for letting him get away with that.  This guy is still young – where is the remedial arabesque training for him?  Remedial effort now or rehabilitate later is kind of no-brainer choice. 

 

The Dream was repeated with Gillian Murphy, David Hallberg, Herman Cornejo, and Julio Bragado-Young along with Riccetto, Abrera, Radetsky and Matthews as the mixed up lovers.  Everyone was even better than on opening night.  Murphy's Titania was a more willful and silly fairy queen.  Oberon had his hands full when Titania went a little nutty, but they managed a sublime and truly magical pas de deux to complete the evening.  Cornejo's Puck - what is there left to say about it?  It's undeniably brilliant and masterful.  Julio Bragado-Young's Bottom - another brilliant stroke.  Riccetto and Abrera's little lady feud was hilarious.  Haglund got into watching the little fairies' faces as they scurried around, froze for an instant and then sped off on their important fairy business.  Every one of them was in full character and an individual, as well. 

 

What a great fantasy The Dream is!  ABT should tour this across America.  By the way, the ABT calendar has been updated to include all of the new Nutcracker performances as well as the Washington D.C. and London tours and the one-night stand in Newark in November.   There appear to be a lot of performances of Theme and Variations.  Here's hoping that Stella Abrera and Eric Tamm get a crack at that piece, because they are both definitely ready for it and would bring a grown-up elegance to T&V that we haven't seen for a while.  There is a PdD TBA, and if Washington and London are lucky, they'll get the Thais.

The Haglund's Heel Pump Bump Award, a Marc Jacobs beauty, must be bestowed once again upon Hee Seo and Sascha Radetsky for their stirring performance of the Thais Pas de Deux: