Haglund's Heel

ABT – Lane & Gorak 12/31

Whoa, did 2011 ever go out on a positive note this afternoon.

Sarah Lane and Joseph Gorak delivered a gorgeous performance as Princess Clara and the Nutcracker Prince today at BAM.  What a difference ten days makes!  From the first steps in their entrance for the Snow Pas, these two looked like a couple meant to dance together.  Whoever thought to join these two in Holy Dancemony has the gratitude of today's large audience.  We can only hope that this blessed union sticks - in good times and in bad, in Petipa and in Balanchine (and of course in Ratmansky), so long as they both shall dance.  Today their vows of confidence, joy, musicality, and their wholesome wonder of the story they were living could not have been delivered with more genuine warmth.  Great, great chemistry today. 

[Okay, Warner, let's go to the videotape.]

Pretty darn good all around.  Sarah is a gutsy dancer who will take a good risk but won't blow a wad on the lottery.  Today, she spent wisely – those en dedans revolutions in arabesque were absolutely freakin' stunning.  You should have seen Gorak's face when he realized what she'd just done in front him: Ladies and Gentlemen, you've just seen the play of the year!

The dancers' solos were dreamy and sparkly at the same time.  Gorak has impeccable technical etiquette.  Even when he's just standing around, his feet are in a clear first position and his legs are stretched.  The guy's series of double pirouettes with its confident finish was juicier than a strip steak at The Old Homestead. His grand jetes down stage soared like a bird.  Sarah was simply a magical ballerina throughout the performance.  After seeing her triumph in this difficult choreography, it is so hard to understand why she, Riccetto, Abrera, and the other fabulous soloists are being shoved aside like roadkill to clear the path for guest artists who are lesser in every important way.

The only major problem in today's performance was the big Grigorovich-inspired lift.  It went better for them last week.  Gorak might be another one who needs to do a little strength work on the upper body.  If someone would tell him today that he and Sarah would be dancing Giselle in Virginia in April, that little strength issue would probably get corrected pretty darn fast.   Yeah, yeah, yeah - from Haglund's lips to God's ears.

So, 2011 definitely went out on a high note.  Other glorious performances this past week included Veronika Part & Marcelo Gomes on Thursday night and Eric Tamm & Gillian Murphy on Monday night.  This week alone made Haglund wish that The Nutcracker would continue for another couple of weeks.  Seeing how strongly Tamm, Lane, and Gorak danced in principal roles in the Ratmansky choreography makes Haglund hungry to see what more they can accomplish with a little tender loving artistic care.

Attendance this year has not been spectacular, and the less expensive seats in the balcony, mezz, and the sides of the orchestra seemed much more popular than the prime orchestra seats.  Brooklynites are not going to pay Manhattan prices to bring their families to The Nutcracker.  If you are a family of four and you can either (A) go sit in the orchestra section at a performance of The Nutcracker, or (B) put everyone on a plane to Florida for a Christmas vacation, what do you suppose your family's choice will be?  A ticket to a ballet performance of The Nutcracker should not be as expensive as a plane ticket to Florida.  That's just plain dumb. A lot of free tickets were given away, and that's great.  But it's still not going to make people pay a hundred bucks next year to see The Nutcracker.

Let's close out the year with a fine Pump Bump Award for Sarah Lane and Joe Gorak who, if given the opportunity, could make us happy balletomanes for years to come.

Ardani Take-Out Menu

Every time ABT's artistic director needs a new principal dancer, he opens the desk drawer and pulls out the Ardani Artists Take-Out Menu and orders delivery instead of dragging his ass into the kitchen and cooking a meal.

Everyone knows what happens when you rely on a steady diet of take-out.  The wallet slims down while the butt and gut puff up.  All those empty cartons and plastic containers pile up in the garbage while you continue to hunger for something of nutritional value.  So you keep collecting take-out menus and search and search for more crap to eat.  'Tis the season for eating crap.  And so it will be during ABT's spring season at the Met.

What ABT is serving us this spring: 

Osipova=junk food.  Vasiliev=junk food.  Semionova=junk food.  Kobborg & Matvienko=last week's take-out with mold growing on it.   Cojocaru=last week's takeout with mold and extra sugar stirred in.   Muntagirov = undercooked sea food gumbo.

Haglund is sick and tired of the crap being served up by the Ardani cooks.  He's skipping the Vishneva Dialogues, Kings of Dance, the Nacho-Botcho Mikhailovsky, and Eifman.  And he's skipping ABT's full service of take-out that it's throwing on its paper plates this spring. 

ABT shouldn't expect any extra tips for the few times it puts whole food on the table which has been prepared in its own kitchens.  Too little, too late.

 

Famous last words: "Bring it on, Kitty!"

 

 

 

ABT – Riccetto & Simkin 12/23

Last night just as the Little Mouse abducted the Nutcracker doll and taunted Little Clara before chasing her across the stage toward the Grandfather clock, out of the darkness in the audience came a toddler's crescendo, "Mommy, it's a naughty mouse!"  Judging from the emphasis on "naughty," the kid probably knew Merriam-Webster's chapter and verse on the entry.  Yes, Virginia, it was a naughty mouse - and last night Justin Souriau-Levine was working it for a Tony Award.

The adult principals in last night's performance at BAM, Maria Riccetto and Daniil Simkin, repeated their glorious success of last year's debut.  While watching Maria's generous epaulment, maturity of presentation, confident application and exploitation of textbook technique, and the shimmering glisten of her dancing, Haglund thought, "Man, this is the beauty of a dozen years of experience."  You don't slap on what Maria has in a couple of rehearsals - no matter how much hype the New York Times gives you.  Maria has been polishing the details of her craft and art with ABT since 1999 through dozens of roles of gradually increasing profile.  This past fall she spent several weeks under the tutelage of Julio Bocca preparing her lead principal role of Medora in his company's production of Le Corsaire.  Julio was the one who vaulted Herman and Erica Cornejo to brilliance when they danced in his first company before arriving at ABT's doorstep, and there is no denying his ability to coach dancers to greatness. 

Over the past year, Maria has found a way to make what ever she dances look, well, expensive and like she's the only one in the world who can wear the choreography the way it should be worn.  It always looks like it was made especially for her.  It's a shame that after all that preparation with Bocca and her performance success, Maria was overlooked for the role of Medora next year at ABT in favor of a guest artist with sketchy classical credentials who of late prefers slithering down a stripper's pole to honing her classical skills. 

Daniil was perfectly cast as Clara's vision of her grown up Nutcracker Prince.  His huge jumps and slicing allegro contradicted his youthful appearance.  His dancing was very mature whereas his face and frame appeared more adolescent.  There were times when Daniil seemed to stretch his torso to make himself look taller just the way a youngster might straighten himself in order to stand taller with the grownups.  The partnering aspects of the PdDs went very smoothly, especially the lift of Maria to the back of Daniil's shoulder followed by a spin of increasing velocity.  Their fish dive at the conclusion of the first part of the Act II PdD was as deep as they go.  Maria danced as though she had 100 percent confidence in Daniil.  There were no hesitations in pirouettes or leaps into her partner's hands. 

It was a pleasure to see Isaac Stappas return for a stint as Drosselmeyer.  Roman Zhurbin, Luis Ribagorda and Julio Bragado-Young flailed through the Russian dance with a lot of silliness that spoke to a large part of the audience.  Gemma Bond and Joseph Gorak were stunning perfection in the Chinese section.  The Nutcracker's Sisters had a reasonably good performance until the exit during the coda when one took a really bad spill flat on her back.  Haglund was concerned that she might have hurt herself, but when the Sisters appeared on stage for their bows, the one who took the fall was angrily complaining to the Sister next to her and shaking her head during the applause for other performers.  It wasn't a very nice thing for the audience to see. 

Lauren Ann Bonfiglio, Kai Monroe, and Benji Pearson repeated their fine performances of Clara, the Nutcracker Boy, and Fritz.

The evening's Pump Bump Award,  a Jimmy Choo design of subtle but mesmerizing beauty, is bestowed upon Maria Riccetto, whose honest progress through the company has come by her hard work, and whose every performance is something to look forward to and then remember.

ABT – Kajiya & Hammoudi 12/22

After last night's luminous, gracious, and heartwarming performance by Yuriko Kajiya and Alexandre Hammoudi in the principal roles in The Nutcracker at BAM, Haglund is preparing a new round of email recommendations to his pals in Chicago warning them not to miss Kajiya's debut in Giselle in March. 

Last evening Yuriko's youthfulness played perfectly without being cute, and the musicality that has made everyone fall in love with her was on display in fine form.  In one of many exquisite moments during her variation, she guided the extended leg of her arabesque in a very slow, controlled descent, and closed it softly on pointe as the seamless impetus for unfolding the front leg to developpe.  That description doesn't do justice to what Haglund saw, but it took his breath away.  He'll never again be satisfied to see it done any other way so long as he lives. 

Hammoudi was a handsome Nutcracker Prince and employed an understated humor that endeared him to the audience.  He was clearly smitten with Clara, the Princess.  However, there didn't appear to be much improvement dance-wise from last year. His legs sometimes looked mushy, some of his turns lacked control, and his circle of coupe jetes, which were more relaxed than energized, had modest height and breadth.  But he managed the complex partnering darn well, and for this we all need to be grateful.  His petit allegro was precise and strong without being showy, and for whatever reason, he's an interesting dancer to watch.

Roddy Doble is getting better and better in the Arabian role.  His comedic timing was more acute and his sideways glances and "predicament" clearly registered with the audience.  Those harem pants were pretty low on the hips last night, too. 

Justin Souriau-Levine's Little Mouse was bold and continually taunted those who were chasing him.  Where's a good cat when you need one?

The Snowflakes' ensemble work was sharp as stalactites.  The Bees found a willing audience last night.  It's their black lips.

There were a couple of problems in Act II.  The Recruit and Canteen Keeper (Joseph Gorak & Skylar Brandt) danced smoothly until that very troublesome final pose.  Haglund is still waiting to see a Recruit who manages it successfully.  The Chinese (Daniil Simkin & Skylar Brandt) took a major tumble during the vertical lift & cartwheel spin.  Skylar went around 360 degrees but her feet missed the landing.  Her rotation continued for another 90 degrees and she ended up splat on the floor with Daniil falling over her.  It didn't appear that anyone was injured, but it sure was a scary moment. 

Luciana Paris danced wonderfully as Columbine and one of the Nutcracker's Sisters.

Haglund awards this Christian Louboutin diamond platform Pump Bump Award to Yuriko Kajiya for her glistening performance.  It may be modest, but we at H.H. are trying to save up for a trip to Chicago in March.

ABT – Sarah Lane & Joseph Gorak 12/21

Whoa, old Haglund had to have a drink to steady his nerves after getting home from this afternoon's debut performances of Sarah Lane and Joseph Gorak in The Nutcracker at BAM.  Going forward, the rule for these big double debuts is going to be to start steadying the nerves a couple of hours before getting to the theater. 

The good news is that the overall performance wasn't as bad as the two principal dancers may think it was.  Mistakes were made.  From an audience perspective, some mattered and some didn't.  Neither dancer fell.  Nobody was dropped.  There was a near catastrophe or two, but near never earns a chalk mark.

The Snow PdD encountered more of the problems.  From the start, it seemed like the dancers were off track and each was unsure what the other was going to do next.  Their simultanous diagonals of pique turns were marred when Sarah appeared to truncate hers.  But they pulled their communication and coordination together and had a much better PdD in Act II. 

Haglund has never seen Sarah and Joe dance together in anything.  If this was their first performance together, the lack of familiarity contributed to any awkwardness.  It's going to be a while before we refer to Joe as Mr. Sure & Steady Hands.  He had difficulty rotating Sarah in turns, and by the end of the day, she had lost confidence in him and applied very little force to her revolutions.  They managed the final Grigorovich-inspired lift very well, and the audience rewarded them warmly for it.  Most of the other lifts were good enough for two-point baskets, but none swished through the net, as they say.  One in particular bounced around on the rim for an eternity before going in which caused a few gasps in the audience.  Despite these difficulties and the immense pressure of these debuts, there was a natural chemistry between the two dancers and a similarly high sense of professionalism. 

The principal solos were more than serviceable.  No big exciting risks were taken, but there were many very pleasing things to see:  Gorak's smooth musicality and feet which are more beautiful than Hallberg's.  He didn't push for huge jumps, but the forms were exquisite.  He launched some very nice multiple pirouettes, but then got greedy and tried to eke out an extra revolution that marred the perfection.  Sarah's shoe blocks were noisy during her variation.  Her jumps were big.  Her turns were mostly secure, including a couple of slow ones with lingering balances, but it was not a day for her to take risks.  The choreography for the principal dancers is inordinately complicated and fast, and allows little margin for error.  At times it is thrilling; at other times it just looks busy.

No doubt about it, Sarah and Joe are handsome together.  Both have sunny dispositions and elegant presentations.  While Sarah is best matched with Herman Cornejo, a partnership with Joe Gorak could turn out to be just as satisfying.  But today's performance was undercooked.  One wonders whether these two dancers had the same amount of personal preparation time with choreographer Alexei Ratmansky as the original couples who premiered last year.  If they didn't, then Ratmansky bears responsibility for today's performance not rising to the level of the premieres last year.  Other people, as well as Haglund, were impressed enough by the potential evident in today's performance to buy tickets for the final New Year's Eve matinee in which Sarah and Joe will perform again.  Hopefully Ratmansky, himself, will devote some of the next week to making sure that the final performance is the best that these two dancers can give.  They deserve it and so do we.

Imperfections aside, Sarah Lane and Joe Gorak brought a little extra light into one of the darkest days of the year.  Their Pump Bump Award is a Louboutin stiletto of delicate lace and leopard cub print that have been joined together by rebellious leather seams:

Money saving tip

Before anyone gives a half-thought to forking over $149 to see Nacho Duato's "new" Sleeping Beauty when the Mikhailovsky Ballet visits Lincoln Center next June, it would be best to take a peek at the video of the production's premiere performance right here on the company's website.

Haglund won't waste his money.

Duato, a respectable contemporary choreographer, has made Sleeping Beauty into a sleep-inducing bore with his nip & tuck, change this & delete that, borrow this & borrow that revisions.  Haglund only watched the video once – and won't waste time watching it again – but it was hard to find one of Duato's choreographic alterations that registered as an improvement or even an interesting alternative.  Every thing he changed came off as being different just for the sake of being different – as did his messing around with some of the orchestration.  It all made a good case for the need for choreography police like the Balanchine Trust.  What would Duato think if someone decided to take his work and make the same kind of changes to it?  Do unto others . . . even if they're dead and can't object to revisions.

Svetlana Zakharova and Leonid Sarafanov were woefully under-employed until the final PdD which was more traditional than not.  They seemed positively relieved to get to that final pas.

Duato was actually educated in ballet, but he seems to have remembered very little of its vocabulary – about as much as Mark Morris uses in his "ballets". (The thought of a Mark Morris Sleeping Beauty is something that should keep everyone awake at night.  Imagine during the first part of the Rose Adagio when Aurora skips over to the four Princes and sniffs under their tails.)

The costumes were lovely but not overwhelmingly so.  The only item that won hands down over every production that Haglund has ever seen was Aurora's lace wedding veil which was about the length of a football field. 

Consider saving money for the Paris Opera Ballet's Giselle which arrives at Lincoln Center in July – unless you, like the Mikhailovsky Ballet, have plenty of money to waste.

 

ABT – Reyes & Cornejo 12/16

Much to cheer about in last night's performance of The Nutcracker at BAM.  First off, there were more people in the audience and more kids.  There were still a lot of unsold seats but the theater was not nearly as vacant looking as earlier in the week.

The ensemble gave the most animated, theatrical, and joyous performance that Haglund has seen to date, and it was all aimed at the kids in the audience.  The big mice, lead by King Vitali Krauchenka, were extremely spontaneous in their all-out war with the soldiers.  Their transformation from nasty mice with spinning fists ("Put up your dukes!") to Fosse-esque jazz line and back to nasty mice was hilarious.  The new Little Mouse, Jared Parker, is the smallest mouse to date.  Tiny, but he managed to climb out of the copper kettle and grab the sausage like a pro.  Meanwhile, the original littlest mouse, Justin Souriau-Levine, besides carrying mouse doodies duties in another cast, joined the cast of children in the party scene and energized this much younger group with his spunk.  These little ones truly owned their choreography last night.

The Nutcracker's Sisters (Misty Copeland, Sarah Lane, Maria Riccetto, Sarah Smith, and Leann Underwood) were as precise and coordinated a unit as could be.  Their skirts moved as one; their hats were identically tilted; their smiles were genuine.  All very pleasing to watch.

Gemma Bond and Joseph Gorak positively killed the Chinese section.  How Gorak got those legs into the air in a split leap so quickly is mind-boggling.  He and Gemma were darn near perfect. 

The high-flying high jinx of The Russians (Julio Bragado-Young, Luis Ribagorda, and Roman Zhurbin) were the favorites among the kids.  They've added comedic details and a little bit of Larry, Curly & Moe to their pas de trois and have made it one of the highlights of the production.

Clara and The Nutcracker Boy were portrayed by veterans Athena Petrizzo and Philip Perez while Fritz was performed by Benji Pearson.  All gave very assured and touching performances. 

Clara, The Princess and The Nutcracker Prince were beautifully danced by Xiomara Reyes and Herman Cornejo.  They only had two short PdDs and one variation each, but their time on stage was magical.  Haglund's only minor quibble was Herman's final pose of his variation.  Instead of the head-down-with-the-arm-straight-in-front like a little Nutcracker, he finished arms opened while facing the audience.  It was a nice pose, just not as nice as the other one.  Oh, and some of us missed his dark curls which were gelled back instead of loose.

Herman and Xiomara were smooth as brandy in their partnering.  Haglund just loves the supported pirouettes where Xiomara spots Herman's face instead of looking outward toward the audience.  Not every couple has done that, and it's a nice effect.  The final Grigorovich-inspired lift into the air was produced with swiftness and perfect coordination - the best of the three couples so far.  Their side by side diagonal line of double pique step-over turns was at a blistering speed and perfect.  It sure was a welcome sight to see Herman's slicing allegro, beautifully formed jumps, and fine princely lines.  He was missed so much last spring while injured, and what we had to put up with as a substitute was awful and at times gross in comparison.  

The evening's Pump Bump Award, a stunning Diego-Dolcini stiletto with Swarovski crystal elements ($1330), is bestowed upon Prince Herman:

ABT – Gillian Murphy and Eric Tamm 12/15

Eric Tamm delivered a most elegant debut performance as the Nutcracker Prince opposite Gillian Murphy's joyous Clara tonight at BAM.  Wow, we've been waiting to see Tamm get a chance like this, and he did not disappoint.  Wonderful ballon, sustained renverse with a deep bend of the back, spotless beats, space-devouring jumps with great height to the front leg, AND the guy can lift!  His catch, lift-to-the-back-of-the-shoulder & spin of Gillian during their PdD was just fantastic.  Their diagonal of simultaneous double pique pirouettes was flawless. Tamm has such a gallant approach to his partnering, and a smile worth a million bucks.  AND the guy can lift!

Gillian was especially lovely tonight and considerate to Tamm.  She was a little more reserved in places - for example, she didn't throw her full force into supported pirouettes – two or three revolutions sufficed – and it all worked beautifully.  Her variation was youthful without being child-like, and elegant in its sweep and musicality.  She and Tamm are quite attractive together.  Although both are redheads, there isn't the washout that occurs when two blonds dance together.  They looked very complimentary in coloring, lines, and energy.  AND the guy can lift!  He'd make a handsome Albrecht for Gillian's Giselle in New Zealand next fall.  Just sayin'.  Gillian, by the way, will make her debut as Principal Guest Artist at the Royal New Zealand Ballet in Balanchine's Who Cares? during the company's NYC Season (that's New Young Classic) that tours NZ from February 29th through March 30th.

Tonight's performance highlights included Gemma Bond and Adrienne Schulte as the hilarious Maids.  Gemma was excellent as one of the Nutcracker's Sisters as well.  All of the sisters were synchronized, but Gemma was just a little more classical and refined than the others.  Haglund loves Gemma and wishes we'd see her more in classical solos.  Adrienne never left the stage tonight except to change costumes.  She was a Maid, Snowflake, and Arabian.  Same with Sarah Smith: good work as Grandmother, Snowflake, and Arabian.  Hope somebody gave these ladies a lift home after work, 'cuz they deserved it.  It was great to see Sterling Baca in Spanish.  Can't wait to see this guy in a big classical role. 

The children's cast was the same as last night, and they all did a fine job. 

The whole production worked more smoothly than last night.  Everyone had more energy and so did the audience.  Last night it seemed like some of the high society donors weren't too thrilled about having to truck all the way out to Brooklyn for a Nutcracker, and it also seemed like the Brooklynites haven't warmed up to paying Manhattan prices for their tickets at BAM. The tickets have been on TDF for a while, but once the initial announcement of the Nutcracker went up with those high prices, it was too late because some people won't bother to look again.  Attendance at tonight's performance was very light, and last night's opening had many empty seats and freebie seats.  What a shame. 

Of course, tonight's Pump Bump Award, Louboutin silver leather with red soul ($119.99), is bestowed upon Eric Tamm in celebration of his awesome debut:

ABT - The Nutcracker @ BAM Opening Night

Veronika Part and Marcelo Gomes must be the premiere partnership of our times.  Each is wonderful to watch when dancing with other people, but the two of them together is a Holy gift.  They are the best that ABT now has to put on the stage and are likely to be so for the rest of their careers.  Last night at ABT's opening night of Alexei Ratmansky's The Nutcracker at BAM, Haglund lost his composure during the Snow PdD to Tchaikovsky's beautiful In the Christmas Tree.   Somehow Part and Gomes managed to make that music more glorious than ever.  After all the busy activity in Acts I and II, they calmly walked on each time and simply transported us to a heavenly place that no one wanted to leave.  A stunning, unforgettable performance.

There were other good performances last night as well.  Gemma Bond and Craig Salstein as Columbine and Harlequin, and Nicole Graniero and Luis Ribagorda as the Canteen Keeper and Recruit were superb.  However, after seeing probably eight or more performances of this Nutcracker, no Recruit, not one, has managed that stationary pose in arabesque at the end.  If no one can do it, and it's a relatively unimportant moment anyway, why not change it to something that works? 

The Snowflakes were another highlight of Act I although not everyone sitting around Haglund understood why they were angry.  The inclusion of a few JKO students in this section and in Waltz of the Flowers reduced the professional appearance of the corps, particularly when the missing pros were dancers like Melanie Hamrick and Renata Pavam who many search for during performances.  Nervous shifting eyes, position adjustments, and lack of requisite polish in the the upper body were a bit of a disappointment, particularly when these students were standing near accomplished dancers like Nicole Graniero, Sarah Smith, Gemma Bond, and Leann Underwood. 

The Arabian Section with Sascha Radetsky, Nicola Curry, Isadora Loyola, Kelley Potter, and Sarah Smith was a hit.  Judging from the nearly unbelievable definition of Radetsky's torso, it's probably been a while since he ate a piece of bread – at least that's what Haglund was thinking last night on the train home while munching on his two Hershey Bars.

The Spanish section was danced by Maria Riccetto and Jared Matthews, Jennifer Whalen and Grant DeLong, and Luciana Paris and Blaine Hoven.  The women's costumes have too much fabric for the great number of steps in their choreography and it seems to hamper some of the partnering.  The couples were not as musically matched as they could have been.  The different degrees of experience were evident.

The Nutcracker's Sisters (Kristi Boone, Isabella Boylston, Yuriko Kajiya, Sarah Lane and Hee Seo) managed their ensemble work well.  The one distraction was Hee Seo's foot that had the pink tights turned up part way as they might be in rehearsal or class.  Kind of a sloppy mistake to make, and under stage lighting it was very noticeable.

Da Bees Da Bees Da Bees were hilarious as each one whirred around the Flowers buzzing, "I loves me some sugar petals, I purely do."  Okay, Appalachian Ditka dative aside, the black lips on Thomas Forster, Daniel Mantei, Luis Ribagorda, and Eric Tamm were to die for.

The kids were very good last night.  Mikaela Kelly as Clara, Theodore Elliman as The Nutcracker Boy, Kai Monroe as Fritz and Justin Souriau-Levine who nearly stole the show as the Little Mouse, rounded out the large cast of students from the JKO school. 

The Pump Bump Award, a Miu-Miu gold masterpiece, is bestowed upon Veronika and Marcelo for their dreamy performance.