After the traditional Easter Morning breakfast of Peeps with maple syrup, many folks will stash a few buttercream eggs and jelly bean contraband in their socks and pockets and shuffle off to the local cinema to see the first of what all hope will be many YAGP feature film presentations. Ballet's Greatest Hits isn't really a collection of ballet's greatest hits; it's more like a collection of some of today's rare Fabergé Imperial quality artists nestled among other nice performers who will grow in value as they age and acquire patina through artistic polishing.
The rare treat to witness Veronika Part and Marcelo Gomes in the White Swan PdD is reason enough to shell out a few yolks for a ticket and hop on your bunny for a quick trip to the nearest Ballet in Cinema hut. They are the most magical Swan Lake pairing that this country has to offer. We don't see them together in ABT's Swan Lake in New York anymore because to cast them together makes all other pairings seem like mis-dyed eggs. So, in order to sell tickets to others' performances of Swan Lake, they are split up and we no longer get to see the absolute best that ABT has to offer. It's a sad and destructive marketing scheme.
The lucky cinema audiences will see Ashley Bouder and Daniel Ulbricht, Greta Hodgkinson and Matthew Golding, Stella Abrera (pictured above from a YAGP email), and the enormously talented and charming Alejandro Virelles. Following his defection from Cuba where he starred with the Cuban National Ballet, Alejandro landed at the Corella Ballet and shortly thereafter toured with that company to New York. He was one of the highlights of their performances. Currently, he dances with Boston Ballet.
The full cast is on the Ballet in Cinema website where you also can enter your zip code to find the participating theaters nearest you. Undoubtedly, a DVD will eventually surface for sale; so, don't despair if the film doesn't show in your country or region.
(Click on me and feel the rush.)
Please keep us posted if you do ever hear about a DVD. I can't make it on Sunday, but there's so little video out there of Veronika, I would pay almost anything to have this record of her magnificent white swan!
Posted by: nanushka | March 27, 2013 at 06:01 AM
Will do. There are some Tuesday showings around the country in the evening as well.
Posted by: Haglund | March 27, 2013 at 10:06 AM
I despair! I want giant Veronika and Marcelo to emote at me in a darkened theater!
Posted by: K | March 27, 2013 at 08:12 PM
K - it's playing both dates in Corona, Claremont, and Pasadena and several other places close by. Wow, now that you describe it like that, I may go twice.
Posted by: Haglund | March 27, 2013 at 11:09 PM
All a 40 mile or more drive for me, unfortunately. A place by my house did them in the summer last year, so I'm hopeful to catch the reruns then. I live vicariously (or on youtube) until that point.
Posted by: K | March 27, 2013 at 11:56 PM