ABT – From the LA Times

LA Times staff photographer Lawrence K. Ho got some good shots of many of our favorite dancers. Go to the lukewarm LA Times review for lots more pix.

Stella Abrera and Eric Tamm in Symphony in C

Veronika Part and Thomas Forster in Symphony in C

WOW Eric Tamm

Comments

[robin]

Awesome. LOVE eric tamm & was just floored by him in "on the dnieper" some years back. i feel like i haven't seen enough of him since then.

[Haglund]

I totally agree.

[J]

Thomas Forster gave a remarkable performance of ardent nobility in support of his regal ballerina, Veronika Part, on Thursday night in the second movement adagio in Symphony in C, seen in Los Angeles. In addition, his dancing in the fourth movement was outstanding with perfect, clean jumps. It was a pleasure to see this tall male dancer do a series of unrushed triple pirouettes with the right leg in a high passé and rotating smoothly on a high demi-pointe. He had no tension in his upper body, arms, hands or face during his performance, which is a rarity. In the pas de deux sections, he was totally focused on Ms. Part, framing her and setting off her lines. Haglund, in one of your comments, you referred to Tom Forster as having a romantic quality (or words to that effect) - and that was seen here, due to the unwavering concentration on his ballerina, as no one existed for him but her. The two of them danced beautifully and he should be happy with how he performed. I was fortunate to be in the front row for all this.
I was at the stage rehearsal earlier in the day and watched the run-through, which went very well. Afterwards, still on stage, Ms. Part had concerns about the series of supported pirouettes in the fourth movement, as to Mr. Forster's stopping her such that she could get from passé to fourth position preparation in a heartbeat to take off for another quick supported turn without having to rearrange herself. (She also tends to veer off to the left on turns, as was seen in the unsupported pirouettes when her section in the fourth movement). Well, who shows up to help Thomas but Marcelo Gomes, who had done a run-through of Apollo about two hours earlier! Mr. Gomes stayed there and generously went over several things with Mr. Forster, as well giving his encouragement.

In addition, the first movement had Stella Abrera who had a rhapsodic quality that was gorgeous, and Eric Tamm's dancing was exceptional. Daniil Simkin has matured since I last saw him, which is a relief, and danced with brilliance but it was hard to watch him all but knock Yuriko Kajiya off of supported double pirouettes which she can probably do straight out of bed every morning, and the section where she takes his hand and does a 1-1/2 (lame duck) en dehors piqué turn and ends up in a penché just did not have the effect it is supposed to have, and it wasn't due to Ms. Kajiya.

I thoroughly enjoyed Marcelo Gomes in Apollo, and could go into more detail, but this is getting too lengthy. I tend to find Paloma Herrera on the bland side, but she was fine as Terpsichore. Melanie Hamrick was quite good as Calliope. I found Devon Teuscher's legs lacking in energy, and can only imagine she was cast as Polyhymnia because of the en dedans piques turns going into arabesque, and she's probably a good turner in class. The tempo after the pas de deux, when the muses reenter was too slow and it makes the choreography stick instead of letting the dancers move. Marcelo Gomes's energy level was what kept things going.
In Chamber Symphony, I found myself watching Ms. Kajiya exclusively, when she was on stage.

[Haglund]

Total bliss in New York, J.

Thanks so much for your report. It's so great to hear that Thomas Forster rose to the challenge. The LA Times picture of the final pose from the Second Movement of "C" shows exactly what you described as his unwavering concentration on his ballerina.

I can't say it's a surprise to hear about Simkin knocking poor Yuriko off her pirouettes. ABT should only let him dance with Weebles.

Thanks for confirming that Stella and Eric were as great as we knew they would be. The LA Times pictures were fab.

[J]

Just wanted to let you know that Joseph Philips had a terrific show today as Ali in Le Corsaire!

[Haglund]

J, that's great to hear. Any and all reports are appreciated.