Stella Abrera will be Giselle at The Australian Ballet

Maybe someday we'll have the opportunity to see our own Stella perform the role that she was destined to dance. Meanwhile, the rest of the world gets to enjoy it.

The Australian Ballet has just announced that Stella will perform the title role in Giselle at the Sydney Opera House on Monday, April 13th and Wednesday, April 15th opposite Principal Dancer Ty King-Wall. She is, of course, a Royal Academy of Dance Genée Awards Gold Medal winner which apparently is meaningful to most everyone except for Kevin McKenzie who would rather saddle us with a clumsy, inelegant horseface for Giselle than the beautiful, classically-gifted Stella.

Photo: Jojo Mamangun/Ballet Philippines

Photo: C. Siniguian/Ballet Philippines

Stay tuned. Thanks to our H.H. Team 6 BAD (Ballet Activities Division) in the South Pacific for the heads-up and for keeping us updated.

 

Comments

[melponeme_k]

I'm going to try to see her as Cinderella in July (the holiday weekend). I'll also try to see Lane in SB. But the performances that were scheduled for them are indeed bottom of the barrel. An almost intentional burial to bleed off interest in them.

I'll never understand the mothballing of Abrera. I can understand at least about Lane. She did cause a minor scandal with the Black Swan film. But that shouldn't hold her back....

[Dreamer]

So pleased to hear Stella was invited to dance this role. If only she could perform it in NYC! I'd get there in a heart beat. But alas, instead of beautiful Stella McKenzie is bringing his favorite guest artist who is better suited to perform parody ballets.

[Haglund]

I don't think anyone understands McKenzie's mothballing of Abrera, especially in light of those dancers he seems drawn to, such as Boylston, Copeland, Kochetkova, Osipova who are the opposite of refined classicists and dance like hillbillies compared to Stella, Sarah Lane, Yuriko Kajiya, Maria Riccetto and Simone Messmer.

[rachel]

The swan lake Boylston ads ABT has been circulating are nothing short of embarrasing. Her head is always thrown back like she's trying to look out of her chin, and her stubby arms and legs are just unattractive. Sarah Lane, and especially Skylar Brandt are much shorter and somehow manage to look longer and graceful. McKenzie is making me sadder by the month with his choices. Can't even call them "artistic" choices at this point - they're just choices.

In the most recent mailer - there is an enormous photo of Hee Seo "sleeping" as SB and a teeny tiny photo of Paloma up in the corner - re: her (no longer) retirement performance. Which i guess is truth in advertising since Seo, while beautiful, generally puts me to sleep anyway.

Depriving us of Stella as Giselle is just infuriating. Failing to propel Devon Teuscher, Skylar Brandt, Courtney Lavine and others to the forefront, is equally infuriating. Any of the three of those dancers would be gorgeous on a poster and inspiring to the next generation. There is a lot of untapped AMERICAN ballerina-actress star quality at ABT being hidden in minor roles. The powers that be clearly have zero interest in that anymore. Sad. Very sad.

[Haglund]

All true, Rachel.

But McKenzie is in a position now that if he allows Stella an opportunity in Giselle and she succeeds as well as we know she would, he'd face a lot of questions and criticism about why he refused to give her other and earlier opportunities. Stella and Sarah and Yuriko and Simone should be the LEADING FACES of ABT RIGHT NOW. Instead, McKenzie is pushing forward illiterate hillbillies.

[melponeme_k]

"Her head is always thrown back like she's trying to look out of her chin, and her stubby arms and legs are just unattractive."

To be fair, I've seen plenty of dancers and Boylston isn't too far from the norm. She can improve. Yes, a perfect body helps a lot but dancers who don't have that learn to move in a way that accentuates their best features. Boylston holds her upper body, particularly the arms, very stiffly. There should be more give which paradoxically would add the illusion of length but also she should stop the floppy wrist right away. Since her arms aren't long, the floppy wrists just make her arms look shorter. Also I don't know what training the ABT dancers are into, but many of them look too muscular which again, makes legs and arms look stubby. There definitely should be more exercises and stretches to lengthen the muscles not bulk them up or make them look overly defined.

[Haglund]

melponeme_k,

Boylston got the mannerism of throwing her headback from her former coach Susan Jaffe who resorted to that when her technique declined to the point that there was little else she could do. At the end of her career, she was running from one end of the stage to the other throwing her head to the ceiling in an effort to create some drama. The only drama was whether or not she would stumble and fall on her face. Luckily, she did not. Boylston wasn't so lucky; the first time she tried to run across the stage while throwing her face to the ceiling (at the very beginning of Le Corsaire when the three Odalisques run in front of the curtain), she nearly face-planted but was caught by a man.

There is NO excuse for Boylston's goopy, flippant hands and arms. NO excuse. A dancer can sit in her own damn bathtub and practice correct port de bras and correct hand placement. It shouldn't require a special coaching session to correct. There is absolutely NO excuse for it. The reason she has such dreadful hands and arms is because she doesn't respect the classical art form enough to put in the effort to correct it AND McKenzie and the coaches have led her to believe that she doesn't have to because they think her feet and legs are so lovely that no one will notice her unclassical, ugly arms and hands. There is this idea coming from McKenzie and ABT's management that Oh, the audience will get USED to seeing it, and they won't mind it. There is simply NO excuse whatsoever for it.

Every dancer that graduates from the Vaganova Academy has exquisite hands and arms. They acquire them in the first year of their education. There is ZERO TOLERANCE for the type of crappy port de bras and thick, bunchy arms and spastic hands that we see on Boylston, Copeland and some of the others. There simply is NO excuse for it.

[melponeme_k]

"There is ZERO TOLERANCE for the type of crappy port de bras and thick, bunchy arms and spastic hands that we see on Boylston, Copeland and some of the others. There simply is NO excuse for it."

No, I agree, there isn't. I'm still trying to figure out where people suddenly thought it was ok to be messy in the arms. I've heard Balanchine being accused of allowing broken wrists etc. But I've watched plenty of videos (many on youtube) that he had input and I'm hard pressed to find sloppy arms. The NYCB dancers then and now all have classical arms. Maybe the limp wrists were a stylistic effect that he called for from time to time for a certain look (the quick arm sweeps in Concerto Barocco), but I've rarely seen them used even in that ballet.

Then maybe we can consider certain dancers popular in the past from NYCB...Farrell? Farrell is a tall woman. The norm for all humans is a wingspan that is roughly equal to our full body length. Amazing when you think about it. A dancer like Farrell can afford a broken wrist here and there because her arms were LONG. in contrast Boylston's are not since she is small. That being said, I don't think we can accuse any of Balanchine's favorite dancers for the broken wrist affectation. I'm hard pressed to see any Farrell dance clips where she lets her wrists flop. Ditto for other favorites such as Kent, LeClerq, Adams, Aroldingen or Ashley.

So who knows where this awful habit was born in many dancers. Just laziness, as you say.

[Haglund]

If you look at some of the old Texaco broadcasts, you can see that even Maria Tallchief had exemplary classical port de bras. It wasn't until later in her career that the Firebird crept into everything that she danced. And then other dancers mimicked it.

I would not say that today generally NYCB dancers have classical port de bras. Some are downright hideous. There are exceptions, and a growing number of them, but NYCB is not a classically-oriented company. Neither of its Swan Lakes can be called classical. The company's big test comes this spring with La Sylphide which does demand a specific style of port de bras. We know that some of the dancers will get it, but it will be a happy surprise if all of them do.

ABT should be respected worldwide for its classical form, but it is far, far from it. Look at the casting of La Bayadere. Seven out of eight leading women are Russian and six out of those seven are imported as opposed to being true company dancers. ABT is representing itself as being completely incapable of presenting more than two performances which are led by its own dancers, and it must hide one of its leads in a Wednesday matinee. What an embarrassment to everyone.

Under Baryshnikov, the dancers certainly acquired a more refined classical style ....

[rachel]

At least there are few gorgeous upper bodies left at ABT...dancers like Devon Teuscher, Nicole Graniero, Courtney Lavine, and of course, of course, Stella Abrera. The young Catherine Hurlin also looks promising. But how sad is it that they stick out on stage because they're doing it beautifully compared to everyone else??

[rachel]

Exhibit A: https://www.facebook.com/cocolavine/photos/a.1554360254818655.1073741829.1517284198526261/1566386566949357/?type=1

Exhibit B: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/B-UdCr6IAAAcUos.jpg:large

Now compare:

https://41.media.tumblr.com/d349b71e20fa8171aef8098d29f1a385/tumblr_nl3rt2iXy81tijkoao1_500.jpg

https://balletthebestphotographs.files.wordpress.com/2014/09/w-isabella-boylston.jpg

[Haglund]

Oh, Rachel, that last example is an atrocity. What is so sad is that both Boylston and Copeland take such haughty pleasure in their lack of classical refinement and classical technique.

[Haglund]

Even when Stella takes on a contemporary piece, such as Gomes' Tocarre https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ei7otSXBAMM , she is able to distill the choreography so that we can appreciate its classical elements.

Copeland translates every contemporary piece into back alley vernacular while Boylston is a complete and utter blank. Both of these ladies are too bulky and too clumsy in their movements to be considered classical ballerinas.

[melponeme_k]

In all the examples I see posted, I don't see a big difference between the bodies of Abrera, Copeland and Boyleston. What I do see is a difference in attention to detail, form and movement.

Copeland and Boyleston seem to think that if they know the steps and can pose pretty that is all that is needed. Hence static poses interspersed with messy, erratic dancing. Abrera doesn't think in that way. There is a consistent line between movement and pose. Sara Mearns takes that even further in that her poses never stop moving. She stretches from arabesques, attitudes etc. into the next step. Kirkland fought her whole career for that aim as well.

However I can't bring myself to lay the blame all at Copeland's and Boyleston's feet. What I'm seeing, in the whole, is a degradation of the art form. I'm seeing in ballet what happened to pop stars, film/theater actors, musical theater performers, opera stars...the notion that if the face looks good the talent is secondary. We see whole industries built out of packaging people into "stars". This is dangerous, especially in art forms such as ballet and opera. Once you lose the knowledge of the art in lieu of star power, it will never come back. Because the knowledge is passed down by word and once the dancers/singers who know are gone from this earth...so will the art form disappear with them.

[Haglund]

Thanks melponeme. But OMG, the difference in the bodies is like the difference between beer and champagne. The length in Abrera's cool, sophisticated, and very classical lines are what distinguish her from the hillbilly punchy muscles of Copeland and the bulky drift of Boylston. I hope that you will have more opportunity to see these dancers on stage. They are not the least bit alike physically.

[melponeme_k]

I've looked hard at all of them. And they are all in the same realm physically. What I'm seeing is a HUGE difference in artistry, training and intellect.

The main difference between Abrera

https://youtu.be/7ANX69r67Bo

and Boylston

https://youtu.be/V4-pdSs5_7g

is all in the dancing not in the bodies. Abrera is shaping her movement, but Boylston is not.

I partly blame the big competition circuit that has grown up around ballet in recent years. Instead of dancers spending their formative years under experienced dancers, training for the stage...they are now traipsing around the globe chasing after competitions. Competitions are looking for something quite different than the proving ground of the stage. They are looking for big, punchy, star quality athleticism. Its like figure skating tacky imposed on ballet. Boylston is a product of that new world. And it will continue to take over the ballet world.

Unfortunately for the art form....Abrera is an anachronism.

[Haglund]

http://www.ballet.co.uk/images/abt/gs_corsaire_stella_abrera_gulnare_long_jump_500.jpg
and
http://fashionreverie.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/2b0bb12a44949663d3e3855319b6b2fc.jpg
and
http://media.timeout.com/images/101581091/660/370/image.jpg

kind of spell out some of the differences. I have to ask, have you ever seen them on stage together?

[melponeme_k]

I have no doubts that Abrera dances better than the other two. But this is because she is thinking of more than what tricks she can do.

Bodies...bodies in ballet are both a product of fashion and the art form. The art form favors long limbs. But human bodies are not cookie cutter shapes.

You like long legs? If the dancers are short waisted, they will have legs that will go on forever but their waists will be very thick. It won't matter how much they diet, they will always look thick in the waist. Boylston is in the short-waisted, long legged category. But so is Sara Mearns. Mearns moves incredibly well compared to Boylston. So it is possible to overcome slight deficiencies in physicality with artistry.

If you love graceful upper bodies, those mostly feature long waisted dancers but then the setback is short legs. Copeland is in this category. She could have a wonderful upper body technique if she put in the work. But she doesn't, so the long waist goes to waste. And the messy technique makes her legs look that much shorter and thicker. Contrast her with the legendary Plisetskaya who is also long-waisted. The difference is like night and day.

The true goal is a balanced body between upper and lower. The Russians are sticklers in trying to find this sweet spot. But even with all their charts, they can't predict nature. Especially when puberty hits. What was once a child on the tall side could turn into an adolescent who is rather short. That is nature. They lose a lot of talent at various levels of instruction because of the vagaries of nature. But even still they do make concessions for dancers who know how to move and work with their strong points. They have to otherwise who will back up the hollow eyed wraiths they seem to favor at the moment?

My point is...Boylston and Copeland are not working with their shapes, they aren't paying attention to details that could raise them to the next level. This is why they look poorly next to dancers who do, such as Abrera.

[Haglund]

May I ask again if you have seen these dancers together on stage?

You might be by yourself in thinking that Copeland has potential for artistry in the upper body. She has built that muscly body through over-flexing over a long period of time. You see it in every step that she dances.

I wouldn't compare Mearns to Boylston physically and I find Mearns' style often includes the type of over-flexing, over-doing that Copeland's does. But she's in a different environment where classicism isn't particularly emphasized and the tools of the trade are different than what they are - or should be - at ABT.

I wouldn't refer to Stella's physical type or quality as an anachronism in art form. Certainly not at the Paris Opera Ballet or the Mariinsky. What is so wrong with ABT is not necessarily also wrong with the rest of the world. ABT ≠ all of ballet, thank goodness.

[melponeme_k]

I don't have a lot of money to see a lot of performances. So I have to pick and choose. I've seen Hee Seo who looks good but comes across to me as very prim in her presentation.

The others I've seen in clips and some bootleg telecasts that were put up on youtube. And from what I've seen I would not waste one precious dollar to watch Copeland or Boylston in Swan Lake. Time and money is too short for that kind of torture.

Hyper-extension etc. are problems I've seen in ballet the world over. That harks back to the competition circuit emphasizing things that just don't look good in the context of a full performance. Where ever did it become popular for unhealthy hyper-extended knees? This problem plagues all dance companies now.

Copeland seems to defiantly favor a body that isn't popular for ballet but for pop culture. For example what you see on a popular youtube exercise channel called Body Rock.

https://www.youtube.com/user/charliejames1975

That shape is good for everyday people but NOT classical dancers. The over muscularity can be changed to a certain extent but it could be the damage is already done. I once lifted weights and it changed the flexibility in my upper back forever. Someone should tell her to stop what she is doing to get that cut look.

But this goes back to artistry. Copeland seems to think she has a mandate to change the way ballet looks forever. That since she is a minority dancer, the dance world has to take whatever she wants to give. And it looks as if she will get her way. At least regional companies are not experiencing this kind of brattiness from their dancers. Certainly not Dance Theater of Harlem

https://youtu.be/0I5MOCqy7go

https://youtu.be/onhgDnslHgY

[rachel]

TO clarify - the photos I posted are COURTNEY LAVINE and not Misty Copeland people. Courtney is in the corps and a completely different body type.

[Haglund]

Thanks, Rachel. It occurred to me that there might have been a misunderstanding.

Courtney was one of the many highlights of the second performance of Sleeping Beauty out at the Segerstrom Center. She turned the Cinderella character role into a major event. So, now we know - not ONLY does she have a gorgeous balletic body, fine lines, and masterful technique, but she can also ACT and enchant the audience. The politics involved in holding her (and others) back are despicable.