observations 5-31

LFmg finals at the Met

Never have we seen so many 3-point shots taken in a final – swish, swish, swish. Nothing but net all night long. And when it was all over, they raised the MVP, Stella Abrera, high into the air so that she could cut the net and take it home as a souvenir. No question – it was the best of the 3 1/2 performances of La Fille mal gardee that Haglund saw this week. (He skipped Act II of Wednesday night's performance because what preceded it was plainly awful.) Last night's cast was phenomenal and completely deserved the standing ovation and enthusiastic response from every corner of the house - though it appeared less than half sold.

Unfortunately, Haglund never observed anything like this video clip from ABT's Colases James Whiteside, Cory Stearns or Herman Cornejo. Keep in mind that as good as Steven McCrae's Colas is in this clip, he doesn't rise to the level of David Wall Blair in 1960. Given the fact that La Fille mal gardee was on the ABT schedule for a year and that the technical requirements would have been no surprise to any of the dancers, we don't understand why ABT's men fell so short in this section.  It wasn't just the paddle turns that were a problem this week. No one seemed to be able to battement the second leg in a tour jete in order to find that beautiful split position. There seems to be a widespread breakout of "I'm OK, you're OK" circulating among the principal men these days. Not OK.

 

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ABT's sad marketing

Haglund compared the amounts spent on advertising for ABT and NYCB (from the Form 990) and found that NYCB spends nearly $1 million more per year than ABT spends. Also, they have that crack media team that comes up with fabulous ideas that they can actually execute.

The new slick docu-promo videos that have recently surfaced on ABT's social media are being produced by the Lubow agency who says that we will get a new video for each week of the Met season. So, that's something to look forward to - be thankful for small blessings. But the videos are aimed at the core audience which is already closely following the company and buying tickets. Why not aim some slick marketing at the Met Opera audience or the NY Phil audience? As a crossover audience member of both, Haglund knows that there is opportunity that isn't being leveraged.

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Lurking

How interesting that Liudmila  Konovalova has been seen out and about visiting New York. She graduated from the Bolshoi school with Semionova, and likewise, didn't join the Bolshoi company but a smaller Russian company where she quickly moved up the ranks before heading for Germany where Semionova was dancing. Same feet, same body type, same face. In case anyone asks, we don't need her at ABT. Not in a pinch, not as guest, not as a substitute, not for any reason. ABT has plenty of its own dancers who need opportunities and can competently pick up a performance if need be.

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Moving forward

Houston Ballet First Soloist Aaron Robison is set to join San Francisco Ballet as a Principal. His Des Grieux to Yuriko Kajiya's Manon was a highlight of last year - second only to Stella Abrera's Giselle. We've been keen on Robison since Angel Corella brought him to New York with the Corella/Barcelona Ballet several years ago. San Francisco balletomanes will adore this dancer.

 

Comments

[melponeme_k]

The marketing for ABT is awful. They need to stop relying on family friends and dancer's personal managers. They need to hire the same company NYCB uses and rework their image from ground up.

They keep playing this story that no one is interested in their dancers. It is because THEY aren't interested in their own dancers. They don't follow up on good performances.

Case in point, when NYCB read all the reviews of everyone lauding Indiana Woodward in Bournonville Divertissements last year, they followed it up this year with casting her as the Sylph. Building recognizable dancers is as easy as that. Now how many times has ABT let audience favorites slip into obscurity with no followup? This year Arron Scott was everyone's breakout favorite in La Fille, will ABT do due diligence and pick up this momentum? I doubt it.

[Haglund]

Thanks, melponeme_k. All good points.

[Haglund Fan]

I second melponeme_k!! And whatever happened to the new CEO or Executive Director? I have yet to see any news of her except for the appearance from the few gala social media posts! I love NYCB website that it gives equal opportunity/visiblity to all the dancers! It just looks "happier" for whatever that means, as old as I am I feel as if the ABT site is SOS! Tired looking and the NYCB looks so fresh! I love the short videos of many of the dancers, even the corps! It is so nice to "get to know" them individually. Maybe ABT should take their lead and put their money to good use?

[Diana]

I'm selfishly soooo sad about Robison because we will miss him so much here in Houston!

[Haglund]

I can totally understand that, Diana. Maybe a trip to SF is in your future.

[Angelica Smith]

Haglund, I'm still scratching my head over what is going on with Cory Stearns. I saw him in a studio rehearsal jumping as high and turning as well as Steven McCrae in the video. Truly, Cory was phenomenal. I thereupon bought a ticket to his first Colas because I wanted to see the very same thing again and on stage. What a disappointment! His performance was completely underwhelming and I don't understand why. He seemed to be happy and smiling, but he wasn't delivering the goods. I know he's capable. Why doesn't he show us?

[Haglund]

I don't know, Angelica. It was his debut. Maybe he hasn't had time to internalize everything yet. Wait to see what happens tomorrow when he dances Conrad in Le Corsaire, a role he first danced in 2008. Maybe he will pull out his big dancing then. If he doesn't....

[Diana]

Indeed, Haglund! A getaway to San Francisco would be quite nice, so I'll have to go check out SFB's upcoming season.

In other HB news, this beautiful Giselle ad featuring Yuriko (https://www.instagram.com/p/BFXgqFYu1_U/) is up on the side of the Wortham and on billboards around town. They just posted casting, and I'm hoping to snag a ticket to one of her shows.

[Beldame]

Thanks for your thoughts on ABT's Fille. I think you meant David Blair in 1960 (not David Wall) ...

[Haglund]

Yes, indeed. Thanks for the correction. I had Mayerling on the brain, again.

[Haglund]

Diana, thanks for the update. I hope you can get a ticket to one of Yuriko's Giselles. She is breathtaking in this role. I had to travel from NY to Chicago and to Detroit in order to see her performances. They were so vivid that I can still summon them up from memory whenever I need a Giselle fix.

I wasn't able to open that Instagram link. I think IG has been messing around with permissions lately.

[Diana]

Whoops, I biffed the link with the parenthesis. This should work: https://www.instagram.com/p/BFXgqFYu1_U/

I saw Yuriko's Giselle last spring at Miller Outdoor, but the experience isn't quite the same as in the theater. I'll be calling the ticket office today to do some exchanges and purchases.