ABT's fall season 😞

How curious that ABT simply left Herman Cornejo off the Fall listing of principal dancers without an explanation. Three days after the close of the season, he's scheduled to perform at City Center as part of the Vail Dance Festival/ReMixNYC (11/3-6). Wow, that makes Prodigal Son a lot less appealing. A lot. It's also cause to worry whether Herman might not appear on the Paris tour thereby jeopardizing Sarah Lane's opportunity to dance Aurora. Wow, again. Exactly what McKenzie may have prayed for - an opportunity to stick Sarah and her A-1 Aurora in the closet.

While we are extremely grateful for being spared Kochetkova, why on earth does ABT need the import Alban Lendorf for the fall season or any season?

Not buying any of this. If that Paris schedule goes up and Sarah has been denied an Aurora, Haglund may simply skip the whole fall season - and he invites others to join him. Pennsylvania Ballet has Ben Stevenson's gorgeous production of Cinderella playing at the same time. Everyone should see that regardless. Hopefully the new Principal Dancer, Sterling Baca, will get a Prince gig in it.

ABT should have just announced their 2017 Met schedule and gotten the bad news over with. Our UIEX is pretty rich with tips, although they are sometimes a bit hard to decipher -- like WWII Russian spy notes being passed as wadded up dinner napkins.

For 2016-17 there is no MacMillan ballet on the program. Zilch. Nada. Niente. Rien. Thank goodness Giselle will flutter back from the grave. Swan Lake, Le Corsaire, that blasted Cockerel again, Don Q, Onegin and a rep week. There is still one TBA full length, but don't hold your breath for MacMillan or La Bayadere.

So there you go.

But here's a little good news. You can skip the second spring week of ABT and run down to Washington DC where the Washington Ballet (the brochure) will be presenting Ashton's The Dream and Tudor's Lilac Garden in the big opera house. That promises to be a big whopping event. And everyone should keep their eyes on WB's big week of Giselles in March.

 

Comments

[Haglund Fan]

Just read the news and indeed disturbing! :( If things turn sour for Sarah due to this...and I would hate to wish this...but she should consider joining her friends south at WB or PB! Seem to me that they are doing exciting things than up here!

[Zoot]

Well, hooray for Giselle and Onegin (somehow I've never seen ABT's production of the latter). I imagine Stella and Sarah would make superlative Tatianas.

I love a good Don Q, but the current principal roster is short on any Kitris I would really want to see. They will of course give Boyleston and Seo and a guest artist most of the performances because *facepalm*

Do we believe the current state of the corps can pull off a proper La Bayadere? Is Alban Lendorf a real person? If we can't actually enjoy most of the performances, can the drama of incompetence sustain us much longer?

So many questions.

[melponeme_k]

I'm hoping the lack of Herman Cornejo is just one of those casting mistakes/mixups that ABT continually experiences. But if not, you are right, it doesn't look good for Lane's Aurora. Unless by some miracle Joseph Gorak is matched with her.

Also it may not be Cornejo's scheduling decision. The AD has tied Kochetkova to him as his de facto partner (SB the exception). If she can't appear for the fall, does that mean he just doesn't dance with anyone else?

I will happily join you in boycotting ABT Fall performances if Lane is not cast in Paris as Aurora.

[Haglund Fan]

Also forgot to add this thought ... guess the board loves these ballets: Le Corsaire and that blasted Cockerel! With this seasons lack of interest one would think those would be shelved for a while!! This season is looking less and less exciting and I have to wonder what is going on with the artistic/board?!!

[LLF]

Haglund, didn't you suggest recently that Don Q would be part of the Fall season because Copeland wants to dance Kitri and her manager has been pestering the AD about it? And that she's also yearning to dance Giselle, her dream role? As if her Swan Lake mash-up wasn't enough to set your teeth on edge. I can assure you, these are all performances I would avoid most definitely.

[Haglund]

Hi, LLF.

Copeland definitely said that she wanted to dance the role and sees herself as Kitri. No word from her on whether she sees herself doing fouettes, hops on pointe, Plisetksaya jumps, or other assorted unimportant details of virtuosity. What a sham ABT will become if they permit her to dance a rural version of Don Q on the Metropolitan Opera Stage. The Q certainly does not stand for Quality. I don't know what her agent is doing about getting her casting these days, but there don't seem to be any obstacles or any pride on the part of McKenzie for maintaining the quality of classics when it comes to Copeland. Her every encounter with white tulle has been a misfire.

[Angelica Smith]

One step forward (Stella), two steps back (Copeland, Boylston).

[Haglund]

That fall rep is too much of the same spread over too long a period. It's only 7 rep pieces (not counting the student piece) spread over 12 performances - continually mixed around like ABT is trying to make the boneheaded ticketbuyers (us) think each one is a new program.

In the first 12 performance dates at NYCB, they will present 14 or 16 rep pieces depending on whether you consider Jewels one or three pieces. And they don't re-combine them so you have to buy something you've already seen and don't want to see again. That's twice as much or more content than ABT whose artistic planning is simply stupid.

[Haglund Fan]

This sounds like a long dragged out season Haglund :( I am just curious who makes the selections other than the artistic? Board? Marketing?

Definitely agree with you Haglund, that NYCB has better planning!

[Haglund]

Dunno, H.F. My assumption has always been that the AD makes the selections and that his overall yearly plans are fiscally approved by the board. I may be wrong, however.

[Angelica Smith]

What is wrong with this picture? NYCB has just finished a three-week 20-ballet tour at the Theatre du Chatelet in Paris and ABT will be presenting a one-week single ballet tour the first week of September. It looks like NYCB has three times as much to offer Europeans as ABT. Apart from the fact of full-length v. shorter ballets, I hypothesize that if Hallberg were still dancing with ABT the schedule would include a second week and a second ballet, at the very least.

[kallima]

In addition to that, NYCB's performance on Saturday will be (live)streamed via Arte, a French/German TV and internet channel. So not only does it offer something to Parisian audiences, but also to those throughout France and Germany and possibly Europe (I just don't know where the geoblocking/location thing extends) who can't make it to the Chatelet. Would be a surprise if anything like that happened at ABT.

[Haglund]

Kallima, thanks much!

"Cette video n'est pas disponible dans votre pays" was the message I got when I opened the page. :-(

Kallima, I hope you will watch it and let us know what you think.

[Haglund]

Angelica, I think the answer is that ABT doesn't have a lot of rep (other than Ratmansky's) that they dance well AND would differentiate them from the other companies that pass through Paris. How many times can they drag Fancy Free around the world? It would be nice to see them dust off Bruch Violin Concerto, Green Table, Fall River Legend, and Dark Elegies.

[Angelica Smith]

I agree, Haglund, but, in addition, they don't have a core [sic] group of principal dancers to show off to the world. One could say that NYCB presents "ballets" and that, at least at one time, ABT showcased "dancers," the likes of Corella, Ananiashvili, and so on. ABT wouldn't need to have a rep if it had dancers of that quality today.

[Haglund]

Most likely true. If they had a strong core of principals, they could even take Giselle or Swan Lake into Paris. Risky, yes, but as you said, if they had the dancers...

[Haglund Fan]

As of this morning some of us know that Hamrick won't likely be dancing this season, just read the news and not sure if anyone else saw this: https://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/jul/15/mick-jagger-to-become-father-for-the-eighth-time-at-the-age-of-72

[Haglund]

H.F., Thanks much for the tip, but UGHHHHHHH I'm depressed.

[Haglund Fan]

You are welcome Haglund, personally I'm not sure how I feel in general about this, very silly of her, and not just directed at her but all young ladies doing what she did or thinking of doing the same, but I guess to each their own, especially after Anna Nicole Smith nothing is a surprise to me these days!

[Kallima]

Watched the NYCB stream last night - in case someone can figure a way around the geoblocking, the recorded performance will remain available for a while.
Unfortunately, I came home late so I could only tune in by the time "La valse" had almost ended. Still I was instantly impressed by the piece and the performance. Ramasar had the right kind of presence, captivating and seductive but also menacing under the surface - I felt this was the right mix for his role. The female part was also very well danced, starting out light-hearted but then realising the grave situation, as it was too late and death imminent.

As for Symphony in C - this was my first viewing of the piece, probably hard to imagine for New York folks. ;) Therefore I can't go into detail about individual performances as I am not familiar with the choreography and how it's usually danced. All in all, I liked how many things were going on at the same time but it did not have the overwhelming business all around the stage that I do not like in a lot of recent choreography. The first movement had many pas de chat, cleanly executed. Very likeable how the bouncy energy of the music was reflected in the dancers from the third movement, and what I found remarkable is how Balanchine did not just use steps that are as complicated as possible but also used simple steps to great effect - like the relevés in sync in the third movement. A minor point I didn't like was how the lack of stiffness in the tutus looked not aesthetically pleasing to my eye in the penchés of the second movement - skirt flapping upside down all over the upper body of the ballerina.

I'm going to watch the remaining two ballets and the first half of "La valse" later next week.

[Haglund]

Kallima,

Thanks much for the report. Many of us stateside have expressed displeasure in how the white tutus in Symphony in C flop over to expose the ballerinas' rear ends when she penches. But overall, the costumes which are only a few years old are gorgeous and glamorously studded with Swarovski crystals.

I'm glad to hear that you liked Symphony in C. It is one of my favorite pieces when danced by NYCB. If you are looking for the casting for the program, it is here at the moment: http://www.nycballet.com/NYCB/media/NYCBMediaLibrary/PDFs/Press/Casting/NYCB-Casting_Paris-July-11-16-2016_062216.pdf Just scroll down to the Saturday evening performance.

Stay well and safe, Kallima.

H.

[Svetlana]

Perhaps, Herman was replaced (this word does not feel appropriate!) by Jeffrey Cirio, and we'll see Sarah performing in SB with him? Crazier decisions have been made!

[Haglund]

Possibly, Svetlana, since both Sarah and Jeffrey Cirio are on Ulbricht's "Stars" tour in August and presumably dancing together.

[melponeme_k]

I was thinking recently that Lane would be given to Cirio. At this point I think Lane has danced with every male dancer in the company and still manages to look good and get nice responses from her partners. She even manages to get Simkin to wake up a bit and look around, so something has to be said for that.

But it seems as soon as she gets a rapport going with anyone, McKenzie throws her into the arms of a new dancer.

It's for this reason that I don't get myself excited over partnerships involving her work. I know it won't last due to sheer spite.