Attention, mes amis Parisiens

The Frenchman, Alexandre Hammoudi, will be dancing the principal role of Désiré in ABT's Sleeping Beauty on Tuesday, September 6 opposite the exquisite could-be-French-too-if-she-wanted Stella Abrera as Aurora.

Hammoudi was born in Paris and was the pupil of Paris Opera Ballet's great Etoile Max Bozzoni.

Saturday, September 10 at 2:30pm, Sarah Lane and Herman Cornejo will lead the only performance of the ten with the 100% authentic Petipa styling. By intentional design, they are the only ones who dance in complete accordance with the Stepanov notations.

Ce sont des performances à ne pas manquer.

 

Comments

[Haglund]

More disappointing news about Sarah! :( Not sure if you saw the latest news on ABT site, looks like Sarah has only ONE show in Paris and to me she is the ultimate Aurora!! Looks like the board wins out again!

Posted by: Haglund Fan | July 26, 2016 at 12:54 PM
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Of course, that is disappointing. What is a greater disappointment is that principal Stella Abrera only got one Aurora whereas soloist Cassandra Trenary got two. It's the old "Oh, Stella, you're just too important to us in your secondary role of Lilac for us to give you the principal spotlight that you deserve." It's also clear that ABT is not going to present the authentic styling on opening night and instead will go for the snap, crackle, and pop. Oh, to be a fly on the wall when Pierre Lacotte opines on this production, it's so-called authenticity, and some of those who are dancing principal roles.

Posted by: Haglund | July 26, 2016 at 02:13 PM
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Oh definitely agree with this Haglund! So upsetting overall about Stella too :( Should have included her in my earlier post, but again it seems either the board, or whomever the powers that be, made these IMO big mistakes! Agree with the "snap, crackle and pop" too along with her partner ... what a travesty all this has become, I know many may disagree but I have tried to enjoy their dancing yet each time I walk away with zero feeling of any emotion! They maybe good technically but I don't see the emotional take that I get from Stella or Sarah! Unfortunately, this may be also a sign for another promotion next spring that will not include Sarah :( Oh how I wishing even more for the Baryshnikov days more and more :((

Posted by: Haglund Fan | July 26, 2016 at 02:46 PM
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[Silvie]

Reaction: the same I've had for most of the past 4-5 years when it comes to anything done by ABT "well, that bites".
Don't get me wrong, it's great for Ms. Trenary. But, as wonderful as she is, you can't possibly tell me that this pair (Trenary/Whiteside) is THE premiere couple that should be showcased on not only opening night but also closing night.
I think Abrera/Gomes would have been perfect for those spots. Even Murphy/Gomes (she's not my favorite Aurora, but you can always count on her to deliver; and Gomes, well he's Gomes, 'nuff said).

I hope Sarah is enjoying the Bolle tour, and I hope she shines in the Stars of American Ballet tour as well. If she's not going to get the respect she deserves by ABT she might as well have a good time in her other gigs.

[Haglund]

I agree, Silvie. Obviously, McKenzie's decision to give Sarah only one Aurora and make it on the very last day of the tour in a freakin' matinee has to do with his efforts to appease Millepied's grudge against her for calling out Natalie Portman as a liar when Portman claimed credit for dancing that Sarah actually did.

Who will be surprised this fall when Sarah either is completely excluded from Millepied's Daphnis and Chloe or perhaps even made to dance a corps role.

Every time Sarah gets the short end of the stick and Millepied is in the picture, we should loudly remind ourselves and everyone else of how he slighted her to wrongly plump up his wife's reputation. It is always such a disappointment to see that McKenzie's own stick is so limp when it comes to standing up for the honest, hardworking, deserving dancers in ABT.

[Rose]

Wow, this is a huge insult to Sarah Lane (and Stella of course). One performance and it's the matinee. Newer soloist has 2 performances in the most high profile timeslots. I hope she is seriously exploring other employment at this point. Her career at ABT is dead in the water.

[JTW]

So frustrating! Millepied really has no legs of his own to stand on. A failure as an AD and not an interesting choreographer either. Interestingly, I recently read an article about correspondence between his wife and writer Jonathan Safran Foer that should give ol' Benny some pause.

[Haglund]

Rose, a major crime in all of this is that Sarah and Cornejo are the only ones who dance the originally notated Petipa version of the ballet, and McKenzie is hiding it until the very end of the run.

[Haglund]

True, JTW. I like the last line of this article about the lost emails: "Foer might hate eating animals, but he’s fine with feeding us bullshit." https://theringer.com/did-jonathan-safran-foer-really-inexplicably-lose-natalie-portmans-emails-91d4e5f7ad7#.p7r15r2qx

Natalie is making her directorial debut and releasing a new book. Does anybody believe that she'll credit her ghost director & ghost author?

[Haglund Fan]

Thanks for the reminder as I've totally forgot about Sarah's issue with Millepied! That would be devastating if you are right Haglund :( I may just skip that performance if so in protest! And agree about the insult this is for two prima ballerinas in my books: Gillian and Stella!! Even if they're trying to get the to next generation of dancers ready, this is IMO not the way to do it! I can't see an opening and closing night go to a newly appointed dancer & especially one who isn't a true Aurora!

Then again with a bit of digging... ABT seems to have given this young lady a powerful board/trustee as her sponsor, and as you have shown Haglund that they do have a bit more power than others!? I may be wrong but it does lead me to wonder! Sad and mad for Sarah, Stella and Gillian after all they've given to us!

[SZ]

Perhaps the scheduling for SB in Paris not of disrespect to Sarah Lane. She is currently touring with Roberto Bolle's group and then she tours with Danny Ulbricht's "Stars" group. Sarah is plenty busy! Perhaps she needs a little break before Paris.