ABT announced its fall 2021 season at the Koch Theater yesterday. It's good to see Giselle on the bill. The production should shine in the theater, but as always with ABT, it depends on the casting. It's time for the new generation at ABT to take over Giselle -- and Albrecht.
As for the repertory schedule, the Rhythm & Rapture program may as well be named Imitative & Cutsey. It's a skip. The other rep program holds more promise. It will be exciting to see Lauren Lovette's La Follia Variations in beautiful costume. Pillar of Fire hasn't been done very much during McKenzie's tenure; so, it's hard to predict what kind of shape it will be in or whether Tudor's subtleties will play to the up & coming ballet audience that needs to see more literal sexual imagery and social outrage on stage.
And don't be surprised if after the pre-curtain cellphone announcement, we hear "ABT acknowledges that the ground on which we dance was stolen from the Lenape Tribe by bad ole white people like you" because we all need to be lectured about social injustice by a bunch of ballet dancers.
Haglund, the last time I saw Pillar of Fire I think it was Julie Kent as Hagar. Julie Kent is the dancer I could never recognize on stage because for me she was a complete cipher, the epitome of 'no there there'. Gomes was the standout in that cast. I love Pillar of Fire, but unless the casting speaks to me I'm not buying a ticket, not is this day and age. My memories of Sallie Wilson will have to sustain me.
Giselle is my favorite ballet, but again, unless there is casting that excites me ABT is not getting my money. I do think the State Theater is a much better venue for it than the opera house, so I will probably succumb to one viewing in the end. Who am I kidding, I can't resist Giselle. LOL.
Posted by: Ellen | July 22, 2021 at 12:48 PM
Glad to see Giselle on tap for ABT this fall. While there’s no casting yet, it’s reassuring for some of us to NOT see Fakerina listed among the season’s principals! Sadly, some of the best ABT Giselles of recent memory are no longer with the company but...how about Skylar Brandt?
Biggest WTH item among the mixed bill ballets: ANOTHER TONY BENNETT BY LANG??? Zzzzz. 😴
Posted by: Jeannette | July 22, 2021 at 02:46 PM
True, Jeannette -- how did I miss that the Fakerina wasn't listed?! Maybe she's going to exit in the spring season with McKenzie, perhaps? Dueling Farewells with a house full of dry eyes.
Yes to Skylar's Giselle. Saw it in D.C. with Ahn. With six Giselle performances, we could conceivably get two new Giselles. Although she's been pegged as a Myrta, I think Shevchenko could be an awesome Giselle. We haven't seen her fail to succeed brilliantly in any principal role she's tried thus far. And Trenary is due for a shot at Giselle as well. We need a few new Albrechts, too: Hoven, Tamm, Gorak, Klein, Gonzales. They'd all be fabulous, just fabulous.
Posted by: Haglund | July 22, 2021 at 04:16 PM
ABT has got to bring back some better rep. It's great that they are doing Pillar of Fire. We need more Bruch Violin Concerto, Petit Mort, Ballet Imperial, etc.
Posted by: Elizabeth | July 22, 2021 at 07:43 PM
Elizabeth, I totally agree.
There may be some relationship problem between ABT and the person who controls the rights to Tippet's Bruch Violin Concerto. Maybe when McKenzie finally leaves, the next director will be able to obtain the rights to perform what is unquestionably Tippet's greatest work.
Bruch Violin Concerto, Petit Mort, and Ballet Imperial would make an outstanding triple bill that would sell out every night. What a shame that these ballets are not anywhere in the current rep.
Posted by: Haglund | July 22, 2021 at 07:53 PM
Yes, yes, yes to your triple bill suggestion Haglund. Something there for everyone.....without the cutesy, trendy vanity stuff that's been cropping up during these past few years...ABT was supposedly going to bring "Lilac Garden" back for a mixed bill for the cancelled Spring/Summer Met season this past May/June. Too bad they're seeming to abandon it when the full cast that did it at Vail (Teuscher/Stearns/Shevchenko/Agoudine), are all available.....
Re: A "Giselle" with Ms. Shevchenko as the lead. I recall seeing both still photos as well as a brief video clip of her rehearsing the role at the Mariinsky studios as well as her performing the Act 2 pas de deux at an outside venue in a western USA location. No doubt she's got the technical chops to do it. it would be very interesting to see how she tackles the 'vulnerable peasant girl' aspect of the part when her current rep involves strong, bold characters, save for her Odette which has already shown promise in that 'vulnerable' direction....
If anyone cares to search, you can find video of Clark Tippet's work at an obscure (well, obscure to me, anyway), site called POBA/Where the Arts Live and type in his name. So much promise from him as a choreographer before he sadly passed on. The piece "S.P.E.B.S.Q.S.A." is particularly meaningful to me because my dad sang in a barbershop chorus and the live quartet singing in the pit makes me both a bit teary and comforted that he would've loved this piece.....especially considering that he wasn't a ballet fan. Takes me back to when I'd try to convince him dancing in a company was very much worth the time, energy, pain (along with not a much of a salary), that I was expending....the old adage agree to disagree was used a lot at the end of those conversations....but yes, he was proud I followed through with what I was doing....Good times, indeed.....
Posted by: Beth CP | July 26, 2021 at 12:59 PM
Beth, thanks so much for the info about the POBA website. Here's the link: https://poba.org/poba_artists/clark-tippet/
Posted by: Haglund | July 27, 2021 at 09:30 PM
Big news:
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/26/arts/dance/american-ballet-theater-kara-medoff-barnett.html
Even more big changes at ABT. Wasn’t Medoff-Barnett the force behind the “popsification” in the newest ABT rep, such as the Lang/Tony Bennett & Dorrance stuff? If so , good riddance! Fly her to the moon! More pure classicism!
Posted by: Jeannette | July 28, 2021 at 08:34 AM
Hopefully, a full cleaning of the house will make way for ABT to get back to ballet and get out of politics.
Posted by: Haglund | July 28, 2021 at 08:53 AM
"Barnett will be leaving to lead social impact marketing and strategy at First Republic Bank and develop the recently established First Republic Foundation."
Sounds like a great fit!
Posted by: Diana | July 28, 2021 at 02:38 PM
She has been a (presumably) paid spokesperson for First Republic for at least a year. She's shown up in their ads quite a bit.
Posted by: Haglund | July 28, 2021 at 02:55 PM