Haglund's Heel

observations 12-7

The Aussies are generating some excitement and rightly getting credit for David Hallberg's return to the stage next week after his 2+ year absence due to injury. He debuts in Coppelia with The Australian Ballet at the beautiful Sydney Opera House on December 13th with subsequent performances on the 16th, 19th, and 21st.

Here is a picture of Hallberg by Australian photographer Nic Walker which reflects what Two-A-Day 2-hour strength training sessions have created. True, the shadowy lighting helps, but he certainly looks more fit than we can remember seeing him. According to this article in the Canberra Times, Hallberg has been running stairs, too. (We require video.)

We're looking forward to seeing Hallberg's "new normal" after his slow-simmer recovery in the idyllic South Pacific while working with such awesome coaches as David McAllister, Fiona Tonkin, Steven Heathcoate, and TAB rehab team headed by Sue Mayes. You may recall that Fiona helped create Stella Abrera's Giselle a couple of years ago. Hopefully, someone somewhere in the world will do the ballet universe a favor and finally put these two together for a performance of the greatest ballet ever made.

Let's hope Hallberg keeps up with those Two-A-Days for years to come.

––––––––––––––––––––

Gelsey Kirkland Ballet opens its run of 12 performances of The Nutcracker tomorrow night at her Arts Center in Dumbo. New last year, the production conceived by Michael Chernov and Gelsey is loaded with charm, creativity, and some of the most classically-respectful dancing in the city.

The theater is generally easy to get to: the F-train stops at the top of the hill (York St stop) and then it's a short walk down to the arts center. It's right next door to the Brooklyn Roasting Company where you'll find excellent brew blended by some of Brooklyn's famously cool & confident coffee hipsters.

Get your tickets here for performances December 8 through December 18th.

––––––––––––––––––––

Francis Patrelle's The Yorkville Nutcracker opens this weekend, too, at the Kaye Playhouse at Hunter College with guest artists Abi Stafford and Adrian Danchig-Waring. Don't miss this inventive, long-admired production which is set in Old New York with a collection of characters who really ran this city back in the day.

Performances are December 8th through December 11th. Tickets available here.

The Yorkville Nutcracker Christmas Eve takes place in Gracie Mansion on the Upper East Side, the official residence of our city's mayor. If you've never seen Gracie Mansion, here's an artistic rendering that you might not want to miss:

This year's New York Botanical Garden Holiday Train Show at the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory is a fantastic G-scale layout that winds through New York's famous architecture created with all natural materials such as sticks, leaves, seeds, and acorns from the garden.

See the Statue of Liberty, Gracie Mansion (pictured right - click to enlarge), Rockefeller Center, Brooklyn Bridge, National Arts Club, Yankee Stadium, Immigration Station, Grand Central, Macy's, NY Public Library, Chrysler Building among 150 NYC landmarks all created in miniature with these wonderful natural materials. It's pure genius.

You need to get tickets in advance. Haglund recommends joining the NYBG so that you can get in free and enjoy everything that this fantastic garden offers. The MetroNorth train stops across the street from the NYBG gate.

Here's a 7-second clip of the action that awaits you at the Holiday Train Show in The Bronx:

We can't imagine that you weren't mesmerized by that clip. If it didn't grab you, however, how about this not-so-little crab cake resting atop a medallion of guacamole with dabs of exotic mustard. Note the berry mojito closely guarding the plate. All of this is available at the Hudson Garden Grill at NYBG which is within the Ross Conifer Arboretum just a two-minute walk to or from the Train Show. Reservations recommended:

 

 

 

observations 11-21

The Sunshine Cinema on 143 E. Houston Street in Manhattan will be showing the Royal Ballet's Anastasia tonight at 7pm. Marianela Nunez has the title role the role of Kschessinska. This charming historic cinema's days are numbered, unfortunately. While its lease runs through 2018, the property on which it is housed is being primed for a $35 million sale to build a redevelopment project.

––––––––––––––––––––

It was great to hear confirmation of David Hallberg's impending return to the stage in The Australian Ballet's Coppelia in a couple of weeks. Hopefully, that bodes well for ABT's spring season. However, we might have to gouge out our eyes if Hallberg ends up in the one uncast Albrecht opposite ABT's worst (to date) Giselle instead of opposite Gillian Murphy or a second Giselle with Stella Abrera. Stella could do two performances on consecutive nights, easily, and we've been waiting over a decade for their promised pairing in this most important ballet of all time. It would be just as easy to change the Saturday night Giselle casting to one with some integrity. Tickets are simply too expensive to waste money on garbage. Hopefully, ABT will show some respect for the art form and for Hallberg, but don't count on it.

––––––––––––––––––––

Happily, the second week of Nutcracker at New York City Ballet brings the Sugarplum/Cavalier couple of Erica Pereira and Anthony Huxley on Sunday December 4th at 1:00 pm. There aren't many tickets left. This is perhaps Erica's best leading role in ballet to date, and she and Anthony are paired perfectly. The notoriously difficult choreography has rarely been danced more delicately and effortlessly than when Erica steps on stage as the Sugarplum Fairy. Also in the cast will be Ashly Isaacs as Dewdrop, Lauren King in Marzipan, and Harrison Coll debuting as Drosselmeier.

 

Livestream events upcoming

Per the Wall Street Journal, Lincoln Center will run a livestream all-day event on its Facebook page and its constituents' FB pages next Friday, October 7th. The broadcast called From Sunup to Curtain Down will include:

A day in the life of NYCB Principal Megan Fairchild
A visit to SAB
A behind the scenes look at Lincoln Center Theater's production of Falsettos
A visit with actors and directors involved with the New York Film Festival
A pre-performance meeting with Lang Lang who will be banging out Beethoven's PC No. 4 with the NYPhil that night.

Surely if it's going to run all day, there will be a lot more than this. But why can't we find the info on Lincoln Center's FB page or website? Maybe it will show up today.

––––––––––––––––––––

Don't forget the 20-hour livestream of World Ballet Day Day that begins on Tuesday, October 4th. It actually begins late on Monday, October 3th for those of us in the U.S. The Australian Ballet opens the celebration which progresses through Bolshoi Ballet, Royal Ballet, National Ballet of Canada, and concludes with the San Francisco Ballet.

Details and times are on the World Ballet Day Live website from which you can also watch the livestream.  It will broadcast on FB as well.

The regional guest companies invited to participate by the Big Five are Hong Kong Ballet, Queensland Ballet, West Australian Ballet, English National Ballet, Birmingham Royal Ballet, Scottish Ballet, Northern Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Houston Ballet, Boston Ballet, Miami City Ballet, Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo and Nederlands Dans Theater.

Don't forget. Here's the link: WORLD BALLET DAY LIVE

 

Plan a well-earned "sick day" for October 1st

World Ballet Day LIVE is back!

On Wednesday, September 30th, at 7PM Pacific Time, it all starts anew and continues through Thursday, October 1st. Individual schedules and content:

The Australian Ballet - http://worldballetday.com/session/australian-ballet/
Bolshoi Ballet - http://worldballetday.com/session/bolshoi-ballet/
The Royal Ballet - http://worldballetday.com/session/the-royal-ballet/
The National Ballet of Canada - http://worldballetday.com/session/national-ballet-canada/
San Francisco Ballet - http://worldballetday.com/session/san-francisco-ballet/

According to this press release:

This year, World Ballet Day LIVE will include pre-recorded footage from a wide range of regional dance organizations geographically close to the five participating companies. Confirmed companies as of this press date include American Ballet Theatre, Bangarra Dance Theatre, Birmingham Royal Ballet, Boston Ballet, English National Ballet, Hamburg Ballet, Houston Ballet, Les Ballets Jazz de Montréal, National Ballet of China, Nederlands Dans Theater, Northern Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Royal New Zealand Ballet, and Scottish Ballet.
. . . .

Joining The Australian Ballet for guest spots throughout the program will be esteemed fellow dance companies Bangarra Dance Theatre, the Royal New Zealand Ballet, and the National Ballet of China.
. . . .

[During the Royal Ballet segment] A portion of the program will be dedicated to a discussion of the future of ballet in the U.K., with Royal Ballet Director Kevin O'Hare and Directors from Birmingham Royal Ballet, English National Ballet, Northern Ballet, and Scottish Ballet.

World Ballet Day Live – check out the website.

 

Reports from Down Under re: Stella Abrera's Giselle

More Updates (scroll down and see comments)

We'll update as we receive more. This report just into H.H. from Anna C. after the second performance at the Australian Ballet which concluded an hour or two ago:

She was divine. Those arms! That face! That lightness! Didn't hear a block hit the notoriously noisy SOH stage all night. The beginning of the mad scene, huddled in the middle of the stage, tear-inducing.

Act II was beyond beautiful. I have no words.

Thanks, Anna! (She was in Row S and zoomed the camera lens to get this shot of bows.)

––––––––––

4/15 PM Update:

H.H. just got another report in from Joanne A. who saw Stella's second performance. Joanne may be able to forward pictures of the evening's program to us a little later. Here is what she wrote to us:

Well Haglund, what a lovely night from the whole company, the Australian Ballet really can pull off the big classics. But to Stella, her Giselle was light, joyous, flirty and so in love. When she first sat on the bench and let Albrecht (Ty King-Wall) sit beside her, her face was a study of the tension of early attraction. She has the most beautiful arabesque! Sweet, light jumps and what lovely feet she has, and beautiful, beautiful arms. Her hops en pointe down the diagonal were a study in devotion to Albrecht. It seemed to me they had decided to play it as if this was not their first meeting - they were quite openly in love. Her mad scene was nicely played, she found the right kind of dramatic and I felt her betrayal and heartbreak. Albrecht's despair was also real, and he left that final tableaux heartbroken.

Act 2 was beautiful, the combination of Stella's expressive feet peeling away from the floor into those lovely arabesques and developpes with gorgeous arms and upper body makes a romantic tutu perfect for her. The 'dead arms' of Giselle are so hard to get right, but Stella's were light as air. When the morning bell tolled, her love and forgiveness as she wrapped Albrecht in her arms was so poignant. Poor Albrecht, I didn't want her to bourree off the stage into her grave either!

As for the rest of the company, the Peasant Pas de Duex was a picture. Brett Chynoweth and Miwako Kubota danced right on through a couple of nervous spots and in all were just lovely. I don't know who's coaching the male dancers right now, but both Brett and Ty King-Wall landed some excellent jumps. Clean batterie and great elevation. Ty's series of triple tours followed by seemingly endless entrechats had the normally reticent Sydney audience very happy when he finally collapsed in his Act 2 exhaustion. Valerie Tereshchenko as Myrtha comanded the stage and I hope this turned out to be a promotion performance for her. So nice to see this depth of talent emerging in the company. Brett, Miwako and Valerie are definitely three to watch.

All in all a performance to remember and I'm so glad I managed to make it along. I really hope you get to see Stella's Giselle one day soon!

Joanne, thank you so much for your report. We're all dying here. Just dying.

––––––––––

4/16 PM Update

How nice it is that there is one ABT soloist who is garnering praise and accolades for her actual dancing and artistry this week.

From Australian dance critic Valerie Lawson:

Stillness and speed, spine chills and tears: Stella Abrera triumphs as Giselle

Stella Abrera, guesting for the Australian Ballet as Giselle, gave an extraordinary performance this week, dancing the role with such subtlety and nuance that her transition from a naïve young woman to a spirit was a joy to watch.

Abrera moved from playfulness to modesty, from fragility to frenzy, and finally to a state of grief so intense in the mad scene that her depiction was one of the most moving, tear-inducing I’ve ever seen.

. . . .

Her stillness, as well as her speed, was a major factor in her performance.

As she learns the truth about the deceitful Albrecht, she stands still for what seems like a very long time. Her back is curled over, facing away from the audience, her legs placed in an unballetic position in what could be a moment from Mats Ek’s contemporary and gangly Giselle.

. . . .

She was promoted to the rank of soloist at American Ballet Theatre in 2001 but why she is still a soloist and not a principal is a puzzle.

Much thanks to Valerie Lawson for such an eloquent review.

What a crime to all of ballet that an artist who is deemed brilliant in Giselle internationally cannot dance the role in her own country with her own company while an artist who cannot execute the iconic steps and convey the characters of Swan Lake in tryout after tryout is handed the principal role on a silver platter on the home stage.

What a cesspool of corrupt influence American Ballet Theatre has become.

 

She's breaking their hearts in rehearsal

The Australian Ballet has posted more Kate Longley photos of our Stella Abrera in rehearsal for her performances of Giselle on April 13th and 15th opposite AB principal Ty King-Wall. The Aussies say on their FB page that Stella "has been breaking our hearts even in rehearsal!"

It is madness to deny ABT's audiences this Giselle:

With coach Fiona Tonkin:

With Ty King-Wall:

Photos: Kate Longley
 

Classical form counts

This evening The Australian Ballet kindly published on their social media this lovely photo by Kate Longley of our favorite Giselle's arabesque penche. They say she's "divine". Yup, we know it to be true.

Photo of Stella Abrera by Kate Longley

observations 4/3

Stella Abrera will be Calliope to Roberto Bolle's Apollo with the Los Angeles Philharmonic at Walt Disney Concert Hall on November  27th, 28th and 29th in a program entitled Dudamel & Bolle. Devon Teuscher and Hee Seo will dance Polyhymnia and Terpsichore. Subscriptions go on sale April 7th, and single ticket sales begin on August 23rd.

Meanwhile, Down Under in Sydney – Come on H.H. Team 6 B.A.D, what's going on down there?!

 

––––––––––

 

West Siders in Manhattan are very excited about the anticipated takeover of the Whitney Museum of American Art from the East Side. Our new Whitney, another curious design by Italian starchitect Renzo Piano, opens on May 1st. It certainly looks better than the Pez Candy Dispenser that Piano designed for the new NYT headquarters, doesn't it?

The museum sits between the Hudson River and The High Line in Chelsea's Meatpacking District. It will include 50,000 square feet of indoor gallery space and 13,000 square feet of outdoor exhibition space that faces the High Line.

All of the construction workers get a free year's membership to the museum.

Next up for the West Side's development is our new Culture Shed which we reported about on the blog two years ago. Since then, excitement has picked up and there is even a Wikipedia entry for it. Foundation work is already underway, and full construction will begin very soon.

The new artistic director of the Culture Shed is Alex Poots. He is the Founding Artistic Director of the Manchester International Festival in the UK and the acting Artistic Director of the Park Avenue Armory here in Manhattan.

The Culture Shed has the beginnings of a website, and now is the time to bookmark it.

 

It's a juicy Monday morning here on the blog

London's Daily Mail spotted Mick & Melanie climbing into a limo in Manhattan recently. Oh, this hurts. It's not a good time for one of Haglund's favorite ballerinas to be distracted. Preparations for ABT's Met Season are about to move into full swing – maybe Mick is Melanie's warm-up swing.

Anyway, this is an entertaining read, particularly the comments. One reader noted that Mick has a face like a map of Iraq while another wondered how it felt to be with a guy who has to use more hair colour than you do. Tsk, tsk, tsk.

Haglund wishes that Melanie and a few of his other favorites like Courtney Lavine, Tom Forster and Leann Underwood would pack up and move to London to dance. Yes, it always seems like the grass is greener on the other side of the fence, but really, right now, where is it more parched and lifeless than at ABT?

Speaking of London - Osipova is injured again and had to withdraw from rehearsals for a week and performances of Balanchine's The Four Temperaments at the Royal Ballet. What - they wouldn't create a Fifth Temperament for her?

So Osipova is injured and Olga Smirnova is STILL injured. Yet, McKenzie is still selling tickets as though Smirnova is going to perform in La Bayadere during the Met Season. Oh heck, maybe she'll dance in soft slippers – ok? If she doesn't at least dance La Bayadere in soft slippers, how will McKenzie be able to make a splashy announcement that she's a new ABT principal thereby avoiding the promotions of the company's authentic classical stars, Stella Abrera and Sarah Lane?

At what point will consumers begin complaining to the New York Attorney General about ABT's yearly fraudulent selling of performances by artists when it is unreasonable to believe they will dance? If anyone is slightly interested, here's the link: http://www.ag.ny.gov/consumer-frauds/Filing-a-Consumer-Complaint.

The full casting for Alessandra Ferri's return to the Royal Ballet in Wayne MacGregor's new Woolf Whistles Works has been announced, and RB-omanes are wondering aloud why the company's principals are all in the first cast.

To our faithful readers in Sydney, Australia: Haglund hopes that you will get some good bootleg vids of our Stella Abrera as Giselle in The Australian Ballet's performances at the Sydney Opera House on April 13th and April 15th matinee. We'll pay good ole Yankee dollars for them.

 

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.