Haglund's Heel

Sarah & Angel – Swan Lake rehearsal

Here's a little video of Sarah Lane rehearsing Swan Lake with Angel Corella.  They look so beautiful together.  The Spanish press has been fairly excited about Sarah's "Black Swan" connection, and it sounds like she was grilled pretty thoroughly on it in this interview.  The accompanying article in Spanish is here.

Also, Angel has changed the name of his company to Ballet de Barcelona because it has just relocated there from Castillia and Leon.

 

 

Post Update with Additional Info:

Here's a link to another article and interview with Sarah.  The Google translation to English is rough, but a couple things ring loud and clear.  Sarah notes McKenzie's preference for tall men in leading roles and the corresponding limitations it presents for the smaller women in the company, and she echoes frustration with losing opportunities to guest artists.

 

Good Luck, Sarah!

In a few hours, ABT's Sarah Lane will debut as Odette/Odile in Angel Corella's production of Swan Lake in Barcelona, Spain with the Corella Ballet.  We wish her the best of luck, and know that she will knock it out of the ballpark.  Here's hoping that we get to see her perform these roles somewhere in the U.S. soon!

Once again, thank you, Angel!

How odd that ABT can celebrate on the scrolling news on the front of its website that Marcelo Gomes is guesting at the Royal Ballet in The Dream, but when its soloists land huge opportunites (Lane in Swan Lake with Corella Ballet; Abrera in Sleeping Beauty with the Royal New Zealand Ballet), ABT completely ignores them.  Who understands this?

 

Sarah Lane WILL BE Odette/Odile - just not here

Even though we have more than enough reasons to keep on loving and idolizing Angel Corella, he just keeps on giving us more.

Angel is going to put Sarah Lane front and center on his Barcelona stage as Odette/Odile in his company's production of Swan Lake next week!  From the Spanish newspaper Pais Cataluna:

Sarah Lane, bailarina solista del American Ballet Theatre, será la artista invitada del Corella Ballet para la primera función de El lago de los cisnes, que la compañía del bailarín español ofrecerá entre el 9 y el 12 de febrero en el Gran Teatro del Liceo de Barcelona.

Sarah's homegrown fans need to stay focused and be optimistic, because Corella Ballet brings its Swan Lake to Detroit at the end of April.  We need to know about that casting.  Detroit needs everyone's support; so the sooner we know the casting, the sooner we can make flight, hotel, ballet, and restaurant reservations - before wasting money on ABT single tickets. 

Don't forget, Corella Ballet will be at City Center with a mixed rep program April 17 - 20.  Sell this out, People!

Yes, People, Sarah Lane WILL BE Odette/Odile.  Angel is our hero.

 

Herman Cornejo as PRINCE SIEGFRIED

Thanks to Haglund'eeler, Robin, for bringing these awesome new clips of Herman Cornejo to our attention.  Now we can actually see why his picture was splashed across the front pages of the Spanish newspapers when he debuted as Prince Siegfried in Angel Corella's Swan Lake for the Corella Ballet Castilla y Leon.  It's hard to believe that at the time of these videos, Corella's company was only a year and a half old.

Everyone knew that Herman would kill the Black Swan PdD, but in these videos of the debut performance he is just as remarkable in the White Swan PdD.  His partnering is superb, and he added little touches that give it all such a nice finish – like between minutes 3 and 4 when he lifts the lovely Adiarys Almeida who then splits her legs, Siegfried steps back to the side and then releves with his arms outstretched and his weight falling forward as he is drawn toward Odette. 

It remains one of Kevin McKenzie's greatest crimes not to allow Herman Cornejo to dance the role of Prince Siegfried. 

 

 

Confirmed: Corella Ballet is bringing Tippet's Bruch Violin Concerto to City Center

From BroadwayWorld.com today:

CORELLA BALLET CASTILLA Y LEÓN

April 17 - 20, 2012 Tickets on Sale Sep. 12

Spain's Corella Ballet returns to New York City Center for a second engagement following several successful U.S. tours, this time presenting Clark Tippet's Bruch Violin Concerto, Christopher Wheeldon's For 4 and the world premiere of a new full-company ballet by Nuevo Ballet Español Artistic Directors Ángel Rojas and Carlos Rodríguez. In the vein of Soléa, the flamenco-inflected ballet that was the hit of the company's 2010 City Center season, the work fuses classical ballet and traditional Spanish dance.

Tickets: Starting at $25

Read more.

Corella Ballet coming to NY City Center in April!

The New York City Center Theater has a mobile box office set up in a trailer outside the theater to handle ticket sales during the renovation.  Signs posted along the wall of the theater indicate the dates on which tickets will go on sale for various events.  Tickets for the Corella Ballet's performances on April 17 - 20 go on sale September 12 - according to the signs, although there is no mention of the performances on the City Center website yet.

This is such good news!  On Saturday, April 21st CB will be in Purchase with a rep program that includes Bruch Violin Concerto by Clark Tippet.  On April 27th, they open a Detroit run with Swan Lake.  Wow, either program - or both - at City Center would be phenomenal.  Imagine finally being able to see Herman Cornejo as Prince Siegfried.   Imagine finally seeing Bruch Violin Concerto again after such a long time.  Imagine being able to see Angel dance in New York more than once during ABT's season.  The CB website promises a lot of new repertory for the coming year as well.  No matter the program, it will be such a fabulous series of performances and so good to see Angel back in New York.

Hopefully, we won't have to wait long for the details.  But in any event, don't wait to buy tickets which will go on sale next week.

Corella Ballet in Tippet's Bruch Violin Concerto

Hard to believe that more people haven't viewed this clip.

The Corella Ballet Castilla y León is handsome in Clark Tippet's gorgeous choreography – on what appears to be a too small stage.  Such gorgeous music and costumes, too.  The clip below is from 2 1/2 years ago during the company's first year.  It has been performing Bruch Violin Concerto regularly since then.  It  looks so good that it could become a signature piece for them like Serenade has been for NYCB and T&V has been for ABT.

Imagine how fabulous this ballet would look on the George Balanchine Stage at Lincoln Center.  How great would it be to see the Corella Ballet fill in a few of the blank dates made available by NYCO's departure?!

 

 

 

Heads up: Corella Ballet Castilla y Leon in the U.S.

Look what the Corella Ballet Castilla y Leon is bringing to the U.S. over the next several months:

 

Bruch Violin Concerto – by Clark Tippett and one of Haglund's favorite rep pieces

Clear – by Stanton Welch

Solea – by Maria Pages

DGV – by Christopher Wheeldon

 

Who gets to see all of this?

 

Los Angeles       11/5 thru 11/7

Santa Barbara    11/8

New Orleans       05/14

Seattle               05/19 thru 05/21
Charleston          05/27 thru 05/29

New Yorkers will be thoroughly enjoying Angel and Carmen in Solea this week during the Fall for Dance season at New York's City Center, but it would sure be nice to someday see the whole company in Bruch Violin Concerto.

Herman Cornejo – Siegfried, everywhere but here

Haglund would like everyone to be aware that Herman Cornejo is once again performing the role of Siegfried in the Corella Ballet's Swan Lake in Madrid tomorrow night and Saturday night.  What's it going to take to put the feathers on Xiomara Reyes and bring those two together for what we know would be a major night of ballet theater next spring at the Met?

Corella Ballet – Spanish Television Coverage

Spanish television is covering the Corella Ballet Castilla y Leon's trip to New York.  Here is a clip of some of the dancing taken from YouTube via rtvcyl.es which reports on the company's great success on opening night.

Also, the Associated Press attended Corella Ballet's Opening Night at City Center.  Jocelyn Novek has a positive and unusually lengthy review that is rapidly being picked up by publications all over the world.  She loved the Maria Pages' pas de deux for Angel and Carmen Corella:

But the general atmosphere at City Center was one of excitement and affection. And it all came to a head just before the second intermission, with a rousing standing ovation for "Solea," a flamenco-infused pas de deux for Corella and his sister, Carmen, a former ABT soloist and now a principal in his company.

Much of the appeal of "Solea," choreographed by Maria Pages to flamenco music by Ruben Lebaniegos, was the obvious affection between brother and sister, who had never danced together before. As Corella ruefully told a small audience two nights earlier in a panel discussion, "Carmen is very tall" _ too tall for him to partner her in standard works.

But the two were perfectly matched in "Solea," both for their Latin good looks (this family sure has the right genes) and their infectious joy in dancing.

Just under eight minutes, "Solea" began with the Corellas sitting back to back on a dark stage. What unfolded was an intriguing melding of flamenco and classical ballet. A few flourishes of the pointe shoes became the equivalent of flamenco shoes tapping. Each dancer clapped as the other leaped or turned _ ballet moves to a flamenco beat.

At the end, the two laughed as the audience roared.

And Wendy Perone was positively blown away by Solea.  From her Dance Magazine blog:

I was choked up from the start, and the piece sustained that sibling connection so beautifully that I was in tears by the end. Everyone else must have felt the same, ’cause they gave it a roaring standing ovation, midway through the program.