Jeannette

Mira Nadon’s debut as Apollo’s Terpsichore a few minutes ago: OUT OF THIS WORLD! 💕 ❤️ 💗

Last night’s All-Balanchine triple bill was a program made in heaven, ending in the most majestic note: Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto no 2, led by today’s most queenly ballerina of the company, Sara Mearns, divinely sure in technique and airs! The gallant Tiler Angle was her steadfast prince, while Emily Kikta spread pearls of joy as the leading female soloist. The corps made the work an absolute pleasure…spot-on in the linear and circular patterns. The evening began with Apollo, one of Balanchine’s gems from the Diaghilev period, here performed without the “birthing scene” that we see at ABT and the Mariinsky. Adrian Danchig-Waring rendered a noble and mature Apollo, exploring the qualities of his three muses: the lyrical Terpsichore (Unity Phelan), the loquacious Polyhymnia (Emily Gerrity), and mercurial Calliope (Sara Adams). Phelan was gorgeous as Terpsichore, one of many leading roles assigned in this season…including the ethereal lead in the night’s middle ballet, La Sonnambula… Sonnambula is a rarity in the repertoire. What a delight to experience this work again! Phelan - coached by an early exponent, Allegra Kent - was precious in her sleepwalking bourrees during the vital pdd with the poet (Taylor Stanley). Ashley Laracey was compelling as the nasty Coquette, whose gossip causes the final tragedy. I adore the early divertissements during the ball scene, with pride of place going to the Harlequin’s bouncy solo (Daniel Ulbricht in his element)! May the NYCB keep this ballet alive for years to come!

Last night’s Fall Gala was full of glamour (Vanessa Williams as a vocalist in Balanchine’s Who Cares?) and new costumes (by a Carolina Herrera designer, also for Who Cares?). The Fall season’s lone non-Balanchine work - Jerome Robbins’ Glass Pieces - garnered my vote for the night’s highlight, as it was danced sparklingly by the full company, particularly the synchronized men in the final “gangbusters” movement…and the ethereal mid-section pdd by Unity Phelan and Adrian Danchig-Waring, seemingly a modern take on La Bayadere’s Shades, with a line of female corps members against a blue backdrop, expressing a modern take on Petipa’s 19th-C movements. I’ve loved the full Who Cares? (Balanchine/Gershwin) in the past but last night’s “nightclub gala version” featured small groups & soloists, rather than the full edition…with new designs by a Carolina Herrera artist that resembled ballroom dancer wear/street wear. This is - what? - the fourth set of designs for this ballet? The original Karinskas had frilly skirts while my favorite second set, by Ben Benson (ca 1980-2012) were sleeker but in keeping with the Radio City glamour of the piece. While some soloists were formidable, I unfortunately have to keep in mind Ashley Bouder, who doesn’t seem to be in the right performance shape these days…I’ll remember seeing her in olden days, when her I’ll Build a Stairway to Paradise was a treasure in the House of Balanchine.

Thank you, @Bruce Wall! I’m on my way to NY from my home in Puerto Rico, tonight…through the big 75th celebration next Wednesday. The troupe seems to be at a high point, with many new soloists snd young principals. Keep the reports rolling! 👍

Balanchine’s Concierto de Mozart, to Mozart’s 5th Violin Concerto in A major, created for the Teatro Colon, here danced by the Teatro Argentino in La Plata. Mvmt 1 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pdeOHb-ZPIQ&pp=ygUjQ29uY2llcnRvIGRlIE1vemFydCBiYWxsZXQgTGEgUGxhdGE%3D Mvmt 2 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=52JIfKKv6Us Mvmt 3 (with exotic Turkish props) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VE3LagwohII&t=32s

The Vail NOW: PREMIERES program can be seen, via the above LinkedIn site, through 14 August. Here is the playbill, with numbers in the order shown, with correct titles, names of dancers, etc. (Look out for my favorite new NYCB principal, Mira Nadon, in the new Kyle Abrahams piece to Bach - If You Run, I Might Fall…. She’s in a blue outfit, in one of the last pdds, with Chun Wai Chan, I think.) Final correct playbill: https://vaildance.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/8.7-NOW-Premieres_0807_1211.pdf Enjoy!

I absolutely enjoyed the Vail NOW: PREMIERES! Mostly traditional - I was totally blown away by the Kyle Abrahams piece to Bach…so different from what I’ve seen from Abrahams before. I enjoyed the dancer/choreographer Adji Cissoko (LINES Ballet); so liquidy, with the sinewy arms! excellent special performances by Dance Aspen and Ballet X. They’re both on my follow-up list to see more. Glad that Lil’ Buck was back, dancing to the Gospel tune “By and By.” It just wouldn’t be a Vail Festival without Lil’ Buck. The baritone Davone Tines dressed as “Grandma Buck” might have been too much…but I loved his strong voice. 🎼

Thanks, Myrtle. I was about to post it Numbers to be danced are listed here, with expected performers: https://vaildance.org/event/now-premieres-2023/

A little extra time will be needed…now December 5, 2023, via Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Petersburg-Noverre-Marius-Petipa-Russia/dp/1839984163/ref=mp_s_a_1_2?crid=243P1770FVTD6&keywords=marius+Petipa+Wiley+book&qid=1689210053&sprefix=marius+petipa+wiley+book%2Caps%2C176&sr=8-2

Barnes & Noble is indicating a publication on 15 August! https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-petersburg-noverre-roland-john-wiley/1140186122

I thought that the original protests, a month ago, were about changing the National Social Security system, which would involve everyone. I know about the death but I thought that Soc Sec was the overwhelming force in the protests…the big picture.

Isn’t the strike part of a now-huge national protest?

Hopefully she’ll be back in form by then. She had to cancel her planned performances with the Dutch ballet in the US (Jacob’s Pillow, etc.) due to injury. https://www.dancemagazine.com/olga-smirnova/

For some, not printing playbills/cast sheets means saving the environment…print a playbill = kill a tree. It’s probably just saving the theater some money, as you write, @Theo. That’s an opening for En Face and other digital companies to go in and prepare playbills for companies who want happy audiences. To heck with saving the tree!

I was told by a Kennedy Center insider (usher) that shows that book a Kennedy Center theater - who are not directly presented by the KC - such as The Washington Ballet, DO hand out printed Playbills to audience. They hire a new playbill graphics company called En Face, (run by Rampant Creative Inc), who prepare and print the playbills. https://m.facebook.com/rampantcreative I saw a lovely Washington Ballet En Face magazine for their recent Sleeping Beauty (Julie Kent edition). Color photos, dancer mini bios, production history, etc. interesting that such booklets/playbills are being produced independently, rather than by the theater, as in the past. Info/examples: https://enfacemagazine.com/

Exactly. Just have one announce…”A change to your printed cast sheets, ladies & gentlemen…” At the Kennedy Center last month, for NYCB, I - a pensioner on Social Security - paid $150 for a seat but, when I asked for a printed cast list, an irate usher almost screamed “Open your cellphone and scan the code!” What phone? as I don’t take phones to theaters… Once again - My utter delight at the Metropolitan Opera and ABT for offering not just a Cast Sheet but an entire Playbill. Whoop-dee-doo! 🥳 p.s. I also use those sheets to write notes, to use in my reviews. It’s a little notepad.

Thanks, Emeralds, for (unwittingly) reminding me that full Playbills are not available for “free” in the UK! But I always received, at the ROH, a simple sheet of paper with names of cast and crew. We don’t even get THAT at the Kennedy Center. That’s my main beef when in the USA’s Capitol…just give me a simple sheet of paper with names of cast & crew!!!

A final great piece of news: A PRINTED PLAYBILL was handed to all audience members!!! Woo hoo!!! Not only that, but the Playbill includes an advertisement for a Playbill Binder in which one can store programs (Playbill Store), imagine that! Thank you, Lincoln Center and The Met! That I’ve recently seen, only the Kennedy Center in DC insists on WOKE-COVID-style digital programs…ahum. Scan the code into your cellphone…no paper used…not even after paying hundreds of dollars for some tickets.

The work must be seen live to be appreciated. Watching the RB-version’s DVD *and* watching/listening to RB and ABT insight pieces did not help. I usually watch ballet over the grand 19th-C prism or Balanchine/Ashton’s neoclassical takes. I want more and more nonstop dancing, with glamorous Dream Scenes with female corps in tutus snd tiaras. That thinking doesn’t work here. Instead, it’s the total spectacle. Think about going to a fabulous silent (non-speaking) film, with live music. That said, I hope that the Bayaderes, Corsaires, Coppelias, or Ratmansky Neoclassical Whipped Creams or Of Love and Rages return to ABT…I don’t want to see a Classics Illustrated/Literature-on-pointe Genre of works taking over the ABT repertoire…as much as I enjoyed this LWFC!

I found this film on YouTube. The first 13 minutes show audience members in their finery. *Go to the 13:00 minute mark to see the final bows of all cast and crew, from corps, to soloists, to principals, then all leading creators from the conductor, to choreographer Wheeldon, all the way to author Laura Esquivel at the end. Listen to the wild “Bravos”; you can’t see on this film that the audience is standing & screaming. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zT1J0gOZKpE&pp=ygUwQW1lcmljYW4gQmFsbGV0IFRoZWF0cmUgTGlrZSBXYXRlciBmb3IgQ2hvY29sYXRl No performance footage, so I believe that it’s safe to post.

Review of LIKE WATER FOR CHOCOLATE gala opening at The Met, NYC - 6/22/23 Tita – Cassandra Trenary Pedro – Herman Cornejo Mama Elena – Christine Schevchenko Gertrudis – Catherine Hurlin Rosaura – Hee Seo Dr. John Brown – Thomas Forster Juan Alejandrez – Carlos Gonzalez Nacha & ghost – Luciana Paris Chencha – Isadora Loyola Conductor – Alondra De la Parra After a lot of gasps and stops, ABT’s LIKE WATER FOR CHOCOLATE (LWFC), TRIUMPHED at The Met on Thursday night, in grand style, with very loud “Bravi!” and a full standing ovation in a full house. Sitting in the front-middle of the Dress Circle – the third tier, halfway up the five golden circles – I was surrounded by ABT enthusiasts and a group of Mexican VIPs with a connection to the play’s author, Laura Esquivel. They and other Dress Circle neighbors were a little bored (loud yawns) after the mostly-acting Act I but were delightfully awakened by the fast-paced dancing and music in Acts II and III. So the grand evening ended on a high note! LWFC is a stylistic treasure, first and foremost. The interactive, mildly-Surrealistic set on a Mexican ranch opens the show, with a long line of skeletal brides (“Las Catrinas” who celebrate Mexico’s Day of the Dead on Nov 1-2) taking their spot along the back edge of the scene…where they would remain for much of the ballet, dressed either in white or, if in mourning, black lace, doing knitting – and they were alive, as I spotted them moving their needles during the show! Among the visual beauties was the evocative lighting and craftful video, such as moving clouds, smoke and, in the end, fire. Other treasures of this masterwork include the dramatic tunes, with Mexican instruments, that propel Laura Esquivel’s complex drama forward – one of my Dress Circle neighbors called is the “score of genius.” And how could I not mention the fantastic dramatic movement – instead of plodding old-fashioned mime – by the ABT troupe, even if the Petipa-style dancing was minimal? ABT MOVES! Some of the more compelling movers, much lauded by the public at the end, included: The main lovers: Cassandra Trenary as Tita and Herman Cornejo as Pedro: Petite and adorable, Trenary was a perfect blend of careful dancing and vulnerability. The ever-evolving Pedro – from child to man - Cornejo was a total master of his movement and emotions, especially excellent in his very tough lifting moves. The villainess of the century, Mama Elena, gave Christine Schevchenko an unusual vehicle to show her nastiest and most charming self, from the wicked ever-growing Ghost during the campfire scene (How many outfit changes for her during the scene?) and as a delightful young lover with her lost fiancé, Jose (excellent bit for Jose Sebastian). Dancers of the Night joint trophies went to Tita’s redheaded wild sister, Catherine Hurlin as Gertrudis, and her lover/eventual husband/revolutionary leader Juan Alejandrez – Carlos Gonzalez in the top dancing role of the night, with fast-paces pirouettes and volleying jetes in one dance that led the audience to yell for more…mas! In mostly-acting roles, Hee Seo (as sister Rosaura who is forced to marry Pedro, by Mama Elena’s decree), Thomas Forster (as the kind Dr. John Brown who loves and nurses Tita back to health), and Luciana Paris (as the gentle cook Nacha, best friend of Tita at the start) all do good Thespian work. The ABT corps de ballet dance with gusto during the Campfire and wedding scenes. Well done! It was nice to see some long-time corps members in bit acting scenes, such as John Gardner as the priest of the ballet’s second wedding, in Texas. I wasn’t expecting the grand reception, after reading and hearing “Insight” events on YouTube. I’m glad that I was wrong and that ABT is now wrapped in a veil of TRIUMFO! Jeannette Nabatov San Juan, Puerto Rico

Back on a train today, as I missed the one last night. I’m still in awe at the wild ovation! Audience went bonkers at the end. Wild wild applause. Carlos Gonzalez received an ovation in the middle of his “campfires” dance, then again at the end. A star is born!

HUGE applause - almost 100% standing ovation! Again, I’ll prepare a proper report in a day or two - after my travels. Biggest “Bravi!” To Wheeldon, author Laura, the design team and our Pedro, Cornejo.

First intermission. My favorite line from audience neighbor: “That horse was The Rosetta Stone!” Overall love of the production/scenic design, overall qualms about too many characters. Much more later! Fabulous soloists overall. More the come… 🎉

Opening this up for reports. Premieres tonight. I’m up from home in Puerto Rico, via a short stay in Wash, DC. From the earlier thread… Already in NYC early for this evening’s Eastern. US premiere of LIKE WATER FOR CHOCOLATE. Woohoo! Good rail journey from DC. 🚆 Back to Puerto Rico on Saturday. ✈️ Cassandra Trenary and Herman Cornejo lead tonight’s gala premiere.