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Some very good news from ABT

They’ve promoted a handful of dancers, all eminently deserving:

Isabella Boylston, who made such a promising début in Giselle last week, has been made a principal (hooray).

The others—Devon Teuscher, Joseph Gorak, Christine Shevchenko, and Zhurbin—are now soloists. Zhurbin is the company’s most compelling actor. Shevchenko has a marvelous glow. Gorak is a hyper-refined technician, possibly the company’s next David Hallberg. And Teuscher is limpid, pure, linear—she was great as the Fairy Godmother in Ashton’s Cinderella.

Daniil Simkin, also of ABT, posted this photo on his FB page:

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Ballet Faceoff

Last week, ABT had company at Lincoln Center, with Boston Ballet celebrating its fiftieth season across the way at the former State Theatre. Their programs could not have been more different. ABT gave a week’s worth of performances of its tired production of Swan Lake; each year it becomes more clear that it is time for this un-enlightening staging to go. Because of a last minute casting change, I saw Hee Seo and Roberto Bolle in the leads, and reviewed them here.

Meanwhile, Boston Ballet offered eclectic mixed bills—very mixed. I reviewed the second, which included works by Balanchine—a very strong Symphony in Three Movements—and Jiri Kylian (the highly theatrical Bella Figura).

Kathleen Breen Combes in Symphony in Three Movements. Photo by Gene Schiavone.
Kathleen Breen Combes of Boston Ballet in Symphony in Three Movements. Photo by Gene Schiavone.

 

Aléxandre Hammoudi as the Purple Seducer (aka Von Rothbart) in ABT's Swan Lake. Photo by Gene Schiavone.
Aléxandre Hammoudi as the Purple Seducer (aka Von Rothbart) in ABT’s Swan Lake. Photo by Gene Schiavone.
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Backstage at the Rome Opera Ballet

My husband, who’s currently singing in Rome, took these backstage. A little peek at all the dancers who have guested there. The blue slippers are from Ángel Corella!

photo 3Misty Copeland, Amar Ramasar, Nicolas LeRiche…

photo 2..and Ángel Corella!

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Willem Dafoe and Mikhail Baryshnikov in Robert Wilson's "The Old Woman." Photo by Lucie Jansch.
Willem Dafoe and Mikhail Baryshnikov in Robert Wilson’s “The Old Woman.” Photo by Lucie Jansch.

Just saw “The Old Woman” at BAM, a folie-à-deux (Baryshnikov + Willem Dafoe) directed by that jolly old minimalist Bob Wilson. Here’s my review for DanceTabs. It’s showing at BAM through June 29.

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Excellent interview…

…with Simon Keenlyside by Joel Lobenthal in the current issue of Ballet Review (summer 2014). I had no idea he was married to the Royal Ballet’s Zenaida Yanowsky. Keenlyside says: “[Being married to a dancer] is like living with a racehorse…It’s totally consuming.” And, about her having a second baby: “Monica Mason [the former head of the Royal] came up to me in the Covent Garden canteen with a very straight face and said, ‘You owe me!'” He comes across as highly intelligent, articulate, and self-aware.

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Giselle x4

Hee Seo in Giselle. Photo by Gene Schiavone.
Hee Seo in Giselle. Photo by Gene Schiavone.

 

Watching four casts of Giselle is like seeing four different ballets—one of the reasons for this ballet’s enduring appeal. Here’s my review, for DanceTabs, of four parings at ABT: Polina Semionova/David Hallberg, Isabella Boylston/James Whiteside, Hee Seo/Alexandre Hammoudi, and Alina Cojocaru/David Hallberg (the latter replacing an indisposed Herman Cornejo).

It’s always exciting to see an unexpectedly gripping début. That was the case with Alexandre Hammoudi at the Saturday matinée. He has the acting chops, the allure, and the amplitude. Now he just has to work on his stamina and polish.

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Endgame

The company in Trey McIntyre's "Mercury Half-Life ." Photo by Trey McIntyre.
The company in Trey McIntyre’s “Mercury Half-Life .” Photo by Trey McIntyre.

 

Trey McIntyre is calling it quits, at least as far as directing a dance company goes. Here’s my piece for the Times, about his decision to close the company and move on to free-lance projects in dance, photography, and writing.  It also says a lot about what it takes to run a successful company in our popular-culture-crazed society.

 

 

 

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Ailey Does It

Rachael McLaren and Kirven Douthit-Boyd in Wayne McGregor's Chroma. Photo by Paul Kolnik.
Rachael McLaren and Kirven Douthit-Boyd in Wayne McGregor’s Chroma. Photo by Paul Kolnik.

Alvin Ailey is dancing at the Koch Theatre in Lincoln Center this week, with its singular mix of exuberance, power, and finesse. Here’s my review of some of the new works (including Robert Moses’ The Pleasure of the Lesson and Wayne McGregor’s Chroma), for DanceTabs.

And a short excerpt: “As a secondary consequence, it has been fascinating to see how these choreographers’ works are in turn transformed by the Ailey dancers. They don’t just do the steps, they mold them to their style and personality.”