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An adorable picture of Daria Klimentova with flowers after her final performance with the English National Ballet. If you haven’t seen the BBC documentary Agony and Ecstasy: A year with the English National Ballet, you should! It’s a great look at her and her dancing relationship with 20 years her junior Vadim Muntagirov. They are so good on stage together! All the feels. She is a great ballerina, not only technically capable but also dramatic, playful, and strong.

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When dancers get engaged! Congrats to NYCB dancers Joaquin de Luz and Emilie Garrity on their engagement! 

Photos: instagram @jdeluz23 and @emilieger.

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Balanchine Time at the Paris Opera Ballet! Loving the new costumes by Karl Lagerfeld for the Brahms Schoenburg Quartet. 

The repertoire for the Oct. 28th 2016 performance:

Mozartiana (Dorothée Gilbert, Mathieu Ganio) Sonatine (Léonore Baulac, Germain Louvet) Brahms-Schönberg Quartet (Act I: Colasante, Chailloux, Westermann, II: Albisson, Bullion, III: Ould-Braham, Heyman, IV: Renavand, Paquette) Violin Concerto (Amandine Albisson, Stéphane Bullion, Alice Renavand, Karl Paquette)

I was curious to see the Opera de Paris perform Balanchine... As always, execution and technique was clean, pretty, light, and graceful. Missing the “oomph” of Balanchine. Also, I think story ballets are still my favorite... I’m a sucker for a dramatic/tragic ending. Even when I saw Maria Kowroski and Teresa Reichlen perform Violin Concert, it is not my favorite piece. The 4th act of the Brahms-Schoenberg quartet was my favorite in this case, zingy and lively. 

Photos: Instagram.com/balletoperadeparis, Instagram.com/operadeparis

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Love this portrait of Aurélie Dupont. Will be so interesting to see what she does with the Paris Opera Ballet. #likeaboss. Photo: Sophie Delaporte

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I had no idea!!!! Alexandra Ansanelli is now working for her father’s medical practice. 

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American Ballet Theatre corps de ballet dancer Courtney Levine talks about her favorite things in a new short film for Chanel titled “All Things Nice.”

Source. 

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Kendall Jenner stars in a “ballet-INSPIRED” shoot in Vogue Spain. It is catching a lot of attention from the dance world, especially the last image where she’s wearing pointe shoes and standing on point. In the promo video by Vogue Spain, she’s seen twirling around and doing little hops. Photos/screen capture via Instagram @kendalljenner. 

My thoughts:

In today’s world where we have tons of information, authenticity is everything. As soon as we catch a whiff of something that’s not genuine, we know. Thus, it’s no surprise that a lot of dancers are calling out the model’s lack of real ballet background and improper form of the point shoes. 

If it were a normal model, someone anonymous, hired to look pretty in leotards and ballet slippers, we’d probably giggle a little and brush it aside. But the fact that it’s Kendall Jenner, she of 239487126 social media followers, rubs a bit of salt into the wound.

If you love an art form, you want to see it presented properly to the world, even when it’s in an “inspired” shoot. Furthermore, it was a bit risky of the magazine or creative director to put her in point shoes when she could have hurt herself (from something as bad as a sprained ankle to something as minor as a bruised toe). 

So anyways, I’m not going to bash the model, who is doing her job, or the director, who is coming up with his own idea, but I really wish that in the future if people want to represent ballet they use a) real dancers, or b) consult a dancer so that no one hurts themselves and that ballet can be shown for the beauty that it really is. 

See also: American Ballet Theatre corps de ballet dancer Courtney Lavine in Chanel’s latest jewelry promo. 

See also: The media sh*tstorm when American Ballet Theatre soloist Sarah Lane reminded people that Natalie Portman’s head was digitally imposed onto Sarah’s body for Black Swan’s dance scenes, and that ballet takes years to learn and perfect, not a few months. 

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BALLET REVIEW: ABT ON TOUR IN PARIS - LA BELLE AU BOIS DORMANT (Sleeping Beauty)

Last tuesday (September 6th, 2016) I watched American Ballet Theatre on tour in Paris perform Alexei Ratmansky’s Sleeping Beauty. I chose this night because it was a cast of some of my favorite ABT dancers: 

Princess Aurora: Stella Abrera Prince Desire: Alex Hammoudi Lilac Fairy: Veronika Part Carabosse: Marcelo Gomes Diamond Fairy: D. Teuscher Bluebird: J. Cirio Princess Florine: S. Lane

(Side note: I was surprised to see that a corps de ballet dancer, Cassandra Trenary, is opening and closing the run in Paris. That is a big opportunity for her.)

First off, I have seen ABT’s previous version of Sleeping Beauty staged by Gelsey Kirkland and Michael Chernov. The first time I saw Sleeping Beauty back at the Met Opera House in NY, it was absolutely beautiful. I walked away from the performance feeling so happy about what I had just seen. 

I was surprised when ABT announced that Ratmansky was restaging it. At first glance, I was confused by the costumes with the longer skirts, lower foot positions, elaborate wigs, and chainé turns on demi-point. I LOVE the old turquoise and gold tutu that Princess Aurora wears. Maybe Ratmansky was being a little TOO historically accurate. 

Now that I’ve seen Ratmansky’s new version live on stage, it is also a great production. Ratmansky’s stagings always bring a softness out of his dancers. Principal Stella Abrera and soloist Sarah Lane are good interpreters of his style. It was such a joy to see Stella Abrera dance as a principal dancer in the main role after she’s been a soloist for 14 years. I admire her dancing for her elegance and classiness. She brought graceful épaulement to the role of Princess Aurora.

French dancer Alex Hammoudi was Prince Desire, you could hear the appreciation in the audience as soon as he appeared on stage. His slender and tall frame looks good in the costume. He was a solid partner to Stella with effortless lifts and fish dives. 

One of the audience favorites was Sarah Lane. In the prologue as Miettes qui tombent she seemed to float across the stage in lightning quick bourrées. With Jeffrey Cirio in the Bluebird pdd, they delighted the audience. I have not seen Jeffrey perform with ABT ever since he joined from Boston Ballet. Jeffrey and Sarah work well together, both in height and style. In the past Sarah was paired a lot with Daniil Simkin and I saw them struggle a bit in the pdd’s, but it’s great to see how confident she was with a different partner. Sarah’s Princess Florine had articulate footwork and phrasing and charmed the audience.

Veronika Part was a magnanimous Lilac Fairy. I wish we saw her more on the stage at the Met Opera House. Marcelo Gomes as Carabosse was absolutely FABULOUS, DRAMATIC, and FRIGHTENING. Who knew he was so good at character roles??? He put in a lot of nuances that really made his evil character but were still loud enough to read from the back of the audience. 

Devon Teuscher delivered a sparkling performance as the Diamond Fairy and also got an appreciative round of applause from the audience. I’ve seen her perform a couple times now in supporting soloist roles and she always delivers on the mark. 

Overall, Stella Abrera and Alex Hammoudi performed a smooth and effortless Princess Aurora and Prince Desire. Alex has been dancing a lot of principal roles but was shortly sidelined by an injury. It seems it’s only a matter of time before he gets promoted to principal. Stella Abrera is always a joy to see for her classical lines and lightness on the stage, and I will always try to support her performances whenever possible! 

PS: There’s a lot of new faces in the corps de ballet. The corps was looking pretty good - their lines were sometimes a hair out of synch and sometimes the collective dancers on stage were a bit loud, but overall their choreography was flawless. It’s sort of funny to see former stars of the competition circuit and the ABT studio company in corps de ballet roles. No matter how good you are in your summer intensive or pre-training company, everyone has to pay their dues in the corps. 

Pics via: Paris Opera Ballet Facebook, Instagram @stellaabrera and @alexhammoudi

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BALLET REVIEW: PARIS OPERA BALLET’S “ROMEO ET JULIETTE” 

Last night I had the honor of watching Dorothée Gilbert and Hugo Marchand perform Romeo and Juliet at the Opera Bastille, with choreography and staging by Rudolf Nureyev. By the time I purchased my tickets at the end of February, the entire March and early April run was nearly sold out. This is clearly a production that Paris adores. 

The sets and staging are sumptuous and dramatic. Nureyev was inspired by “West Side Story” and it shows. One can feel the drama and tension between the Capulets and the Montagues. The fight scenes are long, intricately choreographed, and Nureyev uses every person on stage. 

This R+J focuses on Romeo. When he enters the stage, it’s a grand solo entrance. There’s foreshadowing about his being born under a cursed star, with appearances by dice rollers and the untimely death of a beggar. Had I not read show notes in advance, these references would have been lost to me. He gets small solo sections here and there, expanding more upon the Romeo role than in the MacMillan version. 

When Juliet first appears, she’s barely able to be identified. She’s dancing in a group of her friends and wearing a nearly identical costume as everyone else. Rosaline had so much dancing time at the intro that my friend seeing the show for the first time, thought that Rosaline was Juliet at first! 

Finally after we see Romeo and his friends having a merry time, Romeo and Juliet meet at the ball of the Capulets. This piece of music happens to be one of my favorites, and Nureyev does the Capulet party ensemble grand justice. I have never been a fan of “filler” corps dance scenes, but the Nureyev R+J ones are grandiose and fill the music.

Here is the moment for Romeo and Juliet to meet, fall in love, and embark on their grand and cursed journey in love. The music swells, the lovers dance, and... nothing. I felt nothing. I kept waiting for the movements to match the music in grandeur, desire, desperation and longing, but there was nothing. Technically, not a hair was out of place for our Romeo and Juliet, but emotionally, I did not feel the mad magnetic attraction between them. 

Nureyev spends so much time paying homage to other details of the original story and opening up the exposition of the Capulets vs the Montagues, that by the time our lovers meet, decide to marry, get separated, and die together, it all seems rather rushed. It’s as though he had to put in these plot points because it is the story that everyone knows.

Perhaps I am biased from watching the pas de deux from MacMillan’s version so many times - but you could really feel all stages of the evolution of their relationships: from falling in love (the balcony pdd), to the pain of separation (Juliet’s bedroom pdd), to the final drama and realisation of each other’s deaths (the crypt scene pdd). 

Tybalt - Audric Bezard and Mercutio - Allister Madin brought life to their roles and owned the stage. Allister was in particular a fan favorite that night. 

Dorothee Gilbert is of course a fine étoile of the Paris Opera Ballet. I have watched her R+J PDD on YouTube many times. In the video up close, you can see all of the small nuances that make her performance so wonderful. But sitting back in the audience, even still in the parterre, some details were lost. 

I feel the role of Juliet gets shortchanged. She goes from spritely maiden dancing with her cousin, to teenager in love, to petulant teenager defying parents, to... being visited by ghosts and choosing magical potions. While Romeo has stage-time, I don’t feel invested in his development either. I’m not rooting for him. To be blunt -  I felt he was bland. Tybalt and Mercutio stole a bit of the show from him. 

In all honesty, the MacMillan R+J pdd’s are my favorite ballet pieces of all time. So, it would be difficult to watch something new for the first time and have it measure up. Nureyev has given the Opera de Paris a grand and dramatic Romeo & Juliette that is their own (but why does the Opera de Paris advertise it with contemporary photos...?). It is his vision come to life, one that will delight viewers both new and knowledgable to ballet. 

But maybe, if I ever want to be moved to tears like I did when I watched Alessandra Ferri perform Juliet’s bedroom pdd, I will need to head across the pond or the Atlantic to watch my beloved MacMillan version... 

Photos via Paris Opera Ballet / Julien Benhamou

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Soooo I guess Andrew Veyette and Ashley Hod are together now? And that Andrew Veyette and Megan Fairchild are now separated, after 9 years of being together and 2+ years of marriage... Eep. Breakups at NYCB! I guess that’s life. Pics via Instagram. 

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Guess who just got tickets to see Opera de Paris étoile Dorothée Gilbert in Romeo and Juliet at Opera Bastille???? :)))) 

(tickets to the entire run sold out fast!) 

Pics via Instagram

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Beautiful black and white photos from the Instagram account of Opera de Paris. Top to bottom: Francois Alu, Laura Hecquet, and Amandine Albisson

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2 things happened:

Lauren Lovette accepted my friend request on Facebook. I feel special! 

This whopping announcement happened on Valentine’s day. What! So I guess her and Chase are no longer engaged? :(

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Congratulations! NYCB principal dancers Lauren Lovette & Chase Finlay engaged. (confirmed via instagram)

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So, according to Instagram, Mathilde Froustey is officially leaving the Paris Opera Ballet and joining SFB as a principal dancer for real. 

Her words: “Je suis aussi heureuse qu'émue de vous annoncer que j'ai decidé de poursuivre ma carrière au San Francisco Ballet ! I am as moved as excited to announce you my decision to continue my career at San Francisco Ballet!”

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Oh god, the promotion to principal. It's got to be some kind of record, it's got to be unprecedented by someone at my age, at this point in the game to be promoted. That kind of recognition is so awesome. To be totally honest, I had already come to terms, or rather, accepted that it was never going to happen. I had found this joy that was so basic and simple that just being able to do my art form at this high level at ABT, on its amazing stages, surrounded by these amazing artists. It was like a gift.

Stella Abreba, on being promoted to principal dancer at ABT

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Throwback: Keenan Kampa at the Mariinsky. Reading this interview at Cloud & Victory with her, you can see that life at the Mariinsky wasn’t a basket of fluffy kittens. There’s the language barrier, the cultural gap, and lots of haters, especially Internet trolls. The internet makes it so easy to bully people because everything can be anonymous - you don’t have to expose yourself as the bully, and you never see the person on the other end being hurt. Sometimes we forget that we’re all human. 

“That was the hardest thing for me at Mariinsky, the criticism. I mean, I act like I’m tough and I’m not bothered by it but it really hurt me. It hurt me as a dancer because you go on stage and instead of being able to enjoy the performance and focus on what your teacher told you, you’re focusing on all the mean things people say. So performing becoming something I dreaded. I loved class, it was my time – I could be fearless and not care if I made mistakes, but the second you go on stage there’s such judgement. To the point where it’s crippling and you just want to disappear.”

So anyways, I’m glad that she made the decision for herself to leave. It’s not easy to make such decisions, but it seems like she has a bright future ahead of her. Go Keenan! 

Photos via Instagram