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.”
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
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
It was a good year for dance - still reeling from Stella Abrera’s promotion to principal dancer. I hope that she gets some great roles next year! R&J, Swan Lake, Onegin, more Giselles... one can dream ;)
Yes, yes, a thousand times yes!!! I’m really behind on posting (saw Aurelie Dupont’s last performance in Manon at the Paris Opera Ballet, but more on that later) but of course I had to take a moment to post about STELLA ABRERA BEING PROMOTED TO PRINCIPAL DANCER AT AMERICAN BALLET THEATRE.
Excerpts from a review of her Gisele performance in May 2015 by Marina Harss: “Like her acting, her dancing is pristine, elegant, and unforced.”
“Abrera, an almost twenty-year veteran of the company and a consistently elegant, understated and perhaps undervalued presence in a wide swath of repertory – everything from Twyla Tharp’s Bach Partita to the adorable Katia in Frederick Ashton’s Month in the Country – has many fans.”
A bit of a lackluster footnote in the end of an article at the NYT: “Three other dancers, enormously respected in the dance world but far less famous outside of it, were also made principals. Stella Abrera, who has been a soloist with the company since 2001, was promoted.”
And lastly, if there’s any doubt that people in the dance world are anything less than happy for her, check this video taken by Julie Kent at a company meeting yesterday morning! The applause is unanimous and joyful. Dancers are SO HAPPY for Stella.
Photo credit: Daniil Simkin
Going to see ABT's Coppelia tonight, for Sascha Radetsky's farewell performance. I managed to get a rush ticket - an orchestra seat! Sascha will be missed!
Top: Sascha in rehearsal Middle: Sascha with wife, fellow ABT soloist Stella Abrera Bottom: Center Stage dvd cover, aka, the best/worst ballet movie ever!
Paloma Herrera is retiring from American Ballet Theatre in 2015. Pictured here with Kevin McKenzie, photo Rosalie O'Connor. She joined ABT at the age of 15 and has been a principal dancer for nearly 20 years! Imagine a career like that.
I thought I saw something when I was browsing through my Instagram feed and a dancer had posted "Paloma's last Don Q" or something. And I was like whah? Maybe last Don Q of the season?
Her dancing and technique is absolutely effortless, and of course she has beautiful feet. Her port de bras & hands always made me cringe a little bit though. THUMBS IN!!! When I saw her in "Le Corsaire," she frankly looked a bit bored, like she had done this role a million times. It was almost like it was too easy for her.
With Paloma retiring, and Julie Kent also in prime ballerina retirement age, Dvorovenko who retired in 2013, and Osipova who left recently, who will be the new principals? Will they hire more guest stars or principals from other companies (a la Semionova, Vishneva, and Cojocaru)? Or will they actually promote someone from within (a la Seo)? It's pretty obvious that they are grooming Isabella Boylston, as she's a soloist who has received some pretty major principal role opportunities (Swan Lake, Don Q., Giselle...).
Is it too much to ask for some lurve for soloist Stella Abrera? She is the most overlooked ballerina at ABT, of which there are many. Other soloists Joseph S. Phillips, Jared Matthews, Simone Messmer, Maria Riccetto, and Yuriko Kajiya either got fed up and left or are leaving. Soloist Kristi Boone and Sascha Radetsky are retiring. Misty Copeland would die to be a principal. My favorite in the corps is still Melanie Hamrick. Skylar Brandt & Catherine Hurlin are rising stars. Zhong-Jing Fang brings 110% to all of her character roles. And principal Veronika Part needs more casting! I heart her as well.
Oops, what started out as a post about Paloma's retirement turned into something else.
The New York Times did a nice feature piece on stand-outs in the American Ballet Theatre corps de ballet.
Ouch, zing! "Mr. Tamm believes in being well rounded... At Ballet Theater, where the line for leading parts is long and often monopolized by international stars, he finds that having options helps."
Top from left, Eric Tamm, Skylar Brandt, Calvin Royal III, Stephanie Williams, Joseph Gorak and Devon Teuscher.
FAREWELLS AT ABT THIS SEASON:
Soloist Sascha Radetsky gives his farewell performance with American Ballet Theatre on Thursday, July 3rd, dancing in Coppelia with Xiomara Reyes. He is currently in production filming the STARZ TV drama "Flesh & Bone" with recently retired ABT principal ballerina Irina Dvorovenko.
Soloists Yuriko Kajiya and Jared Matthews will also be giving their farewell performances this season. Yuiko Kajiya will debut as the role of Swanilda in the Coppellia matinee on July 5th with Joseph Gorak as Franz, and Jared Matthews will dance the role of Franz in the evening performance with Paloma Herrera as Swanilda. Kajiya & Matthews will join Houston Ballet as first soloists.
Gaaaaaasp!
Another vintage-y clip, inside ABT rehearsing Raymonda, with principal Irina Dvorovenko (and again, you can see Stella in the background!!)
Vintage: Inside ABT rehearsing Raymonda with principal Irina Dvorovenko (and you can see Stella Abrera in the background too!!!)
Olga Smirnova of Bolshoi Ballet will be guesting with ABT this season for La Bayadere. Pictured here with Semyon Chudin.
American Ballet Theater, which went toeshoe to toeshoe with New York City Ballet, will end its five-year “Nutcracker†run at the Brooklyn Academy of Music.
Click for an excerpt of ABT soloist's new book.
Eeeeee! Irina Dvorovenko is finally on Instagram!!! Follow her: irinamaxemma
You have to be so strong to be a professional ballet dancer. You have to push yourself and push yourself, and it’s never perfect. And to be different means you may even have to be stronger.”