I've just read on the Bolshoi Ballet forum that Osipova would be replacing Reyes on Monday night (June 15).

Can anybody please confirm or deny? If true, this would warrant a major change of plans for me.

Thanks in advance!

American Ballet Theatre can. It's listed on their website:

http://www.metoperafamily.org/metopera/sea...n.aspx?id=10247

Monday, June 15, 2009, 7:30 pm
Company, Osipova, Cornejo

That is incredibly insulting to Xiomara Reyes, provided her removal is not due to illness/injury. I don't think she has ever performed a lead role on opening night. Moreover, if this is true, her number of performances in this ballet have been cut in half.

According to the ABT website, Reyes' only performance of "La Sylphide" is the Saturday matinee.

I think its not fair to reach final conclussion if we dont know all the facts.

Actually, I just saw that her giselle is also been removed. Ricetto will perform again Saturday matinee.

Given the circumtances, I would have liked to see Part given the opening night rather than a dancer who is not a member of the company. I guess they wanted Cornejo to dance that night and that was probably the driven force to give the opening night to Osipova.

maybe she is injured? i love xiomara; i can't wait for her r&j with herman.

[ADMIN BEANIE ON]

Please remember that we need an official source for stating the reason for casting changes.

[ADMIN BEANIE OFF]

I think it's ironic that people were first complaining that Osipova wasn't going to dance 2 La Sylphides and now we're complaining when she's been given a second performance.

Well, to not add oil to the fire, but still remind about "justice".....
Osipova was scheduled to dance La Sulpide TWICE on 6/17 and then 6/19, but when the Bolshoi was not happy about ABT scheduling her without their prior consent, her 6/19 was cancelled. I guess, it's pretty righteous to schedule her back at an earlier date, plus she'd dance on Saturday, 6/13. So, the earlier arrangement of THREE performances is being restored.
And Osipova was dancing La Sulphide at Bolshoi many times being couched by Koborg......
I will try to see her cramming it between my trips to DC to watch Bolshoi's Corsaire

Officially, from the company:

AMERICAN BALLET THEATRE ANNOUNCES CAST CHANGES

Natalia Osipova to Perform La Sylphide on Monday evening, June 15;
Maria Riccetto to Perform Giselle at Matinee on Saturday, June 13



American Ballet Theatre has announced cast changes due to an ankle injury to Principal Dancer Xiomara Reyes. Guest Artist Natalia Osipova will replace Ms. Reyes in the title role in La Sylphide on Monday evening, June 15 and ABT Soloist Maria Riccetto will replace Ms. Reyes in the title role of Giselle at the matinee performance on Saturday, June 13.

Guest Artist Natalia Osipova was born in Moscow and trained at the Moscow State Academy of Choreography. In 2004, she joined the corps de ballet of the Bolshoi Ballet and was promoted to first soloist in January 2008 and to leading soloist in October 2008. Her repertoire with the Bolshoi includes Gamzatti in La Bayadère, Medora in Le Corsaire, Kitri in Don Quixote, Jeanne in the Flames of Paris, Aspicia in The Pharaoh’s Daughter, the Spanish Bride in Swan Lake, title roles in Coppelia, Giselle, Paquita and La Sylphide, as well as soloist roles in George Balanchine’s Serenade and Symphony in C, Alexei Ratmansky’s Russian Seasons, and Twyla Tharp’s In the Upper Room. Ms. Osipova’s awards include the Grand Prize at the Prix de Luxembourg International Ballet Competition in 2003, the Golden Mask (2007) for her performance in Twyla Tharp’s In the Upper Room, the Golden Mask (2008) for her performance in La Sylphide and the Benois de la Danse Award as Best Female Dancer (2008). The 2009 Spring season marks Ms. Osipova’s first appearance with American Ballet Theatre.

A native of Montevideo, Uruguay, Maria Riccetto began her ballet studies in 1990 at the Uruguay National Ballet School. In 1995, she was hired as an apprentice by the national ballet company, S.O.D.R.E. In 1998, Ms. Riccetto received a full scholarship at the North Carolina School of the Arts. She joined American Ballet Theatre’s corps de ballet in August 1999 and was promoted to Soloist in 2002. Her repertory with ABT includes Calliope in Apollo, first and third Shades in La Bayadère, Gulnare and an Odalisque in Le Corsaire, Mercedes, Amour and a flower girl in Don Quixote, the peasant pas de deux and Zulma in Giselle, Clara in The Nutcracker, Lilac
Fairy and Princess Florine in The Sleeping Beauty, the Young Girl in Le Spectre de la Rose, Natalia in On the Dneiper, the pas de trois in Swan Lake, the Mazurka and Prelude in Les Sylphides and roles in Baker’s Dozen, Brief Fling, Company B, In The Upper Room, The Leaves Are Fading, Sinfonietta, Symphonic Variations and George Balanchine’s Ballo della Regina, Mozartiana, Symphonie Concertante, Symphony in C and Theme and Variations. She created a leading role in Benjamin Millepied’s From Here On Out and debuted in the title role of Giselle in February 2009.

Tickets for American Ballet Theatre’s 2009 Metropolitan Opera House season, priced $19-$130, are available online, at the Met box office or by phone at 212-362-6000. The Metropolitan Opera House is located on Broadway between 64th and 65th streets in New York City. For more information, visit ABT’s website at www.abt.org <http://www.abt.org> .

Well I'm certainly sorry that Reyes is injured, bad luck for her and I hope she is soon on the mend.

That being said, I feel better about Osipova's taking over her Sylphide on Monday night. The thought of ABT pulling Reyes out arbitrarily wasn't a very nice one and I'm glad there is a legitimate reason, although, again, my sympathies go out to Xiomara for her injury.

Given the situation, I give credit to ABT management for using this unfortunate situation to add back in Osipova's third performance this season as guest.
So Osipova gets her two Sylphides and Seo gets her opportunity.

In conclusion, I hope we see Reyes back on her feet soon.

I just recieved an e mail from ABt with the title "Just Announced". It goes on to state that Osipova will replace Reyes in La Sylphide on June 15 due to an injury to Reyes. The email then contains a little blurb on Osipova's stellar credentials. In all my years of going to ABT, I don't recall previously receiving an e mail blast regarding a cast change at ABT relating to injuries to dancers. Clearly, ABT is trying to cash in on the perceived ability of Osipova to sell tickets.

Maybe they read the lamentations here when Osipova was pulled from the performance on the 19th

I think ABT is aware that any guest artist who comes from a venerable company like the Bolshoi will probably sell lots of tickets. That's why they are scrambling to advertise Osipova's performance on Monday as quickly as possible.

On the other hand, take a look at the seating chart - there are many seats available for June 15 performance all of a sudden. And I do mean prized orchestra seats including K-1 which, if I am not mistaken, is normally reserved for the New York Times critic, especially on a prima night.

It looks to me like a lot of people who had their tickets to see Osipova's Sylphide on Wednesday and Reyes on Monday are exchanging for other performances. Thus the sudden avalanche of great seats.

I think La Sylphide is a tough sell to the public regardless of who is performing it. It does not have the same popularity as ballets like SL, Giselle and the like. That's why ABT does not revive it very often (in contrast to SL, which is done EVERY year.) Also, Sylphide is a short ballet which must be accompanied by a "filler" ballet (this time, it's Airs, which I like). I suspect many people feel they do not get their money's-worth with a relatively short one act ballet.

I believe the Times seats are L 1/3. Two of our subscriptions are K 1/3 and Macaulay is right behind us.

Can someone tell me about how long "Airs" is? Trying to plan my transportation back to Philly

Guesstimate: 35 minutes, +/- .

According to ABT site, David H. will replace Maxim B. in LS w/ Nona A. and Herman C. will do the 2 La Sylphide of Natalia O.

Herman Cornejo is now listed as Natalia Osipova's partner on Wednesday night as well as Monday night. David Hallberg is listed to perform on Tuesday and Thursday with Nina Ananiashvili and with Hee Seo on Friday. No press release has yet been made.

Herman Cornejo is no longer listed as Natalia Osipova's partner on Wednesday night; the schedule has "tba". David Hallberg is still listed to perform on Tuesday and Thursday with Nina Ananiashvili and with Hee Seo on Friday. No press release has yet been made.

will abt surprise us with Vasiliev, now that he is prob in dc ?
just a thought

I thought that perhaps Kevin might get an emergency Bolshoi star to sub on Wed evening. We'll see. The Bolshoi doesn't seem to be terribly interested in making life easy for dancers who want to dance elsewhere, so I wouldn't hold my breath. Also, Angel used to do this role. I thought that he might end up in the role. We'll see.

I do not think that Ivan V. has danced this role before.Angel C. seems the most likely replacement unless ABT will surprise us w/ one of thier upcoming male dancer( Hammoudi? Tamm?)

You didn't say which night you were attending, so I wrote down the timings tonight:
Airs: 7:35 - 8:02
Sylphide Act I: 8:24 - 8:58
Sylphide Acr II: 9:18 - 9:49

Timings include applause.

ABT has been very good about keeping intermissions to about twenty minutes.

Many thanks, zerbinetta!

This gives me a much better sense of when I should tell my friends to expect me back on the couch.

But how was the ballet and the dancers ?

Osipova and Cornejo were excellent! Herman was the only dancer on stage keeping up with Osipova, however. The corps were a little wonky, especially compared to last week in Giselle. They were out of synch at times, arms everywhere. When dancing with Osipova and Cornejo, she seemed to be taking different cues than the dancers behind her. Daniil Simkin was a funny and slimy Gurn. Nancy Raffa replaced Barbee as Madge. She received a big cheer at the opening of the second act when the curtains opened on her stirring her cauldron. The crowd seemed reserved last night overall though, I thought. Lots of empty seats and not much cheering. Osipova finally got some bravas at the curtain call. She and Herman definitely deserved some cheers and whoops during the performance; she's quite a force. She has light, very animated arms and a sweet appearance. It seems Macauley unleashed his entire arsenal of complimentary adjectives on her in his review this weekend, and well deserved.

Herman's dancing was just excellent, especially his jumping in the first half! Also, loved Gemma Bond's tantrum at the end of act one. This is a fun ballet.


Airs was boring. I'm going to skip it if I go back to see Part. It was about 30 minutes long.

Who performed the Monday eve performance??-Did Osipova dance??--and WHO was her partner. Surprisingly scant information around for such a high profile program. I have tickets for her Wed Eve performance and would love to know who her partner will be---very disappointed in the Hallberg cancellation---hoping and praying it is not Cornejo.

Oh, well--foiled again!! I wrote the above before Sealings entry.---maybe they will let Simkin do it---live in hope and die in despair

La Sylphide - Natalia Osipova
James - Herman Cornejo
Effie - Gemma Bond
Anna, James' mother - Maria Bystrova
Gurn - Daniil Simkin
Madge - Nancy Raffa



Herman was excellent in this role.

Airs was a total bore. I too am skipping it tonight. I have enjoyed it in the past with the Paul Taylor Dance Co., but it didn't look right yesterday. First of all, why would management choose a small ballet for 7 dancers for the gigantic Met stage? Also, the lighting was way too dark in certain sections. Finally,I think Paul Taylor dancers perform his works much better in terms of the style demanded. Osipova was wonderful. she was light as a feather as she sailed through the air. Her characterization was also beautifully done. I liked Herman, although I thought he struggled with keeping his upper body in the correct Bournonville form. Simkin nearly stole the show AGAIN. Raffa is the perfect Madge. Gemma Bond was delightful as the bride to be. Many Many empty seats.

Don't agree about Airs - always a wonderful work, though not, it's true, meant for grand-opera-house dimensions. Is there anything more ravishing than the music Taylor chose for the final section (the "Good Dreams" sequence from Alcina), which he set with such beautiful, apt simplicity? Cornejo was an excellent and moving James (you're right about the occasional sense of strain, more in the attitude efface poses that punctuate his vibrant jumps and beats than in those airborne movements themselves). Osipova was wonderful in many ways - fantastically high, light jumps, touching and credible mime, a musical flow to everything she did - but I don't think this role suits her all that well. She's a vibrant, powerful dancer, careful and reined in here. Raffa was very good as Madge.

ABT 7:30 pm 15 June, 2009
Airs/La Sylphide

I'll start with a dissenting view. I liked the dancers in Taylor's Airs and my view is that they did very well with the choreography. I agree with an earlier poster that the Tipton lighting was rather dim. But since we had seats in the second row of the orchestra, we had no problems, even with facial expressions.

I singled out Arron Scott for his full projection, his facial connection with his partner, and his bright stage presence.

The entire cast was, in my view, splendid and glowed brightly as dancers on the stage of the Met.

If Airs seemed to some a sparse offering on the Met stage, La Sylphide's first act
seemed, to this viewer, crowded and somehow chaotic with Desmond Heeley's scenery and costumes and full cast on stage.
In short, I had trouble liking ABT's production of La Sylphide, especially the first act.

The cast principals were nevertheless excellent. Ms Osipova, with her air-borne gifts and the fullness of her characterization, was matched by the virtuosity of Mr. Cornejo's virile dancing.
My first view of Daniil Simkin as Gurn leads me to believe he will be a formidable major dancer in time. Just not yet.

Ms Raffa's Madge was outstanding as visual theatre and mimetic concision.

The second act with its verdant, post-card pretty setting is a better background for the romantic/Bournonville style that Ms. Osipova has, in this viewer's eye, mastered so artfully and so convincingly. Mr. Cornejo was simply spectacular in this act.

The corps of eighteen sylphs looked well rehearsed but lacked the final stamp of stylistic cohesion. I singled out Christine Shevchenko for her lovely stage presence.

Programmatically, it would have been better for La Sylphide to have preceded
the performances of Giselle.
La Sylphide's tale, of a young man's folly in chasing after an out-of-the-ordinary fancy of his is not the heart-warming story of love and redemption.

The audience responded warmly to Ms Osipova and Mr Cornejo at the curtain calls.

I should have gone! But I'm already watching two La Sylphides this week, including Wednesday. The Met box office wasn't showing any good seats in prime orchestra however. Was it really that empty??

I was in a side box and I thought the house looked pretty well sold - the orchestra looked well filled even on the sides and the empties were pretty scattered. I didn't see whole rows empty anywhere except in the back of the Family Circle which never sells... I think Osipova is pulling in some bodies.

The dancers in "Airs" were Misty Copeland, Nicola Curry, Isaac Stappas, Blaine Hoven, Anne Milewski, Kristi Boone, Blaine Hoven and Arron Scott. I thought they were good. Kristi Boone was the statuesque calm goddess and Misty Copeland the little bacchante. Arron Scott had the jumpiest variation and stood out from the other men. Once again this modern piece was chosen by ABT because it is fairly balletic in its affect and steps, despite being done on flat feet. Another piece that would look better at City Center. (We all complain about the glut of full-lengths done for the Spring/Summer Met season but there are reasons other than box office). Though I like seeing corps kids get their day in the sun, not looking forward to multiple viewings.

Just a few stray notes: Osipova again showed that her great strength could be sublimated to serve the choreography. As others have noted, she has incredible ballon in jumps and leaps and really does look like she can fly. Her attacks are light and not muscular or athletic, so the Romantic line isn't broken. However, I am not sure that she is a complete Romantic stylist yet, the real softness of phrasing is an acquired patina right now not something emanating from within. She is young and already has learned so much, I give her time. Ananiashvili and Vishneva in "Giselle" were not the interpreters and stylists they are now when they did the role at Osipova's age of 23. And Osipova is already so impressive as an artist, the sky's the limit as far as I can see.

She was pretty well-matched with Herman - in flat feet she is his exact height, on pointe she is about three or four inches tall than he is. Since Bounonville has the Sylph and James dancing mostly side by side rather than have the man be the porteur in promenades and lifts, etc. the slight discrepancy wasn't noticeable.

Herman was stunning in his beats but I found he was having trouble balancing after doing cabrioles, etc. I think he is just a little off of form from his knee injury. His acting was quite a good balance of the dreamer and the impetuous young man. Does James die at the end or just faint? Madge seemed to be putting spells on him and messing with him in the last scene. Daniil Simkin again made a vivid impression as Gurn - he has the Suzanne Farrell trick of doing jumps and turns off-balance rather than straight up and down vertically and landing perfectly like a cat. Nancy Raffa replaced Victor Barbee as Madge and was quite vivid and specific in her mime.

The corps and orchestra made some flubs after an impressive showing last week in "Giselle". Interesting to see ballerinas of varying physical types take over the role throughout the week - I am seeing Ananiashvili tonight and Part on Saturday.

fyi.
the following has come in an email from the ABT press offices:

On Friday, June 19, VERONIKA PART and CORY STEARNS replace Hee Seo and David Hallberg;

On Saturday matinee, June 20, HEE SEO* and DAVID HALLBERG replace Xiomara Reyes and Herman Cornejo.

Does anybody have any further info on Wed night? On ABT page, it's "Osipova and TBA," whereas on MET page, it's "Osipova and Cornejo."

Had Veronika originally been scheduled for an evening Sylphide at some point? Or was she always just scheduled to do the matinee? I am glad I will get a chance to see her!

She (Part) was doing saturday evening--hopefully she still is....

now veronika is scheduled to do both evenings, friday and saturday.
cant wait to see her

osipova was wonderful last night, a playful sylphide flying all over the stage.
herman was great as well and I loved Simkin, very funny grunt !

I just looked at the ABT website. Cornejo is doing the Wed evening Sylphide w. Osipova.

Although i'm disappointed of not seeing Hee Seo's debut on Friday night, the change in the schedule makes sense. David can't possibly dance 2 succesive nights of dancing James.

Aaargh! I've been waiting since reading about Hallberg learning the role of James last year (to dance it in Japan I believe) and now Friday night I'll be seeing Cory Stearns. I'm aware of the cast change warning but this is really disappointing. Not living near the city trying for a quick exchange isn't possible. Nothing against Cory Stearns, he's lovely but....(heavy sigh)

How come Cory Stearns will be dancing on 2 successive nights???--and V.Part, too---at this point I am starting to panic....what if?? could they possibly be replaced on Sat Eve......I have had my tickets for a long time to see this.

Is this much cast shuffling usual?

When there are injuries, as ABT has had this year, adjustment's must be made.

I remember a stretch when Amanda McKerrow and Wes Chapman did Don Q -- much more dancing for the leads than La Sylphide -- in four consecutive performances, including a Mat and Eve on the same day. They survived.

Was anyone else sorely disappointed by tonight's performance? (Nina/Hallberg). I thought Airs was especially awful tonight.

It's funny -- when I went to NYCB all the time in the years there were Saturday and Sunday matinees, at the end of the season, there would be weekends when a dancer would do two roles in each of four programs, after dancing two on Friday night.

Didn't Megan Fairchild dance four "Coppelia"'s in a row in Saratoga Springs?