I went to last night's opening performance, starring Diana Vishneva, Marcelo Gomes, Herman Cornejo, and, for some extra star value, Freddie Franklin as Friar Laurence and Veronika Part as Lady Capulet. (What is wrong with Stella Abrera???)
This ballet can really have its longeurs, but with the right dancers it's also magical. With Diana and Marcelo (two amazing dancers in their own right), when they dance together, it's like 2+2 = 10. Both are intense, passionate dancers, and they tore up the stage as the young lovers. Both are at this point too mature to really seem like teenagers, but it didn't matter. Marcelo was handsome, passionate, and of course a wonderful partner. I loved his characterization of Romeo as a genuinely sweet young man whose dance with the harlots seemed to be part of his easygoing personality. With Diana, he was magical. The many tricky "moon" lifts in MacMillan's choreography looked absolutely effortless.
Diana's Juliet was passionate, headstrong, and Diana being Diana at the end of the balcony pas de deux she tripped while running up the stairs. But she is the type of dancer who so obviously throws herself into roles that even this accident seemed in character. She ended the act slumped over the balcony, reaching for Marcelo's hands. Diana's Juliet was overtly rude to Paris -- she was NOT INTERESTED! She can seem absolutely boneless, and in the lifts she was like jelly in Marcelo's arms. Swoon. The tomb duet was a highlight of the night. Both of them received loud, long ovations.
Herman Cornejo received huge ovations for his Mercutio. The man is simply a turning machine! Isaac Stapas also was a handsome, menacing Tybalt.

I did the unusual and went to the stage door last night and it's amazing how quiet and even shy dancers are once offstage. And how tiny they are! Veronika Part mentioned that she had danced Giselle in Russia last summer. Does anyone know where she might have danced? (The title role that is.)

I too was at last night's performance. Vishneva and Gomes were wonderful. I think she works better with Gomes than any of the other previous Romeos I've seen her paired with (Corella and Malhakov). Gomes was a fantastic partner, and handled all the complex lifts marvelously. Gomes drew an arc of development for Romeo. In the beginning, he was a dreamer and did not take important matters seriously. During the initial swordplay at the beginning of the ballet, he was smirking and smiling. As the ballet progresses his acting reveals that he has come to understand the consequences of the hatred between the two families. Vishneva was so fluid, with an ultra flexible back and gorgeous extensions. She was a headstrong Juliet. She always seems to have a minor accident in this ballet. This time it was the stumble up the stairs. Last time (2 or 3 years ago) there was a loud crash when she made a running exit, and she emerged with a slightly bloody leg. During the scene in her bedroom when she is contemplating taking the sleeping potion, she seemed to be channeling the Giselle mad scene. I'm not sure that worked too well, but it was an interesting choice. Having Herman return to his role as Mercutio was luxury casting. Benvolio was danced by C. Lopez. I don't know what's going on with Stella, but it can't be good. She was replaced as Juliet's mother by Part. Stappas was an evil and effective Tybalt. During his death scene he threw himself to the ground for one last chance to lunge at Gomes. Also, he and Part played up their "close relationship" in very nuanced acting during the ball and immediately after it. What can you say about F. Franklin? What an unbelievable life and career. He was heartily applauded during his initial entrance as the Friar. ABT should start auditioning some new brass section players for next year.

Unfortunately, I was a bit disappointed by the end of last night's performance. The last time I watched this production was Ferri's retirement and I absolutely loved it, but last night wasn't very captivating. I'm probably in the very, very small minority because it seemed like everyone around me enjoyed it so my opinion is definitely just my opinion. The dancers are great, I just don't love the production. I'd love to see more dancing from Romeo and Juliet, not from the harlots, not from the many side characters, and definitely not from the sword fighters (enough!!). For me, there were too many corps dancing/parading scenes to make me feel like Romeo and Juliet were truly the main characters. I have read the book and I guess the ballet followed the plot well but it just felt a little dry.

This was also the first time that I watched Diana Vishneva dance with ABT. She is an amazing dancer, but all the arm flailing and running from one end of the stage to the other over and over again became uninteresting and annoying pretty quickly. I did enjoy Marcelo Gomes as Romeo and he seemed to fit the role very well.

Side note/question: I never noticed before but the orchestra doesn't sound as good as they used to. When Juliet was sitting in the center of the stage playing the mandolin in Act I, I thought the violinist hadn't practiced his part at all! I felt the same way watching Swan Lake and Sylvia. It made me really uneasy that section, thinking that he might not make it to the end or something. I should probably listen to a recording of that part..
& I was a little bit astonished by all the people eating noisy foods around me (in the mid-rear orch section). I guess no time for dinner?

I'm going to Thursday's performance as well and hopefully I won't be as cynical then!

Although I thought Vishneva did an excellent job, I agree with you that nobody I've seen since Ferri has been her equal in this role. Ferri's performances were always very lyrical and loaded with detail. I noticed in one of ABT's brochures sent to subscribers there was a photo of Ferri coaching Sarah Lane as Juliet, but Ms. Lane isn't cast as Juliet this year. Does anyone know if Ferri coached any of the dancers who are performing Juliet this year?

Gomes and Vishneva were just beautiful together. Gomes was a fine Romeo, and their partnering and lifts were spectacular. Vishneva seemed to be dancing full-out last night, very impetuous and almost desperate in the way she threw herself into Marcelo's arms. She seems to take more risks with him, which of course produces these amazing performances, but maybe perhaps the stumble too. I drew my breath when she was racing down the stairs at the beginning of the balcony scene... I admire her for putting so much into each performance though, in spite of little mistakes. At least no blood lost this time.

Cornejo's lightness and quickness in the air is marvelous. Veronika Part is a picture perfect Lady Capulet. She's so statuesque and regal! And commanding in those costumes. I had to laugh when someone in our section said, "Wait until he sees her mom!" as Marcelo was watching Diana during the dance of the knights.

(Ps. is the board acting a little weird for anyone else? I had trouble getting my post to go through)

Pps. Agree about Ferri too. I also like Julie Kent in this role.

As for Sarah Lane not dancing Juliet - remember that even with Julie Kent on maternity leave, ABT has a glut of principals who dance Juliet. If Xiomara Reyes' ankle injury is not sufficiently healed by this Friday then Sarah may get her chance.

I am so with you on this ballet "sjk" - the harlots and sword fights are interesting the first time you see the ballet and unbelievably tedious on repetition. Luckily Marcelo the Magnificent was onstage during the harlot/street brawl/prancing Veronese peasant sections and so I could just look at him and that helped I remember a NY Times critic mentioning that this is a ballet that could use some fast-forwarding. Cranko makes some needed musical cuts and his fights and street scenes are not as repetitious as MacMillan's. At a three hour length, I believe the ballet has a longer playing time than the Shakespeare play it is based on and is almost as long as the Gounod opera. I actually am interested in the other casts (Bolle/Dvorovenko, Stearns/Seo, Cornejo/Reyes) but really can't do this ballet more than once a season.

Vishneva I found more lyrical and less wild than previously (I saw her dance it with Corella a few years ago). Similar to her Giselle this season, she has toned down some of the rebellious, over the top coltish quality bringing a lovely delicate femininity to the early ballroom, balcony and marriage scenes and leaving the big dramatics for Act III's bedroom and tomb scene.

Marcelo Gomes as Romeo matched her intensity and gave her a foundation of strength and emotional receptiveness to work off of. He was more than a head taller than his Mercutio and Benvolio (Cornejo and Lopez) and this changed the look of their unison dances. Romeo seemed the natural leader rather than one among equals (or Mercutio's follower/butt of jokes). I think that casting him alongside Jared Matthews and Blaine Hoven would have a very different effect. I don't think the original Mercutio David Blair was that short a dancer.

[BTW: I saw the Ananiashvili farewell Swan, the Part Sylphide and three casts in "Sylvia" but have been busy or on vacation and haven't posted on them yet - anon]

Having been lucky enough to see Ferri and Bocca do Romeo and Juliet several times, I, too agree that they were the best ever and seeing anyone else is always a bit of a disappointment. This is the second time I've seen Vishneva perform Juliet (the first was a few years ago with Malahkov) but I liked her performance less last night than a few years ago. Vishenva seems to model her interpretation on Ferri's but she dances with less reckless abandon and passion than Ferri. While the balcony and bedroom scenes were acceptable, I felt she was just doing steps during a lot of the ballroom scene. Also I thought Vishneva failed to dance with that girlish quality (that Ferri retained up to her final performance) that Juliet is supposed to have, except in the few moments with her nurse.

While Gomes did a fairly good job as Romeo I simply didn't find him interesting to watch and I thought the chemistry with Vishneva wasn't there. I just didn't believe he was a young man passionately in love - I actually found Cornejo far more compelling dramatically than Gomes, even though Mercutio is a secondary role. Compared to Bocca, Gomes also took some shortcuts with the choreography. For instance, in the balcony scene he went into a passe after only a half attitude rear turn instead of doing a whole revolution.

For me, the best part of the evening was Cornejo as Mercutio. His charm and dramatic capabilities seem to get better every year and of course he is wonderful technically.

For those people who never saw Ferri and Bocca perform Romeo and Juliet together or who, like me, regret that a DVD of their full Romeo and Juliet was never released, a documentary titled "Ballet" shows them performing both the balcony and bedroom scenes in Copenhagen in 1990. The documentary, by Fredrick Wiseman, is not available on commercial sites like Amazon but can be purchased through his production company - Zipporah films.

"This was also the first time that I watched Diana Vishneva dance with ABT. She is an amazing dancer, but all the arm flailing and running from one end of the stage to the other over and over again became uninteresting and annoying pretty quickly."

Thank you, skj, for articulating what I felt during the most supposedly dramatic of Vishneva's scenes. I had attended the dress rehearsal in the afternoon, and was totally captivated by Dvorovenko's first act (and Dvorovenko is not a dancer I've been particularly enamored of--now I feel I must see her again and perhaps alter my opinion), during which she was totally believable as an impetuous, adorable teenager. And such gorgeous legs and feet! And so lyrical in the balcony scene! Having been won over by her performance in rehearsal, at first I thought it was just a matter of finding it difficult to detach from her and bond with Vishneva. But it's good to know that my feelings are shared by others, and I did feel that Vishneva was not convincing as a teenager and was "over-the-top" in her attempt to communicate Juliet's despair. Both Dvorovenko and Seo, at the dress rehearsal, managed to do it wonderfully, without the histrionics. (On the other hand, for you psychologists out there, it was clear that neither Romeo nor Juliet had mastered affect regulation--and no wonder, given the parental and environmental input.)

Interestingly, I thought that Hee Seo, also seen in dress rehearsal, was excellent. She displayed just the right degree of emotion coupled with the right amount of exquisite dancing. What a marvel! She is shown in the booklet as a member of the corps de ballet, and she has, to my mind deservingly, sky-rocketed to the top.

I thought that Gomes was wonderful, especially in the balcony scene, where it seemed to me that the audience no longer existed for him, that he was dancing only for Juliet, and that his dancing said, over and over, with every turn and every perfectly placed balance, "I love you." I thought to myself "This is the year of Marcelo Gomes."

But bring Cornejo out on the stage and you can't take your eyes off him, he is always so charming and engaging. His dancing appears so effortless, it is as if he can do absolutely anything (you want 10 pirouettes? okay, here we go), and it is always such a joy to watch him. In some ways, he stole the show.

I agree that there were too many harlot scenes and too much sword fighting. At the same time, I was impressed with the teaching and rehearsing that went into making this production such a spectacle. But where were the elephants?

And the orchestra definitely needs to replace the French horn player, at the very least. During the most intense moment of the marriage ceremony, the French horn has a solo passage, and the notes came out flat and broken. It was jarring and ruined the moment. I know the French horn is an extremely difficult instrument, and I feel bad for the player, who may well feel bad him/herself, but there must be certain minimum standards--like playing the key passages on pitch and unbroken.

There was a woman in the ladies room telling another woman that she was going to be attending five more performances of R&J this week. I admire her stamina.
angelica

Before I talk about last night's performance of "Romeo and Juliet", I just want to say that I love reading the diverse opinions on this board. What moves one poster leaves another cold and both analyses are interesting and valid.

Anyway, put me down on the pro Vishneva and Gomes team. For me, Vishneva's wild, girlish energy and abandon were perfectly suited to the role of Juliet and MacMillan's choreography. During her pas de deux with Paris in the ballroom scene, I thought of Shakespeare's line- "O, she doth teach the torches to burn bright." Vishneva's Juliet grew from a child into a young girl passionately in love and then finally into a woman choosing her own path, even if it leads to death.

She was more than matched by Marcelo Gomes as her Romeo. Is it just me or is he dancing better than ever this season? He radiated warmth and love onstage. I love to watch the moment after Mercutio's death when Romeo decides to figh Tybalt. For Gomes' Romeo, it was a moral choice- he grabbed the sword decisively, wiped the blade, and moved menacingly towards Tybalt.

Herman Cornejo's witty Mercutio with his miraculous pirouettes and the gorgeous Lady Capulet of Veronika Part rounded off a great evening in the theatre.

On a side note, I have tried to love Alessandra Ferri's Juliet. I was at her farewell performance with Roberto Bolle, and I've seen the two recordings at Covent Garden. I think I'm the only ballet viewer that finds her Juliet contrived. Oh well

I was also at last night's Vishneva/Gomes "Romeo & Juliet." I agree with many of the posts here that some of the harlot scenes and the sword-fighting got a little dull, and I wasn't feeling entirely captivated by the ballet until Act III.

I am a big Diana-Marcelo fan, and by the end, I enjoyed them immensely. But it took a while to get there. I saw their Balcony pas de deux at the Opening Night gala and was absolutely enthralled (in fact, that performance impressed me so much that I changed my ticket to fly back to NYC early just so I could see their R&J). Last night, however, I was a little disappointed. Perhaps I was remembering Diana/Marcelo's luxuriously slow White Swan pas de deux, but I found myself wishing that they used a slower tempo - I felt like I didn't get to savor the moments as much as I would have liked.

I know that other posters find Vishneva to be a bit histrionic, but I found her and Marcelo to be utterly convincing in Act III, and I felt quite satisfied by the end. Judging by the final bows/curtain calls, it seemed like Diana and Marcelo enjoyed dancing together as well. The lady sitting next to me pointed out Marcelo's teacher Silvana (from Brazil) in the audience, and later informed me that Marcelo's mother was also there; she had just flown in to see the performance. Hopefully they enjoyed it!

As for the others - I heartily enjoyed Herman as Mercutio: fabulous, simply fabulous. I was also quite moved by Veronika's Lady Capulet.

Overall, this was my first season to see Diana Vishneva, and I was wholeheartedly impressed. I also adore the Diana-Marcelo partnership and can't wait to see them next season!

canbelto - Where is the stage door located? I might try to see the dancers the next time I go!

angelica - Your description of Irina's Juliet makes me very excited to see her on Saturday! But I'm going to have to try my best not to nod off during more of the harlot scenes...

I loved the cast Monday night. Cornejo was terrific as usual. His dancing is great artistry not just technical wizardry and that's not good news for the other men who have to dance alongside him. Nonetheless, Gomes was also impressive and grew stronger over the course of the performance, especially in his dancing with Juliet. The balcony scene was impressive and I thought Vishneva's interpretation was fine. I have never seen a Juliet appear so convincingly lifeless in the final scene. But I must echo the dismay of other posters at the lack of imagination in the choreography. I don't think I can watch this version again. Most of the choreography for Romeo and Juliet tends to look like an amusement park ride after a while with Romeo endlessly swinging Juliet around like a sack of potatoes. And that's some of the best choreography. Watching a Mercutio of Cornejo's calibre is especially frustrating. The music for his fight with Tybalt is so wonderful, full of interesting transitions, and all MacMillan can think to have him do is clank swords. The market scenes are just a mess. Compared to the ordered richness of the final act of Sylvia I saw last week, MacMillan's choreography is just chaos. Part was terrifically expansive in her Lady Capulet but at the end of the second act her chest thumping went on for an eternity. But it's hardly her fault. What a shame Ashton's version is so rarely staged.

Just back from Dvorovenko/Bolle. I thought I'd be disappointed seeing Dvorovenko the night after Vishneva, and I absolutely was until Act III which was brilliant. I'm confused about the whole thing, she did such a turnaround. Roberto Bolle was noble, gallant, gorgeous! I got him finally... I understand. Act II was almost boring tonight, enough with the swordfighting. They could at least use metal instead of plastic swords. They sound like plastic anyway-- clink clink clink. About half the crowd stayed for curtain calls, but the ones in their seats were rapturous, lots of flying bouquets! A lot more than last night. Anna Wintour and Natalia Vodianova were in the audience. I'm still excited I saw Vodianova in person, wow.

Alright, Irina was odd. In the first act, she was almost cartoonish...like watching mime, Charlie Chaplin. Every gesture was rehearsed, every eyebrow lift. She seemed totally without sincerity or feeling. Her performance as a young girl was so postured. I think Irina looks like Lucille Ball, and that didn't help (not that both women aren't totally beautiful). I kept thinking of Lucy...really... I usually love Irina for her superlative technique, despite some kitsch acting sometimes, but I didn't think she looked so special in the first act after what I saw yesterday. In the balcony pdd, when Bolle lifted her upside down and draped her down his body, she froze for three seconds beaming a smile at the audience. I don't know. And then, here's the big HOWEVER... she came out in the third act another dancer. She was divine...inspired! Like she just threw the kitsch (kitrisch ha) out the window and came out as Juliet.

A big difference from Vishneva... Diana was so passionate and near desperation; she started out a very sweet character but become lost, out of control. Her acting was so consuming and, to the viewer, spellbinding. Watching her dance with Marcelo felt like watching something private, it was so vivid to her, and she danced with such urgency. I felt like there was a great change in her character, a total shift from safety to near madness.

Dvorovenko was really different. She was a gentler Juliet, much more innocent throughout the ballet and more in control of herself. She showed emotions but wasn't consumed by them. I don't mean that in a negative way, only that she interpreted things differently. For example, when she woke up in the tomb her Juliet was alarmed but not hysterical, nervously exploring her surroundings, while Vishneva ran violently around the catacombs, flailing her arms. Dancing with Bolle, Irina did not throw herself toward him, but showed softer, slower lifts, much gentler. The death scenes were also quite different in the tombs. Diana made it to the bed quickly and spent a long time holding and caressing Marcelo's hands, while Irina chose to hold her wound as she slowly made it back over to Bolle. After just touching his hand, she died. I love seeing these divergent interpretations.

I saw Irina in Giselle last year, and I saw something similar... overacted Act I and a beautiful wili later. Maybe she does better with a darker character. Tonight I was so put off during the first intermission, and I walked out so impressed. I don't think I've ever been so disappointed and then drawn in a moment later by a ballerina in one ballet.

Bolle was a dream. Romeo really is his best role. I especially liked his mandolin dance. He's so smooth, big soft smooth turns and flowing jumps, poetry! He danced so beautifully with Irina; he's such a good partner. Craig Salstein was Mercutio. He slipped on a few of his turns, certainly not up to the technical level of Cornejo last night but he was comical and playful with the crowd, at one point tossing his mandolin so high it fell to the ground about five feet behind the dancer who was supposed to catch it. He did have some nice jumps. Kristi Boone was a commanding Lady Capulet with fierce facial expressions. She is not so strong as Veronika, however, lacking power in her motions. I probably would have thought she was fine had I not seen gorgeous VP last night who had such superb emotional power.

Stella Abrera was supposed to play a harlot tonight but was replaced by Simone Messmer. I liked Messmer, especially flashing her underwear at Lady Capulet, ha!

Excuse my ignorance but who is Natalia Vodianova?

Vodianova is a Russian supermodel, one of the most famous models in the world. She was born into poverty but became an international phenomenon as a teenager.

http://i.models.com/i/db/2008/8/1227/1227-500w.jpg
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1280/964913199_5186d74a0d.jpg


Two more little things I wanted to mention about the ballet:

In Act iii, when Roberto first woke up in Juliet's room, it was so endearing how he stroked and kissed Irina's face before getting out of bed. The bed is set kind of far back on the stage, and he turned on his side to show these gestures to the audience. Later in the tomb scene, I loved how Irina really started to cry; I forgot she can do this on stage. They were very sweet and had a lot of chemistry, especially during the bedroom pdd, and more so than in Act I.

I attended the Irina-Roberto R&J last night. I was so put off by Irina's over-acting that I left at the second intermission. During her initial scene where she is playing with a doll and the nurse, her over-the-top I'm such a cute young girl routine really put me off. Nothing was realistic. As noted above, every movement was overly calculated and was phoney. When the Nurse touches Juliet's chest at the end of the scene, most of the Juliets act either surprised or perplexed. Irina flashed us a wide grin. She was not the reserved and shy Juliet in the ballroom scene. She loved being the center of attention. In fact, it's possible that Irina's Juliet is so extroverted that she called Anna Wintour in the hope that her engagement to Paris might make the cover story of Italian Vogue. Her over acted presentation was completely at odds with Roberto Bolle's understated, naturalisitic acting. He was totally believable as a young man in love. To her credit, in the balcony scene Irina displayed beautiful line and gorgeous flexibility. However, there was no sense of abandon. Bolle's dancing was gorgeous in the balcony scene At the end of the scene, when he and Juliet kissed, he looked completely intoxicated with love for Juliet. F. Franklin was the Friar once again, and received a warm round of applause. I didn't think tha Saviliev was terribly menacing as Tybalt. He was better as Paris on Mon evening. Roberto treated the audience to beautiful jumps in the Mandolin scene. Salstein had an off night as Mercutio. His dancing was sloppy and as one poster noted above, Benvolio (Jared Matthews) failed to catch the mandolin that Craig threw. It landed with a thud on the stage, and the audience laughed. Meanwhile, I think that threw Salstein's concentration off. When Bolle kills Tybalt, it is more out of grief than a calculated moral choice (which is how Gomes played it on Monday). Kristi Boone was fine as Lady Capulet, but nowhere near as enthralling as Part on Monday. As much as I love watching Roberto Bolle dance, I decided that I had enough of Irina's Juliet and left at the second intermission. I'm glad to hear that she improved in the last act. By the way, I'm guessing that the women who are playing the nurse this year are lining up to perform on the night that Roberto is Romeo, so that they can get a big kiss from Roberto in the scene after he reads the letter from Juliet. Do they need any volunteers to play the Nurse? Ha Ha. Just kidding.

Edit to add: Audience misbehavior with electronic devices reached a new level last night, when someone in a dress circle box had his laptop open and operating during the overture. The entire auditorium was dark, except for the blue light from his laptop shining on him. If you don't want to pay attention, stay home!

I've never seen ABT's Romeo and Juliet and am really excited to see it on Sat. afternoon.
Ballet Talk's Leigh Witchel has a fine review of Gomes and Vishneva in the NY Post today.
I'm not providing a link because I think that's something that the moderators do (but you can always go on www.nypost.com and then hit
"arts").

Maybe this coaching was part of the LEONORE ANNENBERG award that S. Lane & M. Copeland won. I read somewhere that Copeland was being coached by various people as part of the award. I assume Lane is also. If so what a great use of time & talent to have Ferri coach you in R&J. If not does anyone know how Lane is using the award?

Hey, if you are looking for the posts that morphed into a discussion on SYTYCD, I moved them to the previous ongoing discussion we had on the show here:

http://ballettalk.invisionzone.com/index.php?showtopic=29834

Did anyone see Paloma and Gomes perform RJ last night?

I didn't see Gomes & Herrera, but I did see the matinee -- Hallberg & Murphy. I meant to post earlier, but at this point in the season, after 25ish performances in such a short period of time, I start to get a little tipsy on ballet, if that's possible. It all starts to blur together and feel good, but overwhelming. In this case, I was intoxicated by the blondness and beauty of David Hallberg. Murphy was good too, I think -- but I was mesmerized by Hallberg.
I like the ballet more than I did before. I know that's counter to everything everyone has been posting. It definitely gets long, especially the last act, and I would not object to more dancing, as opposed to posing. But I found it quite beautiful. I love the "pas de trois" with Romeo, Mercutio, and Benvolio. And the music is magnificent and sweeping. It swept me right up, that and Hallberg, into a state of ballet ecstasy. Tonight, my final performance of the season: Seo and Stearns. I'm sure Veronika Part has had enough of Lady Capulet, but I hope she's on tonight!

I was also at the Wed. matinee, and very much enjoyed Murphy and Hallberg. The balcony and bedroom PDDs were heart stopping. The three harlots, Isebella Boylston, Simone Messmer, and Sasha Dmochowski were terrific.
With the exception of the final fight between Romeo and Tybalt (Patrick Ogle)
I found the sword fighting lacked excitement. It looked like the dancers in the large group fight were moving through meaningless choreographed positions, set to counts and basically phoning it in. Hallberg and Ogle managed to infuse their's with dramatic motivation, create tension, and make it look spontaneous.

I noticed the next night's juliet, Hee Seo, was listed in the huge corps of ballroom guests and townspeople. I hope the poor woman had some time to rehearse!

I saw Paloma and Marcelo on Wed. A lot has already been said about Marcelo's excellent Romeo, so I won't repeat that. Paloma gave a very good performance. I think Marcelo brings the best out of her. She was believable and sweet as the child-like girl in the first scene. She was appropriately shy in the ballroom scene. Her line and extension were exquisite in the balcony and bedroom scenes. She doesn't have the dramatic presence of a Vishneva or a Ferri, but she did well enough. Stella was Lady Capulet. I prefer Part in the role, but Stella was fine. Simkin was Benvolio, and Lopez was Mercutio. The synchronization when they danced together or with Gomes was frequently off. Individually, the each danced extremely well. Stappas repeated his role as Tybalt.

Is this Seo's debut? And Stearns?

Eagerly awaiting reports!

Yes, it is the debut for both Seo and Stearns.

In the interest of promptness, I will report that Stearns acquitted himself admirably and Seo scored an unqualified triumph in their shared New York debut (having performed the role a few months ago in Detroit). Bravi! I will edit this post to flesh out the evening, which was special for other reasons.

Thanks so much! I've been following Seo since she was at the Prix, and Stearns from his time at RBS. It's like watching kids grow up! In the best possible way!

I don't know if anybody else already posted that Gia Kourlas yesterday wrote a very nice interview for Hee Seo's tongiht Juliet debut, with 6 very nicely shot photos. It's appeared on Timeout New York's Dance section.

Gia wrote one for Cory too during his debut as Conrad in Le Corsaire, entitled The New Kid on the Block

Congrats Seo and Stearn! Really feel happy for both of them. Happy Birthday Mr. Franklin!

There is a review of the Seo-Stearns performance on danceview times.

I went on Wednesday evening's performance (Paloma and Gomes) Very nice production. Lighting was a bit off, Fight scenes were poor. The Corps and principals could have spent some time learning to fence. Manhattan is full of great fencing instructors, there is no excuse for a male dancer not knowing how to fight on stage. Not a single parry or block on stage.

Why were only a few dancer wearing masks? It is called un Ballo in Maschera (a masked ball) for good reason.

Casting was perfect, really well thought out for the roles.

Carbro, Eagerly awaiting your report on Seo-Stearn R and J.It looks like nobody else was there.

I attended the Seo-Stearns cast with much anticipation since I had grown up with Cory on Long Island at Seiskaya Ballet and attended the Kirov in DC with Hee Seo. Much to my delight though, Freddy Franklin appeared on stage as the Friar to thunderous applause which prompted the show to be held as he walked forward to accept the ovation with much grace. At 95 years old, Freddy is alive and well and moving to that of a young dancer in their prime. He brought tears to my eyes as he stepped through the curtain of the chapel. It was one of those occurences where you honestly do not have the words to describe what you had just seen. I was so happy for my peers to appear on stage with him so young in their careers. Now on to the rest of the show...

The corps was extremely well put together on Thursday night. The ballroom scene opened with the men walking forward and the women posed exceptionally well each at the precise angle that was intended. Sitting up in the family circle and being able to see the detail in each women from that far away proved that ABT is still the premiere story ballet company in the United States. The fight scenes were exciting and no one missed a beat.

Daniil Simkin played Benvolio young and vibrant. However, Craig Salstein's Mercurtio stole the show with each step he took whether it was his death scene or the mandolin dance with 5 men in toe. Gennadi Savaliev's Tybalt was dead on. His extra weight, experience, picked up where the younger cast may have been a bit to light. In a cast with no principal dancers, it was nice to see a little bit of age on stage to hold things together just in case something went wrong, which nothing did on this night.

Now for Cory and Hee, I am so proud of them. Cory has matured into a true male dancer. His portrayal of Romeo was raw, young and real. Not for one moment did I feel like I was watching an older dancer pretending to be a young boy in love for the first time. He was awkward at times and rightfully so. He truly was Romeo and was truly in love for the first time. The few moments he had for comic shticks were well timed and he got his points across very well. His strength as a partner was magnificent. He was able to put Hee wherever she needed to be at any given time and Hee did not need to worry at all whether or not he was going to be there to catch her. Hee was Juliet. Her por de bras has been unmatched to anything I have seen in a long time on the professional stage. (Why isn't she a soloist yet?) Her expressions were right in everything she did. Her timing as a comedienne with the Nurse was great. Her pain when her Romeo died sent chills through my body. Kevin McKenzie was right to make such a young cast that worked so well together.

The orchestra played well also. The conductor kept everything in time with what was happening on stage. Bravo to the conductor and orchestra. The percussion and horns is what holds this score together and I do hope they enjoyed playing it because they played it well.

You may say I am biased in my review, but this was the first performance in a long time where I did not get bored once. Each scene moved at a comfortable pace and I eagerly anticipated the next scene.

Thank you ABT for this rare performance!

Thank you, stinger. The company had announced a special "champagne toast" to Mr. Franklin honoring him (about a month belatedly) on his 95th birthday, so many in the audience were there to pay tribute to this amazing artist. The music paused as the audience stood in loving appreciation, and Franklin, never breaking character, opened his hands to the heavens (or was it the Family Circle?), and then drew his palms together in prayer to acknowledge (and silence) us. The rest of his performance was deeply moving. When he married the couple, you could see that he knew these children very well, had baptized them, maybe baptized their parents (and grandparents?), and drew hope from their love for each other. Franklin brings with him more than seven decades of insight and instincts, and I hope his younger colleagues can observe him closely and see how powerfully a few extremely simple getures can reveal a character's soul.

The curtain call included a special ovation for Franklin. Seo and Stearns each presented him with a bouquet, McKenzie gave him a wreath, and beautifully colored balloons (including turquoise and magenta) fell to the stage from above. Unfortunately, it seemed the musicians were about to go on overtime, so there was no one in the pit to lead a chorus of Happy Birthday. It would have been nice.

Now, to the rest of the performance. The more I think about Stearns' Romeo, the richer it becomes. Much is said about Juliet's journey in this ballet from girl to woman, but unusually, Stearns made Romeo's parallel journey just as vivid. He is a first-rate partner, as stinger noted, giving Seo great freedom. Both as James and Romeo, he chose to let his own youth work for him. (I still have to write up the Sylphide.) He doesn't have the strong attack of many of ABT's leading men, but his technique is solid and well rounded, and he has excellent instincts. It makes total sense to me now that his earliest solo (to my best recollection) should have been in Lilac Garden, needing as it does, dancers who can communicate emotion and thought.

Seo's dancing was breathtaking. Every time she opened an arm or leg, she consumed the space around her, became huge without loosing her delicacy. For such a young dancer, she seems totally comfortable to be still on stage. I also loved the way, in dramatic scenes, she would walk like a girl -- flat feet headed forward, knees slightly relaxed, heels down first -- and gradually morph into a step with a slightly pointed foot, to balletic form.

I have been critical of Daniil Simkin over the course of the season, but I was very favorably impressed by his Benvolio. He put the choreography to the service of his characterization, full of adolescent testosterone. He was frighteningly aggressive in the sword fight with Tybalt; I truly feared for Gennadi Saveliev's safety!

We had a stage full of scene stealers, including Franklin, Simkin, and Salstein. Others were Misty Copeland's Lead Harlot, whose every gesture was perfectly scaled, minutely timed, and Alexandre Hammoudi's Paris, so charismatic and handsome that it was surprising that Juliet didn't run off with him before she had a chance to meet Romeo. I also enjoyed Kristi Boone's Lady Capulet.

Side note: I've noted that I don't like this ballet. In fact, this is the first time I've returned to it since Robert Hill (who was such a fine R opposite Julie Kent's J) retired. Before the last act, two friends and I were sitting waiting for the houselights to dim and moaning about the production's problems. I started to laugh at the absurdity of it all. Here we were, three adults who, of our own volition, had paid our money and given up an evening to see something that we were insisting we didn't like. Of course, as you probably can tell from my comments above, last night's cast was terrific enough for us to put aside those complaints.

Carbro, Thanks for the wonderful report. Now, i feel worse for missing that performance.

Thank you for the reviews!

Although I've seen R&J loads, if these two dance it in DC, I might be there.

Carbo, your note on walking reminded me of when I saw Monica Mason coaching Ansanelli as Juliet, when she had just joined the company. It was supposed to be another dancer who was injured, Ansanelli stepped in having learned nothing of Juliet before. In the dramatic scenes before Juliet goes to Friar Lawrence (and obtains poison), and when she decides to take it, there is, of course, walking. Ansanelli, at first, attempted to walk like a ballerina, toe ball heel. Mason kept commenting (and I paraphrase) -- walk, walk normally. You're a young girl about to fake a death -- you're not thinking about walking like a ballerina! The difference that just *walking* made was immense.

With the recession, I haven't been going much to either concerts or ballet this year, and most of
my discretionary income has been going to build up my modest little art collection. This year I've
seen only the Dancers' Choice at NYCB (much more cohesive than last year's, and a good
opportunity for some unsung dancers to shine), the last Midsummernight's Dream on Sunday 6/21
(I think I lucked out with one of the better casts), and this. I decided that rather than see one of
the veteran Big Gun teams, it would be more interesting to see this pair of newcomers.

I sat a little too close in center orchestra row F, which sounds great on paper but because the
auditorium is not raked or the seats well-staggered at that point, it presents sight-line problems if
someone even a little on the tall side is ahead of you, and I'm of moderate height (5'9"). I
occasionally missed some feet for the heads in front of me, but acoustically it's an excellent spot,
and the orchestra sounded pretty good. Having read some complaints here about them, I was
prepared for the worst, but there were no major problems.

Announced cast changes included Daniil Simkin replacing Jared Matthew as Benvolio. I had
heard a lot about him but never seen him before. Tiny little fellow. But he certainly can command a
stage, with crisp, precise movements and an engaging presence. As a dance performance,
excellent; as a characterization of Shakespeare's Benvolio, nicht so gut. Benvolio (= good will) in
the play is the peacemaker, and Daniil was a bit too brash and bravura. He really ought to be seen
as Mercutio, where I'm sure he could have nailed the part at least as well as the excellent Craig
Salstein.

Sorry if I can't share the general awe over Freddie Franklin. He did what he did perfectly well,
and I hope I'm 10% as good when I'm 95, but I was just not as wowed by it all as some others
were.

I was amused by the comment above on Hammoudi's Paris. I felt the same two years ago when
seeing the impossibly handsome Grant deLong in the part. But that's just the point. Shakespeare
could have portrayed Paris as something of a villain (like Tybalt, executed with perfect malice by
Saveliev); instead, he made Paris a model Renaissance gentleman, in contrast to the far more
passionate and hot-headed Romeo.

Both young leads did very well. This time youth paid off, though of the two, I would probably give
the palm to Hee Seo's lyrical, sweet Juliet. Or rather, I would say that she was most effective in
her earlier scenes (her first scene was well-nigh perfect), and he gave his strongest performance
in the final tomb scene.

It is extremely difficult for either lead to get all elements just right. Both lovers are extremely difficult to perform (in the play) because they are transformed overnight from a callow boy and docile girl to two
adults of glowing passion.

In the play, in fact, Juliet's transformation is even more remarkable than Romeo's. Despite his
killing of Tybalt, despite her parents, despite her devoted Nurse, she emerges as fiercely, almost
savagely loyal to her young husband and actively hostile to all who oppose him. Here Seo had
some trouble really conveying Juliet's maturation, but the fault is less her own than the ballet's
clumsy scenario. Complaints have been registered about the harlots, the sword-fighting, and other
time-wasting elements. (At least we were spared a quintet of boys in the dramatically superfluous
Mandolin number.) But the real problem with the scenario is that so many elements of the play
that follow the deaths of Mercutio and Tybalt are passed over in the ballet. In the ballet, 2/3 is
over at this point; in the play, we have half to go. And so in the ballet we see nothing of Juliet's
reaction to Tybalt's death, of her rejection of the Nurse ("Ancient damnation!" - take note, Mr.
Martins), of Romeo's attempt at suicide in the Friar's cell, of the Friar's failed attempt to send a
messenger to the exiled Romeo in Mantua, of Romeo's purchase of the poison from the
wonderfully ghoulish Apothecary, of the Friar's plan to rescue Juliet from the tomb, of the feuding
families' final reconciliation, and more. All of these events and miscarriages in Shakespeare
deepen the sense of tragedy and doom. But Act Three of the ballet rarely gets beyond the lyrical.
And since the scenario in so many other ways stays close to Shakespeare, these lapses are the
more frustrating, giving the main characters only limited opportunity to grow and evolve.

But what a relief after the Peter Martins travesty to see actual sets, as well as costumes that look
like Renaissance Italy. You could even tell the Montagues and the Capulets apart. Despite any
lapses, it's a powerful staging, and there is always that great Prokofiev score.

I'm going to keep this brief. I've never seen ABT's Romeo and Juliet before (the house was packed, by the way). I loved it!
Jared Matthews (Mercutio), Daniil Simkin (Benvolio), Patrick Ogle (Tybalt), and Susan Jones (the nurse) were all excellent. It was great so see Victor Barbee (Lord Capulet) too. Gillian Murphy was a lovely Juliet. The orchestra was also in fine form.
But it was all about David Hallberg. The man is a ballet god. Even though I'm a NYCB fan first and foremost, I do try to see at least 8 ABT performances each season (and always look for Hallberg). He was simply magnificent today (and actually every time I've seen him dance). Bravo!

Apollinaire Scherr reviewed the Murphy and Hallberg for her blog "foot in mouth":



It sounds like quite a cast. I wish I'd been able to see Murphy live when I was in NYC a couple of weeks ago, but "La Sylphide" isn't her rep.

Thank you so much for posting this, Helene! I love Apolloinaire's pieces in the Financial Times, but didn't realize she also wrote a blog! I'll now check it out frequently.

Here's the link:

http://www.artsjournal.com/foot/2009/07/go...nd_gillian.html

DeborahB, I wholly agree that David Hallberg is a ballet god! I was also at the Sat matinee. I was getting so teary-eyed during the first love pas that I had to consciously stop myself so that my eyes wouldn't blur over and prevent me from enjoying the rest of the performance. I was simply stunned at the end of each act and was loathe to break the spell but of course one has to rush to the bathroom line before it becomes impossible! I think Hallberg has improved greatly in his interpretation since his last R&J. He seemed less restrained, dancing with abandon and impulsiveness that I don't think is inherently his nature. A small point - I liked that he kept his hair loose and "unsprayed", it added to the reckless and boyish quality. I like Gillian very much but from the Dress Circle I didn't feel the emotion of her performance. Like you said, "it was all about David Hallberg." What a lovely end to the season for me. I'm already heading for a minor depression and wish fall season were more than 4 days!

PS - Walking back to my car after the matinee I passed the lovely Stella Abrera. I'm hoping she was on her way for the evening performance as Lady Capulet. Can anyone report?

Not Lady Capulet. That was Kristi Boone. Stella played one of the Harlots.

I attended last night's performance (the last of the Met season, sob!) with Bolle and Dvorovenko, and it almost shocks me to say this, but it was fabulous! Maybe it was the fact that this was my second viewing and knew what to expect, or that I was closer to the stage (row O vs row BB), or that I wasn't jet-lagged, but even though I immensely enjoyed Vishneva and Gomes on Monday night, on the whole, I thought this performance was better.

First of all, I'm in love with Roberto Bolle! This was my first time seeing him live, and I simply cannot imagine a more perfect Romeo! He was a god in this role; he owned the stage.

As for Irina - well, much of her dancing made me feel anew just how good Vishneva is in comparison, but she had fabulous chemistry with Bolle. From the moment when their eyes locked in the ballroom scene, I believed in their love story.

And bravo to Craig Salstein as Mercutio! He may not have all of Herman's technical chops, but what personality!! I absolutely loved him in this role and was riveted during his death scene.

Yes, I think this is what made the big difference for me versus Monday night - the supporting cast was great and thoroughly held my attention in the scenes I found somewhat dull on Monday. I actually ENJOYED the harlots last night (thank you Misty Copeland, Stella Abrera and Melanie Hamrick).

At the end of the show, the audience gave the leads a thunderous standing ovation. Irina gave one of her bouquets to Roberto, and then she gave a rose to the conductor, Ormsby Wilkins, who was great!! He then proceeded to throw the rose into the orchestra pit in dramatic fashion - I just loved it!

After Monday night, I was worried about my ability to sit through another performance, but if the cast from the leads to the supporting roles is a great as it was last night, I think I could watch it every night!

So sad that the ABT Met season is now over...I can't wait until next year!

Did anyone see Friday night's performance with Reyes and Cornejo? I'm very curious how he did in his first Romeo in NY.

I watched the Seo/Stearns performance on Thursday and loved it much more than Monday night's performance. Seo mentioned in her TONY interview that her R&J might be a bit "rough" compared to the seasoned principals but that's exactly what I liked about it. It made Romeo and Juliet seem like real characters and I understood them better. Herman Cornejo was great on Monday night but I actually liked Craig Salstein's more humorous Mercutio better. Seo seems like a terrific dancer and though there were times when I thought maybe she wasn't relaxed enough, I enjoyed her Juliet a lot more than Vishneva's. She was beautiful, convincing, and not hysterical. Stearns was great as Romeo but having already watched Roberto Bolle in the role, I think there is still room for Stearns to grow. On Monday, I was ready to bolt by the beginning of the second act but on Thursday, I think I might have even been entertained by the harlots dancing. It was a completely different R&J for me, and for the better.