ABT - Coppelia

Next ballet in my subscription was Coppelia, starring one of my faves, Xiomara Reyes, and a new guy, Ivan Vasiliev.  Ivan is with ABT since so many of the regular dancers seem to be injured.  I believe I read that he is specifically replacing Herman Cornejo.

Anyway, Coppelia is not one of my favorites--it's a cute story, but there's not really much dancing, just a lot of posing.  I love Xiomara, though, and really wanted to see her do something this season.  She did not disappoint--she was charming as Swanilda and this Ivan guy is pretty darned amazing.  I forgot that his character, Franz, doesn't do a lot of choreography in this piece.  He did a little partnering here and a nice split leap there in Acts 1 and 2.  Then, in Act 3, of course there's a wedding pas de deux and OH MY GOD.  He is all that and a bag of chips.  His elevation is remarkable--he seems to be floating an extra few seconds in the air.  Levitating, almost.  I truly have never seen someone airborne for so long.  People in the audience were gasping.  Partly, I think, because we had spent most of the evening waiting for some real dancing, but mainly because this guy was fantastic.  He also gave good curtain call.  :)

I'm looking forward to my last two ballets--Swan Lake and Sleeping Beauty.  Both starring my crush David Hallberg.  Mmmmmm.  Can't wait.