ABT 2014 - double the Don Quixote, double the fun!

One of my favorite times of year has arrived - the ABT season at the Met!  I bought my subscription ticket in January, the tickets arrived in early March, and the anticipation has been growing ever since!  One of the ballets that wasn't on my subscription this year was Don Quixote - I saw it last year and didn't feel the need to see it again.  But through a fortunate set of circumstances, I saw it not once but twice last weekend!  And had a great time.  Of course, that means this post will be a long one...

A beautiful gal pal and I entered a lottery for free tickets independently of each other.  She won a pair of tickets for Friday night and asked me to be her date.  I won tickets for Saturday night and took my Impossibly Handsome Ballet Buddy (my beautiful gal pal had a previous commitment).  I always love to see two different casts perform a ballet; it's amazing to me how differently characterizations can affect the performance and the experience.  I admit I snuck my camera out during curtain calls, so if there's no photo credit, the photo is one of mine...

photo credit: Hidemi Seto

Friday night, my beautiful gal pal and I saw Paloma Herrera and Ivan Vasiliev in the lead roles.  I believe I've stated before that Paloma is not my favorite ballerina (I don't enjoy how she breaks the line of her arms with her wrists), but I found her to be quietly charming as Kitri.  As I believe I pointed out last year, Don Quixote has maybe, at most, a half-hour's worth of plot in a two and a half hour ballet.  The rest of the evening is filled with charming pas de deux, and lots of opportunity to act as well as dance.  If Paloma's acting wasn't stellar, she definitely had the Latin spirit and fire that Kitri should have.  And her leaps were lovely.  At times, I found her footwork a tiny bit sluggish and she had next to no rapport with her co-star, but that can't all be her fault.

Ivan Vasiliev is an exciting dancer, that's for sure.  He may not be the best actor in the world, or the most elegant partner, but his dancing, especially in his solos, is thrilling.  His leaps are spectacularly high and he puts so many variations in, it's so fun.  I was happy to see him do the show live at least once.  I gasped a couple of times at his virtuosity, but did miss seeing the lead couple dance as one.  They were definitely both dancing for themselves instead of each other.  Even their curtain calls together were rather remote.  Ah well. 

 

Veronika Part and James Whiteside were wonderful as Mercedes and Espada - he was especially vibrant as the vainglorious matador.  And Sarah Lane was simply enchanting as Amour.  She seemed to skim the earth as she danced - lovely.  Victor Barbee was his usual wonderful self as Don Quixote and I especially enjoyed Skylar Brandt as one of the flower girls.  My beautiful gal pal and I had a grand time, then afterwards, we braved the monsoon, got DRENCHED, and had a pricey glass of wine and nibble at Cafe Fiorello.  It was a lovely night.


photo credit: Gene Schiavone

Saturday night, my Impossibly Handsome Ballet Buddy and I saw two of our uber-favorites as Kitri and Basilio - Polina Semionova and Marcelo Gomes.  I'm swooning just typing their names.  They have chemistry and rapport in spades.  Together, they just seemed to dance as one.  Their turns and gestures had fantastic symmetry and they just moved so beautifully together.  And separately, of course.  Polina is just so smooth and supple in her dancing - that elegant neck and back are breathtaking.  She is also saucy and flirtatious throughout, which is perfectly in line with Kitri.  Her leaps are stunning and her extensions and supports en pointe are simply gorgeous.  I just love to watch her dance.



Double that love for Marcelo Gomes.  IHBB and I decide, every single time we see him dance, that Marcelo is perfection.  The perfect partner, the perfect romantic figure.  HIs acting is detailed and specific, his charm is off the charts.  OK, so he didn't jump as high as Vasiliev, so what?  I found the total oneness of his performance to be much preferable to the momentary excitements of the night before.  Of course, there's room for both in the ballet world!  

Jared Matthews and Hee Seo were lovely as Espada and Mercedes; perhaps a little less bold, but still beautifully executed dancing and their eyes locked several times that ratcheted their dancing up a notch each time.  Roman Zhurbin was so touching as Don Quixote, especially in the Dream Scene, and he also had a lovely rapport with Polina.  And Nicole Graniero was also wonderful as Amour - very different from Sarah Lane, maybe a little less ethereal and a little more earthy.  But still wonderfully enchanting.

 

Oh, and I forgot to mention, those gypsy costumes for the men in Act 2 have got to go.  They're wearing macrame crop tops and bushy wigs - they look like rejects from a Van Halen video.  So out of keeping with the rest of the costuming.  IHBB and I had a giggle over the awfulness of those costumes, though the men danced superbly.  We again had a terrific time and had much beauty to discuss over late-night snacks and margaritas at Rosa Mexicano.  Ballet season is off to a fantastic start!  Next up, the evening they're calling Classic Spectacular.  I'm so excited, I've not seen these three pieces before.  And one of the ballets has costumes by Christian Lacroix - fashion AND ballet happiness!  Whee!