ABT 2017 - Giselle (twice!) and Le Corsaire (and a little bit extra)

Hi there!  I made a quick trip home to visit the family last week, which meant I didn't have time to write reviews from my last ballet, Giselle, so I figured I would just double up. Actually, I need to triple up, because I saw Giselle twice last week!  I wanted to see the cast on my regular subscription day, then I just had to see the performance where Stella Abrera played Giselle. Plus, there was another special reason to see that performance, which I'll talk about later!

I've already mentioned many times that Giselle is one of my favorite ballets; I just love how romantic it is - the music, the story, the steps.  I love how different interpretations of the characters inform the choreography and each performance shows me something new.  I was especially excited to see Isabella Boylston dance Giselle on my regular subscription night, since I enjoyed her Juliet and Aurora so much last year.  I don't think this was her debut, but I do think there's room for growth in her portrayal.

In the first act, she was delightfully light and airy, with quickness and charm. She was very sweet with her mother, and also showed a connection with her friends onstage. I thought she did a lovely job with her early pas de deux with the Albrecht, James Whiteside.  He is an attentive partner and always makes her look good.  If his characterization was a little wan, ok.  I did like his staredown with his squire, though.  As always, his dancing was first-rate.  So clear and strong.  I didn't really get much acting or emotion in the mad scene, disappointingly, from either dancer.  It was well-done, I guess, but not very moving.  I should also mention that the first act peasant pas de deux was simply expert, done by the ever-sparkling Skyler Brandt and Joseph Gorak (one of my uber favorites).  I'd love to see them as Giselle and Albrecht someday.

photo credit: Gene Schiavone

The second act, normally so moving and thrilling, was mainly just...so-so.  They did the steps nicely, but there didn't seem to be much behind the steps.  I found out later that Isabella injured herself early in the second act, so they may just have been gutting out the rest of the ballet and that's why it wasn't very compelling. That's too bad, because some really good stuff was coming from Veronika Part as Myrta and the rest of the Wilis, and not our leads.  But the ladies in the corps de ballet were spectacular as ethereal spirits, and Part was magnificent. Imperious, frightening, yet still almost human and mournful, she really beautifully portrayed the spirits' leader. The way she commanded poor Hilarion to dance himself to death was fantastic.  I always find that part of the act particularly exciting and it was again.  But Whiteside and Boylston (again, probably because of her injury) weren't as exciting, so the end of the ballet was a little bit anticlimactic.  Oh well. It was Giselle. Of course it was good. Just maybe not as great as it could've been.  I hope Boylston feels better quickly, because I'm supposed to see her again in Swan Lake.    

photo caption: Hiroyuki Ito

Stella Abrera's Giselle, on the other hand, was terrific.  She was so lovely and warm in the first act, and just the epitome of the classic romantic ballerina. Every step has dramatic purpose, and her arms and upper body are just gorgeous. Of course, with Marcelo Gomes as her prince, who wouldn't be classic and romantic and gorgeous?!  He is!! Everyone falls in love with him the minute he enters the stage. He's just so special - his acting is wonderful, his dancing is magical and emotion just pours forth from his person. He is perfection.  I especially love how he finds the humor in things - it offsets the tragedy later on very nicely.  Marcelo and Stella were quite wonderful together, dancing as one, especially in the second act.  The pas de deux was glorious and oh, the way Marcelo danced in front of the Wilis, dancing to his death, was thrilling!  He kept leaping higher and higher, but in more desperation and exhaustion.  SO wonderful.  The ending of this performance was very moving and I was so happy to get the goopy sadness I always want to get from Giselle.

After the performance, though, came more fun - ABT celebrated Marcelo's 20th anniversary with the company!  He took many bows, many of his partners came to give him flowers, several of his male co-horts came onstage to toss him up in the air.  It was wonderful. The audience was screaming and carrying on, and Marcelo was very moved and humbled.  I'm so glad to have been there to see it.  He truly is one-of-a-kind and I feel so lucky every time I see him dance. Here's to 20 more years!

Last night, I saw ABT's Le Corsaire.  I was exhausted because I woke up at 3am for my flight back from my mini-vacation, but I still had a grand time.  Again, I'm sure I've mentioned before that Le Corsaire is just silliness incarnate, but with spectacular dancing, and it was its usual fun last night.  I was disappointed to see that little slip of white paper fall out of my playbill - I had so looked forward to seeing the beautiful Veronika Part dance the lead role, but she was injured, so Hee Seo danced instead.  I'm not a huge Hee Seo fan - she's a lovely dancer, very pretty to look at, but I never really feel anything when I'm watching her.  But for Le Corsaire, it wasn't much of a problem. It's so goofy, too much emotion might ruin it. 

Hee Seo was actually quite lovely as Medora and Cory Stearns was his usual stalwart self as Conrad.  His line and his movement are just exquisite, and gosh, is he handsome, it's just that his acting wasn't up to snuff again.  When I saw his wonderful Swan Lake a couple of years ago, I was hoping he would be moving into a more expressive direction, but that doesn't seem to have happened. Maybe he was a bit subdued because his partner changed at the last minute. I'm seeing him dance Onegin in a couple of weeks, so I'll withhold judging him completely. 

It's unfair, I know, but I always compare the second act pas de trois in the grotto to the one I saw a few years ago with Ethan Stiefel, Marcelo Gomes and Gillian Murphy.  That was so thrilling, I practically levitated!  Last night, with Hee Seo, Cory Stearns, and James Whiteside as Ali, I enjoyed the lovely dancing, but it wasn't exciting at all.  Oh well.  I guess I can't always levitate.  It seems to me that James Whiteside is a little tall to dance Ali, but he was again strong and sure.  I was very impressed with Joo Won Ahn's Lankendem, and was so happy to see my ABT MVP Roman Zhurbin as the pasha.  He always finds the humor, and the humanity, in every character he plays.  I had to struggle to keep my eyes on Seo and Stearns whenever Zhurbin was on stage - not that he was stealing focus, but he was always doing something more interesting. 

The dream/garden dance was lovely and Devon Teuscher as Gulnare was terrific, especially when dancing with Ahn.  All in all, I did have a very nice time at Le Corsaire, but it may be time for me to retire that one from my season rotation.  I guess we'll just have to see.  But if I'm always disappointed because I'll never recapture that feeling of levitation, it may make more sense to move on.

Just a final, brief mention:  I was fortunate to attend today's matinee of Lucas Hnath's A Doll's House, Part 2, with a Tony-voter boss.  You may recall that I had a grand time at an early preview (you can remind yourself HERE), and that I was worried the show would close early because the sales weren't very robust.  I'm happy to say that today's performance was sold-out, the producers have announced that the show will extend, and that the play and its performers are genuine threats to win Tony Awards on Sunday night. My rave review, and the rave reviews of most everyone else, has done the trick!

photo credit: Sara Krulwich

Just like last time, I loved this play. It's just so funny and so sad, and so SO smart. It says a lot without getting too didactic or tiresome. The performances have deepened over time; Laurie Metcalf is even better, which I didn't even think was possible, and I found even more references and reflections of Ibsen's original this time around. And I was moved in several additional spots this time - the struggles of smart, independent women are always interesting to me, but the way Hnath has dramatized the struggle of everyone to live as authentically as possible made me emotional in unexpected places.  The audience laughed raucously throughout, but the gasps of recognition and stunned silences at the sudden turns of fortune were also fun.  Again, like last time, I really felt connected to everyone.  This play seems to worm its way into everyone's good graces and it becomes a huge collective theatrical experience.  Which all plays should be, but they aren't.  So it's wonderful to celebrate them when they come along.

I'm hoping for some Tony wins, most especially for Laurie Metcalf, who is monumental in the show.  But what a thrill to have such smart, meaningful, challenging and complex plays to root for this year!  I'm so glad to have been wrong about A Doll's House, Part 2 having to close early, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't reserve tickets right now!  Do it, before the sell-outs pile up - you'll be sorry if you miss out!