The Winger » A revisited Met

A revisited Met

July 14, 2007 at 4:44 pm · Filed under backstage, ballet, dance, makeup, lincoln center, DAVID, american ballet theater, opera house, metropolitan opera, abt, performance, david hallberg, performances, r+j, american ballet theatre, alessandra ferri

| | Posted by David
Hallberg

So… The season has officially finished and we are now touring in California, OH sunny CA!!!

It was a busy, fulfilling season, sprinkled with some pleasant surprises, and not shy of much hard, grueling work.

Some highlights included:

1) Dancing almost my whole season with the incomparable Gillian Murphy. From Romeo, The Dream, Othello, Swan Lake to Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty. It was and is always a joy to work with her.

2) Doing Sleeping Beauty with Diana Vishneva. She is in her own right, a truly individual artist, which I can only learn from.

3) Making my debut as Solar in La Bayadere… One of the hardest classical roles for the male and working with Natasha Makarova.

4) Lastly and most importantly… seeing Ferri’s farewell to the stage with ABT. An ABT farewell is like nothing else, and seeing someone like Alex retire is truly unique.

Here are just a few photos to re cap the season…

The Met on the opening. Gearing up for two months of fatigue.

A rare photo before my second performance of The Dream.

A side view of the Met with Avery Fisher straight ahead. I love the geometry of the buildings. Very 60’s..

And lastly, Ferri stands alone on the Met stage, taking her final bows, with the company in the wings.

susan said,

July 15, 2007 @ 1:23 am

David! Let’s meet up while you’re in California!

Barbara said,

July 15, 2007 @ 1:10 pm

David - thanks for a fantastic Met season! I was lucky enough to see you with Gillian in R&J and Cinderella. And a highlight for me was your Swan Lake with Michelle Willes - astounding! Can’t wait till fall season. Have a blast in my home state of Calif!
Barbara

Bennyroyce Royon said,

July 15, 2007 @ 4:57 pm

Nice post David.

~ Benny

Alex Wong said,

July 17, 2007 @ 2:56 am

Hey David, Congrats on a really successful met season again

xtanzer said,

July 23, 2007 @ 8:06 pm

You didn’t mention your wonderful Swan Lake with Michelle. You two looked great - we went to see it last season as well and we could see the “growth” in the roles this season.
Plus you got a perfect 10 from the audience on the big dive you took into the lake at the end of the ballet. That was one of the best male dives into the “Swan” lake we’ve every seen. Rare to see the feet get that height and form! There was a definite audience reaction.
Merde for CA.

tonya said,

July 24, 2007 @ 4:52 am

Oh, I can’t believe I forgot about the dive — you’re right xtanzer, his dive was awesome! I can’t believe you didn’t hurt yourself on that!

M said you’re in Phx. Great time of the year for Phoenix come back soon

Barbara said,

July 24, 2007 @ 11:59 am

I’m so glad someone mentioned the dive!! It took my breathe away but I worried about broken bones How on earth do you break those falls?
Enjoy some good Phoenix sunsets but we miss you in NY!

Maria said,

July 30, 2007 @ 4:49 am

David, I was lucky enough to see you and Gillian in Cinderella in July. That was my first ballet experience ever, and it was WONDERFUL. Thank you for making that such a wonderful night! You both were amazing. I hope the next time I’m in NY (I live in FL) I will be able to see another one of your performances. Enjoy your time off!

Alex Wong said,

July 31, 2007 @ 4:37 am

oh right, hahaha, I heard bout your dive all the way down here in Miami, lol

Ｋｕｍｉ said,

August 3, 2007 @ 10:33 am

ｈｅｌｌｏ，Ｄａｖｉｄ
Ｉ　ｓｏｗ　Ｆｅｒｒｉ’ｓ　Ｆａｒｅｗｅｌｌ　ｉｎ　Ｔｏｋｙｏ，ｗｉｔｈ　Ｊｕｌｉｅ　Ｋｅｎｔ，Ｐａｌｏｍａ　Ｈｅｒｅｒａ，Ｍａｒｃｅｌｏ　Ｇｏｍｅｓ　ａｎｄ　ｊｏｓｅ　Ｃａｒｒｅｎｏ　ｆｒｏｍ　ＡＢＴ．
Ｉ’ｍ　ｖｅｒｙ　ｇｌａｄ　ｔｏ　ｓｅｅ　Ｃｉｎｄｅｒｅｌｌａ．
Ｓｅｅ　ｙｏｕ　ａｇａｉｎ　ｎｅｘｔ　ｙｅａｒ　ｉｎ　Ｔｏｋｙｏ　ａｇａｉｎ．

tonya said,

August 8, 2007 @ 8:03 pm

WHERE ARE YOU?????????????? How come you never blog anymore? You’re making all of your fans so upset!

Barbara said,

August 9, 2007 @ 11:10 am

I’ll second that emotion! Come out of hiding David - we miss your posts. So many things we want to hear about - the So Cal tour, summer plans, upcoming fall season, just ANYTHING!

Barbara said,

August 9, 2007 @ 12:13 pm

More ideas, David: You said working with Makarova was a highlight - details, details please. Also I think I read that Anthony Dowell spent some time coaching you - he’s one of my all time favorites - that must have been fascinating and we/I would love to hear about it.

tonya said,

August 9, 2007 @ 3:24 pm

Thanks Barbara!!! SEE DAVID!!!

kristin sloan said,

August 9, 2007 @ 7:43 pm

hey guys, i’m sure david appreciates all the love, but how many touring principals with abt do you know who take the time to blog?

we all adore david, so let’s just be thankful he shares with us as much as he does!

tonya said,

August 9, 2007 @ 10:04 pm

Thank you, Kristin. I understand what you are saying, and I agree with you that he must be very very busy. I’m a criminal appeals attorney in addition to a daily blogger and a desperately wannabe novelist, so I totally understand busy I realize he’s probably not traveling with his computer, but he probably has a cell phone? It’s just nice if he stays in touch with his fans, even if it’s just one little ole picture and a couple of words a day?

I truly TRULY hope that he does appreciate all of his fans, and not only the ones who go to the stage-door, but those who comment here and blog extensively about his performances I know, most dancers are not like you and aren’t super savvy on the internet and don’t read all that people are saying about them.

I’m also just worried because I’ve spoken to several journalists and fans and everyone agrees that the internet is the future and the dancers who know how to use it best as a promotional tool and for fan outreach will be the most successful. Many of the dancers who are so famous on TV right now have public MySpace pages and / or blogs and websites, and most ballet dancers (at least the men) have only private MySpace pages, which sends the message to their fans that they’re not wanted there. As a fan, I’m lucky that I live in NY, but what about all the people who don’t — how will they become fans of David and the others if they have no contact with them and will never be able to see them perform? — through the internet of course, but not if they’re not using it. I mean, some of us were even discussing how to help really busy dancers blog — like even through ghostwriters maybe?? (that was the idea of a professional, extremely experienced journalist, before you think I’m nuts — right Ariel! ) Seriously, it may create new jobs for dance journalists and give dancers an internet presence? Who knows — it’s all so up in the air right now with the media switch from print to digital, but people are trying to brainstorm up opportunities for dancers and writers.

I — and everyone else — appreciate so so SO much what you have done in setting up this blog and in setting an example for all other dance blogs to follow. You’re a genius and you’re so thoughtful. I guess I’m just saying that I wish all dancers were like you

I hope I haven’t said anything to offend anyone; I certainly don’t mean to. I just miss my favorite dancer

Barbara said,

August 10, 2007 @ 11:43 am

Kristin, let me add my immense appreciation for all your posts and of course the website itself. I was so excited when I found it and now it’s the first thing I check each day I log on. My comments re David were meant with sincere love and because I’m missing his presence on your site. It’s such a difference from the number of posts he was doing last year at this time that I began to worry that something might be wrong. It sounds like he’s just incredibly busy and understandably so. Thanks again.