Archive for metropolitan opera
May 25, 2008 at 9:52 pm · Filed under dance, DAVID, metropolitan opera, david hallberg, american ballet theatre
Friday night’s Corsaire felt better than the first in some regards. It felt more free and ‘bigger’ (meaning bigger motions, gestures etc). Michele and I had a nice second act and as usual, she was fouette-ing up a storm (consecutive turns en pointe that the ballerina does usually at the end of a piece). The audience went mad for her.
(Act 1 Corsaire backdrop)
I thought I would share a little trick of the trade to you all. I’m not one to put up just a picture of a rose, but this is one Michele gave me at the end of the performance during the bows. IF and only IF the ballerina wants to give a rose to her partner, strictly optional, there is always one set on top of the bouquet for her to effortlessly pluck away… and is always indicated with a ribbon so she can pick it out.
Sometimes the flower isn’t set aside and the ballerina struggles to set one free, usually ending up in a tug of war in front of thousands. Its quite funny when that happens. She usually looks at you after as if to say… “I tried, but couldn’t set one free!”
(note the ribbon for easy plucking access)
Tricks of the trade!
On to Swan Lake this coming week.
Recent Posts by david hallberg
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
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| 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.
Recent Posts by david hallberg
Recent Posts by david hallberg
June 27, 2007 at 4:30 pm · Filed under dance, american ballet theater, the met, metropolitan opera, abt, miki orihara, MIKI, alessandra ferri, retirement
Posted by Miki Orihara
This if the front site of Alessandra’s curtian call( one of many )
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May 19, 2007 at 3:13 pm · Filed under dressing room, DAVID, american ballet theater, art, birthday, dressingroom, opera house, metropolitan opera, abt, david hallberg
| | Posted by David Hallberg
The cards and ‘art’ that adorn my mirror build up as the season rolls by.
Here I have a photo of Alexander Godunov which someone sent me (resemblance?)which I just found out died on my birthday, May 18th (hmmm?); a print of Egon Schiele, one of my favorite artists; a drawing of the Palais Garnier in Paris; and assorted cards from my debut in La Bayadere, which happened a couple of evenings ago, with Ms. Herrera as my partner.
Recent Posts by david hallberg
April 16, 2007 at 6:10 pm · Filed under choreographers, new york city ballet, DAVID, american ballet theater, the met, first performance, metropolitan opera, david hallberg
| | Posted by David Hallberg
As the Met season approaches and the company makes its preparations for a busy season, I have some new challenges to tackle. One of the biggest and most anticipated is my debut in Fredrick Ashton’s The Dream, based on Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. About three years ago, ABT filmed the ballet with Ethan Stiefel and Alessandra Ferri dancing the leads… a beautiful performance.
There are some very gorgeous and successful ‘Dreams’ out there, the one most are familiar with being George Balanchine’s 1962 version, which NYCB performs regularly.
Darcy Kistler as Titania in Balanchine’s production.
The challenge with Ashton’s production is that the ballet is around 50 minutes long, and in the structure of the ballet, has endless dancing for Oberon. The most taxing being the scherzo, with Puck and Oberon trading off precise movement and quick fast steps, running on and off stage. Nevertheless, always up for a challenge, it is a great character to portray and something I’m really looking forward to come spring season.
Recent Posts by david hallberg
February 1, 2007 at 1:42 pm · Filed under DAVID, new york, opera houses, metropolitan opera
| | Posted by David Hallberg
Given the debate or rather ‘discussion’ that my latest entry “Thoughts on Kennedy” brought about… I thought that I would go into the archives and see what pictures I had of the MetOpera, the chandeliers, house, seats etc. Just to give a comparison of the two houses, 1) in the culture capital of the States and 2) in our nations capital…
Here is something for a little comparing…
The vast darkness that is the Met…
Recent Posts by david hallberg
