ABT in London

Arron featured nicely at 15 seconds, 52 seconds then at 2 minutes.

Mercutio!

We will be enjoying another performance of Romeo and Juliet this week at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Ravenboy had treated us to many entertaining and playful moments in this ballet, many of them just subtle background scene additions. This time it will be a non-stop barrage of dynamic dancing in the role of Mercutio!

If anyone has forgotten who Mercutio is, he is Romeo's best friend who gets killed by Tybalt thus infuriating Romeo to reignite the feud with Juliet's Capulet family by killing Tybalt. For those who are more familiar with West Side Story, Mercutio is the same role as Riff, Tony's best friend who gets killed in the rumble infuriating Tony to kill Maria's brother, Bernardo.

Below are two rehearsal videos. This was an unscheduled rehearsal for Ravenboy. A tired coworker generously offered his time as a last chance to run the scenes in the studio before going on tour. A very tired Ravenboy took on the chance to have one last moment to polish this integral character.

The first video starts in the ballroom scene just after Romeo (David Hallberg) realizes he is twitter-pated with Juliet (Gillian Murphy). Benvolio (a very enthusiastic Daniil Simkin) and Mercutio quickly separate them and Mercutio does an entertaining dance to distract the guests away from the moment.


The second video shows picks up after Benvoilo does a similar and then Mercutio continues while antagonizing Tybalt (Patrick Ogle).



I can tell this is going to be a totally enjoyable performance and am so excited to share these gems. Thank Luis for recording them for Ravenboy!

Ravenboy in China

At the Great Wall.
Second to last row, five in from the right (standing above Kevin McKenzie).

All at Once

The leaves have changed all at once this year and the strong winds that visited the area have blown many of them off the trees before we have had a chance to enjoy them. Luckily we had a reason to drive through the Poconos the last couple of days to enjoy some of them. Photos never catch the exact glory of the colors but I always have to try.

After 6 grueling hours (3 stuck in traffic in NJ) we made it into NYC on Friday. It was just dark when we walked into the plaza at Lincoln Center and enjoyed the new fountain that was finally up and running. It was odd not going into the Met Opera House for the performance. We were to enjoy seeing the theater at Avery Fisher Hall for the first time.

Prior to the show, just hanging at the fountain with Asrai was on the the best times that evening. She knew how long we had been stuck in the car and was kind enough to walk to Whole Foods to get us some food. We sat on the marble edge of the fountain, slurped some of the best carrot ginger soup and caught up with what had been going on with her that week. It was so much more gratifying to hug her, talk to her and see her than our daily typing to each other online.

After the obligatory bag inspection, we took our seats in the back of the orchestra section to watch American Ballet Theatre's fall performances. First was a new work, Ratmansky's Seven Sonatas. I was immediately aware that the seats in this auditorium were terribly uncomfortable, set up one directly on back of the other and the man in front of me had a huge head. Asrai offered to switch with me a few times but there was no way I was going to let her be tortured with the head that covered the whole stage. I twisted to see the dancers and decided the piece just wasn't worth my time; I would save my energy for the last work in which Ravenboy had a solo.

It's hard to sit through three ballets without seeing much but a giant head. It's even more difficult when you have spent most of the day sitting in the car. I decided I was pretty much uninterested in ballet forever. The second and third pieces did grab more of my interest. Other Dances and Some Assembly Required had some entertaining movements that were far enough stage right that I could see them.

I could tell I needed a plan to see the final piece of the evening, Ben Millipied's Everything Doesn't Happen at Once. There were only a couple rows behind me and no one had been sitting in them. My plan was to sit on my feet and try to look over the giant head. After the intermission I got into place but almost instantly my feet started to lose circulation. It was a faulty plan because I still couldn't see over the giant head.

A couple of people had decided to sit behind me and I felt badly for them because I was not going to miss seeing my son in this performance. I bobbed and weaved and jumped around in my seat following his every move. I was no longer sitting still and was getting a workout to watch my son dart in and out of two dozen other dancers for most of the first movement.

I love seeing Ravenboy blend perfectly with the corp of dancers and thrill at actually losing him in the mix on stage. For so many years, as a talented boy dancer he was almost always featured or at least stood out as the only boy on stage. It was easy to find him and follow his every move. Now he is with the best of the best dancers in the world, men and women, and I have a hard time picking him out — it's glorious!

The piece progressed and the big head must have settled into a place where I could let some blood flow back into my feet for a brief moment. Ravenboy was not onstage for a one movement that was a duet so I prepared for the next. Ballets, even new modern works, have a formula and I could sense that after the slow duet would be the dynamic solo. Ravenboy would be next and I jockeyed for position in my seat.

The role was not made for Ravenboy but he made it his own. A curious highlight was when a large portion of the corp came onstage with some under current of the music and positioned themselves to catch him in mid flight out of the air! There he was, suspended feet off of the stage in a perfect split, caught in time like a photograph before they released him to dance freely again. Like the beauty of Autumnal colors, Ravenboy's performance made us thrill and gasp.

The final movement brought the entire cast to fill the small stage. As is typical for a coda, he duet couple recreated a few of their moments and the other movements were briefly remembered. Ravenboy took center stage one last time on a ramrod straight leg turned in pirouette one, two, three, four... All at once the lights were killed but in that brief moment when those tungsten filaments went from hot white to warm yellow to barley amber, Ravenboy turned on and on. No dropping curtain prepared or warned the audience; applause erupted and the house rose to its feet in cheers.

The rest of our evening was spent with Ravenboy and Asrai. Directly after the performance Ravenboy politely dodged autograph hounds, fans and donors. We got to the car and drove back to their place to remain happily holed up for hours of happy catching up.

It was late afternoon on Saturday when we found ourselves driving back through the Poconos. Our visit had been wonderful and brief; Autumn's splendor may be past peak but the memory of it's beauty will stay with me all winter.

Ravenboy's Company

If you know what he looks like you can find him in the foreground and background in some of there shots. He is the one that keeps turning after the others have stopped in class.

Company B

You MUST check out today's, October 23rd, Arts section of the NY Times!! Pick one up!! Page 10 - our son's spotlighted photo takes up 1/4 of the page! Online New York Times. review and photos are similar but not as impressive as holding the paper in your hands.

...But the whole troupe dances “Company B” with skill and understanding.

Nothing in “Company B” corrupts the innocence of that opening. Subsequent images, however, tell us that these men are going to war, are being injured by gunfire, are dying, are memories. At the end these people are no longer quite a community. Each is leaving the stage alone, sober. The togetherness of the earlier episodes was part of the giddy excitement of wartime. Now it’s goodbye to all that.

“Company B” shows no grief or even suffering. Arron Scott in “Tico-Tico” is all speed and impulsiveness... - Alastair MaCaulay for the New York Times.

then again a week later...

"I praised the very exciting young Daniil Simkin in “Company B,” his “Tico-Tico” role was played with yet more forceful detail by Arron Scott in the first cast."- Alastair MaCaulay for the New York Times.

Scott's "Tico-Tico" showcased him perfectly and his gentle bravado was both exilerating and moving. - Mary Cargill for Dance View Times.

"Tico-Tico", a solo for a male dancer, was performed this night by Arron Scott. An ingenious piece of choreography, the dancer isolates his upper body parts into small bits that jiggle and undulate, pop and quiver as if he were in the throes of St. Vitus Dance -- or, to be current, maybe post-traumatic stress syndrome. Scott was so good that I've got to name him as my second most memorable dancer of the evening. - Marga Anto-Raudsepp on Ballet Talk.

In "Company B," which is new to ABT, the dancers' lightness, stamina and gestural clarity were a revelation, highlighted by Arron Scott's intense and soulful rendition of "Tico-Tico." - Robert Johnson of the Star Ledger.

above photos by Sarah Sterner

in the wing

Tico Tico

Ravenboy will be performing the solo role of Tico in American Ballet Theatre's Premiere of Paul Taylor's Company B. The first performance will be this week at Bard College then they will perform it at City Center in NYC.

Photos below are from his rehearsal today.

Tokyo

Ravenboy sent us a few photos from Tokyo.

Baby on a stick.

Zurbin on the metro.

Dancers on their break.

Neapolitan

It looks like Ravenboy might be dancing Neapolitan in Swan Lake while they are on tour. Will it be in Japan, Korea or Orange County? I can't make any location and will be wishing him a happy 23rd birthday via email. I love you and will miss you Skitty!

Chief Fakir

La Bayadère 2008

Arron Scott pictured above

Next week American Ballet Theatre performs the ballet La Bayadère again. Ravenboy is cast as Bronze Idol the evenings of 6/25 and 6/28 and as Chief Fakir the evenings of 6/24 and 6/27. It is not too late to get tickets through the Met.

Our Gypsy Pilgrimage

Ravenboy was cast as lead Gypsy in the ballet Don Quixote. This is another brief and dynamic dance in the middle of a long classical ballet. It is one of the many roles he has always dreamed of performing so we wanted to be there to cheer him on.

We left in plenty of time to enjoy the sunny day outside of the Metropolitan Opera House. Maga11 had broken her ankle so we stayed pretty close to Lincoln Center the whole time. We were able to check on our 2 NYC letterboxes. We replaced our one in Central Park and looked through the log book of the one near Lincoln Center. Maga11 was really happy to stamp her and Toolman Luke into Peter the Fisherman.

We caught a cab up to Harry's Burritos to sit and waste some time.RGBisMe and I and enjoyed a couple of nice big bowls of chilled Gazpacho while my parents ordered big burrito type things with meat in them - ha! The iced tea there is always fresh and the house margaritas always tasty but they ran out of Dos Equis Amber on tap so Toolman Luke had to settle for a bottle.

I know I have written about Harry's Burritos before. This place is a little bit of a hole in the wall but has an awesome Mexican menu. The interior of the location on Columbus Ave. is filled with kitschy artwork and groovy lights. One of the high point of visiting Harry's is to pay homage to the bizarre lenticular photo of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis. Deano is riding (what?) right behind Jerry and holds a rising crop in case things get out of hand. You try looking at that picture after a house margarita and keeping a straight face. Maga11 was a real sport and got our photo in front of it. I know you can hardly see it but it is weird!!


We caught another cab back to Lincoln Center (broken ankle remember) and got ourselves all prettied up for the performance. It really was a lovely evening for a ballet. I wrote the following review for a ballet discussion board:

Although I was unable to attend the matinee performance, I was very happy to have seen Wednesday evening's cast. It is never a happy moment when casting changes but I can say I was thrilled with the performances of both Ananiashvili and Pavam last evening.

It was understandable how Ananiashvili's Kitri fools Krauchenka's Don Q into thinking she is his lovely Dulcinea; she won me over completely. Carreño was a wonderful sight to behold, as always. His Basilio was all one could ever hope for up until his final variation which left me a little flat.

Carreño and Ananiashvili were well matched. The joyous playfulness they projected combined with their rock solid technique made them a most enjoyable couple. Their trust in each other as partners blossomed into breath taking moments by the final curtain. The audience responded to them in what I found to be surprisingly more lively than typical mid-week politeness.

Flower Girls Copeland and Pavam were a highlight as was Scott's debut as lead Gypsy. With a nod to Cornejo's costuming, Scott sported the open fronted shirt and was on his leg for solid turns.

The pinnacle of the evening was Lane's Amour. Her sprightly and gay performance had me beaming and feeling blessed to be able to be in the audience. It is rare when we can afford the trip from central PA to see ABT at the Met; that evening's Don Q was like a gift to us.

Booty Shorts, Baby Swans & Bee Swarms

A trip to NYC this weekend was a treat that was long over due. We met up with Tracdc, Satan and Satania in the Poconos and rode in their slick hybrid car into the city. The weather forecast was a nasty one but we were lucky that the rain didn't really start until we were a few blocks from the underground parking garage.

The parking garage we love in Lincoln Center allows you to park your own car and retain the keys. Using this lot has saved us trouble and worry many times. We have helped Ravenboy move in to School of American Ballet by borrowing Toolman Luke and Maga11's van by parking there and being able to access the van multiple times over the day. Using our favorite garage has allowed me to change clothes for an evening performance after exploring the city most of the morning in more casual clothes. Another great thing is you don't have to worry about a parking attendant scratching your car or leaving the lights on.

Saturday it was great to take advantage of the underground lot because we didn't have to go outside in the pouring rain. We used the many underground walk ways to explore the different buildings at Lincoln Center. We popped by the stage door but nothing was going on, we walked to Avery Fisher Hall because some construction had closed the bathrooms we were counting on near the Met Opera House and we snaked our way into the crowded Met Opera House lobby to buy some future performance tickets and get in to see the matinee performance of Swan Lake.

We had time to shop a couple of the little boutique tables that had the stars shoes on sale. We enjoyed champagne and treats on the grand tier level before getting out seats in the 3rd row of the orchestra. We played with the sleeping opera dialog viewers in the seats in front of us when we tired of looking at the grand surroundings. The Metropolitan Opera House has 3,800 seats plus 195 standing room places, making a total capacity of 3,995. For ballet performances, the size of the orchestra pit can be decreased and another row of 35 seats added at the front of the auditorium. The huge lake-like drape of a scrim hid the large stage. The proscenium is 54 feet wide and 54 feet high. The distance from the curtain line to the back wall of the main stage is 80 feet, and the height of the stage to the rigging loft is 110 feet.

Ravenboy had performed solo roles over the past 2 nights and was a couple of minor roles for the matinee performance we were attending. When he finally learned his casting for the performance we planned to attend he sarcastically said, "Oh great, you get to see me in booty shorts and a fake mustache." When I told him where we we sitting he was even less pleased we would be seeing costuming he felt was unflattering. He was still gentleman enough to note our exact seats and promised to project to us during the performance.

This might be the 6th time I have attended a performance of Swan Lake. It's fine except for all of the white tutus that make me want to fall asleep. But a ballet is a ballet and we shouldn't hope for anything different. Satan joked, "I didn't realize there would be so much dancing." The opening prologue was text book except for the crowd going absolutely crazy with the first appearance of Veronika Part, the Swan Princess du jour.

The scene in which Ravenboy did most of his dancing was next and it was the celebration of Prince Sigfried's birthday. Sporting booty shorts and what Tracdc called faerie boots, Ravenboy danced his heart out as a peasant. He helped to heft out a huge maypole and presented it a graceful gesture of a raised hand (and just a hint of his tattoo showing out of his cuff.) We enjoyed watching one of Ravenboy's good friends, Blaine Hoven, perform the role of Benno - the prince's buddy. The peasants get into the wine at some point and the dancing gets more interesting for them. A shocking moment was the conclusion of a series of tosses and catches of one peasant girl. Jackie Reyes was being tossed and caught exactly down a row of peasant men until the last toss. It was either the last fellow was not in place or the second to last fellow who was tossing her didn't /couldn't look. Ms. Reyes was thrown into the air and landed partially on a chair. It looked painful and was the most horrifying thing I have seen happen in an American Ballet Theatre production. We found out later that she is fine and her neck was just a little sore. The peasants danced on and closed the scene with random shenanigans, Ravenboy, wine goblet in hand, vaulted from a wall just as the scrim drew closed.

The rest of the production was, as Ravenboy might put it, text book. I will say Veronika Part was the best white Swan Princess I have ever seen, Maria Riccetto and Misty Copland were great Cygnets and Marcello Gomes the most deliciously evil von Rothbart. Conductor David LaMarche must have had someplace he wanted to get to because he kept a blistering tempo throughout the matinee. This bought us 20 extra minutes for a terrific meal at Ollie's Noodle House. The rain had ended and our walk to and from the restaurant was a nice stroll up Broadway. We got back a little before Ravenboy's post production rehearsal was over to wait by the stage door.

We saw a few stars and some of friends walk by. Most of them were hustling trying to avoid the hag who hangs out there harassing the dancers for their autographs. Ravenboy says she sells them on ebay. Ravenboy finally came out and took Tracdc, Satan and Satania backstage. Tracdc even got to drink out of one the the golden wine goblet props.

The trip home was one of the smoothest out of the Lincoln Tunnel and only a bit of a storm slowed out progress in New Jersey. We got home and were able to enjoy the rest of our weekend hanging out with Mososo Kruppe. Something I have to share is a photo of something we had never seen before. A swarm of honey bees are on a multiflora rose bush on the edge of our field. We watched them come and go and dance their bee dances for quite a while as the football sized swarm undulated in the stiff breeze. An astounding vision of a mass of honey bees.

Running Birbanto

I got a phone call from Ravenboy early last evening.

"Hey Mumo, I wanted to call for a couple of reasons. I am going out to supper tonight with friends so I won't be able to call later."

I told him to have a great time.

"I also wanted you to know that I am running Birbanto."

This, I was sure I had heard incorrectly. He was in NYC and our cat was lying on the floor exhausted from the hike we had just taken him through the Stan Yoder Preserve in Boalsburg. I asked him to repeat himself.

"I am running Birbanto!"

DUH! Our cat was named after one of my favorite characters in ballet; Birbanto is a sly turncoat pirate in the ballet Le Corsaire. Ravenboy is learning the part for this upcoming Met Season!
Between that, a lead in Merry Widow, solo spot in Études and Bronze Idol again I am going to be filled with amazing ballet moments by mid July. Anyone interested in ABT schedule can check the link of contact me for Ravenboy's casting (I may not know until about a week prior).

The Beauty and Grace behind Classical Ballet

Did you ever wonder what it was like to go backstage at the ballet? A ballet company like American Ballet Theatre will spend hours together on planes, weeks together on tour and years together performing ballet classics that can bring out some humor that you might not expect.



Jet lag in London, the first warm-up class after arriving.





On tour 2008.





A classic song for a classical look.

Ballet-o-mane Alert

Coming right on the heals of Nancy Ellison's latest coffee table book In Grand Style: The Glory of the Metropolitan Opera is what you might call a companion book In Classic Style: The Splendor of American Ballet Theatre.

This oversized, deluxe volume celebrating the exquisite spectacle that embodies the excellence of American Ballet Theatre, recognized by Congress as "America’s national ballet company," presents the unfolding beauty, grace, agility, and sheer force of its most recent productions. Distinguished photographer Nancy Ellison depicts such enduring ballet classics as La Bayadère, Othello, The Sleeping Beauty, Manon, Romeo and Juliet, Swan Lake, and Giselle, and captures the virtuosity of such unforgettable dancers as Angel Corella, Nina Ananiashvili, Alessandra Ferri, Julio Bocca, and Ethan Stiefel. ABT’s artistic director, Kevin McKenzie, has written an illuminating essay about this preeminent company. The combination of dynamic bravura dancing in dreamlike settings will be a sheer delight to ballet lovers everywhere.

It is not due to ship until May so you have plenty of time to put in you pre-orders. Ravenboy got a preview peek at a limited copy that a friend borrowed from the publisher. and sent a few sample photos that he is in.

A couple of Romeo & Juliet photos seamed together allows Ravenboy to have a twin on the stage.

Midsummer Night's Dream Rustics. Gumby boy is on the far left and then crouching and facing the camera in the photo on the right. He is in a shaggy wig.

Études

On June 3rd, American Ballet Theatre will have a revival performance of Études. The company has not performed the piece since 2000, Études is set to music by Knudaage Riisager, after Carl Czerny, and features costumes by Rolf Gerard and lighting by Nananne Porcher. The ballet was given its World Premiere by the Royal Danish Ballet in 1948 and was danced by ABT for the first time in 1961. The revival of Études will be staged for ABT by Susan Jones. The ballet will share the program with the new Tharp ballet for seven performances through June 7.

Many of you have kindly asked how Ravenboy is doing. His MRI came back showing very little tearing of his ligaments. Between his doctors, PTs and company staff, they will coach him in a way to minimize future tendonitis. At this point, he is in no pain and building back strength. This past week was his first full week back to work, they were kind in not giving him a heavy rehearsal schedule. He gave us a call yesterday to say that he has been cast in the first cast of Études. He is cast so amazingly well, a showcased role, that principal dancer Herman Cornejo is his understudy. We all agreed that being cast in such a part is wonderful incentive to heal up well.

Thank all of you for your love, thoughts and prayers during a time that was quite distressing for this family.

Eros

A nod in the Times, " ...Arron Scott was a more amusingly epicene Eros than Craig Salstein..."

ABT's Sylvia

This past Sunday, Ravenboy performed his most featured role yet, Eros, in American Ballet Theatre's Sylvia. Cheerfully described as " a potpourri of militantly chaste huntresses, happy peasants, Hellenic gods, 19th-century Oriental fantasies, love arrows, masked folderol and kidnapping. It's all set in an Arcadian pastoral without a whiff of irony," American Ballet Theatre's Sylvia is not to be missed.

Although this specific performance was not reviewed by the local Orange County Review, his performance in Cranko's Jeu de Cartes did get a nice mention. Ravenboy said his performance of Eros went really well was warmly received. He mentioned that his shooting of Sylvia with an arrow was a different take than any of the other Eros'. He realized that his weapon was that of love and there was real irony behind punishing Sylvia to fall in love with a man that she had just killed. Instead of looking angry when he shot her, he gave a light chuckle just as he returned to statue form. Bravo on this insightful interpretation!

Ravenboy had his first solo curtain call because of the importance of his role. Clueless to that fact, he was onstage as the curtain closed and was hugging people in congratulations. About the leave and get his costume and make-up off, he heard someone yell, "Eros to the front of the curtain!" Out he darted between the slightly parted curtains onto the proscenium to receive his solo round of applause and hearty cheers for a job well done.

His make-up of god-like golden glitter refused to come off completely. When he exited the stage door he heard someone yell his name and he was, for the first time I believe, mobbed. A flight attendant who knows his grandmother (MagaG) was who had yelled but oodles of teens wanting their point shoes signed and photos taken with him ran over too. There was a young lady who had attended a summer camp with him years before who was dear enough to deliver a gift to him from his devoted parents. He also had 2 friends who came from Chicago wait patiently until the crowd cleared before whisking him away for a power sports drink.

He gave a call to us just as the company was getting to the airport for the red eye back to NYC. He mentioned that the most important Artistic Director of ABT, Kevin McKenzie, told him he did "really, really good." Ravenboy sounded exhausted but exhilarated and laughed as he told us his gold glitter would be with him as he crossed the country over the next 4+ hours. May the warm feelings that go with a sense of accomplishment stay with him much longer.


Bootleg clip thanks to Turns4Ever

Making of ABT Men 2007 Calendar

see if you can see Ravenboy at least 4 times