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