I posted photos of the Ellison Ballet Winter Showcase performance from last weekend on my photography website notmydayjobphotography.com. Ellison Ballet is a training school in New York with students in their teens, run by Edward Ellison, a former Soloist at San Francisco Ballet. This year’s gala-style bill at the Salvatore Capezio Theater in Manhattan consisted of 20 short works, mostly classics with a few modern/contemporary works. The dancing was at a high level, a great reflection on the school and dancers. Observations:
- Taro Kurachi from Japan reminds me of ABT’s Daniil Simkin-small in stature but with a powerful leaping ability. His Flames of Paris solo was filled with bravura steps such as a 540 revoltade diagonal and nice double tours, finished off with a triple tour to the knee (actually 2 1/2 turns in the air, with three spots landing in a lunge to the front). He has nice, controlled 5-6 pirouettes with rapid-fire turns in second position. He is an exciting dancer with a great future.
- At the age of 14, Elisabeth Beyer dances with such maturity and grace. In the Dance of Friends from Giselle, she demonstrated nice upper body carriage, graceful arms, and effortless phrasing with nuanced head movements for emphasis. All finished off with controlled four pirouettes on pointe. Elisabeth won the Youth America Grand Prix Boston Regionals 2016 and placed in the top 12 at YAGP Finals in New York in 2016. She will be competing in YAGP in 2017.
- Juliette Bosco is another 14-year-old with a great future having tied for first place in the Junior Division in the YAGP New York finals in 2014. She danced the Nutcracker Pas de Deux with Austen Acevedo in the Showcase. She demonstrated great maturity in her solos, with confident flair. Juliette is a strong turner, with an effective grand fouetté section with alternating single and double turns. In the pas de deux, she ripped off 11 supported turns with Austen providing strong support.
- Austen has a great lift and split on his jetés (see photo below). On his coupé grand jeté manége, he has a dramatic emphasis on his lead leg, an interesting innovation.
- The ladies demonstrated a nice line, with supple arabesques and arm placement with great musicality.
- The evening closed with Anton Dolin’s Variations for 4, staged by Jelko Yuresha. Although not always in synch, the four male dancers displayed great energy.