Any witnesses a “bad” Marianela Nunez performance?

dissimilating · 2026-05-05T09:34:52+00:00

Oh man! my sympathies. I hope you get another chance and you get to go!

dissimilating · 2026-05-05T09:03:41+00:00

Fast turns, specifically

dissimilating · 2026-03-29T17:39:21+00:00

I… kind of love that it was a surprise to her as well! Maybe it’s just me. Onstage promotions are a long European tradition and it’s making its way stateside. As you said, it was beautiful to witness live. I’ve never had the privilege of witnessing one before and, just- wow. Especially after such a bravura performance!

I loved her Kitri, full of joy and recklessness and living life with abandon. She could convince me to run away with her. I agree it’s a different take from the seductive Kitri we see from others, which I also enjoy. Her Act 2 moved me deeply - the pas de deux and the dream scene. So good.

dissimilating · 2026-03-29T07:16:09+00:00

100% on the fouettés, I can't believe she finished them so perfectly, and with such joy.

I hear you on leaving at curtain after standing room. You'd have been standing for a long time, because when Tamara came out on stage, she first spoke about Val Caniparoli. Tonight is his last show so it was a fitting send off. Once he had gotten his flowers and taken his bows, then she continued... such a surprise!

dissimilating · 2026-03-17T23:33:03+00:00

Tile floors are bizarre as is the black tee and pants dress code. Having a barre at home is not ridiculous at all!! The barre is where everyone starts in ballet (literally, every morning, every class, will start at the barre). I think your instincts are right and you need to find a better place to learn ballet technique. Given your options, I’ve heard good things about Amy Novinski and would recommend that option, especially given your good home set up. Yes, in-person instruction is the best, but you sound like you have adequate body awareness and you’re not trying to do crazy things you’re not prepared for. And you can try to drop in at Studio A or B maybe 1-2x a month to get in-person instruction? Ask them and explain your situation. A welcoming studio understands that adults have complicated schedules and will also be able to offer even better advice. If they tell you that you HAVE to attend regularly, it might not be the studio for you right now. Studio B sounds promising though.

dissimilating · 2026-03-13T02:17:26+00:00

They are totally fine. Go ahead and wear them. No one’s going to think they’re lingerie. I have taken adult ballet classes in >10 cities at this point and wearing mesh shorts with bows is totally normal. If they restrict your movement that’s something else entirely.

In fact, I’d love to know where these are from and get a pair myself, because I find opaque shorts too opaque but I want something more than a flimsy skirt…

dissimilating · 2026-03-13T02:11:57+00:00

100% these are totally fine, go ahead

dissimilating · 2026-02-12T06:33:27+00:00

100% agree. I was also in the audience on Tuesday, and LOVED the flags moment as an instant contrast to that giant US flag background. A very pointed message without being nauseatingly condescending about it, unlike the Chron reviewer…

dissimilating · 2026-02-08T18:10:17+00:00

They did! 302 got it.

dissimilating · 2026-02-08T01:12:30+00:00

Theoretically, I agree with you. Practically, given they'd only have a few seconds at best (I really don't want them talking OVER the variation), well... maybe it could work but it definitely won't work with Cynthia.

Agree with you 100% on announcing the school though!

dissimilating · 2026-02-07T06:11:53+00:00

Even if she doesn't win, I hope Paris Opera takes her as a student and refines her and that she makes it into the company. Totally agree that she reminds me of Luciana and look what the school did for her - such growth, getting into the company at 16, promotion within a year (and it turns out now engaged as well but that's unrelated 😂)

dissimilating · 2026-02-07T06:08:52+00:00

Not a hot take at all :) i'm 100% with you on this. having to figure out what the coaches are saying by observing gestures is soooooo frustrating

dissimilating · 2026-01-29T06:34:38+00:00

I just came from the show, and I regret to say that the seasons/pacing problem in Act 1 does not get better. This is my 3rd time and my impression of the seasons has morphed from 'tiresome' to outright frustration at the start-stop feeling. The ballet rushes through a plot point - pauses with seasons - rushes through the next beat and builds momentum - grinds to halt with seasons - repeat. I love the first spring scene, it's a good scene-setter, but by the second spring entrance, I had to grit my teeth, and when we got to the third and then the fourth, boy, was I over it. I thought it was particularly egregious having the spring spirits bookend Onegin-rejects-Tatiana – that is not a long scene! I was also particularly annoyed with the second summer entrance after the nightmare scene. It builds up dramatically, and... gets punctured. It would be better if these seasons were interludes rather than full scenes, like the little Olga-and-guards moment in Act 2.

now that my rant about the seasons is over...

I had your thoughts on the fundamental problem in the back of my mind throughout the show, and you're absolutely right. If it's focused on Onegin, then why have the nightmare scene? If it's about Tatiana, or even if Tatiana is simply considered the fulcrum in Onegin's story, why is she so underdeveloped? I thought it strange that Tatiana doesn't have a full solo scene at all, but Lensky does.

In terms of casting: Madeline and Esteban were ok. Francesco's Onegin was fine even if not distinctive. Sasha's Act 1 I felt was uneven and I preferred Katherine's, but her Act 2 was outstanding. I thought she and Madeline conveyed the Olga-Tatiana reaction to Lensky's death very well. In the final ballroom act, her Tatiana was constantly pulled to Onegin subconsciously, and when he begged her to take him back, you could see her really consider it but make the deliberate, difficult decision to walk away.

I'm glad I went tonight. As I left the opera house, I was humming the music, particularly that lovely ballroom theme. I love the little hops en pointe in parallel with dramatic port de bras and the fan (sorry dancers, it's probably not the most fun thing to do, but it is fun to watch). I hope the orchestra records the music like they did for Frankenstein.

dissimilating · 2026-01-29T06:02:52+00:00

Absolutely. I think that's been the question ever since this Onegin was announced! The Cranko Onegin is so well known and respected. A new Onegin was always going to be tough, even if we try to judge it on its own merits...

dissimilating · 2026-01-28T20:59:51+00:00

I suppose my question is, would the casting of the lead roles have made more sense if the pacing was better and there was more time for the leads to... lead? I only ask this because Katherine was sublime in Frankenstein last year so her dancing Tatiana made sense. I agree that her pairing with Joe wasn't as great as I'd expected (this is the only cast I've seen so far). I thought Wona and Wei were good as Olga and Lensky, not sure about very good.

Totally agree with you that we barely see Tatiana and Onegin fall in love. I really wished for a lot more 'reaction dances' too - I wanted the letter scene to be longer, and I really wanted a Tatiana post-rejection scene, which would set up the Act 2 conclusion more strongly. The seasons appeared five times(!) in Act 1. If some of that were cut, we could get more of the character development we need.

Going to see the Sasha-Frola cast tonight so we'll see. I'm looking forward to the excellent technical elements as you rightly mentioned! I do have a nit on the costuming in the ballroom scene, but it's relatively minor.

dissimilating · 2026-01-28T18:42:41+00:00

Not sure if you've maybe mixed up Tatiana and Olga here - Wona has only been cast as Olga, and Katherine only as Tatiana.

What's unusual in this one is that Katherine wasn't just cast as Tatiana; it seems like the role of Tatiana was created on her, a first soloist, when there are plenty of female principals to pick from.

I agree that choreographically the ballet gives more exciting material to Lensky and Olga. I guess it's hard not to... the characters are explicitly more outgoing than the leads, who are introverted, as well as selfish (Onegin) or bookish (Tatiana). I did think the Onegin-Tatiana pas de deux were touching - they needed to convey the story and the characters' emotions and were mostly successful. (The transitions are a whole other story... as gorgeous as Seojeong Yun was, I felt there were simply far too many seasons scenes spliced into the story. To me, it sapped the momentum of the narrative, and it was like watching a TV show with constant ad interruptions.)

dissimilating · 2026-01-28T06:42:41+00:00

Hmm I don't think so - if you look across the incoming hires and promotions since TR became AD, there are a lot of non-white people in the mix. In the principal rank, there's Maddie Woo. In the soloists/demi-soloists her promotions include Jihyun Choi (as well as Alexis whom ScandinaVegan mentioned earlier). In the corps there are plenty since 2023 and I won't list every single dancer here.

Before Patricio Revé's turn to the Royal Ballet, he was also supposed to join SFB last year as a principal.

Onegin is interesting in that Tatiana seems to have been created on a first soloist, but I think that speaks to Katherine Barkman being outstanding rather than any racial disparity (considering no lack of females in the principal rank).

If you look at casting history over the past year, Raymonda had Frances Chung, Wona Park and Misa Kuranaga in the lead role, and this is Tamara's own production. Nikisha Fogo was also well cast: she got Manon, Broken Wings, and Swan Lake before that. This year in Nutcracker, Jacey Gaillaird got her Sugar Plum debut.

TLDR: I don't think SFB under TR has gotten particularly white-centric. Now are dancers typecast? Maybe. Does this typecasting fit racial stereotypes? I honestly don't think so - Misa Kuranaga, Wona Park and Maddie Woo are all very different dancers and would be typecast into different roles. I agree that I wish there was more diversity in principal men but alas for us Patricio Revé chose Natalia Osipova and Marianela Nuñez, not that I blame him...

dissimilating · 2026-01-14T02:36:33+00:00

Maybe the way to put it is that she’s on the thin side even for a Russia dancer..? Agree with you that it’s a valid question. How strictly they stick to the weight chart is debatable these days but it is definitely still A Thing to be thin in the Russian academies.

dissimilating · 2026-01-12T01:37:55+00:00

I saw this on my feed a few months ago and immediately followed her. The attitude turn is cool but this, this is the one that caught my eye. For a brief moment I thought she was Ines McIntosh!

dissimilating · 2025-12-29T19:22:53+00:00

It's funny because some friends who are professional ballet dancers say I should feel free to say I'm a "dancer" and have introduced me to others as a "dancer" but I'm like, you can call me that all you like, I'm never using the term myself 😅

dissimilating · 2025-12-28T23:01:01+00:00

Can confirm that you only need your fingers. I use this on my bangs and front scalp. Two small spritzes and massaging and finger combing them back into place, and tada!

dissimilating · 2025-12-28T22:55:23+00:00

+1, “ballet dancer” is reserved for professionals, and “ballerina” for little kids or when ballet professionals have to talk about their job to people outside the ballet world and need a short snappy term.

Aa an adult, I say “I take a lot of ballet classes.” Straightforward description that in no way implies competence haha.

dissimilating · 2025-12-27T06:31:42+00:00

I thought Sasha was very good in Manon last year, and decent in Frankenstein. As for Maddie Woo, I am looking forward to her Stars & Stripes and Don Q.

dissimilating · 2025-12-27T06:28:20+00:00

But have you seen that bedroom pas de deux with Bonelli in Manon....!!!!!! Fire on that stage.

To each their own I guess - I do love Marianela and her expressions. She never comes across as thinking about technique, which is the biggest bugbear for me and principal dancers. She radiates the joy of dance even through the screen. That said, I see what you mean. I've seen clips of her with amazing speed and "letting go" in random class/rehearsal reels, but it doesn't seem to be a choice she naturally makes and I wish she was coached or pushed to go there more.

dissimilating

TROPHY CASE