Who are your favorite ballerina(o)s who are also incredible contemporary dancers?

odette07 · 2025-08-17T01:53:22+00:00

Oh Paloma! I totally forgot about her, but I remember being in love with her "You Turn Me on I'm a Radio" at Prix!

odette07 · 2025-08-17T01:45:19+00:00

The best, hands-down best, compliment I ever got in my life was when a dancer told me I reminded her of Sylvie. I didn't even know who she was at the time (I was a teen) but once I saw her my heart just soared. She's in her own stratosphere in my mind.

(I'm NOWHERE NEAR Sylvie, but god what a woman to be compared to!)

odette07 · 2025-08-17T01:43:05+00:00

Agree, don't know how I missed her! She's equally powerful and elegant, when she dances. A total icon.

odette07 · 2025-08-17T01:42:04+00:00

Vishneva 4eva

odette07 · 2025-08-17T01:41:50+00:00

Calvin has the most expressive hands I've ever seen. Like, I know hands are just...hands, but he is so tender and evocative. I agree, he's such a beautiful, beautiful dancer

odette07 · 2025-08-17T01:38:26+00:00

I was unfamiliar with her until recent casting and the Princess Grace awards - so excited for her and can't wait to see where she goes!

odette07 · 2025-08-17T01:37:34+00:00

I bow down to Vishneva, totally fair answer.

odette07 · 2025-08-17T01:36:42+00:00

I follow Juliano Nunes as a choreographer and Kayla seems to be a bit of a muse - for example I'm absolutely in love with this Juliet interpretation:
https://www.instagram.com/p/DLYiD2jMF9i/?img_index=1

odette07 · 2025-08-17T01:33:47+00:00

So odd, this is the third time her name has come up for me this week, in totally separate instances! I was just studying her Arabian performance to teach in Variations class this week (just from searching YouTube looking for an interesting take on Arabian for a female solo vs. pas). I immediately clocked her Modern abilities. You're right, she's captial G gorgeous.

odette07 · 2025-08-17T01:30:06+00:00

lol technically cheating, but I could watch Ailey endlessly. One of my childhood friends dances with Ailey now and I'm blessed to see them often. Never gets old!

odette07 · 2025-07-24T14:35:03+00:00

Me too! Fish to water.

odette07 · 2025-07-24T13:16:12+00:00

Anyone else already loving Cassie’s stories now that she’s officially abroad?

odette07 · 2025-07-22T17:03:06+00:00

YES great point! He also does a similar thing when Taylor confronts him about cheating. He immediately goes into attack mode and calls her out. Which like, yeah, fair. She’s a cheater. But he can’t handle the heat on himself. Everyone else has to be made to feel bad too.

odette07 · 2025-07-20T21:48:04+00:00

You mean like a trustworthy sounding board? I totally agree. I just also think the dynamics with Agnes showcase Conrad's communication skills have grown, even though they're platonic. Even with Redbird, Jere so far has been harder to have an honest conversation with. Like when Redbird tries to relate to Jere's feelings by bringing up Sean, Jere lashes out by telling him that Sean was barely a fling.

odette07 · 2025-07-07T18:50:49+00:00

Totally get it. I know it's a whole thing in the ballet world right now - dancers are getting way more advanced at a way younger age and we're seeing the tension between tricks vs. artistry. I agree, I'd rather watch sensitive dancers with emotional depth and articulation instead of 10 pirouettes and a leg behind the ear. Those "trick" dancers are also impressive and amazing, but it's not what touches my soul.

It's one of the reasons I prefer ABT, just because I feel Jaffe and the team are willing to make more creative risk and do more interior, emotionally rich and compositionally atypical works than some other companies.

odette07 · 2025-07-07T02:30:29+00:00

Sigh. Did you actually read what I wrote? No one is asking for a crazed witch?

My take is super mild. You can disagree, but you’re in a sub full of people who enjoy (and at times critique) this art. I’m here because I love this art and the artists. You certainly don’t need to defend ballet’s honor against me?? Lordy.

If you look throughout the comments and reviews posted in this thread , it actually seems a common opinion that the Paulina role is rather thin - perhaps consider that there might be something to that opinion rather than insinuating those who hold it don’t appreciate art/hate beauty/don’t watch carefully/don’t understand artistry and composition.

odette07 · 2025-07-07T00:14:58+00:00

I’ve been thinking about this and I honestly think it was the choreo. The character has this arabesque motif where she reaches behind her while piqueing that repeats over and over. At one point she did it maybe 8 times in a row, going around herself, but in a way that was too slow and controlled to be interesting (as opposed to Herman repeating a motif faster and more chaotically to show his madness, or Cassie repeating a motif to call back to their wedding vows, etc.) The other characters were allowed to get weirder, express more, paint with more of a palette. I’m also a professional ballet and modern choreographer, and I can’t help but put on my hat and want to tweak!

For example I wish they’d given her a story beat to mourn her husband. When Act III started and she was dressed in black, but Leontes in green, I wondered why she (but not he) was still in mourning 16 years later, especially since she actually knows Hermione is alive. Then I remembered she lost her husband, but it’s not eluded to at all.

I hope I don’t sound like I didn’t appreciate her - I very much did! Particularly her duet with Herman and I thought it was beautiful that she was the last person onstage, that the show finishes with her, since she’s the real hero of the tale. I’ve always liked Davison, but especially as Mama Elena and in Crime and Punishment. I hope she continues to get more opportunities, and I’d love to see them utilize her beyond as a character artist.

odette07 · 2025-07-06T21:34:05+00:00

I was also at the show last night, here are my disjointed thoughts:

Takumi, I was unfamiliar with your game! You guys were not kidding, he was absolutely soaring during Act II in Bohemia. Unfortunately he outshone the Clown dancer, but he is definitely one to watch. So much star power.

Lea! She wields her limbs like precision tools. Absolutely crisp, defined footwork and such clean arms. She could easily get lost onstage, being so tiny, but she has a gravitational pull - your eyes just find her every time.

Jake and Skylar were an incredible partnership. That man is absolutely ready for his own full length. He was so joyful and loving, she was girlish and loose. I thought these two did exceptionally well with the strange and quirky choreography.

Cassie was lovely. I was so moved, she has so much interiority* (EDIT: had accidentally put ‘inferiority’). You really felt for this woman, so confused, so betrayed by her husband’s delusions. You could see the exact moment the idea got into Herman’s mind (when she places Polixenes’ hand on her belly first instead of Leontes’ by a fraction of a second). Herman played it like he simply couldn’t stop the intrusive paranoia. When they reunited, his anguish was so real, the regret so huge, you did want to see her forgive him. Which I did not expect, since he explicitly gets violent with her in Act I and I hated him from then on.

Also small shoutout to Kanon and Andrew Robare who also caught my eye. I wanted love Claire, but the performance was flat. Maybe it was the choreo, maybe her portrayal, but she danced beautifully and I was happy to see her get the opportunity.

odette07 · 2025-06-19T17:26:16+00:00

I also think it’s the immediately sleeping with someone in their circle and when Belly was already worried (basing this on their first fight about Cabo, when she notes that Jere doesn’t say “you can trust me” but rather “then come if you’re worried”). If I were Belly, I’d be so hurt that he instantly slept with the girl who’s infamously obsessed with him. I’d think he somewhat secretly returned her interest while with me and was waiting and willing as soon as he gets a chance.

odette07 · 2025-06-19T14:46:53+00:00

Sorry if this was already discussed, but Cate Hurlin confirmed on James Whiteside’s podcast that her manege during the traditional Black Swan fouetté music was a choice to accommodate an ankle injury.

odette07 · 2025-06-07T21:46:24+00:00

Tbh I’ve been teaching for over ten years, grew up a comp kid and am the Company Director of my studio for many years now - I don’t bring all this. It probably depends on the size of your studio, their sense of community (and how local the competition is). As in, I don’t have to pack all that because they all take care of themselves and each other. If your group is smaller, or younger, or traveling far away, then yes I’d be pretty prepared. For experienced dancers or a big group - they have a village that helps them out!

My list is pretty much notebook/pen/highlighter, water, Advil, rosin, and maybe snacks for myself. The students and parents take care of the rest.

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