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ABT 2007 City Center season


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Any bets who gets Ballo? My guess is first cast Murphy-Stiefel, second cast Lane-Cornejo :D .

You are probably right but a Murphy- Hallberg cast would be nice too.Any ideas for "Leaves..." :)

Abrera maybe, she is unlike Kirkland (who I saw in the role) but has an air of mystery and fluidity that might work.

A connected topic - ABT is ripe for promotions. I had assumed that Part would become a principal soon. Is that happening? Could Abrera be on the principal track? Also, I have been rooting for a Lane promotion to soloist. Are any promotions likely to be announced any time soon? I feel like this site is sometimes like "the oracle."

It is difficult to know whether Abrera could be promoted to principal, but I certainly hope so! She is lovely as the Lilac Fairy and as Myrta. However, it is difficult to know if she will remain permanently as a soloist, like Carmen seems to be doing. It seems like Part would be the next obvious promotion, though I don't think ABT knows quite what to do with her. She dances lead roles in Swan Lake and Sleeping Beauty, and yet she is completely absent from other ballets.

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It seems like Part would be the next obvious promotion, though I don't think ABT knows quite what to do with her. She dances lead roles in Swan Lake and Sleeping Beauty, and yet she is completely absent from other ballets.

Also Bayadere, Raymonda, Giselle (Myrtha), R&J (Mommy, a lead role when she does it), Mozartiana.

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Hurling a bunch of responses to the myriad comments made so far:

Part's promotion: She really should be promoted. However, a few well-placed critics (including Macauley at the Times) don't like her and she was not given very warm reviews for her Aurora. I saw the opening night and I thought she was lovely if somewhat miscast and lacking a little in lightness of footwork. However she was definitely a ballerina up there. I am afraid that McKenzie et al. might decide to make her take the fall for the disastrous critical reception of the "Sleeping Beauty" production. ABT should either promote her now or let her go. Her Nikiya in "La Bayadere" and her Odette/Odile in "Swan Lake" in partnership with Gomes are reason enough to give her the rank of principal. Add any other role you wish to this very short list.

"Ballo" casting: Part often has been cast in Balanchine at ABT and at the Kirov/Maryinsky back when. Could she do "Ballo"? Definitely Wiles, Herrera and Murphy are natural Balanchine ballerinas but Dvorovenko and Beloserkovsky are good bet too.

As for promotions: I wonder where the next generation of ballerinas are going to come from? Really once Julie Kent retires and Nina finally quits the stage, ABT will be short in the prima ballerina department. Other than Sarah Lane or Misty Copeland, perhaps, who in corps is ready to be groomed for stardom? Also, the constellation of male superstars we have been enjoying at ABT already has been diminished by the retirement of Julio Bocca. Vladimir Malakhov is getting to be a rare and uncertain presence on the ABT roster and he is over 35. Jose Manuel Carreno is over 35 and was in great shape last season. Other than a troublesome shoulder and upper back which affects his partnering, he is still going strong and could go on for another four or five years. Ethan Stiefel is a fantastic dancer who this season showed up with stronger acting temperment. However, I suspect that the aftereffects of his many injuries will limit him in future seasons more and more. Another serious injury could end his career before he turns 40. Carlos Acosta didn't make it to the Met season this year and his busy schedule and main affiliation to the Royal makes him really more of an occasional guest artist, at best. That leaves Marcelo, Angel, David Hallberg, Herman and Max to carry the company forward. Certainly, Roberto Bolle made a very nice impression on the ABT audience who took to him immediately. His is tall and a good partner and would take some of the pressure off of Marcelo.

The City Center season is always a better opportunity for corps dancers to do more and might prove a testing ground for new talent which will be needed desperately at ABT in five years.

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Hurling a bunch of responses to the myriad comments made so far:

"Ballo" casting: Part often has been cast in Balanchine at ABT and at the Kirov/Maryinsky back when. Could she do "Ballo"?

Oooh. I like her, but that would not be pretty. The role is for an allegro technician - the opposite sort of dancer to Part. It might exert a sort of morbid fascination, kind of like making Katharine Hepburn sing "On the Good Ship Lollipop," but I'm not sure either Part or Ballo would be enriched by the experience.

Definitely Wiles, Herrera and Murphy are natural Balanchine ballerinas but Dvorovenko and Beloserkovsky are good bet too.

Wiles, Herrera and Murphy are natural Balanchine ballerinas? Murphy comes the closest, but in my viewing, Herrera looks stilted in Balanchine and Wiles has the ability but not the attack or accenting.

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...Other than Sarah Lane or Misty Copeland, perhaps, who in corps is ready to be groomed for stardom? ...

Lane is a good solid soloist, although I'd place my bets on wondrous Yuriko Kajiya to surprise everyone!

Stella Abrera, without a doubt, should be the next female principal at ABT. She has it all -- amazing technique, charisma and versatility (think Lilac Fairy or Gamzatti one day, Push Comes to Shove the next, then Balanchine Symph Concertant). I don't feel quite the same about Part, although she certainly held her own as Aurora when I saw her.

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That leaves Marcelo, Angel, David Hallberg, Herman and Max to carry the company forward. Certainly, Roberto Bolle made a very nice impression on the ABT audience who took to him immediately. His is tall and a good partner and would take some of the pressure off of Marcelo.

The City Center season is always a better opportunity for corps dancers to do more and might prove a testing ground for new talent which will be needed desperately at ABT in five years.

And like Julio Bocca and Vladimir Malakhov before him, Angel Corella will now have his own company (and school) to attend to, and so will probably be less able to commit to a full season at ABT in the future. So yes, Mr. McKenzie et.al. need to consider the talent present in ABT's soloists and corps, (or imported from elsewhere) and the next generation of stars they want to promote.

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I have always thought that Zhong Jing Fang would be the next one to be promoted but so far she has not been cast in a big soloist role( aside from her Symphonic Variation) . She always stands out even when in the corp de ballet.

I liked her a lot in her fairy variation in SB--I'd definitely enjoy seeing more of her.

How about guys? I'd certainly say Jared Matthews would be the next promotion there--he's doing both Benvolio and Von Rothbart this season (he did some Benvolio's last seaon too).

And what about Isaac Stappas? I remember a time when ABT (at least this is my memory of it!) used to promote some dancers due to their excellence in some of the character/heavy roles. He was a very good Tybalt, and has been featured in this sort of part for several seasons at least now. I see from the website his rep includes Hilarion (Giselle), Bottom (Midsummernight's dream), Death (Green Table), etc. He's Von Rothbart too, but only the green ugly one from what I remember, so that's not exactly the same thing ;)

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And what about Isaac Stappas?

Yes, I was wondering whether he would be in line for a promotion too. I don't pay as much attention to the male corps as to the female, but he has stood out to me this season.

As to the women, I agree there's a shortage (or impending shortage) of major ballerina talent at the top, which I have trouble understanding how that happened, since there's so much talent at the bottom. Does anyone have any ideas as to how that happened?

As to the soloists, my guess is if they were going to promote Part, it would have been in conjunction with SB, and that didn't happen, leaving me wondering what her future with ABT is. Carmen Corella and Maria Riccetto, (from what I've seen anyway) have not gotten wide casting this season -- I don't know if that means they're still in development for promotion down the road, or stuck as perpetual soloists. Abrera has gotten heavy performance time this season, and while I like her in many respects, find her lacking in lyricism and emotional depth. She can do "cold and evil" so convincingly it can freeze your heart in fear, which is great in some roles, but I don't see her doing much else.

But in the corps, there are so many girls that look impressive! I don't understand why they don't just promote 2 or 3 or 4 of them already! Why do they promote so stintingly? Am I missing something?

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That leaves Marcelo, Angel, David Hallberg, Herman and Max to carry the company forward

Not a bad prospect, really!! Let's see... Marcelo, Angel, David, HERMAN... all except perhaps one yet in their 20s... this is a problem?

heh, well no! they are all wonderful. But they still haven't found the right girl for Herman to partner, and he is just too short for the main leads with the female dancers they have. So that leaves 4 principals who are all great but that isn't just enough to support the entire company :angel_not:

This isn't to say I think ABT is in dire straits..just an observation. :)

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That leaves Marcelo, Angel, David Hallberg, Herman and Max to carry the company forward

Not a bad prospect, really!! Let's see... Marcelo, Angel, David, HERMAN... all except perhaps one yet in their 20s... this is a problem?

heh, well no! they are all wonderful. But they still haven't found the right girl for Herman to partner, and he is just too short for the main leads with the female dancers they have. So that leaves 4 principals who are all great but that isn't just enough to support the entire company :angel_not:

This isn't to say I think ABT is in dire straits..just an observation. :)

Sarah Lane is the girl. They have given her opportunites but they are slow to promote

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The brochures are in the City Center lobby. They have the same picture on the front as last year's -- Stiefel and Murphy in Clear (but with a light background instead of dark).

The blurb in the brochure about the Elo-Glass dance describes the music as a piano solo.

The brochure has all of the pictures we've seen before. They've inserted a beautiful Fabrizio Ferri photo of Michele Wiles in the center of the brochure, but she's in costume for, I believe, Sylvia. No relevance to the season, but nevertheless, a nice picture.

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The brochures are in the City Center lobby. They have the same picture on the front as last year's -- Stiefel and Murphy in Clear (but with a light background instead of dark).

I got my season brochure in the mail this week and noticed 2 things. First, the two-weeks-replacing-three is slightly misleading. They are scheduling Sunday evening performances which mean 8 perfomances a week rather than seven.

For me this is all to the good, NYCB and NYCO used to do Sunday evenings and I miss them. So It's only a few less performances.

Looking at the principals I noticed no Malakhov or Ananiashvili, neither of which was a surprise but no Corella which was.

Maybe he's cutting back his schedule with ABT.

Anyway, I'm happy, I can get the ballets I want to see and avoid the Ben Millipied thing(zzzzzzzzzz)

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It is an exciting season. I can't wait to see the casting. I figure Murphy & Wiles as possible leads for Ballo (Lane if Cornejo does the male lead but he might be cast in gigue).

Kent and maybe Part for the Gelsey role in Leaves are Fading.

Pick any three men for Fancy Free -- How about, Gomes, Cornejo, Stiefel?

Many possibilities.

Does anyone know who is staging Bakers Dozen?

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Corella isn't going to be a City Center? A definite loss for everyone. I noted in today's online Moscow Times that Corella, Stiefel, Kobborg and Tsiskaridze are taking their Kings of Dance gig to the Bolshoi theater in October.

Yeah but Stiefel is on the ABT City Center roster and Angel Corella is not. So go figure.

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Angel Corella will be very busy this fall organizing his new company, guesting with Wheeldon's Morphoses company in London, and then the Kings of Dance tour in Russia (Moscow, St. Petersburg, Perm, Novoborisk?)--according to the websites of all three companies. A loss to ABT at City Center, but not world audiences; it gives others at ABT a chance to shine too. And what I said about "Clear" last year still applies.

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Angel Corella will be very busy this fall organizing his new company, guesting with Wheeldon's Morphoses company in London, and then the Kings of Dance tour in Russia (Moscow, St. Petersburg, Perm, Novoborisk?)--according to the websites of all three companies. A loss to ABT at City Center, but not world audiences; it gives others at ABT a chance to shine too. And what I said about "Clear" last year still applies.

Do you know which performances Angel Corella will be in at Sadler's Wells on September 19 and 20? I am trying to book before I leave for London.

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Angel Corella will be very busy this fall organizing his new company, guesting with Wheeldon's Morphoses company in London, and then the Kings of Dance tour in Russia (Moscow, St. Petersburg, Perm, Novoborisk?)--according to the websites of all three companies. A loss to ABT at City Center, but not world audiences; it gives others at ABT a chance to shine too. And what I said about "Clear" last year still applies.

Do you know which performances Angel Corella will be in at Sadler's Wells on September 19 and 20? I am trying to book before I leave for London.

Program information is here - http://www.sadlerswells.com/show/Morphoses...heeldon-Company

Casting is not listed.

Try writing the theater. reception@sadlerswells.com or ticket.office@sadlerswells.com - they may already have casting or know when it will be announced.

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Wow! The good neighbor policy, NYCB to the rescue!
... a new work by choreographer Benjamin Millipied, which will be set to a commissioned score by composer Nico Muhly. The unnamed work will be the first for ABT by Mr. Millipied, a principal dancer with New York City Ballet, who has previously choreographed pieces for NYCB and ABT's Studio Company.

The season will also feature... George Balanchine's "Ballo della Regina," which will be staged by former NYCB principal dancer Merrill Ashley...

Perhaps ABT could loan the occasional tall male dancer to NYCB in return? WHY NOT?

I have seen an evening of Balachine ,a few years ago, that ABT did at the Met. If you saw that program, you wouldn't want an ABT dancer loaned to NYCB. Sleeping Beauty and Swan Lake and even R+J that NYCB does, doesn't have the same romance and beauty that ABT's versions have. One evening (I believe it was 2 years ago) Julio Bocca did a guest appearance with NYCB. Peter Martins choreographed a tango piece. I was embarrassed for the NYCB male principals who were on stage with him. They were out-classed and out-danced. Nope, the 2 companies in my opinion don't mix well together, but I am sure they can learn a lot from each other.

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A rather run of the mill Opening Night announcement from the company:

OPENING NIGHT GALA AT NEW YORK CITY CENTER

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 23 AT 6:30 PM

TO FEATURE COMPANY PREMIERE OF

GEORGE BALANCHINE’S BALLO DELLA REGINA

9/17/2007 - American Ballet Theatre’s Opening Night Gala at New York City Center, Tuesday, October 23 at 6:30 PM, will feature highlights from the Fall season, including the Company Premiere of George Balanchine’s Ballo della Regina and a performance of Jerome Robbins’ Fancy Free.

Gala chairmen include Muffie Potter Aston and Sherrell Aston, Anne and Mario Grauso and Julia and David Koch. Gala Vice-Chairs are Pamela Fielder and David B. Ford. Superfund Asset Management, Inc. is the sponsor of ABT’s 2007 New York City Center season.

A sold-out Gala Dinner at New York’s Mandarin Oriental Hotel will immediately follow the performance. ABT’s Opening Night will pay special tribute to Lewis S. Ranieri for his commitment and leadership during his six years of service as Chairman of the Board of Governing Trustees.

Performance-only tickets for American Ballet Theatre’s Opening Night at New York City Center are priced from $30 to $135 and are available online or by calling CityTix at 212-581-1212. New York City Center is located on West 55th Street between 6th and 7th Avenues in New York City.

Countrywide Financial is the National Sponsor of American Ballet Theatre. Saks Fifth Avenue is the Leading Sponsor of ABT’s Costume Fund and CA, Inc. is the Leading Sponsor of ABT’s 2007 Family Initiative. American Airlines is ABT’s Official Airline. Ballo della Regina is generously supported through an endowed gift from Susan Fawcett Sosin. Fancy Free is generously underwritten by an endowed gift from Avery and Andy Barth in honor of Laima and Rudolph Barth. Additional support has been provided by the New York State Council on the Arts, a state agency, and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs.

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