10 replies to this topic

[sandik]

Jodie T was at the Q/A session after Friday night's performance (she'd danced Carousel with James Moore) and Peter B announced that she's leaving the company at the end of the season and going to the Royal Danish. She's got a soloist contract with them, but isn't sure what she'll be dancing yet. (she mentioned that the company is doing West Side Story Suite and Dances at a Gathering next year, so at least those will be familiar...)

I'm sorry to see her leave (especially since they're reviving the Mailliot Romeo next season and I really liked her Nurse in that) but I can certainly understand her desire to try herself in a new environment. I think she'd be pretty well suited to the Bournonville rep, though I don't know that she's had much actual training in the style yet.

[Maitland]

I too was at the Q&A with Peter Boal and Jodie Thomas...What is going on at PNB? Does Peter Boal care about quality? Obviously not; he pushess other lesser dancers and acts happy Jodie is leaving?! Cheers to you Jodie -- get away from this environment and beome the star he has held you back from becoming. Seattle loves you and WE the faithful shall miss you.


[quote]name='sandik' date='Mar 15 2009, 02:04 AM' post='244166']
Jody T was at the Q/A session after Friday night's performance (she'd danced Carousel with James Moore) and Peter B announced that she's leaving the company at the end of the season and going to the Royal Danish. She's got a soloist contract with them, but isn't sure what she'll be dancing yet. (she mentioned that the company is doing West Side Story Suite and Dances at a Gathering next year, so at least those will be familiar...)

I'm sorry to see her leave (especially since they're reviving the Mailliot Romeo next season and I really liked her Nurse in that) but I can certainly understand her desire to try herself in a new environment. I think she'd be pretty well suited to the Bournonville rep, though I don't know that she's had much actual training in the style yet.[/quote]

[sandik]

I can understand your frustration, but I don't really agree with your assessment. I think, if PB is guilty of anything, it's of still thinking like a dancer. He knows the career is short, and I think he encourages them to consider all their options in these situations. (he's often mentioned that his time in France was an incredible education for him, and really served him when he returned to NYCB)

And honestly, he needs to keep nurturing and developing the next generation of performers, which means giving them opportunities to take big steps.

I'm very curious to see who winds up performing O/O in the upcoming set of Swan Lakes.

[glebb]

I think bringing in Mimi Paul and Violette Verdy to coach the dancers in Emeralds shows a great deal of thoughtfulness when it comes to quality.

[Dave]

I too was at the Q&A with Peter Boal and Jodie Thomas...What is going on at PNB? Does Peter Boal care about quality? Obviously not; he pushess other lesser dancers and acts happy Jodie is leaving?! Cheers to you Jodie -- get away from this environment and beome the star he has held you back from becoming. Seattle loves you and WE the faithful shall miss you.

Speaking as a fan, not as a PNB employee (I work for the school, not the company, so I don't pretend to have any inside knowledge not available to the general public), I fear you may be missing the subtle distinction between "happy for her" and "happy she's leaving."

[Pointe1432]

I wish Jodie no ill will, but I will not miss her.

I would much rather see what someone like Lindsi Dec will give us in the next few years.

[Helene]

I think there are some dancers one doesn't know how much will be missed until they are gone.

I wish Thomas the best of luck, happiness, and artistic fulfillment in Denmark. Oh, to live in a transportation hub with much of Europe within a 4-hour direct flight!

[tutu]

I've loved Thomas's dancing in so many different roles; she's a dancer who can adapt to any part. (And I mean any. Thomas is great everything: in Balanchine and in Tharp, in character-driven roles [i.e. the Maillot R&J nurse], and in abstract roles [for example, the Forsythe with the tables]. She's a chameleon in the very best way.) She has wonderfully refined technique, and she also has a definite presence onstage. When she's cast, you count on a superb performance.

In short, the Danes are very lucky! Best of luck to Thomas. We'll certainly miss her terribly

[miliosr]

Regarding dancers we don't realize we'll miss until their gone, the Joni Mitchell lyric from "Big Yellow Taxi" applies:

Don't it always seem to go
That you don't know what you got 'til it's gone
They paved paradise and put up a parking lot . . .

[SandyMcKean]

I too was at the Q&A with Peter Boal and Jodie Thomas...What is going on at PNB? Does Peter Boal care about quality? Obviously not; he pushess other lesser dancers and acts happy Jodie is leaving?! Cheers to you Jodie -- get away from this environment and beome the star he has held you back from becoming. Seattle loves you and WE the faithful shall miss you.

I don't mean this personally, but I must disagree with essentially every thought expressed here.

1. What's going on at PNB? My opinion.....the creation of one of the best companies in the USA. Kent and Francia built the foundation and developed the company to a high level. Now Boal is taking it far beyond to the highest possible level -- beyond anything I ever imagined in my wildest dreams. That's what's going on.

2. Peter Boal oozes quality. His tastes are impeccable; his casting brilliant; his choice of programming inspired; and most important of all, he is growing the dancers to levels that can only excite them, him, and us the audience.

3. I have never seen Boal "push lesser dancers". He pushes dancers to higher levels with an infallible instinct for who is ready for the push (look at Lucien a just few years ago; look at Leslie Rausch, or Laura Gilbreath, or Lindsi Dec, or just this year Sara Orza). I'd bet in a heartbeat my entire ballet watching future on Mr Boal's instincts for quality.

4. It is a travesity to say Boal has held Thomas back. If anything, it has been he who has given her her best chances. (I might mildly agree that Jodie was under-appreciated and under-utilized under Stowell/Russel management, but never under Boal.)

5. Of course we will all miss her. But this is a good move for Jodie and Peter Boal is happy FOR her just as we all are (as was said earler by others).

P.S. Peter Boal is the best thing that even happened to PNB. I count my lucky stars every day that I happen to live in Seattle to see the masterpiece he is creating.

[MCBallet]