20 replies to this topic

[Figurante]

There have been numerous roster changes on the MCB website:


Deanna Seay
Rolando Sarabia
Daniel Sarabia
Alex Wong
Daniel Baker
Allynne Noel Stoller
Chaz Mezaros
Elizabeth Keller

All of the dancers above are no longer listed on the website

There are also new additions to the roster:


Student Apprentices:

Andrei Chagas
Chloe Freytag
Christina Spigner
Kara White

Apprentices:

Nathalia Arja
Adrienne Carter
Renan Cerdeiro
Alexandre Ferreira
Skyler Lubin
Kleber Rebello

Corps de Ballet:

Suzanne Limbrunner
Emily Bromberg

[cubanmiamiboy]

Wow..and I mean, WOOOOW!!! Now it is official that four of the main forces of the Company are gone...  Cox, Sarabita, Wong-( )-and Baker.  I really can't see how Panteado and Guerra will be able to do all the work now....
This is a MAJOR disaster...

[Justdoit]

However, you overlooked that Yann Trividic will be returning as a principal.  He was a very accomplished one when he was here for the Neighborhood Ballroom program this season.  Much the same as he was when he was a principal with the company several years ago.  Welcome back, Yann!

As for the current huge exodus.  What's going on with the company that they are losing so many every year?

[bart]

Thanks, figurante, for catching this.

Not a good sign, considering all the highly touted plans for the big 25th Anniversary season -- premieres, a possible European tour, the new full-length Romeo and Juliet , the return of a live orchestra.  

The company was already depleted by budget cuts and the loss of memorable dancers like Jeremy Cox.  Several departures have already been talked about on BT:  the Sarabias and, of course, the retirement of wonderful Deanna Seay.  Wong and Baker are BIG losses which have not been reported before.  Hiring a few distinguished older men -- Reyneris Reyes and Yann Trivedic -- and pushing forward a bunch of talented teen-age apprentices does not even begin to make up for dancers like that.

The crew of apprentices are extremely talented -=- and promising.  But a company on this level should not have to depend on them as much as MCB did last season.  When apprentices -- even those as potentially brilliant as Renan Cerdeiro -- are drafted for soloist and even principal roles, you have to worry.

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What's going on with the company that they are losing so many every year?

Indeed !!    Villellas owes us an explanation and a frank discussion of his plans for next season.

[Brioche]

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Indeed !!  Villellas owes us an explanation and a frank discussion of his plans for next season.

Why?

[bart]

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Why?

I guess that no Artistic Director "owes" this kind of discussion to anyone.  I didn't mean to imply that Villella should discuss individual situations, and I know that there are many reasons for dancers to leave from a company.  But I do think Villella  has a responsibility at least to reveal his goals or plans for the future of male dancing at MCB.  

Subscriptions have been renewed, and donations made, on the assumption that there will be dancers (males included) capable of carrying the challenging ballets scheduled for next season.  I mean dancers with greater experience than even the best apprentices can have.  A large photo of Wong in Taylor's Promethean Fire is actually featured in the season brochure.  Ballets like Baker's Dozen, Western Symphony, Bugaku, Nine Sinatra Songs, and Bouree Fantasque could be deadly with dancers who don't capture and hold audience attention.  Romeo and Juliet is unimaginable without a strong male cast.

In the 9 seasons I've been observing the company, they've lost -- and not to retirement -- a rather large number of their best and/or most promising male dancers.  A few come to mind:  Mikhail Ilyin, Joseph Philips, Mikhail Nikitine, Jeremy Cox, and now Rolando Sarabia, Alex Wong, and Daniel Baker.  There are more, if you include some of the stronger corps men who disappeared along the way.

Losing so many charismatic men seems odd for a company headed by a man who was arguably the most talented, exciting, and admired American male dancer of his generation.  Eventually MCB's own School may produce the male soloists and principals that Villella needs. But that will take a while.  What happens in the meantime?

[Helene]

It's odd for a prestigious company that has steady work during tough economic times is losing so many dancers not due to retirement or new artistic leadership.

If Sokvannara Sar ends up in your neck of the woods, you will be lucky audience members.

[cubanmiamiboy]

bart, on May 10 2010, 07:50 PM, said:

In the 9 seasons I've been observing the company, they've lost -- and not to retirement -- a rather large number of their best and/or most promising male dancers.  A few come to mind:  Mikhail Ilyin, Joseph Philips, Mikhail Nikitine, Jeremy Cox, and now Rolando Sarabia, Alex Wong, and Daniel Baker.

...and Isanusi, just as he became Principal.  Remember...?

[bart]

cubanmiamiboy, on May 11 2010, 01:08 AM, said:

...and Isanusi, just as he became Principal.  Remember...?

Another highly developed, compelling dancer, not ideal for everything in the rep, but a dancer who filled a vacuum in dramatic ballets.  Isanusi Garcia-Rodriquez had just returned after an unexplained departure.  And then he was gone again.  Frustrating and puzzling.

Helene, on May 11 2010, 12:05 AM, said:

If Sokvannara Sar ends up in your neck of the woods, you will be lucky audience members.

I remember reading impressive comments about him on a recent thread.  I hope dancers like this send tapes and resumes.  

[leonid]

Helene, on May 10 2010, 11:05 PM, said:

It's odd for a prestigious company that has steady work during tough economic times is losing so many dancers not due to retirement or new artistic leadership.

If Sokvannara Sar ends up in your neck of the woods, you will be lucky audience members.

I had not heard of this dancer before, but this clip of him in Coppelia variation reveals a lot of charm. Oh yes and a bit of technique.

[Helene]

Sar is the subject of a documentary by Anne Bass, "Dancing Across Borders".  Here's the discussion thread on the film.

http://ballettalk.in....p...s borders\

I feel like Wylie Coyote chasing down Road Runner to see it, because it played in Seattle only when I was out-of-town, and when I visited other cities, it had just closed or was about to open after I left.

Sar was in the Pacific Northwest Ballet School Professional Division for a year before he joined the company.  The first time I saw him was in the School graduation performance of Bournonville's "Konservatoriet" (classroom act) where he was the Dancing Master, and he displayed the same charm and technique.  He danced with PNB until last fall, when he resigned from the company, and sadly, there wasn't room for him when he reconsidered.  He's currently auditioning with other companies.

[cubanmiamiboy]

Carlos Quenedit is also gone from the roster...

[Cabriole]

Alex Wong is back on the new season of So You Think You Can Dance  

[bart]

Good for Wong.  In the right role (especially when up in the air) he is an astonishing dancer.

Good news on the dramatic dancer front:  the charismatic and powerful Isanusi Garcia-Rodriquez is back on the roster as a Principal.

[bart]

Two new names in the corps.

-- Suzanne Limbrunner (has danced with MCB and in Bordeaux, married to returning Principal Yann Trividic)

-- Adriana Piercy (trained at SAB where she danced in Fanfare this season; MCB is performing a company premiere of Fanfare in Program I).