59 replies to this topic

[Natalia]

[Admin Note: I've split posts that talk about what PNB veterans are now doing from the "Retirements" thread, so that we can keep up with them.]


Casey Herd is going to the Dutch National Ballet in Amsterdam. Both he and Pantastico are dancing their final steps with PNB this weekend in Duato's Jardi Tancat, during the Kennedy Center's Ballet Across America mini-festival.

[Maggie]

Does anyone have any information on Phillip Otto or Rachel Butler at PNB a few years back?

[Helene]

Phillip Otto is the new artistic director of Huntsvillle Ballet Company, and Rachel Butler-Otto is the school's new director.

http://www.huntsvill...8/05/01/5150259

[sandik]

Good for them -- I remember both of them from their time here and was so sorry when they left. She really caught my eye in a rehearsal for Sleeping Beauty (when the company was first having the work set). She really treated the style with respect. And he was a great asset to the outreach programs the company was setting up, alongside his performing work.

[Helene]

I found a short clip of Herd on YouTube, an official video from Dutch National Ballet:

[Helene]

Peter Boal told us the following news at this afternoon's Q&A:

*Miranda Weese is retiring. She and her NY-based partner who is in the music business may work together, and she has plans to teach.
*Anton Pankevitch is joining Ballet San Jose, but as Boal also said, he has been teaching in Europe and has a lot of irons in the fire
*Jodie Thomas, as previously known, is joining Royal Danish Ballet.

In the retirement insert, which I practically stole from the 6-year-old in my row, noted that Thomas had guested with Royal Danish Ballet in an exchange with PNB a few years ago.

There will be special bows for each at next Sunday matinee's regular season closer. Thomas is scheduled to dance Girl in Apricot in "Dances" and First Movement, "Symphony in C", and Weese for Girl in Green in that performance.

Louise Nadeau, Boal noted, is going to sleep in

[Helene]

Kara Zimmerman, formerly at PNB, will join Joffrey Ballet.

http://www.suburbanc...Weiss31.article

[Helene]

This morning on Facebook there was a post from Sandra Radvanovsky's fan page to say that her new album, "Verdi: Arias" was released today, which did its job by sending me immediately to iTunes to buy it and start downloading, and I started to think of artists I'd love to get news like this, or of performance updates, etc. Which led me to ignore my taxes for yet another hour and to poke around looking for PNB dancer fan pages. (This intro is an awkward way to explain that I'm really not a stalker...[I've too short an attention span].)

I didn't find many, just dancer's regular FB pages, but one "friend" profile photo caught my eye, of Rachel Butler-Otto and her two children. She looks stunning, just like when she retired!

http://www.facebook....p?id=1375467458

Since people change their profile pictures all the time, there's no guarantee it will be up for long.

Through a bunch of clicks, I learned from her public profile that Rebecca Johnston is in law school in DC, and Nicholas Ade's profile photo is a beautiful shot of him and his wife, Paige Parks.

(Must stop now and do taxes...)

[sandik]

Rebecca Johnston is in law school in DC

Oh this is lovely news -- I wish her all kinds of success!

[Helene]

A mention of Rachel Butler-Otto and Phillip Otto by Christopher Fleming, who reports on his website that he's been teaching at the summer intensive at their school in Huntsville, Alabama this summer:

The students are hard working and focused here. Phil and Rachel have a very large school (350 students) and a good Regional Ballet Company. They did a Pas de deux of mine last season on a contemporary program and may be doing something else next season (More about that later).Did I mention that the average temp. here, is around 100 degrees.

http://balletfleming...€œrescue-meâ€�/

Fleming was a terrific dancer at NYCB, and the "About" section notes that he is a "part-time professor with the Dance Department at Goucher College." (It's a mere 88 degrees in Baltimore.) It was nice to see that his logo is a picture of him in "Fancy Free", a great role for him.

[Helene]

According to Alastair Macaulay's review of the International Evening at the Vail Festival, Sokvannara Sar danced as a freelancer with NYCB's Robert Fairchild, Tiler Peck, and Joaquin De Luz in Larry Keigwin's "Rock Steady".

[carbro]

Fleming was a terrific dancer at NYCB....

Yes, he was.

At one performance when Fleming was one of the four "froggy" corps men backing up the principal "Spring" section of The Four Seasons," a woman sitting near me apparently noted the dark blond hair and squarish jaw of one of them (Fleming), ignored the extra 4 or so inches of height and exclaimed to her companion, "Oh, look! It's Baryshnikov!!!"

This seems to be a recent photo, but you get the idea.

[Helene]

, carbro!

[Helene]

Christoph Maraval is now ballet master at Naples Academy of Ballet.

“The point is to teach good ballet even to students who are not going to make it a career,” Maraval said after Thursday’s class, “Here I can really teach what I have learned and really make a difference.”

Naples Academy owner Toshiko Tompkins chose Maraval after working for three months with seven candidates looking for the right fit. She eventually flew to Montreal to observe Maraval’s classes.

“I knew right away that he had not only the background to teach the technique, but you can see that he cares and wants to make the kids better.” Tompkins said. “I look back now and know that I made the right decision.”

http://www.naplesnew...professionalis/

There's a slide show with the article.

[sandik]

I saw the notice about Maraval and was curious about his choice -- before he left PNB he'd mentioned in an interview that one of the reasons he went to Montreal was a chance for his children to live in a French-speaking environment, which I don't think is part of Naples, Florida!