sneds Posted August 7, 2001 Share Posted August 7, 2001 Hi! No formal announcement, but ABT has updated the company roster on the website. Carlos Molina and Stella Abrera have been promoted to soloist. New company members include David Halberg, Carlos Lopez, Sasha Dmochowski (he or she??)and Angela Snow. At least one corps member has departed... I had forgotten that Molina was still in the corps, and was assuming that Sean Stewart and possibly Sascha Radetsky might be next on the list for promotion. Does anyone know why only one guy was promoted, though two male soloist have left? Any thoughts on these promotions? Kate Link to comment
Autumn7 Posted August 8, 2001 Share Posted August 8, 2001 Sneds, I remember that Stella Abrera danced Myrta in a performance I saw last April in D.C. I went back through my journal to about the time of that entry and unfortunately I didn't make any specific notes on her. I do remember that her dancing was lovely butI also remember feeling that she wasn't commanding enough as Myrta - (but no one ever was for us after van Hamel.) I rather expected Radetsky to be promoted also. His performance as the Blue Bird about that same time was a fine one. ABT's depth of male dancers is tough to rise up in I suppose. On a side note, I received a newsletter from ABT today and it mentioned that they are doing 'Giselle' on the west coast in the fall and on the front page about 'Giselle' it reads "Marius Petipa's tragic masterpiece returns!" What happened to Coralli and Perrot? I certainly never thought of 'Giselle' as a Petipa ballet! In a Stagebill from this year though it does give some credit to Petipa. Interesting that I never noticed that. That could be a whole new topic! Link to comment
Mme. Hermine Posted August 8, 2001 Share Posted August 8, 2001 sasha dmochowski is a girl and comes to abt from the boston ballet. Link to comment
Mel Johnson Posted August 8, 2001 Share Posted August 8, 2001 Autumn, most of the versions of Giselle we see today are based on Petipa's revisions/redactions of the Coralli/Perrot original, and the task of unscrambling the later material from the earlier has not yet been completed. Link to comment
Alexandra Posted August 8, 2001 Share Posted August 8, 2001 Re Giselle, I think most of Act I is Coralli (there are drawings from the 1840s that match what we see today) It was an open secret at the time that Perrot did Grisi's (Giselle's) solos. The only thing that I know of that's Petipa's in Act I is Giselle's final solo (the hops on pointe.) Petipa's big addition was the Grand Pas of the Wilis in Act II. This is the rough overview. I'm sure there are refinements that can be made (I bought "Ballet in the Time of Giselle," but haven't read it yet! Doug??? Back to ABT promotions, I had liked Abrerra very much at the fewe things I saw her do in D.C. this spring. I thought she might be one of the many dancers that are soloists with their home companies but that ABT makes start in the corps. Link to comment
Autumn7 Posted August 9, 2001 Share Posted August 9, 2001 I'd just like to post a thank you to both Alexandra & Mel for the clarifications on 'Giselle'. That's what I love about this web-site - I'm always learning and stretching the old brain! I'd better start reading my program notes a little closer from now on. Link to comment
Guest Ballerina4eva Posted August 9, 2001 Share Posted August 9, 2001 I was just checking out the updated roster and wasn't Misty Copeland a new addition to the corps also? Her name is still also listed under the studio company, so I thought it must have been recent. Link to comment
doug Posted August 9, 2001 Share Posted August 9, 2001 Re: GISELLE -- Alexandra, I don't know much more than you about Petipa's additions. It's hard to pin them down in detail because so little is known about the choreography of the original GISELLE. Marian Smith's book about ballet, opera and GISELLE throws the doors open re the action and mime of the Parisian GISELLE of the 1840s. We hope to look closely at the Stepanov notations of the Petersburg production (altho the notes were made around the turn of the century) in light of Marian's new findings and see what can be deduced about choreographic changes/additions. Link to comment
lara Posted August 9, 2001 Share Posted August 9, 2001 Speaking of Radetsky, is five years a long time to be in the corp? Do some dancers just never make it out of the corp? What happens to them - let's say after 10 years or so? Does a company keep them on? Link to comment
Victoria Leigh Posted August 9, 2001 Share Posted August 9, 2001 Five years is not an exceptioally long time to stay in the corps, especially if one has started right out of high school with no previous experience. There are many dancers who stay in the corps all their professional lives, and some do last ten years or more. As long as they are still dancing well and are valuable members of the company, they will be kept. More often they leave of their own accord after a while, sometimes to move on to a better position with another company, and sometimes to move on to another phase in their lives or careers. Many go back to school and learn other areas of the art such as administration or costuming, lighting, stage managing, etc. Others go into totally different fields. And of course some female dancers decide it's time to have a family! Link to comment
felursus Posted August 10, 2001 Share Posted August 10, 2001 Misty Copeland was dancing with the main company during their NY season this spring - she was listed as doing something in the corps, but as I didn't know who all the other girls were, and I haven't seen a photo of her since the big brouhaha over her now several years ago, I didn't recognize her. Link to comment
Pizza9 Posted August 12, 2001 Share Posted August 12, 2001 In May (or sometime around then), Misty Copeland got her contract for the corps with the main company. She'd been doing stuff with the main company even though she technically was with the studio company. She stepped on a sewing needle and it broke in her foot and it hit a nerve and she had to get surgery to get it removed. Link to comment
Manon Posted August 25, 2001 Share Posted August 25, 2001 I had thought Sascha would have been promoted, too. I suspect that he will soon be promoted. Carlos is a wonderful dancer from South America. Did you see him this past Met Season dancing the lead in Onegin. He was incredible. I had the opportunity to meet him backstage, and I must say he is very nice as well. There were several dancers who left the company at the end of this Met season. The ones I know about are: corp members Micheal Cusamano, Johanna Snyder, and Tamara Barden. Also, soloists, John Gardner and Katerina Shelkanova. Link to comment
glebb Posted August 25, 2001 Share Posted August 25, 2001 Angela Snow is a product of The School of Oregon Ballet Theatre, Haydee Gutierrez - Artistic Director. Angela has a perfect Giselle hair line, huge brown eyes and gorgeous legs and feet. She reminds me of The Joffrey Ballet's Lisa Bradley. Link to comment
Guest Titania2B Posted August 25, 2001 Share Posted August 25, 2001 Does anyone know where Michael Cusamano(corps de ballet) went to after leaving ABT? He was a talented dancer and very young. I am interested in knowing what he is going to be up to. Link to comment
sneds Posted August 25, 2001 Author Share Posted August 25, 2001 Titania2B... That might be a touchy subject. I think it best not to discuss on this board, but you can e-mail me via my webpage (see URL in my signature) if you would like more details. Kate Link to comment
Manon Posted August 26, 2001 Share Posted August 26, 2001 In answer to Lara's question, yes there have been some dancers at ABT who have been promoted after 10 years or so. I believe former ABT dancer Gabrielle Brown was promoted to soloist after 10 years of being in the corp. But I don't think Sascha will have to wait that long. Link to comment
Manon Posted August 26, 2001 Share Posted August 26, 2001 Titania 2B- I also have some info. on Michael Cusamano, but I agree with Kate it is probably best not to discuss it on this board. Email me privately and I can tell you what I know. Also- sneds please email me privately I would like to know what info. you have on the subject. Link to comment
Guest laracf Posted August 26, 2001 Share Posted August 26, 2001 Does anyone know where Tamara Barden is going or if she is retiring? Thanks, Lara (another Lara) Link to comment
Mel Johnson Posted August 27, 2001 Share Posted August 27, 2001 Hi, Lara, and welcome to News and Views here at Ballet Alert! Online! Sorry, I haven't info on Tamara; anybody got an inside track on this story? Link to comment
sneds Posted August 27, 2001 Author Share Posted August 27, 2001 Manon There is no private messaging on this board, so you need to either have your e-mail revealed in your profile, or e-mail me via my website. Kate Link to comment
Manon Posted August 28, 2001 Share Posted August 28, 2001 Kate- I double checked my profile, my email address is listed. I tried emailing you through your website, but I was unable to pull it up. Is there another way of emailing you? There is two more additions to the changing roster at ABT. Corp. member Vladislav Kalinin has retired. Link to comment
sneds Posted August 28, 2001 Author Share Posted August 28, 2001 Hi! Unfortunately, even though you are able to see your e-mail address, when I pull up your profile, it doesn't list your e-mail address. I suspect that the moderators have set up the profile prefs so that e-mail addresses don't show up to other people. I apologize if you are having problems with my website..occasionally mindspring/earthlink has problems. The url in my signature should be correct, but here it is again... http://www.mindspring.com/~ksneds/SAB.html One other site that you should be able to contact me through (though it's outdated) is http://members.aol.com/jstducky07/jenntodd.html There should be a place to contact me (not Jenn, but Kate) Kate Link to comment
Mel Johnson Posted August 28, 2001 Share Posted August 28, 2001 You're right about the email addies not showing to others, sneds. We used to have it the other way, but some people complained that they were getting spammed, so we elected not to show the emails - first, for the protection of the kids, and second, to let the adults pick out a level of privacy with which they are comfortable. Since you're an adult, if you want to post your email address in the clear, it's OK with us. If not, that's OK too! Link to comment
Recommended Posts