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"The Ones That Got Away"


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Another topic for you to chew on. Inspired by the fact that Riolama Lorenzo did a small performance in NYC (Ballet Builders) with other Pennsylvania Ballet members.

She'd be the woman at the top of my list of "ones who got away", the other would be Kristin Sloan.

For men? Jeff Edwards. There may not have been anyone I missed more on stage.

Who's on your list of people whose departure you regret?

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This goes back awhile, but Mimi Paul. In the shadow of Suzanne Farrell, she departed for ABT where she never rose to the top. She had elegance and style, beauty of line and wonderful technique. I'll never understand why Balanchine didn't see enough in her to make her one of his special ballerinas.

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This is a very long list. It starts with people who had long and distinguished careers at NYCB, like Maria Calegari and Bart Cook, who in the end disappeared without explanation. Then it goes on to dancers in mid-career, like Stacey Caddell and Monique Meunier, who had come into their own with NYCB before they went elsewhere. And finally there are those who seemed to have a bright future with NYCB but took their future elsewhere -- Aesha Ash, Edward Liang, Stuart Capps...the list goes on.

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Jeff Edwards-- a true prince--

Mimi Paul was ravishing, Marga. Balanchine DID make her a principal and DID choreograph three, I believe (Don Q variation, Valse-Fantaisie, and Emeralds-- anything else?), roles on her, and she did dance diva ballerina roles like Symphony in C adagio. But I agree. a sad waste.

Bart Cook, for sure, and Calegari. I doubt the truth of those departures will ever be widely publicized. :green:

I have never understood why Meunier isn't universally acclaimed, either.

and Samantha Allen. in that awful Martins Swan Lake, her variation in the pas de quatre was quicksilver, lissome, mercurial.....should have been so much more of that dancer.

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:wink: Samantha Allen....my bd adored her and we always wondered what happened to her.

Maria Calegary....incredible to watch for her virtuous dancing. Rio Lama Lorenzo......a beautiful muse (who can be seen dancing Odette/Odile in Wheeldon's Swan Lake in June for those who miss her.... A great addition to Pennsylvania Ballet)

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Jeff Edwards, for sure. He looked like another Peter Boal -- well, different, but similar in certain ways. He would have graduated to much of the same repertory had he stayed.

In the late 70s there was a very gifted boy named Peter Schetter, who had been a favorite of Stanley Williams. A beautiful dancer, beautiful feet, also an Edwards/Boal type.

Muriel Aasen had her annoying qualities, but she was undoubtedly bursting with talent. She seems to have disappeared completely after leaving NYCB, such a sad waste.

And of course there's Gelsey Kirkland . . .

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From the past, I was really sorry when Colleen Neary left...and I loved Marnee Morris, who left (it seemed to me) prematurely.

I miss Christopher Wheeldon, Edwaard Liang, Robert Wersinger, Eva Natanya, Aesha Ash, Deanna McBrearty, Samantha Allen (if ever there was a "shoulda been" principal, it was she), Monique of course...and I would have liked Kathleen Tracey to stick around longer. And Emily Coates...

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Would it be too arch to add Bruhn and Baryshnikov to the list? Probably. But if I didn't mention them, someone would've.

But I have to add Peter Schaufuss. Schaufuss could've done much, much more, although he was supposedly a handful and a half.

And let's not forget Jorge Donn. (I know, I know.)

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While Muriel Aasen and Peter Schaufuss are on the top of my 'miss you' list, I wonder how many of you at BA saw this gorgeous dancer, Charlotte Dickerson, who was at NYCB for a very short time (2 years?). Charlotte left (actually another 'Trump' word....) after breaking her leg, riding a bike in Central Park. I could write on and on all day, but all I'll say is that she would have given Monique a run for her money in Brahms 4th and/or Prodigal's Siren!

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Jeffrey Edwards, of course--what a Melancholic he was! And Ethan Stiefel, too, must be on anyone's list of those that got away. There is a difference between getting away and just disappearing, I think. Eva Natanya got away, but Aubrey Morgan and Kristen Sloan just seemed to disappear--how I missed them this Sleeping Beauty season! Real classical dancers! I also loved Elena Diner, such beautiful arms. What a sad thread!

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Kristin Sloan had a bad chronic injury which is what forced her departure. And it was just as she was beginning to get solo roles.

Funny how this thread doesn't seem sad to me. It's filled with good memories of talented dancers. I'm glad they're getting mentioned again, and glad to hear people talking about names like Muriel Aasen I only knew from cast lists. Another name from right around the same time that appeared on almost every premiere cast list was Nolan T'Sani. Can anyone tell me something about this dancer?

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This thread is full of smiles for me, remembering all those very talented dancers mentioned so far.

I remember Nolan T'Sani as one of the funniest people; kept everyone in constant giggles during NYCB tours, and other challenging times. Nolan was tall, blonde, handsome, very masculine (meaty) in build. He danced a couple of featured parts in Mr. B's ballets, but was more often used in Jerry's ballets. I remember his demi-soloist dancing in Sym in C; Nolan was one of the few men who didn't disappear wearing all black against the white tutu'd women, and I also remember him fondly in Jerry's Dumbarton Oaks and Goldberg Variations. Nolan always had a mischevious twinkle in his eye and much tongue-in-cheek to his dancing.

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T'Sani was a superb partner who could take on the most nightmarish partnering assignments and make his ballerina (and the audience!) feel secure. While I never saw Patricia McBride do the second movement of Brahms-Schoenberg with her original partner, Conrad Ludlow, I never saw her dance it better than when she was dancing it with T'Sani.

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Jeff Edwards, even though the role I most wanted to see him dance was James. :(

Victoria Hall, who may have been a sort of proto-Meunier; Stacy Caddell; Lauren Hauser, although in her later years there she was increasingly miscast; Afshin Mofid.

:(:D

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On another thread there was a link to a NY Post celebrity-sightings item which mentioned Shawn Stevens. It made me realize she's somebody else I miss. Such a sweet face, and no "pinhead" she.

I'm editing to add that when she was with NYCB, there were three different ways to spell that first name, the others being Shaun (O'Brien) and Sean (Lavery). Did I miss anyone?

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I enjoyed watching Jeffrey Edwards and Maria Calegari week after week in the early 90's. Great musicality and subtle variation of movement towards the end of their choreographical figures, a sort of rubato I guess. The last thing I saw them in was a strangely overwrought Balanchine version of The Cage about the time of the Balanchine Celebration. JE went on to star in an silly expressionist production of Billy Budd at the Met. They both look great in the PBS B-Celebration Union Jack tape.

I never cared for Kozlova--I thought she looked bored, but her last performances in Swan Lake and Symphony in C (or Diamonds) about the same time were wonderful.

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Wasn't it "Death in Venice" that Jeff did at the Met? I remember thinking that he was perfect casting for Tadzio. He was very pretty, and I mean that as a compliment. Shortly after that (this must be ca. 92-93) he went to Lyon Opera Ballet. I have no idea what really happened, but it looked like from the outside like Ethan Steifel was getting Edwards' parts, which was a mistake. Steifel was a virtuoso dancer, Edwards a poet, and they shouldn't have overlapped in repertory. Pretty soon Jeff was gone, and then Steifel ironically a year or so later as well.

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