alexL Posted July 1, 2015 Share Posted July 1, 2015 I haven't followed ABT for very long, but was there another Asian ballerina principal before her? Seo is the first East Asian principal with ABT. Link to comment
choriamb Posted July 1, 2015 Share Posted July 1, 2015 Yes, Seo's the first. But ABT has had three other female soloists from Asia in recent memory--and more in the corps--so there wasn't the same sort of visibility gap. (Yan Chen is Chinese, Yuriko Kajiya is Japanese, and Elaine Kudo's mother is Japanese. Kudo, in particular, was very visible in the media because she was recorded dancing with Baryshnikov in Tharp's ballets.)Too, Chinese and Japanese ballerinas are seen far more frequently as principals of other major companies: Miyako Yoshida at the Royal Ballet, Yuan Yuan Tan (and the US-born Frances Chung) at SFB, Misa Kuranga at Boston, Kaori Nakamura at PNB, etc. spring to mind. That's not even counting soloists.Then again, "Asia" is a pretty wide net to cast. FWIW, Seo's actually the only specifically Korean ballerina at a major company that I know. Link to comment
DeCoster Posted July 1, 2015 Share Posted July 1, 2015 Elaine Kudo was one of my teachers! One summer she taught us part of Push Comes to Shove. Incredible stuff. I believe she stages Tharp works for various companies around the world (including ABT). Funny, I never pondered her ethnicity. (I guess kids just don't think about that stuff too much.) Her husband, Buddy Balou, also formerly of ABT, was a ton of fun in class. Link to comment
Helene Posted July 1, 2015 Share Posted July 1, 2015 Frances Chung was born in Vancouver, BC and trained at Goh Ballet: https://www.sfballet.org/company/dancers/principals/Frances_Chung Link to comment
alexL Posted July 1, 2015 Share Posted July 1, 2015 Btw, Stuttgart Ballet has 2 Korean principals, if it's considered as a "major ballet company". Soo Jin Kang will be retiring soon though. Link to comment
morningside Posted July 1, 2015 Share Posted July 1, 2015 Isn't Stella the first Asian-American (not just the first Filipina) principal at ABT? Hee Seo is from Korea; Stella is from California! Link to comment
bingham Posted July 1, 2015 Author Share Posted July 1, 2015 It's about time some other news media recognized Stella's achievement of being the Ist Philippine-born principal dancer of a major NYC ballet company.Thanks for the link,"its the mom". Link to comment
bingham Posted July 1, 2015 Author Share Posted July 1, 2015 Boylston can dance rings around both Copeland and Seo. Her main issue is lack of polish in her upper body/arms. Boylston is a formidable talent with rock solid technique almost all of the time. Stuben, nothing in your post was remotely hateful or evidence of being on a hate bandwagon. Surely that can be corrected / polish...or can it? Link to comment
choriamb Posted July 1, 2015 Share Posted July 1, 2015 Frances Chung was born in Vancouver, BC and trained at Goh Ballet: https://www.sfballet.org/company/dancers/principals/Frances_Chung (Argh. Thanks for the catch. I knew she wasn't raised in China, but picked the wrong NA country.) Link to comment
abatt Posted July 1, 2015 Share Posted July 1, 2015 Yes, it seems like Boylston's issues can be corrected with some good coaching. A diamond in the rough. Link to comment
its the mom Posted July 1, 2015 Share Posted July 1, 2015 Yes, Seo's the first. But ABT has had three other female soloists from Asia in recent memory--and more in the corps--so there wasn't the same sort of visibility gap. (Yan Chen is Chinese, Yuriko Kajiya is Japanese, and Elaine Kudo's mother is Japanese. Kudo, in particular, was very visible in the media because she was recorded dancing with Baryshnikov in Tharp's ballets.) Too, Chinese and Japanese ballerinas are seen far more frequently as principals of other major companies: Miyako Yoshida at the Royal Ballet, Yuan Yuan Tan (and the US-born Frances Chung) at SFB, Misa Kuranga at Boston, Kaori Nakamura at PNB, etc. spring to mind. That's not even counting soloists. Then again, "Asia" is a pretty wide net to cast. FWIW, Seo's actually the only specifically Korean ballerina at a major company that I know. There are several Korean ballerinas in Boston, Seo Hye Han and Ji Young Chae, not yet principals, but soloists. Misa Kuranaga (Japan) and Lia Cirio (Filipino American) are both principals. Rie Ichikawa (Japan) is a soloist. There are numerous other half Asian women and a number of Asian men. Link to comment
Helene Posted July 1, 2015 Share Posted July 1, 2015 Vancouver is only one hour and a border crossing away from the US On the other hand, that could be said for much of the population of Canada. Link to comment
hyacinthhippo Posted July 1, 2015 Share Posted July 1, 2015 I don't think anything could impede Gorak except injury. He is too good. I agree. My opinion is that Gorak is such a clean technical dancer. I think he will have many opportunities ahead of him. Link to comment
its the mom Posted July 1, 2015 Share Posted July 1, 2015 You're welcome, bingham. And I agree! Link to comment
stuben Posted July 1, 2015 Share Posted July 1, 2015 You're welcome, bingham. And I agree! Check out the Roster Changes at ABT as I posted the same link, great minds think alike Link to comment
volcanohunter Posted July 1, 2015 Share Posted July 1, 2015 Vancouver is only one hour and a border crossing away from the US On the other hand, that could be said for much of the population of Canada. But statistically Vancouver is the most "Asian" city outside of Asia, with a particularly large population of Chinese origin. Link to comment
bingham Posted July 1, 2015 Author Share Posted July 1, 2015 Check out the Roster Changes at ABT as I posted the same link, great minds think alike Yes! Sorry to miss it. Thanks. Link to comment
hyacinthhippo Posted July 1, 2015 Share Posted July 1, 2015 A few more thoughts: I think Brandt really benefited from the stage time that the Bolle and Friends tour allows. Where else can these younger dancers hone their stage craft than actually on a stage. I agree with Faux Pas - I have been up and down about Blaine Hoven over the years but I think this season he really stood out. It looks like he's trimmed down his musculature, toned down his one-time almost platinum hair and overall looks more mature in addition to the improved dancing. Maybe next year. Blaine has had a great season this year. His danced along side Roberto and Herman during Julie's farewell performance. He kept up with the two leading men and delivered a strong performance. Link to comment
Helene Posted July 1, 2015 Share Posted July 1, 2015 Very true. Goh Ballet has a lot of Asian students, too, judging from their participation in the Goh Ballet Nutcracker. In the last two decades at PNB: Batkhurel Bold is from Mongolia, as mentioned, Kaori Nakamura is from Japan, Le Yin is from China and came to PNB via the Houston Ballet talent train, Sokvannara Sar, now with Carolina Ballet, is from Cambodia -- he was discovered by Anne Bass performing classical Cambodian dance and then did a crash course at SAB -- and Americans Mara Vinson, James Moore, William Lin-Yee, Angelica Generosa, Eric Hipolito Jr. (now at Ballet Arizona), and I believe Noelani Pantastico and Christian Poppe are Asian American. Link to comment
hyacinthhippo Posted July 1, 2015 Share Posted July 1, 2015 While we have all been celebrating Misty as first African American principal, can someone verified if Stella Abrera is the first Asian American principal? Link to comment
bingham Posted July 1, 2015 Author Share Posted July 1, 2015 She is the 1st Filipina-Americam Principal of ABT. Jeffrey Cirio , now, becomes the 1st Filipino-American soloist of ABT. I think NYCB has 2 Fil- Am dancers as well, Anthony Huxley (principal) and Georgina Pazcoguin( soloist) ? Link to comment
MarzipanShepherdess Posted July 2, 2015 Share Posted July 2, 2015 I am often very critical of ABT's management, but hats off to them for really nailing it with this set of promotions. I'm over the moon about Stella. Yes, it's overdue, but better late than never! I can't wait to see her be given the chance to expand her repertoire and to see her again in Giselle. Considering it purely from a dance standpoint, IMO Misty's been promoted too soon. She is a charismatic dancer who can bring a really delightful brio and individuality to some of her roles, but I don't think she has yet acquired the depth and polish that should define principal ballerinas. But of course with Misty to consider it from a dance perspective only is to miss the point. She is not just a dancer; she's also an inspiration to many, a symbol of black American achievement, and a major box office draw. Taking those factors into account I think ABT was right to promote Misty this season. It would have been a news story if she was NOT promoted this year, coming off the Time 100 cover, and a very ugly one at that. Hopefully Misty will bloom further as an artist and a dancer in years to come. Link to comment
spinning2night Posted July 2, 2015 Share Posted July 2, 2015 Yes, it seems like Boylston's issues can be corrected with some good coaching. A diamond in the rough. yes agreed. It appears as there's a disconnect between her shoulders and arms from the rest of her body when she dances -- it's like she moves them independently/separately rather than treating each position and move as one entity -- no idea if that explanation makes sense, but that's the way I see it. She has the skills and is actually quite a strong dancer, but the sloppiness can be distracting at times for an educated/trained audience member. IMO, it just seems she hasn't put all the pieces together yet to have her body continuously move through each position to create "photo/picture perfect" moments. (That how I was taught dance -- no "ugly" positions, you want every moment to be photo-ready). That being said, what's up with her wrists/hands? More often than not I feel like they hang limply and just dangle...I feel like that's something that's easy to correct, and she should be getting comments about them in the studio. Link to comment
Mme. Hermine Posted July 2, 2015 Share Posted July 2, 2015 While we have all been celebrating Misty as first African American principal, can someone verified if Stella Abrera is the first Asian American principal? Well Marianna Tcherkassky might have been (she's half Russian and half Japanese, I think). And years before her in the early 40s, Sono Osato, but I don't know if she was a principal. Link to comment
onxmyxtoes Posted July 2, 2015 Share Posted July 2, 2015 yes agreed. It appears as there's a disconnect between her shoulders and arms from the rest of her body when she dances -- it's like she moves them independently/separately rather than treating each position and move as one entity -- no idea if that explanation makes sense, but that's the way I see it. She has the skills and is actually quite a strong dancer, but the sloppiness can be distracting at times for an educated/trained audience member. IMO, it just seems she hasn't put all the pieces together yet to have her body continuously move through each position to create "photo/picture perfect" moments. (That how I was taught dance -- no "ugly" positions, you want every moment to be photo-ready). That being said, what's up with her wrists/hands? More often than not I feel like they hang limply and just dangle...I feel like that's something that's easy to correct, and she should be getting comments about them in the studio. That's a good assessment. It seems like her upper body is a few seconds behind her lower body. For example, she gets into arabesque and is in a good position on her leg and then she extends (maybe too far) her upper body and breaks the line Link to comment
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