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ABT 2017 promotions prediction/wish list


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27 minutes ago, lmspear said:

Nana,  I just noticed a typo in my original post.  The article dates from 2011 rather than 2001.  I'm sorry for throwing off your math. :(

 

Oh, no problem, I should've known that 2001 is too back then! Regardless of the math, my main message remains: Hoven was a great Lensky :) 

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So based on the principal dancers listed for the Fall season, do we take this to mean that there will be no promotions to principal dancer for anybody this year, or is it possible for something to happen in November?   A crystal ball would really be helpful about now.  

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Not gonna lie, I thought of that. I guess we won't know until promotions are announced in the next few days (hopefully).

I certainly hope it doesn't mean that no one will get promoted. Also, I noticed that Part is not listed on the announcement. I hope it's a preliminary announcement and not final.

 

Now if we scrutinize the announcement, it does say "Principal dancers INCLUDE", so it could mean that there will be others. But as I said, we won't know until some time next week (again, hopefully).

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It's possible a promotion announcement may still be coming. In 2012, the fall season announcement preceded the promotions announcement (which included Seo's promotion to principal).

 

http://www.abt.org/insideabt/news_display.asp?News_ID=408

http://www.abt.org/insideabt/news_display.asp?News_ID=410

 

Seo was left off the fall season announcement, but I assume she appeared in that season as a principal dancer. 

 

There has also been the occasional promotion in the fall (Simkin, Whiteside). Not sure what the reasoning is behind a fall versus spring promotion.

 

Edited by fondoffouettes
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They've issued next season announcements before promotions are announced, so this doesn't mean that no one is getting promoted.

 

Given that promotions should be announced by next week, I don't know why they couldn't wait another week to announce the fall season with the correct principal dancer line up. But, there are probably reasons I'm just not aware of.

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3 minutes ago, ABT Fan said:

Given that promotions should be announced by next week, I don't know why they couldn't wait another week to announce the fall season with the correct principal dancer line up. But, there are probably reasons I'm just not aware of.

 

They must have given the NYT exclusive first rights to publish the information, and perhaps newspaper's editorial schedule dictated when ABT publicly announced this information. Of course there could be other reasons, too. Maybe ABT felt it was best to generate buzz for the next season while the current one is still in progress. 

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They don't give exclusive first rights for publication of the season info.  In fact, Dale posted the official info on Ballet Alert shortly after the NY Times.  The press release goes out by email to all press contacts at the same time.

 

If you look at the last two years, the promotions were announced on June 30 and July 1.  This is, I believe, directly keyed into when the Board meets at the end of the second business quarter.    Of course, it is possible that there may not be any promotions to announce.

 

Even if there are new principals,  principal status is rarely immediate.  It usually becomes effective a few weeks later.  So it makes no difference whether they announced the fall season principal lineup today or next week.  Either way, they would not be listing any additional principal names for the engagement.

Edited by abatt
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8 minutes ago, abatt said:

They don't give exclusive first rights for publication of the season info.  In fact, Dale posted the official info on Ballet Alert shortly after the NY Times.  The press release goes out by email to all press contacts at the same time.

 

 

Okay -- I assumed it was an exclusive since the press release didn't appear on ABT's website until after the NYT story had been posted. But I realize the posting on the website might not be synched to the e-mail distribution. 

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20 minutes ago, abatt said:

If you look at the last two years, the promotions were announced on June 30 and July 1.  This is, I believe, directly keyed into when the Board meets at the end of the second business quarter.    Of course, it is possible that there may not be any promotions to announce.

 

Even if there are new principals,  principal status is rarely immediate.  It usually becomes effective a few weeks later.  So it makes no difference whether they announced the fall season principal lineup today or next week.  Either way, they would not be listing any additional principal names for the engagement.

 

The last two years when they've made promotion announcements around June 30/July 1, those promotions took affect August 1 (before the start of the fall season). If there are promotions to announce this year, and they waited a week to announce the fall season to coincide with that, then yes they would have had additional principal names to list for the fall engagement.

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3 hours ago, DeCoster said:

I haven't seen Gisele Bethea on stage this season at all, and between her height and her feet she's hard to miss.  Has anyone noticed her?

I haven't either, and I've been looking for her every time I go.  I wonder if she is injured?

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1 hour ago, abatt said:

They don't give exclusive first rights for publication of the season info.  In fact, Dale posted the official info on Ballet Alert shortly after the NY Times.  The press release goes out by email to all press contacts at the same time.

 

My assumption, based on the timing, was that the Times was given the info in advance and allowed to publish the article this morning with ABT sending the press release to all other press contacts immediately following.

 

In any case, I don't see any reason why the press release should preclude additional promotions to principal next week.

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1 hour ago, ABT Fan said:

 

The last two years when they've made promotion announcements around June 30/July 1, those promotions took affect August 1 (before the start of the fall season). If there are promotions to announce this year, and they waited a week to announce the fall season to coincide with that, then yes they would have had additional principal names to list for the fall engagement.

No, I don't agree.  They would never publish a document or brochure listing someone as a principal whose tenure as a principal had not yet gone into effect.  There are all sorts of potential legal problems in doing that. It leaves open a potential for a claim by a dancer that he or she was entitled to compensation or benefits as a principal before the effective date of the promotion. I suppose they could put an asterisk with an explanation, but that would look silly and distracting.  Even if someone is named as a principal tomorrow, their name would never go in as a principal into any material or booklet distributed to the press or the  public prior to the date the new status became effective.

Edited by abatt
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For promotions I feel like this is Sarah Lane's now or never time. She did a first class (IMO) Giselle, a fine white act of SL and a less fine black act (but as a last minute sub and debut, there has to be some slack given). Her dancing has been confident and first class in every other ballet. So AD now or never. If it doesn't happen for her this time I think she should find another company while she is still young enough to have great years as a principal. More years of little swans, peasant pas, SL pas de trois etc. just doesn't seem right.

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20 minutes ago, vipa said:

For promotions I feel like this is Sarah Lane's now or never time. She did a first class (IMO) Giselle, a fine white act of SL and a less fine black act (but as a last minute sub and debut, there has to be some slack given). Her dancing has been confident and first class in every other ballet. So AD now or never. If it doesn't happen for her this time I think she should find another company while she is still young enough to have great years as a principal. More years of little swans, peasant pas, SL pas de trois etc. just doesn't seem right.

Totally agree. This was a defining year for her - Aurora (she also danced Aurora in Kirkland's version years ago), Odette/Odile, Ratmansky's Clara, Giselle,  and she originated Princess Praline. I'm very nervous for her. But yeah, this is do or die time. The fact that Simkin seems to really love dancing with her might be a big vote in her favor. 

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I believe that we're all ready to explode. It's too bad that we can't be "flown off" from our homes across the globe to some bar near Lincoln Center, with live TV cameras honing down at us, as we remotely watch McKenzie name the new Principals & Soloists. Waiting to set-off the balloons and confetti.

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5 hours ago, Natalia said:

I believe that we're all ready to explode. It's too bad that we can't be "flown off" from our homes across the globe to some bar near Lincoln Center, with live TV cameras honing down at us, as we remotely watch McKenzie name the new Principals & Soloists. Waiting to set-off the balloons and confetti.

 

Haha, seriously! I'm glad I'm not the only one. Champing at the bit here in Iowa. 

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I know this is speculative but Sarah Lane has been posting some really happy, goofy Instagram posts the past couple of weeks. They are very different from her posts last year, where she sounded at times sad, other times serious, and other times she just posted Bible quotes. So ... 

 

 

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13 minutes ago, canbelto said:

I know this is speculative but Sarah Lane has been posting some really happy, goofy Instagram posts the past couple of weeks. They are very different from her posts last year, where she sounded at times sad, other times serious, and other times she just posted Bible quotes. So ... 

 

When Abrera and Copeland were announced (on June 30, 2015), Abrera looked genuinely surprised, but Copeland did not. There was video footage circulating widely when the announcements were made at what seemed to be a company class. So I wonder if they are routinely notified beforehand or if Copeland was an exception.

Edited by California
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12 minutes ago, canbelto said:

I know this is speculative but Sarah Lane has been posting some really happy, goofy Instagram posts the past couple of weeks. They are very different from her posts last year, where she sounded at times sad, other times serious, and other times she just posted Bible quotes. So ... 

 

I thought more of Lane's posts along those lines were after the promotions announcement, but I could definitely be wrong. Perhaps she just thinks (like many of us) that there's more reason to hope this year, given the opportunities that she's had. I just hope that doesn't mean we're all in for an even bigger disappointment!

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Well if you think about it she really has had a principal's workload this year, as she;s had leading roles in:

Giselle (twice)

Whipped Cream (three times)

Swan Lake (once)

Le Corsaire (twice)

Onegin (twice -- I mean Olga's not a big role but it is often given to principals)

 

So maybe her upbeat mood is due to her dancing a lot, and a feeling that the stars are aligned this year. Let's hope!

She seems to have to full confidence of Alexei Ratmansky and going forward I think that will be very important in terms of promotions.

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25 minutes ago, abatt said:

Since Misty is probably the only ballet dancer in history who held a press conference upon her promotion, I'm sure McKenzie notified Copeland well in advance to give her publicity team time to prepare.

Wow, I completely forgot about that, and that must be the case!

 

I wholeheartedly agree with canbelto regarding Lane taking on a principal's workload. I'm holding my breath but I'm very hopeful that it will happen for her. ABT's (very) recent track record of rewarding seniority and giving a rank that matches a dancer's actual workload makes me hopeful. I mean, Stella was promoted in a year in which Giselle was her only new major role, right? Or maybe also Cinderella? Lane seems to have proven herself in even more roles, though the Swan Lake wasn't the unqualified triumph we were all hoping for. That said, I actually found her Giselle to be more moving than Stella's first one, though Stella has the willowy arms we more associate with at least Act II Giselle. I also thought Sarah's Gulnare was exceptional. I imagine she's the type of dancer that will only continue to blossom and grow after a promotion (kind of like how Veronika got a huge confidence boost from her promotion and only reached her technical peak after earning the rank). I remember Gorak saying in an interview how he and Lane are both a ball of nerves before a performance; a promotion may make her feel more at ease (less like so much is riding on every outing in a principal role). 

 

We're all wishing and hoping for you, Sarah!!!

Edited by fondoffouettes
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Sarah's starring again tonight as Princess Praline. Maybe Kevin McKenzie will appear with a microphone during the bows, POB Etoile style? Every now & then other companies do this, eg, Oksana Skorik promoted by Fateev after a Raymonda in Calif.

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