Roster Changes Announced Spring 2018

[canbelto]

Per Cameron Dieck's instagram he is leaving the company after this spring season.

 

[cobweb]

That is a real shame about Cameron Dieck, and a bit of a mystery, too. He seemed like a great candidate for bigger roles and a promotion. I was looking forward to seeing his career develop. Sorry he's leaving!!

[lacdescygnes]

Savannah Lowery announced on her Instagram that this Spring will be her last season with NYCB. 

 

[fondoffouettes]

I’m pretty relieved, frankly, that I’ll no longer have to dread seeing Lowery’s name on the casting sheet. 

Is this the time of year when NYCB dancers renew their contracts? I’m curious whether this is a change to the roster initiated by the interim team. (Of course, Lowery could have decided to leave on her own.)

Edited April 25, 2018 by fondoffouettes

[vipa]

27 minutes ago, lacdescygnes said:

Savannah Lowery announced on her Instagram that this Spring will be her last season with NYCB. 

 

Sorry to hear that. I wish her well. I know she was not popular with a lot of people at BT but I always liked her go for broke style and exuberance.

[yukionna4869]

Do we know how much hiring/firing/prompting authority the interim has?

[Emma]

1 hour ago, vipa said:

Sorry to hear that. I wish her well. I know she was not popular with a lot of people at BT but I always liked her go for broke style and exuberance.

Me too.

[fondoffouettes]

2 hours ago, vipa said:

Sorry to hear that. I wish her well. I know she was not popular with a lot of people at BT but I always liked her go for broke style and exuberance.

To be fair, I'm mostly familiar with Lowery's dancing from the last three or so seasons, when she seemed to become progressively more out of shape and unfocused as a dancer. Any exuberance seemed supplanted by the appearance of simply muscling her way through a performance. I gather from reports on here that she was quite a different dancer earlier in her career. I have no idea how much authority the interim team has in hiring and firings, but Lowery has looked like a dancer on her way out for the past couple seasons, and now, in the post-Martins era, she's leaving the company. 

Edited April 25, 2018 by fondoffouettes

[meunier fan]

10 hours ago, cobweb said:

That is a real shame about Cameron Dieck, and a bit of a mystery, too. He seemed like a great candidate for bigger roles and a promotion. I was looking forward to seeing his career develop. Sorry he's leaving!!

Seems he is taking on a different - if perhaps not necessarily bigger - role.  Good on him I say ... and good luck  

https://www.linkedin.com/in/cameron-dieck

[Fleurfairy]

6 hours ago, meunier fan said:

Seems he is taking on a different - if perhaps not necessarily bigger - role.  Good on him I say ... and good luck  

https://www.linkedin.com/in/cameron-dieck

Wow, how old is he? His ballet career seemed to be on the upward trajectory. 

[cobweb]

I didn't realize he's been in the corps for 10 years. He's only come onto my radar screen within the past few years. I do think his ballet career is on an upward trajectory, very much so, but I can totally understand wanting another kind of life, and if he's in his late twenties, now is a good time to make a change. 

[wonderwall]

With De Luz leaving in Fall and Fairchild being out on pregnancy/maternity leave, I wonder who he will be partnering with? Even though Megan is out for a great reason, I am sad they will not dance together on the night of his retirement!

Dieck and Unity Phelan have also been dating for five years (they made anniversary posts on their public social media)--definitely did not realize he had been there for ten years already! Hoping him leaving doesn't mean their relationship went into the NYCB curse going on lately.

Edited April 25, 2018 by wonderwall

[nanushka]

18 minutes ago, wonderwall said:

Hoping him leaving doesn't mean their relationship went into the NYCB curse going on lately.

Just a guess, but it looks like this may have been his plan for some time. According to his Linked In profile, he began his studies at Fordham in 2008 and earned his BA in economics in 2017 (with an impressive record, based on the few details there); he also ran a business from 2012-14. He may have known for some time that he wanted a second act outside the dance world, and it would make sense that he'd want to shift to that before he gets much older.

Edited April 25, 2018 by nanushka

[canbelto]

He and Unity are still together judging from their social media. 

[nanushka]

34 minutes ago, wonderwall said:

With De Luz leaving in Fall and Fairchild being out on pregnancy/maternity leave, I wonder who he will be partnering with? Even though Megan is out for a great reason, I am sad they will not dance together on the night of his retirement!

Megan's announcement may explain the valedictory tone of their social media posts from when they last danced together at the end of the winter season. She may well have told him privately at that time that those might be their last performances together before he left the company.

Edited April 25, 2018 by nanushka

[canbelto]

I have a feeling Joaquin's farewell will have Prodigal Son because that's in the fall repertoire. In that case Maria or Tess would do just fine. But Tiler Peck also partners him frequently.

[nanushka]

8 minutes ago, canbelto said:

I have a feeling Joaquin's farewell will have Prodigal Son because that's in the fall repertoire. In that case Maria or Tess would do just fine. But Tiler Peck also partners him frequently.

Is it possible he might dance in even more than one piece that afternoon? The calendar listing made me wonder if that might be the case.

[fondoffouettes]

In the comments section of Lowery's most recent Instagram post, she writes that she's moving to California to go to medical school. 

[cobweb]

Wow, good for her! She and Dieck are moving on to great new careers. 

[canbelto]

Yeah congrats to her on her second career. NYCB dancers are quite the talented bunch (and I don't just mean dancing). 

[vipa]

8 hours ago, fondoffouettes said:

In the comments section of Lowery's most recent Instagram post, she writes that she's moving to California to go to medical school. 

There is an interview with Lowery in which she said that her parents are doctors (I think both) and that she grew up being comfortable in a hospital setting. Also that if she wasn't a dancer she'd be a doctor. 

[susanger]

Did you notice the casting for the last day (June 3) of the season? Cameron Dieck gets to retire making his debut (!) in Agon and reprising his role in The Four Temperaments.  Savannah Lowery retires dancing Concerto Barocco and Agon. Should be a lovely day at the ballet.

Edited May 25, 2018 by susanger

[Kathleen O'Connell]

I'm sorry I have to miss the June 3 performance - both Dieck and Lowery have been dancing beautifully this season and I'd love to see them go out on a high note. 

[abatt]

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/31/arts/dance/new-york-city-ballet-dancers-graduate-from-college.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Farts&action=click&contentCollection=arts&region=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=1&pgtype=sectionfront

Wonderful article about the college graduates of NYCB for 2018. 

In additon to Dieck and Lowery, Likolani Brown is also retiring and pursuing a medical career.

Abi Stafford will be going part time to St.  John's law school in the fall.

Edited May 31, 2018 by abatt

[sandik]

I'm thrilled for all the dancers who are pursuing some kind of training to facilitate their lives after performing, and just tickled that they have created their own commencement exercise!