Jump to content
This Site Uses Cookies. If You Want to Disable Cookies, Please See Your Browser Documentation. ×

puppytreats

Inactive Member
  • Posts

    738
  • Joined

Posts posted by puppytreats

  1. Dupont has (had?) an agent. I don't know where he fits in the negotiating process. Perhaps that's part of the problem of her not dancing overseas. I assumed Dupont already met McKenzie and wasn't simply emailing him - or ABT's general email box! - out of the blue. I can't imagine her doing something so forward, but who knows.

    I do think it would be worth ABT's while to consider Dupont. She is definitely a "name," and while she is 39 injury-wise I think she is in better shape than Cojocaru. Also hadn't Cojocaru had agreed to guest with ABT before they picked up Kobborg? I thought he was a last minute sub.

    Hopefully some other American AD will see her interview and invite her to come guest.

    One documentary I watched said that Sylvie Guillem did not have an agent, and booked her own performances. I have seen other dancers discuss their lack of agents. Do they all need introductions to apply for a position? Obviously, this would be preferable strategically, but does initiating communications directly constitute a breach of etiquette in this community, especially for a star?

  2. I think the college vs career issue is undergoing a sea change. Many dancers are thinking ahead about second careers, and working toward degrees while performing in companies. Some companies are even encouraging and facilitating this. At NYCB I know Jenifer Ringer has earned her degree, and Teresa Reichlen is enrolled in the general studies program at Columbia.

    Teresa Reichlen is actually at Barnard. Justin Peck is a GS student, as is Likolani Brown, and probably others as well. (Not that the distinction between Barnard and Columbia General Studies is that important in the context of this overall discussion.)

    It is. Presumably, GS students are not full-time, traditional students, and are not in a dance program. Therefore, they are not going to a college dance program and then seeking to obtain employment as a dancer in a company. Since Barnard has a dance program, the obligations of a dancer in a company may be different, as well.

  3. The website does not even include photographs or biographies of dancers not at the premier or etoile level. That says a lot about respect.

    On the other hand, I have seen interviews many times in which she seems very supportive, thoughtful, and reasonable. She has frequently impressed me.

    Walking out for a few days and getting angry often gains media attention and gossip, but does not indicate any wrongdoing. Certainly, many are more controlled or composed, but that is a matter of personality and training. Maybe it even represents a statement through action and gesture, in silence. Anger does not constitute a personality or character deficit.

  4. I don't think Alina got great reviews for her Manon pdd at the gala. Many thought she was miscast. I imagine Kent will perform in "Manon", as she did in "Onegin" or "Lady", and I love her, but she is tall for the part of the rag doll. Ferri tore out my heart in that role, particularly in that section of the dance. Faux Pas: Bolle as Conrad? Or in DQ? And not in SB? From where does that prediction come?

    The first line of my post is "Casting predictions/suggestions". It comes from my head. Bolle definitely could dance Conrad. Basilio in "Don Quixote" is in his repertory - he has danced it with Sylvie Guillem. I would add him to "Sleeping Beauty" definitely - possibly with Dvorovenko or Murphy.

    Kent has danced Manon many times with ABT - she is about the same height as Vishneva and there were no technical problems whatsoever. Kent looks very tall onstage because of her long willowy proportions. But she actually falls into the "normal size" rather than "tall" ballerina category. I believe that Alina has danced Manon with the Royal Ballet many times. I saw her dance the pas de deux with Angel at the opening night gala. She was lovely but comes across as too girl next door and ingenuous. But I don't think that is the last word on her Manon and people who have seen her in the role in London perhaps can comment with more authority. Anyway, I think she should be given a shot at the role with some more acting coaching. I wish Angel could dance it with her at ABT but anyway... Hee Seo is another potential Manon and though she probably would seem to virginal in the role.

    I know Don Q is in his rep, but it was so long ago, and he has focused on so many other things since then, that I imagine he would be cast in those other types of roles. SB is in his rep, too. In light of how few performances he is given in a Spring season, I can't imagine adding back Don Q, in lieu of Des Greiux, Prince Siegfried, Prince Desire, Onegin, (Armand, Albrecht, Apollo)... especially when ABT has all those flying, spinning top DQ types to whom to give roles (Cornejo, Simkin, Vasiliev...)

    Does anyone know how tall are Julie, Veronica, and Zenaida?

  5. I don't think Alina got great reviews for her Manon pdd at the gala. Many thought she was miscast.

    I imagine Kent will perform in "Manon", as she did in "Onegin" or "Lady", and I love her, but she is tall for the part of the rag doll. Ferri tore out my heart in that role, particularly in that section of the dance.

    Faux Pas: Bolle as Conrad? Or in DQ? And not in SB? From where does that prediction come?

  6. Part played the role of Manon in Lady of the Camillias.

    The role of Manon in Lady of the Camellias is not at all the role of Manon in MacMillan's Manon.

    Don't get me wrong -- the role of MacMillan's Juliet has long been a fantasy part for me to see Veronika in. I just don't see Manon happening for her in this company.

    Yes, I was in quite a silly mood last night.

  7. You offer great relief to me, as I decided not to see the POB "Giselle" and worried if I had made the right decision. I did not want to ruin my image of a recent, perfect performance, or endure the pain and emotion of another "Giselle" at this time. I am looking forward to the two other programs in NY. I have been preparing by watching "La Danse" on pbs last week, and will rewatch "Etoiles" this week.

  8. Griffie wrote: I hope that they are in as many recordings as possible because their legacies will have them appreciated for all they deserve.

    You mention what is to me a very sore point. WHAT recordings? Dance in America is no more, and ABT hasn't done a telecast in years. At least Cornejo did Puck for a telecast of The Dream years ago with Steifel, but apart from the ballroom von Rothbart, Marcelo is very poorly documented on video. Here's a wish list--and I invite others on this site to do their own. Since the live '80s telecast of La Bayadere, during which Makarova was injured and replaced halfway through, has never been released commercially, it's high time for another; Marcelo, Veronika, and Gillian, please. Or Marcelo and Diana in Onegin. Or Marcelo and Cojocaru in Sleeping Beauty (well, Cojocaru and anybody, frankly). But you know what we will probably get, eventually? A holiday telecast of Ratmansky's Nutcracker, after the cost of the new production has been sufficently amortized and it is thought that a video won't keep people from buying tickets to it. Mind you, I'm not against such a telecast, but there are other ballets and performances I'd rather see professionally captured on video. Is ABT now such a hard sell to Public Broadcasting?

    I saw Herman in video in the NYPL and he was eye-catching.

  9. There are so many good books about ballet technique (some better than others, and some out of print), but believe it or not

    Ballet for Dummies (yes, the familiar yellow and black front) is not at all bad for vocabulary, etc. and many, many other issues about ballet. It's edited by Evelyn Cisneros, ex ballerina of San Francisco Ballet. Available on Amazon.

    This book is good for beginners, but understanding terms for movement based on a book is difficult.

  10. I think Beckanne is a nice dancer and a pretty girl. Many people seem to comment or observe only the surface and ignore many facets, as a result. Beckanne seems a bit cunning, and throws daggers, while subtle. I assume this ability to come off as seemingly innocent and entirely composed derives from growing up in a competitive field with the benefits of talent and beauty. At the same time, she shares the disadvantages of her natural advantages, such as her isolation and lack of emotional support, which is very difficult and honest. Allison does not have the same natural, physical beauty, but is lovely when made up and as a dancer. She has struggled and is honest about her emotions, seemingly without any guile. These natural differences make for a black and white, good and evil plot like, where editing is used to distort and drive a story. The hero and villain characterizations are too much, and unnecessary.

  11. ..... And how about the guy who sneezed in the Act III pas de trois just as the music stopped and Isabella hit that beautiful pose? That got many of the youngsters giggling.

    OMG, Ceeszi, I had almost forgotten that thunderous 'trumpet sneeze'! You must have been sitting close to me because is seemed to come from behind me - Dress Circle. The timing of the sneeze was odd: exactly during the second of silence (pause) in the music between the Entree and the Adagio of the Black Swan PDD.

    The same guy had earlier made some other loud 'gurgling' (throad clearing) sound during Odette's solo in Act II.

    If I were in Russia and not in NYC at the Met, I'd be thinking: It's almost as if he had chosen these spots to disrupt the program. Russian clacques have been known to try to sabotage the performances of rival ballerinas. The same guys who are 'paid off' to yell 'bravo' to certain ballerinas can do the reverse to sabotage their rivals...but that is Russia, not New York, so I will trust that the fellow in Dress Circle simply let-out a huge sneeze and made gurgling sounds at the wrong times, by pure concidence. Also, I recognized the voice as belonging to the same man who had been yelling 'Bravo!' for Simkin at every turn in Act I, sometimes even after a few seconds of dancing; in other words, this was a huge fan and unlikely to want to purposely ruin the magic. He probably got a sore throat by Act II for having yelled so much in Act I!

    Glad that we agreed on so much, Ceeszi. It was a winner. smile.png

    "Conspiracy Theory" - now that is a good ballet to write.

×
×
  • Create New...