nanushka

Perfectly said, @vipa.

That would be a problem — but I don't think it is, in fact, because I don't think anyone's advocating that. Same!

I completely agree. Although I'm sure some would disagree, after more than a year away from the theater I think it would make the most sense to give people a lot of what they know they've been missing (maybe a Balanchine festival, even?) before gradually mixing in more of what they may not know they've been missing.

I assume these are just the sorts of personal employment details that the individuals involved are privy to but may not be relevant for the general public to be told. Future events may make the details more clear, but also maybe not. Also, we don’t know there will be no performing opportunities for another year. We just know that the winter and spring seasons, as originally scheduled, have been canceled.

Yes, this is why I don’t fault NYCB at all for not promoting at this time. It was exciting (and a surprise) when ABT did, but it’s a risk that I don’t at all blame a company for not taking.

Do we know that NYCB dancers are indeed laid off (i.e. without pay) until summer?

Love her dancing. So upset by her abrupt departure. But “Principal Dancer”? Seriously? Principal of what? Not a good look.

There's this on YouTube:

There's also (or at least has been at times in the past) a 1956 one (Diana Adams, Herbert Bliss; Melissa Hayden, Nicholas Magallanes; Allegra Kent, Robert Barnett; Tanaquil Le Clerq, Jacques d’Amboise), a 1965 one (Patricia Neary, Roland Vazquez; Suki Schorer, Richard Rapp; Gloria Govrin, Frank Ohman), and a 1985 one (Lourdes Lopez, Jock Soto; Susan Gluck, David McNaughton; Florence Fitzgerald, Christopher Fleming; Jerri Kumery, Carlo Merlo).

I wouldn't include Emeralds, just personally. I feel like that piece didn't reach its truest state until Balanchine added the final movement. Before that (speaking as one who, admittedly, wasn't around then), I think it was incomplete. I think of it very differently, for instance, than of Theme and Variations and Suite No. 3. p.s. I personally can't stand the Duo ending. p.p.s. (seeing the post below) I also wouldn't include Serenade. That, too, seems to have exactly the necessary ending, even from the perspective of the very first bars of the piece.

As I recall, there was quite a good deal of commentary on this very forum exploring at some length the arguments for and against Waterbury's decision to bring claims against NYCB. Reasonable points were, I thought, made on both sides — I presume in good faith. If Waterbury's claims were to flunk the giggle test, I wouldn't have thought such arguments could even be made.

It wasn't billed as one, and the work is only 4 minutes long according to the NYCB repertory page.

I've quite enjoyed some of the videos in which Morgan offers commentary on the experience of dancing a particular role as voiceover to a video of her performance.

Personally I don't see the two statements as being related, much less one implying the other.

I have the first and third thirds of that, which were (or are) on YouTube at one point. (I’m missing the middle portion.)

It's still on their YouTube page (which may be the best place to look now that they've taken some things off the website):

As one who’s not a fan of the excerpts, I’d just explain that feeling by saying they’re frustrating. Six months in, and who knows how many months out from the end, I’m not really looking for teasers. I know others may feel differently.

In formal, structural terms I'd argue it is a work complete in itself — in a way that, say, the second movement of Concerto Barocco (an excerpt included in the previous digital season) is not — if, indeed, a part of the full-length Jewels as well. (It is far more commonly referred to as "a ballet" than as "an excerpt.")

Yeah I wouldn’t think a depleted soloist roster would be nearly the problem that a depleted principal roster or a depleted/weak corps would be for just that reason. This could be the start of an exciting (if at times bumpy) period for the company and its fans.

Maybe I’m suffering from COVID brain and have forgotten, but what is the evidence that the latter has occurred?

The Times reports some additional details: The dancers will receive raises with their promotions but, like the rest of the company, are not being paid the same as they would be in a normal season. Like all performing arts organizations, American Ballet Theater has seen its ticket revenue flatline since mid-March. The company estimates that it will lose $20 million as a result of canceling its spring and fall seasons as well as six planned tours. “Despite the financial challenges we are facing, it is important that we recognize the artistry and leadership of the dancers who are now being promoted,” Kelly Ryan, a company spokeswoman, said in an email. There have been salary reductions across the company, Ms. Ryan said, and dancers are being paid six salaried weeks, compared with 10 weeks last year. The dancers are also receiving expanded supplementary unemployment benefits. To help ease its financial pain, the company has received money from the federal Paycheck Protection Program and established a crisis relief fund to help its dancers, pianists, production crew and other staff. And this: The company is unable to rehearse or train in its New York rehearsal space, but it has figured out an alternative way to create commissions that can be viewed online. This month, its dancers will form several “ballet bubbles” by traveling outside New York City to rehearse and train while in isolation with some of their fellow company members.

I love Lane’s dancing and will be very disappointed if indeed she’s left or did not have her contract renewed (and very upset if it’s the latter). But with a principal roster including Forster, Shevchenko, Trenary, Brandt, Cornejo, Murphy et al, ABT will still be a draw for me, whatever my complaints (and they are many) about management.

I too am disappointed by the excerpts. Those programs of excerpts were the low points of an otherwise really satisfying spring digital season.

If she did, I'm surprised her Instagram profile still says "Principal Dancer with @abtofficial." I'd assume that if this were a planned choice she'd have at least discreetly removed that, since she's fairly active on there. But of course it could have been just an oversight.

It's another double issue, so there's a lot. Highlights listed on the spine: Balanchine at City Center, J. Stafford, M. Champion, Kirstein at MoMA, É. Platel, Classical Russes, J. Reilly, F. Ashton, Yuriko, Degas's Dancers, L. Chétouane, Bugaku, P. Lang, Victoria's Drawings, C. Dumais-Lvowski, Swedish Explorers. Haven't had a chance to read much yet, beyond skimming a few of the reviews.