nanushka

It's pretty clear from the interview quoted above, if what Johnsey alleges is true, that this is about much more than discrimination against transgender dancers or those who are considering transitioning. It sounds like the Trocks administration has been hostile toward anyone who doesn't fit stereotypically male gender norms offstage:

It's well past time for Veyette to retire, in my opinion. There's a video of Divertimento on YT circa 2009 with him in the lead, in which his dancing is quite impressive. I'm not seeing him in the role this season, but based on the times I've seen him in other roles over the past few years, as a performer he now barely hints at his former capabilities. "Clunky" is the first word that comes to mind.

Perhaps this post will stay up: Glad they got this resolved just in time for their big tour.

Which is yet another reason why I'm wondering if it may not be a "skills" issue but rather a matter of strain or injury. It pops up only at very specific moments in very specific ballets, which is why it seems not at all unusual that in the course of a week we'd see the problem in the same exact spot with the very same dancer, if that dancer has a particular physical problem she's working through at present. I imagine the step must work the leg and foot and hip in certain ways that your average supported pirouette doesn't.

Couldn't it just as likely be that whatever is required to do that particular step (which is not exactly one you see in your average ballet) is requiring her to work something that is particularly sore or strained just now, for any of a number of possible reasons? I'm not suggesting that's definitely the answer — just that I don't see why it should be ruled out.

I'm still a bit fuzzy on what apparently happened — and I realize that's perhaps due to the fact that it just happened so fast and people weren't sure what they saw and heard. But she actually walked away from her partner in an unchoreographed movement and either stomped her foot or growled? That sounds bizarre.

Last year I charged my tickets on Monday, March 27. So (just a guess), Monday, March 26? But as I recall, it's usually on a Sunday, no? So perhaps I purchased them on the 26th and the charge went through the following day.

Thanks! I was trying to figure out the logic of the listings, since it didn't seem to be the same for each gender.

Seriously. Just because Hammoudi looks the part doesn't mean he can dance the part — and yet he keeps being given the opportunity, over and over. It's beyond time to give someone else a shot.

I was not dissing Cirio in the least. My point was that he's not being treated like a real principal, in terms of the opportunities he's being given. Typically, even at ABT, soloists are given some leading roles and then promoted to principal, at which point they take on more. Cirio dances hardly any full-length leading roles with the company, fewer even than some soloists have tended to get. Yes, that follows in the tradition of Simkin and Cornejo, but it seems much more extreme. This season, for instance, while admittedly casting is still incomplete (e.g. Harlequinade) and in flux, in terms of leading roles he is slated for a single performance of Basilio — other than his role in Whipped Cream, which is hardly the same as dancing Basilio, Siegfried, Solor, Romeo, Albrecht, etc. If one looked only at the calendar, one would have no idea he was a principal.

My perhaps ridiculously optimistic hope is that this is a temporary blip, that they're reeling from the loss of Gomes and now, to some extent, of Hallberg, and so they're falling back into old habits in order to play it safe. I do hope the recent trend you describe will continue in the future. It's interesting that no one has really mentioned Joey Gorak. What the heck happened there? He had some long-standing problems (e.g. partnering) but I do think that overall he was growing, and in so many ways he was a beautiful dancer. And for awhile there he was getting some great opportunities — e.g. the Prince in Cinderella. My initial read was that Cirio came in and took the principal spot that might have otherwise gone to Gorak — but then Cirio's principal status is basically a joke.

I wouldn't count on it. It's ABT. Remember what they did with Hee Seo for a few years, a few years back? At least Stearns can probably handle it, mostly, in terms of technique, which she could not. But he's sadly lacking in terms of artistry.

The original was on Sarah Lane's account. No replacement as of now. Hmm.

It seems that a strike has been averted and that the contract dispute has been resolved, with at least some degree of success for the dancers and stage managers:

On the casting sheet, for Divertimento No. 15, how are the dancers ordered, in relation to their variations in the second movement? Would it be this? Gordon and Sanz Woodward Pereira Phelan Isaacs Finlay Bouder

Thanks so much for this extremely vivid and helpful description, canbelto.

Also some roles seem to me to lend themselves more readily to greater variations in type/height/etc than others.

How have people found Tiler P and Chase F in Apollo?

I have. I generally don't like seeing her in much of anything, and this was no exception. Physically, she's about as far from my ideal dancer as they come. I'm disappointed that I'll be seeing her in it again. (Though I suppose she's a better fit for Choleric than for, say, the 2nd lead in Tchai Piano #2, which was an even bigger disappointment a year or two ago.)

I completely share your feelings, and I truly hope it emerges that Marcelo is completely innocent. And beyond that disappointment, the nearly total lack of publicly available information is a big part of what makes this situation so difficult and unsettling for me and I think many others.

When and how was there a rush to judgment? There may have been one behind the closed doors of ABT's administrative offices, but we simply don't know. All we do know is that ABT "was made aware of a highly concerning allegation" (which may have been "mere words," but also may have been accompanied by substantial harder evidence) and "initiated an independent investigation," during which Marcelo resigned. No judgment was passed down — at least not so far as the public has been made aware. Furthermore, Marcelo has made no public statement in defense of himself. (It's a silence that is increasingly troubling to me.)

Wowie just watched the Farrell/Martins Chaconne again, I'm so excited to be seeing Maria K for my first time seeing it live. I forgot how leggy this ballet is!

Also (not quite the same, but I view it as being in a similar spirit) the Nutcracker PDD male variation begins with the dancer basically standing center stage and then tipping over to the left into his first steps. (Some dancers have done this in a more pronounced manner than others, I think.) Macaulay wrote about it in one of his reviews (from Dec. 10, 2010): The character of course fits Drew's description of being "boyish," as the adult pair are grown-up projections of the child leads.

Agreed. I do think that Teuscher could grow considerably as an artist from her work on R&J, but she'll have that chance in the spring, when she gets the Wednesday matinee.

Wow, thank you so much for taking the time to write this. This was a pleasure to read!