Plisskin

On the whole Westerners have never liked Grigorovich's ballets very much. Many of the comments on this thread remind me of my first live exposure to the Bolshoi 35 years ago, in the same theater. I was also shocked and horrified by what I saw. ("But it's the Bolshoi!" - my aunt protested in vain.)

The Bolshoi's production of Apollo flopped in Moscow, and with the exception of Jewels, the company hardly dances the Balanchine ballets ostensibly in its repertoire. But I don't think New Yorkers take it personally.

That is what is so strange about it all. Other than Balanchine's Jewel's, my impression is Russian's generally dislike American ballet companies, dancers (with the recent exception of Hallberg), and productions but we don't take it personally. We also certainly don't insult Russian ballet goers education about ballet or their culture just because we don't like a single production...

I highly doubt an American company like ABT or NYCB could have sold out shows in Russia like the Bolshoi no matter how great or terrible the production is.

There is a well known Russian ballet forum that is full of comments that are highly offended by a lot of Americans not liking Grigorovich's Swan Lake production. I'm guessing that is how Ekaterina got wind of this thread. It's quite puzzling to say the least.

I think ABT's weird casting (or lacktherof) such as not having Lane dance with Cornejo, etc. is either McKenzie thinks foreign (mainly Russian) dancers are superior, or maybe more people come to see these "guests" versus ABT's own dancers. I understand on forums and blogs people complain about ABT's dancers going by the wayside, but is this outrage seen at the box office? Would a Lane/ Cornejo ticket equal or outsell a Cojocaru/ Cornejo or Kotchekova/ Cornejo ticket?

Everyone knew Boylston's promotion was on the horizon. Personally, I'm not a fan. Her stiff port de bras bothers me, as well as her scraggly fingers. I also don't find her dancing graceful nor her acting having any depth. But the AD McKenzie and professional ballet reviewers see something in her that I don't. I am also sad that Abrera wasn't afforded the same oppurtunities. I feel like she should have been poised to be the next principal. She is already a principal in my opinion, just stuck for whatever reason dancing soloist parts. But alas...

Congratulations to the dancers. Shevchenko's promotion comes as a bit of surprise for me, but she is a lovely, graceful dancer. I hope these new soloists aren't stuck in these positions for years to come, not developed, and passed over for guest artists like the soloist whom have left us and are leaving us. Highly unlikely but one can only hope.

I'd be happy if the released a DVD now and then. It hasn't happened in years.

Me too. I think it is a shame that a full length ballet of Marcelo Gomes and his wonderful partnership with Vishenva has yet to be filmed by ABT. It took David Hallberg dancing w/ the Bolshoi to finally have a full recorded performance of him. In fact, I can barely find dancing footage of any of ABT's dancer's. One main reason why people know and love company's like the Bolshoi, Mariinsky, or Royal is the DVD's, online videos, and live web telecasts they broadcast worldwide. It garners interest for people to want to see them live when they can whom otherwise wouldn't have known a thing about those companies because they might not live in that area or even the country. It also puts a good spotlight on their company, style, and their dancers. ABT has so many wonderful dancers that, outside of America (heck NYC), nobody knows about or has seen dance. And it shouldn't be like that. ABT has had many dancers who should be having international acclaim like Hallberg, Vishneva, Osipova, etc. ABT doesn't seem to understand this.

@ vipa

ABT, for the longest time, hasn't seemed to have understood the importance of media. That's 1 of this company's major problems. They've done promotional video's in the past, but they were hardly seen by anyone since they would make these ridiculous micro websites that could only be found via Google, instead of posting it on Youtube or some other popular video sharing site.

But, my vibe is that this video was put out to help diminish some of the negative comments about the influx of guest artists and foreigners.

I believe so. I think that is also why they had the NYT write an article about those 6 select Corp de ballet members. This season, I've seen way more professional reviews (and blogs) remark upon the excessive guest artists at ABT and not nurturing their own. It would be nice if McKenzie and co. would change this unspoken new policy (among other things) but I don't see it and the "melting pot of styles" hogwash going away until atleast a new AD is appointed.

It's nice that ABT is finally starting to join the 21st century with this Youtube page, but they surely have to be kidding with the differences in training backgrounds being an asset. I thought the JKO school was the whole purpose in addressing their not uniform corp de ballet problems that has been talked about for years.

I don't know about Stiefel. I like him and think he'd be great, but I'd be afraid he'd resign after a couple of years. My vote goes to Ratmansky or Jaffe.

Not surprised. I'd be tired too of being in a company that constantly hires mediocre "Exchange" or "Guest Artists" dancing principal roles while I, a better dancer, am stuck doing a pas de trois or posing in the background. I've seen some of those Exchange and Guest Artists dancing and they aren't that great. Yet McKenzie will put them in a principal role before members of his own company. And half of them aren't box office draws like Tereshkina so I'm confused on why they are given chances above ABT own dancers.

Well, I live in Houston and Houstonians as well as Houston Ballet's AD will appreciate Jared and Yuriko. I think it says it all that they'd rather go to a different company with the same rank, than continue to stay at ABT.

There are several "home grown" principals, not just Kent and Murphy. Hallberg, Gomes, Stearns, Seo, Herrera. Not sure if Herman Cornejo came in as a corps member or a soloist. Don't we want 7 different lead casts for 7 performances of Bayadere? Since nearly the entire audience of ABT is repeat customers who come back year after year, doesn't it make sense that in order to sell tickets to the old warhorse ballets, they must have new casts to generate interest and ticket purchases? All aspects of life today are global, and that includes ballet. I can bet you that the male dancers at the Bolshoi were not pleased when Hallberg joined and took away their old roles.

I know about Stearns, Hallberg, et al. I used Kent and Murphy as examples.

If employers see weaknesses in their employees and are interested in growing those employees, they pull the employees aside and get them coaching. They can't make the coaching stick, but they can make it available.

If employers see weaknesses in employees and think they can just buy another one, then not much happens.

I'll never understand why Radetsky returned to ABT for more of the same-old. I can understand not wanting an ocean between himself and his wife, but it's hard to imagine that was his only option.

Excellent point and I agree. However, It seems as though McKenzie wants ready made stars instead of creating them. But I wonder why? It it becuase audiences flock to see Vishneva and Cojocaru more than Murphy and Kent (in her prime)? That would be interesting to know.

Due to the constant influx of guests and "Principal" dancers whom only perform during the MET, the only purpose I see in the associate school is, sadly, to train Corp dancers. Which is a shame. Their are a lot of good dancers coming out of JKO/ Studio Company whom I would love to see nurtured and could possibly be future stars, like Stone Shayer for instance.

She debuted as Gamzatti and posted 3 video's of her variation shot from the wings:

I don't understand why someone like Sascha, with his technique and artistry, has been a soloist for years at ABT and James Whiteside, whose technique and artistry isn't that great, was hired as a soloist from a regional company (?) then promoted to principal after barely a year. I wonder if Stella will follow suit.

Debut of Skorik as Mekhmeneh in Legend of Love:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o8slZtzKNTU

Any chance you could see both? It seems to me the first would be good preparation for the second. If I had the opportunity, I wouldn't pass on the Modern Masters program either.

I would vote for both as well, and as many other things as you can see in between -- Houston is an interesting dance town.

DanceSourceHouston - general information on community, with ongoing calendar. It looks like Ailey and Joffrey are both in town next month (and Joffrey is doing Jerome Robbins' Interplay, which is hard to find anywhere) And you've got a couple movie theaters that show the Fathom dance film broadcasts.

Houston Ballet's Modern Masters program in May also looks really strong: if you've never seen Balanchine's Four Temperaments you need to see it asap. William Forsythe's in the middle, somewhat elevated isn't everyone's favorite, but on a program next to the Balanchine you'd really see one pathway in the development of neo-classical ballet. And the pair of Kylians (Petit Mort and Sechs Tanze) are very accessible.

The company runs a series of Dance Talks as well, coordinated with the work they've got on their season -- they're free (always a plus) and a chance to get better acquainted with the artists and the style of the company.

Thank you guys! I actually might see both. And thank you so much sandik for the links. I had absolutely NO idea other companies traveled to Houston or about the Fathom dance broadcasts. Which this is a great thing that I found out now because their showing The Royal Ballet's Sleeping Beauty next month!

Houston isn't a neoclassical company like NYCB. NYCB probably takes more of its dancers from SAB, at least now that they're not raiding RDB, than Houston does its school, but most of the Houston Ballet dancers, even the Principals and various levels of Soloists are mainly from the US or are US-trained, mostly finished at minimum at the Ben Stevenson Academy. SFB has a lot of SFB School-trained dancers in the company, but at the Principal and Soloist ranks, the majority of the dancers are from Europe, Brazil, and Cuba, like at ABT, counting Russia as Europe.

When I saw them about five years ago, I noticed that they have a lot of very tall men in the corps. I don't know where they grow them. I fell in love with Melanie Mennite's dancing; happily, Olivier Wevers brought her to Seattle to dance with Whim W'him in a work by Isabelle Ochoa.

It's very much a home-grown and developed company. Between Stevenson and Stanton Welch, it's had an Artistic Director/choreographer at its head for a long time.

There are some gorgeous dancers in the Company. Sixteen dancers, mostly Principals and varieties of Soloist, were seen in a collaboration with Lang Lang in Paris last November to music by Chopin and choreography by Welch. The broadcast on medici.tv was geo-blocked, but here is a link to a short description and list of dancers:

http://www.medici.tv/#!/lang-lang-dance-project

(If you have VPN software that assigns an IP address from France, you should be able to watch it on demand.)

We hope you'll report on whatever you see Plisskin! It's a major company that many of us at BA! never or rarely see. You're also in a fantastic city for opera, one of the best in North America. (Houston Grand Opera is performing "A Little Night Music" in March, three performances of a world premiere by Ricky Ian Gordon, called "A Coffin in Egypt," a one-woman show written especially for Frederica von Stade, also in March, "Das Rheingold" in April, and "Carmen" in May.)

I've only seen snippets of the company on Youtube so the information is much appreciated. I will definatly report back on the performances I've seen of them. I have noticed that they aren't very much talked about here or elsewhere on the net. I am very excited because the last city I lived in had no ballet, orchestra's, or anything. I'm not very educated in opera. I've only been to two? performances years ago in elementary/ junior high, but I do plan on seeing an opera here. Not sure if I'll like it but I thought I'd give it a go (and I'll definatly do some reading up on it beforehand).

I found a video on the Chinese video sharing site Tudou of ABT's Don Quixote in 2011. The DVD was only released in Japan. I'm not a fan of this performance, but I thought I'd share.

Kitri - Yuriko Kajiya

Basilio - Daniil Simkin

Gamache - Alexei Agoudine

Espada - Cory Stearns

Cupid - Renata Pavam

Flower Sellers - Isabella Boylston, Sarah Lane

Queen of the Dryads/ Mercedes - Veronika Part

Don Quixote - Victor Barbee
Sancho Panza - Julio Bragado-Young

http://www.tudou.com/programs/view/r15y71Jl4-4

Just moved to Houston recently and would love some recommendations on which ballet to see from them. This will be my 1st time seeing a ballet live! I was thinking either Swan Lake in June or A Midsummer's Night Dream in September. Also, how would you rate this company's dancing? Are they up there with SFB, ABT, and NYCB?

There are a lot of performers at ABT who are not technically "guest artists", but in reality are just that. As examples, I would list Vishneva, Hallberg, Bolle and Vasiliev. While some of these people have a long history with ABT, the reality is that their appearances are minimal. Hallberg's numero uno devotion is now to the Bolshoi.

Ah, that is true. I don't know why I didn't think of that and got my hopes up, lol.

Although I don't really care for her, they atleast have given Boylston a good amount of Met performances.

Unless I'm looking at the casting wrong, there's not as many Guest Artist's this Met season? Only Kotchekova, Matvienko, and Cojocaru; the former whom only has 1 performance so far. Maybe McKenzie is deciding after those scathing exiting interviews from Messmer/ Dvorovenko about the low company morale due to too many gust artists, and the recent exits from long time corps members, to give more opportunities for ABT dancers? No complaints from me if so.

Eun Young Ahn is no longer on ABT's website and dancers Mai Aihara, Sungwoo Han and Jonathan Klein joined the corp this month. Their has been a lot of shake up in the corp this year.

^ Unfortunately I don't read Russian either. But I do know the piece is choreographed by Susan Jaffe.

I found this performance randomly the other day on Youtube. It's the Studio Company's performance at the Bolshoi's International Festival this past November. Their isn't too much footage out there of ABT or the JKO school so I was happy to come across this. ABT is churning out excellent dancers.

Darci Kistler said in the "Six Ballerinas" documentary that she had a great deal od trouble when she was in the corps. She described how she would move on the big music, which was the ballerina's, not hers, and that she'd go home in tears after having made so many mistakes, and that's with corps unison less of a priority at NYCB than in the Russian companies.

It's one thing spending a long time being coached for a role and being the top student who is the center of attention, and another becoming the low person in the anonymous corps, where experienced corps members know. Many roles like second skins, have rehearsed the roles many times, and could have little patience for newbies, but new corps members have a lot to learn in a relatively short period of time with little personal attention. Those are two different skills. Most dancers either have or learn these skills, because few have the luxury of being sped through the ranks like Kistler.

If Womack was promised solos and then wasn't given them, she has every right to be angry. Otherwise, she was at the Bolshoi school long enough to observe how long the process takes for solos. The advice she quoted was about solo roles, not paying to get corps work.

Ah, this is a good point as well.

In the NYT story Womack is quoted as saying The problem is that I wasnt even being put into the corps de ballet...I had spent a year waiting." In Anna Rebetskaya's Facebook post (since removed, but quoted in Moskovskiy komsomolets) she puts the blame for this on Womack herself: "You don't remember why they couldn't even put you in the corps de ballet? You really think that you don't have a problem remembering choreography?"

Womack danced Lise in the Moscow school production of La Fille Mal Gardee and Marina Leonova or her teachers, did not seem to have a problem teaching her the choreography. If she was able to remember the choreography for Lise, she definitely could remember the choreography for a swan standing around, doing nothing, during the Odette adagio.

I consider Rebetskaya as a liar, my opinion.

I also found that puzzling as well. She also did the Paquita Pas de deux with fellow American classmate Mario Labrador. I also know she's danced in 1 American production with West Side Ballet as the Sugar Plum Fairy last year, and their are other video's of her on Youtube doing various variations. It's implausable to me that she could apparently do that, but couldn't remember simple choreography of standing around in the background waving roses. Joy has said that she thinks her treatment was due in part to being American or foreign. Unlike the West, Russian ballet companies are known for being xenophobic, which was why David Hallberg's Principal appointment came as a surprise since that never happens. In that regard, I wouldn't be surprised if their were some truth in her statements.

I don't understand why they would consider suing her. She's not the first Bolshoi dancer to talk about bad things that go on behind the curtain. Volochkova said similar things Womack has said about sex sponsorships and I don't recall them suing/ threatening to sue her.