Plisskin

Also, according to this article,via Google Translate, I got that if it is his wish, Sergei Filin's lawyer doesn't rule out taking her to court over her allegations:

http://www.vesti.ru/doc.html?id=1153985

Can someone who understands Russian confirm? If that is true, yikes.

Joy Womack, just 19 years old, is the first American female dancer on contract with the Bolshoi Ballet. Recruited at a New York summer intensive, she completed three years at the Bolshoi Academy's rigorous training program before being offered a position in the Ballet a year ago. But there was a catch.

"They told me I wouldn't get in if I wasn't married."

Joy tells me this by phone from her parents' home in Austin. As luck would have it, she is returning to Moscow just as I am leaving. I haven't managed to speak to a single Russian Bolshoi ballerina during my trip; I have consoled myself with the knowledge that they would have been guarded, unrevealing conversations at best.

But now this American girl is telling me that after a year in a sham marriage, she is filing for divorce.

"There are a lot of girls who look up to me," she says, her voice fuzzy on the international line. "I would be ashamed if I didn't show that you don't have to compromise to be what you want to be. I just want to be a ballerina. "

Joy has not yet informed the Bolshoi of her intent. She knows that it will disrupt her application for Russian citizenship, and maybe even her work visa. She wants very much to stay with the Bolshoi, which she says has been her dream for as long as she can remember. But if they insist that, to prove intent of citizenship, she cannot be single, "that's a deal-breaker."

.

She basically was hardly payed, hardly danced (even in the Corp de Ballet), told to pay 10K to dance/ or find a sponsor, and entered in a sham marriage? Wow. Props to her because I don't care how much love I have for something, I definitely couldn't go that far. I hope she finds better success in the Kremlin. If not, she should come back stateside. She'd be lovely at ABT or SFB.

^^ I don't necessarily think it's that. I've noticed Isabella's untidy hands before in other pieces:

http://images.huffingtonpost.com/2013-05-22-slboylston2gs.jpg

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2008/10/30/arts/ABTspan.jpg

http://panacheprivee.com/File/Isabella_Boylston/52167-43881/Dancers-Isabella-Boylston-and-Cory-Stearns.jpg

http://www.abt.org/contactus/enews/images/lbboylston2gs.jpg

I wish whoever works with her would fix that. It's kind of 1 reason why I'm not to keen on her.

Wow. I'm shocked because his dancing isn't really all that... I was shocked as well when they poached him from Boston Ballet to be a soloist instead of promoting 1 of the men in the Corps like Forster or Gorak whom are better dancers. If anything, if a male soloist had to be promoted Principal I would have went with Jared Matthews. I guess McKenzie sees something in him I obviously don't. (I'm not a fan) Congrats I suppose.

I saw they have 4 new members from the school joining the corps as apprentices: Catherine Hurlin, Pasha Knopp, Alexandra Pullen, and Hanna Marshall. I wish ABT had graduation performances like the Bolshoi, Mariinsky, and POB do. Maybe when they get more money they will.

I found this on a Russian forum. Ivan Vasiliev and Isabella Boylston's Blue Bird PDD:

Awful.

Thank you Plisskin for posting this. Boylston looks fabulous! Vasiliev? Bent knees, feet not pointed, legs turned in. I don't understand. So what if he can jump as high as a skyscraper and turn like a tasmanian devil. He looks awful doing it. I would love to be a fly on the wall during his rehearsals. I wonder if KM and the rehearsal directors correct him for these persistent and unprofessional mistakes?

I completely agree with your comments about Vasiliev! Seeing that PDD is sad. That role should have been given to an up and coming Soloist or Corp member to help them grow. Not outsourced to a dancer whom can't even point his toes. I don't understand his casting or even being employed by the company in the first place. I don't understand at all.

I found this on a Russian forum. Ivan Vasiliev and Isabella Boylston's Blue Bird PDD: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cFJvghnFB9E&feature=player_embedded

Awful.

I found this one on Youtube. It's contemporary:

It's really hard finding video's on ABT dancers.

Edit: I honestly wouldn't be shocked it the next dancers to leave would be Stella Abrera and Sasha. There's been multiple dancers talking about how low the company morale is, ABT has changed for the worse etc. Time for a change in AD?

Simone Messmer is leaving ABT for a soloist position at San Francisco Ballet. She gave an interview with Time Out Magazine on why she decided to leave. The full Interview is here: http://www.timeout.com/newyork/dance/american-ballet-theatre-soloist-simone-messmer-talks-about-her-decision-to-leave

A few interesting quotes from Simone:

Time Out New York: Why are you leaving ABT?
Simone Messmer: In the full-length classicals, my rep has gone as far as it can go. There’s only so much you can do with a two-minute variation—you can continue to play with it, but after a while it gets a little dry. I do a lot of rep in the fall [season], and I’ve worked a lot with choreographers. But for some reason, maybe because the rep shows don’t sell as well as the full-lengths, they are not considered at an equal level as doing a Swan Lake. So getting promoted or moving up or getting more—you have to get those ballets, and they won’t give them to me.

Time Out New York: I would trade an “exciting” performance for people just trying something and dancing differently.

Simone Messmer: Dancing differently—I want to go to the ballet and see ballet. I don’t want to go to the ballet and see gymnastics. Again, it’s a taste thing. I wish that ABT would put validity in the theater part of American Ballet Theatre; we are the only company that has all of this rep and the possibility to really make those theater things amazing and fresh again. And I’m an actress. There needs to be more focus on what you say when you point your foot and what you say in your transition steps. We just don’t have the rehearsal time to break it down. I hope to come back here one day, but right now it’s not a place where I can be an artist or grow.

Time Out New York: But when you joined, the company was different. How did it change?

Simone Messmer: How do you explain Nina? How do you explain Alex? And Julio [bocca]? They used to invite me to warm up with them backstage before their shows, because they knew I was going to warm up anyway, and they knew I took Willy’s class. Now everybody’s out for their own, and you can’t fault them because that’s the way things are going these days, but they used to put the effort into that—into knowing the company and in showing the company how they do it and what they do to get there. And you know, Irina and Max, always… [irina Dvorovenko and Maxim Beloserkovsky]. When people started getting injured my second or third year in the company, they were the ones that went in the office and said, “Simone can do the pas de trois” [in Swan Lake].

I'm not trying to be mean when I say this, but I have a hard time believing that their weren't better dancers to award Gold and Silver to other than Askerov and Skorik. Especially Skorik. I saw her variations from the competition and other than having nice lines, she has no personality/acting ability on stage, is very stiff, wooden, and seems terrified at times. She also constantly messes up. I cringed when she crumbled and lost her balance in the Grand Pas Classique: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4sans6XAY3c

Maybe they are more impressive live to forgive their short comings...

ABT's priorities are out of whack. Instead of spending their money on Guest Artists they should be investing it in the company eg. Hiring more coaches, teachers, developing their talent etc. I had a feeling Irina and Max left because of this. Her comments come as no surprise. She isn't the first ABT dancer (current or former) whom has recently complained about the excessive Guest Stars, lack of development, and working conditions. It's sad.

Wow. No announcement or anything... However, I personally see his retirement as a positive. Up and coming Corp/ Soloist members can be given more chances to move up in the ranks. I wouldn't be sad to see Irina follow suit to be honest. At most, she dances 2-3 times a year. So far for this year, ABT has posted the upcoming schedule for the upcoming 7 months, and she has 1 performance.

^ Interesting. I'd love to hear your opinion on why you think ABT is second rate. And what to you think of what Peter Martins has done to NYCB?

^ Thank you that actually does help. I'm not very familiar with NYCB pre Martins so I will definitely be checking that era out.

I've been trying to get into NYCB, but their port de bras really bothers me. It's very stiff and not fluid. Is this just their style and Balanchine wanted it this way, or is it something else?

I like Daniil but I think they should have fixed his shaky partnering and hammy/ non existant acting issues before they promoted him to principal. In my opinion, he really hasn't changed from being the Gala boy wonder with big tricks and showmanship. But on second thought, that would require ABT to actually hire more quality ballet masters/ mistresses to fix it... Congrats to him nonetheless.

Unless he's been ill this whole time, the guy has not danced in quite a while. Why does ABT continue to employ him? His position could go to one of the soloists. To be honest, the same could be said about his wife, Irina, too. She's not completely vanished, but she hardly dances. I'd love to see a soloist be promoted in her place as well.

I'd really love to know what he's trying to do. Is it to just to sell his fitness and Conrad Method DVD's? Because he's said he no longer wants anything to do with the States due to the "American attitude". Seems a bit of a waste if his credential are, in fact, real.

I personally wouldn't want to study/ dance there if I was only to be viewed as a cash cow and/ or a publicity stunt. I love David Hallberg, and I think Joy Womack and Keenan Kampa are brilliant. But I don't think they are currently at the Bolshoi and Mariinsky due to their dancing abilities.

In fact, knowing that I wish that now more than ever the States had their own dance curriculum/ style, and ballet culture that rivaled the Russians, French, British, even the Cubans. (But I think ABT is trying to push a National Curriculum that Franco De Vita and McKenzie drafted and teach their students of JKO) And although they are being hailed in the U.S. press as the first American to dance with these companies, they are not a product of an American school or style. I find that bittersweet.

You see so many dancers, in this case American dancers, whom put dancing overseas at the Bolshoi, Mariinsky, POB, or RB on a pedestal. While dancing in their own top national companies isn't of the same calibre and prestige. Maybe I am wrong about that last bit(?), but that is the feeling I've been getting since I've gotten into ballet.

I stumbled upon Eric Conrad's (whom says he is a certified teacher of the Vaganova method) Youtube video's titled "American's in Russia Pt.2" and "New Blog-New Film/Scandal at the Bolshoi/Baryshnikov". In them, a few things he says (which I'm paraphrasing) is Russians only teach and recently started hiring Americans in their companies basically for money and visibility/ marketing, Americans are ill-trained and not good dancers with terrible technique, Osipova and Vasiliev quit the Bolshoi because of David Hallberg (Whom he also says is talented but lacks training), etc. He says a lot more at the source.

My thoughts? I think their is some truth in what he says like in the reason why Russian schools like the Moscow State Academy and Vaganova Academy hire foreign students. (I always personally thought it was that reason, especially seeing the astronimically high tuition prices) And the ballet schools in the U.S. But the other statements he makes in his video's (especially with his statements that the Russian way is the "truth" when ballet is not a Russian creation neither is it the only way and style to teach ballet) I disagree with and think is rubbish.

I'm only a University student who likes to casually watch ballet. I'd love to hear thoughts from others on this board who know more about ballet and/ or have danced it.

http://youtu.be/1J-5bjcEzbk

http://youtu.be/DIMLOVJrXWQ

No offense to Whiteside, but their are ABT corp members whom are just as good or better. McKenzie could have easily promoted (from within) one of them instead of, yet again, outsourcing for another dancer. ABT needs a new AD...

I think it's hard to become principal material when you're never offered the opportunities for full length ballets. ABT has a wealth of principal women - both foreign and domestic. But perhaps Abrera, Seo and Copeland will land elsewhere as principals. SFB has been known to hire stars away from other companies, and Houston has hired a few (and was home to another African American principal, Lauren Anderson, who could coach Copeland for the full lengths). Copeland is from California, maybe the chance to finish out her career where family can come see her? There are plenty of daily flghts from the major Los Angeles Airports that go to San Francisco, Oakland and San Jose.

That's actually what I was going to ask. Has Copeland even been given a lot of leading roles in full length ballets? I know she did the Firebird this season, but that's all I can think of.

Congrats to Semionova, and I actually really like her, but this promotion makes me feel bad for the Soloists who are already there..

Why, oh why, don't they promote Stella Abrera? She is one of the most exquisite dancers of this generation and after her performances in SB in New Zealand, has shown her ability to carry major principal roles. I think that at this stage she is more polished than Semionova, who still needs some serious coaching to bring her fluidity up several notches.

I would have no hard feelings for any of the Soloists and Corp dancers for leaving and dancing elsewhere. McKenzie relies on hiring foreign stars way too much instead of developing what he has. Too often McKenzie lets dancers, who could be brilliant, languish away in Corps, or never promotes dancers who should have been promoted ages ago (Abrera). The only 2 positive things I can say he has done was establishing an associate school for ABT (We will happily see the fruits of this in the future reflected in the Corp being uniform) and hiring Ratmansky. Other than that, his decisions as an AD, I feel, holds back ABT from becoming great like companies such as the Mariinskiy, Bolshoi, or POB.

Congrats to Semionova, and I actually really like her, but this promotion makes me feel bad for the Soloists who are already there. If McKenzie felt like his female Soloists weren't ready to be Principals, he could have just continued to prep them, instead of outsourcing the position to someone else. It's not like ABT is in dire need of female Principals right now like they need for male Principals.

Lifted from the ABT 2012 Gala Thread:

Thirteen Diversions (excerpts) - Riccetto, Matthews, Seo, Davis, Abrera, Tamm, Messmer, Hammoudi

Thirteen Diversions (finale) - Riccetto, Matthews, Seo, Davis, Abrera, Tamm, Messmer, Hammoudi

This casting may be completely meaningless but . . .

I've visted ABT's website the other day and have noticed that they've given the male Soloists, and Corp Members I've never even seen dance, leading principal and soloist roles in upcoming ballet's. Seems to be they are scouting/ testing them for future promotions?