cobweb

TOTALLY AGREE with everything abatt said! Troubling questions, indeed.

Okay, true. If it turns out not to be sexting, I would kind of be relieved. I feel like sex is getting a bad rap. Finlay is still so young. I guess it depends on what the offense is, but if he wants to continue his career, maybe he could thrive in a company with a less demanding schedule, which would be easier on his body.

I wonder if Finlay was ready to move on from ballet. He's had a hard time. Lots of early hype and pressure/expectations, followed by injuries and tons of criticism about his stamina, technique, and partnering skills. Despite those deficiencies, I will miss him. The nobility of his carriage is second to none, and when his technique is on, he’s beautiful. Now that his bio is down, I can't check on how long he's been with NYCB. Anyone know roughly what is his age and how long was he a principal?

Yeah. No way.

But what are “inappropriate communications”? It would seem apparent a desire for sexual contact with the recipient was featured, either via words or photos. Ok. Is that grounds for not having a job?

This is insane. I just saw Carousel tonight and kept thinking god I can’t wait to see Amar in ballet again. Then I check in on BA, and....???!

Thanks for that, Drew. Also to FPF for pointing out the disparity between male and female applicants.

For that matter, what about Ashley Bouder? She's also been pursuing her own projects, presenting, programming, and commissioning, and clearly has ambitions along these lines, as well as her own artistic vision which may appeal to the board as being the way of the future (e.g., more inclusion of women and people of color). I also don't hear much discussion of another obvious candidate, Jonathan Stafford. What do people think of him as a candidate?

I totally agree about the beautiful music of Monotones, and its unique fit with the ballet Ashton choreographed. I was interested that they hired NYCB pianist Cameron Grant for the engagement. Does he play for them in Sarasota, too? It can't have been cheap to engage him for the week of performances and whatever rehearsal period they had, but IMHO totally worth it. His playing (and, I'd add, the singers in the Wheeldon piece) was so beautiful - I've found segments of the music drifting through my mind for days now.

Hey bcash, I have no idea. I must have missed that article but it wouldn’t surprise me to hear he was getting attention very young.

Given the circumstances of Martins’ departure, I’m sure the Board/search committee will want to be sure the incoming candidate won’t have dancers from former jobs coming out of the woodwork saying they were coerced into having sex in exchange for roles. This conceivably could rule out some candidates, and we are not likely to ever know why they were ruled out.

I am not nearly as familiar as some others here are, with the possible candidates to succeed Martins. But does anyone else have the qualifications that Woetzel does, with experience in dancing, curating/commissioning, and leadership at a high level (eg, head of a large, multifaceted arts organization)? As to him being too experimental, I say this not knowing much about what he was doing in Vail (or elsewhere??) but maybe he felt experimentation was what was needed there, rather than focusing on ballet and or Balanchine, and thereby duplicating what was presumably going on at NYCB. In other words, I wouldn’t necessarily take his experimentation in Vail as his only true interest. But again, I may not be fully informed.

Cross-referencing the discussion on another thread about who might succeed Peter Martins and Kevin McKenzie... maybe when the ABT job comes open Iain Webb will apply. 😃

Helene, I think Amy Reusch meant that Corella would be competing with Stiefel for the ABT job, not NYCB. I cannot imagine that NYCB would consider Corella at all. (Not sure ABT should either, given his tenure so far at Pa Ballet, but that’s another thread.) As for NYCB hiring a woman, do any of the ladies vipa mentioned have notable leadership experience? I wonder if Rebecca Krohn is applying. The longer the delay, the more leadership experience she gets.

For me the highlight of the week, aside from seeing Marcelo Gomes again, was falling in love with Monotones. I had seen it once before, a few years ago with ABT at the Former State Theatre, but it totally failed to make a mark on me - because the hall was too big for it, I was in a bad mood or distracted that night, who knows why. I gather it’s usually done with full orchestra (?). To me the piano was just perfect. What a timeless, beautiful piece. I know I could see it many many times and still find new aspects and depth in it.

I too was baffled about some aspects of the rep. Why have two different programs that are basically so similar? They could have left the Graziano at home (IMHO) and just done Program B, or as suggested, bring one more piece and vary the programs more. Also, after seeing the Wheeldon piece four times I developed some reservations. I can totally see its value for showcasing a bunch of dancers, but it’s gloomy, and please, less partnering, more dancing. Ryoko Sadoshima also has some very noticeable wobbling difficulties in Thais this afternoon. I envy those of you who saw Bujones in Les Patineurs! And I’m sorry to hear that Sarasota has lost another great interpreter of the role.

I too have wondered if the delay could have to do with giving Woetzel time to deal with the Juilliard situation. Pure speculation, as you say. He may have hoped that by spending a few years leading Juilliard he’d be perfectly positioned to take over NYCB if Martins retired in, say, 5 years.

Thanks for the interest, NinaFan! As I racked my memory I had the sense it was the Joffrey, and I know I saw and loved them on tour, whereas I don’t think ABT came through on tour during that period. Also, from the clips on YouTube it’s the Joffrey version I seem to recall, not the ABT version. In any case, watching the clips has made me realize anew what a delightful piece this is. I can imagine Corella and Stiefel were both beyond charming. In the old ABT video on YouTube, Fernando Bujones is incredible. He is listed as the Boy in Green. But this looks like the same role as Boy in Blue? (I haven’t watched the entire clips so I wonder if I’m missing something.)

I am curious about the training of the dancers. The program and website don’t give any info about the background of the dancers. I can’t imagine they all come from the associated school... or can they??

For another opinion, I did not care for this book. While I generally agree with her sentiments, I found the writing to be florid and lacking in useful detail. For example she waxes poetic about the variety of arabesque, but gives no particular details that would help the newbie discern what makes for a good arabesque or what makes one dancer’s arabesque different from another’s. The review of basic ballet history was welcome, but the rapturous style wore me down.

Yes, he is scheduled to dance tomorrow. There were a few tickets left when I bought mine at the box office this afternoon.

ITA with NinaFan about today’s matinee, especially Monotones, which I found magnetic and moving. I am enjoying these performances so much that I am eyeing airfare to Sarasota. I saw Les Patineurs once before, many years ago as a teenager. Can’t remember where - perhaps on one of the occasional trips to NYC, or more likely, some touring company that came through my area circa 1980. That one long-ago performance left an indelible impression. I was looking very forward to today’s excerpt and it did not disappoint except for being way too short to satisfy my eagerness. When the three dancers ran offstage I was hoping this was just a prelude to solo variations... but alas! So maybe to Sarasota to see the full length in December. Maybe. Meanwhile thoroughly enjoying the clean clean style and thorough preparation these dancers show, along with a fascinating rep that is almost entirely unknown to me. On to tonight! ps. nysusan, I would be inerested to hear your reservations. I always find commentary on here, pro and con, to be informative, and maybe especially so with rep that is so new to me. ETA OT: racking my memory and a quick internet search indicates it must have been the Joffrey I saw doing that memorable Les Patineurs so many years ago. I saw them on tour in my out-of-the-way area, and I wore my Joffrey t-shirt till it fell apart.

I have tickets for today’s performances but am thinking about going tomorrow as well. The Joyce site says tickets are available - but then keeps declining the purchase saying something is wrong with my credit card when that is not the case. Anyone have any further info, are they sold out? ETA never mind. At the box office I got a ticket for tomorrow. There are a few left.

Still waiting for mine! ETA but I did get my Nutcracker tickets, also the de Luz farewell.

No reports? I was there last night. This is my first viewing of Sarasota Ballet. I thought Monotones I and II was lovely. I've only seen this piece once before and didn't appreciate it; here, it was luminous and poetic. Only problem was one of the women in the first section was very wobbly; in this piece that is very exposed and distracting. However, I loved the woman in the second part (Victoria Hulland?). I also enjoyed the Wheeldon piece, There Where She Loved. Never seen this before and found it intriguing, with lots of distinctive solo sections. Loved the music and singing. As I am new to the dancers, it's hard to single any out, but I thought several of them were wonderful, especially two tall women. Clean, appealing, unmannered dancing overall, and the program looked very well prepared and rehearsed. The one sour note... Symphony of Sorrows... overwrought portentous repetitive. From the "Acrobatic Lifting" school of modern choreography, with hunky barechested men and limp, depressed women. No thanks.