ABT Fan

19 hours ago, nanushka said:

I would love to see Forster in the role.

I would also love to see Forster in this. I think he'd be amazing, but I wouldn't buy a ticket only to see him if the leads didn't entice me. And, right now there's only one O/O that I want to see (but, not her partner).

Nice to see Shayer back on the casting sheet, but, he's not been re-cast as The Boy in Whipped Cream. The two TBA's have now been filled by Klein (who just danced this on tour). I'm happy for Klein, though, as he's another corps dancer who deserves bigger opportunities. But, I'm curious why Shayer wasn't cast since he's obviously recovered from his injury. He stated on Instagram that he had torn his ACL dancing this part at the Met last season. Perhaps the part is deemed too taxing right after recovery. Hope he'll get a few Bluebirds. 

Now if only they'd release the Tharp casting. And, there is still one Ali up for grabs. I'm always impatient for Purple Von Rothbart and secondary "principal" roles like Bluebird/Princess Florine to be released, but they always wait until the 11th hour for those.

Wow, this is amazing news. Congratulations to her!

2 hours ago, miliosr said:

I wasn't aware of the connection Rhodes had to Kevin McKenzie.

I wasn't either. Nor, did I know that he regularly taught ABT company class.

He was a legend, though.

21 minutes ago, Stage Right said:

I can't believe no one here has replied to this post.....or is this topic discussed elsewhere? 

It's been discussed at length here:

I am happy they're bringing back Taylor's solo in Episodes. I think this is a tribute (even unintentionally) to Peter Frame, as well. I wonder who will be cast - Stanley, Danchig-Waring, Farley, Chamblee?

11 hours ago, canbelto said:

http://www.kennedy-center.org/calendar/event/BTBSG?fbclid=IwAR0TAfEG1jOHCh5Qq2JOreXJn_z17ZoVxpbnb91xx9VSYN9DqvXTVmTSRZs

Casting has been extensively reshuffled for all shows.

 

I just tried to view the casting, and I got this once I clicked on the link:

We are experiencing high traffic.

My number in line is 3785?! 

Catherine Hurlin of ABT and Siphesihle November of NBC won this year's prize! 

Kristian Lever of Hamburg won the Choreographic prize.

I love their photo on the beach! Very appropriate.

8 minutes ago, California said:

Was it Cornejo?

Yes, it was.

https://www.abt.org/casting-announced-for-fifth-and-sixth-weeks-of-abts-2015-spring-season-at-metropolitan-opera-house/

3 hours ago, naomikage said:

I also wish I could see that Ratmansky reconstruction of La Bayadere. 

Yes, same here!

Thanks for the update, mussel.

So, obviously this means that ABT will run Giselle at the Met next year! And, how I wish they'd bring back Paquita. They have the female talent to do it, in spades.

18 minutes ago, Fleurfairy said:

My guess is Copeland was having a hard time keeping up with the demands of the choreography. 

Well, Copeland is still scheduled to dance this at the Met, like she did last year.

I received the latest Met brochure today (that has a newer, nicer format with some really gorgeous photos), and interestingly some of the TBA's are filled in along with other casting changes that aren't on the website. It's always the other way around. Since it seems like all of these changes are debuts, I think it will be less likely they'll change again, but who am I kidding, they probably will!

According to the brochure:

On the Dnieper is now Forster, Seo, Hurlin, Hammoudi and then Stearns, Teuscher, Shevchenko, Whiteside. Very disappointing because I wanted to see Shevchenko along with the first cast (she was originally cast as Natalia, Seo's role, but is now doing Olga). 

Le Corsaire's two Lankendem TBA's now go to Hoven, which will be a debut. Happy I should get to see that. The one Ali TBA on the 15th is still there.

Manon's Lescaut TBA's go to Simkin (with the Lane cast).

Whipped Cream's The Boy TBA's are still there.

And, according to their Instagram's, corps dancers Alexandra Basmagy and Lauren Post are pregnant so they will miss the season along with Murphy.

2 minutes ago, cobweb said:

Glad that Fairchild is back performing! (Although why do they still list her as M. Fairchild, when there is no longer any possibility of confusing her with R. Fairchild?) But, still no sign of Adrian Danchig-Waring. 

Old habits die hard? Or, it could be so people don't think Robbie has returned (plenty of folks don't look at the website's roster....).

13 hours ago, laurel said:

So pleased to see that Jonathan Klein has been cast as The Boy in two performances of Whipped Cream in April, one in Iowa City, the other in Chicago.  I hope this means we may look forward to seeing him in one (or both) of the currently-TBA Whipped Cream performances at the Met in May.  I've found him to be a wonderful and vibrant young dancer, and his presence will help make the spring season that much more exciting for me!

I think they're holding those TBA's (or at least one) at the Met for Shayer, who is still out injured. I think Klein was cast on tour because Shayer has still not recovered (Shayer was paired up w/ Trenary in prior W.C.'s).

Per ABT's Instagram, Klein just recovered himself from a shoulder injury, so it's good to see him back. He's another corps dancer who seems to have a lot of potential and needs to be utilized more. 

Also, Luciana Paris is debuting Princess Praline in Iowa and Chicago, replacing Copeland (I have no idea why Copeland was replaced).

Just now, Balletwannabe said:

Who are some of today's dancers she trained?  

Well for one, NYCB's newly appointed AD, Jonathan Stafford, trained at her academy.

1 hour ago, CTballetfan said:

Does anyone know if Megan Fairchild will return this spring? 

She recently posted on Instagram that she'll be returning to the stage on tour in DC, so since that precedes the Spring season I'd assume so.

19 minutes ago, vipa said:

It appears to me that they want to have a team type of leadership, rather than one person dictating/deciding everything. I'm a little disappointed that no former dancer who worked with Balanchine was named as part of the team. Let's just hope the some of those people are brought in to coach. Let's also hope that we continue to see a fair share of Balanchine ballets and the emphasis doesn't swing all the way to new works.

They’ve brought in many Balanchine vets to coach this past season (under Stafford) so I don’t see why this would change. I’m curious why you think Balanchine ballets may take a back seat?     Because Whelan is in charge of programming and her rep was mostly Robbins/new work? I’d certainly hope/expect she’d remember this is the house that Mr. B built.

Wow. I think this is a wise set up. Glad Whelan is part of this. I need to chew on the job descriptions a little more but it sounds very promising right now. Who will control hiring/promotions though, or will that be a joint decision? Makes more sense now that Stafford spoke out to the Times and what he said about Martins (really showing him who’s boss now). I wonder if we’ll see all (most) of Martin’s works go bye bye.

30 minutes ago, pbl said:

Is casting out for Giselle? If I can only make one performance, any suggestions for who I should try to catch in the role of Giselle? (And why doesn't the company release casting at the beginning of the season?)

I was looking for casting today myself, but it’s still not released on their website. I have no idea why they wait so long.

6 minutes ago, vipa said:

In the article she {Bouder} trashed a colleague indirectly be saying that the only possible reason for the change was because of her own outspokenness. Stirling Hyltin is an established principal who has been doing the ballet for a while, and many think is a more natural Aurora than Bouder. In the past I've preferred Hyltin, but I saw neither of them this season, so can't speak to their most recent performances of the role. However, isn't it possible that Martins figured he wouldn't have many more chances to cast the thing, and went with his preference rather than seniority? 

Hyltin, in some ways, flies under the radar in that she doesn't seem to have a big social media presence. I think she was wise to not comment for this article. Bouder put her in a terrible position. 

It wasn't the best idea for Bouder to say such a thing about Hyltin, a fellow dancer/principal. Agree, it was smart of her not to comment. Stafford is caught in a terrible position, but I think he too should not have commented.

The article in general wasn't necessary. I wish the Times would give it rest and stop rehashing the drama. Let it go until there's a new AD to announce and let it be at that.

I wonder if Gemma Bond will (finally) get the chance to choreograph a piece for the main company?

4 minutes ago, The Traveling Ballerina said:

Here's all the information I've put together so far. As I am also a travel agent, I am in contact with the cruise line directly to see if there is more information they will allow me to publish; I will update my article any time I get some new scoop!  

So, they're going to have ABT "onboard experiences" (presumably meaning performances) during the Met season in June??

ABT's press release:

https://www.abt.org/abt-partnership-with-celebrity-cruises/

And:

https://www.celebritycruises.com/things-to-do-onboard/entertainment/american-ballet-theatre

Funny how in the second article, there's a big front page photo of Sarah Lane in SL. So, maybe she'll get another shot at O/O on a ship? (JK....)