ABT Fan
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The NY Times has another Speaking In Dance video out, this time with Boylston in Tchai Pas.
Side note: the text mentions that she will be the dance double for Jennifer Lawrence in an upcoming film Red Sparrow, which will also feature Segei Polunin (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2873282/?ref_=nv_sr_1).
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In tomorrow evenings program, Cornejo has been replaced by Gorak in Aurora's Wedding (partnering Trenary).
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58 minutes ago, alexL said:
I think the pricing of Part's farewell performance went up.....
Premium orchestra seats are (now) $165 and I'm pretty darn sure they weren't that high originally.
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1 hour ago, fondoffouettes said:
Wow -- they couldn't have put less effort into this. Just the facts of her farewell, and then they paste in her bio. No words of appreciation.
Well, to be fair (and trust me, it pains me to say something in defense of ABT right now) this announcement follows the exact same format as the one they released for Vishneva's retirement. Just the facts, no words of appreciation. Mind you everything else about their retirements couldn't be more different.
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The Times makes it very clear her contract wasn't renewed, hence a forced retirement.
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Isn't this unprecedented, to have the truth come out about a forced retirement and make it into the papers before the farewell performance? What will the atmosphere be like Saturday afternoon presuming many in the audience will know? Will McKenzie dare to come out on stage to present Part with a bouquet?
This is so wrong. And, after spending the last several weeks excited over all of the soloist debuts, scheduled and last minute subbing, I'm now losing the pride I was starting to feel again for the company after years of watching them mostly ignore their homegrown talent.
Also, this can't be good for company morale. If so many of us felt the excitement of so many dancers gettting chances this year, for the dancers that has to be tenfold. Same goes for what they're doing to Part.
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de Havilland is suing FX and Ryan Murphy for portraying her as a gossip:
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Drew - I agree with pretty much everything you said, but you expressed it better than I think I could have. I too loved her in Symphony No. 9 - a very mature, deep expression that I'm so sorry I'll never get to see again.
Separately, maybe I'm blanking out but I don't remember Reyes being forced out. What a tragedy.
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I realize Part is not a big user of social media (her Instagram doesn't have a lot of followers nor does she post a lot) so I can understand her not announcing her plans on her page (plus she seems to value her privacy), but she still has a fan base who would rally to buy tickets to see her retirement if they knew about it in advance. So, along with the recent re-org of the program, this seems like a rather last minute decision which strikes me as odd. I hope she is happy.
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vipa, you're correct - Reyes never did SL with ABT. I could never have imagined her as Odile (the character, not for lack of technical skills) but maybe she would have surprised me if she had been cast.
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37 minutes ago, California said:
When they held a company class on stage for Friends last week, the class was noon-1:15. Let's hope somebody in the company videos the announcement and posts on Instagram, as they did with Abrera and Copeland.
Hoven's promotion last year was also video'd. I don't remember seeing one of Cirio's though. Murphy and Simkin seem to catch most of these behind the scenes moments so I'm betting one of them will post something. Or the company's latest unofficial photographer Frenette.
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Tonight was my first indulgence in Whipped Cream. I mostly enjoyed it; some parts were truly wonderful but a few didn't hold my interest.
The sets and costumes were as marvelous as I expected them to be, given all the photos and videos that I've seen. But, Princess Tea Flower's tutu was even more beautiful - every turn and pirouette that Abrera did accentuated the lovely dangly flowers. I loved the big creepy heads and the blinking eye, the cute but ominous scenery and characters - a typical child's imagination. The cupcake children were absolutely adorable! They were clearly having loads of fun. I wish they had been brought forward for bows. Of course there's not much of a story but it's a charming visual feast with lots of dancing and comic moments.
I was very impressed with the men who played Marzipan (esp Shayer), Sugarplum, and Gingerbread. Despite getting out of sync a few times their choreography is mostly nonstop jumping and no one looked lethargic or lacked pointed feet.
Gorak was Prince Cocoa and he could have used a dash of sugar or cinnamon to spice things up (sorry, can't help it). His dancing is lovely with perfectly articulated legs and feet but it's too nice and pretty at times. His dancing lacks shading, nuance and feeling and I've been noticing that for awhile now. Perhaps that's why he's stalled.
Royal stood out (as he always does for me) as one of the Coffee guards. He and Hurlin (as a Tea Flower attendant) were paired up in Act I and I'm telling you they're a star couple waiting in the wings (SL!). Hurlin later changed into Mademoiselle Chartreuse and my what a comedic actress she is! I laughed out loud several times during her bit with Zhurbin and Lyle.
Abrera and Gomes were perfect together. Full of funny moments and beautiful dancing (especially Abrera). I can't imagine Hallberg in this role now after seeing Gomes - he was typically clever, witty, full of personality. He and Abrera really played off of each other. However, their Act I pas was too long and anti-climatic (I suppose how climactic can a dance between tea and coffee get?). And, I'm sure to be in the minority here, but despite the beautiful score I don't find much of it danceable, especially during the Tea/Coffee pas. I became bored through no fault of Abrera/Gomes.
Simkin was Simkin - fantastic dancing, lots of brio. This part suits him perfectly and he garnered lots of laughs and applause. Lane was gorgeous, confident, crisp and luxurious. I think she was also enjoying herself being in a comic/goofy ballet for a change (where no one dies). Even though Simkin continues to impress me with his improvement in acting and partnering, there were a few minor partnering bobbles.
I dont think I'll be in a hurry to see this again but I'm really glad I went. I still enjoyed most of it. The house seemed full and the audience (including plenty of children) was very enthusiastic, so I think this is a great addition to their repertoire.
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Boy, I guess all signs are pointing to retirement now. Seems like this must have been a recent decision or else they would have originally scheduled Mozartiana to be last in that program (even if she didn't want a prior announcement). I'm sorry I'll miss it. ?
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That was fun! Loved the intermission poker game for the orchestra.
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I'm an online Times subscriber and I was just prompted to take a survey. There are a lot of multiple choice questions but a few places where you can type in your own comments, so I added my two cents on the sad state of the dance review coverage. Unfortunately, the survey is quite long. But, if anyone else here is a subscriber and you get the pop-up survey, you may want to take the 10 minutes or so to give your feedback. It can't hurt.
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fondofouettes, I've noticed/experienced everything you say and couldn't agree more. It's tacky and looks very unprofessional to say the least.
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5 hours ago, CTballetfan said:
Oh no! Just checked casting for July 6 and see that Copeland has replaced Murphy in Nutcracker Pas with Whiteside......hopefully the casts of the other ballets will not change. I would like to see the up and coming soloists dance.
You will get to see Shevchenko, Lane and Trenary dance in that program - very much "up and coming" soloists. Also, Scott.
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20 minutes ago, abatt said:
If you look at the last two years, the promotions were announced on June 30 and July 1. This is, I believe, directly keyed into when the Board meets at the end of the second business quarter. Of course, it is possible that there may not be any promotions to announce.
Even if there are new principals, principal status is rarely immediate. It usually becomes effective a few weeks later. So it makes no difference whether they announced the fall season principal lineup today or next week. Either way, they would not be listing any additional principal names for the engagement.
The last two years when they've made promotion announcements around June 30/July 1, those promotions took affect August 1 (before the start of the fall season). If there are promotions to announce this year, and they waited a week to announce the fall season to coincide with that, then yes they would have had additional principal names to list for the fall engagement.
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They've issued next season announcements before promotions are announced, so this doesn't mean that no one is getting promoted.
Given that promotions should be announced by next week, I don't know why they couldn't wait another week to announce the fall season with the correct principal dancer line up. But, there are probably reasons I'm just not aware of.
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Eric Tamm was never promoted to soloist. He was being given a number of demi- and soloist roles though. He also danced the lead in Nutcracker. I really thought he was on the road to promotion, but then he left to become a realtor. I loved his dancing and was very sad when he left.
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Marcelo Gomes and Veronika Part are absent from the list of principal dancers in the press release. Perhaps Gomes will be guesting somewhere else. But, Part?
http://www.abt.org/insideabt/news_display.asp?News_ID=580
Is the Scarlett pas the infamous "boob jiggling" piece?
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3 minutes ago, fondoffouettes said:
I wouldn't mind if ABT got back in the habit of promoting dancers by their mid-20s, though. Murphy was promoted to principal at 23; Gomes at 22 (though nearly 23); Cornejo at 22; Simkin at 24; Hallberg at 24; Seo at 26; and Stearns at about 26.
Shevchenko and Teuscher are both already 28. I won't go into all the reasons that have kept dancers from developing at ABT (since they've already been discussed in depth in these forums), but I'd rather see those two dancers get their shot at principal sooner rather than later. I agree that Brandt and Trenary could use another season or two, but please don't make them wait until they are 30...
I wouldn't mind that either, if said dancer(s) have had enough experience by then. (I won't go into that discussion either, as I think that's been talked about quite a bit already.) I don't want to see any more dancers languish and get promoted like Abrera did at the age of 37 (better late than never in her case, but good grief).
Given how many opportunities these female soloists have been given (and to me it's looks obvious they're been groomed for promotion down the road) I can't imagine they'd make them wait several years. However, it also depends on when current principals retire as I doubt they can promote Lane, Shevchenko, Teuscher, Brandt and Trenary in quick succession without room being made. Of course, Vishneva just left. We know that Part is scaling back as has been discussed on another thread so she may be retiring soon (I imagine in a year or two); Murphy and Abrera are 39. So, we'll see. But, I still doubt that Brandt/Trenary will have to wait until they're 30.
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11 minutes ago, nanushka said:
Shevchenko and Teuscher would seem a bit premature to me –– though I agree they are headed in that direction, and I hope they get there in another year or two –– so I'd put them more under "Possible" than "Likely."
I agree. Shevchenko has had a big year, but this season is the first time she's tackled principal roles, and she did an amazing job from what I understand (I only saw her Myrta's, but all three of them). I think she needs another year (by that I'm not saying I think she'll tank, just that I'd like to see her have a bit more experience first, take on another full-length or two). Teuscher, Brandt and Trenary all have principal potential but they need more experience as well (Brandt/Trenary are really young as well - about 23/24).
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I'm really looking forward to finally seeing W.C. this week!
As an aside, I wonder if Murphy will finally be able to get back on stage Thursday. She's still listed on the casting sheet. From her IG account, it looks like she's been in the studio recently.
ABT 2017 Tchaikovsky Spectacular
in American Ballet Theatre
Posted · Edited by ABT Fan
They must be updating the casting as I type this because Gorak has been removed from Tchaikovsky Pas Saturday night but no one is listed to replace him. Only Boylston's name is there. Maybe Whiteside will be slotted in, then Gorak will replace Cornejo in SB. Wonder if Cornejo is reinjured and will also be replaced in Nutcracker this week?
So Whiteside's name is now listed for Tchaikovsky Pas but as a separate entry on that program so there are two TP's listed. They really need to iron out (modernize!) their entire site.