ABT Fan

Good for her! I'm sure she'll be wonderful. The Broadway bug is certainly going around NYCB.

Me four (also in response to Lopez's quote)!

At least two of Semionova's roles are going to Teuscher, a soloist, for Symphony #9. And, I think that may be a debut for her. Take heart folks, at least Seo wasn't cast in everything! I would have liked to have seen Abrera get one of her Sylvia's and another debut for another up-and-comer.

Me too. And, seriously, standing with "hands on hips and crossed arms" are hardly petulant gestures. That's how dancers stand in class and rehearsals, unhappy or not!

Whoa! Didn't expect to read this. I feel so badly for the dancers being let go, especially the "older" principal dancers. What a shame. What a loss for ABT and us in NYC to see Baca join, but congrats to him as he joins as principal dancer! That's quite a step up, but he'll now get opportunities that he may never get at ABT, or at least for several years. So good for him.

Oh gosh, I completely forgot about his support of ABT and their school. Yes, I remember Copeland danced in one of his videos years ago. So very sad to hear he's passed away. Shocked actually. I had many posters of him on my teen-aged bedroom walls and nearly wore out my tapes (remember those?) of his music. Another legend....gone.

Plenty of professional dancers take company class with other companies if they're traveling, and it doesn't mean they're auditioning. It's a courtesy some companies extend to other professional dancers (though it's frequently due to a connection), but that doesn't mean it's an open-door policy whereby any dancer can just show up. Maybe she is auditioning, but it's very possible she isn't.

He was promoted in August 2014. According to this article in Pointe magazine, written in Sept 2013, he was 23 then, so he'd have to be 25 if not 26 by now. Yes, still young. http://pointemagazine.com/inside-pt/issuesoctobernovember-2013prince-waiting/ He's not very tall though, but height-wise he partners well with Lane, Copeland and Boylston. He could never partner Part or Semionova, and I think Murphy would be too strong for him (and maybe she'd be too tall on pointe for him anyway). I think his time will come, though I expected to see him dance more principal parts this season. But, there's plenty of time for casting switcheroos.

Regarding Heymann, I wish in their press releases they'd mention who the ABT exchange artist is with the POB. Does anyone know? Gorak may have been denied a Romeo at the Met, but I see he's now been cast with Copeland on July 15 in Virginia. I'm betting Copeland's Met partner, Simkin, has other performance obligations then.

I'm still a bit confused as to what happened exactly, but it's sad that Kobborg and Cojocaru will be leaving. Seems a very unfortunate situation to say the least.

Congrats to her!!

All great points Kaysta! I am hoping that this year will be the first of many where there are few guest stars brought in. I don't begrudge those international stars as many of them are outstanding dancers, but the Met season shouldn't live or die on them. Develop the home team. Last year was overkill.

Fabulous, thank you! Her upper body carriage is always so lovely.

Thought I'd add this here instead of starting a new thread... Abrera will be performing After the Rain with Craig Hall on April 4 at City Center as part of the Breaking Barriers program. The CC site doesn't mention what she'll be performing, but she discusses it on her Instagram feed that includes some gorgeous rehearsal photos. I'm dreaming about ABT acquiring this piece for the Fall season with Abrera and Gomes. Wow. http://www.nycitycenter.org/tickets/productionNew.aspx?performanceNumber=9532#.VvVxFeIrLct https://www.instagram.com/p/BDWXgVuMTI7/?taken-by=stellaabreradetsky&hl=en

I LOVE DTH's Creole Giselle. I had a VHS tape of it growing up that I nearly wore down from watching it so many times. Their re-visioning of Giselle completely worked for me and wasn't a mutilation of a classic in my eyes. Not every classic can be tinkered with, successfully. I'm usually a fan of leaving the classics alone, with few exceptions. Guess that makes me a purist.

I'm fairly certain she doesn't coach at ABT - what a loss! Thanks to all for confirming that was indeed Sally Wilson.

Gregory's ability to roll through her foot while she's in a la seconde and in arabesque is astonishing. Even today very few dancers have that kind of control. I was trying to make out who the other dancers were but at least on my iPad the quality was very grainy. Was that Sally Wilson as the Queen Mother?

I'll be looking forward to it!

I hope someone posts a review of this, especially one of Simone Messmer as Titania.

Right. Thanks. Weird that they don't mention that in the press release though.

If Parish is an exchange artist, then who at ABT is the exchange dancer? And, since he's only doing Sylvia, I wonder which dancers will fill the 3 TBA's in Corsaire? They've made it official now on their site that Simkin is doing Romeo w/ Copeland on June 25. I realize Simkin is a principal, but I feel bad for Gorak that he's losing that role this season.

The video that Plisskin posted (thank you) is the first I've seen of Womack, so I can't judge completely. But, she clearly has technique and talent. There were some errors and bobbles, but dancing on a tiny stage may have contributed to some of those as she had to dance under herself at times (geez, I think my NYC apt is bigger than that stage). Not to mention her partner and the orchestra, both of which I can't criticize without sounding mean, so I'll just say that they were both not good.

I agree with you Tom. Male dancers are just as beautiful as female dancers, though in different ways at times. I love this photo from Marcelo Gomes' Instagram, from Matthew Bourne's Swan Lake. When most people think of SL, they picture a frail, delicate, lithe female. But, as some people know, in Bourne's version, the swans are male, and this photo is beautiful to me because of its quiet strength and intensity: https://www.instagram.com/p/BBJqLxWCue_/?taken-by=marcelua

Hammoudi has now been cast as Romeo with Murphy for the evening performance of June 22. Only Copeland's performance at the matinee on June 25 still has a TBA for Romeo. I'll feel really bad for Gorak if he isn't cast.

Wonderful clip! Thanks for posting.