ABT Fan
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I keep checking their website for a promotions announcement.....it must be coming any day now. The suspense!
Separately, there were questions on this site about who is running their social media with Conor Holloway having departed. Their roster now says corps dancers Cy Doherty and Erica All:
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3 hours ago, California said:
ABT Official posted a short clip of Misty rehearsing Manon on YouTube. Perhaps a retirement performance in spring 2024?
This video was posted on YouTube 4 years, not recently - not even re-posted recently. I'm thinking that this just showed up in California's feed. YouTube does that. So, I don't see any correlation between this snippet and what may or may not be performed next year or when Copeland may retire.
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25 minutes ago, ba11et0mane said:
how tall was part?
I believe 5’8 with a broader physique.
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40 minutes ago, matilda said:
Even more reason to break Mackenzie-era convention and promote more short guys like Klein and Roxander. Brandt and Trenary need partners but so do petite up and comers like Park, Granlund, and Coker.
Lots of the principal men are tall but, in my opinion, out of those tall men only Bell and Camargo are 1) still in their youthful primes and 2) the full package of technical, artistic, and acting ability. Curley needs promoted ASAP.
Agree. Stearns is 37. There’s also Whiteside who is 38 and maybe not 100% yet after a traumatic injury. He’s tall and a very good partner, but his age and possible injury issues are something to keep in mind.
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1 hour ago, nanushka said:
It depends what you mean by "relatively." Forster is 36 or 37.
Agree, I wouldn’t say Forster is young at that age. Royal is about 35 so not “young” either. They will still need more tall men and Brandt will need someone soon as well.
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36 minutes ago, MoMo said:
Ok. I know that tall men are needed. I thought Frenette was taller. So which tall men does ABT have that are ready for promotion?
Jarod Curley
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4 hours ago, MoMo said:
Thank you for this. As for “tall”, I am 5’2, so Patrick, Jonathan, Tyler, et. all seem tall to me ( Lol). So I guess it’s all relative. It depends on what Susan is looking for to fill in the ranks.
It isn’t just what Jaffe wants. They need men tall and strong enough to partner the tall women who are already principals - Teuscher is probably the tallest. Murphy, Shevchenko, Hurlin and even Seo (to a lesser degree) all need tall or tallish men - so five women. Also Misseldine, a current soloist. Klein, Frenette, Roxander, Maloney, would all be too short to partner them. Those four would do well with Brandt, maybe Trenary, definitely Coker.
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5 hours ago, FauxPas said:
Usually at this time of year we get an announcement of roster changes.
Don't the new contracts start in the Fall? Wouldn't any new contracts include a change in company status?
We know that Gabe Stone-Shayer and Joseph Gorak aren't coming back. Connor Holloway is leaving for destinations unknown to us.
I haven't seen any reports from dancers' social media announcing that they are moving on.
The loss of two soloists leaves room for at least two promotions if not more.
I think Jarod Curley, Jonathan Klein and Zimmi Coker are definitely ready.
Carlos Gonzalez, despite somewhat mixed responses, seems to be in the running.
Erica Lall has her admirers. Jake Roxander is definitely soloist material already but only just started with the company.
For others its more urgent.
Obviously, any announcements must be backed up by an official announcement by the company or announcements on artists' public-facing social media.
Yes, new contracts begin in September. Perhaps Jaffe is waiting till the start of the season (or immediately before) to make any public announcements.
I think many of us are waiting with bated breathe. Can't be long now,
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Thank you, vipa, for all of your reports. I’m living vicariously through you this week! I’d love to go to Vail someday, but having asthma I’m not sure I could handle it. I really love hearing about all of the “new” partnerships that these dancers get to explore. Phelan and Royal have danced together at Vail several seasons now and they really seem to be a wonderful pair.
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4 minutes ago, Papagena said:
Do we know he walked off?
He said in his op-ed and on IG that he boarded a plane to Paris on his own accord when he decided he wanted nothing to do with the Lifted piece.
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27 minutes ago, aurora said:
It also sounds pretty unbelievable that he wasn't aware of this, after his total (?) absence from spring season casting
It’s funny that Shayer never mentioned in either his Op-ed piece or on his IG posts that he walked out on his contract and the season. And, frankly contract or not, no employer would NOT fire an employee who just walked off the job for months on end.
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Cornejo has posted another R&J tribute on his IG. He says “until we meet again R&J”. Carlos Lopez, a repertoire director, wrote in the comments “you mean until next year”. That would make it what 3 or 4 years in a row??
https://www.instagram.com/reel/CvPh_1pgy6U/?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==
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A recent article in Dance Teacher where Lane talks about her new job and goals for the school. No mention of her husband staying with ABT or not.
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18 minutes ago, cobweb said:
Agree. I have not seen ABT at all this summer, but I saw Roxander and Magbitang in the Neapolitan last year. Magbitang at the time was getting a ton of attention (has he danced at all this season), but it was Roxander who really caught my eye with his very large dancing and warm, compelling presence. At the time he must have just joined the corps or still been an apprentice. He looked very good then and has obviously made great strides. The company needs new talent and excitement. Why hold back?
Magbitang danced in the corps (peasants, villagers) in 3 performances that I saw for Giselle, SL and R&J. Unfortunately, yet understandably, his size is going to hold him back quite a bit. I remember last year when he made his debut as the lead gypsy in DQ with Cornejo and I was surprised to see that he was smaller than Cornejo - not just in height but his frame as well. That is going to really limit who he can partner. Doing the lead gypsy and Puck were natural roles for him, and he didn't have to partner anyone (very limited partnering as the gypsy). Even Coker, who is quite small, would probably be too large for him. So, I wasn't surprised to not see him cast in peasant pas or peasant pas de trois. Did he do Neapolitan in any SL that anyone saw?
I think Roxander is a star in the making. If he was promoted now, he would deserve it.
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31 minutes ago, fondoffouettes said:
Me neither! He added much-needed excitement to a season that felt dreary far too often.
Same! If Roxander is promoted, I just hope it’s in conjunction with Curley (at a minimum) and Klein.
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I'm surprised Paris and Hoven aren't also leaving. Like others have said, they barely dance and in nothing memorable.
Curley and Klein deserve to be promoted; they should have been last year. They also need to make room for Coker, even if there isn't a "spot" open for the women.
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Someone mentioned on one of the ABT threads about Teuscher getting outside coaching from Isabelle Guerin, for SL I think. I noticed in last night’s program that she’s now listed as a company teacher. I think that’s new or has she been a teacher for awhile? I have also seen Paloma Herrera in the audience several times including last night. I’d love to see her come on for coaching. It would be marvelous, and is needed, if Marcelo Gomes could return to coach the men on partnering and such. Maybe someday enough time will have passed for him to be able to do that, especially with McKenzie gone.
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28 minutes ago, California said:
Pardon this very trivial observation/question: I remember that they used to end with the dead bodies: he on the floor and she draped over. Curtain down. When the curtain went up they were in the same position. Curtain down. When curtain next went up, the pair were standing alone on stage. Now that second view of the bodies seems to have been eliminated. Perhaps it was too hard on the dancers. Perhaps it added too much time to the bows, which they seem determined to keep short now. But I do remember the second view as striking and miss it!
They did the second view of the bodies last night with Cornejo/Trenary. But, I don’t remember it being done last year with any of the casts I saw. Perhaps folks who went to other shows this year can say whether or not last night was the only night they did this. It actually surprised me because I haven’t seen it done in quite awhile. Maybe Cornejo asked for it. I have a feeling that was his last Romeo.
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It’s interesting to read what others thought of the same performance. I have a completely opposite viewpoint of Cornejo and Trenary. The word I kept thinking of was actually “abandon”, especially in regards to Cornejo. I haven’t seen him dance like that in a long time. Was it because it was the last performance of the season and he had nothing to lose? He did post on IG a few times how excited he was that the house was virtually sold out. Was this his last Romeo so he went for broke? Whatever it was, it was marvelous. Trenary was incredible. I agree that her Juliet at the beginning needs more nuance and development, but at the end these two were passionately in love, devastated, heartbreaking.
Roxander indeed rocked the house. I had high expectations and he didn’t disappoint. Pirouettes with countless revolutions and immense control, amazing height on his jumps, swagger up the wazoo. He’ll make an incredible Romeo someday. In the fall, he would be amazing as Puck.Ahn in general was fine as Tybalt but his death scene made no impact. It occurred to me that as a newish principal he’s routinely given little to do. Han was very good as Benvolio.
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9 minutes ago, MoMo said:
ABT official website just posted Congratulations to Joey Gorak on a wonderful career. He took extra page bows. I think he’s retiring.
I just saw the story on their IG. Yep, he’s leaving.
I have to say that despite him not living up to the potential many of us hoped he had, his Bronze Idol was the best I’ve ever seen. Simply gorgeous.
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54 minutes ago, MoMo said:
Any news on promotion announcements? Today is the last day of Met Season.
Nothing. Jaffe may have a different promotion cadence in mind than McKenzie did.
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Did anyone attend last night?
I’m maybe a bit too excited for tonight’s performance - I don’t want to jinx it. Fear all week of Cornejo having to cancel again like last year, and anticipation over Roxander’s Mercutio. Praying to the ballet gods with fervor and please, oh please let Zhurbin be cast as Tybalt!
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59 minutes ago, California said:
A side note on Bell's partnering from a Pointe interview: https://pointemagazine.com/catherine-hurlin-aran-bell-abt/
At just shy of 16, he was taken into ABT Studio Company, at the time directed by Kate Lydon. It was only then that Bell, who was still on the smaller side and slight, began to grow to his current height of 6′ 3″. And, more importantly, where he really learned to partner. Going through a huge growth spurt made things more difficult, but also focused his efforts. “I had a moment of realization when they asked me to do a very simple lift with the lightest girl in the room and it just didn’t happen,” he explains. “I had that panic—’I need to do something about this, fast.’ ” He started to work out assiduously at the gym, bulked up and figured it out. As a result, at 21 he is already considered one of the most dependable partners in the company.
My thought on Royal's shaky partnering Wednesday afternoon: he needs to head to the gym! I wonder how many of the male dancers now see that as essential training.
I think a lot of male dancers realize how essential it is to lift and cross train. I remember Sascha Radetsky got heavily into lifting weights when he was still dancing. Gomes used to post lots of videos on IG of him lifting. Whiteside is another one and way before he was injured: https://www.instagram.com/reel/CTnUYyhFNnr/?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==
Curley is another: https://www.instagram.com/reel/Cmg-UAJBPLk/?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==
Not all guys, of course and I’m not sure about Royal.
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Murphy and Bell are a very mismatched pair.
Promotions and Roster changes
in American Ballet Theatre
Posted
Isn’t it September 1, when the new season starts?