ABT Fan

I don't know when this was added to her website, but on the bio page of her website it reads "in 2007...Copeland [became] the third African American female soloist and first in two decades at American Ballet Theatre." You can see it here: http://www.mistycopeland.com/home.html Of course that's not a correction per se, of any earlier misstatements (or whatever you want to call them) given to any specific publications or made during any interviews.

Wow. That's great news. Congrats to her!

I just posted this in another thread about Marcelo Gomes, but as this pertains to ABT's Fall Season.... Gomes' ballet, Aftereffect, will be part of the Koch season in October: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1355162704/broadway-dance-lab-cycle-3/posts/1274037 Edited to add: Here's a YT video showing a snippet of the ballet:

Marcelo Gomes has joined Broadway Dance Lab as a guest choreographer: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1355162704/broadway-dance-lab-cycle-3/posts/1274037 The article also states that "his newest work, Aftereffect, will enter the repertoire of ABT in October 2015 at the David H Koch Theater at Lincoln Center in New York City." Edited to add: Here's a YT snippet of that ballet:

Going back to Copeland's matinee, can someone who was there say if there was an announcement of any kind regarding Anderson and Wilkinson coming out at the bows? Or was there anything in the program (am guessing no)? I remember Anderson quite well from her dancing days, but if I was there I might not have recognized her and I'm sure I wouldn't have known that was Wilkinson. It would have been really nice for them to have been identified for the audience.

I really wish I could have been there last night. Gomes posted this funny little video on his Instagram, featuring the 2 Rothbart's: https://instagram.com/p/4VmCMYCuTj/

I could see Vladimir Malakov playing Nureyev. But, I have no idea if he can act.

The program would break down the casting for all of the acts. I'm sure it says Hammoudi for Purple Rothbart in Act III.

Zhurbin has always danced the other Rothbart (whom I call Swamp Monster). Did he really do PR?

Voltolini says explicitly that this is her last Met season w/ ABT. She's joining Staatsballett Berlin. https://instagram.com/p/2d_CuWjT2f/?taken-by=lucianavoltolini

You're not alone. I too am disgusted for all of the reasons you stated (and I'm certain, given other's comments on this board, that there are more of us). I'm absolutely dreading the next few weeks when we'll see the latest crop of departures and promotions (or lack thereof).

Wow, that's quite a handful. It's making me dread seeing which other corps members are leaving that must have warranted so many additions so soon.

So, here's a question: How is it that some of ABT's dancers have websites of their own that are FAR superior (more sophisticated, visual, etc.) than ABT's website? Whether or not these dancers funded the creation/management of the sites themselves or someone volunteered to do it, if they can find the means then why can't ABT do the same? http://www.marcelogomes.co/ http://www.isabellaboylston.com/ http://www.jameswhiteside.org/ http://www.mistycopeland.com/home.html Maybe their Head of Marketing or their Online Media Manager should get one of these dancers to hook them up with whoever did their website. Copeland's was done by http://www.starvingartistwebdesign.com/ which is a do-it-yourself'er. Their elite plan only costs $12.99/month for crying out loud. ABT, renew yourself by gettin' with the program.

Regarding Lane/Cornejo doing the fish dives: Because Lane/Cornejo have done the fish dives in performance before, in the old Kirkland SB for one, without any difficulties.

So very sad to read this. My condolences to his friends and family and to NYCB. He was a beautiful man.

Gorak isn't doing SL. Whiteside is dancing with Copeland.

Definitely! Add to that a 21st century website and an app that works!

It was believed that Kent was injured early in the season, as Murphy replaced her in Pillar of Fire. I don't remember if it was announced that Kent had an injury per se, but that's most likely the reason. Maybe she still hadn't recovered.

Magnificent! Congratulations to him! So well deserved.

Thank you for posting the link. It really is the end of an era with Kent retiring. I hope she stays on as a coach and teacher. It was no surprise, but still sad to see the difference between her interaction with Mckenzie and his interaction with Reyes and Herrera during their farewells.

I agree with all of this. Though we really didn't need that YT video to know they sell performers. If they didn't, they wouldn't post casting (and advertise their star guest artists) months in advance. They'd follow the City Ballet model. They must think their audience is pretty stupid. I'd love to know what their Plan C is/would be if Seo wasn't available for all of these replacements. Heaven forbid someone else gets injured/sick for SL or Cinderella, will it be more Seo? Regardless of her ability or likability, it's a very poor business model to always rely on the same person. It goes way beyond giving a homegrown dancer another chance because other homegrown dancers should be able/prepared to step in as well.

Yes, and so is Murphy and they dance together regularly. I don't see why Murphy couldn't have stepped in. I sure hope Seo gets through the season without injury. She's turning out to be the MVP whether folks like it or not. (I'm sure there will be a lot of angry folks at the ballet tonight.)

Yes, pretty please!

Whoa. Not cool in my opinion.

I'm a bit perplexed by Perron's review. She's entitled to her opinion of course but I've never read a ballet review whose main critique was that it didn't spark dialogue about "life's dilemmas" and have more than one "single message". As others have said, I too go to the ballet to be entertained and to relish in the beauty of the art form. Why is this escape from all of our worries, hardships and the world's problems a bad thing? Art does and can imitate life, but must that be a requirement for it to be valid and important? If Perron goes to see Giselle to better understand how to deal with her mistakes, then that's her prerogative, and I've certainly learned a thing or two about myself from a dance piece or a painting or a great film. But when I'm debating which cast to see in Swan Lake, I'm looking for which dancers will best embody the main roles, in my opinion, not which dancers (or which production) will help me deal with my personal issues. A self-help book would be a heck of a lot cheaper than a ticket at the Met.