ABT Fan

I am waiting with baited breath to hear about Abrera's Giselle tonight. I so wish I could be there. Will be anxiously awaiting all of the detailed reviews.

As many have said, these cast changes are mind boggling. It would have been one thing if it were say Murphy who was filling in for all of those performances (a super strong and capable principal), but even for her that kind of work load is dangerous. I can't imagine Seo handling all of that, and without getting injured. Does McKenzie think if he works her like a dog, she'll finally get stronger? Or does he see no fault with her and thinks we all feel the same? It's a terrible shame that a few soloists (and even Boylston) aren't given some of these opportunities. I'm just glad I haven't bought any tickets yet....

That's 2 Nikiyas, 2 O/Os and one Juliet. Maybe Gillian will get to dance Nikiya at the Met this year? I loved her interpretation in Sydney and was baffled that ABT was casting her only as Gamzatti.

Maybe O/O for Stella and Sarah? I wonder either of them have rehearsed (or performed) O/O in SL with other troupes?

Sarah Lane performed O/O with Angel Corella at Barcelona Ballet a few years ago. I would love, love, love to see her as Juliet.

I think my eyeballs just fell out of my head. Stella is finally getting Giselle?!

However, I worry that soon there will be practically no one left worth making the trip to see.

That is my fear too, especially once we see who is promoted or not (and hired or not) to fill the 3 principal female spots soon to open up.

"Once SYTYCD appeared I was so thrilled because finally there was a program, a national program in the US that was presenting dance at its best. It was getting a new generation excited about it, and it was a future for the form, and the possibility and the chance to achieve and be seen in a bright light. I was so thrilled. So for me participating in Season 11 is just a treat. I’m so glad that Nigel [Lythgoe] and the production company decided to pull dancers from major companies and pull them to the surface and say now we’re taking this to the next level and really incorporating ballet and other things into our shows."

That's nice to read. I remember Paloma Herrera and Jared Mathews/Yuriko Kajiya performing on the show, as well as other professionals.

It is Abrera who has danced Myrtha in Giselle with ABT, not Lane. This is stated on ABT's site.

She didn't do it to gain artistic credibility: the show gained artistic credibility by having her on it, just as they gain artistic credibility by having judges with experience in other forms of dance.

I didn't say that Copeland did this show to gain artistic credibility. I merely stated that she was a judge on the show. But, how do you know her intentions behind her appearance? Did she state them in an interview or in print somewhere? I'd be interested to know.

Misty's coworkers have expressed numerous nice messages on instagram and twitter supporting her during her O/O debut with Washington Ballet. This extended from principals to corps members from ABT.

I saw all of those nice messages as well.

Tiler Peck has also been on one of those dance reality TV shows. Nobody in classical ballet goes on those shows for artistic credibility.

Copeland has been a guest judge on the reality TV show So You Think You Can Dance.

I just wanted to reiterate abatt's reply. Yes, Misty has not just gotten O/O but Juliet, in R&J (a part Sarah learned awhile ago but has never performed). She is dancing it at the June 20th matinee. You can see that by looking at the ABT.org website (I don't know if they send you mail). She'll be dancing with Gorak who, based on his partnering skills I've seen, may have a hard time lifting her. Misty also got the lead in Rodeo. Stella has 1 lead in Cinderella and Sarah has 1 partially new Aurora (because it's Ratmansky's). I also find it tragic that Stella, who used to regularly perform Myrtha (but performed a tiny bit as Giselle at Works and Process), has now been reduced to dancing the peasant pas in Act 1. So Misty's casting is definitely more preferential than Sarah or Stella's.

Abrera still regularly dances Myrtha. She's scheduled to perform it again on May 26 and 27.

Copeland definitely gets preferential casting out of all of the other female soloists now. I don't need to repeat what Amour and Abatt have already stated, but she is getting the wealth of new principal roles, not Lane or Abrera.

I remember him. Wow, what a story. From ballet to boot camp.

Thanks for posting such a great article. Though the abundance of typos drove me crazy.

The parts of him with the little ballet students was so adorable (and next to them he looked like a giant!).

Casting for their gala on May 18 has now been posted online. Maybe because this is for their 75th anniversary, but they've listed far more dancers than usual for a gala. All of the soloists (except Hammoudi, but maybe that's an oversight) and even a handful of corps dancers.

I also think that along with Brandt, Cassandra Trenary will be on the fast track to soloist. Both, if time were to be invested in them, could dance with Simkin and Cornejo.

Definitely. And, Copeland can certainly dance w/ Cornejo, but not Simkin, even though height-wise it would work. She's way too strong for him.

I also hope Forster and Royal will be made soloists soon.

I agree Copeland will be made a principal, most likely either during or right after the Met season. And, probably Hammoudi at the same time. Gorak is absolutely principal material and is on the fast track. But, I'd be surprised if they promoted him this year since it was only last year that he was promoted to soloist.

Speaking of Simkin. Is he out for some reason? I don't see his name except for the one "Fancy Free" and the one "Swan Lake". Did I miss something? Also, I think we can look to see Skylar Brandt moved up soon as she is a very capable dancer and small enough to dance with either Simkin or Gorak. Shevchenko also looks small to my eye. Personally, I also love Nicole Graniero, but don't know if she will move any time soon.

Simkin isn't cast for much, and wasn't last season either. His size and partnering difficulties make him hard to cast.

Shevchenko is too tall to dance with either Simkin or Cornejo. Brandt has performed w/ Simkin before while guesting. Back in December they did Flames of Paris in Italy: http://www.daniilsimkin.com/photo-1-show-down-2-more-to-go-with-robertobolle-friends-here-at-the-teatro-regio-teatroregiotorino-in-torino-from-left-to-right-sarah-lamb-frederico-bonelli-yours-truly-daniil-skylar/. So maybe we'll see them together at ABT someday.

The substitutes for lead roles at ABT are always people who are scheduled to perform the role already during the ABT season. The leads are assigned the dates they must be on standby in the theater. Hee Seo didn't just happen to be hanging around the MEt the night Gillian got injured, and agree to go on out of the goodness of her heart. It was her assigned duty. It's not like understudies used in the theater or "covers" for the opera, who never appear in a role unless someone gets sick or injured.

Abatt, regarding Seo, I didn't say she was just hanging around the theatre and went on out of the goodness of her heart. Of course she was an understudy. That was my point. It was also my point that she had to jump in for Gillian at a moments notice and that's precisely why an understudy is needed. I strongly doubt that a star dancer scheduled for Bayadere will be on call in the theatre as an understudy. That's what I was trying to say. So since it seems like only stars ( with maybe one exception, I can't access the schedule right now) are doing Nikiya, a regular dancer would have to know the part as well and be on call.

There could be someone under studying who has not done it. Lots of dancers learn roles and then for one reason or another don't get to do them. I don't know about his role specifically but it would surprise me if no one in the company knew it.

That's exactly what I've been thinking. How could no one else (meaning a "regular") been taught the role if only to sub in at a moments notice in case of injury. We saw last year how Seo had to jump in mid-performance for Murphy in SL when she got injured (but Seo performs this role regularly). I highly doubt ABT has a "star" sit in the theatre while another one performs as a back-up so why not further develop the regular who learned it and let them do it?

Ugh, this irritates me. Hasn't she backed out on ABT due to injury the last few years? Why can't they give one of their own dancers a Nikiya.

Seriously!

Orchestra Row F on the center aisle is a great location. Not too close at all. I prefer to sit even closer, but I like to see faces and feet.

Those slow motion effect are really driving me crazy. I hope that doesn't last for the whole documentary.

I don't care for it either. And, it reeks of pretentiousness.

Please, oh please, let Smirnova and Chudin NOT be replaced with more guest artists.

Adams and Sisk were Soloists. Is it common at this company to jump a rank (First Soloist) when promoted?

Congrats to all of them!

Murphy will not disappoint!