ABT Fan

Thanks Aurora. What a gorgeous photo of him!

Worst - ABT's The Tempest (exception: dancing by Lane and Gorak) Best - casting/dancing by some of ABT's up-and-comers in major roles: Gorak in Les Sylphides; Royal III in Piano Concerto #1; Boylston as Odette/Odile and Gorak in the pas de trois in Swan Lake; Shayer in Clear. And, fabulous performance by seasoned Part, Seo, Stearns and Zhurbin in Moor's Pavane.

Thanks for posting the link California. Nice to read that so many dance companies across the country get at least something.

One of the most incredible and disturbing films I've ever seen. Hard to breathe during certain parts. I couldn't stop thinking about it for several days after. Couldn't recommend it highly enough.

Absolutely agree! Adding that to my wish list too.

My wish list for ABT. Dancers: Cast Sarah Lane as Juliet, Cinderella (spring Met season), - and make her a principal Cast Joseph Gorak as Prince in Cinderella (w/ Lane in spring Met season) - and make him a soloist Ballets: Revive Paquita. Green Table (w/ Roman Zhurbin). New ballets: Dying Swan (w/ Veronika Part).

I think this reflects what's been going on in the rest of the world - entertainers (singers, movie stars) have been forging their own brands too. Dancers are now capitalizing on this. As far as dancers or companies losing their "style", I can see both sides of the argument for and against it. In general (and literally "in general"; I'm not saying this is a definite) a lack of style (or mannerisms even) can make it easier for dancers to pick up choreography more quickly, especially more modern choreography and make it easier on the choreographer in that he/she might have an easier time teaching it. However, if style is lost completely, we certainly lose the lovely nuances that each "style" provides. A more homogenized look, style, way of talking, way of dressing, etc. is certainly an affect of globalization in every area of life now. That's all I can muster at the moment.

Kent took two leaves-of-absences to have both of her children. But, since she was still an employee of the company, how can that slow down her seniority track and affect her salary? Is that a union thing?

Actually, if these salaries are based only on seniority and level, Kent should be earning more than Herrera (Kent joined the co earlier and has been a principal longer). I'm surprised Ratmansky earns so much in comparison to McKenzie, and I'm also surprised that Victor Barbee, the associate AD, isn't in the highest paid list. Anyone know who Rachel Pivnick is? Her name isn't listed on ABT's staff on their website. Those are some pretty high raises for some folks, from 2010 to 2011.

I couldn't agree more!

I have my speculations. I'd have to search for the link, but I read an article in Forbes years ago that said Julie Kent made about 175k then.

LA does not have a history of great support for dance, but they might find opportunities there -- e.g., Los Angeles Ballet (http://losangelesballet.org/) and Melissa Barak's new venture (http://barakballet.org/). They might also find some teaching opportunities at the new USC Glorya Kaufman School of Dance, which admits its first students in fall 2014: http://kaufman.usc.edu/ And there are at least part-time teaching possibilities at the huge number of colleges and universities in greater LA. Taylor and Marcovici could also work their way over to Ballet San Jose, for any number of things. A few NYCB dancers were featured in their recent gala and with Carreno now directing the company, he might want to snatch up some first rate talent for teaching, coaching, whatever.

Very surprising news. Taylor and Stafford are still quite young, but Taylor has plans to relocate so that makes sense.

At the Friends luncheon panel a year ago, she mentioned that she was briefly a member of the ABT corps. She made a comment about being in awe of Baryshnikov as a dancer during that time. But she apparently didn't stay long and I can't find exact dates anywhere. I was looking for an on-line source and this one mentions the ABT experience: http://www.aceshowbiz.com/celebrity/sarah_jessica_parker/biography.html That's what I thought. I've sometimes seen journalists write that a dancer danced or is dancing with "ABC" company when in fact that dancer is/was only a student with the ballet company's school. Unless back in 1976 Cincinnati Ballet was a pre-professional ballet company, she wouldn't have joined the company at the age of 11. (This isn't the Diaghilev era!) That bio was poorly written anyway, which leads me to think that the writer was most likely confused. SJP's bio on Wikipedia says she was a student at SAB: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarah_Jessica_Parker. I don't find Wikipedia the most reliable source, but I've read that in several other places. This is the first time I've heard that she was actually a professional ballet dancer.

I am pretty certain that SJP was never a professional ballet dancer. She studied at SAB, but that's it.

I agree abatt that their fall season this year was outstanding (even though I did not like Tempest). I wish I had seen Part in Sylphides since everyone has raved about her performance (even Macauley). I think most everyone danced superbly in the 2 shows I saw. I believe many of us have discussed this before, but it would suit the dancers well (and many in the audience) if ABT did more rep during the Met season. It's hard to grow if you spend most of your 8 weeks waving a flower back-and-forth (so to speak). I actually loved Citizen from a few fall seasons back; guess I'm in the minority. Would be great if they could also extend their fall season, but that might conflict with Nutcracker rehearsals.

I was at last night's performance and it was fantastic. Les Sylphides - I am so glad this was revived. One of my all-time favorite ballets. Hee Seo was lovely; adagio/lyrical dancing is definitely her forte, but she wasn't luxurious enough in Prelude. I wanted her to take a deep breath and let that breath move through her torso, port de bras and her head. Sarah Lane was gorgeous; perfect port de bras, light-airy jumps, but her penchees could have been lower and deeper. Isabella Boylston did a very nice job; I didn't see too many broken wrists that others have talked about here. Most of her arm placements were what they should have been for Fokine. But, the wonder of the ballet was Joseph Gorak. He had some nervous energy to start, but settled in. He is a young David Hallberg - in physique and technique and potential. He had the right command here and was a secure, confident, strong partner; he was very engaged with Boylston during their pas. He dances like a seasoned soloist (despite his nervousness at first). And, I must acknowledge the corps who were obviously very well-rehearsed. Their port de bras were perfectly matched and they had the right Fokine style. A beautiful performance. The Moor's Pavane - first time I've seen this. It's so affecting and emotionally wrenching. Roman Zhurbin was a potent Moor; here is a corps dancer among 3 principals and he held the stage. His eyes pierced through the audience every time he looked forward. Hee Seo was perfect as the Moor's Wife - innocent and delicate. Cory Stearns really excels in the dramatic ballets; he and Zhurbin were a force together. Veronika Part was delicious as the Friend's scheming Wife. Gong - I loved this! Great to see so many principals and soloists in one piece. The 2 pas de deux's in silence were almost startling. Gillian Murphy, James Whiteside (he has taken everything on so well) and Misty Copeland really stood out for me. Really liked the crazy, colorful costumes (except the fact that Xiomara Reyes' costume was the same color as the backdrop so she practically disappeared) and the ending (very Balanchine). A nice surprise announcement after the final ballet's (Gong) curtain calls - Cory Stearns came out onstage dressed in street clothes with a microphone to ask the audience to please donate to Dancer's Responding to Aids (dancers with buckets were in the lobby to take donations). He gave a great, short speech for a often-forgotten cause nowadays.

"The nominees for the fourth annual Clive Barnes Awards for young actors and dancers were announced Tuesday by the Clive Barnes Foundation, which was established in 2009 to administer the prize." "The dance nominees are Talli Jackson, of the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company, Lloyd Mayor and Xiaochuan Xie, both of the Martha Graham Dance Company, and Calvin Royal III, of American Ballet Theater." Congratulations to all the nominees! Mr. Royal is surely on the up-and-up. http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/11/05/nominees-named-for-clive-barnes-awards/?ref=dance

Simkin used white make-up Saturday night. Since Ariel is a spirit it made sense to me, and wearing a white unitard so he was all one color. I assume Shayer wore the white unitard too? I'm so glad to hear Shayer was so great in this role; he was so impressive in Clear. It's not easy to follow Simkin.

Puppytreats, it was fruit, a cornucopia. But again, why?

I was there Saturday night and left with mixed feelings. T&V was anticlimactic. Seminova was lovely but not fantastic. Stearns struggled with stamina and strength more than technique I thought. Near the end he had a pained smile on his face. Even when he'd exit the stage he'd drop his form and energy before being fully off the stage. Yuriko Kajiya as a Demi-soloist was beautiful. Eric Tamm in the corps looked good but his long hair flopped around so much it was distracting. I liked the new gold costumes for the leads but not the red for the corps; they looked garish. I love Clear and remembered it well from a performance at City Center years ago. Radetsky was very good but his technique has diminished; I'd say he's past his prime. He's had some knee problems so perhaps that's the problem. I also think he's overdone the upper body weight lifting. His shoulders and trap muscles are too bulky and lack the suppleness ballet dancers need. Being shirtless only accentuates this of course. Craig Salstein was excellent - very sharp and full of personality. Gabe Shayer, wow! What leaps, technique, and maturity for a 20 yr old! Thomas Forster - I finally see what others have been raving about. He has an enormous jump that's plush and very controlled. Beautiful feet. Wonderful technique. I've just not seen him dance much to get a good look at him before. I also like the costumes and don't think they make anyone look fat. Great innovative choreography. Tempest- don't know what else I can add that others haven't already said. I did not like it. A great disappointment. The music was awful, mostly undanceable. There were sections with an organ and the choir singing "Ahhhhhhhhhhh" that drove me insane. It was grating. The organ was completely unmelodic. Despite reading the program notes several times before the piece started, the story was very unclear on stage. The set of the ship wreck kept moving around the stage every once in awhile for no reason other than to create movement or action. Marcelo Gomes looked like a very buff Jesus Christ with the wig and beard and especially when he put the crown on near the end. But he danced and partnered Sarah Lane wonderfully, as usual. Lane was terrific. She always is. Lovely, musical, technically assured. Joseph Gorak was perfect as the young suitor. Why oh why hasn't he been promoted yet? Herman Cornejo did what he could. He danced well but this didn't show off his talents to their best. Daniil Simkin was the star of this piece deservedly. The character and quicksilver choreography laced with dizzying leaps suited him well. He stayed in character throughout. But I felt embarrassed for him when he had to come out wearing the female breast plate - that made no sense to me. But I guess neither did most of the piece! I really want to see Dream in the spring but can't bear the thought of sitting through Tempest again.

Not showing in NYC, bummer.

There are two sides to every story, and I for one don't know the RB's version. If Cojocaru left because of Mason, they why did she go a year after Mason retired? Because O'Hare was/is consistent with Mason's policies and wouldn't cast her much either? If so, then why wasn't O'Hare also mentioned for her reason for leaving? Maybe she felt such bad blood that even a change in leadership wouldn't help and a fresh start was the only way she could move forward? I'm just a little skeptical when someone claims that the reason why they left a company didn't even exist anymore by the time that they did. Nevertheless, if she was told by Mason that the reason for her not being cast as Aurora was because of her lack of the "Royal Ballet style", that is utter hogwash for the reasons Helene already mentioned.

This review ranks alongside the one of the Joffrey Ballet in Ohio about a month ago. My "favorite" part: ""Rubies" was breathtaking...with long-legged prances en pointe...." What exactly are "long-legged prances en pointe"? And, what would be the opposite of that? Short-legged prances en pointe?! At least this is good for a laugh!

Thanks abatt. I agree that Fairchild is an excellent choice for this role. Besides his dancing, he has that charming charisma that Gene Kelly had which is perfect. I guess this would take him out of NYCB for a season (or 1/2 a season depending on how long he commits to the role in NYC). But, I think this musical would be fantastic on Broadway. I'm there!