ABT Fan

Thank you for publishing the clip of Lorna Feijoo. What a glorious upper body and port de bras she has!

Pardon my naivete, but Is it possible that Osipova's move to RB creates more opportunities for ABT to revamp its lineup of principals (many of whom are leaving or have left) and promote new talent? In other words, win-win-win for all involved-RB-Osipova-ABT?

Osipova is still going to dance w/ ABT at the Met Season; how many performances I don't think anyone knows yet (I know some folks discussed on an early page possible conflicting seasons with ABT vs RB, but I haven't been able to find them). She never danced in ABT's fall season but did tour with them - and how her tour performances w/ them will be affected is I believe still not certain.

I don't think it could ever be a black or white win-win-win - what is a "win" for another dancer getting a new opportunity isn't necessarily a "win" for ABT. If she doesn't perform that much w/ ABT starting next season, then of course that opens up opportunities for others (seasoned principals and/or soloists), but she is arguably the biggest box office draw right now for a ballerina so ABT won't necessarily "win" if her performances become very limited with them.

Not sure which principals you're referring to as "many of whom are leaving or have left"? Not many have left recently - not females anyway. A lot have cut back on their performances w/ ABT as they have other company obligations now (Murphy), or due to age or impending retirement (Kent, Dvorovenko). But, promoting new talent is something that remains illusive at ABT - well, rare is probably a better way of putting it. Osipova performing less often w/ ABT certainly won't directly translate into a soloist getting promoted to principal. It might help. But, ABT can also go out and get yet another female principal guest artist (or permanently hire one) from another company to fill in for roles Osipova would normally perform, thus removing opportunities for a soloist (and one who needs that opportunity in order to get promoted).

Oh my! I love love love Gomes as a dancer (and as a partner) - he's truly gifted and one of my all time favorites. But, as a choreographer, he stinks.

It's not enough to have beautiful dancers - himself, Finlay and Copeland. Not for me anyway. I couldn't even finish watching the tapes of Gomes and Copeland dancing - the choreography for them looks very similar, in the first few minutes anyway.

Did Finlay have to go to the bathroom? (Why did his hands keep covering up his "parts"?) And, what was wrong with his wrist that he had to keep grabbing it? (This is what was going through my mind. Was that Gomes' intention... for us to think Finlay needed to relieve himself and that his wrist hurt?)

Stupid, pretentious, trite, juvenile and appears nothing more than doing something different just for the sake of doing something different. Sorry folks, I cannot say anything nice about this choreography.

I like Misty's dancing, but she seems to be the most aggressive self-promoter in the dance ranks today -- Dr. Pepper, modelling, books, lots of Twitter, etc. Is this the best way to get MacKenzie's attention for more/better roles and promotion? Is she trying to make up for her late start (age-wise) in ballet? Does this reflect her southern California home environment, where aggressive self-promotion is the norm in the entertainment industry? No matter how well-organized she is, this has to be taking time away from serious coaching and the hard work it takes to get ahead and be promoted to principal, at ABT (or elsewhere?). I'm curious if others have the same impression.

I disagree with labeling Misty "the most aggressive self-promoter". Of course, I don't know first hand what her intentions are or not, but to me I see her various activities as merely taking advantage of digital media and the growing interest in dance these days (dance on its own and using dance in media) for other reasons than getting promoted to Principal. It's a chance to make some more money which, let's face it, most dancers could use (even a soloist with ABT), plus she's spoken many times in interviews about her wanting to be a positive role-model for minority girls who want to study or pursue ballet as a career, especially African-American girls. Being in a commercial for a well-known product (with her voice-over talking about the Boys and Girls club and making ballet accessible to "everyone") certainly puts her face out there for hopeful minority girls. How often do we see images of professional minority ballerinas? I have a feeling that she's been sought out aggressively to BE this role model. The time is ripe for it. Also, she has come across to me in her interviews as not only well-spoken but very smart and self-aware. So, I don't get the impression that her media activities are an attempt to get promoted - I think she's smart enough to know that that won't do it.

Though I agree that she seems to be the most visible these days, other dancers, as Helene has mentioned, have also been exploring media and other outlets over the years. Julie Kent was a print model for Coach many years back. Daniil Simkin is a prolific Twitter user, as are many other dancers. Alex Wong (from Miami City Ballet) and Danny Tidwell (from ABT) were on So You Think You Can Dance several seasons ago. That exposure arguably worked well for Alex who developed quite a following and who went on to become part of the Newsies Broadway cast.

I think it's something to consider that most of us (dancers and non-dancers) realize that we live in a media-driven world, for better or for worse. It can be worth your while to jump on the bandwagon no matter what your profession is. And, for dancers who have such short careers, getting involved in different mediums/areas now while they're still at the height of their performing career, can bode well for them when it comes time to retire and they already have other "career" experience in something else, whether that be in writing books, modeling, digital media, etc. Opportunities for retired dancers have expanded vastly in the past several years. No longer is coaching and teaching the only route, especially for women. Ellen Bar, who was a soloist with NYCB, started getting involved with film-making before she retired and was able to transition immediately to NYCB's director of media projects upon leaving the stage.

Perhaps all of Misty's ventures are just a way to do more now than simply performing. I don't think it makes her any less committed to her craft (not now anyway). Who knows - she may realize that her chance of being promoted are nil, so she's going to do the best with what she has now and make the most of any other opportunities that come her way.

I think Misty would make a fantastic Nikiya, Myrtha and Kitri!

She has also done a recent Diet Dr. Pepper commercial: http://www.drpepper.com/video/.

I couldn't get the above link to work, so here's another link to the story on Yahoo:

http://news.yahoo.com/ballet-dancer-misty-copeland-2-book-deal-174419651.html

While I'm hesitant to say that I'm happy with this announcement (because that sounds snarky and unkind and I wish only the best for Irina), I'm pleased that this means (hopefully) that there will be room for a soloist to be promoted who has labored for too long in that role (because haven't most of them?). Especially, since for whatever reason, Irina hasn't performed much in recent years.

It would have been nice if Irina and Max could have done a retirement gala together - why couldn't they have waited to announce Max's retirement a little so they could have made a joint announcement at least? Max has performed even less frequently than his wife, so perhaps he's injured/out of shape/already "retired" and so a joint retirement gala wouldn't have been possible for him. A Swan Lake farewell would have been appropriate.

In any case, I wonder if they'll do any teaching/coaching at ABT? I've seen them on teacher's rosters elsewhere (of course now I can't remember where).

This is truly unbelievable. I had no idea things could get so.....crazy and disgusting over there. Very interesting to read Ratmansky's comments in the NY Times article today. Perhaps this is why he really left.

Wow. No announcement or anything... However, I personally see his retirement as a positive. Up and coming Corp/ Soloist members can be given more chances to move up in the ranks. I wouldn't be sad to see Irina follow suit to be honest. At most, she dances 2-3 times a year. So far for this year, ABT has posted the upcoming schedule for the upcoming 7 months, and she has 1 performance.

I agree completely with you Plisskin.

Not too surprising to me. He's barely danced in the last couple of years, so I can understand there being no retirement gala; I can't imagine it would sell out. I imagine some patrons would be thinking "Max Who?".

I noticed that Max is no longer listed on ABT's website as a principal. Must have happened very recently.

Well, the dust has settled and we are left with the following as the male principals contingent for 2012-13:

Beloserkovsky

Bolle

Cornejo

Gomes

Hallberg

Simkin

Stearns

Vasiliev

I agree with miliosr's prognosis.

I think this leaves the company in a very precarious position - heaven forbid Gomes becomes injured and is out for any length of time, who can step in? He has been carrying the load of male principal parts for some time, year-round. He is the best partner they have and in my opinion, the most versatile.

I really hope that the 2013 season is the last for Beloserkovsky. Sorry if that is harsh, but his salary would be better spent on someone who actually dances.

On a side note, I hope ABT nutures the younger guys who show a lot of potential right now. As this thread shows, the company needs to do a much better job of nuturing and developing talent and not letting dancers (male and female) stall in the corps or as soloists. Eric Tamm is opening Nutcracker (and performed the lead last year too) and has really shown that he is soloist material. Joseph Gorak also has the talent. I hope they don't languor in the corp.

Great news! Congratulations Daniil! I hope more promotions are soon to come at ABT.......

Thanks to everyone for their thoughts and good wishes.

I'm one of the lucky ones. I live in Astoria, Queens and never lost power, heat or hot water. No flooding by me either.

At least half of my co-workers weren't so lucky and are still without power and heat and overnight temperatures are now close to freezing. Several had to leave their homes due to damage from flooding. One co-worker who lives in Long Island City won't have power for at least another week. She and her husband stayed with me for 2 days before going to their in-laws in PA for some semblance of normalcy.

This is one time at least when I didn't think the media was exaggerating, but the attention hasn't been equally distributed; not even close. Many parts of Long Island have been ignored as has Westchester. Staten Island, Red Hood and the Rockaways haven't received enough coverage either and are still lacking basic necessities. Folks in these areas have lost everything.

I definitely have survivor's guilt. It's heartbreaking to see what my fellow NY'ers are dealing with.

I think in general that this is a great move for ABT. Although CC is smaller, I will miss it purely for the grand beauty that it is, especially now following their renovation.

I just hope that with moving to the Koch Theatre, ABT will still continue their fall tradition of showing only mixed repertory and not throw in any big full-length ballets since Koch will be able to handle those productions, obviously. I'm a big lover of the Swan Lake's and Giselle's, etc., but we get enough of those classics during the Met season. From what I've read here and heard elsewhere, the public (and I think the dancers too) and hungry for more mixed rep, so I hope that doesn't change.

"To have a ballet company that I love, perform in the David H. Koch Theater – which bears my name – that I am proud of, is a dream come true," reeks of ego and a desire to make it appear that he owns the building and everything in it. It's a horrifying contrast to funders such as Lincoln Kirstein who served the art and not the ego.

I nearly gagged when I read that. Koch doesn't own the theatre nor the ballet companies (or the other arts institutions) that perform there, no matter how large his contributions.

I was also at Thursday night’s performance and for the most part really loved it.

I hadn’t seen Leaves are Fading in many years, yet remember the central ppd virtually step by step. I had seen Amanda McKerrow perform it years ago (she and her husband, John Gardner, staged this) and she will probably be the standard to which I hold this. I thought Hee Seo and Roberto Bolle made a really nice pair and had some lovely moments, but I thought they were missing the yearning and subtlety that this ppd requires (especially Seo). It’s not about high extensions and big lifts, in my opinion. Once thing I loved about McKerrow’s performance, was how she and her partner were almost behind the music, as if reluctantly moving forward in order to savor every moment with their partner. That was missing with Seo/Bolle. And, I agree with DeCoster that Seo’s pointe work can be “clod-hoppy”. There were a few moments when her feet almost seemed to get stuck together on the floor after coming out of a turn or a big movement, as if on the verge of tripping over one of her feet. It’s a visually small error, but something only unseasoned dancers usually do. I’ve seen her do this in the past when she was still a soloist and in the corps, but she’s a principal now and should be more secure in her footwork. Other than that, she was quite lovely and her very long legs and arms made wonderful lines.

In the rest of Leaves, Sarah Lane and Daniil Simkin were wonderful together; they have really nice chemistry and their partnership is really moving along. Simkin’s partnering is getting better, but he still struggles with over-the-head-lifts; he thrusts his partner over his head with a tremendous amount of effort. Nevertheless, I’d love to see him and Lane do the central pdd in Leaves, after his lifting gets better. I think they’d be gorgeous. Lane has one of the most open faces I’ve ever seen on the stage; just lovely. Stella Abrera and Lane had a few nice moments together. Roman Zhurbin also stood out for me.

The world premiere of Symphony #9 was quite exciting, but I think it’s one of those pieces where you need more than one viewing to absorb it all, as there’s a LOT going on.

I didn’t like how it began – it seemed to start in “mid-sentence”, as if the preceding movement was left out. This will eventually be part of Alexei Ratmansky’s evening-length piece at the Met next spring, so maybe once it’s all put together it won’t look that way. In any case, the pace is mostly frenetic, with lots of dancers moving every which way. It was hard to watch any one dancer for long because they’d go offstage so quickly! Ratmansky’s patterns and use of the “corps” was wonderfully different and inventive. I liked how he’d have the male or female corps form different lines either on the side or back of the stage while Polina Semionova and Marcelo Gomes were dancing. This was my first time seeing Semionova dance – she’s so pretty and has gorgeous lines and technique. Her part w/ Gomes is heavy on partnering, so I look forward to seeing her dance some solos in the future. This is a great part for Gomes – he gets to show off his awesome partnering skills, and has some solo moments that display his technique and charisma. I also agree that Cornejo stole the show, and he had a lot of competition between Gomes, Craig Salstein and Simone Messmer. No doubt Ratmansky choreographed this to show off their best skills: Cornejo’s athleticism, coloring and nuance; Salstein’s tongue-and-cheek personality; Messmer’s quick footwork and sultry looks.

I was most looking forward to seeing Rodeo, which closed the program. I hadn’t seen this one in years either and had forgotten about the square dance section, which was charming. Who knew dancers could talk! This piece shows off Salstein the best – his huge personality, expressive eyes, and quick-wittedness are perfect for The Champion Roper. He and Marian Butler, as The Cowgirl, have terrific chemistry – they look like they’d be really good friends offstage – and had such a naturalness to their characters. Butler made me laugh and was heartbreaking when we see she realizes the Head Wrangler, Roman Zhurbin, will never love her. Zhurbin is such a great actor, and was the perfect combination of macho yet chivalrous suitor.

A wonderful evening but was surprised Rodeo didn’t get a bigger response from the audience during the bows. I’m saddened to hear that Cornejo injured himself yesterday. Here’s hoping for a speedy recovery!

I think Misty would make an excellent Kitri. Any suggestions for her Basilio?

I am impatiently waiting for Sarah Lane to be cast as Juliet - I think she would be incredible. Glad she has another Aurora coming up and some ppd's. But, is she following in Stella's footsteps to be a soloist forever?

Speaking of, Stella and Sascha don't appear to have been cast much in the Spring, although some casting, say for Symphony C, hasn't been announced yet.

Anyone know why Kristi Boone hasn't been dancing much for awhile? I assume she's been injured but I haven't heard. Her Siren in Prodigal Son a few years back was fantastic.

Hooray for Cornejo getting Albrecht!

I don't think its a matter of Marcelo denying himself or turning off his personal sexuality. I think he draws upon it to create a successful portrait of a person in love. I also think he really honestly cares about his female partners and about presenting them in the best light, which, for example, Polunin (a straight male dancer), clearly does not.

Well said! Couldn't agree more.

Thank you California for posting that wonderful clip!

I agree with GeorgeB fan that Marcelo's love for his partner is always evident and that he is the best male ballet partner today - at least the best that I have seen.

It's not just that Marcelo's partnering is flawless, strong and engaging, but that he doesn't differentiate between "dancing" and "partnering". With a lot of male dancers, even if they're good partners, there is an visual separation between when they do their own steps (as in "now I'm down stage right doing entrechats") and when they partner ("now I'm stage left spinning my ballerina"). With Marcelo I don't see that - they're one in the same (as they should be). To him, partnering IS dancing; there's a visual synergy. Sometimes with other male dancers, partnering sections look like something that they have to get through (or suffer through) in order to get to the "real" dancing.

I'll bet if ABT did a fund-raising auction where the highest bidder got a chance to dance with Marcelo at a gala dinner or something similar, the ladies (and probably quite a few gentlemen) would bust their coffers at the chance! And, if ABT has already done this, then shame on me for missing out!

From the New York Times:

September 18, 2012, 5:23 pm

Dance Magazine Names Lifetime Achievement Award Winners

By DANIEL J. WAKIN

Dance Magazine has named the winners of its annual lifetime achievement awards. They are Julie Kent, a principal dancer at American Ballet Theater; Renee Robinson, a member of the Alvin Ailey company since 1981; the tap dancer Dianne Walker; and the former New York Times dance critic Anna Kisselgoff. The honors will be bestowed on Dec. 3 at the Ailey Citigroup Theater.

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Congratulations to all!

I've been wondering if we'll soon be upon Julie Kent's retirement from ABT. Is this award a sign that the 2012-2013 season will be her last? She's always been one of my favorites - so lovely and such clean technique.

Renee Robinson is retiring at the end of this year from Alvin Ailey.

I'm not familiar with Dianne Walker.

Definitely miss Anna Kisselgoff's critiques!

Great to see Stearns cast as Iago (I assume). That's against type, in my opinion; nice challenge.

Wonderful about Lane getting Stars/Stripes.

Strange to see so many of the principals missing from the CC season (which was already announced), but at the same time I love getting to see the soloists and some corps members in more prominent roles.

I second that! And, great to see that they're honoring a dancer this year. I think a Swan Lake ppd (especially the Black Swan ppd) would be an appropriate on-stage tribute for Markarova.

I agree...or Other Dances, which was created for Makarova & Baryshnikov by Robbins (the latter two being past KC Honorees).

Yes - that would be terrific too!

I second that! And, great to see that they're honoring a dancer this year. I think a Swan Lake ppd (especially the Black Swan ppd) would be an appropriate on-stage tribute for Markarova.

"Cory Stearns: Cory is developing - his Albrecht with Hee Seo showed strong improvement as an interpreter and in his technique. He has beautiful line and finishes his steps elegantly. He isn't flashy but has a long-limbed open lyrical style of dancing that has potential. I did not see his Romeo this year but did see the Siegfried and Conrad partnering Veronika Part. This is not a good combination. Her authority, womanliness and depth make him seem very bland and boyish - totally callow and out of his league. That is IT right now for the regular male principals. Let's talk about the male guests who papered over the cracks:

On the soloist level: Gennadi Saveliev is leaving which leaves us with:

Alexandre Hammoudi: Just promoted. Needs a lot of coaching. The charisma is there but not the technique. Not the greatest actor too though he looks great onstage.

Jared Matthews: Did a lot of fine work this season - particularly as Lensky in the "A-list" opening night cast of "Onegin" Losing the blandness and dancing better than ever. Go Jared!

Sascha Radetsky: Going nowhere at ABT - should possibly consider leaving ABT with his wife and seeing if San Francisco Ballet will take them.

Craig Salstein: I love him but not principal material Superb comedian and very versatile stylistically. His Mercutio showed what a fantastic dancer he is.

Daniil Simkin: I did not see the Siegfried with Boylston but read the reviews. Seems that he still feels and looks very young onstage. A boy wonder, not a danseur noble. Can do anything with his legs he wants to but is not yet a complete artist. Still he has done well in enough roles (Prodigal Son, Puck in "The Dream", Franz in "Coppelia") that he is worth continuing to develop. He will be promoted and soon.

Lots of potential soloists still in the corps: Mikhail Ilyin, Joseph Gorak (breakthrough season for him), Joseph Phillips, Arron Scott, Thomas Forster and Eric Tamm (he hasn't done much this season). I would like to see more of Roman Zhurbin, Roddy Doble and Vitali Krauchenka in real dancing solo roles rather than mime heavies. They could take over some of Gennadi's old assignments. I also would like to see more of Luis Ribagorda (I liked his Neapolitan dance in "Swan Lake" Act III.)"

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I agree with much of the above.

Cory is developing, but is not nearly strong enough in technique or partnering to be considered a "war horse" principal.

I think Gennadi's departure will really be felt. He was terrific in character parts that also required a good amount of solid dancing. He wasn't always exciting (but sometimes really was) but he was extremely reliable and solid.

Sadly, I agree that Sascha/Stella have been going nowhere and perhaps it's time they move on before they get too old. Though the obvious difficulty in getting principal jobs together at the same company is perhaps why they've stayed at ABT so long. I can't help but wonder if Sascha's going to Dutch Nat'l Ballet as a principal was his last ditch effort to be taken seriously by ABT and get promoted. I love them both and will never understand why Stella wasn't promoted years ago.

Daniil, is a boy wonder but he should not be promoted any time soon. His partnering skills are scary and he needs to start performing with more maturity (and less mugging).

Gorak and Tamm should be promoted to Soloist level. I thought seasons ago that Hoven was also Soloist material, but I'm afraid his chance has been lost, as too much time has gone by.