BalletontheRocks

Something I've wondered about for awhile--photos and videos from SAB make it clear that there is a high percentage of Asian dancers in the children's division, yet few to none have made it into the company. The racial makeup of SAB classes changes a lot when going through the years.

SAB also recently announced three new apprentices on their instagram: Shelby Mann, Dominika Afanasenkov (who was also featured on On Pointe), and Anna Snellgrove. Congratulations to all!

Megan Fairchild posted on her Instagram this morning that she is expecting twins in April: https://www.instagram.com/p/CKjMD1cgmEP/ Congratulations to her! Edit: she mentioned in a comment on the post that the twins are both girls

Week 6 casting is up; not a single debut.

I'm surprised to see that Ashley Hod is not among those receiving promotions; I thought she would be promoted back when Woodward and Phelan were. On another note: am I correct in sensing that NYCB is slower at promoting dancers than they used to be? It seems that many current principals (and those who have recently retired) were mostly promoted to soloist after two years, and then principal in two more. There are people in the corps who are likely going to be promoted eventually (or were just promoted with this batch) who have already been in the company 4+ years. It doesn't seem that anyone within the last five years has received a promotion within two or three years of joining the company.

I'm surprised to not see Ashley Hod's name among the promotions. She, Unity Phelan, and Indiana Woodward joined the company close to each other and have debuted many of the same roles.

Mary Thomas MacKinnon, Olivia MacKinnon's younger sister, is also a new apprentice. Not sure if there are any others.

Per some SAB students' Instagrams, it appears that Nieve Corrigan is now an apprentice with NYCB. Congratulations!

Week 5 casting is up: http://www.nycballet.com/NYCB/media/NYCBMediaLibrary/PDFs/Press/Casting/NYCB-Casting_Dec-19-24,-2016_lobby.pdf Lots of debuts! Aaron Sanz and Harrison Coll as Cavalier, Emily Kikta and Isabella LaFreniere as Dewdrop, and Olivia MacKinnon and Jenelle Manzi as Coffee. Some of the people who debuted last year are getting second chances in their roles-Ashley Hod, Indiana Woodward, and Unity Phelan are all doing Sugarplum.

Forgive me if this is a stupid question as I don't know as much about ABT as I do other companies, but why do they have both a studio company and apprentices? It seems that companies usually have one or the other, not both. In my opinion it seems to draw out the hiring process too long. I guess I'm of the thought that you either "have it" or you don't. It's interesting to compare this process to that of other companies, such as NYCB which has a very strong 'sink or swim' type of philosophy.

Wasn't she already married? Did she get a divorce previously?

Posted on Alec Knight's Instagram: https://instagram.com/p/7D0nCcxlr-/?taken-by=alecknight Congratulations to Alston! That brings the total up to 7 apprentices

Christopher Grant spent another year at SAB and became an apprentice after this year's workshop.

Jordan Miller also became an apprentice at the same time and did not seem to progress, so I did some searching. Both Miller and Aldrich's Facebook profiles publicly state that their apprenticeships ended in January of this year. Jordan Miller's lists Ballet Next as a place of employment, but previously listed beginning college this fall. Daniela Aldrich is apparently going to be beginning college this fall.

I would also say I'm a "front and center" type of person. It's worth the extra money for me, especially at NYCB, because I can recognize most of the dancers by face so I like to sit close enough to be able to see faces and know who is dancing. It feels more personal and exciting to me, and is easier to pick out the differences between dancers and decide who I like better in a particular role and who in the corps I want to see more of. I think it also provides some more nuances in the partnering and choreography that you might miss out of further back, but I acknowledge that are are also benefits to sitting in the back

It doesn't seem that this is covered by one person any more. Looking at the website, it seems that who writes about dance depends on where that article appears (i.e. things to do, music and dance, etc). Zachary Lewis appears to write for dance articles that appear in the Music and Dance section. His bio lists him as a music critic, but he apparently covers the whole category, likely because it is almost all music and no dance (due to the Cleveland Orchestra). Donald Rosenberg has written some dance articles as well.

Hello! My name is Emily, and I'm a college student from the Cleveland area (originally from here, go to college about 45 minutes away), and I study geology (as evidenced by the username). I'm no longer a dancer (was for about 10 years but never very seriously) but will be starting ballet again in the fall. My main interests in ballet come as a serious fan. I don't get as much ballet here as I would like (Cleveland Ballet is no longer here, we only have a few small contemporary companies). The company I have the most interest in (by far) would be New York City Ballet. I saw them at Lincoln Center this past spring season and again last weekend at SPAC. I am also involved with a local organization called Ballet in Cleveland which is dedicated to bringing classical ballet dancers to Cleveland! This October we are having the Ashley Bouder Project where she and some fellow NYCB principals are coming to Cleveland to perform. I've been a lurker on Ballet Alert for awhile but just now registered!