LadyBubbles

Usually they're announced at the end of the MET season. Normally shortly before July. Two years ago there was a delay, allegedly due to Part "retiring" from ABT. I fully expect Bell to be promoted to soloist this year, and maybe another corps male too. The female soloist rank is nicely packed with great talent. I don't expect any female corps dancers to be promoted this year based on last year's promotions and Paris's successful return. Promotions to principal: I agree that it's very likely that they'll poach a veteran dancer. They should promote a male soloist, but I'm not too optimistic about it. As for the women, if they promote to principal, I'd expect either just Trenary or both Brandt and Trenary. This is based on their casting decisions. Management seems to prefer Trenary, although I personally prefer Brandt. However, if they do promote, that'd be a lot of women in the principal rank. I expect some retirements in the not so distant future, so it's possible they'll wait until then.

Le Corsaire update: Cornejo is still in (for now, fingers crossed). Gonzalez is out. Replaced with Hoven. I think Gonzalez was replaced last week as well, so it might be an injury. I hope it's not serious.

And who just had a baby a year ago.

Not sure if this was mentioned already, but Copeland is no longer listed for Whipped Cream. Luciana Paris is going instead (like on tour). Good for Paris.

Lane posted her schedule on FB and IG. She's playing Mrs. Fairfax. It's been a while since I read the book. She's Rochester's housekeeper, right?

McMillan's R&J + Giselle. I'd say she's definitely trying to get hired by a more classical oriented company rather than get re-hired by NYCB. If she's going to join a company for next season, we should find out between now and June/July-ish. Unless she gets hired mid season, but I'd think a company director would want someone who hasn't been part of a company for a long time to have as much company training + rehearsal time as possible. We shall see where KMo ends up.

That is correct. Brandt, Lane, Boylston, and most likely others have sought private coaching, mainly to learn and/or improve on certain roles. Irina Kolpakova can only work so many hours with each dancer, so some dancer see private coaching as the way to go. I commend these dancers for being so proactive and investing in their careers, even though it should be ABT's job to sure that their dancers are as prepared as they can be for a role.

Her hyperextension is quite pronounced. Something interesting the coach said in the comments: " Misty wears pointe shoes mainly to keep the skin on her feet conditioned, because she doesn’t take company class, or any other classes. " So, is she taking a solo class with him instead of company class at ABT? Interesting. Well, if it helps her technique then good for her. He also says he's preparing her for SL and Manon. I can't make it to NYC this year, but hopefully some of you guys can check out her SL and report any progress you see. Back to Whipped Cream, good for Luciana Paris. I'm glad she gets to do a principal role.

Thanks for the awesome report ksk04. To answer your question, Gonzalez is also cast as Lankendem in Le Corsaire at the MET.

Congrats to Gillian and Ethan. Sad that I won't be able to watch Murphy perform next year, but I'm very glad that it's for that reason. I was concerned when she was replaced in Nutcracker and worried that injury was the issue. I'm so happy it's not the case. Also, so glad I made it to her Don Q performance this past MET season.

I really hope no one is injured. Yes, a lot of torch lifting for Hoven. At least he's partnering two small girls though.

Very ABT perhaps, regarding her rep preference, but it's not like ABT has a shortage of women at the moment. Lots of talent and variety in both the principal and soloist rank. I doubt she'd want to be back in the corps. To be honest, and not to be offensive, but if ABT were to hire her as a soloist or principal, my thoughts would be that they want another "celebrity" ballerina in its ranks, which isn't entirely cool. She doesn't have Misty Copeland's reach and popularity, but they might see potential marketing there. NYCB: The main reason she stood out at NYCB is because her strengths were not what NYCB stood for. Could she handle the hard core Balanchine rep or would they want her for the more classical rep only? Would they be okay with that? If I were either company's AD, my biggest concern in hiring someone in her situation is the fact that she hasn't danced on stage with a professional company in 8 years, going on 9 now. Yes, I know she left in 2012, but I don't believe she danced after the spring or summer of 2010 due to her thyroid condition. She could always join smaller companies, where the lighter work load could allow her to continue working on other projects and she wouldn't be required to go from zero to 100 after such a long break. Yes, I know she's back in the studio, but not full on training and rehearsing while dealing with company 'stuff'. Only the future will tell where she ends up.

Schedule now posted on the ABT site.

There was a 25% discount offered by ABT, but it's no longer valid. I just checked and discounted tickets are available on Goldstar.com Sign up with an account and search "Whipped Cream" (make sure your location is NY). All shows are currently available. It's been a while since I've bought anything on Goldstar since I now purchase in advance, but I believe you can't pick a specific seat, only the theater section.

Thanks for the link Laurel. If I land early on Friday, I'll try to catch Seo's debut. I don't think I'll make it, but I might be able to get an earlier connection. It's not the first time Lane opens up about getting very nervous for performances. I hope both ladies have a great debut. Some more casting updates: Teuscher has now been pulled from tomorrow's matinee show. She's still on the schedule for the Saturday evening show, so I hope that means it's nothing serious and she's just preventing a bigger injury. It's double duty day for Abrera on Wednesday. She's performing Mercedes in both the matinee and evening show.

Off Instagram: Teuscher won't be performing Queen of Dryads tonight. Katherine Williams will perform instead. Good for K. Williams. She's had a great season. Abrera is dancing Mercedes. Hopefully Teuscher's not injured and this is just a precautionary measure.

It's really hard to tell because the video quality isn't great and she's in constant motion. As she lands the first jete, I can briefly see her hair and it looks too dark to be Trenary's. However, I can't tell whether that's Stella either. I too hope it's Stella. I guess we'll find out next week.

Uncut version on her FB page https://www.facebook.com/sarahlaneps103/?refid=52&__tn__=C-R

Corps dancer Kelley Potter is retiring at the end of the MET season. This according to the latest Instagram live (watch it while it's still available). She talks in detail about the challenges of being a mom and a full time ballet dancer at the same time.

IG stories alert: is that Trenary rehearsing Queen of Dryads (my phone is being weird and I can't make out her face). That's fantastic. I wonder who she's splitting Mercedes with? Didn't Part perform just Dryads last year too? They'll need to cast an extra tiny Amour 😄.

I see that Lane has been posting rehearsal footage on her IG stories. It looks like she's going for gimmicks in the fouettes (standard singles with a few doubles with the fan over the head and hand on her hip). I hope she doesn't regret it. I'll be holding my breath for the whole 32 music counts. When Murphy does gimmick fouettes I feel at ease, but with everyone else I get anxious. Looking forward to my short stay in NYC again. It better not rain and thunder like there's no tomorrow this time 😁

True. Last year she withdrew from a lot of shows (the early Whipped Cream run, Myrta, Medora, O/O, her second Kitri, maybe others I can't recall). Remember that she had been injured since January, and then aggravated her injury during Don Q. She hasn't pulled out of any shows so far, I think. I know she's not the rock solid technician she was 10 years ago, or even 5 years ago, but hopefully she'll make it through the MET season without injury. I bet she wants to perform what could be her final go at O/O. She's been very injury prone lately and is 39, so retirement could come at any moment, sadly. Even if she stays active, she might start retiring roles to help her stay healthy. Don Q is what I'm most worried about tbh. She's scheduled for 2 shows and it's a very technically demanding role. If she can't perform her second show, I hope ABT at least has a good replacement lined up (maybe Shevchenko again? No Seo or Copeland please).

I don't see why Murphy would pull out after the second act. She did a few years ago because she hurt her ankle during the second act. She's been healthy this season so far, so I hope she stays healthy (knock on wood).

You all know how we wondered about corps dancer Gisele Bethea? Well, she appears to have gotten engaged. She's very young, but congrats to her. If she plans on returning to ballet, I hope she can heal from whatever injury she's battling. No idea whether her engagement has anything to do with her absence from ABT these last few months.

Thank you very much for the reports. I'm glad things went great for Shevchenko. I never doubted that she'd be a great O/O. And of course, I never doubted her fouettes. Open mouths during black swan PDD is something I've seen among new O/O around the world (including experienced ballerinas as well as complete rookies). I think people think of "open your mouth and throw your head back" as portraying confidence, and perhaps nerves make an O/O debutante do that more than she should. I'm sure she'll find her comfort zone in the character and will be even stronger next year. If you can, please let us know how Copeland and Cornejo do tonight. I really hope I can catch Cornejo's Siegfried some day.