Fleurfairy

I have a feeling his booming Broadway career, coupled with his divorce, is going signal his retirement from NYCB pretty soon, if not this season. I also wonder how long Kowroski and Abi Stafford are going to stay. Seems like they are both pretty much done.

Oh gosh, yes. As I've gotten older, I've found myself getting misty-eyed when I watch the Nutcracker. The dancing is wonderful of course, but that music. The snow scene in particular just gets me! What I love about Balanchine's version is that every nuance of the choreography fits the music. You can tell he loved it and studied it in great detail.

Agreed. This is getting ridiculous. Now we're offended when black dancers are cast? Btw, Von Rothbart was one of Albert Evans' signature and favorite roles. Maybe Martins and the ballet masters have found that Chamblee and Farley have the theatricality needed to portray an over-the-top villain.

I'm glad they are giving this role to Megan. As a petite dancer, I figured she would never be O/O. I am not a fan of Mearns or Reichlen, so I've stayed away from NYCB's Swan Lake in recent years. I might have to make a trip down to the city to see her performance!

I'm embarrassed for Darci and Peter because this does not exactly reflect well on them. Peter told reporters "She's fine." No, she obviously is not fine.

That's wonderful. I'm glad that ABT took him back, most times ballet companies don't give you another shot.

Or Brittany Pollack.

It seems to me Savannah Lowery is stalled out at the soloist rank. I don't for see her being promoted. I'd say maybe King or LeCrone.

I think the promoted women certainly earned their place. Skylar and Cassie have not yet "put in their time" as soloists. I'm not convinced Skylar is all that well-rounded a performer. I can't picture her in Swan Lake, Giselle, or R&J. She just seems more inclined to the high energy showmanship roles, so Corsaire was a good fit for her this season. Don Q would be another good one. I do expect them to be promoted sooner rather than later, maybe when Abrera retires. Does anyone know if Kochetkova is coming back? I hope not, I think she's entirely unnecessary with the amount of petite women in the company already. Stephanie Williams is lovely! There are so many outstanding corps dancers that it makes me sad we will probably never see them perform leads with ABT.

I loved Wendy Whelan, but I don't know if Sugarplum was ever a good role for her, especially not later in her career. Whelan was never the joyful fairy sprightly type. Martins' statement was perfectly reasonable, even considerate. It must be terrible sometimes to be the AD and have to juggle different egos.

Agree with you vipa. How do you give young dancers opportunities they deserve if the older ones are hanging on and taking those lead roles or slots in the principal roster? I think part of being a professional ballet dancer is understanding and accepting that at a certain age, you need to start thinking about retirement. It's the natural progression of the art form and certainly of company life. Alessandra Ferri's Onegin this Met season was praised for its theatrical merit but I heard much commentary about her diminishing technical skill. Is that really how a dancer want to be viewed? "Well she used to be such a great dancer..." or "At least her acting was still lovely..."

I think it simply comes down to popularity. I didn't sense that Part ever had that big a following at ABT, except for the diehards. And I wonder what a good solution would be so as to promote soloists that have earned the right to be a principal. At some point, someone has to go.

With regard to Messmer, I get the feeling from reading various interviews of her, that she was not the easiest artist to work with either. She pretty quickly left SFB and had complaints about that company as well. Glad she's found her niche at MCB.

Well life goes on. ABT could defintely handle these "retirements" better but I can also see the necessity in them. If given the chance, most ballerinas would stay on the roster long after their technical abilities diminish. Some have stayed much longer than they should (Ferri, Kent) and take up space that could be given to a younger dancer that certainly has earned the right to be promoted.

I echo canbelto. I have a feeling she will be Columbine since she's that tiny soubrette and has such a special relationship with Ratmansky.

Hopefully. She's contributed virtually nothing.

Oh wonderful!!! I am over the moon for Sarah. Spectacularly deserved. And for Shevchenko too.

I lived in Austin for a number of years and always made time to see Ballet Austin. They have gorgeous new studios that were built in the last 10 years or so right in the heart of thriving downtown. And their performance space The Long Center is spectacular. That was also built within the last 10 years and is used by Ballet Austin and a variety of other performing arts companies. There are no ranks in the company, so they tend to keep dancers around for a long time -- you end up seeing the same "principal" dancers in every production and there's very little opportunity, in my mind, for the young newer dancers to get lead roles. I remember one dancer, Aara Krumpe, seemed to be around for eons. She was in everything and it got pretty repetitive. I wanted to see the newer younger talent. That would probably be my only complaint. Their Nutcracker is lovely -- a traditional version and the production values are high. I also remember a beautiful Giselle from maybe 2002 that was truly lovely. The director also brings in contemporary productions that fit the vibe of the city itself very well. If you are in Austin, I would recommend getting a ticket.

Saturday has Cassandra Trenary dancing in the matinee and then twice in the evening. Can that be right? I don't know how intensive "Souvenir" is, but I do know Aurora's wedding pas de deux isn't a walk in the park.

Good lord. I hope ABT hires some extra security on Saturday.

Yeah, this is not the best idea. In fact, it sounds kind of mental. And we don't know what has gone on between Part, McKenzie and the Board.

I'm curious to know the ballpark of salary that Misty Copeland commands. I imagine it's very high, probably the highest in America? I wonder if that's a factor in ABT whittling down their principal roster.....

Few can match the dancers of NYCB in Tchai Pas, most notably Tiler Peck who plays with the music so gloriously.

Yes, true. She didn't seem to be friends with anyone in the company. At least that's how it appeared to me.

i hate to say it, but I expected this. They seemed to lead very separate lives ever since Robert went to Broadway.