AB'sMom

Mariinsky needs supers for La Bayadère at Segerstrom if anyone is interested. Men over 5’7” (no dance experience needed), women under 5’5” (dance experience not necessary but helpful). Audition/Casting 10/14 at 7pm at Judy Morr Theatre at Segerstrom.

I don’t know if anyone is interested, but if you join the Pas de Deux Guild at Segerstrom (which supports the ABT Gillespie School) you get two tickets to the Nutcracker dress rehearsal.

I think they do, but but I can’t remember if it works on the mobile site. When you see the little camera icon on the seating chart it shows the view from that spot, but obviously that’s not a view from every seat, just from some general areas. I find the view in person always looks better than what the “camera view” shows.

I’ve never sat closer than row D—and that was because my daughter was on stage and I wanted to see every facial expression. If it helps at all, when ABT comes Kevin McKenzie and Alexei Ratmansky sit in row L or M. The seating chart can mislead a little because as you get further back the section angles. Once you get to row K and further back you want to sit as far to the right (looking at the website seating chart) as possible if you like to be in the center.

Apparently the students at SAB’s summer program were scheduled to attend the Saturday matinee. It’s too bad the weather just wouldn’t cooperate.

Individual tickets are on sale now for all shows in the dance series at Segerstrom.

Sorry I didn’t mention Scout Forsythe in my post. I didn’t know if she was letting the news slip too early.

An ABT dancer’s Instagram story today said, “Congratulations on a great career at ABT, Gemma Bond,” and showed Gemma standing at the front of the room reading something and the whole company applauding. Is she officially retiring?

Looks like Paulina Waski is going to Boston Ballet. Scout Forsythe referred to it on her Instagram story and some of Paulina’s posts refer to her “last ...”

ABT hasn’t yet posted anything about where the Studio Company dancers are going, but according to the Ballet West website Grace Anne Pierce is joining the corps de ballet.

Forster and Hoven to Principals, Shayer and Bell to Soloists? I know Shayer is injured, but it seems like he put in the work in previous years. I think it would sting if Bell was promoted before him.

Even by baby standards, which are quite high, that’s a beautiful baby.

I guess that’s what I was trying to get at when I said there was a bottleneck. Corp members can’t leapfrog over the soloist position, but there are already plenty of male soloists. If none of them are promoted to principal then what happens? Can they just swell the ranks of male soloists for a few years?

I wonder if the men are feeling a bit like it’s one long audition season. Clearly ABT needs more full time principal men and there is a bit of a bottleneck at the soloist level.

I don’t know of any other way to get individual tickets earlier, but I’ve never had a problem getting good seats when the general sale opens.