canbelto

Amar Ramasar is gainfully employed. He still has a loyal girlfriend. He is earning money, he has health insurance. All he has to suffer is that people are saying mean things about him. Which, well, is a part of life if you are involved in a very public lawsuit about your poor behavior. Chase Finlay AFAIK has gone completely off the grid since 2018. We simply have no idea whether he is working, or where he even is. It's unlikely he can ever make a comeback in the world of dance. In addition the details of his substance abuse problems are now public knowledge. I'd say that's a big consequence for him. You want to make this "poor Amar" but Amar was/is a grown adult who did some stupid things and his consequence is that people don't like him. Which I'm sure he realizes and accepts. You want to make him a combo of George Stinney/Emmitt Till but that's not a fair metaphor. He's alive, well, and working, with a loyal girlfriend. I fail to see how awful his life is. In fact I think he'd be the first to say he is very blessed.

I think some reviews also mentioned how wooden Richard Beymer was as Tony. Beymer is indeed the weak link of the film. One wonders what might have happened if Larry Kert was allowed to reprise his role of Tony for the film but the personal animosity between Kert and Robbins did not allow for that to happen.

Race has nothing to do with this. Chase and Amar did something wrong, and they're paying the consequences. If getting heckled at the job is one of the consequences so be it.

Anyone seen Lauren Lovette and Harrison Ball tonight?

I've seen the production. Amar is not the problem -- he's not much of a singer but Bernardo is mostly a dance role. In fact none of the singers are the problem. I thought that Powell and Pimentel's style of singing were a bit too contemporary but that's small potatoes. The issue is the production. There's too many ways it just doesn't work.

I'm stunned that someone thought in this day and age that it would work.

I went tonight with my mother. We were both very disappointed. https://humbledandoverwhelmed.blogspot.com/2020/02/west-side-story-total-momsical-failure.html

Irina Kolpakova has stated that her job is to support all the dancers of ABT, not make casting decisions. She says she is able to maintain good relationships with everyone bc she does not involve herself in casting, but merely coaching and support. She said in an interview that when dancers cry, her job is to get them to stop crying.

Sarah clarifies that she isn't a Trump supporter and didn't know who Hope Hicks was?

The plus side is we got excellent footage of her in Giselle! That rehearsal footage is gorgeous and I saved it on my phone to rewatch so there’s that.

Hmm I can sympathize with her lack of shows but this is just my own experience as an educator and as a person: starting drama on social media ALWAYS ends in tears. It’s never productive. I’ve literally never seen it end well.

Alexandra's IG stories are full of drama. Again. At this point I do agree her lawyers should advise her to take a break from social media. She's threatening to get Alexa Maxwell arrested for supposedly impersonating someone via email. People are now going to Alexa's IG to harass her about this fake email account.

Also it's clear from Sarah's IG that she DOES receive extensive coaching from Irina Kolpakova. There are long clips on her IG of Irina K. coaching her through the finer points of Giselle. It's great that they have a loving and productive relationship but I think Brandt made it clear that she did not have access to the same level of coaching within the ABT staff. And so Skylar has to find her own team. There's nothing wrong with that. I won't even get into the Hope Hicks quote. Oy. Except to guess based on the views expressed on the social media accounts of other ABT dancers that they likely aren't loving Hope Hicks as much as Sarah seems to.

Not at ABT but Kathryn Morgan said that at NYCB requirements were that Auroras and Juliets have to be 5'5" or less.

I;m going tomorrow with my mom. I bought rear mezzanine seats because I heard you can actually see the whole stage and set better. I hope i like it.

I've seen Murphy do Giselle and she danced it well but it wasn't a natural fit for her. It wasn't so much height but the strength and sturdiness she exuded. I think in actual height Murphy isn't taller than, say, Stella Abrera but Stella has a girlishness and fragility that are just right for the role.

She's real tall and majestic, more of a Myrtha than a Giselle IMO.

Money? I'm always shocked at how shoestring the budgets are for major arts organizations but ...

It's also the frequency of the coaching. Royal and Shevchenko seem to get occasional coaching, while Brandt seems to get frequent coaching. I'm sure finances play a big role in the length and frequency of the coaching sessions.

The exact quote from Sarah is: As I said, posting this the day after a highly successful debut for Brandt in Giselle AND right after the big NYTimes article (which I guess could be counted as publicity) makes it awkward and like shade towards Brandt. Also not a single ABT member has commented below, and many ABT members left nice messages to Sarah on her other IG posts. Like this one where Brandt was the first to comment:

The thing is the rehearsal clip was absolutely beautiful. She could have put it out there with no commentary. But the comments about money and the Hope Hicks quote turned it weird and awkward.

Misty never made it to a single Giselle performance. Skylar did, twice. And she had a recent NYT article about the heavy investment she made into learning a role BEFORE she knew she;d be cast.

Well it comes hot on the heels of Brandt's article in the NYTImes about a ballerina "investing in herself" and also Brandt's double-Giselle evening.

OOh Sarah throwing shade at Skylar:

Well one thing about the Martins' Swan Lake I like is the fourth act. I find the ending with Odette retreating back into her flock of Swans very powerful.