canbelto

Hmm yesterday Devon Teuscher who danced Juliet earlier this week danced Lady Capulet. So this practice of using principals in soloist roles is definitely not limited to Sarah. If I were to guess it's driven by lack of rehearsal time and ability to get new company members to learn these roles.

I don't know what's offensive about the picture in the first place. It's a rehearsal picture and it looks like the final act of swan lake.

There are all sorts of medical reasons for gender dysphoria ... One is the old medical practice of making a genetic male with "intersex" genitals a girl at birth, others are the East German female athletes who were pumped with so much performance enhancing steroids that they eventually chose to live as men. However, there is zero evidence that Chase Johnsey is suffering from any of these medical symptoms. It seems as if his old company didn't allow his self-expression and so is trying to find a new artistic home. He is not undergoing sex reassignment surgery, he is not even changing his gender identity. So IMO these concerns are baseless.

What is so wrong with this picture? They're obviously rehearsing.

Some videos are surfacing:

But 'appalled' that a Stravinsky score based on "The Rite of Spring" wasn't the romantic R&J choreography also suggests a basic ignorance of ballet history, and that they simply bought the tickets because they love Herman Cornejo and Alessandra Ferri and didn't care much as to what they were actually in. Again I'm not making a blanket statement but I do think that type of fan exists more during ABT's spring season and thus it can probably be very frustrating to program the spring season as the tastes of much of the audience is so narrow.

There's concern about his weight loss (valid) and then there's concern trolling that's really thinly disguised transphobia which is another kettle of fish.

Well I think ABT tends to market itself heavily as a star-driven company. Of course every company has its "stars" (even NYCB which prided itself on being a company without stars always did have stars) but I think the marketing especially of the 8 week Met spring season tends to bring out a certain type of balletomane who follows the dancers more than the ballets. I know a few people who bought tickets for Herman and Alessandra in Afterbrite and then were appalled that the choreography wasn't Romeo and Juliet.

I'm talking specifically about ABT fans. I say this because the audience for the 8 week Met season tends to be one that has a fairly limited knowledge of ballet choreography. I've known some who don't know much ballet beyond R&J, Swan Lake and Giselle. But their conversations have always centered around dancers. When I first started it was Nina and Julio and Alessandra, then it became Herman/David/Marcelo/Veronika/Diana, and nowadays it's Stella and Sarah and so on and so forth.

I think ABT fans in general care more about dancers than choreography. This is from many years of observing ABT performances and talking with ABT audiences. It's also promoted heavily by ABT the way they announce their casting way before the season starts. NYCB circumvents this by announcing their casting two weeks before the actual performances.

I had very mixed feelings about this revival but Nathan Lane's Cohn was still by far the best thing about this revival: https://humbledandoverwhelmed.blogspot.com/2018/03/why-i-walked-out-of-angels-in-america.html

Well if you don't know what his real story is why are you jumping to such negative assumptions and assume he has a "gender identity" crisis? And more to the point, have you seen Johnsey dance? If so, what'd you think of his dancing? Because your disapproval of his actions seems disproportionate to how much you've actually followed his career.

By these narrow definitions Catelyn Jenner didnt "transition" either bc she has been open that she has elected not to remove the major organs so to speak.

I don't see where liberal or conservative fits into the conversation. Johnsey is simply a dancer whose talents I admired when he was with the Trocks. I saw them and his artistry and talent were IMO a cut above everyone else in the company. I was saddened when he left the Trocks for personal and artistic reasons and am glad he has maybe (???) found a new artistic home, even if it's very temporary (he mentions a very short term contract). Nothing more nothing less.

Wow what a fantastic summary ... Wish I could see the production ...

MFL is wonderful. Lenk had a particularly bad night last night and cracked during "Omar Sharif." I've heard her sing this much better. For comparison: vs.

Anyone watch this? I thought Bareilles and Groban were charming hosts, with their songs light enough to keep the evening going. I personally was not that crazy about The Band's Visit and so them sweeping every award was kind of annoying. I would have given best actor to Henry Hadden-Patton for MFL. Really happy both Glenda Jackson and Laurie Metcalf won for Three Tall Women. Their performances were absolutely amazing. Also Nathan Lane for his portrayal of Cohn in Angels in America. Thought the Parkland high school singing "Seasons of Love" was beautitful, as was the speech by David Cromer about reaching out to people who are struggling mentally.

I think one thing is that Balanchine was so amazing at making choreography for children that shows off what they can do. When I saw his Coppélia a few weeks ago I was struck that the man so known for quick footwork and punishing difficulty in his adult variations had children make the slightest movements with their arms, head, neck, waist. He gave the children in the Dance of the Hours this illusion of constant movement without actually forcing them to dance beyond their abilities. Like the Angels in Nutcracker, who actually just make tiny little steps but it looks like gliding. I saw Harlequinade twice and thought one issue was that some of the children were given steps that they couldn't quite execute. They were well-rehearsed and trained but you could see that they were working at their very hardest and so the charm was taken away.

https://mobile.nytimes.com/2018/06/08/arts/dance/the-first-man-dancing-in-a-female-corps-de-ballet.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fdance&action=click&contentCollection=dance&region=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=2&pgtype=sectionfront Interesting article about Johnsey at ENB.

Hmm I think it's also a ballet that ABT can actually handle. For instance is La Bayadere a greater ballet? Yes, but the ABT corps struggle in La Bayadere to the extent that it almost makes it not worth doing. The smaller corps, shorter ballet, more rehearsal time with Ratmansky, makes Harlequinade something ABT can handle.

Anyone see yesterday's casts?

Golden Cockerel I hated. Harlequinade is a totally different ballet. I love it. It reminds me at times of a Fellini film (and I love Fellini films).

I;m not saying the dances were top notch or even mid-tier Petipa. I agree that the choreography is not as compelling. I'm just saying if you're going to reconstruct the ballet you have to consider that this sort of "divertissement where the story is retold" is a ballet tradition that Petipa put into his ballets.

How about Sleeping Beauty? A whole act almost of different fairy tales being re-told. As I said, it's just part of the Petipa ballet fabric.

That's a Petipa trademark. In Nutcracker the Prince mimes the story of the rat battle again in Act 2. Mr. B's Nutcracker preserves that mime.