canbelto

Wow! Congrats to all! Surprised Gorak wasn't promoted.

You're assuming this "segment" has no interest in seeing "white" bodies in leading roles, that this "segment" has no interest in ballet beyond Misty, that this "segment" is there only bc Misty is dancing. Well this "segment" that you're referring to I assume is mostly African-American, since you'd never assume that a white person who was attending a Misty O/O was there "only for Misty." Would you assume that, say, an Asian person who is at a Hee Seo performance is only there because Hee Seo is of Asian ancestry? That's what I'm talking about, the assumptions of bad faith that are present about Misty's audiences and the assumptions of bad faith that come up with everything Misty does/says. If she invites Raven Wilkinson onstage after her Swan Lake, it must be because her publicist arranged it. If she walked the red carpet it's because she's a famewhore. If Damian Woetzel was "honored" to be there he must have been comped/paid shill. Those overwhelming assumptions of bad faith that are attached to everything Misty does is what is making me flat out say that this is racist.

Daniel Kharitonov is only 16. I don't think Lizst 1 is the best concerto to choose either. It's a very short piece and doesn't show as much range and diversity of skill.

She doesn't have to. Certain things don't have to be said -- they are implied, overtly or covertly. There is a long history in the U.S. of using code messages and words to deflect from talking about race outright. In the South, it's not that politicians wanted to uphold segregation, they want to "preserve the Southern way of life" and "protect Southern womenfolk." It's time to just call a spade a spade and recognize this for what it is: old-fashioned racism. And for the record, I don't even consider myself a fan of Misty's dancing. I think she has a very weak to non-existent jump and dances with a sort of brittle efficiency that characterizes so many ABT soloists. But I'd never attack her personal life, her morals, her appearance, her ethics, her character, even her audience that doesn't know how to "behave," and even make assumptions about her relationship with her colleagues, just because I don't know her (or anyone else in ABT) from a hole in the wall.

This assumption. That Misty's audience "prefers" to see non-white bodies onstage, and it's a "segment" (what an ugly word) of the population that would never go to the ballet otherwise. I don't see why such ugly assumptions about the cultural awareness, of, you know, an ENTIRE RACE is being made. For the record NYC ballet audiences are fairly culturally diverse and they were before Misty ever danced Swan Lake. And there are Russians who turn out in droves only when a Russian dancer is dancing. I'd say the Eifman Ballet tours probably appeal to a 80-90% Russian audience. But I don't see complaints about that.

How do you know? Have you ever talked to them? Or do you just assume because they're African American?

By the same token I will never trust that people who excorciate Misty's performance aren't letting their prejudices about what O/O should look like, their aesthetic preferences for a thin, "white" body, and how a ballerina should "behave" cloud their judgments. Falling off pointe, traveling on fouettes, cutting short the 32, are things I've seen many major ballerinas do. And many of the criticisms are so personal and vile that I doubt they go way beyond not liking how the ballerina dances. So it cuts both ways. Racism isn't just George Wallace bellowing about segregation forever. Attitudes can be subtle and they can come out in ugly ways and I think we've seen that in some of the Misty discussions.

Well in general (and in the old Misty Copeland thread) people said that Hallberg had earned his respect and so his claim was excusable. Which brings me to this main point: it seems as if a lot of people like David Hallberg's dancing so they give him a pass. But since they don't like Misty's dancing she's a liar, a manipulator, a self-promoter, blah blah blah.

I think repertory might have been constrained by the fact that this stop of the tour was sponsored by Joyce Dance Theater, which generally promotes modern ballet/works.

I wish pianists wouldn't do the Rach 3 so much in competitions. It's a very difficult virtuoso piece so I understand why they do it but I always feel like I'm listening to the Piano Olympics during that piece.

I am watching Lucas Debargue right now in the finals. Hope he wins.

Part performed the "Marie Petipa" variation which consisted of a series of attitudes while miming "cradling the baby." Daria Pavlenko performed something very close to the Marie Petipa variation here: Stella Abrera and Devon Teuscher performed a variation much closer to what the Royal Ballet variation is at 5:39 of this video:

Gorak is a bit like Hallberg -- I think he's always going to be more about beautiful lines and elegant feet than emoting. There's nothing really wrong with that though -- in fact I thought Hallberg's coolness worked well for him in a role like Albrecht, especially when paired with a very emotive Giselle. I remember a Giselle with Cojocaru where her childish affection was heartbreaking next to Hallberg's cool imperiousness. Hallberg eventually sort of acquired a sort of mannered iciness to some of his performances, like it was more important for his cape to flutter perfectly as Romeo than anything else.

Many dancers have also spoken out about their happiness about the decision. Here are some links: Johan Kobborg: https://instagram.com/p/4Z2VZBD4gN/?taken-by=kobborg Leanne Cope: https://instagram.com/p/4b9ItmS4v5/?taken-by=leannemcope Ashley Bouder: https://instagram.com/p/4afH7Qv_7C/?taken-by=ashleybouder Maria Kowroski: https://instagram.com/p/4Zg5OQjqsr/?taken-by=realmkowroski ABT: https://instagram.com/p/4aHAZ8yJY1/?taken-by=abtofficial Gillian Murphy: https://instagram.com/gillianemurphy/ Justin Peck: https://instagram.com/p/4Zc2q5KRSm/?taken-by=justin_peck Tyler Angle: https://instagram.com/p/4ZSqXjvP6R/?taken-by=t_angled Alexei Ratmansky: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10204486810595111&set=a.1133754148868.2020465.1377723438&type=1&theater

There might be another reason left ABT: his wife is Anna Tsyganova and she dances with the Dutch National Ballet.

Applause for the Royal has been warm. Not quite as effusive as ABT during, say, Swan Lake but then again ABT is sort of different in that each principal often has a devoted cheering section with flower throwers and stuff. However ABT audiences can be so frosty when it's a mixed bill or even a more low-key full length ballet like La Bayadere.

I saw two performances of Song of the Earth and thought that the Watson/Cuthbertson/Hirano trio was way more effective than Acosta/Nunez/Kish. Acosta and Nunez are both too sunny and Nunez in particular seemed like she was doing a series of flawless classroom exercises. I'm not surprised Watson was great -- he was so effective as Price Rudolf in that Mayerling video. But I thought he was wonderfully creepy as the Messenger of Death, and great at mirroring others' body movements like a ghost. The two performances of The Dream were also very different -- McRae and Lamb more polished but a bit twee, Golding/Osipova more uneven (especially in partnering) but also more dynamic. Both Bottoms (Jonathan Howells and Bennet Gartside) were great, but neither James Hay nor Valentino Zecchetti erased memories of Herman Cornejo. Full thoughts here: http://poisonivywalloftext.blogspot.com/2015/06/still-loyal-to-royal.html

If Woetzel said he felt "honored" to be present at Wendy Whelan's farewell or Julie Kent's farewell would you have reacted so negatively?

Is it beyond your realm of imagination that Damian actually just felt "honored" to be at the occasion? I don't see what is so incorrect about his usage of the term but the fact that you can't imagine being "honored" to be at Misty's debut says something about your mindset.

Well maybe he was honored to have been a part of the occasion. Have you ever thought of that?

I know from reading Broadway boards that Wednesday nights are his night off. Before the Tony's he had never missed a single performance.

Hi, full text of the Mahler songs can be found here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Das_Lied_von_der_Erde

Faye Arthurs has written a rather lengthy tribute to Albert Evans on her blog: http://www.thoughtsfromthepaint.com/thoughts/for-albert

ABT's youtube channel is pitiful compared to some of the wonderful footage other companies have provided. Even their 75th anniversary interviews are so short that you wish a more extended version of the interview was posted. Like look at this interview. It's so funny, so interesting, that one wishes it wasn't just three minutes long.

Discount performances are still available via goldstar and TDF, if anyone is interested.