FPF

The NYT has published an obituary. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/06/obituaries/marcia-dale-weary-dead.html?action=click&module=Well&pgtype=Homepage&section=Obituaries

Jonathan Stafford on Marcia Dale Weary: https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.pennlive.com/entertainment/2019/03/new-york-city-ballet-artistic-director-on-cpybs-marcia-dale-weary-her-students-were-everything-to-her.html%3foutputType=amp

https://www.pennlive.com/life/2019/03/remembering-marcia-dale-weary-central-pennsylvania-youth-ballet-founder-someone-truly-beautiful.html https://cumberlink.com/news/local/communities/carlisle/cpyb-founder-marcia-dale-weary-dies-at/article_8b755f5d-267c-5f2c-a0ae-621c2553c58e.html

There's a long list of CPYB alumni here: https://cpyb.org/alumni/alumni-in-the-field Also, here's an old NYT article on her: https://www.nytimes.com/2001/08/05/arts/dance-guru-in-an-outpost-of-ballet-wisdom.html

I agree with Nanushka's take on this--celebrating a woman in a leadership position. Also, Whelan hasn't been at NYCB in any official capacity recently whereas Stafford has, so Whelan's appointment may seem more notable as a change from the situation since Martins took leave and then resigned. Also, Bouder does tag Stafford in her post, which I don't imagine she'd do if she meant for it to have negative connotations for him. Not only is he now officially her boss, he just very publicly stood up for her in that NYT article about Martins and the casting of Sleeping Beauty.

A couple of NYCB dancer reactions:

It looks like he will actual continue to dance in his own choreography but will no longer be a full-time soloist. This was previously posted by N. Willis on the AD job posting thread:

I'm pretty happy with this decision. The lack of a permanent AD for an extended period was not helpful for the company's image and created a lot of uncertainty for the dancers. So I'm pleased that this is settled. I always liked Whelan as a dancer and think she has a lot to offer the company in her new role. And I think that Stafford has been doing a good job in difficult circumstances and made several positive changes. Hopefully we will soon be able to read about NYCB in the NYT (and elsewhere) without reference to turmoil, upheaval, festering in a leaderless state, etc. and everyone can just focus on great ballet. I agree with Helene that the former Balanchine dancers are a repository of valuable information that isn't readily available elsewhere. A few months ago, Sterling Hyltin mentioned in the NYT how difficult it was to incorporate all of the changes she needed to make in Rubies after being coached by McBride. Hopefully, Stafford and Whelan will continue to invite former dancers to coach. I think that there are not many responses here because discussion of the AD appointment has been split among several different threads.

I've only seen her a couple of times, once with ABT and once with MCB, but this was my impression--I thought she was fine, but she didn't outshine the other dancers. I remember an interview a few years back with one of the dancers at NYCB (Megan Fairchild?) where she hadn't been cast in his previous ballets but spoke to Ratmansky and told him how much she enjoyed his work and would like to be a part of it. And then he cast her in his next ballet. But this isn't just a ballet arts/thing. My background is in science and although the reputation is that scientists are lone toilers in the laboratory, this is rarely the case--most research is done in teams. And most people want to work/collaborate with people they get along with and who are fun to work with. Networking is important for any career, especially when there are more people than opportunities. I don't think you necessarily need to be the life of the party (I'm an introvert myself), but if I were that choreographer ( assuming that no regrets for not being able to come were expressed), I would probably take not showing up for that dinner as indicating a lack of interest in working with me.

Billy Porter https://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2019/02/24/fashion/oscars-red-carpet-2019/s/josh-oscars-2019-306.html?module=inline

I'd vote for replacing Martins' Swan Lake and Romeo and Juliet with their hideous Per Kirkeby sets and costumes. I haven't been able to bring myself to see either production more than once. If they need another full-length ballet, I'd rather they get a brand-new one than another version of Giselle, particularly when there is another company in their immediate proximity that performs it regularly. Of course, what actually happens will depend on the new AD, whoever he/she may be.

The long-awaited medical perspective on Whipped Cream is here: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2725209 "The performance, presented from the perspective of a feverish child, portrays an antagonistic attending physician with an enormous head." "The boy, who learns that unhealthy choices have medical consequences, experiences iatrogenic hallucinations of anthropomorphic candies."

Yes, that is Damian Woetzel .It says in the article that she debuted as Aurora at twenty with Damian as her partner.

I agree--I can understand why a new AD may not have been able to take over just yet. But not why none has been named.

The NYT coverage of dance has really declined in the past couple of years. I wrote to the Arts editor last year when they had a puff piece about Mearns making her debut as Carabosse, but they never reviewed her performance in the role (and still haven't).

Other than Sleeping Beauty, they could dump every other one of his works and I would not miss them at all. And they could acquire/rechoreograph a different version (even including the Balanchine Garland Dance). It doesn't seem that punitive to my (non-dancer) point of view to be cast, but not first cast. I respect Bouder for not backing down from her previous statement, but I wonder if she will continue to be cast at all in Martins' works after this statement: “Dealing with somebody like Peter — who could be mean and could be a tyrant,” she said, “how do you change that reality when it’s been that way for so long?”

Happy to see Bourree Fantasque being programmed. It's a busy time of year for me, but I'd love to see it again.

After seeing Ephrat Asherie with Dorrance Dance this summer at Jacob's Pillow, I was really looking forward to seeing her with her company this past Saturday night at SUNY-Albany. I was not disappointed--this was a really fun program. The music (her brother, Ehud Asherie is the music director), was by a composer I was unfamiliar with--Ernesto Nazareth, and had an African influence and somewhat resembles jazz (but predates it). It was very danceable--at least by those dancers. The entire program was one piece, about an hour in length, called Odeon, which was the title of one of the Brazilian tangos. The performance was completely sold out and the audience seemed very happy with it. Asherie's dancing (and that of her company) is a mixture of street, social, and African dance. Each of the dancers had solos but they also danced together or in groups or as backup for the solos. There were parts that reminded me of hand-clapping games and some solos had voguing. It's difficult for me to describe so I'm linking to a clip. Asherie is the woman dancing with the man with green hair (Ousmane Wiles). The man who solos at the beginning is Matthew West, (who also danced with Dorrance this past summer). I think the other woman is Manon Bal. I'd recommend seeing her/her group if they come your way. Also, If you're in/near the NY Capital Region, the Dance in Albany series has been great so far and a terrific bargain. My subscription ticket for this performance was <$10, full price was $15.

It sounds a bit like Corsaire to me--a beautiful woman is kidnapped, sold as a slave, etc. Very 19th century.

I think her eyebrows can give her a stern or angry look.

I was also relieved.

There was a recent interview with Millepied who said he was a candidate but isn't interested. Millepied, known to the general public for choreographing dances in the movie "Black Swan" where he met his wife, confirms that he was among the candidates to take over the NYCB. This company is itself shaken by the retirement of its director over 30 years Peter Martins, accused of sexual harassment before being cleared. But scalded by the experience in Paris, he is not interested: "It's the same thing: stay locked in a theater the majority of the year". https://culturebox.francetvinfo.fr/danse/benjamin-millepied-de-retour-a-paris-j-avais-besoin-de-creer-284930

Ditto. It sounds like a wonderful trip. Especially Shurale.

Sounds good to me. I hope we'll get some reports

In Balanchine's Complete Stories of the Great Ballets, there is a long note after the description of Apollo that includes this quote: "When the ballet was first performed, a French critic said that this was not Apollo at all, that the choreographer had cultivated the deliberately odd, that Apollo would never have done this, or this, or this. When the critic was asked how he knew what Apollo would have done, he had no answer. He was thinking of some familiar statue of Apollo, the Apollo Belvedere perhaps, and imagined that a ballet about the god would personify sculptural representations. But Apollon Musagete is not Apollo Belvedere; he is a wild, half-human youth who acquires nobility through art."