Drew

This article on Kretzschmar appeared a couple of months ago--it mentions in passing a number of foot and toe injuries and talks a lot about her dance-related projects in outreach, teaching, and choreography. I hope she goes on to a great future: https://christiansforsocialaction.org/resource/waymakers-claire-k/

Very sorry to read this....

For me, the gala in Crimea is hard to see as no more than ballet-business as usual. As anyone reading this website likely knows, Crimea was annexed by Putin's regime just 8 years ago. Dancers can't participate there in a gala without de facto supporting his policies toward Ukraine--policies which include concrete plans for the arts in Crimea; they can't do so especially when Russia is in the middle of a war (or, if you prefer, "special Military operation") against the rest of Ukraine. To dance there is actively to help support Putin's plans whatever one's personal feelings about the matter. I don't know the pressures the dancers are under -- and anyway I do NOT expect most Russian artists either to see Putin as a villain OR to fall on their swords if they do. (All over the world most people live out some ideological contradictions in their lives.) But dancing at a gala in Crimea at the present time can't help but be bound up with Putin's policies these days. (And Taras Bulba? an excerpt from a ballet based on a Russian novel about Cossack warriors for Ukrainian freedom? That's some choice whoever picked it.)

Lankedem as mercenary/vicious Jew -- sort of a ballet Fagin -- most certainly did make it into the Ratmansky Burlaka staging. I saw it in London shortly after its premier. Gennadi Yanin performed it brilliantly and it made me quite queasy. I agree that the Ratmansky/Burlaka Jardin Animé makes for a very full, splended spectacle.

Sad to read this afternoon that Star Trek's first communications officer Nichelle Nichols passed away yesterday; The best known story about Nichols still seems worth repeating. At an NAACP function she met Martin Luther King who was a fan of the show. She told him about her plans to leave after the first season. He told her not to--what she was doing was too important....too groundbreaking: https://www.cnn.com/2022/08/01/entertainment/nichelle-nichols-tributes/index.html?fbclid=IwAR0SFFsAx_8Ll21vYOij2B-xKF1ggl5BZOOSYfsBA-04tZ1XtssYNonGxgQ

Baryshnikov staged the Jardin Animé as a stand-alone one act -- It's not as wondrous as the shades scene in Bayadere but I wouldn't like to have it lost...

I watch little video of Russian dancers these days, but vividly remembering how fabulous Shakirova was as the villainess in Smekalov’s version of Paquita when the Mariinsky brought the ballet to Kennedy Center I did decide to watch the video of her debut as the ballet’s heroine—and I agree that she looks wonderful in this...

Sorry to read about this....May he rest in peace--

Thanks for the announcements--I am writing down dates...

Thank you for the reference....It is a nice story, but I think the full circle is not exactly as you describe it. Mckenzie came to ABT as a dancer after the National Ballet folded, but he became artistic director many years later. According to her ABT biography, Yan Chen was a principal dancer with Washington Ballet (not the same as the National Ballet of Washington and indeed she is quite a bit too young too have been a principal with the National Ballet which folded in 1974).

Absolutely! (I think the existence of that category does though confirm that there is nothing particularly outré about ABT promoting Zhurbin to principal or the idea that a character dancer could/would/should get such a promotion.)

Oh yes! I posted about Zhurbin on a different thread discussing the promotions...I will repeat what I said there, though others have been making similar points here: ...let me voice a big thrill at Zhurbin's promotion. The Royal Ballet has a category called "principal character artist" -- ABT doesn't have that specifically, but character dancers at the highest level deserve the recognition that comes with the title "principal" (and the raise that I trust comes with that recognition). At ABT Zhurbin has filled that role, bringing added dimension and depth to numerous ballets. Having artists like that is part of what makes a ballet company great. Bravo! (And Congratulations to all of the promoted dancers. There are a few I have never seen and I'm eager to do so...)

I remember the Stevenson Cinderella from my childhood! I saw it with the (now defunct) National Ballet--a performance with Fonteyn as guest artist. I'm not sure who her partner was but probably Desmond Kelly as he partnered her guest appearance in La Sylphide. Most of my memories of the ballet are of Fonteyn in Act I...but I remember loving the seasons sequence as well--which featured many of the dancers I was most familiar with in the company. Mckenzie had danced for the National Ballet at one point in his career and when the company folded Stevenson bitterly but correctly pointed out that he had top male ballet dancers (he named Mckenzie and Kirk Peterson) as good as ABT's. Of course they both ended up at ABT! I remember ABT taking up the Stevenson Cinderella briefly--but I never saw it with them or had a chance to form an adult or Fonteyn-less opinion, but I can easily imagine it is suited to a number of companies' needs and budgets. I think ABT tried Kudelka's before Goldilocks-like finding the one that was "just right"--I was delighted when they aquired Ashton's. I hope it returns soon--seems like it would be a great fit for a number of its principals--I'm thinking especially of some of the newer principals--and, given all the featured roles, for soloists as well...

Thanks for that information--of course, Stevenson has a great track record spotting and developing talent. Congratulations to all the dancers and let me voice a big thrill at Zhurbin's promotion. The Royal Ballet has a category called "principal character artist" -- ABT doesn't have that specifically, but character dancers at the highest level deserve the recognition that comes with the title "principal" (and the raise that I trust comes with that recognition). At ABT Zhurbin has filled that role, bringing added dimension and depth to numerous ballets. Having artists like that is part of what makes a ballet company great. Bravo!

Sounds such a wonderful evening!!

Very happy to read about Seo's performance. In the right role (and/or on the right night) I have found her a beautiful classical dancer.

I was rather moved by Dvorovenko's Dame Aux Camellias. The question of whether someone is a good acting coach may be a different one, anyway, from whether they were themselves a great dance-actress. And, as others have mentioned, the issue is really Brandt not her coaches. So in defense of Brandt -- whose performance I did not see -- and other still-developing ballerinas I will say that I think of Odette-Odile as the most daunting and difficult of ballerina roles; the genuinely great performances of it that I have seen are few and far between and they have all been by experienced ballerinas who had been dancing the role for years...

I had thought Serebrennikov himself was in Germany--he posted something from there shortly after the war began. But without a doubt, he and his team of artists have been very brave. I wonder if that last performance will be permitted...

Sadly, I am familiar with few of the POB dancers--and those few only via video--but this was very touching to read about.

I agree that the box-office issue at ABT likely reflects the public's response to dancers more than to repertory. Generally, I've been thinking a lot about this discussion. Box office matters but the tail should not be allowed to wag the dog and I think it's to Mckenzie's credit that, say, he kept Ashton in the repertory when Fille and Sylvia are often reported as doing very poor box office at the Met. I can't bring myself to believe that the solution is "drop Ashton" -- or even to dance Sylvia or Fille only at the State Theater where, at the present time, ABT does not perform that much. As for Ratmansky's ballets simply dropping out of repertory--Harlequinade is about to be done at National Ballet of Australia (and streamed--I'm getting a ticket); his Seven Sonatas is performed by other companies (I saw it at Atlanta Ballet and they are bringing it back a 2nd time) as is the Shostakovitch trilogy (San Francisco and they are bringing it back). National Ballet of Canada has done the Shostakovitch Piano Concerto no 1 on its own. Perhaps others know of other examples. Many of his works were also brought back by ABT more than one season. That said, some of those were only brought back one time and two seasons for a new work is not meaningful. Still, I think it's very likely we will be seeing Serenade After Plato's Symposium and Whipped Cream in the future. His Sleeping Beauty as well. As a collaboration with a well-known contemporary artist, Whipped Cream also drew some new, younger audience members with interests in contemporary art. There is also the question of big donors: they like prestige and they like press coverage. Some probably like being involved in new creative endeavors. And there is also the bigger question of ballet as an art form ...But let's say someone thinks Ratmansky is over-rated and that 'if he isn't going to sell tickets, then we don't need his mediocre new ballets and overly precious historically-informed productions.' (That's obviously not my position.) So, what ballet choreographer is not going to have the same or weaker box office other than Wheeldon? Or maybe McGregor? I'm not advocating either, just noting that they might draw audiences. It's not like Justin Peck is going to leave NYCB in a huff . . . But the bigger point remains that new choreographers (we can all think of some including several who would speak to new and more diverse audiences) AND even revivals of works popular in the past or imports of works successful elsewhere are not alone going to solve box-office problems in this day and age and I don't think that task should be put on them either. No new work at the Met at all? As long as the Met is such a big part of ABT's annual calendar, I think showing no new work there and/or keeping the rep completely predictable is its own recipe for problems -- including possibly with donors and audiences. The Met season "brands" the company. And as @nanushka has written, the ABT audience at the Met is not completely monolithic. (I'll add that even conservative audiences can get bored, and in the absence of exciting, known-quantity dancers, even balletomanes may not return to see multiple casts.) New works and new productions will not always succeed--or they may be wonderful (Ashton) and still not draw in Met-sized crowds. But some variety in repertory should be part of a great ballet company's life--we're not talking NYCB levels since ABT is a different animal -- and for now, at least, the Met is at the center of ABT's performing life. I'm hoping that soon real "stars" will emerge as well...that is,"must see" dancers. Or be invited for Met appearances. (Several of the "full time principals" mentioned by @abattmostly danced with ABT at the Met and not on tour.) If I had Jeff Bezos levels of wealth, then I would build ABT a theater in Manhattan seating about 2,200 with heavily banked seats throughout, a full studio complex for rehearsals, and more bathroom stalls for the ladies than any other theater in the world. Because I'm just a fan, I would promise never to bully the company leadership in artistic matters and...well...I'd try really, really, really hard to keep my promise .

The initial 2020 run in California garnered some good responses. The video bits posted at that time looked rather fun. I'm nervous but my fingers are crossed that it will work as a ballet and that it will find its audience. I'll find out what people who post on Ballet Alert think soon enough. As far as box office goes, the Four Seasons Center in Toronto lists its capacity as 2,071 -- that's just over half the capacity of the Met. It's not an apples to apples comparison because of all the other variables, but you can sell a lot of tickets at the Met and it still looks depressing. (The Tempest was interesting enough in its own weird way --and, in passages, beautiful enough--that I think it deserved a chance with a new and different audience even if I understand why the National Ballet of Canada didn't want to take the risk. But that opinion is so much an outlier as to be safely ignored!)

There is a lot in between "classic full lengths" and "advance guard" and ideally there should be room for some of that 'in between' at the Met. There has been in the past. I also think big name dancers make a difference (whether developed in-house or invited from outside) especially when the repertory is less of a known quantity -- and such dancers are few and far between. I'm actually very curious to see how Like Water for Chocolate does next season: a ballet based on a successful Book and, later, movie and choreographed by a multiple Tony Award Winner. That's a lot of name recognition even without a "big name" dancer.

In what was copied here to this thread, the limits on the seats available are very clearly in bolded print--by no means the "fine[st] print" in the announcement and they are placed immediately underneath the title of the ballet, which is the only thing in larger print. It's easy to get confused anyway--I do all the time with these types of pitches-- but I don't think ABT screwed this up particularly or was at all misleading. (Personally I am dying to see Of Love and Rage and very sad to be missing it. And I think it's a shame there isn't more of an audience for a new full length ballet by one of the best classical choreographers around.) Box office? It's very depressing. But ABT is stuck with the Met this season....As I understand from reading this site, NYCB--which seems to be on a high in terms of talent and has a fantastic repertory and a loyal audience and (at times) nifty marketing--regularly closes cheap sections of its considerably smaller house to make sure the lower sections fill up. I think classical and neo-classical Ballet is far more accessible to the uninformed/uninterested than many other high art forms but getting people to come and getting them to keep coming for anything other than Swan Lake seems to be a bit of a conundrum everywhere. Not to let ABT off the hook entirely--ABT does need better marketing--but ....

The text of the 'airport' instagram post has been deleted along with comments.

Those adventures to get out of the country sound harrowing. I kind of like to picture you pretending not to understand Russian well... During the cold war a college friend was traveling in the Federal Republic of Germany ("West Germany" for anyone who might be confused) and somehow didn't know she needed a visa to take the train to West Berlin because it passed through the German Democratic Republic ("East Germany"). She was/is a smart woman--but at the time she was about 20 and just made a silly, albeit serious mistake. She ended up arrested by East German police who did not know any English. They were clearly not amused nor were they treating the situation lightly. She later told me she had never been so frightened in her life and since she DID know Russian and communication with the East Germans was proving impossible, she kept actively reminding herself "do NOT let them know you can speak Russian; speaking Russian in this situation would be a bad idea." (Of course probably they wouldn't have known Russian either, but in a less fraught situation it might have been worth a try. In that one...not so much.) They did let her go. After all these years I can't remember if she made it to West Berlin but I don't think so.