Wonders

18 hours ago, WLH said:

https://wwd.com/eye/people/new-york-city-ballet-artistic-director-jonathan-stafford-on-modernizing-the-company-for-a-new-era-1235605948/?fbclid=PAAabi6X8nsMx87gHmhcz1Z6-Teg_-fJf9_FMlufdQWTblt3uGPpg5BKUfgpk
 

In case this is of interest to anyone “Jonathan Stafford on modernizing the company for a new era” in Women’s Wear Daily

@WLH Thanks for sharing. Very interesting to hear Stafford's thoughts and vision for the company, and it makes me excited for what's to come. I did laugh at the fact that he had never heard of balletcore. 

2 hours ago, aurora said:

Honestly it was pretty ridiculous. Misseldine was by far the best female dancer. Ikarashi's award was well deserved.

Agreed, Aurora. We didn't think it was even close. We were shocked when Misseldine didn't win. We also thought Lauren Lovette's piece was by far the best for choreography.

The Festival Artist webpage has also been updated: https://vaildance.org/festival-artists-2023/.

I'm really excited to see what Adji Cissoko creates! And of course thrilled to see that Kyle Abraham will be making a new piece there as well!

Thank you for sharing, @carllovesballet! These were great. It's nice to see the NYCB dancers up close, and to see some of the newer dancers featured. There is so much talent in this company! I was really moved by Caili Quan's piece. 

21 hours ago, cobweb said:

Also I am trying to identify one of the corps ladies. I would have said it was Lauren Collett, except Collett wasn't listed to dance. Petite brunette with big eyes, very pleasing slender figure, and - this is what I noticed - extraordinarily long arms. Anyone know who this is, is it in fact Lauren Collett?

It was Lauren Collett. You can see her clearly in this story: https://www.instagram.com/stories/nrcorrigan/3021602791992833744

LOOOOOVE me some Gilbert Bolden! He's also choreographed for some of the SAB Winter Balls, and the pieces were well done. Maybe we'll get to see more of his choreographic work on the NYCB stage!

@cobweb Laine Habony shared an Instagram story of a casting sheet corrected in red pen. Looks like Laracey is replacing Tiler Peck in today's matinee 

On 8/9/2017 at 12:54 PM, Tapfan said:

Kaeli Ware,  Kamala Saara McDaniels, Olivia Winston, Alexandra "Sasha" Manuel, Kelly E. Hicks, Olivia Bell, Eliana Vaha'i Feao, Alysia Johnson, Raquel Smith, Destiny Wimpye, Tais Vinolo and Helga Paris-Morales are just a few truly excellent prospects along with others too numerous to name.

I came across this post from 2017 and looked these dancers up and WOW! Where are they now?

Kaeli Ware—Ballet West II
Kamala Saara McDaniels—DTH
Alexandra "Sasha" Manuel—Royal Ballet School
Olivia Bell—NYCB Apprentice
Alysia Johnson—Hubbard Street
Destiny Wimpye—PNB Apprentice
Tais Vinolo—National Ballet of Canada
Helga Paris-Morales—Washington Ballet

2 hours ago, abatt said:

It just seems like the press release could have been worded in a more diplomatic way.

It's an all-Black cast/creative team and that's just what it is. What is undiplomatic about "all-Black?" What should they have said instead?

12 hours ago, Roberta said:

Good point, abatt...and will Asians be excluded too? Non-Black Latinos/LatinX allowed?

 

Would anyone have batted an eye or accused ABT of being "woke" if it was an all-female cast and creative team? Or do we only have issues with certain groups of minorities presenting ideas like this?

Would be interesting to go back through the archives and count the number of all-white casts and creative teams that have performed/created productions at ABT, even if the season announcement or program didn't explicitly state that it was an all-white affair.