attitudebalance

hoping the last olga/lensky pair will be hurlin/bell....

they seem determined to not cast aran with cate for the classical ballets...

I think Ratmansky casts his own ballets - he gave class at ABT last Met season, presumably scouting dancers. So if you exclude PC1 it seems like Susan Jaffe only cast Seo in the single pas de deux. Alexei also seems to like casting Cate and Aran together much more than Kevin Mackenzie or Susan Jaffe A bit surprised by the Bell/Trenary pairing based on height - have they danced together before? Fingers crossed for featured roles for Elisabeth Beyer...she deserves to be on the Park/Misseldine track imo

I now wonder if he decided to write the OpEd because he knew he wouldn't be terminated - either from a sense of "nothing to lose now" or to blame the firing on accusations of racism...

I do wonder why, if ABT wanted a Wheeldon story ballet, they chose to take a risk on the very expensive LWFC. They could have imported Alice in Wonderland (popular with kids and families) or The Winter's Tale (Shakespeare adaptation, Wheeldon's most acclaimed/best work) - both at lower cost and both are already "known quantities" with track records of success. I agree with other posters re Jaffe's defeatist comments - which seem to imply a real lack of reflection when NYCB is thriving with 3 NYC seasons in a year + Nutcracker even post COVID. Of course she won't come out with public criticism of ABT, and LWFC was KM's acquisition and not her decision. I do hope there are clearer eyes behind the scenes.

Do you know why he left ABT in the first place? Was it to be closer to home, disagreements with KM, etc?

Yeah that's a good point...as freelancers they have control over who they work with and probably a much higher hourly rate than ABT could offer. Are there any other candidates fo coaching positions? I love the Royal Ballet's youtube which shows extensive coaching from retired dancers, many of whom worked personally with Ashton and Macmillan... Also forgot to add - it seems inevitable (or at least extremely likely) at this point that Misseldine will be a principle and I could see Jarod Curley promoted as well to be her partner. They are both very very tall, Misseldine in particular and have been paired in the corps in Whipped Cream too.

Many thanks FauxPas for such a well thought out state of the union!! If only ABT were reading here... Yes it seems terrible that dancers have to pay out of their own pocket for coaching, especially when many ie. in the corps don't make much. It actually seems to create real inequality within ABT based on ability to pay - I can't help but think of Skylar Brandt's extensive coaching videos she posts on Instagram and how that sort of coaching would not be accessible for those with less means. It seems that coaching has a real impact on the dancer's performance and even career trajectory (stepping in for injured dancers already knowing the role, etc.) That reliance on outside coaching seems very unique to ABT and a real negative reflection of the company's resources Also very curious as to why Bell and Hurlin aren't cast together more often - would be so easy to market as young, attractive, upcoming and a couple in real life!! They seem to share a lot of technical bravura too, would be a great fit for ballets like Swan Lake. Ratmansky seemed to like them together, casting for both Nutcracker and OLAR. Sometimes it seems Kevin made decisions on casting out of sheer stubbornness. Although Bell/Teuscher seem an established partnership and maybe she gets first pick as the more senior ballerina. Bell/Hurlin are my two favourite principals and the pairing I most want to see at ABT....

hmmm you have to wonder if its ticket prices and the ubiquitous cost of living crisis? theres a price for everything...

Do you think it would even be possible to offload some of the underperforming dancers at Principal level to make way for new talent (can think of at least 5 i personally wouldnt renew....)? It sort of seems an almost unspoken rule that once named to principal, its a guaranteed job until the dancer decides to retire with any deviation leading to backlash / media attention (see Abbi Stafford at NYCB)...there are so many dancers at soloist and even corps level within the company itself id prefer to see than some of the principals....

Any reports from ABT on tour? Especially interested to hear about Devon's Giselle and Chloe's Myrta! I was just reflecting today about how ABT's touring model makes it harder for the company to have a consistent new york presence/audience when there's so much time between seasons and important debuts happen in one off locations...

thanks for all who responded!! i understand all the workers need to get paid but really feels like they shoot themselves in the foot not even having performance clips for youtube 😕 but probably not a priority it sounds like

Sorry if this is off topic as I'm new to the forum but I'm an ABT fan and wondering if anyone knows why they have so little digital content/performance recordings compared to other companies? ie. the royal and nycb seem to have many performance clips on their youtube but ABT has none and I've heard they are extremely strict. is this due to met rules? ballet choreography licenses? or just company policies? seems so counter intuitive when they already struggle to sell tickets it seems...