Alina

Just to clarify, Austen Acevedo has been trained completely at Orlando Ballet (since age 10) with summers at ABT where he has been a national merit scholar to continue his studies during the year in Orlando. While I agree the piece choreographed on he and Ms. Kallis for the Marinsky Young Choreographer's Night was not overly impressive, the opportunity provided to these young students to travel and work with the professionals at the Marinsky and Vaganova School was very special. It is an amazing opportunity that YAGP made possible.

Sorry Amy! I am getting caught up in semantics! I just do see that companies are run either by AD 's and Boards that promote and foster the AD's original work or look more for them choosing outside work.

Okay I guess I understand the criteria Amy you set forth but still think there might be three categories but I would name them as: Artistic Director Driven Choreographer Driven Ballet Master Driven (although rare, most AD's see the bigger picture that is AD driven)

I also do not think Mikko Nissinen should be on the choreographer list. He is not a choreographer. He only does so by necessity. He is not ballet master driven either. What is the criteria for a ballet master? I feel that would be to choose ballets for the dancers. There should be an Artistic Director list. Many of the Ballet Master list are probably more suited for the AD list. Artistic Directors are very good at choosing repertoire for their company and community. An AD needs to think about all components of his company and it's survival- dancers, repertoire, and the audience that supports the product.

Robert Hill, Orlando Ballet Take a look on You Tube Some pretty original, significant work Probably in the choreographer driven category

Thank you for this find! It is amazing what is out there on the internet!

The ballet world is truly in mourning over this news. Mark and I became friends first on this site and also on facebook. We shared a mutual love of ballet, teaching, and our dogs. I did have the pleasure of meeting him twice in person but really became friends because of Ballet Alert. My heart goes out to his family, his dogs Tanny and Ben, his worldwide ballet family, and everyone at Ballet West. He was a real gem in our world and taken away far too soon! RIP dear Mark, you will never be forgotten.

Very sad news. Wonderful artist and lovely person. http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/houstonchronicle/obituary.aspx?n=andrea-vodehnal&pid=154746667&fhid=11110

Yeah Deanne!! So deserved! Lucky students to work with her!!

No 4mrdncr you are not confused! Boston Ballet has done Apollo over it's 50 years a number of times with and without the prologue. The last time it was presented before this current time was in 1993 and it was done with the prologue. There were several casts most notably Fernando Bujones and Patrick Armand. A minor but interesting note as well was that Maria Arnillias (Mr. Bujones' wife) was a handmaiden in that prologue. Boston Ballet also danced Apollo with Rudolph Nureyev back in the late 60's in Mexico City and again as guests in Madison, WI. Mme. Hermine is correct that this will be the third tour for BB to Spain. The tour in 1991, included Giselle and a mixed bill of Balanchine's "Allegro Brilliante", Mark Morris' "Morte Subite", and Lander's "Etudes". On that tour were Fernando Bujones, Trinidad Sevillano, and Patrick Armand, all favorites with the Spanish fans. Hmmmm....... why is it the current BB staff seems to be so unaware of the companies history.

This is very sad news. So sorry to hear it.

Thank you embunhead- from a former dancer that has "been there" your words ring true and honest as how many dancers I have known felt over the years. To my knowledge, soloist and principal contracts are not ongoing in AGMA companies in most of the other national companies. In the companies I have worked with nationwide that were under AGMA, the contracts for all catagories were for the yearly work weeks designated unless negotiated independently by the dancer's agent. I knew many soloists and principals to be terminated, many with similar explanations to those given to Ms. Flack. Of course that may be different at NYCB but I could not find that specified in the AGMA posting of their contract on the AGMA website. I am assuming that other posters are more infomed than I am on that detail. Also I do think that sometimes management needs to make very difficult decisions because of the current economic climate. Sometimes the explanations may be to protect those they release from contract as much as themselves. It can be easier often for a dancer to move into another situation if the company claims they were part of an overall downsizing. I am not claiming this to be true at NYCB but should at least be given some thought. I also aknowledge that such an explanation may be very hard to accept for dancers that grew up in an environement that went from being a very young dancer at SAB to graduating into NYCB. The somewhat closed or often called"family" environment has many plusses along the way but can be challenging for individual dancers when confronted with a larger picture. While Ms. Flack's complaints may draw many opinions from both the general public and those in her field, I think that it is fair to acknowledge that as a performer, and an expressive artist, her impressions are of interest and thought provoking. Certainly she has brought forth opinions one way or another from many of us on this Board. Dancers and especially those that have numerous expressive tendencies, as we can see evident in Ms. Flack's paintings on her website, find it very difficult to be reserved. I personally for that reason, will"cut her some slack". I do not take all she proclaims as truth for all, but hope her passion is soon translated to another artistic or otherwise endeavor she finds fullfilling.

I am deeply saddened by her death. I admired and enjoyed her tremendously as an artist. Later I was fortunate to know her as a coach, teacher, and the lovliest of human beings. RIP dear Eva.

Joyce Cuoco as several have mentioned was originally from Boston. As a child she trained with Harriet Hoctor, the acrobatic dancer famous in the 30's and 40's with the Zeigfield Follies. She then trained at Boston Ballet with E. Virginia Williams. The stories about her mother are infamous. She was tiny, and had an amazing ability for turning and balancing. As also said, she was the prodigy of Radio City Music Hall for many years but due to her rather stunted growth could not get a job in a ballet company in the US. John Cranko took her under his wing in Stuttgart, I believe with the stipulation that her mother was to no longer be involved in her career. There she flourished, finally developing into a beautiful young woman. When I was a student she would often visit in Boston and take class. We all idolized her! She was always very nice to us all. My one distinct memory was that a day or two after John Cranko's death she came home. She sat for the longest time with Virginia after class and was so grief stricken as was all the dance world. She later continued her career in Germany. A few years ago I saw a film of her dancing as a mature dancer. She still had amazing balance and turning ability but with the grace and subtleties of a true artist.

Not sure about Verdy and Villella's coaching but Boston's production at the time was staged by Dmitri Romanov.