bingham

Abrera has been withdrawn from the Corsaire performances? She hasn't danced as cast on the last two tours, but this is a bummer - a real bummer - beyond bummer.

The Saturday matinee with debuts of Stearns and Matthews, and the almost-debuts of Copeland and Ilyan should be exciting. Three face-offs between Gomes and Hallberg as Siegfrid and Von Rothbart (exchanging roles) could be thrilling and unpredictable.

That's great that KMc is giving breaks to some members of the male corp.Hoping, he will do the same for the female members.Maybe, new casting for the Odalisques,Amor and Queen of the Dryads

Congratulations to Daniil, I can't wait to see him on a regular basis!

This practice of bringing in stars and/or dancers with star potential has been going on at ABT since at least the early 70's and probably long before that (did Igor Youskevitch or Alicia Alonso work their way up through the corps at ABT? How about Lupe Serrano? Let's not forget that our home grown ballerina Cynthia Gregory was imported from the SF ballet where she was already a soloist. What effect did that have on the morale of the corps?). I'm sure it's discouraging from a dancer's point of view but from a management point of view – when you see a dancer with enormous talent you have to grab them, that's what the audience wants. Especially the NY audience.

This conversation has been going on at BalletTalk for years – just pull up any old ABT thread. We all have our own favorites & can never understand why they aren't given more opportunities. There are many, many talented dancers in the corps and soloist levels at ABT, but you know what? As someone who has sat in the audience for ABT 20-30 performances a year for the past 5 years I can tell you that IMO not one of the current corps men has the raw talent of Daniil Simkin. They have OTHER talents, and hopefully they will continue to develop but McKenzie would have been crazy to let Simkin get away - whether or not he ultimately works out at ABT and regardless of the effect it has on the morale of the corps. Ditto Joseph Philips & Mikhail Ilyin.

Ballet is not a democracy, and not for the faint hearted. Each dancer develops at their own pace but hard work + dedication simply do not guarantee success. Any dancer who doesn't feel they are getting enough opportunities with ABT (or any other company) needs to find another job. It's worked well recently for Carlos Molino, Erica Cornejo and Melissa Barak, and despite the fact that I will miss one of my favorite dancers terribly I truly think Veronika Part's decision to leave is the right one.

I also agree with Faux Pas that McKenzie does a great job developing male talent but is severely deficient in developing ballerinas. In fact I am even more down on ABT's female principal dancers than he is, but that's for another day…

As much as i admire several of the members of the male corp,i agree with Susan that there is no one with the raw talent of Daniil.My only concern is his height. He seems very small in his pictures but apparently he seems more than capable in his partnering skills.

As for future ballerinas,maybe Kevin will surprise us again. Is Marcelo/David tall enough for the "Big Red".

Very sad news indeed.I wonder what will happen to planned revival of Judgement of Paris for ABT? She was going to stage the revival for the ABT openning night gala.

Is her husband also a present/former dancer?

What is I Guerin ,one of the loveliest former POB principal, up to these days?Is she teaching?coaching?I understand that she is now living in the United States.

That's what I'm talkin' about!!! Yes, Barbara! And I add to your appeal promotions for Veronika Part, Sascha Radetsky, and Hee Seo. Come on People, we can do it. And while we're trying, we should take a moment to look at the article that came out in today's New York Magazine which previews the new Tharp piece for the spring Met season. The Elfman music was described as THUMPING and WILDLY PERCUSSIVE! I am so ready to see these people dancing again. So ready.

Although she has not been cast in prominent soloist roles lately, i still hope that Zhong-Jing Fang will be a soloist soon

the Filipino finalist's last name is Libao(not Ibos). Sorry for the erroe

the finalist list is out. Among them are 2 Americans(Dylan Tebaldi and Kyle Davis) and a Filipino( Marcelino Ibos Jr). Good Luck to them.

It's such a tribute to the school that there is a wonderful supply of dancers to take the place of those who leave.

indeed it is.

Cristian,

I may be thinking of another Cuban dancer but isn't Miguel Angel Blanco related to Alicia Alonzo(grandson?)

In the ABT website,new apprentices from ABT2 are added to the roster. There are also several new dancers listed ib ABT2 roster.

My favorite is the Italian film,"Cinema Paradiso",growing-up film set in Sicily.For someone who wants to see small,independent films,try " the Bloosoming of Maximo Oliveros", a gem from the Philippines.Both are available in Netplix with English subtitles.

SEASON HIGHLIGHT

A truly powerful performance today by Michele Wiles in Fall River Legend. Jaw clenched, lips quivering, teeth bared, nostrils flared, eyes beaded, brows rippling. Trembling in terror and barely able to breath after the deed. A tortured soul, impossibly hurt, no mend in sight. The old folks deserved their whacks today. Brava, Michele. Brava.

Isaac Stappas was tremendous as the pastor with some very confident and polished acting and dancing. One problem -- he's just too hot to believe that he has an ounce of minister in him. Mmmmm, maybe one of those ministers who always gets into trouble.

This is the performance that ABT should take across America.

How was the Cornejo-Kajiya Ballo...?

A Debut Subscription would be terrific but do you think it would sell well at the Met? There are 3800 seats to be filled amd, if you add standing room, over 4000 tickets to sell.

There are probably under 1000 of "us". The rest of "them" probably look for know commodities.

I don't know if it would sell at the Met but maybe,ABT can do a program similar to POB's "Young Dancer program".They do it every 2-3 years and features talented members of the corps doing PDD from the POB's repertoire.I think, they do 2or3 performances during the season.Maybe,ABT can't "afford" to do it at the Met but can do a couple of performances at the CC or even at the Joyce.I'm sure,it would sell and encourage the dancers(who probably will never do the complete ballet).

I wish my 'random thoughts' were that thorough and coherent, sidwich. Thanks.

Tonight's biggest shock was the elimination of Sabrina and Mark

The NY Sun is reporting this morning that ABT made its official announcement of the 2008 Met season yesterday. The rep evening will include the Tharp premiere (June 3) along with Lander's Etudes. And, Nina will open the week of Giselle with Angel Corella as Albrecht. No mention of any retirements in the NY Sun article! As reported earlier, the Merry Widow will be revived. S.L., Don Q., Le Corsaire and La Bayadere are also on the slate.

Groan if you will, but I'm looking forward to seeing Etudes on the Met stage again, and the company sure has the roster to pull it off magnificently. The Kirov is going to present it at City Center in April, so it will be an interesting and probably controversial comparison.

I just received the ABT MET season brochure. No big surprises in the advance casting except for H Cornejo's Don Q, Giselle and Sleeping Beauty, all with X Reyes.Michelle has a Don Q and Gillian, a La bayadere.

By the way, the net increase of four puts the Corps at 55, and with 26 Principals and 19 Soloists, that equates to 100 full-time dancers. I'm sure that is a recent high. Unfortunately, I don't keep ancient programs, but can't remember the company ever being this large. Not sure where on BT to pose this question, but in the past, HAS ANY AMERiCAN BALLET COMPANY EVER REACHED 100 FULL-TIME DANCERS? As far as I know San Francisco Ballet and ABT are the other two largest.

One more NYCB roster change: Jennifer Tinsley has been happily removed from the Soloist list. Her repacement: Jennifer Tinsley-Williams.

Aside from the State-run Russian,French and Italian companies,it seems NYCB has the most dancers in its roster than any other company.Royal ballet has less than a hundred(i think).

Drb, Did V Part danced last night?Who were the other dancers in Leaves... ? Thanks

I didn't think she and Marcelo had enough chemistry last night . . .

Thursday, Oct. 25

Different ballet, different night, but they certainly connected tonight in more familiar roles -- Meadow. I had thought I'd seen this ballet before but couldn't remember it. When the curtain went up, I realized I'd seen only the (forgettable) pas. I had the feeling that Lubovitch had the last movement in his head first, then built a ballet and pdd around it. He shouldn't have bothered. The final movement has original, mesmerizing corps work, dancers appearing and disappearing, a rather ghostlike (but not scary) quality.

The evening opened with Clear -- a ballet that's starting to grow on me. The ensemble of men was as strong as on opening night. Jose Carreno lacked the supppleness of spine that was so amply displayed by the younger dancers, but his charisma, much diminished on Tuesday, was back full force. He had no problem commanding the stage tonight. Paloma, who seems to be able to enjoy herself more when she's not wearing tulle, excelled in Clear, and with Jose brought the pas which closes the work to a lump-in-throat conclusion.

The evening closed with an absolute triumph by Michele Wiles in Ballo. She was radiant from her first entrance, seeming to tell the audience, "Watch! This is gonna be good!" She beamed as the music drew the steps from her. Somehow, she found time to play with phrasing. There was a moment during the adage with Max Beloserkovsky when she is standing on pointe, front attitude, and while supporting her, he does a soutenu turn. Max was off balance and stepped directly into Michele's semiextended leg. She smiled, still holding her balance, coming down only when the music said to.

Max seemed to be having trouble with clean finishes tonight, but I was glad to see him chomp hungrily at this ballet.

The soloists were Melissa Thomas, Kristi Boone, Hee Seo (in lieu of Simone Messmer -- no correction slip) and Leann Underwood.

Just one note: I don't understand the willingness of artistic management to let dancers go out with large, conspicuous tattoos exposed. It's so distracting. Watching the bare chested guys in Clear, the eye catches the tats and works to make sense of them, missing the dancing that's going on. This is the second time in a few days (different company) when I've been confronted by this. Can't the company insist that any skin that's exposed be natural?

Or am I just an old fogey?

What a pleasant surprise at the success of Michele in Ballo and Leaves...I never thought of her in allegro roles in the past(esp in Ballo) or in the Kirkland-Mckerrow mode but i guess i'm mistaken.I'm sorry to miss her at the CC season. Is ABT doing Ballo at the Met?

Mel and Maks had the advantage of having an actual Samba music for thier dance while the others had less danceable music(IMO). Who decides which music are used?

I think, m2 was thinking of Dusty Button , a recent JKO graduate, who is listed in the JKO website as one of the graduates who had joined a professional company(Studio Co.)

In Sunday's NY Timz, Claudia La Rocco reports that Herman Cornejo will dance ALBRECHT during the Met season, as well as Prince Desire!!!!!! Thank you thank you thank you.

There is also an interesting comment attributed to McKenzie about the "problem" bloggers create when they impatiently obsess over the pokiness of a dancer's career path. Kevin has a tough job, and I for one truly, truly, truly appreciate his sensitive nurturing of my favorite artists, -- but dammit, I want to see Abrera as Giselle, and I want to see it yesterday.

So, now we have a glimpse at the casting for the 2008 season, and it looks very promising indeed.

Now that Herman is cast in Giselle, we can wonder who will be his Giselle.Sarah? Yuriko? or most likely Xiomara?

Thanks, sz. I wonder how much time Yuriko had to prepare for this performance. A bravura pas such as this is a major stretch beyond her usual rep. Nervousness under either circumstance is understandable; both together all the more so.

I hope I have a chance to see Herman do this pas some other time.

Maybe, he will be finally cast as Ali in the full length Le Corsaire this spring(if they find a right-sized Medora)

One of Eleanor d'Antuono's partners, a guest, was Cuba's Jorge Esquivel. They danced Giselle.

Not sure if it was in the 70's, Charles Jude of POB partnered C Gregory in Giselle.

Cheryl is part Asian(on her mother side). Maybe, it's a natural tan?

I have never been to SPAC so i do not know of the other programs being presented there.Do they present other ballet companies there aside from NYCB?

Regarding the dwindling audience at Saratoga,i know this is sacrilegious,but is it possible that the Saratogoans would want to see something different during the summer season?