Helene

First, housekeeping: threads in the company forums are for what you see, not to discuss critics. That belongs in the "Writing on Ballet" forum. As Dale put it, which is why I've deleted most of this discussion, which is less about the dancers than each other. (I apologize for missing most of it when "Last read"" went directly to the post to which I responded.) You'd think that Abrera, Copeland, and Lane were Callas, Tebaldi, and Milanov. Ballet is, unfortunately, more of a zero-sum game, but, seriously, at this level, these dancers all have plenty of fans and are dancing at a very high level. Plus, there are already a few threads specifically about promotions at ABT and the McKenzie School of Career Management and at least a score that have turned into the same discussion.

Five years for Abrera, three years for Lane, and six years for Copeland. None of them has yet to be made Principal, regardless of their presence in social media or press. Most dancers promoted to soloist rank do not make it to Principal in any company of size. The last dancer to go up the ranks was Hee Seo. She had been cast more prominently and in hot seat performances, like when she was listed for La Sylphide to replace Osipova when HS was still a corps member. I don't see her as a great press or social media presence, and she bypassed all three.

Argh, I was hoping for a Hannukah gift of Taylor Carrasco (Discord and War) still being at SAB and Peter Martins having a senior moment and calling up Peter Boal to tell him he has this kid he can't use, but not only is Carrasco in Cincinnati, according to his bio, he went to the PNB Summer Intensive, and PNB knew his dancing. http://zylopho.blogspot.com/2014/12/pbs-airs-sabs-workshop-performance-this.html

You mean you don't think paranormal mysteries are the heart of science ;)

i was privileged to see most of his career at NYCB. One of the greatest dancers I've ever seen live, with an incredible range.

So there we are. (?) I wonder if that was during the same meeting in which CBC came to the same conclusion.

Tiit Helimets tweeted: Congratulations to him

No it isn't. Because there is no evidence that she has been assigned roles based on those factors. I agree.. There's nothing to suggest that she has been cast any differently than her peers. In fact, she's been more active in outreach.

You must be proud: he's a lovely dancer.

I haven't seen the PNB movie in a while, but if I remember correctly, there was a long intro during the overture of Drosselmeier's workshop, and also Clara watching the ballerina doll through the windows of a doll house. (I don't remember how the Soldier Doll was filmed.) The NYCB movie did some flying overhead thing during the big symphonic intro into the snow kingdom, which on stage is the bed on wheels moving around the sleeping Marie. In the Stowell, that music is to the neoclassical pas de deux for the now adult Clara and the adult Nutcracker Prince, and there's no need to fill up the music with special effects.

Claiming something is racist or sexist doesn't make it so. Claiming something is not racist or sexist doesn't make it not so. It's a matter of whether the arguments are convincing, whether they change someone's mind or open someone's mind, or whether they are just words. I believe that, except where people are trolling or experimenting with new personas (often not the same thing), what we post describes who we are and what our values are, and often tells more about ourselves than the ostensible subject. A careful reader can follow who is saying what and come to his or her own conclusion about the subject and the people.

"Retro" is a kind way of putting it.

aurora quoted abatt, who used the terms "modesty" and "demureness." She did not put those words into abatt's keyboard, and she rightly pointed out how demureness is gendered in definition, a double standard when not expected of boys. I could be wrong, but I don't remember a trail of commentary or distaste when male dancers have done what, by the standards applied to Copeland, are far from modest in photos.

Modesty and demureness, happily, are more of an option for Copeland and Ferro, unlike where refusing to be crushed by that "norm" could be deadly. The only place modesty is a requirement in ballet is while dancing Aurora and Giselle, and, thankfully, demureness is also an option, not a requirement even there.

I think that the photo of Ferri is more artsy, but that her expression is much more sexualized than Copeland's, which is more direct. I see both as fine photos, and I see no problem with either woman posing for these photos or agreeing to release them, linking to them, etc. I don't think they are in any way diminished or "tainted" as role models for girls. Taste is in the eye of the beholder.

Casting is up through Monday, December 22, except for the added matinee on Thursday, December 18 (2pm): http://www.pnb.org/Season/14-15/Nutcracker/#Casting 2014 PNB Nutcracker Casting as of Dec 9.xlsx

Many thanks for posting this. I loved Elizabbeth Loscavio's dancing at SFB when I did a lot of work travel to the Bay area. Many will recognize her as SFB's representative for the 1993 Balanchine Celebration, performing "My One and Only" and "I Got Rhythm" from "Who Cares?"

It's not a matter of how fine Cirio is -- there are great interpreters of Balanchine in Seattle, Philadelphia, Miami, Seattle, etc. -- but whether there is any connection to McBride. I don't see in his Boston Ballet bio any mention of North Carolina Dance Theatre/the School, North Carolina, Charlotte Ballet, or Chautauqua, whereas Lovette grew up and was trained in North Carolina.

What is Cirio's connection?

I didn't realize "Other Dances" was not originally a rep work. From the NYT archive abstract of a November piece by Clive Barnes: http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=940DEFDE123EE334BC4F51DFB767838D669EDE It wasn't a commission for ABT, as I'd always erroneously assumed.

What relationship did Natalia Makarova have to Tiler Peck and NYCB? Likely shared repertoire. From the photos I'd have guessed Tchaikovsky Pas de deux, but there was no mention of a partner. Edited to add: The NYT article mentions "Audacious ballet duets," and from this description and the costume, I'd guess Tchaikovsky PDD. Also with Baryshnikov on the panel, and the commercially available version on video with McBride and Baryshnikov, it makes the perfect NYCB/ABT hybrid, and practically because there has only been one male partner mentioned. I wonder if Angle danced with Copeland in Vail in 2011. I wish it had been Mearns, since McBride trained Mearns, and someone from Charlotte Ballet, McBride and Bonnefoux's company, but that's not how these things work.

They've ticked off many of the right boxes: 1. Educational programs 2. Big enough orchestra pit 3. Theater size to sustain their brand of programming: early opera, new opera, rarely performed opera 4. Start-up money While there were arguments that going head-to-head with the Met at Lincoln Center was a fundamental issue, I think it was the size of the NYST that put NYCO between a rock and a hard place and that being in the center of the action will be a positive, net-net. I hope if they go with blockbuster rep, it will be Peter Brook's version of "Carmen," although more intimate versions of operas like "La Boheme" could tie into their education programs. for their comeback!

Etoiles aren't chosen at Concours. They are chosen and presented by the Ballet AD to the General Director of the Opera, who nominates them, although, technically, that person could refuse the AD. Principal Dancers, from whom the etoiles are selected, are chosen at Concours, or not, as in this case.

Thank you for the update, Grace8.

Kochetkova tweeted a link to a photo of some of the judges: