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miliosr

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Posts posted by miliosr

  1. 22 hours ago, cobweb said:

    I can see where Aran Bell might not want to leave a company where he's already a principal, but for someone still up and coming like Roxander or Curley, they must at least be looking around at the other options. 

    I can't picture Jarod Curley or Jake Roxander leaving now when the great prize is in sight. Herman Cornejo is over 40 and is winding down in terms of active repertory. Roxander will fill that slot. Thomas Forster, Cory Stearns and James Whiteside are all nearing 40 and the latter two have been plagued by injuries. Curley will fill one of those slots.

    I'm more inclined to think that a long-serving corps member like Patrick Frenette (who was passed over in the most recent round of promotions) might consider moving on while he's still in his late-20s.

  2. 4 hours ago, PeggyTulle said:

    I wonder if her guest artist approach is in part a way to audition potential new principal hires?

    That was my first response to the original "Why?" question: O'Connell's guesting may be an audition/test.

    With Luke Ingham's departure, San Francisco Ballet is down to six principal men. So, there is room for new hires and/or promotions.

  3. New York City Ballet and Musicians Union Reach Contract Deal (broadwayworld.com) (Broadway World cites the Times, which is behind a paywall.)

    Here are two key provisions:

    • [T]he two parties have reached a three-year deal that includes a pay increase of approximately 22 percent over the course of three years.
    • The deal will also include an updated healthcare plan that would “continue to be funded by N.Y.C.B. while also providing the musicians with greater independence to choose their own plan."

    Preliminarily, I would say the union won big on its salary and health care demands.

  4. I finally caught up with Joan Crawford in Our Blushing Brides (OBB) (premiere: July 19, 1930).

    OBB was the final film in the Crawford 'Our' series at M-G-M, which also included Our Dancing Daughters (1928) and Our Modern Maidens (1929). The characters were different in the series but the actresses were largely the same. Crawford and Anita Page appeared in all three while Dorothy Sebastian appeared in the first and third movies.

    In any event, OBB was an early species of the 'three girls in the big city' genre in Hollywood and, in its structure, bears a strong resemblance to the later The Best of Everything (1959). In this, Crawford's part parallels that of Hope Lange in The Best of Everything while Page and Sebastian's parts are reminiscent of those of Diane Baker and Suzy Parker in the latter film.

    The basic premise of OBB has Crawford, Page and Sebastian toiling away in dead-end jobs at a department store. Page and Sebastian are out to find rich husbands while Crawford is looking for love and romance. Matters end badly for Page, OK for Sebastian and happily for Crawford. (Not only does Crawford's character, Jerry, find happiness with looker Robert Montgomery - he's also the department store owner's son! The Joan Crawford 'shopgirl makes good archetype' was born here.)

    As for Crawford herself, she's a work in progress in OBB. Her speaking voice alternates between an early talkie affected one and a working-class accent (which is more believable for someone who is earning her living modelling clothes at a department store.) Her acting is also an uneven mixture of naturalistic talking pictures acting and silent film conventions. But the face is already starting to achieve its full potential.

    There's a funny bit of business toward the end of the movie. Crawford finds herself in a movie theater showing Let Us Be Gay - the M-G-M movie which premiered three weeks after OBB in 1930. It's funny because actor Raymond Hackett, who played Montgomery's younger brother in OBB and whose character was in the theatre with Crawford, also played a supporting role in Let Us Be Gay. So, Hackett the character was watching Hackett the actor on screen.

    Viewers can decide for themselves which ending - to OBB or Let Us Be Gay - is more implausible.

     

  5. I rewatched The Legend of Hell House this weekend. (2023 is the 50th anniversary of the film's original release and actress Gayle Hunnicutt, who plays the character of Ann Barrett in the film, died this year. So, it seemed like a good time to rewatch it.)

    Horror/sci-fi legend Richard Matheson adapted the screenplay for The Legend of Hell House from his own 1971 haunted house novel, Hell House. The movie adheres closely to Matheson's novel, and both bear certain similarities to Shirley Jackson's The Haunting of Hill House and its movie adaptation, The Haunting; the biggest similarity being a team of mediums and scientists investigating haunted houses. But whereas the haunting in the Jackson work is left ambiguous, the same is not true for the Matheson novel and the derived film. In The Legend of Hell House, the haunting is objectively real.

    In any event, The Legend of Hell House has that great early-70s "Hammer horror" feel to it (even though it was not a Hammer Studios film.) The use of bizarre colors and furniture design give the haunted house a disorienting quality as do strange camera angles and a pulsating electronic score. The primary cast consists of only four actors but they are all quite good in their parts. The ending is something of a letdown but, then, Matheson left the ending unchanged from his own source novel.

    I wouldn't classify The Legend of Hell House as scary, per se, but it does invoke a strong feeling of dread.

  6. On 10/23/2023 at 9:05 AM, matilda said:

    letting Ratmansky have too much leeway in indulging niche historic interests with large budgets that rarely paid off.

    I couldn't agree more. For all the money ABT threw at him, Ratmansky never provided them with the kind of lasting multi-act story ballets that are the company's bread and butter. (His Nutcracker and Whipped Cream probably came the closest.)

    On 10/23/2023 at 9:45 AM, FauxPas said:

    ABT used to do "Petipa Tribute" evenings with bits and pieces and it would be lovely for the Act II or "Harlequinade" or just "Hunting of the Larks" section to be done as a separate piece.

    On 10/23/2023 at 10:30 AM, Barbara said:

    I’ve long thought ABT could make an evening of beautiful divertissements from several of Ratmansky’s full lengths.

    But how many times would the company be able to go to that particular well? It would work for a season or two but I doubt it would relieve ABT of their (over)dependence on Giselle, Swan Lake, Romeo & Juliet and Don Quixote.

  7. 6 hours ago, abatt said:

    The dancers work, including rehearsal weeks and performance weeks, for only a fraction of the year.  Being a ballet dancer at ABT is not a 52 week per year job, and salaries reflect that reality.  That's why many of them appear during off time at other gigs.   I think overall, NYCB dancers have more weeks of work than ABT dancers.  

    I took a look back at ABT's Form 990 for calendar year 2013 (freely available on the Internet). Of the eight listed positions with the highest base compensation (nine actual people), two were dancers - Julie Kent (28 years w/ ABT as of 2013) and Paloma Herrera (22 years w/ ABT as of 2013). Gillian Murphy (25 years w/ ABT as of 2021) and Herman Cornejo (21 years w/ ABT in 2021) would be roughly comparable to Kent and Herrera in terms of tenure.

    Perhaps fewer working weeks are acting as a drag on Murphy and Cornejo's base compensation although I'm much more inclined to believe that COVID-era cuts to the dancers' compensation are to blame. Regardless, comparing the administrative salaries from 2013 to those in 2021 is telling. Base compensation for the administrative side has drifted ever upward while the compensation on the top dancers' side has remained stagnant or even declined (based on what I would expect to see from the Kent/Herrera example in 2013).

  8. 18 hours ago, stuben said:

    It would definitely be interesting to see what management wages are compared to the artists.

    Courtesy of publicly available information on Guide Star . . . 

    ABT's most recently filed Form 990 was for calendar year 2021. For that year, the nine highest paid employees were all on the management side of the ledger. (Highest was Kevin McKenzie at $463,576 and lowest was Cynthia Harvey [then-JKO School head] at $169,698.) Even dancers like Gillian Murphy and Herman Cornejo - both of whom have had very long tenures in the organization - don't appear on ABT's list of highest paid employees.

    For comparison, the situation at the New York City Ballet is no better. Of the 11 highest paid individuals listed on its most recent form 990, none are dancers. (However, Justin Peck does appear on the list.)

     

  9. Do we all remember this discussion from over nine years ago?

    2014 Met Season - American Ballet Theatre - Ballet Alert! (invisionzone.com)

    On p. 11 of the '2014 Met Season' thread, forum members - many of whom are still with us! - discussed the embarrassing spectacle of ABT having to draft Andrew Veyette from City Ballet to replace an injured Cory Stearns in Theme & Variations. This, despite the fact that there was time to teach an ABT soloist or corps member the part - Jared Matthews being the prime candidate.

  10. 2 hours ago, BalanchineFan said:

    How does it undercut anything? Whatever they agreed to is contractually stipulated. They didn’t actually fire Martins, so he’s entitled to whatever exit/retirement pay is in his contract. They have to pay. They’re not paying him out of the goodness of their hearts..

    The money to make Peter Martins go away on rather lavish terms (contractually stipulated or not) is coming from somewhere within the organization. It's not unreasonable for the musicians' union to see that and think that there must be money in the organization to meet their demands. (To the extent the board entered into a financially onerous contract with Martins, the musicians' union is under no obligation to accept a bad deal in order to help bail out the board and the organization. The union already did its part during COVID.)

  11. 9 hours ago, vipa said:

    The Post has a habit of taking a sensationalistic approach, as we know. Just the language used: "he quietly collected..." is loaded IMO. It is a lot of money but it was spread over 4 years. Peter Martins resigned, so I have to assume some deal was negotiated with the BOD. The company performed the Martins Sleeping Beauty last spring, and pretty much sold out the house. Big ballets sell, and it was his big ballet so he was paid. I see no reason for this piece other than to stir up talk. 

    I can't speak to the Post's sudden interest in running stories about the New York City Ballet (beyond delighting in tweaking the "progressive" City Ballet for its various lapses.) I do believe one or more parties are feeding these stories to the Post. Certainly, a story like the Peter Martins one undercuts the company's claims of poverty in its negotiations with the musicians' union and only helps the union.

    Also, kudos to the reporter for actually reporting correctly the Board's findings regarding Martins:

    "An investigation commissioned by the organization did not corroborate [note: my emphasis] the various allegations made against Martins by current and former dancers to the New York Times and the Washington Post in 2017."

    The Board was very, very careful when it released its findings to say that it couldn't corroborate the charges made against Martins.

    Oh, and John Clifford is always ready, willing and able to criticize Peter Martins!

  12. 9 hours ago, volcanohunter said:

    I am always sorry when a career is thwarted like that and doesn't realize its potential. I was not a great admirer of Cozette's dancing, but it was distressing to see her become something of a ghost within the company over so many years.

    Interesting that you used the word "ghost" because that was exactly the word I was thinking of when I wrote my response upthread. Cozette became like a ghost haunting the hallways of the Garnier.

  13. 17 hours ago, volcanohunter said:

    This strikes me as somewhat unusual, but Émilie Cozette bid farewell to the POB not in a ballet, but by walking in the opening-night défilé.

    I saw her perform more than most POB étoiles, but that was 10-15 years ago. I always had a tough time warming to her dancing. I do remember, though, that when the company performed Pina Bausch's Orpheus and Eurydice in New York in 2012, Cozette performed not Eurydice or even Amour, but in the corps, standing close to the end of the row during the bows. Obviously, she really wanted to take part in the ballet in any capacity, and I really respected that.

    Cozette hasn't performed much in recent years. Under Benjamin Millepied and then Aurelie Dupont, she only appeared intermittently. So, the company absorbed the loss long before the actual departure.

    The bigger losses are still to come with the looming departures of Myriam Ould-Braham and Dorothee Gilbert.

  14. The union's real leverage comes with Nutcracker season. That's when they can ratchet up the pressure on management to the maximum extent, as Nutcracker season is the company's cash cow. If they do strike, it's almost irrelevant if the dancers honor the strike or not because the stage crew would most certainly honor it.

  15. These two lines stand out from the New York City Ballet's statement:

    "A primary issue during the negotiations has been the musicians' refusal to make reasonable contributions for healthcare benefits" (2nd paragraph)

    "NYCB has also offered to . . . make a 3% wage increase for the 2023-24 season." (5th paragraph)

    Company management and the union may have very different definitions of the word "reasonable" in this context. Any health care increase at all would automatically reduce that 3% wage increase. How much of a health care "contribution" (read: actual reduction in the proposed wage increase) the company management is asking for only they and the union know.

    6 hours ago, volcanohunter said:

    On the eve of the company’s 75th anniversary season, I'd say the musicians' bargaining position is very strong.

    The union has every incentive to hold out. Every week with canned music - or no weeks at all - won't make for much of a 75th anniversary. And everyone knows it.

  16. Andrea Evans has died at the age of 66:

    Andrea Evans Dead: ‘One Life To Live’ Star Was 66 – Deadline

    Many actresses played the part of Tina Clayton Lord after One Life to Live introduced the character in 1979 but Evans was the definitive 'Tina'. The legendary Erika Slezak played Tina's half-sister, Victoria Lord ('Viki'), on the show and shared her thoughts after the news broke:

    Erika Slezak Shares Touching Tribute to Her One Life to Live TV Half-Sister, Andrea Evans – Michael Fairman TV

    Tina wasn't the first of Viki's half-siblings to show up in Llanview (thanks to Viki's malevolent father, Victor Lord) . . . and she wouldn't be the last, either.

  17. On 4/20/2023 at 6:54 PM, PeggyTulle said:

    Wonder what the purpose of guest principals for SL is? As of now, it feels like the company is fairly principal heavy (in a good way!).

    On 5/2/2023 at 3:05 AM, Josette said:

    Rojo may have some dancers she wants to hire and this gives them the opportunity to experience the company. 

    The company has lost five male principals since 2022:

    • Ulrik Birkkjaer (departed - 2022)
    • Benjamin Freemantle (departed - 2022)
    • Julian MacKay (contract not renewed - 2022)
    • Tiit Helimets (retired - 2023)
    • Max Cauthorn (departing - 2023)

    The company picked up Isaac Hernandez (for obvious reasons) but that still leaves them down four male principals. If the goal is to get back to the pre-Rojo total of 11 male principals, then there's certainly room on the male side of the ledger for Rojo to import dancers.

     

  18. 4 hours ago, Quiggin said:

    [Side topic] I'm really looking forward to seeing what Tamara Rojo chooses next year to reshape the repertory but don't expect a Balanchine work to be included. Or if so, bravely, a seldom performed work – which would kind of raise the ante.

    Sandpiper Ballet or Magrittomania would be recycled, but there was also a commitment to new Ratmansky ballets.

    My Tamara Rojo fantasy triple bill would be an all-Stravinsky one consisting of Maurice Bejart's L'oiseau de feu (from the Lew-Christensen-Michael Smuin era), George Balanchine's Rubies (from the Helgi Tomasson era) and Pina Bausch's Le Sacre du printemps (from Rojo's time at the English National Ballet).

    Regarding commitments, Tomasson has been a big proponent of WIlliam Forsythe, which is something he has in common with Rojo.

  19. 19 hours ago, California said:

    One disappointment in their 23-24 season: for many years, they have offered an all-Balanchine program, usually three one-acts. Next year, just Prodigal Son (and Nutcracker) - a decided move away from their early founding. The company had been "fostered and encouraged by the great George Balanchine."

    https://philadelphiaballet.org/our-history/

    To give Angel Corella his due, he has been better at curating the company's history than many people thought he would be - not just the Balanchine repertory but the Ben Harkarvy era as well (i.e. the connection to Hans van Manen).

    But to the larger point, I think what we're seeing is that those original "Balanchine companies" - Atlanta Ballet, Boston Ballet, Pennsylvania/Philadelphia Ballet and San Francisco Ballet - are becoming (to varying degrees) less so. Just look at the current crop of artistic directors at these companies: Gennadi Nedvigin in Atlanta, Mikko Nissinen in Boston, Angel Corella in Philadelphia and Tamara Rojo in San Francisco. None of them emerged from his company and none of them can be considered hardcore Balanchine loyalists - Rojo least of all.

    The upcoming announcement of Rojo's first programmed season at San Francisco should be very, very telling in terms of how closely she intends to adhere to the Helgi Tomasson model (read: Balanchine/New York City Ballet).

  20. 10 hours ago, volcanohunter said:

    Perhaps ABT is hoping that Wheeldon's work on Broadway will attract audiences.

    We'll see if Christopher Wheeldon's 'name' is enough to get people into seats at the Met. My sense about MJ is that Michael Jackson's music is the draw for audiences.

    10 hours ago, volcanohunter said:

    It's one of my great frustrations that Ashton doesn't seem to stick in New York.

    Alas, Ashton isn't the draw in New York that he used to be. Of his longer story ballets in ABT's repertory, Fille and The Dream do OK-ish on their occasional airings. But Cinderella (with all its mime) has become a harder sell and Sylvia wasn't able to establish itself securely in the repertory.

    Honestly, I think the better part of ABT's Met audience would be perfectly happy to see Giselle, Swan Lake, Romeo & Juliet, Don Q, La Bayadere and Manon year after year after year.

  21. 1 hour ago, volcanohunter said:

    But it turned down its co-production of The Tempest (opting for two-thirds of the Shostakovich trilogy instead)

    I think the difference between Like Water for Chocolate and The Tempest is that the former was a big, big hit for the Royal Ballet while the latter was - at best - an indifferently received vehicle for ABT. It was in the interests of the National Ballet of Canada and Alexei Ratmansky to avoid a potentially embarrassing flop for both parties by agreeing to swap out The Tempest for a part of Shostakovich Trilogy.

    Unfortunately, ABT doesn't have as much leeway with Like Water for Chocolate. Above and beyond any legal agreements they may have with Wheeldon, it would look strange indeed if they cut back on performances for a new work which was actually quite a hit in London. (Of course, all of this raises the question of why ABT would sign on to co-commission this in the first place given how other mime dramas with dancing - like Cathy Marston's Jane Eyre - didn't exactly establish themselves with ABT's audience.)

  22. 5 hours ago, fondoffouettes said:

    Edited to add: If ABT were to cancel performances of Like Water for Chocolate, it would show a lack of confidence in the artistic product. It's not a great look for a company. I feel like companies will paper the house before they cancel a performance. But, if sales are abysmal, who knows...

    1 hour ago, angelica said:

    But if they were to cancel some of the LWFC performances, it would be a slap in the face to Wheeldon, which I can't imagine any company doing.

    Apart from the logistical difficulties and potential financial penalties involved with changing the Met schedule at this point, no way would ABT management humiliate a 'name' choreographer like Wheeldon by reducing the number of shows. It's not even about Wheeldon himself, who is irrelevant to ABT's past, present and future. Cutting off a choreographer of Wheeldon's stature (overrated as that stature may be) at the knees would really cast ABT in a bad light within the industry.

  23. Looking ahead to the next few seasons, the appointments of Hannah O'Neill and Marc Moreau as etoiles only buy Jose Martinez so much time. Based on my estimations, five female etoiles - Emilie Cozette, Myriam Ould-Braham, Dorothee Gilbert, Ludmila Pagliero and Laura Hecquet - will retire (in that order) in the next four seasons. Cozette rarely dances so that retirement won't be felt much. But the departures of the others will be felt to one extent or another.

    The ranks of the male etoiles are low compared to those of the female etoiles (6 to 10 with the most recent appointments). The troupe can't rely forever on Mathieu Ganio - he turns 39 this year. And Marc Moreau isn't a "young" appointment, either - he's 36. There's definitely more urgency on this side of the fence. 

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