aurora

14 hours ago, pherank said:

One specific concern I have is that Rojo would bring in a few "stars" to make the company more like ABT (no thanks), and de-emphasize the importance of the SFB School to the company - something Tomasson spent 3 decades on. If my memory serves me, over 60% of the dancers spent time at the SFB School. [Just checked, and the website say's "more than 65%"].

A bit off topic, but this doesn't really reflect the state of ABT today--whose school is a newer endeavor and emphasis.

35% of the current roster of ABT came through the school, including 4 of the principal dancers.

And 80% of the current roster came through ABT's studio company.

2 minutes ago, California said:

But her husband Isaac Hernandez is currently a principal at ENB. Presumably Rojo had the clout to keep him in that position. If she didn't, that would explain both of them leaving.

https://www.ballet.org.uk/the-company/dancers

Interesting--the articles citing her appointment clearly said that he had recently (as in before her appointment) rejoined SFB.

7 hours ago, pherank said:

You know, I'm still wondering: Why is Rojo leaving ENB? If things have turned out so well for her there (as the p.r. makes it sound), why not continue to build up ENB?

And why go halfway around the world - leaving behind the usual ballet centers to lead a US West Coast company? What's the benefit to Rojo? I would think it would be more difficult, not less, to get notice for her 'artistic vision' when located in California. Perhaps she intends on making SFB tour more (good luck with that). Or maybe the point is to get away from all the touring that ENB has had to do?

One might imagine being in the same location as their spouse would be a draw. That's quite the long distance relationship otherwise.

1 hour ago, dirac said:

Yes, and the Florida case rate is jumping again. Hospitalizations rising as well. It is fortunate that the new variant seems to be milder than the previous ones.

and of course yesterday's Miami City Ballet Nutcracker performance was cancelled due to Covid.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CX9CKC7uWqz/

The Trocks performances at the Joyce have been cancelled through Sunday December 26th.

https://www.joyce.org/performance-update-les-ballets-trockadero-de-monte-carlo

The Joffrey had to cancel both of today's performances but the show will go on tomorrow!

https://www.instagram.com/p/CXoyVuZlWbI/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

33 minutes ago, pherank said:

Vaccines don't protect a person from exposure to a virus, but they do (in most cases) guarantee only a mild illness. Only N95 masks are really good at keeping viruses out of your respiratory system. But many dancers were lately rehearsing without masks, and certainly performing without masks, so there's going to be plenty of opportunities to pass along germs to anyone nearby. Whether we like it or not, this virus is here to stay.

This is not correct.

Vaccines don't protect against "exposure" obviously. But they do protect against getting the virus. Do they protect entirely? No. That's why there are (many with omicron) so-called breakthrough cases.

This is not, however, to say that you are not protected to a much greater degree against contracting the virus if you have been vaccinated.

1 hour ago, JMcN said:

I worked for a government department for 36 years 1 month and 2 weeks.  During my time there lots of people met their partners there and they continued to work in the building although possibly on different teams.  

One of my friends met her husband when she was his secretary.

Unless specifically stated in your contract of employment work relationships are not prohibited.

 

 

Not speaking to England, but feelings on the appropriateness of such workplace relationships where a power differential exists have definitely shifted over time.

What was the norm, or was at least commonplace years ago, is (rightly in my view) no longer viewed as acceptable, or advisable anyway.

13 minutes ago, GB1216 said:

I wonder what’s going on with Misty Copeland. She’s the only principal not cast in any performance.  I looked on her IG, and she’s heavily promoting another book, but I didn’t see anything about injury or anything.  

She did pull out of her last Giselle prior to the pandemic, I recall (Skylar Brandt replaced her in DC).

Misty Copeland is in town. She was there attending the Saturday matinee, as I saw her outside immediately before the performance.

4 minutes ago, pbl said:

I saw Shevchenko/Bell/Teuscher last night, so wonderful to be back seeing live performances. I enjoyed all the principals, especially Teuscher and Bell, and also Fangqi Li. A few things I was curious to hear others' thoughts about: First, the mime and narrative/expository acting in ABT often seems less clear in ABT's productions than, for instance, Russian companies' productions. Little things, like Albrecht not wearing his sword when he enters in Act I, and not changing his costume to look like a peasant; or the whole business of Albrecht wanting to sit next to Giselle on the bench and her naïve obliviousness to this, are simply unclear, and this saps some of opportunities for dramatic expression, even for an audience which largely knows exactly what is going on. Bell, in particular, in both entrances looked as though he had nothing to do, nothing to express dramatically for long stretches. Bell has what it takes to dance with feeling and bravura, and I wonder if perhaps he just needs to watch the Brayshnikov/Makarova tape ten times to inhabit those acterly moments more - the happy rake of act I's entrance and the depths of regret and shame for Act II. Later in both acts his acting came closer to the standard of his dancing.

This doesn't address the bit about the sword, but as for the bench business--I think the lack of clarity there was a feature of the cast you saw.

Different casts have a fair amount of freedom in the details in the production. For example, some Albrechts walked slowly towards the audience at the very end, others ended crying on Giselle's grave.

I'm sure that greater dramatic maturity will come to Bell with time--he did just turn 23 this month.

5 minutes ago, onxmyxtoes said:

This article in Pointe Magazine reveals Trenary’s creative process in creating her version of Giselle, which is intentionally different than the frail/weaker version you may be accustomed to. Her interpretation was fresh, unique, and an expression of her artistry and dramatic quality 

Pointe Magazine on Cassandra Trenary’s Giselle

 

Yes! And I personally found it an incredibly moving and strong depiction--as did Kathleen above. Of the three casts I saw (Brandt, Trenary and Shevchenko) the rapport between the leads was the strongest here. I also had no idea that Royal was such a wonderful actor (I'd seen him in very few things that demanded it).

Did Trenary have problems with the hops? Yes. So no, it wasn't a perfect debut.
But the recovery on the turns was impressive and admirable and she didn't let the error shake her or disrupt the rest of her performance, which says a lot for her as a performer.

Having seen her deliver technically (and dramatically) wonderful Auroras on several occasions, I know she has the technique for this, and I very much look forward to seeing her next performance of the role.

15 minutes ago, FauxPas said:

Arron Scott like Alexandre Hammoudi and Stella Abrera retired during COVID-19 lockdown last season.  

I notice that Roman Zhurbin is on the roster but not cast in anything - not even the mime roles of Hilarion and the Duke of Courland which he usually excels in.  Hopefully some actual dancing roles next week in the mixed programs?  Roman has movingly danced the Friend of the Family role in "Pillar of Fire" but that is Thomas Forster for all shows.

Catherine Hurlin has nothing this week and next week unless she is in the "Company" pieces like "Bernstein in a Bubble" or "La Follia Variations".  Hurlin's next listed dates are "Nutcracker" in Costa Mesa in December.  Injured?   

Joo Won Ahn also is absent from the "Giselle" run but is dancing in "Zig Zag" next week.

The ABT website shows no casting at all for Joseph Gorak.

Hurlin was originally cast as Myrta but is not any longer.

It certainly isn't due to an inability to do the role (she was cast and excelled in it during the run in DC immediately before the pandemic) so I'd assume it was due to injury, but I've seen no information regarding her absence.

Similarly Zhurbin was originally cast as the Friend of the Family in Pillar of Fire during this run.

4 minutes ago, abatt said:

Yes, that's exactly what happened.  Cornejo ran out of stage space so he had to improvise while the rest of the music played.  Similarly, in Act I, when Brandt did those incredible hops on pointe across the stage she had a few beats of music left but no more stage space. 

It is worth noting that this is because of the absolutely extraordinary distance Skylar travelled on this passage.

I saw two dancers do the act I variation in the dress rehearsal Wednesday and no one else had this issue (although they did the hops beautifully).

Skylar just ate space on this. They were also exceptionally light and delicate.

1 hour ago, dirac said:

For female writers and painters alike. You don't have to call yourself George any more, for one thing. 

Thanks for those links, aurora. Gentileschi appears to be having something of a moment. 

My pleasure!

I'd argue (not to nitpick!) that she's having more than a moment.

That at this point, she is firmly considered one of the "greats" in "the canon." Of course these things can and do shift over time, but her work is superb.

The major Met show on her and her (far inferior) father was held all the way back in 2002! https://www.metmuseum.org/exhibitions/listings/2002/orazio-and-artemisia-gentileschi

For those who are interested, a recent (affordable! not a given for art history tomes) book is that of noted feminist art historian Mary Garrard:

https://www.amazon.com/Artemisia-Gentileschi-Feminism-Modern-Renaissance/dp/1789142024/ref=pd_lpo_2?pd_rd_i=1789142024&psc=1

The story of her rape and the subsequent trial has sometimes overshadowed her remarkable work, but that shouldn't be the case!

On 10/8/2021 at 12:12 PM, Tom47 said:

For example, H. W. Janson’s “History of Art” was first published in 1962.  It is described in a New York Times article as “a seven-pound, 750 page tome filled with pictures and prose, remembered by tens of thousands of liberal-arts graduates simply as Janson’s - the basic college textbook on the world’s great painting and sculpture.”  Yet, “. . . no female artists were mentioned in earlier editions, except for an anonymous Greek vase painter.”  The book was updated by the author’s son to include women in 1984.  

 

Times have fortunately changed!

More than half of the current authors/editors of Janson's are women.

One of them (Frima Fox Hofrichter) is a specialist on the important dutch baroque artist Judith Leyster.

For more on Leyster: https://www.nga.gov/collection/artist-info.1485.html

Artemisia Gentileschi, who features prominently in the exhibition I mentioned earlier at the Wadsworth,  is now featured in all of the major art history survey texts: Gardner and Stokstad, as well as Janson.

A current exhibition putting contemporary artist Jenny Saville into conversation with Renaissance masters in Florence:

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/08/arts/design/jenny-saville-florence.html

There is currently a major exhibition on Early Modern women artists a the Wadsworth Athenaeum:

https://www.thewadsworth.org/explore/on-view/byherhand/

see also

https://www.courant.com/ctnow/arts-theater/hc-ctnow-wadsworth-italian-woman-artists-20211007-aehxcipm4zflrkw4ztyag4qenu-story.html?fbclid=IwAR1ijJqYAFQqIHm7atuP9cLVzlCvwoTxpHOWcR0HOuYm8lo3AAtNYHxFlzU

8 hours ago, Tom47 said:

California, I don’t know very much about non-western art.  Do you know of any non-western women artists?

Quiggin, thank you for your input both in regard to Soviet women and the "women of Ninth Street.”  I have not yet looked into your links, but I will.

Dirac, Artemisia Gentileschi's life is interesting.  That incident is reportedly what inspired her painting of Judith Beheading Holofernes, which is very dramatic and contains two active women.  And thank you for the compliment on the topic.

I’m pleasantly surprised at the response to this.  Also, I tried to input the image of the Firebird’s back cloth, but it didn’t work.  Can anyone tell me how to do this?

Tom,

Hung Liu was a prominent Chinese-American female artist who died just a few months ago:

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/22/arts/hung-liu-artist-dead.html

2 hours ago, ABT Fan said:

On his IG? I follow him and see no NYC posts…unless he has a second account I’m not aware of.

They are under "Stories", not posts (he hasn't updated those in 6 days or so).

Edit: Sorry for the redundancy, I missed California's response above!

57 minutes ago, Balletwannabe said:

There any number of things that are ridiculous when it comes to masking...  I have children in school so... Let's just say I think the goal when it comes to mask rules is more about *feeling* relatively safe, than actually being safe.  But at the same time let's remember with the 100% vaccine rate in the theater, everyone actually is safe.  

Question: are the "pauses" enough time to use the restroom?

And yet the evidence indicates that wearing masks do help keep us safe, even, to a degree, if not everyone is wearing them:

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/21/well/live/covid-masks-protect.html?smtyp=cur&smid=fb-nytimes&fbclid=IwAR23D6g2hGb5cqjkdXEaF84LP6Hv_j7RHTbrP12Wug3TPqFK1QZ4QbAdnnU

1 hour ago, abatt said:

If I'm reading the press release correctly, they are planning on using the sets (and costume?)s from a 1987 production of Giselle  used in the film Dancers.  That is different from the version they regularly use  at the MET.  I presume this is because the sets they use at the MET don't fit on the stage of the Koch.

I've been doing a little reading up on the 1987 production and sets, and the press I have found seemed to be very negative about this production.  Anyone recall the 1987 production?

Since there are six Giselle shows, I presume there will be three casts - Hee Seo, Boylston for sure.

 

I'd assume Skylar Brandt will dance it. And I agree those you mentioned are definites.

I'm not sure, however, that they would only have 3 casts.

When they did Giselle in DC in Feb 2020 there were 7 performances and 7 different Giselles scheduled:

Hee Seo, Boylston, Abrerra, Brandt, Lane, Murphy and Copeland (who had to cancel and was replaced by Brandt) were all scheduled.

An obituary for Katherine has appeared in the NYT:

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/16/books/katherine-barber-dead.html

On 4/21/2021 at 5:24 AM, Balletwannabe said:

I'm glad they're accepting a negative test and not just vaccine proof.  Especially considering it's outside... socially distance...with masks, honestly that's overkill, there's no risk if you're not near anyone outside.  But I know this will make people feel better (I'm not one of those people, ha!  But I understand not everyone thinks like I do).

My friends thought that too.

They got Covid from mingling with people unmasked outside. The new variants (prevalent in NY now) are much more contagious.

8 hours ago, dirac said:

I am willing to believe that the Royal cut its ties with Scarlett for good reason - he couldn't be charged with anything, but his conduct still didn't meet the standards of the organization, I presume. What Ratmansky, I think, was saying that he should not have been blackballed - and that, for all intents and purposes, was what happened - he was not only dismissed from the Royal, a pretty big consequence and very possibly deserved, but he and his works were dropped everywhere, even places where he had no history of misconduct, as I understand it. It's reasonable to ask if it had to happen this way.

As you wrote, there's a lot we don't know. 

Dirac,

that doesn't seem to be what happened with the Royal Danish Ballet, however. Which seems to have been the final straw for him.

They had his work on their schedule until this last week, and it was their investigation into his behavior as a guest with them in 2018-19 (I believe) that led to the decision to cancel his piece.

9 minutes ago, Victura said:

For what it’s worth, the “Dancer” shows up as the category of the page, which appears if the profile is a business account, similar to the way a business might be able to designate themselves as a restaurant or cafe. It’s not part of one’s written bio. The category appears on the app but it may not necessarily appear if you’re looking at Instagram from a browser.

Up until a day or two, however, it was in her written bio.