aurora

1 minute ago, Balletwannabe said:

Does anyone else feel like this was a marketing ploy just to sell tickets...never heard of a dancer not showing up for work unless they were deathly ill or injured.  

No.

It would be an idiotic ploy because now you have a bunch of angry people who are less likely to buy tickets in the future.

2 hours ago, vendangeuse said:

Last night the Family Circle and Balcony were woefully undersold. That being said, there was a lot more energy in the theatre last night than there was at both performances of Harlequinade I saw last week.

This was my third time seeing Songs of Bukovina—it grows on me with every viewing. This season I am noticing many lovely qualities in Boylston’s dancing that I had not before, first as Columbine last week and now in Bukovina. I admit, I bought tickets to her Manon for Hallberg, but now I find myself looking forward to her debut. Hoven looked great. (I saw him last week as well, but he hardly had any dancing as Pierrot.) I hope Cornejo recovers from his injury, but if not, I hope Hoven gets more opportunities to dance, as he did last night as Cornejo’s understudy for the Seasons.

It was my first chance to see On the Dnieper—I wish I could see it again! What a dense piece. I have been listening to the Prokofiev score leading up to the season but that did not prepare me for the visual richness of this ballet. Choreography aside, I thought the costuming was gorgeous. I loved the muted color palette and the set design. Those petals...! I suppose it’s kind of a cheap effect (I think it would take my breath away even if the dancing was mediocre) but watching the dancers kick all of the fallen petals up during the wedding scene was truly beautiful. The choreography itself is so layered that I found my eyes constantly wandering across the stage—there was so much to take in. Shevchenko was as elegant as always as Olga. I was glad to see Seo—she seems to be back in good form after her injury in the fall. Tonight she moved with the same expressive delicacy, fragility, and vulnerability that I have loved in her dancing since I first saw her (and none of the tenuous hesitation I felt when I saw her in October in Garden Blue. It was Whiteside’s debut as Olga’s fiancé and he was on fire. His solo (dance tantrum?) during the wedding got some of the loudest applause of the night. He has always to my memory been a very athletic dancer, but this season he seems quicker and stronger than ever. I enjoyed Stearn’s dancing more than I usually do.

The Seasons was enchanting—everything I’d hoped for in a new Ratmansky piece. It’s a little early to say because I’ve only seen it twice, but I suspect the Zephyr/Spirit of the Corn pas de deux will become one of my favorite.

That being said, I have to reluctantly agree with the NYTimes: the piece looked like it could have used more rehearsal. Worse, it sounded like the orchestra desperately needed more rehearsal time. I’m familiar with the Glazunov score and while parts of it were played admirably, there were also parts (particularly around the Summer section) where there were a number of tempo changes, and the orchestra sounded very muddy and off-rhythm.

But I think this piece has staying power: parts of it were so beautiful that, even despite the issues described above, I was moved close to tears. The parts of Summer with the JKO students was especially lovely. I hope to have the opportunity to see this piece again next Fall or Spring, after the dancers have had the opportunity to tighten it up.  

 

I dearly wish I could have seen this program again with the other cast, but unfortunately circumstances will not allow it. If only they were presenting the program on Friday as well.

 

I basically would echo everything you said with only minor differences! I had seen On the Dneiper before but that was 10 years ago, and while Hee Seo didn't have the emoting power of Veronika Part (who originated that role) I thoroughly enjoyed it.

In fact I enjoyed it all so much, and wanted so much to see The Seasons again, that I bought a ticket for the other cast at today's matinee!!

20 minutes ago, JuliaJ said:

I don't find its existence necessarily unjustified. But these stories (very one-sided and lacking in nuance IMO) have dominated coverage on NYCB in the Times lately with little positive -- or even neutral -- coverage to balance it out. 

I like Macauley's post from earlier today:

 

As someone who himself was accused of inappropriate behavior (by his account absolutely wrongly so) Macaulay might be said to bring his own history into account when thinking of this scandal.

A really interesting interactive about the fire in the New York Times.

6 minutes ago, nysusan said:

Thanks for posting vendangeuse. I've been to enough of these vanity projects to come in with low expectations. I figured that no matter how bad the rest of it was, seeing them in the Leaves are Fading pdd would be worth the price of admission for me. I'm glad to hear that the rest of the program also holds some interest. Going tonight & looking forward to it.

Same--I am interested in that and in the Ratmansky, and the tickets were reasonable enough that those 2 are enough to make it worthwhile to me.

On 3/29/2019 at 3:57 PM, sandik said:

He talks about what he's been seeing at auditions for the school around the country, and comparing diversity in the visual arts with dance (and specifically with ballet).  Some nice insights on the company's audition practices, but also some very interesting observations about how things are working in the field now.

https://www.dancemagazine.com/race-ballet-peter-boal-2632243900.html?rebelltitem=4#rebelltitem4

Thanks for sharing that. It really is a very thoughtful piece. Well worth taking the time to read.

And yes Misty is there at the very end, as the popularity she enjoys goes straight to his major point of the power and importance of representation in the arts.

1 hour ago, canbelto said:

I also wonder what will happen with some of the people who spoke out rather forcefully about their unhappiness with the lack of leadership. Tiler Peck and Ashley Bouder are big stars and principals and may be untouchable ... for now. But I wonder if they're looking back and regretting their words:

For instance Tiler Peck in this interview:

And Ashley Bouder:

Bouder then made it clear she was Team Wendy on her Instagram:

 

I see no reason why either of them should regret anything they said in the materials above. And any new leadership that took issue with it would be way out of line to do so.

As other people have also pointed out, I think this is a misreading of her statement on the new leaders.

She's not taking sides (I don't see why we should assume there are sides to take: Team Wendy Vs Team Jon!).

She is, as an avowed and vocal feminist, saying that she is "thrilled...to have such a strong woman, Wendy Whelan, as part of the new era." [emphasis mine]

She tags #jonathonstafford in her post, which would be an odd thing indeed to do if she wanted this to be read as an insult to him.

She is simply saying she's happy a woman is part of the team leading the NYCB forward, which is neither an unexpected or peculiar reaction to the news.

2 minutes ago, bluejean said:

I confess that I hope so.

I'd guess that will be their fate. 

It will surely take a bit for them to eliminate his full lengths though. They are popular, so they'd probably need to be replaced with other versions, which will require time and money.

Just now, pherank said:

About MCB we don't know yet, but she's talked about previous experiences with ABT and SFB. And as Dreamer stated, "she disappears from companies’ rosters (ABT, SFB and now MCB) without any announcement or wishes of farewell". And these are companies that do celebrate their departing dancers.

Agreed, though ABT usually only acknowledges principals, which she was not.

37 minutes ago, pherank said:

This is a bummer for the audience, to be sure. But as time goes on, it becomes more clear that Messmer finds reasons to not be happy with her current situation. She has never struck me as a person who "takes things in stride". She may well rub many people the wrong way.

What is the indication that she was unhappy with her situation?

Do we have any official information about why she is no longer at Miami besides the (unconfirmed but public) suggestion she was fired for objecting to a guest artist of questionable character?

32 minutes ago, nanushka said:

Those you follow seem to show up first. Also listed there (though ABT, not NYCB) are Skylar Brandt, Scout Forsythe and Zhong-Jing Fang.

Also from ABT: Stephanie Williams and Lauren Post

Other names of note include Brooklyn Mack and Siobhan Burke.

It is easy to miss people though, after all as of now (1:43 eastern time, saturday) it has some 3,836 likes!

1 hour ago, vipa said:

IMO Bouder's belief that retribution was the only possible explanation for giving opening night of SB to Hyltin, is an affront to Hyltin even if unintended. Thank goodness Hyltin had the good sense not to comment. What was she supposed to say - Ashley's right, I didn't deserve it or Ashley's wrong I deserved it? 

Casting was changed late, but before any public announcement was made. 

 

The article is clear that certain dancers "own" opening nights of specific ballets. Hyltin gets R+J. And apparently Bouder *was* cast for opening night of SB as per usual until it was changed "last minute."

Seeing that as an affront says virtually nothing about Hyltin's abilities.

Since Bouder was still cast, and therefore it wasn't a reflection on her ability to do the role, the fact she takes it as an intentional slap in the face and retaliation seems totally reasonable to me. I would as well in her shoes.

I don't take Bouder's comment to be a slighting of Hyltin. What she said about her own response to Martins vs Hyltin's is accurate--and I'm sure Hyltin is happy to own that she supported Martins, just as Bouder is happy to own her views.

1 hour ago, abatt said:

Whelan was at NYCB last night.  For years after her retirement she did not come to NYCB because, as she put it, she was not ready to see others dance her old roles.  I guess she's gotten over that, because over the past year she is at the Koch regularly.

I can certainly understand that feeling.

After I quit ballet (and I was not a professional) going to the ballet hurt so much that I found I couldn't for several years. I can't imagine the profound feeling of loss after spending basically your entire life as a dancer. It would certainly be an adjustment! I'm glad she does come now though.

44 minutes ago, canbelto said:

Looks like he has done a mass deleting of his instagram posts.

Someone certainly is--they were deleted back to early 2017 a few min ago, now they are deleted back to nov 2016.

The bio is now quite odd as well...

It is in Turkish and seems to indicate "Rich" hacked it.

Rich is also now the only person Polunin's account follows.

2 hours ago, Mashinka said:

Seems that his long time supporter. Igor Zelensky has issued a press release that appears to support Polunin and confirms his upcoming performances in Munich will go ahead.  How the dancers will feel about this I don't know, I imagine German audiences are too good mannered to boo him but although he has taken down the highly offensive posts there is still no sign of an apology.

I think he only removed the one about slapping fat people.

2 hours ago, balletforme said:

it also appears that what contributes to his problems are a lack of education and skill in appropriately voicing an opinion, a lack of filter, not understanding the power of making inflammatory statements on Instagram as a public figure, and a lack of understanding the world outside of a Soviet perspective in 2018. 

Many dancers have a lack of formal education, but don't have his problems with saying the wrong thing.

It just isn't much of an excuse, or even a viable explanation (I don't think you were trying to excuse his behavior).

He's 29 and moved to the UK at 13. He is old enough to know better, and if he doesn't understand the world outside of a soviet perspective, well that says very little for him as he's been exposed to it for most of his life.

1 minute ago, fondoffouettes said:

It's on the individual production pages, like this one:

https://www.metopera.org/season/2019-abt/le-corsaire/

It's possible your computer is still showing the Abera image because the image was cached. 

Interestingly though, if you click on her, it says no productions this season

1 minute ago, Fleurfairy said:

Stella was held back for the same reason that Sarah was — the revolving door of international guest artists that took the lead roles. It was a system that destroyed company morale and contributed to a big decline in audience esteem. It’s still going on to an extent with the men, with part-time Hallberg, Bolle, Simkin and Lendorf. Copeland  would have probably been stalled as soloist a lot longer, if indefinitely, if she hadn’t created her own marketing and publicity and made herself into a household name. 

I don't think its fair to say this situation is the same with regards to those men. Lendorf has made it clear ABT is his priority, he's been out due to injury and has seemingly (social media etc) been very involved in the company nonetheless.

Simkin and Hallberg are cutting back their involvement for various reasons, but they are long time company members--in Hallberg's case coming up through the company and still being very involved in company initiatives (promoting young male dancers and choreographers).

The only person to whom it does apply is Bolle--but he is leaving after this season so no longer an issue.

20 minutes ago, On Pointe said:

I think it's understandable that once Ms. Waterbury  fell into the email rabbit hole she would continue to read what she found.  But by including in her suit identifying, embarrassing information about other people,   including women who did nothing to harm her,  she exhibits animosity and a lack of respect for the privacy rights of others.  

 

Many others see it differently.

She did not, with one exception, name any other women.

The people who brought the other women into it are the 3 men in question. It is their responsibility that any of this is happening, it is not Waterbury's to keep what they did to her and others quiet.

1 minute ago, KayDenmark said:

I don't think it's curious at all. Everybody has a right to privacy, even the highly disliked Mr. Finlay.

I wouldn't appreciate anyone going through my computer. 

The solution to that is not to give anyone the password. He did.

There is still no reason for some of the insinuations.

42 minutes ago, BalanchineFan said:

The language quoted in the letter ("jilted whores") seems similar to the Jared Loghitano quotes from the texts in the Waterbury complaint. I wouldn't be surprised to find the stage door letter came from him. I was glad that he was included in her amended complaint.

Lots of misogynists use that sort of language.

See Lindsey Graham's "Slut Whore Drunk" comment .

Not saying it isn't Longhitano, I have no idea (nor does anyone else here) just pointing out that this language is in no way specific to him.

1 minute ago, KayDenmark said:

I haven't seen anyone redeemed yet from #metoo related charges - so if there is indeed an "appropriate path to redemption" for these men to discover, it is unknown territory at the moment. 

It has only been a year...

How fast do you think redemption should happen? They get a few months vacation and boom! all is good again?

3 minutes ago, fordhambae said:

Seems like she’s the only one with a problem

The problem is not her, but the men who behaved disgustingly towards her and towards the women in the company (and the ABT dancers discussed as well).

And just because other women haven't spoken up doesn't mean they don't have a problem with it. The hashtag #WhyIDidntReport is clear evidence of the many reasons women do not come forward.

43 minutes ago, On Pointe said:

In the Waterbury  case,  nobody died,  no one was battered,  and all of the sex was consensual.  It doesn't  meet the criteria for "revenge porn".  Finlay was a cad and a boor,  but it's  highly unlikely that there will be any criminal charges.  This is a private dispute that Merson is trying to make institutional.  There is nothing any school or company can do that will stop consenting adults,  or minors,  from having sex,  and sexual relationships always have the potential of going sideways and hurting the participants.

 

Also "there is nothing any school or company can do that will stop consenting adults,  or minors,  from having sex" is a ridiculous argument. Of course there isn't. And no law is going to stop all robberies, murders or rapes either (people are still going to do all those things!), but that doesn't mean we say OH WELL! and not have or enforce these laws.

7 hours ago, On Pointe said:

the "atmosphere of demoralizing women".... is an intrinsic part of much of male-female relations

Um. what? It is not intrinsic.

It is pervasive but your argument seems to be therefore that no change is needed or wanted.