tutu

It's difficult to overstate how much Marcia Dale Weary has shaped American dance today—her students perform, many as principals, in virtually every major U.S. company and in many companies overseas. As her dancers transition into teaching roles elsewhere (like Vanessa Zahorian, moving from a career as a principal at San Francisco Ballet to heading Pennsylvania Ballet Academy), I expect we'll see that influence continue: dancers with incredible technique and presence in performance. 

Ms. Weary's commitment to teaching every child has paid off, too. Ballet training often means that students are routed onto a certain track early, based on aesthetics: length of their legs, arch of their feet. But CPYB trained many, many dancers whose bodies didn't fit the "ideal" framework, and many of these dancers blossomed into some of the greatest American dancers we see today. Because Ms. Weary pushed many of these dancers as students, we have the gift of seeing many of these incredible artists in major roles.

American ballet was very, very lucky to have Marcia Dale Weary. Here's to her legacy continuing into the future.

I’ve also seen the Snow White, and agree with everything you’ve said, @Helene. These Bruce Wells works are also a great experience to see the new up-and-coming talent before they begin their apprenticeships — over the years, I recall seeing several current company members in these productions when they were still students.

Not sure if this is the best place to put this, but according to a recent article in the Times today, Peter Martins moved around the Sleeping Beauty casting at the last minute.

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Mr. Martins retains artistic say over his ballets, including “The Sleeping Beauty,” now in performances, and “Romeo + Juliet,” which was performed last February. Both had been programmed before Mr. Martins retired under pressure in January 2018.

He changed the casting for “The Sleeping Beauty” just before the roles were officially announced — pulling Ms. Bouder from her usual position as Princess Aurora in the first cast and switching her with Sterling Hyltin in the third cast. He also swapped out several other dancers at the last minute. This has left some in the company bristling at Mr. Martins’s remaining levers of control.

Casting decisions are always fraught in the dance world, given the intense competition for plum roles. And every City Ballet part is technically up for grabs, though certain important roles unofficially belong to particular dancers, who have owned them year after year in the first casts.

Sara Mearns, for example, leads the first cast in “Swan Lake,” Megan Fairchild has “Coppélia,” Ms. Hyltin has “Romeo + Juliet,” and Ms. Bouder has “The Sleeping Beauty,” which she danced for the first time at the age of 20 opposite Damian Woetzel.

Ms. Bouder said she believed that Mr. Martins made the casting change to retaliate for her outspokenness about feminism and gender equality and to reward Ms. Hyltin, who had publicly defended him.

New apprentices are up on the website! Mark Cuddihee, Abby Jayne DeAngelo, Juliet Prine, Yuki Takahashi.

Jonathan Poretta will be retiring at the end of the season. The Season Encore Performance, on June 9, will celebrate his career.

https://blogpnborg.wordpress.com/2019/01/14/jonathan-porretta-to-retire-at-the-end-of-2018-2019-season/

A lovely profile of Leta Biasucci in Dance Magazine: https://www.dancemagazine.com/leta-biasucci-2625644451.html

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Looking at Biasucci, 29, with her wide smile and eager curiosity, you think you see the quintessential extrovert. In reality, she's anything but. "I was an introverted kid," Biasucci says. "That's part of the reason I fell in love with dance—I didn't have to be talkative." 

It's only one of the seeming contradictions in Biasucci's life: She's a short, muscular ballerina in a company known for its fleet of tall, long-legged women; she's also most comfortable with classical ballet, while taking on a growing repertoire of contemporary work.

Biasucci has enchanted Seattle ballet fans almost from the moment she arrived seven seasons ago. She has a charismatic stage presence that belies her size and exudes authentic joy, no matter what she's performing. She's also technically precise, known for her footwork, jumps and speed.

Meanwhile, her hard work has garnered her respect from her colleagues and her boss, artistic director Peter Boal. That dedication has propelled Biasucci through PNB's ranks, earning her a promotion to principal last September. It was the capstone of a whirlwind year that also included Biasucci's marriage, college graduation and a company tour to Paris. ...

42 minutes ago, Kathleen O'Connell said:

There will always be another season of Nutcrackers, but a fellowship at NYC's Center for Ballet and the Arts might not present itself at so opportune a moment in her choreographic career, or even might not be possible again at all. (Not that I think Jennifer Homans' enterprise is likely to fold anytime soon, but CAB's funding and / or NYU's willingness to could crater suddenly and without warning.) And ditto her opportunity to teach at Casa Amarela Providência  in Brazil. 

Thank you for the link—this sounds incredible! Brava to Ms. Lovette for grabbing the bull by the horns and committing to her creative development. While I'll miss her SPF this year, there will, indeed, be plenty of Nutcrackers ahead, and I'm really excited to see how she further develops her craft. 

On 12/12/2018 at 10:17 PM, macnellie said:

Where is Lauren Lovett? Why is she not dancing at all this nutcracker season?  I hope she’s not injured. 

According to her recent post on her public-facing Instagram, Lovette is guesting as SPF with Connecticut Ballet, so it doesn’t look like she’s injured 

On 12/3/2018 at 11:44 PM, fondoffouettes said:

That's interesting. In the pic above, I wonder if the tulle had originally been blue but morphed into a sort of mauve color over time. In this video about the Theme costumes, Marc Happel describes blue dyes as being unstable. But if the new costume is cornflower blue, I wonder if they found something to suggest that the original Karinska costumes were a more vivid blue. 

Edited to add: Here's a photo of Karinska's sketch and fabric swatches for the costume, which was included in the 2015 Vanity Fair article about Balanchine's Nutcracker.

According to a recent series of posts on the company’s Instagram, the 2018 blue is much closer to the original Karinska design: 

23 hours ago, volcanohunter said:

Personally, I would have posted Yuhui Choe's performance of the first variation as the finest of the three that evening. 

I was delighted to find that recordings of Ms. Choe’s performance have found their way onto other social media sites. As you said, a fine performance!

Noelani Pantastico announced in a public Facebook post that she is out with an injury: 

So we should expect a change to the November 25 casting, at least.

Get well soon, Ms. Pantastico! 

2 hours ago, MadameP said:

Maria Khoreva has today been promoted to First Soloist!  Many congratulations to this wonderful young ballerina!

Wow! Is there any precedent for this kind of meteoric rise through the ranks??

I was at the Saturday night performance and enjoyed it quite a bit! Lang seems to bring something new out of the dancers — a freedom in the upper body that we don’t always see from the dancers cast. The Dorrance is forgettable, but pleasant enough. Gillian Murphy, subbing in at the last minute, seemed to be having a ball. And while not all of the cast members seemed to “get” Tharp’s movement style, In the Upper Room is so well-structured and inventive that it still worked. All in all, a pleasant night at the ballet.

[Admin note:  this was originally posted in the Pacific Northwest Ballet thread on the Robbins Festival]

There’s an essay up on Crosscut that’s apparently prompted by the author’s experience watching the Robbins Festival. This might belong in a new topic — the piece goes into wider questions about PNB programming, looking at Fancy Free ans RaKU in particular — but it opens with a discussion of the Robbins documentary played after intermission.

ETA: I’m not sure I agree with the author’s conclusions in the essay, but it was food for thought.

You know, it’s unlikely I’ll ever cross paths with Larae Hascall, but this statement makes her contributions to the company — both in work product and presence — come alive. She sounds like an amazing force. 

(Also, I love hat PNB’s tributes to often-unseen staff members feel so heartfelt. I don’t know if it’s the quality of the PR writing, a reflection of a company atmosphere that values all contributions, or both, but the effort makes the PNB experience all the more vibrant. I appreciate it.)

12 minutes ago, nanushka said:

One of her interview responses would seem to clarify that "underage" means under 18 (given that they were apprentices):

 

Does it? I thought apprentices were usually 18, 19 (except in extraordinary cases, like for Tiler Peck) — am I off here?

Shiffon, a jewelry brand “for good,” has posted a Q&A with Waterbury. The interview has more context from Waterbury’s perspective, including some discussion of why she filed and the way the events and lawsuit have impacted her life.

ETA: Waterbury says in the Q&A that 10+ men and 10+ women are “involved” in the incidents, and that the “one thing that ties all these people together” is SAB/NYCB. She doesn’t specify whether these people are involved as subjects of the messages or as perpetrators, nor does she specify the degree of involvement.

She also says, “I would get threatening phone calls and messages from people involved, and I think that’s important for me to put out there because I know it’s happening to other women who were victims in the text messages.” 

On 9/23/2018 at 7:33 PM, pirouetta27 said:

Now I'm waiting for Dylan Wald to finally get moved out of the corps...

Until I saw your post, I’d convinced myself he’d already been promoted! I can’t believe he isn’t a soloist yet (or, for that matter, that Elle Macy’s still a corps member)—but I guess that’s what happens when you have a talented deep bench. Good time to be in Seattle!

25 minutes ago, abatt said:

It would be under CPLR 3211, not 12(b)(6), because this is a state court action. 

True. Thanks for the catch, abatt.

A motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim, whether filed under the state or federal rule, remains a pretty standard tool.

4 minutes ago, Helene said:

I would, just as due diligence.

Any lawyer would. You see failure to state of claim motions all the time. Everybody wants to avoid the expensive and time-consuming discovery process, and a motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim is a standard tool.

ETA: @abatt has corrected to the state rule (CPLR 3211) (instead of the federal rule, 12(b)(6)), so I've updated this post accordingly.

7 minutes ago, On Pointe said:

All of Merson's allegations could be true regarding a lack of a policy regarding NYCB and SAB.  However what is the bearing on this case?  The plaintiff is not a student at SAB at the present time,  and she makes no claim that she began a relationship  with  defendant Finlay when she was a student there.  She makes no claim that any NYCB member "groomed" her as a minor student.  She is not now,  and never has been a member of NYCB,  so she has no standing to claim her treatment by Finlay was part of a hostile work environment. 

My guess is that it could be one piece of evidence (though not a smoking gun) to add to the impression that NYCB was willful, reckless, or negligent in fostering an environment where people could act with impunity and no expectation of discipline. 

I haven't seen anything in the complaint discussing an EEOC-style hostile workplace claim, so 

4 minutes ago, abatt said:

Her assertions against the institutions of NYCB and SAB seem to be so weak  and lacking in merit that I would not be surprised if counsel for NYCB and SAF file  a motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim, rather than filing an answer to the complaint.

I mean, shouldn't we expect to see a 12(b)(6) motion without necessarily taking the filing thereof as a referendum on the merits? They're not exactly non-standard motions...

4 hours ago, KarenAG said:

find it hard to believe SAB and NYCB have NO code of conduct.  Parents don’t blithely send their children away to school without knowing school policies and protections, etc.  I know the complaint states that, but (and I am not an attorney), I was struck by many ‘charges’ in the complaint stated as facts when they are not yet proven to be facts. I am not referring to the specific allegations with the texting and sharing but other broader statements that charge NYCB and SAB, such as stating there is no code of conduct.

This may be confusing, but a complaint itself does not set out to prove the veracity of the facts alleged therein. Rather, a complaint lays out facts that, if assumed to be true, lay out a cause of action sufficient to permit a case to get to the next stage. It’s a way of figuratively opening the doors to the courthouse (though the doors may be shut later in proceedings).  (Wikipedia’s explanation is good background here.) All of this is to say that it is not crazy for a complaint to state factual allegations without attaching proof — the lawyer’s certification (described below) is a means to make sure the facts aren’t out of control.

Merson’s certification on the complaint provides reason to believe that the factual allegations have a basis in reality. When a lawyer personally certifies the complaint (basically, one of the signature pages submitted with the complaint), they are required to have made an objectively reasonable inquiry (i.e., not an indifferent or blindly insufficient inquiry) as to the veracity of the facts alleged therein. If that lawyer has failed to make sufficient inquiry, he or she faces substantial legal and professional liability. (More about that here; Stroock, the author of the memo, is a respected firm and the doc is well researched.) By submitting the complaint with his certification, Merson is making a declaration that he, with the judgment of a lawyer, has an objectively reasonable basis for including the allegations therein—to the point where he risks legal and professional (not to mention reputational) liability.

In short, complaints aren’t the place to prove the veracity of the facts alleged therein. That said, Merson has made a binding certification that he has an objectively reasonable basis to believe the facts in the complaint are true.

Olga's point (sorry, can't make the embed work) is also important, though. An objectively reasonable basis to believe that the plaintiff's statement of facts is true isn't the same as these being proven true facts—if it were, there'd be no reason to have a trial system. The veracity of the alleged facts is to be determined by the fact-finder (juries, or, in bench trial, judges).

Intricacies of the legal system aside, I’m not sure how a complaint could prove the absence of a policy — it’s pretty unlikely that there’s an NYCB statement floating around saying, “We don’t have a policy about this.” (If the case gets to discovery, though, there might be an email floating around somewhere; if it gets to trial, testimony could get there, too.) If NYCB/SAB does have such a policy, though, it’s pretty easy to show it exists — they could show the policy itself.

55 minutes ago, vipa said:

Anyway, I just don't see how SAB or NYCB is at fault if Waterbury and Finlay met at the school.

If, as the complaint states, NYCB had absolutely no code of conduct for employees in their interactions with school students, that would seem to be unusual. That would also seem to be different from most institutions wherein an organization’s roles in loco parentis and, separately, as employer of older individuals are intertwined.

10 minutes ago, Ashton Fan said:

I suspect that from now on in the main concern of NYCB and SAB will be to limit the damage as it looks as if neither are likely to escape with their reputation unscathed.

If absolutely nothing else, I hope that the mess results in the creation of a code of conduct for NYCB members w/r/t SAB. I was really, really surprised to read, in the amended complaint, that no such code exists. It seems like a huge blind spot, especially if company members can/do choose to take SAB classes. 

(I’m not, of course, in a position to determine whether that blindness is or was willful—or whether willfulness would even matter in this case.)

26 minutes ago, fondoffouettes said:

I just noticed the new complaint now gives timeframes, not just dates, for when texts were sent.

Also, looking more closely at the dates here, it looks like the complaint was filed almost exactly one year from the date of an original photo message. Not sure of the statute of limitations on the charges here, but it makes me think that some of the original complaint’s sloppiness might have resulted from rushing to file within a one-year SOL.