vipa

24 minutes ago, ABT Fan said:

Interesting that the only candidates they mention without any caveats is Boal and Whelan.

Other than that, this article just says more of the same that we've already discussed here and read elsewhere.

Totally agree. They brought up the idea of Lopez not wanting to leave Miami, but didn't mention the possibility of Boal not wanting to leave Seattle. Whelan's lack of experience in running a company wasn't touched upon. I was hoping the article would mention someone we hadn't thought of!!!

I guess I'm in the minority in that I don't find Stanley incredible. I like him in some things but find him a bit light weight in others. The NYCB is still adjusting to the loss of Ramasar and Catazaro, as well the retirement of DeLuz and the technical decline (in solo, white tights works) of the Angles and Veyette. There is also the injury of Adrian D-W. It's a strange time for the male ranks in NYCB. 

As far as leaving for fulfillment, maybe Stanley will. Some dancers look at the rep of Balanchine, Robbins and new works that NYCB offers and want to eat all of it up. Others find more fulfillment in a constant diet of new works. That's the way it goes. Dancer's leave companies. I loved Ana Sofia Scheller, but San Francisco Ballet seems a better match for her.

18 minutes ago, cassieallison said:

Besides Reichlen and Mearns who were the previous Lilac Fairies?

I saw Ashley Laracey as Lilac Fairy and liked her very much.

1 hour ago, cobweb said:

Woodward yes, Pereira please no. Who are the men who have done Desire last time around? 

So agree. I will buy my ticket as soon as casting comes out. I'd see a Woodward debut in a second. I'm sure there are Pereira fans out there, but I'd avoid her if she was cast.

26 minutes ago, pherank said:

That made me laugh, thank you. 😉
As you stated, any candidate comes with his/her own individual strengths and weaknesses - no amount of waiting will turn up a perfect Cinderella for AD. NYCB needs to get past worrying about how much the new AD compares with the founding one and just get on with life. If the person chosen doesn't work out, then another AD will follow. Just like everywhere else.

Gottlieb's main contention seems to be that Ballet AD's cannot be chosen in the same way as a business CEO. But in 2019 that is only partly true: most AD's are having to take part in the fund raising aspects of the business, the marketing of the business, and usually have a lot to say about personnel and their issues. I think he's hoping for a true "artist" to lead the company - one that need not worry about all those messy business details - but I don't think that's a plausible approach in this day and age. Whoever is chosen for AD is  going to have to be a leader that fits in the present day - for better or worse.

It's interesting, in a Conversations on Dance interview, Lourdes Lopez said Gottlieb encouraged her to apply for the Miami City Ballet position, and that's what got that going.  It seems to me that the search for a NYCB AD could be a mix of a search firm, and old school people encouraging good candidates to apply. Maybe that's what is happening. AS far as "messy business details" how much of that is directly handled by the AD and how much is handled by a professional administrative staff? I just hope they announce soon. 

9 minutes ago, Helene said:

NYCB had/has far more problems than a dearth of female choreographers.

Given that the Board is a pro-Martins Board and that a prominent member was ready to take him back with open arms, it makes legal and optical sense for NYCB to outsource it to an outside team, which, hopefully, has done deep enough background checks that the organization won't torpedo itself by being slack.

I feel that his real complaint is that they didn't call in him and/or Kaiser, the usual suspects.  I'm not sure those two have done an exemplary job across the board with their recommendations.

Search firm, board of directors, or anyone else - given the job description, there are a limited number of people who are qualified. The board of directors could have saved themselves a lot of money. Instead of hiring a search firm they should be reading this site!

11 hours ago, cobweb said:

Vipa, do you have familiarity with Lopez’s artistic vision? (I don’t.) Any sense of where she has taken MCB artistically and what she might be inclined to do in terms of new choreography or productions?

I recall Lopez being interviewed on Conversations on Dance. I'm paraphrasing but I believe she said she didn't have "vision" per se, but wanted to hire and develop good dancers, build an audience and grow the rep in ways that please and challenge audiences and dancers. She certainly seems devoted to the Balanchine rep, but has also shown an interest in new works (she was co-director of Wheeldon's company, Morphoses). Of course she might be happy in Miami, and not want the job, but I think she'd be great.

10 minutes ago, Marta said:

How I would love to see Farrell as AD, but I also don't think she's inclined to take on NYCB.  Her age has been mentioned as a  signifcant minus.  Neither Kent, Kowroski or Ringer are  likely possibilities to me.  Are we going to be completely surprised by the final choice?  I'd be shocked if it were Woetzel.

I'm still holding out hope for Lourdes Lopez - A woman, worked with Balanchine, worked in the media, is running a major company. To me she is the perfect candidate. I don't know what her Miami City Ballet contract is like or if she wants to relocate, but IMO she has it all.

51 minutes ago, Rock said:

I read it as Clifford was mentioning Kent and Farrell as former dancers who should be around coaching. I didn't think he meant as AD.

I agree. Farrell has a great reputation as a coach and has run her own company, but I don't know if she would take on something as massive as NYCB. Kent surely has wonderful information to convey as a coach but I don't see anything to indicate that she could run a company.

I think someone else mentioned Maria K. I don't see that as a possibility. She has no experience running a company not even small projects such as the ones done by Ulbricht, Bouder and some others.

Happy New Year to you all, and a big thank you to the moderators that keep this site going.

I couldn't really come up with a best and worst list. I saw a lot of fine performances, and some not so fine ones too, but there weren't many super highs and lows.

One Best goes to the Joaquin De Luz NYCB retirement performance. It took class to go out doing Theme and Variations and he pulled it off beautifully. It was also a wonderful "feel good" event.

That's all I have to say about bests & worsts!

I remember seeing Alina Cojocaru in the old ABT production. She embraced the flowers and put them in front of the parents, which makes sense in that this is her coming out party. Clearly the ballerina has to get rid of the flowers. It's up to the production/dancer/coach to have it make sense. In my experience Cojocaru makes sense out of everything.

Thank you for posting, dirac.What a treat.  Happy Holidays to all. 

5 minutes ago, canbelto said:

Leslie Caron must hold a record for starring in musicals that have an ick factor today. Gigi is another one that has an ick factor, and while An American in Paris doesn't have an ick factor per se it hasn't aged well either and Caron's character is a complete cipher. 

 

Oddly, I don't find Gigi having any ick factor. It was dealing with a young woman who was being trained to be a courtesan/mistress for a wealthy man. Such a woman would have had a better life than many women in that time and place. For me, An American in Paris hasn't aged well because, although there are charming scenes, the big dance scene doesn't hold up.

1 minute ago, Fleurfairy said:

Judging from the past several seasons, it seems like Lovette is pulling away from NYCB. It would not surprise me if she left the company altogether, let's put it that way.

She seems to be very interested in choreography projects, and a number of them are coming her way.

30 minutes ago, cobweb said:

High time for Ulbricht to debut in this role. Strike that. Long overdue. 

Any reports on the two new Soldier debuts welcome - tonight Kennard Henson, tomorrow Andres Zuniga. 

I'm so glad to Ulbricht is doing this. It's a shame it's coming so late in his career. I always felt that Peter Martins under utilized him. It took years for Martins to cast him as Oberon, but he excelled in it. From social media I know that Ulbricht has recently guested with Sarah Lane, doing Cavalier.

I agree with others that Sarasota and Washington Ballet might be good places for Morgan. She is 30 years old and would want to (I imagine) join a company as a principal or soloist. A lot will depends on which companies have that additional salary in their budget. Also, long term - how reliable is she, and how long will she be dancing. AD's take a lot of things into consideration.

2 hours ago, Balletwannabe said:

Could she come back as a soloist with NYCB?

My thinking is when you think of the NYCB rep overall it wouldn't be what she'd want. 

7 hours ago, FPF said:

Did you get any response from the Joyce? This would be a very concerning situation for me as I am very allergic to dogs and have asthma. 

I emailed them and got a response saying they were sorry for my inconvenience and would review their animal policy. I didn't follow up beyond that, and it was a couple of years ago. If they haven't changed their policy of allowing comfort animals, I would hope they are prepared to accommodate people with allergies and asthma.

My understanding is that a service animal it one that is trained to provide specific services and that "comfort" animals do not legally qualify. Many businesses don't know that. I had a horrible experience in the Joyce Theater in NYC about 2 yrs ago. I took my seat and the woman next to me had a small dog in a cage, on her lap. The animal stunk to high heaven. It made my stomach turn. I signaled the usher who sent the house manager over to tell me that the dog was allowed. I asked if my husband and I could be moved to comparable seats - the answer was that no seats were available. I don't know if anything has changed since the, but I did write to complain.

It can be very confusing for dance students and young professionals. You can honestly believe that another dancer got a role you wanted because she is thinner than you are. Later on, looking back, it's easier to understand that that dancer had attributes that you didn't recognize at the time. In the meantime you tried to starve your way to success. I truly think things have improved a lot since back in the day when I danced professionally. In my day lots of people simple tried to stop eating. Now so much more is know about nutrition and cross training. Cross training is a big factor. A corps member can be in the studio for 6 hours of rehearsal without burning a lot of calories. It's very start and stop, and stretches of time can be spent posing. It's tiring but not necessarily calorie burning in a big way. Cross training can be more aerobic, burn calories and make you stronger.  

36 minutes ago, Rock said:

Don't forget about Lincoln Kirstein. I believe he dealt with fund raising personally. 

Yes, Kirstein raised a lot of money for the company. Peter Martins seems to have been very good at fundraising and mingling with donors.

2 hours ago, Drew said:

This discussion assumes that Clifford really knows what he thinks he knows and that his commenting on it won't itself have an impact on the board's process--which it probably won't (or wouldn't)...but stranger things have happened.

That said--thinking about company ballerinas who joined after Balanchine's death, I find myself wondering if Jenifer Ringer is in the mix at all, though I understand why Whelan draws the most attention.

I thought about Jennifer Ringer too. She was an intelligent and, what I would call, honest dancer. I don't think she has experience running a company. She's been running a school and a number of  years ago she directed the "Dancers' Choice" performance at NYCB. Her theme, if I remember correctly, was to feature the corps, and was quite poised and well spoken. If she's the one, I wonder if her husband James Fayette, will have a position. He has experience with performers' unions. Personally, I think she'd be a better choice than Wendy Whelan.

Of course I've been trying to come up with former ballerinas who joined post Balanchine. Margaret Tracy, Janie Taylor, Miranda Weese, Yvonne Borree - none seem like candidates

2 minutes ago, BLalo said:

It sounds to me like they’ve accidentally put Smirnova’s name where Abrera’s should be. I don’t know how these things work... but Mistress, Tea Flower, Pierette and Gulnare are all Abrera roles. 

Perhaps she is replacing Abrera in a performance of Corsaire and the Met accidentally replaced many more of Abrera’s shows? 

Interesting thought. Why would she be replacing Abrera in anything so early, it's only Nov.

10 minutes ago, bingham said:

It’s strange to have Olga Smirnova as a guest artist dancing essentially secondary roles. Just wondering.

This does seem odd. I can't imagine her name would sell tickets and ABT is bursting with people in all ranks that need opportunities.

1 hour ago, On Pointe said:

I mean Wendy Whelan no disrespect,  but what experience or qualities does she have that automatically  put her in the running as AD of NYCB?  It's got to take more than being a well-regarded former principal,  who has the bonus of being female.  If the directorship of the company and school will be vested in one person,  the new AD should have significant experience running a largish ballet company,  be able to raise money and work with a board,  and be a Balanchine devotee,  having danced and staged his ballets.  The logical choice,  given Damian Woetzel's unavailability,  is Peter Boal,  but given his wife's role in bringing down the former director,  that's problematic.  Maybe the board will decide that,  optics be damned,  they're going with Boal anyway.  Or they'll offer it to Lourdes Lopez,  who also meets the criteria and ticks the woman and minority boxes as well.  Either one would be a better choice than Whelan,  who would have the additional burden of being the boss over dancers who were her peers in the recent past.  Maybe they'll decide that "if it ain't  broke don't  fix it",  and the leave the leadership as it is.

I agree On Pointe. I just wonder if Boal or Lopez would want the job. Peter Boal seems quite involved in the Seattle community, and is working with dancers he hand picked. Lopez is just putting her stamp on Miami. They both have contracts that they would have to break. I also can't see Helgi Tomasson leaving SFB. 

Not many people have experience running a large, successful company. Ib Anderson is in Arizona, I don't know much about the company but he would be an interesting choice. Colleen Neary runs the LA ballet (I believe). It seems incredibly hard to get a company going there. Judy Fugate has run a small group for a number of years. There is Nikolai Hubbe in Denmark. Damien Woetzel has never run a company, but has developed a successful festival (quite a different thing). In any event he is just starting at Juilliard. 

We don't know who has applied for the job or who is being encouraged to, but in the meantime I hope "the team" continues to bring in dancers from the past to coach. Please bring Suzanne in!

One thing that makes this so difficult is that being a great dancer doesn't mean you'll be a great company director, any more than it means you'll be a great teacher. Maybe there is a former NYCB corps member out there serving as an assistant director somewhere, who'd do a fabulous job.