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That article was from 8 months ago, so maybe that has changed. Anyway, they must have found a way their way to a working relationship, because they perform together. I saw them last season in Divert 15. The corps member he's seen with in social media, was also in that performance. Talk about everyone having to separate personal life from work!

Sorry to hear that. I wish her well. I know she was not popular with a lot of people at BT but I always liked her go for broke style and exuberance.

Very interesting topic. I would agree that no individual rules but a handful reach greatness. For me Cojocaru and Peck are among them by virtue of artistic imagination and musicality. They, like everyone, are better in some roles than others, but they make me watch with tremendous intensity, because I do not want to miss one second. I want to hear what they have to say without missing a word. In terms of versatility, I want to throw out there that, it seems to me, the demands on dancers are greater than they have ever been. More than in the past the companies doing full length classics, are also doing Balanchine, MacMillan etc. and new works by, Peck, Chrystal Pite, Wheeldon, Ratmansky etc. William Forsythe's works are also popping up in more American companies. The physical and mental prowess that this requires is extraordinary.

As a long time ballet person (former dancer, teacher, now avid fan). I think this happened a lot more in the past when men tried to become "traditional family men" because they thought they should, or as covers or for a lot of complicated reasons. I think it is much more unusual now that homosexuality is more accepted and gay marriage is possible.

I know from reading about NYCB that they use an algorithm for programing to figure out what will sell. My big complaint is that they make you choose btwn all Balanchine and all new works. Maybe their market research has shown that this is wise. As an audience member, I want to see new works but don't want to spend money on a program of all new works. A program of 1 or 2 new pieces with some pieces that I know I will enjoy would work better for me. And why not introduce an audience that is eager for new stuff to Balanchine, and an audience that is eager to see Balanchine to something new. Obviously I don't know anything about marketing.

I would not judge it as harshly, but from what I saw of her in ABT (including Swan Lake) I came to think of her as a "utility ballerina." She gets the job done, which is admirable, but I never saw a creative, artistic imagination or special musicality. Those qualities can be few and far between, although NYCB has quite a stable right now. A dancer like Kochetkova can be a big loss to a company, but I can't see it as devastating. This said, my only experience with SFB was their visit to NYC a few years ago, so I can't speak as someone who has seen her in her home company season after season.

Most dancers are not principals in two companies. I can't imagine that the commute is the reason. The arrangement that Kochetkova had with ABT for a couple of years was very unusual. She and ABT probably went their separate ways when ABT no longer needed her, or couldn't offer her sufficient rep when they had 3 new principals on the roster. Ana Sophia Scheller in the company certainly adds a lot of star power. I can't imaging SFB is lacking for principal talent.

I can't imagine she'll be returning to ABT. They just promoted 3 women last year and they have a lot of outstanding talent among short women in the soloist ranks.

True. If everyone found doubles easier everyone would do them. Often even good turners will start out throwing in doubles but for the last 16 or 8 switch to all single. Doubles do require more force, and using force adds an element of risk.

IMO too many dancers today go for doubles and other tricks when they'd be more successful doing strong, focused singles.

Thank you NinaFan for that review. I'm looking forward to seeing the show. In respect to the show and the #metoo movement, I think the bigger issue to grapple with is not Billy's behavior (he is a character who engages in violent behavior towards his wife), the trickier part is her reaction to it. In the original, when Louise asks her mother if it's possible to be hit and it not hurt at all (paraphrasing), Julie replies it is possible. That line has been removed from this production. Julie seems accepting of the abuse. IMO portraying that is a tricky thing in any time period, but more so now. Posters on this site have mentioned a discomfort with the scene in Fancy Free in which the men are teasing/menacing? the girl with the red bag. It has to be handled well so the audience of today isn't made uncomfortable.

I so agree with Drew that you could put together a compilation of mistakes from any dancer. No one has flawless performances, each show and every show. Most of these clips are actually not that terrible, I've seen a lot worse, and a video of bad moments is not fair. Lazy is a ridiculous statement in respect to any ballet dancer working in a company anywhere (and I don't think that is an over statement). The training, stamina and rehearsal time that is needed, just to get through a ballet is intense and huge. Here's where I am coming from on the Misty front. I liked her as a soloist in some things (particularly Tharp). When she was promoted I saw a few performances and found her lacking in many ways, so I don't buy a ticket to see her. I would never say she was lazy or a bad person. I personally don't think she would have been promoted if it hadn't been for her publicity machine. As far as her promotion being a good or bad thing, I think mostly good but it's debatable. I think these kind of video's are despicable.

I too hope she can benefit from it, and that she fully understands the privileges that are part of her life. Many would have suffered more serious consequences

Carousel has always been challenging in Billy's character, his relationship with Julie and her reactions to him. More so today than ever. There is a place in the show when Billy says (paraphrasing) She'd say, I'd say, she'd say, she'd be right so I hit her. There's another place in which Louise asks Julie if a person can be hit but it not hurt. Pollack, in an interview, said they changed Julie's response. Instead of answering they walk off together. I'm interested in seeing how these things are dealt with and how audiences react. As a side note - many, many years ago my husband was in a production of Carousel that was choreographed by Peter Martins. I find some irony in that at the moment.

The Giselle performance given by Lane last spring was truly one of the best I've seen, and I've been watching Giselle since back in the day of Fracci, Makarova etc. I've seen countless Giselles. Go see this if you can. I can't because K.M. has only given her a Wed. Mat. I can't get there. If you can go!

On second watching of the video, I see she was in trouble from the start. After the pirouette she did a hop around to get going again. Really odd, and then the pique turns had no shape or position. My husband, who is a former ballet dancer, has an interesting take on the fouette thing. He feels that it's on Kevin M. If Copeland has never accomplished the fouettes, there is no reason to expect that at her age she will in the future. Kevin M keeps putting her out there in SL, knowing this. He should work on a total alternative plan.

Absolutely true that there is a male lead factor, however, a taller male lead doesn't necessarily need a taller lady. A lot of factors weigh in.

I'm not so sure that if anyone was injured for O/O, the replacement would be Boylston, Seo or Shevchenko. Last year Lane went in for Kochetkova without having done it with ABT before. They could have had Boylston do it or imported a guest. Kochetkova was imported to replace Cojocaru (I know, I had a ticket). That was Kochetkova's first appearance with ABT, I believe. I wouldn't dismiss Lane as a possible all around replacement. I also wouldn't put Lane in the category of guest artist with "small regional company."

Interesting question nanushka. My guess is no. At least I hope not, it's time to give soloists & corps more chances at it. I know Lane did it in Singapore but they might not have taken the entire company and so had to maximize the people they had. I know Lane has few shows at the Met (sigh) but my thinking is that if anyone has to drop a Giselle, Swan Lake or perhaps Don Q she'd pick it up. I don't know about Romeo and Juliet, she's said that she learned it but I don't know if they'd throw her on.

I'm sure she'll be credited only as the choreographer of the original production. I'm assuming the agreement is for credit, and nothing monetary is required.

This is so true, but I think there are some differences now. There used to be international stars who sold tickets not only to ballet audiences but to general audiences. Dancers were mentioned in the press, on the covers of magazines etc. Those days are long gone. There are some ballet stars such as Osipova and Cojocaru who are big enough names for ballet audiences that they'll sell tickets, but neither is a household name the way stars of the past were. Now ABT has Misty Copeland who serves that function. I saw no reason for ABT to hire Maria Kochetkova as a guest and then a semi company member. I can't believe she sold one ticket. Simply hiring a gust is not necessarily the best way to go.

For me it's the quality of the works that matter not the duration of the program. I do get annoyed when a short ballet is followed by a 20 minute intermission rather than a pause (with the given there are no sets to put in etc.). I know it's good for selling drinks and things but I find it annoying.

So well put nanushka. I will always keep that in mind!

All so true canbelto. I believe Sarah Lane is 33 so has some prime years left, but when I look at her casting in the Met, I believe that Kevin M is going to squander those years. Which brings me to another point. Casting is a contributing cause of the mediocracy that we see. Hee Seo, Boylston and Copeland are cast in pretty much everything, and we have Lane in Don Q but not Romeo & Juliet. Yes, yes I know the argument for Copeland getting Swan Lakes but if you took dancers out of roles they weren't suited for, it would give dancers who could excel in those roles more opportunities, and maybe even give more soloists a chance at principal roles. As far as Lane being principal material for other major company - the Giselle I saw her do was world class. How things unfold is anybody's guess. If she was in any other company she'd be cast in Romeo and Juliet and probably not Don Q!

Since they are both principals in Houston, I doubt they'd want to come back to the soloist rep they were doing before they left. I don't see Yuriko Kajiya being promoted to principal at ABT at this point.