fondoffouettes

Please take this down if it is not allowed, but Alastair Macaulay has reposted Catazaro's statement. Since Macaulay is a professional critic and his profile is public-facing, I thought this might be OK to post.

Ah, I didn't know that. I'm admittedly not a Taylor fan, so my statement was based totally on my personal bias! 😉

I wouldn't be sad to see ABT replace Paul Taylor at the Koch Theatre in the spring, but maybe it would feel too close to their regular Met season. Is there any possibility of renting the Koch between NYCB's Nutcracker and winter season, or is it too short a period of time? If ABT is being pushed to begin its season in early June, maybe they should just decamp to the Koch Theatre for its spring/summer season. It's certainly a more congenial venue for dance, and they'd have an easier time filling the house. This year, NYCB finishes on June 2.

Nor does she do the balance with the developpe a la seconde, which I admit, I find a little disappointing. I've never seen a ballerina opt out of that. Does anyone know if historically, ballerinas (and their partners) have sometimes eschewed the balance? He also holds onto her during the change of position that occurs around 1:17, which hasn't been the case in any NYCB performances I've seen. (I find Kent absolutely stunning in this, btw. The falls into his arms are the best I've ever seen.) For me, the pressing of the nose to the shin is not important at all. Kowroski, when she last danced it, probably got about as close as Kent in the video above. Kowroski has always struck me as a very flexible dancer, with absolutely gorgeous arabesques. So, maybe for her, it was just an artistic choice; or it's something that has become more difficult to do as she's gotten older.

If they could have a short winter season at the Met, I think that would be ideal. I know I get audience fatigue from having all their full-lengths packed into eight continuous weeks and would welcome the opportunity to see some of them at a different time of year. I sometimes get desperate for my full-length “fix” in the winter and end up going to see a City Ballet SL or SB, even though I especially dislike the former production.

I went to Columbia College, and my understanding was that if you were taking more than a gap year after high school, you had to apply to the School of General Studies. I did meet former SAB dancers who were in the School of General Studies. As far as I'm aware, the main difference between GS and CC students was that GS students were not required to take all the core curriculum classes (many of which are of debatable value, IMHO), but otherwise, it's all the same. When I read about Waterbury's complaint against NYCB and Finlay, my main feeling was empathy for her situation as an undergrad at Columbia, trying to deal with these legal issues while being a student. In many ways, Columbia can be a big, impersonal research university where the undergrads are sometimes an afterthought. And, perhaps because it's located in NYC, it's not exactly a nurturing bubble where you can find yourself without scrutiny. It can be a difficult environment, and I'm very impressed Waterbury is able to carry on with her studies as she deals with all that she's going through.

Would the company be obligated to reproduce the Berman sets? Would the Tudor trust insist upon it? I really don't buy McKenzie's explanation, to be honest. I think the real reason is that ABT has a full-length Romeo and Juliet whose title recognition results in good ticket sales at the Met, so why would they bother to revive a one-act version? I remember thinking the excerpt performed in 2008 was incredibly beautiful and moving.

I'd be sad to see their presence in NYC reduced (for selfish reasons), but I agree. Maybe they will increase their touring. If any American company could be a modern-day Ballets Russes, I think it could be ABT. But despite morale-boosting promotions of homegrown talent in recent seasons, I think the company could really use a visionary artistic director to shepherd ABT into its next era. The company isn't the one it was in the 90s/early 2000s, when a silly ballet like Corsaire became a must-see event because of casting. Ratmansky's works for ABT have certainly been hit or miss, but he has often brought out the best in ABT's dancers and made them seem like a cohesive company. I realize he may not want to lead a company, but I think he could be the best person to shape the company's future and reconnect it to the "Theatre" in its name. If there is one thing that defines ABT, it is its legacy of storytelling -- from the 19th-century full-lengths to de Mille and Tudor.

Does anyone know how big the new performing arts center at the WTC site will be? It would be nice if there were an alternative to City Center. And NYCB's schedule would seem to preclude ABT from expanding there fall season very much, right?

This is some very disheartening news. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/14/arts/music/met-opera-contract-sunday.html

Here's the link to anyone interested (children's tickets are half off): https://us12.campaign-archive.com/?u=32c2129bb597be5dbecb76364&id=362e991671&e=137cd89e12 Clearly they are milking the Copeland casting for all it's worth, even if she'll be onstage for all of 10 minutes.

This was exactly my thought, as well. I'm glad Bell is getting more partnering experience, but I wish they would have chosen something more interesting, like the Leaves are Fading PDD or that fabulous snippet of the Tudor Romeo and Juliet they performed several years ago. Oh well. I'm skipping this whole season anyway. It's very undersold at the moment, especially in comparison to NYCB programs that precede and follow the ABT season.

Bouder's comments could also be true; it's possible the situation grew worse after the interim team took over. Tiler Peck basically implied that the company has been running on autopilot in this recent NYT profile: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/13/arts/dance/tiler-peck-ballet-now-documentary.html I didn't expect someone like Peck to be so outspoken; she seems like the type to not ruffle feathers. I must admit that my immediate reaction to Bouder's post was that I didn't think it was fair to pin this all on the interim team. The complaint cites image-sharing that occurred in September 2017, when Martins was still ballet master in chief, in addition to image-sharing in May 2018.

The delay is inexplicable. I don’t think seasonality has anything to do with it. If someone were committed for the 2018-2019 season, they could negotiate a start date that would allow them to leave at a time that would respect their obligations to their current organization. But company leaders leave abruptly all the time; the most extreme recent example I can think of is when Keith Cerny gave the Dallas Opera less than a month’s notice that he’d be leaving for Calgary Opera. In general, I’ve seen arts organizations try to get job listings for major positions up as soon as possible. The delays more often happen once the actual search begins. The board should be held accountable for this delay. I wonder when we will see any dancers promoted. Whoever is appointed AD may not want to promote dancers right away.

I can't see this working, given NYCB's rep. In some pieces, the principal men come into contact with so many female dancers, of all ranks. It would turn into a casting nightmare if female dancers decided whether or not they wanted to come into contact (or even share the stage) with Catazaro and Ramasar. I think they either need to be brought back as fully integrated company members or not at all.

What's frustrating is that Marcelo's situation seemed potentially salvageable. Whatever he did didn't occur at ABT and seemed to be a single incident from several years ago, not a pattern of behavior, at least based on what little knowledge we have. And he had what seemed to be an outpouring of support from fellow company members and the public. For weeks, his Instagram became an outlet for people to express support; I can't think of single negative comment. But if his resignation was designed to keep the details of his alleged sexual misconduct under wraps, he succeeded.

Right. The three named dancers involved in this seem to be getting attention that’s proportionate to the accusations against them. Note how their hasn’t been a single critical comment on Catazaro’s Instagram posts and he hasn’t been the subject of nearly the same level of media coverage as Ramasar and Finlay. That makes sense based on how little is said about him in the complaint.

That’s actually how I interpreted it. Or I thought it could mean they were sharing pictures without their subjects’ permission. But that particular quote, taken out of context, didn’t seem to make sense to me as proof the pictures were taken without consent. You really need a whole thread of text messages to make sense of their meaning. I wonder if Waterbury and her lawyer have screenshots they will present in court (if this doesn’t get settled first).

I don’t believe they are allowed to post anything that could be perceived as critical of the company or its employees and donors. I recently went back and read some of articles about Devin Alberda, and his post criticizing David Koch was one of the things that precipitated NYCB instituting a social media policy. I wouldn’t be surprised if the dancers have all been reminded that they aren’t allowed to post about these recent events. That said, dancers did post things in reaction to all the Martins news, but most of it was supportive, “he was like a father to me” stuff. I’ve seen recent Instagram stories by Kowroski and Mearns that acknowledge that times are tough right now, without mentioning anything specific.

That particular clip doesn’t give me pause. Duell seems to move his head in anticipation of what Martins wants, though I could see how it could read as Martins pushing Duell’s head. I imagine that sometimes in rehearsals or in the choreographic process it’s sometime easier to physically manipulate a dancer’s body rather than verbally describe the desired motion. But I can of course imagine how someone could cross the line in situations like these.

As I understand it, the NYCB dancers are free to have sex with one another. The company doesn’t allow this in cases where there is a “reporting relationship” between two employees, though. They only bothered to make this a rule after Kistler retired. I’m not sure what a freer sexual environment at a workplace would look like. Maybe the physical nature of the profession, the long hours together and the insular nature of a ballet company lead to more romantic and sexual relationships than you’d see at your average workplace. But I don’t see anything wrong with that, and it’s very different from the abuses that have been discussed here.

From what I saw online, Waterbury seems to be involved with the Barnard dance department. I don't know a lot about their dance department beyond the fact that Allegra Kent teaches there.

It's true, but he may have significant assets (at least compared to your average person who works in the arts). He was promoted to principal 6 years ago, I believe, so depending on how he's spent his salary, he may have some considerable savings. Also, I seem to recall from a video -- I believe it was the AOL series rather than a NYCB-produced video -- that Finlay appears to be from an affluent family in Connecticut, so he may have some family money, as well, if any of it has been gifted to him. Also, based on the address given in the complaint, Finlay lives in a co-op building in an expensive neighborhood. One website lists the average cost of an apartment in that building as $1,456 per square foot. He could be subletting, but if he owns the apartment, that's another asset. But I don't know if real estate is something that would be up for grabs in a civil suit. But I agree that NYCB is probably of more interest in terms of money, though it's also probably the greater reach in terms of actually proving they were responsible.

I agree. Have we ever heard a company representative express genuine concern for the dancers' well-being? I feel like the company has been in self-preservation mode ever since the accusations against Martins were made. To what degree is the NYCB board to blame for all of this? I hope the new AD does an audit of the board and helps recruit new board members who may have expertise in the areas of equity and creating a safe work environment. I don't plan on boycotting performances, but I would sit out any piece featuring a man who has committed some of the acts described in the complaint. I'm more interested in seeing what sort of support/solidarity the women of NYCB might seek from the public. I worry that, between the social media rules and precarious employment of dancers in general, the female dancers won't feel empowered or able to speak up.