fondoffouettes

Can it really go any worse than Hammoudi's various outings? I guess so, but I'd also be curious to see Forster and Hoven given the chance. With Gomes gone and Hallberg skipping out on most of the Met season, there are so few male principals in the company that excel when it comes to dramatic/narrative weight. I'd be eager to see any up-and-coming male dancers with acting chops. Very curious to see how Ahn does with the role.

I couldn't agree more. Sarah Lane's Giselle was miraculous by any standards, but the fact that it was a debut made it even more remarkable. It was a fully realized interpretation. Her Swan Lake showed that yes, she has something to say artistically. To me, that's more important than a technically flawless debut (and so few debuts aren't marred by some technical glitch or other). I hope she gets another chance when/if Copeland has to dial down to one performance or when Gillian retires the role (not that I want that to happen anytime soon!). Forster knocked my socks off in Plato's Symposium, but I can't judge whether he could carry a full-length. ABT would need to give him the opportunities...

I’ve always thought the ballet seemed a bit too precious, until I saw Fairchild and Hyltin in it. That was the first time I’ve really enjoyed the ballet. I agree that they could dial down how often they program this ballet. I might be in the minority here, but I think it’s one of Balanchine’s weakest liotard ballets that’s still performed regularly.

I agree, or I'd be up for the role to be cast from among the corps or soloists (not Hammoudi). But perhaps with Ahn learning the role, there won't be enough coaching to go around. This season is, for the most part, pretty boring in terms of casting, so I wouldn't mind a guest artist. I really wished the company could have mustered a more exciting lineup of Swan Queens. I do look forward to revisiting Teuscher and/or Murphy, and seeing Shevchenko in her premiere. Maybe I've just been going to ABT for too many years, but it just feels like too much of the same old, same old.

In the past, I feel as if all principal casting was firmed up by the time single tickets went on sale (and I only mean the two main leads, not necessarily roles like Mercutio, Espada, Prince Coffee, etc.). I could be wrong, though ... I feel as if once in a while a Siegfried isn't assigned by the time single tickets go on sale. The fact that both Stearns and Whiteside dance Solor and haven't been assigned to the Seo Bayadere performances leads me to believe that the company is looking at other options. Stearns now has a very taxing schedule, which might not make it feasible to take on Solor, but Whiteside has a marginally lighter load at the moment. If Lendorf has to pull out of his performances due to his injury, then I can't even imagine all the cast shuffling that will take place...

My gut feeling is no. Unless the company were to present something very unique, or the casting were exceptional, I wouldn't make the trip to Philadelphia. It's a real schlep by car or NJT/Septa, and Amtrak is expensive. If the company happened to create that perfect Swan Lake that we've all been hoping for, then yes, I'd get on a train. If I were retired, with more time/money to spend on ballet, then Pennsylvania Ballet would be a more likely option for me. I could imagine a "New York Friends of Pennsylvania Ballet" focused on the older, donor set. As a point of comparison, Opera Philadelphia has been able to attract people from the tri-state area and beyond with its world premieres, and especially with its new O17 festival this fall. This was unique programming you couldn't find in NYC.

Her most recent Instagram post, another pic from early in her career. She’s skeletal.

Some tantalizing snippets of Lane and Cornejo in Other Dances. They certainly look beautiful in this...wish we could have seen them at the Met.

I can't imagine it ever not mattering in any production of R&J, no matter the choreographer. I guess the question might be whether this production impedes a sense of chemistry between the leads. Not sure that's the case; just throwing it out there as a question. I don't love the MacMillan as a whole -- though I cherish the many incredible moments -- but it's a ballet I'll go to when I know the leads are strong dramatically and have good chemistry. Do you think this carries over to plotless ballets? I found it hard to articulate why I found her disappointing -- and not technically in any way -- in Apollo. There was just some sort of aura or mystique missing. I find her presence rather sunny and surface-level. And I'm saying this as someone who LOVES her and thinks she's an incredible artist. I'm eager to see her in just about anything.

I'm not sure if that's the case, but I don't think you are alone in having these impressions. I think characterization becomes an innate talent for dancers at a company like ABT, where story ballets are their bread and butter. You can see the difference when you compare ABT and NYCB in Fancy Free or Prodigal Son (I find ABT absolutely delightful in the former, though some may argue they go too far with the acting in Prodigal Son). I've sometimes been left cold by NYCB dancers' acting abilities in Swan Lake (both the full-length and one-act versions) and, to a lesser degree, Sleeping Beauty. But sometimes it's the choreography itself, or fast pacing, that doesn't really allow room for characterization. I agree that I'd like to see NYCB continue to collaborate with visual artists for scenography. I think David Hockeny could be an interesting choice, if the right project came along.

I agree. I wouldn't be quick to assume ABT wronged Marcelo when this issue came up. This may have been a best-case scenario for Marcelo -- the story indeed seems to be squelched and there have been no apparent legal repercussions. Whether any payout was involved, we may never know.

Some of the ballet books I've read -- I believe Hallberg's memoir and also Dance as Life -- have discussed how injured dancers are expected to show up to rehearsals, and maybe even class (I can't remember), to just observe things if they aren't able to dance. I didn't realize that would even extend to times when the company is on the road. Not sure how strict these policies are, though. When Murphy was injured in the last Met season, I remember her posting on Instagram about a trip down south (I believe to her home state of SC), and she seemed to stay there for an extended period of time to recuperate. I'm sure, on the one hand, it's disheartening to have to to observe rehearsals as an injured dancer. On the flipside, it might help an injured dancer morale-wise to still feel like he's still a part of the company even when he can't dance. I'm reminded of Hallberg's intense sense of isolation, and subsequent depression, when he was dealing with his injury all on his own in NYC. That, of course, is an extreme example. You know, I used to give them the benefit of the doubt, but the past few seasons have really led me to believe that it's their MO, as you say, abatt. Of course, I'm sure there are times when they are holding out hope a dancer may still be able to dance, but there have been too many instances of them dragging their feet to update casting when it's clear a dancer is not going to go on.

But with a better website! ;) This might be a good strategy in terms of box office, assuming there isn't a great deal of overlap between NYC and Philly audiences. (I know some balletomanes may trek back and forth between the cities, but I've always been under the impression that NYC and Philly are somewhat distinct markets, despite their relative geographic proximity.)

Looks like Murphy is injured and potentially out for at least some of the Chicago dates. She has really had a tough time of it with injuries these past couple years. I wonder what the odds are of her making it through the Met season... I would like to see her in Swan Lake at least one more time.

I completely agree. If that's all that's left when you separate the wheat from the chaff, then it's a pretty paltry choreographic legacy to be leaving the company, considering how many pieces he's churned out. And he's only credited with staging Sylphide, not choreographing it, unlike the other story ballets. I don't give Kevin McKenzie credit for all that much, but at least it's pretty clear he has realized he's not a choreographer. (Of course, I wish he had realized that before he created his Swan Lake.)

You make an important point, NinaFan, and I agree. And I can only imagine it's been more artistically satisfying for some of the dancers to be able to dance the full-lengths, in addition to all the plotless works. The recent NYT article with Indiana Woodward about R&J really drove home that point for me.

If being a competent choreographer or dancer were a prerequisite for offering criticism, then I wouldn't have a right to say much of anything. I, too, enjoyed La Sylphide, but part of what made it successful was that Martins didn't try to put his own stamp on the Bournonville choreography. He said as much himself in the ballet's program notes, quoted in this article from DanceTabs: "In the program notes, Martins points out that he didn’t make any changes to Bournonville’s version of the ballet: 'There is virtually nothing of me in the production. I simply went back to the essential La Sylphide. This is the Romantic ballet that I was brought up on; this is Bournonville as I know it,' adding that his only change was the elimination of the intermission between the first and second acts." While I don't enjoy the fast pacing and cuts of his Sleeping Beauty, that's another one where he's mostly stuck with traditional choreography (with the added bonus of the Balanchine Garland Waltz). I don't mean to be hateful toward an entire body of work; I just sincerely believe that most dance critics and audience members wouldn't miss Martins' works if they were removed from the rep., provided that R&J and Swan Lake were replaced with new versions. (I don't count Sleeping Beauty and Sylphide among the full-lengths that should be replaced; they have so little of Martins' own original choreography in them, especially La Sylphide.)

Yes, but hopefully the new AD will have the sense to replace Martins' awful full-lengths with more palatable versions. Let's face it -- if all of Martins' works were effaced from NYCB's repertoire, almost no one would miss them.

I think Wendy Whelan needs to be taken out of consideration. I had been enthusiastic about her as an option until her recent social media posts glorifying her own emaciation. As AD, she would sow a new generation of dancers with eating disorders. She seems totally in denial about how/why she’s so skeletal. Her own documentary showed a dancer profoundly out of touch with reality.

LOL! This whole thing stinks of a cover up for the sake of NYCB's self-preservation (especially in terms of its board and administration.) Why would a current company dancer have reported (anonymously) to the NYT that Martins shook his fist over her head a week or so before she was promoted? I guess she and everyone else was just lying? Seems unlikely.

Just in from the NYT: “Abuse Accusations Against Peter Martins Are Not Corroborated, Inquiry Says” https://nyti.ms/2BuFYbc

That's interesting. At the beginning of part 2, she talks a bit about working through an eating disorder when she was a student and mentions her teachers making her gain 20 pounds. I didn't realize she had ever gone on the record about an eating disorder. This would make me think she'd only be more sensitive to the images she puts out there. But she's obviously incredibly proud of her body as a work of art. As vipa said, the photos read as portraits of starvation. It's quite different from the powerful images of her in performance. I've found her angularity and crookedness to be exactly what makes her so appealing. She wouldn't have lost those qualities if she had gained a few pounds. "I have a body where, if I drop a few pounds, it shows a lot. I wasn't trying to lose weight, but when you work hard during the season, you do. I felt defenseless." If she wanted to change this, surely she could have sought advice on how to increase her caloric intake, etc. I get the sense that she wanted to maintain the absolute minimum weight that still would allow her to do her job. She's still thin as a rail in retirement, without the rigors of a regular performance schedule to keep her that way.

These are the other photos that, to me at least, read the same way as what you describe above. The protruding veins, the oddly rounded yet muscular stomach. Every vertebra in her back exposed.

It's an important point you make, and I don't support shaming at all. (Some people treat skinny-shaming as a joke, but it's very real.) People leaving comments like "eat something" or comparing her to a Holocaust survivor are very hurtful. I guess I was just hopeful that Whelan might be mindful of the effect her photos might have on the legions of young fans that follow her. She has nothing to be ashamed of -- and has every right to be proud of her body. But 99% of dancers wouldn't be able to achieve her physique without severely limiting their food intake. She's an anomaly, even in the rarified world of skinny ballet dancers. Take someone like Tiler Peck -- you can't get much more physically fit and technically proficient than she -- yet I have to imagine she'd only achieve the Whelan look if she starved herself. Luckily, dancers at NYCB don't appear to be striving to do so. Sandik makes an important point about how "healthy" looks different on different people. There's no way Whelan would have sustained such long and relatively injury-free career (at least until the big injury toward the end of her career) if she weren't healthy. But to the casual observer, who may not know her back story, she looks like someone who has starved herself. That super skinny thigh, hardly thicker than a man's arm, looks incapable of supporting the activity of dance. But obviously, she did dance with those legs. I've seen tons of pictures of Whelan over the years, and certainly she's always been rail thin, but these have been the first to make me feel uncomfortable, perhaps because they seem shot in a way to highlight just how skinny and sinewy she is/was.

I don’t think she should be ashamed either. To me she doesn’t look more muscular than any other dancer; she just lacks virtually any body fat and thus looks “ripped.” All I can see is an emaciated dancer, not athleticism or beauty. But like you said, she has every right to put whatever she wants out there. Already a dancer has commented that she always wishes she had been as skinny as Whelan.