fondoffouettes

Oops, sorry -- missed that. Just as Ratmansky hasn't been utilizing Copeland in new works recently, nor casting her as Florine in his SB, which I think is a role she could probably still dance well unless the hops are an issue. It's actually my favorite classical role I've seen her in. To be fair, plenty of other Ratmansky favorites -- Abrera, Boylston and Cornejo come to mind -- have not been cast in his new ballet. He has mainly cast taller dancers. Perhaps he was going for a certain aesthetic and wanted "statuesque" dancers to represent this story from ancient Greece. Some of the costumes look quite heavy and elaborate, and perhaps a smaller dancer would drown in them. But it's truly a head-scratcher that Lane hasn't been cast as the TBA Rose in The Seasons. It's not like she has other obligations that week, unless she's guesting somewhere.

Simkin being engaged just once for the entire Met season has also dealt a blow to Lane's career. The same could be said for Gorak somewhat petering out as a potential principal; the fact that they swapped Stearns into Lane's R&J is telling.

For some reason, I'm not sure why, I don't feel the post is about Skylar Brandt. If Lane is indeed being pushed out, or feels like she's being pushed out, perhaps the reference to money has something to do with ABT's limited finances. Remember when Part was being pushed out and she posted about how ABT essentially said they didn't have the funds to support her slot as a principal? I know Lane's language seems to criticize a dancer for investing money in his/her career, but it's just hard for me to fathom her throwing such obvious shade at a soloist, or any one of her colleagues. She's essentially been a class act on social media, perhaps except for that one post on Cornejo's anniversary (though the purpose of that post was somewhat ambiguous, at least in my opinion).

And now she’s taken down the quote.

She quoted someone who represents an administration that's anti-LGBTQ, anti-immigrant, anti-human-rights, anti-reality. Hopefully she realized the implications.

Thank you for the info, silvermash.

I wish I could see the POB dancers in Giselle again; they were extraordinary in the ballet when they visited NYC several years ago. Does this mean the dancers are no longer striking, or are they continuing to strike but still performing on select dates? I'm supposed to see their all-Balanchine program when I travel to Paris early next month. It will be my first time seeing the company in their home country, and I'd be so disappointed if it's canceled.

I just called the box office and they said March 22 at noon. Since single-ticket sales are far more popular than subscriptions these days, I don't know why they make this info so hard to find. I guess they want to push subscription as much as possible...

Lochlan Brooks, whom some of you may have admired in Ratmansky's The Seasons at ABT, as well as in the many impressive videos he posted on social media, has died.

Thanks @Leah, @mille-feuille and @bellawood! I'm looking forward to the performance now.

How do people feel about Bouder's O/O? I've never seen her in the role and due a ticket-ordering snafu, I have a ticket to see her rather than Reichlen, who I'd intended to see.

Wow -- very cool. Maybe this will be the start of a nice new partnership. I seem to remember Lane saying nice things on Instagram about dancing with Stearns when she subbed for Seo (I think) in Other Dances.

So, so wonderful to see this.

The biggest downside of this production for me is that the set and costumes are very ugly, garish even. It has an Act I jester unlike many American productions. You can expect the music to be played very fast throughout. I find there's much more emphasis on the dancing (fast) rather than drama or characterization. Martins adds his own take on the ending of the ballet, but otherwise the choreography is pretty traditional if I remember correctly. There's still quite a bit to enjoy in the ballet, if you can get over the scenery and costumes.

It looks like Forster and Shevchenko will likely be one of the principal couples in the new Ratmansky full-length (what a season for Forster!). Macaulay posted photos of them performing a pas de deux from the ballet at the Met Museum (apparently Ratmansky has drawn inspiration from several works in the Greek and Roman collection). These two costumes appear to be quite lovely:

No, there have been no public statements on the matter. I'm surprised they are switching the casting between Dubai and NYC. Would Copeland and Royal's performance in NYC would mark the first time ABT has presented two African American dancers, together, in the lead roles of any full-length ballet? If that's the case, perhaps they want to save any related buzz for the NYC performances. In any case, I'm glad to finally be able to see Cornejo's Romeo, now that he'll be paired with someone other than Copeland.

The press release is on Broadway World and it confirms the pairings of Copeland/Cornejo and Trenary/Royal: https://www.broadwayworld.com/bwwdance/article/Misty-Copeland-To-Dance-Title-Role-in-ROMEO-AND-JULIET-at-American-Ballet-Theatres-Abu-Dhabi-Festival-Appearance-20191111 I wonder if any dancers have misgivings about performing in a country with an abominable human rights record, one where you can be imprisoned or executed for being gay, for example. I guess these sorts of cultural tours are about putting aside differences and enjoying the transcendent quality of the art form. But yeah, as a gay man, I wouldn't exactly be thrilled about traveling to the UAE.

Not to mention that Copeland is far from a sure thing these days, especially when it comes to her classical rep.

I much prefer behind-the-scenes rehearsal footage over endless mirror selfies or glossy shots promoting a leotard line. It's interesting to see the process, and sometimes dancers are able to accomplish extraordinary things in rehearsal (five- or six-revolution pirouettes) that never make it to the stage. Regarding Brandt resposting fan posts in her Instagram Stories, I see this as a nice way of acknowledging fans. Mearns routinely does this after a performance, when people post photos of her curtain calls, often accompanied by adulatory language. It can feel nice to know an artist saw your post and acknowledged your appreciation of them. Brandt seems to have a lot of young dancer fans who really look up to her.

Yes!!! I felt the same way. It was amazing to see the difficulty of the demi-soloist choreography in isolation from the rest of the ballet.

I didn't really take Brandt's Instagram posts to be an audition for T&V, as I believe she was dancing the demi-soloist role in all the videos she posted. If they'd shown her rehearsing bits of the principal role, then I'd feel differently. They certainly highlighted her technical prowess, but then again, so do all of her videos.

I'm thrilled with this news! I may need to do a Sleeping Beauty double-header that Wednesday. At least he's getting an Albrecht and Siegfried when ABT is on the road, so that should help a bit. But yes, it's still a lot to take on for the spring season.

I thought perhaps I was just misremembering, but I could have sworn there were photos of them from those performances, too. He only has a presence on her feed up to her 2018 Don Quixote debut, and then nothing.

This photo gives a pretty good indication of how Lane looks next to Hoven. I don't see any reason why they couldn't dance together; the height difference would of course be lessened when she's on pointe. Even though Copeland is short, she appears to have much longer feet than Lane. There was a definite sense that Part was somewhat removed from her peers, but I've never gotten that sense about Lane (at least based on social media). I feel as if I've seen tons of photos of Lane interacting warmly with her colleagues, and gracious comments being posted back and forth. Gorak seems to be her particular bestie.

Yes, he follows her main account and her @pearltakespics account.