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Have there been any announcements about LA Ballet's new fall season and new dancers?

Avichai Scher (Avi) is listed as a dancer with LA Ballet and Joffrey. Does anyone know where he is dancing? He is a very talented choreographer.

Limbrunner and Dmintrenko are no longer listed on the OBT website Source, please, for the apprentice news. Any new members from other companies joining OBT?

I read that DeStooper is retiring and moving back to Canada to become the AD of the Victoria Ballet. Any news on members of the company and apprentices?

Charles Askegard Was that his first time doing it with NYCB? I don't recall him dancing the ballet with the company before. If this was his company debut, then there's a silver lining to all the commotion, as someone new got to dance this prized male role. If only it had been Evans..... -amanda Charles Askegard is one of the older members of the company. He has been a principle for years. He came from ABT years ago. He is married to Candance Bushnell ("Sex and the City")

I cannot locate photo that you are talking about. Can someone post a link?

I cry whenever I saw Chris Wheeldon's After the Rain with Jock Soto and Wendy Whelan. Jock is hard to replace, in my opinion. That role was made for him. The first time I saw Gentilhommes 3 or 4 years ago brought me to tears. It was beautiful to see all the male SAB students dancing like men at the workshop

But how much ballet is there in the Bahamas?????????????? I am not sure about the Bahamas but ABT does have a summer intensive program in Bermuda.

Does anyone know anything about this company in NY aside for what is stated on their site?

Have there been any announcements regarding Christopher Wheeldon's new company? I know that the company will be performing in Aspen this summer, but has anything been said about who is joining the company?

I am new to Ballet Talk and originally, when I posted, I was commenting on people's reactions to the Wein award and the SAB workshop, but I hit the wrong button and saw that I started a new topic of discussion. I wasn't asking a question, just stating an observation about SAB. The advanced students are at SAB to get into the company. That is what most of them eat, sleep and dream. During the audtion season for other companies which runs from January through May, the advanced students are told to either audtion for companies or not. Being told not to audition means that more than likely, they will be offered an apprenticeship contract with the company. After the heartbreak, the ones who are told to audition either find jobs, return for one more year to SAB or go to college. A few will be offered apprenticeships right after the workshop. NYCB has approximately 100 dancers. How much can one expect to dance? Going to maimi city ballet or PNB where there are less dancers gives someone more opportunity to dance. A company like Oregon Ballet Theatre and North Carolina Ballet Theatre (both excellent companies) have no "star" system, where you are either an apprentice or in the corp and corp members get to dance (hence being a big fish in a little pond). The SAB students that get into other companies actually dance, where the ones that get into NYCB have the prestige of getting in, but do not get to dance as much. I don't think that I stated that if these kids do not get into NYCB they give up dancing and therefore are not true performers. However, as talented as some of these kids are, it is hard to get into companies. Many times it isn't even about talent. It can be about whether you have blond hair and they want burnettes, whether you are 5'8" and they want someone 5'6", etc. The same way actors do not get parts based on their looks, dancers to not get into companies. To expound on what Carbo said, the artistry comes from within, but the technique is a good starting point.

Welsley, Those were very kind words for the kids of the SAB workshop. I know that the Saturday night cast worked very hard, as hard as the Saturday afternoon/Monday night casts and they weren't reviewed until now. So thank you. I have seen Javier dance before and he reminds me of a young Angel Corella (ABT) or Joaquin De Luz (NYCB). Both are short of stature for male dancers but when they are on the stage they take it over and dance very large.

Anyone who has (and has had) the honor to be taught by Peter Boal, will have been taught by a caring, gentle man who is a true artist. He values the talents and feelings of his students. PNB is lucky to have him. SAB and NYCB lost a wonderful talent and a wonderful human being.

Joaquin De Luz of NYCB and Angel Corella of ABT!!!

The majority of advanced students at SAB start at the average of 15/16. They come from schools across the country. They come to be "ballinchineized"with the hopes to be picked to get into the company. Unless you are an established star from another company, the only way to get into NYCB is by being a student at SAB. However, most of the boys and girls who start at age 8 at SAB, do not make it into the advanced level. That is a fair, since they may drop out because they lose interest, their bodies change, other things become a priority or they are told to leave. Out of 20 or so boys that start in boys 1 and 20-30 girls that start in girls 1, about 3 make it to the advanced division. In the last 5 years, I know only 2 boys who started in boys 1 make it into the company. I know many SAB students who didn't make it into the company who have happy and successful careers dancing in regional companies who dance soloist and principle roles a year out of SAB.

I have seen heartbroken students with amazing talent not get into NYCB and go on to smaller and very respectful companies and do what they have been hired to do....dance, and they dance a lot. I have seen many students at SAB become apprentices, get into the corp and sit there for years. When they dance, they are the 3rd from the right, last row of the corp. While a lot of the advanced students' egos are tied up into whether they were picked for the next crop of apprentices, in reality, how much dancing is done when you are one of 100 dancers? Many of the former SAB "stars" are languishing in the corp. While NYCB has cache, a dancer's passion and life is to dance. Sometimes it is better to be a big fish in a little pond. After a few years of being 3rd from the right in the back, they either go on to smaller companies or go to college.

Hi I cannot believe that I have never been on this site before today. Honestly, I cannot remember how I stumbled on it but I am glad I did. My son is leaving SAB and at 17 signed a contract as a corp member for a major ballet company. I won't reveal the name of the company because it has been a lot of fun ready the comments on the company, and I can't wait to read the boards reviews on him when he dances. So I will keep that info to myself. I am impressed with the thoughtfulness and the knowledge and the respectfulness on these message boards.

Les Gentilhommes is a beautiful ballet with 9 men. The male leads takes turns leading and following the corp members. After the introduction with the lead and the corp dancers, they break into groups of pas de trois with the lead male on stage for the majority of the time. The ballet runs about 20 minutes. I think it is very romantic and wonderful to see a ballet where men command the attention. It is a demanding ballet. The men are in white tights and romantic flowing blouses. The music is Handel Grossi Concerti Opus 6 # 9 and #2. I saw the dress rehearsal on Friday with cast A and the Saturday evening performance with cast B. I thought that both casts were wonderful, but Saturday night's cast was more on the music and the lead was wonderfully romantic. Today's NY Times gave the choreography an OK review. Sometimes Peter Martins seems like he is just trying to copy Ballenchine and misses the mark. With this ballet, the master would have been very proud.