abatt

4 hours ago, BalanchineFan said:

Regarding Waterbury's intentions, I don't see how any one of us could know what she intented at any point. Basic negotiating tactics favor starting with a big ask, knowing it will get whittled down in negotiations, and also starting with a promise to keep things private knowing you can go public later. You can't do the reverse. That's all that I see. No brazen blackmail. That's how one negotiates. Additionally, in the civil court system the only thing you can be awarded is money. The defendants can't undo the suffering they've caused. They can only pay money in recompense and acknowlegement. That's our American system of justice.

Don't blame a woman for using it.

In the legal profession, when a preposterous claim is asserted, the lawyer phrase is that the claim does not pass the giggle test.  In other words, sometimes a claim is so lacking in legal or logical support that it cannot seriously be asserted with a straight face.  The claims asserted by Waterbury and her attorney against NYCB and SAB flunked the giggle test.  They were NEVER going to succeed.  Any halfway decent lawyer knew that from the outset.  The claims against NYCB and SAB  were asserted simply for purposes of blackmailing a deep pocketed institution. 

Another thing that I strongly objected to in her video was that she mentions that her partner told her that management's treatment of her was unfair.  I believe the intent was that such comments were made  in confidence. I'm sure Lopez and others in the company know to whom she is referring. Even though she did not specifically name the person, there was no reason for her to potentially make his life at MCB difficult for taking sides with Morgan against Lopez. 

Also, she mentions not being "thanked" for coming to a demonstration.  I don't know about you, but it's rare that I get thanked for doing my job.  That's what I'm getting paid to do.

5 minutes ago, abatt said:

I  enjoyed her performances at NYCB many moons ago, but I have to agree with you about the narcissism.  I guess she wanted to make sure her followers knew she left and was not terminated.  Contrary to what others have written, I think Lopez was generous in taking a chance and  giving Morgan a chance after so many years of injury/illness.  Maybe it would have been better for all parties if Lopez offered her a guest gig first just to see how things would work out.  Isn't it equally possible that her calf injury was caused by the fact that she has not danced professionally, full time for so many years.  Is it justified to blame all of her maladies (calf injury, hair falling out, re-emergence of her disease issues) on Miami City Ballet and Lopez?  Perhaps her body simply cannot adjust to the demands of being a full time professional ballet dancer because of her disease. 

19 minutes ago, KikiRVA said:

Personally, I don't care for KM's dancing, and I find her social media empire insufferable, like that of most social-media-obsessed professionals.  It is all incredibly narcissistic.  But America loves a narcissistic celebrity.  And yet, I watched almost the whole self-serving ("I'm an inspiration"), self-aggrandizing ("top-five company"), solipsistic ("trifecta of dance magazines') video right through like a sucker.  It is like the Housewives - hard to turn away from.  Can I get my money back?

https://nypost.com/2020/10/09/broadway-to-remain-closed-through-summer-2021/

All Broadway shows  will remain dark through May 30,2021. 

This does not bode well for the prospect of any Spring Season for NYCB and ABT.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/05/arts/dance/nyc-ballet-alexandra-waterbury.html?searchResultPosition=5

I  have attached the original article from the NY Times when this debacle began.  It mentions that Waterbury's counsel initially went to NYCB to demand a settlement from NYCB before filing the lawsuit in order to help NYCB avoid bad publicity.  NYCB rejected the demand, and the lawsuit was then filed.

This was a classic shakedown attempt.  Money was always the motive. If Waterbury were really interested in exposing a culture of bad behavior at the company, she would not have first gone to the company to offer to keep NYCB out of the lawsuit in exchange for a payday.   Any moderately good lawyer could see that the claims against NYCB and SAB had a snowball's chance in hell of surviving, so the company didn't take the bait.  Without NYCB in the lawsuit, there was little likelihood that  the media would have paid much attention to this lawsuit. It was the fact that she  sued a venerable cultural institution (with baseless allegations that have now been tossed out of court)  that garnered the media attention.  This was a brazen blackmail attempt, pure and simple.

I think her lawyer must have known there was no chance of success against SAB or NYCB, but decided that getting the opportunity to be on television and in the press was worth it.   I remember seeing the attorney on television with Waterbury at least once.

Do you remember how so many television stations and print news outlets regularly broadcast the news of Waterbury's lawsuit, the news of her relentless protests outside of the musical West Side Story, and interviews with Waterbury?  I've heard nothing about this decision tossing her case out on any television news program.  It's time for NYCB and SAB to regain their reputations.  They should be sending out press releases about this decision.  This decision deserves the same level of media attention as Waterbury's discredited, frivolous  lawsuit. Granted, with the election coming up and Covid, there is a lot of important news to cover. 

https://iapps.courts.state.ny.us/nyscef/ViewDocument?docIndex=fYNcPxH49CK0CbTNsYqAFA==

Here is the decision. 

Well, justice was certainly delayed, but it was not ultimately denied.  The Court has dismissed with prejudice NYCB, SAB, Ramasar, Catazaro and Longhitano  from Alexandra Waterbury's lawsuit.  Finlay is the only remaining defendant, and there is only one remaining claim against him.  Most of the claims against Finlay have been dismissed. 

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/28/arts/dance/new-york-city-ballet-lawsuit.html

The Met paid approximatley $2.6 million of the settlement, and its insurers paid the rest -about $900K, -according to the article.

I think NYCB should follow ABT's lead and promote some dancers, despite the pandemic.   There are many soloists who are deserving of elevation, and also a few in the corps who deserve to be soloists.

I keep a mental list of the most astonishing Broadway performances I have seen.  Her Medea in the late 90s was  astonishing.

Sarah's husband Luis Ribagorda is still listed on the roster.

I was able to log into my NYCB account and see my subscription dates for Spring 2021.  May 23, 2021 at 3PM is listed as Maria Kowroski's Farewell.  I hope we can all return to the theater to give her a proper farewell. 

https://www.inquirer.com/obituaries/peter-martins-obituary-new-york-city-ballet-pennsylvania-20200814.html

thanks for posting the Oropesa clip.  I don't think I've ever seen anyone do an encore of that aria.

Mariinsky was supposed to return for its annual KC visit, but I guess they were scheduled for Fall  and couldn't arrange to reschedule for the Spring. 

NY Philharmonic has canceled all performances through Jan 5, 2021.

For those who were disappointed by Lincoln Center suddenly, indefinitely postponing various dance week offerings, they have done the same with their theater offering.  The stream of Carousel that was supposed to be begin tonight was yanked, to be presented at some unspecified future time.  

If New York City ballet was trying to do  a good deed in seeking to redirect people to offerings by Alvin Ailey and DTH, as suggested by some of the above posts, this would be the height of arrogance on their part.  It assumes that these companies need NYCB's help in order to attract people to online streams offered by these companies.  Alvin Ailey has a huge following all over the world, and they sure don't need NYCB's help. It also assumes that if people have limited time to watch a free stream, they would automatically pick NYCB, so NYCB must step aside in order to  avoid competing for viewer attention with  Ailey or DTH.   

Not really sure why a stream on Monday would be impacted by Blackout Tuesday. 

Met Opera has cancelled all shows in the fall.  The plan is to reopen on Dec 31 with a gala.

12 hours ago, California said:

Wow! 42 years since they showed that. What have they been waiting for! Can you imagine going to ABT now with such a line-up of amazing talent?

I think the stars they had during the late 90s/early 2000s were equal in quality to the stars on 42 years ago (Ananiashvilli, Ferri, Corella, Carreno to name just a  few).  It is only in recent years that standards and quality have taken such a downturn. 

2 minutes ago, maps said:

Was Abrera last onstage at the Kennedy Center in Giselle with James Whiteside?  Great performance.

 

 

Yes, that was her final performance.  Mr. Abatt wanted to go, but I voted no because we would be seeing it at the Met in the spring so it didn't pay to spend the money to go to DC.  Obviously, that  decision backfired. 

I read the interview the same way as ABT Fan - that Abrera does not intend to return for a farewell after the pandemic.  Hopefully McKenzie will convince her to do a farewell once ABT can resume performances.   I guess we will know in the fall, when they update the roster of dancers.  What a shame.