abatt

The story Brandt tells mirrors how Abrera got her Giselle years ago. Abrera had performed the role in either Australia or New Zealand several months before the ABT season. When Semionova cancelled, Abrera was ready to step in due to her own efforts in previously learning and performing the role of Giselle elsewhere. It is a disgrace that this is how ABT works internally.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/06/arts/skylar-brandt-giselle.html Great article on how Brandt got her DC debut as Giselle. It sheds a bright light on how McKenzie makes his decisions, and what a dancer has to do to get a lead role over at ABT. I wish I could get to DC to see Brandt, but I doubt I will be able to attend. Here's hoping that at least one NYC ballerina has to cancel her Giselle due to a schedule conflict.

Ditto. In fact, they brought Le Parc with them to NYC the last time they visited the Met Opera House, at least 20 years ago.

Fingers crossed for a New York visit. The Met Opera will be taking a break for the entire month of February in 2021. I hope that POB - or for that matter any major ballet company - will be able to appear there during the opera's month long hiatus.

I agree with everyone who said that the sets are terribly unattractive. The color schemes for the costumes are awful - orange, cobalt blue and green.

Nobody is disputing that the company management should be cognizant that blackface is offensive. But the issue here is that Copeland was insensitive and thoughtless in identifying the photo with the 14 year old girl's Instagram account. With fame comes responsibility. She knows very well that people on social media respond to all kinds of things in extreme and inappropriate ways. For someone who claims to be supportive of the dreams of young girls, and who herself was subjected to a media circus in her youth, the way she went about making her very valid overall point was uncaring.

I doubt a 14 year old Russian girl has a firm grasp of the history of racism in America, so it is not fair to presume that the child knew that she was posting a "very offensive" photo to a "large chunk of the world." I know when I was 14 I was not studying the history of Russia in my classroom in NYC.

I don't think Copeland could have effectively made her point without using a photo of what she was referring to. Perhaps if she could have posted the photo but not identify whose Instagram account it was taken from, that would have been the most appropriate solution. Given that Copeland has been the victim of very negative statements on certain social media platforms, I'm surprised that she wasn't more sensitive to the fact that these were young teenage girls that would suffer the backlash. By the way, I recall the Bolshoi bringing Corsaire to the Kennedy Center about 10 years ago. However, I don't think they employed the use of black face during that tour.

Jane Eyre is no competition. In fact, I'm thrilled that they chose to come when Jane Eyre will be across the plaza. By the way, you can see only the Tharp work and Diamonds on the Thursday gala program. That way you can avoid Millliped and Pite.

Thanks California. FYI, for New Yorkers hoping to go the box office for any reason today, the Koch box office is closed because there was a massive water main break right near Lincoln Center. No word on when it will reopen.

It's very interesting how ABT has allowed people like Tamm and Ribagorda to return to the corps after many years. I think if Tamm had stayed at ABT, he would most certainly have been a soloist by now.

She's a sweetie. Very cute.

Forgot to add - Best - the arbitration decision that NYCB wrongfully terminated Ramasar and Catazaro, and required the company to offer them their jobs back. The union did the right thing in backing Ramasar and Catazaro's claims.

Looking at the casting for the entire run, I did not see Kathryn Morgan listed at all. That's worrisome.

Very interesting. I've been debating whether to see this play. Some people I know have hated this play, and yet it has also ended up on a lot of Top 10 critic lists.

I thought Ratmansky's The Seasons was the best new ballet of the year. I thought Bartok Ballet by Tanowitz at NYCB was the worst of the year. It was a year of exciting young dancers taking on new roles, most especially Joseph Gordon and Aran Bell. The single performance that lingers most in my memory is Herman Cornejo in the final act of Sleeping Beauty. His footwork and elevation of the allegro solo was breathtaking. Although Paquita isn't a great ballet, it was certainly a great pleasure to see the depth of talent of the Mariinsky in Washington, DC. Special mention also to Kimin Kim at the YAGP gala in April. What a spectacular dancer. As for theater, I thought Moulin Rouge on Broadway was a big, splashy, spectacularly fun night. I thought the best play was Lehman Trilogy, which I saw at the Armory. It's coming to Broadway this spring.

JR did a stunning job a few years ago in creating photographic art for the Arts Series at NYCB. The Brooklyn Museum is hosting an exhibition of someof his work. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/11/arts/design/jr-brooklyn-museum.html

https://www.showbiz411.com/2019/12/09/www-showbiz411-com-west-side-story-adds-tony-winning-choreographer-serge-trujillo The show is bringing in choreographer Sergio Trujillo as a "consultant".

I was surprised that only one of the three casts of T&V from the Fall is coming back in the Spring. I understand that Teuscher is doing Lilac Garden on the same program, but she was so good I'm disappointed she's not reprising her role in T&V. I'm surprised about Lane being shut out, but not surprised that we won't see Gorak again in T&V. He did a poor job, in my opinion. I am thrilled that Shevchenko will debut in T&V.

Bizet Symphony in C second movement? Congratulations!

I can't imagine Ahn as Albrecht. He is strong technically, but from what I've seen he is not much of an actor. I guess that will improve over time.

This is certainly Forster's big chance at a promotion, with all of these new important roles. Fingers and toes crossed that he stays healthy and does well in all of these assignments. The amount of new material he will be learning for the spring season seems overwhelming.

Interesting economics dynamic. Did ticket sales fall so much that McKenzie knew he hadt to bring in the big guns like Osipova, Smirnova and Kim to boost sales? I'm looking forward to seeing Osipova more than Hallberg, but they arrive as a package deal apparently. Also, since every performance of SL is usually a sell out regardless of who is performing, they finally bit the bullet and added more shows to improve overall sales. No Don Q or Corsaire is a surprise. I'm adopting a wait and see attitude on the new Ratmansky. Fortunately it will be reviewed out of town before it comes to NYC, so we can at least get some idea of its quality. I hope it is not a one hour 15 minute ballet that they are stretching out to be two acts, as they have often done. Sad to see that Herman is no longer dancing Desire. His performance of the difficult solo in the wedding act was impeccable, and nobody else who did the role at ABT came close to Herman's breathtaking performance.

And Hallberg is now down to two shows in an 8 week season. That's half the number of shows he is doing at the Royal Ballet.

Sadly, Cornejo is again cast in SL with Copeland. I would like to see him again in this role, but..... Ahn got one lead. I already closed out of the calendar so I have already forgotten what role. Senior moment.