abatt

There are no criminal charges against  Finlay.  Ms Waterbury has never gone to the police with her allegations.   The claims against him are for non-criminal conduct  which had nothing to do with work, just like Ramasar and Catazaro.  

If Finlay had waited to be fired like the other two rather than resign, I think there would have been a pretty good chance that he would have been reinstated too.  

I think NYCB behaved in a very unscrupulous manner with regard to these firings.  They were apparently more concerned about the bottom line of their financial security than in behaving in a lawful manner with regard to their duties as an employer.  Although I greatly admire and respect the dancers - or most of them - I  have a very negative view of their management because of the firings.  Jon Stafford is cited in the article as being someone who was involved in making the decision to fire.   I'm sure he was not the only person that gave the go ahead to terminate.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/19/arts/dance/city-ballet-amar-ramasar-sexually-explicit-texts.html

Here's a NY Times piece on the subject.  Two women spoke to the Times on condition of anonymity to complain about the outcome.  Hmm.  I think we can all guess the identity of one of the two.

12 minutes ago, balletforme said:

NYCB needs to clearly define what it's values and standards are and then make decisions in a principled way.  Decisions appear to be based on public opinion, legal liability, and perceptions of the board and donors. 

I completely agree with most of what you said.  The firings were based on public opinion and perceptions of the board and donors.  However, I do not believe that the firings were based on considerations of NYCB's potential legal liability.  In fact, I think any lawyer who had a clue would have immediately advised NYCB that under the circumstances of this case, there was no basis to fire these two guys, and that the firings would likely be overturned after an arbitration. To me, this was not even a close case.  There was never any legal basis to fire them.  If NYCB's lawyers told them to go ahead with the firings, NYCB needs to find new counsel PRONTO.  My suspicion is  that NYCB was told by their counsel that this would be overturned if the dancers pursued arbitration, but NYCB decided to go ahead with the firings anyway.

I think NYCB decided that garnering positive publicity by firing them  was more important to their bottom line than following the law. 

I attended last night's gala.  The biggest star of the evening was the utterly brilliant Kimin Kim.  He defies gravity.  He was absolutely thrilling in his Don Q  and Black Swan variations.  Olga Smirnova dumbed down her solo variation in the Black Swan pdd by doing pique turns around the stage instead of the traditional fouettes.  Is she afraid to get injured?  I expect that modification from certain dancers, but not a Bolshoi principal. 

I enjoyed Smirnova's Dying Swan, but they decided to turn it into pas, with Calvin Royal circling around her and stalking her.  I wanted to swat him out of the way so I could focus on Smirnova.  His presence added nothing and distracted the viewer from this beautiful solo. 

Kondaurova was sharp and authoritative in a pas from Forsythe's In the Middle.  It was for me a highlight.

Lucia Lacarra and Fabrice Calmels trotted out Arpino's Light Rain duet (subtitled I Am Gumby, Dammit.)  Lucia's flexibility is marvelous, especially given that she is not so young.  It was trashy but fun.

The Manon pas with Stearns and Seo was deadly boring.  I don't have high hopes for their upcoming ABT performances in the lead roles.

The new Hamrick piece to boyfriend Mick Jagger's music was harmless but amateurish.

The finale was a pastiche of excerpts from Don Q.  Shevchenko killed it with a portion of Kitri's Act I variation, where she does the Plistetskaya kicks.  

There were film clips of youngsters talking about ballet after each piece.  The first one or two clips  were cute.  But the repetition of the cute kids on film trying to articulate their love of ballet  started to become grating and a complete waste of time.

Whoever was the architect of these firings at NYCB  should be terminated .  These firings smelled to high heaven from the outset. 

Added:  I'm assuming this reinstatement is effective immediately.  Hopefully we will see Ramasar during the Spring season. 

Wow. Just read the rest.  Ramasar returns.  Excellent.   He and Catazaro have finally been vindicated.   Wonder what Ms. Waterbury and her attorney are thinking  about their lawsuit against these two.  It truly is a Good Friday.  This news combined with the news earlier this week that K. Morgan is joining Miami City make me very happy.  Now if only Gomes could return to the New York stage..... 

NYCB would NEVER have done this voluntarily.   He should not have been terminated in the first place.  Thank goodness for the triumph of justice.  Sadly, the company has damaged his reputation in spite of this reinstatement.

https://www.broadway.com/buzz/195492/mike-faist-to-bring-cool-factor-to-steven-spielbergs-west-side-story-film-as-riff/

More casting news for this film.  Brittany Pollack and Harrison Coll  of NYCB are going to be part of the dance ensemble for the Jets. Jeanette Delgado is part of the ensemble for the Sharks. Perhaps others will recognize additional names of ballet dancers from the long casting lists contained in the above link.

The program for the opening night gala is now listed on the website.  They will  perform Ratmansky's Serenade after Plato's Symposium and Ratmansky's new work, The Seasons.  No casting info is available.

https://nypost.com/2019/04/02/ballet-bandit-gets-72-hours-of-community-service-for-maine-spree/

Talicia Martins sentenced to 72 hours of community service.

I'm glad to see that the company is finally putting a warning on the program regarding lyrics used in the Runaway. 

Where are the calendars for the new season?  I don't see them on the company website.

Since they are doing two weeks of SL instead of only one, I'm keeping my fingers crossed for some  debuts in the lead roles.

I'm sure it has nothing to do with Mariinsky casting.  On a day when public sales begin for a variety of events at the KC, the KC website becomes overwhelmed and the computer program makes an assumption that anyone visiting the site is looking to buy tickets.  I don't know what went on sale today.  You can directly get into the casting page instead of going to the home page  by clicking canbelto's link.

Forgot Charles Askegard, who came from ABT.

11 minutes ago, Kathleen O'Connell said:

Ah yes! He had the (dubious) distinction of portraying George Balanchine in Boris Eifman's Musagète, which NYCB comissioned in the early 2000's.  I swore that he left the company shortly thereafter just so he wouldn't have to dance the role again.

 

That ballet will never see the light of day at the Koch (or anywhere else)  again.  I remember Twesley partnering Whelan in Balanchine's Ballade, but they have never revived that ballet since. Tewsley left.   Why have they never revived that ballet in something like 20 years?

2 hours ago, Kathleen O'Connell said:

I was around for the original "Danish Pastries"—Peter Martins, Helgi Tomasson, Adam Luders, and Ib Andersen—as well as Leonid Kozlov (Bolshoi), Robert LaFosse (ABT), and Sean Lavery (SFB and Frankfurt Opera Ballet). And of course, Joaquin DeLuz (ABT). Of the bunch of them, only LaFosse trained at SAB if I'm not mistaken.

I'm sure I'm leaving someone out; I seem to recall that there were five Danish Pastries, but I'm drawing a blank.

In any event, there happens to be a bevvy of talented tall women coming up through the ranks, so there will be plenty of opportunities for the taller men in the corps.

I agree! 

There was also the short-lived tenure of  Robert Tewsley.

NYCB attempted to hire( Joel?)  Carreno from Cuba, but ran into visa issues, if I recall. 

1 hour ago, Leah said:

He’s a soloist.

My bad.  Thanks.

I'm surprised that Harrison Coll is still in the corps.  He's performed many leading roles with distinction. 

Bolshoi hasn't been to the Kennedy Center in  many years. That would be great, if true. 

Mariinsky did SL at KC a few years ago, so I doubt that Mariinsky will be doing that ballet again so soon.  SB would be great.  During the last run the Aurora's were Vishneva, Somova and Tereshkina.  I recall there was a blizzard in DC that week, so I missed Somova's performance but saw the other casts.

Actually, I think dancers may go back to basics more often than we realize. I read Sara Mearns' instagram now and then, and she takes instruction from a teacher she met on tour in Denmark whenever this teacher is in New York.  The video Mearns posted involved correction of some basic issues.

Yes, forgot about Indiana.  She is cast all the time.  I think her promotion to principal is just a matter of time.

I think there are certain soloists who are cast fairly regularly.  Among the women it's Unity Phelan, Emily Gerrity and to a lesser extent Megan LeCrone .  Lauren King finally got some important new roles this season.