abatt

Review of some important Nuts debuts: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/26/arts/dance/nutcracker-debuts-new-york-city-ballet.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Farts&action=click&contentCollection=arts&region=rank&module=package&version=highlights&contentPlacement=6&pgtype=sectionfront

Thanks. I thought it was a current post.

Thrilled that Marcelo is communicating with his fans and that his other engagements are proceeding as scheduled. ADDED: Hopefully Bourne knows that Marcelo has a substantial following in New York, and that any production Bourne brings to NY featuring him will sell very well.

They will probably redistribute Gomes' roles among Stearns, Whiteside & possibly Lendorf. Maybe Hammoudi or Hoven will pick some work up. I doubt they will hire a guest artist to take over Marcelo's workload.

Does anyone know whether Marcelo is a US citizen. I'm wondering whether his resignation will impact his ability to continue to live in the US, if that's what he wants to do. Yes, ABT's male roster is now much too thin. McKenzie will either need to promote at least one of the male soloists to principal, or hire someone from another company who can step into principal roles.

Cahill is one of the top law firms in the country, and ABT likely has a continuing relationship with the firm over the years on many matters. That's how big organizations like ABT operate. I'm sure Cahill is on McKenzie's speed dial. ABT learned about this sometime on Saturday, and then confronted Marcelo shortly thereafter. Do we really think that Marcelo was able to arrange any kind of meaningful legal counseling, much less counseling equal to a behemoth like Cahill, in 36 or so hours - during the week before Christmas? Not a chance. (Didn't intend to quote Marta)

The Barth press release screams lawyer-speak. ABT was lawyered up the wazoo. Marcelo never had a chance.

The two situations should not be compared. It was entirely appropriate for NYCB to hire a law firm to investigate because the allegations against Martins come from alleged victims who are or were employees of NYCB. The claims are for wrongdoing by Martins during the course and in the scope of his employment as head of NYCB and SAB. That is not the case regarding the claim against Marcelo. One size reaction does not fit all. Also, ballet dancers abruptly resign from companies all the time. (See Cojocaru and Kobborg). There was no need for ABT to slather on the innuendo re Marcelo in the press release. All they had to do was announce his resignation and leave it at that. Instead, this release apparently passed through a committee of lawyers who didn't give a damn whether they destroyed Marcelo as a human being or a performer.

I need to add to my worst list. Joffrey Ballet's Romeo and Juliet. What a ghastly production. After such a long absence from NYC, why would they bring that ballet for their Koch engagement.

Given the speed with which all this unfolded, it's possible that Marcelo did not consider the possibility that he would give the appearance of looking guilty by resigning. Moreover, he may not have thought to ask for a more vanilla press release from ABT regarding his departure in exchange for his resignation. It may have taken him by surprise that ABT decided to go the route of Character Assassination by Press Release.

Agree with you, California, about the Vishneva Gomes Onegin. As good as it gets.

Best Mariinsky Ballet's La Bayadere at the Kennedy Center, with stellar artists including Tereshkina, Kondaurova and Kim. Jewels 50th Anniversary Celebration at the Koch Theater - Stellar performances of Rubies and Diamonds. Less than thrilling performances of Emeralds, but 2 out of 3 ain't bad. Devon Teuscher in Swan Lake. Looking forward to seeing more and more of this ballerina. Sarah Lane as Giselle. The promotion finally happened for Sarah. What a heart wrenching performance. Tiler Peck, Megan Fairchild both debuting in Swan Lake. Also Zach Catazaro. Tiler Peck's debut in Sonnambula, Chase Finlay's debut as the Poet in that ballet in a different cast. The return of Maria Kowroski! The seemingly endless pool of stellar talent at NYCB. The return of David Hallberg. Worst Shimmering Asphalt by Pontus Lindberg- lots of superficiality and posing, but not much ballet dancing Troy Schumacher's The Wind Still Brings- hopefully the wind will sweep this one far far away from the Koch Theater ABT's Character Assassination by Press Release of Marcelo Gomes. And of course the departure of this beloved artist from ABT makes this the worst of the worst of 2017. The break up of the seemingly perfect partnership of Robert Fairchild and Tiler Peck. Thanks for the memories, especially in Who Cares. Their performances together in The Man I Love will probably never be equaled, much less surpassed. The departure of Robbie Fairchild from NYCB. Reichlin in Swan Lake- she's gotten worse since her role debut, rather than better. Most Controversial The Times Are Racing- some loved it; others (myself included) mostly disliked the choreography. The one section of the choreography which I will always remember is the exciting tap duet for Justin Peck and Robbie Fairchild, which is preserved on youtube. Least Surprising Peter Martins' conduct has finally landed him in hot water after so many decades. What will be the ultimate outcome? Retirement? Firing? Or return to his old job?

Why couldn't ABT just announce that Marcelo had resigned, and leave it at that. By adding all of this additional, info to the press release, they damaged Marcelo's reputation for no apparent reason. Since ABT became "aware" of the incident on Saturday and Marcelo resigned on Thursday, I doubt the investigation had barely begun. This is political correctness and cover your a-s overkill to the extreme on the part of ABT. Disgusting. Additionally, unless Marcelo had done something questionable/criminal/offensive at work or there was a complaint of another employee of ABT against Marcelo, ABT had no duty to investigate Marcelo. This is political correctness run amuck.

As an aside, Vishneva left open the possibility that she might return in the future as a guest artist to ABT. Now that Marcelo is gone, that will never happen. She only dances with Gomes at ABT.

It's also not hard to imagine that he was given an ultimatum to resign with his full pension and benefits unharmed, or be terminated with all the risks that might entail for his earnings and reputation. This entire thing seems to have unfolded with breathtaking speed.

That's true. None of the men at ABT on the roster can adequately fill his spots. I hope Marcelo thought hard before he resigned, and also sought legal advice. It would be tragic if he was forced to make a hasty decision to resign without proper legal consultation. I truly hope that he gets his full pension and benefits from ABT after 20 years of stellar service, and that some other organization or group hires him.

Wondering whether they will reassign Marcello's roles to other ABT dancers or go out and look for some guest artists.

I also cannot imagine ABT without Marcelo. He is one of the very few male dancers I'm interested in seeing at ABT. This is horrible for Marcelo and for his audience.

This is horrible. I have no idea what Marcelo did that led to this result. However, if someone does something bad that has nothing to do with his employment or any former or present employee of the company, why does ABT feel that it needs to be the enforcer of Marcelo's punishment for this purported bad act. If there was criminality, then the criminal justice system should be utilized. If it was a civil wrong, then the person(s_ involved should bring a civil suit against him. Who appointed ABT judge and jury of wrongs unrelated to his employment? What a sad day for Marcelo and ABT.

If Martins in ousted or forced out via immediate retirement, would Darci continue teaching and coaching at SAB. She is much younger that Martins. Considering that this mess is compounded by the problems of daughter Talicia, this must be a very difficult time for Kistler.

Kathryn Morgan has expertise in dance, but she is not qualified to provide any advice to anyone regarding codes of conduct or other legal issues. She should stop, right away.

Crossing people's names off of cast lists was within Martins' rights as AD. That part of the story involving the Boals is a a red herring.

This story seems to be morphing out of sexual abuse and towards physical abuse of a non-sexual nature.

And here's the latest from the NYTimes https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/12/arts/dance/peter-martins-ballet-new-york-city-physical-abuse.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Farts&action=click&contentCollection=arts&region=rank&module=package&version=highlights&contentPlacement=2&pgtype=sectionfront

Abi Stafford has of course had her share of injuries, plus the absence due to maternity leave. However, these factors are only part of the story as to why we have seen very little of her during the course of her career. I think she showed a lot of promise early on in terms of very strong technique. However, she never really matured into an interesting artist. I think her absence from the stage has been largely because Martins gave up on her and doesn't cast her much even when she's healthy. I can't really disagree, because I'm generally not excited or motivated to attend when I see her name listed on a casting sheet. Will she be cast more during Martin's absence? That remains to be seen. I'm wondering how long this "investigation" will take, and how long this leave of absence will continue. Is Martin's on paid leave or unpaid leave? Justin Peck is going to be tied up with Carousel on Broadway in the very near future. I can't imagine that he's going to be available to spend a lot of time on being an interim ballet master during the winter season.