More inaccuracies........

[ViolinConcerto]

To harken back to our discussion on "Antonia Franceschi (and Balanchine)" there are many dancers who claim to have been in or stars of major companies -- who may never have been there.

Today's example, from the "King County Journal," is about Stanko Milov. Who is Stanko Milov? According to this article, he dances for PNB, and is

performing with International Ballet Theatre's production "The Nutcracker" through Dec. 23 at Meydenbauer Center in Bellevue.

.

But the article also says that

After training and performing in his native Bulgaria, he was recruited by the New York City Ballet, where he danced for four years before coming to Seattle in 1997.

Does anyone remember him and those four years? I certainly don't.

Too bad NYCB Press Offices doesn't have the time (or interest probably) to track these fraudulent statements down.

[Estelle]

I wonder from whom the "fraudulent statement" comes from ?

Stanko Milov has a page on the PNB web site:

http://www.pnb.org/company/bio-milov.html

it says that before joining the PNB, he used to dance with the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre, joining PNB as a principal dancer in 1999.

His own web site:

http://www.stankomilov.com

says the same, so perhaps the wrong statement doesn't come from him, but from the article's author, or the IBT press ofice ?

[ViolinConcerto]

While there may be dancers who want to enhance their resumes, I don't think many of them would actually do it in an interview.

My best guess is that reporters who are not familiar with the different companies or with the way companies are structured are more responsible than are the dancers they report on. Maybe they come from a small town paper with few resources, or are just careless, or want to make the interviewee sound more important.

However, that doesn't excuse the reporters for not verifying what they write.

[Leigh Witchel]

It's sometimes the reporter. When I did a ballet for the 2002 Choreographer's Showcase at Louisville Ballet, I told an interviewer that I had choreographed ballets for NYCB dancers - which is accurate. To my embarrassment, it got printed as I had choreographed for NYCB - which is not accurate at all. I emailed him to correct it, and he sent me an apology but it did not get corrected.

[Helene]

As someone who was misquoted in my college newspaper, making a project I was working on sound more grandiose than it was, I can attest that it is very embarrassing to the subject when this happens. I suspect Milov will take a bit of razzing for this one.

Edited to Add: Just today, Lauren Anderson was called "the first black principal dancer of a major American ballet company." I don't think so.

From Today's Links...

[sandik]

Carole Beers, who was the dance writer for the King County Journal, has recently retired -- I don't know Doug Margeson (the byline on this preview) and so can't guess if the error lies with him or with the editing process. I'm quite sure that Milov would not have told someone that he performed with NYCB, though he may have mentioned that company as one of the reasons he came to the US from Bulgaria (I believe that Pittsburgh was directed by Patricia Wilde at the time he danced there, and PNB has always had a very strong connection to NYCB). If Mr Margeson isn't familiar with the dance world, it's an easy, though unfortunate, mistake to make. Especially since the premise of the article is the quality of dance in this suburban ensemble.

And yes, I saw that reference to Lauren Anderson and felt so sorry for her.