canbelto Posted April 16, 2009 Share Posted April 16, 2009 Congratulations Veronika! About time! Link to comment
bingham Posted April 16, 2009 Share Posted April 16, 2009 I just fell off my chair. Woweeee!!!!! How exciting! It seems like she really made a good impression in London (she seemed to be the only female dancer to get good reviews from the London critics). Good luck to her! I hope this means we get a new soloist!! Congratulations!!! As for a new soloist, Hee Seo,with her leading role in R and J, seems to be the frontrunner. Link to comment
FauxPas Posted April 16, 2009 Share Posted April 16, 2009 Yes it is wonderful and long overdue. Really I think that Veronika probably wanted to throw in the towel and leave ABT so many times. It really has been two steps forward and four steps back then two steps forward and three steps back. I think that Julie Kent's age and second maternity leave and Nina's retirement left a big vacancy at the top. But Veronika can't afford to get complacent - remember when Christine Dunham never got her form back after her pregnancy and ABT basically sidelined her to things like Bathilde, character shoe roles and the occasional "Merry Widow"? No more "Swan Lake" or "Sleeping Beauty" leads came her way. Veronika has been there and she could go back there despite her new status. Also look at Ashley Tuttle who suddenly found herself cast aside despite her many years with the company and the wide repertory she danced. Recent seasons have shown Veronika more focused in her technique - not perfect but neither are many of the other principal ballerinas. Also, Veronika has shown herself able to sustain several prima ballerina roles consistently over multiple seasons - Nikiya, Odette/Odile, Myrtha and others. Some of her new roles have been marked successes. I really loved her as the Episode in his Past in "Lilac Garden" at City Center. Veronika has to maintain that technical security and work well with her coaches and colleagues in class and rehearsal. She has to project a positive attitude while working constantly at her technical faults and limitations while expanding those unique, glorious qualities she has always had. Really after all the disappointments over the years this really is a cause for jubilation! Link to comment
bingham Posted April 16, 2009 Share Posted April 16, 2009 When Veronika first joined ABT, her Debut in Symphony in C was considered a big disappointment. I wonder how she would do in the same role now? Link to comment
Krystin Posted April 16, 2009 Share Posted April 16, 2009 Many of you may have already read this article in ballet.co magazine, but I found it for the first time after googling Veronika. http://www.ballet.co.uk/magazines/yr_08/ma...ronika_part.htm I have to admit I was shocked at how plainly she spoke of not enjoying her career at ABT. Here's a few quotes that really stuck out to me: Going to America was certainly a massive risk that took Veronika out of her comfort zone into an alien lifestyle, where she spoke no English and knew little about the company she was joining. It’s obvious that the first couple of years were hell for her. She had no idea of how to open a bank account and is completely blank when I ask her about the lifestyle or psychological support I would have expected the company to provide for her. It was a year before she could begin to understand things going on around her, another before she could really speak enough language to be understood and two more before she had any real grasp of the company politics. She says that she was shy before going to the US and these early difficulties can only have added to her introspection. She admits to having been very depressed, especially thrown by the lack of rehearsal time compared to the Mariinsky regime, but also understood that no-one liked being around someone who was “always crying”, so she determined to “pull myself together, be stronger and work in their style”. To her credit, she has stuck it out for almost six years and knows now that she can’t do more in the ABT system. She performed only in the revival of Tudor’s ‘The Leaves are Fading’ in ABT’s Autumnal City Center season and has no regular partner in the company: her recent performances have been with Marcello Gomes but the spring/summer schedule shows that he is now needed to partner Julie Kent. On New Year’s Eve, sitting in the Het Muziektheater watching the Het Nationale Ballet’s production of Peter Wright’s ‘Sleeping Beauty’, Veronika made a resolution to come back to Europe and preferably to London. She turned to her boyfriend, Alex, and said simply “I don’t want to go back”. She has now given notice to ABT and will leave at the end of the Season, having just two Lilac Fairies (in Miami), two Nikiyas and another Odette/Odile, plus sundry soloist roles, scheduled before then. She has options for the future – including an offer to join another American company – but there is no doubting where she wants to see herself. This article was written in March of 2008...I guess I'm just wondering what ABT did to make her stay. Whatever it was, I'm glad they did it! And, hopefully, she'll be much happier with her new promotion! Link to comment
Helene Posted April 16, 2009 Share Posted April 16, 2009 That article was posted on a double-digit long thread on Ms. Part, and there was a discussion on that thread that asked the same questions: http://ballettalk.invisionzone.com/index.p...st&p=222673 Did I mention to Ms. Part? Link to comment
sz Posted April 17, 2009 Share Posted April 17, 2009 >Really I think that Veronika probably wanted to throw in the towel and leave ABT so >many times. It really has been two steps forward and four steps back then two steps >forward and three steps back. I think that Julie Kent's age and second maternity leave >and Nina's retirement left a big vacancy at the top. Yes, certainly all of that contributed to Veronika's promotion, and the beautiful reviews she recently received in London for her Swan Lakes. And as for Veronika in second movement of Sym in C, I have do doubt she could turn that role into something extraordinary if/when she is given that opportunity again. I saw her debut with ABT in that ballet at City Center. What are they waiting for?!! The huge Met stage would be the perfect setting for such a grand ballet. Congrats to Veronika! Link to comment
kfw Posted April 17, 2009 Share Posted April 17, 2009 Part danced the 2nd movement of Symphony in C with the Kirov at the Met in 1999. Others here probably remember it better than I do, but, in any case, the Times was complimentary. Congratulations, Ms. Part! My reaction when I read the news was Link to comment
atm711 Posted April 17, 2009 Share Posted April 17, 2009 Part danced the 2nd movement of Symphony in C with the Kirov at the Met in 1999. Others here probably remember it better than I do, but, in any case, the Times was complimentary. Yes, I saw that performance---she also danced Terpsichore on the same program. How I would love to see a repeat of that now. I am sure she has developed a better Balanchine style than she had ten years ago. But, it was a great feat to take on two triumphant Farrell roles in NYC. I look forward to her Mozartiana and pray that she has sought out Farrell for coaching. Link to comment
kfw Posted April 17, 2009 Share Posted April 17, 2009 Part danced the 2nd movement of Symphony in C with the Kirov at the Met in 1999. Others here probably remember it better than I do, but, in any case, the Times was complimentary. Yes, I saw that performance---she also danced Terpsichore on the same program. And Serenade the previous night! Link to comment
sealings Posted June 6, 2009 Share Posted June 6, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/07/arts/dan...7kour.html?_r=1 Link to comment
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