stuben Posted July 3, 2015 Share Posted July 3, 2015 Lane will have a lot of competition with Brandt and Trenary rising to soloist. In a way they're going to be competing for similar roles and a limited amount of partners. IMO, perhaps in age since I believe Lane is older than both, however, Lane has an extensive repertoire as compared to both, especially with Trenary whom I have only seen doing "cute and flirty" roles, and I guess time will tell if either can indeed competite in skills as Lane. Link to comment
Pique Arabesque Posted July 3, 2015 Share Posted July 3, 2015 I think the promotions also hint to 2016 Met Season programing. I think Simkin will have a better season next year, especially if they bring back Don Q and Corsaire. I think this season was heavy on ballets such as Romeo and Juliet, Giselle, Othello, etc, to give Kent a strong final season. Poor Herrera and Reyes only got their Giselle. Also to prepare Copeland for her "promotion", which was impossible to ignore as she pursued her PR campaign. Simkin's situation is similar to Daniel Ulbricht's across the plaza. Both are great technicians, but they are too short to play danseur noble roles. Also, Copeland's promotion is a fact - no need to put in in scare quotes. Also, I'd love to see this community retire the phrase " PR campaign." I hope Abrera gets paired up with solid partners (Hallberg, Gomes, Bolle, etc) in whatever she is cast in. I wouldn't want to see her with Stearns, etc. Her partnership with Shkylarov was so promising that I hope they get more opportunities to dance together. I agree! Shklyarov has gorgeous classical technique, and is a great actor. I'd love to see more of him at the Met. Link to comment
Dancerboy90210 Posted July 3, 2015 Share Posted July 3, 2015 IMO, perhaps in age since I believe Lane is older than both, however, Lane has an extensive repertoire as compared to both, especially with Trenary whom I have only seen doing "cute and flirty" roles, and I guess time will tell if either can indeed competite in skills as Lane. I think the short female principal ranks seem quite full now. From an investment prospective, Lane seems to be competing with Kochetkova on one hand, but also with Brandt and Trenary who they will probably be grooming to be the next crop of "short ballerinas". Would it make sense for Kevin to invest in Lane while he has Kochetkova? If he waited for Kochetkova to retire before promoting Lane, by then Lane likely wouldn't have any dancing years left. IMO, Kochetkova's appointment to principal wasn't necessary. I think Kevin should've thrown Lane a new principal role next season (Juliet, Kitri, etc), brought Kochetkova back to guest, and then if all went well with Lane promote her to principal and discontinue the use of Kochetkova. Hiring Kochetkova as a regular principal really complicates things. However, I thought that Abrera would be passed over for promotion for similar reasons and Kevin proved me wrong. So I guess time will tell. However, if I were Lane I would look at other companies. She is too talented to stay "stuck" in the soloist ranks during her prime years. Link to comment
alexL Posted July 3, 2015 Share Posted July 3, 2015 Simkin's situation is similar to Daniel Ulbricht's across the plaza. Both are great technicians, but they are too short to play danseur noble roles. Also, Copeland's promotion is a fact - no need to put in in scare quotes. Also, I'd love to see this community retire the phrase " PR campaign." Actually I think Simkin is better suited for noble roles than Cornejo. Height wise, he's definitely taller than Cornejo by at least 2". What he needs is more experience. I remember when Cornejo was just a newbie principal and his partnering skill wasn't great at all. I still don't think his partnering is strong enough but he's definitely gotten better as the years progressed. IMO, Simkin's youthful look is actually an advantage in a certain roles. Link to comment
NinaFan Posted July 3, 2015 Share Posted July 3, 2015 Actually I think Simkin is better suited for noble roles than Cornejo. Height wise, he's definitely taller than Cornejo by at least 2". What he needs is more experience. I remember when Cornejo was just a newbie principal and his partnering skill wasn't great at all. I still don't think his partnering is strong enough but he's definitely gotten better as the years progressed. IMO, Simkin's youthful look is actually an advantage in a certain roles. I second that! I have rarely missed any of Daniil’s lead performances at ABT. His partnering and acting keep getting better and better. This year’s Swan Lake was the cream of the crop. He is every bit the Danseur Noble with very secure partnering, dazzling jumps, and elegant soft landings. Link to comment
stuben Posted July 3, 2015 Share Posted July 3, 2015 As for the freed-up revenue generated by the retirements of Kent, Herrera and Reyes, I don't think the issue is so much the issue of the Abrera and Copeland promotions but, instead, the totality of what the company was able to do: 2 promotions from soloist to principal, 5 promotions from corps to soloist, 2 additions as half-time principals and 1 addition as a full-time soloist. The additional revenue may have created opportunities that, otherwise, would have been more modest. After reading so much about the future of ABT, which we all agree will be interesting to see, I am just hope I can continue to hear about the 3 wonderful ballerinas who have given us all so much all these years, I will surely miss Kent, Herrera and Reyes next season I hope we will continue to hear about new chapters in their lives. Does anyone know of their plans? I only read in the program that Reyes will continue teaching, which is so commendable of her to pass on knowledge to the next generation. Where and when and hope we will continue to see her dance somewhere in the US? In the NY Times interview about their retirements, Herrera mentioned she is not one for social media, which I can't blame her myself sometimes, but then again I haven't seen anything further and just so sad if she just disappears from us all. We all can assume Kent will be around knowing whom her husband is, so I hope she will now enjoy her lovely children for a while before making her decisions. I wish all three would somehow pass on their torch or stay in the game as I have kept watch of another favorite couple Dvorovenko and Beloserkovsky. Guess I am just old fashioned and love to see those I enjoyed watching all these years continue to florish. Link to comment
choriamb Posted July 3, 2015 Share Posted July 3, 2015 I think the short female principal ranks seem quite full now. From an investment prospective, Lane seems to be competing with Kochetkova on one hand, but also with Brandt and Trenary who they will probably be grooming to be the next crop of "short ballerinas". Would it make sense for Kevin to invest in Lane while he has Kochetkova? I'm not sure height is really the reason: there's ALWAYS room for short-to-medium height women, as they can dance with men of any height. (McKenzie at least doesn't seem to have a problem with tall men partnering shorter women: Whiteside has partnered Reyes; Gomes has partnered Herrera. The fact that they haven't done so more frequently was probably due to the temporary overload of senior, medium-to-tall principal ballerinas: Part, Murphy, Semionova, Wiles, Kent, Vishneva.) I imagine what has shaped Lane's casting also is whether a given pairing has a sufficient popular following to fill a reasonable proportion of the Met. Lane and Cornejo are both critical darlings...but neither has enough of a popular following to fill half of the Met: they could never regularly be paired profitably. Hallberg, Bolle, and Gomes have popular followings, but are desperately needed for tall ballerinas. Stearns and Whiteside don't have followings. At the moment, Simkin's really Lane's only viable partner from a box office perspective. I think that's what will shape casting going forward: Copeland, Kotchetkova, Simkin, and Lendorf (who all have popular followings or novelty in their favor) will be primarily paired with the short-to-medium height dancers without popular followings...not each other. As he's being groomed, I imagine that Gorak will be paired with Copeland and Kotchetkova a LOT. Link to comment
choriamb Posted July 3, 2015 Share Posted July 3, 2015 It just occurred to me that with the most recent round of promotions, ABT now has two locally marketable principal dancers for their LA season. Abrera, from South Pasadena, could plausibly be presented as a "hometown ballerina." Kotchetkova's repute is stronger on the West Coast than it is in NYC. Planned or coincidence? Link to comment
Dancerboy90210 Posted July 3, 2015 Share Posted July 3, 2015 I'm not sure height is really the reason: there's ALWAYS room for short-to-medium height women, as they can dance with men of any height. (McKenzie at least doesn't seem to have a problem with tall men partnering shorter women: Whiteside has partnered Reyes; Gomes has partnered Herrera. The fact that they haven't done so more frequently was probably due to the temporary overload of senior, medium-to-tall principal ballerinas: Part, Murphy, Semionova, Wiles, Kent, Vishneva.) I imagine what has shaped Lane's casting also is whether a given pairing has a sufficient popular following to fill a reasonable proportion of the Met. Lane and Cornejo are both critical darlings...but neither has enough of a popular following to fill half of the Met: they could never regularly be paired profitably. Hallberg, Bolle, and Gomes have popular followings, but are desperately needed for tall ballerinas. Stearns and Whiteside don't have followings. At the moment, Simkin's really Lane's only viable partner from a box office perspective. I think that's what will shape casting going forward: Copeland, Kotchetkova, Simkin, and Lendorf (who all have popular followings or novelty in their favor) will be primarily paired with the short-to-medium height dancers without popular followings...not each other. As he's being groomed, I imagine that Gorak will be paired with Copeland and Kotchetkova a LOT. I think Cornejo has a pretty big following. I think his name has the ability to sell tickets a lot better than Kotchetkova (at least in NYC). I think a Gorak/Lanes pairing would be difficult to sell at the Met (at the moment, maybe better in the future). I think Copeland will stick with matinee performances, possibly paired with more up and coming male dancers. Its clear that Copeland can sell tickets, so I think giving her performances that are normally difficult to sell is a good business decision. Especially, if you factor in their new "dynamic pricing". That leaves other shows open for casting that doesn't sell as well, but the performance's timing picks up some of the slack (i.e. Saturday night). Also, I'd say Simkin is a box office draw, especially in Don Q and Corsaire. I also would say that Lane is a "short" ballerina, not a short to medium sized ballerina. I highly doubt she would ever be paired with a taller male partner (Gomes, Bolle, Hallberg). I think that would look rather strange, but maybe I'd have to see it first. Link to comment
Dancerboy90210 Posted July 3, 2015 Share Posted July 3, 2015 It just occurred to me that with the most recent round of promotions, ABT now has two locally marketable principal dancers for their LA season. Abrera, from South Pasadena, could plausibly be presented as a "hometown ballerina." Kotchetkova's repute is stronger on the West Coast than it is in NYC. Planned or coincidence? I wonder if Kotchetkova will participate in their Nutcracker season. SFB does Nutcracker for quite some time in December, so I can imagine it would be a little difficult for her to do both. Also, IMO Nutcracker ticket sales are probably less influenced by casting. However a solid cast might make the difference between a well-sold performance and a total sell out. I think ABT would be able to sell well enough without Kotchetkova. Now, for their other LA programing (not Nutcracker) they might need her there. Link to comment
ksk04 Posted July 3, 2015 Share Posted July 3, 2015 It just occurred to me that with the most recent round of promotions, ABT now has two locally marketable principal dancers for their LA season. Abrera, from South Pasadena, could plausibly be presented as a "hometown ballerina." Kotchetkova's repute is stronger on the West Coast than it is in NYC. Planned or coincidence? Three. Copeland is from San Pedro. I don't see why Kotchekova couldn't dance both Nutcrackers, unless a contractual reason prevents her. ABT will be doing it for almost 3 weeks, while SFB goes for longer. In and out--that's how it's done (not that I am encouraging this). Interestingly, I wonder how ABT's Nutcracker residence will affect local Orange County dance studio Southland Ballet's Nutcracker. They usually drum up ABT dancers to guest during it which I assume will be out--guess they will cast the net a bit wider. Link to comment
lmspear Posted July 4, 2015 Share Posted July 4, 2015 I am 110% certain that Eric Tamm would have been promoted had he stayed. I felt tremendous sense of loss when he left, the current promotion kind of resurrects that sentiment. ITA. Tamm leaving was the absolute low point of the season for me. I am still in mourning. Link to comment
ABT Fan Posted July 4, 2015 Share Posted July 4, 2015 ITA. Tamm leaving was the absolute low point of the season for me. I am still in mourning. Agree. But not sure I agree that he would have been promoted, but I feel he should have been. He was a gem and I still miss his dancing. Link to comment
Helene Posted July 4, 2015 Share Posted July 4, 2015 Reading this thread saddens me, because we lost Barry Kerollis and Josh Spell at PNB in 2011. They were senior corps, and they both deserved promotions. Link to comment
bingham Posted July 4, 2015 Author Share Posted July 4, 2015 ITA. Tamm leaving was the absolute low point of the season for me. I am still in mournin If Eric decides to come back to dancing, is it still possible for someone who has not dance for several months? Just curious. Link to comment
Helene Posted July 4, 2015 Share Posted July 4, 2015 Sarah Ricard Orza came back after not having danced for a year. Dancers come back from long injuries all the time, not to mention pregnancies, so he could work up to it to avoid injury, were he interested. Link to comment
Mme. Hermine Posted July 4, 2015 Share Posted July 4, 2015 It can most definitely happen! Link to comment
mimsyb Posted July 4, 2015 Share Posted July 4, 2015 If Eric decides to come back to dancing, is it still possible for someone who has not dance for several months? Just curious. I also miss Luis Ribagorda. He had great stage presence and was beginning to get more to do. Not sure what he's up to currently. Also wonder how his being away will affect Lane's decisions. It doesn't seem to have been a factor as yet. Link to comment
ABT Fan Posted July 4, 2015 Share Posted July 4, 2015 Tamm and Ribagorda are now both real estate agents at the same firm in NJ. http://najjargroup.squarespace.com/agents/ Link to comment
ClaraFan Posted July 4, 2015 Share Posted July 4, 2015 Congratulations to Betsy McBride, formerly of Texas Ballet Theater, for her new job on the corps at ABT. Link to comment
its the mom Posted July 4, 2015 Share Posted July 4, 2015 According to Melissa Thomas' Facebook page, her husband, Grant DeLong, is leaving the company. That's sad to hear. No mention if where he is going elsewhere or doing something else. Link to comment
spinning2night Posted July 4, 2015 Share Posted July 4, 2015 According to Melissa Thomas' Facebook page, her husband, Grant DeLong, is leaving the company. That's sad to hear. No mention if where he is going elsewhere or doing something else. Renata Pavam's IG page has indicated that a handful of corps dancers are either retiring or leaving for other companies...not sure which ones have been mentioned here and how "official" these are but since it is being publicly shared: Adrienne Schulte, Luciana Voltolini, and Marian Butler. Add those to departures to Leann Underwood (Forster) and the one posted above, ABT's roster will be missing a few familiar faces next year. btw, WHY did we have to bring up Eric Tamm's departure...STILL hurts too much Link to comment
Helene Posted July 4, 2015 Share Posted July 4, 2015 If the information appears on a dance professional's public-facing public media, ie, you don't have to be accepted as a "friend" to see it, then it is fine to post here. Link to comment
choriamb Posted July 5, 2015 Share Posted July 5, 2015 Three. Copeland is from San Pedro. So, they could potentially have "locals" in all three parts of the Ratmansky mixed bill at the Los Angeles Music Center (edit: accidentally wrote "Segerstrom") next July: Copeland originated Firebird, Abrera's presumably first-cast second soloist for Symphony No. 9 (now that Messmer's gone), and Kochetkova has done Piano Concerto with SFB. That would be a rather nice marketing/donor hook. Link to comment
Helene Posted July 5, 2015 Share Posted July 5, 2015 It would make a great advertising poster for the LA stint: the three new women at the Principal rank are California girls Link to comment
Recommended Posts