Roster Changes at ABT

[pssfrb]

Luciana Voltolini's facebook page notes she is joining StaatsBallet Berlin.

[volcanohunter]

Paloma will have her final farewell at Teatro Colon with Onegin this coming October: http://teatrocolon.org.ar/en/node/247

It's fitting that her howntown admirers will have a final opportunity to see her perform. Warms the heart.

[Helene]

Links must be posted for all roster changes.

Houston Balket:

https://www.houstonballet.org/Inside-Houston-Ballet/Dancers/

Voltolini's FB entry (can be translated through Google):

https://www.facebook.com/lucianarvoltolini/photos/a.660764480627490.1073741825.110333215670622/860861353951134/?type=1&theater

[stuben]

Corps no longer on roster:

Puanani Brown

Marian Butler

Grant DeLong

Nicole Graniero

Gabrielle Johnson

Adrienne Schulte

Leann Underwood

Karen Uphoff

Luciana Voltolini

New corps members:

Kathryn Boren http://www.abt.org/dancers/detail.asp?Dancer_ID=362

Courtlyn Hanson* http://www.abt.org/dancers/detail.asp?Dancer_ID=323

Emily Hayes* http://www.abt.org/dancers/detail.asp?Dancer_ID=324

Connor Galloway* http://www.abt.org/dancers/detail.asp?Dancer_ID=334

Betsy McBride http://www.abt.org/dancers/detail.asp?Dancer_ID=364

Rachel Richardson* http://www.abt.org/dancers/detail.asp?Dancer_ID=328

Kento Sumitani http://www.abt.org/dancers/detail.asp?Dancer_ID=366

Simon Wexler http://www.abt.org/dancers/detail.asp?Dancer_ID=367

Jin Zhang* http://www.abt.org/dancers/detail.asp?Dancer_ID=353

Current head counts:

Principals: 17

Soloists: 13

Corps: 55

There're probably 6-8 new apprentices, since ABT hasn't published their names, so I won't list them for now.

*promoted from apprentice

I'm sad to see so many seasoned corps members have left. It really feels like the changing of the guard. I wish them all well in their future endeavors. I'll have to spend time with my binocs to get to know the new group in the fall plus I guess it's time to pick up one of those handy pamphlets!

Speaking of seasoned corps, anyone know whatever happened to Nicole Graniero? She has a website but it still says ABT? She had quite a lengthy repertorie and hope she hasn't given up all together.

[mimsyb]

Speaking of seasoned corps, anyone know whatever happened to Nicole Graniero? She has a website but it still says ABT? She had quite a lengthy repertorie and hope she hasn't given up all together.

I'm pretty sure it was mentioned either up thread or elsewhere that Nicole went to Washington Ballet. Don't know in what capacity. She will surely be missed!

[Dancerboy90210]

Speaking of seasoned corps, anyone know whatever happened to Nicole Graniero? She has a website but it still says ABT? She had quite a lengthy repertorie and hope she hasn't given up all together.

She is joining Washington Ballet. It was posted on her instagram. Can I just say I'm so happy to see Stella's picture on the principal page!

[stuben]

She is joining Washington Ballet. It was posted on her instagram. Can I just say I'm so happy to see Stella's picture on the principal page!

Completely agree about Stella So overdue and glad this finally happened for her before it is too late, like many others who have come and gone before her. Most deserving IMO for this group of promotions.

[angelica]

I join with all who are applauding the promotion of Stella Abrera to Principal Dancer. May she be granted all the leading roles she deserves so well, so that we, her devoted audience, will have the pleasure of seeing her as Nikiya, Juliet, Aurora, Odette/Odile, etc., etc., etc., and, of course, again as Giselle.

[stuben]

I join with all who are applauding the promotion of Stella Abrera to Principal Dancer. May she be granted all the leading roles she deserves so well, so that we, her devoted audience, will have the pleasure of seeing her as Nikiya, Juliet, Aurora, Odette/Odile, etc., etc., etc., and, of course, again as Giselle.

I would add the moderns too as I am sure she is deserving of all

[jsmu]

Many congratulations to Stella, Misty and the corps dancers who were promoted to soloists. I'm very happy for both Misty and Stella for different reasons, but I'm sad about Sarah Lane; in my opinion, she should have been promoted rather than Maria Kochetkova. I don't agree that Sarah hasn't proven herself to be principal-ready. I think the same could be applied to Misty, whose dancing yet may not be principal quality but will as a principal, have opportunities to hone her technique and art. I don't think for one minute that Sarah would do otherwise had she been promoted. I think she should cast about for a principal position with another company. Not sure how she would fare at NYCB as dancerboy90210 contemplates, but who knows? I definitely do not like how she's been treated at ABT. She deserves better.

Amen to that. Kochetkova has never been anything near Lane technically or artistically (neither has Copeland, but that's a separate contretemps) Any ballerina who has acquitted herself honorably in multiple performances of "Theme and Variations" is light years beyond being 'ready to be a principal'...

[VanKirk]

Same opinion. I would so much have preferred to see Sarah promoted than see Kotchetkova added to the ranks. Sarah is a stunning dancer, has been a beautiful Aurora and would be a lovely Giselle and Juliet (among other roles). Let's hope the AD doesn't make her wait as long as he did Stella to be promoted.

[mussel]

Leann Underwood joins JKO, ABT just announces on FB: https://www.facebook.com/AmericanBalletTheatre/photos/a.122834101857.133692.15817871857/10153410138821858/?type=1&theater

[canbelto]

I don't see Sarah Lane as a ballerina in the same caliber as Stella Abrera. Sarah Lane's dancing is so basic and white-bread. Stella could always turn even small variations into real master classes of grace and charm. Lane's dancing is rather small and brittle. It doesn't breathe. It has a tight, contained quality which I hate. When I watched her dance Sleeping Beauty with Herman Cornejo this year it really struck me how Cornejo had a tiny role (by comparison) but made every moment count. Sarah danced the tricky petit allegro steps of Aurora perfectly but it went by without a single impression other than "she knows the steps."

[Barbara]

I'm so happy for Leann! It's nice for her have a spot in that same "family" as her husband, Tom Forster, and I'm sure she'll be a great asset to the JKO school.

[vipa]

I don't see Sarah Lane as a ballerina in the same caliber as Stella Abrera. Sarah Lane's dancing is so basic and white-bread. Stella could always turn even small variations into real master classes of grace and charm. Lane's dancing is rather small and brittle. It doesn't breathe. It has a tight, contained quality which I hate. When I watched her dance Sleeping Beauty with Herman Cornejo this year it really struck me how Cornejo had a tiny role (by comparison) but made every moment count. Sarah danced the tricky petit allegro steps of Aurora perfectly but it went by without a single impression other than "she knows the steps."

There will always be differing opinions of this or that dancer. I happen to be a Lane fan. Be that as it may I saw no need to bring Kochetkova on as a guest or a company member. That is one move I don't get.

[jsmu]

There will always be differing opinions of this or that dancer. I happen to be a Lane fan. Be that as it may I saw no need to bring Kochetkova on as a guest or a company member. That is one move I don't get.

Yes. I admire Lane for having acquired a beautiful, fluent technique and correctness. There will always be people who complain about highly accomplished technique. Abrera is a lovely dancer and deserved promotion years ago, but Kochetkova is an embarassment and a complete creation of her social-media promo hype. You should have seen her disgrace herself in "Theme and Variations" a couple of years ago at SFB.

[Drew]

There will always be people who complain about highly accomplished technique.

I think it would be more exact to say that there will always be people who complain about highly accomplished technique when they believe that "technique" is all that a dancer has to offer...(I am not commenting on Lane as I have only seen her in solo roles.) For myself, I believe that in many ballets, what people call technique can be plenty revelatory...but not always. And in any ballet, that technique has to be deployed in a distinctive, imaginative way for a dancer to put her or his personal stamp on it.

I found Kochetkova an unremarkable, even uninteresting, Nikiya in Bayadere this past spring (though I would not say she "disgraced" herself), but I assume what I guess everyone assumes: that she has been brought in to be a partner for Cornejo and, possibly, Simkin. I know people hate ABT's reliance on guest artists, but if I made the journey to NY to see ballet, I would much rather see Cornejo dance with Cojocaru than with either Kochetkova or Lane. Their Bayadere together was remarkable ...

[Helene]

I've see Kochetkova in San Francisco dance brilliantly in Balanchine's "Coppelia" and in "Giselle." I would have loved to have seen that "Theme" to judge for myself.

The only "disgraceful" performances I've ever seen are ones where the dancer ignored and/or distorted the style to cast the role in his or her own image.

[jsmu]

I've see Kochetkova in San Francisco dance brilliantly in Balanchine's "Coppelia" and in "Giselle." I would have loved to have seen that "Theme" to judge for myself.

The only "disgraceful" performances I've ever seen are ones where the dancer ignored and/or distorted the style to cast the role in his or her own image.

That is in fact one of my myriad objections to Kochetkova, particularly in Balanchine: distortion and affectation which goes way beyond mannerism into something even worse. However, what I was referring to as disgraceful was her dumbing-down and simplification of difficult steps and passages (and poor execution both technically and stylistically--and this at a slowish tempo-- of the steps she left in) in one of the most famous virtuoso roles of all time. I don't care if a dancer omits or simplifies a step once in a while--even Merrill Ashley, Empress of Flawless Steps, did that and says so--but to do it often in a ballerina part like 'Theme' is anathema as far as I'm concerned.

[jsmu]

I think it would be more exact to say that there will always be people who complain about highly accomplished technique when they believe that "technique" is all that a dancer has to offer...(I am not commenting on Lane as I have only seen her in solo roles.) For myself, I believe that in many ballets, what people call technique can be plenty revelatory...but not always. And in any ballet, that technique has to be deployed in a distinctive, imaginative way for a dancer to put her or his personal stamp on it.

I found Kochetkova an unremarkable, even uninteresting, Nikiya in Bayadere this past spring (though I would not say she "disgraced" herself), but I assume what I guess everyone assumes: that she has been brought in to be a partner for Cornejo and, possibly, Simkin. I know people hate ABT's reliance on guest artists, but if I made the journey to NY to see ballet, I would much rather see Cornejo dance with Cojocaru than with either Kochetkova or Lane. Their Bayadere together was remarkable ...

It might be more exact for your purposes, but in fact I said exactly what I meant. To amplify, there will always be people who complain about highly accomplished technique because a) not all dancers possess it b) their favorites do not possess it and are criticized for this c) they assume, wrongly, that such technique precludes 'artistry.' It's the same exhausted old canard from gymnastics and music: 'technique' vs. 'artistry' as if the two were in a cage match to the death instead of being inseparably, essentially connected...and it is, sadly, extremely widespread. I don't agree about 'deploying technique in a distinctive, imaginative way' because I find that is usually in fact the addition of schtick and mannerism to 'decorate' and 'improve' , if not to conceal weakness. Balanchine's dicta on this (don't DO, don't 'add,' don't subscribe to the ballerina 'cult of personality') are mine as well. Certainly that does not mean one does not want a ballerina to be unique--that is essential and necessary. it is the ballerina using personal tics and schticks to TRY to appear unique, both technically and esthetically (ugh, there I go separating the two. invidious) which is actionable, lol.

[Helene]

I saw no distortions, stylistic or otherwise, in Kochetkova's Swanhilde -- if it wasn't the best I'd ever seen, it was not surpassed by anyone I'd seen -- but, of course, that's a different role than "Theme."

[volcanohunter]

I didn`t see much distortion as Nikiya either; Kochetkova`s extensions were extremely high, but in this she was no different from the other dancers performing the part with ABT. What I admired was her willingness to let the choreography speak on its own terms, and in particular there was no musical distortion. Cojocaru was beautiful and Part was ravishing, but they also indulged in dragging tempos. Kochetkova danced without an ounce of self-indulgence.

Again, this wasn`t Theme and Variations either.

[Drew]

It might be more exact for your purposes, but in fact I said exactly what I meant. To amplify, there will always be people who complain about highly accomplished technique because a) not all dancers possess it b) their favorites do not possess it and are criticized for this c) they assume, wrongly, that such technique precludes 'artistry.' It's the same exhausted old canard from gymnastics and music: 'technique' vs. 'artistry' as if the two were in a cage match to the death instead of being inseparably, essentially connected...and it is, sadly, extremely widespread. I don't agree about 'deploying technique in a distinctive, imaginative way' because I find that is usually in fact the addition of schtick and mannerism to 'decorate' and 'improve' , if not to conceal weakness.

I completely agree that "technique" and "artistry" are intimately bound up with one another in ballet, but I think that when it comes to analyzing and evaluating dancers the grounds of discussion or debate then sometimes simply shift to what one considers "highly accomplished technique" or for that matter what one considers mannerism. (And I think repertory has a bearing on that too.) Above, in a different part of discussion you mentioned that even such a brilliant dancer as Merrill Ashley had been known to modify a step--you make allowance, but someone else might not, and a third person might say it's Ashley's musicality (or "artistry") that made the difference. So some of this discussion may be about semantics. I say this even though I, like you, have some difficulty when people distinguish artistry from technique even in dramatic roles. But I don't think it's always about defending some lesser ballerina who can't do the steps.

Balanchine and the cult of 'personality' as it informs the cult of the ballerina is a tricky topic; I don't think NYCB under his leadership escaped its own peculiar version of it nor was like to do so under the leadership of the man who said 'ballet is woman' and sometimes had his leads dance without understudies. But call it technique or call it artistry or just call it being unique--ABT needs major dancers in its top ranks. I am hoping all of those recently promoted can rise or grow to the occasion...

[jsmu]

You are right, Drew--I never said Mr B was consistent. Just Farrell *alone* would prove his inconsistency on this topic, LOL. (and I loved Farrell's dancing...)

But the point about Ashley is that she nearly NEVER did that--most dancers do it far more, if not all the time. If you read Tallchief being interviewed in, I think, "I Remember Balanchine" (a masterpiece), she says that once she was injured in London and Balanchine changed ONE step for her. Diana Adams talks about how lousy she thought she was (HA) in Bizet finale with 'all the other girls whirling around so well' and Balanchine offered to change it and Adams said, not on your life, George--I'll learn to deal with it.

However, I still think it's mostly (not always) about lesser dancers who can't do the steps. LOL.

I don't think 'ballet is woman' is at all cultish, however. rather adoring and admiring. It was usually Farrell, by the way (what a surprise) whom he had dancing without an understudy. ABT is desperate for ballerinas in particular (and their stellar Latin man contingent is retiring any year now, sadly) and Kochetkova is not vaguely that--just a 'little partner', as Kirkland said Lucia Chase saw her for Baryshnikov, for a short male dancer.

[jsmu]

I didn`t see much distortion as Nikiya either; Kochetkova`s extensions were extremely high, but in this she was no different from the other dancers performing the part with ABT. What I admired was her willingness to let the choreography speak on its own terms, and in particular there was no musical distortion. Cojocaru was beautiful and Part was ravishing, but they also indulged in dragging tempos. Kochetkova danced without an ounce of self-indulgence.

Again, this wasn`t Theme and Variations either.

For the record, I have seen (been subjected to, alas) Kochetkova in several roles, including as Nikiya, and my objections are exactly the same regarding those as well. I found her actually drab and dull as Nikiya--and I still didn't see the necessary technique for the part, either.