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La Scala in Orange County in July 2017


Josette

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7 hours ago, Natalia said:

 

Is this acceptable? Is Misty Copeland capable of performing a single leading role in a 19th-C without having at least one major mishap in a key solo passage? 

 

No surprise about Nicoletta Manni not being an effective Myrtha. That's like asking Minnie Mouse to play Lady Macbeth.

Natalia what an unfair and arsh judgment you are giving to Nicoletta:(

 i don't know if you came to Milano to see her in many leading roles she got, but i never heard such a low comment about her.....

she has a strong if not perfect tehcnique, very light and flawless jumps and yes....i prefer her in Giselle role instead of Myrtha ,too  without this heavy comparison you gave to her...:(

 

and now Misty:  maybe you can helps us (europeans:wink:) why she gained so much interest and fame  despite she often shows weak technique..... this past autumn, whe she danced at la Scala with Bolle she made a couple of mistakes that i ever never seen done by a "prima ballerina" ....although i consider Nunez, Zacharova and Semionova an other planet

 

just a comment i heard at the end of her Romeo e Giulietta with Bolle this last december, when i was in the line to go out of the Theatre a group of french people at the presence of a famous russian teacher were chatting puzzled about Misty  and  about her technique showed  that evening " was not even enough to be considered part as a general ballerina in a leading corp de Ballet"...... and that they were kind of ashamed that Bolle  kneled down to invite ther as a Etoile guest just answering to a Fame due to politically correct  that surround her

 

What do you think about that sentence!? is it wrong?

thank you!!!  Lilia

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4 hours ago, Lilia75 said:

Natalia what an unfair and arsh judgment you are giving to Nicoletta:(

 i don't know if you came to Milano to see her in many leading roles she got, but i never heard such a low comment about her.....

she has a strong if not perfect tehcnique, very light and flawless jumps and yes....i prefer her in Giselle role instead of Myrtha ,too  without this heavy comparison you gave to her...:(

 

and now Misty:  maybe you can helps us (europeans:wink:) why she gained so much interest and fame  despite she often shows weak technique..... this past autumn, whe she danced at la Scala with Bolle she made a couple of mistakes that i ever never seen done by a "prima ballerina" ....although i consider Nunez, Zacharova and Semionova an other planet

 

just a comment i heard at the end of her Romeo e Giulietta with Bolle this last december, when i was in the line to go out of the Theatre a group of french people at the presence of a famous russian teacher were chatting puzzled about Misty  and  about her technique showed  that evening " was not even enough to be considered part as a general ballerina in a leading corp de Ballet"...... and that they were kind of ashamed that Bolle  kneled down to invite ther as a Etoile guest just answering to a Fame due to politically correct  that surround her

 

What do you think about that sentence!? is it wrong?

thank you!!!  Lilia

 

I love Nicoletta in sweet soubrette roles, Lilia. She's adorable as Kitri or as the leading girl in The Garden of Lovers (opposite Bolle). She has a real "aire de angel" (as we say in Spanish) about her. I could picture her as the sweet Giselle. As a nasty villainess like Myrtha? You have to be kidding!!! (It's about the angelic face & manner; not height.) My comment was about the idiotic casting, not about Nicoletta herself. Could you imagine Evgenia Obraztsova or Sarah Lane as Myrtha?

 

Misty: I saw the RAI telecast DVD. The MacMillan Juliet is her finest leading role, IMO. She excels in contemporary drama, even with weak "basic" technique. Bolle must have seen her fine performances at the Met the previous summer and got La Scala to extend the invitation after the originally-cast Juliet (Osipova?) pulled out. Just guessing.

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These reports about Copeland's performances in Orange County and Milan sadden me. She's not the first dancer to struggle with the hops nor the first to wear clunky/noisy shoes (Cojocaru comes to mind, e.g.). But she seems to be the first dancer many have seen who represents the effort to diversify dance in North America and she, most unfortunately, confirms for some their worst stereotypes of "affirmative action," viz., dancers promoted for reasons other than artistic merit. Bolle knows how to sell tickets, but this casting didn't do American ballet supporters any favors in the continuing effort to diversify dance.

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ABT has a great history of diversity with Hispanics (Alonso!) and Asian-heritage (not just Hee Seo or Stella) ballerinas. I'm sure that they'll have a truly worthy black ballerina for the classics in due time. (I like Misty in contemporary.) It's too bad that ABT let Michaela De Prince "go" after she graduated from their school (eventually to Amsterdam). Maybe she'll be one of ABT's promised "exchange guests" in the future? 

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7 hours ago, Lilia75 said:

 

 

and now Misty:  maybe you can helps us (europeans:wink:) why she gained so much interest and fame  despite she often shows weak technique..... this past autumn, whe she danced at la Scala with Bolle she made a couple of mistakes that i ever never seen done by a "prima ballerina" ....although i consider Nunez, Zacharova and Semionova an other planet

 

just a comment i heard at the end of her Romeo e Giulietta with Bolle this last december, when i was in the line to go out of the Theatre a group of french people at the presence of a famous russian teacher were chatting puzzled about Misty  and  about her technique showed  that evening " was not even enough to be considered part as a general ballerina in a leading corp de Ballet"...... and that they were kind of ashamed that Bolle  kneled down to invite ther as a Etoile guest just answering to a Fame due to politically correct  that surround her

 

What do you think about that sentence!? is it wrong?

thank you!!!  Lilia

MIsty sells a lot of tickets in the US because she has a big fan base. Her claim to fame is that she had a tough childhood, but overcame the obstacles.  Also, she does not have a "ballerina" body, and overcame discrimination. Her fan base in the US isn't necessarily filled with people who regard her as a great technician or an awesome actress.  It is based on respect and admiration for her life story, and her celebrity.  As long as she keeps filling seats, ABT is more than happy to oblige and overlook her shortcomings.  She is not the only "prima" at ABT who lacks technique, but she is the only person who can fill up an auditorium for ABT.

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Tucked neatly away in a small corner of the Misty Copeland story is that she suffered several injuries when she was a soloist and was never really the same dancer (and still isn't). ABT is maybe the worst company in the world to become injured -- unless you're Julie Kent or David Hallberg or Herman Cornejo, ABT's reaction to injuries is either "buh-bye" or "have fun dancing the peasant pas de deux until you retire."

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3 hours ago, canbelto said:

Tucked neatly away in a small corner of the Misty Copeland story is that she suffered several injuries when she was a soloist and was never really the same dancer (and still isn't). ABT is maybe the worst company in the world to become injured -- unless you're Julie Kent or David Hallberg or Herman Cornejo, ABT's reaction to injuries is either "buh-bye" or "have fun dancing the peasant pas de deux until you retire."

 

In the year 2017, the way in which a company deals with injuries, and injury prevention, says a lot about the management of the company and the company culture. It can also tells us about a company's plan for the future, or if there even is one.

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7 minutes ago, pherank said:

 

In the year 2017, the way in which a company deals with injuries, and injury prevention, says a lot about the management of the company and the company culture. It can also tells us about a company's plan for the future, or if there even is one.

 

Very true.  I saw the Wendy Whelan documentary this week (Restless Creature) and was struck again by how many massage and physical therapists she worked with throughout her rehab (not to mention the team of surgeons that did her hip repair).  She's an extraordinary individual, and it's highly likely she gets much more support than most. but I know that the PT and conditioning staff at Pacific Northwest Ballet get kudos from every dancer in the company.

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Just now, canbelto said:

Something else to chew on: as of now, there is not a single principal or soloist at ABT who is a mother/parent. In fact in the whole company I think only Melanie Hamrick is a mother. 

 

Good catch -- Most of the companies I can think of off the top of my head have at least one mother in their performing ranks.

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4 hours ago, canbelto said:

Tucked neatly away in a small corner of the Misty Copeland story is that she suffered several injuries when she was a soloist and was never really the same dancer (and still isn't). ABT is maybe the worst company in the world to become injured -- unless you're Julie Kent or David Hallberg or Herman Cornejo, ABT's reaction to injuries is either "buh-bye" or "have fun dancing the peasant pas de deux until you retire."

 

Except that isn't what Misty is doing... (and according to reports of her non-recovered technique perhaps it *should* have been).

Or Stella for that matter, though it was for a time.

They have also been (seemingly) accommodating of frequent injuries of late for Gillian Murphy, and why wouldn't they be.

 

I'm just not seeing the factual basis to support the above statement.

Part had *some* injuries lately but we really don't know what happened (I'm as upset as anyone about it) and I don't think there is much evidence that her injuries are the reason, or the main reason, for her being pushed out. Injuries certainly weren't the main issue for Xiomara or Paloma.

 

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1 hour ago, aurora said:

 

Except that isn't what Misty is doing... (and according to reports of her non-recovered technique perhaps it *should* have been).

Or Stella for that matter, though it was for a time.

They have also been (seemingly) accommodating of frequent injuries of late for Gillian Murphy, and why wouldn't they be.

 

I'm just not seeing the factual basis to support the above statement.

Part had *some* injuries lately but we really don't know what happened (I'm as upset as anyone about it) and I don't think there is much evidence that her injuries are the reason, or the main reason, for her being pushed out. Injuries certainly weren't the main issue for Xiomara or Paloma.

 

 

It was going to be Misty's fate until she waged an all-out PR assault on ABT. She did it the right way -- hired a publicist, shopped for book deals, became a big name in the media. 

As for injured dancers who were dropped by ABT -- Natalia Osipova proved too injury prone, Jared Matthews' career stalled after an injury (not major), Veronika Part suffered a bunch of small injuries in her last years at ABT, Stella Abrera had an injury in her 20's and was relegated to dancing Third Shade in Bayadere until she was finally promoted at age 38, Ashley Tuttle (remember her?), Joseph Gorak, Maria Kochetkova and Polina Semionova, etc. 

I don't think Kevin McKenzie has a good track record of bringing dancers along after the usual bumps in the road at all.

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I think McKenzie would salivate at the chance to bring Osipova back to ABT.  She sells out the house.   I'm wondering if McKenzie is going to attempt a reuniting of Osipova and Hallberg at the Met next season. If the Royal can do it, why not ABT. If ABT is only inviting one guest per season now, I'd much rather have a guest appearance from Osipova than another performance on the Ferri Comeback Tour.

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On 7/30/2017 at 7:36 AM, Natalia said:

ABT has a great history of diversity with Hispanics (Alonso!) and Asian-heritage (not just Hee Seo or Stella) ballerinas. I'm sure that they'll have a truly worthy black ballerina for the classics in due time. (I like Misty in contemporary.) It's too bad that ABT let Michaela De Prince "go" after she graduated from their school (eventually to Amsterdam). Maybe she'll be one of ABT's promised "exchange guests" in the future? 

 

Actually, Michaela de Prince has been knocked  by some balletomanes as  having more of a compelling story than actual talent. She  gets slammed as being nothing but atheletic and being a distraction to classical harmony.  

 

I suspect that any black ballerina of  stature, will be tarred as having reached that status due to affirmative action only, especially if said black dancer is promoted BEFORE a favorite white dancer.   As I've said before, the only black woman who will escape such judgments, will be someone who is so clearly superior in every  way - technique, musicality, physique, feet, stage presence, acting talent, versatility, European standards of beauty and offstage affability -   that she towers over the ballet world in the same way that Michael Jordan towered over the rest of the NBA. You have be twice as good to get half as far.  In other words,  superballerina.

 

 And even then, she'll be the ONLY one allowed lofty status even if some other black woman  with equal credentials comes along.  ( Because isn't one black ballerina enough to satisfy those always complaining social justice warrior people?)  

 

To our European friends it may be different in Europe but in the U. S., practically all advancement for racial minorities in a field previously dominated by whites, is NOT achieved on a level playing field. Yes, ballet is very, very, difficult for everyone.  But people who are not white have additional burdens no matter how much some folks may insist otherwise.

 

As Virginia Johnson has said, far too much was riding on Misty Copeland's ascendance. There should have been 15 or so black women  ready to step up and  help break the glass ceiling that has prevented black women from having a ballet career, let alone reaching  the principle rank.   Since there were so few in major companies, many who view RACIAL diversity in ballet as important, had pinned all their hopes on Misty.

 

As someone who believes  that ballet diversity that extends beyond  white Latino and East Asian women who are fair skinned, I see better days on the horizon. There are several very promising black, biracial, Afro-Latina and Native American,  dancers in the pipeline who feel empowered  because Copeland made it to the highest rank. Kaeli Ware,  Kamala Saara McDaniels, Olivia Winston, Alexandra "Sasha" Manuel, Kelly E. Hicks, Olivia Bell, Eliana Vaha'i Feao, Alysia Johnson, Raquel Smith, Destiny Wimpye, Tais Vinolo and Helga Paris-Morales are just a few truly excellent prospects along with others too numerous to name. And of course, many want to dance at ABT like Misty and some are already training at JKO.  Ware, aged 17 and McDaniels  almost 15, are such formidable talents that, both have been offered professional contracts with DTH. (Both declined in order to continue training at prestigious schools elsewhere.)

 

After seeing the wealth of truly exceptional non-white female talent coming up, a friend of mine remarked half-jokingly, that maybe the ballet establishment put so many obstacles in black women's paths all those years, because they secretly feared they'd take over the field like they have in  many sports.   Laugh all you want.  Stranger things have happened.

 

Representation is important.  It is something many folks take for granted when EVERYTHING defaults to their group.  

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On ‎7‎/‎30‎/‎2017 at 6:28 AM, California said:

These reports about Copeland's performances in Orange County and Milan sadden me. She's not the first dancer to struggle with the hops nor the first to wear clunky/noisy shoes (Cojocaru comes to mind, e.g.). But she seems to be the first dancer many have seen who represents the effort to diversify dance in North America and she, most unfortunately, confirms for some their worst stereotypes of "affirmative action," viz., dancers promoted for reasons other than artistic merit. Bolle knows how to sell tickets, but this casting didn't do American ballet supporters any favors in the continuing effort to diversify dance.

The people who use Misty's supposedly bad performances as proof that black women can't be great ballet dancers, were going to believe that anyway. Who cares what they think?

 

I'm less fascinated by the  crimes against art that Copeland supposedly commits every time she sets foot on stage, than what her mere presence proves. A black woman can pack a concert hall as the central figure in a classical performance art that isn't opera. 

 

It may be depressing and vulgar to balletomanes, but the box office power that Copeland and Gilda Squire have unleashed has got most ballet companies at least pretending to care about racial diversity.  They actually care enough that some are regularly poaching ballerinas from DTH. I bet Virginia Johnson is both thrilled and extremely annoyed all at once.

 

Not all little girls want to wear the tiara. But many do, including little black girls. That this fact escaped so many in ballet for so many years is very strange. But now they know.

 

For years, ballet people have lamented about the lack of the next big thing that is supposed to wake  ballet up from it's doldrums and push it into the future. Who's the new Balanchine?  Where's the next Nureyev or Baryshnikov?  Where would the next big center of ballet emerge? Would it be in Asia? 

 

What if the next big thing in ballet is that none-white people under 50 actually start to care about it?  Could that be the thing that "saves" ballet?   

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12 hours ago, Tapfan said:

 

 There are several very promising black, biracial, Afro-Latina and Native American,  dancers in the pipeline who feel empowered  because Copeland made it to the highest rank.

...

Representation is important.  It is something many folks take for granted when EVERYTHING defaults to their group.  

 

Your comment on representation is dead on -- whether it's gender or race or age or some other category, too often we're told that "fill in the blank category can't do fill in the blank activity."  The truly stalwart among us can forge on alone, but most of us need an example to point to -- "yes we can, because they did."

 

Tangentially, keep an eye open for Lili Cockrille Livingston's American Indian Ballerinas, a combined biography of Maria Tallchief, Marjorie Tallchief, Yvonne Chouteau, and Rosella Hightower.

 

11 hours ago, Tapfan said:

For years, ballet people have lamented about the lack of the next big thing that is supposed to wake  ballet up from it's doldrums and push it into the future. Who's the new Balanchine?  Where's the next Nureyev or Baryshnikov?  Where would the next big center of ballet emerge? Would it be in Asia? 

 

What if the next big thing in ballet is that none-white people under 50 actually start to care about it?  Could that be the thing that "saves" ballet?   

 

I'm looking forward to seeing if this is the pathway.

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On 8/9/2017 at 12:54 PM, Tapfan said:

Kaeli Ware,  Kamala Saara McDaniels, Olivia Winston, Alexandra "Sasha" Manuel, Kelly E. Hicks, Olivia Bell, Eliana Vaha'i Feao, Alysia Johnson, Raquel Smith, Destiny Wimpye, Tais Vinolo and Helga Paris-Morales are just a few truly excellent prospects along with others too numerous to name.

I came across this post from 2017 and looked these dancers up and WOW! Where are they now?

Kaeli Ware—Ballet West II
Kamala Saara McDaniels—DTH
Alexandra "Sasha" Manuel—Royal Ballet School
Olivia Bell—NYCB Apprentice
Alysia Johnson—Hubbard Street
Destiny Wimpye—PNB Apprentice
Tais Vinolo—National Ballet of Canada
Helga Paris-Morales—Washington Ballet

Edited by Wonders
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2 hours ago, Wonders said:

I came across this post from 2017 and looked these dancers up and WOW! Where are they now?

...
Helga Paris-Morales—Washington Ballet

Helga Paris-Morales/TWB's Center Stage during the major lockdown at about 44.  Filmed in a DC parking garage, choreographed remotely from Puerto Rico:  

 

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