Dale Posted July 3, 2017 Share Posted July 3, 2017 There's talk of this elsewhere but here's the ABT release: VERONIKA PART TO GIVE FINAL PERFORMANCES WITH AMERICAN BALLET THEATRE FAREWELL PERFORMANCE SCHEDULED FOR SATURDAY MATINEE, JULY 8 AT METROPOLITAN OPERA HOUSE Veronika Part, a Principal Dancer with American Ballet Theatre since 2009, will retire from the Company on the final day of the 2017 Spring season at the Metropolitan Opera House. For her farewell performance, Part will dance the Preghiera in George Balanchine’s Mozartiana opposite Blaine Hoven and Arron Scott on Saturday, July 8 at 2:00PM. Born in St. Petersburg, Russia, Veronika Part began her early training in artistic gymnastics before entering the Vaganova Ballet Academy in 1988. Part graduated in 1996 and joined the Kirov Ballet. She was promoted to soloist in 1998. Her repertoire with the Kirov included Nikiya in La Bayadère, the Queen of the Dryads in Don Quixote, Myrta, Moyna and Zulma in in Giselle, Raymonda and Henrietta in Raymonda, the Lilac Fairy in The Sleeping Beauty and Odette-Odile in Swan Lake. She also danced roles in Balanchine’s Apollo (Terpsichore), Jewels (Emeralds and Diamonds), Symphony in C (second movement) and Serenade, and in John Neumeier's The Sounds of Empty Pages. She was the winner of the BALTIKA Prize in 1999. Part joined American Ballet Theatre as a Soloist in August 2002 and was promoted to Principal Dancer in May 2009. Her roles with the Company include Terpsichore in Apollo, Nikiya in La Bayadère, Zina in The Bright Stream, the Fairy Godmother in Frederick Ashton's Cinderella, Twig in James Kudelka's Cinderella, Prayer in Coppélia, Medora in Le Corsaire, Kitri, Mercedes and the Queen of the Driads in Don Quixote, the Glove Seller in Gaîté Parisienne, Myrta in Giselle, Queen of Shemakhan in The Golden Cockerel, An Episode in His Past in Jardin aux Lilas, Manon in Lady of the Camellias, Lescaut's Mistress in Manon, His Wife in The Moor's Pavane, the Sugar Plum Fairy and the Snow Queen in Kevin McKenzie's The Nutcracker, Clara, the Princess in Alexei Ratmansky's The Nutcracker, Emilia in Othello, Other Dances, the Chief Nursemaid in Petrouchka, Eldest Sister in Pillar of Fire, the Siren in Prodigal Son, Raymonda, Henrietta, the White Lady and the Lead Spanish Dancer in Raymonda, Lady Capulet in Romeo and Juliet, Princess Aurora and the Lilac Fairy in The Sleeping Beauty, Odette-Odile in Swan Lake, the Sylph in La Sylphide, Sylvia and Terpsichore in Sylvia, the leading roles in Bach Partita, Les Sylphides, Sinfonietta, Symphonie Concertante, Ballet Imperial, The Leaves Are Fading, Mozartiana, Monotones II, Symphony in C, Birthday Offering, The Brahms-Haydn Variations, Duets, The Garden of Villandry, Overgrown Path, Seven Sonatas and Symphony #9. She created Natalia in On the Dnieper and the Lilac Fairy in Ratmansky’s The Sleeping Beauty and featured roles in Dumbarton, Triptych and Within You Without You: A Tribute to George Harrison. Link to comment
fondoffouettes Posted July 3, 2017 Share Posted July 3, 2017 (edited) Wow -- they couldn't have put less effort into this. Just the facts of her farewell, and then they paste in her bio. No words of appreciation. Also, why does it say she'll dance the Preghiera from Mozartiana? Doesn't Preghiera just refer to the first section of the piece, or does it also refer to the role itself? Is she not dancing the whole thing? Edited July 3, 2017 by fondoffouettes Link to comment
abatt Posted July 3, 2017 Share Posted July 3, 2017 Quote Prayer is jut the first section of Mazartiana. That is strange. No other female dancer is listed for Mozartiana, so I assume she's doing the entire ballet. Link to comment
fondoffouettes Posted July 3, 2017 Share Posted July 3, 2017 (edited) 4 minutes ago, abatt said: Prayer is jut the first section of Mazartiana. That is strange. No other female dancer is listed for Mozartiana, so I assume she's doing the entire ballet. Ah ok -- hopefully it's just a quirk of how they wrote this release, and they actually mean she's dancing the whole thing. Edited July 3, 2017 by fondoffouettes Link to comment
Natalia Posted July 3, 2017 Share Posted July 3, 2017 So are they going to give Hee Seo the Tema e Variazioni sections? Just kidding. Must be a typo. Link to comment
nanushka Posted July 3, 2017 Share Posted July 3, 2017 6 minutes ago, Natalia said: So are they going to give Hee Seo the Tema e Variazioni sections? Just kidding. Must be a typo. HAHAHA! Or maybe a soon-to-be announced new principal. That'd be a nice gesture. Gotta keep laughing. Link to comment
abatt Posted July 3, 2017 Share Posted July 3, 2017 (edited) Well if it is a typo, then they have a real idiot in charge of drafting the press releases. I normally never boo at a performance, but if McKenzie shows his face at her farewell, I might just have to discard etiquette and boo. Edited July 3, 2017 by abatt Link to comment
Natalia Posted July 3, 2017 Share Posted July 3, 2017 Well, whoever goes to tonight's performance, pls report. This will be Veronika's penultimate dance with ABT. I'm sure that the emotions will begin to bubble tonight. Link to comment
alexL Posted July 3, 2017 Share Posted July 3, 2017 I think the pricing of Part's farewell performance went up..... Link to comment
fondoffouettes Posted July 3, 2017 Share Posted July 3, 2017 32 minutes ago, abatt said: Well if it is a typo, then they have a real idiot in charge of drafting the press releases. I normally never boo at a performance, but if McKenzie shows his face at her farewell, I might just have to discard etiquette and boo. It looks like it was slapped together by a summer intern (no offense to interns). I think I'd consider booing McKenzie, too, as long as it doesn't disrupt too much from the good cheer directed toward Veronika. Link to comment
nanushka Posted July 3, 2017 Share Posted July 3, 2017 17 minutes ago, alexL said: I think the pricing of Part's farewell performance went up..... UGH if so that's in disgusting taste. Tickets were already at "Misty prices" before all this. Link to comment
alexL Posted July 3, 2017 Share Posted July 3, 2017 4 minutes ago, nanushka said: UGH if so that's in disgusting taste. Tickets were already at "Misty prices" before all this. But still Sat mat tickets are pricier than Friday evening tickets which also features Misty. I really hope I'm wrong here.... Link to comment
nanushka Posted July 3, 2017 Share Posted July 3, 2017 4 minutes ago, alexL said: But still Sat mat tickets are pricier than Friday evening tickets which also features Misty. I really hope I'm wrong here.... I'll check later tonight when home. I've been debating for a week whether to go Saturday in addition to tonight and have looked at the seating chart a lot so I may be able to remember! Link to comment
ABT Fan Posted July 3, 2017 Share Posted July 3, 2017 1 hour ago, fondoffouettes said: Wow -- they couldn't have put less effort into this. Just the facts of her farewell, and then they paste in her bio. No words of appreciation. Well, to be fair (and trust me, it pains me to say something in defense of ABT right now) this announcement follows the exact same format as the one they released for Vishneva's retirement. Just the facts, no words of appreciation. Mind you everything else about their retirements couldn't be more different. Link to comment
ABT Fan Posted July 3, 2017 Share Posted July 3, 2017 58 minutes ago, alexL said: I think the pricing of Part's farewell performance went up..... Premium orchestra seats are (now) $165 and I'm pretty darn sure they weren't that high originally. Link to comment
fondoffouettes Posted July 3, 2017 Share Posted July 3, 2017 The petition has almost reached 200 signatures. I think it's really more about the symbolism at his point, rather than hoping for action on the part of ABT, but the response has still been heartening. Link to comment
angelica Posted July 3, 2017 Share Posted July 3, 2017 I wonder how anyone can dance a performance knowing their contract isn't going to be renewed. I guess that's what makes a "professional," but still. Link to comment
nanushka Posted July 3, 2017 Share Posted July 3, 2017 12 minutes ago, ABT Fan said: Premium orchestra seats are (now) $165 and I'm pretty darn sure they weren't that high originally. Actually I'm pretty sure that's what I saw on there over the weekend for premium orchestra. Link to comment
laurel Posted July 3, 2017 Share Posted July 3, 2017 11 minutes ago, ABT Fan said: Premium orchestra seats are (now) $165 and I'm pretty darn sure they weren't that high originally. I purchased tickets for $145 apiece in the center orchestra for the July 8 matinee performance, but that was back in March when they first went on sale. All I wanted to see was Veronika Part and Blaine Hoven together in Mozartiana! Who knew it would turn out to be an unplanned, unwanted, unbelievably emotional farewell performance? It's devastating! Link to comment
aurora Posted July 3, 2017 Share Posted July 3, 2017 14 minutes ago, nanushka said: Actually I'm pretty sure that's what I saw on there over the weekend for premium orchestra. There aren't a lot of tickets available (in the sections I was looking at) and I'm pretty sure that automatically triggers the higher prices. What I paid today was the same I did for Sarah Lane's Swan Lake a day or two before when it was also quite well sold. Link to comment
Drew Posted July 3, 2017 Share Posted July 3, 2017 12 minutes ago, angelica said: I wonder how anyone can dance a performance knowing their contract isn't going to be renewed. I guess that's what makes a "professional," but still. I'm afraid it happens quite a bit...though not always so visibly. Link to comment
cobweb Posted July 3, 2017 Share Posted July 3, 2017 This is so sad. Part is one of the few principals that I actually buy tickets to see at ABT -- there are three, no make that four, of the other principal women that I studiously avoid. I was so excited about the up-and-coming soloists, but this puts it all in a more depressing light. Link to comment
alexL Posted July 3, 2017 Share Posted July 3, 2017 Ok I'm relieved to know that the prices didn't hike AFTER they announced her retirement. Link to comment
MRR Posted July 3, 2017 Share Posted July 3, 2017 35 minutes ago, angelica said: I wonder how anyone can dance a performance knowing their contract isn't going to be renewed. I guess that's what makes a "professional," but still. Sara Michelle Murawski, a principal at PA Ballet, was told she would not be renewed before she went onstage for Arabian in Nutcracker. She had a good six months left to dance for the company. http://www.philly.com/philly/entertainment/Pennsylvania-Ballet-fires-the-Sugar-Plum-Fairy.html Link to comment
canbelto Posted July 3, 2017 Share Posted July 3, 2017 38 minutes ago, angelica said: I wonder how anyone can dance a performance knowing their contract isn't going to be renewed. I guess that's what makes a "professional," but still. Plenty of people have and did. Like the people at PA Ballet all danced till the last even after they were let go. I continued to go to work even after finding out I'd be laid off a few months before. It's being a pro. Link to comment
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