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Daniil Simkin Joining Staatsballett Berlin/Is Now Leaving (Announced May 2023)

abatt

By abatt
in Dancers

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Barbara

Barbara

Posted
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He's such a world traveler, perhaps better to be based in Europe. With the additional draw of being near family. Best wishes to him in his new creative endeavors! "Dual company citizenship" seems to be the way of the dance world these days. Happy we will still see him during spring season.

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its the mom

its the mom

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1 hour ago, abatt said:

He will continue to dance with ABT during their Spring seasons at the Met

 

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/08/arts/dance/daniil-simkin-joins-staatsballett-berlin.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Farts&action=click&contentCollection=arts&region=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=1&pgtype=sectionfront&_r=0

abatt, where does it say that he will continue for Met season?  Am I misreading it?  

 

I wonder if this will become more common. 

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its the mom

its the mom

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Additionally, this comment is interesting, "Mr. Simkin said he hoped to dance in works by Mats Ek, William Forsythe, Crystal Pite, Ohad Naharin and other choreographers whose work is less frequently performed in the United States."  I know there are many patrons of ABT who complain about the company doing contemporary work, but dancers do seek it.  

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Helene

Helene

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In it's current iteration, it says,

 

Quote

Daniil Simkin, a principal dancer with American Ballet Theater, will join the Staatsballett Berlin in September 2018. Mr. Simkiin, 29, who was born in Russia, but grew up in Germany, will retain his position at Ballet Theater, but will be based in Berlin.

 

It doesn't say when.

 

The Berlin season starts in December with Jewels and runs through June, but performances are spaced pretty far apart, 6-12 days for most.

 

This season it's Jewels, Giselle, and Duato (R&J, mixed bill), at least what's scheduled so far.  The opera has a lot more dates in the house.

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Helene

Helene

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ABT is in DC from 30 January-4 February.  Staatballett Berlin performs "Giselle" on February 2nd and 9th.   I doubt Simkin would be cast as Albrecht in both performances, and it's quite possible for him to do at least a couple of "Whipped Cream" performances in NYC, assuming both companies are game, even doing one of the "Giselle" performances.

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Dale

Dale

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Official release:

 

DANIIL SIMKIN TO JOIN STAATSBALLETT BERLIN AT START OF THE 2018-2019 SEASON

SIMKIN TO CONTINUE APPEARANCES WITH AMERICAN BALLET THEATRE

Daniil Simkin, a Principal Dancer with American Ballet Theatre since 2012, will join Staatsballett Berlin as a permanent member at the start of the company’s 2018-2019 season. It was announced today by Staatsballett Berlin. Simkin will continue to perform as a Principal Dancer with American Ballet Theatre as scheduling allows.

“In the time that Daniil has been a member of ABT, he has been a frequent guest at companies around the world,” said American Ballet Theatre Artistic Director Kevin McKenzie. “While Berlin will be his primary residence, I am happy to report that he will now be a frequent visitor to ABT. I look forward to witnessing his continued success and artistry.”

Commenting on his new affiliation, Simkin said, “I am extremely grateful for the ten fantastic years I spent calling ABT ‘home.’ As a new chapter begins, I am thankful to Kevin McKenzie, who not only has been very supportive, but who is also allowing me to return to the wonderful New York audience in the future. Having grown up in Germany, I am looking forward to returning with everything that ABT has taught me and to joining Staatsballett Berlin under the directorship of Sasha Waltz and Johannes Öhman starting in the 2018/2019 season. But as of now, I am just very excited for the Fall season to begin and cannot wait for another great year at ABT!”

Daniil Simkin was born in Russia to a ballet family. In 1990, the family left for the West and, after several international engagements, settled in Wiesbaden, Germany. From the age of six he often appeared onstage, dancing alongside his father Dmitrij Simkin.

At age ten, Simkin began his training under the direction of his mother, Olga Aleksandrova. At 12, he began participating in ballet competitions and galas around the world and, at the same time, he finished his academic education. He joined the ballet company of the Vienna State Opera in 2006 as a demi-soloist and danced many roles in the classical, neoclassical and contemporary repertoire of the company. In 2007, he danced his first principal role, Basilio in Don Quixote, as a guest with the Lithuanian National Opera.

Simkin’s awards include the Senior Gold Medal at the USA International Ballet Competition in Jackson 2006, Grand Prix International Ballet Competition Helsinki 2005 and First Prize and Gold Medal at the 21st International Ballet Competition in Varna 2004, among others.

Simkin joined American Ballet Theatre as a Soloist in October 2008. His repertoire with the Company includes the Bronze Idol in La Bayadère, Ballet Dancer in The Bright Stream, Franz in Coppélia, Ali, the slave and Lankendem in Le Corsaire, Basilio and the Lead Gypsy in Don Quixote, Puck in The Dream, the first sailor in Fancy Free, Albrecht, the Flames of Paris pas de deux, Albrecht and the peasant pas de deux in Giselle, Profiteer in The Green Table, Lescaut in Manon, Kolia in A Month in the Country, the Nutcracker-Prince in Alexei Ratmansky’s The Nutcracker, Lensky in Onegin, the Son in Prodigal Son, Romeo, Mercutio and Benvolio in Romeo and Juliet, Boy With Matted Hair in Shadowplay, Prince Désiré and the Bluebird in The Sleeping Beauty, the Rose in Le Spectre de la Rose, the pas de deux from Stars and Stripes, Prince Siegfried, Benno and the pas de trois in Swan Lake, Gurn in La Sylphide, Eros and a Goat in Sylvia, the Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux and leading roles in Allegro Brillante, Black Tuesday, Company B, The Brahms-Haydn Variations, Duets, In the Upper Room, The Leaves Are Fading, Monotones I, Mozartiana, Piano Concerto #1, Sinfonietta and Symphony in C. He created the Chinese Dance in Alexei Ratmansky’s The Nutcracker, the Bluebird in Ratmansky’s The Sleeping Beauty, Ariel in The Tempest, The Boy in Whipped Cream and roles in Everything Doesn’t Happen at Once, Serenade After Plato’s Symposium and Troika.

Throughout his international career, Simkin received acclaim performing throughout North and South America, Asia and the Middle East. He organized International Ballet Galas in Greece in 2009 and in Japan in 2012. In 2015, together with The Joyce Theater in New York, Simkin spearheaded and produced INTENSIO, an evening of original contemporary choreography, which toured the United States and internationally. His latest endeavor is the production of Falls the Shadow, a multi-disciplinary dance installation at the Guggenheim

Museum in New York which involves generative video projections and costumes by Dior.

Tickets for American Ballet Theatre’s 2017 Fall season at the David H. Koch Theater, priced from $25, are available online, at the Koch Theater box office or by phone at 212-496-0600. Performance-only tickets for the Opening Night Gala begin at $25. The David H. Koch Theater is located at Lincoln Center, Broadway and 63rd Street in New York City. For more information, visit ABT’s website at www.abt.org

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its the mom

its the mom

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, CharlieH said:

I suppose this means that we in Washington, DC, will not get to see Simkin in Ratmansky's Whipped Cream at the Kennedy Center next winter. From what I'd read, the leading role seemed to have been tailor made for him.

In the original article, it states "September 2018," so I would venture to say he will be performing in Whipped Cream.  I will say I saw the other two "Boys" in Whipped Cream, and both were excellent.  

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Drew

Drew

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I think Berlin has also been the scene of some struggles over just how classical/contemporary the company is going to be.

 

I saw Simkin give some fantastic performances, but I found it very hard to believe in him as a leading man for the major nineteenth-century classics. I almost might prefer him in contemporary repertory, though I'd miss the quality he brings to particular classical roles, especially the contemporary-classical roles created for him by Ratmansky.

 

I agree, though, that both Simkin and Cirio were excellent in Whipped Cream. For my taste, Simkin captured the fantastical tone of the piece best and also had a more airy quality--almost magical--in his dancing. It's a role to which he brings a very special quality.

 

To say the least, I was sad to miss Cornejo in this ballet--broken-hearted would be more like it; he was injured the day I was supposed to see him.
 

 

Edited by Drew
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pherank

pherank

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In Simkin's words:

I am extremely grateful for the ten fantastic years I spent calling ABT "home." As a new chapter begins, I am thankful to Kevin McKenzie, who not only has been very supportive, but who is also allowing me to return to the wonderful New York audience in the future. Having grown up in Germany, I am looking forward to returning with everything that ABT has taught me and to joining Staatballett Berlin under the directorship of Sasha Waltz and Johannes Öhman starting in the 2018/2019 season.

 

https://www.instagram.com/p/BYybIB5niaq/?hl=en&taken-by=daniil

 

It does sound like he intends to keep 'one foot in  the door' here in the US.

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Drew

Drew

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Simkin may have good reason to make the move--sounds like Berlin has a lot to offer him--but I'm not surprised his statement re ABT is a warm one. ABT has given him a lot of great opportunities from creating roles in new works to dancing major classical roles that some other companies might have denied him.

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CharlieH

CharlieH

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On ‎9‎/‎8‎/‎2017 at 1:21 PM, its the mom said:

In the original article, it states "September 2018," so I would venture to say he will be performing in Whipped Cream.  I will say I saw the other two "Boys" in Whipped Cream, and both were excellent.  

 

Thanks for this. I had assumed "effective immediately."

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Drew

Drew

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2 hours ago, mnacenani said:

 

Sure seems to boost Yana's performance and make her glow - watch the clip of them dance

the Don Kixot Grand Pas :  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-_5lto74MF4

 

 

Simkin has done very well at ABT--he certainly has glowed there--and been dancing all across the repertory from major classics to world premiers. He may prefer Berlin's rep or prefer Berlin for other reasons (personel, family etc.), but from an audience-member point of view he unquestionably has flourished at ABT. I'm glad he speaks positively about the company even as he is off to join a new one.

 

One notable feature of his ABT career: Simkin has created any number of roles in Ratmansky's ballets. I was able to see him in three of the roles he 'created' -- the boy in Whipped Cream, Shostakovich Piano Concerto No 1, and Ariel in The Tempest. Each ballet drew on and developed his talents in different ways. (I didn't see him in Ratmansky's Serenade After Plato's Symposium, but that was another major role he created in a very different kind of ballet.). Those three Ratmansky roles, along with his performance as the son in Ashton's A Month in the Country, were the finest work I saw him do at ABT.  I hardly imagine that his performance in Whipped Cream or Tempest will be bettered--and I think I even preferred him to Wayne Sleep in A Month in the Country! Sleep, as some will remember, created that role.

 

(People may be surprised that I mention Simkin's performance in The Tempest. It was an uneven ballet, but had absolutely remarkable passages: I'm sorry it's considered a dud and unlikely to be revived. Ratmansky was genuinely doing something different with it and when it worked--not always--it was very powerful.)

 

Still, I wish ABT would/could develop some more properly danseur noble types in their male ranks....and strong partners in the Nagy, Gomes tradition.  The company was right to develop Simkin as they did, so I'm not complaining--he's a rare talent--but still a very sui generis dancer.  When it comes to other, smaller men at ABT, I regret that Gorak's progress has stalled--I don't know why or what can be done, but he seems to have enormous potential ...and is no longer a kid.

 

I think I am about to lose electricity and other mayhem is threatening -- so computers off!

Edited by Drew
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sandik

sandik

Posted
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4 hours ago, Drew said:

(People may be surprised that I mention Simkin's performance in The Tempest. It was an uneven ballet, but had absolutely remarkable passages: I'm sorry it's considered a dud and unlikely to be revived. Ratmansky was genuinely doing something different with it and when it worked--not always--it was very powerful.)

...

 

I think I am about to lose electricity and other mayhem is threatening -- so computers off!

 

I think Tempest is a difficult work to transfer to dance -- I didn't see the Ratmansky, but I remember big chunks of the Smuin version for San Francisco, and although there were some beautiful passages, there were also some really thick places.  Crystal Pite's take on the work was also mixed -- her shipwreck was fantastic (which makes perfect sense from someone who excels at creating an off balance world), but once we embarked on the rest of the narrative it got very obscure.

 

Good luck with the mayhem!

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California

California

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On his Instagram, Simkin says he's spending a few extra days in LA "on business" after finishing his ABT performances in Harlequinade. Then he has a shot at the LA Dance Project. (He uses that Instagram-story thing which I don't know how to link.) I haven't seen any announcement on that, but perhaps something to watch for. He seems to be busy, busy, but he's in his prime, so more power to him!

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pherank

pherank

Posted
Posted
On 4/17/2020 at 2:10 PM, volcanohunter said:

Iana Salenko and Daniil Simkin dancing the pas de deux from Theme and Variations in the studio.

Wow, I'm amazed at how long the sequence is. Remember when no one could post more than 40 seconds of continuous choreography?

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California

California

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On Instagram Daniil Simkin has been posting a lot of pictures of NYC this week. He's not cast in the fall or Nutcracker season. I am wondering if perhaps he is in town to rehearse something for the spring Met season? A new Ratmansky or perhaps the Ratmansky "Of Love and Rage" that had just one performance in Orange County before the pandemic?  Fingers crossed! I'd love to see him again with ABT!

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ABT Fan

ABT Fan

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16 hours ago, California said:

On Instagram Daniil Simkin has been posting a lot of pictures of NYC this week. He's not cast in the fall or Nutcracker season. I am wondering if perhaps he is in town to rehearse something for the spring Met season? A new Ratmansky or perhaps the Ratmansky "Of Love and Rage" that had just one performance in Orange County before the pandemic?  Fingers crossed! I'd love to see him again with ABT!

On his IG? I follow him and see no NYC posts…unless he has a second account I’m not aware of.

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