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2018 Met Season


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1 hour ago, its the mom said:

 But it appears that Boylston and Copeland are center stage this year.  

... and they are the two dancers I LEAST want to see. The programming is so unimaginative, and the casting is so dominated by dancers I'm trying to avoid, and filled out with others who are just ho-hum, that I'm not sure I'll be seeing a single performance this season. I'd like to see the new principals, but trying to find interesting performances is a challenge. Sad!

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Copeland has been center stage for a few years now, so this isn't a new development, not that that makes it any easier to swallow.

I'm surprised that Boylston is in everything, and that she was also given Harlequinade. As I wrote on another page of this thread, I also thought Brandt would be cast.

And, I can't believe that I just noticed, but Abrera isn't cast in Bayadere this year. She's always done Gamzatti.

It'll be interesting to see how Abrera's and Murphy's retirements (or "retirements") are handled when the time comes (I'm betting next Met season for at least one of them). I can definitely see Abrera getting "the Part treatment". Murphy has been a favored principal for a long time, so I think she might be able to go out on her own terms, but as others have mentioned upthread, we've seen other favorites not treated well. The female principal roster is really full right now, so I can't see Brandt or Trenary getting promoted until Abrera or Murphy retire. There won't be enough principal roles to go around. I don't think that's an issue this year as Brandt/Trenary aren't quite ready yet, but next season if one/both of them are given a major debut, and succeed as expected, the AD will need to make room. Just like last year.

 

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3 hours ago, its the mom said:

Agreed.  However, some of the men are "young."  Simkin is just right around 30, but he will have a very reduced role.  Lendorf is 28-29, but injured much of the time (or at least up until now.)  Cirio is 26-27, but barely used.  Schevchenko and Teuscher are still under 30.  And the two soloists behind them, Trenary and Brandt are mid-20's.  However, most of the other soloists are either in their 30's or approaching 30, not leaving much time to develop as principals.

Yes. The male soloist roster isn't very young. I believe Royal is about 28 (?), so I sure hope they don't let him lag about without the necessary opportunities to move him forward.

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2 minutes ago, canbelto said:

Brandt stepped in last year on short notice and was a wonderful Medora in Le Corsaire. Really disappointed that she didn't get a Kitri this year.

Well, I probably make it pretty evident, but I am a Brandt and Trenary fan.  I would love to see either of them paired with Cirio or Simkin for a go at Don Quixote.  Both young women have the personality for Kitri, and much more so than some of the women already cast.  (Opinion, of course.)

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A release:

 

TAP DANCE CHOREOGRAPHER MICHELLE DORRANCE TO CREATE FIRST WORK FOR AMERICAN BALLET THEATRE

WORLD PREMIERE, CO-COMMISSIONED WITH THE VAIL DANCE FESTIVAL, SCHEDULED FOR SPRING GALA, MAY 21, 2018
AT METROPOLITAN OPERA HOUSE

Tap dance choreographer Michelle Dorrance, in her first work for American Ballet Theatre, will create a pièce d’occasion for the Company’s Spring Gala performance on May 21, 2018 at the Metropolitan Opera House. It was announced today by ABT Artistic Director Kevin McKenzie.

The new Dorrance work is the first of a trio of works by the choreographer, co-commissioned with Vail Dance Festival, for which Dorrance is an artist-in- residence. The pièce d’occasion will be followed up in July 2018 with the premiere of a new work for American Ballet Theatre’s first appearance at the Vail Dance Festival. Dorrance’s Vail work will incorporate dancers from ABT and guest artists from the Festival’s roster, leading towards an ABT World Premiere for the Company’s Fall season at the Koch Theater in New York, October 17-28, 2018.

Michelle Dorrance, a New York City based tap dancer, choreographer, director and performer, is founder and Artistic Director of Dorrance Dance. She is an Artist-in-Residence at the American Tap Dance Foundation, a 2016-17 New York City Center Choreography Fellow and a 2015 MacArthur Foundation Fellow.

“To have Michelle’s imaginative artistry on the same program with works by Alexei Ratmansky and Wayne McGregor is a dream come true,” said McKenzie. “For me, it recalls Ballet Theatre’s early days when diverse choreographers, working in distinct styles, offered variety to both dancers and audiences.”

Dorrance’s work in Vail over the past summers has drawn her into collaborations with a wide range of dancers beyond the tap world, from modern dance to street dance to ballet. “We are ecstatic to be partnering on this project, which furthers our mission of promoting creative alchemy,” said Vail Dance Festival Director Damian Woetzel.

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1 hour ago, ABT Fan said:

Yes. The male soloist roster isn't very young. I believe Royal is about 28 (?), so I sure hope they don't let him lag about without the necessary opportunities to move him forward.

Speaking of male soloists, what ever happened to Joey Gorak? Is he injured - because I don't see him on the spring schedule at all. A couple of years ago when people were bemoaning his lack of advancement I was thinking , no problem, they're letting him develop out of the spotlight. But at this point its crazy! He is so talented and at one point he was getting a few principal roles - but now - nothing. If he's healthy I suppose he'll get some Bennos & Benvolios and Giselle pdd, but he should be doing a lot more than that by now. Are there too many short dancers ahead of him?

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Gorak hasn't been injured. Some of us have written about him on various threads - he's in no man's land, going nowhere. He does a lot of peasant pas and similar soloist roles. No principal roles anymore. I haven't seen him develop and the last few times I've seen him he just dances pretty, with a weird pasted on smile, like he's going through the motions. I don't know if that caused his stagnation and lack of opportunities. I didn't see his Romeo, but others who did wrote that it wasn't very good and that he had some real partnering issues.

Edited by ABT Fan
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2 minutes ago, ABT Fan said:

I haven't seen him develop and the last few times I've seen him he just dances pretty, with a weird pasted on smile, like he's going through the motions. I don't know if that caused his stagnation and lack of opportunities.

This description matches what I've seen as well, though I suspect these qualities were at least as much an effect as a cause. Regardless, it's quite disappointing. I had the impression, in those earlier years, of seeing the start of a potentially exciting career. (Admittedly, he had some problems to work through — partnering foremost among them.)

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Just now, ABT Fan said:

I don't think Gorak's stagnation is due to Jeffrey Cirio. Look at how infrequently Cirio dances. He's cast as The Boy in Whipped Cream and Basilio, neither of which I could see Gorak doing. 

I completely agree it wasn't a 1-to-1 tradeoff, in terms of casting. But I think when Cirio was brought in as a soon-to-be-principal (it was basically a done deal, I think, from his hiring), it killed Gorak's chances of getting that promotion anytime soon and basically pushed him to the sidelines. He's been there ever since, and the effects on his dancing have been palpable. (Not that that's not at least partly his own fault; you have to make what you can of the opportunities you have, of course.)

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3 minutes ago, nanushka said:

This description matches what I've seen as well, though I suspect these qualities were at least as much an effect as a cause. Regardless, it's quite disappointing. I had the impression, in those earlier years, of seeing the start of a potentially exciting career. (Admittedly, he had some problems to work through — partnering foremost among them.)

I agree, it's very disappointing. He has/had a lot of potential. Whatever the reason, a lack of investment in his development with the proper amount of coaching to work out issues wouldn't be surprising.

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2 minutes ago, nanushka said:

I completely agree it wasn't a 1-to-1 tradeoff, in terms of casting. But I think when Cirio was brought in as a soon-to-be-principal (it was basically a done deal, I think, from his hiring), it killed Gorak's chances of getting that promotion anytime soon and basically pushed him to the sidelines. He's been there ever since, and the effects on his dancing have been palpable. (Not that that's not at least partly his own fault; you have to make what you can of the opportunities you have, of course.)

Yes. I completely agree. It had to be demoralizing.

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The coaching staff has gotten really depleted as well. Irina Kolpakova seems to be an 84 year old energizer bunny, but Victor Barbee left along with Julie Kent, and Alexei Ratmansky closely supervises his own ballets and does intensive coaching with them but for the regular bread-and-butter repertoire who is there to coach the dancers? One wonders.

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1 hour ago, canbelto said:

The coaching staff has gotten really depleted as well. Irina Kolpakova seems to be an 84 year old energizer bunny, but Victor Barbee left along with Julie Kent, and Alexei Ratmansky closely supervises his own ballets and does intensive coaching with them but for the regular bread-and-butter repertoire who is there to coach the dancers? One wonders.

Veronika Part stated in an interview that she had to rely on Ratmansky for extra coaching when she took on Don Quixote. That says a lot. 

On Instagram, I've only ever seen Kolpakova coaching the female principals (at least in the Petipa works). Does Raffa coach them at all? I know Susan Jones is the corps person, but I'm not sure what Raffa's role is. 

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3 hours ago, ABT Fan said:

Agree 100%!

Yup, she was ready for prime time, and then some. As much as I love Lane (and will go to see her in DQ), Brandt seems a more obvious choice.

Of course, we've all spoken at length about what roles we wish Lane had gotten. On Instagram, I was surprised to see that Lane is dancing the peasant pas de trois in Asia, as the two female parts are almost always cast with soloists at ABT (Xiomara Reyes is the last exception to that rule I can remember, though she never danced O/O, if I remember correctly). It's luxury casting to get to see Lane in this role, but I feel like she's progressed artistically beyond it. Hasn't she basically said in interviews that it was hard for her to keep dancing roles like the peasant pas de trois over and over again as she bided her time in the company?

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13 minutes ago, fondoffouettes said:

It's luxury casting to get to see Lane in this role, but I feel like she's progressed artistically beyond it. Hasn't she basically said in interviews that it was hard for her to keep dancing roles like the peasant pas de trois over and over again as she bided her time in the company?

I saw this on her Instagram the other day and had the same thought. She's doing the trois w/ Cirio and Brandt. Yes, that's superb casting. I know Cirio did either the trois or Giselle's peasant pas soon after he was promoted. But, to have two principals doing this (or really just one) seems a bit absurd.

 

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34 minutes ago, fondoffouettes said:

Veronika Part stated in an interview that she had to rely on Ratmansky for extra coaching when she took on Don Quixote. That says a lot. 

On Instagram, I've only ever seen Kolpakova coaching the female principals (at least in the Petipa works). Does Raffa coach them at all? I know Susan Jones is the corps person, but I'm not sure what Raffa's role is. 

Sarah Lane has posted videos of herself being coached by Irina Dvorovenko. She also thanked Irina and Max on social media after her performances of Giselle last spring.

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30 minutes ago, vipa said:

Sarah Lane has posted videos of herself being coached by Irina Dvorovenko. She also thanked Irina and Max on social media after her performances of Giselle last spring.

But that must have been coaching outside the company. n'est-ce pas? Which she had to pay for herself.

 

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2 hours ago, nanushka said:

I completely agree it wasn't a 1-to-1 tradeoff, in terms of casting. But I think when Cirio was brought in as a soon-to-be-principal (it was basically a done deal, I think, from his hiring), it killed Gorak's chances of getting that promotion anytime soon and basically pushed him to the sidelines. He's been there ever since, and the effects on his dancing have been palpable. (Not that that's not at least partly his own fault; you have to make what you can of the opportunities you have, of course.)

At the same time Cirio was hired, Lendorf was hired as a principal, which took away any chances of the "crumbs" Gorak may have gotten in casting.  Lendorf is the one that has been cast in potential roles for Gorak.  As for Lane and Cirio in Swan Lake pas de trois, it is sad for both of them not to get a shot at O/O and Siegfried.  Both have already done it on the professional stage.

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I hadn't thought about it before, but I guess Lendorf did take the roles that Gorak theoretically might have danced. Gorak has had a lot of difficulty with complex partnering assignments, and I think that's a substantial reason why he never made any progress in getting more roles.  Lendorf in my opinion is a joy to watch in almost everything.  He does not have the perfect ballet body like Hallberg.  However, he is very talented in both technique and dramatic presence.  My only reservation is that he does not seem to be suited to comedic roles like Don Q. 

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14 minutes ago, its the mom said:

At the same time Cirio was hired, Lendorf was hired as a principal, which took away any chances of the "crumbs" Gorak may have gotten in casting.  Lendorf is the one that has been cast in potential roles for Gorak.  As for Lane and Cirio in Swan Lake pas de trois, it is sad for both of them not to get a shot at O/O and Siegfried.  Both have already done it on the professional stage.

Sarah did dance O/O with ABT.  I saw her last year when she was a last minute sub for Maria Kochetkova last Spring at the MET.  She was breathtaking.  What I don’t understand, is why she is not being cast again this year either on tour or at the MET.

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