nanushka Posted June 30, 2018 Share Posted June 30, 2018 I agree, there’s a value to having a contingent of soloists who may well not be headed to principal rank. Link to comment
canbelto Posted June 30, 2018 Share Posted June 30, 2018 Every company needs to have a reliable roster of soloists who won't ever be on the principal track but are there to fill out the less glamorous roles. In NYCB Megan LeCrone, Sean Suozzi, and until recently Savannah Lowery were like that. Link to comment
cobweb Posted June 30, 2018 Share Posted June 30, 2018 So... "flagship soloists"? As has been discussed on here many times, the rep at ABT limits dancers' opportunities to take on bigger roles and develop at a higher level. For that reason, the "flagship soloist" idea makes more sense to me at NYCB, where there are tons of roles to be filled out, than at ABT. Although I have mixed feelings, because some corps are used for years as if they were soloists, and they certainly deserve the title and the pay. However, now there will have to be a lot of turnover at the female soloist level before there's room for Ogawa, McBride, or whoever. As for the thin male principal roster, maybe ABT can make Robert Fairchild an offer he can't refuse. Link to comment
alexL Posted June 30, 2018 Share Posted June 30, 2018 I don't think importing a former/current NYCB dancer is a good idea. Honestly, none of their current male dancers have the appropriate epaulement, acting chops, or stamina for the full length classic ballet. De Luz is the only exception but he's retiring. ABT need to test out the taller male soloists in the major principal roles ASAP. I know Whiteside isn't everyone's favorite but he's been a life saver this season. 3 Swan Lakes in 4 days with 3 different partners?? They better pray that he doesn't get injured. Anyway, I'm very happy to see Hurlin getting her promotion fairly early in her career. Link to comment
CTballetfan Posted June 30, 2018 Share Posted June 30, 2018 I would love to see ABT make Robert Fairchild “an offer he can’t refuse,” as Cobweb suggested. I do think he has the “appropriate epaulement, acting chops and stamina” AlexL thinks is needed for a full-length ballet b/c he has carried a Broadway show as well as NYCB’s R&J and other full-length ballets. But I wonder if he would be interested in returning to NY. Link to comment
alexL Posted June 30, 2018 Share Posted June 30, 2018 41 minutes ago, CTballetfan said: I would love to see ABT make Robert Fairchild “an offer he can’t refuse,” as Cobweb suggested. I do think he has the “appropriate epaulement, acting chops and stamina” AlexL thinks is needed for a full-length ballet b/c he has carried a Broadway show as well as NYCB’s R&J and other full-length ballets. But I wonder if he would be interested in returning to NY. He might have the right epaulement for Martin's "not so Petipa" Swan Lake production...but to each his own. Whiteside doesn't have the best epaulement either My point is ABT doesn't need to import another short male principal from outside. I hope Lendorf makes a speedy recovery. HE has the right upper body(and more than adequate feet) and stage presence for the classical reps. Link to comment
CharlieH Posted June 30, 2018 Share Posted June 30, 2018 8 hours ago, nanushka said: See the post above re: Scout Forsythe's comment that these are the only promotions at this time. Too bad and odd. ABT could use some more male soloists (grooming for Principals). Link to comment
canbelto Posted June 30, 2018 Share Posted June 30, 2018 1 hour ago, alexL said: He might have the right epaulement for Martin's "not so Petipa" Swan Lake production...but to each his own. Whiteside doesn't have the best epaulement either My point is ABT doesn't need to import another short male principal from outside. I hope Lendorf makes a speedy recovery. HE has the right upper body(and more than adequate feet) and stage presence for the classical reps. Fairchild is NOT short. But at this point in his career I doubt he'd be willing to return to a full-time classical ballet gig. Link to comment
alexL Posted June 30, 2018 Share Posted June 30, 2018 4 hours ago, canbelto said: Fairchild is NOT short. But at this point in his career I doubt he'd be willing to return to a full-time classical ballet gig. I consider any male dancer under 6' short. If he is taller than 6' foot(although I highly doubt it) then I guess his proportion makes him look shorter than he actually is. Link to comment
BalletFan Posted June 30, 2018 Share Posted June 30, 2018 13 hours ago, cobweb said: I am always glad to hear promotions, and these ladies are all talented. If there was ever a case of a dancer performing beyond her rank, it was Fang as Mercedes in Don Q on Tuesday night, ablaze with passion, technique, and stage presence in spades. And I love to see long-term corps who have basically been acting as soloists, finally get the promotion (as with Luciana Paris and Roman Zhurbin). Williams was also quite grand on Tuesday. Hurlin is a beautiful dancer, and no doubt tremendous potential, I am hoping to see artistic development and commitment to her roles. Still, in some ways I'm a little baffled by these choices. Given that Fang and Williams must both be about 30, give or take a few years, can we consider them to be on the principal track? It seems very poor talent management to be promoting people to principal when they're 35, and it would also be a shame to see soloist spots taken by dancers seemingly not on an upward trajectory. I agree with you, Cobweb. While I'm happy for these ladies, I, too, am a little baffled by these choices. I'm not familiar enough with Fang or Williams to have a real opinion about either of them. It just seems to me that both women kind of came out of nowhere this season. But perhaps that's not the case. Hopefully, they'll both have a chance of being promoted to principal one day and not be stalled at the soloist rank. Catherine Hurlin, on the other hand, has been dancing soloist roles in every single ballet I've seen this season. It was obvious to me that she would be promoted sooner rather than later. Catherine Hurlin is not one of my favorites. She doesn't really stand out to my eyes; however, I'm sure she must have lots of fans. She's still very young and is probably on track to become a principal one day, which is nice to see at ABT. Link to comment
canbelto Posted June 30, 2018 Share Posted June 30, 2018 1 hour ago, alexL said: I consider any male dancer under 6' short. If he is taller than 6' foot(although I highly doubt it) then I guess his proportion makes him look shorter than he actually is. I've stood next to him. Hes around 6'1" or so. His actual height is about the same as Marcelo Gomes. Link to comment
miliosr Posted June 30, 2018 Share Posted June 30, 2018 11 hours ago, alexL said: I don't think importing a former/current NYCB dancer is a good idea. As much as I'm not in favor of importing a male principal from City Ballet, such a move would not be unprecedented. After all, Ethan Steifel jumped ship for ABT in the 1990s. (It's worked in the other direction as well -- Robert La Fosse in 1986, Charles Askegard in 1997 and Joaquin De Luz in 2003.) To the extent that ABT does approach someone from City Ballet, one intriguing prospect would be Zach Catazaro. In his recent Dance Europe interview, he mentioned how he sought out Marcelo Gomes' help for Swan Lake because there were certain things he needed help with that aren't stressed at City Ballet. Also, when asked what roles he would like to dance, Catazaro cited Kenneth MacMillan's Manon and Mayerling. I can picture Catazaro in the "bodice rippers" at ABT -- John Cranko's Onegin, MacMillan's Manon and John Neumeier's La Dame aux camellias. Link to comment
cobweb Posted June 30, 2018 Share Posted June 30, 2018 13 minutes ago, miliosr said: I can picture Catazaro in the "bodice rippers" at ABT -- John Cranko's Onegin, MacMillan's Manon and John Neumeier's La Dame aux camellias. Great idea! I can see it too. Link to comment
Inge Posted June 30, 2018 Share Posted June 30, 2018 2 hours ago, BalletFan said: I agree with you, Cobweb. While I'm happy for these ladies, I, too, am a little baffled by these choices. I'm not familiar enough with Fang or Williams to have a real opinion about either of them. It just seems to me that both women kind of came out of nowhere this season. Fang has been with the company since 2003! Another Ballet Alert member pointed out to me that she was injured a while back (for two whole years) so it stalled her progress. She will be like Luciana Paris, not on the principal route but an invaluable soloist. For me, Fang absolutely glows. She was the only harlot this year to really dig into the role, performed well as the first shade, and performs even the smallest roles with a freshness and charisma that's impossible to fake. She is also incredibly stylish and carries a sparkling old world glamour, which is always good for fashion shoots and such (shouldn't matter, but it really is important to keep ballet on the public radar, even if it's just a magazine spread). Love her. Williams hasn't been high on my radar, but everyone who saw her Myrtha this year said it was the best of the new batch of Myrthas, and that's really saying something. Link to comment
miliosr Posted July 2, 2018 Share Posted July 2, 2018 I went back and found the quote Zach Catazaro made in Dance Europe in regard to seeking Marcelo Gomes' help: "For Swan Lake I had Darcy [sic] Kistler and Jared Angle coaching me, and I sought help from Marcelo Gomes for the little in-between things, to make sure, for example, that I was running as a prince should run on stage. That's not always emphasized in this company [City Ballet], because it's not often needed, so I wanted to seek help from people who are specialized in that kind of thing." Link to comment
Marta Posted July 3, 2018 Share Posted July 3, 2018 On 6/30/2018 at 10:34 AM, alexL said: I consider any male dancer under 6' short. If he is taller than 6' foot(although I highly doubt it) then I guess his proportion makes him look shorter than he actually is. Oh, come on! I don't think Fairchild is a classical dancer either, and I'd be shocked if he accepted such an offer. ABT should be promoting Hoven to principal. Link to comment
Drew Posted July 3, 2018 Share Posted July 3, 2018 (edited) Years ago--before her injury--many people on this site seemed to assume Fang was on the track to principal; I remember high praise for her performances in Ashton's Symphonic Variations in particular. More recently, I thought her Marianne Chartreuse was the funniest and most charming of three casts I saw last year (which included the "original" cast) ... I'm sorry to have missed her various solo outings this season (I'm not seeing ABT at all) but have been rather delighted to read about those performances and to learn that she has been promoted! Edited July 3, 2018 by Drew Link to comment
cargill Posted July 3, 2018 Share Posted July 3, 2018 I remember her performance in "Symphonic Variations". She was one of the side girls, and It was the first time I had heard of her. She was absolutely stunning. I saw a ballet acquaintance on the subway later and we both just said "Fang!". There was such a serenity about her and absolute authority. She used to do the nocturne in "Les Sylphides" too, which was so lyrical, and again, had such quiet authority. Link to comment
mille-feuille Posted July 3, 2018 Share Posted July 3, 2018 I used to always spot Fang in a bad way because of her highly staccato style of dancing, but recently she seems to have toned it down and it's made a world of a difference -- she looks so glamorous and floaty! I think her promotion was well deserved. Like others on this board, I wish Gabe Stone Shayer and Kaho Ogawa had also been promoted. Link to comment
lostatthemet Posted July 5, 2018 Share Posted July 5, 2018 On 7/2/2018 at 8:35 PM, Marta said: Oh, come on! I don't think Fairchild is a classical dancer either, and I'd be shocked if he accepted such an offer. ABT should be promoting Hoven to principal. I agree about Hoven, and I'd add Forster, as well. Link to comment
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