ABT and Celebrity Cruises

[BLalo]

Is the Death Knell tolling? 

http://www.seatrade-cruise.com/news/news-headlines/celebrity-cruises-partnership-is-bringing-american-ballet-theatre-to-sea.html

[Jack Reed]

This news seems like a "death knell" to you?  I have a hunch you're right, but I don't know. Maybe you could elaborate a little. A death knell for the art of dance?  Or mainly for ballet as we know it and love it?  How so?

Edited February 14, 2019 by Jack Reed

[ABT Fan]

I saw this on Alexandre Hammoudi's Instagram a day ago.  I assumed it was for a one-time gig.

I don't know how I feel about a "partnership" with them, but if it helps their bottom line, it's a good thing.

 

Edited February 14, 2019 by ABT Fan

[BLalo]

This, combined with the news that ABT’s presence at the Met is being diminished would indicate to me that ABT may be in a pretty precarious position. I would also assume that this will be quite damaging for ABT’s brand. Do prestigious ballet companies perform on cruise ships? 

[vendangeuse]

While I admit this doesn’t look good at face-value, I’m curious to see how this all plays out. Specifically, what are ABT’s obligations to Celebrity? How many dancers are they obligated to put on the cruise? And which?

For example, I can envision a scenario where Celebrity only runs, for example, two week long “ABT cruises” (in the way that other cruise lines sometimes being aboard notable opera singers, or other classical arts performances) where the performances are somehow tied to the ports of call, and the off-shore programming might be tied to other classical arts history. Perhaps these cruises even leave from (or arrive in) NY around the time of ABT’s New York performances, and Celebrity cruises would be given the option to “add on” proper ABT performances to their travel via Celebrity. 

I’m not sure how much of the above is feasible. But I can see a scenario in which this opportunity actually does benefit ABT a little, if their costs are kept minimal. The news alarms me, a little, and while we may look back on this news as “the beginning of the end” in another decade or so, I don’t think that’s a foregone conclusion. 

But between this and the partnership with Duke, it doesn’t look like us New Yorkers will be getting those two Spring Season weeks back anytime soon. 

[fondoffouettes]

I know this is being billed as a "partnership" but it might just amount to several guesting gigs throughout the year. The fact the Hammoudi and Brandt are doing the Romeo and Juliet PDD seems to indicate that they are only going to be sending small numbers of dancers, and not staging pieces that would require lots of company members (but who knows?). If this is providing some extra income to the dancers, then I don't think it is necessarily a bad idea. Given their upcoming performance schedule, I assume the ABT dancers may be in a layoff period at the moment, and they may appreciate the extra employment. I do hope the main beneficiaries of this arrangement are the dancers...

 

Edited February 14, 2019 by fondoffouettes

[abatt]

There are a lot of prominent Broadway performers who also do gigs on cruises.  Seems like a win win situation if ABT makes some money, more people are exposed to high quality ballet, and the dancers get a free vacation cruise.

[its the mom]

I read a while back that English National Ballet also partnered with a cruise line.  A sign of the times?

https://thetravelingballerina.com/english-national-ballet-will-dance-the-atlantic-on-cunard-cruise-line/

https://www.cruisecritic.com/news/3528/

 

[Emma]

If soloists are given the opportunity to learn and perform principal roles they wouldn't get to dance otherwise, and ballet is exposed to an audience who would be able to see it otherwise, it sounds like a great idea. ABT does much less touring now, so it's harder for younger dancers to get opportunities to develop before being thrust on stage at the Met. Now, if ABT is in truly desperate straits and is mounting full scale productions of Bayedere, well...not so great.

[ABT Fan]

ABT's press release:

https://www.abt.org/abt-partnership-with-celebrity-cruises/

And:

https://www.celebritycruises.com/things-to-do-onboard/entertainment/american-ballet-theatre

Funny how in the second article, there's a big front page photo of Sarah Lane in SL. So, maybe she'll get another shot at O/O on a ship? (JK....)

Edited February 14, 2019 by ABT Fan

[The Traveling Ballerina]

Here's all the information I've put together so far. As I am also a travel agent, I am in contact with the cruise line directly to see if there is more information they will allow me to publish; I will update my article any time I get some new scoop!  

[ABT Fan]

4 minutes ago, The Traveling Ballerina said:

Here's all the information I've put together so far. As I am also a travel agent, I am in contact with the cruise line directly to see if there is more information they will allow me to publish; I will update my article any time I get some new scoop!  

So, they're going to have ABT "onboard experiences" (presumably meaning performances) during the Met season in June??

[The Traveling Ballerina]

22 minutes ago, ABT Fan said:

So, they're going to have ABT "onboard experiences" (presumably meaning performances) during the Met season in June??

I imagine that only a handful of artists will join the cruises at any given moment. And it's possible that the onboard experiences are concentrated within a couple of days, not necessarily for the duration of the itinerary.