Fleurfairy Posted February 19, 2020 Share Posted February 19, 2020 I agree about Gillian looking too sturdy to be Giselle. She's never had the typical "ballet body" and it's very pronounced as Giselle. I didn't understand the casting either, she's been at ABT for 20 years so maybe McKenzie wanted to throw her a bone but at this late stage, and after she's been away for while on maternity leave it seems like a waste to keep casting her when a younger up and comer could take on the role. But then I've never understood an ounce of what goes through McKenzie's mind. Link to comment
aurora Posted February 19, 2020 Share Posted February 19, 2020 52 minutes ago, ABT Fan said: There is still one response from Lane in the comments. She says she doesn’t support Hicks or Trump, just using part of a quote. Um, no. She never should posted it, nor the money references. Just don’t say anything! Someone commented that Lane is cast less for the Met than some of her colleagues. If by colleagues they mean her fellow principals, she is cast WAY less then ALL of them. Even considerably less then Brandt, Trenary and Hurlin. I can’t imagine how she must feel. Maybe she’s being pushed out and she knows it. But, posting stuff like this online doesn’t help her. I really hope she rethinks and refrains from anything more like this. Whatever the cause of the falling out between her and Cornejo, it materially hurt her career with ABT. She was one of his best partners (maybe the best), and they seemed to enjoy working together and were cast with some frequency. Part of her extra value to the company was in that she was a good partner for the short men. With Simkin doing very little with ABT now, and Lane and Cornejo not dancing together, that is lost. I do find it surprising that she isn't being cast by Ratmansky any more. He has never been one to cast based on rank or how the company administration views dancers. If he is using her less, it is because --for whatever reason--he no longer wants to. Link to comment
abatt Posted February 19, 2020 Share Posted February 19, 2020 Although Lane is usually cast with short men, there is no reason why she could not also be cast with any medium or tall dancer. In fact, she danced with Stearns in VA in Swan Lake in a side gig. If McKenzie isn't using her much, I don't think it's because there is nobody to partner her. The fact that McKenzie never again cast her in her own Swan Lake after just one performance a few years ago says a lot about what he thinks. It's even more insulting that he then used Lane for the ballroom scene only in SL when Misty had the flu and couldn't make it through the entire ballet, even though Misty's version of the ballroom scene is considerably easier compared to what any other ABT ballerina does. McKenzie clearly has little respect for Lane and her talents. Link to comment
fondoffouettes Posted February 19, 2020 Share Posted February 19, 2020 (edited) For some reason, I'm not sure why, I don't feel the post is about Skylar Brandt. If Lane is indeed being pushed out, or feels like she's being pushed out, perhaps the reference to money has something to do with ABT's limited finances. Remember when Part was being pushed out and she posted about how ABT essentially said they didn't have the funds to support her slot as a principal? I know Lane's language seems to criticize a dancer for investing money in his/her career, but it's just hard for me to fathom her throwing such obvious shade at a soloist, or any one of her colleagues. She's essentially been a class act on social media, perhaps except for that one post on Cornejo's anniversary (though the purpose of that post was somewhat ambiguous, at least in my opinion). Edited February 19, 2020 by fondoffouettes Link to comment
aurora Posted February 19, 2020 Share Posted February 19, 2020 14 minutes ago, abatt said: Although Lane is usually cast with short men, there is no reason why she could not also be cast with any medium or tall dancer. In fact, she danced with Stearns in VA in Swan Lake in a side gig. Of course she can. But one of her great advantages was in being a dancer that did pair well with the shorter (and thus more tricky to find partners for) men. Lane might be lovely with Stearns, but you can't very well imagine Teusher dancing with Cornejo. Link to comment
nanushka Posted February 19, 2020 Share Posted February 19, 2020 16 minutes ago, abatt said: Although Lane is usually cast with short men, there is no reason why she could not also be cast with any medium or tall dancer. In fact, she danced with Stearns in VA in Swan Lake in a side gig. If McKenzie isn't using her much, I don't think it's because there is nobody to partner her. True, but to @aurora's point, being able to dance very well with short men was a niche that Lane was filling. Taking McKenzie's lack of favor toward her as a given, that was at least something she had going for her. Link to comment
fondoffouettes Posted February 19, 2020 Share Posted February 19, 2020 Just now, aurora said: Of course she can. But one of her great advantages was in being a dancer that did pair well with the shorter (and thus more tricky to find partners for) men. Lane might be lovely with Stearns, but you can't very well imagine Teusher dancing with Cornejo. Simkin being engaged just once for the entire Met season has also dealt a blow to Lane's career. The same could be said for Gorak somewhat petering out as a potential principal; the fact that they swapped Stearns into Lane's R&J is telling. Link to comment
aurora Posted February 19, 2020 Share Posted February 19, 2020 Just now, fondoffouettes said: Simkin being engaged just once for the entire Met season has also dealt a blow to Lane's career. The same could be said for Gorak somewhat petering out as a potential principal; the fact that they swapped Stearns into Lane's R&J is telling. Exactly (I think I mentioned Simkin and his lack of ABT appearances in my earlier post). You are right too, about Gorak, who I'd almost forgotten about. I'm really sorry he never really developed in the areas in which he is lacking. He is so beautiful in some ways. Link to comment
abatt Posted February 19, 2020 Share Posted February 19, 2020 6 minutes ago, fondoffouettes said: Simkin being engaged just once for the entire Met season has also dealt a blow to Lane's career. The same could be said for Gorak somewhat petering out as a potential principal; the fact that they swapped Stearns into Lane's R&J is telling. Gorak has no chance anymore of moving up to principal. Numerous men on the soloist level are easily going to surpass him. Link to comment
Helene Posted February 19, 2020 Share Posted February 19, 2020 [Admin hat on] "Behind the scenes" speculation isn't official news, so don't post it. If there is no official news to belie other official news, keep your air quotes to yourself. [/Admin hat off] Link to comment
nanushka Posted February 19, 2020 Share Posted February 19, 2020 7 minutes ago, aurora said: Exactly (I think I mentioned Simkin and his lack of ABT appearances in my earlier post). You are right too, about Gorak, who I'd almost forgotten about. I'm really sorry he never really developed in the areas in which he is lacking. He is so beautiful in some ways. I had really high hopes for him once, but far from improving, he's now no longer dancing even as well as he once did. (At least not with consistency; if he is on occasion, I've mostly missed it.) I really thought he could become something much greater. It makes me sad that that never happened. Link to comment
fondoffouettes Posted February 19, 2020 Share Posted February 19, 2020 (edited) 21 minutes ago, aurora said: Exactly (I think I mentioned Simkin and his lack of ABT appearances in my earlier post). Oops, sorry -- missed that. 24 minutes ago, aurora said: Ratmansky opting to no longer cast her in his own choreography. Just as Ratmansky hasn't been utilizing Copeland in new works recently, nor casting her as Florine in his SB, which I think is a role she could probably still dance well unless the hops are an issue. It's actually my favorite classical role I've seen her in. To be fair, plenty of other Ratmansky favorites -- Abrera, Boylston and Cornejo come to mind -- have not been cast in his new ballet. He has mainly cast taller dancers. Perhaps he was going for a certain aesthetic and wanted "statuesque" dancers to represent this story from ancient Greece. Some of the costumes look quite heavy and elaborate, and perhaps a smaller dancer would drown in them. But it's truly a head-scratcher that Lane hasn't been cast as the TBA Rose in The Seasons. It's not like she has other obligations that week, unless she's guesting somewhere. Edited February 19, 2020 by fondoffouettes Link to comment
Roberta Posted February 19, 2020 Share Posted February 19, 2020 (edited) To me, it sounds as if we are witnessing the beginning of the "PART-ing" (as in Veronika Part) of Sarah Lane. How sad to inject bitterness into the matter. I hope that we are all dead wrong. With regard to Lane not being cast in the new Ratmansky full-length ballet, I'm not reading as much into that as are others. Just nine months ago, Lane was cast in a featured role (Rose) in The Seasons and reprised the role during the fall run. Of Love and Rage seems to be one of those ballets with only one featured female classical soloist role...like Romeo & Juliet. You're either the lead or you're not named in principal casting. Furthermore, with so much great dancey music in Khachaturian's Gayaneh score -- what's being used in Love & Rage -- how do we know that there may not be a classical divertissement of some sort in the ballet, with many solo-dancing opportunities? Remember that Ratmansky did "luxury casting" in The Seasons, with principals like Hee Seo cast in the winter divertissements (tiny but lovely solos). I'm still holding out hope that Lane will appear in a featured solo in Costa Mesa. p.s. - Correction: Love & Rage principal cast roles include another female: Queen of Babylon - but is this a "character principal" role or a classical one? I keep thinking of Ashton's Sylvia in which the role of Diana -- a smallish mime role lasting all of two minutes at the end of the ballet -- is included with the principals. Do the King and Queen of Babylon (Zhurbin/Teuscher or Roberts/K. Williams) dance a classical pdd? Edited February 19, 2020 by Roberta p.s. Link to comment
fondoffouettes Posted February 19, 2020 Share Posted February 19, 2020 (edited) In reviewing the casting for Of Love and Rage, I noticed that the Tharp piece has been renamed Ghost Catcher. (My apologies if this has already been reported up-thread.) I wonder if she's also reworking the choreography, which I found to be rather unfocused and uninspired. Edited February 19, 2020 by fondoffouettes Link to comment
Fleurfairy Posted February 19, 2020 Share Posted February 19, 2020 6 minutes ago, Roberta said: To me, it sounds as if we are witnessing the beginning of the "PART-ing" (as in Veronika Part) of Sarah Lane. How sad to inject bitterness into the matter. I hope that we are all dead wrong. Certainly seems that way. I hope she has a Plan B in place. Link to comment
LadyBubbles Posted February 19, 2020 Share Posted February 19, 2020 5 minutes ago, Roberta said: To me, it sounds as if we are witnessing the beginning of the "PART-ing" (as in Veronika Part) of Sarah Lane. That's what I've thought ever since casting came up. Will this be her last season or will she get cast in a single Wednesday matinee next season? That's usually the way it goes. Even Herrera had her farewell on a Wednesday matinee. Herrera, of all people! Another factor in Lane's lack of casting could be Cirio leaving so soon. Not that I blame him. He also got the short end of the stick at ABT. Being young and having other opportunities, he took them and, honestly, good for him. Link to comment
fondoffouettes Posted February 19, 2020 Share Posted February 19, 2020 5 minutes ago, LadyBubbles said: That's what I've thought ever since casting came up. Will this be her last season or will she get cast in a single Wednesday matinee next season? At least with dancers like Dvorovenko and Part, who essentially stopped being cast, their retirements would have likely happened anyway within the next couple years. I feel Lane is in that sweet spot of her career where she's at the height of her artistic and technical abilities. There has been no decline in her dancing, and in fact, she's dancing better than ever. Link to comment
ABT Fan Posted February 19, 2020 Share Posted February 19, 2020 (edited) I just noticed that casting for The Seasons leaves out Abrera as The Spirit of the Corn. Hee Seo will debut in her spot with Forster. Replacing Abrera is bad enough, but they couldn’t have given that role to someone else, who has less to do but is deserving of a new opportunity? Katherine Williams would be beautiful. Separately, check out this beautiful trailer for Love/Rage which is on Bell’s and Hurlin’s IG. Edited February 19, 2020 by ABT Fan Link to comment
abatt Posted February 19, 2020 Share Posted February 19, 2020 Since Abrera is leaving, and they probably intend to revive the Seasons on tours and possibly again in NYC, it makes sense for them to train someone new in Abrera's role. Link to comment
Roberta Posted February 19, 2020 Share Posted February 19, 2020 (edited) Costa Mesa-Segerstrom recently published an initial playbill and a feature story on Of Love and Rage. https://www.scfta.org/scfta/media/General/389-ABT-OLAR-for-web.pdf (not yet detailed casting; Lane still on the roster) https://www.scfta.org/scfta/media/General/0220-p14-16-Of-Love-and-Rage.pdf (learn to pronounce "Callirhoe"...) Edited February 19, 2020 by Roberta Link to comment
ECat Posted February 19, 2020 Share Posted February 19, 2020 13 hours ago, Emily12 said: Oh I agree with this whole-heartedly. So many casting decisions are a mystery to me. I always wish I knew or had the inside track as it is at times beyond baffling. The predilections of ADs has no baring on what is “natural” or “normal”! Boylston is technically strong, solid and reliable - I can see how that would be of value to an AD, but she has never touched my soul. There could also be a dozen reasons political or otherwise that we will never be privy to. Maybe she’s charming or laughs at his jokes more than others - Lol. I love Lane as a dancer. I also don’t think her repertoire is exactly shabby. She has danced or is set to dance the 3 roles she says she always dreamed about - Giselle, Manon and Juliet. She’s also danced Nikiya, Kitri, Aurora, Swanhilda, Gulnare, Clara, Praline, Columbine, Olga, and many other leads in one acts and short ballets. I was lucky enough to be at the 1.5 Swan Lakes where Lane subbed in for Kotchetkova and then Copeland. For four rehearsals, she surely pulled it off. I believe she will get the chance again, but until then, even if she doesn’t benefit from the same favoritism as Seo and Bolyston, she’s hardly baby in the corner and we will get to enjoy her Juliet, Giselle, Nikiya and Aurora this spring. Emily12 I couldn't of said it better myself. As a fellow actress, many casting decisions are simply out of our control and so much more goes into that than talent alone. It is probably the same in ballet. Also I agree that Sarah Lane has had many great roles and opportunities. Link to comment
canbelto Posted February 19, 2020 Share Posted February 19, 2020 Sarah clarifies that she isn't a Trump supporter and didn't know who Hope Hicks was? Link to comment
nanushka Posted February 19, 2020 Share Posted February 19, 2020 14 minutes ago, canbelto said: Sarah clarifies that she isn't a Trump supporter and didn't know who Hope Hicks was? I see no reason to doubt her. The statement seems pretty sincere, and it's not as if Hope Hicks is a household name. The quotation is easily found online. For instance, I just googled "hard work quotes," and this was one of the top hits, with Hicks' quotation at the top right: https://www.brainyquote.com/topics/hard-work-quotes Link to comment
Lena C. Posted February 19, 2020 Share Posted February 19, 2020 I agree with the gist of what everyone has said about Lane. Her falling out with Cornejo, as well as Simkin and Cirio's departures, have definitely delt a blow to Lane's career. Cornejo most of all. I am still heartbroken over that. As someone else said, Lane had that nice niche of being able to partner the short and tall men. Of course, if the AD wanted to, he could certainly cast Lane with Stearns, Ahn or Bell. Lane has danced with all three. So partner height isn't the issue, it's the AD simply not wanting to cast Lane. That brings me to what I've suspected ever since spring casting came out: that Lane is being slowly forced into retirement like Part. It is this kind of treatment that makes my blood boil. In the future, I will support the dancers but not the company. I can't abide the way management treats dancers not in favor. This spring, I'm going to enjoy what's left of Lane's dancing career and hope she's still the understudy for Cornejo's shows. Even with the falling out, they are professionals. I'm sure they'd dance together if the situation occurred. At least I hope. I also appreciated Lane's new post clarifying her position about the unfortunate quite. I'm going to take her at her word. Link to comment
volcanohunter Posted February 19, 2020 Share Posted February 19, 2020 3 hours ago, LadyBubbles said: Even Herrera had her farewell on a Wednesday matinee. Herrera, of all people! Because Herrera opted out of Ratmansky's Sleeping Beauty, which was scheduled to be her farewell performance. https://www.abt.org/paloma-herrera-to-give-farewell-performance-with-abt-in-giselle-on-may-27-matinee-at-metropolitan-opera-house/ Link to comment
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