ABT 2020 Giselle Durham, N.C.

[ABT Fan]

BIG NEWS!

Tommy Forster gets his Albrecht debut in N.C. opposite Murphy on 3/29!

He hasn't been cast with her in DC though, but perhaps that will be updated shortly.

So, we should get to see Forster's Albrecht at the Met next summer!!

(Side note - disappointingly, Lane hasn't been cast as Giselle in N.C., but I have a feeling that may have to do with Simkin's availability.)

https://www.abt.org/performances/master-calendar/

Edited September 9, 2019 by ABT Fan
Typo

[nanushka]

1 hour ago, ABT Fan said:

BIG NEWS!

Tommy Forster gets his Albrecht debut in N.C. opposite Murphy on 3/29!

YESSSSSSSSS!!!!

This is the BEST news!

I really hope he gets to do this at the Met next year. Hooray!

[abatt]

I hope so too, but since Albrecht is one of the few roles Hallberg is still willing to perform at ABT, I'm concerned that Forster might not get his chance at the Met.

[Lena C.]

Thank you so much for this exciting news! Thrilled for Forster! Fingers crossed for a repeat during the Met season. Disappointed re Lane, as Giselle is her best role. But Simkin' s unavailability doesn't mean Lane can't dance with another partner-she was amazing with Cornejo.

Edited September 9, 2019 by Lena C.
Misspelling

[ABT Fan]

24 minutes ago, abatt said:

I hope so too, but since Albrecht is one of the few roles Hallberg is still willing to perform at ABT, I'm concerned that Forster might not get his chance at the Met.

I see your point, and it's possible (please no), but Osipova could also make a guest appearance, per usual, to dance with Hallberg, leaving Murphy with need of a partner. 

Or, if Osipova doesn't guest, there are only 6 principal women (and no soloists) who currently dance Giselle, and there are usually 8 shows (frequently Seo gets two...). So, there is room for a Giselle debut and she'll need a partner.

The current pairings could get switched up by then anyway, but at the moment I still see room for Forster.

I'm cautiously optimistic (fingers and toes double-crossed!).

[Barbara]

Fabulous news and so deserved! Also hoping this means a Met debut! I’m thrilled!

[laurel]

Very pleased for Forster, it's about time he was cast in a classical leading role.  But he needs to make his debut at the Met; it would presage a promotion.  

I'd assumed that both Lane and Brandt would be dancing in Durham.  Many of my family members have migrated to Chapel Hill, and I'd planned to take anyone  who was interested to see either one of them perform.  Just so they could see why I make such a fuss over great classical dancing.  Unfortunately, ABT has put the kibosh on those plans.  How could I have imagined they'd allow Lane to dance when Copeland, Seo and Boylston will always stand in her way and get first dibs?  In a role she dances ten times better than any of them!  If management had any tendencies toward creative thinking, they might have thought it best to show off their top classical dancers for the NC audience, not their weakest.  (Though I do understand why Murphy and Abrera will be dancing.)  Yes, Copeland sells tickets, but the tri-city audiences have been buying tickets to these performances since they went on sale, for every night, not knowing who would be cast.  They don't care who's dancing, they just want to see the show.  Both Lane and Brandt can dance with anyone; Simkin's absence shouldn't make a difference in casting.  But it does, because mgmt. is stodgy and contrary.  Well, once again, my thanks to ABT for helping me save my money!  Much appreciated!

[Fleurfairy]

Between not being cast in on this tour and getting shoved into two Saturday matinees performances for Nutcracker, I'm still hoping Lane leaves ABT. She has always gotten the short shrift at this company. I know all the reasons why she has stayed, but she has bigger reasons to leave. She's till at the top of her game, technique-wise. Probably the best she's ever been. It's just so frustrating.

[Lena C.]

5 hours ago, Fleurfairy said:

Between not being cast in on this tour and getting shoved into two Saturday matinees performances for Nutcracker, I'm still hoping Lane leaves ABT. She has always gotten the short shrift at this company. I know all the reasons why she has stayed, but she has bigger reasons to leave. She's till at the top of her game, technique-wise. Probably the best she's ever been. It's just so frustrating.

Yes I completely understand. It is SO frustrating.  After years in soloist purgatory, getting passed over again and again, to making it to principal only to be the standby for swan lake and shoved into matinee performances. Lane is at the top of her game and ABT is just not worthy of her. After that stunning Giselle in 2017, Lane should be opening the tour and getting two shows. Instead, she doesn't get to perform at all in N.C. and was regulated to a single Wednesday matinee in 2018. Won't be surprised if that's all she gets again this 2020 met season. (I will never get over that appalling Copeland Swan Lake when Lane was deemed only good enough to substitute but not get her own show. That right there sums up ABT's priorities.) 

Rant over

[balletlover08]

I saw on Skylar's last instagram post with Aran Bell that she is hoping to perform Giselle in DC next year...so hopefully that is true and we will get to see her debut in it next year! 

[nanushka]

2 hours ago, balletlover08 said:

I saw on Skylar's last instagram post with Aran Bell that she is hoping to perform Giselle in DC next year...so hopefully that is true and we will get to see her debut in it next year! 

Very interesting. I’m surprised she would comment publicly like that on casting that hasn’t been announced.

[ABT Fan]

22 minutes ago, nanushka said:

I’m surprised she would comment publicly like that on casting that hasn’t been announced.

Same here. Especially regarding a role that would be a debut. I like her dancing very much, but I find her (in my view) very public campaign on Instagram for the role to be in poor taste. She's posted a lot of videos of herself before, and rehearsing roles that she wasn't cast in (perhaps she was an understudy), but not to such a degree as with her rehearsing Giselle. These videos didn't appear until the casting was released along with the TBA's and now she's publicly commented that she hopes to be cast. I don't think I've ever seen a dancer do this before, which in and of itself doesn't mean that what Brandt is doing is right or wrong. But, it certainly took me by surprise. I realize self-promotion is the name of the game on Instagram, but for a particular role? I just find it really tacky.

[nanushka]

10 minutes ago, ABT Fan said:

I like her dancing very much, but I find her (in my view) very public campaign on Instagram for the role to be in poor taste.

Until this latest move it seemed there was plausible deniability that that’s what was up. No more, it seems.

[LadyBubbles]

I've seen a lot of self promotion and "quasi auditions" on Instagram for the longest time.

I like seeing dancers work on roles they've already been cast for, whether in the company or in a guesting performance. Even if they haven't been cast, it's fun to watch dancers at work. Having said that, and as much as I adore Brandt, her Giselle campaign is getting a bit much. Overkill, really. If she is cast this season, I hope it's because the artistic staff believes she's the best choice and not because of (social) media pressure. 

[fondoffouettes]

Part of me can't blame Brandt for advocating for herself in this way, especially in a company that has often overlooked talent and repeatedly cast dancers in roles for which they are ill-suited. I guess there's sort of an unspoken rule that dancers aren't supposed to say what they want publicly, and instead just be incredibly grateful when a role is bestowed on them. But didn't that go out the window when Copeland "willed what she wanted" by repeatedly declaring in the press that she wanted to become the first African American principal at ABT? At least Brandt is "campaigning" on talent. 

[tutu]

w/r/t Brandt, I'm wondering if she and Bell are also preparing for a gala appearance or a guest debut at another company? I can think of more than a few dancers who tried out some of the classic roles guesting in smaller companies or abroad. Some of them went on to perform the roles with their home companies, others not.

[Fleurfairy]

10 hours ago, ABT Fan said:

Same here. Especially regarding a role that would be a debut. I like her dancing very much, but I find her (in my view) very public campaign on Instagram for the role to be in poor taste. She's posted a lot of videos of herself before, and rehearsing roles that she wasn't cast in (perhaps she was an understudy), but not to such a degree as with her rehearsing Giselle. These videos didn't appear until the casting was released along with the TBA's and now she's publicly commented that she hopes to be cast. I don't think I've ever seen a dancer do this before, which in and of itself doesn't mean that what Brandt is doing is right or wrong. But, it certainly took me by surprise. I realize self-promotion is the name of the game on Instagram, but for a particular role? I just find it really tacky.

Ditto. Not a fan of self-promotion. Especially when she hasn't paid her dues in the company like many other dancers who have been there a lot longer and are quietly toiling away. 

Edited September 18, 2019 by Fleurfairy

[nanushka]

I think self-promotion, especially based on genuine merit, is one thing. Advocating publicly for a particular open calendar slot (if that’s what she’s doing) is another, and seems a little more problematic.

Edited September 18, 2019 by nanushka

[ABT Fan]

17 minutes ago, tutu said:

w/r/t Brandt, I'm wondering if she and Bell are also preparing for a gala appearance or a guest debut at another company? I can think of more than a few dancers who tried out some of the classic roles guesting in smaller companies or abroad. Some of them went on to perform the roles with their home companies, others not.

She is also rehearsing in a video or two with Hammoudi. And, she posted publicly that she was hoping to be cast next year, in a response to someone asking her when she’d perform the role. Both of these things make a scheduled gala/performance unlikely.

[aurora]

3 hours ago, Fleurfairy said:

Ditto. Not a fan of self-promotion. Especially when she hasn't paid her dues in the company like many other dancers who have been there a lot longer and are quietly toiling away. 

Hasn't paid her dues?

So we criticize the company for not promoting people fast enough, and then we criticize dancers for wanting more?

 

She joined the company in 2011 and was made a soloist in 2015. She's been dancing leading roles for several years now. I think she's paid her dues.

[Josette]

Oh my God!  Wonderful news about Forster!  

[vipa]

7 hours ago, aurora said:

Hasn't paid her dues?

So we criticize the company for not promoting people fast enough, and then we criticize dancers for wanting more?

 

She joined the company in 2011 and was made a soloist in 2015. She's been dancing leading roles for several years now. I think she's paid her dues.

I agree, and I say more power to her. She put in hours of hard work (not to mention coaching money) working on Giselle. If she proved to Kevin M. (and anyone looking for a guest Giselle) that she can do a role they might not have thought of her for, that's great. This was not some easy gimmick or publicity stunt. This was work she was willing to put in when the only guaranteed reward was artistic growth.

[canbelto]

Eh it doesn't bother me. She;s putting herself out there and TPTB are free to look at it and either think it merits a Giselle or doesn't merit a Giselle. I more have a problem with dancers' social medias when it becomes an infomercial for dancewear, sneakers, and other products. There's a NYCB ballerina that I admire greatly as a dancer but who I unfollowed on social media because it wasn't anything other than promotions for her line of clothing.

[Lena C.]

On 9/18/2019 at 11:49 AM, aurora said:

Hasn't paid her dues?

So we criticize the company for not promoting people fast enough, and then we criticize dancers for wanting more?

 

She joined the company in 2011 and was made a soloist in 2015. She's been dancing leading roles for several years now. I think she's paid her dues.

I echo this 100 percent. She is puttng in the hard work and being honest about her goals. Copeland went on and on about wanting to be principal, without having the chops to back that desire up. Brandt is only after a role debut, not a promotion. She has paid her dues. 

[California]

16 hours ago, canbelto said:

I more have a problem with dancers' social medias when it becomes an infomercial for dancewear, sneakers, and other products. There's a NYCB ballerina that I admire greatly as a dancer but who I unfollowed on social media because it wasn't anything other than promotions for her line of clothing.

These commercial promotions are very widespread now, by dancers from NYCB, ABT, you name it. I scroll past them and wonder if they're losing followers. But I always think: these people have such short careers - let them make some $$ while they can.