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New York City Ballet 2021-2022 season

California

By California
in New York City Ballet

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bellawood

bellawood

Posted
Posted

Good morning everyone, if the Monday blues have got you down, I recommend a visit to Chun Wai Chan's instagram, where there are lots of hints about the upcoming season's casting (I love a glimpse of rehearsal footage!)  both in his main feed and his Stories. 

In his Stores, he is rehearsing DGV with Mira Nadon, La Valse with Indiana Woodward, 4T's with Emilie Gerrity, and Black Swan PDD with Mira. 

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DC Export

DC Export

Posted
Posted

Ditto on the wish for a Laracey promotion! It's never too late for a dancer to take their career to the next level. Megan Fairchild has been a principal for decades now, but she has really come into her own only in the past five years or so (in my opinion). She was a great technician of course, but the interior life she performs now is so captivating. There are benefits of age and wisdom.

I also think it would help the company to add to its principal roster a few more seasoned dancers until the current crop soloists can establish themselves more firmly.

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abatt

abatt

Posted
Posted (edited)

I think the oldest person to be promoted from soloist to principal was Krohn. 

As a practical matter, if the company is investing time, money and effort to teach leading roles to new principals in rep that is revived every few years, they must prefer to have confidence that the person will be around for a period of time to perform the roles.  When you are talking about dancers in their mid or late 30s taking on new lead roles, the likelihood that those dancers will continue to perform those roles over the course of several revivals over the years is diminished.  That's why I think after a certain age the likelihood of promotion to principal diminishes.  While Whelan stayed for a really long time, she was  a  star dancer for several decades and  had the ability to write her own story, to an extent, regarding when and how she would retire.  Ditto Maria K. 

I think the time may have passed for Laracey.  They are putting her in oddity roles in ballets that are infrequently revived, like the Unanswered Question and Summerspace.    .

 

Edited by abatt
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bellawood

bellawood

Posted
Posted
50 minutes ago, abatt said:

I think the oldest person to be promoted from soloist to principal was Krohn. 

As a practical matter, if the company is investing time, money and effort to teach leading roles to new principals in rep that is revived every few years, they must prefer to have confidence that the person will be around for a period of time to perform the roles.  When you are talking about dancers in their mid or late 30s taking on new lead roles, the likelihood that those dancers will continue to perform those roles over the course of several revivals over the years is diminished.  That's why I think after a certain age the likelihood of promotion to principal becomes unlikely.  While Whelan stayed for a really long time, she was  a  star dancer for several decades and  had the ability to write her own story, to an extent, regarding when and how she would retire.  Ditto Maria K. 

I think the time may have passed for Laracey.  They are putting her in oddity roles in ballets that are infrequently revived, like the Unanswered Question and Summerspace.    .

 

I agree with this -- if she were being thought of "in that way", I think we might have seen her cast in La Valse, for instance -- a role I think she would be terrific in (maybe she has danced the lead? It's listed in her bio but I assume that meant one of the first act dancers). Instead, Indiana Woodward is getting third cast, because she's at least a decade younger and someone they expect to be a principal for years. 

On that note, it surprised me that Isabella LaFreniere is only 25! Sometimes we've seen these women for so long we forget how young they were when they first join the company.

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vipa

vipa

Posted
Posted
7 hours ago, Paisley said:

I couldn't agree more in regard to Megan Fairchild. I think after having her first child she has become a more interesting dancer to watch. Ditto x3 on Laracey she has been ready for awhile now. 

I agree that Fairchild improved with her age. I actually think her real breakthrough came when she returned from doing a Broadway show. Perhaps practicing a different kind of theatricality informed her performances. She kept growing after that.

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vipa

vipa

Posted
Posted
6 hours ago, abatt said:

I think the oldest person to be promoted from soloist to principal was Krohn. 

As a practical matter, if the company is investing time, money and effort to teach leading roles to new principals in rep that is revived every few years, they must prefer to have confidence that the person will be around for a period of time to perform the roles.  When you are talking about dancers in their mid or late 30s taking on new lead roles, the likelihood that those dancers will continue to perform those roles over the course of several revivals over the years is diminished.  That's why I think after a certain age the likelihood of promotion to principal diminishes.  While Whelan stayed for a really long time, she was  a  star dancer for several decades and  had the ability to write her own story, to an extent, regarding when and how she would retire.  Ditto Maria K. 

I think the time may have passed for Laracey.  They are putting her in oddity roles in ballets that are infrequently revived, like the Unanswered Question and Summerspace.    .

 

Thant may be so in some cases but many soloists learn principal roles as possible 4th 5th casts, and never perform them. New principals are not necessarily learning their roles for the first time. I know a past soloist who "learned" a principal role for 3 years and never got to do it. 

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BalanchineFan

BalanchineFan

Posted
Posted
16 hours ago, abatt said:

I think the oldest person to be promoted from soloist to principal was Krohn. 

As a practical matter, if the company is investing time, money and effort to teach leading roles to new principals in rep that is revived every few years, they must prefer to have confidence that the person will be around for a period of time to perform the roles.  When you are talking about dancers in their mid or late 30s taking on new lead roles, the likelihood that those dancers will continue to perform those roles over the course of several revivals over the years is diminished.  That's why I think after a certain age the likelihood of promotion to principal diminishes.  While Whelan stayed for a really long time, she was  a  star dancer for several decades and  had the ability to write her own story, to an extent, regarding when and how she would retire.  Ditto Maria K.  

Also, while Wendy Whelan and Maria Kowroski danced until late in their careers, they were in their twenties when they BECAME principals. I think that is more the issue here. Maria Kowroski was 21 or 22 when she was promoted to principal. I think Wendy Whelan was about 24. One would expect they easily had a decade of dancing to look forward to as principals, maybe two decades. Those decades won't be possible with a dancer who is approaching 40 as a soloist.

I think promotions often have more to do with promise for the future than anything else.

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BalanchineFan

BalanchineFan

Posted
Posted (edited)
On 1/24/2022 at 2:21 PM, fondoffouettes said:

NYCB's Instagram Stories indicates that Ruby Lister was promoted from apprentice to corps member. You may recall her from the On Pointe docuseries. She looked lovely on stage this fall. 

Good for her! Not surprising. Ruby Lister is gorgeous. She was in the corps of Serenade on the fall 2021 opening night. Not sure she was even listed, but I picked her out with my opera glasses.

Ruby has a Q&A about the On Pointe series on her instagram, very charming.

https://www.instagram.com/stories/highlights/17855315012367569/

Edited by BalanchineFan
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cobweb

cobweb

Posted
Posted
10 minutes ago, nysusan said:

Oh no, Teresa Reichlin is retiring:

Wow, a shocker! I don't have a subscription to the NYT, can anyone let me know if they say anything about why or what she has planned next? I know she just had a baby, maybe she wants to focus on building a family? Also, I guess this factors into why they felt they could promote so many tall women!

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abatt

abatt

Posted
Posted
8 minutes ago, cobweb said:

Wow, a shocker! I don't have a subscription to the NYT, can anyone let me know if they say anything about why or what she has planned next? I know she just had a baby, maybe she wants to focus on building a family? Also, I guess this factors into why they felt they could promote so many tall women!

She is going to manage her husband's art gallery in Lower Manhattan.

Quite a shocker.

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cobweb

cobweb

Posted
Posted

Wow, she's 37? I tend to lose track. Like someone said up-thread, it's surprising (and delightful!) to hear Isabella LaFreniere is only 25. In the other direction, I forgot about how long Reichlen has been dancing. Makes me wonder, how old are Fairchild, Bouder, Mearns, and Hyltin? They definitely have to shore up the female pipeline, and I'm glad they're doing so!

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bellawood

bellawood

Posted
Posted
6 minutes ago, cobweb said:

Wow, she's 37? I tend to lose track. Like someone said up-thread, it's surprising (and delightful!) to hear Isabella LaFreniere is only 25. In the other direction, I forgot about how long Reichlen has been dancing. Makes me wonder, how old are Fairchild, Bouder, Mearns, and Hyltin? They definitely have to shore up the female pipeline, and I'm glad they're doing so!

Sara is 36; Megan 37 or 38; Ashley 38; Sterling 36.

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cobweb

cobweb

Posted
Posted (edited)
27 minutes ago, abatt said:

Just speculating, but  who do we think will be our next female principal.  I used to think Gerrity had a chance, but they do not seem to be using her in the essential roles of the rep.

I am a fan of Gerrity and I still think she has a chance. At least, I hope so!

Among the newly promoted women, I'd say the two most likely future principals are LaFreniere and Nadon. Both have a ton of talent and a presence that fills the theatre. Nadon may need a little more time to consolidate her skills, but I could see LaFreniere moving up more quickly. 

Edited by cobweb
ETA: I haven't seen Miriam Miller in a featured role recently, so not as sure about her.
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