nanushka Posted July 7, 2022 Share Posted July 7, 2022 (edited) 35 minutes ago, cobweb said: It is bound to be a problem during a long season of mostly full-lengths, if you don't have a soloists who can quickly and reliably take on major roles. They need to do some major reshuffling and major beefing up of the soloist roster. I too agree with @FauxPas’s overall analysis of the current roster — but then again, even when there has been a stronger soloist roster, ABT hasn’t often (at least in the past 10-15 years) been a company where promising junior dancers have been given opportunities to jump into full-length leads to cover injured or otherwise incapacitated principals (which I think could be an exciting prospect, with the right dancers). They’ve long tended to rely on other principals (e.g. Hee Seo Ballet Theatre) or guest artists to do that, at least at the Met. Edited July 7, 2022 by nanushka Link to comment
JuliaJ Posted July 7, 2022 Share Posted July 7, 2022 Per the ABT website, Bell and Shevchenko are out of Theme and Variations. Brandt and Cornejo replace them on Friday (and also dance the Saturday matinee). Hope they are both ok and can dance R&J next week! Link to comment
abatt Posted July 7, 2022 Share Posted July 7, 2022 (edited) 1 hour ago, JuliaJ said: Per the ABT website, Bell and Shevchenko are out of Theme and Variations. Brandt and Cornejo replace them on Friday (and also dance the Saturday matinee). Hope they are both ok and can dance R&J next week! Oh NOOOOOO. Thanks for the info, though. Bell & Shevy are still listed for their other assignments for the mixed bill programs. Edited July 7, 2022 by abatt Link to comment
ABT Fan Posted July 11, 2022 Share Posted July 11, 2022 Bell is still listed for his Romeo tomorrow and Sat night. I keep checking...even though I don't really want to see Teuscher as Juliet (I like her in certain things but can't imagine her as a young, naive girl) I might grab a last min ticket to see him. That aside, do we think promotions will be announced this week? It's been their process in the past to announce the last wk of the Met season. The principal/soloist roster is packed so I guess it's possible there won't be any (or they won't happen till Jaffe takes over), but after Hurlin's triumphant debuts I'd be very surprised if she wasn't made a principal. As far as soloists, if there any promotions my guess/preference would be for Curley and Misseldine. If they can promote more, hopefully Coker. There are a bunch more that I think are in the mix, but they can't promote that many. McBride, Frenette, Klein, Granlund, Han, Park all have a chance I think. Also wondering if there will be any quiet retirements. Link to comment
abatt Posted July 11, 2022 Share Posted July 11, 2022 4 minutes ago, ABT Fan said: Bell is still listed for his Romeo tomorrow and Sat night. I keep checking... Did Bell appear on stage Saturday evening when the entire company (even Stearns) celebrated McKenzie? Link to comment
ABT Fan Posted July 11, 2022 Share Posted July 11, 2022 3 minutes ago, abatt said: Did Bell appear on stage Saturday evening when the entire company (even Stearns) celebrated McKenzie? I don’t see him in the video I posted earlier. Just rewatched it. Unless he’s standing on the side, but all the principals are in the center and he’s so tall you can’t miss him. Did anyone attend who can verify? Link to comment
California Posted July 11, 2022 Share Posted July 11, 2022 (edited) 1 hour ago, abatt said: Did Bell appear on stage Saturday evening when the entire company (even Stearns) celebrated McKenzie? In @hermancornejo stories on Instagram, there is one video clip with several of the ABT men arriving at once and ending in a group hug. One is Aran Bell, who seems to be walking normally. The first two clips are R&J rehearsal videos. Aran then walks backward to the side, so he might not be visible in other shots. Edited July 11, 2022 by California Link to comment
spinning2night Posted July 11, 2022 Share Posted July 11, 2022 3 hours ago, California said: In @hermancornejo stories on Instagram, there is one video clip with several of the ABT men arriving at once and ending in a group hug. One is Aran Bell, who seems to be walking normally. The first two clips are R&J rehearsal videos. Aran then walks backward to the side, so he might not be visible in other shots. yes -- I also caught in other audience videos/photos of the current ABT male principals walk-on/hug, and Aran is present (blue pants with light shirt, but no jacket). Definitely no limp, crutches, or brace -- thinking that pulling out of the mixed bill was precautionary to give him time to rest...also the amount of jumps in T&V 😖 Speaking of which, there were two taller dark haired men who walked on with this group who were very far off to the side. Was anyone able to identify them? There were more men who walked on in this group than there are current men on the principal roster. I think one may have been Camargo but other was taller than Aran...and I just didn't recognize them Link to comment
California Posted July 11, 2022 Share Posted July 11, 2022 (edited) 8 minutes ago, spinning2night said: Speaking of which, there were two taller dark haired men who walked on with this group who were very far off to the side. Was anyone able to identify them? There were more men who walked on in this group than there are current men on the principal roster. I think one may have been Camargo but other was taller than Aran...and I just didn't recognize them @hermancornejo Stories posted another one with only this video shot. The six men identified in the image: Royal, An, Whiteside, Stearns, Cornejo, Bell. But it looks like eight in that group. Edited July 11, 2022 by California Link to comment
DPell Posted July 11, 2022 Share Posted July 11, 2022 24 minutes ago, California said: @hermancornejo Stories posted another one with only this video shot. The six men identified in the image: Royal, An, Whiteside, Stearns, Cornejo, Bell. But it looks like eight in that group. In this picture from left to right is Cornejo, McKenzie, Ahn, Whiteside, Stearns, Royal, Camargo, Forster, and Bell. https://www.instagram.com/p/Cf40fTZgcHD/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y= Link to comment
spinning2night Posted July 12, 2022 Share Posted July 12, 2022 55 minutes ago, DPell said: In this picture from left to right is Cornejo, McKenzie, Ahn, Whiteside, Stearns, Royal, Camargo, Forster, and Bell. https://www.instagram.com/p/Cf40fTZgcHD/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y= ah, yes! thanks for sharing, much better quality...it just wasn't clear in the blurry videos i saw yesterday. Link to comment
AB'sMom Posted July 12, 2022 Share Posted July 12, 2022 21 hours ago, ABT Fan said: That aside, do we think promotions will be announced this week? It's been their process in the past to announce the last wk of the Met season. Scout Forsythe just posted (on her Instagram story) that they have an important company meeting from 11:45-12:15 today with “IYKYK” in parentheses. Makes me think it’s the meeting where they will announce promotions. Link to comment
ABT Fan Posted July 12, 2022 Share Posted July 12, 2022 54 minutes ago, AB'sMom said: Scout Forsythe just posted (on her Instagram story) that they have an important company meeting from 11:45-12:15 today with “IYKYK” in parentheses. Makes me think it’s the meeting where they will announce promotions. I'd say that sure sounds like it! Link to comment
DPell Posted July 12, 2022 Share Posted July 12, 2022 Scout Forsythe just posted promotions on her story. Link to comment
WLH Posted July 12, 2022 Share Posted July 12, 2022 6 minutes ago, ABT Fan said: I'd say that sure sounds like it! Hello! I’m new here, but thought it’d be helpful to say that the new promotions are now in Scout’s IG stories Link to comment
ABT Fan Posted July 12, 2022 Share Posted July 12, 2022 Yay! Hurlin promoted to principal, and Carmargo joining as principal. Promoted to soloist: McBride, Granlund, Misseldine, Han, Park. Surprised and disappointed that Curley was not included. But, major congrats to all of them! So well deserved. Link to comment
AB'sMom Posted July 12, 2022 Share Posted July 12, 2022 Kind of surprised that Zimmi Coker wasn’t promoted. Misseldine is in her first full season, if I’m not mistaken. Link to comment
ABT Fan Posted July 12, 2022 Share Posted July 12, 2022 1 minute ago, AB'sMom said: Kind of surprised that Zimmi Coker wasn’t promoted. Misseldine is in her first full season, if I’m not mistaken. Yes, agree about Coker. It's Misseldine's first Met season, Park only joined as an apprentice last November! The soloist rank is now really lopsided, so many more women than men - and they only promoted one guy. Link to comment
nycvillager Posted July 12, 2022 Share Posted July 12, 2022 Surprised about Coker and Curley too, hoping they’ll be in the next cycle whenever that will be. Congrats to all! Link to comment
MoMo Posted July 12, 2022 Share Posted July 12, 2022 2 minutes ago, ABT Fan said: Yes, agree about Coker. It's Misseldine's first Met season, Park only joined as an apprentice last November! The soloist rank is now really lopsided, so many more women than men - and they only promoted one guy. I agree. And some of the men in the Corps, who perform “Soloist” roles, were not promoted and should have been. Link to comment
nanushka Posted July 12, 2022 Share Posted July 12, 2022 (edited) The Times is reporting that Roman Zhurbin has also been promoted to principal: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/12/arts/dance/ballet-theater-promotions-daniel-camargo-catherine-hurlin.html Quote Zhurbin, 37, was born in Russia and came to the United States as a teenager, beginning his ballet training at LaGuardia High School at 15. He has spent almost two decades with the company, building an extensive list of parts that includes the title role in “Don Quixote” and several characters in “Romeo and Juliet.” Critics have praisedhis ability to bring depth to characters in narrative ballets. "The title role in Don Quixote." Well, yes, I suppose, but... Edited July 12, 2022 by nanushka Link to comment
nycvillager Posted July 12, 2022 Share Posted July 12, 2022 Agreed. They need to develop their men because they’ve demonstrated that when they’re down a few with injuries, they really struggle to put together a strong showing all around. They have the talent but do not seem to prepare them enough for prime time to allow them to really shine. It’s like they expect them to toil in the corps for years then immediately churn out principal level performances. They need a few more male soloists that can develop into the leading roles. Shayer is the only youngish one besides Han, and he is not the full package and on the shorter side. I don’t seem him reaching Cornejo or Simkin level performances. Link to comment
vipa Posted July 12, 2022 Share Posted July 12, 2022 Interesting to see so many promotions so close to a change in artistic leadership. Link to comment
abatt Posted July 12, 2022 Share Posted July 12, 2022 Surprised Curley didn't make the cut. Link to comment
FauxPas Posted July 12, 2022 Share Posted July 12, 2022 Susan Jaffe was in attendance at the McKenzie farewell, hopefully she was consulted and weighed in on the promotions as they affect her artistic leadership more than McKenzie's at this point. Also, I wonder how much planning was done for the Fall season at the Koch and if Jaffe is making changes to that. I also wonder about when dancers' contracts are renewed and who is returning and who isn't. Many have suggested that some house cleaning is needed. Jaffe would know all these dancers since she danced with the older ones and coached the younger ones when she was a ballet mistress in the company. Time will tell. Link to comment
Recommended Posts