ABT SS Met Season - casting?

[cobweb]

4 minutes ago, NinaFan said:

If you are only seeing one Swan Lake,

... yeah, that's the question, will I see one performance or do like I used to do and see multiple, or every, performance? Thanks for the suggestion, and Shevchenko is at the top of my list to see, but other supporting casting has me dubious. We shall see how I feel this week. 

[abatt]

22 hours ago, cobweb said:

 I've seen Gillian Murphy so many times in this role that I'd like to see someone else, but I cannot abide Isabella Boylston. On the other hand, I would like to see Daniel Carmago, who is paired with Boylston. Pas de trois casting might be determinative, wish they would post that. 

Having the same feeling.  Very interested to see Camargo, but not Boylston.  So far I've resisted the urge to buy tickets for Camargo in either SL or R&J because I don't want to see Boylston.  However, it's unlikely we will see Camargo again at ABT after this season, so that may tip the balance in favor of attending.  I certainly would never have bought tickets for Hee Seo's SL, but I really wanted to see Bell.  Seo at least can do good adagio work.  Boylston, in my opinion, is strictly an allegro dancer without much dramatic ability.

Edited June 26, 2022 by abatt

[ABT Fan]

I’m having the same problem as you all above. Still haven’t bought a ticket. Do not have the time or the money to see multiple casts and every cast has one principal I want to see and one that I don’t. Also really want to see Curley and Ischik as Purple VR. I saw Shevchenko’s debut years ago and she was gorgeous, but as much as I like Royal in certain things I’m not convinced he can handle the technical and dramatic demands of Siegfried. She was incredible with Forster yesterday in L&R - if only they were paired in SL. Boylston’s O/O was bland when I saw it last. I would imagine Seo’s Odette would be wonderful (Odile I’d have low expectations) and I’d get to see Bell. If only one of my preferred PVR’s was cast with them. 

Edited June 26, 2022 by ABT Fan

[NinaFan]

I totally agree.  Finding my perfect principal cast has become more and more challenging these days.  My favorite dancers are often paired with dancers I do not care to see, which of course can ruin the performance for me.   I usually choose a ballet for the leads, but thrilling secondary and supporting roles are also important to make the entire performance work.   

I have a similar issue at NYCB except that it’s their programs vs the dancers.   I have trouble getting excited over most of the programs  since it’s rare to find three ballets I love (or even two) on the same program.   And most of the programs I’m not crazy about are repeated too often.  It’s not unusual to see a program just for one great ballet on the program. 

So for me, compromising has become the norm at both companies, but for totally different reasons. 

[angelica]

7 hours ago, cobweb said:

... yeah, that's the question, will I see one performance or do like I used to do and see multiple, or every, performance? Thanks for the suggestion, and Shevchenko is at the top of my list to see, but other supporting casting has me dubious. We shall see how I feel this week. 

At the risk of repeating myself, if you have the stamina and the bucks, I would opt for a double-header on Wednesday, July 29th, for Shevchenko in the matinee and Brandt in the evening. It's impossible to find a perfect cast with ABT, but with Swan Lake it's  O/O who makes the show. Don't know if we'll ever get another Marcelo for Purple Rothbart, but this new Curley guy might be coming up the ranks.

Edited June 27, 2022 by angelica
Autocorrect

[MarzipanShepherdess]

I echo the frustrations of everyone saying increasingly at ABT, and especially for Swan Lake, they can rarely find casting where they like BOTH principals performing. After seeing Camargo in "Of Love and Rage" (where he really stood out dramatically) I'd love to see his Siegfried, but I would not want to see Isabella's Odette. I settled on Christine and Calvin in the end, after hearing good reviews of her O/O here and being curious about Royal as Siegfried. I think he's a very elegant dancer with a princely mien, I'm optimistic it will be a compelling debut even if not the most technically polished or bravura. Also interested to see how Andrii does as Purple Von Rothbart. 

[JuliaJ]

The Brandt/Cornejo cast seems like an obvious Swan Lake choice to me. Judging from her Giselle and Don Quixote, I think she could be great as both Odette and Odile. And Cornejo is still in great form. Hurlin's debut should be exciting after the stellar reports of her Kitri. 

[nanushka]

Yeah, I'm pretty excited to see Brandt/Cornejo and Shevchenko/Royal. About Royal, I have similar thoughts to some of those expressed above, but even if it's not the most masterful debut I expect it to be worth seeing. And although I don't feel the need to see Murphy's O/O again at this point in her career, I'm excited enough by Forster's finally getting to dance Siegfried here that I'm seeing a third performance as well.

[ABT Fan]

On 6/8/2022 at 7:24 PM, ABT Fan said:

T&V casting has finally been posted:

Shevchenko/Bell: 7/7 and 7/9 (evening
Teuscher/Ahn: 7/8
Brandt/Cornejo: 7/9 (matinee)

I'm surprised, but pleased, that Shevchenko got 2 shows. I would have expected AD fav Teuscher to get that.

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

T&V casting switch:

Teuscher/Ahn now have 7/7 and 7/9 (evening)
Shev/Bell now have 7/8

[nanushka]

Wow, so Teuscher and Ahn get two perfs and the KM event instead of Shevy/Bell. I wonder why.

[ABT Fan]

R&J casting update:

Carmargo replaces Stearns w/ Seo on opening night and is still paired with Boylston on 7/13. Stearns is still listed on 7/15 but I have a feeling that'll be updated soon.

Poor Stearns, missing the entire season after 3 years - I hope he's ok.

Edited July 1, 2022 by ABT Fan

[abatt]

9 minutes ago, nanushka said:

Wow, so Teuscher and Ahn get two perfs and the KM event instead of Shevy/Bell. I wonder why.

I think the casting change on T&V is due to cascading problems for the rest of that mixed bill program and the need to replace Stearns in both Zig Zag  and Single Eye.

 

[spinning2night]

1 hour ago, ABT Fan said:

R&J casting update:

Carmargo replaces Stearns w/ Seo on opening night and is still paired with Boylston on 7/13. Stearns is still listed on 7/15 but I have a feeling that'll be updated soon.

Poor Stearns, missing the entire season after 3 years - I hope he's ok.

Do we know why Stearns is out??? I know he's pretty quiet on the social media front, but I am curious to hear if I just happened to miss something? Definitely quite a bummer that he's likely to miss the whole 5-week season (especially since it seems they have tried to wait as long as possible with each casting update)...

[ABT Fan]

9 hours ago, spinning2night said:

Do we know why Stearns is out??? I know he's pretty quiet on the social media front, but I am curious to hear if I just happened to miss something? Definitely quite a bummer that he's likely to miss the whole 5-week season (especially since it seems they have tried to wait as long as possible with each casting update)...

I’ve not seen any announcement as to why and I see nothing on his IG. 

[nysusan]

Damn, I switched my tickets from Friday to Thursday for Shevchenko/Bell in T&V and now I have to try to switch them back.

[DPell]

On 6/30/2022 at 9:28 PM, ABT Fan said:

R&J casting update:

Carmargo replaces Stearns w/ Seo on opening night and is still paired with Boylston on 7/13. Stearns is still listed on 7/15 but I have a feeling that'll be updated soon.

Poor Stearns, missing the entire season after 3 years - I hope he's ok.

Per the Met website Carmargo is replacing Stearns on the 15th.

[abatt]

So Camargo is dancing three Romeo's in a week.  That's a lot - too much really.

Looking forward to seeing him in Swan Lake this afternoon.  I

[ABT Fan]

In case folks didn't see their ad on IG, ABT is offering a substantial discount (roughly 35% off) on the rest of the season using code ABTPRIDE. Not all performances and not all seats, but definitely some of the cheaper (on the side) orchestra seats (again, not all performances).

I just snagged good orchestra seats to Murphy/Forster's SL on Wed and to Trenary/Cornejo's R&J on the 16th using this code (waiting to buy paid off). I noticed the discount works on some seats at tomorrow's SL (Seo/Bell) and the Wed matinee (Hurlin/Ahn) - if only I could go to those two, discount or not. It also works on some seats for T&V on the 8th and 9th matinee.

[AB'sMom]

It’s crazy to me that ABT doesn’t have a single male soloist to understudy principal roles and step in if there is an injury. With both Sterns and Whiteside out, they are depending heavily on a guest dancer. Ahn and Bell were both promoted to soloist in the fall of 2019, never had a Met season to dance as soloists, and are now dancing as principals. Maybe I have an excessive need for order, but their current system is a mess. Are they going to continue with the pattern of giving promising corp members soloist roles, promote them for a year to soloist, and then rush them into principal while the same few men languish in soloist purgatory? Cornejo isn’t getting any younger, nor is Whiteside or Sterns.

[DPell]

8 minutes ago, AB'sMom said:

It’s crazy to me that ABT doesn’t have a single male soloist to understudy principal roles and step in if there is an injury. With both Sterns and Whiteside out, they are depending heavily on a guest dancer. Ahn and Bell were both promoted to soloist in the fall of 2019, never had a Met season to dance as soloists, and are now dancing as principals. Maybe I have an excessive need for order, but their current system is a mess. Are they going to continue with the pattern of giving promising corp members soloist roles, promote them for a year to soloist, and then rush them into principal while the same few men languish in soloist purgatory? Cornejo isn’t getting any younger, nor is Whiteside or Sterns.

Royal has one Romeo, I’m surprised they didn’t give him one of Stearn’s performances.

[abatt]

2 hours ago, AB'sMom said:

It’s crazy to me that ABT doesn’t have a single male soloist to understudy principal roles and step in if there is an injury. With both Sterns and Whiteside out, they are depending heavily on a guest dancer. Ahn and Bell were both promoted to soloist in the fall of 2019, never had a Met season to dance as soloists, and are now dancing as principals. Maybe I have an excessive need for order, but their current system is a mess. Are they going to continue with the pattern of giving promising corp members soloist roles, promote them for a year to soloist, and then rush them into principal while the same few men languish in soloist purgatory? Cornejo isn’t getting any younger, nor is Whiteside or Sterns.

This has been a problem with ABT for a long time.  They are too short staffed to run a multi-week season of consecutive full length ballets because they do not have enough lead principals (or soloists who can actually dance principal roles).  What always ends up happening is that when people drop out due to injury, the other principals who are still healthy and young have to pick up the slack.  This has happened over and over, during the course of many years.  

[vipa]

19 minutes ago, abatt said:

This has been a problem with ABT for a long time.  They are too short staffed to run a multi-week season of consecutive full length ballets because they do not have enough lead principals (or soloists who can actually dance principal roles).  What always ends up happening is that when people drop out due to injury, the other principals who are still healthy and young have to pick up the slack.  This has happened over and over, during the course of many years.  

The thing is, way back in the day, when ABT went on long tours, soloists had opportunities to dance principal roles. A former soloist with ABT told me she did O/O on tour but never in NYC, however, she was ready. If you don't have this type of back up, your options are,  young, healthy principals picking up the slack (as abatt described) or quick imports from other companies. 

[FauxPas]

On 7/4/2022 at 10:57 PM, vipa said:

The thing is, way back in the day, when ABT went on long tours, soloists had opportunities to dance principal roles. A former soloist with ABT told me she did O/O on tour but never in NYC, however, she was ready. If you don't have this type of back up, your options are,  young, healthy principals picking up the slack (as abatt described) or quick imports from other companies. 

Yes but look at that set of eight soloists they currently have....

I mean Cate Hurlin will be made principal soon.  She is on her way - if it wasn't for COVID-19, she might be a principal already. 

But as for the male principals - Blaine Hoven is the only feasible one and he joined the company in 2004.  He must be in his late thirties. 

Joseph Gorak is barely dancing this season (Hoven replaced him in the Swan Lake pas de trois he was scheduled to dance last Saturday afternoon).  They tried Gorak out in leads and he just didn't cut the mustard as an actor or a partner.  Gorak has been with the company since 2010 and before that as an apprentice and member of the studio company.  He's in his thirties - he isn't having any big breakthroughs.  

Gabe Stone Shayer is talented and young but is limited by his height.  He could only partner the shortest ballerinas.

Roman Zhurbin is more mime artist than dancer (though he did dance the Czardas I believe this week).  Roman is a character dancer/mime and approaching 40 if not past that.  

Several of the other soloists are approaching retirement - Zhong-Jing Fang and Luciana Paris for example.  Paris is mostly doing character dancing these days.  Katherine Williams is still young and very useful but doesn't have the dramatic projection for a prima ballerina in a full-length.  Very good dancer.

Luckily, what this season has taught us is that the corps is full of untapped, ready to go talent:  Chloe Misseldine, SunMi Park, Zimmi Coker, Carlos Gonzalez (when he recovers from injury), Tyler Maloney (ditto), Patrick Frenette, Cameron McCune, Luigi Crispino, Sung Woo Han, Kento Sumitani, Jared Curley and Léa Fleytoux (and more...)

Susan Jaffe will have her work cut out for her.

One thing I do hope is that coaches are hired.  Amanda McKerrow and John Gardner are guest coaches but should be made permanent ballet masters.  Their work with the Tudor Trust makes that a must.  Irina and Max are already coaching individual ballerinas - maybe a formal role can be found for them?  Certainly Susan jaffe herself was coaching and will continue to do so.  Nancy Raffa is still on the masthead as a ballet mistress (mostly corps?) but Susan Jones looks like she has retired.  Someone suggested Isabelle Guerin who coached Teuscher and lives in Manhattan.  Not a bad idea. 

Edited July 7, 2022 by FauxPas

[MoMo]

On 7/4/2022 at 7:17 PM, abatt said:

This has been a problem with ABT for a long time.  They are too short staffed to run a multi-week season of consecutive full length ballets because they do not have enough lead principals (or soloists who can actually dance principal roles).  What always ends up happening is that when people drop out due to injury, the other principals who are still healthy and young have to pick up the slack.  This has happened over and over, during the course of many years.  

I agree. As a Baseball lover, this is equivalent of not having enough Big Leaguers and then calling up their Triple A players and expecting them to win the World Series! While there is valiant effort by ABT Corps., this is not a viable or long term solution. Susan Jaffe needs to look at this procedure and make changes. I also agree that more coaching is required. 

[cobweb]

1 hour ago, FauxPas said:

Yes but look at that set of eight soloists they currently have....

Agree with this analysis. When you look at the current roster of soloists, the only obvious principal is Hurlin. Gabe Stone Shayer, maybe down the line, although as pointed out he's limited by his height, and I think his range of suitable rep may be limited too. The others are all unlikely principals. 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.