California Posted February 19, 2022 Share Posted February 19, 2022 "American Ballet Theatre (ABT) and Segerstrom Center for the Arts have formed a three-year partnership that names ABT the Official Dance Company of Segerstrom Center for the Arts. The details include the co-presented production of The Nutcracker and world and West Coast premieres and engagements each spring through 2024." https://www.scfta.org/Center-Connection/February-2022/ABT-partnership.aspx? It appears Segerstrom will continue to be the site of some ABT premieres. The announcement includes this: "In March 2023, ABT will return to Segerstrom Center, this time with the North American premiere of Like Water For Chocolate, based on the best-selling book by Laura Esquival. Choreographed by Christopher Wheeldon , this will be a co-production with The Royal Ballet." Link to comment
Helene Posted February 19, 2022 Share Posted February 19, 2022 That's great news for the Company and southern California! Link to comment
Josette Posted February 19, 2022 Share Posted February 19, 2022 The co-production of Like Water for Chocolate with The Royal Ballet was announced several months ago, including the North American premiere in 2023. I plan on seeing its premiere in June in London. Link to comment
miliosr Posted February 20, 2022 Share Posted February 20, 2022 Time for ABT to make like the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1957 and relocate permanently to southern California. 😉 Does ABT's presence in the LA area impact Colleen Neary's Los Angeles Ballet at all? Los Angeles Ballet is a small company as it is. (It's most recent (pre-COVID) form 990 filing shows revenues of $3.63 million against expenditures of $3.37 million.) Or is the LA metropolitan area so big and sprawling that there's room for both? Link to comment
Helene Posted February 20, 2022 Share Posted February 20, 2022 LA Ballet has performed in multiple venues, multiple times a season, and has a different rep, aside from Nutcracker. Link to comment
MoMo Posted February 20, 2022 Share Posted February 20, 2022 Replying to miliosr: As a Southern California native, I would love to have ABT located here. They have a venue in the Segerstrom. But like the Dodgers in 1957, they have a complete presence in NYC , after 42 years. What they don’t have is a permanent venue. So my feelings are mixed about this. Link to comment
Josette Posted February 20, 2022 Share Posted February 20, 2022 Quite a bit of ABT's "prestige" (including for the dancers choosing to dance in the company) is that it is a NYC-based ballet company. Link to comment
volcanohunter Posted February 20, 2022 Share Posted February 20, 2022 As the dance boom began to fade, the Joffrey Ballet tried a dual New York/Los Angeles residency, but ultimately it didn't stick. Link to comment
ECat Posted February 21, 2022 Share Posted February 21, 2022 On 2/19/2022 at 4:41 PM, miliosr said: Time for ABT to make like the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1957 and relocate permanently to southern California. 😉 Does ABT's presence in the LA area impact Colleen Neary's Los Angeles Ballet at all? Los Angeles Ballet is a small company as it is. (It's most recent (pre-COVID) form 990 filing shows revenues of $3.63 million against expenditures of $3.37 million.) Or is the LA metropolitan area so big and sprawling that there's room for both? That is a great question you ask. I live here in Los Angeles and the Segerstrom Center is in a different county which is about 1.5 hours south of Los Angeles. Luckily, the Los Angeles Ballet will probably not see a lag in ticket sales at all. Link to comment
AB'sMom Posted February 22, 2022 Share Posted February 22, 2022 Segerstrom is only about 40-45 miles from Los Angeles, but in Southern California that can mean anywhere from 1 hour to 3 hours, depending on traffic. ABT has done their Nutcracker and usually one other performance every other year for the past five years without having any noticeable impact on Los Angeles Ballet. Honestly getting people to drive from one side of LA to the other is difficult enough, let alone regularly driving to Orange County. Link to comment
California Posted February 22, 2022 Author Share Posted February 22, 2022 7 hours ago, AB'sMom said: Segerstrom is only about 40-45 miles from Los Angeles, but in Southern California that can mean anywhere from 1 hour to 3 hours, depending on traffic. ABT has done their Nutcracker and usually one other performance every other year for the past five years without having any noticeable impact on Los Angeles Ballet. Honestly getting people to drive from one side of LA to the other is difficult enough, let alone regularly driving to Orange County. Southern California has a population of about 24 million, although it depends on where you think SoCal starts: https://worldpopulationreview.com/regions/southern-california-population The bigger problem is the dreadfully inadequate public transportation. And if you have a car, you're looking at hours on overcrowded freeways to get anywhere. I lived in SoCal in various locations for 25+ years. When I saw a notice of an interesting performance or exhibition, my first thought was always: how many hours will I have to spend on the freeways to get there. Segerstrom draws from a different geographic region than LA Ballet. If more performances inspire more audience members, it will be a plus for everybody. Link to comment
DPell Posted February 23, 2022 Share Posted February 23, 2022 (edited) I posted in the ring section. Sorry. Edited February 23, 2022 by DPell Link to comment
Victura Posted February 24, 2022 Share Posted February 24, 2022 I was a long-time NY resident who moved to LA and am very glad to hear this news! On a related note, I see that ABT is doing a mixed repertory program in March at Segerstrom consisting of Bernstein in a Bubble, Alonzo King, and Zig Zag. https://www.scfta.org/events/2022/abt-forward Does anyone know if ABT typically announces casting for these programs? Any opinions on these pieces? Link to comment
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