ABT Fan Posted July 18 Author Share Posted July 18 6 minutes ago, JenniferV said: Not seeing Misty Copeland or Herman Cornejo listed as principals. Thoughts? Copeland needs to be removed entirely for bloody sake. Odd Cornejo isn’t listed but he probably has another gig somewhere. Thrilled about Etudes, In the Upper Room, Sinatra Suite (without Cornejo is odd, but maybe Roxander will get it). Did anyone see Neo? Link to comment
California Posted July 18 Share Posted July 18 The schedule is also now available under the calendar section on the ABT web site: https://www.abt.org/performances/master-calendar/?start=2024-10-01 Link to comment
abatt Posted July 18 Share Posted July 18 13 minutes ago, ABT Fan said: Sinatra Suite (without Cornejo is odd, but maybe Roxander will get it). Isaac Hernandez please. Smoldering cool. Link to comment
abatt Posted July 18 Share Posted July 18 Why do they keep giving Gemma Bond new commissions. None of her work is memorable or worthy of revival. Link to comment
ABT Fan Posted July 18 Author Share Posted July 18 8 minutes ago, abatt said: Why do they keep giving Gemma Bond new commissions. None of her work is memorable or worthy of revival. I agree. I have a feeling there is pressure for new work by a female choreographer. Is there no one better? I was also hoping for Tudor. I’m surprised the fall season was announced before promotions, unless there aren’t any? Link to comment
abatt Posted July 18 Share Posted July 18 (edited) 25 minutes ago, ABT Fan said: I agree. I have a feeling there is pressure for new work by a female choreographer. Is there no one better? True, but Helen Pickett checks that requirement of hiring a female choreographer to create a new work. Edited July 18 by abatt Link to comment
California Posted July 18 Share Posted July 18 33 minutes ago, ABT Fan said: I agree. I have a feeling there is pressure for new work by a female choreographer. Is there no one better? Probably dreaming...but if they want a female choreographer, how about something by Bronislava Nijinska -- Les Noces or Les Biches? It was reconstructed many years ago by Oakland Ballet, so it should be do-able. Link to comment
Marta Posted July 18 Share Posted July 18 7 minutes ago, California said: Probably dreaming...but if they want a female choreographer, how about something by Bronislava Nijinska -- Les Noces or Les Biches? It was reconstructed many years ago by Oakland Ballet, so it should be do-able. Wouldn't that be great! I've never seen anything by Pickett that was memorable. Link to comment
ABT Fan Posted July 18 Author Share Posted July 18 (edited) 41 minutes ago, abatt said: True, but Helen Pickett checks that requirement of hiring a female choreographer to create a new work. Yes. But they did nothing last year or this summer so wondering if they feel pressured to have more than one this fall. Either way, I don’t get the repeated interest in Bond. Her works are blah. Edited July 18 by ABT Fan Link to comment
miliosr Posted July 18 Share Posted July 18 21 minutes ago, California said: Probably dreaming...but if they want a female choreographer, how about something by Bronislava Nijinska -- Les Noces or Les Biches? It was reconstructed many years ago by Oakland Ballet, so it should be do-able. Ballet West presented Nijinska's Les Noces just last year. I went to see it and it's perfectly revivable. Link to comment
abatt Posted July 18 Share Posted July 18 Nothing in the press release about any redesign for Ballet Imperial, so I assume that the redesign mentioned in the podcast is intended for some future season. We are likely getting the same casts as last season. Link to comment
Olga Posted July 18 Share Posted July 18 (edited) The website says Jean/Marc Pouissant for scenery and costumes. Could be good. If the dancers are. Last year was pretty sad Edited July 18 by Olga Update Link to comment
abatt Posted July 18 Share Posted July 18 14 minutes ago, Olga said: The website says Jean/Marc Pouissant for scenery and costumes. Could be good. If the dancers are. Last year was pretty sad Are those the same costumes and scenery as last year? Link to comment
Olga Posted July 18 Share Posted July 18 (edited) I think they are new. Edited July 18 by Olga Link to comment
fondoffouettes Posted July 18 Share Posted July 18 The previous scenery and costumes were by Rouben Ter-Arutunian. I'm glad they aren't just going with a cyclorama, but rather commissioning new sets, as well. The more they can avoid comparison with NYCB, the better. Link to comment
choriamb Posted July 19 Share Posted July 19 (edited) If the Ballet Imperial redesign is actually happening, I think it's totally the right move. I usually like historical nods...but I found last year's revival set discordant: the flat, cardboard-like chandeliers, the purple side curtains with geometric silver accents, and the painted backdrop seemed like they were from completely different visual genres. And seeing ABT's version clarified for me why I found NYCB's post-redesign performances oddly flat a few years earlier: all of those tutus take up a lot of stage space, particularly around the lead ballerina, who performs much of her choreography surrounded by the corps women. After adding in those purple side curtains in ABT's version (which ate up even more space), Shevchenko looked like she was trying to dance on a postage stamp during her solo variations. (The female soloist dances on the diagonals, so she gets a chance to break free from the crowd a bit.) At first, I thought that the ballet might have been inadequately blocked...but now I think that there was simply no room. Edited July 19 by choriamb Link to comment
FauxPas Posted July 19 Share Posted July 19 The "Ballet Imperial" scenery looked tatty and the costumes looked heavy. BTW: I managed to find the DVD of "American Ballet Theatre Now - Variety and Virtuosity" filmed for Dance in America (what happened to this series? We need it now!) and watched it the other night. Anyway, a whole other company and world there. However, they did a section of the late Clark Tippet's "Bruch Violin Concerto" - I really want to see that ballet again. It was the big finale of the program and was gorgeous. Link to comment
ABT Fan Posted July 19 Author Share Posted July 19 17 minutes ago, FauxPas said: The "Ballet Imperial" scenery looked tatty and the costumes looked heavy. BTW: I managed to find the DVD of "American Ballet Theatre Now - Variety and Virtuosity" filmed for Dance in America (what happened to this series? We need it now!) and watched it the other night. Anyway, a whole other company and world there. However, they did a section of the late Clark Tippet's "Bruch Violin Concerto" - I really want to see that ballet again. It was the big finale of the program and was gorgeous. Dance in America - the good ol days. I loved that program! 😩 Link to comment
abatt Posted July 19 Share Posted July 19 32 minutes ago, FauxPas said: The "Ballet Imperial" scenery looked tatty and the costumes looked heavy. BTW: I managed to find the DVD of "American Ballet Theatre Now - Variety and Virtuosity" filmed for Dance in America (what happened to this series? We need it now!) and watched it the other night. Anyway, a whole other company and world there. However, they did a section of the late Clark Tippet's "Bruch Violin Concerto" - I really want to see that ballet again. It was the big finale of the program and was gorgeous. I too love the Bruch Violin Concerto. Wish they would revive it. Angel Corella acquired it for PA Ballet a few years ago, but they have not revived it recently. Link to comment
California Posted July 19 Share Posted July 19 55 minutes ago, abatt said: I too love the Bruch Violin Concerto. Wish they would revive it. Angel Corella acquired it for PA Ballet a few years ago, but they have not revived it recently. Tippet made the Bruch for ABT in 1987: https://www.abt.org/ballet/bruch-violin-concerto-no-1/ It's interesting that dancers who remember that era have staged it over the years. Gil Boggs, now artistic director of the Colorado Ballet, was a principal in the 80s, although he wasn't in the premiere cast. Colorado does the Bruch every few years and it's great. I don't think I could find documentation, but something-something about the executor of Tippet's estate and McKenzie. Maybe Jaffe, who was in the original cast, will bring it back! McKerrow and Gardner, who are now ballet masters, were also in the original cast. Stay tuned! (I think McKerrow/Gardner, the original cast, restaged Some Assembly Required in recent years.) Link to comment
FauxPas Posted July 19 Share Posted July 19 (edited) 21 hours ago, ABT Fan said: I agree. I have a feeling there is pressure for new work by a female choreographer. Is there no one better? I was also hoping for Tudor. I’m surprised the fall season was announced before promotions, unless there aren’t any? I think Jaffe was going to do Cathy Marston's "Summer and Smoke" which premiered in Houston in March 2023. It was a co-production with Houston Ballet. It seems to have evaporated unless it's coming in Summer 2025? I see one good review in the Houston Chronicle: https://preview.houstonchronicle.com/dance/houston-ballet-summer-smoke-17832782 BTW: regarding Tudor - "Pillar of Fire" is worth reviving and is a good vehicle for Gillian Murphy who can still do it. I think Devon Teuscher would excel in it too. When did ABT last do the complete "The Leaves are Fading" not just the pas de deux? "Dark Elegies" is a major work and they did "Undertow" way back when with Johan Renvall and Amanda McKerrow - about how poverty and urban decay turn youth into killers. It's still pretty resonant with the right cast. I don't know why no one wants to rescue the Tudor "Romeo and Juliet" from creeping oblivion. Yes that set costs money but there is the Doris Duke Foundation (Let's start a Kickstarter!). "Lilac Garden" would fit very well on the company right now. Of course, these work well at City Center and smaller spaces. Also Gillian was also good in "Fall River Legend" another founding choreographer ballet that hasn't been seen in a while. Edited July 19 by FauxPas Link to comment
matilda Posted July 19 Share Posted July 19 I've wondered what happened to Summer and Smoke. Maybe ticket sales were bad so ABT decided it wasn't worth putting on. ABT did Pillar of Fire for the fall 2021 season, right after the pandemic closure. Gillian and Devon split the lead role. I remember the rest of that program being pretty bad though, with "ZigZag" and a Lauren Lovette work. I think Jaffe is for the most part demonstrating better judgement with fall season programming. I also question the Gemma Bond commission but at least Kyle Abraham usually delivers (if one likes his style) and Etudes will be a welcome return with Roxander cast. Link to comment
miliosr Posted July 19 Share Posted July 19 2 hours ago, FauxPas said: I don't know why no one wants to rescue the Tudor "Romeo and Juliet" from creeping oblivion. Yes that set costs money but there is the Doris Duke Foundation (Let's start a Kickstarter!). "Lilac Garden" would fit very well on the company right now. Of course, these work well at City Center and smaller spaces. Also Gillian was also good in "Fall River Legend" another founding choreographer ballet that hasn't been seen in a while. The excuse given for not reviving the complete Tudor Romeo and Juliet is that it would be too costly. This excuse irritates me to no end when I think of all the money ABT has frittered away over the years on big budget bombs and artistic dead-ends (which would include all the money they threw at Alexei Ratmansky without getting a whole lot in return.) I checked old Ballet Alert topics and I couldn't find any record of Jardin aux Lilas being performed at a Fall New York season since 2015. Link to comment
Marta Posted July 19 Share Posted July 19 Just received email from ABT: American Ballet Theatre 2024 Dancer Promotions We are thrilled to announce the following promotions! Léa Fleytoux, Patrick Frenette and Fangqi Li have been promoted to the rank of Soloist. Link to comment
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