Yesterday Kevin McKenzie suggested that he made 22 hiring errors in ABT's corps de ballet by importing an average dancer from a regional company to be a new soloist at ABT instead of promoting from within the enormous wealth of talent of the corps. Haglund's Heel first reported on the acquisition several months ago when the info turned up on the UIEX. That it took so long for ABT to come clean about its latest failing is no surprise.
McKenzie's actions indicate that even though many of the corps men have been cast successfully in soloist and principal roles and have proven their abilities and worth, not ONE of them is acceptable to him to be promoted to the rank of soloist. Not Eric Tamm. Not Joe Gorak. Not Roddy Doble. Not Luis Ribagorda. Not Roman Zhurbin. Not Blaine Hoven. Nope - not one of them is as valuable as an average dancer who comes from a regional company but who has the all important, coveted exhibitionist quality that McKenzie can't seem to sell tickets without. The ballet dancer as exhibitionist is ABT's current artistic direction.
The new average dancer had better be able to pick up ABT's tallest ballerinas or there will be plenty of screaming.
And the corps guys who McKenzie claims aren't good enough – please have some respect for yourselves and get the heck out of here.
That number 22 is very precise. Wouldn't it be sweet to see a list of all the errors, numbered from 1 to 22?
Posted by: Angelica Smith | August 08, 2012 at 02:22 PM
Haglund's awkward sentence may have been confusing. It was McKenzie's "action" of importing yet another dancer that suggested he made 22 hiring mistakes - not that he, himself, made that suggestion. But yes, it would be interesting to see a list of all the 22+ corps men with McKenzie's excuses for not promoting them to soloist. I wish Gorak would explore NYCB.
Posted by: Haglund | August 08, 2012 at 05:19 PM
There is a rumor going around that a certain Mariinsky favorite danseur of many is leaving next year for greener pastures. Wouldn't put it past Ardani and ABT to somehow work a deal out to import him to ABT and make him a star principal right away. Sick of Russian imports.
Posted by: Genna | August 08, 2012 at 11:21 PM
I'm sick of them, too. The last few of times I've seen that "certain Mariinsky favorite danseur of many (who) is leaving next year for greener pastures", he was okay - a nice dancer, but not head and shoulders above ABT's most promotable soloists and corps members. He's not big and he's a little boring from a theatrical standpoint.
ABT should get counseling for its uncontrollable Russophilia. It has no understanding as to the exceptional talent it has in its ranks or COULD HAVE HAD. ABT could have had the lovely Keenan Kampa who attended ABT's summer intensives for two years in NYC. But ABT blew it. The Mariinsky found her, snatched her up and trained her, and have invited her back and set her on a promotable path. ABT also blew its chances with NYCB's Ana Sophia Scheller and Chase Finlay both of whom they had in hand. And in one of its biggest blunders, ABT let Matthew Golding slip away. That's too many major mistakes.
Posted by: Haglund | August 08, 2012 at 11:53 PM
Scheller and Finlay would be wonderful principals in any major companies. Golding I always thought had a tendency to be messy when finishing steps. Still, he is great to watch, has nice stage presence, and seemed to improve a lot upon defection to Dutch National Ballet.
So you do know who I was referring to, Haglund. I also think ABT needs to be deprogrammed of its love of Russian dancers. McKenzie is perpetuating the myth that Russian dancers, specifically this current batch of gymnast wannabes and circus acrobats, are superior to American dancers. He is breeding a new generation of casual fans who unfortunately buy into this thinking.
Posted by: Genna | August 09, 2012 at 01:08 AM
Totally agree with you Genna. Unfortunately, the circus is McKenzie's only lifeline because he doesn't have the ability to fully develop ABT's own talent and he refuses to hire a reasonably sized coaching staff of retired principal dancers who can. He'd rather spend the money on prepackaged guest artists.
Posted by: Haglund | August 09, 2012 at 08:53 AM
Meanwhile I very much enjoyed watching this once I could finally dig it up.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lSsoCCDz8_E
Posted by: Kallima | August 27, 2012 at 08:08 PM
Hi Kallima. Yes, that is a good clip. I remember seeing Herman dance a much earlier version of "Tango y Yo", possibly the premiere, about two years ago when he was a guest artist at the opening night performance of Ballet Hispanico here in New York. The piece wasn't as intriguing as it is now in that video, although I would still prefer to see Herman perform Tango with a living partner rather than a hat.
Posted by: Haglund | August 27, 2012 at 08:24 PM
Do you happen to know where this clip is taken from? The letters in the beginning make me wonder, but unfortunately I can't read them except for guessing that the last line says 'Herman Cornejo'. He's a great and captivating performer and I like the temperament of this piece. If the description is right with the year 2010 it might have been not too long after the premiere you saw.
If there was a possibility to use 'special effects' in ballet, I'd love to see the hat transform into a woman (when it is on the floor; the woman emerging from the ground slowly with the hat on her head), the two performing the rest of the piece together before the woman disappears again, leaving Herman with his hat at the end. I just got too vivid of an imagination with this. ;)
Posted by: Kallima | August 27, 2012 at 08:44 PM
Kallima, I'm not sure of the date of the video, but I don't recall any of the backdrop images when he performed it at the Joyce Theater a couple of years ago. He also performed the piece this year at the YAGP "Stars of Today Meet the Stars of Tomorrow Gala" last May and I think possibly a few other places.
I love your staging idea, and if I may add one detail: the woman's dress should be red.
Posted by: Haglund | August 27, 2012 at 08:59 PM
Alright, thank you. No matter where and when it is from, I'm very glad that it popped up somehow and I could see it.
Definitely!
Posted by: Kallima | August 28, 2012 at 07:21 PM
i believe it's from the international ballet festival dance open in savonlinnan, finland- not sure if i got the year right tho. he performed it again there a couple weeks ago :)
i love it.
Posted by: robin | September 01, 2012 at 08:21 AM
Thanks, Robin!
Posted by: Haglund | September 01, 2012 at 08:30 AM
yep :)
Posted by: robin | September 01, 2012 at 08:49 AM
here's the most recent one :)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S14uIsITx-Y&feature=plcp
Posted by: robin | September 04, 2012 at 09:38 AM
Thanks, Robin! Did Herman change the name of his piece to Seizing the Light or is that a typo?
Posted by: Haglund | September 04, 2012 at 09:48 AM
Dont know- was wondering about that as well........
Posted by: robin | September 04, 2012 at 11:11 AM
Thank you Robin! I think this is a piece where I prefer the simpler (and darker) set, the whole city backdrop is just too overwhelming in my opinion and changes the atmosphere which was much more tense in the other setting. It is nice to see though that Herman seems to keep working on this one, and he's doing great.
Posted by: Kallima | September 08, 2012 at 07:51 PM