ABT's Import Strategy

At the start of its 2010 season at the Metropolitan Opera House, ABT allocated 26 performance opportunities to guest artists* Roberto Bolle, Diana Vishneva, Natalia Osipova and Alina Cojocaru.  That is the most massive betrayal against the company's own talent in decades.  Bolle dropped out of four of his performances citing an injury that, miraculously, did not prevent him from immediately returning to Italy to dance around naked in Mats Ek's weirdo Giselle.  One wonders where the company's mindset is when it comes to cast management.  At times, it's "cultivate and cast aside" and other times it's "cultivate thyself as we must spend our cultivation resources outside the company." 

 

During the eight week season, Haglund observed some wonderful major performances from soloists while simultaneously wondering what happened with these dancers to make McKenzie decide not to invest in them.

 

Gennadi Saveliev, for example, excelled in the less dance-y roles of Paris and Tybalt and the hyper-dance-y role of Sergei in On the Dneiper.  But how many remember that he literally saved the day for ABT years ago when both Stiefel and Beloserkovsky withdrew from Diana Vishneva's first ABT Swan Lake performances?  He stepped in as Siegfried on extremely short notice and turned a crisis into a very successful outing for Vishneva.  So, over the past decade, why hasn't McKenzie been able to apply the needed final polish to ready this dancer for more regular principal roles?  Ditto with Radetsky.  He has been so outstanding in theatrical roles and has tremendous technique. Yet McKenzie seems to have concluded some time ago that he would not invest in him for a full length lead role.  Now Radetsky carries around McKenzie's lack of confidence in him like a forgotten middle sibling.  

 

On the women's side, there is Sarah Lane, another savior, who made it possible for Herman Cornejo to dance Sleeping Beauty on a West Coast tour after Xiomara Reyes withdrew with injury a few years back.  She then conquered the New York stage with him in the same role.  Her progress has come to a screeching halt this year when she was denied opportunities to dance Sleeping Beauty and acquire Juliet - which she had been preparing with Alessandra Ferri and paying for with her own Leonore Annenberg Fellowship – a mentorship that ABT boldly promoted in its own magazine.  Maria Riccetto, always technically strong, has made startling progress theatrically in the past couple of years; and yet she is being coaxed forward one baby step opportunity at a time.  She's more than halfway through her career and we've seen her in only one full length leading role.  Upon retiring, Nina Ananiashvili passed down to Riccetto her tutu from Don Quixote — do you suppose we will ever get to see how it might inspire Maria in that role?  Stella Abrera, sidelined a good length of time with injury, is now dancing luminously with more strength, confidence, theatricality and integrity than certain tenured principal ballerinas.  She is far more than halfway through her career and we have seen her as the lead in just one full length ballet.  Both Riccetto and Abrera received their single opportunities as the result of understudying the role and stepping in when someone became injured.  Neither received the type of unprecedented attention and coaching that the Bolshoi's Natalia Osipova was allotted in order to prepare her for Romeo and Juliet and Sleeping Beauty. 

 

As great a Kitri as Natalia Osipova is - and many seem to be suggesting that she is heads and shoulders above any of ABT's own Kitris - her little Bolshoi Basilo partner, Ivan Vaseliev, is just as great.  Why wasn't he brought in to dance with her?  Don't we deserve an opportunity to see his greatness, their greatness, too?  There was a sensitivity shown to the men of the company in that McKenzie would not disturb their limelight and would continue to over-invest in the somewhat talented but developmentally lagging soloist, Cory Stearns.  No such sensitivity or commitment was shown to the women.  McKenzie was even willing to cut out long time principal Angel Corella to make opportunities for Stearns, but do you think he would cut out any of the declining, coasting and tenured principal ballerinas to do the same for the women?  Don't count on it. 

 

Good things can be said about tenure (literal or implied) but its worst effect is that it discourages people from continuing to push their expertise and talents forward.  It is absolutely deadly when the tenured artist's shortcomings or compromises start filtering down to other artists as was the case in the Act III "leaning against the bed" moment in Romeo and Juliet.  A company that seeks comfort within the lowest common denominator is traveling a fast path to mediocrity.  Going forward, Haglund will pound the performance of any Juliet who does not lean back against that bed and motionlessly stare straight out into the darkness at her doomed fate while the Prokofiev score whips around her. Some tough love is in order.

 

As for Roberto Bolle - it was mighty disappointing to see that he was unable to perform most of his commitments in New York but miraculously was able to dance naked in other parts of the world.  Then there is the whole matter of McKenzie shutting Corella out of the season except for Don Q and Romeo & Juliet, and then eliminating him from R&J eight days before the performance with the official explanation that Angel is "ill".  Do these people think that the audience has a collective IQ of 2?  Do they think that delaying notification to the public of controversial cast changes that would affect purchase and exchange decisions is much different than Smith Kline Beecham holding back adverse information about Avandia so as not to hurt sales?  ABT is not a company that is so strong that it does not matter to the public who dances on what night.  Sorry, but that's the truth.  Furthermore, it is unacceptable to expect the public's pockets to support internal artist development initiatives when ABT management really wants to spend the money to import its artistry.  If management can no longer develop its own great dancers, then management should be changed.

 

A dancer's career is short.  The suggestion of having a long-term plan for each dancer is deadly.  Why?  Because every single day a new piece of sweet candy turns up that management can't resist tasting while its own dancers grow stale and sticky waiting for promises to be delivered.  There is always someone new and better in the dancer's shadow and the only way to deal with that is to grab everything as soon as you possibly can and never bank on management doing either what is fair or what it promised. 

 

So what's next?  Will anyone be surprised if the opening nights of The Bright Stream and the new Nutcracker go to a guest artist?  Will anyone be surprised if several qualified soloists have to forgo debuts in Swan Lake and Giselle and Manon to make room for guest artists?   Haglund suggests a moratorium on guest artists until our own house is sufficiently strengthened and maybe next year create some excitement with a Debut Subscription Package – or two.

* Roberto Bolle and Diana Vishneva appear on the website roster as company members but do not perform during the fall seasons and do not tour with the company.  They perform only during the Met spring season and are in the truest sense permanent guest artists.

 

 

 

Comments

[rachelmarlene]

As an ardent ABT fan, I agree with your most of your assessment above, but I will plead the case for Alina Cojocaru's single guest appearance this season. She hasn't danced with ABT since 2003 and she danced a role that she is already famous unlike Osipova, who used ABT's resources to debut two roles that her home company hasn't seen fit to give her for whatever reason. There has to be a better way to balance guest artists- we should be seeing people like Cojocaru, Vishneva, and Osipova- with creating real stars within the company. Stella Abrera's sidelining is appalling. I have high hopes for Simone Messmer, but only time will tell.

[michael]

i'm thinking it's also possible that angel withdrew from the performance himself, because he was disgusted over the way he was treated this season, and maybe because he thought, if ABT will not prioritize him, he might as well not give ABT his priority and just spend more time with his company.

i'm really saddened to realize that dancers have really short careers and that stella is more than halfway through hers! sascha too, i realized, is 32, and not "hot property" anymore, but really, he's a great dancer and a far better actor than some principals (hello ethan).

[Haglund's Heel]

Rachel Marlene -

Excellent points regarding Cojocaru.

There has to be balance AND restraint when it comes to using guest artists. Furthermore, they should be used to build attendance during the weekday performances, not the Saturday performances that sell the best anyway.

-- Haglund

[Haglund's Heel]

Michael, you could well be correct about Angel making the decision. Who would blame him?

With regard to someone not being hot property at 32 -- that's the age that they should BECOME their most hot -- when all aspects of their technique and artistry come together and are in balance. Radetsky still has great years left. Haglund hopes the company doesn't waste them.

[michael]

so i was thinking, if guest artists like osipova and cojacaru, and as you say, bolle and vishneva, continue to bring in huge audiences (the osipova performance was sold out weeks in advance, whereas there were empty seats even in R&J's opening night with ABT's stars, marcelo and julie), then ABT will most likely continue to take in guest artists because they are running ABT like a business, and they need money and profit. it's a sad fact i guess. also even if a sizeable portion of ABT's funds are from donors, i guess it still better for ABT to show donors full houses with guest stars, rather than empty seats with house artists? or maybe pressure should come from donors to say, "hey, we want you to develop ABT's talent!"

[gdc]

I share these concerns about company dancers. Arron Scott, for example, dances with great integrity and technique- a better dancer, imo, than Simkin. Scott's Mercutio paired with Cornejo's Romeo in DC in JAN was magnificent. Renata Pavam could dance the proverbial phone book and I would watch. Grant DeLong should be in every ballet everywhere just to make sure it goes well. Christine Shevchenko, Joseph Gorak, Alex Hammoudi, Gemma Bond- they feed my soul.

I often wish ABT would change its structure to allow another level of soloist. The principle tier is looking thin- great dancers whom I love and support- but there is some concern

[Haglund's Heel]

Hard to say, Michael. Though not packed, the house was pretty full for Monday night's R&J. There was a good crowd there for Wednesday night as well. On Saturday night, there were huge groups of teenarinas and pre-teenarinas in the upper decks which suggested deeply discounted or free tickets. They are usually the screamers, too. Scream-i-boppers I call them.

[Haglund's Heel]

Hi gdc - you mentioned a half dozen dancers that Haglund trains his binocs on at every performance. The corps dancers MUST know by now that it doesn't matter whether they are in the back row or off to the far side, we not only see each one of them as individuals, but we seek them out and invest time in watching them exclusively. There are no unimportant performances.

[michael]

i'm sorry to say this, but i actually benefit from the discount tickets as well, being a student, i get to sit in the orchestra area for less than full price. i'm always checking how good my chances are of getting a student ticket in performances, so while i'm happy i can get discount tickets, i'm disappointed that ballet's not as packed as opera. for opera, it was almost impossible, but for ballet, i get center area row M tickets even if i buy at 4:30pm. i did get my saturday night orchestra ticket for full price though, but only because i thought it would be angel corella, and because i thought it would be sold out (i was right). and in the performances where i am able to purchase student tickets, lots of the people around me are students too. when i was in the line to get tickets, a family of eight purchased wednesday R&J tickets and they got student discounts, because they had a kid with them. that's why at 8pm, the orchestra is full. but even in the orchestra, not everyone pays full price.

oh well, when i'm a millionaire already, i'll sponsor an ABT dancer (or five)!

[michael]

oh so that's why sascha redetsky got a screaming ovation during the saturday night performance! he was in center stage, which the scream-i-boppers probably saw. :)

[rachelmarlene]

Great point, Haglund, about the scheduling of guest performances. Also, just wanted to say, I very much enjoy reading your blog and am grateful for your championing of the MacMillan rep. I wouldn't love Balanchine or Ashton nearly as much if MacMillan hadn't opened the doors for me, and I think it's a shame that we don't see more of his work in New York. You want "Mayerling"- I want "Song of the Earth"!!

I'm glad someone mentioned Gemma Bond- my eye always goes to her. I'd like to mention Leann Underwood as well as another corps dancer I'd love to see with more solo parts.

[Theycallmekatie]

I think you bring up wonderful ideas. I slightly disagree about counting Vishneva (and somewhat Bolle) as guest artists. At least "techically" both Vishneva and Bolle are listed on the website and program as principal dancers while Cojocaru and Osipova are listed as guest artists are not listed on the website/program.

Vishneva and Bolle are guests in a way that they have other companies to which they belong. However, according to the original MET casting (prior to Bolle's withdrawal), both were very active and committed to this season- dancing almost every role, and featured in Camillias.

Actually it seems like Angel was cast as a "guest artist" this season because he was given so few performances. I was disappointed that his Romeo was removed at the last second. I believe that if he were given a more solid season, he probably wouldn't have dropped out of Romeo.

I'm also alarmed that the soloists are getting few chances to dance principal roles. This year, when both Bolle and Corella withdrew from their performances, Marcelo had to dance 3 Romeos in one week (Cory and David both had 2). This is taxing on the dancers' bodies and it's unfortunate that another dancer could not fill in.

[The Awkward Swan]

The Awkward Swan agrees with Haglund about ABT's mismanagement. Mr. McKenzie should be looking to his own dancers, not the dancers of other companies.

Another problem with Mr. McKenzie is MISCASTING. The Awkward Swan desperately wanted to see Hee Seo in "Romeo and Juliet," and so in spite of reservations about Cory Stearns, she went. As it turns out, they were BOTH phenomenal (review possibly coming up soon). Better than the Reyes-Cornejo performance she saw last year. They were truly amazing, BOTH of them; wonderful chemistry, fabulous solo work and INCREDIBLE partnering (he's really a FANTASTIC partner).

Point being? Many ballet-goers have been turned off by Mr. Stearn's other roles, especially his disastrous James in "La Sylphide," and at this point they are unwilling to give him a chance in a ballet in which he truly excels. If Mr. McKenzie had left him in the incubator a little longer, given him ONLY Romeo, and had him dance more with Ms. Seo instead of other dancers that he doesn't work as well with...

The Awkward Swan believes that there are plenty of other good dancers in the company that have been treated in a similar way, pushed into roles that they are not ready for, or else shut out of roles they DO deserve, and using overly-hyped guest artists that aren't all they're cracked up to be is making it WORSE.

[Haglund's Heel]

Haglund is very happy that The Awkward Swan stopped by and it's good to hear that you may be writing again soon. Haglund'eelers may want to check out The Awkward Swan at http://theawkwardswan.blogspot.com/

Haglund skipped Hee Seo's Juliet because he didn't want to see Stearns. It's good to hear that his performance as Romeo was better than many of his other efforts. He was, by the way, surprisingly successful in The Dream, which seemed to be just the right combination of technique and mime so as to keep him from fizzling out. He should have been given one or two roles to work on while he acquired stamina instead of being thrown into everything and torturing us.

Good to hear from you.

- Haglund