Why ABT is faltering in the classics

There are several reasons why ABT is faltering in the classics, and it's hard to rank them in importance.

The company has a grossly insufficient number of ballet masters/mistresses/répétiteurs who are experientially qualified to coach the classical principal ballerina roles and elicit world class performances from the artists.  The enormous day-in & day-out responsibility for developing the ABT women in the classical ballerina roles rests on the shoulders of the legendary, still very vibrant 79-year-old Irina Kolpakova.  ABT has no other permanently employed retired principal ballerinas of international stature who are able to pass on principal-level classical artistry on a daily basis to its ballerinas. 

Right now, ABT has four (4) ballet masters with a disturbing range of qualifications.  The Royal Ballet has at least 10 masters/repetiteurs.  The Paris Opera Ballet has at least 14.  The Bolshoi has more than 20.  The Mariinsky has nearly 30. 

So how does ABT respond to the problem of its woefully under-powered artistic staff?  Instead of investing in a few permanent world class classical coaches, it throws the money away on imported unclassical dancethletes who have no artistic connection or artistic relevance to the company while its own brilliant and gleaming dancers sit stalled in the cold garage.  The only value that these imported dancers have is that they come pre-made and pre-media-ed. 

The message that ABT's artistic director now sends to the entire world is that he believes the company is so lacking in talent that most any dancer in the world with a media following can waltz into the the top rank at ABT without even having to ask for it.  The company will slap an ABT principal logo on any unauthentic, un-vetted, cheap piece of junk jewelry that comes along so long as it is pre-media-ed.  There is no need for world class classical balletic skill -  you can start at the top at ABT so long as you have a media following.

It is puzzling why artistic director Kevin McKenzie cannot or will not surround himself with capable retired principal world class classicists who can pass on their artistry to the company's dancers.  He seems to think that he is the primary one who should pass on the artistry to the ballerinas -- which may explain why so many in his care can be so dull, dry, and colorless.  He, like the typical inadequate CEO, is reluctant to hire classical coaches more qualified than he is and empower them with the authority to do their jobs.

The dancers who overtly seek outside artistic classical tutoring or outside classical opportunities are slapped aside, denied new roles for which they have shown they are fully prepared, and are made to stand down and watch less accomplished and less talented underlings walk up and dance away with their roles.  If it is depressing and demoralizing for the audience to watch, imagine how it must be for the company's dancers. 

Currently Isabella Boylston and Hee Seo are being shown supreme entitlement to every conceivable role while they deliver less than principal level quality dancing and in some cases less than soloist level work.  Cheeky and confident yes, but they are frequently sloppy and woefully underprepared no matter what they are dancing.  

Meanwhile, Maria Riccetto has been softly ushered back to her home country when in fact she was one of the most gifted classicists at ABT.  All she needed was a committed coach -- something that ABT couldn't seem to manage. 

Sarah Lane who has already wooed an international audience with her Swan Lake opposite Angel Corella is surviving on bread crumbs.  The perfect combination of a Herman Cornejo Siegfried with a Sarah Lane Odette is being denied to us for no reason other than the surly obstinance of a truly mediocre director who demands to be right about all things even when he isn't.  It's nice that we will finally get to see Cornejo as Siegfried even if it is ten years after we should have, but it is a tragedy that Sarah must lose her opportunity to a guest artist whose deformed feet and failing technique are not ameliorated by a pretty face and constantly upturned eyebrows.  To repeat:  sweet is not enough.

One of McKenzie's most felonious mismanagements of talent to date has been the sidelining of Stella Abrera when in fact she is at the very peak of her dancing abilities despite being shunned by McKenzie since the death of her coach Georgina Parkinson.  Like Sarah Lane, Stella independently acquired international experience in principal roles denied her by McKenzie and now he is retaliating by ending her career. 

When Parkinson died, the dancers under her care, including Abrera, seemed to be tossed aside by McKenzie as though they had died, too.  Rather than hire an experienced classical coach for those dancers, McKenzie hired Susan Jaffe who focused on other dancers and has since dumped her job at ABT to move to academia.  McKenzie has given so many of Abrera's roles and opportunities to Seo that she'll probably come home from work one day to find Seo standing in the middle of her livingroom with a big smile: Oh, Kevin sent me. I guess he sees me in this role, too. Sorry. 

It is an absolute disgrace how McKenzie has failed Abrera, Lane, Riccetto, Matthews, Radetsky, and others while he tries to overhaul ABT into an Ardani-driven circus for which he contributes a few painted ponies and a trickster who has to alter Balanchine's choreography because it's too hard for him.  Oh, let's not get started again on that ....

Comments

[Genna]

I bet Cornejo will be paired with Osipova in Swan Lake. Sickening but it will be the most talked about Swan Lake in NYC in recent history. Like it or not Osipova has media and casual fans fawning over her. People think ballet is a sport now, we can thank poor marketing of ballet and emphasis on certain elements of technique for this preference.

When is McKenzie's contract up? I don't know if ABT can attract former ballerinas the caliber of Kolpakova to work there. I thought Kolpakova lives in Russia most of the time now? Always thought ABT should have tried to hire Tatiana Terekhova when she worked over at Boston Ballet.

[Haglund]

Hi Genna. Thanks for that nightmarish thought of a Cornejo-Osipova pairing, but I doubt that McKenzie would ever give Herman two S.L. performances. This is just a guess, but some of the TBAs within the casting look like they could be held for 40 year old Acosta who is years past his prime although still rightly and dearly adored in the U.K. It would be another travesty of artistic justice to hand over any roles to him instead of using the fine talent that has been home grown at ABT.

There are lots of retired principal ballerinas around with great classical expertise in the iconic roles. Why aren't they working permanently at ABT?

[Julie]

I'm guessing that Gomes will get one of those SLs - with either Osipova or Murphy. He's partnered both in SL - Osipova in her debut in the role last year in St. Petersburg. He's not down for any SLs yet and he's in performances the weeks before and after, so presumably he'll be around. Ditto for Osipova. The mystery is who the second male will be in the TBAs.

[Haglund]

It is truly a sign of the dismal state of affairs at ABT when the audience assumes that regardless how inappropriate Osipova is, she still will be handed the S.L. role on a silver platter. But that's the truth. ABT will throw any damned crap on stage so long as people buy tickets. If they thought they could do it, they'd stuff Beyonce in a tutu and sell her as the next great classical ballerina.

[Genna]

Is it bad to actually want to go to see in person Osipova's train wreck of a Trocks interpretation of Swan Lake? Because I am seriously tempted to do so mainly to see the awfulness in all its glory. But then doing so would just contribute to ticket sales to her performances. I am conflicted.

[Haglund]

Genna, there is enough evidence of Osipova's swan artistry on YouTube to answer that question. Don't patronize and support what you don't want presented. I will skip Gomes rather than see him try to legitimize an Osipova Swan Lake or anything else she dances. With so many ABT ballerinas desperate for a chance to dance that role, it is almost unthinkable that he would stoop to being on a bill with her.

[Angelica Smith]

So sad about the fate of Georgina Parkinson's proteges. Didn't the same thing happen to Veronika Part in St. Petersburg? My understanding is that her coach died and no one else took her under her wing and that was the major reason she came to the US.

[Haglund]

Hi Angelica. I think I heard that, too.

[Kit]

Will things have to get much, much worse before they get better? This state of affairs is highly discouraging. Is there light at the end of the tunnel, or must we all witness the decline of ABT?

[Haglund]

I don't know. The ABT board just doesn't have a clue how badly the company needs a new director.

[Kit]

Perhaps it will need to hit ABT severely in the coffers before the board realizes the company needs new direction... and by then it might be too late.

[Angelica Smith]

When ABT gets hit in the coffers, what they do is hire a new director of membership, not a new artistic director, alas.
Who would be a likely successor, in any event? I think the people we would prefer (Bocca, Corella, Carreno, for example) are unlikely to be approached, and Ratmansky (who likes those Russians) would probably be tapped.

[Haglund]

Bocca just re-signed for another 5 years in Uruguay. If, unfortunately, the situation in Spain continues to deteriorate, it would seem that Angel's company might not be able to sustain itself. If that were the case - knock on wood, it doesn't happen - Angel would be a good choice. Stiefel has another 1 1/2+ years to go on his NZ contract. Cynthia Gregory is 66 years old and probably wouldn't want to make a long term commitment, but she might sign on for two years if Stiefel would then come back. Whoever the new director ends up being, he has to arrive with a mandate to reverse course.

[Angelica Smith]

Do we know when ABT's current AD's contract expires? Is there really a possibility of a new AD?

[Haglund]

No, we don't know, but it seems like the ABT board presumes he has tenure.