ABT – More freakin' imports may be on the way

McKenzie and Van Hamel are at the YAGP event tonight where they are scoping out Lunkina who is a Ratmansky pick and claims she had to leave the Bolshoi because of threats, Dorothee Gilbert who wants to guest at ABT, Kuranaga who is an occasional freelance partner of Cornejo and Simkin and danced with the obnoxious Whiteside in Boston, and Kochetkova who has been throwing herself at ABT ever since Simkin arrived.  McKenzie is in a panic over the doubtfulness of Cojocaru for the spring and wants to find someone – anyone, even a 2nd tier regional company dancer – so he can avoid giving the performances to Sarah Lane.  And he also gets a chance to start to oil his way toward Alejandro Virelles who defected from Cuba because he wanted freedom from the classics and an opportunity to dance contemporary work and is now dancing at Boston.

This is how we ended up with the geriatric Kobborg stuffed into performance slots that should have gone to ABT's own dancers.  McKenzie and Van Hamel went to a performance to audition him while he was performing with the Royal Danish Ballet at the Koch Theater, and voila, another guest artist cluttering up the season.

Do you suppose McKenzie ever bothers to watch ABT's own company dancers?  Do you suppose he went to the BalletNext performance last night where Misty Copeland performed The Dying Swan?  Do you suppose he's even bothered to ask to see a tape of Stella Abrera's Aurora in New Zealand or Gillian Murphy's Giselle?  Do you suppose he cares about the outstanding independent guesting that Jared Matthews and Yuriko have done?

We don't need another Bolshoi ballerina or any other import at ABT.  The company has an embarrassment of riches that it wastes everyday.  What we need is for the director to stop making excuses for his dismal performance and stop acting like he's entitled to whatever he can buy with other people's money.

Just remember when the aforementioned names start popping up on the ABT roster, you heard it here first.

 

 

Comments

[FrmrDancer]

You always nail it, Haglund. Yucky stuff as usual at ABT. Misha brought over some questionable corps dancers. Stretton promoted from within,
literally, ; ), at the expense of more talented dancers. I haven't seen enough of Sarah Lane to gush over her, but I defer to you. Love Stella too!

[Haglund]

Hi FmrDancer. Sarah was spectacular as Gulnare in DC. IMO she out-danced Xiomara who danced a pretty respectable Medora, and equaled her in acting. Stella was the classical ballerina in the opening night cast -- truly a beautiful artist with superb acting.

[Kit]

I like Kobborg. But isn't he past his prime? McKenzie boggles the mind.

[Haglund]

Yes, Kobborg has been past his prime for a while. There was no need whatsoever for McKenzie to hire him as a guest artist and it meant that brilliant dancers in the soloist and corps ranks lost important opportunities to shine.