Джозеф Филлипс – soaring

Joseph Phillips has started work in Vladivostok as a principal dancer with the State Primorsky Opera and Ballet, and he is news.

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Even though Phillips has clearly conveyed that he left his job at ABT for this great opportunity in Vladivostok, ABT can't bear to remove his bio from the corps roster.  Maybe it has something to do with that sticky situation of possibly having to offer to return a sponsor's money. 

"Hey Joe - little problema, Budd. Let's pretend that u r just trying things out over there. We'll keep u on the roster for a while so we can keep the sponsor's money in case all the principal roles, generous coaching, and state-of-the-art facilities don't agree with you."

Comments

[angelica]

Thanks for this, Haglund, although the only words I understood were "Djoseph Phillips," "balleta," "theatre," and maybe a couple of others. I don't understand the rationale behind McKenzie's dismissal of the talent in his ranks. There's nothing worse for a dancer than feeling invisible.

[Haglund]

I agree, Angelica. But it's not just dismissal. It's denial, too. McKenzie refuses to recognize many dancers' major international accomplishments - as if they never occurred. What a demeaning and toxic management practice.

[Kit]

Why, why, why? Is this a case of stubbornly digging in his heels? He can't bear to be wrong about the promising talent he's overlooked? Some sort of power play with the soloists and corps? Money talks (Ardani, sponsors, whatever)? He doesn't have to stop inviting guest artists, but the neglect of the home team is criminal.

[J]

I picked up the words Chopiniana, something akin to choreograph, Mikhail Fokine, laureate, Jackson, and something akin to American. So it appears he will be performing Les Sylphides. I am glad that I saw him in Le Corsaire in L.A. this summer. What a change in every way this is for him.

[Haglund]

The rise of this theater is fascinating. Here in the U.S., a company starts with a few artists and grows painfully year to year. Russia just decides that Vladivostok needs a major cultural presence and builds it practically overnight - infrastructure, first.

Both the theater and its young artistic director have extremely active FB pages that I can't stop checking multiple times each day. The pictures tell such a clear story about the transformation of Vladivostok. Right now on the theater's FB page there is a picture of a spectacular new bridge that spans the Golden Horn Bay in the middle of the city and several pics of Putin surveying the new theater.

https://www.facebook.com/PrimorskyOperaTheater?hc_location=stream

https://www.facebook.com/alubchenko?hc_location=stream

I wish Phillips would get busy on his own Twitter and FB accounts!