A thief will often try to spend stolen money as quickly as possible to destroy any evidence of his crime. The fact that McKenzie gave away Veronika's contract means nothing. Wrongs need to be righted whether the fix comes out of someone's hide or not.
So thrilled for all of those who were promoted, especially dear Sarah!
Posted by: EmilykV | July 07, 2017 at 12:48 PM
Thank goodness Sarah was promoted! I've been on pins and needles since her last-minute Swan Lake.
Posted by: angelica | July 07, 2017 at 01:14 PM
Our Sarah finally gets the promotion she has deserved for 10 years.
Posted by: Rose | July 07, 2017 at 01:22 PM
So happy for them all, especially our lovely Sarah. I hate that there's such a shadow over what would otherwise be such a celebratory and long-awaited occasion.
Posted by: Catherine | July 07, 2017 at 01:23 PM
Splendid. After seeing her Giselle, I thought there is no way that Lane won't be promoted. She was a Giselle for the ages.
Posted by: jennifer | July 07, 2017 at 01:28 PM
Thrilled for Sarah and the other deserving dancers! I am still sad about Veronica, and love how your post paid tribute to her, Haglund.
Posted by: Georgiann | July 07, 2017 at 02:26 PM
Congrats to all dancers promoted, especially Sarah!
Posted by: Jeannette | July 07, 2017 at 04:57 PM
It's about time Sarah Lane got promoted. Hopefully this means a chance to develop a partnership with Simkin.
Posted by: Silvie | July 07, 2017 at 06:42 PM
What a great group of hardworking, deserving dancers were promoted today - the most deserving of the deserving, of course, the wonderful Sarah Lane. Thanks for the lovely visual homage to Veronika Part. I will finally get to see her with Blaine Hoven tomorrow - for the last time!! A final, sad, bittersweet treasure from the awful AD, who gives us gifts with one hand, then slaps us with the other.
Posted by: LLF | July 07, 2017 at 06:59 PM
Great news about Lane. We were at that marvelous Giselle she did with Simkin. It would have been scandalous had she not been promoted. On the subject of Part, however, happy face becomes a sad one. Not sure we can go because we wonder whether we can sit through it with the right kind of composure. Again, kudos to you for this wonderful blog.
Posted by: Eulalia Johnson | July 07, 2017 at 07:04 PM
Thank you Haglund. I'm very happy these dancers were promoted, especially Sarah Lane. Her Giselle was wonderful. I can't get to NY to see Part tomorrow unfortunately and I'm very sad about probably never seeing her dance again.
Posted by: Marta | July 07, 2017 at 07:23 PM
LLF, wait until the details come out about how McKenzie handled this. I'm not at liberty to say but the details will come out eventually, and he will look even more like scum. ABT is trying its best to create a false picture of the situation, complete with initially making it look like Veronika was leaving on her own accord with its release to NYT "Veronika Part announces her retirement..." which NYT had to revise several times after publication.
It's one thing to make a mistake by awkwardly handling a sensitive matter; it's quite another to know that what you are doing is wrong, unfair, and misleading, but forging ahead with it anyway - as ABT did.
It makes me wonder about the ethical spines of these financial professionals who run ABT's board and the integrity of their own companies.
Posted by: Haglund | July 07, 2017 at 07:24 PM
Hi Haglund. I discovered your blog about a year ago and it has been a life line to ballet. I am a former dancer who grew up dancing ballet , modern and jazz but danced a little professionally in New York and elsewhere in modern and jazz forms. Anyway I have not been able to go to the ballet in years due to location and family etc. I watch as much as I can on youtube and I have gained new images in my head through your glorious reviews. At any rate I knew you were the real deal when I read your honest reviews about a certain "celebrina." I was beginning to think that I was the only one that felt the way that I feel about her before coming to your blog. At one time I was a fan and was rooting for her, but then well you know the rest. I am just appalled that she has been made principal and is not worthy. It has been really hard to deal with, but now with ABT firing Ms. Part while she continues to try to dance on stage not once but twice in a role, I just do not get it.
I am so thrilled for Sarah Lane and the others that got promoted. Thank you for all that you do for the art form.
Sincerely,
Macellisondance
Posted by: macellisondance | July 07, 2017 at 08:29 PM
Macellisondance,
Thank you for your very kind words and for reading H.H.
I'm curious - in what part of the country do you now reside?
Posted by: Haglund | July 07, 2017 at 09:54 PM
Hi Haglund. Thanks for your prompt reply. My family and I moved back to my hometown of Baltimore, MD last summer. I should have seen a lot of performances this past year but did not. This year is the year that I get back into the swing of things. Thank you for making me feel welcomed.
Posted by: macellisondance | July 08, 2017 at 03:32 PM
Nice to see McCauley acknowledge Sarah Lane in his review of ABT's season. She unjustly gets overlooked by The Times and it's a disgrace.
Posted by: formerdancer | July 10, 2017 at 09:18 AM
Hi formerdancer.
I think he's trying to be responsive to all of the legitimate criticism of NYT for failing to report on what was truly a year of change fueled by the many fine debuts. ABT's best dancers were allowed to step up and illustrate how corrupt the idea of guest artists has been and also the corruptness of McKenzie pushing incompetent media candy to the front of the stage. The NYT's problem is that it has been a full partner in the corruption. It has been the one to glorify all the guest artists at the expense of ABT's own dancers, and it has been the one who has been pushing the incompetent media candy (e.g., Copeland, Boylston) in its pages. Nobody should be allowed to dance a role next year unless she/he can do ALL of the steps. Period.
Posted by: Haglund | July 10, 2017 at 09:36 AM
If your season prediction from the other post is correct, I would love to see Royal tackle some more roles in Romeo and Juliet. I saw in his bio that he's done Benvolio, but I think Mercutio and Thybalt would be great fits for him too. Eventually Romeo, but that might need some more maturing for a couple of seasons, in my opinion.
What happened to Part is just something that leaves me speechless.
Posted by: Kallima | July 10, 2017 at 05:58 PM
OT
It looks like Sarah Lane impressed many with her last minute Swan Lake debut. She will be reprising the role of Odette with the Kremlin ballet. Vadim Muntagirov will be her Siegfried. I think Cornejo and Kochetkova guest starred with the Kremlin last year. It was on Joy Womack's youtube channel.
http://kremlinpalace.org/en/events/vi-international-ballet-festival-kremlin-swan-lake
Posted by: melponeme_k | July 10, 2017 at 08:06 PM
Thanks, melponeme_k. That totally deserves to be moved up to its very own observation.
Posted by: Haglund | July 10, 2017 at 08:20 PM
I love Sarah, so of course I am happy about her overdue promotion. However, I hate to sound a somber note, but I remember how much we rejoiced when Veronika received hers. Earning principal status isn't the final battle. McKenzie has always been begrudging with these artists. It's sickening. We and they can never rest easy.
Posted by: Annie H. | July 31, 2017 at 01:23 PM