observations 8-4

We were surprised to see Craig Salstein’s bio disappear from the ABT website yesterday. We had heard (unconfirmed) that he was going to take a leave to be the Dance Captain for the Broadway revival of Carousel — “choreographed” by Justin Peck (i.e., Take Agnes De Mille’s choreography to the right and set it going left and then claim it's original; take Agnes De Mille’s choreography and add a triple pirouette and then claim it's original; change the arms to Agnes De Mille’s footwork and then claim it’s original; and on and on. Just our prediction.) So, it seems that Craig has made a clean break. We can’t blame him.

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Meanwhile, ABT purged Veronika Part from the website but Kochetkova remains. For what reason?! This dancer offers n-o-t-h-i-n-g to ABT’s audiences that its own dancers cannot. Does McKenzie really believe that Sarah Lane, Skylar Brandt, and Cassandra Trenary are not better suited to dance with Herman Cornejo and Daniil Simkin than Kochetkova? If he does, Ratmansky has proven him wrong countless times by pairing them up in difficult choreography. ABT doesn’t need Kochetkova, and the ABT audiences have proven that they don’t want her and that she is not any kind of a ticket draw. Isn’t Helgi paying her enough to get by at San Francisco Ballet? Isn’t she earning enough pin money from her official guest artist designation at ENB? ABT’s audiences have no interest whatsoever in seeing Kochetkova in anything and resent how she pandered her way into the company. Even giving her one solitary Don Q will mean that this brilliance will not burn as brightly as it could:

 

 And by the way, welcome back Luis Ribagorda!

 

We’d like to see some similar clips of Skylar and Cassandra working hard in advance on Don Q variations - even if they haven’t yet been cast. We need ABT to reclaim its title to this ballet which McKenzie carelessly threw away by employing guest artists and imports like Kochetkova instead of developing the company’s own dancers. Skylar and Cassandra along with Sarah, Shevchenko and Teuscher are going to bring the title home for us. Fans out, ladies. Let’s go let’s go let’s go.

 

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In case anyone had a doubt, withholding money from ABT as punishment for its crappy behavior WORKS.

 

ABT recently published its 2015 IRS Form 990 which confirms that patrons were fed-up royally at the company’s reliance on guest artists and the nonstop nonsense that Misty Copeland was spewing to gain her celebrity status. CONTRIBUTIONS FOR 2015 DECLINED BY MORE THAN 28%. Program service revenues (e.g. ticket sales) were down as well – even with the ridiculous increases in prices. No wonder Rachel Moore bailed out at the end of the year; her Star Strategy and all of her other crappy strategies (e.g., Force Misty Down Everyone's Throats) were sending ABT’s finances into the toilet. For the same period, New York City Ballet's contributions increased by more than 8% and their program service revenues increased a whopping 31%. 

 

 

We repeat: Withholding money from ABT WORKS. We now have far more in-house principals than we would have had and much less reliance on guest artists. But our job is far from done. We need to get rid of both Kochetkova (and all other freelancing faux principals) and McKenzie. We need Veronika back as well as Yuriko and Jared. We need a commitment from ABT to NEVER EVER again treat an artist in the shameful, despicable, ungrateful manner that Kevin McKenzie was allowed to use to harm Veronika Part. EVER.

 

Withhold money from ABT. Buy fewer tickets. Find something else to do with your money. Here’s a suggestion:

 

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Last night Haglund went to the premiere performance of Prince on Broadway at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre on 47th Street. What a stunning evening of entertainment. It was a revue of Hal Prince’s musicals — directed by Prince, of course. There was no “book” per se, simply a thin narrative thread about Prince’s history in the theater. Every number was taken out of context, but they all worked wonderfully. Within 30 seconds of each song, it felt as though you had been in the theater the whole night for that particular musical.

 

Most of the cast, all mature and well-known musical theater artists, had never been in a Prince musical on Broadway. They were f-a-n-t-a-s-t-i-c !!! You simply will not believe the brilliance of Tony Yazbeck in Damn Yankees, West Side Story, as Leo Frank in “This Is Not Over Yet” from Parade, and especially his dancing/singing/drama skills in “The Right Girl” from Follies. And OMG, Chuck Cooper as Tevye singing “If I Were A Rich Man” from Fiddler on the Roof and later singing "Ol’ Man River” from Show Boat – he and Yazbeck will probably secure Broadway revivals for all of these shows by themselves.

 

Brandon Uranowitz as the emcee in Cabaret with Bryonha Marie Parham as Sally Bowles, Michael Xavier and Kaley Ann Voorhees in an excerpt from Phantom of the Opera, Karen Ziemba in Sweeney Todd, Janet Dacal in Evita, and Emily Skinner singing “Send in the Clowns” from A Little Night Music made for a full evening of sighs and wonderful memories among the audience members.

 

Bravo to Manhattan Theatre Club for this production. Everyone go see this show!

 

Comments

[Rachel]

Wow -yes welcome back Luis! They're definitely going to need him with Craig gone and so few senior men left in the corps to lead the way.

[LLF]

I'll definitely withhold money from ABT (for ticket purchases) if Lane is forced back into soloist roles because of/in support of Kochetkova; e.g. still performing the Swan Lake pas de trois w/Gorak & Brandt while Kochetkova dances O&O ... will this ABT nightmare never end?

[Haglund]

Rachel, ITA. Luis is a first rate Birbanto and the best Jester in Ashton's Cinderella that I've ever seen -- such a tremendous talent. I hope that Ratmansky utilizes him well in the new Harlequinade.

LLF, there's no chance of the nightmare ending while McKenzie is still AD. ABT has a lot of gall to expect the public to "celebrate" his 25th year this fall – with a gala, no less. We should call it The Galla.

[melponeme_k]

I'm sad to see that Salstein has left the company. I enjoyed watching him in everything he was in this year. He had such good chemistry with all his partners.

[Diana]

You can't have Yuriko & Jared back!!! Love, Houston ;)

[Elizabeth]

Haglund - thank you as always for so much information on the ballet world! Sad about Craig Salstein - I have always enjoyed his performances. I am curious as to why there were no corps women promoted to soloist this year. The soloist level is very male dominant and there is a wealth of talent from the female corps in which to promote.

[Haglund]

Diana,

🤠 🤠

[Haglund]

You're so right, Elizabeth, and there are even more corpsmen who should be moved up. Two corps women who have strong artistic and technical qualifications are Kaho Ogawa and Catherine Hurlin. There are others with less even qualifications who don't seem to be maturing regardless of their opportunities.

[angelica]

Wow! The numbers on the tax form tell the truth. I'm afraid that the Board will target the extremely nice Director of Membership for the decline in contributions rather than McKenzie himself, who is the one who makes the decisions regarding programming and casting.

[Haglund]

True, Angelica. They'll target everyone but McKenzie and Moore. It's quite unbelievable how in a year of such losses, ABT's management got raises. McKenzie's total compensation increased by more than $3500; Ratmansky's increased by a whopping $95K. Moore was on track for a record-breaking salary increase, too, but she bailed out and ran West prior to the 4th quarter.

That fall season represents the worst taste of any so-called major ballet company. Every program is mostly unwatchable. How pathetic.

[angelica]

Interesting that you mention the fall season, Haglund. I was looking at the schedule trying to decide if there was any program at all that I wanted to attend, and I couldn't find a single one. Daphnis and Chloe has got to be the most boring ballet I've ever seen. I saw it a year ago with, of all people, Stella Abrera, one of my most favorite dancers, and even then it seemed interminable. I went to YouTube to try out some of the other ballets and for me, they were all zzzzzz.

[elfantgirl]

Farewell, Craig. I was a real fan. I hope he moves on to more opportunities. I can't help but agree that that ABT is losing top talent in its prime due to its own actions. But welcome back to Luis!

[Lena]

Hi Haglund,

Thanks again for your top notch observations. In complete agreement re: kochetkova. The few times I've ever seen her dance where just to see Herman. It's so frustrating to see her (and the celebrina) dominate Herman and Daniil when Sarah, Cassandra and Skylar are available. At least we saw this past season how capable they are with Sarah's Swan Lake/Giselle and Skylar's Corsaire. Not that I except miserable McKenzie to take note.

They certainly wasted no time in eradicating Veronika from ABT existence. The cruel, shameful way ABT and McKenzie treated her has left a sour note that will not be forgotten. (And the fact that so few dancers acknowledged her departure on social media when they were all gushing over Diana was puzzling. Afraid of miserable McKenzie/ABT management?)

On a brighter note, I'm glad that Luis is coming back. The younger corp dancers could learn a thing or two from him.

[Haglund]

I got some confirmation regarding Craig being the Dance Captain for Carousel, BUT he intends to return to ABT after this temporary Broadway stint. So, why on earth does ABT proceed to remove him from the roster?! Is there no end to McKenzie's disrespectful treatment of the artists? Why is Mr. Two Performances Per Year Bolle still listed as a principal dancer? Honest to god, it seems that McKenzie has a different set of rules for each dancer - which, of course, means that he has no rules at all.

Please note that over at NYCB, Robert Fairchild is still listed on the roster even though he's been on an extended leave for quite some time (and perhaps won't return given the occurrences over the summer - who knows...) Do you think Martins is going to remove Amar and Brittney from the roster because they are taking leaves to dance in Carousel? I doubt it.

[John]

I agree that the fall season provokes very little enthusiasm, BUT -- you simply cannot say "zzz" about Symphonic Variations, and dismiss it. True, ABT can't dance it as well as the Royal, but to lump a work of genius--and it's nothing less than Ashton's genius--in with a lot of second-rate repertoire is, well, let's just say miscalculated.

[yukionna]

You're right about how ABT treats its dancers. They even left out Herman Cornejo from the Fall season brochure last year. If I remember correctly, both Fairchilds and Pazcoguin stayed on the NYCB roster during their Broadway stints.

I sure hope Robert Fairchild comes back.

[melponeme_k]

Taking Salstein off the website even though he is only taking a sabbatical is odd and not a good sign. He is one of the most accomplished male soloists at ABT. He is also more than fully ready to be a principal. Heck, there are certainly enough small female dancers he could partner in main roles.

But dang, who would play Mercutio then? *shakes head*

I've given up on trying to understand the management of this company.

[Haglund]

It is interesting that ABT seems to be able to continue to list Craig as one of the company teachers but can't seem to justify showing him on the roster.

Marcelo is taking a leave to be in The Red Shoes and is, according to ABT, not going to be part of the fall season. Have they dared to remove him from the roster?

[Marta]

Hi Haglund,

Thanks for your latest comments as always. I remember how shocking it was when Cornejo was omitted from the website last year. If dancers on maternity leave continue to be listed on a company site, then why aren't those on a "Broadway leave" listed? Maybe the people who manage the site are just a bunch of deadbeats. It seems like there's a total internet blackout of Veronika Part. All searches come up with old material. I am very sad that I won't see her dance again.

[J.A.D]

I have said it before and I am saying it again: " I don't want to see Kochetkova here in SFB" Tinny girlfriend has no artistry. Years after years I give her the benefit of the doubt, hoping one day she would mature into an artist. Guess what, some dancers have it and some just don't. I could not stand her to the point of leaving her full length performance during intermission: Eugene Onegin, Wheeldon's Cinderella... being a dancer myself, I respect dancers and always stay until the last minute of anybody's performance, but Kochetkova just bores me. All I see is Kochetkova being Kochetkova with her same old tricks, completely devoid of characteristic of any role she is portraying...

[Haglund]

J.A.D., I tend to agree. I don't see anything other than a competition/gala dancer in Kochetkova. McKenzie is sending the wrong signals to the small dancers in the company by employing her.

[SherryD]

Either ABT is not keeping their calendar up to date, or there are only two days (in Nebraska) that the company is performing from the 11 day State Theater season until the Met season. Can this be true?

[Haglund]

They're not keeping the calendar up to date, SherryD. They have a Nutcracker planned in O.C., five days in Chicago, and I understand that there is some kind of China tour planned. Of course, the latter could be a question mark given that we are on the brink of war with North Korea because two dude presidents need to argue about whose dick is longer. Oh, excuse me, that wasn't very nice. Sometimes a missile is really just a missile...