The company says that Philadelphia Ballet was founder Barbara Weisberger's original name choice which she gave up because another local company used the city in its name. The change is being made to promote a stronger sense of ownership by the city and to capitalize on Philadelphia's international reputation that has been built by its orchestra, opera, and museums. As the Executive Director points out, most ballet companies take the names of their cities.
Angel Corella and ED Shelly Power are reportedly negotiating extended contracts which are expected to be voted on by their board this summer. That is great news for the company and all of Philadelphia but disappointing to those who had a glimmer of hope that Corella would be the next ABT artistic director.
And a handsome new logo to go along with the re-branding:
I haven't been able to see Philadelphia ballet yet. Corella is really doing a great job at rebuilding the company.
I don't blame him for staying away from ABT. He would be at the mercy of the ABT board nitpicking. That whole group fancies themselves as a bunch of enlightened Diaghilevs.
I do wish Philadelphia or Boston could give Sarah Lane an opportunity to guest perform.
Posted by: Melponeme_k | June 22, 2021 at 09:37 AM
Hi Haglund,
I also haven't been able to see Philadelphia Ballet other than online which I really enjoyed. I was thinking the same thing as Melponeme_k, that maybe Boston Ballet would invite Sarah Lane as a guest artist. BB rarely does that anymore. Can't recall the last time I saw a guest. Way back in the 80s, 90s, especially Russian or Russian trained dancers like Ananiashvili or Terekhova guested. Hope there's still hope as I'd dearly love to see Lane again. And Veronika Part ...
Posted by: Marta | June 22, 2021 at 03:33 PM
I always wondered about that name.... sometimes renamings go awry, but let's hope for the best.
Meanwhile, knowing of your love of pandas:
https://nypost.com/2021/06/23/giant-panda-gives-birth-to-twin-cubs-at-tokyos-ueno-zoo-2/
Posted by: Diana | June 23, 2021 at 08:18 PM
Twin pandas in Tokyo! Meanwhile, our little guy in the National Zoo in Washington DC is over 50 pounds and is Buster Keaton hilarious (when he's not sleeping).
https://nationalzoo.si.edu/webcams/panda-cam
Posted by: Haglund | June 23, 2021 at 09:43 PM
50 pounds?? When they are born, they weigh 3-5 ounces! (Yes, I just looked that up.)
He must be eating a lot of bamboo (I looked that up, too).
Posted by: Diana | June 23, 2021 at 10:26 PM
I read that in the wild, when twins are born the mother will usually concentrate on the stronger cub. But in zoos, their keepers make up for that. Fingers crossed for both!
(When I accessed the webcam, everyone was fast asleep.)
Posted by: Diana | June 24, 2021 at 08:55 AM
Corella is wise to not even pursue ABT. The board which
obviously prefers PR, and publicity (MustyMisty, KlulessKevin) over art and deserving artists,would strangle him and destroy his gift.. Im jealous that Philly has him, but good for them.
Phyl
Posted by: Phyllis Malmuth | June 25, 2021 at 10:56 PM
You hit on a huge concern - that high-end respectable directors won't want to have anything to do with ABT because the board will chain them with Woke-this 'n Woke-that.
The Woke Folk are now like gay conversion therapists. ("You need to get in touch with your shame.")
Posted by: Haglund | June 26, 2021 at 08:04 AM
At first I thought that Philadelphia Ballet was a new, smaller company. It sounds like a downsizing.
Wishing Angel and the troupe well. I’ve enjoyed their digital offerings.
Posted by: Jeannette | June 26, 2021 at 09:03 PM
"new, smaller company."
That's a problem with rebrandings. Sometimes the connection isn't clear. People literally make good livings on how to steer orgs through rebrandings... something tells me they're gonna clean up in Wokeworld.
Posted by: Diana | June 27, 2021 at 05:08 PM
The new name makes sense. The company receives the vast amount of its support from the Philly area, not Pittsburgh or Scranton. There's no evidence of major cutbacks. It's doubtful that Corella would be negotiating to stay if that were the case. His company is growing by leaps and bounds in talent and authority. I can't wait to make the trip down there again to see them.
Posted by: Haglund | June 27, 2021 at 06:13 PM
I agree I think it sounds like a downsizing because Philadelphia is such a small city and Pennsylvania is an entire state so I’m not sure what this is going to do for it but maybe Philadelphia is trying to upgrade it’s image so maybe it will work out for funding purposes. A great idea would be for them to hold a ballet festival yearly with a competition or a beautiful performance with people from all over the world which is really what New York City needs but who with any sort of needed clout has such a vision?
As to ABT they won’t even look at him as a Director because they know he’s going to fire everyone who’s skills are rather pathetic so that’s not going to fare well for ABT. I honestly think Susan Jaffe would be the best directorial choice because first she has incredibly high standards and knows from whence ABT came and second she knows how to work the politics. And also she’s choreographically talented so I’m really hoping that her name gets brought up. I know indeed that some of the most authentic artistic staffers working at ABT would be very happy for her to become the Director. But of course all the frauds will probably throw a fit.
Posted by: Trina | July 01, 2021 at 05:54 PM
Philly's metro area is about 6 million which is good sized and it is from where the company has always drawn its audience. The company doesn't tour to Altoona, Meadville, or Hazleton. Not that it might not at some future point.
A ballet festival could be really, really nice but definitely would require a lot of donations -- money that might otherwise go to Philadelphia Ballet. I'd hate to see a replication of what has happened in Washington DC which tried to have annual ballet festivals but then made the mistake of having celebrity dancers curate them.
Susan Jaffe just started her brand new job in Pittsburgh. She may be all the things you said, but I would view her in the group of former principals (Jaffe, Kent, Robert Hill among them) who would be a continuation of McKenzieism.
Posted by: Haglund | July 01, 2021 at 06:23 PM
Ha ha, Haglund! “...Washington DC...tried to have ballet festivals but then made the mistake of having celebrity dancers curate them.” True.
Speaking of...
Has anyone else noticed that, in all 15 months of COVID-era streams, Celebrina hasn’t danced, other than a few steps on Zoom in the Twyla Tharp PBS docum...before Twyla had to replace her? We saw Celebrina introduce a couple of ABT Studio Co streams but not dance. Hmmm...
Posted by: Jeannette | July 02, 2021 at 04:56 AM
LOL, Jeannette. The Celebrina will have reams of excuses if and when she stumbles back on stage. Not being able to dance has never kept her out of principal roles. She could stand in the middle of the stage and mark steps with her hands instead of actually doing them, and then give a big bow to her clueless fans. McKenzie wouldn't care. Let's hope the speculation and rumors about the fall season are right on target.
Posted by: Haglund | July 02, 2021 at 07:31 AM