Thinking back over the years, it's hard to recall a lot of NYCB dancers who made a public hoopla about a role that they retired. The simple grace that Maria Kowroski showed in quietly finishing off roles was and still is admired. Same with Sterling Hyltin. Did Kyra Nichols elicit public gratitude and applause every time she retired a role? Nuh uh. But man oh man, is it ever a different time. The applause in the theater seems never to be enough for some. Either they painstakingly set up photo shots of themselves in dramatic, contemplative poses and publish them as illustrative of their emotional artistic output or they try to conflate their anger about a waning career with political outrage. Can't wait to see for which media outlet Ashley Bouder reserved exclusive photos of herself with her little Angel in full costume. We can guess, though.
Now, let's get on to the Winter Season.
Seven rep programs and an extra helping of Swan Lake is not much more than one program per week. Not to belabor this point, but NYCB is rolling in money. They have gobs and gobs and gobs of money and can certainly afford to present more Balanchine programs with a wider selection of dancers in principal roles. Poor Serenade which used to be emblematic at NYCB and opened many seasons -- because it should -- has been reduced to just another rep piece and stuck in a dismal rotation. (But thanks for the student performance of it last year... 🙄)
Assuming we don't get stuck with the same casting over and over again for these same few programs that are presented over and over again, we could have ourselves a brilliant Winter Season. Our hopes include more opportunities for Emily Kikta and Miriam Miller, who are dancing beautifully, but who IMO can rise to new levels of distinction by asserting musical individuality. We either need to see much, much more of Alexa Maxwell in traditional Balanchine works or we need to hear the reasons we're not. Would love to see her leading Allegro Brilliante.
Above all, we hope NYCB stops under-utilizing the enormous amount of true talent in its ranks. Most of the time, if a dancer has been performing a role for 15 - 20 years, we've seen enough and we've seen everything that the artist has to offer in the role. There are historical exceptions, of course.
Our toast for the New Year: As NYCB continues to raise prices and fees, it should strive to raise content and quality as well.
Haglund, I was there on January 4. Here is my recap.
First, the theatre was packed with Ashley Bouder supporters. They cheered loudly in the sold-out audience, and most people, not having any idea what was really going on, chimed in. Ashley no doubt thinks this is an accurate representation of what people in the audience think of her, when the reality is, not one person buying tickets for the Winter Season wants to see Ashley Bouder on stage as anything except maybe a Monster in Firebird. I could have stuffed myself into a tutu and danced SPF and gotten the same amount of applause. It’s what happens when 3,000 people are in the room.
Second, it is unbelievable to me that NYCB let her perform to begin with. They were clearly in a bind, pressured to put Ashley on stage simply because her daughter was performing when she would never have been put on stage otherwise. The week leading up to Jan 4, Ashley’s husband made several posts across Reddit literally accusing NYCB of fostering “rape culture” and then trying to place some crown on Ashley’s head for “speaking up.” This is a serious accusation that was given no support, even when requested. Ashley and her husband are hell-bent on burning NYCB and SAB to the ground. She doesn’t get attention performing anymore, so she’s taken it up a notch, accusing nameless people of serious sex crimes and positioning herself as some kind of whistleblower to replicate the applause and admiration she used to get on stage. You don’t need a degree in psychology to figure this out.
Third, she looked terrible. I saw her dance. I had my opera glasses. I’ve been going to NYCB for 25 years. I know what I am talking about. She is just what you said – overweight in her arms, legs, midsection, face, neck, feet, thighs, calves. Even her hands looked fat. She is not “a few pounds” overweight. She resembled Miss Piggy stuffed into pointe shoes and was frankly just as oblivious. She has no idea how bad she looks. Couple this with her “about to burst into tears” facial expression that never left her face, and it was more than I could handle. She missed easy steps. She fell off pointe. She has zero flexibility, not even able to manage a 90-degree arabesque. Zero stamina. Her line – not that she ever had much of one – is totally gone. I paid $200 for my ticket. I deserve better. We all do.
One can only hope she will see the writing on the wall and just leave. Emily Kikta and Miriam Miller should be promoted to Principal. Alexa Maxwell needs to get a whole bunch more debuts. Afanakensov is coming up fast and the audience wants to see her in everything. Same with Mira. Same with Emma. Ashley needs to retire, asap. And for the love of God, please stop shoving your daughter in our faces.
Posted by: Cream Soda | January 05, 2025 at 04:24 PM
The boring casting is perplexing. I miss Peter Martins and the opportunities he gave so many young dancers.
Posted by: pennsylvania | January 05, 2025 at 07:08 PM
Wow, Cream Soda. Just wow on so many fronts.
One of the most important things you mentioned was that you paid $200 for your ticket, that you deserved better, and that we all do. I don't think NYCB and obviously Bouder bother to consider what it takes for each of us to come to the theater. At the end of the performance, nobody wants to feel like they just flushed their money down the loo because the principal ballerina was a has-been with a big ego who can no longer deliver the goods. The house paid in the neighborhood of a half million dollars yesterday. Doesn't NYCB think they owe the audience their best effort?
What is so startling is that Bouder seems to have no recollection of what an extraordinary dancer she once was and how that compares with what she, sadly, is now. What sickness is driving her to force her way to the front of the stage where she no longer belongs?
Management cannot and must not be excused for allowing her to continue. They need to stop it.
Posted by: Haglund | January 05, 2025 at 07:09 PM
I feel like her announcement that it was her last Nutcracker means she accepts that she needs to retire and will do so in 2025. So that’s a relief — she used to be one of my favorite dancers and this is all very unfortunate. I have a feeling she might take one of the winter’s All Balanchine II performances and do Scotch Symphony and Firebird as a farewell program.
Posted by: Lina | January 05, 2025 at 09:25 PM
Hi, Lina. You may be right. Scotch Symphony and Firebird aren't really within her reach technically any longer. She'd have to muddle through them which it seems she might be willing to do. Ashley has created such ill will at the company and continues to try to burn it down that I don't think they owe her anything. Nor do I think that anyone wants to see her in a farewell where she cannot dance well. IMO she should just step away. I recall Nilas Martins stepped away without a special performance. There must have been others as well. Her saga has become such a distraction.
Posted by: Haglund | January 05, 2025 at 09:50 PM
I’m not quite sure which is sadder (or pathetic), that she sees herself as more important than the company or that the company is so weak as to her allow (and her husband) to continue to slander them. Sad also to see what was clearly a great career flop at the end.
Posted by: EJ | January 07, 2025 at 11:20 PM
Both Balanchine and Martins were able to deal with dancers who wanted to believe that they were more important than the company or tried to sabotage it. They got rid of them. Somehow Stafford has to figure out how to do that as well. It's hard to manage a huge complex business without invoking one's own authority.
Posted by: Haglund | January 08, 2025 at 09:03 AM
It’s not Ashley Bouder’s weight that offends me. It’s her refusal to accept responsibility for it. It's her whining about rules she was fine with until she could no longer keep up. It’s her sense of entitlement that she deserves to be on stage, not because she can give the audience a good show, but because, well, she’s Ashley Bouder!
Ashely and her husband (why he’s even involved in the conversation is beyond me) have come up with every excuse under the sun for why she’s not being cast, including: body shaming, ageism, weight gain, and speaking up against mysterious rapes and sexual assaults that nobody knows anything about. I was especially troubled to see these things said after NYCB graciously offered her one Sugar Plum, not because she deserved it, but because her daughter was on stage. They did not have to cast her. They would not have cast her had Violet not been in the show. But they did it anyway. And how did Ashley and Peter thank NYCB for this opportunity? They took to Reddit to accuse Jon and Wendy of covering up rape. Instead of being grateful, they doubled their efforts to drag these precious institutions through the mud. Who do these people think they are?
I don’t care a fig about Ashley Bouder’s weight. I do care, very much, about her and her husband’s selfish efforts to burn NYCB and SAB to the ground. I don't think I am alone in this sentiment.
Posted by: SK Wilson | January 08, 2025 at 09:52 AM
Thanks, SK. Hopefully the end will come soon.
Posted by: Haglund | January 08, 2025 at 10:00 AM
Hello, Haglund. I've been following your site for a couple of years but have never posted. But recent developments with Ashley Bouder have spurred me to ask this question. How is employment structured at NYCB? I would assume that dancers have contracts for a set period for a set amount of money. And that at the end of the contract the company can simply not offer a new contract. What I'm really asking is why Bouder is being allowed to hold the company hostage, make outrageous, slanderous claims and still be given plum roles that she is in no way capable of performing? I've thought that perhaps they're trying to placate her in the hopes that she and her husband will stop bashing them on social media but they're doing that anyway. So why is she still on the roster? This past fall was the first time in many years that I haven't had a subscription to NYCB. That happened for many different reasons but I did give some thought to the possibility that I would be stuck watching Bouder lumber about the stage. I had the misfortune to see her in Emeralds a couple of years ago and in something else that spring (I've forgotten what) and she should not have been anywhere near the NYCB stage. This is especially egregious since the company has so many brilliant young dancers that should be getting opportunities and promotions. So, to sum up, why is the company putting up with her nonsense? She's trying to inflict as much damage on the institution as she can and she may have succeeded in that to some extent. Why can't they just say, "you're fired" and cut ties. I do know that I will go out of my way to make sure I never spend money on one of her performances again and I can't be the only one who feels that way.
Posted by: Mendenhall | January 10, 2025 at 12:06 PM
All good questions, Mendenhall, to which I have no answers. It may be that NYCB is stuck with Bouder because she has a multi-year principal contract. Or it may be that they are simply trying to be as considerate as possible to her. Hopefully the Nutcracker performance was a one-off and we won't see her again. I can't imagine why they would renew her contract.
Posted by: Haglund | January 10, 2025 at 12:42 PM
It's also likely they are concerned about the lawsuit that would almost certainly follow her termination, the groundwork she's been laying on social media and elsewhere for many years. To be clear, I am not suggesting that her claims have merit, but she's very public in her complaints and I'm certain that she'd bring a wrongful termination/discrimination suit.
Admittedly, keeping someone around to avoid litigation is not a great precedent to set.
It seems she's acknowledged that she's done with Sugar Plum Fairy. I suspect her retirement will be announced soon, and she'll be going out "on her own terms" and thus the threat of litigation is mitigated.
She is in demonstrably better physical shape this year than last, but is still not in stage shape IMO.
Posted by: Hobbit Ballerina | January 11, 2025 at 05:29 AM
Hobbit Ballerina (😉), I agree about Ashley's litigious leanings. But it's not like she's been a sterling employee her whole career. So there is that for her to consider.
Part of the problem may be that she has been the center of everyone's attention from a very early age for her skills. That can be very addictive. Now that her skill has declined past acceptable levels, her instrument is failing, and her value as an NYCB principal artist is gone, she's losing that attention. What do addicts do when they can't get what makes them feel good? Well, there ya go . . .
I think one of the best things that Stafford has done is to incorporate a community service aspect in the SAB culture. This insures that the most talented individuals who will eventually be the stars at NYCB understand at an early age that the world doesn't revolve around them despite their enormous dancing talent.
Posted by: Haglund | January 11, 2025 at 06:44 AM
Hello again,
I'd like to offer an insider perspective.
First, all dancer contracts are renewed yearly in the summer. Per union rules, management must inform a dancer if his/her contract is not being renewed in January so he/she has time to audition and find another job. Generally, contracts are renewed unless something egregious happens.
Second, older dancers are rarely fired. It often goes the other way--many dancers end up feeling so unwanted that they choose to leave. In our field, not getting cast is a "punishment". This punishment can be for many things: weight, not taking company class, not being "in shape", angering the wrong person...But it works. Not getting cast is emotionally devastating. It makes one feel shame, depression, anxiety. Motivation and inspiration is lost. Confidence goes out the window. Many audience members are unaware how much courage it takes to get onstage sometimes. It is so hard to come back from a "punishment". There is only one way to be in "performance shape" and that is by performing.
Add age to the equation and things magnify. Skills decline, stamina lessens and we know it. The physical pain is out of this world. Everything hurts. We worry if we will actually be able to "do it" onstage. We worry about everything. Stage fright can amplify, which adds a whole new layer.
Then management, without saying the words, makes it clear that they want you to go. To do so, they don't cast you. You don't have the means to maintain performance standards because you aren't performing. Then they say that you are not up to performance standards. Then comes the shame, depression, anxiety. Then you leave or retire. That is the story for far too many people.
Also keep in mind that many dancers keep dancing because they are trying to line up second careers. We do not have other skills. We don't follow a typical education route. We do not have a degree to use to get another job. It takes time to figure out the second act. But we all end up on the other side somehow!
Please feel free ask questions. I just hope that my little insights can shed some light onto various circumstances. There so many complexities to seemingly basic things. Thanks so much!
Posted by: Abi Stafford | January 11, 2025 at 12:12 PM
Thank you for adding this critical perspective, Abi.
Posted by: Haglund | January 11, 2025 at 01:16 PM
Abi Stafford - Thanks for that. I have never understood how not dancing affects a dancer's income. Does the contract state a total annual amount that they get regardless of anything else, or does the contract say how much they get per performance or performance week or rehearsal week? Do they get overtime when they do extra performances because someone else is out sick? And if they are sick, how does that work? I remember that long long period several years ago when soloist Kathryn Morgan could not dance at all. Did she get regular salary, disability or something else?
Posted by: Mary Mellowdew | January 11, 2025 at 01:58 PM
Isn't there a parallel between what Abi describes and the life of the aging, balding salesman whose management chooses to no longer feed him as many prime sales leads as before? Instead, many leads are fed to the many new youthful, more hungry, more attractive, more culturally-comfortable salespeople who the clients prefer to work with. Because the salesman isn't getting as many leads as in past years, his sales and income go down. Management complains that his sales are dragging and orders him to improve. His mindset begins to fray because he can't do anything about his baldness, aging, client preferences, or the attractiveness of the other sales people. He eventually self-evicts.
Then there are the well-known investment banking firms with the "two & through" management practice. They hire tons of elite graduates from the best schools and make them work 100 hours per week only to throw them out the door after two years. And during this "two & through" employment, the flunkies are expected to be matriculating an MBA program and studying for securities licenses.
Then there are the NFL players who are simply released without giving reasons and often through no fault of their own.
I "get" that being a professional ballet dancer is hard, competitive, fraught with uncertainties, with difficult managers, "office" politics, favoritism, and on and on. So are most other jobs. If a person is in a job and pisses off someone or doesn't get along with everyone or isn't a good, gracious team player or doesn't quietly accept things he may not like or perceives to be unfair, there are consequences. This is not unique to ballet or entertainment. In most jobs there is no democracy. Why should there be in ballet?
Posted by: Haglund | January 11, 2025 at 04:19 PM
Hi Mary,
Happy to answer.
At NYCB, the dancers are contracted for about 38 weeks a year. The remaining weeks are unpaid or "layoffs". During layoffs, dancers try to get gigs and/or teach to generate additional income. We can also collect unemployment. Layoffs can be stressful financially if they last for several weeks in a row. One generally has to plan in advance.
Soloist and principal dancers have a "rehearsal period" weekly rate and a "season rate." The season rate is a bit higher. Rehearsal periods precede each season and usually last about six weeks. Seasons are normally followed by a layoff. Corps de ballet members have the same pay rate for both--because the assumption is that they are rehearsing more ballets-hence more hours.
Overtime is paid out in two ways-- (1)when you rehearse more than 3 hours in a row; or (2) when you have at least five performances in a week. You do not get paid extra to go on for another dancer unless one of those two things happens as a result. Corps members generally enjoy nice overtime but it is more rare for soloists and principals to log five shows in a week. There is also something called an "emergency rehearsal" which is its own rate. Those rehearsals are typically at 5:30 or 6 PM prior to a show and the purpose is to replace a dancer with an understudy--again usually for the corps de ballet.
When injured or sick for an extended period, we go on workers' compensation.
Some of the tours are partial company tours. If not included, you don't get paid unless a "rehearsal period" is going on simultaneously.
Pointe shoes and tights are supplied. There is a makeup room where we can get lashes and concealer and sponges. They supply bobby pins, Advil, Altoids and sewing supplies for shoes. There is an abundance of tissues and paper towels in the wings. That about sums it up!
Posted by: Abi Stafford | January 11, 2025 at 04:40 PM
Hi Abi! First of all, I'm starstruck. Just wanted you to know that I fell in love with ballet after watching that documentary on the making of Barbie and the 12 Dancing Princesses, with Maria, Tiler and you. Just wanted you to know that you were an inspiration for so many.
First of all, in cases like Ashley, where she was off stage for so long, did she went underpaid all this time? Like, on workers compensation? Or since she took classes, she was still "rehearsing"?
I also wonder about how you afford the medical care, surgeries if needed, and physical therapy required after an injury. Is it part of your insurance? You have to pay for it from your own money? That has to be extra stressful.
Posted by: Abril | January 11, 2025 at 09:25 PM
Ashley seems to have missed the class where they taught that ballet is a performing art, made possible by ticket sales. It is not, in fact, a vehicle for Ashley Bouder to feed her extreme narcissism. As an audience member who has spent tens of thousands of dollars on tickets to NYCB, I resent her attitude. I resent that she is taking up a space on the roster denying deserving dancers a promotion. I resent that she is blaming everyone else for her problems when she in fact is solely responsible for gaining weight and getting out of shape. I resent that her husband is trashing the company all over social media, as if he has some special authority in this space? I resent that she is taking a very serious topic - body shaming, fat shaming - and making it about herself, thereby detracting from real victims. I have sympathy for the bank teller who gets fired because of her appearance. I do not have sympathy for a principal dancer at the best ballet company in the world not getting cast because she can no longer perform up to standards. I resent her using her daughter as an attention-grabbing ploy now that she no longer has her narcissistic supply met by performing. If she's still on the roster a year from now, I'm cancelling my subscription.
Posted by: Kim Ennis | January 12, 2025 at 11:36 AM
Thanks, Kim, for articulating the thoughts of many. Fingers crossed that we'll receive notification that the end is near -- hopefully within the next couple of weeks.
Posted by: Haglund | January 12, 2025 at 02:31 PM
Thanks again, Abi. So, to make sure I'm understanding you, if a dancer is ready, willing and able to dance, but just is not cast, they are treated like someone who is cast and get paid? Not treated as AWOL, disabled or anything like that? Thanks again.
Posted by: Mary Mellowdew | January 12, 2025 at 04:53 PM
There seem to be a few moles over at NYCB. One asked the mods to anonymously post about Ashley Bouder's retirement on February 13th and another told the mods that Miriam Miller is making her O/O debut.
Posted by: Shannon | January 14, 2025 at 07:20 PM
Thanks, Shannon. All welcomed news wherever & whenever it shows up. Miriam is debuting in opening night for Variations Pour Une Porte Et Un Soupir. And Collett, Corti, Bolden, and Read all debut in The Cage during the second week. Great news all around!
Posted by: Haglund | January 14, 2025 at 07:27 PM
@Mary Mellowdew: If AGMA contracts at San Francisco Ballet are something to go by then the pay-or-play cause requires the company to pay its dancers independent of whether or not they are cast. I would think that NYCB uses the same type of agreement.
Posted by: Dreamer | January 15, 2025 at 01:29 AM
https://www.musicalartists.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/NewYorkCityBallet.2015-2018.pdf
Go to page 18.
https://www.musicalartists.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/NewYorkCityBallet.MOA_.2022-2025.pdf
Questions of interpretation should be addressed to one's own lawyer, not here.
Certain principals may have additional special contracts. As of the June 2023 Form 990, 188 employees at NYCB made over $100,000 per year. Presumably employees include musicians, dancers, administrative, technical, stage personnel, etc.
Posted by: Haglund | January 15, 2025 at 07:30 AM
I’ve seen both Miriam and Afanasenkov’s names on casting sheets to learn O-O. I feel pretty sure Miriam and Nadon will debut this Winter.
Posted by: Christine Maxfield | January 16, 2025 at 09:41 PM
Thanks, Christine.
Posted by: Haglund | January 17, 2025 at 06:50 AM
I haven't been to the ballet in almost 2 years, but finally back in the city. Looking forward to the winter season.
I remember Nadon being quite fabulous in the black swan pdd, so looking forward to seeing her Odette. I hope she debuts.
Posted by: yukionna | January 17, 2025 at 09:58 AM
Yukionna, I've been wondering about where you have been. Welcome home. Yes, I think we all are hoping to see Mira Nadon in SL.
Posted by: Haglund | January 17, 2025 at 11:13 AM
I have intel. Mira is debuting O/O on Feb 22 at 2pm. These are her dates: Sat Feb 22 @2 and Wed Feb 26 @7:30!
Posted by: Ballet Fan | January 19, 2025 at 12:17 PM
Thanks!! That helps a lot!!! Do you have Miriam's dates?
Posted by: Haglund | January 19, 2025 at 01:03 PM
Ballet Fan, do you know when Unity Phelan is dancing O/O?
Posted by: Zachary | January 19, 2025 at 04:05 PM
Hi all, the only dates I have confirmed with the dancers themselves are Mira and Roman:
Mira: Sat Feb 22 @2 and Wed Feb 26 @7:30
Roman: 2/20 2/23 3/1
I have tickets for both Mira and Roman's debuts, and will gladly report back to the community! Act III with Roman and Tiler is gonna be *fire*!!!
Posted by: Ballet Fan | January 19, 2025 at 08:47 PM
Thanks, Ballet Fan, for the info!!
Posted by: Haglund | January 19, 2025 at 09:42 PM
Anyone know if there is any truth to that suggestion that Bouder may retire 2/13? I was just looking at Week 3 casting and see Bouder has been cast in Scotch Symphony Sat matinee 2/8. They are doing the same program 2/13 (Week 4).
Posted by: Mary Mellowdew | January 22, 2025 at 01:48 AM
LOL, Mary, we all are anxious for that, I know. We'll just have to wait and see.
Posted by: Haglund | January 22, 2025 at 09:24 AM
It's official. Retirement performance 2/13. Just received an email about it.
Posted by: Hobbit Ballerina | January 22, 2025 at 05:30 PM
Since I long ago decathected, it almost feels like non-news.
Posted by: Haglund | January 22, 2025 at 06:34 PM
A NY Times article from today by Rachel Sherman confirms Miss Bouder's final performance will be in "The Firebird" on 2/13/2025......
Posted by: Beth CP | January 22, 2025 at 09:37 PM
Thanks, Beth!
Posted by: Haglund | January 22, 2025 at 11:04 PM
Thank goodness (for her but mostly the audience sake)! She had such a wonderful career and was such an immense talent but it’s been painful to watch the last few years. Hopefully now she can move on past her apparent detestation of NYCB to a fruitful and fulfilling career away from the stage and we all wish her the best.
Posted by: EJ | January 22, 2025 at 11:05 PM
Let's hope so.
Posted by: Haglund | January 22, 2025 at 11:11 PM
I find it telling that very little "hoopla" has been around Bouder's retirement announcement. She's not getting a special farewell, as far as I can tell; she's dancing one last time in Firebird and that's it. Very short article in the NYT (and no article in the NYT about her SPF with Violet as an Angel, thank goodness!) It seems like NYCB is doing enough to get her out the door without her suing, and nothing more. It will be a breath of fresh air when Bouder and her negativity are gone for good.
Posted by: Red Pickle | January 23, 2025 at 10:14 AM
Agreed that it all points to a carefully negotiated exit. But honestly, she made a mess in her own nest and she has to live in it.
Posted by: Haglund | January 23, 2025 at 10:47 AM
Haglund, I saw Indiana perform Scotch Symphony tonight. She dazzled! She sparkled! And I could not help but wonder — how is Bouder going to pull this off?!
Posted by: Laura | February 05, 2025 at 08:51 PM