The Unofficial Information Exchange (UIEX) has received two tips that ABT will add two more guest artists to its spring season.
Denys Nedak of the National Ballet of Ukraine will arrive to dance we-don't-know-what-yet. The Honored Artist of the Ukraine has danced the role of Solor in Natalia Makarova's production of La Bayadere, and there is now a need to find a replacement for Cory Stearns. It is extremely doubtful that Mr. Nedak is a better choice than any one of a half dozen of ABT's outstanding dancers (particularly Jared Matthews), but Haglund didn't plan on seeing the Stearns/Semionova/Seo cast anyway; so he would pass this up regardless.
As a sidebar, there is a petition over at Whitehouse.gov to allow Ukranians to enter into the United States for 90 days without the requirement of Visas. If you want to sign that petition, go here.
Why doesn't ABT invite a bunch of the Ukranian corps dancers to come here so that our own dancers can move up into soloist and principal opportunities? Since there are oodles of corps dancers around the world who already know Makarova's staging of La Bayadere, why not hire them instead of importing principals? ABT should be hiring outsiders at the bottom ranks, not the top.
McKenzie would never hire these guys (Nedak, Jackson, Lendorf) as permanent soloists, let alone permanent principals, but he brings them in as guest artists and holds them over the heads of the company's hard working, starving-for-opportunities, enormously talented dancers. No wonder the dancers are so demoralized. When is ABT going to get an artistic director who can actually coach the company's dancers in principal roles instead of depending on the rest of the world's directors to do his work for him?
NYCB's Andrew Vyette will also make a guest appearance in we-don't-know-what-yet, but with Cory Stearns out, there is a need for someone to dance his two performances of Theme and Variations. Maybe Andy will bring along his orchestra, conductor, costume and a few corps members to help out, too. Hey, maybe he'll even bring along Bouder. No objections to that.