ABT announcement:

DANIIL SIMKIN TO JOIN AMERICAN BALLET THEATRE AS SOLOIST



Daniil Simkin will join American Ballet Theatre as a Soloist in October 2008. It was announced today by Artistic Director Kevin McKenzie.

Simkin was born in Russia to ballet dancers Dimitrij Simkin and Olga Aleksandrova and was raised in Wiesbaden, Germany, where the family settled in 1990. From the age of six, Simkin often appeared onstage dancing alongside his father. He began his formal ballet training at age ten, under the direction of his mother, and at age 12 he began participating in ballet competitions and galas around the world.

In 2006, Simkin joined the Vienna State Opera as a demi-soloist. His roles with the company included the peasant pas de deux in Elena Tchernichova's Giselle, the Nutcracker-Prince in Vasily Vainonen's The Nutcracker, Benvolio in John Cranko's Romeo and Juliet and the Beggar Chief in Kenneth MacMillan's Manon, among others. In 2007, he danced his first principal role, Basilio in Don Quixote, as a guest with the Lithuanian National Opera.

Simkin's awards include First Prize at International Ballet Competitions in St. Pölten, Austria (2000); Vienna, Austria (2001); Perm, Russia (2004); and Varna, Bulgaria (2004), where he also won the Gold Medal. He won the Grand Prix at the International Ballet Competition in Vienna in 2004 and in Helsinki in 2005. In 2006, he won the Senior Gold Medal at the USA International Ballet Competition in Jackson, Mississippi.

I don't know if he's still reading us, but anyway congrats to him! What a compagny he's joining !

Quite obviously Kevin McKenzie realizes that his prized "born to be wild" dream team of male superstars is aging and dwindling. Bocca is retired, Malakhov gone from the roster, Acosta not available to return and unwilling to clear his schedule for ABT. Corella has his own company and international guest gigs, so his time is limited. Stiefel is fragile and in his mid-thirties. Carreno is in his late thirties and still solid but his time is limited. That leaves Gomes to lead the home team with Hallberg and Beloserkovsky giving stalwart danseur noble support. Herman Cornejo is a powerhouse and finally is being given lead roles rather than demi-caractere specialties. But his physique limits him for certain roles (Siegfried in "Swan Lake").

With Joseph Phillips, Daniil Simkin is obviously being groomed to take over as the new generation of male superstars. However, the greater failing is in the development of prima ballerinas from within the company. McKenzie has had only one major discovery - Gillian Murphy, trained in North Carolina School of the Arts by Melissa Hayden who came to ABT pretty much technically fully formed. With the departure of Veronika Part and the inevitable retirements of Julie Kent and Nina Ananiashvili in the next five years or so, who will be the next great "Giselle" or Odette/Odile in "Swan Lake"?

The last major acquisitions Part and Monique Meunier did not work out well for those very talented dancers or for the company. There seems to be some fault on both sides. Alexandra Ansanelli wisely refused a soloist contract with ABT to join the Royal Ballet which has worked out ideally for her becoming a principal dancer last year.

Bravo and congratulations to Daniil and ABT for finding each other.

Now for a great new ballerina...

(edited with correction as to Gillian Murphy's training)

Now that Sarah Lane is getting her shot (Aurora) this spring... and just the right height for Mr. Simkin! Z-J Fang, wasting in the corps, certainly has the look of a Giselle, too!
This NYCB season a flock of ABT men will dance with NYCB. Why shouldn't this relationship be transitive? Number 1 on Ashley Bouder's wish-list is Giselle, and she's already shown it is ideal for her with her Aurora (Vision Scene), Odette (the Giselle-cloned Martins Danish Lake Act 4), and the Russian in Serenade.

I fully expected that sooner or later, McKenzie would lure Daniil to ABT. Congratulations to all involved! I look forward to watching Daniil as he matures and takes on a varied repertoire.

It's wonderful to hear good news as a new spring rotates into our world. Congratulations, Daniil!

It's great news to hear that Simkin is joining as a soloist. I was just reading on his website how he's studying up to do Fokine's Le Spectre de la Rose. I like his priorities. I hope, however, that some of the corps men who are ready to move up will get that chance: Hoven, Stappas, and Stewart (he gets credit for his previous tour of duty) all deserve those opportunities.



While Melissa Hayden may have been the NCSA instructor with the highest profile, it was Warren Conover, Frank Smith, Duncan Noble, and Fanchon Cordell - all ABT alumni - who applied the "finish" to Murphy that gave her a chance to succeed at ABT.

The calls for a "great new ballerina" are interesting for the use of the word "new". The word new is used in the same way as instant. Not many seem interested in observing the journey that it takes to produce a beautiful ballerina. Then when she finally achieves her peak, we're tired of seeing her and want something "new". Throw out the old, bring in something fresh and tart. ABT hopefully will never be like that place where a dancer is awarded a principal contract when she gets off her orthodonic braces. There are several dancers who are maturing into great artisitic beauties: Abrera, Lane, Boone, Seo, and Melissa Thomas. Whether they get the opportunities we think they should have remains to be seen. But I don't want them to miss out on chances because of public pressure to bring in a "new ballerina" and the desire for something instantly new and fresh and different.

Bouder as a credible non-Martins-influenced Romantic Giselle is hard to imagine. Maybe Martins will re-choreograph the whole story and give it some punch and for godsakes, speed the awful thing up. (There's your nightmare for tonight.)

But I'm happy with the addition of Simkin and the coming home of Sean Stewart. ABT has some great things in its incubator as well - Joseph Gorak, for one. No need to fret.

Murphy was a tiny and enchanting ballerina before she even left home - South Carolina for NCSA.

Congratulations to Mr. Simkin. What a treat for New York audiences! I'd get on a plane to see him dance.

After her success as Odette/Odile in March's Festival at the Mariinsky, Ms. Murphy gave an extensive interview to the Russian publication Vremya*. Following some extensive discussion of the difference in national criteria to perform white ballets (dancing en pointe, turning, in USA vs. use of arms and upper body in Russia), she noted that her performance was helped immensely by an extra week spent working on her arms at the Mariinsky, the topic turned toward her ballet education.
Her first two years of serious training was with former ABT principal William Starrett in Columbia. Then she went to North Carolina, where

Asked about Ms. Hayden's classes, she said

While this is perhaps not the thread to go much further with this long interview, I cannot but conclude with the following. When asked whether she was satisfied with her stay in the citadel of "Swan Lake"?, she replied


* http://www.vremya.ru/2008/49/13/200366.html

How wonderful! I've seen him dance on youtube, and he is phenomenal!

Hopefully we'll have a great set of ballerinas for him to partner!

Question though, what about Dvorovenko, she's still with ABT, correct?

FYI:

Daniil is dancing in Toronto this coming Sunday, May 4th, in the Stars of the 21st Century Ballet Gala (Toronto Centre for the Arts, 8 PM).

It saddens me to know that so many talented males are sitting in the corp waiting for years for the opportunity to be promoted and an outsider takes the position. You have no idea, or maybe you do, of the hard work and extreme dedictaiton that some of these gentlemen give with the hopes of one day being promoted. I hope that McKenzie knows what he is doing because he might just lose some wonderful dancers over this.

Someone above asked about a new great ballerina for ABT? Yevgenia Obraztsova, please!!!! ...and she's the right size for Simkin to partner....

I totally agree with you. Although I love Danill Simkun and think he is a very talented dancer, Mr McKenzie has dancers who have been sitting in the corps for years who are soloist material and it must become very difficult to stay motivated when ABT seems to be one of the companies that makes it most difficult to get a promotion. Also as far as Joseph Gorak is concerned, he has now been in ABT 2 (studio company) for 2 years is it not time for him to be moved up? I will be interested to see what happens this fall and if any of those boys in the 2nd company get moved up. Many of the girls moved this year in the fall as there seemed to be many openings suddenly in the female corps. There are many very talented dancers in the ABT corps It would be nice to see more of them in the rep.

In total agreement with you darla788.

What a morale crusher it must be for those talented guys in ABT's corps (and ABT is thick with them) when something like this happens.

But hasn't this always happened at ABT? What about the talented soloists and corps men Charles Askegard, Carlos Molina, Joaquin de Luz, Danny Tidwell, the 2002 Sean Stewart, Parrish Maynard et al.? All talented, all worthy and all overshadowed circa 1995 to 2006 by the Malakhov/Carreno/Bocca/Corella/Stiefel/Cornejo/Gomes dream team. They knew there was no room at the top at ABT. Askegard and Joaquin de Luz went to NYC Ballet. Maynard to San Francisco Ballet. Molina to Boston Ballet. Now there is room at the top and hence Simkin.

BTW: one fellow who rose from the ranks to the top: Marcelo "the Magnificent" Gomes. Earned his status from the bottom up. Carreno, Malakhov, Stiefel, Acosta etc. were all brought in as established stars from other companies. Bocca and Corella were major wunderkind competition winners who were teenagers. They already were on their way up in the ballet world and joined as soloist or principal. Gomes worked his way up from corps on talent and hard work alone against the greatest competition in the world. Ditto Hallberg.

The videos and the reviews suggest that Simkin is a unique and extremely gifted performer. He is very young, but virtually everyone comments on his enormous potential.

Several of the posters who have been concerned about the effect of this promotion on members of the corps have used the word "talented." I mean no disrespect, but is "talented" enough to sustain the push to a high-level international ballet career?

Simkin has been very successful on the international competition circuit, which seems a requirement nowadays if you want to be considered for a top job. He has also danced as a member of a major European company. Skimming the biographies of members of the ABT corps, there are not many who have achieved as much as he in such a short time.

On the other hand, employment at ABT still seems attractive to those who have reason to be ambitious in a variety of goals. For example, Joseph Phillips left Miami a soloist to take a corps position at ABT. (To be fair, his tenure at MCB was of brief duration and with with about as much impact as the blink of an eye.) Mikhail Ilyin was a successful and valuable principal at MCB before joining the ABT corps. Clearly, ABT exerts a pull on dancers of many levels of experience and ambition.

I believe that Gorak is barely 18 years old. Who knows if he has even graduated from high school yet. More power to the ballet company that refuses to exploit its extraordinarily gifted children.

Also David Halberg began in Studio Company, (oops I just saw that you mentioned him Faux Pas him) Maxim and Irina started in the corps before they were an overnight sensation and many of the soloists have worked their way up. Basically ABT has a corps loaded with soloists however and its a long wait. I have watched Jared Mathews under David Howards tutoring constantly over the last few years and marvel at his tenacity. It was nice to see him have the opportunity to step out in Swan Lake this season even if he was in my opinion sadly miscast as Von Rothbart. I hope he gets to do some roles that are more suited to his demeanour on stage. It must be tough. But NY is such a stimulating place to be around ballet they seem to survive it.
I dont mean to take anything away from Danill. He is a REALLY talented guy and I personally will enjoy seeing him dance. I think ABT is deep with talented dancers and I wonder how many will wait around. A dancers life is short having the opportunity to dance is important. If they dont feel like they are getting it they are going to need to move on.


Here is my list of people in the corps I would like to see more of at ABT
Isabella Boylston, Zhong Jing Fang, Thomas Forster (who stood out in the corps in Swan Lake), Blaine Hoven, Mat Murphy, Simone Messmer, Renata Pavam, Joseph Phillips, Jacquelyn Reyes, Sarawanee Tanatanit, Hee Soo.

Well, I can name three ABT corps guys -- Isaac Stappas, Alex Hammoudi and Blaine Hoven -- who I saw at the Opera House in Chicago on April 10th, who caught my eye and who look like they're ready to move up. Hoven is young so I can understand letting him marinate in the corps for awhile more but what about Stappas and Hammoudi? In particular, Hammoudi looks like he has the potential to be a good partner for Michelle Wiles, who is languishing a bit for want of an ideal partner. (Hallberg is great -- I just don't think he and Wiles are great together.)

I agree with the poster who said this policy has been ever such. In retrospect, the Baryshnikov regime policy of promoting from within was the aberration. ABT has only reverted back to what it was in the 70s. (And, I freely admit that 70s-era ABT was a Golden Age for ABT.)

Well 2 years in studio company (now ABT II) is a long time when he could have been completing his training in a school setting if they did not want to "exploit" him. I believe he was already a corps member of Orlando Ballet at 16 when ABT II offered him a contract in April 2006. My guess is that he completed high school in 2007 but I could be wrong.

I think its wiser to go a little to slow than a little too fast while developing young dancers. An 18-year-old male is often still physically immature, perhaps judged not quite strong enough (in terms of brute strength) for the demands of a professional career. I'd rather have a dancer spend an extra year in the intermediate program than to lose a year to injury.

ABT II is a two-year program. Not all of its dancers stay for the full two years, but many do. Staying for the second year is not analogous to repeating first grade.

I will second your comments, Darla. I find this extremely weird. For one example: Misha or Mikhail Iliyn, formerly a PRINCIPAL of Miami City Ballet (born in Russia and trained, yadda yadda) has joined ABT in the CORPS DE BALLET. He has over 10-15 years of performing expoerience. Now this young kid comes in as a soloist. Artistic decisions such as this really baffle me. While it is great for Danil, You can't help but to think of people like Misha, and others who have put in so much time at ABT waiting for that soloist promotion, only to have the place taken by an outsider. Sounds like a cute little deal was cracked.

Figurante do you think if they have joined the corps from a Principal or soloist contract at another company there are promises that may have been made as to there advancement?

I know a lot of dancers that have deals with artistic directors like this. I know some people that were in San Francisco Ballet for 10 years in the corps, and they decided to join a smaller company in order to get promoted to soloist and be respected as a dancer. After one year in the corps in that company they will now be soloists next season. Doesn't that sound reasonable? I mean, you need to know the dancer inside and out before you put them onstage. Especially being so young, and from overseas. It just boggles my mind! Just because he has won a bunch of prestegious competitions, and has a bunch of videos on youtube (which I will not deny are technically perfect), doesn't mean that he should be able to just waltz into America and overstep all these people that Kevin has known for so long! Whatever happened to promoting from within?! The same thing happened at Miami City Ballet last season. People were fired, and held at the same rank to keep the financial situation under control, so Edward Villella could hire eleven new dancers that have surpassed people who have been in the company their whole life. Maybe it will still happen for the dancers in ABT. I suppose it is still early. Sigh.

Are there not three primary reasons for promotion?
1. A (financial) reward for long and exemplary service.
2. To hold on to a dancer who fulfills a very specific need (e.g., the tall man needed to partner a tall star ballerina).
3. Talent.
A company needs stability, fit, and dancers with the electricity to attract audiences. When budget constrains, I believe that talent must get first priority.
Hopefully an AD will not miss talent right under her/his nose, and not fall into "the grass is always greener on the other side" syndrome...

Bravo, DRB for that insight. Talent (and Daniil is an electric, exciting talent) must be recognized. Baryshnikov probably blew Ted Kivitt and Royes Fernandez out of the water when he joined ABT in 1974. Should they not have hired him? Who other than those two dancers would have gained from that? Blaine Hoven may be a very nice dancer and able to carry a lead role but will he be a star who can sell 4000 seats at the Metropolitan Opera House? Very likely not. Ditto Isaac Stappas who has had a lot of solo opportunities especially during the City Center season.

How about some of the women who have been languishing: Maria Bystrova, Zhong-Jing Fang et al. Anna Liceica who had a lot of potential was just thrown away. Look at all the been there, done that with the principal casting this coming season (only Cornejo and to a lesser extant Murphy have substantial new roles). There are lots of sad stories of missed opportunities at ABT and elsewhere. I am glad that Daniil is getting an opportunity and maybe if ABT adds a week to its City Center season more of these young corps dancers will get a chance.

And FauxPas would you think that a 21 year old would be able to do this just because he has won a few competitions and had some favorable press. How could you make the determination that some of the male corp at ABT would not be able to sell 4000 seats when they have never even been cast consistently enough for anyone to form a fair opinion. The idea would be to mentor and mold your young talent to be the performer that you want them to be and to market their strengths. I can not imagine there not being at lease 1 qualified candidate sitting in the corp at ABT. I do believe that that was the whole purpose behind ABT II, to mold young dancers and to find young talent that could become star performers.

With that being said as with any business when you make decisions like this you must always think about what affects it will have on your employees. Morale issues can be detrimental to a company's success. You can't perform a classical ballet with just one dancer.

A couple of points:

1) Hiring Simkin may prove to be a masterstroke on ABT's part -- only time will tell. But the (perhaps) salutary act of hiring talent from outside of the company's ranks doesn't make it any less true that (a) morale within the corps may suffer, and (b) that defections may occur at a more rapid clip as a result. Now, from the artistic staff's viewpoint, having a high "burn rate" in the corps may be an acceptable trade-off if it leads to long-term replenishment of the principal ranks. (That would actually be an interesting statistical comparison -- year-to-year turnover at the corps level among the major US companies.) But it puts lie to the notion that ABT is anything more than a glittering collection of international stars. ("More stars than there are in Heaven" as it were.)

2) I don't think anyone would argue against Lucia Chase's hiring of Baryshnikov in 1974. (It did work against Kivitt but then he was already a principal of six-years standing at the time. Bad luck on his part.) My understanding of the situation at ABT in the mid-70s is that morale suffered more as a result of Chase's penchant for importing guest stars from around the world who jetted in and jetted out of New York and refused to tour than it did from hiring Baryshnikov. (Correct me if I'm wrong about that.)

3) On the matter of Blaine Hoven, Faux, you and I will just have to agree to disagree.

What about Erica Cornejo? She is exceptionally talented, however, she left to go to Boston because of the lack of roles for her. I mean, Boston is an excellent company but still...

Well I guess there is more to be said from winning a competition than any of us care to admit. I always wonder why Kevin McKenzie let Joseph Gatti slip through his fingers. (we always had heard Mr McKenzie felt he was too short) But that is also the case with Mr Simkun. I think it comes down to a matter of personal taste. And of course the star power generated by the internet and the international ballet competitions these days is an interesting phenomenon.
I just think that it is a shame to fall into the trap of newer is better. Then again as a director when the dancer with that certain something and it is in your midst you cannot deny it and it is responsibility to your company and to your audience to present it. For someone like Kevin McKenzie who is in a position to have access to most all great dancers all over the world, if he says something that he really loves why not have it.
The bottom line will be once he has acquired the talent (which Mr McKenzie does very well) will he develop it, encourage it and keep it stimulated and on fire in this company. Sometimes I feel that many of the huge talents both male and female are languishing in the ranks and not getting the opportunities that their talent thirsts for.
A ballet company is a living breathing entity not a collection to be kept in a vault. Its important for every human to have a place and although not everyone is destined to be a principal dancer keeping it alive for them is what keeps a company interesting to watch.

Congratulations to Daniil, I can't wait to see him on a regular basis!

This practice of bringing in stars and/or dancers with star potential has been going on at ABT since at least the early 70's and probably long before that (did Igor Youskevitch or Alicia Alonso work their way up through the corps at ABT? How about Lupe Serrano? Let's not forget that our home grown ballerina Cynthia Gregory was imported from the SF ballet where she was already a soloist. What effect did that have on the morale of the corps?). I'm sure it's discouraging from a dancer's point of view but from a management point of view – when you see a dancer with enormous talent you have to grab them, that's what the audience wants. Especially the NY audience.

This conversation has been going on at BalletTalk for years – just pull up any old ABT thread. We all have our own favorites & can never understand why they aren't given more opportunities. There are many, many talented dancers in the corps and soloist levels at ABT, but you know what? As someone who has sat in the audience for ABT 20-30 performances a year for the past 5 years I can tell you that IMO not one of the current corps men has the raw talent of Daniil Simkin. They have OTHER talents, and hopefully they will continue to develop but McKenzie would have been crazy to let Simkin get away - whether or not he ultimately works out at ABT and regardless of the effect it has on the morale of the corps. Ditto Joseph Philips & Mikhail Ilyin.

Ballet is not a democracy, and not for the faint hearted. Each dancer develops at their own pace but hard work + dedication simply do not guarantee success. Any dancer who doesn't feel they are getting enough opportunities with ABT (or any other company) needs to find another job. It's worked well recently for Carlos Molino, Erica Cornejo and Melissa Barak, and despite the fact that I will miss one of my favorite dancers terribly I truly think Veronika Part's decision to leave is the right one.

I also agree with Faux Pas that McKenzie does a great job developing male talent but is severely deficient in developing ballerinas. In fact I am even more down on ABT's female principal dancers than he is, but that's for another day…

Or another thread? (I hope so, especially since (1) it's a topic of great interest and (2) ABT has a national following beyond that of other U.S. companies, which many of us have a certain amount of familiarity with the dancers being discussed, which is not always the case with NYCB, PNB, SFB, MCB, etc.). So ... anyone want to start a new topic?

As much as i admire several of the members of the male corp,i agree with Susan that there is no one with the raw talent of Daniil.My only concern is his height. He seems very small in his pictures but apparently he seems more than capable in his partnering skills.
As for future ballerinas,maybe Kevin will surprise us again. Is Marcelo/David tall enough for the "Big Red".

If she joined ABT, I'd become a season subscriber.

This may be off topic so feel free to remove.

A company such as ABT cannot exist with only soloists and principals, you must have a corps de ballet. And it seems no one is addressing that issue. It is a shame to hire soloist level dancers, for the coprs, who think they will move up the ranks when that is not going to happen. They become very unhappy and sometimes "incompetent" corps dancers.

I know it would be difficult, but it would be great if a director could say to a dancer, "I am hiring you as a corps dancer and I don't see you moving beyond that, but the company needs YOU." Dancing in the corps of a great company is a wonderful experience. And a great company needs a wonderful corps. I believe that future repetiteurs, ballet masters, teachers, etc. are more likely to come from corps dancers. By the way, what is happening with the memorial fund for Jennifer Alexander which is to honor a senior corps member? I can't find any info about it.

So many young dancers are participating in these competitions and it is becoming apparent that directors are drawing from these competition winners rather than their own schools for employees. Many young dancers today seem to feel that being in the corps is beneath them; or, simply, they are not interested in being in the corps - they woudl rather not dance if they cannot be a "star."

Erica Cornejo left ABT for Boston primarily, I believe, because she married Boston Ballet principal Carlos Molina.

quoted from NYSusan


Igor Youskevitch was a premier danseur with the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo from 1938 to 1944. He joined Ballet Theatre in 1946, and not in the Corps . Alicia Alonso was a soloist with Ballet Caravan from 1939-l940, soloist with Ballet Theatre in 1941; ballerina since 1943.

I agree that no one would argue against the hiring of Baryshnikov but it did have an impact, I believe, on Fernando Bujones. The fact that Bujones won Varna got a bit lost in the shuffle, and perhaps the publicity and attention received by Baryshnikov somewhat took the spot light off of Fernando.

I'm not trying to compare their respective talents, just trying to make the point that even a good decision made by a director can have some unintended negative consequences.

There will never be a shortage of dancers who are willing to be in the ABT corps. There are hundreds of kids graduating from pre-professional programs in the US each year and dancers from the rest of the world who want to work in NYC.

The older corps dancers are the ones making the largest salaries, and almost all dancers are on year-to-year contracts. From a financial standpoint, it makes sense to not renew the contracts of older, more expensive corps dancers, and to hire younger dancers out of school. Younger dancers may not have the experience, but they are often eager to make their mark.

No one forced any of the former principal dancers and soloists who took ABT corps contracts to do so. If they had the clout to join as soloists and principals, they would have, but they made the trade-off. That never guarantees that someone won't be hired directly into the company at higher levels, especially a company like ABT which has a history of doing so, and it doesn't guarantee that a younger dancer won't leap-frog over them from the corps, although ABT does not have a history of doing this. (NYCB does.)

I think this topic is moving away from Danill Simkun and I for one look forward to seeing him dance. I don't think Keven McKenzie has slighted anyone by hiring him. It just pains me to see talented dancers sitting for years and not getting an opportunity to dance. That is however "the breaks" but there are human beings and artists on the other side of those breaks and time and time again I have seen ABT create an illusion of loyalty. With acceptance to their summer programs, National Training Scholarships and the ABT II. I see dancers will feel an obligation to them to continue with the veil of a promise of advancing through the ranks. The reality is that the director is going to hire the best dancers that they can find for their company. All dancers pre pro and professional must be mindful of this and get the best training they can get that best suits them, and then find the position with the company that respects their talent and gives them opportunities to dance, and if its not working......get out. The problem there is that the market is very tight this year and jobs are sparse.
I am thoroughly enjoying this thread. Lots of great opinions and thoughts. Thanks to all.

If (as several posters maintain) that there isn't a single guy in the ABT corps worth promoting to soloist status, then it begs several questions:

1) What is going on either at the audition level or at the corps mentoring level that ABT is unable to find suitable candidates for promotion from within, and

2) if (as Helene notes) "there will never be a shortage of dancers who are willing to be in the ABT corps", then (as Memo notes) what is the point of the school/summer programs/scholarships/ABT II? If the end result is that the beneficiaries/graduates of these programs/entities dead end in the corps, then why bother? Why not scrap the programs, take the money and become the New York Yankees of the ballet world -- go forth and start waving money under dancers' noses in London and Paris and Copenhagen and St. Petersburg and Moscow and create a 70s-style all-star roster of principals and soloists who will pack the Met and get the fan base hooting and hollering and shredding their programs.

I apologize if it seems like I am being argumentative for the sake of being argumentative. My quarrel isn't with Mr. Simkin, who I am sure is the greatest thing since Grape Crush soda (my favorite). What I'm annoyed about is that ABT wants it both ways. They want to be mentioned in the same breath as the French and the Danes and the Russians and the City Ballet-ers so they've created this whole apparatus of a school and summer programs and scholarships and ABT II to create the impression of school-to-corps-to-soloist-to-principal just like all the others. But then they also want to have an array of larger-than-life personalities on stage and so they defy their own internal apparatus and go out and hire dancers from the outside.

To me, ABT is a company that doesn't know what it wants to be. Personally, I think that whole 70s-style/Lucia Chase/"can't have enough stars" approach is their true DNA and they should just embrace it and stop trying to please people who carp about the absence of a "company style". But I wish they would just pick one direction and stick with it rather than the current muddle which (if this thread is any indication) only divides the fan base.

(And thanks to vipa for mentioning Bujones. I had forgotten that he, like Ted Kivitt, got the downside of the Baryshnikov hiring. Curiously, I think Lucia Chase's hiring/treatment of Bujones was correct -- he won at Varna but he started in the corps, became a soloist the next year and became a principal the year after that.)

Blaine Hoven 4 Ever!

A couple of thoughts mostly after talking with my own dancing kids. First, Simkin has had the benefit of coming from a dancing family. From the moment he was born, I am sure he was in the ballet studio and at the theatre. He has had the benefit of one on one coaching with his mother. I believe he has proven himself not only in competitions, but in full-length ballets as well. DS heard that his debut in Don Q with Lithuanian Opera Ballet was amazing. It will remain to be seen how well he does without the benefit of coaching from his parents. I don't know how ABT works, but I do know in many other American companies, there can sometimes be very little rehearsal time for a role. It's essentially - learn it and perform it. I do think he has what it takes to rise to the occasion.

DS says that the guys of ABT are very lucky to have someone like Simkin around. He will not only inspire them, he will raise the level of dancing. He is also very willing to share and help others. It's the kind of guy he is.

I think McKenzie is wise. Why can't he have both - the hired star and those that come up from within? He is creating another "dream team," in my opinion. He's now got Simkin as a soloist, Joseph Phillips (another extremely hard worker) in the corps, and Gorak and Isaac Hernandez (another born to dance kid) cooking in ABT II and sure to enter the corps soon. Along with several of the other corps members mentioned - Hoven, Tommy Forester, Alex Hammoudi, Stappas etc., he's got the makings of a great principal/soloist line-up.

This type of hiring is happening everywhere. Someone mentioned Vilella's hires in Miami. Tomasson does the same thing. As mentioned on these boards recently, he just hired the three Cuban defectors as soloists. One of them, Taras Domitro, is only 21. He hired Nutnaree right out of Royal Ballet School as a soloist. Directors see star potential and they want it. Yes, it does make it hard on those sitting waiting in the corps de ballet waiting their turn. But this is what a dancer must decide. Do I sit in the big company in the corps de ballet or do I go to a smaller company and get the chance to dance bigger roles?

Corella came in as a soloist and one benefit was that other dancers picked up their games and took their dancing to higher levels. Adding Simkin who appears to be one of those 1 in 100,000 talents could be just the infusion the company needs. Right now, the men in the corps and soloist positions are very, very good with flashes of brilliance. Many would dance as principals in other major American companies. Those men of the recent generation, such as Askegard, Molina and DeLuz, who left to become principals with other companies did so because they were not going to rise to the level of principal at ABT for some very clear and grounded reasons. It's great that they found opportunities elsewhere, but I don't regret that ABT didn't make them principals. If Simkin comes in and kicks "a" in the performance and technical areas, that will be a positive influence on dancers like Hoven, Stappas, Radetsky, Jared Matthews and Salstein and help drive them to a new level.

Haglund's, I'm glad you mentioned Salstein - he's another dancer ripe for promotion IMO. And as I've mentioned before, I'm also a big Hoven and Abrera fan. I'm still crossing my fingers that McKenzie has some "up from the ranks" promotions up his sleeve. Anyone know if there is a typical time that promotions are announced? After Met season but before City Center maybe?

No one get too excited, but I sifted through the press releases for the last several ABT principal promotions and observed a pattern:

Murphy and Gomes - May 24, 2002
Reyes - April 1, 2003
Cornejo - June 17, 2003
Wiles - June 28, 2005
Hallberg - May 5, 2006

My fingers are crossed, too, Barbara.

true, but last year all the promotions were immediately after the spring season...

That's partially a function of union requirements for contract renewal time in the US. I believe that "boilerplate" is that dancers must be informed by March 25 if their contracts for the upcoming performing year are not to be renewed. Then contracts can be written to commence June 1 for all the rest. Dancers coming from outside the US may have other forces working on their initial contracts.

I agree Mel. I think it is currently too early to know about promotions. But is a Director bound by X amount of corps contracts X amount of Soloists, and X amount of Principals? I would assume so. And after having a kid on the audition trail that is the impression I get. Unless there is private sponsorship for a particular dancer involved. If dancers are not leaving is the director bound to a specific amount of dancers or does he have some flexibility?