Ballet San Jose announced today that José Manuel Carreño will be the new Artistic Director effective September 3rd. That's terrific news!
Now … BSJ's artistic consultant, Wes Chapman, is completely free and available should ABT's Board – currently asleep at the wheel – wake up and decide to correct the company's course before it is steered into the Moskva River.
22 responses to “José takes over Jose”
Wonder if Melanie Hamrick will be on the move as well…
Wonder if Melanie Hamrick will be on the move as well…
Don’t know, but I hope so. She’s not getting any attention or help at ABT.
Don’t know, but I hope so. She’s not getting any attention or help at ABT.
So ABT’s best two recently retired male stars will be off coaching lucky lesser companies while ABT continues decades of floundering under a boring, giant head of hair with more than questionable artistic taste? So depressing.
So ABT’s best two recently retired male stars will be off coaching lucky lesser companies while ABT continues decades of floundering under a boring, giant head of hair with more than questionable artistic taste? So depressing.
All true. This season the big head is spending more rehearsal time with Kochetkova and the other guests/imports than he’s spending with ABT’s own dancers – not that his coaching time is worth a wad of chewed gum – but it’s the practice of ditching the company’s dancers for this imported crap and then throwing himself into polishing their performances that is so despicable.
All true. This season the big head is spending more rehearsal time with Kochetkova and the other guests/imports than he’s spending with ABT’s own dancers – not that his coaching time is worth a wad of chewed gum – but it’s the practice of ditching the company’s dancers for this imported crap and then throwing himself into polishing their performances that is so despicable.
Haglund, what do you think about Keith Roberts being named Ballet Master at ABT? I was under the impression that he didn’t do much ballet after his tenure at ABT. Am I wrong?
Also, very pleased about Carreno at BSJ- I danced for the company back when they were in Cleveland. It has always been a group of dedicated, hardworking dancers. Melanie would be a real star there.
Haglund, what do you think about Keith Roberts being named Ballet Master at ABT? I was under the impression that he didn’t do much ballet after his tenure at ABT. Am I wrong?
Also, very pleased about Carreno at BSJ- I danced for the company back when they were in Cleveland. It has always been a group of dedicated, hardworking dancers. Melanie would be a real star there.
Also, have you ever written (or considered writing) an op-ed for the Times about the artistic situation at ABT? Surely it is beyond discouraging to the dancers, but I doubt they feel they have much of a voice, and use their feet instead to walk away.
Also, have you ever written (or considered writing) an op-ed for the Times about the artistic situation at ABT? Surely it is beyond discouraging to the dancers, but I doubt they feel they have much of a voice, and use their feet instead to walk away.
Hi Ellie.
Keith Roberts will be a great deal of help in maintaining all of the modern rep and modern classical pieces such as Clark Tippet’s Bruch Violin Concerto in which he danced wonderfully. But his hiring won’t address McKenzie’s major failing in the classical rep.
The integrity of the soloists’ and principals’ work in ABT’s classics rests on the shoulders of the legendary 80-year-old Irina Kolpakova who McKenzie works mercilessly. And he steals her time away from the company’s dancers to spend on these guest artists and imports that he brings in who he claims are better than what’s available at ABT. The company’s own dancers don’t have even half the classical coaches they need, and yet McKenzie is expending the energies of Kolpakova on this Bolshoi-schooled crap that he keeps buying with his Koch money.
Regarding your second comment, the NYT and its general readership have no interest in the quality of classical dancing at ABT or whether what is put on the stage is organically developed or developed in one of Koch’s fertilizer plants. As you probably observed this past week in the review of Swan Lake, the NYT’s dance critic doesn’t know black from white.
Hi Ellie.
Keith Roberts will be a great deal of help in maintaining all of the modern rep and modern classical pieces such as Clark Tippet’s Bruch Violin Concerto in which he danced wonderfully. But his hiring won’t address McKenzie’s major failing in the classical rep.
The integrity of the soloists’ and principals’ work in ABT’s classics rests on the shoulders of the legendary 80-year-old Irina Kolpakova who McKenzie works mercilessly. And he steals her time away from the company’s dancers to spend on these guest artists and imports that he brings in who he claims are better than what’s available at ABT. The company’s own dancers don’t have even half the classical coaches they need, and yet McKenzie is expending the energies of Kolpakova on this Bolshoi-schooled crap that he keeps buying with his Koch money.
Regarding your second comment, the NYT and its general readership have no interest in the quality of classical dancing at ABT or whether what is put on the stage is organically developed or developed in one of Koch’s fertilizer plants. As you probably observed this past week in the review of Swan Lake, the NYT’s dance critic doesn’t know black from white.
Dear Haglund,
I want to urge you, along with Ellie, to consider an op-ed for the Times. It would be a wonderful gift to all the ballet fans who follow ABT and City Ballet. You might pitch an essay and see what they say?! Just a bug in your ear…
Dear Haglund,
I want to urge you, along with Ellie, to consider an op-ed for the Times. It would be a wonderful gift to all the ballet fans who follow ABT and City Ballet. You might pitch an essay and see what they say?! Just a bug in your ear…
Thanks, Kitten.
Thanks, Kitten.
You should definitely write something like that. It would be a public service! Seriously.
You should definitely write something like that. It would be a public service! Seriously.
Thanks, EAK.
Thanks, EAK.