stella

New York City Ballet performs 60 ballets a year, and I’ve often seen their dancers claim in interviews to have only 2 to 3 weeks rehearsal of a ballet before a performance. The Royal isn’t that extreme. There’s also the issue that NYCB doesn’t have an AD at the moment, and before that Peter Martins was a big believer of the “sink or swim” philosophy (as was Balanchine), which is not the most supportive method for inexperienced dancers. In general I get the impression that NYCB is a harsher environment for dancers than the RB, but that's just an impression.

Out of the male principals at New York City Ballet: Catazaro, Finlay and Ramasar are out. De Luz is retiring. Garcia and Veyette are coming towards the end of their careers. Dachig-Waring is a wonderful artist but frequently out with injuries. Jansen and la Cour are tall and reliable, and both have given notable performances in certain ballets, but don’t really shine in the majority of their rep. Huxley, Stanley and Ulbricht are great solo dancers but limited in their partnering ability. Jared and Tyler Angle are still dancing well and reliable partners, and are really carrying most of the work load right now. The thing about NYCB is that they have a lot of tall women and a lot of short men, which makes casting partners a bit of a challenge. Within the soloist rank Gordon is a beautiful dancer who had a great last season, and personally I think he’s ready for promotion. Ball is out injured right now and has been seriously injured before. Suozzi gives good performances but isn’t tall and is also near the end of his career. Neither Peck or Schumacher are dancers of note. I actually do think NYCB is a company with a lot of depth in talent, but with limited rehearsal time and a massive rep, it’s hard for junior dancers to make debuts that leave lasting impressions. Still, Coll and Mejia are doing well and headed towards promotion, and there are other male corps dancers with potential like Chamblee, Farley and Villarini-Velez.

such wonderful news! and the pictures are just gorgeous. Wishing them all the best.

my predictions and/or hopes are: Matthew Ball to principal Yuhui Choe to principal (come on O’Hare!) William Bracewell to first soloist Reece Clarke to first soloist Tierney Heap to first soloist Fumi Kaneko to first soloist Mayara Magri to first soloist Isabella Gasparini to soloist Calvin Richardson to soloist David Yudes to soloist Ashley Dean to first artist Joseph Sissens to first artist (or perhaps even soloist? I don’t think O’Hare has ever skipped a rank when promoting, unlike Mason, but if anyone is deserving of this in the company I think it would be Sissens).

agreed! I was shocked to not see her name on the casting! Hopefully she'll be performing a shade variation.

I’m not sure about that. Yuhui certainly has her fans. And she’s such a wonderful dancer. I definitely consider her to be able to command a stage and give awe inspiring performances (her Aurora is a good example).

these photos are stunning! can't wait to watch the cinema relay.

Good observations! I think Cowley and Stix-Brunell get positively mentioned quite often. I’d say that Mendizabal is a case of ‘you don’t know what you have until it’s gone’. She dances her specific repertory very, very well and I think her presence will be missed when she retires. As an Australian, I cautiously add that I’ve noticed a slight bias towards British dancers on this board, but I think that’s unavoidable and not necessarily a bad thing (I know I have a soft spot for the Aussies in the company). As dancers come to the end of their careers their technique does start to weaken, which can take away considerably from ones enjoyment of a performance. Others appreciate the level of artistry that only a well seasoned dancer can achieve. It just comes down to preferences.

What i take away from the video is that in hindsight her decision to move back home to be with her family was the right choice for her. it's hard for all of us to lose a parent, but i think it can be particularly devastating when you are as young as Claudia is. I'm glad she got to spend the time with her mother that she did. That being said, her departure was the company's (and its fans) loss. Its quite evident that Monica Mason thought highly of her, and it seems to me that if she had stayed on she would be a few ranks up by now! wishing her the best with her coaching. I had a ballet teacher who retired from a professional ballet company in her early twenties. She was (and still is) a truly wonderful teacher who has had several students accepted into prestigious schools. Seems like Claudia is on the same path.

I did a quick count of all the dancers currently listed on the RB website. Out of 97 dancers: - 26 dancers had no Royal Ballet school training - 66 dancers trained at the Royal Ballet Upper School - 33 dancers trained at the Royal Ballet Lower School/White Lodge - 5 dancers trained at the Royal Ballet School but their bio doesn’t specify if they went to White Lodge or not - 14 dancers were Junior Associates So yes, Kevin O'Hare is correct in saying that the majority of RB dancers have trained at the RBS. source: http://www.roh.org.uk/about/the-royal-ballet/dancers

Some of these are more wishes than realistic predictions, as the RB is overflowing with talent right now! Yuhui Choe to principal Yasmine Naghdi to principal Bennet Gartside to principal character artist (probably not this year, but when Ben decides to retire his first soloist rank) Matthew Ball to first soloist Marcelino Sambe to first soloist Reece Clarke to soloist Isabella Gasparini to soloist Anna Rose O'Sullivan to soloist Benjamin Ella to soloist David Donnelly to soloist Ashley Dean to first artist Calvin Richardson to first artist Gina Storm-Jensen to first artist David Yudes to first artist Mariko Sasaki to first artist Chisato Katsura to first artist

Personally I'd love to see Claire Calvert, Beatriz Stix-Brunell, Fumi Kaneko, Mayara Magri and Anna Rose O'Sullivan all take on Aurora in the next few years.