aileen Posted January 23, 2017 Share Posted January 23, 2017 I see from social media that Alejandro Virelles, a principal with ENB, is leaving the company and it appears that Guiherme Menezes, an artist who has danced a number of featured and soloist roles including Nutcracker, is also departing, apparently for Denmark. These departures follow those of soloists Max Westwell and Anton Lukovkin in the last few weeks. This leaves ENB with only two male principals. With the exception of Cesar Corrales, newcomer Aitor Arrieta (and Ken Sarahusi to a lesser extent) none of the ENB men is being 'brought on' as far as I can see and some seem to have been rather sidelined after earlier apparent enthusiasm for them and the roles to match. I wonder what Tamara Rojo's strategy is. She has made heavy use of guest artists since her appointment - and some have been very welcome - but this does not develop the company dancers and, as has been discussed previously in relation to the RB, can lead to a loss of morale and unwelcome departures. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Q Fan Posted January 23, 2017 Share Posted January 23, 2017 I only saw Virelles once and I'm not surprised he's leaving. Are the others going to An American In Paris which is possibly short term? What about James Streeter he's great and has been doing quite a lot of leads lately! I hope he and Cesar get more opportunities. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruce Wall Posted January 23, 2017 Share Posted January 23, 2017 (edited) It seems to me that Tamara Rojo is doing everything in her power ... and heaven knows that is mighty. My admiration knows no bounds. I'm not surprised that Mr. Virelles is leaving. He more or less telegraphed that in his performance with the MAGNIFICENT Dronina on Saturday afternoon. As per Albrecht's second act second solo variation, we have all seen dancers change the choreography but rarely have I seen a dancer virtually do NO choreography. At the time I thought he might have been injured. I'm now not surprised to hear he is leaving and wish him all the very best in his future endeavours, whatever they may be. I understand his partner is in the Company. I wonder if she too may now be leaving? As towards G. Menezes, I had heard it rumoured that this was a temporary exchange in Denmark. That may be wrong - but, on the other hand, it too might bring an interesting new male dancer briefly into the ENB fold. Surely that could not hurt. Corrales was OUTSTANDING on any scale on Sunday afternoon. Such potency is like a flashing sign. I have a feeling other young men of enormous merit will long to come running. I do myself wonder how much longer Corrales will be at ENB; Perhaps two years; perhaps three. He has publicly said a goal for him was to dance with ABT ... and I can see him and Trenary as a very potent force. That said, I will always cherish whatever time he can and does share at ENB as his development has been thrilling in the extreme. I, myself, haven't been as taken with Mr. Aitor as some - but then I have only seen him do three peasant PDD. His placement was sometimes askew .. and I'm not certain that such would scream out - at least to me - as a potential principal. That said ... Rojo has taste ... and - bless her - has taken the time to cherish and build the ENB brand as best she can. Now we are graced to have Khan's Dust and Giselle and we have the stunning Broken Dreams. These are enormous assets. They are meaningful calling cards. The guests she has brought in too have not only shone in their own light - but most especially within the rich fabric of the ENB whole. All have been well served (including the audience); the one with another. Lendorf, Vasiliev, Dronina (in that second performance being one of the best danced and enacted Giselles I have EVER seen - easily ranking with Maximova, Kirkland, Seymour, Kain, Osipova and early Makarova, Fracci and Cojacaru - and that with a most unfortunate partner who often simply was not there in terms of support/response), MdP, Gouneo and the STUNNING Parish. All point to me at least that the future path is a bright one and that in time - and with good fortune - that the ENB stable - both male and female - will glisten. Kanehara - and I do realise that she is female - is unquestionably another star! Perhaps with the sad news of the BRB cut we might well see the wonderful Lawrence or the talented Bracewell guest - or Hirata or Mathews for that matter. Rojo has already used Dingman in Coppelia. Moreover, the support given by the likes of Streeter (an artist of the first order ANYWHERE) and Bufala is oh, so rich. I'm more than willing to give Rojo time. I have every confidence that she - IF ANYONE - will deliver. One last note, I was deeply touched to see the entire company applaud Dronina after Saturday's matinee. It was SO well deserved .. she was HEROIC in every detail of her delivery - and that often being left to suffice on her own extraordinary devices in terms of a meaningful partnership. (I pray that we might see her in a guest stint with ENB again. PLEASE!!! How I would love to see the vision of her in Broken Dreams.) You could see how moved she was by the Company's well placed largess at the end ... and by the ad hoc flower throw so tastefully arranged from the stage right box. My fingers are VERY firmly crossed. Edited January 23, 2017 by Bruce Wall 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aileen Posted January 23, 2017 Author Share Posted January 23, 2017 Well, James Streeter (like Fabian Reimar) has tended to be cast more in the supporting and character roles in the classical works. He took the leads in both of Akram Khan's works for ENB and he has I think been cast a lot in the more contemporary works eg Kylian's Petite Morte. I think that both James Forbat and Fernando Bufala could be used more. They are strong classical dancers (both trained at the RBS) but I wonder whether Tamara prefers more extrovert stage personalities. Junor Souza has not been seen much recently. I believe that he has suffered quite a lot with injuries but I just get the feeling that his career has stalled a bit and that Tamara has lost interest in him (I hope not). I am always impressed by Barry Drummond's dancing (beautiful lines) and wonder why he's not used more. It's surprising to me that he hasn't danced, say, Nutcracker or Benvolio or even the peasant pdd in Giselle (the ones I saw were less than stellar). 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruce Wall Posted January 23, 2017 Share Posted January 23, 2017 I so agree with you about Barry Drummond, Aileen. He was such a standout in the Fosythe. I so look forward to him tackle that again. Brilliant. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hambleton Posted January 23, 2017 Share Posted January 23, 2017 G Menenez is an Emerging Dancer candidate this year Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aileen Posted January 23, 2017 Author Share Posted January 23, 2017 So, how come he's going to Denmark? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jan McNulty Posted January 23, 2017 Share Posted January 23, 2017 So, how come he's going to Denmark? Presumably because he wants to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anna C Posted January 23, 2017 Share Posted January 23, 2017 G Menenez is an Emerging Dancer candidate this yearI thought Vitor was in this year's final? Edited to add: Apologies, it is Guilherme. Being in the final is not a guarantee of promotion, of course. Even the winner is not guaranteed to reach the rank of Principal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aileen Posted January 23, 2017 Author Share Posted January 23, 2017 As Bruce says, the fact that Guiherme Menezes is in this year's Emerging Dancer Competition does suggest that he is only leaving the company temporarily. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anna C Posted January 23, 2017 Share Posted January 23, 2017 I agree regarding Barry Drummond, James Streeter - who I thought should have been made a Principal several years ago, to be honest - and James Forbat. All gorgeous dancers and all have been arguably under-used of late. Likewise Max Westwell is someone whose performances I've always enjoyed immensely and in my mind deserved to rise up the ranks. Shame he too has left the company. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toursenlair Posted January 23, 2017 Share Posted January 23, 2017 Hands off Jurgita Dronina! we want her to stay here in Toronto and perform as much as she possibly can! 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cavycapers Posted January 23, 2017 Share Posted January 23, 2017 Am i right in thinking that Tamara Rojo tends to partner herself with guest artists, that has been my impression for a while anyway, which must be very disheartening for the male company dancers. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nycitybird Posted January 23, 2017 Share Posted January 23, 2017 I've seen her several times with Hernandez. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Q Fan Posted January 23, 2017 Share Posted January 23, 2017 And James Streeter???? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jan McNulty Posted January 23, 2017 Share Posted January 23, 2017 And, of course, with James Streeter to awesome effect in Khan's Giselle. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alison Posted January 23, 2017 Share Posted January 23, 2017 Am i right in thinking that Tamara Rojo tends to partner herself with guest artists, that has been my impression for a while anyway, which must be very disheartening for the male company dancers. Given that she is getting to the stage where she will be giving up dancing, might it not make sense to concentrate on developing potential partnerships among the company's dancers? And of course she wasn't originally supposed to be dancing Giselle at all, but only stepped in to another ballerina's scheduled performance (with a guest), whereupon said guest was apparently injured and replaced by Xander Parish. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capybara Posted January 23, 2017 Share Posted January 23, 2017 I would like to think that we can discuss this very relevant subject without appearing unkind about some of the people involved. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruce Wall Posted January 23, 2017 Share Posted January 23, 2017 (edited) Hands off Jurgita Dronina! we want her to stay here in Toronto and perform as much as she possibly can! Oh, I think she should stay there as well, Katherine. It would surely be best for her - given her stature. She will have many more opportunities and - most crucially - her son will have ALL the benefits that a fine educational system can bear. I only wished that she might GUEST again with ENB ... or perhaps that we might see, say, Lunkina or McKie or Lobsanova in such a capacity. I sincerely think it may well be past the ballet-going lifetime of many BcoF readers before the National Ballet of Canada may as a whole return to London or any other area in the UK and certainly that point might well be past the end-date of many of these fine artists' careers. The RB, of course, is happily in a current state - having been re-built from the bottom up by KO'H - where guests should seemingly be unnecessary except in dire - and very rare - emergencies. Edited January 23, 2017 by Bruce Wall Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Naomi M Posted January 23, 2017 Share Posted January 23, 2017 I don't think Jurgita Dronina has given enough opportunities that she deserves at NBoC (that prefers senior dancers past 40) so it would be better for her at ENB which has much more performances/ better repertoire/better leader/much better audience but it would be unlikely given her life in Canada (as Bruce explains) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toursenlair Posted January 24, 2017 Share Posted January 24, 2017 I don't think Jurgita Dronina has given enough opportunities that she deserves at NBoC (that prefers senior dancers past 40) so it would be better for her at ENB which has much more performances/ better repertoire/better leader/much better audience but it would be unlikely given her life in Canada (as Bruce explains) I think it is unfair to say that the NBOC "prefers senior dancers past 40". There are in fact 2 female principals past 40, Sonia Rodriguez and Greta Hodgkinson, out of 8. "Ms. Dronina’s repertoire with the National Ballet includes principal roles in The Winter’s Tale, The Nutcracker, Giselle, La Sylphide and Le Petit Prince." plus Olga in Onegin and Cinderella. And she's only been in the company a little over a year (joined September 2015). Also, what do you mean by "much better audience"? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cavycapers Posted January 24, 2017 Share Posted January 24, 2017 (edited) As Tamara Rojo was not originally scheduled to dance Giselle, I wasn't really thinking of who she was partnered with in those performances. For whatever reason she has been favouring dancing with guest artists rather than the ENB men, it does give the impression that they are not of her calibre. Plus,there has been a long tradition of an older ballerina bringing on the talent of a younger man, indeed there was a fine example of this at the ENB itself with the glorious Daria Klimentova and Vadim Muntagirov. Edited January 24, 2017 by cavycapers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aileen Posted January 24, 2017 Author Share Posted January 24, 2017 Well, after a long and distinguished career at the RB being told who she had to dance with I don't begrudge Tamara choosing some interesting guests to dance with. There have to be some perks of the job! For the record, she also danced with Muntagirov (before he left) and Berlanga (before he left - is there a pattern?) and she has also danced with Yonah Acosta although recently he has tended to dance with other ballerinas. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Legseleven Posted January 24, 2017 Share Posted January 24, 2017 If Tamara Rojo was 'told who she had to dance with' at the Royal Ballet, I would eat my hat. As a senior principal dancer I have every faith that she would have been treated rather differently there. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erica Posted January 25, 2017 Share Posted January 25, 2017 Am i right in thinking that Tamara Rojo tends to partner herself with guest artists, that has been my impression for a while anyway, which must be very disheartening for the male company dancers. As I was not under the impression that Rojo has invited so many guests to partner her I have gone through the last two year’s schedules. Of course I am sure I am forgetting some programs/performandes but what I have found is the following: Season - 2016/17 Akram Khan’s Giselle: Rojo – Streeter (company dancer) Nutcracker: Rojo - Hernández (company dancer) Skeaping’s GISELLE: Rojo – Parish (replacing Cao – Allen Season 2015-16 Barcelona - Swan Lake: Rojo - Hernandez (Company dancer) NUTCRACKER: Tamara Rojo - Osiel Gouneo (guest dancer) LE CORSAIRE Coliseum: Tamara Rojo – Hernandez (company dancer) Le Corsaire Oman: Rojo – Hernandez (company dancer) LE CORSAIRE PARIS: Rojo - Hernandez (company dancer) BROKEN WINGS: Rojo - Mukhamedov (ENB’s Artistic Team member) SWAN LAKE RAH - 2016: Rojo - Hernandez (company dancer) Season 2014-2015 SWAN LAKE MANCHESTER: Rojo - Souza (company dancer) OXFORD COPPELIA: Rojo - Acosta (Company dancer) NUTCRACKER: Rojo - Souza (company dancer) SWAN LAKE: Rojo - Lendorf (guest dancer) Madrid: Lest we Forget No Man’s Land: Rojo - Berlanga (ENB former dancer) Dust: Rojo – Streeter (company dancer Colombia Swan Lake: Rojo - Hernandez (Company dancer) 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blossom Posted February 2, 2017 Share Posted February 2, 2017 Tamara Rojo has just posted links for vacancies for soloists and principals... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capybara Posted February 2, 2017 Share Posted February 2, 2017 Tamara Rojo has just posted links for vacancies for soloists and principals... http://www.ballet.org.uk/the-company/vacancies/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jan McNulty Posted February 2, 2017 Share Posted February 2, 2017 (edited) Here's one of the links: http://www.ballet.org.uk/the-company/vacancies/ Posting at the same time as capybara! Edited February 2, 2017 by Janet McNulty Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lisa O`Brien Posted February 2, 2017 Share Posted February 2, 2017 ENB are coming to the Grand Opera House in Belfast with Skeaping's Giselle in June. !!!!! [Hope I don't faint during the performance]. [ I did during BRB's Swan Lake]. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alison Posted February 2, 2017 Share Posted February 2, 2017 Tamara Rojo has just posted links for vacancies for soloists and principals... Wow. Let's hope it manages to produce some good results. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quintus Posted February 2, 2017 Share Posted February 2, 2017 Tamara Rojo has just posted links for vacancies for soloists and principals... She is also asking for volunteers to stuff envelopes etc for a day a week, if anyone is interested. I expect you can still work your way up to Principal, but it might take a little longer 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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