Lizbie1 Posted January 13, 2022 Share Posted January 13, 2022 10 hours ago, Sharon said: I was thinking about Sarah Lamb such a confident, articulate woman. Lamb is a really interesting suggestion, not because I think that it will happen, but because in some ways she has IMO more in common with Rojo than most others suggested here. And she's served as union rep, which will have given her plenty of insight into how a company works. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Macmillan Posted January 13, 2022 Share Posted January 13, 2022 Amongst all the suggestions for a new AD at ENB, is there anyone who has done something similar to what Ms Rojo did whilst still with the RB - ie go and find experience with an AD elsewhere, as she did for about 6 weeks with Karen Kain at National Ballet of Canada? 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scheherezade Posted January 13, 2022 Share Posted January 13, 2022 A very valid observation, Ian. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jan McNulty Posted January 13, 2022 Share Posted January 13, 2022 39 minutes ago, Ian Macmillan said: Amongst all the suggestions for a new AD at ENB, is there anyone who has done something similar to what Ms Rojo did whilst still with the RB - ie go and find experience with an AD elsewhere, as she did for about 6 weeks with Karen Kain at National Ballet of Canada? I believe TR did one of those Clore Fellowship courses which I think quite a few dancers have done. There seem to be 2 types - one which lasts around 6 months and one which is a series of one or two week seminars. The participants shadow Artistic Directors all over the show. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bravissima35 Posted January 13, 2022 Share Posted January 13, 2022 Maybe Frederico Bonelli will go for it as he took time out to do the Clore Fellowship course? 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peanut68 Posted January 13, 2022 Share Posted January 13, 2022 I’ve no idea why I’m so fascinated by this!! Is this on a par with the excitement my teen son feels when the footie transfer season re-opens?🤔🤣 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alison Posted January 13, 2022 Share Posted January 13, 2022 Compounded by its rarity in this case? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob S Posted January 13, 2022 Share Posted January 13, 2022 49 minutes ago, Peanut68 said: I’ve no idea why I’m so fascinated by this!! Is this on a par with the excitement my teen son feels when the footie transfer season re-opens?🤔🤣 😆 Yes, we need Harry Redknapp being interviewed through the window of his SUV saying who he thinks it will be....'that Acosta lad is a top, top director and he'd do triffic' 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drdee Posted January 13, 2022 Share Posted January 13, 2022 2 hours ago, Ian Macmillan said: Amongst all the suggestions for a new AD at ENB, is there anyone who has done something similar to what Ms Rojo did whilst still with the RB - ie go and find experience with an AD elsewhere, as she did for about 6 weeks with Karen Kain at National Ballet of Canada? I had wanted to mention this earlier but didn’t have the full details. Thanks for sharing. She also completed a PhD. No mean feat on top of everything!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drdee Posted January 13, 2022 Share Posted January 13, 2022 Just now, Drdee said: I had wanted to mention this earlier but didn’t have the full details. Thanks for sharing. She also completed a PhD. No mean feat on top of everything!! Sorry I realise you were asking a question. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LACAD Posted January 13, 2022 Share Posted January 13, 2022 While they’re both quite young, I would like to see Jeffrey Cirio or Isabella Brouwers in a leadership role. They both have their finger on the pulse in the world of arts and theatre in London and would both come up from within the company. Brouwers is also currently in the leadership programme. For now though, while it’s a long shot, I did actually think of Cassa Pancho from Ballet Black. Her company has really established itself as a launch pad for many emerging choreographic talents. Kobborg would also be a safe bet for continuing Rojo’s legacy of a strong but varied rep. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capybara Posted January 13, 2022 Share Posted January 13, 2022 No matter what course anyone might have taken and whatever admin. support there is within a company, a dancer assuming a first directorship will lack (people) management experience and will need to learn on the job. That’s very hard alongside all the other aspects of the role. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FLOSS Posted January 13, 2022 Share Posted January 13, 2022 I think it unlikely that the appointment of Rojo's successor will be anywhere near as controversial as her appointment was. I think it is pretty safe to assume that the time slot for applications will be considerably longer than it was when the company was looking to replace Eagling and that has to be a good thing. It will be interesting to see how how far afield the Board looks and how smoothly the appointment process runs. As to who finally emerges as Rojo's anointed successor that will depend on what the Board thinks the company needs at present and, in the context of the problems which the pandemic has caused all arts organisations and ballet companies with permanent workforce in particular, they may well decide that the most suitable candidate this time is someone they think will be a "safe pair of hands". In this context a "safe pair of hands" would be someone who has a proven track record of artistic success running a company, whether large or small, rather than someone who has studied the theory and shadowed others. It will probably mean that they select a director or former director who is prepared to curb his or her artistic ambitions for at least a couple of seasons while they set about restoring the company's finances to health. I doubt that the Board will feel that it can afford to take the sort of gamble that it did when it appointed Rojo. I know that ENB's finances are always somewhat precarious and that the company is heavily dependent on its London Christmas season to restore it to financial health.After two Christmas seasons in which it has not been able to restore its finances I imagine that the Board will regard financial health as the new director's main objective. As a result the Board is likely to be far less adventurous than it was ten years ago. I am not suggesting that the Board will want a clean break with the immediate past, merely that out of necessity whether or not Rojo's Raymonda is a success and whatever the newly appointed director's long term plans for the company may be , in the short term we are likely to see much greater reliance on the company's back catalogue and far less innovative additions to the repertory than we have become accustomed to under the current director. If I am right in this assessment it would mean that the Royal Ballet's senior dancers who are contemplating their next career move would be out of the running and the local candidates for the directorship would be people like Hampson and Page rather than the likes of Lamb, Bonelli or McRae. I am not including Acosta in the list of experienced potential candidates as I think that the fact that he has only recently taken up the post of director at BRB rules him out. It is not the fact that covid has prevented him having much to show for his time at BRB which is crucial here but the fact that applying for the ENB post would signal an over all lack of commitment to his current company and suggest a potential lack of commitment to any company of which he became director. As far as the other names which have been mentioned are concerned as far as I am aware neither Ferri nor Durante have experience of running a company or organisation while Durante has a somewhat patchy record as far as running events is concerned. As far as what we are likely to see is concerned company revivals of Sleeping Beauty, Swan Lake and Giselle must be on the cards as well as the perennial Nutcracker which is currently Eagling's version of the ballet. These works are safer box office when on tour in this country than Manon or Le Corsaure are, or a successful Raymonda would probably prove to be.How to get audiences outside London to part with their hard earned cash to see ballets with which they are far from familiar is a problem which is made worse by the lack of interest which the BBC shows in ballet in its arts coverage. I would not be at all surprised to discover that the BBC's lack of interest in ballet is connected to the ACE's decisions years ago to remove both Oxford and Cambridge from SWRB/BRB tours on the basis that the company could be seen elsewhere and all the audience had to do was to travel to a venue favoured by ACE. I don't think that students have changed all that much over the years. If something is on hand and can be accessed relatively cheaply they might try it. If they have to travel some distance and pay quite a lot they won't go unless the event is a pop festival. The indifference to ballet of those in charge of arts coverage at the BBC could well prove to be the unintended consequence of the ACE's decision years ago to cut ballet touring to the two cities where so many of those who end up running our large institutions still seem to come from. The company is pretty lucky as its productions of these three classics are all worth seeing. Its Sleeping Beauty is MacMillan's production. It has a solid well thought out version of the choreographic text. For me its great advantage is that at no point does it give the impression of being an edited highlights account of the text. While I have a bit more of a problem with the company's Swan Lake I find it infinitely preferable to Scarlett's ill advised production for the Royal Ballet. ENB's production seems largely based on Helpmann's 196e production for the Royal Ballet.It has additional choreography by Ashton in acts 1,3 and 4. His waltz, a pas de douze, is extraordinarily effective and would be even more beautiful if the company danced it in the appropriate style. The production provides the opportunity to hear the music which Ashton used for his pas de quatre in its proper place in the first act where Tchaikovsky intended it to be. Ashton's choreography for the third act, the dance of the guests and the Neapolitan dance are well judged as is his final act. Apart from the unnecessary opening scene performed during the overture which shows Odette;s abduction added, I imagine, at Helpmenn;s insistence my objections are to minor changes made by people other than Ashton himself.I suspect that these changes were introduced by Derek Deane. The problem is that although minor these changes jar. A classic example of this occurs when Deane has the female dancers who present posies to royalty turn their backs to the royals to whom they have given their flowers in order to add a little variety to what would otherwise be a procession. Having said that if we are to have a revised version of the ballet then this one rather than Scarlett's is the one to have. Finally we have Schooling's Giselle which seems to me the most extraordinarily period sensitive staging of Giselle that I have encountered.It seems a perfect evocation of the Romantic ballet , all done without the benefit of the magic which Ellen Terry says gas light provided because the impurities in the gas made its light vary in intensity.According to her it was the impurities in gas light which enabled a skilled lighting man to create evocative stage pictures from the controlled use of shadows and the unstable lighting effects gas provided. Somehow Sir Peter Wright's well regarded production of Giselle seems overly streamlined,business -like and rational when compared to Schooling's staging. The latter is far more sensitive to the Romantic aesthetic largely, I think, because it somehow manages to retain an element of mystery in its designs , lighting and stage action. If the company is forced to dig deep into its back catalogue over the next couple of seasons then a mixed bill which included Markova's staging of Les Sylphides, Balanchine's Night Shadow and ended with Etudes would be most welcome. It would also be nice to see Songs of a Wayfarer which I think had more to do with Nureyev and Friends than LFB/ ENB. Why do I want to see these works rather than exciting new ones ? It has something to do with a work's durability. You see for me the problem is not that I dislike new works, I don't, but so few of the exciting new works I see bear repeat viewing. Most of them seem to die between their initial season and their first revival in a later season. Quite often it seems to me it is a change of cast which proves fatal but there are occasions when it is the time at which it is first seen and the concerns of that particular year or season which make it seem relevant and moving when first encountered and hopelessly dated thereafter. The phenomenon of the one season ballet is not a new one .Cyril Beaumont writing about Diaghilev's ballets says of Thamar words to the effect that only those who saw the work in its first season with its original cast saw the ballet which Fokine had created. 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alison Posted January 13, 2022 Share Posted January 13, 2022 I think you mean Skeaping, FLOSS? 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jan McNulty Posted January 13, 2022 Share Posted January 13, 2022 Your comment about Acosta is interesting Floss given that he is still running Acosta Danza as well as BRB and the latest UK tour of Acosta Danza clashes with BRB performing his Don Q. Does the Arts Council have any say in the direction a company they think the company should be taking? Not ballet but they intervened in the case of the Liverpool Everyman years ago because they felt the theatre should be putting on a different style of work (even though what was being shown at the time was proving popular with audiences). Of course, around the same time the Arts Council of Scotland decided that Scottish Ballet should become a contemporary company. Needless to say the company fought back and fortunately won that battle. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alison Posted January 13, 2022 Share Posted January 13, 2022 I'd say the Arts Council has a very major say in the direction companies should be taking, given that the emphasis seems to be so much more on inclusion and participation rather than excellence these days. Or have I been misunderstanding the brief? Obviously both together would be the ideal. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jan McNulty Posted January 13, 2022 Share Posted January 13, 2022 David Nixon has mentioned in several talks I have seen him do over the years that when he realised he was approaching the end of his performing year he wanted to go into directing. To get himself so experience he organised some nights of ballet, doing everything himself to get some relevant experience to put on his CV. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pas de Quatre Posted January 13, 2022 Share Posted January 13, 2022 Do ENB still have Nureyev's Romeo and Juliet? I have always rather liked it and feel it has the most Shakespearean atmosphere compared to other versions. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LACAD Posted January 13, 2022 Share Posted January 13, 2022 While I agree with you FLOSS that the board may pick a safe bet, Rojo’s appointment did come at a particularly financially precarious time for the company after the last recession. For that reason I’m more inclined to think that the board may be more lenient to inexperienced but driven individuals with a vision, particularly since Rojo was just that and lead the company into what I believe will be seen as a golden age. And if the Arts Council intervenes this may be more certain as they’ve seen the pay-off and popularity of Rojo’s term at ENB. Come to think of it, does anyone think Maria Kochetkova may throw her hat in the race? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irmgard Posted January 13, 2022 Share Posted January 13, 2022 4 hours ago, Pas de Quatre said: Do ENB still have Nureyev's Romeo and Juliet? I have always rather liked it and feel it has the most Shakespearean atmosphere compared to other versions. Yes. they were meant to be performing it in Japan in the summer of 2020! Someone with a real connection to ENB who could be a possible candidate for AD is Thomas Edur who led ENB as a principal for twenty years from the age of twenty and then directed Estonian National Ballet for ten years, bringing a very diverse rep to that company. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruce Wall Posted January 13, 2022 Share Posted January 13, 2022 (edited) 16 minutes ago, Irmgard said: Yes. they were meant to be performing it in Japan in the summer of 2020! Someone with a real connection to ENB who could be a possible candidate for AD is Thomas Edur who led ENB as a principal for twenty years from the age of twenty and then directed Estonian National Ballet for ten years, bringing a very diverse rep to that company. I think he would be a fine addition to the candidates. He, like Rojo, is a CBE. Edited January 13, 2022 by Bruce Wall 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FionaM Posted January 14, 2022 Share Posted January 14, 2022 Has there been an announcement or are there known candidates for AD at ABT? Kevin McKenzie is also retiring at the end of this season. https://www.abt.org/kevin-mckenzie-to-retire-as-artistic-director-of-abt/ I’m now wondering if Johan Kobborg is a possibility for both? In my mind ABT is more prestigious. Is Ethan Steifel in the frame there? I’m thinking there must be other ex-dancers with AD experience to consider, like … - Julie Kent, AD at Washington Ballet since 2016 - Angel Corella, AD at Philadelphia Ballet since 2014 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FionaM Posted January 14, 2022 Share Posted January 14, 2022 This duet performed in Mexico in summer 2019 of Tamara Rojo and Yuri Possokhov is VERY interesting in light of Tamara’s new appointment as AD to SFB, where Yuri is resident choreographer. There is an obvious chemistry between them 👏 Yuri has been employed by Bolshoi recently creating full length ballets there … The Seagull, A Hero of Our Time, Nureyev. He also created a new Nutcracker for Atlanta Ballet, and Anna Karenina for Joffrey Ballet in this time. And presumably others too. I’d be hoping Tamara has ideas for him in San Francisco. He did create a one act ballet during 2020 lockdown for 4 principals of ENB including Isaac Hernandez. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irmgard Posted January 14, 2022 Share Posted January 14, 2022 2 hours ago, FionaE said: This duet performed in Mexico in summer 2019 of Tamara Rojo and Yuri Possokhov is VERY interesting in light of Tamara’s new appointment as AD to SFB, where Yuri is resident choreographer. There is an obvious chemistry between them 👏 Yuri has been employed by Bolshoi recently creating full length ballets there … The Seagull, A Hero of Our Time, Nureyev. He also created a new Nutcracker for Atlanta Ballet, and Anna Karenina for Joffrey Ballet in this time. And presumably others too. I’d be hoping Tamara has ideas for him in San Francisco. He did create a one act ballet during 2020 lockdown for 4 principals of ENB including Isaac Hernandez. For anyone who is not familiar with it, this is the "La Llorona" pas de deux from "Broken Wings" by Annabelle Lopez Ochoa. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jan McNulty Posted January 14, 2022 Share Posted January 14, 2022 There's an interesting feature with Lauren Lovette (ex NYCB) in today's links... I wonder if it may be too early in her career to think about such a big step? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LACAD Posted January 14, 2022 Share Posted January 14, 2022 Looks as if Maria Kochetkova is going to leave ENB after only a few months there. I wonder if this is related to Tamara’s leadership coming to an end? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fromthebalcony Posted January 14, 2022 Author Share Posted January 14, 2022 7 hours ago, FionaE said: Has there been an announcement or are there known candidates for AD at ABT? Kevin McKenzie is also retiring at the end of this season. https://www.abt.org/kevin-mckenzie-to-retire-as-artistic-director-of-abt/ I’m now wondering if Johan Kobborg is a possibility for both? In my mind ABT is more prestigious. Is Ethan Steifel in the frame there? I’m thinking there must be other ex-dancers with AD experience to consider, like … - Julie Kent, AD at Washington Ballet since 2016 - Angel Corella, AD at Philadelphia Ballet since 2014 My guess is Stella Abrera. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bridiem Posted January 14, 2022 Share Posted January 14, 2022 16 minutes ago, LACAD said: Looks as if Maria Kochetkova is going to leave ENB after only a few months there. I wonder if this is related to Tamara’s leadership coming to an end? cf ENB Twitter: Today we announce that Maria Kochetkova, Lead Principal Dancer, will be leaving ENB later this month. Maria will be leaving the UK to pursue her wider creative ambitions in dance. We wish Maria every success in the future. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TSR101 Posted January 14, 2022 Share Posted January 14, 2022 9 minutes ago, bridiem said: cf ENB Twitter: Today we announce that Maria Kochetkova, Lead Principal Dancer, will be leaving ENB later this month. Maria will be leaving the UK to pursue her wider creative ambitions in dance. We wish Maria every success in the future. ENB seems to be in chaos at the moment. She's only just joined, and was their attempt to replace Alina!. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blossom Posted January 14, 2022 Share Posted January 14, 2022 35 minutes ago, TSR101 said: ENB seems to be in chaos at the moment. She's only just joined, and was their attempt to replace Alina!. I’d like to see promotion from within. Although it’s quite a bland statement, perhaps it wasn’t working for ENB 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FionaM Posted January 14, 2022 Share Posted January 14, 2022 1 minute ago, Blossom said: I’d like to see promotion from within. I agree. There are plenty of quality ballerinas in the company, eg. first artist Francesca Velicu in lead role in Nutcracker, not to mention many others higher ranked than her. A domino of promotions would give hope and something to aim for to all. Bringing in new hires at top ranks, has the opposite effect. 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blossom Posted January 14, 2022 Share Posted January 14, 2022 Would love to see Alison McWhinney make principal. 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TSR101 Posted January 14, 2022 Share Posted January 14, 2022 As there are only two people the rank below (both women), it looks impossible really for them to replace Maria, Tamara and Isaac by internal promotion alone - unless you have big jumps in the ladder. Not to mention Tamara, Maria and Isaac are their biggest (and only) international 'names' really. You would expect them to look for some stardust to sprinkle over their cast line ups - I would have thought it was the reasoning behind Maria's arrival in the first place. I would suggest that it is more likely that it wasn't working for Maria and ENB accepted this, given she's only just arrived. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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