Sophoife Posted November 28, 2023 Share Posted November 28, 2023 The Australian Ballet has announced 11 new hires for 2024: Soloists Mia Heathcote (principal, Queensland Ballet) Victor Estévez (principal, Queensland Ballet) Davi Ramos (grand sujet, Het Nationale Ballet) Corps de ballet Laura Griffiths (joined mid-year from ENB School) Alice McArthur (John Cranko Schule, company says "from Paris Opéra Ballet" but I think that was a short-term contract only as she was a finalist in this year's external recruitment competition but not ranked top six) Plus six graduating students from Australian Ballet School: Yaru Xu, Isabella Smith, Macy Trethewey, Charlton Tough, Corey Gavan, and Jeremy Hargreaves. Leavers this year include principals Adam Bull, Amber Scott and Amy Harris, senior artists Chris Rodgers-Wilson and Dana Stephensen, plus Coco Mathieson, Karen Nanasca, Jacqueline Clark, Corey Herbert, and Lisa Craig. There may be more by the end of the year. 2 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capybara Posted November 28, 2023 Share Posted November 28, 2023 Davi Ramos - how interesting! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FionaM Posted November 28, 2023 Share Posted November 28, 2023 (edited) Interesting move for Mia and Victor. And I assume they are hired as principals rather than soloists. ? Victor Estevez (Cuban) partnered Alina Cojocaru in the Ballet International Galas tour of Australia in August this year, and also in full length Manon staged by Queensland Ballet last year. Edited November 28, 2023 by FionaM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lindsay Posted November 28, 2023 Share Posted November 28, 2023 I think I saw Davi Ramos in the Giselle peasant pas de quatre with Het recently. If he is the dancer I'm thinking of that is an excellent hire for the Australian ballet! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angela Posted November 28, 2023 Share Posted November 28, 2023 11 hours ago, Sophoife said: Alice McArthur Look out for Alice McArthur, she is the next Elisa Badenes and I am so angry that Tamas Detrich did not offer her a full contract at Stuttgart, but only an apprenticeship. 👹 She won the Genee Award some years ago. Wonderful port de bras. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bridiem Posted November 28, 2023 Share Posted November 28, 2023 40 minutes ago, FionaM said: Interesting move for Mia and Victor. And I assume they are hired as principals rather than soloists. ? I read it as meaning that they are hired as soloists. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FionaM Posted November 28, 2023 Share Posted November 28, 2023 23 minutes ago, bridiem said: I read it as meaning that they are hired as soloists. Hmm. Yes it seems so. Strange. Particularly for Victor who was promoted to principal at age 22 in the Cuban National Ballet Company. The ranks at Australian Ballet , according to their website are: - Principal - Senior Artist - Soloist - Coryphee - Corps de Ballet https://australianballet.com.au/our-dancers https://www.queenslandballet.com.au/company/team/dancers/victor-est-vez 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sophoife Posted November 28, 2023 Author Share Posted November 28, 2023 (edited) 1 hour ago, FionaM said: Interesting move for Mia and Victor. And I assume they are hired as principals rather than soloists. ? No, they and Davi Ramos have all been hired as soloists, as I said and as the company has announced. I am guessing they are the vanguard of dancers leaving Queensland before Li Cunxin formally steps down. Knowing, as I do, some of the other dancers who've approached AusBallet this year, Heathcote and Estévez are certainly right up there in terms of talent and artistry. The clear-out of experienced dancers at AusBallet this year and their replacement with, basically, eight new graduates says to me Mr Hallberg is, after delays due to Covid, now forming the company according to his lights. In addition to the three principals and two senior artists retiring in 2023, the company also lost two male principals and one male senior artist over the last couple of years, and this year has been particularly light on female principals, as no less than three were at one stage on maternity leave and one was injured, and unlike the Royal Ballet we don't have 19 principals, nor do we have any such thing as a principal character artist. We now have nine principals: five women and four men (yes, I know the website says 11 including seven women, but both Amber Scott and Amy Harris have danced their last performances with the company). It's almost guaranteed that there will be promotions in the near future, possibly even one or two during December (23 Swan Lakes in Sydney including the public dress rehearsal). Senior artists Nathan Brook and Marcus Morelli and coryphée Misha Barkidjija will dance Siegfried, and senior artists Jill Ogai and Rina Nemoto, and soloist Yuumi Yamada, will dance Odette-Odile. Edited November 28, 2023 by Sophoife Added all after first paragraph. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DD Driver Posted November 29, 2023 Share Posted November 29, 2023 I saw Marcus Morelli as Puck in The Dream a few weeks ago. He is such an asset to the company. Although he is short, there seems many ballets where he is an essential player and elevates the whole show. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MoVR Posted November 29, 2023 Share Posted November 29, 2023 19 hours ago, Lindsay said: I think I saw Davi Ramos in the Giselle peasant pas de quatre with Het recently. If he is the dancer I'm thinking of that is an excellent hire for the Australian ballet! Just out of curiosity and very off topic: do people realise the "Het" part in "Het Nationale Ballet" is the definite article in Dutch meaning "The"? As in "The National Ballet"? I cringe just a little bit every time I see people call it "Het" 🙂 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capybara Posted November 29, 2023 Share Posted November 29, 2023 (edited) Yes - I did know but your reminder is timely. Edited November 29, 2023 by capybara 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alison Posted November 29, 2023 Share Posted November 29, 2023 2 hours ago, MoVR said: Just out of curiosity and very off topic: do people realise the "Het" part in "Het Nationale Ballet" is the definite article in Dutch meaning "The"? As in "The National Ballet"? I cringe just a little bit every time I see people call it "Het" 🙂 Yes, but I believe it's widely called that in the Netherlands, isn't it? And I must go and double-check my Dutch adjectival endings ... 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emeralds Posted November 29, 2023 Share Posted November 29, 2023 (edited) 3 hours ago, MoVR said: Just out of curiosity and very off topic: do people realise the "Het" part in "Het Nationale Ballet" is the definite article in Dutch meaning "The"? As in "The National Ballet"? I cringe just a little bit every time I see people call it "Het" 🙂 I think even Hans van Manen calls the company Het as a nickname, because Dutch National Ballet is what foreigners call the company, not the company's actual Dutch name. Just like Royal Danish Ballet is called the Royal Ballet when people in Denmark refer to it, but the British (ie our) Royal Ballet is translated or referred to abroad variously as Royal Ballet of the United Kingdom, Britain's Royal Ballet, the Royal National Ballet of Britain etc etc. While "het" might mean "the", it's actually recognisable in the ballet world as being Dutch National Ballet, because "HNB" isn't used as widely as other acronyms like NYCB, ABT, NDT. Other Dutch companies don't use a "The" in their names habitually, so it's safe to say that "Het" is by default HNB among Dutch and other dance companies. That said, I must say I thought it was funny when I first heard the nickname but then got used to it. I think it's quite cool to have a company called "The". It's like restaurants called "Dinner" or "Dish". Edited November 29, 2023 by Emeralds 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sophoife Posted November 29, 2023 Author Share Posted November 29, 2023 "Het Nationale Ballet" and its shortening to "Het" thing is amusing, because The Australian Ballet insists on the definite article being capitalised, but nobody would refer to the company as "The". The suggested abbreviation is "TAB" but that's also the short name of the Totalisator Agency Board, aka the formerly-government owned betting agencies in Australia and New Zealand, so I prefer not to use it. Hence AusBallet. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emeralds Posted November 29, 2023 Share Posted November 29, 2023 On 28/11/2023 at 01:49, Sophoife said: The Australian Ballet has announced 11 new hires for 2024: Soloists Mia Heathcote (principal, Queensland Ballet) Victor Estévez (principal, Queensland Ballet) Davi Ramos (grand sujet, Het Nationale Ballet) Corps de ballet Laura Griffiths (joined mid-year from ENB School) Alice McArthur (John Cranko Schule, company says "from Paris Opéra Ballet" but I think that was a short-term contract only as she was a finalist in this year's external recruitment competition but not ranked top six) Plus six graduating students from Australian Ballet School: Yaru Xu, Isabella Smith, Macy Trethewey, Charlton Tough, Corey Gavan, and Jeremy Hargreaves. Leavers this year include principals Adam Bull, Amber Scott and Amy Harris, senior artists Chris Rodgers-Wilson and Dana Stephensen, plus Coco Mathieson, Karen Nanasca, Jacqueline Clark, Corey Herbert, and Lisa Craig. There may be more by the end of the year. I must admit I was surprised that Victor and Mia weren't hired as Senior Artists. Principal to soloist seems a big demotion, and having seen both dance, I'd say Senior Artist was justified in both cases. Still, I suppose they weighed up what was offered and wouldn't have agreed if it felt like a raw deal. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MoVR Posted November 29, 2023 Share Posted November 29, 2023 Thanks all for enlightening me re the status of "Het" as a legitimate nickname for Het Nationale Ballet. I still hate it, but will have to accept it now :)) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ondine Posted November 29, 2023 Share Posted November 29, 2023 Amy Harris says goodbye in one of the most gorgeous costumes ever! The poshest of posh frocks. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emeralds Posted November 29, 2023 Share Posted November 29, 2023 That's interesting that Amy changed back into Marguerite's red dress from the first half of the ballet, as everyone else dancing Marguerite usually takes curtain calls in the night dress from her death bed (from Margot Fonteyn to Zenaida Yanowsky and other ballerinas after). Is it a practice that Australian Ballet are adopting for all the performances? (Must be a long wait for the ballerina to appear in that case). Oh, I will miss seeing Amy dancing during the tours. (PS glad to see David Hallberg presented her with the bouquet of roses this time instead of dropping it at her feet like he did for Amber Scott at her farewell. I know Amber was going to receive lots but it still looked a bit strange. 😄) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sophoife Posted November 29, 2023 Author Share Posted November 29, 2023 @Emeralds I queried the red gown on AusBallet socials and the response I got said "Amy did a quick change [from the nightgown] in under a minute so she could have her final bow in the iconic red dress of Marguerite!" I can assure you that in the three shows I saw nobody did such a change, including Amy Harris. Photo (taken by me) shows Amy and Nathan Brook on Wednesday 23 November. Nine years ago Lucinda Dunn's removal of Manon's cropped wig for her final bows attracted some criticism as it "wasn't traditional" (Luci's own hair was past waist length). 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dawnstar Posted November 29, 2023 Share Posted November 29, 2023 9 minutes ago, Sophoife said: Nine years ago Lucinda Dunn's removal of Manon's cropped wig for her final bows attracted some criticism as it "wasn't traditional" (Luci's own hair was past waist length). I think that's an excellent idea & wish all Manons would do the same, as I have yet to see a dancer who looks good in Manon's final wig in curtain call photos. Likewise I thought it was a great pity Laura Morera had to do her farewell curtain calls in the very similar & equally unflattering Anastasia Act III wig. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emeralds Posted November 29, 2023 Share Posted November 29, 2023 6 minutes ago, Sophoife said: @Emeralds I queried the red gown on AusBallet socials and the response I got said "Amy did a quick change [from the nightgown] in under a minute so she could have her final bow in the iconic red dress of Marguerite!" I can assure you that in the three shows I saw nobody did such a change, including Amy Harris. Photo (taken by me) shows Amy and Nathan Brook on Wednesday 23 November. Nine years ago Lucinda Dunn's removal of Manon's cropped wig for her final bows attracted some criticism as it "wasn't traditional" (Luci's own hair was past waist length). Thank you for the information and the beautiful photo of Amy and Nathan, @Sophoife! I thought the re-donning of the famous red Cecil Beaton dress was probably a one-off for the farewell....and well done to Amy -and assistants- for such a quick change! I didn't see Lucinda Dunn's farewell but I'd say if Deborah MacMillan (the current holder of rights to the MacMillan ballets) didn't have any objections, then that should be OK. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peanut68 Posted November 30, 2023 Share Posted November 30, 2023 I often think it would be nice if dancers could swiftly change into the nicest of the costumes they wore in a performance for the bow! Also, where dancers double up in corps & solo parts or dance in more than one ballet in day s triple bill, I’d love it if they could take bow in the cystine twisting to their personal ‘star part’ of their evening! Would help me identify who is who too! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sophoife Posted November 30, 2023 Author Share Posted November 30, 2023 Added leaver: experienced coryphée Jasmin Durham, who took her final bow on 30 September after Swan Lake. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Naomi M Posted November 30, 2023 Share Posted November 30, 2023 16 hours ago, Dawnstar said: I think that's an excellent idea & wish all Manons would do the same, as I have yet to see a dancer who looks good in Manon's final wig in curtain call photos. Likewise I thought it was a great pity Laura Morera had to do her farewell curtain calls in the very similar & equally unflattering Anastasia Act III wig. Diana Vishneva also took off her wig at the curtain call of Manon at her 10th anniversary at ABT. https://balletfocus.com/diana-vishneva-marcelo-gomes-manon/ 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dawnstar Posted November 30, 2023 Share Posted November 30, 2023 13 hours ago, Peanut68 said: I often think it would be nice if dancers could swiftly change into the nicest of the costumes they wore in a performance for the bow! Also, where dancers double up in corps & solo parts or dance in more than one ballet in day s triple bill, I’d love it if they could take bow in the cystine twisting to their personal ‘star part’ of their evening! Would help me identify who is who too! At every Don Q curtain call during the recent run I found myself wishing the Queen of the Dryads & Amour could appear in those costumes. The tutus looked lovely at a distance so I would have liked to be able to get some zoomed-in photos of them to see the details! 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emeralds Posted November 30, 2023 Share Posted November 30, 2023 Will miss seeing Jasmin Durham too- has she announced where she is going/doing next? She seems too young to be retiring. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ondine Posted November 30, 2023 Share Posted November 30, 2023 17 minutes ago, Emeralds said: Jasmin Durham Teaching. https://www.instagram.com/jasmindurham23/?hl=en-gb 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sophoife Posted December 16, 2023 Author Share Posted December 16, 2023 Was going to add Marcus Morelli and Jill Ogai's promotions to this thread but @Emeralds created them a whole new one 🤭 Congratulations to both! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ondine Posted December 16, 2023 Share Posted December 16, 2023 I should have put Laura Griffiths here as a joiner, really, but she seemed to neatly fit the Nutcracker thread at the time! Here's a link. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sophoife Posted December 20, 2023 Author Share Posted December 20, 2023 Added leaver: Amanda McGuigan Promotions announced today, the last day of the company year, to take effect 1 January 2024, including Yuumi Yamada to senior artist, and Maxim Zenin and Misha Barkidjija to soloist. Watch Yuumi go to principal some time in 2024. 2 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sophoife Posted December 20, 2023 Author Share Posted December 20, 2023 (edited) On 29/11/2023 at 01:07, Sophoife said: It's almost guaranteed that there will be promotions in the near future, possibly even one or two during December (23 Swan Lakes in Sydney including the public dress rehearsal). Senior artists Nathan Brook and Marcus Morelli and coryphée Misha Barkidjija will dance Siegfried, and senior artists Jill Ogai and Rina Nemoto, and soloist Yuumi Yamada, will dance Odette-Odile. Marcus - principal Misha - soloist Jill - principal Yuumi - senior artist I'm not psychic, just acquainted with the company 🤭 Nathan should be next male principal, and I'd be surprised if Yuumi isn't a principal in the next 12 months. Also, in the promotions list in my previous post, both Max Zenin and Cameron Holmes went to soloist from corps, skipping coryphée rank. Cameron is Billy Elliot, having been part of the original Australian cast back in 2008. Edited December 20, 2023 by Sophoife Added last paragraph 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capybara Posted December 20, 2023 Share Posted December 20, 2023 It feels as if David Hallberg might need to be wary of having too many dancers at Principal level as has the RB. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sophoife Posted December 20, 2023 Author Share Posted December 20, 2023 I doubt it @capybara. When one looks at the list and remembers it's highly unusual for AusBallet principals to pass 40 in the role (Steven Heathcote being the exception that proves the rule), and all except Linnane, Morelli and possibly Ogai and Bemet are over 30... Joe Caley: BRB 2005, principal 2011 Robyn Hendricks: TAB 2005, principal 2016 Chengwu Guo: 2008, principal 2013 Dimity Azoury: 2008, principal 2019 Sharni Spencer: 2008, principal 2022 Brett Chynoweth: 2009, principal 2018 Ako Kondo: 2010, principal 2015 Benedicte Bemet: 2012, principal 2019 Jill Ogai: 2012, principal 2023 Marcus Morelli: 2014, principal 2023 Callum Linnane: 2015, principal 2022 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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