Ever More Ballet Quibbles and Bits . . .

Seeing Triple at SAB This Summer:

With much of the School of American Ballet's fifth floor studios a construction zone this summer, it's easy to think that you're seeing triple in the maze of plastic drop cloths and the cacophony of sledge hammers and nail guns.  You're not!

Marcos, Cesar and Angel Ramirez Castellano.  Photo by Ramon Espinosa for AP

I was doing double-takes as I encountered first one dark-haired, dark-eyed young man . . . then another . . . and another coming down the hall toward the back studios about 30 paces apart.  They're Angel, Cesar and Marcos Ramirez Castellano, 15-year-old identical triplets from Cuba who are attending SAB's Summer Session.  Here's a 2013 video profiling them that was produced by the BBC when they were just 13:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ePjRF9oBhrw

You can think of their attendance at the five-week Summer Session as SAB's contribution to the recent thaw in U.S.-Cuban relations. 

SAB Founders Society Picnic:

Every summer, the School of American Ballet invites the members of its Founders Society -- a group of individuals who have made provisions for SAB in their estate plans -- to a 'picnic' followed by an opportunity to observe a Summer Session class.  

The 'picnic' has usually been held in the Student Lounge adjacent to the School's studios.  This summer the picnic -- a lovely buffet lunch of sandwiches, wraps, salads, cookies and fresh fruits (I missed the brownies this year) -- was held in rooms at the back of the Rose Building cafeteria because the areas around the student lounge on the 5th floor are under construction.  During the lunch, we heard from members of the School's Development Staff --  Cheryl Kohn, Chief Development Officer; Kristen Barrett, Director of Institutional Giving; and Giulia Gabrielli, Individual Giving Membership Coordinator -- about the renovation of the 5th floor and about various aspects of this year's Summer Session (including the Ramirez Castellano triplets).

Following the luncheon, Founders Society members were given a choice of watching Susan Pillare teach a girls toe class or Jock Soto teach the Intermediate Men.  We selected Jock's class.  There were 18 students in the class varying in age, height, ethnicity and ability.

While they were still at the barre, Jock taught them a complicated series of arm movements to accompany some fairly routine steps.  Then he divided them into two teams of nine and asked each team to select one representative to demonstrate the combination, and another to 'judge' the other team's choice in a competition.  Each judge was then asked for the number of 'errors' committed by the other team's man.  Jock took the two numbers and combined them into the number of push-ups that everyone had to do.

Over the course of the hour and a quarter class, the observers get a sense of which students have both the ability and drive to continue at SAB in the Winter Term or perhaps return for another Summer Term in 2016.  I had my eye on four out of the 18 that I'd like to see back at SAB again -- two that seem to be quite young and still quite short and two that seem more mature and more developed.  I felt that the other 14 lacked either the focus or the natural ability to succeed at SAB in the future.

Three Promotions at New York City Ballet:

Anyone who's been following this blog knows that I enthusiastically favor the three promotions that New York City Ballet announced at the end of their Spring season on June 7th:  Anthony Huxley and Lauren Lovette to principal dancers and Ashly Isaacs to soloist.

Anthony Huxley blossomed this spring from his naturally introspective elegance into a more expansive dancer in roles like James in Bournonville's 'La Sylphide' and Oberon in Balanchine's 'Midsummer Night's Dream'.  He still needs to work on his partnering skills, but his technical finesse and newly assured stage presence make him a valued addition to the top of the Company's roster.

Lauren Lovette and Anthony Huxley in Balanchine's 'Raymonda Variations'.
Photo by Andrea Mohin for NY Times

Lauren Lovette is one of the Company's most sunny and vivacious ballerinas -- plus she is drop dead gorgeous.  Since joining the Company as an apprentice in 2009 Lauren has essayed a wide variety of iconic roles in the NYCB repertory and brings a special sparkle to everything she dances.  This spring she was a spritely Sylph in Peter Martins' staging of Bournonville's 'La Sylphide'.

Ashly Isaacs struggled with injuries during her transition from SAB to NYCB -- she accepted SAB's Mae L. Wien Award in a cast and on crutches at the 2009 Workshop Gala -- but has since blossomed into an extraordinary dancer -- fleet, daring and musically adventurous.  Among her recent roles have been Dewdrop in 'The Nutcracker', Hippolyta in 'Midsummer Night's Dream' and the pas de deux from Bournonville's 'Flower Festival at Genzano'.

Ashly Isaacs as Hippolyta in Balanchine's 'A Midsummer Night's Dream'.
Photo by Andrea Mohin for the NY Times

Congratulations to all three dancers on these promotions which recognize both their achievements and their potential.