Being perfect for a role, having the capacity to illuminate it with genius or something near it, is anything but a guarantee that the dancer will be allowed to perform that role. Indeed, it can lessen his or her chances, because he or she will be inevitably viewed as a threat by other performers who are in more politically advantageous positions within the company — as well as with their protectors in the artistic administration.
Coming up soon: My first hand account of how not only American Ballet Theatre’s audiences, but ballet culture in general, missed out on what could have been one of the greatest performances of the Prelude in Les Sylphides. It happened back in the 1980s. . . but its relevance is forever.