dirac Posted July 5, 2013 Share Posted July 5, 2013 I don't think anyone contributing here would disagree with that, pherank. Link to comment
pherank Posted July 16, 2013 Share Posted July 16, 2013 This blog post tells about Ms. Tan serving as a jurist for the Beijing International Ballet and Choreography Competition. From the photos I see that Ulyana Lopatkina was also a jurist: http://www.sfballetblog.org/2013/07/yuan-yuan-in-beijing/#more-7007 Link to comment
pherank Posted July 27, 2013 Share Posted July 27, 2013 Yuan Yuan Tan - the Movie. Don't ask me what that means - perhaps it is only available in China.http://vimeo.com/15863868 Link to comment
Eshana Posted August 1, 2013 Share Posted August 1, 2013 Edwaard Liang's page on Vimeo has full-length performances of Ms. Tan and Damian Smith in "Distant Cries" (just performed in Stern Grove a few days ago), "Somewhere in Time" as well as Ms. Tan and Vito Mazzeo in "Symphonic Dances" (this entire ballet has been posted): http://vimeo.com/channels/478037/videos Ms. Tan is just utterly beautiful in these ballets (especially in "Somewhere in Time"; my goodness, look at that figure and those legs!), and Mr. Smith is equally as sensitive and committed. Ms. Tan remains the only 'name' ballerina that I've seen live in my ballet-starved country - she performed in a gala and did the 2nd Act GPDD from "Giselle" and, my word, she conveyed a sense of such lightness and fluidity that it seemed like a breeze could carry her off the stage at any moment. As a child I had seen her on the cover of Time magazine years ago and I remembered being struck by her beauty. I didn't know very much about ballet back then, but I now realize that she must have been quite esteemed to have been on the cover of Time. She doesn't seem to attract as much attention as some of the other big-name ballerinas on this board and elsewhere, and I've wondered why that is. Link to comment
Lynette H Posted August 1, 2013 Share Posted August 1, 2013 Yuan Yuan Tan appears in London at Sadlers Wells in November. "a new British-Chinese cultural collaboration exploring where classical meets contemporary dance, showcasing the extraordinary talents of Chinese prima ballerina Yuan Yuan Tan, principal dancer with San Francisco Ballet and Taiwanese virtuoso Fang-Yi Sheu. The evening includes three UK premieres choreographed by Taiwanese-born American Edwaard Liang, and Sadler’s Wells’ Associate Artists Russell Maliphant and Christopher Wheeldon". http://www.sadlerswells.com/show/Liang-Maliphant-Wheeldon Link to comment
PeggyR Posted August 1, 2013 Share Posted August 1, 2013 Yuan Yuan Tan appears in London at Sadlers Wells in November. "a new British-Chinese cultural collaboration exploring where classical meets contemporary dance, showcasing the extraordinary talents of Chinese prima ballerina Yuan Yuan Tan, principal dancer with San Francisco Ballet and Taiwanese virtuoso Fang-Yi Sheu. The evening includes three UK premieres choreographed by Taiwanese-born American Edwaard Liang ...". http://www.sadlerswells.com/show/Liang-Maliphant-Wheeldon According to the link, she'll be dancing the new Liang piece with Damian Smith (also an SFB principal). She and Smith have wonderful on-stage chemistry, so that should be interesting. I wonder if they will be performing 'After the Rain' as well. Link to comment
pherank Posted August 1, 2013 Share Posted August 1, 2013 Edwaard Liang's page on Vimeo has full-length performances of Ms. Tan and Damian Smith in "Distant Cries" (just performed in Stern Grove a few days ago), "Somewhere in Time" as well as Ms. Tan and Vito Mazzeo in "Symphonic Dances" (this entire ballet has been posted): http://vimeo.com/channels/478037/videos Ms. Tan is just utterly beautiful in these ballets (especially in "Somewhere in Time"; my goodness, look at that figure and those legs!), and Mr. Smith is equally as sensitive and committed. Ms. Tan remains the only 'name' ballerina that I've seen live in my ballet-starved country - she performed in a gala and did the 2nd Act GPDD from "Giselle" and, my word, she conveyed a sense of such lightness and fluidity that it seemed like a breeze could carry her off the stage at any moment. As a child I had seen her on the cover of Time magazine years ago and I remembered being struck by her beauty. I didn't know very much about ballet back then, but I now realize that she must have been quite esteemed to have been on the cover of Time. She doesn't seem to attract as much attention as some of the other big-name ballerinas on this board and elsewhere, and I've wondered why that is. Excellent video link, Eshana - thanks. It sounds like Royal Ballet NZ is going to be having Gillian Murphy guest (in place of Carla Korbes), so that would be worth seeing. I've been to NZ and love the place - I didn't actually mind feeling so distant from the rest of the world. ;) I will add that it is generally very difficult finding footage of SFB dancers online. I think these 'bootleg' videos are a big deal because we just don't have much that is 'official' in video form. And I don't recall Lorena Feijoo and Sofiane Sylve even being noticeable in SFB's Nutcracker and Little Mermaid DVDs, so we can't say that the company is well represented by the official DVD releases. The Chinese website tudou.com may still have some of these same "company" videos (I believe they are filmed by SFB for their own records). According to the link, she'll be dancing the new Liang piece with Damian Smith (also an SFB principal). She and Smith have wonderful on-stage chemistry, so that should be interesting. I wonder if they will be performing 'After the Rain' as well. Yuan Yuan Tan appears in London at Sadlers Wells in November. I had thought that Smith was retiring as of 2012, but he does continue to dance with Tan at 'special events'. It has to be a problem for Tan, since they've been such a great partner act. I'm sure Tomasson and Yuan Yuan have been searching about for someone with the right chemistry, and physical size, to partner her. Link to comment
Terez Posted August 31, 2013 Share Posted August 31, 2013 Yuan Yuan Tan - the Movie. Don't ask me what that means - perhaps it is only available in China. http://vimeo.com/15863868 Pherank, I am just scratching my head over this! How utterly strange, that footage clip. Definitely not created for an American viewing audience. Link to comment
pherank Posted September 11, 2013 Share Posted September 11, 2013 Looking lovely at the San Francisco Symphony Opening Night Gala: http://www.sfballetblog.org/2013/09/yuan-yuan-gala/ Rubbing shoulders with the rich and famous patrons at these galas seems to be a necessary part of the life of a principal dancer. Link to comment
kbarber Posted September 12, 2013 Share Posted September 12, 2013 Yuan Yuan Tan - the Movie. Don't ask me what that means - perhaps it is only available in China. http://vimeo.com/15863868 Pherank, I am just scratching my head over this! How utterly strange, that footage clip. Definitely not created for an American viewing audience. Could the music be any more bombastic? And as for "the only Asian female principal ballet dancer with a major international ballet company,", Miyako Yoshida (ex Royal Ballet) and Sue Jin Kang (Stuttgart Ballet) might have something to say about that! Link to comment
Jayne Posted September 12, 2013 Share Posted September 12, 2013 I'll add to your list of principals from national and major regional ballets (SFB is the latter): Hee Seo at American Ballet Theatre, Korean (born and raised in Japan) Frances Chung of San Francisco Ballet, Chinese-Canadian Xiao Nan Yu of National Ballet of Canada, Chinese Kaori Nakamura of Pacific Northwest Ballet, Japanese Misa Kuranaga of Boston Ballet, Japanese Erina Takahashi of English National Ballet, Japanese Yumiko Takeshima of SemperOper Ballett (Dresden), Japanese Shoko Nakamura, Berlin State Ballet, Japanese Link to comment
Helene Posted September 12, 2013 Share Posted September 12, 2013 Frances Chung and Alex Wong, formerly of Miami City Ballet, both trained at the Goh Ballet Academy in Vancouver, which was started by Chan Hon Goh's parents. I'm not sure what "a major international" company is supposed to mean, if the dancer spoken about is from San Francisco Ballet. A roster of international dancers? A company that's been on tour? More Asian female Principal Dancers: Aki Saito, who is Japanese, Royal Ballet of Flanders. Tzu-Chia Huang, from Taiwan, Ballet Arizona Link to comment
kbarber Posted September 12, 2013 Share Posted September 12, 2013 Nao Sakuma (Japanese), Birmingham Royal Ballet Link to comment
kbarber Posted September 12, 2013 Share Posted September 12, 2013 and of course, Chan Hon Goh was a principal with National Ballet of Canada. Also, Momoko Hirata (Japan) has been a principal at BRB since last year. Link to comment
sandik Posted September 12, 2013 Share Posted September 12, 2013 Oregon Ballet Theater has hired several Asian dancers over the last few years -- not sure who's there right now, with the change in artistic directorship. Link to comment
pherank Posted October 6, 2013 Share Posted October 6, 2013 The SF Ballet Blog mentions that Ms. Tan went to a book signing in China where she has released an autobiography of her life (so far) as a dancer, Ballet & I: http://www.sfballetblog.org/2013/10/yuan-yuan-tan-book/ Link to comment
pherank Posted October 31, 2013 Share Posted October 31, 2013 What's in Your Bag? Pointe Magazine examines the contents of Y Y's ballet bag: http://www.pointemagazine.com/issues/octobernovember-2011/show-and-tell-inside-yuan-yuan-tan%E2%80%99s-dance-bag Link to comment
pherank Posted November 6, 2013 Share Posted November 6, 2013 Yuan Yuan Tan is one of five "exceptional artists" being honored this year by Dance Magazine at The 56th Annual Dance Magazine Awards. Congratulations to Ms. Tan. ;) Here's a recent article in W magazine: Yuan Yuan Tan Loves Audrey Hepburn, Loathes ExaggerationThe ballerina shares a page from her personal stylebook. http://www.wmagazine.com/fashion/2013/10/yuan-yuan-tan-ballerina-style/ Link to comment
pherank Posted November 20, 2013 Share Posted November 20, 2013 An evening featuring Fang-Yi Sheu & Yuan Yuan Tan, Sadler’s Wells, reviewThe idea of building works around two contrasting female dancers didn't quite come off in a lovely rather than surprising performance, says Sarah Cromptonhttp://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/theatre/dance/10452209/An-evening-featuring-Fang-Yi-Sheu-and-Yuan-Yuan-Tan-Sadlers-Wells-review.html Link to comment
trieste Posted November 26, 2013 Share Posted November 26, 2013 Miteki Kudo and Alice Renavand at POB! But Yuan Yuan Tan is brilliant. Link to comment
pherank Posted April 29, 2014 Share Posted April 29, 2014 San Francisco's Asian Art Museum will be hosting a book signing with Yuan Yuan Tan (and admission is free that day) -Target First Free SundaySun, May 4, 10 am–5 pmFREE general admission sponsored by TargetIt's going to be a special Target First Free Sunday as May is Asian Pacific American Heritage Month…SF Ballet principal dancer Yuanyuan Tan will be signing copies of her new Chinese language book, Ballet and I--available in the store for $40. Before the signing, watch a video presentation followed by a brief Q&A (this program will be in English and Mandarin).http://www.imakenews.com/asianart/index000694290.cfm?x=bnpMBwb,b5F9nwmk Link to comment
pherank Posted May 18, 2014 Share Posted May 18, 2014 The Inquisition: Tan Yuanyuan, ballet dancer (South China Morning Post - Hong Kong)The principal dancer talks about her post-ballet ambitions and how she’s looking forward to doing normal thingshttp://www.scmp.com/magazines/48hrs/article/1511247/inquisition-tan-yuanyuan-ballet-dancer Link to comment
pherank Posted June 22, 2014 Share Posted June 22, 2014 While it is still available from Indiana's WFYI station - the Indianapolis City Ballet Gala - inlcudes interview and complete PDD dance footage of Yuan Yuan and Damien Smith. Definitely recommended for fans of Tan and Smith. http://www.wfyi.org/programs/a-perfect-balance/television/a-perfect-balance [The intro shows clips of all the gala dancers, but for the section on Tan and Smith, jump to 33:05] Link to comment
j1yuan Posted June 23, 2014 Share Posted June 23, 2014 This was the picture of Yuan Yuan that appeared in the SF Ballet program last year. This year, she has a more recent photo in the program which does make her look much more mature. Rachel http://www.sfballet.org/about/company/principal_dancers.html#tan The web site has changed a bit. Now, the link for this page is --> http://www.sfballet.org/company/dancers/principals/Yuan_Yuan_Tan Link to comment
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