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Yuan Yuan Tan


Arak

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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.

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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

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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.

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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.

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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!

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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

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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

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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 Sunday
Sun, May 4, 10 am–5 pm
FREE general admission sponsored by Target

It'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

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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]

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