Anyone know who danced the Robbins "Faun" premiere for this

[Victor5678]

I have tried both the Suzanne Farrell Ballet AND the Kennedy Center. Both have provided me with information from the performances in 2001.

But the Jerome Robbins "Afternoon of a Faun" received it's first performance from the Suzanne Farrell Ballet on October 21, 1999 (at the Kennedy Center). There doesn't seem to be anyone who knows who danced it, and who staged it. Anyone know? Thanks!

[Leigh Witchel]

I saw the '99 season in NYC rather than DC - about one month later. I believe in NYC the casts were Christina Fagundes or Veronica Lynn and Ben Huys and Philip Neal (not sure if he did it. I saw Huys and Lynn)

I'd be surprised if anyone other than Farrell set Faun on her company.

[Mme. Hermine]

Alexandra Tomalonis wrote a review of that program for the Washington Post that appeared on October 22, 1999. It is available from the archives for a fee. Here is that portion which is given as a preview at www.washingtonpost.com:

Watching a Suzanne Farrell staging of a ballet is like looking at a painting that's been expertly cleaned, framed and imaginatively lit. Her direction not only shows the ballet clearly, unobscured by embellishments or sloppiness, but often gently exposes details and nuances that have disappeared elsewhere.

The program she directed last night at the Kennedy Center Terrace Theater--"Suzanne Farrell Stages the Masters of 20th Century Ballet"- -is the third the former New York City Ballet ballerina has presented in Washington. While on previous occasions she worked with the Washington Ballet, this time Farrell is on her own, and has collected a group of dancers from a variety of backgrounds (only two have danced with the New York City Ballet) and turned them into a company in exactly three weeks. There were some technical glitches and opening night tentativeness, but on the whole it was a superb evening and the opening "Divertimento No. 15" was as good as it gets.

Some of the information you need might be there, I guess?

[kfw]

Alexandra's review for Danceview is available here.

"Afternoon of a Faun," Robbins's ballet about two young dancers who experiment with steps and budding passions in a dance studio but are more interested in their own reflections in the mirror, was danced very poignantly, and very well, by Lynn and Huys.

I'm almost positive I saw Neal and Fagundes dance this as well. That would also seem to be the case from George Jackson's review in Dance Magazine.

[Dale]

According to newspaper reports, Veronika Lynn and Ben Huys danced the first performance for Farrell's showcase, "Suzanne Farrell Stages the Masters of 20th Century Ballet" in 1999. Natalia Magnicaballi and Runqiao Du seem to have been the first performers for the Suzanne Farrell Ballet in September 27, 2001.

[Victor5678]

Thanks for the tips. Always appreciate everyone's expertise (and memory).