7 replies to this topic

[dirac]

The company heads to OC later this year for the first time in awhile (cross-posted in the Links).

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The San Francisco Ballet's Sept. 27 and 28 program will be a mixed repertoire. It will feature "RAkU", "Trio" and George Balanchine's "Symphony in C."

[ksk04]

Chroma has been disappointingly replaced with Trio on the triple for unknown reasons. I mean, I don't know if Trio is disappointing or not, I guess, but considering the attendance problems at SCFTA recently you'd think they'd want to keep Chroma in and play up the White Stripes connection. Oh well!

[ksk04]

The program notes are online at SCFTA but no casting.

For those familiar with the company, who are the Juliets and Romeos to try to see (should casting get posted in a reasonable manner)? I imagine Kochetkova is a favorite...do Sylve or Feijoo take Juliet? I can only attend Tuesday night of the rep (though I'd love to have the opportunity to see Symph in C both nights) and am crossing my fingers I get to see both of them at some point during that evening if they do not do Juliet.  All of the promo materials for R&J seem to have Kochetkova or Von Patten in the pictures, so I assume they are usually first or second cast?

[PeggyR]

ksk04, on 18 September 2011 - 11:28 AM, said:

The program notes are online at SCFTA but no casting.

For those familiar with the company, who are the Juliets and Romeos to try to see (should casting get posted in a reasonable manner)? I imagine Kochetkova is a favorite...do Sylve or Feijoo take Juliet? I can only attend Tuesday night of the rep (though I'd love to have the opportunity to see Symph in C both nights) and am crossing my fingers I get to see both of them at some point during that evening if they do not do Juliet.  All of the promo materials for R&J seem to have Kochetkova or Von Patten in the pictures, so I assume they are usually first or second cast?

My 2 cents:

I've only seen Van Patten/Villanoba in R&J; she's a marvelous actress and made Juliet very individual -- watch her eyes, she really knows how to use them.  Although I wasn't able to see Kochetkova's performance (I think her Romeo was Boada, who'd probably be very good -- he's got the youthful boyishness), by all accounts she too was wonderful, plus she actually looks 14.  I don't remember if either Feijoo or Sylve were cast last time around (and frankly, I can't picture Sylve as Juliet).

Re Symphony in C, although I didn't much care for the rest of the ballet, the second movement is beautiful, and if you're very, very lucky, the stars are aligned, and all's right with the world, you'll see Sylve in that:  she is, quite simply, sublime.

Trio isn't much of a substitute for Chroma, which I thought was kind of a mess, but at least a sporadically fun mess.  Trio is pretty (love the costumes), but once you've seen it...well, you've seen it.  It's nice enough and shows off the company's speed, but that's about it.

You might see Feijoo (though more likely Tan, who originated the role) in RAkU, which I liked mostly for the stunning visual elements, although I didn't think the choreography sustained that interest.

As to when you'll see casting, during the season here casts are posted on line one week in advance, so maybe the same practice will be followed for this engagement.  Frustrating, isn't it?

Can't wait to hear your (and others') comments during the run.  Enjoy!

[ksk04]

Peggy--thanks for the insight. Luckily stars align and Sylve will do the 2nd movement on opening night.  

Here is the casting from the SFB website:

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TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 27—7:30 PM—OPENING NIGHT


TRIO
Conductor  Martin West
Choreographer Helgi Tomasson

Vanessa Zahorian, Joan Boada
Sarah Van Patten, Tiit Helimets, Vito Mazzeo
Maria Kochetkova, Gennadi Nedvigin

INTERMISSION

RAkU
Conductor  Martin West
Choreographer Yuri Possokhov

Yuan Yuan Tan, Damian Smith, Vitor Luiz

INTERMISSION

SYMPHONY IN C
Conductor  Martin West
Choreographer George Balanchine

Lorena Feijoo, Davit Karapetyan
Sofiane Sylve, Vito Mazzeo*
Frances Chung, Isaac Hernandez
Nicole Ciapponi, Lonnie Weeks

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 28—7:30 PM
TRIO
Conductor  Martin West
Choreographer Helgi Tomasson

Vanessa Zahorian, Jaime Garcia Castilla
Sarah Van Patten, Tiit Helimets, Vito Mazzeo
Frances Chung, Taras Domitro

INTERMISSION

RAkU
Conductor  Martin West
Choreographer Yuri Possokhov

Yuan Yuan Tan, Damian Smith, Vitor Luiz

INTERMISSION

SYMPHONY IN C
Conductor  Martin West
Choreographer George Balanchine

Lorena Feijoo, Davit Karapetyan
Sofiane Sylve, Vito Mazzeo
Courtney Elizabeth, Gennadi Nedvigin
Elizabeth Miner, Hansuke Yamamoto

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 30—7:30 PM–OPENING NIGHT
ROMEO & JULIET

Conductor  Martin West
Choreographer Helgi Tomasson

Maria Kochetkova, Joan Boada

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 1—2:00 PM
ROMEO & JULIET
Conductor  Martin West
Choreographer Helgi Tomasson

Sarah Van Patten, Pierre-François Vilanoba

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 1—8:00 PM
ROMEO & JULIET
Conductor  Martin West
Choreographer Helgi Tomasson

Vanessa Zahorian, Davit Karapetyan

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 2—2:00 PM
ROMEO & JULIET
Conductor  Martin West
Choreographer Helgi Tomasson

Maria Kochetkova, Joan Boada

[Helene]

Oh, great casting for Orange County!  

The green-eyed monster is plaguing me now...

[Paul Parish]

van Patten as Juliet...

She raises the ballet to a sublime height.

[ksk04]

Some brief thoughts about opening night:

Trio - There are some nice parts, but the first and last movements have, seemingly, no relationship to the second movement. The first movement was fast-paced but dragged on too long, and despite seeing differences in the choreography between the 1st and last movements, it felt very repetitive overall.  Zahorian and Kochetkova were technically flawless and made everything look easy, but they seemed to be giving it the hard sell and lacked the softness (especially in the upper body) that made Van Patten's section moving, despite consisting of choreography that was nothing special. I'm very pleased with my decision to see Van Patten as Juliet.  

RakU - I liked the choreography for the 4 soldiers at the beginning especially, and, really, anytime they were onstage. The music is beautiful throughout. While Tan was certainly giving it her all onstage, it didn't do much for me as a ballet piece (audience felt markedly different--she got a giant ovation).  Several elements of the choreography reminded me of The Little Mermaid (one wonders how much time Posskhov spent in those rehearsal rooms)--the Black Monk recalls the Sea Demon, the rape (?) against the white box, etc.    

Symphony in C - All hail Sofiane Sylve.  What a great, real ballerina--so much so that the other dancers seemed to disappear in the finale (a hard feat to accomplish on a stage packed to the brim). I don't know whether Sylve and Mazzeo are often partnered together, but she looks like she would be more comfortable with someone who has more bulk (he practically disappeared behind her--and not in the good, cavalier way).  It was so nice to see a dancer who has resistance in their muscles--she never casually flung her leg up in the air as is often the case--everything was perfectly stretched, giving the movements weight and breadth.  Frances Chung was lively in the 3rd movement and she has an impressively light jump, but she seems to dance under herself, rather than moving outward (something that seems crucial in the 3rd movement with the choreography covering every part of the stage).

Does SFB dances a slightly different version of Symph in C than elsewhere? There were a few moments were I felt like I missing steps or things were executed in a different manner than I'm used to (from my limited experience). Has anyone else felt this way or have an explanation? One such section was in the 3rd movement when the couple moves along the diagonal and the ballerina is lifted into the splits en l'air; I thought she balanced in passe for a few precarious moments, with the cavalier moving in at the last moment to then lift her up.  Chung did not do this (the passe), and I don't know whether it's an emendation that I've gotten used to or just another way to set the piece.  

All in all a fun evening; the house was more filled than it has been for most of the dance events last season, so that's good new.  Onto R&J!