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SFB 2016 Season Announcement - almost


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Just a teaser, unfortunately.

April 10, 2015

Dear SF Ballet Subscriber:

We are working out the final details for our 2016 Repertory Season and I think you’re going to love the results. Next season will feature one of best-loved story ballets of all time, an enchanting full-length for the entire family, an American premiere of a work by a living legend that has only ever been performed by the Paris Opera Ballet, and a new work by a young superstar—his first for SF Ballet. .

Don’t miss your chance to hold onto your seats for what promises to be one of our richest and most rewarding seasons yet. So, stay tuned—your invitation to renew your subscription will arrive in your inboxes and mailboxes later this month.

I’m hoping for Sleeping Beauty for the story ballet. I like full-lengths, but we’ve had an endless round of Giselle, Don Q and R&J lately. Time for a change.

Curious to know about the “…work by a living legend that has only ever been performed by the Paris Opera Ballet…” Any guesses?

And what about the ‘young superstar’? Justin Peck, maybe?

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The story ballet is definitely Swan Lake. It's pretty obvious if one has been paying attention to little slips here and there by those in the know.

It's no wonder Tiit Helimets and Yuan Yuan Tan recently had a trial run with the Festival Ballet Theatre - I won't be surprised if they repeat their assignments next season just as they were paired together in SFB's all-new Swan Lake in 2006.

I'm very curious about the Paris Opera Ballet work as well.

And a bit OT, but in regards to Mathilde Froustey ever returning to POB, why would she when she's essaying Giselle, Kitri, Juliet and Odette/Odile at SFB (in just 2-3 seasons with the company), all roles that she'd never procure at POB even if she spent another 50 years there?!

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Mathilde Froustey has danced Kitri to great acclaim at Paris Opera Ballet, as well as Lise in Ashton's La Fille Mal Gardee. I hope Mlle Froustey stays in San Francisco.

I'm with PeggyR and would love the story ballet to be The Sleeping Beauty. The only living legend I can think of right now is John Neumeier. I was wondering why we hadn't heard anything yet as to next season, because the past two years they announced it on April 1st. I wish they'd perform Balanchine's Coppelia again. Thanks for the tantalizing update, PeggyR.

As for POB, one of Froustey's contemporaries, Laura Hecquet, was named etoile a few weeks ago, and four dancers, including Mlle Hecquet, danced Odette/Odile for the first time in March-April, so that company has dancers moving up the ranks and is not in want of talented dancers.

I am anxiously awaiting to hear about next season.

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The story ballet is definitely Swan Lake. It's pretty obvious if one has been paying attention to little slips here and there by those in the know.

I wish they'd perform Balanchine's Coppelia again.

Swan Lake is certainly due for a return, but I can't see that as the "...enchanting full-length for the entire family,...". That sounds more like Sleeping Beauty or Coppelia, or maybe even the Wheeldon Cinderella. I could live without Cinderella, but agree with Josette: I'd love to see Coppelia again.

Since we now seem to be getting three full lengths every season, how about SL, SB and Coppelia for 2016? And if they are going to keep up the trend toward more full lengths in the future (I sincerely hope they stop at three per season), I wish they would bring in more variety. Didn't they do Mark Morris' Sylvia some years ago? Could they rent productions of Raymonda, or Esmeralda, or Bayadere from somebody?

I agree and really hope Froustey stays (thank you Spell Check for trying, but her name is NOT Frosty!). With Tan and Feijoo both at least 40, they are going to need more female principals (currently 8 females and 10 males after Molat retires at the end of this season, although Jaime Garcia Castilla almost never performs).

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Forsythe will be teaching in southern California for part of the year, and I can't imagine that North American companies won't be lining up to take advantage of that.

I also never underestimate the ability of a marketing department to characterize "Swan Lake" as "enchanting" or "family fare."

"Sylvia" is a beautiful work, but I don't think it was re-staged more than once, and not for a while. PNB is scheduled to perform the SFB/PNB co-production of "Coppelia" in April 2016.

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Yeah, I was thinking Swan Lake would be "one of the best-loved story ballets of all time" and not the "enchanting full-length for the entire family", although I don't see why SL couldn't be described that way also. I've no idea what the other full-length might be.

Tan was born in 1977 on Valentine's Day, so she's 38. Feijoo is at least in her early to mid-forties. But yeah, SFB is looking a little short on the leading female side; promotions and new recruitments are probably due.

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The POB Neumeier ballet could be Mahler Third Symphony or Song of the Earth (just premeired), and there's Dame aux Camelias. Or, less likely, it could be Ratmansky's Lost Illusions, but Ratmansky isn't really a living legend. Coppelia sounds more "best-loved" than Sleeping Beauty and it might be hard to cast all the character roles & divertissements in SB – though I think they did do a version a few years ago.

Thanks for posting the teaser.

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I wish that "an American premiere of a work by a living legend that has only ever been performed by the Paris Opera Ballet" would be Yuri Grigorovich's "Ivan the Terrible". Neumeier's "La Dame uax Camelias" was performed by the Bolshoi and is currently on the porgramm at the Dutch National Ballet.

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Case in point: we're here at PNB's "Swan Lake," and next to the ticket booths is a coloring station. From the looks of the crayons, it was well used by many of the children we've seen in the lobbies, and the young girl in the row ahead of me has her stuffed swans on her lap -- one black and one white.

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When I received the email, I too thought of Sleeping Beauty, and Swan Lake, (which I would not go out of my way to see again, but that's just me). But I like the idea of SFB bringing back the Danilova/Balanchine Coppelia - I enjoyed it very much last time it was performed in SF. Both PNB and SFB were perfroming Forsythe this past season - it doesn't seem to be a big deal that they sometimes perfrom the same works in a given season. (I don't think Tomasson or Boal is worrying about it too much.) Since Neumeir and SFB have a connection, Dame aux Camelias is a possibilty for the POB-related ballet.

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Didn't know that the entirety of Neumeier's Dame aux Camellias had only ever been performed by the POB and never in America...I'm guessing that this could be it. No good reason, really, other than the fact that one of the leading dancers has this ballet on her bucket list alongside MacMillan's Manon.

The popular 'black dress' excerpt is a perennial gala staple as well, and has been performed by SFB in that capacity.

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"American premiere of a work by a living legend that has only ever been performed by the Paris Opera Ballet" cannot be La Dame aux Camelias, which has been performed by ABT (not to mention Stuttgart, Bavaria, Dutch National, Royal Danish, of course Hamburg, and a few others I can't be bothered to check right now)

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Did someone mention an opportunity for giddy extrapolation? I'm in.

  • Ratmansky's Psyché -- I don't think this was a hit at POB, but given the success of the Shostakovich Trilogy and the great press over a recent Sleeping Beauty just to the south...
  • Mats Ek's Appartement -- Unlikely, but fun to imagine.
  • Lacotte's version of Paquita -- Suitable for several of his dancers and see, again, the good press over another historical reconstruction just to the south.

Otherwise, the only folks who I think might be called "living legends" are Neumeier, Kylián, and Hans van Manen. (I'm assuming Morris and Taylor are out as they co-opt all of their choreography for their own companies too.)

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I'll play!

How about Marie-Agnes Gillot's Sous apparence? Millepied said on Instagram that she has the best legs in the business, which would make her a living legend. And only the POB has performed Sous apparence. Case closed!

Yes, I'm being a wiseguy. wink1.gif

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I was all excited at chorilamb's brining up Mats Ek's L'Appartement, as I'll buy that Ek is a living legend as much as Neumeier and Forsythe. I was fortunate to be at the POB's premiere of L'Appartement, saw it three times, and found it astonishing, unforgettable, with riveting commitment from the dancers, both casts that I saw. The DVD does not project the power of the live performance (I know, this is always the case). It would be a good work for SFB. However, after a Google search, I discovered that the Bolshoi danced it in 2014. So the guessing game goes on while we wait.

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I'll play!

How about Marie-Agnes Gillot's Sous apparence? Millepied said on Instagram that she has the best legs in the business, which would make her a living legend. And only the POB has performed Sous apparence. Case closed!

Yes, I'm being a wiseguy. wink1.gif

...and there's this ballet called Caligula(!) ;)

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As wonderful a performer as LeRiche has been, I don't really think of him as a "living legend"

"an American premiere of a work by a living legend that has only ever been performed by the Paris Opera Ballet."

I agree that Neumeier, Kylián, and van Manen probably qualify in the legend department -- what have they made that has been the exclusive property of the POB so far?

Do you suppose that Lacotte would qualify as a living legend?

And tangentially, how much Neumeier gets performed in the US? I rummaged around on the Hamburg Ballet website and couldn't find too many works, but that may not be a comprehensive list.

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