SF Ballet 2016: Onegin

[sf_herminator]

Casting has been posted for the first two performances of Onegin, opening on Sat 4/30:

https://www.sfballet.org/tickets/casting

Merde to all the dancers in this final program of the season.

Also of note: As part of Bay Area Dance Week, Company Class is open to the public on Sunday 5/1. You can sign up to attend here: http://bayareandw.org/event-details/?e_id=190

I always mourn the end of the season as it always seems to be a long wait until we see them on the stage again. Luckily, the company will be in LA in October as part of the Forsythe festival. Plus awaiting the announcement of the Stern Grove Season and hopefully SFB will be there at the end of July.

[sandik]

I always mourn the end of the season as it always seems to be a long wait until we see them on the stage again. Luckily, the company will be in LA in October as part of the Forsythe festival. Plus awaiting the announcement of the Stern Grove Season and hopefully SFB will be there at the end of July.

I was talking with a colleague the other day about the differences in scheduling between SFB and PNB -- you do around the same number of performances for each program, but you do two more programs each season in half the time we do. It always seems ultra-intense.

[sf_herminator]

Casting now up for the first three performances of Onegin (six more to go....). It's really exciting to see some corps dancers getting the chance to dance Olga and Lensky. Merde to everyone!!!

Onegin - Saturday, April 30, 2016 - 8pm—Opening Night

Composer: Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Choreographer: John Cranko
Conductor: Martin West

Onegin: Vitor Luiz
Tatiana: Maria Kochetkova
Lensky: Gennadi Nedvigin
Olga: Lauren Strongin^⁺
Gremin: Joan Boada^

Onegin - Sunday, May 01, 2016 - 2pm

Composer: Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Choreographer: John Cranko
Conductor: Martin West

Onegin: Luke Ingham
Tatiana: Yuan Yuan Tan
Lensky: Joseph Walsh
Olga: Jahna Frantziskonis^⁺
Gremin: Tiit Helimets

Onegin - Tuesday, May 03, 2016 - 7:30pm

Composer: Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Choreographer: John Cranko
Conductor: Martin West

Onegin: Vitor Luiz
Tatiana: Maria Kochetkova
Lensky: Lonnie Weeks^
Olga: Norika Matsuyama^⁺
Gremin: Joan Boada

In the event of injury or illness, casting is subject to change.

^Premiere in role
+Premiere in SF Ballet production

https://www.sfballet.org/tickets/casting

[PeggyTulle]

Interesting casting. I thought Joan was done with the season? Interesting that he is now slated as cast for Gremin...

[sf_herminator]

Casting for the entire run of Onegin now posted: https://www.sfballet.org/tickets/casting

Some exciting debuts (in addition to Lauren Strongin, Jahna Frantziskonis and Norika Matsuyama as Olga, Lonnie Quinn as Lensky, and Joan Boada as Gremin):

• Carlo DiLanno/Mathilde Froustey as Onegin/Tatiana
• Benjamin Fremantle as Lensky
• Sasha De Sola as Olga

Also of note: Gennadi will dance his final performance with SFB as Lensky during the final performance of the season on Sunday 5/8.

In the event of injury or illness, casting is subject to change.

^Premiere in role
+Premiere in SF Ballet production

Onegin - Wednesday, May 04, 2016 - 7:30pm

Composer: Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Choreographer: John Cranko
Conductor: Martin West

Onegin: Luke Ingham
Tatiana: Yuan Yuan Tan
Lensky: Joseph Walsh
Olga: Jahna Frantziskonis
Gremin: Tiit Helimets

Onegin - Thursday, May 05, 2016 - 7:30pm

Composer: Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Choreographer: John Cranko
Conductor: Ming Luke

Onegin: Carlo Di Lanno^
Tatiana: Mathilde Froustey^
Lensky: Benjamin Freemantle^⁺
Olga: Dores André
Gremin: Rubén Martín Cintas

Onegin - Friday, May 06, 2016 - 8:00pm

Composer: Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Choreographer: John Cranko
Conductor: Martin West

Onegin: Davit Karapetyan
Tatiana: Vanessa Zahorian
Lensky: Myles Thatcher
Olga: Sasha De Sola^
Gremin: Rubén Martín Cintas

Onegin - Saturday, May 07, 2016 - 2:00pm

Composer: Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Choreographer: John Cranko
Conductor: Martin West

Onegin: Carlo Di Lanno
Tatiana: Mathilde Froustey
Lensky: Benjamin Freemantle
Olga: Dores André
Gremin: Tiit Helimets

Onegin - Saturday, May 07, 2016 - 8:00pm

Composer: Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Choreographer: John Cranko
Conductor: Ming Luke

Onegin: Davit Karapetyan
Tatiana: Vanessa Zahorian
Lensky: Myles Thatcher
Olga: Sasha De Sola
Gremin: Rubén Martín Cintas

Onegin - Sunday, May 08, 2016 - 2:00pm

Composer: Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Choreographer: John Cranko
Conductor: Martin West

Onegin: Carlo Di Lanno
Tatiana: Mathilde Froustey
Lensky: Gennadi Nedvigin
Olga: Lauren Strongin
Gremin: Rubén Martín Cintas

[Josette]

I am happy that I will get to see Gennadi Nedvigin as Lensky in the final show.

[JumpFrog]

Excellent casts I really want to see them all. And I second how nice it is to see both the more experienced performers cast alongside those younger or less experienced ones. Always makes a good show.

[PeggyTulle]

Anyone get a chance to see the first two casts?

[Terez]

Yes, I saw opening night. Absolutely lovely. What a great cast. I, too, would love to see more of the casts, and I've really been enjoying the corps dancers getting solo time, all season long. Can't wait to see who gets promoted - there are four or five strong candidates, both on the men's side and the women's. I imagine they'll be bringing in new talent from outside. (Elizabeth Mateer, from the Pennsylvania Ballet, is joining the SFB corps, confirmed in an article announcing a big roster cut over there, for starters.) I would particularly have enjoyed watching Lonnie Weeks as Lensky and Norika Matsuyama as Olga. She, in particular, seems well suited to the role. Lauren Strongin, on Sat pm, did a rock solid job, however. They all did. Watching Gennadi's Lensky, particularly his solo just before the duel, was so poignant. Wow, he's ending the season, and his performing career with the SFB on SUCH a strong note. He will be missed by many.

[sf_herminator]

Anyone get a chance to see the first two casts?

Yes, I went on Sunday for Luke/YY and tonight (Tues) for Vitor/Maria.

First off, I have to say the ballet has grown on me. I remember seeing it back in 2011 and 2012 when SFB first performed it and thought it was just OK. Seeing it again this year both casts have been wonderful. Luke and Vitor were wonderful partners to YY and Maria, especially in the Act 1 & Act 3 PDD. I am also happy to report that both Lensky/Olga casts (Joseph Walsh and Jahna Frantziskonis on Sunday, Lonnie Weeks and Norika Matsuyama on Tues) were also excellent. With tonight's performance, Joan Boada as Prince Gremin closed his career with SFB in fine form.

I will be seeing Onegin again on Thursday (Carlo, Mathilde, and Ben debuting as Onegin, Tatiana, and Lensky), Friday (Sasha's debut as Olga) and Sunday (Gennadi's final performance).

[Sal]

I saw Saturday night's performance. Vanessa Zahorian and Davit Karapetyan were fantastic together. I have never seen Vanessa dance with so much emotion and she and Davit were completely up to the task of the very difficult partnering in the dream sequence and especially the final scene of the ballet. They were able to dance with a level of abandon that made the final pas de deux absolutely thrilling. The audience went wild for them at the end.

Sasha De Sola and Myles Thatcher were also wonderful -- both really terrific actors and extremely expressive.

A great night at the ballet.

[Josette]

I agree with everything Sal wrote. I, too, saw the Saturday night performance with Vanessa Zahorian as Tatiana, Davit Karapetyan as Onegin, Sasha De Sola as Olga, Myles Thatcher as Lensky, and Ruben Martin Cintos as Prince Gremin. All the principals danced with grace and unbroken heartfelt emotion. The opening dance sequence with De Sola and Thatcher radiated with love. Karapetyan and Vanessa Zahorian's portrayals had great depth and were beautifully danced. Zahorian's ability to turn with incredible speed and then stop on a dime made the pas de deux particularly exciting and gave an emotional force. The performances were flawless and real.

I attended the Saturday and Sunday matinee performances as well, with Carlo Di Lanno and Mathilde Froustey. I feel that Carlo Di Lanno did an admirable performance that was extremely well danced and thought out, but he presently lacks the depth that a more experienced artist can give Onegin. Di Lanno made all the right gestures and made appropriate faces, but his Onegin was cruel, boorish, and callous -- beyond arrogant - and I think that this is a matter of his not yet having the "life experience" to bring to the role that so many of the dancers who have danced Onegin talk about. It is hard to understand why anyone would be so blind so not to see this Onegin's cruel character. Not a hint of Di Lanno's natural charm that we see in other ballets surfaced in the role, so it was a bit of a one-note performance. I did not care for Mathilde Froustey in the role of Tatiana, thought her miscast and did not think she dances Cranko choreography with any distinction or understanding. The Saturday matinee had Tiit Helimets as Prince Gremin, who gave a subtle but charismatic performance, and he was handsome.

The Sunday matinee was Gennadi Nedvigin's final performance and he was superb. His Olga was the beautiful Lauren Strongin, who I feel would have been an effective Tatiana given her range of expression and beautiful footwork in the Cranko choreography. But it was Nedvigin's show all the way from his entrance to the curtain calls. It was a very emotional ending to the season in San Francisco.