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SFB: 2015 Opening Night Gala


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San Francisco Ballet Opening Night Gala, “Infinite Romance”.

This is my first Gala: I’ve actually broken out the high heels for the occasion.

I love that they are doing a DÉFILÉ; has they done that before at the Gala?

Especially looking forward to Concerto Grosso, with five very talented men of the corps de ballet. Keep a particular eye out for Francisco Mungamba with his megawatt stage presence. Plus: a Wheeldon world premiere, a Ratmansky US premiere, and a Possokhov SFB premiere.

Is there a better transaction of SOUVENIR D’UN LIEU CHER? Bing translates ‘Souvenir d’un lieu cher’ as ‘Souvenir d’un lieu cher’, which isn’t very helpful. Google translates it as ‘remembrance of expensive place’, not inappropriate to San Francisco, but is that accurate? Any chance it might mean 'San Francisco is getting less expensive and normal people can now afford to live there'? No, I didn't think so. (sigh)

Opening Night Gala - Thursday, January 22, 2015 - 8pm

DÉFILÉ

Composer: Johan Svendsen

Choreography: Helgi Tomasson

Conductor: Martin West

Casting: Full Company, School Students & Trainees

Excerpt from ALLES WALZER

Composer: Johann Strauss II

Choreography: Renato Zanella

Conductor: Martin West

Casting: Joan Boada, Pascal Molat

Act II pas de deux from A CINDERELLA STORY

SF Ballet Premiere

Based on a Themes by: Richard Rodgers

Music Arrangements and Orchestration: Ron Paley

Choreography: Val Caniparoli

Conductor: Martin West

Piano: Ming Luke

Casting: Lorena Feijoo*, Vitor Luiz*

Pas de deux from ON A THEME OF PAGANINI

Composer: Sergei Rachmaninov

Choreography: Helgi Tomasson

Conductor: Martin West

Piano: Roy Bogas

Casting: Yuan Yuan Tan, Tiit Helimets

Pas de deux from THERE WHERE SHE LOVED©

Composer: Kurt Weill

Choreography: Christopher Wheeldon

Mezzo-soprano: Erin Neff

Piano: Natal’ya Feygina

Casting: Sofiane Sylve*, Luke Ingham*

THE VERTIGINOUS THRILL OF EXACTITUDE

Composer: Franz Shubert

Choreography: William Forsythe

Casting: Francisco Mungamba*, Gennadi Nedvigin, Dores André*, Jennifer Stahl, Sasha De Sola*

INTERMISSION

CONCERTO GROSSO

Composer: Francesco Geminiani after Corelli

Choreography: Helgi Tomasson

Conductor: Martin West

Violin I: Matthieu Arama

Violin II: Marianne Wagner

Cello: Eric Sung

Casting: Esteban Hernandez*, Francisco Mungamba*, Wei Wang*, Diego Cruz, Max Cauthorn*

BOREALIS©

World Premiere

Composer: Gavin Bryars

Choreography: Christopher Wheeldon

Cello: Eric Sung

Piano: Natal’ya Feygina

Casting: Frances Chung* and Joseph Walsh*

SOUVENIR D’UN LIEU CHER

U.S. Premiere

Composer: Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky

Choreography: Alexei Ratmansky

Conductor: Martin West

Violin: Matthieu Arama

Casting: Mathilde Froustey*, Carlo Di Lanno*, Sarah Van Patten*, Luke Ingham*

Pas de deux from BELLS

SF Ballet Premiere

Composer: Sergei Rachmaninov

Choreography: Yuri Possokhov

Piano: Mungunchimeg Buriad

Casting: Maria Kochetkova*, Davit Karapetyan*

Act III pas de deux from ONEGIN

Composer: Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky

Choreography: John Cranko

Conductor: Martin West

Arrangement and Orchestration: Kurt-Heinz Stolze

Casting: Yuan Yuan Tan, Vitor Luiz

LE CORSAIRE Pas de Deux

Composer: Riccardo Drigo

Choreography: after Marius Petipa

Conductor: Martin West

Casting: Vanessa Zahorian, Taras Domitro

* Indicates premiere in ballet

Program and casting subject to change

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I look forward to the Ratmansky "Souvenir" which was done for the Dutch National Ballet in 2012 – a set of variations for two couples. Also seeing Carlo di Lanno who just joined the company from La Scala.

But it's hard to get a feeling for the overall effect – with two Wheeldons, three Tomassons, a new Poskohov and a new Caniparoli, a Forsythe and Corsaire – and how the pieces will get along with each other. Galas are like old pressed-flower scrapbooks, fat and lumpy with gross and delicate specimens following each other, and the page edges never matching.

Rehearsal of Concerto Grosso here at 10:05:

https://video.search.yahoo.com/video/play;_ylt=AwrTcdPJOb9UqsgAGD4lnIlQ;_ylu=X3oDMTB0MzkwOG5yBHNlYwNzYwRjb2xvA2dxMQR2dGlkA1lIUzAwNF8x?p=sf+ballet+video+world+ballet+day&tnr=21&vid=9FEA30DFC3A84A1F309B9FEA30DFC3A84A1F309B&l=944&turl=http%3A%2F%2Fts2.mm.bing.net%2Fth%3Fid%3DUN.607994935194945257%26pid%3D15.1&rurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DtST3-ivV_Ro&sigr=11bu2v6e0&tt=b&tit=SF+Ballet+World+Ballet+Day+2014+Highlights&sigt=11afgltp8&back=https%3A%2F%2Fsearch.yahoo.com%2Fyhs%2Fsearch%3Fp%3Dsf%2Bballet%2Bvideo%2Bworld%2Bballet%2Bday%26ei%3DUTF-8%26hsimp%3Dyhs-001%26hspart%3Dmozilla&sigb=13cg5ks3t&hspart=mozilla&hsimp=yhs-001

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Some quick thoughts on last night’s Gala (I'm supposed to be working so no time to proof):

  • Opened with the Star Spangled Banner, immediately followed by a lot of ‘woo-hoos’ and whooping; not quite what I expected from an audience dressed in evening gowns and tuxedos. I expected somebody to throw out the first pitch from the balcony.
  • The Defile was fun; is there anything cuter than tiny little girls in pink leotards, or tiny little boys trying to look dignified?
  • Mixed bag of choreography, ranging from the bland but much enhanced by the performers (Tomasson’s pdd from On a Theme of Paganini with Tan/Helimets) to the embarrassingly unworthy of the performers (Caniparoli’s pdd from A Cinderella Story with Feijoo and Luiz).
  • Highlights for me: The cheerful Vertiginous Thrill of Exactitude, which I hadn’t seen before, and Wheeldon’s world premiere, Borealis.
  • I thought Borealis was going to be one of those throwaway Gala pieces, never again to see the light of day. I hope that’s not the fate for this interesting work. I haven’t seen a lot of Wheeldon, but this seemed to follow some of Wheeldon’s themes (dancers spending a lot of time on the floor; dancers staring out at something the audience can’t see), but I liked this a lot, and the performances by Frances Chung – by turns lyrical and acrobatic – and Joseph Walsh were marvelous. Unfortunately the audience didn’t seem to share my enthusiasm (no woo-hoos), but I hope this comes back during a regular season for a second look.
  • A word to the wise: keep an eye out for Francisco Mungamba, still in the corps de ballet. Long arms and legs, a pure, very beautiful classical line, impeccably finished turns, and the best ballon I’ve seen in years – he truly floats off the ground – plus stage presence to burn. In Vertiginous he more than held his own dancing as one of the two male leads with Gennadi Nedvigin. If Mungamba can partner (I saw no signs of problems last night), and if he can act at all, this is a danseur in the making.
  • I thought the third act pdd from Onegin (the one where she banishes him forever) was an odd choice for a Gala but Tan and Luiz danced it beautifully. Still, a bit of a downer.
  • Finally, a good, old fashioned showpiece: Le Corsaire pdd with a very musical Tara Domitro and Vanessa Zahorian, who apparently can fouette forever; I lost count somewhere around 415. It was nice to see a proper tutu after all the modern-ish costumes.

Did anybody else attend?

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Thanks, PeggyR! I've also noticed Francisco Mungamba, who has the carriage of a prince and a clean, beautiful technique. Hope he's in the cast I see of The Vertiginous Thrill of Exactitude. I'm happy to hear that Vanessa Zahorian is back and obviously in good form. For the Défilé, did they start with the students and go through the ranks to end with the principals? Did it seem that the order of principals ended with the most senior of the principal ballerinas?

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Thanks, PeggyR! I've also noticed Francisco Mungamba, who has the carriage of a prince and a clean, beautiful technique. Hope he's in the cast I see of The Vertiginous Thrill of Exactitude. I'm happy to hear that Vanessa Zahorian is back and obviously in good form. For the Défilé, did they start with the students and go through the ranks to end with the principals? Did it seem that the order of principals ended with the most senior of the principal ballerinas?

There's a YouTube video floating around of Mungamba several years ago at one of those Youth something or others that pop up everywhere. His technoque was nothing like it is now, but the minute he walks on stage, you feel like you're watching s star. I'll try to find it when I get home.

Yes, theDéfilé seemed to be in seniority order, with Tan coming last, looking gorgeous. Also noticed Clara Blanco, so I hope she's back this season.

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I’ll just add to PeggyR’s report that I enjoyed the contrast between the opening and closing sections – the Déflé that culminates in a brilliant and neurotically symmetrical bas relief of the whole company – and the informal gathering of dancers at the end, some in costume and some in street clothes, cheerily toasting Helgi Tomasson on his 30th anniversary as director of the company.

I liked the Ratmansky piece Souvenir d’un Lieu Cher best, but it seemed subdued as a second act opener and hard to make out in the dim lighting. It was about two couples (who could be phases of one’s couple’s relationship), and, as in many of Ratmansky’s pieces, the characters alternate between being actors and between being commentators – or complementers – on other characters’ actions. Suddenly they’ll be a moment were everyone does the same thing at once, maybe a downward lunge in sync and everything will start up anew. Very interesting little right angle movements of hands and feet (it’s as if Ratmansky is still using a sort of serifed choreographic typeface when everyone else has gone over to sans serif). I’d love to see Souvenir again and it’s definitely worthy of a place somewhere in the company’s presentations this season or next. Froustey, Van Patten, Di Lanno, and Ingham were all wonderful to watch.

Interesting afterwards to see black-tie and sequined audience members flood across Van Ness Avenue in the dark, moving towards the City Hall party and crossing over the median through a secret gateway I had never seen opened before.

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Yes, theDéfilé seemed to be in seniority order, with Tan coming last, looking gorgeous. Also noticed Clara Blanco, so I hope she's back this season.

Thanks for the descriptions everyone - it's fun to read through these. What sort of costumes were used for the défilé? I imagine the dancers had to wear whatever they were going to be appearing in later in the program, but is that so?

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Yes, theDéfilé seemed to be in seniority order, with Tan coming last, looking gorgeous. Also noticed Clara Blanco, so I hope she's back this season.

Thanks for the descriptions everyone - it's fun to read through these. What sort of costumes were used for the défilé? I imagine the dancers had to wear whatever they were going to be appearing in later in the program, but is that so?

Pretty much from older students on up wore white; students wore tunics, female company members wore pancake tutus. The principals were in black with lots of glitter; I think the soloists were in black too (maybe Quiggin remembers)? There was even some dance moves to get people moved around. After the défilé there was the inevitable speech thanking every single sponsor (sitting through speeches is the price you pay for the dancing, I guess), which gave the dancers time to get into costume.

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I don't remember if black but definitely formal and part of the whole pristine effect. Yes, it would have been lovely if they had gone directly into the program directly after that and had the speech somewhere else (maybe in the lobby beforehand). Some of it was about a capital fund.

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I’ll just add to PeggyR’s report that I enjoyed the contrast between the opening and closing sections – the Déflé that culminates in a brilliant and neurotically symmetrical bas relief of the whole company – and the informal gathering of dancers at the end, some in costume and some in street clothes, cheerily toasting Helgi Tomasson on his 30th anniversary as director of the company.

Oh my, what a great framing device -- very, very smart!

Very interesting little right angle movements of hands and feet (it’s as if Ratmansky is still using a sort of serifed choreographic typeface when everyone else has gone over to sans serif).

Oooh, good catch. Ratmansky spent all that time in Munich crafting little details in Paquita -- perhaps he brought some of that back with him! (and what an excellent description -- I knew just what you were talking about!)

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