Josette
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Posts posted by Josette
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This program was available to watch on my Virgin Atlantic flight two days ago.
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The answer to your question, Helene, is Karen Kain, who is happily and deservingly retired after an amazing career.
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There are dancers who danced the Bruhn version still very much with us. That version was around until Kudelka did his Swan Lake version. There was a choreologist , Susa Menck, who would have it succinctly notated and it would have been documented on stage by video or film. It was filmed and shown on TV very early on. In the late 1970’s, the third act pas de deux choreography by Bruhn was replaced with the traditional Black Swan version and the traditional Act I pas de trois was added. The white acts were beautiful and there was a gorgeous and emotional pas de deux in the last act with just the two leads before the corps came on for the storm scene. The last act opened with a beautiful lament for the swans before Odette came on. There was no Von Rothbart, the antagonist was woman dressed in a black gown. The ballet ended with Odette without Siegfried. It’s a shame that Bruin’s version was discarded.
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I am extremely happy with seeing Onegin, the two full-length Prokofiev ballets, along with The Prodigal Son, Serenade, Symphony in C. I can't wait to learn who will be cast in The Prodigal Son and have my hopes up about certain dancers.
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Thank you again, sf_herminator, I will keep my tickets as is. My disappointment is having to sit through De Sola's overwrought and artificial facial expressions (she was lovely two years ago as Odette with Max), but Robison is a passionate Siegfried, one of the best I've ever seen.
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Thanks for letting us know. As long as my Saturday performances remain as cast, I am okay. If De Sola steps in with Hernandez on Friday (possible, don't you think?), I will not attend and will see if I can exchange for Thursday night.
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12 hours ago, sf_herminator said:
As I was leaving dinner to head to the Opera House, two different friends texted me: Osipova is injured. I arrived at the Opera House and it was confirmed that Osipova would not be dancing this evening due to injury. Jasmine Jimison would dance in her place.
The lights went down and Tamara Rojo came onstage. She addressed the crowd with the news that no one wanted to hear - Natalia Osipova will not be dancing due to injury. But making her debut will be Jasmine Jimison. Please join me in supporting her tonight.
What a way to make a debut!! She was wonderful!! The crowd was with her every step of the way. She was partnered by Isaac Hernandez - who was scheduled to dance with Osipova.
The casting is updated for the switch tonight - CASTING - San Francisco Ballet (sfballet.org). However, casting for the rest of the run has not been updated. Jasmine was scheduled to debut Wednesday night with Aaron Robison. I do not think she will be dancing. Osipova is still listed for Friday - but there is no word on the seriousness of the injury which could prevent her from dancing on Friday. I will keep checking the website and post any casting updates.
A friend texted me about this. I have a ticket for Osipova on Friday with a friend flying in from the East Coast to join me. Please keep us posted if you learn anything about shuffling of the casts. I was looking forward to seeing Nikisha Fogo and Daniel Camargo on Saturday afternoon, and I doubt that will be moved, but I was especially looking forward to Aaron Robison and Jimison on Saturday night, and I will be very unhappy if I don't see him.
Glad to hear it went so well for Jimison and the audience was so pleased.
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26 minutes ago, Papagena said:
Oh apologies, I meant Broken Wings - Carmen reviews sort of floated in the back end for me since most people were gushing about Broken Wings.
Broken Wings I could see again and again. Absolutely wonderful.
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1 hour ago, Papagena said:
What a great pairing! This is exactly what ABT needs to get better at - shot program curation. This isn't a Jaffe problem as much as it's just been an ABT problem for a long time.
SFB just did a Carmen pairing too with the new Frida Kahlo Dos Mujeres ballet. Received very good reviews and is something I'd absolutely buy tickets for. I wasn't able to see it but most reports mention how it feels fresh, relevant, and layered while still using traditionally-inspired ballet choreography. LWFC looks a bit old fashioned by comparison.
Totally agree about the YAGP effect. A young dancer filming themselves doing 32 spectacular fouttees with extra flair or octuple pirouettes doesn't get me excited at all, because it doesn't necessarily translate to a magnetic dancer who can carry a ballet on her shoulders.The recent SFB Carmen did not receive across-the-board "very good reviews." It was panned by some. I sat through it twice. It was choreographically uneven and boring, and had a trite plot with a ridiculous ending. You can read Balletalert comments under the subject, San Francisco Ballet (including mine). The set and Carmen's red dress were very good; Joseph Walsh stole the show; the dancers did their best with what they were given, but it was a washout, especially when compared with Ochoa's Broken Wings, which is an exceptional, brilliant work.
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4 hours ago, California said:
Very interesting! Their Swan Lake is by Mikko Nissinen, their artistic director.
I love Jeffrey Cirio and enjoyed Boston Ballet's The Nutcracker, so I have high hopes.
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On 4/17/2024 at 10:44 AM, Josette said:
Madrid may need a dose of Swan Lake. I know that Los Angeles certainly does, as the last time we had Swan Lake at the Los Angeles Music Center or Segerstrom Center of the Arts was around 2012. I was advised by an excellent source that we would have Swan Lake in 2025, but that season has not yet been announced officially, so we wait a bit longer for confirmation ....
Swan Lake is coming to Los Angeles after a long absence.
LA Music Center's 2024/2025 Dance Season, aka Glorya Kaufman Presents Dance at The Music Center, is announced:
Urban Bush Women Nov. 22-24, 2024
Batsheva Dance Company Feb. 14-16, 2025
Alvin Ailey Dance Theater March 2-6, 2025
Grupo Corpo May 2-4, 2025
Swan Lake - Boston Ballet June 26-29, 2025
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The last time I saw Kondaurova was in fall of 2019 in La Bayadere and Diamonds. She was breathtaking.
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I would love to see Scarlett's Hummingbird again. I remember how beautiful Lorena Feijo and Victor Luiz were in the pas de deux, and later saw YY Tan dance it. The ballet was removed by SFB from the announced season's repertoire when the Scarlett controversy surfaced. I knew that the Joffrey danced it in February. Ashley Wheater has been steadfast where the Scarlett ballets are concerned.
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7 minutes ago, pherank said:
Classical ballet in LA has certainly struggled. You have just reminded me of the time I went to see Ekaterina Kondaurova and the Mariinsky perform Swan Lake in Costa Mesa, because I wanted to see a traditional version of Swan Lake. Seems like a lifetime ago.
I was there. She was superb and had the most successful characterization in making the two roles different that I have seen.
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23 hours ago, PeggyTulle said:
Surprised Angelo is leaving, but I can imagine it can't be easy with I. Hernandez getting top billing so often.
The director's husband is featured disproportionately in photographs by SFB online (there's a new one from Mere Mortals that I could not believe had been chosen) and on Facebook, and, if you add the director's brother-in-law, it's even more disproportionate in comparison with the other male principals. And I. Hernandez is dancing Swan Lake with Osipova.
Houston Ballet is performing The Sleeping Beauty, Raymonda, and Theme and Variations next season - all perfect for Angelo Greco. He will be missed in SF and has a devoted following there. I especially loved him in Rhoden's Let's Begin at the End and Robbins's Other Dances, both of which he was paired with Frances Chung.
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19 hours ago, pherank said:
Good programming overall. "Manon" is an obvious one to bring into the rep. The Dutch program is an interesting idea. Glad to see a Scarlett ballet returning - he had a good relationship with SFB. Program 2 is right up SFB's alley, so to speak. I have to agree with others that the season is rather "heavy" and not necessarily kid friendly. And nothing much comedic here. The encore of "Frankenstein" seems like a placeholder, and probably should have been a Robbins/Balanchine mixed bill. "Serenade"/"Glass Pieces" would have been a good season-closer.
I think that Manon would have been a better encore program than Frankenstein. Audiences love it and word-of-mouth would work in its favor. However, there are ten Manon performances already scheduled in January/February.
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42 minutes ago, California said:
One of my favorite clips of Robison rehearsing Manon with Houston Ballet. He waits until the absolute last second to catch her under her arms. A bit of daring I find myself watching for in other performances. Note the gasps from the dancers seated at the side.
I love this! Thanks so much for posting it.
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Both Aaron Robison and Joseph Walsh have danced Des Grieux in Manon with Houston Ballet. Lescaut, Manon's brother, is another plumb role.
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Madrid may need a dose of Swan Lake. I know that Los Angeles certainly does, as the last time we had Swan Lake at the Los Angeles Music Center or Segerstrom Center of the Arts was around 2012. I was advised by an excellent source that we would have Swan Lake in 2025, but that season has not yet been announced officially, so we wait a bit longer for confirmation ....
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21 hours ago, sf_herminator said:
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Soloists
- Fernando Carratala Coloma (Fernando Carratalá Coloma - English National Ballet) and Victor Prigent (Victor Prigent - English National Ballet) join as Soloists, having danced previously at English National Ballet
Thank you for providing the links to the new soloists moving from ENB to SFB. They have both performed principal roles and Victor Prigent was a trainee with SFB in 2015/2016.
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Soloists
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Aaron Robison also danced with Houston Ballet.
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4 hours ago, sf_herminator said:
Interesting that there are no new works being created on SFB - while there were 2 new works created this season (Azure Barton's Mere Mortals & Arielle Smith's Carmen).
Especially interesting in light of the huge donation announced, with quite the majority chunk to be for new works. Maybe this will come to fruition in 2025-2026.
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I agree as well about wishing there were a program with something lighter for the audience and the dancers.
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Akram Khan. And I did like his Giselle very, very much, which I saw twice danced by ENB.
2023-2024 Season
in New York City Ballet
Posted
The Bruhn pas de deux in Act III used the music we know from Tchaikovsky pas de deux adagio and, if I recall correctly, the music for the Black Swan variation is the same as what is used in the Bolshoi’s version and the Bournemeister (sp as I’m on my cell) Paris Opera Ballet version. Strangely, although I was on stage probably more than a hundred times to watch, I don’t recall the man’s solo!