Josette

18 hours ago, Danielle said:

No Swan Lake?

Swan Lake is being performed June 21-July 14, 2024. The casting is posted online, subject to change. 

The beautiful Bleuenn Battistoni was promoted to Étoile on March 26, 2024, after dancing Lise in La Fille mal gardee with Marcelino Sambe (superb Principal with The Royal Ballet) as a guest Colas.  (Sorry about the missing accents.)   

https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=962940948529386&set=a.811478167008999

On 3/13/2024 at 2:31 PM, PeggyTulle said:

Ricardo Bustamante as one of Bottom's Companions??? Are they low on corps men???

He is obviously playing Peter Quince, though not listed as a character for the ballet, and dear Mr. Bustamente is wonderful in the role. I saw the performance on March 22 and found it in every way delightful and was thrilled to see the company dancing with joy and brilliance across the board.  I am attending the two performances today, March 23, as well.  

He loves to be on stage?

The Balanchine program and the new Sleeping Beauty sound like particularly good reasons for me to come to Seattle.  

There was no strain when Wei Wang partnered and did overhead lifts with Wona Park in Swan Lake when I saw them dance beautifully several weeks ago, and with depth of feeling that was not there when they first performed the roles a few years ago.  And I do regret that Ben Freemantle and Max Cauthorn decided to leave SFB.  They were each so talented, unique, accomplished,  and had everything going for them.   

According to the ABT online calendar, casting for Woolf Works in Orange County is as follows:

April 11, 13 evening    Teuscher/Whiteside

April 12, 14                    Seo/Bell

April 13 matinee          Murphy/Ahn

I assume the Whiteside/Bell/Ahn casting is for Septimus Smith, created by Ed Watson.  There are a lot of roles for dancers to make their mark in this beautiful work.   In O.C., Alessandra Ferri is not dancing (I'm so disappointed, but fortunately I saw her dance this twice last year).  Please see be sure to see her in NY, she is superb.   Given the comments about Whiteside's injury above, we shall soon have an idea as to his recovery.  I am seeing each cast. 

Tuesday night's cast, March 12, 2024:

Conductor: Martin West

ACT I     A Forest near Athens, one Midsummer Eve

Titania: SASHA DE SOLA

Oberon: ESTEBAN HERNÁNDEZ

Puck: CAVAN CONLEY

Helena: ELIZABETH MATEER                         In love with Demetrius

Hermia: KATHERINE BARKMAN                    In Love with Lysander

Lysander: MYLES THATCHER                        Beloved of Hermia

Demetrius: STEVEN MORSE                          Suitor of Hermia

Hippolyta: NIKISHA FOGO                            Queen of the Amazons

Theseus: DANIEL DEIVISON-OLIVEIRA          Duke of Athens

Butterfly: JULIA ROWE

Titania's Cavalier: AARON ROBISON

Bottom: ALEXIS FRANCISCO VALDES

Butterflies: SunMin Lee, Carmela Mayo, Leili Rackow, Tyla Steinbach

with: Ava Allaire, Mitsuki Denman, Camila Maldonado, Juliet Paul, Allyson Schmitt-Vallejo, Nicole Widjaja, Emily Yin

Oberon's Pages: Piper O’Leary-Herreras, Elise Pickert, Sofia Trias, Aila Whiteley

Titania's Page: Lula Welland

Bottom's Companions: Ricardo Bustamante, Lleyton Ho, Nathaniel Remez, Jacob Seltzer

Courtiers to Theseus: Eduardo Cazarez, Benjamin Davidoff, João Percilio da Silva, Dylan Pierzina

Titania's Retinue: Kamryn Baldwin, Samantha Bristow, Jihyun Choi, Thamires Chuvas, Jacey Gailliard, Gabriela Gonzalez, Blake Johnston, Swane Messaoudi, Pemberley Ann Olson, Anatalia St. Clair, Maggie Weirich, Seojeong Yun

Oberon's Kingdom: Ava Allaire, Emma Andrzejewski, Adeline Bracamonte, Mitsuki Denman, Naomi Estrada, Piper Everly, Colette Gentzkow, Lily Gurvitz, Danielle Hillman, Brianna Hollub, Jacelyn Lam, Sage Luu, Camila Maldonado, Blythe Milne, Piper O’Leary-Herreras, Azure Paillard Hays, Jacqueline Park, Juliet Paul, Elise Pickert, Allyson Schmitt-Vallejo, Sofia Trias, Aila Whiteley, Nicole Widjaja, Emily Yin

Hippolyta's Hounds: Sofia Albers, Olivia Brothers, Katharine Lee, Swane Messaoudi, Rimi Nakano, Seojeong Yun

– INTERMISSION –

ACT II                           At the Court of Theseus, in Athens

Divertissement: FRANCES CHUNG and ISAAC HERNÁNDEZ

Kamryn Baldwin, Thamires Chuvas, Isabella DeVivo, Gabriela Gonzalez, Norika Matsuyama, Julia Rowe, Benjamin Davidoff, Luca Ferrò,, Andris Kundzins, Joshua Jack Price, Alexis Francisco Valdes, Mingxuan Wang

Courtiers: Samantha Bristow, Olivia Brothers, Jihyun Choi, Jacey Gailliard, Mimi Lamar, SunMin Lee, Carmela Mayo, Swane Messaoudi, Rimi Nakano, Pemberley Ann Olson, Hui-Wen Peng, Leili Rackow, Anatalia St. Clair, Tyla Steinbach, Angela Watson, Maggie Weirich, Victoria Wright, Seojeong Yun, Eduardo Cazarez, Lleyton Ho, João Percilio da Silva, Dylan Pierzina, Simone Pompignoli, Nathaniel Remez, Alexander Reneff-Olson, Jacob Seltzer

Singers:

Victoria Fraser, Soprano

Lauren Bigelow, Mezzo-Soprano

with Yuhi Aizawa Combatti, Monica Frame, Jessica House Steward, Emily Ryan Kusnadi, Andrea Mich, Christabel Nunoo, Rachel Rush, Colby Smith, Blythe Tai, Celeste Winant

(Members of San Francisco’s Volti vocal ensemble, Robert Geary, Artistic Director)

I am interested in seeing her as well, mainly out of curiosity to see her in the role, and so will check for a good ticket once the casting is announced, but I have seen this Swan Lake production five times this season,  and I am  not keen on seeing  her alleged partner  a second time.  I saw Tissi years ago when he first started dancing with the Bolshoi and very much liked him, and Camargo is also outstanding, but, again, I want to know with whom they are sharing the stage.  

The casting for Titania, Oberon, and Puck is up for all performances.  Cavan Conley is dancing Oberon!  He is always excellent in everything he performs, so I am excited for him and will get to see him dance both roles. 

And Sasha Mukhamedov will be dancing Titania, which I am looking forward to seeing as well!   

I wish they would let us know about the lead couple casting for the Act II pas de deux, which, for me, is the highlight of the ballet. 

20 hours ago, pherank said:

The one bright spot was that they made the excellent digital recording of the 2nd night's cast for streaming, which included the Frances Chung / Ulrik Birkkjaer duet - that was truly one for the ages. I'd pay good money to see that again.

So true, pherank.  

I got the email announcement as well and  it said that tickets will go on sale to the general public on March 4. The guest artists will dance with company members.  The dates each guest is dancing are not yet announced, which is particularly hard on the many people who will want to see Osipova.  

Thanks for posting this, sf_herminator. It was interesting to read through all the 2020 posts and see the casting. I was talking with a waitress at the Opera House last Sunday, and she told me about the night the mayor shut down the performance.  I decided to purchase tickets for the last three shows of this run, and, having seen the 2020 discussion, I’m now especially glad that I did so. 

It was a  pleasure to see Frances Chung on stage again for the Saturday matinee with Joe Walsh. She had not danced for many months due to her pregnancy and was utterly back to her exquisite form for Swan Lake.  
In contrast, I was distressed by the Saturday evening principals, with a display of contrived, calculated, exaggerated  emoting lacquered on by the female principal and the lackluster performance by the male principal, who has a stiff back and torso and very little projection.  I am sure that some will think differently, but, objectively speaking, it was hard to sit through, seeing the poetry of Swan Lake demolished by phoniness under the guise of interpretation.  Kudos to Cavan Conley for his Act I performance and dancing in the pas de trios and Isabella DeVivo, utterly delightful with a beautiful, light jump, in the Neapolitan duet in Act III.  

PeggyTulle- I’m with you totally about the mishandling of Sasha Mukhamedov.  
 

I’m in San Francisco to see the four casts of Sean Lake.  The Friday night premiere had Nikisha Fogo and Aaron Robison in the principal roles. They were electric, passionate, and so in sync with each other emotionally, that I sat completely enthralled.  It was Swan Lake fully realized.  What a glorious night.  

  I was at the opening light of British Icons and was bowled over at how beautifully the company danced The Song of the Earth, which I’ve seen before on stage. Wei Wang was extraordinary and I was happy to see how deeply involved and expressive Wona Park was.  My only somewhat critical comment is that Jasmine Jamison, a lovely dancer, was generically lovely and played and performed too much to the audience, failing in the Third Song to establish the communion with the other dancers that is necessary in this work.  It was as if she stepped out of the mood of the ballet to say “Hello, look at me.”   Everyone else was fully convincing and danced with depth. I found Marguerite and Armand tepidly performed, except for Bustamente as Armand’s father.  The mechanics of the various pas de deux were not seamless and Marguerite lacked the dramatic  ability for this role.   

Nikisha Fogo was slated to dance The Song of the Earth on Friday night, but Wona Park danced the lead, beautifully.  Wei Wang was extraordinary.  The dancers as a whole were excellent.  

1 hour ago, Quiggin said:

Saw his Melancholic several times in San Francisco. The best – beautifully sustained, completely in character of a kind of stripped down non-character.

Yes, he was remarkable in it. 

So it seems. I noticed that as well. Perhaps Nikisha Fogo will perform it in April.  

There are three tickets left for YY's last performance on February 14!  It should be a wonderful performance. 

I am seeing the Saturday matinee.  

Thanks so much for posting this, volcanohunter.  I'm seeing three performances in February: Cuthbertson/Ball; Hayward/Sambe; Nunez/Bolle; as well as the general rehearsal and two performances of the New Works; and Tosca. 

The elevator at Inn at the Opera was working during December 28-30, 2023.  

Yes, I’ve been there several times. I believe you have to stay a minimum of two nights. They still don’t have a restaurant and have not served breakfast since Covid, but the location cannot be beat and the staff is friendly.  It’s my preferred hotel to stay in.