Josette

According to the OC Register link, Segerstrom’s executive vice president Judy Morr is the person to contact.

Can't renew my subscription. I will do a matinee-evening of the Mariinsky if I can get decent seats and the same with ABT's Nutcracker, and will spend more time in San Francisco. It looks like case of sabotaging the dance series to dismantle it in a few years.

I would like to see Lauren Strongin as Aurora in The Sleeping Beauty, as she has a beautiful classical technique and it would be a pleasure to see her pure line and grace in the title role. I am sorry to see Francisco Mungamba go, as he is remarkable. I wonder where he will end up. I am less surprised about Anthony Vincent, because he has so seldom been on stage over the past three years - such a shame. I, also, was amazed to learn that Madison Keesler is returning and look forward to seeing her transformed as a performing artist after her years with ENB.

Thank you for the reassurance, volcanohunter.

I have had a subscription for 17 years, but I can't see spending nearly $500 for this programming when I can go up to San Francisco or Seattle for excellent ballet. I assume that ABT is doing Nutcracker but it's outside the subscription. The Mariinsky did a Fokine evening several years ago with Firebird and Scheherazade and some other ballet (probably Chopiniana). What is going on?

And the Mariinsky is dancing in Segerstrom Concert Hall and not in Segerstrom Hall, which is odd.

This is a letdown.

Thanks, abatt, for responding to California. I am awaiting more details about POB's 2018 tour. I had assumed that POB would be performing at the Harris Theatre in Chicago, as in 2012, but it is not on the Harris's website. I attended all the performances in Chicago in 2012 and POB was embraced enthusiastically by the Chicago audiences. It was a wonderful week. If anyone has more details, please let me know, even privately if needed. Do we know that POB will be part of the Lincoln Center Fesitval?

Glad to finally know something about next year's dance season in Orange County. I hope they bring their principal dancers and that the dates don't conflict with the Paris Opera Ballet's performing on the East Coast in June/July of 2018.

Thanks for posting this, pherank. It's so odd to think of not seeing him, Vanessa, and Lorena on stage at the SF Opera House any more. Davit came back to a full-length Swan Lake after nine months off due to injury and danced two performances of Diamonds earlier in the season.

On Onegin: My mother took me to see Onegin and Romeo and Juliet at the Los Angeles Music Center when impresario Sol Hurok brought the Stuttgart Ballet to the U.S. I still have the souvenir program somewhere. I was fortunate to see Haydee in both roles. That first Onegin was unforgettable and I specifically recall moments in Act II, Scene I between Haydee and Heinz Claus, such as when he tore the letter and the way the fragments fell between her fingers, and then Haydee's solo, among other parts of the ballet. It was an extraordinary evening. I saw Heinz Claus (Onegin), Marcia Haydée (Tatiana), Suzanne Hanke (Olga), and Egon Madsen (Lensky). After that, I only saw the filmed version by the National Ballet of Canada with Frank Augustyn, Sabine Alleman, Cynthia Lucas, and Jeremy Ranson, until the San Francisco Ballet premiered it about six years ago, with different sets and costumes from the original designs. I've seen SFB dance it six times, with Davit Karatpetyan/Vanessa Zahorian twice (and who were devastating in the last act pas de deux); Pierre Francois Vilanoba/Sarah Van Patten; Ruben Martin Cintas/Yuan Yuan Tan; and Carlos DiLanno/Mathilde Froustey (also two times, and I have comments posted about their performances in the 2016 season on Ballet Alert elsewhere). I also have to mention the excellent, noteworthy Prince Gremin of Tiit Helimets whom I saw in 2016. I had the immense pleasure of seeing the Dutch National Ballet perform Onegin last month on April 15, 2017, in Amsterdam, with (original designer) Jurgen Rose's costumes and sets. I saw Igone de Jongh as Tatiana and a superb and nuanced Roman Novitsky, guesting from the Stuttgart, as Onegin. The dancer who performed Olga, whose name I will have to look up in the program, had a dreamy lyrical quality. My favorite Onegin was Pierre-Francois Vilanoba, who was insouciant and bored but was equally charming and very French, and you could understand Tatiana's (the incandescent Sarah Van Patten's) fascination with him, such that she was not merely projecting on him an ideal from the novels she read - this gave the entire performance a dimension that I have not seen elsewhere.

So, Jewels and Onegin were created the same year.

Thank you for that information, naomikage, about Pujol. I thought this would be my last opportunity to see her so now I am especially glad that I will see her twice in Emeralds.

I just bit the bullet after salivating over the Paris Opera casting and am going to four performances, skipping only opening night. Looking forward equally to spending a few days in NYC, of course.

For some dancers, the Italian fouettes are easy and they find a natural rhythm and swing around and balance without problem. Speaking from personal experience.

This is so beautiful ... those arms ....

I have to backtrack to my comment a few weeks ago on being disappointed about the change of casting for the Cinderella I would attend on May 6 - YY Tan replaced by Frances Chung. Chung danced with pure lyricism and musicality and her acting was natural and varied. She continues to grow artistically, which is a joy to see. The solos danced by Chung and an excellent Luke Ingham in Act II were especially outstanding in their musicality and clarity; the audience began applauding for Ingham well befor the end of his variation - he was just that effective. I was also happy to see Hansuke Yamamoto as Benjamin, as it was the only time I saw him in a featured role this season, and he is a remarkable technician and so charming. It was an excellent performance from all and in all ways.

I'm thrilled to hear about Kristina Lind being made a soloist in Munich. She gave beautiful, lyrical performances in her last season at SFB and I was sorry she left.

For me, it was always a special treat when Taras Domitro was performing.

I was at Segerstrom today and asked at the box office whether the dance series had been announced. I was told that they were finalizing the schedule for next season.

Wow is all I can say for Suarez's list of dancers! I had no idea.

It's hard to understand how in three years the roster of principal male dancers - all distinctive, lovable, and extraordinary artists - could be diminished, despite the acquisition and promotion of Walsh, Greco, and DiLanno. We also lost the outstanding Vito Mazzeo a few years back, when he went to the Dutch National Ballet. I assume Tomasson is busy looking for replacements and will continue to develop the talent within the company. We still have Tiit Helimets.

Well, I am disappointed, as the Saturday YYT matinee is recast. It will be the fifth time that I have seen this Cinderella, and the third time with Frances Chung, who is a wonderful dancer, but I was looking forward to YYT.

I recall seeing SFB's The Sleeping Beauty in 1995-ish with Joanna Berman as Aurora and YY Tan in the Bluebird pas de deux. I recall it as a beautiful production and especially liked Berman's control in the Vision scene (though I thought it odd that her hair had a slightly off-center part.). I plan on seeing it in the coming season four or five times as a vacation week.

Sarah Van Patten and Tiit Helimets are dancing the leads on May 4 and 7. I am so glad she's back in the role of Cinderella and not the Stepmother, which she danced last fall on tour.