Josette

Link for a short video of contemporary dance with Mathilde Froustey and the superb Jaime Garcia Castilla as her partner: http://www.facebook.com/mathilde.froustey.7 You can access it also from her facebook page. SFB's performances in Paris start tonight.

Pherank, Paris Opera Ballet does Ashton's La Fille Mal Gardee, and that is the excerpt with Froustey and Thibault.

Congratulations to Tiit!! (He also has one of the most delightful dancer facebook pages.)

Someone would purchase a ticket to Swan Lake specifically to see the ballerina do quadruple turns with flapping "swan arms?" Brava to Ms. Seo for stepping in to dance this ballet in an emergency situation.

Oh, good! So happy to have this confirmed at last! Mlle Froustey will have her Giselle, Juliet, Kitri, and Serenade without any more alternating between principal and corps as she had at POB. Thank you so much for the news, Naomikage. And to the person on Dansomanie who made the comment about American junk food in a posting about Mlle Froustey, please contact me when you come to San Francisco, which has fantastic restaurants (and, yes, I've lived in Paris).

I took all the Royal Academy of Dancing exams including Solo Seal, this last exam which I was told was choreographed In some part by Ashton at that time, and was taught to use epaulement and to bend and use the upper body. I wasn't at the ABT performance on Tuesday, but if Kent was using apaulement and accentuating the shape and flow of the choreography with the use of her torso, head, and eyes, then she danced like an English dancer. I wish Kent did dance like an English dancer.

Soloist Shane Wuerthner was also not on the SFB website soloist roster last week but his picture has returned all of a sudden along with Messmer's.

As an addendum to my preceding post, the article where Mlle Froustey indicated that she would be dancing in Paris next month as principal dancer with SFB is found in the French newspaper Le Figaro on June 24, 2013.

She wasn't there last week when I checked the SFB website. I hope this means she's in for the entire 2015 season and not just the Italy-Paris tour this July. In one of her interviews from about a year ago, Froustey said her agreement included her dancing with SFB for the Paris tour. Fingers crossed for Messmer and Froustey both remaining with SFB.

Mussel, do you know what the Chicago dates are?

Thanks for letting us know, Pherank!

I hope the Hamburg Ballet brings Tatiana to Orange County in a couple of years.

In Nureyev's version (Paris Opera Ballet, National Ballet of Canada, among others) he gave the Prince a solo to the violin music.

Is this significant?: Two of Mlle Froustey's facebook pages state: "Principal dancer of San Francisco Ballet Past: Opera national de Paris" and identify her as living in San Francisco.

FYI, it took Luke Ingham two years to get promoted. The only reason I know this is because I ran into him on Gough at the end of the 2013 season, and told him that I was looking forward to his promotion. It took another year. He was super-nice and friendly. Vito Mazzeo was promoted after his first year, and then (sob) left for the Dutch National Ballet. Aside from all that, I hope that Simone Messmer has a principal contract somewhere where she will be fully used and flourish. She is the most unique and talented female dancer I've seen in a long time.

Yes, Chung danced it, exceptionally and honestly, as she always does. I made my comments about De Sola, because at the beginning of last year, the 2013 season, I saw a tense jaw, mouth and eyes, which was not characteristic of her when she was in the corps de ballet, and then that face disappeared by the end of the season, and she was back to her radiant self in each performance I saw this year until Suite en Blanc. (I tend to sit as close as possible to the stage.) I think Suite en Blanc could be a terror for anyone not trained at the POB school. And I am disappointed that I will not be able to watch the beautiful Simone Messmer next season.

Simone Messmer will not be returning to SFB next year, according to Alan Urich in Monday's SFGate.

According to Alan Ulrich in his SFGate review of the farewell performance yesterday, Simone Messmer will not be returning to SFB next year.

The list of homegrown stars includes Michele Wiles . . . .

I apologize if I wasn't clear: I did think that "Agon" went very well as a whole.

So glad you saw my post about Ms. Messmer, Buddy!

Okay, I've just spotted a typo I have to fix in my previous comment in the second line: black backdrop creating imperfections.

Interesting reading jsmu's comments about "Suite en Blanc." This is a work that coldly exposes your technique, with all the female dancers and the male soloists having a black backdrop creating I perfections. You can't hide anything, let alone with a smile. Sasha de Sola was nervous at the performance I saw, and though technically secure, her face lacked its usual softness. We can assume this is just growing pains and will disappear with more experience. The most memorable dancing for me was that of Mathilde Froustey in La Cigarette, which is a killer variation and yet she was scintillating and playful. As for "Humingbird," I thoroughly liked it, being helped that I am a Philip Glass fan-it could have gone on another 15 minutes and I would been that much happier. I thought all the dancers - Feijoo, Messmer, Van Patten, Molat, Castillas- gave their brilliant all. I could be wrong, but it seems like, since "Shostakovich Trilogy," the company has gained depth. Maybe it's just the better choreography. Thank you to all the other posters for your comments!

I saw the opening cast and loved "Agon." Pascal Molat brought out elements in the choreography and music that were new and unique. He danced with great understanding, as always. Frances Chung took me by surprise as I did not anticipate liking her in the second pas de deux, but she was musical, varied the repetitious elements in her solo- she never fails to surprise me. I had the great fortune of seeing Sofiane Sylve in the pas de deux with Tiit Helimets. As far as the group not being In perfect sync, this isn't "Swan Lake" Act 2 and it didn't bother me at all. It's a group of individuals, after all. I'd never seen all of B-S Quartet. What I remember most now, 10 days after the performance, is Julia Rowe as of the three demi-soloists in the second movement. I couldn't take my eyes off her, including when Kochetkova was on stage. Rowe dances with her whole being, nothing is compartmentalized. She has a true, beautiful dance movement. (I actually ran into her today when going into the theatre and had the chance to tell her how beautiful her dancing was.) in the fourth movement, Sarah Van Patten was an adorable minx, flirting with Davit Karapetyan, and the audience ate it up. As for "Glass Pieces," I love the music, the concept, the choreography, and thought the dancers did an excellent job. Yuan Yuan Tan and Damien Smith were superb, but no surprise there. I went out of the theatre elated, as there had been enough good dancing and some extraordinary dancing.

jsmu- I saw both " Winter Dreams" casts and enjoyed seeing how beautifully the dancers handled their roles. It was the first time I saw Vito Mazzeo.