Josette
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Posts posted by Josette
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On 3/7/2022 at 12:55 PM, Becki Lee said:
They posted some casting for the new Alonzo King piece at the Kennedy Center:
March 29th: Isabella Boylston, Thomas Forster,
Calvin Royal III, Skylar Brandt,
March 30th: Christine Shevchenko,
Cory Stearns, Calvin Royal III,
Devon TeuscherI thoroughly enjoyed the performance last night, watching from the front row. Everyone was dancing well, and I was happy to see Forster on stage dancing beautifully and with expression in the Alonzo King premiere. I would have preferred to see Shevchenko and Teuscher. Boylston was clean but pedestrian, she has no stretch or line in her upper back and neck; Brandt was small-scale but genuine. I also found Cassie Trenary compelling in the other ballets (Zig Zag and Bernstein in a Bubble) dancing and projecting with authority and beauty. I always enjoy watching Cory Stearns with Devon Teuscher because of the way he looks at her.
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I am looking forward to seeing Friday night with Dores Andre and Max Cauthorn (in a leading role!) in La Sylphide and then the Saturday matinee with Sarah Van Patten and Ulrik Kirkkjaer.
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I got an email on this and have purchased a ticket for her farewell performance. I will miss watching this special artist tremendously.
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WOW! This is great! Now if he could just bring them to the L.A. Music Center, like the Music Center did with the Royal Ballet in July of 2019.
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I agree about his extraordinary, intense Hilarion in Akram Khan's Giselle. I assume that I will see him in Akram Khan's Creature in two days in Chicago. I would go to Boston to see him.
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Quite a bit of ABT's "prestige" (including for the dancers choosing to dance in the company) is that it is a NYC-based ballet company.
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I saw Hee Seo in In Love and Rage in early March of 2020 in Orange County at its premiere weekend. She danced with Aran Bell because Calvin Royal III was injured/indisposed (I don't recall which). She gave a performance of great depth and understanding of what the woman had gone through, and beauty, and I was tremendously moved by what felt to me to be the performance of a lifetime. I am not an unqualified fan of hers, so I was taken by surprise.
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Sasha Mukhamedov is a welcome addition to the company and I don't understand why she is in a soloist position, given that she was a principal at the Dutch National Ballet. I can only assume it is because there was no principal contract available at the time, which was also when Misa Kuranaga joined as a principal. Sasha is very much at home on the stage, has a warm and unique stage presence and unhampered way of moving, and she is wonderfully musical. She has had to overcome two injuries and I was very happy to see her in In the Night. I recall that someone on Ballet Alert complained about her port de bras, but Sasha's qualities when she is seen on stage as opposed to on video/film, take precedence. She has a "relatable" stage personality.
I attended two performances each of Programs I and II. It was wonderful to be back in the SF War Memorial Opera House with the dancers and musicians. I had a big surprise when one of the Mrs. Robinsons was one-dimensional at best, and then the ballet was transformed when I later saw Dores Andre in her intense and well-thought-out performance in the role last Saturday evening.
It was also a joy seeing Aaron Robison back on stage - including dancing with Sasha De Sota in their joyfully performed Section I of Symphony in C -, and everyone in Blake Works I danced their hearts out, including an incredible Isabella DeVivo shining in one of the sections of Blake Works I in the last Sunday matinee.
And Yuan Yuan Tan, dancing in In the Night and Caprice and supported by Luke Ingham, danced with her singular purity that is so breathtaking.
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The co-production of Like Water for Chocolate with The Royal Ballet was announced several months ago, including the North American premiere in 2023. I plan on seeing its premiere in June in London.
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No, Frances Chung has not been dancing in Programs I and II, and a SFB FB clip had showed her and Nikisha Fogo rehearsing Blakes Works I.
The casting lists Sasha Mukhamedov dancing with Tiit Helimuts as the Second Couple in In the Night this weekend, which is encouraging news.
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"San Francisco Ballet Appoints Tamara Rojo to Artistic Director" - This article says that her husband, Isaac Hernandez, recently rejoined SFB:
"Tamara Rojo: why I'm leaving English National Ballet":
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I am pleased with the choice and will wait to see what happens. There is always concern among the dancers as to what a new director will do and who will be favored.
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10 minutes ago, California said:
From the press release:
"Rojo will move to San Francisco with her husband, Isaac Hernández, who was recently appointed a principal dancer at San Francisco Ballet after previously dancing in the Company’s corps de ballet and as a soloist in 2010." https://www.sfballet.org/discover/press-center/press-releases/release/2022announcement/
Thanks! (I did not read the entire release.)
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I just saw the email. Wow. That was unexpected (to me). So, will Isaac Hernandez be rejoining SFB? (Very likely).
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On 12/14/2021 at 9:32 AM, California said:
Brandt has been rehearsing Manon on her IG in recent months. I posted a comment that I would love to see this next spring and she answered with a lot of smiles.
I'm guessing the new Ratmansky Of Love and Rage will be shown after the aborted premiere in Orange County.
R&J would make a good retirement program for Copeland, if she can recover that fast.
Of Love and Rage was not aborted in any way at Segerstrom Hall, Orange County in March of 2020, due to Covid-19 or any other reason. I went to four performances, including the premiere and the last performance - the Sunday matinee. I believe I only missed the Saturday matinee.
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This morning SFB announced the promotion of Norika Matsuyama to soloist, effective December 1st. Congratulations to Norika!
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Thanks so much, Barbara!
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I am seeing Shevchenko and Forster; Brandt and Cornejo; and Hurlin and Bell.
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41 minutes ago, California said:
My mistake. I had the impression they only got to do one performance. Was Daniil in any of those performances?
No, he wasn't.
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8 hours ago, ABT Fan said:
On his IG? I follow him and see no NYC posts…unless he has a second account I’m not aware of.
California - I know that this is slightly off topic, but I attended four out of the five performances of Of Love and Rage at Segerstrom Auditorium in Orange County in March of 2020, skipping only the Saturday matinee. It was the weekend before lockdown, and I definitely saw four performances.
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24 minutes ago, Drew said:
He created Thirteen Diversions for ABT a few years back. I remember it getting good reviews and I thought they danced it one other season, but am not certain.
I also thought he had done another work for them, but when I looked it up (VIII is the title) it turns out to have been created at Hamburg Ballet, and danced by ABT a few years later....
Thanks so much for the information, Drew.
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She is delightful!
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This is encouraging news.
Like Water for Chocolate was already posted on The Royal Opera House's website as being a co-production with ABT. I plan to see it in June of 2022 when it premieres in London with The Royal Ballet. Will this be this Wheeldon's first work at ABT? I haven't read the novel, but the film was vividly unforgettable.
Alonzo King's company performed at Segerstrom last Saturday and both the performances and the reception by the audience were tremendous. I am eager to see what he does for ABT this coming March.
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Casting for the Stanford Frost Amphitheater is up:
SERENADE
Composer: Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Choreographer: George Balanchine
Staged by: Sandra Jennings
Costume Design: after Karinska
Original Lighting Design: Ronald BatesConductor: Martin West
Frances Chung, Wona Park, Jennifer Stahl
Luke Ingham, Wei WangIsabella DeVivo, Norika Matsuyama
Leili Rackow*, Julia RoweKamryn Baldwin, Ludmila Bizalion, Samantha Bristow, Olivia Brothers†
Megan Amanda Ehrlich, Gabriela Gonzalez, Anatalia Hordov, Ellen Rose Hummel
Elizabeth Mateer, Carmela Mayo, Swane Messaoudi, Lauren Parrott, Maggie WeirichEstéban Cuadrado†, Joshua Jack Price†, Jacob Seltzer†, Mingxuan Wang
II
TARANTELLAComposer: Louis Moreau Gottschalk
Choreographer: George Balanchine
Staged by: Helgi Tomasson and Sandra Jennings
Costume Design: after KarinskaConductor: Martin West
Piano: Natal’ya FeyginaSasha De Sola, Esteban Hernandez
III
FOR PIXIEMusic: Nina Simone
Choreographer: Danielle Rowe
Costume Design: Lauren Strongin
Lighting Design: Jim FrenchDores André, Joseph Walsh
IV
SOIRÉES MUSICALESComposer: Benjamin Britten
Choreographer: Helgi Tomasson
Costume Design: Ann Beck
Lighting Design: Kevin ConnaughtonConductor: Martin West
Misa Kuranaga, Angelo Greco
V
THE FIFTH SEASONComposer: Karl Jenkins
Choreographer: Helgi Tomasson
Scenic and Costume Design: Sandra Woodall
Lighting Design: Michael MazzolaConductor: Martin West
The Fifth Season
Wona Park, Aaron RobisonEllen Rose Hummel, Norika Matsuyama, Carmela Mayo, Lauren Parrott
Estéban Cuadrado†, Joshua Jack Price†, Jacob Seltzer†, Mingxuan WangWaltz
Sarah Van Patten, WanTing Zhao
Tiit Helimets, Luke InghamRomance
Wona Park, Aaron RobisonTango
Sarah Van Patten
Aaron Robison, Tiit Helimets, Luke InghamLargo
WanTing Zhao, Tiit HelimetsBits
Ensemble
2022 Rep Season - Program 4/La Sylphide & The Seasons
in San Francisco Ballet
Posted
Oops! Max Cauthorn! Very much looking forward to seeing him tomorrow night.