Eshana

Didn't know that the entirety of Neumeier's Dame aux Camellias had only ever been performed by the POB and never in America...I'm guessing that this could be it. No good reason, really, other than the fact that one of the leading dancers has this ballet on her bucket list alongside MacMillan's Manon. The popular 'black dress' excerpt is a perennial gala staple as well, and has been performed by SFB in that capacity.

Yeah, I was thinking Swan Lake would be "one of the best-loved story ballets of all time" and not the "enchanting full-length for the entire family", although I don't see why SL couldn't be described that way also. I've no idea what the other full-length might be. Tan was born in 1977 on Valentine's Day, so she's 38. Feijoo is at least in her early to mid-forties. But yeah, SFB is looking a little short on the leading female side; promotions and new recruitments are probably due.

The story ballet is definitely Swan Lake. It's pretty obvious if one has been paying attention to little slips here and there by those in the know. It's no wonder Tiit Helimets and Yuan Yuan Tan recently had a trial run with the Festival Ballet Theatre - I won't be surprised if they repeat their assignments next season just as they were paired together in SFB's all-new Swan Lake in 2006. I'm very curious about the Paris Opera Ballet work as well. And a bit OT, but in regards to Mathilde Froustey ever returning to POB, why would she when she's essaying Giselle, Kitri, Juliet and Odette/Odile at SFB (in just 2-3 seasons with the company), all roles that she'd never procure at POB even if she spent another 50 years there?!

I think perhaps Messmer just missed life on the East Coast too much. I don't think Froustey will leave, at least not for the next season.

I think it'd be interesting to see Yuan Yuan Tan as Kitri simply because she's such an adagio dancer that I wonder how'd she fare in an allegro role. It's also a bit difficult picturing her being fiery or coquettish; she seems too stately for that. I remember when SFB did Coppelia a few seasons back and wasn't surprised when she wasn't cast in it as she seemed ill-suited for the ballet.

Considering that SFB is doing Giselle, R&J and Don Quixote next year, I highly doubt that Froustey would have left by next season when she's likely to be cast in the leading roles of all three of those ballets. Helgi may even be bringing those ballets next season because of her, or partly because of her - I remember reading or hearing that he asks his dancers which roles they would most like to essay, and then decides which ballets to stage based on that consensus.

Interview with Mademoiselle Froustey for BCBG: http://vimeo.com/89036581 Her voice sounds like music and is so adorable, she is so effortlessly chic and lovely, and is just so French!

Froustey has not performed well in the Concours (she even says that in the Pointe article). And the Concours is how you get promoted at POB. She's also a very emotive actress, in the style of Isabelle Ciaravola and Clairemarie Osta, both of whom were promoted very late in their careers. If you look at the dancers who have been promoted rapidly in the past 10 or 15 years, such as Aurelie Dupont, Dorothee Gilbert and Amandine Albisson, their style is fairly similar -- and quite different from Froustey's IMO. I'm glad she's finding success in the US. It was depressing to continually see her onstage in demi-soloist roles. I've seen Dupont in a number of things and have not been impressed at all (your mileage may vary, of course). I don't know, maybe one has to see some of these performances live to better appreciate them. Actually, I recall reading some reviews and comments of POB dancers' performances abroad (galas and tours and what not), and none of them were very effusive at all. They all went something like, we were expecting great things from the famed Paris Opera Ballet and this is what we got instead...

Mademoiselle Froustey's performance of Giselle (along with a host of others) with SFB is now up at: http://vimeo.com/86094211 I found her simply lovely. She has a marvellously expressive face, and her acting is very natural and believable. The dancing is just so warm, open and engaging. I found that in Act 2 I was watching her face almost more than I was her limbs; that's how committed to the role she appeared to be. In the mad scene, I could trace the progression of her descent because the acting/mime was so clear and honest. Altogether, it was a very good production; only Tiit Helimets' costume in the first act struck a discordant note as the bottom half was so tight and flesh-coloured that it looked like he was dancing half naked. To be honest, I find Froustey a million times more appealing and engaging than many of POB's principal ladies whose performances I've seen online. I can't believe that she was passed over for promotion; that those other said ladies were considered superior. SFB had better do everything in its power not to let Froustey go; she is a treasure.

We'll be seeing them onstage again in Helgi Tomasson's new piece, Caprice, which opens on April 4th; just substitute Damian Smith for another Australian, Luke Ingham. I'm very curious as to the dynamic between Yuan Yuan Tan and Maria Kochetkova - one is the company's prima and is now its longest serving principal, while the other hasn't been with the company so long but is rapidly eclipsing all others in prominence (thanks in no small part to her fantastic social media skills). I've been reading reviews of Ratmansky's Piano Concerto #1 (the last piece in the trilogy) as performed by ABT, and it looks like Diana Vishneva did a lot of dancing with Natalia Osipova and that the choreography involves them being very protective and conspiratorial with one another. I'm just very interested to see how Tan and Kochetkova replicate that kind of partnership in light of the dynamic that must exist between them. This new article from the San Francisco Classical Voice on Helgi Tomasson and his new creation also picks up on the dichotomy between these two ballerinas ("[they] can inspire a study in contrasts"): https://www.sfcv.org/article/helgi-tomasson-master-of-dance

I'm really curious as to how Yuan Yuan Tan did as Nikiya - she has talked about how much she idolizes Makarova and how stressful the opening night of 'Shades' was. She also danced the White Swan recently in a gala tribute to Makarova at Lincoln Center (upon Makarova's personal invitation) so I assume they must have worked very closely on 'Shades' together. I had also hoped that Froustey would be cast as Nikiya, but unfortunately she was only assigned the first shade solo variation. Perhaps I shouldn't be, though; in the clips I've seen online of 'La Bayadere's' second act, the solo shades seem to have more to do technically than Nikiya.

Thanks for this; she's just lovely. The televised version with Kochetkova hasn't the same charm, to be honest. SFB had better do its best to hold onto Froustey. From the little that I've seen of Sylve, one can never have too many French ballerinas in a company.

I've seen Yuan Yuan Tan (would love to see the other casts too, especially Froustey) do the GPDD in Giselle, and my goodness, she was a dream: extensions for miles and with such a floating quality that if she'd been billowed off of the stage, I would not have been surprised. Try to catch her if you can - she is not to be missed.

Edwaard Liang's page on Vimeo has full-length performances of Ms. Tan and Damian Smith in "Distant Cries" (just performed in Stern Grove a few days ago), "Somewhere in Time" as well as Ms. Tan and Vito Mazzeo in "Symphonic Dances" (this entire ballet has been posted): http://vimeo.com/channels/478037/videos Ms. Tan is just utterly beautiful in these ballets (especially in "Somewhere in Time"; my goodness, look at that figure and those legs!), and Mr. Smith is equally as sensitive and committed. Ms. Tan remains the only 'name' ballerina that I've seen live in my ballet-starved country - she performed in a gala and did the 2nd Act GPDD from "Giselle" and, my word, she conveyed a sense of such lightness and fluidity that it seemed like a breeze could carry her off the stage at any moment. As a child I had seen her on the cover of Time magazine years ago and I remembered being struck by her beauty. I didn't know very much about ballet back then, but I now realize that she must have been quite esteemed to have been on the cover of Time. She doesn't seem to attract as much attention as some of the other big-name ballerinas on this board and elsewhere, and I've wondered why that is.

And now Courtney Elizabeth leaves, too! That adds up to three principals and three soloists. I'm very curious as to who will be promoted in my favourite company.

I won't. The rehearsal photos were posted by SFB on their public Facebook page; are they then still considered private to the company?

I was the one who provided info about certain company members leaving, and I didn't provide official sources because I didn't know they were needed. Those sources (albeit news/interviews that are not directly from SFB) do exist, however, and they aren't that hard to find on the Internet: Damian Smith: http://nit.com.au/news/2178-damian-in-gala-performance-for-australian-ballets-50th.html (Note that the gala referred to was held late last year). Garen Scribner: http://www.getthefive.com/articles/the-eye-candy/pro-portrait-ballet-dancer-garen-scribner-is-drive/ Garen has also referred to his leaving SFB for Nederlands Dans Theater on his public Twitter page. Pierre's retirement has already been publically announced by SFB.

I will miss Vito's presence; he was unique in that he had such length and lankiness. He partnered YY so beautifully in their PDD from Liang's Symphonic Dances.

And that Ruben Martin and Lorena Feijoo are not scheduled to dance at all...Lorena I can understand as she's just had her baby, but Ruben? Hopefully there's no burnt bridges/bad blood, or worse yet, an injury...

Thanks a lot for those clips, mumwang - I had seen them already. Both are beautiful performances (as we've come to expect from Ms. Tan), but the reason why I'd like her Lady of the Camellias pdd to be more widely seen is because I think it represents a breakthrough of sorts for her - I've never seen her give a more passionate performance aside from her work in The Little Mermaid. Granted, I've never seen her live so I'm basing my opinion solely on what I've seen of her work online. Which brings me to another thing - it is so hard being a fan of Ms. Tan (and many other dancers) when you have never, and probably never will, see them live! You only get to see snatches of their magic through the Internet or television, and they just captivate you and leave you wanting more. In the case of Ms. Tan, I know that many of her performances at SFB have been filmed based on snippets I've seen online - if only there was a way to gain access to the whole performances! I've seen a clip of her dancing as Esmeralda (which may or may not have been at SFB) on a talk show as well - she looked absolutely wonderful in it and I'm sure the entire thing must've been filmed so maybe one day some kind Chinese fan will put it up for us all to see.

Thanks muchly for the review, Peggy! I think Gremin was danced by Damian Smith, which would explain Tan's good connection with him since he's her favourite partner. I'm a little disappointed that Martin Cintas wasn't a great Onegin, as he looked good in the promotional clips and his chemistry with Tan looked strong. After having watched Alina Cojocaru and Johan Kobborg in the scene where Tatiana rejects Onegin on YouTube, I was just imagining how gorgeous Tan and Martin Cintas would've looked going through all those passionate embraces and lifts. Perhaps I shouldn't be surprised at how Martin Cintas was received, though, as I read a review on another board which mentioned that he was so uppity that he came across as unintentionally funny. But I'm so glad that Tan did well. I've always been blown away by how aesthetically beautiful her dancing is but then I've also read many complaints about how cold she is in performance. Well, after seeing the pdd I linked above (how I envy those of you who were at the recent gala!) as well as 'The Little Mermaid' and 'After the Rain', I find it hard to believe that the same criticism still holds true. And after recently seeing a broadcast of 'Othello' where she was mostly all sweetness and light, I'm even more impressed at how dramatically intense she has now become. When you pair emotion with the panache and beauty that Tan is known for, that pretty much makes for the ideal dancer in my book. I really do hope that all of SFB's 'Onegin' performances were filmed (even if for private use), so that I can at least go about with the hope that one day I'll get to see them.

Sorry for dragging up this old thread, but I've only just seen it in a Google search and I'd have PMed mumwang if I could. mumwang, could you upload Yuan Yuan Tan's segment of the CCTV video onto YouTube, or at least tell me how to do it if you're unable to? As a big fan of Ms. Tan, I believe that this performance of the 'Lady of the Camellias' pdd represents a new dramatic high for her and should be more widely seen. I've tried to capture the video stream via various software but have been unable to do so. And since I've brought up Ms. Tan, are there any clips of her performances with SFB floating around? I've already seen SFB's broadcasts of 'Othello', 'The Little Mermaid', and 'The Nutcracker', and these just leave me wanting more! As I'm a non-U.S. resident, it's unlikely that I'll ever make it to San Francisco to watch SFB live. From the various multimedia on their website, it's obvious that SFB films entire productions, so is there any way that we can see more than just snippets? I'd be willing to pay to watch whole performances.

As a big fan of Ms. Tan, can anyone who attended her 'Onegin' performances share some details about how she was? All the online reviews seem to be on the Kochetkova/Luiz and Zahorian/Karapetyan pairings, so I'd appreciate any feedback on Tan/Martin. I know Tatiana has long been a dream role for Ms. Tan, and after seeing her wonderful dramatic turn in the black pas de deux from John Neumeier's 'Lady of the Camellias' (http://yue.cntv.cn/nettv/yinyue/special/C27612/classpage/video/20110926/100061.shtml - about 16:30 in), I'm really curious as to how well she tackled the equally dramatic role of Tatiana. I'd especially like to know how Tan and Martin related to one another as they've been paired together a number of times before, and I've always found their shared dynamic quite intriguing. Just how well did the audiences receive the 'Onegin' runs which featured Ms. Tan? Much thanks in advance!