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I agree with you that more Cubans would be a plus - but the inflow seems to have quieted down considerably. Yeah, I'm not sure why the Bolshoi would be mad at Kozlov (except out of general demeanor) for leaving to SF - SFB may well be a better fit. I've got big issues with the Bolshoi's handling of Jewels, period. But that said, anyone can be trained properly to work with particular techniques and styles. They just have to put in the work and not be resistant.

SFB staff always seems to maintain an interest in getting one or more Bolshoi-trained dancers. The last Bolshoi 'acquisition' didn't work out though - he never arrived in SF. So we shall see. I'm not surprised that Kozlov has been part of the Nureyev project - that's likely how SFB learned of his interest: through Yuri Possokhov. Personally, I'd like to see a Mariinsky dancer join SFB.

I'm coming into this discussion quite late, but I'll just say it's great to hear how committed and focused the PNB dancers seem to have been in their RAkU performances. "she had left it all on that stage.....she could hardly stand.....she was spent, and then some" What you describe was very much the way Yuan Yuan Tan approached her SFB performances - it was startling how absolutely exhausted and shaken she would look at the end, and it always took her a couple of minutes at least to recover her normal demeanor and poise. That's when you know you've seen something. 😉 Great stagecraft and drama often help. That said, I also enjoy ballets that are built on seamless choreography and a close relationship to the music. Some of both would make for a perfect evening.

En Pointe with Ballet Dancer Madison Keesler | MAKERS WHO INSPIRE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKrpjrIl3wE&feature=youtu.be

Others have criticized her handling of the Shades 'promenade' of arabesques, and other things, though I've seen the SFB Corps (coached by Makarova) perform the arabesques elegantly and look rock-solid - very few wobbles or bobbles. But it's really important to place the best arabesque performers in the first third of the group - after that the audience isn't noticing the details of the movements so much for the dancers entering last on the ramp.

Tiit Helimets is creating a ballet for the Estonian National Opera, and Dores Andre is creating the costumes [click right arrow to view additional photo]: Dores is staying very busy this summer, apparently.

Who is staging La Bayadère for ABT? Is it Makarova?

One other related image taken by Masha ("First time in 15 years home for New Year’s"): https://www.instagram.com/p/Bde8Y39hKY5/?taken-by=balletrusse Besides the poster of Masha, I remember seeing one of these photos showing a framed picture of Audrey Hepburn near the Russian icons. 😉

A very rare photo of Masha with her relatives in Russia: https://www.instagram.com/p/BjSbxkChLNX/?taken-by=balletrusse

It's unlikely that there are any policies in place saying that 'interim' directors cannot promote dancers. Of course the NYCB board could always raise objections to choices made by staff, but I'm not sure how explicit their written policies are about who gets to do what, and when, in this kind of unusual circumstance. An A.D. policy document would be a fascinating document to read.

Aurora enters the stage... Sasha De Sola: "Throwback to one of my favorite (and possibly most nerve-wracking memories) of this season" https://www.instagram.com/p/BjKs5RdliEX/?taken-by=sashadesola

The excellent Conversations on Dance archive now has a bunch of interviews being added from the San Francisco Ballet's Unbound Festival 2018. COD staff are still processing a number of the interviews, but SFB-specific podcasts can be found here: https://conversationsondancepod.com/san-francisco-ballet/ And the general archive for Conversations on Dance can be found on the "Listen Now" page: https://conversationsondancepod.com/listen-now/ The latest upload is a conversation with choreographer Christopher Wheeldon (from the SFB Unbound Festival), which includes a funny account of how he came to leave the Royal Ballet and join NYCB.

A number of the SFB dancers are in Spain together dancing at Volver 2018: https://www.instagram.com/volver.2018/

Thank you , KO'D - I've been meaning to go back and read his book, Working, but maybe now I should just listen to the archive. ;)

I completely agree with you about galas. ;) And for better or worse, Kochetkova (with Sebastian Kloborg) will be dancing a new David Dawson work at Benois : https://www.instagram.com/p/BiufPkYhldA/?taken-by=balletrusse

Thank you for this report, Mnacenani! FYI: There is a "Maria Kochetkova" thread in the Dancers section that hopefully people in Europe will continue to update (since we in the U.S. won't likely be seeing her as much): http://balletalert.invisionzone.com/topic/35390-maria-kochetkova/ Kochetkova seems to enjoy working with choreographers on new pieces, and those tend to be contemporary dance works. And of course, it's not easy to know if a new contemporary ballet will be judged a success, or a trifle. I'm not sure that Masha cares so much about whether the work has lasting value - she just likes the challenge of taking on new choreography, and being created on.

So, immediately post-SFB, Masha has gone to Amsterdam to work again with David Dawson on a new piece for the upcoming Benoit De La Danse (Moscow, June 5th), and, she's appearing at the Staatsballett Berlin. Masha and Polina Semionova in Berlin:

Carla Escoda's summary of the Unbound Festival - SF Ballet Unleashes a Dozen New Works at 'Unbound,' and Pop Wins https://www.kqed.org/arts/13831659/san-francisco-ballet-unleashes-a-dozen-new-works-at-unbound-and-pop-wins "…Together, all four made a powerful argument for the utility and wide-ranging expressiveness of ballet. More broadly, the use of pop and techno music provided fuel for some of the most interesting work in the festival — and, ironically, harkened back to a turbulent time in San Francisco Ballet’s history when artistic director Michael Smuin was ousted for daring to infuse strains of pop and Broadway into the repertoire." Escoda is approving of both Pita's Björk Ballet, and Ochoa's Guernica, both of which didn't fair so well with other dance writers, or forum members: "Pita closed the festival on a high, with genre-smashing Icelandic musician Björk as his muse." "Another keeper is Annabelle Lopez Ochoa’s Guernica. This was pitched as a themed response to the Syrian genocide, linked to Picasso’s depiction of the destruction of Guernica in the Spanish Civil War. But sometimes too much advance information can undermine a ballet — for as an abstract work, this one proved gripping."

Jen Stahl and Luke Ingham are performing Swan Lake Suite with Orange County Ballet Theater at Irvine Barclay Theatre on May 25th.

"like sand at the shore" - that's such an inspirational quote. ;) I'm reminded of a talk about the constant negative criticism that dancers live with (from a Conversations on Dance podcast with Ferraro and Breeden) [Jump to 11:40] https://conversationsondancepod.com/2018/04/10/dancers-negativity-and-perspective-post-retirement/

San Francisco Ballet manages a successful "dormitory" for select students: "We offer housing for 28 students in the desirable nearby neighborhood of Pacific Heights. The San Francisco Ballet School Residence features single, double, and triple rooms, on-site residence staff, and a short ride on public transportation from the School. Of course, students may also choose to arrange their own accommodations for independent living. Space in the residence is limited and available by invitation only. Lack of availability does not preclude participation in our program." https://www.sfballet.org/school/about/student-life The problem is, there isn't any help for company members of any U.S. company that I have heard of - it's 'sink or swim' with housing. If there weren't so many dancers looking for paid opportunities, I suppose the companies would have to go to more trouble to provide housing services to dancers. There's need for a Non-Profit organization to aid dancers and classical musicians in finding affordable housing - something like this: https://missionlocal.org/2017/09/nonprofit-launches-program-to-help-artists-find-affordable-housing/

I can only speak to the California engagements - there are some strategic choices. The theater with the most showings is in Tiburon - a very wealthy community across the bay from San Francisco. No doubt a place where some of the richest SFB patrons live. The rest are mainly clustered around Los Angeles. Very interesting. I think a bigger problem is that this kind of 'art' event draws almost no audience in the U.S., unless it happens in a major city. Movie theaters are a dying business because film distributors are hard at work setting up streaming services that will be available on the day of release. So movie houses will no longer have an exclusive product. Anyone who wants to stay at home and stream a new release can do so for a price - it often costs a group of people a fair amount of money anyway to go see a film together at a theater. Film venues will lose out quickly, sorry to say.

Due to the lack of availability, I recommend buying the DVD on Amazon. ;) The only Southern California showing I noticed was in Anaheim, which means that the students from Anaheim Ballet can go see Kochetkova (a frequent guest-artist at AB), and the kids at the Marat Daukayev School of Ballet (Masha trains with Marat). It's hard to know how these theater choices are made though.

After the SFB season ended, Froustey flew immediately to Kasan, Tatarstan, Russia to perform in La Bayadère. Here are some photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/Biqg9FmH7ES/?taken-by=lapetitefrench_

Exactly. Although there have certainly been important cultural/artistic contributions made outside of the Northeast U.S., the general impression is that, in the U.S., important things happen in New York, especially. And that's because the media finds it convenient to maintain this narrative. 'Nothing is real until it happens in New York'. > The Fjord Review serves an important function in that they review West Coast dance events consistently, and the writers are good. Canada seems to have a similar culture clash between West and East provinces (Quebec making a 3rd opponent in the culture wars). And they have the same situation in which the West Coast communities are often very aware of events in Asia/Pacific, but the East Coast communities look to Europe.