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These are just the coolest. ;) A fragment from 1933: Ted Shawn's Men Dancers Sixth Prelude from The Well Tempered Clavichord https://danceinteractive.jacobspillow.org/ted-shawns-men-dancers/sixth-prelude-well-tempered-clavicord/ Ted Shawn's Men Dancers Finale from The New World (Antonín Dvořák) https://danceinteractive.jacobspillow.org/ted-shawns-men-dancers/finale-from-the-new-world/ Ted Shawn's Men Dancers Kinetic Molpai https://danceinteractive.jacobspillow.org/ted-shawns-men-dancers/kinetic-molpai/ "Later describing the lifespan of this groundbreaking company as “seven magic years,” Ted Shawn selected his original core group of dynamic performers from the athletes he taught at Springfield College. His purpose was to forge a new performance style for men, and to prove that dancing could be an honorable profession for the American male. The company performed over a thousand times in more than 750 different cities around the U.S. and Canada, as well as overseas in London and Havana. They played major concert halls and danced with the Philadelphia Orchestra in 1936. The troupe’s star dancer was Barton Mumaw, whose performing career continued for decades. Another enduring byproduct of the Men Dancers’ activities was the establishment of Jacob’s Pillow, where they first performed on July 14, 1933 and gave their final “homecoming” concert on August 31, 1940. The work seen here, Kinetic Molpai, was revived in 1962 by Norman Walker, and again in the early 1990s by a new group known as Jacob’s Pillow’s Men Dancers." Also note that Ted Shawn originally worked with Ruth St. Denis: "The Denishawn School of Dancing and Related Arts, founded in 1915 by Ruth St. Denis and Ted Shawn in Los Angeles, California," ...had many notable pupils including... "Martha Graham, Doris Humphrey, Lillian Powell, Charles Weidman, Jack Cole, and silent film star Louise Brooks". I've always remembered that Louise Brooks danced with Ted Shawn as a teenager. For some reason that bit of knowledge has stuck with me over the years.

Thanks for those links, sf_herminator - I didn't know Norika Matsuyama was out with injury until I saw Froustey's video. I imagine it can be pretty scary for the young ones to be sidelined at an early stage of the career. Interestingly, franadian [Frances Chung] says, "unfortunately I am not in the Balanchine program. Fortunately I'll get to be in the audience watching the glorious @sfballet dancers perform :)" I assume this is because she was first cast for Frankenstein, and is slated to dance Program 5. Froustey is expected for Program 5 as well - I hope she will be ready to dance. EDIT: Looks like Masha is rehearsing Diamonds too: https://www.instagram.com/p/BQ7MAQOBN9z/?taken-by=balletrusse

I was thinking more of the mental, rather than physical, struggles of staying on top. SVP is apparently only 33, even though she's been with various ballet companies for a total of 19 years, so as long as she stays healthy, she may be around a while longer. EDIT: I just discovered that SVP has a Neary connection too - Sofiane was 'discovered' by Patricia Neary, and SVP by Colleen Neary: Sarah Van Patten: My teacher was Jacqueline Cronsberg, and she owned a school, Ballet Workshop of New England, that then had a youth company, Massachusetts Youth Ballet, and I was a part of this. It was a relatively small school. Her daughter, Sandra Jennings, danced with New York City Ballet and is a répétiteur for the Balanchine Trust, and she set many Balanchine ballets on us… Time Out New York: What happened? Sandra was staging a ballet in Denmark, and she took you along? Sarah Van Patten: Yes. Colleen Neary and her husband [Thordal Christensen] were the directors of the Royal Danish, and because Colleen was a NYCB dancer — I want to say Sandy was setting a Balanchine piece on the company. There was some talk that the school at the time didn’t necessarily have apprentice-kind-of-dancers coming up; three of us flew over, and Jackie came with us. https://www.timeout.com/newyork/dance/sarah-van-patten-talks-about-san-francisco-ballet Thanks Josette. SFB needs to replace quite a few 'un-replaceable' danseurs. I'm actually glad that Tomossan is recruiting from outside the company too - Walsh, Greco, Di Lanno and Robison are all excellent finds.

I had the idea that Prokofiev would have been a good choice for composer of a Frankenstein ballet. But of course that never happened. The story-line of a ballet can be referred to as a libretto, yes. I've been wondering if anyone saw the Robison, André and Ingham casting. People have complained previously that they haven't seen anything of Aaron Robison. Hopefully we will hear from someone who was in the audience. "I hope Sarah VP and Sofiane aren't thinking retirement any time soon. They dance so "young" in my mind. Crazy to hear that Sofiane started professionally at 14. Wow." Sofiane is either now 40, or about to turn 40 this year, so the inevitable is fast approaching. I really hope she can be another Sylvie Guillem, and continue to make appearances for the next 10 years(!). But that depends on her body and health. She remains very flexible, and enthusiastic, that's for sure. Something that is little talked about, or advertised, is that she has been teaching steadily at the SFB school, and she is putting in a lot of time as a coach. Froustey and Di Lanno, for example, have been coached by her a number of times. I still want to see her considered for A.D. when Tomasson retires - she is a very intelligent person, and has the right mix of interests to champion both contemporary and classical productions. EDIT: [I just came across an article in the Guardian from 2007 that actually states her birth year as being 1976. So she is 40 or 41 at present] SVP is more of a mystery - I didn't expect her to come back so quickly after having her first child, so she obviously cares a great deal about her connection to the company. But family takes a lot of time and energy. She hasn't been dancing enough lately for me to tell if she's dancing at her highest level still, and if she cares to maintain that. Everything changes when children come along.

Terez has posted a review of Frankentstein to the Classical Girl blog: http://www.theclassicalgirl.com/sfbs-frankenstein-well-worth-checking/ I find her blog reviews to be very enjoyable reading. Much thanks to Terez for putting in the effort.

Yes, I well remember. And if Mearns should ever say something amiss online, then Macaulay will have an out-of-proportion meltdown. And that's reason enough not to get hung up on the subjects of one's reviews. I have to finish with this great little bit from Almost Famous - two depressed writers commiserating together: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=moWrN3JP3jA&spfreload=10

At least he was forced(!) to say something nice in his piece about NYCB on PBS: "The broadcast contains several top-form performances, for example Tiler Peck and Teresa Reichlen (the one a diamond, the other [a] mountain stream) in Symphony in C." There are various dancers that he tends to ignore, but of course, we all have our favorites. Given the current political climate, "heterosexual partnering", is not likely to disappear anytime soon. ;) Macaulay should realize that it isn't about replacing one thing with another: it's about allowing different approaches to exist, side-by-side. We humans don't do sharing very well.

But, that's obvious favoritism. So is he a fanboy/cheerleader, or a critic? Most likely he shifts back and forth endlessly, which is one of the reasons why his writing can be both thoughtful, and needlessly annoying.

I don't know why, LOL, but I immediately flashed on this great film line: “You CANNOT make friends with the rock stars!” — Lester Bangs (Philip Seymour Hoffman) in Almost Famous [Granted, the rock music industry and classical ballet world don't share many similarities.] I tend to agree that anyone representing his or her self as a journalist should not be 'socializing' on social media with the dancers that they critique. That is a very slippery slope - not only are people going to have their feelings hurt unnecessarily, but favoritism will become an even more obvious issue. What good would be served by writers and dancers getting into random or pointed arguments online?

Just to add to the confusion - I was trying to remember where Balanchine had used the term "plastic" or "plasticity", but couldn't find the quote. However, I've run into these different uses of the terms: "In Square Dance Megan Fairchild dances the ballerina role with almost too much sweetness, but there’s a freshness to her dancing that’s appealing, as there is with Ashley Bouder in the outer movements of Symphony in Three Movements. However, the latter ballet’s central female role needs more cool and plasticity than Abi Stafford’s debut performance as yet demonstrates." "Lasting eighteen minutes, Moto-Bio: Russia/1920s/Bodies in Movement explores trends in movement from the plastic free-dances of Isadora Duncan to the neo-classical innovations of George Balanchine." "The common wisdom is that the Balanchine Violin Concerto and Duo Concertant marked Mr. Martins's breakthrough in the company as a dancer. True, the plasticity and broken-lined rhythms here marked a departure from his previous academic reserve. Nonetheless it was Mr. Robbins in the 1970-71 Goldberg Variations who first recognized the malleability hidden in his seemingly set nobility."

All quite fascinating. Some parts that stood out for me: “'What defines a classic?'. Opinions varied. O'Hare thought that classics are pieces relevant for the company today, ones that suit the company. In the case of Britain’s Royal Ballet, he said that Ashton's and MacMillan's choreography and approaches define the nature of the company. Taveira said: 'A classic is a piece that has the quality of surviving the changes of time until the present day.' The meaning of ‘classic’ for Mark Baldwin is ‘pure’, so creating classics is still possible today. Tamara Rojo’s definition was stricter: only those pieces which follow the canons of classicism are classics." >> Balanchine would most likely have agreed with Rojo, and that betrays the education model that they both grew up with. I don't have a problem with that, but I think Kevin O'Hare's answer seems rather off-the-mark, as it is written above. He doesn't seem to be following any typical definition of the term "classic". "The unity of choreographer and style is seen differently in Stuttgart, where John Cranko coined the phrase “'Stuttgart Ballet has no style. We dance every style.'" >> But Cranko's company, or any company for that matter, does not dance a style in the same exact manner as another. If humans do anything well, it is in perceiving differences between things (and what a lot of trouble that causes, too). HET National Ballet dancing The Four Temperaments is not going to be the same as PNB or Hong Kong Ballet doing the same. "The Royal Swedish Ballet is in the luxurious position of getting an 80% subsidy, so Öhman can take risks. In fact, he said, he absolutely is obliged to do so. He struck a new path, for example, when adding contemporary dancers to his formerly fully-classical Swedish company. That both groups of dancers truly work together is important for him. Less so is that classical technique is polished day in, day out. One can always come back to the classical training when necessary, he explained. Brandsen had a different opinion. For his company, contemporary pieces are excursions, classical training has priority. 'One has to go through first position, tendu and all that every day, because after a certain time away from the barre, one loses the technique.'" >> The unending problem here is that classical technique and folk/modern/contemporary dance techniques are not the same, and though some argue that classical technique can be used as a basis for dancing many styles, the same cannot be said for the reverse: Hip-Hop, Flamenco, and Balinese folk dance are not springboards for learning classical ballet technique. "A young choreographer of the Dutch Junior Company added that dancers are fairly silent artists. Usually they are not asked for their opinion. Hence they need to be encouraged to communicate. This led Rojo to mention a worrying issue, illiteracy. 'It happens that I get dancers who can barely read or write and that is our fault. Because we teach them how to pirouette but not to read the books they are supposed to interpret later.'" >> I'm reminded of Diaghilev sending the young Balanchine off to the museums of Europe, and forcing him to absorb the work of these visual artists. Balanchine eventually understood what was being asked of him, but it was hardly a formal education in the arts. ;) But the point should be taken that, if you are going to represent yourself as being an artist, you should have a good sense of what other artists have achieved and attempted over the centuries. Being able to read literature is part of that. And this relates to Taveira's statement about performing classics: "The big works of humanity must be shown. There is always a new generation, which hasn’t seen them". Yes indeed. Humans teach one another things about what it is to be human, and to live on the Earth. It makes perfect sense that we spend part of our time reviewing the best efforts of the human race.

While it is available online, I very much recommend this fascinating program: http://www.pbs.org/video/2365955827/ "Engineers are using origami to design drugs, micro-robots, and future space missions."

Just posted to YouTube - Theresa Ruth Howard's keynote address on the subject of "diversity" from the Position Ballet conference: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z-96zhPdEow

LOL. At least they are not able to speed up the credits to a blinding pace, as is so often done with normal TV shows. I was just reading Macaulay's review of this presentation - I like this bit: "Above all, the “Walpurgisnacht Ballet” captures what for some years has been the single greatest ballerina performance of our day: Sara Mearns in its lead role. She has dramatic flair and heroic voluptuousness within technical brilliance. She embodies the music’s seductive diablerie." I pretty much agree. It's the closest we get to experiencing a Violette Verdy or Allegra Kent -type dancer in the present day.

Great find, thank you. I'm glad these "ballet world leaders" are getting a chance to talk together, share experiences and brainstorm.

Thanks for the report, Quiggin. The Onegin comparison makes sense. Anne Murphey (for the Mercury News) seems to agree with your assessment: http://www.mercurynews.com/2017/02/18/san-francisco-ballets-frankenstein-compelling-but-flawed/ "The questions: Is it new? Different? Daring? The answer: sometimes. The first image of the production is arresting. On the drop curtain there’s a giant skull viewed from the side, a spinal cord and what appears to be a trachea at a disturbing remove from the spine. When that curtain rises, a three-act, nearly three-hour, visually compelling but choreographically flawed ballet starts unfolding."

One of the problems with television is that you can't pause, rewind, etc. ;) At least with the online videos it's possible to look over the credits carefully.

It's possible that the broadcasting station was using the incorrect aspect ratio for this HD broadcast, or your television settings (more likely) are cropping the image. I watched the broadcast on a PBS station that is not HD quality (it's going to be re-broadcast on an HD PBS station next week), and it appeared at normal aspect ratio (I just happened to watch the online version again the day before the broadcast). I didn't notice any cropping of the image. However, the image resolution was low, and that was annoying. I enjoyed these performances overall.

Mr. Clifford has posted a good quality video of the POB performing Robbin's Opus 19/The Dreamer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wHT3oDLOKBk He provided a long comment about the piece which is interesting reading: "Here's a wonderful performance from the Paris Opera Ballet from a few years ago, of one of Jerome Robbins' more Balanchine inspired works. "Opus 19/The Dreamer." I saw the first season of this and actually was pretty unimpressed...even though the leads were Baryshnikov and Patricia McBride. Now however...after all these years, I appreciate it much more. Please understand that Balanchine was still alive then, and all I could see was Robbins' choreographic references to Balanchine's "Stravinsky Violin Concerto" and other Balanchine works. Now this blows me away with it's musicality and freshness of thought. It holds up really well compared to most of the anemic new ballets that to my eyes look more like gymnastics to repetitive "machine" music than actual "dancing." I have a bit of a history with this score too. Originally Balanchine had given this music to Edward Villella to use for his 2nd ballet for the company. Villella couldn't find his way through this music, so Balanchine asked me, a 20 yr-old new dancer in the company, to get a Stravinsky ballet I had started choreographing for the school, SAB, ready to replace Villella's on the Spring season! That was my first ballet for the NYC Ballet and Mr. B was pleased enough to ask for 7 more before I eventually left the company. Then flash forward 10 years and I use this same Prokofiev Violin Concerto for my own LOS ANGELES BALLET. It was a success and Polly Shelton, Ken Mraz, Johnna McHugh (Kirkland), Charles Flemmer, and myself were the leads. Then Jerry Robbins did this version. (His was better than mine I think) What I LOVE about this Paris Opera version the most is Mathias Heymann. I find him to be the best of his generation. Elegant, stylish, perfect proportions, sterling technique, and an understated quality that lets the choreography shine through...in whatever he is doing. His beauty of line and movement quality always impresses me. I actually much prefer him to Baryshnikov in this...and that's a very tough act to follow!" A couple of the YouTube commentators felt that the performance continued to lack something.

We may have missed out on this event - I'm only hearing about it after the fact: Positioning Ballet "Parallel to Made in Amsterdam, Dutch National Ballet is organising Positioning Ballet: a private working conference that provides artistic directors, choreographers and dance journalists the opportunity to exchange ideas about the future of ballet. All over the world, ballet companies represent the artistic top. They serve a large audience that also views them in this light, regarding the achievements of ballet companies as exemplary. Financially, too, ballet companies belong to the top of the arts sector. All of this involves great responsibility – the responsibility to continue to reflect on our own practices." SFB's Helgi Tomasson and Gennadi Nedvigin (now Atalanta Ballet A.D.) were taking part, and that's how I happened to hear about this.

It looks like ABT is coming to Segerstrom with Ratmansky's Whipped Cream - March 15 - March 19: https://www.scfta.org/events/detail.aspx?id=14553&utm_source=Email_marketing&utm_campaign=Eblast_ABTWhippedCreamOnSale&cmp=1&utm_medium=HTMLEmail "WORLD PREMIERE With Pacific Symphony Take a trip into a colorful world of delicious characters and dancing sweets in a whimsical blend of fantasy and surrealism from Artist in Residence Alexei Ratmansky and pop-surrealist visionary Mark Ryden with music by Richard Strauss. In this full-length confection, a young boy overindulges at a Viennese pastry shop and falls into a delirium. To help the boy escape from his attending physician, the boy dreams of his triumphant rescue by Princess Praline and her court, replete with Princess Tea Flower, Prince Coffee as well as marching Marzipan, concluding in a festive celebration! As light as meringue, Richard Strauss' score is the perfect inspiration for this all-new production destined to delight ballet fans of all ages." Principal Casting for “Whipped Cream” (Artists and program subject to change) Wednesday, March 15 at 7:30 p.m. Daniil Simkin (The Boy) Stella Abrera (Princess Tea Flower) David Hallberg (Prince Coffee) Sarah Lane (Princess Praline) Thursday, March 16 at 7:30 p.m. Herman Cornejo* (The Boy) Hee Seo* (Princess Tea Flower) Cory Stearns* (Prince Coffee) Cassandra Trenary* (Princess Praline) Friday, March 17 at 7:30 p.m. Jeffrey Cirio* (The Boy) Isabella Boylston* (Princess Tea Flower) Alban Lendorf* (Prince Coffee) Misty Copeland* (Princess Praline) Saturday, March 18 at 2 p.m. Daniil Simkin (The Boy) Gillian Murphy* (Princess Tea Flower) James Whiteside* (Prince Coffee) Sarah Lane (Princess Praline) Saturday, March 18 at 7:30 p.m. Herman Cornejo (The Boy) Hee Seo (Princess Tea Flower) Cory Stearns (Prince Coffee) Cassandra Trenary (Princess Praline) Sunday, March 19 at 1:00 p.m. Jeffrey Cirio (The Boy) Isabella Boylston (Princess Tea Flower) Alban Lendorf (Prince Coffee) Misty Copeland (Princess Praline) Sunday, March 19 at 6:30 p.m. Daniil Simkin (The Boy) Stella Abrera (Princess Tea Flower) David Hallberg (Prince Coffee) Sarah Lane (Princess Praline) *Indicates debut in role

I think it's only "political" at SFB (with regards to promotion) in the sense of management needing to show loyalty, and sensitivity, to the dancer's sacrifices over time. Sasha, and Dores André before her, have been work-horses for the company, and proven themselves over the years. But ballet companies generally need to bring in a few 'stars' from the outside (Europe, Asia, etc.) to keep things fresh and exciting for the audience. Budget absolutely plays into what can be done in a single year. On the subject of Frankenstein, there is a one day sale on tickets - today, Valentine's Day only: https://www.sfballet.org/valentine (But I won't be shocked if SFB decides to extend the sale)

A very ambitious and exciting schedule for PNB. A number of ballets by female choreographers, which is great. I hope Yuan Yuan Tan is going to be available to coach her role in RakU - I think it would contribute to a powerful performance. And Pascal Molat was tremendous as the Monk/Priest character, and he has just retired, so may be available for coaching (knock on wood). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GvDWJy-g2Xs Video about the Joffrey Ballet version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uxRjY1R1SMQ

Thank you!

Thanks for the info on Shearer's book, Quiggin. Find a cheap copy has proven daunting - I last looked about a year ago and the prices were just as bad then. '…though she holds odd prejudices against balletomanes and "weak parners."' I rather thought that was normal. ;) I agree with you about the I Remember Balanchine book, and the various Balanchine-related autobiographies, for that matter - people's anecdotes tend to provide a better picture of the personalities, and times, than 'non-fiction' books, and the reader might even feel transported back to another era (yipee!). Reading about the early history of ballet tends to be a less engrossing, more academic experience, imo. So the autobiographies are invaluable.