pherank

Relating to the retirement of Damien Smith: Former SFB Principal Dancer Muriel Maffre Announces Project with Damian Smith

Yes, congratulations indeed. I think we saw this coming, especially with the retirements in the men's ranks.

My personal assessment has been that she definitely adds an elegant and lovely 'flavor' to the mix, as well as strong technique for the traditional roles. The woman does leg beats as fast as a hummingbird's wings. ;) She helps to make this a very strong team of female Principals. I love the contrasting styles I now see among the Principals (and I'm counting Messmer as a Principal, though technically she's not). In the performances I've seen Froustey in, I got the feeling that she was just scratching the surface of what she can do - Froustey could hold up under further challenges, though she has admitted that she's a "slow learner". I don't really see it being a problem if she doesn't dance constantly - there are so many qualified soloists wanting a crack at the top roles. And imagine what it would have been like if Vanessa Zahorian had not been injured - fewer opportunities to see your particular favorites. Though I suppose Masha K. would have liked to have not danced so much. ;)

The documentary DVD is now available for pre-order on Amazon - release is June 24, 2014 (use the Amazon search link at the bottom of the page to support this forum). Search for "Afternoon of a Faun (2013)". And order "Balanchine in Montreal" Volume 2 for Tanny in Concerto Barocco!

Just because - Froustey and Kochetkova:

Behind the Scenes with Maria Kochetkova http://www.dancemedia.com/v/10117

Patricia Wilde stood out for me as well - what a force of nature! Serenade is well danced throughout, but Wilde exudes confidence and skill - she has the movements down cold, and yet she still looks thrilled to perform them. Adams dances with more "concern" if that makes sense. She may have been Balanchine's most favorite muse of all, but she was not emotionally up to the task, if you believe her own comments and those of fellow dancers. Too emotionally frail for the role of 'Muse to Balanchine'.

A shame that the MacMillan and Kobborg are being removed - I thought that would be an interesting program. And they did The 4 T's recently (2012?), so it would be nice to see something more rare from Balanchine's repetoire.

I saw Agon with both Yuan-Yuan Tan (May 3rd), and Sofiane Sylve (May 6th), and both performances were a mixed bag of high points and muddled interpretations. Sylve is better with Balanchine than most of the other SFB dancers, and she didn't disappoint, but her PDD partner Tiit Helimets wasn't, imo, executing movements as well as I expect him to do. I also noticed that his jumps that evening seemed to lack his usual spring (and he wasn't the only male danseur that night who seemed to lack real energy). It occured to me, with Kochetkova being absent from one expected performance, and Messmer not appearing in two ballets, and SVP also withdrawing, that the end of season aches and pains must be taking their toll on the company. Dores Andre seemed to be the go-to-replacement. I'm just not as excited about watching Andre as I am about seeing Messmer. When I saw Program 7 on Sunday, I wasn't particularly interested in seeing Suite en Blanc again, but I was really surprised at how much better the execution of this ballet was from last season - the dancers really had fun with their parts and showed true 'elan' in this perfromance. SFB appears to need more time with Agon - to echo Quiggin's comments the company needs to order a stack of "Balanchine in Montreal" DVDs and force everyone to take Volume 2 home with them. And study, study... The B-S Quartet was 'lovely' both nights (the costumes are a fun part of the experience), but I don't happen to be a real fan of that Balanchine work - for me, the choreography is unusually repetitive for Balanchine, and simply isn't as clever or inspired as some 20 other Balanchine ballets that they could be dancing. But that's just my view. Robbins' Glass Pieces was generally well executed and the orchestra played particularly well, but, that's all the Philip Glass I need to hear this year. Funny thing, Scarlett's Hummingbird (Program 7) uses Philip Glass's muisc as well. ;) The audience responded well to the Glass Pieces performance - it's a good closer - I would have been less excited to end with BSQ.

Good to hear you enjoyed yourself (mostly). ;) A number of dance writers have questioned the title of Scarlett's ballet, but your description of "whip-fast partnering, the sweeping gestures, the balance between movement and stillness" certainly makes me think of hummingbirds. Kochetkova is dancing a lot in Program 8, btw.

Welcome Newballetfan, Of course we don't know your taste in these matters, but here's what I can tell you: Agon is a Balanchine 'masterwork' - meaning it is one of the seminal ballets of its period. It was very avant-garde when it was created and it still holds up well against the modern ballets of the present day (which are certainly influenced by ballets like Agon). I'm always reminded of 1950s modern art (NYC was the center of the avant-garde art world at that time) when I see Agon. I've not seen Ms. Tan in Agon (and I'm not sure if anyone has), so I will be particularly interested in how she approaches it. Sofiane Sylve dances Balanchine about as well as anyone at SFB, so she is a good person to see in these parts. Agon is one of those ballets that you need to see if you want to know what is best, and important in the world of ballet. Of course we all hope that we see a really excellent performance of this, or any other ballet, but I think it's important to support works like this whenever and wherever they are done. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8bx46l2gfZ0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c5X6CHJl7ek Brahms–Schoenberg Quartet is rather different from Agon, visually and musically. It involves many Corps dancers as well as soloists, and fancy costume dress. But like most Balanchine works, it is not a story ballet: it's all about the moods and the dancing. A video that shows a bit about BSQ: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ziQoxo56H0 Suzanne Farrell makes some helpful points about BSQ here: http://www.kennedy-center.org/explorer/videos/?id=A74272 And you can read more about the ballet here: http://www.pnb.org/AboutPNB/Repertory/BrahmsSchoenberg.aspx Robbin's Glass Pieces is all energy and speed - of the modern world - think New York City. It's also a ballet involving many Corps dancers, so it's very imposing. A video about Glass Pieces: http://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UakNzi_SBJM

"Last opening of the season Brahms-Schoenberg presented to you by dressing room 10" Courtesy of Ms. Kochetkova, Ms. Chung, MS. SVP and Ms. Froustey. In the first photo it looks more like Dores Andre than Froustey, so I'm guessing Froustey is the photographer, but that may just be the odd angle of the head throwing me off.

They may not bump anything - just add a 9th program that could be shorter in length, or overlap with another program. Personally I like it when the programs overlap because it gives me a better chance to see 2 programs. How about placing a short program between 4 and 5 and overlapping with 4?

And the company will be more 'practiced' by that point: the principals and soloists will have a better understanding of their parts. Should be good.

SFB has just announced that they are going to instate the entire Ratmansky Shostakovich Trilogy during the 2015 Season: http://clicks.skem1.com/preview/?c=11312&g=10162&p=fce8fec0c94b7b387c8285cb68c599c0&utm_source=mail2&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=15SubscriberProgramChangeAnnouncementMKTNG

Yes, Jack's comments are often spot on. But your criticism of the chosen colors is perfectly valid - humans react strongly to color. Unfortunately, we don't all agree that a particular color shade evokes particuar feelings or associations. And these things vary so much between cultures. Isamu Noguchi chose the colors, I believe. Some people like seafoam green, and others, defintely not. ;)

I'm really looking forward to seeing Sylve dance Balanchine - I just have to hope that she doesn't drop out of any of these scheduled performances. But it's the end of the season and the minor injuries are going to pile up. I'm not suprised that Masha was pulled from at least one of her scheduled outings. We don't want to see any more serious injuries. Zahorian probably will not reappear until the fall, or Nutcracker time.

Thanks Terez - I've been wondering what Hummingbird was like. The other two I've seen in past programs.

I just started watching these videos - very enjoyable so far. It's interesting how many people are choosing to speak in English. Where did Anna Tsygankova learn her English? From Matthew Golding? ;) It seems to me she must have been exposed to the language for a good long while to have become so fluent, but I thought she had always danced in Europe.

Yes, thanks - I was just looking at the updated castings, and it's quite a mishmash for the final week. But I don't think there are going to be any 'lame' castings. I wish I could be seeing more of Messmer though. That's kind of disappointing, but Sylve in Agon - yes! And Yuan Yuan in Agon will be very intersting to compare with. The Saturday matinee program looks terrific, but I won't be in SF early enough to go to that one. Masha K. posted on her Facebook page today that she would be "Dancing Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and 2x Saturday. Saturday night will be my last show of the season". Ouch, that's a lot of participation. But no Zahorian this season, it would seem. And not enough of Messmer here at the end.

San Francisco's Asian Art Museum will be hosting a book signing with Yuan Yuan Tan (and admission is free that day) - Target First Free Sunday Sun, May 4, 10 am–5 pm FREE general admission sponsored by Target It's going to be a special Target First Free Sunday as May is Asian Pacific American Heritage Month…SF Ballet principal dancer Yuanyuan Tan will be signing copies of her new Chinese language book, Ballet and I--available in the store for $40. Before the signing, watch a video presentation followed by a brief Q&A (this program will be in English and Mandarin). http://www.imakenews.com/asianart/index000694290.cfm?x=bnpMBwb,b5F9nwmk

Here's a couple more shots. At the end of the Elegy, when the Corps goes up on pointe, the lights fade out, so there isn't much to be seen there. I've seen that one as well - and I was thrilled in the beginning, but I ended up feeling like a carrot had been dangled before me, and I was never really allowed to enjoy it. What an opportunity missed! It's very true that camera angles and editing can tremendously alter ones experience of a subject. The problem is, too much camera artistry detracts from the dancing. What you see is cinema art (possibly), but propably not a good record of the dance performance. One art form is getting in the way of the other. We see that with painting everyday - a great painting is often a record of something entirely different than its 'subject'.

The shots of Adams, up close, are very dramatic, but we lose the shape of things - the final arrangement of bodies in the procession is very stirring, if you can actually see it. ;) But the camerwork mostly obscures things and reduces the whole impact of the finale. But that's really the only part that I found bothersome in that ballet. Agon is well filmed - almost always from the front, as I recall.

Welcome Jomaz, and thank you very much for supplying the answer: Joelle Mazet! Here's another image of Mazet - Léonide Massine et Joëlle Mazet sur le plateau du film La Boutique Fantasque (1961)

The Serenade TV backdrop: a painted cyclorama with much silk bunting above and below the cyclorama The 'cinematography' is not bad given the limited abilities of the equipment - the camera work is not intrusive or distracting. The only part that doesn't quite work for me in Serenade is (unfortunately) the ending - the director switches to an overhead camera view and things get rather claustophic looking: