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"In a surprising move, the company announced Wednesday that it will cease operations at the end of the current season, citing financial reasons including a tough fundraising environment and weak ticket sales." http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/arts/culture/la-et-cm-san-diego-opera-closing-20140319,0,1123067.story#axzz2wTLekBJD Having gone a couple of times myself this year, I can say that the productions have been of good quality, but the audience is aging. As my father pointed out, the opera also employs a good many of the SD Symphony musicians in-between Symphony engagements. So this will have an unfortunate ripple effect in the local arts community. Very sad.

Ballet life in Tokyo is good: "This was really amazing : 2h30 after the performance people were still waiting for pictures !!!!"

The article on Janie Taylor in the Weekly Standard explains in detail about her health problems, and makes it clear that she couldn't really continue on dancing at the pace expected of a principal.

How frustrating is that?! I happened to be reading comments from some people complaining about last-minute casting changes at another company's performance (and they were definitely angry comments), but to fly to Paris and see nothing at all - that would definitely make me crazy. I'm not seeing any information regarding the strike, but I did see this article about Dorothee Gilbert being named etoile during a strike performance (with minimal costumes and sets): http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jMQ4x-pwMaJjVyem7yW__o6DIgrA?hl=en Amusing in retrospect only.

The ticket to the Shostakovich Trilogy has been sold. Thanks for looking.

I'm in the same boat, Terez, so hopefully others will post their reactions to Cinderella here...

Well it's a new year (2014), and City Ballet of San Diego has put on a 3 performance run of "Balanchine Masterworks". I saw the Sunday matinee, which I realized had followed an 8pm Saturday evening show (and with a daylight savings change factored in) - these must have been some tired dancers. The program consisted of: Apollo Allegro Brillante Sonatine Serenade Half my reason for going was to see Allegro Brillante and Sonatine live and complete. My hat's off to director Steven Wistrich for putting his little company through this ambitious program. My impression was that things generally got better as they went along. Though Apollo felt mostly stilted, and the Apollo dancer, Geoff Gonzalez, overly reliant on poses (which isn't really how it should be presented), the energy of the other three ballets was impressive for such a small, local company. Arianna Samuelsson danced the Terpsichore role, as well as Sonatine, and was a lead in Serenade. So a tremendous amount of dancing for her over the 3 days. I've since learned that she is the daughter of the director, and lead choreographer (Elizabeth Rowe-Wristrich). But there was little question in my mind that she was the strongest female dancer of the group, and deserved the attention. Except for some minor issues, Serenade came off quite well, and was much appreciated by the audience. Overall, I found them to be a dedicated and hard-working team of dancers. I wish them all the success in the world.

Thanks Josette - I couldn't remember where the info was originally posted. But I think you are correct regarding Pagliero. And Froustey has said that Kitri is one of her 'dream' roles, so off she went.

Froustey posted this image from Tokyo - getting her panda on - where she is presently subbing with the POB as Kitri in Don Quixote ( I think she is replacing an injured Ciaravola).

I would go to the Costa Mesa show again (if that happens). I believe they also did some nights at Berkeley's Zellerbach auditorium, last tour. That would be easier for people in the Pacific Northwest, like Sandik - Seattle to Oakland airport isn't such a long flight.

Note that the Cinderella ticket is no longer available. The single ticket for Shostakovich Trilogy is still available.

Yes, I'd llike to hear about what was said - I wonder if there will be a podcast of this...

Agreed. But she did say she thought it would take time to learn the new repertoire (and there's a lot of it). Even in the 'classics' she has to contend with someone else's choreography (such as Tomasson for Nureyev). I can't say I'm totally suprised at how things are going - she has a lot to contend with. And there are so many soloists with the company chomping at the bit to do main roles. It's got to be a real fight right now to get stage time. For Froustey, the Ratmansky trilogy is a definite possibility for soloist work. I can imagine there was some negotiating that happened to allow her to sub with the POB - if you don't do anything on Cinderella, then you are putting in a lot of time with ___________.

I do have a prediction though: that the upcoming Tomasson world premiere will be created on Froustey, Tan (naturally), and, depending on the number of dancers, he may use Powell from the Corps de Ballet as a soloist. So we shall see if my instincts are good...

French New Wave Director Alain Resnais leaves us at the age of 91: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/03/movies/alain-resnais-acclaimed-french-filmmaker-is-dead-at-91.html His two acknowledged art-house classics, "Hiroshima Mon Amour” and “Last Year at Marienbad”, remain fascinating films.

I couldn't find any exsiting links to this video, so for your enjoyment - Fragments of Serge Lifar and Suzanne Lorcia, 1938 -

That was fun - do you know the choreographer and costume designer for this scintillating production?

As far as I can figure it, the POB are in Tokyo from about the 13th to the 23rd. And Froustey may be with them the entire time. I do wonder if she spent any time in rehearsals for Cinderella roles, or if there wasn't much opportunity for that, so it was easy to get leave for March.

Well she's already rehearsing for a gala somewhere - so Masha never stops moving...

As the 2014 run of Cinderella is fast approaching, I thought people might be interested in this video: "Designing Wheeldon's Cinderella":

Great comments, Josette, thanks. I was pretty much certain about Powell being the Shade lead, but each night I was sitting farther from the stage, and things were getting more blurry with each performance ;) Which lead to one of the down moments for me - on Friday night I was realizing that something was wrong with the trio of dancers in Bayadere - "Is that Froustey on the left? That doesn't look like Froustey. . .and is that Messmer? I don't think it is! Oh no!" (I hadn't had time to look at the program before the start). Well, the trio dancing was fine actually, but not the same for me. I wanted to see the magic again. I too noticed that the 2nd Shade happened to have a particularly low arabesque height, which was odd casting next to Powell, who looked like a perfect emulation of the POB's Shade-style - I would think the ballet master would at least want a similar look within a row, or dancers in close proximity. I also felt that on Friday night, Tan was the clear standout, in The Firebird ballet. That was one of the 'magic' moments of the week for me, when everything was just clicking. I hadn't seen Possokhov's version of Firebird until this week, and had low to no expectations for it. I just wanted to hear the score played live by the orchestra. ;) But I was pleasantly suprised. The only thing that doesn't quite work yet in this version, imo, is the choregraphy in the finale, which tries to make light of the grandiosity of the music - and that is OK since it fits with the rest of the choreography. But having the dancers stand on the stage and kind of bob their arms in time to the repetitions and swelling in the music is only funny for a moment - then it gets old. (I'm reminded of the Balanchine comment, "three times is a trick".) I would like to see something a bit more clever there. What you said about the Bayadere principals was interesting. I wasn't bothered by anything in the dancing - I just noticed that Matvienko was, as you say, working hard, to put on a show (and I have to think it was friendly competition with Karapetyn who really threw down the gauntlet on Wednesday night). I have learned that Kochetkova is sick with what is probably the flu (she has a fever), so that might be why she seemed to lack some emotional life that night. A digression, but regarding Zahorian: she's keeping busy fronting a jewelry business with an Armenian connection: Dancing Tulip http://www.sfballetblog.org/2014/02/new-beginnings-2014/ I imagine it's gonig to take several months at least to heal from her injury and begin any strenuous activity on her foot.

I have a couple of extra tickets for two San Francisco Ballet performances: one is for Wheeldon’s Cinderella, and one is for Ratmansky’s Shostakovich Trilogy. Both of these are aisle seats in the Orchestra Ring. Not pricey. I will sell at face value (plus $1 shipping please) through PayPal (that way, we are both protected if something goes wrong). If you have an interest in either ticket, or both, just PM me through Ballet Alert. (Why Cinderella costs more, I don't know - I guess because it's "back by popular demand") Cinderella ticket is for Wednesday, March 12, 2014, 7:30pm - Orch M 24 - $49 http://www.sfballet.org/tickets/production/overview/cinderella CASTING (subject to change) Cinderella: Yuan Yuan Tan Prince: Luke Ingham Edwina: Sasha De Sola Clementine: Dores Andre Benjamin: Hansuke Yamamoto Shostakovich (Program 5) ticket is for Wednesday, April 2, 2014, 7:30pm - Orch N 23 - $29 http://www.sfballet.org/tickets/production/overview/program-5-2014 And here is a map of the seat locations:

I only caught the last few minutes of it - I literally decided at the last minute to follow the crowds over to the War Memorial and see what the box office had available in seating. In Makarova's version, the arabesques are done on the same leg the whole way. The POB Corps switches back and forth between sides, which is probably more difficult to control, but it would be less tiring for the lead Shades. I've had my eye on Powell - to me, she seems like a natural, and Tomasson definitely seems to be fast-tracking her, and she keeps eating up the challenges. I hope she does develop into a full-time soloist - it is an exciting thing to watch a dancer 'grow up' and become 'somebody'. I very much wanted to see Messmer in the role, but I couldn't deal with another couple of days in SF - too expensive, and I had work to get back for. I already think she's a great addition to the company. Last year, it was looking like the female principals were overworked, but now it seems more like a wealth of options - Zahorian is out, and were still not seeing enough of Froustey and Messmer! Matvienko was also staying at the Inn at the Opera, and there was an older, blonde, well-dressed Russian woman with him. I wasn't sure who she might be, but I happened to speak with her for a while while we were waiting for our rides to the airport (her ride turned out to be Matvienko with a Cadillac). She wondered what I though about Bayadere specifically. Afterwards, I was wondering - was that Makarova? But at the Tuesday night performance, Makarova was wearing her usual silk scarf, wrapped around her head - it was clearly her. So I don't know who I was speaking to, but I'm curious to know. EDIT: I've since realized that I WAS speaking to Markova - Duh! Her apperance has of course changed over the years, and this is how she looks now:

Hi Diane, Thank goodness you didn't hear the American NBC version, peppered with mostly innane commentary. All faintly disrespectful of the Russians. They can't manage to hold it in for even one evening. Yes, the opening ceremony had live 'actors' and dancers playing the part of various Russians from history (inculding Sergei Diaghilev, interestingly enough), and representing famous ballet roles. The ceremonies both recounted Russian history to the rest of the world, and informed the Russian people that it was OK to recognize many artists who were often on the outs with the Soviet/Russian government at one time or another. So many of the writers/composers depicted suffered one way or another under repressive regimes, or didn't fit into cultural norms, or simply left the country never to return (as did Diaghilev). But they were represented, and that must have been a big deal to the Russian people.

I can corroborate this PeggyR - thanks to United Airlines canceling their flights on Friday, due to the “big storm”, I went to the ballet again on Friday night. It was that or go to the movies on Van Ness, and that seemed depressing to me somehow, so back to the ballet… The Corps looked to have gotten past their case of the nerves from earlier in the week. I’ve been thinking though that the ballet master should simply insist that all arabesques be done to a height that everyone can reach, rather than allow those with particularly good extension, or technique, do one thing, and everyone else follow their own individual path. It really is best to just get the Corp to look as one. It looked like Elizabeth Powell did lead the Shades down the ramp again on Friday, but I haven’t been able to get confirmation of that - I didn’t have opera glasses with me this week. I would think that she would be thoroughly exhausted after 3 nights of La Bayadere, plus dancing as one of the “Little Princesses" in The Firebird on these same nights, and in-between, dancing as one of the leads in McGregor’s Borderlands, and also Ratmansky’s From Foreign Lands. But I believe I saw her leave with some of her cohorts to party after the show (they were definitely dressed to go out). Oh, to be 18 years old again! What made it all worthwhile for me was seeing Yuan Yuan Tan dance the Firebird role, finally. And she was simply great. The SFB preview video of Possokhov’s Firebird, with Tan, is pretty tame looking compared to what was presented Friday night. Her performance added much needed depth and detail to the part - she gets those little things right, and she struck me as more “lively” and even “sassy” (which is a word I never thought I would use for Tan) than even Van Patten in her Tuesday night performance. At curtain call, apparently many other people were equally impressed, because there was this fantastic roar from the crowd (especially in the upper tiers) when Tan came running out - it sounded like a soccer match. I haven’t experienced that reaction much at the War Memorial. I also wanted to mention that Tiit Helimets was again great as “Ivan” - he seems to take real delight in the role and the fact that he looks like he’s having a blast really resonates with the audience. The best Kaschei at SFB remains Pascal Molat, though James Sofranko was still entertaining - he just didn’t have that larger-than-life characterization I think the part requires. Kaschei needs to command the stage, except for when the Firebird appears - then it's a jousting match. The only real disappointment for me was the absence of Froustey and Messmer from La Bayadere (and apparently Froustey is already back in Paris rehearsing for their upcoming Tokyo performances). The Froustey/Chung/Messmer trio was something to be seen, and of course left me wanting to see a lot more from Froustey and Messmer…