pherank
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Posts posted by pherank
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3 hours ago, aurora said:
A bit off topic, but this doesn't really reflect the state of ABT today--whose school is a newer endeavor and emphasis.
35% of the current roster of ABT came through the school, including 4 of the principal dancers.
And 80% of the current roster came through ABT's studio company.
Yes, but as you say, these are recent changes (after years of complaints from the audience I might add). I was just speaking generally about the ABT approach to hiring principals and soloists over the last 30 - 40 years. Dancers coming up through the school never had any kind of precedence that I noticed. But you may know different. It always seemed liked the ABT school dancers were simply used to fill up the Corps, and if they were lucky, might be promoted to soloist after 15 years - I'm kind of exaggerating, but that's what it felt like. 😉
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6 hours ago, Drew said:
Do you not trust the company's board on these issues? Have their members expressed a desire for that kind of change? That is, I'm imagining these or related questions would have been brought up in the interview/vetting process.
As you may know, the director of the ENB school is Viviane Durante, and Rojo presided over brand new digs for the school as well--neither of which things suggest she thinks a company's school is unimportant. I don't have figures, but the school website lists about 20 alums who are in ENB at the present time including soloists, a principal, and what they call a "leading principal." (Overall, that would be less than the percentage at San Francisco of dancers from their school but over 30 percent of ENB's dancers--and one doubts their school has the pick of the crop in London.)
Tomasson had a super distinguished tenure at San Francisco. Bravo to him! But it wasn't an easy transition (as noted by others above) and he did/does bring in dancers from outside the company-- Mackay recently but quite a number of others -- not as guest artists but as soloists and principals, and I would be surprised if Rojo didn't do that as well. Naghdi even made a guest appearance--very rare at San Francisco. Which I agree is a good thing.
For all I know Rojo will be a bust in San Francisco, but I think she's a very compelling figure and am "rooting" for her and the company 100 percent.
Do I trust the board? No. That's the world of super money and super egos and there's political infighting that goes on - everyone wants to be the biggest influencer.
I didn't mean to suggest that Tomasson and SFB didn't hire from the outside (and the best that can be found) - every company does this to survive. But ABT has been relying on an 'international stars' model for decades. The stars had precedence over dancers who had come up slowly through the ranks. I happen to like the school-centered company model. That's me. It may be a quieter means of establishing a style and approach, but it is very effective over the long term, and binds people together (internally) in a way that the eclectic stars approach can never do.
5 hours ago, volcanohunter said:But she also talked about imitating the way theater companies approach Shakespeare productions, so I would expect a lot of "reimagined" classics, budget permitting.
Yes, I have a feeling this may be what we will see a lot of. To me, bringing in another version of Giselle, no matter how 'interesting', is not really pushing the art form forward. Hopefully she will continue the interest in new ballets,a nd new platforms to present them on.
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3 hours ago, Mashinka said:
I had to provide all that for Salzburg last year with the exception of proof of booster as they weren't available then. I turned up wearing an N95 but was told to remove it and was given an FFP2. We weren't allowed to sit together, everyone in the audience had an empty seat on each side and front and back. However none of the performers wore masks as in Rome.
N95 is an American designation/rating, but the N95 masks aren’t certified for medical use in the EU (every country and region has its own standards). I believe the FFP2 and N95 rated masks offer basically the same amount of protection though. So in public, you should be safe to use either. At the performance venues the local protocols are going to be strictly enforced. At least they gave you a mask to wear rather than send you home - that was nice.
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One specific concern I have is that Rojo would bring in a few "stars" to make the company more like ABT (no thanks), and de-emphasize the importance of the SFB School to the company - something Tomasson spent 3 decades on. If my memory serves me, over 60% of the dancers spent time at the SFB School. [Just checked, and the website say's "more than 65%"].
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The Hernandez brothers together again at last. Well I suppose that's something.
One thing that Rojo may be able to improve upon - getting SFB a real, continuous, online presence in the form of streamed performances and interviews/classes/seminars, etc. All those great things they started doing during the lockdown and then...?
Here's an idea: a shared West Coast digital platform with channels for PNB, SFB, Millepied's LA Dance Project, Lines Ballet, etc. -
6 hours ago, aurora said:
Interesting--the articles citing her appointment clearly said that he had recently (as in before her appointment) rejoined SFB.
Yes, I read that bit about Hernandez "rejoining" SFB, but it was news to me, and I think to everyone else that follows SFB. There was never any PR announcement of this fact. It's obviously just part of Rojo's package deal.
4 hours ago, Mashinka said:Over the years ENB has struggled to balance the books. When Rojo 'took over' (ahem) from Wayne Eagling, the company was in excellent financial health. It will be interesting to see the financial position post Covid. I understand Ms Rojo commanded a substantial salary in London so I doubt if that influenced her move to the US. Perhaps SFB has better financial reserves?
Even if SFB pays fairly well, the cost of living is so high in the Bay Area that I would think that would mitigate the salary benefits. And of course the artist would have to prove they care about a lot more than money to get the A.D. job. 😉
I'm just not sure what the attraction would be for Rojo.
I seem to recall that both Rojo and Tomasson were on the panel of one of those "What is the future of ballet? symposiums, and that may have been where they first talked in depth, and perhaps, that's how the idea of coming to SFB got into her head. -
You know, I'm still wondering: Why is Rojo leaving ENB? If things have turned out so well for her there (as the p.r. makes it sound), why not continue to build up ENB?
And why go halfway around the world - leaving behind the usual ballet centers to lead a US West Coast company? What's the benefit to Rojo? I would think it would be more difficult, not less, to get notice for her 'artistic vision' when located in California. Perhaps she intends on making SFB tour more (good luck with that). Or maybe the point is to get away from all the touring that ENB has had to do?
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Rojo would not be my choice as a best fit, not by a long shot, but as audience members we have little choice but to ride with it and see what happens. My guess is the chemistry will be very different, so yes, there may be some dancers jumping ship (or being pushed).
I would have to think that there are SFB dancers who support this choice and it would be interesting to hear their take on things.
What I do like: SFB chose a woman as AD, and an experienced one.
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"Announcing the Denis de Coteau fellowship, a partnership between SF Ballet and the SF Conservatory of Music, created to advance opportunities for Black musicians..."
https://www.instagram.com/p/CYXUykROGPO/
And more about Denis here:
Take a Bow: Celebrating Denis de Coteau’s legacy at SF Ballet
https://www.sfballet.org/take-a-bow-celebrating-denis-de-coteaus-legacy-at-sf-ballet/ -
I didn't receive the e-mail(!), but on SFB's Instagram page they've posted basically the same message:
https://www.instagram.com/p/CYUieBwBFJ3/
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3 hours ago, Helene said:
I love that entire concept and his ballet.
Rachel Howard wrote recently that Nutcracker was "arguably Tomasson’s finest achievement during his 37 years leading the company". It strikes me as a more cohesive production than some. I only wish the 2nd Act wasn't quite so minimal in its stagings. I never liked the overly stuffed Kingdom/Land of Sweets look that NYCB uses, but I think there needs to be "richness" to the fantasy, if that makes any sense. And since the stagings reference the 1915 Panama Pacific International Exposition, I wish they had shown more of the glamorous architecture that was present.
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On 1/1/2022 at 9:56 AM, Helene said:
I assume for the same reason that many productions use variations on Three Ivans instead of Candy Canes: because they have discretion. I would ask why any of the characters except the Polichinelles are portrayed as people, since they're supposed to be food and other physical objects. Balanchine clearly chose to portray Coffee -- originally a man smoking a hookah, but then was changed to a woman -- Tea, and the Polichinelles as humans, but Candy Cane, Marzipan, Flowers, Dewdrop, are all things, not people, while Mother Ginger is a giantess and angels are otherworldly, and different productions mix and match.
In the PNB Balanchine, Coffee is a Peacock, as a tribute to the Stowell/Sendak production. In the latter, Tea was a Bear, a Sendak creation. In San Francisco (Tomasson's production), Tea is a Chinese dragon.
The choreography for Tea is characterized quite well as a cricket.
SFB's version refers to the Chinese New Year's parade in SF Chinatown which happens to feature martial arts clubs in the parade, and of course the big dragon. So Tomasson gives us a taste of those things without really paying much attention to the original "tea" theme (or "chocolate" or "coffee" for that matter). His emphasis is more on the character dancing than on the original idea of a Land of Sweets:
QUOTE: For Tomasson, the idea of a Clara transported to “Sugarland” as he calls past productions of Act II, never worked for him. “No one seems to know where Sugarland is,” he says, laughing. “Why can’t Clara imagine that her fantasy is taking place in her own city in one of those incredible pavilions?
“Looking at photographs of the Exposition, it must have been incredible,” says Tomasson. “I thought, ‘Why not use the concept of the beautiful international pavilions—in a loose way, of course—to suggest the time period in Act II?’”
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For additional Nutcracker-related fun: go to Tiit Helimet's Instagram page and look for his pas de deux with his now 11 year old daughter Chloe (it's about 5 minutes long). She already has a very soft and elegant movement style - and she's obviously pretty fearless to take this on. I just hope she isn't too disappointed when she starts partnering classes with the boys more her age. 😉
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A big surprise - Mathilde Froustey returned to the stage December 24th to dance the Nutcracker Grand Pas:
https://www.instagram.com/p/CX7HCoYBwnm/
And here's a fun time-lapse video of backstage preparations for The Nutcracker:
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SFB has posted a time-lapse view of the backstage preparations for Nutcracker - I always find these fascinating:
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Photos posted by Joe Walsh (with Frances Chung and Nikisha Fogo):
https://www.instagram.com/p/CXVarGMrAFL/
More from Nikisha:
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I believe this will be a free streaming event:
Stream Ailey’s Opening Night Gala
from December 22-28, 2021"The Opening Night Gala features performances of Robert Battle’s Ella (performed to live music by Jazzmeia Horne) and the finale of Love Stories, plus 'Bird' Lives!, an excerpt from Alvin Ailey’s For ‘Bird’ – With Love featuring Company member Clifton Brown with students from The Ailey School, and Mr. Ailey's beloved Revelations."
https://www.youtube.com/c/AlvinAileyAmericanDanceTheater/videos
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9 hours ago, aurora said:
This is not correct.
Vaccines don't protect against "exposure" obviously. But they do protect against getting the virus. Do they protect entirely? No. That's why there are (many with omicron) so-called breakthrough cases.
This is not, however, to say that you are not protected to a much greater degree against contracting the virus if you have been vaccinated.
To be clear, ultimately it is our own immune systems that are doing the protecting. I'm not sure how you're defining "getting the virus", but to me, once a virus is inside my body, I've "got" the virus, and can pass it on. How my body and immune system respond to that virus is another matter. There are various scenarios that can play out.
A local news station was interviewing a mother outside a school the other day, and she was complaining about new mask mandates in California. She remarked, "so what was the point of all those vaccinations?" (if the children have to wear masks again). I was thinking, is it possible for people like this to still know nothing about masks and vaccines after 1 1/2 years? It's hard to remember how long it has been, but it certainly feels like years.
7 hours ago, nanushka said:Yes, right — exposure following contraction. I was referring to exposure of the vaccinated person, sorry to have been unclear. I meant that vaccines don't protect against exposure of the vaccinated person (as @pherank said above), but they do protect against contraction (as @aurora said above); and thus they limit further exposure, contraction, serious illness and/or death of others.
I agree with this. And so we continue to need both the vaccinations and the effective mask wearing (no junk masks) if we're going to control the spread at all. However, it does seem like humans in the West are more and more fed up with mask wearing and are willing to just roll the dice. In Asia people have been wearing masks of their own volition for many years (for various reasons). There' s not so much of a stigma there. I'd say it's the psychological game that we're losing here - rather than take things for what they are, and working with it, there's been an over reliance on fear and anger to drive the situation.
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3 hours ago, YouOverThere said:
They are starting to be cancellations on Broadway and with touring shows. Here in DC, the first 2 weeks of Ain't Too Proud at the Kennedy Center have been cancelled due to 1 or more members of the company testing positive (despite everyone having been vaccinated).
Vaccines don't protect a person from exposure to a virus, but they do (in most cases) guarantee only a mild illness. Only N95 masks are really good at keeping viruses out of your respiratory system. But many dancers were lately rehearsing without masks, and certainly performing without masks, so there's going to be plenty of opportunities to pass along germs to anyone nearby. Whether we like it or not, this virus is here to stay.
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17 hours ago, sf_herminator said:
just a quick post to say: San Francisco Ballet had a welcome and triumphant return to the War Memorial Opera House Stage tonight!! Company looks great and Helgi even had a few words to signal the the company is back!! Everyone looked so happy to be back on stage where they belong!! I am tired but will post a bit more later.
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10 hours ago, volcanohunter said:
La Scala Ballet has been forced to postpone several performances of La Bayadère scheduled for next week because 14 company members have come down with Covid-19. La Repubblica reports that more than a quarter of the company's dancers are unvaccinated and that several of its ballet masters are anti-vaxxers.
That's called doing things the old fashioned way.
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Apparently Vanessa and Davit now have a second child, Giselle Maria:
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Yes, welcome Emmy8.
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7 hours ago, PeggyTulle said:
Jasmine Jimison is listed as a second soloist with Boston Ballet. She seemed to be a rising star at SFB. Anyone know if this is temporary? She's also been seen in BB dancers Nutcracker IG stories.
https://www.bostonballet.org/Home/Global/Profiles/Artists/Second-Soloists/Jasmine-Jimison.aspx
https://instagram.com/stories/dani_durrett/2721545157342655769?utm_medium=share_sheet
I don't know - it's unexpected, given that she was recently promoted to soloist, and she's having to step down a level to go to BB. I'm going to guess this has something to do with family/personal issues, or she realized she had spent so many years at SF that it was time to experience something different.
Tamara Rojo named new Artistic Director of San Francisco Ballet
in San Francisco Ballet
Posted
It's very much my perception of the situation from afar. I agree that ABT has been changing over the last few years - and hopefully for the better. But none of the changes seemed to come easily. I'm not sure why the ballet world seems to rely upon public controversy and a cause célèbre to force improvements in the culture, but I suppose that's just people (and perhaps just a little too much 'tradition').