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Jasmine Jimison in Myles Thatcher's COLORFORMS https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RRLHTGyPrBU Myles Thatcher's COLORFORMS | From Screen to Stage https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B7Qj0bxxdYY

"Don't let Cinderella slip past you or Romeo & Juliet, the legendary tale of romance and tragedy. See two captivating story ballets before they're gone. Select the performances you want to attend and enter promo code TUTU" https://www.sfballet.org/tickets/2023-season/

Photos from Jasmine Jimison which include a short video of her onstage performance: https://www.instagram.com/p/CpLztI1PwRe/

Hilary Hahn Practices in Public, Wherever and However She Is With #100daysofpractice, the star violinist has drawn back the veil for professionals and amateurs alike on a private, untaught part of musical life. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/14/arts/music/hilary-hahn-violin-practice.html "We’re just so often in classical music, really trained to beat ourselves up until we get it right, on our own,” Hahn said. “I compare it to walking into a room by yourself, and you’re looking in a mirror, and you’re having to pick out everything that’s wrong with you, and then fix it, with no ability to fix it. You’re supposed to walk out better. And it’s just such an impossible thing. You actually just walk out with all these ideas in your head of what’s wrong with you.” “I realized that we need to have a lot more self-compassion as musicians,” she added. “You can’t become someone you’re not in practice, and you can’t make the music become something that it’s not ready to be. It’s just difficult, though, to reconcile that with expectations, sometimes.” Hahn’s most powerful videos are not those in which she tosses off some Bach with all her familiar assurance, but those in which she does least with her instrument. “Practice” turns out to mean all kinds of things, from listening back to past concerts to doing near-silent left-hand studies while the laundry whirs along. But it can also mean mindfully taking a day off, or acknowledging feeling burned out, and responding appropriately. “I know some people say that’s not practice,” Hahn said on the video for Day 34 of last year’s series. “Can you count that as practice? But it is about the practice of long-term practicing, that mentality that it is — it’s a lifestyle. There’s a consistency to it, and being a consistent practicer doesn’t always mean practicing by data.”

These things are never really an either/or situation - both the physical body and the surrounding environment (and human society) constantly interact, and influence an individual's thoughts and the creation of beliefs, values, etc. Humans seek easy answers because being alive is such an overwhelming and complex thing. 😉 “Men have dominated many fields and catered to their own gender in so doing. . .” This situation is clearly an issue if one doesn't happen to identify with the male gender. Would a more 'matriarchal' society provide adequate expression for both sexes? Or would the society simply reverse its orientation to concentrate on values supposedly associated with the female gender? And further - do the values of a society actually change how a human feels physically/internally? Pretty much every impulse of the human body is driven by hormones - we don't sleep, eat, have sex (or try to, hee hee) without hormones to initiate and control these functions. Without hormones, we would have little ambition to do anything. It's not about coming up with a concept or having enough willpower. Humans don't go to sleep simply because we are all fond of the idea of going to sleep. If that's all it was, we would all stay awake indefinitely! How much can a society's values and obsessions actually control human biological and chemical makeup and development? Which is a fancy (or obscure) way of asking, can humans dramatically change their own behavior and 'feelings' if Nature hasn't initiated this change? We know there are cultures that appear generally less destructive, less violent, for example. Some of us would like to think that this society and its environment have somehow physically morphed those people into a somewhat different, 'safer' human. But on the ground, the individuals of that society are not really so different from any other human. Violent impulses and acts might appear latent in those societies. But they are still there.

Pointes of View discussion about The Colors of Dance program: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QnnrKXXeYYY

Here's a short TV spot with (a blonde!) Sofiane Sylve touting a program at Ballet San Antonio: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jArVd7230wA

I was wondering that myself - I think she's one-upping her bud, Frances Chung. ;)

Sarah Van Patten is pregnant again, and she's been working as Cathy Marston's choreographer's assistant at the Houston Ballet: https://www.instagram.com/p/CpnTIGwgfV4/ https://www.instagram.com/p/CpnTz1mgq6C/

Exactly right - Birkkjaer now concentrates on running his dance festival in Denmark and has been a ballet répétiteur along with his old friend Sarah Van Patten. He will be missed. Although I'm sure Robison will handle the COLORFORMS role just fine.

Casting for The Colors of Dance program is up here: https://www.sfballet.org/tickets/casting-the-colors-of-dance/ Yuan Yuan Tan and Aaron Robison are featured in most of the 7 For Eight shows, and Jasmine Jimison and Sasha De Sola are predictably cast in the opening night group for COLORFORMS. But no Ulrik Birkkjaer now - it looks like Aaron Robison is taking on the "big man" role. Looks like Mukhamedov and Fogo will both be appearing in Blake Works I. Toi toi toi.

THE COLORS OF DANCE March 14 - March 19 7 FOR EIGHT Choreographer Helgi Tomasson Composer Johann Sebastian Bach Costume Design: Sandra Woodall Lighting Design: David Finn COLORFORMS Choreographer Myles Thatcher COMPOSER Steve Reich Scenic and Lighting Design: Jim French Costume Design: Susan Roemer BLAKE WORKS I Choreography and Scenic Design William Forsythe Composer James Blake Staged by: Ayman Harper Costume Design: Dorothee Merg and William Forsythe Lighting Design: Tanja Ruehl and William Forsythe

Have a wonderful time, Josette.

Dores AndréAll nice points, Phrenchphry11. It does seem that everyone is expecting Akram Khan's Giselle to show up at SFB. California - fyi, my observation (on Tomasson's choreography and coaching) was a general one - I wasn't just referring to his Giselle. Some of the big companies seem like they take a "sink or swim" approach to big productions (e.g. the dancer hits the correct number of fouettés, and executes them as flawlessly as possible, or she doesn't and the outing is decried as a failure). And maybe a 'failed' dancer doesn't get many of the same roles in the future. That sort of ultra-competitive approach to dance. Those challenges are still there at SFB, but Tomasson always seemed to be most concerned with the overall entertainment aspect of a ballet - giving the audience a good experience. And that involves playing to the many dancers' strengths as much as possible. He didn't cast people in roles they couldn't handle well, or didn't have the necessary training for. Breakout roles for dancers at SFB always come with a whole lot of preparation beforehand. [A teenage newcomer Suzanne Farrell being given lead roles over the existing principal dancers would not happen at SFB. At least not so far.] The less good performances of classical ballets tend to involve issues with 'artistry'/acting skills, not technical issues. And if a dancer suddenly seems unusually 'stiff' and inflexible - unless they are incredibly nervous - 9 times out of 10 it means they are trying to dance while injured on some level. It's interesting how few audience members can spot that kind of issue though - Balletomanes included. I still remember when Vanessa Zahorian was given bad reviews for her opening gala performance - she slipped and then got all stiff in her execution. At the time, people seemed to think she was ill-prepared and not trying hard enough. But she had broken (I think it was 5 bones) in her foot. I just noticed this on YouTube - Dores André talks about the Myrtha role: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BAYD8Vvonec

We're happy to have you join the forum, CGB5. And look forward to your postings.

As Terez mentioned, Rachel Howard wrote about the De Sola/Robison, Jimison/Hernandez and Kuranaga/Greco performances in her piece for the SF Chronicle. It's worth pointing out that the Giselle produciton is one of Helgi Tomasson's very best ballets. Although people often complain that his abstract ballets are not very groundbreaking or memorable, his full-length productions tend to shine. But in either case, Tomasson always did play to his dancers' strengths - he knows how to make them look good. Let's see if Rojo can do the same.

Jasmine with Estaban - I'd like to hear how that performance goes. A fantastic opportunity for Jasmine. Toi toi toi!

Thanks for posting this SF_Herminator - since the casting will disappear from the SFB website, it's nice to have these lists for posterity. Have a great time!

Sasha Mukhamedov getting ready for the Mrytha role: https://www.instagram.com/p/Co-O8xXLcXS/ And Nikisha Fogo too: https://www.instagram.com/p/Co-JI2VLYWU/

We figured it out. 😉 Today is the last day to buy Giselle at 30% off: enter promo code GREATDEAL

I just saw that posting myself. 😉 I'm not sure if it will answer California's questions about the production, but should be fun...

😃 Looks like the "Old Man" is still around too, to coach the cast for his Giselle. Mukhamedov as Myrtha: https://www.instagram.com/p/Cou0U3pPPGo/

I'm not a Giselle expert so can't really comment on the differences between the various productions, but I can offer you this small peak behind the scenes with Robison and De Sola: https://www.instagram.com/p/Co5Bl0Op7Ep/

Mathilde Froustey's latest 2 IG postings are stamped "San Francisco, California", so she hopefully is back to stay. No announcement in words, but I guess she doesn't want to dwell on the past. https://www.instagram.com/p/Co1WI3qOepB/

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