pherank
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Posts posted by pherank
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Gala and gala performance photos from Sasha De Sola:
https://www.instagram.com/p/CnxUvtTSsJk/and Sasha Mukhamedov:
https://www.instagram.com/p/CnpUJrnPXzW/and Joe Walsh:
https://www.instagram.com/p/Cnqn4zsOwoB/Dores Andre celebrating her 20th year with the company!
https://www.instagram.com/p/CnqLnSSLfRw/ -
1 hour ago, Terez said:
You're welcome, pherank. I'd love to hear others' comments, particularly on the program I won't be able to see.
It's a little frustrating this season, the way the programs I'm eager to see are so closely grouped together. I can appreciate that they wanted to put Cinderella between Giselle and R&J but I don't plan to attend R&J (am I the only one who doesn't particularly enjoy this story ballet? Amazing dancing and costumes and choreography aside, I just don't like the story and all its pathos), and will either squeeze the next 3 programs into my schedule or, more realistically, be forced to miss the mixed-bill program in the middle. But then, yikes, that might be it for me, for the season. So much wonderful stuff, so condensed. 😐😔
I'm a mixed bill person, so if it were me, I'd lose one of the full-length ballets if money was an issue. I'm curious how Thatcher's COLORFORMS will look on stage. Looked great on film, but how will it be changed to fit a single stage environment? And Blake Works is kind of a must see for this company. It's a shame there's no overlap of programs, but I get why with the full-lengths.
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7 hours ago, Terez said:
Saw opening night of Program B last Saturday and a performance of Program A on Sunday afternoon.
Thanks so much for the report, Terez. For those of us sidelined and unable to attend, it brightens up the day. ;)
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6 hours ago, sf_herminator said:
Casting change alert: Julia Rowe will now dance with Esteban Hernandez in the excerpts from both Haffner Serenade and Bolero (only posting changes below but you can go to the link https://www.sfballet.org/tickets/casting/)
😉
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45 minutes ago, Josette said:
But Sasha Mukhamedov is scheduled to dance at the Gala, and Sheehan is not a soloist. I agree with PeggyTulle that it's the Hernandez Brothers' show even though I do like Esteban very, very much. (I've only seen Isaac once live since he left SFB, when he danced in Akram Khan's Giselle in 2019 with ENB, and everyone was outshone by the extraordinary Jeffrey Cirio.) The Gala casting is very different from what Helgi Tomasson arranged each year.
If Mukhamdov is feeling up to it now, then great. She skipped Nutcracker in hopes of being able to dance the regular season (that was talked about in an Instagram video). Expect to see a lot of the Hernandez brothers though. 😉
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59 minutes ago, Josette said:
I recall that in previous Galas, each principal and soloist was featured in some way, and I see several of my favorites not listed as performing and then, additionally, one new female soloist featured twice, and four male principals featured twice each, including the two Hernandez brothers and with Esteban Hernandez with Katherine Barkman twice. Katherine Barkman is lovely, but where are the equally talented and beloved Julia Rowe and Isabella DeVito and David Morse and Lonnie Weeks and Cavan Conley and Diego Cruz and Lucas Erni and Ellen Rose Hummel and Norika Matsuyama and Elizabeth Powell and Myles Thatcher?
Some of this is due to injury (Mukhamdov and Sheehan for example), and Barkman gets lucky with the world premiere choices, but some of the absences are just big question marks.
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On 1/14/2023 at 11:17 PM, volcanohunter said:
"International art experts say the plundering may be the single biggest collective art heist since the Nazis pillaged Europe in World War II.
"In Kherson, in Ukraine’s south, Ukrainian prosecutors and museum administrators say the Russians stole more than 15,000 pieces of fine art and one-of-a-kind artifacts. They dragged bronze statues from parks, lifted books from a riverside scientific library, boxed up the crumbling, 200-year-old bones of Grigory Potemkin, Catherine the Great’s lover, and even stole a raccoon from the zoo, leaving behind a trail of vacant cages, empty pedestals and smashed glass."https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/14/world/asia/ukraine-art-russia-steal.html
The Russian government's admiration for Nazi conquest techniques is "fascinating". They learned a big lesson from WWII, but it apparently was the wrong lesson, imo.
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Rachel Howard interviewed Tamara Rojo for the Fjord Review:
https://fjordreview.com/tamara-rojo-san-francisco-ballet/
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1 hour ago, volcanohunter said:
Helimets graduated from ballet school in 1996, so he's had an amazing run.
Apparently Tiit is 45 years old(!), so it makes sense to move on. But I had a dream that he might be able to dance with his daughter once she joined the Corps at SFB. He should be teaching a master class in lifts/partnering at the school.
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On 1/11/2023 at 9:47 AM, Helene said:
This article on Rojo and Executive Director Danielle St.Germain has info about the choreographers in the next@90 program:
Well now we know what happened: "Caniparoli’s experience proved consequential and invaluable when Benjamin Millepied, who was originally designated one of next@90’s choreographers, dropped out in late August due to a scheduling conflict"
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A real smorgasbord. Shinji Eshima's music for Possokhov has been great in the past - I wish I could see/hear that piece.
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Yes, it is sad when the big day finally occurs. He will be greatly missed, being one one of the most dependable partners in SFB history. I wonder if he's having some physical issues that necessitated the early departure. Seems probable.
Great to hear that Tiit will become a Principal Character Dancer, so more Drosselmeyers to come. ;)
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30% off this week on Next@90 Festival seats:
https://www.instagram.com/p/CnCvdhXMqpR/
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On 1/4/2023 at 5:11 PM, PeggyTulle said:
Mathilde posted awhile back in her IG stories about finally getting her visa (I think). But it looks like she's still in France. Has she posted anything about coming back to SF soon? If so, I'd love to see her dance this season.
I don't think she's received the VISA yet.
On 1/5/2023 at 12:58 AM, volcanohunter said:How can it be that after 10 years with San Francisco Ballet Froustey doesn't have a green card?
Well it IS a broken immigration system. And there are a lot of Americans who don't want to see any immigration at all.
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Dores Andre and Diego Cruz wishing you all a Happy New Year (as only they can):
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Sasha Mukhamedov and Naira Avganean (HET Nationale) talk about dealing with injures:
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Misty Copeland appeared on tonight's Firing Line with Margaret Hoover
https://www.pbs.org/wnet/firing-line/video/misty-copeland-qmtgh6/
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On 12/14/2022 at 10:56 PM, PeggyTulle said:
Natasha hasn't posted anything ballet-related in quite some time. Makes me wonder if she's injured.
I have a feeling that she's been 'detoxifying' herself from social media exposure. But she may well have run into some kind of physical issue. I really hope that isn't the case with Mukhamedov as well. She was taking part in the new ballet rehearsals - that much I know.
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Is Sasha Mukhamedov performing this month?
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On 11/9/2022 at 12:27 PM, sf_herminator said:
Today I received an email regarding Nutcracker. Tickets are now and sale - and casting (principal only) has been posted for ALL performances!!! Here is the link (as always, casting is subject to change):
CASTING: NUTCRACKER - San Francisco Ballet (sfballet.org)
I was really surprised but also pleased to see the casting. Curious to what others think about the casting. Performances will be December 8 - December 27.
Wish I could be there, SF Herminator. Joe Walsh posted some photos on Instagram mentioning the different partners he's had. I wouldn't have thought of him as a partner with Kuranaga (but then, why not?):
https://www.instagram.com/p/CmFgU6KPUUE/
Seeing Powell and Weeks listed together as Snow Queen and King made me smile. And Nikisha Fogo and Aaron Robison in the Grand Pas should be great. Julia Rowe and Esteban Hernández should be good, and Yuan Yuan with Henry Sidford is also an interesting choice. Sasha De Sola and Isaac Hernández will be a star turn. Norika Matsuyama and Jasmine Jimison as the Sugar Plum Fairy - yeah! But Jimison with Angelo Greco in the Grand Pas is a great idea. Toi toi toi.
One name that seems to be absent from the lists: Natasha Sheehan.
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23 minutes ago, Buddy said:
Here’s another like it for Atlanta Ballet from about a year ago. It also had the Mariinsky’s similarly oriented Maxim Petrov, whom I often like very much and have often mentioned, as a choreographer. It’s another company that I want to keep an eye on.
Pleiades Dances by Claudia Schreier
The A.D. at Atlanta Ballet is Gennadi Nedvigin, ex SFB principal. Claudia Schreier is the Choreographer in Residence at Atlanta Ballet. She's actually creating on SFB for the first time now. Should be interesting.
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4 hours ago, Buddy said:
From the World Ballet Day program, one work that I like a lot is Dana Genshaft's Future Paper performed by The San Francisco Ballet School Trainees.
As I remember, "Future Paper" was part of the SFB digital season (pandemic lock-down) presentations. I enjoyed that one too. I liked the space they were working in as well. I don't remember who was doing the cinematography, though. Sometimes ex-SFB people create videos for the company or individual company members. There have been dancers with varied talents passing through the SFB doors.
I was looking for a list of Genshaft's dance pieces, but I haven't found one yet. She did commissions for Washington Ballet, and Cincinnati Ballet. And something for the SF Dance Festival, SFDanceworks.
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5 hours ago, Buddy said:
I’m enjoying the entire broadcast, Pherank. Thanks again.
I like them both, but I agree with you that Jasmine Jimison is very lovely. I also think that the other Giselle, Misa Kuranaga, has a charming personality.
Added: Although there’s lots of good still, with only about a half hour left I’d recommend a look at the new generation....
1:08:28 - San Francisco Ballet School Trainees in Dana Genshaft's Future Paper
The team of Misa Kuranaga and Angelo Greco have become major fan favorites.
Dana Genshaft is an interesting case: She was born in Moscow and later trained at the Kirov Academy of Ballet, SAB, and Paris Opera Ballet School before coming to SFB. She was a long time soloist for SFB, before retiring and then becoming a teacher of Contemporary Dance at the SFB school. She is also a choreographer, and she won a choreography fellowship in 2018 from the Princess Grace Foundation. Former principal Sofiane Sylve was teaching advanced classes at the SFB school as well during her performance period, and former principal Pascal Molat is now Associate Director of the Trainee Program. So there has been a strong connection between the company and the school. Although I was hoping that Sofiane Sylve might be chosen as the new A.D., she has gone on to become A.D. of Ballet San Antonio, and director of their school.
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6 hours ago, AG said:
It looks to me like the SFB World Ballet Day 2022 video expires today at 5pm Pacific (wish we had through the weekend, though!).
You are absolutely right, AG, and I've made an edit to my original message. It's a shame we've been given very little warning.
1 hour ago, Buddy said:Thanks Pherank and AG. The Wheeldon part starts at 15:20.
There’s a nice, airy quality to this staging imparted throughout by Christopher Wheeldon, starting with the performances of Sasha De Sola (Cinderella) about halfway through the 40 minutes devoted to the rehearsal (especially starting at 30:35). Wona Park and Dores Andre (Cinderellas) also have nice, similar qualities and Max Cauthorn (The Prince), towards the end, has a noteworthy grace that’s impressive for a male dancer.
AT SFB, Wheeldon's Cinderella is in some ways passing on to a younger generation, since former Cinderellas are no longer available (such as Sarah Van Patten and Frances Chung), or moving on to other roles. In the Giselle rehearsal Katherine Barkman (new to SFB) is fortunately getting some coaching time with Tomasson before he heads on out the door into retirement. Max Cauthorn has a lot of basic ability, but the funny thing is, he's no bun head. And often sounds like he'd rather be in a different career all together. SFB lost their other super talented up-and-comer, Benjamin Freemantle - he decided to go to New York with his long-time friend Madison Keesler and freelance rather than live the company life. That was a blow. And I wonder if Cauthorn will actually stick around. These young dancers look at life differently from former generations.
[In the Barkman rehearsal I confess my eye kept going to Jasmine Jimison dancing behind her in the room. Jimison is a lovely dancer.]
next@90
in San Francisco Ballet
Posted
I definitely know what you mean. Long ago, I use to make regular trips from Santa Cruz to San Francisco. And at one point I figured I had made that drive at least 100 times over the years. (And driving Highway 1 or Highway 17 could be a dangerous proposition!)
Keep it fun, and safe.