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Koto Ishihara says goodbye to SF (pictured with Ami Yuki, Lizzie Powell, Diego Cruz and Isabella Devivo): https://www.instagram.com/p/Bz-upHIAz5l/ Her path to principal dancer may be a bit easier at NBC, who knows? Thamires Chuvas posted this tribute to Vitor Luiz: https://www.instagram.com/p/BztO_2VgPZh/

A bit off topic, but… A few nights ago I turned on one of my local PBS stations, and I saw Yuri Possokhov, Maria Kochetkova and Gennadi Nedvigin working on Diving into the Lilacs. The documentary is named Designers of the Dance, and features a lot of dance footage (rehearsal and performance) as well as interviews. The entire broadcast can be seen at the link below - for I don't know how long. The Diving into the Lilacs segment is the first portion of the documentary: https://www.wfyi.org/programs/designers-of-the-dance/television/designers-of-the-dance Yuri Possikhov’s Diving into the Lilacs Alexei Ratmansky's The Nutcracker Leonid Lavrovsky’s Romeo & Juliet Lar Lubovitch’s Othello Alastair Marriott’s Lieder

And here's a stage photo courtesy of SFB (Greco and Froustey in Don Quixote PDD): And here's Wona Park and Wei Wang in Gsovsky's Grand Pas Classique (photo courtesy of SFB)

Mathilde Froustey posted some nice Sun Valley photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/BzqexvVilNc/

A big loss: Luiz is a truly great partner. Best of luck to him. I'm glad that he is going to be involved in teaching - seems like the perfect person to be training the young ones.

SFB dancers wearing their oxygen masks - the glamorous world of the ballet in Sun Valley Idaho. https://www.instagram.com/p/BzjcKpsBrM7/

I lived in the Lake Tahoe area for a while (long ago), and I can't say that I ever truly 'acclimatized' to the altitude. Trying to jog at altitude was never as easy as jogging at sea level, for me. Sara Mearns famously got altitude sickness at Vail and I'm not sure if she's ever gone back to the mountains to perform (anyone know?) EDIT: I forget to mention that I didn't actual mean to post the Sun Valley link in this thread, but, too late now... ;)

SFB dancers wearing their oxygen masks - the glamorous world of the ballet in Sun Valley Idaho. https://www.instagram.com/p/BzjcKpsBrM7/

Her friends have been congratulating her for awhile, so we've been waiting to finally get the details - thanks. ;)

I'm with you in spirit, Jack Reed (and others), but I'll just add that "elitism" is one tired argument with regards to ballet, and very misleading, since ballet training did not actually create aristocrats from commoners. The earliest ballet training may have been connected to deportment and social etiquette lessons, but the creation of ballet companies and professional performers resulted in a very different subculture. Dancing with a 'superior quality' has always been the focus, not creation of a group of individuals to lord it over everyone else. And if one's local ballet classes are any indication, the children are not attending because it's seen as a ladder to the aristocracy. If it isn't painfully obvious today, it should be: There are no aspects of human society and relationships that are devoid of hierarchy/status/pecking order issues. There's always a pecking order, whether we're talking about a family of 4 living in Trenton New Jersey, street gangs, a Zen monastery, a local union meeting, 3 astronauts in a space capsule, a meeting of stock holders, a basketball team and its staff, a ballet class in Oklahoma, whatever. The issue these days seems to be one of attitude: most people do not like to witness a 'superior attitude or behavior' associated with an 'elite', but is that something we generally see with ballet companies, schools, dancers? No. Just plain no. Behaving in a superior manner is not the function of a ballet company, nor has it ever been. Ballet is an art of aspiration - an idealized art. And the fine arts are pretty much all idealized arts. Practicing an art forces one to learn about the world, and craft, to feel and make choices/decisions. I think that's a positive and ultimately healthy way to spend one's time. The idea is to aspire to something more developed, fulfilling, integral, and fundamental - not to merely occupy a 'superior' role or rank in the hierarchy. So we should be talking about ballet's changing aspirations and ideals, not its elitism.

I wonder what the reasoning is behind the change?

Robison and Sylve dancing together would be worth the price of admission. ;) Here are the updated castings, as of July 1, 2019... Ballet Sun Valley Friday, July 5, 2019 – 7:30 pm Conductor: Martin West The Fifth Season Choreography: Helgi Tomasson Music: Karl Jenkins Dores André, Vitor Luiz Kimberly Marie Olivier, John-Paul Simoens Yuan Yuan Tan, Tiit Helimets Grand Pas Classique Choreography: Vicor Gsovsky Music: Daniel-François Auber Wona Park, Wei Wang Concerto Grosso Choreography: Helgi Tomasson Music: F. Geminiani after Corelli Esteban Hernandez Diego Cruz Mingxuan Wang Lonnie Weeks Benjamin Freemantle Pas de Deux from The Sleeping Beauty, Act III Choreography: Helgi Tomasson after Petipa Music: Pyotr Tchaikovsky Sasha De Sola, Joseph Walsh UnSaid Choreography: Danielle Rowe Music: Ezio Bosso Sofiane Sylve, Aaron Robison Excerpt from Diving into the Lilacs Choreography: Yuri Possokhov Music: Boris Tchaikovksy Yuan Yuan Tan, Carlo Di Lanno Pas De Deux from Don Quixote, Act III Choreography: Helgi Tomasson and Yuri Possokhov (after Petipa) Music: Ludwig Minkus Mathilde Froustey, Angelo Greco Sunday, July 7, 2019 – 7:30 pm Bespoke Choreography: Stanton Welch Music: J.S. Bach Conductor: Martin West Violinist: Cordula Merks Mathilde Froustey, Sasha De Sola, Jennifer Stahl Isabella DeVivo, Thamires Chuvas, Ellen Rose Hummel Esteban Hernandez, Carlo Di Lanno, Davide Occhipinti Wei Wang, Alexandre Cagnat, Lonnie Weeks Your Flesh Shall Be A Great Poem Choreography: Trey McIntyre Music: Chris Garneau Benjamin Freemantle Isabella DeVivo, Sasha De Sola, Jennifer Stahl Steven Morse, Alexandre Cagnat, Mingxuan Wuan, Esteban Hernandez, Lonnie Weeks Hurry Up, We're Dreaming Choreography: Justin Peck Music: Anthony Gonzalez, Yann Gonzalez, Bradley Laner, and Justin Meldal-Johnsen Dores André, Joseph Walsh Elizabeth Powell, Luke Ingham Norika Matsuyama, Hansuke Yamamoto

I think Castilla has struggled with physical issues for quite some time. He was courageous to keep returning to perform, and he will be missed.

If you would like to learn more about the early 20th century period, there are a number of classic autobiographies still in circulation: Theatre Street: The Reminiscences of Tamara Karsavina Choura - Alexandra Danilova Split Seconds - Tamara Geva I, Maya Plisetskaya Balanchine & The Lost Muse - Elizabeth Kendall (Balanchine's early days in Europe - ties in nicely with the above books by Karsavina, Danilova and Geva) The Ballet Russes film documentary by Goldfine and Geller is great fun. It deals with the post Diaghilev period mainly, and the BR's influence on North American, South American and Australian ballet. https://zeitgeistfilms.com/film/balletsrusses

The Traveling Ballerina has posted the casting and choreographer information for Kochetkova's Joyce Theater appearances (the Joyce Theater website doesn't have this information yet). A few San Francisco friends perform as well. Program Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qq3T0ecWYdI Maria Kochetkova: Catch Her If You Can BACH DUET (from NEW SUITE) Choreographer: William Forsythe Dancers: Maria Kochetkova, Sebastian Kloborg PAINTING GREYS Choreographer: Myles Thatcher Dancer: Carlo Di Lanno TUÉ Choreographer: Marco Goecke Dancer: Drew Jacoby DEGUNINO Choreographer: Marcos Morau Dancer: Maria Kochetkova SWAN LAKE PAS DE DEUX Choreographer: David Dawson Dancers: Sofiane Sylve, Carlo Di Lanno RACHEL, NEVADA Choreographer: Drew Jacoby Dancers: Maria Kochetkova, Drew Jacoby AT THE END OF THE DAY Choreographer: David Dawson Dancers: Maria Kochetkova, Sebastian Kloborg MASHA MACHINE Choreographer: Jérôme Bel Dancer: Maria Kochetkova July 16 @ 7:30pm July 17 @ 7:30pm July 18 @ 8:00pm July 19 @ 8:00pm July 20 @ 2:00pm July 20 @ 8:00pm July 21 @ 2:00pm

Ballet Sun Valley Friday, July 5, 2019 – 7:30 pm Conductor: Martin West The Fifth Season Choreography: Helgi Tomasson Music: Karl Jenkins Dores André, Aaron Robison Kimberly Marie Olivier, John-Paul Simoens Yuan Yuan Tan, Tiit Helimets Grand Pas Classique Choreography: Vicor Gsovsky Music: Daniel-François Auber Wona Park, Vitor Luiz Concerto Grosso Choreography: Helgi Tomasson Music: F. Geminiani after Corelli Esteban Hernandez Wei Wang Benjamin Freemantle Lonnie Weeks Diego Cruz Pas de Deux from The Sleeping Beauty, Act III Choreography: Helgi Tomasson after Petipa Music: Pyotr Tchaikovsky Sasha De Sola, Joseph Walsh UnSaid Choreography: Danielle Rowe Music: Ezio Bosso Sofiane Sylve, Aaron Robison Excerpt from Diving into the Lilacs Choreography: Yuri Possokhov Music: Boris Tchaikovksy Yuan Yuan Tan, Carlo Di Lanno Pas De Deux from Don Quixote, Act III Choreography: Helgi Tomasson and Yuri Possokhov (after Petipa) Music: Ludwig Minkus Mathilde Froustey, Angelo Greco Sunday, July 7, 2019 – 7:30 pm Bespoke Choreography: Stanton Welch Music: J.S. Bach Conductor: Martin West Violinist: Cordula Merks Mathilde Froustey, Sasha De Sola, Jennifer Stahl Isabella DeVivo, Thamires Chuvas, Ellen Rose Hummel Esteban Hernandez, Carlo Di Lanno, Davide Occhipinti Wei Wang, Alexandre Cagnat, Lonnie Weeks Your Flesh Shall Be A Great Poem Choreography: Trey McIntyre Music: Chris Garneau Benjamin Freemantle Isabella DeVivo, Sasha De Sola, Jennifer Stahl Steven Morse, Alexandre Cagnat, Mingxuan Wuan, Esteban Hernandez, Lonnie Weeks Hurry Up, We're Dreaming Choreography: Justin Peck Music: Anthony Gonzalez, Yann Gonzalez, Bradley Laner, and Justin Meldal-Johnsen Dores André, Joseph Walsh Elizabeth Powell, Luke Ingham Norika Matsuyama, Hansuke Yamamoto

Scheller has finally posted an image that states "back in a ballet studio" (Rondine Balletto di Assisi ASD, in Italy). She may be beginning long-term rehab. https://www.instagram.com/p/By3L7ATANXJ/ No mention yet of where she may end up (and she may not know at this point). I wish her well.

Thanks Naomikage. We have a couple of threads for that kind of information: People started chatting about the personnel changes here: https://balletalert.invisionzone.com/topic/44712-2020-season-announcement/page/2/#comments But there is also this "promotions" thread: https://balletalert.invisionzone.com/topic/44695-sfb-promtions-spring-2019/

From the Bloch website: A day in the life of Principal Ballet Dancer Sasha Mukhamedov "Finally, what’s next for you? From July I am joining San Francisco Ballet, which is an exciting new challenge for me because in America they work a lot differently to how we do in Europe, and I want to see what I can learn from them and how I can bring the American style into my dancing." (Published on: 31st May, 2019) https://us.blochworld.com/article/457/day-in-the-life-of-principal-ballet-dancer-sasha-mukhamedov

Bingo! 😉 An article on Sasha Mukhamedov: https://www.pointemagazine.com/sasha-mukhamedov-ballerina-2479504367.html If it matters, she's fluent in English, so she won't be struggling with the language as Froustey had to do.

Great shot of Ellen Rose Hummel in Rubies:

Great analysis, Kathleen. Some donors don't really want their names advertised, but Arts companies offer this as an enticement.

MK's latest Instagram post (names revealed): Exactly one month today until the opening of my project [at] the Joyce Theater in New York Come and see works by William Forythe, Jérôme Bel, La Veronal, Myles Thatcher, Drew Jacoby, Marco Goecke and Magnus Unnar https://www.instagram.com/p/ByyONK5hKyL/

And here is Lauren's own statement with révérence:

I just added a few more reviews (above) of Programs C and D. Wona Park and Joseph Walsh in Dawson's Anima Animus Sofiane Sylve, Luke Ingham and Carlo Di Lanno in Dawson's Anima Animus "Dawson has suffered from some criticism in the UK, most infamously in the fallout from the 2017 performances of The Human Seasons for The Royal Ballet. It is a shame because Anima Animus proves that there is no one making work like him. Few choreographers have the courage to let their dance say it all and Dawson has a way of both flattening and expanding classical movement, creating his own unique style, but without ever losing the essential foundation and imagery of classicism. I, for one, would like to see more of his work here in his homeland. It is salutary to reflect that London balletomanes have seen more new ballets in these last two weeks (twelve pieces in total) than we would normally see in a year and great credit must go to long-serving artistic director, Helgi Tomasson, for his commitment to continually refreshing the art. He has a mighty fine company, too! For this reason, the five stars reflects the totality of what we have seen in these last few days. Come back soon." --Graham Watts (BachTrack)