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If you tend to see the matinees then you will often miss 1st casts. Fortunately, this is a company with an awful lot of talented "seconds". ;) That may be why you haven't seen as much of Walsh and Birkkjaer this season - they're both getting a fair number of 1st cast lead roles. It's good to hear that the audience is liking the latest Scarlett as much or more than his past efforts for SFB.

I've been wondering about this - Froustey talked about getting a short rest before beginning the last part of the season, which seemed to imply that she was involved in Little Mermaid. I wasn't expecting her to be cast in that ballet (at least not as the lead). Not that she couldn't handle the acting and dancing. Does anyone remember which dancers have performed the lead role in the past? Tan, Feijoo and SVP?

Pointe Magazine online article about the paellas creations of Diego Cruz and Rubén Martín Cintas: Olé Paellas! How Two SFB Dancers Turned Their Weekly Paella Parties Into a Thriving Catering Company https://www.pointemagazine.com/paellas-and-cos-ballet-2633503889.html

Very interesting analysis, Quiggin - thanks. In the present day, Possokhov seems mainly interested in running experiments on SFB dancers. I like what you say about Freemantle's latest performances in "Your Flesh". It makes me wonder if there have been other ballets that actually benefit from a less tutored/rough approach...

Spring Festival May 22–24 SFB Announcement: On Wednesday, May 22, 2019, San Francisco Ballet School launches its first annual Spring Festival. Formerly called Student Showcase, the SF Ballet School Spring Festival will include three nights of performances, a dinner on opening night, and new interactive activities and more opportunity to learn about ballet. Proceeds from the event will support over $1 million in scholarships and financial aid the School distributes each year so talented students, regardless of family circumstances, can have a chance to study dance. https://www.sfballet.org/season/events/2019springfestival Performances will be at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts Theater.

Maria Kochetkova is alerting the ballet audience to this situation: the Marat Daukayev School of Ballet is being forced out of their studio space in Los Angeles, and may soon be without a home. "Marat is such a dear person to me. I’ve worked with him for many years and I consider him one of the best ballet teachers. His school @maratdaukayevballet is being forced to leave at short notice the studio where they have worked for 19 years. Finding studio space for such a big school is very difficult at short notice and in Los Angeles where real estate is so costly. Please help us by clicking on the link in my bio to make your donation to keep dance education for children alive in Los Angeles and alive in the world" https://www.instagram.com/p/Bv9fBLXllS6/ Donation link [PayPal and Credit Card] is at the bottom of the Marat Daukayev website ABOUT page: http://maratdaukayev.com/about/ Methinks they'll need a crowdfunding page set up if money is a real issue. Finding a studio space in the middle of their Spring semester is obviously going to be messy. I wish them lots of luck.

I've been wondering If Yuri's latest would be brought back. That would be two in a row that were "interesting", but apparently not good enough to merit a repeat. Meanwhile, his ballets for other companies have done well. C'est la vie. Given the success of the Unbound Festival I've thought Tomasson should try a 'mini-festival' of 3 choreographers (preferably ones we haven't seen before). Or even two programs of 6 choreographers, but that's obviously a lot more work and would take much more advanced planning. Tomasson mentioned in one of his podcast interviews that planning for the Unbound Festival took 2 1/2 years. Three new works/choreographers strikes me as more doable.

Yesterday's post by Vanessa Zahorian, (for "throwback Thursday") talks about her time as a Kirov apprentice. And there's a great photo of her rehearsing with Andris Liepa. https://www.instagram.com/p/Bv1rjZwgFGS/ "#tbt to my apprenticeship at the Kirov Ballet where I learned so much about pure classical Ballet! Watching the Russian Ballet stars everynight in full length Ballets from the czars box at the Mariinsky Theater, and taking class w the principal dancers everyday, being coached my Ninel Kurgapkina, Andris Liepa, dancing with Andrei Batalov and Andrian Fadeyev rehearsing classical full length Ballets like Giselle, corsaire pas de deux, and don quixote pas de deux, contemporary pas de deux of Andris Liepa and Nina Ananiashvili, going to and experiencing Ballet competitions, living in St Petersburg Russia where nothing is taken for granted, minimal food, money, clothing, respect for teachers and coaches with discipline and admiration for their wisdom and knowledge and expertise, history and the artform, living in a country not able to speak the language... What a pivotal time period in my life. I am so thankful for that experience which helped shape me as a dancer/teacher/coach/director today. Everyday loving what you do and not taking it for granted. I love teaching and passing on my knowledge of what I learned to the next generation. Being open to newness, change and the unknown is some of the most essential ingredients!"

Yes, he was out with injury. "I got tired of the partnering and the team-USA-gymnastics-looking costumes after a while." Sadly, I can't remember the last time I really liked a mixed rep contemporary ballet's costume designs. Some of them don't bother me as much as others, but that's all I can say about it. I'd like to hear what other people do like in contemporary costumes (but that probably belongs in another thread)...

Instead of World Ballet Day, Great Britain Ballet Day?

You get the prize: Vladislav Kozlov dances. At least that's the rumor.

If you mean do I agree with Macaulay's brief assessment of Walker Evans (so brief as to make me want to know just what he really means) - not really. But neither is Evans one of my most favorite photographers. For social "reportage" photography, I prefer someone like Henri Cartier-Bresson. That's just me. I don't feel it's my business to justify/defend someone else's statements - just their right to make their own thoughts and impressions known. That, is a different thing. Macaulay gets to defend himself. Have at it, Alastair! I'm envious that you spent a day at the Tate. ;) Bonnard is a painter I came to rather late, but I do enjoy some of his work (the colors!), and that of other members of Les Nabis.

Thanks for posting, Leee. We hope it becomes a trend. ;) I like Copland, but I'm not sure I like the placement of the Rodeo music in a totally different, non-Western context. I'm not set against anyone giving it a try though. ;)

Mature as in "careful and thorough"? Or as in, "an advanced stage of mental or emotional development"? Was Picasso being mature when he stated that "sex and art are the same thing"? Or was he good at getting people to keep thinking and talking about Picasso, and Art? We can't stop people from being people, and saying what they think/feel (thus the Ballet forum!). And these outbursts are often a product of one's current situation and environment. "Subject to change", indeed. You don't want to see the list of inane, hypocritical, argumentative, acrimonious, etc. comments that artists have made about one another, their "audience", the critics, humanity, life, whatever. And some of the time the remarks are even quite justified. What must have been going on for the composer Frederick Delius when he stated, "if a man tells me he likes Mozart, I know in advance that he is a bad musician"? The problem is, sometimes talk is just talk.

Ah, but this article is so social media-esque. ;) Doesn't it feel very "now"? But I can't imagine the life of an artist or musician without those goofy discussions. That's how friends, alliances, and enemies, are made.

My impression of their conversation was that the reactions were completely personal and off the cuff (aside from Smith's comment, "You must reconsider. Walker Evans is the greatest of the whole crowd, with Nadelman. But who’s ranking?" ["But who's ranking" seems to suggest they don't need to worry about the historical importance of the artists, in this conversation, so it's kind of funny that Smith wants to get in the last word on Evans.] For me, it's an apples to oranges comparison of reportage photography and Surrealist/Modernist paintings. Maybe Macaulay is channeling the old café argument that the journey of a painter from student academic sketches to a fully realized unique presentation such as this: https://i.pinimg.com/originals/c0/3d/cd/c03dcd3054d282c5fef2acaabeb99e3c.jpg is a much greater journey, and investment of time, energy and thought (and accumulation of skills) than what it takes to photograph subjects in the field. But again, apples to oranges. Walker Evans achieved quite a few remarkable images in his time as a photojournalist. But so did Dorothea Lange. And so did Vivian Maier, whom no one ever heard of while she was alive (and was discovered by accident). Artistic importance is in the eye of the beholder. ;) It's not unusual for an artist to be inspired by some quirky things - and that makes the choices much more poetic than a list of "recommended important artists" on a class handout. It's all about the things that inspire you to do something worthwhile.

SFB short video of "two united in a single soul": https://www.instagram.com/p/Bvkh1vuhsII/ Opening night group photo: https://www.instagram.com/p/Bvkl-iCjJHp/ Aaron Robison has posted a couple more images from this ballet: https://www.instagram.com/p/BvmZxRclrJF/

Roberta Smith, the NYT co-chief art critic, and Alastair Macaulay, ballet critic discuss two current Lincoln Kirstein exhibits. The article includes rare 1946 footage of a Four Temperaments pas de deux rehearsal. Lincoln Kirstein: A Modern Tastemaker With Some Iffy Taste "An art critic and dance critic talk about two Kirstein shows — and how his protean diversity left its mark on the arts, most productively on ballet." https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/28/arts/design/lincoln-kirstein-a-modern-tastemaker-with-some-iffy-taste.html

Not a problem, Terez. The number of people who care about those little details is, admittedly, very small. 😉 We look forward to hearing what you think of the performance(s).

Madison Keesler is happy to be dancing the SVP role in Björk Ballet: https://www.instagram.com/p/BvhL_WOBflR/ For some reason, SFB didn't bother to identify the debuts with an asterisk.

The 2nd cast should be equally interesting to watch.

Froustey posted a couple of short videos of one of her SB performances: https://www.instagram.com/p/Bvfg4UblAZD/

It's official: Froustey is now engaged to be married to restaurateur Mourad Lahlou. Congratulations to both of them. https://www.instagram.com/p/BvVDSOfFR2M/

I wasn't familiar with Eve Lawson as a dancer, so I don't have much sense for her artistic tendencies. Did you seen any of her past performances? Times change, of course, and we seem to be in a era in which having one's own opinion is valued above all else. The Trust may not worry so much about what repetiteurs think, as long as they truly know the steps/choreography. And don't muck with that part. I like the fact that City Ballet does the older, "narrative" version of Apollo - it's more accessible for the untutored audience, imo. (Much of the San Diego audience is 'untutored' in ballet.)

Thank you, Mira. And thanks to Terez for the article. Peck's Rodeo actually predates the Unbound Festival (it was originally created for NYCB, and is one of his most popular ballets). Hurry Up, We're Dreaming from Program 2 was Peck's contribution to the Unbound Festival. It's kind of unusual, at SFB, to see more than one ballet by the same choreographer in a season, but Dawson's Anima Animus had to be removed from Program 2 due to injuries/pregnancies/career changes, yada yada. The NYCB website has a nice video about Rodeo (with lots of footage of the ballet): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ipXsCjFAKk0