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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

Yuri seems to be at least as private as Sylve, so it's hard to know what his preferences are. Never working with one of the company's senior dancers - a dancer known for supporting the development of new, contemporary ballets - can't be accidental. But that's all we have to go on. Like many choreographers, Possokhov has his muse and his favorites to create on, but choreographing with the same dancers each time isn't really 'thinking outside the box', it seems to me. On the other side of things, I'm not sure Sylve would find much of Possokhov's choreography for the female dancers interesting. I remember William Forsythe once saying in a video interview, that it was important to create something challenging for Sylve (presumably because otherwise she wouldn't maintain interest). As Sylve puts it, she "doesn't do average". I couldn't see her ever bothering with the "Lolita" role, for example, in Swimmer. At this stage in her career, Sylve seems to dance mainly roles that either were created on her, or are known virtuosic pieces (such as certain Balanchine roles or Lander's Etudes).

Weird, huh? Maybe she's too "uppity". ;) With Lorena gone and Frances out, there are only so many experienced dancers to pick from, so I guess he was forced to tough it out with Sofiane. And I don't think he chooses to work with Froustey either. It's just kind of interesting.

I'm glad that Froustey is getting to rest a bit, but De Sola is still dancing a lot. They're going to have to give her a medal for heroism. ;) People will be glad to see Yuan Yuan again. Sofiane dancing in a Possokhov piece - is that unusual?

Welcome back to Lauren Strongin. Walsh is being asked to dance a lot now.

For our French-speaking audience: Froustey conducts an interview with comedian (does anyone still use "comedienne"?) Clara Bijl at La Maison in Oakland Clara & Friends à La Maison Oakland https://mercisf.com/fr/2019/03/18/podcast-🎙clara-bijl-interviewee-par-mathilde-froustey/ (The 2 stand-up comedy nights will be conducted in English) March 22, 2019 at 8pm. Tickets on sale.

I guess we could have seen that one coming. Congratulations to her.

Ana Sophia Scheller posted this video of her Etudes rehearsal from last summer. Unfortunately, she was not able to perform the role. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hRi4LNmdlWg

Thanks to everyone for the detailed descriptions and in-depth discussion - this was a fun thread. Newly released podcast interview with Frances Chung and Esteban Hernandez on the Sleeping Beauty: 'Frances delves into “The Rose Adagio”, describing its place in the story and the difficulties it presents to the ballerina. Esteban tells the story of “The Bluebird” and “Princess Florine”, and then gives a vivid account of performing the difficult variation.' https://sfballet.blog/2019/03/18/frances-chung-principal-dancer-and-esteban-hernandez-soloist-on-the-sleeping-beauty/ And, Julia Rowe, Soloist, on The Sleeping Beauty https://sfballet.blog/2019/03/16/julia-rowe-soloist-on-the-sleeping-beauty/

"Interview with Balanchine Trust Repetiteur, Eve Lawson on her career, influences of the arts, and working with City Ballet of San Diego on Balanchine repertoire" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NxVsNIrIxuQ And a local review of the Balanchine Masterpieces program from March 2019: http://www.sandiegostory.com/its-the-music-its-the-dance-city-ballets-balanchine-masterpieces-wows/

That's a shame. Not an auspicious start. It's hard to imagine that the issue would be with Freemantle or Weeks though. Perhaps one of them had to make a quick trip home for family business...

Program 6 Rodeo: Four Dance Episodes Composer: Aaron Copland Choreographer: Justin Peck Die Toteninsel Choreographer: Liam Scarlett Björk Ballet Composers: Björk Gudmundsdottir, Alejandro Ghersi, and Sjón Choreographer: Arthur Pita "Join SF Ballet’s Jennie Scholick, to learn about Program 06: Space Between. From Justin Peck’s Rodeo, to Liam Scarlett’s Die Toteninsel, to Arthur Pita’s Björk Ballet, this program has something for everyone. Hear about the creative process, the music, and what to look for in these three ballets." https://sfballet.blog/2019/03/14/to-the-pointe-space-between/

On YouTube there's a nice long video of Sheehan performing at the 2015 Indianapolis International Ballet Competition (with interview): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=djptQVavQrw

The February/March 2019 cover model for Pointe Magazine is Natasha Sheehan: Text and video here: https://www.pointemagazine.com/natasha-sheehan-ballet-2627550597.html

I'm sure the kids had a great time! The ACT III dances are high energy. Hilarious posting by Jen Stahl (who has played both the Lilac Fairy and Carabosse): "We talked it out and realized we actually have a lot in common" https://www.instagram.com/p/Bu79kfaAQZT/ Frances Chung trying on Jen's Carabosse headpiece, and expression: https://www.instagram.com/p/BvArgFggxbT/ And a statement from Sasha De Sola about dancing Aurora: https://www.instagram.com/p/Bu__WnFnZqR/

Thanks, Apollosmuse. It looked like Natasha was wearing stage makeup so I wondered if she ended up taking part in the matinee performance, but the photo could have been taken today.

This is an interesting posting by Mathilde Froustey on dancing the Aurora role in the year 2019: https://www.instagram.com/p/Bu-IAjRlgKo/

Natasha Sheehan posted this photo today, and I wonder if it's from yesterday's student matinee: https://www.instagram.com/p/BvAk5T4gKdv/ Does anyone know who danced the "new Marc Brew ballet, quicksilver"? Was that Natasha?

Thanks much, Mira. I was just thinking about the Kennedy Center shows (see above), but I guess I shouldn't count anything from 2018. I'm going to assume that SFB performs the same number of Nutcracker shows in December 2019, so beginning with the SFB Gala, running through the June tour and July festival appearances that gives us a pretty good idea of an average number of shows.

As soon as I posted I kind of knew you were going to say that, Dreamer. You've got a good memory for these things. ;) I didn't have time to verify before I went off to make dinner. So I stand corrected. I'd forgotten exactly when Walsh dropped out of the season with injury. The good news is that he got a chance to return and dance SB and Anima Animus (in DC) as was originally intended.

Walsh actually debuted last season (with Kochetkova), and it was the same deal in which he had only a few days to learn the role (same thing with Swan Lake), but Tomasson seems to have figured out he can count on Walsh to learn quickly (poor Joe). Fortunately the Désiré part is not that demanding. Actual development is definitely an issue at SFB - the schedule is so compressed and intense (lots of demanding choreography) that the dancers don't get as much time as they would like to feel comfortable in a piece before performing. C'est la vie? OFF TOPIC: There's a YouTube video from an ABT dancer that mentions that ABT dances 64 performances in an 8 week stretch, and that got me to figuring out how many times SFB performs in a year (of the North American companies, I think NYCB dances the largest number of shows per year). Current season: January to May 2019, with tour immediately following in early June, festival appearances and Nutcracker run. [EDITED] (What we don't know is if there's going to be any special added "tour" dates in the Fall) SFB Gala: 1 performance Program 1, Don Quixote: 11 performances Program 2, mixed rep: 7 performances Program 3, mixed rep: 7 performances Program 4, Sleeping Beauty: 9 performances Program 5, mixed rep: 7 performances Program 6, mixed rep: 7 performances Program 7, The Little Mermaid: 9 performances Program 8, Shostakovich Trilogy: 7 performances London, Sadler's Wells Tour: 9 performances Festival Napa Valley: 1 performance Stern Grove Festival: 1 performance Nutcracker: 31 performances _________________________ TOTAL: 107 performances

SFB has always focused on the development of its in-house "team" (differing from the usual ABT company model, for example). From school to Apprentice, all the way to Principal - it is possible for a dancer to traverse the entire hierarchy (though admittedly very difficult). But it is still necessary to bring in "fresh blood" from other parts of the ballet world - at one time there were dancers from 17 different countries at SFB. But the emphasis remains on developing the young dancers and giving them opportunities. That's the reason for our concern earlier in the thread about an outside dancer being brought in - (it's not a distrust of "foreign" dancers!) - there are a number of artists who are looking for big opportunities such as the Aurora role, and other than newly promoted soloist Wona Park, they aren't going to get the chance. Before this present 2 season run, the last time SFB performed SB was in 2008. A generation of young dancers may be waiting a very long time for another chance, and there's not going to be opportunity to "develop" a dancer as Aurora in the meantime, the workload is too heavy. Maria Kochetkova, when she was still at SFB, was one dancer who would go the extra mile seeking training outside the company for classical roles, but most dancers aren't going to all that trouble (and losing what is left of their free time).

If it has happened before, it was a long while ago. If anyone knows different... Christopher Wheeldon does return with regularity to work on new choreography with SFB. Normally if there are guest dancers, they are either participating in Nutcracker lead roles, or simply performing as a company as NBofC and Hamburg Ballet have done in the past. Sleeping Beauty is a special situation for SFB, and if there weren't so many dancers out at this point of the season, it's likely that you wouldn't have seen Naghdi. You can count yourself doubly lucky. 😉 Enjoy!

Great report, Phrenchphry11. I'm afraid to ask, but what exactly happened with the "missed" fish dives? I hope Naghdi didn't hit the floor.

That was a great commentary, Fraildove. So many Auroras are just beaming in the 2nd half of the show - I've assumed it must be an "I am done with the Rose Adagio and now it's fun" smile. I'm so glad the out-of-towners will not be disappointed. ;) I'd like to hear how Joe Walsh does again with so little preparation. Mrstrong_ballet, do you mean the Saturday, March 16 show (Park/Greco)? What role was Jen Stahl dancing?