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Thanks so much for these reports, PeggyR, and all. "I did think her smile looked pasted on, but that’s understandable in a relatively inexperienced dancer making a major debut." > It's hard to imagine a young dancer feeling relaxed and "sunny" in the middle of their debut. Sheehan has that issue at times too, but occasionally the radiant smile bursts out. "Froustey was a delight, although a few of her supported turns with the suitors needed to be hauled back to the vertical, which I suspect was the fault of partnering, since she’s usually very centered." > I've seen this issue with various dancers lately, and I think it's a partnering issue, but more specifically, it's a rehearsal and possibly coaching issue. The dancers likely need more time to fine tune those steps, and get good advice. I've never forgotten the WBD video in which Tomasson is coaching Tiit Helimets and Sofiane Sylve in a Balanchine ballet duet (Diamonds?). Tomasson has to council Tiit against stepping in immediately, on the beat, to hold Sofiane's waist, because he's likely to get clobbered, and throw off her momentum. But he had to fight his instinct to move on the "one" count instead of waiting for the "and": "one, AND …" In the HET Nationale Sleeping Beauty DVD with Sofiane the same problem occurred in which the partners seem to throw off her balance rather than actually help her stabilize her turns. As soon as she was doing solo balances on pointe, all problems vanished. "The Rose Adagio went well, the balances somewhat less ‘milked’ than I’ve seen from her before, and the last one was pretty spectacular. But her insistence on visibly holding on to the balance makes her look tense instead of relaxed and confident." > Likely only the people in the front of the orchestra section really notice this. 😉 The same issue with Sofiane in the DVD performance - and to some extent Sasha De Sola in that SFB video. I'm beginning to wonder if anyone really looks 'relaxed' and graceful in the Rose Adagio (especially when filmed up close). Aurelie Dupont's performance (on DVD) is one of the few in which the dancer appears almost 'relaxed and confident': https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5CUWI89Yz3E [It strikes me as being very POB to milk the difficult movements. It is, I think, each ballet school treats differently thing.] Sorry to hear that Ami Yuki didn't show - hopefully she just wasn't feeling ready, rather than yet another injury. Btw, where's Aaron Robison in all this? Didn't he perform as Désiré at ENB?

I believe it was Michael Kidd. Some dirt on the production: "Kelly asked his old friend and collaborator Stanley Donen to co-direct with him. Donen, who had just scored a major success with Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (with Kidd as choreographer), did not want to go back to collaborating with Kelly, but he reluctantly agreed. The two men clashed over creative differences in the film, with Donen tending to side with Kidd against Kelly. Donen and Kelly never worked together again after this film, and their friendship ended permanently, as Donen later acknowledged." And that's show biz.

SF Ballet’s Associate Director of Audience Engagement, Jennie Scholick, talks about the upcoming Program 5 ballets: https://sfballet.blog/2019/03/11/to-the-pointe-lyric-voices/ Not surprisngly, Yuri Possokhov's piece sounds like it involves more mixed-media experimentation - this time with live countertenor.

Frances Chung (with Sasha De Sola in the background) rehearsing Welch's Bespoke: https://www.instagram.com/p/Bu4wb3sgUBS/

Short local ABC News interview with Sasha De Sola about Sleeping Beauty with footage from a dress rehearsal: https://abc7news.com/entertainment/taking-on-the-toughest-dance-in-the-sleeping-beauty/5177998/ (And there's video of Madison Keesler as The Fairy of Generosity.)

I like Ingham as an actor - he's an asset to the story ballets in that sense. I don't know about his 'fine classical technique' though. ;) He's a versatile dancer, and reliable partner, which matters. I was thinking that it might be odd for Froustey to then dance with a new partner. Ingham is considerably taller than Luiz isn't he? I would think that would shake things up a bit. But you would know better than I, as a a former dancer.

So much for seeing the "new talent", eh? Except that you got to see Jasmine Jimison who is just an Apprentice. How was that? Curious that Luiz is being replaced by Ingham for that one date. Not ideal, but Vitor may have a scheduling conflict.

Yes, it's impressive to see Ananiashvili still performing at this point (well, a few months back). Coincidentally, Maria Kochetkova is in Tbilisi working with Ananiashvili (who is a very animated, hands-on coach): https://www.instagram.com/p/BuwN7BRjUDS/

Speaking of SFB dancers with Aurora experience, there once was a young woman named Sofiane Sylve who danced this role and impressed many. But now she couldn't be bothered with pretending to be a 16 year old princess. ;) If you'd like to know how this looked, the DVD of Sofiane performing with the HET Nationale Ballet is still available on the Internet. It's not a perfect performance from Sofiane, I've seen her more relaxed and even more precise/articulate, but the performance is generally on a high level throughout (by Act 3 she has settled in and looks confident). Oh, and there's lots of fine classical dancing from the rest of the company. We have an older forum thread that discusses the DVD: https://balletalert.invisionzone.com/topic/17640-sleeping-beauty-w-sylve-dutch-national-ballet/ I especially like/agree with Alexandra's comments: Related: Former forum member Herman Stevens conducted an interview with Sylve that appeared on his web blog: Dancing as a home. An interview with ballet dancer Sofiane Sylve. http://www.hermanstevens.nl/result_weblog.asp?Id=42 Some facts about this production: 1) Sofiane had actually left Amsterdam to dance with the NYCB at this point, and was returning to HET Nationale as a Guest Artist. So it says something about her stature with the company that they would choose to film a production with Sylve rather than one of the current principal dancers. I'm sure there was controversy about that at the time. 2) One of the Pas de Quatre dancers was Felipe Diaz! 3) The DVD has some excellent documentary extras (mostly in English), including a segment on mime used in the ballet, and interviews with choreographer Sir Peter Wright (which includes great rehearsal footage of Sylve and Gaël Lambiotte as Prince Florimund), and Sofiane Sylve (with complete footage of her Dewdrop debut at NYCB!). In Sofiane's Ballet West Master Class Q & A video, she mentioned the historic home (built in the 1600s) she owned in Amsterdam, and in the DVD interview with Sylve, we actually get some glimpses of this home (with For Sale sign attached).

This is just funny: balletrusse Amazing view from the theater in Tbilisi https://www.instagram.com/p/But_sCtF70H/

I've come back to this post (and Quenedit's postings), and I'm still wondering what went wrong - personality clashes? Was he consistently passed over for roles?

And another one today, specifically thanking Felipe Diaz - lapetitefrench_ I’m so lucky to work with Felipe Diaz on Sleeping Beauty. For the last 10 days he has been doing more than coaching me, he has guided me, pushed me very hard sometimes and reinsured [sic] me other times. I have never felt so supported. Thank you Felipe ❤️ https://www.instagram.com/p/But_mPQF5Pc/

Four Freely Mad submissions to the 2019 SF Danceworks Festival are available now on YouTube (Freely Mad is: Benjamin Freemantle and Madison Keesler) Director: Benjamin Freemantle Cinematographer: Madison Keesler Choreographers: Brett Conway, Dana Genshaft, Laura O'Malley, Nicholas Korkos Post Production: Benjamin Freemantle & Madison Keesler https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHagAsO_BieA53rOSC-XmYw

Count on Mathilde to post some relevant videos… [I like being able to see Felipe Diaz at work in all these preparations] Me at work today : Not good/ upset/ a little better/ still upset ! 🤷🏻‍♀️🤣 https://www.instagram.com/p/BuqPT9zlqa-/ Rehearsal is called Répétition in French. As you can see here It also means repetition... most of the time a lot of repetition. https://www.instagram.com/p/BusxZSBlV7e/ Nice photo of Sasha De Sola and Carlo Di Lanno in SB guise: https://www.instagram.com/p/BuhQlrBn0Xc/ And Angelo Greco too: https://www.instagram.com/p/Buj0w-eFomS/ Photo of Joe Walsh, Yasmine Naghdi and Helgi Tomasson in rehearsal: https://www.instagram.com/p/BusEuFvg_H0/

Well, that's interesting. And it will give people something to argue about.

Yes, he's likely to participate, and as he's one of the younger principals/soloists, he may be dancing a lot. I say that because the most "senior" dancers are used more strategically, shall we say, in programs. And sadly, there are a number of female dancers out, or doing very light duty, at the moment. Hopefully most everyone will be back in time for the tour, but I'm afraid Frances Chung and Sarah Van Patten will definitely not be participating as both are pregnant. Off the top of my head, I remember that Wei Wang was one of the original cast for Dawson's Anima Animus and Peck's Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming. I'll have to look through old reviews to figure out what other ones... EDIT: And he was cast in Pita’s Björk Ballet.

We're having our ABT moment. 😉 But I'm not actually worried for the future. I find the constant shuffling of partners a little odd though - it may make things seem fair and equitable from a theoretical standpoint, but does it make for better dancing, and productions?

Frankenstein being a co-production between RB and SFB, it certainly makes sense. RB is one those companies that SFB has a "relationship" with (Neumeier's Hamburg Ballet being another). The choreographers Wheeldon and Scarlett are a big part of maintaining that connectivity. Although there may have not been a pre-plannned exchange, both companies find themselves short on female principals at an inopportune time, so, here we are. My complaint (expressed earlier in the thread) is that SFB isn't lacking the talent, and they aren't down to the young Corps dancers alone, there are experienced dancers still healthy (mostly) available, but the infamously tight schedule has once again left no time to coach dancers in new roles. Although it's interesting that there's (presumably) time to teach Naghdi in the Tomasson/Possokhov variations. I wonder if Tomasson contacted Kochetkova for this one-off, but found she was booked solid?

Miko Fogarty has been studying at UCSF - "Traded those tutus and pointe shoes for scrubs and gloves. Some of you may not know, but I’m doing brain tumor research now @ucsf ! 👩🏻‍🔬 It is really fun work and I am enjoying it a lot!" https://www.instagram.com/p/Bp8PiQ0A9Qx/ She will be delivering a TED talk about her experiences next week at Zellerbach Hall in Berkeley Location: Zellerbach Hall, Berkeley, CA Date: March 9, 2019 Time: 10am-12pm https://www.instagram.com/p/BukU8urgtqG/

I'm with you PeggyR - occasional guest artists are fine, especially during a long program run, but this feels like a bit of panic on Tomasson's part, while there are plenty of SFB talents that should be learning Aurora. The good side of this is that Froustey and Luiz get to rest a little between performances. This is what I have so far for the leads: Sat, Mar 9, 2019 8:00 pm Sasha De Sola, Carlo Di Lanno Sun, Mar 10, 2019 2:00 pm Mathilde Froustey, Vitor Luiz Tue, Mar 12, 2019 7:30 pm Wona Park, Angelo Greco Wed, Mar 13, 2019 7:30 pm Yasmine Naghdi, Joseph Walsh Thu, Mar 14, 2019 7:30 pm Sasha De Sola, Carlo Di Lanno Fri, Mar 15, 2019 8:00 pm Mathilde Froustey, Vitor Luiz Sat, Mar 16, 2019 2:00 pm Sat, Mar 16, 2019 8:00 pm Sun, Mar 17, 2019 2:00 pm

It came back to me that the reason for this schedule is the probable complete absence of Scheller, and Chung - I've no doubt Scheller wants to dance Aurora again, but she may not be healthy enough to do it. So everyone else is doing double/triple shows.

The latest Meet the Artist Interview - with Aaron Robison - discusses Lander's Etudes among all things Robison: https://sfballet.blog/2019/02/28/aaron-robison-principal-dancer-on-etudes/ [The intro says the interview is with Kamryn Baldwin but that is a miss-edit. I've contacted SFB about the issue.]

Reading between the lines, SFB seems to be saying that there aren't resources (or the hours) to prepare a number of debuts in Sleeping Beauty, so 3 people will be working really hard, but that leaves one opportunity. Natasha's injury came at an inopportune time, but they usually do. I've expected to see more opportunities for Frantziskonis too. I'm surprised that Froustey is being given the student matinee over Sheehan, but the numbers say that there may be at least one debut in SB… EDIT: here's Wona Park talking about the Enchanted Princess role - https://www.facebook.com/sfballet/videos/vb.27923251292/327676941195543/?type=2&theater This may be part of an Artist Spotlight video that's in the works.

RIP Peter. There happens to be a Carole King Bio on PBS right now, and the daughter of King was telling the story of how cool her mom seemed when one of her songs was recorded by The Monkees (who were the greatest thing going at the time for a 6 year old girl). And she got to meet Davy Jones because of this - she mentioned that Davy was just the right height for a 6 year old. ;)

No problem. Park with Greco would be a good pairing. Tomasson is really moving the partners around these days. Most dancers have their favorite partners, but Helgi seems to be discouraging reliance on any particular person.