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I'm glad the production is getting TV marketing - I'm sure people will be curious. Toi toi toi.

My introduction to Wilkinson was actually the great 2005 Ballets Russes documentary (which is also available on iTunes and Amazon Prime). I was impressed that the film devoted some time to discussing Wilkinson's trials and tribulations in the ballet world, especially when touring southern states during the Jim Crow era.

Something must have gone wrong, but I've not heard a peep about where the issue occurred. Blake Johnson posted a photo of herself in costume, a day ago, and she's definitely wearing the older costume style: https://www.instagram.com/p/Brk37j5AQZR/

The casting list above has been updated.

It's interesting that the entire Tchaikovsky score is being used, and the snow scene choir as well. There aren't many companies going to that much trouble (or using a production of that length). More power to them. And the Paramount Theatre is a great place to see anything. 😉

Interesting side note: Ulrik Birkkjaer supposedly performed with Teresa Reichlen and Festival Ballet Theatre in The Nutcracker (12/8 - 12/9 at Irvine Barclay Theater), and, Maria Kochetkova was doing the same with Vitor Luiz (12/15 - 12/16). So I guess the money was too good to pass up. 😉 https://www.instagram.com/p/BrdTyYKl1Vc/

Looking for a way out of Nutcracker madness is a thing. 😉 SVP, Strongin and Birkkjaer haven't been mentioned so far, but hopefully no one is dealing with a major injury. SVP, being the one principal woman with an infant probably doesn't want a full schedule in any case. EDIT: SVP mentioned to Dance Magazine that she organizes Nutcracker hospital visits each year: https://www.dancemagazine.com/advice-sfb-sarah-van-patten-2478831426.html The casting of "Elizabeth Rowe" and "Val Bustamante" just shows the wealth of talent still to be found at SFB.

"Aaron Robison was brilliant, and exciting to watch. Seeing him dance made me miss Davit K a bit less" For Terez - Davit Karapetyan posted a short dance video online "My first double tour in about a year. Ohh it felt good to fly again" https://www.instagram.com/p/BnrEYJNh5dY/ Ana Sophia Scheller replied, "Have a come back!! You guys are still young!" Well, we can wish. But now it's Aaron and Sasha looking good together: https://www.instagram.com/p/BrWeyujnnSM/ and Frances and Joseph too: https://www.instagram.com/p/BrUT-XugNpb/ https://www.instagram.com/p/BrUFVjighBD/

Yuri Possokhov creating on Yuan Yuan Tan and Carlo Di Lanno https://www.instagram.com/p/BrWfqqwjV0m/

Here's a bunch more castings - the newer soloists are getting plenty of action. Lizzy Powell as the Snow Queen - that has to be a thrill for her. Tuesday, December 18, 2018, 2 pm Choreography: Helgi Tomasson Music: Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky Conductor: Tara Simoncic Drosselmeyer: Pascal Molat Queen and King of the Snow: Koto Ishihara, Lonnie Weeks Sugar Plum Fairy: Wona Park Grand Pas de Deux: Elizabeth Rowe, Max Cauthorn Tuesday, December 18, 2018, 7 pm Choreography: Helgi Tomasson Music: Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky Conductor: Martin West Drosselmeyer: Tiit Helimets Queen and King of the Snow: Elizabeth Powell, Henry Sidford Sugar Plum Fairy: Frances Chung Grand Pas de Deux: Ana Sophia Sheller, Vitor Luiz Wednesday, December 19, 2018, 2 pm Choreography: Helgi Tomasson Music: Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky Conductor: Martin West Drosselmeyer: Val Caniparoli Queen and King of the Snow: Elizabeth Mateer, Steven Morse Sugar Plum Fairy: Isabella DeVivo Grand Pas de Deux: Sasha De Sola, Aaron Robison Wednesday, December 19, 2018, 7 pm Choreography: Helgi Tomasson Music: Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky Conductor: Martin West Drosselmeyer: Ricardo Bustamante Queen and King of the Snow: WanTing Zhao, Mingxuan Wang Sugar Plum Fairy: Ana Sophia Scheller Grand Pas de Deux: Jennifer Stahl, Tiit Helimets Thursday, December 20, 2018, 2 pm Choreography: Helgi Tomasson Music: Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky Conductor: Ming Luke Drosselmeyer: Pascal Molat Queen and King of the Snow: Ana Sophia Scheller, Henry Sidford Sugar Plum Fairy: Julia Rowe Grand Pas de Deux: Koto Ishihara, Hansuke Yamamoto Thursday, December 20, 2018, 7 pm Choreography: Helgi Tomasson Music: Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky Conductor: Martin West Drosselmeyer: Pascal Molat Queen and King of the Snow: Sasha De Sola, Ben Freemantle Sugar Plum Fairy: Wona Park Grand Pas de Deux: Frances Chung, Joseph Walsh Friday, December 21, 2018, 2 pm Choreography: Helgi Tomasson Music: Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky Conductor: Martin West Drosselmeyer: Alexander Reneff-Olson Queen and King of the Snow: Yuan Yuan Tan, Tiit Helimets Sugar Plum Fairy: Jahna Frantziskonis Grand Pas de Deux: Julia Rowe, Max Cauthorn Friday, December 21, 2018, 7 pm Choreography: Helgi Tomasson Music: Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky Conductor: Martin West Drosselmeyer: Val Caniparoli Queen and King of the Snow: Frances Chung, Vitor Luiz Sugar Plum Fairy: Sofiane Sylve Grand Pas de Deux: Mathilde Froustey, Luke Ingham Saturday, December 22, 2018, 2 pm Choreography: Helgi Tomasson Music: Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky Conductor: Martin West Drosselmeyer: Tiit Helimets Queen and King of the Snow: Jahna Frantziskonis, Max Cauthorn Sugar Plum Fairy: Jennifer Stahl Grand Pas de Deux: Dores Andre, Wei Wang Saturday, December 22, 2018, 7 pm Choreography: Helgi Tomasson Music: Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky Conductor: Martin West Drosselmeyer: Val Bustamante Queen and King of the Snow: Yuan Yuan Tan, Carlo Di Lanno Sugar Plum Fairy: Mathilde Froustey Grand Pas de Deux: Sasha De Sola, Aaron Robison Sunday, December 23, 2018, 2 pm Choreography: Helgi Tomasson Music: Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky Conductor: Martin West Drosselmeyer: Val Caniparoli Queen and King of the Snow: Mathilde Froustey, Carlo Di Lanno Sugar Plum Fairy: Dores Andre Grand Pas de Deux: Wona Park, Angelo Greco Sunday, December 23, 2018, 7 pm Choreography: Helgi Tomasson Music: Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky Conductor: David LaMarche Drosselmeyer: Ricardo Bustamante Queen and King of the Snow: Frances Chung, Vitor Luiz Sugar Plum Fairy: Koto Ishihara Grand Pas de Deux: Sofiane Sylve, Tiit Helimets Monday, December 24, 2018, 11 am Choreography: Helgi Tomasson Music: Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky Conductor: Martin West Drosselmeyer: Tiit Helimets Queen and King of the Snow: Sasha De Sola, Ben Freemantle Sugar Plum Fairy: Dores Andre Grand Pas de Deux: Frances Chung, Joseph Walsh Monday, December 24, 2018, 4 pm Choreography: Helgi Tomasson Music: Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky Conductor: David LaMarche Drosselmeyer: Ricardo Bustamante Queen and King of the Snow: Mathilde Froustey, Carlo Di Lanno Sugar Plum Fairy: Jahna Frantziskonis Grand Pas de Deux: Koto Ishihara, Hansuke Yamamoto Wednesday, December 26, 2018, 2 pm Choreography: Helgi Tomasson Music: Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky Conductor: David LaMarche Drosselmeyer: Alexander Reneff-Olson Queen and King of the Snow: Elizabeth Mateer, Steven Morse Sugar Plum Fairy: Wona Park Grand Pas de Deux: WanTing Zhao, Carlo Di Lanno Wednesday, December 26, 2018, 7 pm Choreography: Helgi Tomasson Music: Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky Conductor: Ming Luke Drosselmeyer: Val Caniparoli Queen and King of the Snow: Sasha De Sola, Ben Freemantle Sugar Plum Fairy: Jahna Frantziskonis Grand Pas de Deux: Dores Andre, Wei Wang Thursday, December 27, 2018, 2 pm Choreography: Helgi Tomasson Music: Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky Conductor: Ming Luke Drosselmeyer: Alexander Reneff-Olson Queen and King of the Snow: Isabella DeVivo, Max Cauthorn Sugar Plum Fairy: Frances Chung Grand Pas de Deux: Ana Sophia Scheller, Vitor Luiz Thursday, December 27, 2018, 7 pm Choreography: Helgi Tomasson Music: Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky Conductor: David LaMarche Drosselmeyer: Val Caniparoli Queen and King of the Snow: Koto Ishihara, Luke Ingham Sugar Plum Fairy: Sasha De Sola Grand Pas de Deux: Sofiane Sylve, Tiit Helimets

Thanks so much for this report, Terez. Natasha Sheehan is nursing a foot problem, and essentially holding off until the regular season starts. I think that's a smart move, since all the Nutcracker performances inevitably sideline one or more dancer for much of the season. https://www.instagram.com/p/BrBIRdsgtWv/ You may have been seeing the new Flower costumes - it seemed to me that they were only making tweaks to the general look of things (mostly to the bodice). I too regret the brevity of Coffee/Arabian - allowing little room for more developed choreography - but the music is essentially a lullaby, so what was Tchaikovsky to do? Short and sweet it had to be. ;)

I stumbled upon the artwork of Eve M. S. Guthrie and located a particular page (on a Russian language website) that features a number of her Ballet Russes-themed paintings (of the De Basil era). There are also publicity photos of many Ballet Russes dancers. Enjoy. https://www.liveinternet.ru/users/sherila/post386359140/ Alexandra Danilova:

Mathilde is psyching up for the first performance: https://www.instagram.com/p/BrThdv9nMGN/ lapetitefrench_“So comes snow after fire, and even dragons have their ending!” J. R. R. Tolkien Tonight I’ll be the Snow Queen for Opening night of Nutcracker. https://www.instagram.com/p/BrSA5duFjTJ/ Madison Keesler in her snowflake garb:

Sasha De Sola at her book reading/signing event in SF: (multiple images) https://www.instagram.com/p/BrLaQQ0npAq/

Yes, I'm glad to see that Molat will be back on stage, he was always a good character dancer/actor. And Aaron Robison is back, and apparently healthy. The Froustey/Wei Wang pairing strikes me as odd. Wang has looked good in solo sections - it was his partnering skills (and strength) that needed development. Toi, toi, toi. I hope someone can report on the Frantziskonis/Cauthorn pairing...

I believe you, Dreamer, I just don't recall the incident myself (even though I have far too much knowledge of Kochetkova's postings(!)). So I have a feeling that only Messmer posted an online 'reaction' to some conversation that had taken place at SFB.

I have no memory of this - must have been on Twitter if it happened at all. It would be really out-of-character for Kochetkova to make any remarks of this sort online. Her postings tend to be a public relations dream - virtually no personal comments or opinions offered. Just photos with bare minimum descriptors. It may have been all on Messmer's side of things. But if anyone can discover the date that this occurred on... My impression of her dancing while at SFB was that I needed to see a lot more of it to formulate a strong opinion. Like Cubanmiamiboy, I didn't think her actual dancing was spectacular in any particular way - it was her demeanor that was interesting. More roles for Messmer would of course meant fewer roles for dancers like Sasha De Sola, Dores Andre, Julia Rowe and Lauren Strongin, and probably fewer opportunities for young dancers like Jahna Frantziskonis, WanTing Zhao and Wona Park to prove themselves. It's always a lot harder when you have to make choices between individuals, and I can guess that Tomasson didn't want to take away opportunities from his favorites to give roles to Messmer who hadn't proven herself to him. He likely expected her to deal with the process, but she didn't want to wait - she wanted to be anointed a star dancer of the company. But, West Coast ballet companies don't have "stars" in quite the same way as an ABT does, for example. She may never have been happy with the culture, who knows? My own observation is that SFB does a pretty good job of spreading the work around - especially now that the 'old favorites' are at the end of their careers, we see more and more of Corps dancers in soloist roles. But injuries keep throwing a wrench into the best laid plans each season... On the subject of Erik Tomasson and his photography: he is indeed an excellent photographer, but should other photographers be allowed to work on SFB marketing materials? I'm not sure that there is any real precedent for how this should be handled. It's worth pointing out that many of the dancers model on the side for other photographers, though often the photographers seem to be friends or relatives of the dancers, so it's a close community. 😉 Erik Tomasson:

The floppy petals look doesn't really do it for me. But I haven't taken the time to look around to see who has the best costume solution to this problem.

My favorite holiday ballet video courtesy of Natasha Sheehan: https://www.instagram.com/p/Bq-xY5-AU5t/

OK, I've read Millosr's review, and it was rather fascinating (and amusing), but my brain couldn't make sense of what was going on with the ballet's creative staff. At least Atlanta Ballet likely won't have that same problem. Possokhov controls all things having to do with the human participants (and presumably, Nedvigin). The part I don't know about is how the people in charge of the electronic media rehearse their contribution alongside the dancers and stage actors. There has to be a stage manager to get everything to coalesce effectively, and I haven't heard any details about who is doing what. Is the existing Atlanta Ballet stage manager in charge of Nutcracker production? Or is some other experienced person being brought in to show how it's done this first time? "Enquiring minds want to know..."

We all hope for the best. ;) But it's pretty daring to mess with the Nutcracker season - if nothing else, it should be a spectacle, which kids are going to like. The safer plan would have been to add Possokhov's Swimmer to Atlanta Ballet's season/rep, and just see how audiences take to it. If that comes off well, then move on to allowing Possokhov to redo Nutcracker with added media.

I'm in the area, but I've only gone to see the "City Ballet" in San Diego. The California Ballet Company's programing never grabbed me. City Ballet performs a certain amount of Balanchine (which is hard to come by in Southern Cal), and I appreciate that. It would be good to know how the two companies fare with their Nutcracker productions.

A Vanity Fair piece on the upcoming Atlanta Ballet Nutcracker production: https://www.vanityfair.com/style/2018/11/the-nutcracker-embraces-high-tech-in-atlanta 'Possokhov is following the traditional American story line as laid out by the Christensen brothers in San Francisco (1944) and George Balanchine in New York (1954), though his iteration will be more mystical, celestial, and spooky. “I will have my own details and twists,” Possokhov explains, and “the sets are active participants in the production.”'

SFB has posted a page to their website about the Athleta partnership: https://www.sfballet.org/athleta

Group photos from Yuan Yuan Tan's 'Shanghai Thanksgiving': https://www.instagram.com/p/BqfOeJIjlQH/