Terez

Ooh, thanks, pherank! Goodness, what fun. Can't wait to see each of them in action.

I've been trying to get into this book but I have to say, it's just not happening for me. Was hoping her writing would draw me in the way Jennifer Homans' book did (when I finally finished that one, I started right up again, the next day, at the beginning. My love for APOLLO'S ANGELS is fierce). There are so many delicious biographies out there, as well (am currently enjoying Carlos Acosta's memoir. Wow!!!), that this ballet book seems to slip between the cracks. But now that I've read the comments above, I will go back and try the musings on Serenade again. I think I'm sort of rushing through the book (it's from the library) and just not settling into her wavelength, her style. If any of you who loved this book feel like there's another chapter that I should give a second look at, let me know!

Just received this press release... What a great job he has done - those are some big boots to fill. (And if this post belongs in "Ballet News," please do move it!) Contact: Julie Begley Chief Marketing Officer 415-865-6600 jbegley@sfballet.org San Francisco Ballet Executive Director Glenn McCoy to Retire Following the 2019 Season SAN FRANCISCO, Wednesday, September 5, 2018—San Francisco Ballet has announced that Glenn McCoy will retire as the organization’s longtime executive director following the 2019 Season. McCoy’s retirement will conclude a more than 30-year career during which he led the Ballet to financial strength and operational excellence. “Working for the Ballet these thirty plus years has been the greatest honor and pleasure of my life, but the time has come for me to step aside,” McCoy said. “My greatest wish is that San Francisco Ballet continues to prosper and be held in the highest regard.” His retirement plans include a move to Sonoma. San Francisco Ballet Artistic Director Helgi Tomasson complimented McCoy. The two have worked closely together for three decades. “Glenn is a friend as well as a colleague. His talent for financial and operational management has enabled me to focus on the company’s repertory and provided the freedom to implement my artistic vision for the Ballet.” Tomasson also expressed gratitude for McCoy’s unwavering support and dedication to the organization. “I will miss him when he retires. We all will. But at least we have these next nine months to work together as we prepare for our touring engagements to Washington D.C. and New York in the fall, the 2018 Nutcracker performances, our very exciting 2019 Season, and preliminary planning for 2020.” “San Francisco Ballet owes a tremendous debt of gratitude to Glenn,” said Carl F. Pascarella, Chair of the Ballet’s Board of Trustees. “Under his leadership, the company is organizationally stronger than ever and just finished its best year financially and artistically in its 85-year history.” Pascarella also lauded McCoy for his decision to remain as executive director through the 2019 season. “It is typical of Glenn. He has always put the Ballet first. The long lead time to find his replacement gives us continuing executive leadership and stability as we manage this transition.” McCoy, who is renowned for being genial and self-effacing, said the collegial feeling is mutual. “Working with Helgi, whose artistic vision is so clearly articulated and who continues to surprise you by pushing the company forward artistically without sacrificing our classical roots, is just inspiring. I have been very lucky to work with him, as well as an incredibly passionate and supportive Board of Trustees.” Glenn McCoy’s Career Glenn McCoy’s career in the performing arts spans nearly 40 years of operations management and marketing in ballet and opera. He first joined San Francisco Ballet in 1987, and during his tenure he has held the positions of company manager, general manager, and managing director. He was elected to the position of executive director in April 2002. McCoy has overseen the production of more than 130 new repertory and full-length ballets for San Francisco Ballet and more than 50 domestic and international tours, including engagements at the Palais Garnier in Paris; London’s Royal Opera House; The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC.; and the New York State Theater. McCoy supervised SF Ballet’s operations for the critically acclaimed international dance festival, UNited We Dance in 1995, San Francisco Ballet’s 75thAnniversary Season in 2008, and the Company’s Unbound: A Festival of New Works in 2018. He also oversaw the tapings of Lar Lubovitch’sOthello; Helgi Tomasson’s Nutcrackerand Romeo & Juliet; and John Neumeier’s The Little Mermaid, which have been broadcast on PBS by Thirteen/WNET New York’s performing arts series Great Performances. Prior to joining San Francisco Ballet, McCoy held marketing positions at the San Francisco Opera and at The Metropolitan Opera in New York City, where as advertising manager he was responsible for promoting The Met seasons of American Ballet Theatre, as well as other international dance companies including Paris Opéra Ballet, The Royal Ballet, the Bolshoi Ballet, and Japan’s Grand Kabuki. McCoy has served on the Board of Trustees of Dance/USA, the national service organization for professional dance. A native of New Bern, North Carolina, McCoy earned his bachelor of arts degree in theater and communication arts from Appalachian State University in North Carolina. ###

Allan Ulrich published his thoughts on Program D. https://www.sfchronicle.com/performance/article/Pita-s-Bjork-Ballet-a-stunning-work-in-12869373.php?r=1 (It's a SF Chronicle article and not SF Gate - does that make a difference? I just now capitulated and paid for a subscription in order to read it.) I'm attending the matinee tomorrow (Saturday) for Program D. Anyone else going to this program, or saw the Thurs night performance? I'm looking forward to it.

Oh, OUCH. But you're right, it's part of the game. How many performances do you suppose Macaulay attends each year/season? I would, however, like to shout out and/or reiterate that Joseph Wharton performed in Program A and it sounds like he did a fine job. Kudos to Wharton!

I did - it seems as though that cast is remaining the lone cast -- or maybe we will see a second cast (for other ballets as well) next week? Both Sylve and Kochetkova were stunning to watch. It's a real delight to see them dancing such similar steps, at one point in unison, and seeing the way their different bodies and personal aesthetics respond. It was uncanny, actually, that at one point their unison was flawless, and it was as if they'd both tapped into the core of the music, the artfulness of the steps, so that their physical differences disappeared and they were like mirror images, the music and steps just flowing through them. ((LOL, don't know if any of that made sense - it was like a prose poem gone bad!)) I was crazy about the costumes and lighting from Dawson's ballet. James F. Ingalls did lighting for every single ballet - maybe for the whole festival - and this one was truly unique, along with a room/box-like set. When the dancers were downstage, the lighting seemed fairly normal, but when they danced far upstage, it almost felt like an optical illusion - their bodies seemed so small next to all the whiteness, and they became more of a silhouette. Again, I'm likely describing it poorly, but it was amazing to watch. And I think that, after the heavy storytelling of Otherness and Snowblind, I liked that this was much more about movement. Everything felt light, airy, sky-bound. It felt particularly poignant, watching Masha, knowing she'll be leaving. And Sylve, as always, is just such a beautiful, classy, refined dancer, resisting any easy categorization. I realize I haven't brought up Cathy Marston's Snowbound. The performances by Van Patten, Froustey and Birkkjaer could not have been better. It really defined the ballet and what people would bring home from it. Froustey, in particular, was this lone ray of sunshine, in this beautiful coral dress, the only dollop of color in the ballet. Which is/was as it should be, but boy, without the joy and buoyancy her character (and Froustey herself) brought to the story, I would have found the ballet to be effective but a little too dreary. But I noticed that all the reviewers I admire had loads of positive things to say about her ballet. Of the three ballets, I'm crossing my fingers that Animus Anima will get slotted into next year's season. But it wouldn't surprise me if Snowbound claimed the spot instead.

Wow, did it bother me that Alastair Macaulay named the wrong dancer in his review. It was indeed Joseph Wharton, and it bothers me every time I see the mistake hasn't been fixed. Oh well, I guess Joseph Wharton can take comfort in the fact that Macaulay thought he was as superior a dancer as Joseph Walsh. So sorry Walsh is still unable to perform, but yes, as someone commented, it is what Froustey, Zahorian and Powell (didn't know this one) went through - and wasn't Lonnie Weeks injured for a spell, delaying a deserved promotion? So happy he did, in the end, receive it.

Reporting in on seeing Program B's Saturday night opener. Pretty exciting vibe, there at the War Memorial Opera House. I saw some of the choreographers, sat near some of the creative team members (maybe scenic designer or composer). It was great fun at the end of each ballet to see the quartet of creators onstage with the dancers. Gave you a real sense of what a big deal all of this is. I didn't attend the 2008 (?) festival of 10 new works, so this was a new, fun feeling for me. I published my review at Bachtrack; hopefully the link is forthcoming on the correct page here, but in the meantime, the link is posted at The Classical Girl as well. Thoughts that don't sound like a duplicate of my review... Myles Thatchers' Otherness was a cute, fun way to start the night; I don't think the ballet would have been as successful anywhere else in the evening's lineup. The swimsuits, swim caps and goggle sunglasses, the preening, brought to mind Possokhov's Swimmer, and I think it had been Thatcher's intention to make it feel sort of mid-20th century, the rigid norms and beliefs of the 1950's. The two separate groups, I'll call them the "pinks" and the "blues" had their own signature moves, but honestly, I didn't catch on that one was "synchronized swimming team" and the other was "swing-dancing, rugby-esque circus clowns" - the program's description, not mine. Which, I have to say, led to problems in interpreting/enjoying the ballet. There was so much story involved; it was so packed with "a riff on gender binaries" and how we perceive those who are different, and how, when threatened with something new and unfamiliar, we pull back, retreat to the comfortable, that I'm thinking more about the program notes than the actual dancing. In writing the review, i was appalled to see how little I commented (and/or retained) about the dance steps. Max Cauthorn looked incredibly dynamic as the Protagonist, the male lead, and I'm just so pleased to see the way he's living up to the promise he showed as a younger dancer, and, indeed, seems headed toward performing at a level reserved for the principals. It was great to see Sean Orza as the "pink" equivalent of Max, and they had a really nice pas de deux at one point. I really like seeing same sex pas de deux. What fascinates me is that Thatcher cast Lauren Strongin as the "pink" leader, for the second cast (or at least this was what was relayed in the program) and that Lauren will at times be lifting her partner (Vitor Luiz?). Wow, would I love to see that cast perform. Jahna Frantziskonis (boy, does auto-correct hate her name) was great fun as one of the lead "blues" - strutting and showing attitude. I was surprised to discover that James Sofranko was the "blue" equivalent - with their swim caps and goggle sunglasses, you didn't really know who was who. My other complaint here was that it became a little preachy and heavy-handed, kind of like a Tele-Tubbies episode, all that pink and blue and unambiguous "we shouldn't ostracize people who are different or think differently". My sense is that less would have been more, and I almost wanted more abstraction, so that the dancing, the dancers' body language, told the story. I think "Ghosts in the Machine' found the sweet spot a little more effectively. Will comment in detail later on the other two ballets. For now, Cathy Marston's Snowblind seemed to be a big hit with the other critics, and I enjoyed it - Van Patten, Froustey and Birkjaer were fabulous and had great synergy - but it was David Dawson's Anima Animus that really dazzled me. Such good dancing - I wanted to name every ensemble dancer in my review, but with an 800 word limit, that couldn't happen.

Didn't see this coming and am so sad. But ah well, it's all part of the game. There are some beautiful young dancers on the SFB roster (and all around the world) so I'll look forward to discovering them (or seeing the already discovered ones test ever bigger roles). They deserve the new opportunities.

What a great thread - I've been absorbed in daily life and too busy to catch this exciting news. Wow - big congrats to all three men. Agree that this is long overdue for Weeks. Pherank, I'm cracking up over the Frankenstein pic. Where do you GET these wonderful pics?! Enjoying all the thoughtful, insightful commentary.

Wow. Interesting news to digest. I didn't realize we were already at that announcement time. Love reading everyone's comments. Can't imagine Shostakovich Trilogy w/o Karapetyan, but ah well, time moves along, rosters change, new stars emerge within a role. Agreed that it would be pretty neat to see what WanTing Zhao could do in The Little Mermaid. Pherank, you brought up a good/poignant point in your above comments. All good things must come to an end, eventually.

Thank you both for your comments, Dreamer and SF Herminator. Great to hear your perspectives. I, too, had that "saw it once, which I enjoyed, but didn't need to see it twice" feeling and the Opera House is such a slog from the Santa Cruz Mountains that I just have to give some programs a pass. But I always feel wistful when I let a performance run slip past, especially since the SFB season is so short. I agree that the second year of a performance allows the dancers to incorporate more nuance, refinement, coherence & interpretation. Oh, ugh, now I really DO want to see a performance, particularly because I have this uneasy feeling I will never once see Birkkjaer perform this season. Ah, choices...

Is it my imagination or has there been little media coverage of this run? I saw the SF Gate review but have found nothing else, and I always enjoy reading reviews of productions I know.

I cannot wait! Thanks for posting this delicious teaser.

Well, I was just stunned, seeing this casting list. I have to miss out on the whole run, and I'm worried the entire season is going to fly by without my seeing Ulrik Birkkjaer in a leading role. Do we know how serious Walsh's sidelining is? So disappointing (except that I'm not seeing any of Frankenstein anyway). What a surprise to see Robison on the list - very exciting, actually. Looking forward to hearing others' comments after they've watched the performance(s).