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SARAH VAN PATTEN TO DEPART SAN FRANCISCO BALLET FOLLOWING THE 2022 SEASON, HER 20TH SEASON IN SAN FRANCISCO SAN FRANCISCO, March 1, 2022—Today, San Francisco Ballet (SF Ballet) announced that Principal Dancer Sarah Van Patten will be leaving the Company following the 2022 Repertory Season, her 20th season with SF Ballet, to focus on her family and pursue leadership opportunities within the arts. Van Patten, who joined SF Ballet as Soloist in 2002, and was promoted to Principal Dancer in 2007, will give her last performance with the Company on Saturday, April 16 at 7:30 pm PDT at the War Memorial Opera House in a special evening celebrating her 20-year tenure. Reprising some of her most celebrated roles, Van Patten will perform selections from Danielle Rowe's Wooden Dimes, George Balanchine's Diamonds, the North American premiere of Yuri Possokhov’s Gabrielle Chanel, and the balcony pas de deux from SF Ballet Artistic Director & Principal Choreographer Helgi Tomasson’s Romeo & Juliet. The evening will also include a special video commemoration of her career. Tickets will be on sale on Friday, March 4 on SF Ballet’s website. “Sarah is an immensely talented artist who has brought to this Company a diverse range of abilities, both in her dancing and in her dramatic interpretations of some of the great roles of classical ballet,” said Tomasson. “She has been integral to the creation of some of my own ballets, as well as ballets by numerous other choreographers who have worked in our studios throughout the past two decades. It has been a pleasure to work with her and we will miss her dearly.” “It has been an incredible 20 years dancing for San Francisco Ballet,” said Van Patten. “I feel so fortunate to have been given the opportunity from Helgi when I was 17 to join the company as a soloist. I never could have imagined then what has ended up being such an amazing journey. Thank you to so many people behind the scenes and in the audience who have supported and helped me along over these years. I will forever cherish this chapter in my life and I look forward to what is next!” ** Well, I'm inept at starting a new thread; I suppose I should have prefaced it with a note, but, hey, I can reply below with a note. News just came through; I'm sure others received it as well, so if this is a double post of news, feel free to delete this one!

I will be attending Saturday night's performance, as well. I've never seen Misa K dance live on stage, so that will be nice. I've missed seeing Angelo G, as well. I was wondering why Froustey wasn't cast as Kitri in this run. She was utterly charming in the SFB's last Don Q; If memory serves me correct, she was opening-night Kitri. Hope all is well with her. I know she had a baby, so her earlier presence onstage (was it Nutcracker?) was a very pleasant surprise.

Wow. Just wow. Did not see this coming or even consider it. (I'd thought, weirdly, that they'd come up with a two-person team, like Benjamin Millepied and Sofiane Sylve. Guess not!)

I was there too! It surprised me, but actually, I was half-expecting to learn the run had been cut short and the production closed, so I was very, very happy to see this compromise. It was a lovely performance. Got to see Nikisha Fogo and Julian MacKay perform the Grand Pas de Deux. Thrilling! It was like spying a new, big gift under the Christmas tree when you were sure you'd opened all the gifts. I really, really enjoyed it. Also really enjoyed seeing Dores André perform SPF. It feels like so long since I've seen her dance, particularly in something so dainty and classical. It was gorgeous and nuanced and really showed off her strength and skill as a dancer. (So easy for this role to come across as a little... vanilla.) So very glad to have seen this performance. Now I'm staying out of San Francisco until the omicron variant subsides! I'm glad the company's repertory season doesn't start until February this year. Most of the principal roles/dancers (except Clara) were unmasked as they danced, but in the finale, they masked up.

Loved these both, pherank!

What a thrill to be back in the War Memorial Opera House! A big treat to be able to attend both Friday night and Saturday matinee. Nikisha Fogo as Sugar Plum Fairy on Friday night was amazing. And YY and Henry Sidford were right on top of things as well. The grand pdd with Frances and Joe went very nicely, but actually I found Sat matinee's performance of that, with Sasha De Sola and Aaron Robison to be a notch higher in the "wow" factor (which is saying something for a matinee). They were just on fire. Robison has never danced so much like Karapetyan, in my mind, and I mean that in all good ways. Am still missing Karapetyan's presence in the company. You could just tell the little girls (and older ones) were crazy about Sasha. In my Bachtrack review, I mentioned enjoying Norika Matsuyama in Spanish Dance and "why hasn't she been promoted to soloist?" In an exchange of emails with Kate McKinney at SFB, the next day, she informed me that "you got your wish," and a comment on my Bachtrack review from "SFBB" confirms she was promoted to soloist as of Dec 1st. https://bachtrack.com/review-nutcracker-tomasson-san-francisco-ballet-december-2021 I realize this might not qualify as "official" news, so if this paragraph is deleted, I'll know and understand why. But I did get the word straight from the PR department at the SFB. And I'm thrilled!

I'm agog with the wealth of casting mentioned here. Yay! I was just now at their site and only found the 6-ish lead roles mentioned, but for several performance. I think you chanced on a lucky opportunity to see so much casting, sf_herminator. (And lucky us that you posted it here!) I'm attending opening night and Saturday's matinee. Very excited, to say the least. But I have this PTSD feeling that I'm going to wake up tomorrow to bad news, which was the same situation as in March 2020, where I was holding tix for the Friday night and Sat matinee performance of Dream, and then The Really Bad News hit. But it's time to think positive!) Excited, as well, to see Nikisha Fogo. And how exciting for Henry Sidford, an opening-night Snow King. Thrilled for him!

Wow, my head is spinning over the changes (that's what happens when you live in a cave for 18 months!). I also just found out today that Kelly Tweeddale has resigned as executive director. I'd always wondered if she were living a nightmare, negotiating all the upheaval -- not just COVID but the call for racial equality in the ranks -- in her first two years on the job. And I'll bet Glen McCoy is pretty happy he retired in 2019. Is there a thread on Kelly Tweeddale's resignation I should be aware of? I saw a 2021-22 roster that only had four apprentices; I don't know whether that version, or this one, is more updated. Anyone else know?

Great to read all these comments. I'm going back and forth about buying this one. I'm so enjoying Gavin Larsen's Being a Ballerina, I'm afraid Pazcoguin's book might be a rough jolt in terms of voice and presentation. Maybe I'll wait a few months between the two reads.

I'm reading this book and very much enjoying it! She's quite a good writer and gorgeously chronicles her experiences.

I am only now learning about his death, and it is all so utterly sad. His poor family. The whole situation is so sorrowful. Thanks, pherank, for posting the most recent piece of news.

We were all glumly searching for news to make us feel better, over the news we were finding. Hey, I think it's a great PR move on their part. It expresses optimism and enthusiasm and confidently moves forward with "business as usual." And it will make a lot of SFB patrons and/or ballet lovers very very happy.

Well. Just got the email too. I am SO HAPPY for all the promoted dancers, and I have to say, this is the sunniest piece of news I've received in the past... month, maybe? Six weeks? Ever since opening night of Midsummer Night's Dream and before the Opera House closure news? No matter. CONGRATULATIONS, YOU WONDERFUL DANCERS!! And thanks for posting the news, pherank.

Just this very minute finished watching the taped production. I'd seen it 2 (?) weeks ago as a ticket holder, and it was harder to watch - so much "buffering" and interruptions and grief over all the consequences of COVID-19. Was so glad to get the news I could watch it a second round, as a donor to their Critical Relief (?) fund/drive. My husband hooked it up on our Apple TV setup this afternoon, and -- who knew? -- without wifi and instead a wired connection, there was none of the ghastly buffering that so dogged the first view. I just love your comments, pherank. I'm not in a critiquing mood; I'm so grateful I was able to sit and enjoy and escape this time around. Loved everyone's performance. Sometimes I scratch my head over Balanchine's choreography -- WHY did he need those ice-skater-esque double-tour (?) jump/landings for Hippolita? -- as well as other "Yup, that's Balanchine for you" bits. But that's Balanchine for you. I was crazy about the music. Just loved it. Thought I knew Mendelssohn, but I didn't recognize the Divertissement PDD music. Loved it. Ulrich/Frances pairing was stunning. Agree that Lucas Erni as Bottom and Cavan Conley as Puck were show stealers. Loved the performance from Sasha -- both of them. First time for me in seeing Sasha M. Really enjoyed it. Anyway. So happy I got to see it multiple times. Might even try and squeeze in a 3rd time. This second time brought me so much pleasure -- a valuable commodity these days. And I have to say, watching it on the television versus my laptop screen was a pleasant surprise. That's HD TV for you.

Thanks for sharing this. Definitely worth a dig into my pockets. $9.5 million - oh, wow. Might need to dig deeper into that pocket than expected.

Oh, me too! So very, very precious to watch, in so many ways. Brought some sunshine into my heart.

You know, if it had been one of the company's productions, and they held all rights, I'd bet it would be a different scenario. With Dream, there's PNB costumes/sets, there's the Balanchine Trust, not to mention all the waivers required for unions and their various regulations. I imagine some compromise was required in the negotiations to make it happen, even in this limited way. Glad they could offer this! I'm just relieved they are able to placate ticket holders who, in turn, will not ask for refunds. And I'm very relieved they'll bring it back next year. Because of the above restrictions, it wasn't necessarily a given.

This was the first peep of hopeful news I've heard from, and regarding, the SFB, taken from SF Datebook today. "S.F. Ballet is exploring the option, mulling the idea of offering patrons a streamed capture of its production of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” free of charge. “While we know nothing can replace the vibrancy of a live performance, our hope is to be able to still share the beauty of this ballet and the extraordinary artistry of our Company dancers and S.F. Ballet Orchestra,” Kelly Tweeddale, executive director of the organization, said in an email to The Chronicle on Wednesday. https://datebook.sfchronicle.com/music/as-coronavirus-cancellations-ramp-up-organizations-scramble

Well, this was a bad day to learn this news (in the aftermath of SF Ballet cancelling Dream run). Bad news atop bad news. I won't ask, "When will it stop?" because maybe I don't want to know the answer.

Well, I'm speechless with loss about the venue closure. Speechless. All the company's hard work and costs. (And okay, ME and my special weekend of ballet.)

It will be much easier to get a post-performance report out this time around; I've written a preview instead of a review, which means all the work ends... around now. {{Happily pushes "publish" on preview at my blog.}} Tossing in a hotel overnight in the city on Sat pm, so I'm all set for a relaxing ballet-centric weekend. What fun!

I had the good fortune to attend a rehearsal yesterday, a first-cast run-through of Act I. Dores and Benjamin F danced Hermia/Lysander couple and Mathilde and Ulrich danced Helena/Demetrius. So that's the opening night lineup. I've also heard Elizabeth Mateer will be dancing Helena on the Sat 2p performance. I will be attending Sat pm (the 7th?) and next day's matinee. I was grateful to have seen the first cast dance in such a polished run-through since I will have to miss opening night. So many great dancers, so little time!

Thanks for the shout-out about my review, Pherank. I am utterly buried in other stuff and dismayed that I'm not finding the opportunity to offer my comments about the production, because this is my favorite place to come and chat and listen about what others have to say. At least I can enjoy the latter, a week after the fact! Love reading what others have to say.

Ugh, what a disaster. I'm going tonight; I would have been so upset and disappointed if this had happened while I was there. I really have to jump through hoops and make sacrifices to make a night in the city happen. My heart goes out to the performers - particularly after seeing Sasha M's Instagram message above (am assuming the performance didn't get that far) - and the audience members as well. Such a costly disappointment. Good ole PG&E, keeping on top of that infrastructure.

Oh, now I'm really sad! (Such a shame he didn't want to finish the season and his SFB career off with Romeo, but his future job sounds amazing.)