PeggyTulle

Katherine Barkman and Max Cauthorn in R&J rehearsal... but so far, I haven't seen them in the official casting. 

https://www.instagram.com/reel/Cq_kkpKMglZ/?igshid=OGRjNzg3M2Y=

Whoa! That's a big change. 

Looking at the lead casting for the three regular season full-lengths, I pulled this together. 

Men

• Aaron Robison: Albrecht, Romeo (2)
• Angelo Greco: Albrecht, Romeo (2)
• Esteban Hernandez: Albrecht (1)
• Isaac Hernandez: Guilaume, Romeo (2)
• Joe Walsh: Guilaume, Romeo (2)
• Luke Ingham: Guilaume (1)
• Max Cauthorn: Guilaume (1)
• Wei Wang: Albrecht (1)

Women

• Dores Andre: Cindy, Juliet (2)
• Isabella DeVivo (soloist): Cindy (1)
• Jasmine Jimison (soloist): Giselle, Juliet (2)
• Misa Kuranaga: Giselle, Cindy, Juliet (3)
• Nikisha Fogo: Juliet (1)
• Sasha De Sola: Giselle, Cindy (2)
• Wona Park: Giselle (1)
• Yuan Yuan Tan: Juliet (1)

Principals with no full-length lead roles: Jennifer Stahl, Frances Chung (maternity leave), Mathilde Froustey (visa issues most of the season, now back and rehabbing), Wanting Zhao (performed earlier in the season, recently had ACL surgery per IG)

Principals with only one full-length lead role: Wona Park, Nikisha Fogo, Yuan Yuan Tan, Wei Wang, Max Cauthorn, Esteban Hernandez, Luke Ingham

YY's final-performance Juliet has me speculating about the big R. 

Boston Ballet announced a bunch of promotions today including Chisako Oga to principal.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/Cp5p2WQpBnw/?igshid=OGRjNzg3M2Y=

Glad to hear about Wona's successful debut! Too bad she didn't get her second performance (aka swapped with Jasmine's upcoming now third performance).

17 hours ago, pherank said:

Maybe, but OBT's seasons are fairly short in comparison to that of the really big companies - with long gaps between programs. That would allow for some back and forth travel to a home in the Bay Area. But who knows?

This got me to wondering exactly how old Ingham is now, and I came upon an Australian article talking about a 21 year old Luke Ingham heading to the US for a short study tour with various large companies including SFB. But the article claims to have been published in 1990! That would make Luke 53 or 54 years old.  And I don't believe that.

I believe Luke is in his late 30s, maybe early 40s. Many websites default to 1990 of an actual date isn't specified. 

7 hours ago, Helene said:

Instagram Stories time out/disappear after 24 hours.  Information posted here with their content aren't necessarily still up.

From today

https://instagram.com/stories/lapetitefrench_/3038187259451430084?igshid=MDJmNzVkMjY=

5 hours ago, pherank said:

She's back now? Where did you hear about that PeggyTulle?

Her recent IG stories

Dani Rowe was just announced as Oregon Ballet Theatre's new AD. Makes me wonder if this is Luke Ingham's fiinal year with SFB.

Dani Rowe is the new AD! What a get for OBT.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/ConTHVZALMg/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

Mathilde has also posted being back in SF and taking class at SFB (either a rehab or non-performing dancers class, I believe). Curious that neither she nor Yuan Yuan have posted anything about Tiit's retirement.

Maria is expecting!

https://www.instagram.com/p/CoXY2ixoKZL/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

4 hours ago, Phrenchphry11 said:

Since Sheehan came up, I don't think I saw her at all last season.  Is she injured?  I saw her a few years ago in Sleeping Beauty and was blown away, but I've seen hardly anything of her since.

IIRC, she didn't dance in Nutcracker this season. 

1 hour ago, Josette said:

I recall that in previous Galas, each principal and soloist was featured in some way, and I see several of my favorites not listed as performing and then, additionally,  one new female soloist featured twice, and four male principals featured twice each, including the two Hernandez brothers and with Esteban Hernandez with Katherine Barkman twice. Katherine Barkman is lovely, but where are the equally talented and beloved Julia Rowe and Isabella DeVito and David Morse and Lonnie Weeks and Cavan Conley and Diego Cruz and Lucas Erni and Ellen Rose Hummel and Norika Matsuyama and Elizabeth Powell and Myles Thatcher?

Excellent question... I saw the casting and thought, whoa, it's the Hernandez brothers show. 

Mathilde posted awhile back in her IG stories about finally getting her visa (I think). But it looks like she's still in France. Has she posted anything about coming back to SF soon? If so, I'd love to see her dance this season. 

Natasha hasn't posted anything ballet-related in quite some time. Makes me wonder if she's injured. 

I don't think this has been posted yet, but Kerry Nichols (https://www.ballet.org.uk/people/kerry-nicholls-2/) is now listed as Associate Artistic Director of SFB.

https://www.sfballet.org/discover/staff/

Looks like Tia Wenkman has joined Sarasota Ballet's studio company after graduating from The Royal Ballet School.

https://www.sarasotaballet.org/sarasota-ballet-studio-company

Looks like Val Caniparoli has been added to the next@90 festival.

https://www.instagram.com/p/ChpRndcMnL4/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

14 hours ago, pherank said:

The TAN project - SFB dancers created a "fake tanning oil commercial with Bob Fosse choreography":

https://www.instagram.com/p/Chc_dFZjkNI/

Dancers: Tyla Steinbach, Lizzy Powell, Aaron Robison, Madison Keesler, Jahna Frantziskonis, John-Paul Simoens, Angelo Greco, Luca Ferro,  Nathaniel Remez, Esteban Cuadrado, Gabriela Gonzalez, Thamires Chuvas, Lonnie Weeks, Benjamin Freemantle, Wanting Zhao, Joseph Walsh and Kimberly Marie Olivier

A missed opportunity, I think, for a cameo by Yuan Yuan Tan.

13 hours ago, pherank said:

Glad to hear Jasmine Jimison is back.

Agreed!

I'm kind of stunned by the Katherine Barkman hire. She doesn't really fill a void, and while she's well known... I never find her mannerisms or presentation genuine. If you're going to hire a soloist, why her? Several corps members stepped into soloist roles this season and killed it. I'm bummed none of them were promoted (e.g.Thamires Chuvas or Ludmila Bizalion) or a BIPOC dancer wasn't hired. 

3 hours ago, Xiaoyi said:

Sadly, I guess she will not stay on the roster for more than three seasons, as she said “I want to get out of North America and dance with every major company in the world. “
https://www.ludwig-van.com/toronto/2022/06/10/interview-talking-karen-kain-two-dancers-highly-anticipated-swan-lake/

It's not clear if she meant permanently or guesting! But I would think the latter would be very, very doable. 

Did anyone catch Maria Kochetkova's shows?