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Phrenchphry11

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  • Connection to/interest in ballet** (Please describe. Examples: fan, teacher, dancer, writer, avid balletgoer)
    Balletgoer
  • City**
    San Francisco
  • State (US only)**, Country (Outside US only)**
    California

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  1. I'm surprised by the negative Saturday review, but I suppose that's why we have multiple casts! I just saw Frances and Joe tonight, both were stunning. Frances is definitely a more understated Odette/Odile, I wouldn't say she brings over-the-top pathos to the role. However, as always, she's really tasteful in her technical and artistic choices (it's something I appreciate more and more, especially in this era of social media ballerinas). She knows when to go for big turns, balances, etc and when to hold back. I never feel like her dancing "distracts" from the actual ballet. And I'm continually amazed that she never seems to have an off night, ever. A thoroughly great evening, well worth the cost of admission and then some!
  2. Also I believe married to the fantastic Beckanne Sisk, also with Houston Ballet. (Never seen her live but there's lots of footage of her online) Hopefully this isn't too speculative, but since Rojo is bringing in lots of guest artists for Swan Lake later this season, I wonder if this means some anticipated future guest artist opportunities with Chase O'Connell (and maybe even Beckanne Sisk?)
  3. Just saw tonight's show with Esteban Hernandez and Katherine Barkman as the pas de deux. WOW. Tons of flair, drama, and a spectacular balance by Barkman at the end of the pas. What a great partnership, and I'm excited to see more to come! Overall a great evening, the company looked good all around.
  4. Jasmine Jimison looked great at World Ballet Day. Though on the ABT side, Jaffe I don't think has promoted anyone either. I wonder if Rojo and Jaffe both a bit cautious in their first big "solo" season before making big moves. I do agree that Jimison and DeVivo both deserve to be promoted.
  5. Major major yikes. He 100% lost me once he started comparing American attitude to race to Russia's. I get the feeling of tokenization, I'm a minority in my career field as well, and it sucks to feel singled out at times. But, his arguments feel totally unserious when he starts comparing ABT to Russian dance. I was just reading Olga Smirnova's most recent interview post-leaving the Bolshoi, and was struck with her poise through this whole thing. She denounced Russia, called out their war crimes, and has moved on to bigger and better things. Shayer's refusing to admit any of the problematic parts of Russia purely so he can frame his own argument, all while bringing Royal and other dancers down with him.
  6. Big agree about DeVivo! I saw her as Cinderalla, and she was ethereal and radiant in it. In general she looks great in everything - has the solid technical base for the classics, but is also versatile and musical and does well in the neoclassical and contemporary stuff.
  7. Are they doing any additional promotions this year? At the very least, I would have expected Jimison to get promoted.
  8. Yeah I have been thinking: there's obviously been speculation around whether Rojo's artistic and management decisions are contributing to the significant roster changes. Nevertheless, we also have to consider that many of the dancers (especially Mathilde) had significant changes in their personal lives over the past several years (births of children, changes in marriage status, overall re-evaluating of life goals/priorities), and I don't doubt many dancers are looking to make big moves in this "post-covid" world.
  9. Wow, that's really too bad. She was one of my favorites, especially in Cathy Marson roles. She really rounded out the group of SFB principals nicely, I thought. It seemed she ran into visa issues last year, would be terrible if that were the cause of her departure.
  10. I’m curious about who had say in casting this year - I’m assuming it’s Rojo, but I’ve really been enjoying the shakeups of the “standard” partnerships!! It’s been nice to see some different, unexpected casting! Nikisha and Aaron were wonderful. Simultaneously subtle, yet dramatic in their interpretations. Lots of musicality, culminating in the moving final scene. Cavan Conley and Mingxuan Wang were the delightful surprises for me though. Both were well rehearsed and brought humor and great acting to their roles. Hope to see lots more of them in the future! One question though - I noticed the corps de ballet didn’t come out for the bows at the end. That seemed a bit of an unusual choice, no?
  11. Lauren Parriott is leaving the company: https://www.instagram.com/p/CrHxKA5rlKL/?igshid=OGRjNzg3M2Y%3D Also, I noticed Natasha Sheehan no longer has SFB in her social media bios. Which is too bad, for several years there I thought she was on the fast track to promotion.
  12. WOW! I'm surprised by the programming (in a good way!), and I'm very much looking forward to next year!! Some observations: 1. I'm glad Rojo is keeping Balanchine in the rep, I was wondering if/how SFB would move from its Balanchine ties once Helgi was gone. And Midsummer is one of my favorites. Many opportunities to showcase rising soloists, and lots of charming children's roles. 2. Yes so glad about Madcap! And Josette, I agree that Tiit should reprise his role in it. Madcap was my favorite work of the season. 3. I've never heard of Aszure Barton but I'm intrigued! I looked up her past work and it looks very innovative. 4. Glad to see lots of female choreographers, generally! 5. I do hope Breiner's Salome gets programmed, and same with Colorforms. 6. As Josette mentioned, I'm a bit surprised there's only one major full-length classical work. I'm definitely used to seeing 2-3 big meaty classical works in the season. I can't say I'm too sad - I prefer seeing new works, but I've always gotten the impression the story ballets are the big money-makers. 7. Surprised that Khan's Giselle isn't programmed!
  13. I really love this production of Cinderella. It's been a few years since SFB has done it, and I forgot about all the clever and humorous moments throughout. It's definitely a fresh take on Cinderella without really altering the original plotline. I'm so glad I got to see Isabella De Vivo's first full-length role. She was so etherial, and she's got such a contagious smile. I never know what goes on behind-the-scenes, but based on this performance alone, she looked like a full-fledged principal dancer, and I definitely think she's deserving of promotion. She eats up the stage so well too - there was a little moment where I think her foot got caught on the flooring while she was running, but she managed to keep moving through it without losing any momentum or musicality - it felt like such a "mature" principal dancer moment. And Joseph Walsh was great as he always is. My eye was frequently drawn to Jimison as one of the stepsisters. She stands out to me (in a good way). Based on what I've seen of her and how often she's been casted, I'm assuming she's in line for promotion very soon. Given the announcement of Dores Andre leaving (and perhaps overly speculative, but I wonder if YYT is nearing the end of her career), I wouldn't be surprised if Jimison and De Vivo are promoted next. Overall, a wonderful performance, I really recommend seeing it if you have the chance!
  14. Woah, I believe Max grew up at the SF Ballet School, if I correctly recall. That seems like a big loss for some home grown talent. Dores Andre is great in Marston works, so on some level the move makes sense, but overall the rep between SFB and Zurich is pretty different.
  15. For Giselle in particular, I think Helgi made some wise decisions that play to SFB's strong group of soloists. In most other productions I've seen of Giselle, there's been a peasant pas de deux in the first act, but in SFB's production, it's been increased to 5. It's a good opportunity to showcase a variation for one stronger soloist woman, and then a second variation for two more junior soloists/strong corps women. And then of course two men get their own variations. It doesn't advance the plot or anything, but it's a nice diversion from all the pantomime and setup in Act I. Also, for at least as long as I've been going to SFB (~10 years), it's felt to me a shorter company height-wise, especially among the soloists. And in general they're pretty strong when it comes to speed, fast footwork, petit allegro (maybe due to the fact that some of the dancers come from SAB, and SFB had a strong Balanchine rep under Helgi). The peasant pas de cinq has lots of that - the variations have lots of toe hops, little jumps, much more so than the other Giselle productions I've seen. It also helps that SFB has a strong school, so the kids are always show-stealers in Helgi's full-lengths, imo
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