Phrenchphry11

Hm, I'm also surprised Mukhamedov. It seemed like she was being groomed for Principal just based on some of the earlier casting from the season. I don't know anything about Fogo! Yay for Diego Cruz and Ellen Rose Hummel! Both promotions feel very well deserved. Wona Park rose through the ranks extremely quickly. I think she's got lots of potential and is definitely one of the most reliable and solid technicians at SFB. I saw her as Kitri in DonQ a few years back - she has amazing solid technique, is a great turner, I was really impressed overall, but I did feel she had a ways to go in terms of artistic growth.

Wow I just watched!!! I had not seen this piece before, my loss! My jaw was dropped the entire time, such amazing dancing, but especially from Sofiane Sylve. She dances with such control but such abandon all at once. She has such command of the stage. I'm so sad she's leaving SFB.

Good question! Off the top of my head: * Definitely In the Countenance of Kings, since I think that was choreographed specifically for SFB. (or maybe Hurry Up We're Dreaming) * Your Flesh Shall Be A Great Poem, to showcase some of SFB's more contemporary capabilities (and another one choreographted specifically for SFB) * For Pixie - love Walsh and Andre in it, and would love to showcase a female choreographer * Snowblind - Mathilde Froustey was amazing in it, would love a more dramatic work broadcasted * Within the Golden Hour - one of my true favorites * Etudes - I was blown away by Sasha de Sola as the lead this year * Sandpaper Ballet - need something cheerful during these dark times * Something Balanchine - would love Rubies or Serenade. They did Prodigal Son a few years back and I enjoyed that. * I secretly wish they'd put up Little Mermaid. I think it was already broadcast on PBS a while back but I think SFB is amazing in it. Any opportunity to see YYT! I can live without Helgi's choreography, but FIfth Season is my favorite of what he's choreographed.

I agree with you, pherank! All the dancers look in absolutely top shape here. I really like Bespoke because I think it showcases the talent and diversity of SF Ballet so well. I absolutely loved the trio of Stahl, De Sola, and Park. I was struck that all three dancers are such different heights (especially Stahl who I think is one of SFB's taller dancers, and Park who I think is on the shorter end), yet were able to dance in such unison. All three dancers had such command of the stage and the choreography, yet still were so synchronized. WanTing Zhao is always so expressive and fluid and lovely to watch. As usual, Angelo Greco was fantastic, charismatic, and technically solid. I agree with you about Ellen Rose Hummel - I haven't seen her in enough featured ballerina roles, but she seems so deserving, from what I've seen of her! One thing that really struck me while watching is how I've seen so many of these dancers since the time they joined the corps - I've loved how I've seen them grow and mature over the years, and in many cases rise through the ranks to the top. Especially seeing WanTing Zhao, Jennifer Stahl, and Sasha De Sola on stage together was such a reminder to me of what a talented company SFB is and how many dancers have risen through the ranks, from corps to principal.

Finally got around to watching! First impressions: - Wow, the video production quality is really high - neat camera angles, loved the shots of the orchestra. I really hope they plan on making this more widely available! - LOVED the sets and costumes. Especially loved the color contrast (red v blue) for Hermia, Lysander, Helena, and Demetrius. - FINALLY got to see some of Vladislov Kozlov and Sasha Mukhamedov. I'd only seen Kozlov in a smaller part in Sleeping Beauty, I quite liked him in this. Often from where I sit in the opera house, I don't get to see much of the dancers' facial expressions but I thought he had a really warm, emotive face and looked to be having a good time. I really hope to see more of him, I wonder why he was used so little last season (maybe just injury?). I really like Mukhamedov too - either SF ballet is a very short company or she's quite tall, but she really stood out (in a good way). Lovely feet and legs, she seemed well-cast as the Queen of the Amazons. If I'm being nitpicky, she had some double tour jumps (?) that she couldn't quite stick the landing on - sometimes I wish dancers opted out of the "trick" steps and just stuck to things they could reliably perform. But oh well. I am a little bummed she wasn't cast as Cinderella this season. Nevertheless, I look forward to seeing more of Kozlov and Mukhamedov next year, if not sooner. - Frances Chung was the featured woman in the Act II pas, and she was absolutely radiant. Though I love her dancing, I don't always think of her as the most dramatic or overtly emotional dancer, but I really felt moved by her in this. Love the final bit of partnering at the end of this pas de deux. - Sasha de Sola was a lovely Titania. However, she doesn't always have the most expressive face, some of the closeups didn't play super well with the camera, in my opinion. Nonetheless, she's really always extremely technically solid and really seemed to float across the stage in all her pas de deux. - Honestly the highlight for me was Cavan Conley as Puck. Truly amazing performance, both with his acting and dancing. A lovely mix of humor, comedy, and neat jumps and tricks. The final scene where he floats away was just gorgeous. I think he's got a really great future at SF Ballet. He stole the show. - Overall, loved the production. Large cast, lots of featured roles, and all the dancers seemed to be enjoying themselves. I loved the huge cast of kids in the show, I'm sure it was really sad for them that they couldn't perform the whole run.

Just got my link to stream A Midsummer Night's Dream! Very excited to be able to watch.

So sad. I know it's the right decision for the health of the dancers and the audience, but I can't imagine what the dancers are going through right now. I hope they're all doing okay.

What NOOOOOO! Does this mean Sofiane is retiring from dancing entirely?! I'm glad I'm not alone in hoping Sofiane was next in line after Helgi for running the company. I suppose this opens two principal spots for next year, both of which I imagine will be pretty tough to fill. Sofiane and Carlo are both such unique dancers. Though I can think of current soloists who I think certainly deserve the promotion.

Wow - what a moving video. So brave of Kathryn Morgan to come out and discuss this at the same time she's going through this in her current company. I hope speaking about this publicly doesn't jeopardize her position in MCB and any of her current roles. I'd wondered if her weight was a factor in not getting that Firebird role, especially since Miami has sooo many petite women and she doesn't quite fit that mold. I'm so sad to hear it was, in fact, the case. (fwiw I think Mercedes in Don Q is a perfect role for her) It really touched me - I have such a complicated relationship with ballet. I love ballet so much and will always look forward to seeing ballets and following dancers on Instagram, etc, but as a student who was lucky enough to train at a serious school and travel to various summer programs, it was so easy to see students fall into the trap of losing weight and extreme calorie restriction, especially while away from home and fighting for top roles. Those habits follow a person well into adulthood. Even as merely a ballet viewer now, at my home company SF Ballet, so many of their top dancers are shorter, petite women, and I worry that it's hard for management to break the mold and bring in more dancers with unconventional bodies. I'm not sure when the ballet world will be able to break the cycle. SFB has one or two prominent women who aren't the typical skinny minnie, but other than that I'm not sure there's any impetus for real change. I'm so glad Morgan is using her huge platform for something good and I think she'll be able to bring about some change.

I hope this isn't becoming overly speculative - but I've worried for the past couple years (and especially since that NYT article came out about Brandt) that both Brant and Lane will eventually end up leaving ABT. SF Ballet is probably closest to ABT in size and rep, and Lane has guested at SF Ballet once a few years back. However, SFB already has a pretty huge roster of female principals (10 I believe), and at least a few soloist women who I'd expect would get promotions in the next couple years. I'm glad ABT is moving away from over-reliance on guest artists, but I still feel so badly that there's essentially a generation of dancers stuck with limited experience but tons of untapped potential.

Wow Sandpaper Ballet was the most fun I've had at a ballet in a while! I'm glad to report that the audience was extremely enthusiastic and engaged the entire ballet, from the moment the orchestra started playing Sleigh Ride. All the dancers had huge grins the entire time, but I have to say my eye was most drawn to Diego Cruz this entire ballet. His smile was so infectious, and I could see some folks next to me pointing him out, too. It was great. In the ballet world which often seems so competitive and serious, it was so refreshing to see a ballet where the dancers actually liked each other and seemed to have real kinship. Even at the curtain call at the end, they all seemed to be laughing and smiling and had a great rapport. It's a shame this ballet seems to be performed relatively infrequently! Also - I was blown away by Danielle Rowe's For Pixie. SF Ballet needs more female choreographers, please! Especially Danielle Rowe! I really hope she gets more SF Ballet commissions. She brought such a great and fresh perspective to the program. (and it was great to see Lauren Strongin did the costumes, I so miss seeing her onstage)

Wow - great evening, overall. I'm not in love with Infinite Ocean - the first pas de deux in particular felt overly full of showy lifts (I really hate crotch-in-face lifts), and one of the male group dances had some clapping and overly frilly movement that didn't make much sense to me in the context of the ballet. I'm not sure I fully understood the narrative of the ballet. The ending felt very Swan Lake/Odette suicide to me, I'm not sure if that was intentional. Nevertheless, I always feel like I win a lottery ticket when I see Yuan Yuan Tan. Her pas de deux was beautiful, the whole audience seemed very moved by it. She's used so judiciously these days that I feel so lucky when I get to see her. I really, really hope she doesn't retire anytime soon. I was a huge fan of The Big Hunger. I think SF Ballet performs McIntyre's movement super well, Ben Freemantle in particular. I think McIntyre choreographs male movement really well. Highlight for me was the duo of Wang and Hernandez. I'll confess I didn't fully understand the sets or costumes, but I think McIntyre's choreography always brings a nice weirdness and levity to SF Ballet programs. Jennifer Stahl's pas with the plain leotard and the bob wig reminded me of Sylvie Guillem in In the Middle Somewhat Elevated. Lots of funny movements interspersed throughout, with serious moments too. I hope he continues to choreograph more for SF Ballet. Etudes was the highlight of the night for me. When I've seen it in the past, I felt it was a bit dated to me, but tonight I didn't feel that way at all! It was by far the best I've seen it performed. Sasha de Sola must have nerves of steel, she didn't have a single bobble the entire performance, and she projected warmth and confidence throughout. I've found some of the male solos to feel a bit bland in the past, but I thought Joseph Walsh and Angelo Greco brought a lot of personality to the choreography. Whole corps looked really good too. Oddly, Angelo Greco didn't come out at the end for bows - I hope he wasn't injured!!! I didn't notice anything off in his dancing.

Nobody performs After the Rain better than YYT, imo. Fingers crossed I get to see it in program 2. I'm glad SFB is able to make the best of a thorny situation.

The whole situation isn’t ideal, but I trust it’s the right call to pull Hummingbird out. SFBallet has enough talent that I’m sure whatever they perform will be wonderful. If it’ll just be a grab bag of pieces, fingers crossed for a Danielle Rowe work to make it! I’ve still never seen her work but I’ve heard great things.

Oof, after reading the allegations in the Daily Mail, it is certainly worse than I imagined. Tomasson has every right to protect his dancers from that conduct. I'm hoping a Justin Peck work comes back! His work would certainly fit with the theme of the program.

It does feel like a knee-jerk reaction, though it's being reported that Liam Scarlett was suspended by the Royal Ballet way back in August, so maybe SF ballet had previous knowledge of the allegations? This is all super disappointing, especially in the wake of other high profile ballet departures, like Martins and Gomes. I loved so many of Scarlett's works, especially Frankenstein. I wonder what role those works will have in SF Ballet's future, assuming they invested lots and lots of money into such a large scale work like Frankenstein. I'd hope his work could live on separately from the things Scarlett has done, but I'm not sure how easily those things can be separated.

Wow, SF Ballet just emailed me to say they will be replacing Hummingbird with something to be announced. That was quick.

Wheeee excited to see Chung and Van Patten back so soon after maternity leave! Glad Froustey is back too, since it seemed like her wedding coincided with Nutcracker rehearsals! Still was hoping to see more of both Kozlov and Sheehan. I've seen footage of Sheehan rehearsing the Grand Pas, was hoping she'd get a crack at it. Anyhow, looking forward to seeing the show later this week.

Oof, just saw Joy’s YouTube vlog update. I know she doesn’t owe us a full explanation of her health scare, but I do worry she’s still not setting herself up for success. She mentioned the last year of her traveling and freelancing was really taxing on her emotionally, and I get that. Though, I feel like she’s still placing some blame on her new current situation at Boston Ballet - she mentioned she had difficulties getting housing, has had a hard adjustment to company culture, etc. I hope she’s able to recognize that American culture of ballet is quite different from what she’s been doing the past few years, and she’s got work to do to rise up the ranks just as many of BB’s other very talented dancers will have to do. She also mentioned moving to BB was a very last-minute decision. Not sure what that’s about, but I hope it was still a whole-hearted decision she didn’t take lightly. She offhandedly mentioned BB won’t allow her to vlog, I think it’s probably for the best, so she can build solid relationships with her coworkers (instead of creating animosity about filming as she did in Russia). I so badly want to root for her. I’ve been blown away by her ever since I watched clips of her Varna performance, but I think she’s also got work to do and needs to learn to rise above drama, politics, vlogging every single little thing, and just put in the work to establish herself in a solid company.

Woah love that so many of the new members are getting cast in main roles. Chisako Oga as Giselle! She's come such a long way... I remember seeing her years ago as an apprentice at the SF Ballet. So excited for her. Plus, Soo Bin Lee and Paulina Waski getting cast is great! Sad that Waski left ABT but it seems to be the right decision for her now that she's getting opportunities here. I was really hoping Joy Womack would get cast in more things (especially since I believe she performed Myrtha in Russia?), but it seemed on her Instagram she was at the doctor's office - perhaps injured?

I am excited to see Joy Womack state-side! I've only seen videos of her, but she seems like a lovely dancer with nice epaulement. I don't get the impression she's done a lot of contemporary rep which BB has (so I'm very curious how she'll do with a totally different rep than what a lot of Russian companies do), and the Artist position is probably going to limit the types of roles she had (esp compared to Universal Ballet and the Kremlin Ballet). Nevertheless, I'll be excited to have more opportunities to see her perform in the US.

I have to say, not surprised to see Misa Kuranaga on there. It felt like she was auditioning ever since she performed in the SFB Gala and some guest performances with Angelo G. Super surprised to see Scheller off the roster. It seemed like she was given lots of roles two seasons ago (including opening night Aurora, I believe?). Plus, SFB's Balanchine-heavy 2020 season seems like a good fit for her given her history at NYCB. Nevertheless, I'm super excited for the roster next season. I don't know much about Sasha Mikhamedov, interesting she's joining as a soloist. I imagine there's lot of current SFB soloists eyeing a promotion to a principal spot, I'm not sure how the addition of Sasha M changes things.

Great tribute.

Wait, I just noticed! Lauren Strongin performed in London! I take it she hasn't retired from SF Ballet then, allaying my previous fears?

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/21/arts/dance/ratmansky-the-seasons-american-ballet-theater-review.html Interesting review of The Seasons, which we will be seeing in Program 6 next year.