PeggyR

Something that appears to be new to SF Ballet: sponsored principal dancers. Davit Karapetyan, Maria Kochetkova and Yuan Yuan Tan all are listed as such. I assume it has to do with money. How does this usually work? Does the sponsor pay the dancer's salary, or contribute to it, or what?

The Examiner.com ‘About’ section has this to say about itself: If this site truly has editors and mentors, I'm as concerned about the state of editing and mentoring as I am about poor writing/lack of expertise.

The first sentence of her bio should read, "Born in Vancouver, British Columbia, Nicole Ciapponi trained [with/at] Goh Ballet..." But I'm not sure if contacting the webmaster would change anything. It's interesting that in last year's booklets, she was listed as joining the corps de ballet in 2010. Now her bio says she joined in 2013.

...Red Sox Girl in the Balanchine La Sylphide look alike - forgotten the name). Technically, she's up to anything, especially glorious batterie, but she still seems a little shy of imposing herself on a role. I saw Red Sox Girl twice: Ciapponi and Dores Andre. When Ciapponi left the stage, I wanted to see the dancer again; when Andre left the stage, I wanted to see the character again. I think you may mean Scotch Symphony. ;) Ooooohhhhh, I knew that! I just wanted to see if anyone else did...

It's funny, but I was so hoping she would turn up (others have after not being listed in the initial update) that I've been checking regularly in hopes she would be there.I'm a great admirer of her potential; if she gets the nurturing that Tomasson does so well, she could be special. She's already had some solo roles (Spinner, I think in Coppelia, Red Sox Girl in the Balanchine La Sylphide look alike - forgotten the name). Technically, she's up to anything, especially glorious batterie, but she still seems a little shy of imposing herself on a role. I saw Red Sox Girl twice: Ciapponi and Dores Andre. When Ciapponi left the stage, I wanted to see the dancer again; when Andre left the stage, I wanted to see the character again. Excellent news. Thanks for letting us know.

According to the link, she'll be dancing the new Liang piece with Damian Smith (also an SFB principal). She and Smith have wonderful on-stage chemistry, so that should be interesting. I wonder if they will be performing 'After the Rain' as well.

Any idea what's behind the name 'Moscow Mule Cheescake'?

When I saw that photo I wanted to know more. I've never been to that restaurant in Larkspur, but there may be a story behind this... I thought it was the local one too, but I Googled and apparently there's one in Vail, and since she's been there, maybe that's the one. Anyway, the cheesecake looks good!

Maria gets her cheesecake.

Well, I believe it was Mark Twain who said, "The coldest winter I ever spent was summer in San Francisco." And that area can be foggy. Plus, of course, 'cold' to dancers is different from 'cold' for the rest of us. The audience can put on sweaters or huddle under blankets. Dancers are out there in skimpy costumes, for which they have my sincerest sympathy! We tend to have cycles: warm/hot for a few days, then in comes the fog and it's chilly. It's chilly right now, but seems to be warming up, so hope for the best by the weekend.

Here's the program; no casts yet (Stern Grove website). From Foreign Lands (Choreographer: Alexei Ratmansky) Stone and Steel (Choreographer: Myles Thatcher) Distant Cries (Choreographer: Edwaard Liang) Suite en Blanc (Choreographer: Serge Lifar) Myles Thatcher is a member of SFB's corp de ballet, and, by many accounts, a budding choreographer with real potential.

Congratulations and welcome to the newcomers, and we'll miss the ones who have left. Does anyone know where Nicole Ciapponi has gone? She was one of my favorites in the corp. No longer on the roster Principal: Pierre Francois Vilanoba Vito Mazzeo Soloists: Elana Altman - taking a Masters at the University of Gastronomic Sciences in Italy (Italian food and Italian scenery vs. blisters and sore muscles.) Courtney Elizabeth Garen Scribner Corp: Nicole Ciapponi Charlene Cohen Madison Keesler - to English National Ballet Mariellen Olson Sebastian Vinet Shion Yuasa New to the Company for 2014: Principal: Mathilde Froustey Soloists: Simone Messmer Dmitry Zagrebin Corp: Isabella deVivo Esteban Hernandez Alexandra Meyer-Lorey Lauren Parrott Julia Rowe Emma Rubinowitz Grace Shibley Wei Wang

Finally, the press release about the new lineup. Here's a link to the dancers' bios.

Good news for SFB. If he has anything like his brother's talent, he'll be quite an asset.

Here are some blog posts by SFB dancers about their participation in LEAP: http://www.sfballetblog.org/2013/04/look-before-you-leap/ http://www.sfballetblog.org/2010/10/taking-the-leap/ http://www.sfballetblog.org/2011/08/leaping-through-south-africa/ They acquire credits by studying; but they can also gain credit by passing on their own performing experience to others. From Garen Scribner’s post:

The Amargosa Opera House is where dancer Marta Becket gave ballet performances for many years. She painted the murals herself. (For some performances no audience showed up, so she painted one!)

Back to normal. Thanks very much (for this and all your efforts).

Since yesterday afternoon, I'm seeing something different when I go the the site without logging in (I access the site so frequently that I never bother logging in unless I want to post or search). On the main page I used to see three columns across: Forums [on the left] Topics / Replies Thread / latest poster / date [to the far right] Since yesterday afternoon (I was on my way home from work, so it must have been between 5 to 7 pm PDT), I only see Forums and Topics / Replies columns; the Thread column on the right is missing. In order to see the Thread / poster /date, I have to log in. This first happened on my iPad, so I thought it was just one of many iPad quirks, but it's the same on my iMac (both Safari and Firefox). No access to a PC until work on Monday, so not sure it this is happening there too, or confined to Mac. Was this a deliberate change, or did something just go haywire? Very strange. I wonder if anyone else has seen this? Thanks

I agree -- those fouettes in the first video you posted are gorgeous. One really realizes what we're missing out on when one sees that. The fouette discussion brings up my similar feelings about men's jetes. I miss the big, old fashioned jete that describes a clear, traveling arc. The trick jumps are fun, but rarely beautiful and as with multiple fouttes, frequently not musical. (Sorry for going off topic of the already off topic discussion.) Buddy: I hope you'll expand your comment about Kochetkova when you have time. Her fans here in San Francisco are anxious to hear about her performance.

Sorry for my ignorance, but high school French was 50 years ago: what is the correct pronounciation of her last name? I was thinking Froo' stee.

Congratulations to Ms. Froustey and welcome to San Francisco. Her hiring somewhat redresses the imbalance of female/male principals at SFB. Last season, it was 7/12; for 2014, with Villanova and Mazzeo gone and Froustey on board, its now 8/10, assuming no other changes. For anyone who has seen her perform: where might she fit in terms of roles? Is she essentially lyrical, soubrette???

This isn't a ballet pose or ballet step or ballet anything really. It's just a relaxed ballet dancer letting his body fall into a natural, beautiful line. By far my favorite dance photo. http://www.flickr.com/photos/91522630@N06/9088490321/

Anyone who followed Altman on Twitter during her time at SFB knows she Tweeted far more about food than about dancing. She’s started a blog with some marvelous photos of the area in Italy where she’s studying at the Università degli Studi di Scienze Gastronomiche.

I think you've misread the date: SFB is going to Paris next year, 2014. So it's likely this year's Stern Grove performance won't be suffering from jet lag!

From the press release: “The festival, an annual event that presents world-class classical and contemporary dance, will be held at the Théâtre du Châtelet. Over 17 performances, SF Ballet will present over 15 works by a range of choreographers including George Balanchine, Wayne McGregor, SF Ballet Choreographer in Residence Yuri Possokhov, Alexei Ratmansky, Jerome Robbins, SF Ballet Artistic Director & Principal Choreographer Helgi Tomasson, and Christopher Wheeldon, among others.