PeggyR

Aw, that’s so great. It’s been known for a while through ‘unofficial sources’ that they were an item, so this really isn’t a surprise. And how romantic is that, after Romeo and Juliet! Here’s how a proposal I received went, many, many years ago: He: “So, um…you know…maybe…well…do you think…Oh, hey, half time’s over. Catch you later, babe…” After he retires from dancing, DK should give lessons in romantic proposing; he’d make a fortune.

I totally forgot that was her -- a fabulous performance. Her reactions as Hari speaks are a superb example of how a good actor can tell a story without words.

How about Jerome Robbins' The Concert? Lots of props there: chairs, hats, scarves, eye glasses, newspaper, knife (for stabbing an annoying wife), umbrellas, even the piano could be considered a prop once The Ballerina attaches herself to it.

According to Maria Kochetkova's Tweet, she'll definitely be dancing on Sunday. PS: I'm not sure if the link will work for everyone, but here it is for what it's worth.

Aha!

Sorry to be mired in the 20th century, but what's a 'doodle on Google'? (I do know what Google is... )

Cal Performances (Berkeley, CA) on-line brochure for 2010-2011. Mark Morris, Merce Cunningham and Alvin Ailey, as usual, but also Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, Ex Machina Eonnagata (Sylvie Guillem et al), Nederlands Dans Theater, and (can't wait for this one) The Royal Danish Ballet in May-June next year. Nothing about the Bolshoi or Mariinsky though. Here's the link to the dance events.

According to the SFB casting list on its website, Maria is now only dancing on Sunday afternoon. Glad I'll be there, but her absence for her other scheduled appearances will disappoint a lot of people. Certainly hope she's OK.

I'm 100% with you on this one, Globetrotter. With two lesser principals, I suspect Molat and Smith would have stolen the show cold. This is the first time I've seen this production and it's just beautiful. My only real complaint was with the choreography of the two main pdd: balcony and bedroom. They were both lovely in themselves, but in this context I'd have liked more soaring ecstasy; these just looked a little tame to me. Unfortunately, I'm going to miss seeing Zahorian/Karapetyan (I'm having a hard time picturing him as the boyish Romeo), but will be going Sunday for Kochetkova.

Here's complete casting for the last program of the 2010 season. Be sure to check the website for casting updates. Program 8 Opening Night Saturday, May 01, 2010, 8pm Romeo & Juliet Choreographer: Helgi Tomasson Conductor: Martin West Romeo: Pierre-François Vilanoba Juliet: Sarah Van Patten Mercutio: Pascal Molat Benvolio: Hansuke Yamamoto Tybalt: Damian Smith Sunday, May 02, 2010, 2pm Conductor: Emil de Cou Romeo: Davit Karapetyan* Juliet: Vanessa Zahorian Mercutio: James Sofranko Benvolio: Jamie Garcia Castilla Tybalt: Anthony Spaulding* Tuesday, May 04, 2010, 8pm Conductor: Martin West Romeo: Joan Boada Juliet: Maria Kochetkova* See Note Mercutio: Gennadi Nedvigin Benvolio: Isaac Hernandez* Tybalt: Daniel Deivison-Oliveira* NOTE: The two principals have been replaced by Van Patten and Vilanoba Wednesday, May 05, 2010, 7:30pm Conductor: Martin West Romeo: Pierre-François Vilanoba Juliet: Sarah Van Patten Mercutio: Pascal Molat Benvolio: Hansuke Yamamoto Tybalt: Damian Smith Thursday, May 06, 2010, 8pm Romeo: Davit Karapetyan Juliet: Vanessa Zahorian Mercutio: Vitor Luiz* Benvolio: Jamie Garcia Castilla Tybalt: Anthony Spaulding Friday, May 07, 2010, 8pm Romeo: Joan Boada Juliet: Maria Kochetkova See Note Mercutio: Gennadi Nedvigin Benvolio: Isaac Hernandez Tybalt: Daniel Deivison-Oliveira Note: Principals replaced by Van Patten/Vilanoba Saturday, May 08, 2010, 2pm Romeo: Pierre-François Vilanoba Juliet: Sarah Van Patten Mercutio: Pascal Molat Benvolio: Hansuke Yamamoto Tybalt: Damian Smith Saturday, May 08, 2010, 8pm Romeo: Davit Karapetyan Juliet: Vanessa Zahorian Mercutio: Vitor Luiz Benvolio: Jamie Garcia Castilla Tybalt: Anthony Spaulding Sunday, May 09, 2010, 2pm Romeo: Joan Boada Juliet: Maria Kochetkova Mercutio: Gennadi Nedvigin Benvolio: Isaac Hernandez Tybalt: Daniel Deivison-Oliveira * Denotes premiere in role.

Here's a link to the on-line color brochure e-mailed to subscribers. I'm beyond excited about Symphonic Variations, plus Balanchine's Coppelia, plus Winter Dreams, plus Giselle. Looks like a good season.

As part of Bay Area National Dance Week, San Francisco Ballet offers a free, open company class before the May 2 matinee performance of Romeo and Juliet. Follow the link and scroll almost to the bottom. Edited to add: Note that the class is for watching, not taking. It occurred to me that may not be completely clear from the announcement.

Already own all of their ballet DVD's -- purchased at full price, of course :sigh: -- but picked up some nice operas. Thanks for the heads up.

Reading all this (plus the review of Washington Ballet's recent triple bill) makes me wonder if, in the event someone actually does choreograph a good/great leotard ballet with high extensions and no scenery, Kaufman would be able/willing to recognize it.

For what it's worth, back in the early to mid-60s I saw an ABT production with Lupe Serrano who, if (aging) memory serves, didn't do the sautés. Instead she did outward releve arabesque turns (I won't even attempt that in French) with no flat-foot sautés at all. However, I've never seen that again, so I'd guess that was just her personal way of doing it.

That's a relief I'm going again Saturday afternoon and seeing second cast in the wonderful 'Classical Symphony'. I hope you'll report on tonight's performance with Zahorian and Nedvigin; they seem like good matches for the roles.

I second Globetrotter's opinion of Van Patten's Little Mermaid -- an extraordinary range of expression from innocent curiosity to agonized acceptance. Her final paroxysms, when she realizes there's no hope for her relationship with The Prince was, I think, the most ferocious bit of acting I've ever seen on a ballet stage. What's especially appealing about Van Patten is how good she is at both drama and comedy. In The Concert as The Ballerina she isn't just funny, she's goofy and a little looney; a fine dramatic actress getting in touch with her inner Marx Brother. I'd add Lorena Feijoo to the list. Sometimes she brings drama where it might not have been intended (Emeralds, for instance), but she's never less than compelling and moving.

Mel, you have to copyright this idea before it's stolen. But WOULD that be going "too far"? It might be wonderful idea for the fairies in Midsummer Night's Dream! And a variation for Puck! Oberon and Titania could tweet their argument about the page boy from opposite sides of the stage, staring blankly into the wings -- no need for all that boring, time-consuming pantomime. Imagine the forest twittering with dozens of yellow-orange or pale-green lights. The fairy world would be revealed as in perpetual communication with the universe. This would be contrasted to the archaic world of the Luddite mechanics, the lovers (who personify the inability to communicate), and the stodgy Theseus and Hippolyta. This interpretation would support the view of those who see these new forms of communication as essentially benign, or at least without negative implications worth thinking about. Alternatively, it might be done as satire. Why not present the fairy world as existing in a perpetual present, turning these devices into what is essentially personal adornment? Perhaps the fairies tweet non-stop because they have, sadly, very little to say to each other. Or, possibly, because in their hearts they are aware that hardly anyone is actually listening. Sounds tailor-made for the 'Trocs...

Read no further, Helene. The meaning of 'Poke' on Facebook. Is 'wutsup' any known language?

Program 7, Sunday matinee, April 11 Wheeldon's 'Rush' opened the program. Can't say this did a lot for me; the choreography for the corps was more interesting than anything for the three main couples. This was commissioned by SFB in 2003; I'd say Wheeldon has matured as a choreographer since then. Another world premiere -- Possokhov's 'Classical Symphony'. He uses a standard classical vocabulary turned slightly on its ear every now an again (e.g., two men doing jetes in tandem -- not side by side but face to face, one jeteing front, one backwards). There seemed to be a bit of Wayne McGregor in there too: mainly that business with the dancer's head moving forward/down/up, the whole movement sort of rippling through the whole body (bad description, but when Eden/Eden was performed here a few seasons ago, that move was done constantly -- too much imo). Kochetkova had the hardest job: all kinds of odd-ball supported turns in strange positions; as usual she was wonderful, though I'm worried about her knees after those turns (see her Tweet above). The ballet was fun and a great showcase for the dancers; the audience loved it. As a premiere it was sandwiched between two other ballets; I suspect it will stay in the rep and become a closing piece in future seasons. Robbins' 'The Concert' closed the program; Vanessa Zahorian subbed for Sarah Van Patten as The Ballerina. Zahorian was funny, although she lacked SVP's sense of being on the lunatic fringe. I have to say that these last two programs (6 and 7) have really shown off all the dancers, but the men in particular have been stunningly good. It's been particularly rewarding to see young dancers like Isaac Hernandez (talk about charisma!), Daniel Deivison (beautiful upper body and line) and Stephen Morse (likeable, confident, technically solid -- and he looks about 9 years old) coming out the the corps and holding their own. And soloist Hansuke Yamamoto has been better every time he's on stage (he's been all over the place this year). When I first saw him a few seasons ago, his jump was heavy (thudding landings) and he seemed more like a serviceable house dancer. He's noticeably improved over time, and yesterday in 'Classical Symphony' dancing the lead with Kochetkova, he showed flashes of the exciting dancer he could become. Much cleaner technique and lines, elegant carriage through his upper body, landings now soundless, beautifully secure turns -- he's developing into the whole package and it's kind of thrilling to watch. Has anyone else seen any of these programs? Surely I'm not the the only one there

Saturday April 10 Matinee The opener was Tomasson's 'Haffner' Symphony: another ballet consisting mainly of center floor combinations, although Vanessa Zahorian's champagne fizz makes it a little less like watching an class of advanced students showing off. The real news was the premiere of Renato Zanella's 'Underskin' set to Schoenberg's beautiful Verklärte Nacht. The set (what looked like telephone poles set at angles to represent trees in a forest), costumes (lead woman -- black brocaded unitard with an 'I'm mad and I'm bad' hairdo; female soloists -- ice skating outfits covered with bronze or silver leaves coupled with punk rocker hair; men -- bare chests, black pants), and lighting (dark, darker, darkest) were effective and, ultimately, more interesting than the choreography. Zanella's movement vocabulary is distinctive (lots of isolations, strange arm moves), but after about 10 minutes, I began to feel like, um, yes, didn't we just see that a minute ago? I'm looking forward to seeing this again, though; there's a lot going on -- much of it in the dark -- and it's a 'mood' piece; maybe I just wasn't in the right mood. The performances, however, can't be faulted. My favorite soloist, Elana Altman in the lead, and Yuan Yuan Tan with Anthony Spaulding in the pas de deux were all terrific, and it was good to see Jaime Garcia Castilla back on stage and looking fine. For me Ratmansky's 'Russian Seasons' was the highlight of the program, maybe of the season. In a uniformly first-rate cast (substitutions: Francis Chung for Maria Kochetkova and James Sofranko for Hansuke Yamamoto), mention has to be made of Lorena Feijoo in green; the role played to all her strengths -- rock solid technique combined with that melting softness in her arms and upper body, plus her extraordinary dramatic power -- she had me in tears. Susana Poretsky sang beautifully; this is a score I'd listen to with or without the ballet (preferably with ).

No idea who they are, but is it possible this is one of those 'Nutty Nutcracker' performances that some companies do to liven things up? The audience certainly seemed to enjoy it.

Opening night cast for Program 7. Note the welcome return of Jaime Garcia Castilla. Last Saturday Maria Kochetkova (aka 'balletrusse') tweeted this about Possokhov's Classical Symphony: Program 7 Opening Night
Friday, April 09, 2010, 8PM RUSH Choreographer: Christopher Wheeldon Conductor: Martin West Frances Chung, Kristin Long Gennadi Nedvigin*, Pascal Molat INTERMISSION World Premiere CLASSICAL SYMPHONY Choreographer: Yuri Possokhov Conductor: Martin West Maria Kochetkova*, Hansuke Yamamoto*, Frances Chung*, Daniel Deivison-Oliveira* Kristin Long*, Jaime Garcia Castilla* INTERMISSION THE CONCERT Choreographer: Jerome Robbins Conductor: Martin West Piano: Michael McGraw Ballerina: Sarah Van Patten Husband: Pascal Molat Wife: Elena Altman * Denotes premiere in role.


Twittless?

Opening night cast for Program 6. According to SFB's April E-news sent to subscribers: Here's an article about her retirement. Note world premiere of Underskin, SFB's first commission from Renato Zanella, former resident choreographer at the Stuttgart Ballet, and artistic director and primary choreographer at the Vienna State Opera Ballet. Program 6 Opening Night
 Thursday, April 08, 2010, 8pm "HAFFNER" SYMPHONY Choreographer: Helgi Tomasson Composer: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Conductor: Martin West Vanessa Zahorian*, Davit Karapetyan* INTERMISSION World Premiere UNDERSKIN Choreographer: Renato Zanella Composer: Arnold Schoenberg Conductor: Martin West Sofiane Sylve* Katita Waldo*, Lorena Feijoo*, Frances Chung* Vitor Luiz*, Pascal Molat*, Gennadi Nedvigin* INTERMISSION RUSSIAN SEASONS Choreographer: Alexei Ratmansky Composer: Leonid Desyatnikov Conductor: Martin West Violin: Franklyn D’Antonio Soprano: Susana Poretsky Orange/White Yuan Yuan Tan, Tiit Helimets* Red Sarah Van Patten, Pierre-Francois Vilanoba Green Lorena Feijoo, Davit Karapetyan Blue Pauli Magierek*, Pascal Molat Violet Maria Kochetkova, Isaac Hernandez Purple Elizabeth Miner, Hansuke Yamamoto * Denotes premiere in role.