PeggyR

Nureyev's version. Breathtaking! When he tossed Merle Park into the air - twice - I was in shock. His entire choreography was the best and most exciting that I've ever seen.

The whole pas de deux looks fiendishly difficult, but the first 50 seconds or so -- simple, perfectly placed arabesques -- are stunning. If a solo dancer wobbles it's not nearly as noticeable as it would be with dancers in tandem like that. And the complementary lines of the two - exquisite.

A happy, ballet-filled New Year to all!

Just gave myself two post-Christmas/pre-New Year book gifts: the Jowitt biography of Jerome Robbins, and Mindy Aloff's 'Hippo in a Tutu'. The latter sounds like fun: it's about dance in Disney animation.

Nobody gives me presents anymore because I've reached that age when everybody assumes I must already have everything I want (HA!), so my literary gifts to myself this year:

-Lynn Seymour's autobiography

-Richard J. Evans' three volume history of the Third Reich

-A couple of Georgette Heyer novels I haven't read yet - including Cotillion (after half a dozen chapters of Nazis, you really need some Georgette Heyer)

-Paul Moses' The Saint and the Sultan

-The Complete Stories of J.G. Ballard (1,200 pages: if I take this on the bus, the driver will probably charge for an extra seat)

I have seen the Neumeier Little Mermaid in Japan earlier this year, and it is a very dark yet beautiful piece, very heart-crushing and heavy one.

The Mermaid is portrayed as a strange, rather ugly creature, and her love never reaches the prince. The designs were very stylish, and the score is very modern but wonderful. This work is a masterpiece and I love it, but maybe so heartbreaking and somewhat cruel that it might be difficult for children.

Thanks for your comments, naomikage. That's encouraging to hear. I've noticed that the ballet audience here (at least for the Saturday matinees that I attend) seems to lean toward the loud and obvious, so it'll be interesting to see how this is received.

Here's a note from the website for the performances:

Please Note: This critically acclaimed production focuses on the deeper, mature themes of the original story and is not recommended for younger children.

Well, finally someone gets promoted. Congratulations to Frances Chung on her promotion to principal . SFB's press release section doesn't have this posted yet, but Chung's bio does, so here's the link to that.

A bit but Dan O'Bannon has died. He wrote the screenplay for the great sf/horror movie, Alien, among others.

The day 'Alien' opened in San Francisco I happened to be off work, so I decided to go and see it the opening show; at that point, nobody knew much about it except it was about a monster loose in a space ship. After it was over and the shattered audience was leaving the theater, a grown man walking behind me said plaintively, "I want my mommy!" RIP Mr. O'Bannon.

Here's the NYT obit.

San Francisco Ballet is giving the U.S. premiere of Neumeier's The Little Mermaid in March, 2010. Had anyone seen this one?

I enjoyed the La dame aux camellias POB DVD, although I thought the story could have been told with more economy (an opinion based on only one viewing). On the other hand, there were so many beautiful moments in the choreography it was easy just to let yourself be swept along.

Here's a fascinating interview from 2004:

I had made a rehearsal for myself as Queen of the Willis, because I was doing it the next night, and I hadn't had enough rehearsal. So in the lunch hour–which believe it or not we actually had at the Royal Ballet unlike life at ABT–I had the pianist and I had the room. There I was, leaping across the floor, rehearsing myself in Queen of the Willis. And who appeared in the doorway, but Bronislava Nijinska with Michael Soames? I continued to work, though I may have jumped a bit higher or tried a bit harder when I realized who was watching. And so that was that, and I left the room, and they came in for their rehearsal. When my name was added to the cast for Les Biches the next day I thought, how weird!

Is anyone else going this year?

I'm going tomorrow afternoon (Snow: Zahorian/Domitro; SPF: Chung - she should be terrific; GPdD: Tan/Martin Cintas) and, if the weather stays dry, Sunday afternoon (Snow: Kepley/Spaulding - really looking forward to these two; I've never seen her at all and never seen the promising Spaulding in a classical role); SPF: Altman (happy to see her in anything although this doesn't strike me as a natural role for her statuesque elegance); GPdD: Zahorian/Domitro. Also possibly next Saturday although I may decide to venture over to Oakland and catch the Oakland Ballet's Carlos Carvajal Nut, which I've heard is pretty good.

Thanks for the reports, Quiggin; you've really whet my appetite!

I also saw the original Village of the Damned with George Sanders recently. Really enjoyed it and the brisk pace was a blessing.

Slightly , but if you really want to be creeped out, read the original novel (The Midwich Cuckoos, by John Wyndham). As I recall, the film stuck pretty close to the book, but as soon as those children showed up in the movie with the silly hair most of the horror dissipated for me. With the book (any book, of course) you can imagine what's most horrible for you; much more effective. Sanders was great though.

Casey Herd guests in the SFB Nutcracker:

Nutcracker Evening

Thursday, December 17, 2009, 7pm

Conductor: Donato Cabrera

Drosselmeyer: Val Caniparoli

Queen and King of the Snow: Vanessa Zahorian, Taras Domitro

Sugar Plum Fairy: Maria Kochetkova

Grand Pas de Deux: Sofiane Sylve*, Casey Herd^

Nutcracker Evening

Saturday, December 19, 2009, 7pm

Conductor: Martin West

Drosselmeyer: Yuri Possokhov

Queen and King of the Snow: Frances Chung, Hansuke Yamamoto

Sugar Plum Fairy: Lorena Feijoo

Grand Pas de Deux: Sofiane Sylve, Casey Herd^

I thought he was with PNB, but I don't see him on the cast list (which is hard to read, the way it zips by ), so maybe I missed him.

I'd guess, too, that the primary target audience for this kind of promotional video is not the one looking for artistry and musicality (that audience has already bought its tickets), but the people looking for something different to do on Saturday night. Emphasis on the more blatant pyrotechnics is likely to attract their attention; presumably the hope is that once they get into the theater, they can be educated about the rest, or at least they'll be interested enough to come again.

Cast for opening night:

Nutcracker Opening Night

Tuesday, December 08, 2009, 7pm

Conductor: Martin West

Drosselmeyer: Damian Smith

Queen and King of the Snow: Sarah Van Patten, Pierre-François Vilanoba

Sugar Plum Fairy: Sofiane Sylve

Grand Pas de Deux: Yuan Yuan Tan, Rubén Martín Cintas

Here's the link.

In the photos I've seen of Duff as Fonteyn, she (Duff) has zero turnout, and the BBC Four website manages to misspell her (Fonteyn's) name at least once:

Margot tells the story of one of the greatest dancers of our time, Dame Margot Fonteyne (Anne-Marie Duff), who claims to take her art more seriously than herself.

I guess we'll just have to wait and see, but so far I'm not encouraged.

San Francisco Ballet is getting on the 'new media' bandwagon; recently their website was upgraded to include some nice, 60-90 second videos on each of the principal dancers. Watch them here.

...it is always nice to find another fan.

Have you visited the mild insanity of Fforde's website? Don't miss The Wonderful World of Toast.

Toast Art Unveiled!

The winner of the 1985 'Toast Art' competition goes to this excellent rendition of the Mona Lisa, in toast.

San Francisco Ballet, December 19 (taking some friends, husband and wife; I got her to Swan Lake last year -- her first ballet -- and she loved it so she insisted on bringing her husband to Nutcracker this year: her reasoning is that he doesn't snore, so if he gets bored and falls asleep, he won't bother anybody ); possibly The Hard Nut in Berkeley on the 12th if the finances hold up.

What a sad loss. One of my favorite opera recordings is Söderström's gorgeous Jenufa.

Oh, I have this DVD too and I loved it as well!

Ditto!

My favorite part is Fonteyn's Nocturne; she just skims the stage without seeming ever to touch it. What I always loved about her dancing was the subtle, understated grace of her whole body and especially her arms. They were liquid without ever overdoing it.

Sometimes I wish more (any?) companies in the US danced Les Sylphides these days, and then I think about what would be done to it (6 o'clock extensions, 50 million pirouettes, no style, no mood) and I guess it's better to leave well enough alone...

I think the dancer taking you up to see the VP of Nutcracker Operations/Sugar Plum Fairy (Katita) and pushing the button with her beautifully turned out foot is Julianne Kepley ... Of course, I may be wrong.

I hope you are right about Kepley. She was badly injured in rehearsals for the New Works Festival a couple of seasons ago and hasn't danced since, so far as I know. Let's hope this means she's 'back in service' and we'll have a chance to see her during the upcoming season.

Press release from the San Francisco Ballet:

Assemblée Internationale ... is a week-long event featuring students from twelve internationally renowned schools ... San Francisco Ballet School is distinguished as the only school from the U.S. participating. [emphasis added]

Unfortunately, I couldn't make it to The Balanchine Couple, but did enjoy the Sunday performance. Very impressed with the dancers, although I thought that overall the women looked better than the men.

Really disliked Contrapuntal Blues PDD from Clarinade: pseudo-jazz dancing to pseudo-jazz music and none of it going anywhere; Elisabeth Holowchuk and Ted Seymour did what they could with it.

Agon was a revelation; if ever a ballet called out for repeated viewings, this is it. Natalia Magnicaballi seemed born to dance Balanchine in that astonishing central PDD.

Among the other dancers, Michael Cook stood out from the men for his lightness and ballon; Sara Ivan for her beautiful line and flexible back (I could have sat through the otherwise forgettable Romeo and Juliet just to see her again), and Violeta Angelova for the quick airiness of her dancing in the charming Divertimento 15 (she was the only one whose pointe shoes didn't clunk).

It's that time again!

Magical Memories Nutcracker Video Contest

I don't recognize all the dancers in the video, but that's definitely Elana Altman having issues with the hole punch, Frances Chung tenduing at the typewriter, CEO Katito Waldo laying down the law (like any good ballerina), and Rubén Martín Cintas as the dashing assistant. Does anyone recognize the others?

I'm going to the Saturday matinee at 2:00. I want to see Gillian do Myrtha.

This will be my first live ballet! I'm going to be in tier 1.

My buddy is going to be right up front in the orchestra...maybe I could sneak down and join him. He decided to come with me at the last minute.

He's a newbie like myself...but thanks to YouTube ( BalletForYou...you're great!)...I know what's in store!

I hope Gillian gets to move around like Marianela in the Royal Ballet Version.....

I hope whoever plays Giselle's mother shoves Mr. Halberg halfway across the stage when Giselle collaspses...along with a

glare of conpempt and disgust..

I hope " The Death of Hilarion" part is not truncated....

Boy...I'm not ask'in for much ...huh.....

You certainly don't sound like a 'newbie' to me; you sound like an opinionated ballet lover...which is exactly what you should be!

Unfortunately, some remodeling I'm having done on my condo went into 'estimate creep' and the money put aside for ABT's LA visit is now comfortably residing in the pocket of my contractor. Please keep up the reports (I too was looking forward to seeing Murphy as Myrtha).

Edited to ask: Are the seats selling better?

ksk04 wrote:

Went to opening night last night...have to report it was very sadly under attended. Swaths of rows in the orchestra and tier 1 (those were the sections I could see from my seat) were completely empty.