PeggyR

Google News reports that this film will be a 90 minute drama "which will explore her relationship with Russian dancer Rudolf Nureyev," and will air in the autumn. This seems to be just another juicy, gossipy thing, and dancing will be minimal.

A film about the relationship between Fonteyn and Nureyev with minimal dancing isn't about the relationship between Fonteyn and Nureyev, is it?

I was lucky enough to see Fonteyn a few times toward the end of her career, when she was touring with Nureyev. Whatever technical deficiencies she may have had by that time were more than offset by her artistry and the poetry of her movement. I've seen fine dancers since, but for me, Fonteyn remains the touchstone.

Thank you, Leonid, for that lovely remembrance.

SAN FRANCISCO BALLET ANNOUNCES NEW COMPANY MEMBERS FOR 2010 REPERTORY SEASON

SAN FRANCISCO, CA, Tuesday, May 12, 2009-San Francisco Ballet has announced the addition of two new dancers for the 2010 Repertory Season. Vitor Luiz joins the Company as a principal dancer. In addition, Rebecca Rhodes, an apprentice during the 2009 Repertory Season, joins the ranks of the corps de ballet. A complete and updated announcement and Company roster will be distributed at the start of the 2010 rehearsal period in July 2009.

New Apprentices

Helgi Tomasson has named six new apprentices for the 2010 season: Kimberly Braylock, Madison Keesler, Kristina Lind, Steven Morse, Myles Thatcher, and Sylvie Volosov. As apprentices, these dancers will take Company class and perform corps de ballet roles in the Company's diverse repertory. Notably, five of the newly appointed apprentices were members of the SF Ballet School Trainee Program.

Here's the link to the press release on the SFB website.

Whats happening in the fall are they going on tour and is it listed anywhere?

Memo: Here's a link to their Tours page, which discusses the 2008, 75th Anniversary tour. It doesn't say anything about touring this year, but you could check back periodically.

Peggy

Here's the link with the complete schedule for the 2010 season.

Subscribers received the following e-mail today. I can't find anything on the website for a link, so I hope it's OK to post this quote.

Dear San Francisco Ballet Patron,

On behalf of the Company and staff, thank you for joining us this season. More than ever, your support of San Francisco Ballet is deeply appreciated, and we hope your experience at the Opera House added joy to your life in the way that only live dance can.

Although our next performance in the Opera House won't be until December, the Company will give a free performance at Stern Grove on August 16, 2009. We also invite you to keep in touch with SF Ballet through our monthly E-news, Facebook page, YouTube channel, Twitter, or blog, Open Studio 455. Thank you again for your support!

It was a great night and Tina looked wonderful in all the ballets, especially the Tchaikovsky pdd: stunning.

And I loved the Lubovitch piece. It's good to see women dancers out of pointe shoes sometimes: you can get past the balances and turns and just concentrate on the beauty of their movement. Yes, Tina can do the technical stuff, no problem, but what a beautiful dancer she is.

Many thanks for all the pleasure she has given in the past, and best of luck to her in the future.

This must be the film....

Nureyev is a one-hour dance drama / mock documentary exploring Rudolph Nureyev's legacy. The film is a unique film dramatization about Nureyev's life story created primarily though dance. The story begins with the young Nureyev and continues through his life, dramatizing his growing artistry through relationships, his brush with death, and ultimately ending with his death at 55 years old. This film is an amalgamation of dance storytelling sequences woven with fictitious interviews, and existing documentary footage.

Sounds like a lot to cover in an hour.

In the San Francisco Bay Area:

Channels and Airdates:

KQED 9HD

Sun, May 24, 2009 -- 12:00 pm

KQED Life

Thu, May 21, 2009 -- 8:00 pm

Fri, May 22, 2009 -- 2:00 am

I’d thought SFB’s ‘Jewels’ was pretty much a closed issue by now at the end of the season, but I have one more word to say about today’s (May 9) performance of Rubies: electrifying. Lorena Feijoo and Davit Karapetyan caught the rhythms of the music and each other to perfection. Feijoo sizzled; she was funny, sexy, glamorous, teasing, you name it. Karapetyan followed her around like a puppy, lapping it up. They were terrific.

And then there’s Jennifer Stahl. Last Saturday, when Rubies was substituted for Russian Seasons in Program 8, Stahl made her Tall Girl debut. Over on the Program 8 thread, I had commented that Stahl danced nicely enough but without much pizzazz, and frankly, I wasn't much looking forward to seeing her this week. Well, I don’t know what happened since last Saturday, but this Saturday she was sensational. Between Feijoo and Stahl, I’m pretty sure the temperature of the Opera House went up a couple of degrees.

Great show.

Two that have caught my eye lately at SFB are Clara Blanco and Ashley Muangmaithong.

I very much agree about Clara Blanco. Last December, she danced a very nice, if rather small-scaled Nutcracker GPdD: very clean and almost academic, but with great charm (those dimples!). Then this season, she knocked me out with a passionate and riveting Nora (I think that was the one) in Ibsen's House. For somebody who looks like a kewpie doll, she can pour on the drama when she needs to. And you're right: she really held her own with Tan and Zahorian (and Frances Chung) in Fusion.

I haven't picked Ashley Muangmaithong out yet, but I'll watch for her.

Peggy

The Suzanne Farrell Ballet is to perform at Zellerbach. Here's the link.

Note that on Oct. 24, Farrell will provide onstage narration for the program The Balanchine Couple.

Disappointing to miss out Russian Seasons at Saturday's matinee (May 2), but fortunately it's to be repeated in the 2010 season. And best wishes for a speedy recovery to whoever is ill.

Despite being technically well danced by Maria Kochetkova and Taras Domitro, Rubies (substituting for Russian Seasons) never quite caught fire for me. She did all the head tilts and hip swings, but her slight air of Russian melancholy worked against the ballet's American cheeriness. Domitro's brashness was a better fit, but there were times when he and Kochetkova seemed to be dancing at instead of with each other. I'll be seeing both Jewels this coming Saturday and Sunday; I hope she dances Emeralds at one of them.

Jennifer Stahl, in her debut as the tall girl, danced well and threw her legs about with great abandon, but lacked Elana Altman's authority. Where Altman was leader of the pack, Stahl tended to fade into the corps. Still, a promising start.

In an overall excellent performance of Possokhov's Fusion, Daniel Deivison stood out for how beautifully he uses his upper body.

Apparently an enterprising member of staff had gone in for a spot of fish farming in the underground lake.

Just goes to show the French do everything with style. If you're going to be a fish farmer, be a fish farmer at the Paris Opera!

Tuesday's installment on the Palais Garnier ... the fish living in the theatre's basement...

Um...why are there fish living in the theater? (Sorry, but my high school French gave up after 'tutu'.)

My only reference points for Jewels are the excerpts on Choreography by Balanchine and POB DVDs; this is the first time I've seen the entire ballet on stage.

...how dramatic Lorena Feijoo was in the Verdy role. There wasn't a narrative, but there was a character, to an extent that I found disconcerting and had never seen in many performances over three decades.

'Dramatic' doesn't begin to describe what Feijoo did. This wasn't a flirty girl, but a mature woman, maybe toying a little with a younger man, enjoying his attention but very much her own woman: he'll be history when she's through with him. I'm not surprised to hear that her interpretation is unusual, but it more than worked for me.

SFB's performance of Rubies left me wondering if POB and SFB were dancing the same ballet: 'chic' vs. 'street', and street is a lot more fun.

...from the time she started to move, Elana Altman commanded the stage with expansive movement...

Altman took charge to the point that I thought Vanessa Zahorian became the secondary female, and that threw the balance off a little. On the other hand, Pascal Molat zipped through with likable verve; at one point he exited the stage turning so fast the audience gasped.

...the majesty with which [sofiane Sylve] took her place as a Ballerina [in Diamonds] was breathtaking.

No argument there. Despite a fine Myrtha last year, her subsequent performances have left me wondering why she is so highly regarded: capable but not special. Last night Sylve put those doubts to rest; not just flawless but, I suspect, the embodiment of everything Balanchine was trying to say about classical ballet.

If we can't convince the pilot to drop [sylve] off a thousand miles farther north...

Here's a link to the Program

Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux

Composer: Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky

Choreographer: George Balanchine

TINA LeBLANC and GONZALO GARCIA*

"My Funny Valentine" (from ...smile with my heart)

Composer: Marvin Laird after Richard Rodgers & Lorenz Hart

Choreographer: Lar Lubovitch

TINA LeBLANC and GRIFF BRAUN**

INTERMISSION

Pas de deux from Sonata

Composer: Sergei Rachmaninov

Choreographer: Helgi Tomasson

TINA LeBLANC and RUBEN MARTIN

Pas de deux and finale from Theme & Variations

Composer: Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky

Choreographer: George Balanchine

TINA LeBLANC and DAVIT KARAPETYAN

with Artists of the Company

* Guest artist - appears courtesy of New York City Ballet - Peter Martins, Ballet Master In Chief

** Guest artist

Although I've only seen her on the Bringing Back Balanchine DVD, I was particularly impressed by her mature response to the Serenade incident. She seems like an uncommonly intelligent and thoughtful young woman. My best wishes to her.

Here are six lengthy YouTube clips of Delgado (who looks about 10 years old) and Gili rehearsing Giselle, Act 1. To us nonprofessionals, it's fascinating to watch the process of creating a character; you can see Giselle despite the grungy rehearsal clothes and plastic lawn chair.

Link to additional casts: Program 8

Program 8 Opening Night

Tuesday, April 28, 2009, 8pm

FUSION

Choreographer: Yuri Possokhov

Conductor: David Briskin

Piano: Natal'ya Feygina, Michael McGraw

Saxaphone: Dale Wolford

Lorena Feijoo, Hansuke Yamamoto

Maria Kochetkova, James Sofranko

Frances Chung, Garen Scribner

Yuan Yuan Tan, Damian Smith

INTERMISSION

RUSSIAN SEASONS

Choreographer: Alexei Ratmansky

Conductor: David Briskin

Violin: Roy Malan

Soprano: Susana Poretsky

Orange/White: Yuan Yuan Tan*, Damian Smith*

Red: Sofiane Sylve, Pierre-Francois Vilanoba

Green: Lorena Feijoo*, Ruben Martin*

Blue: Vanessa Zahorian*, Pascal Molat*

Violet: Maria Kochetkova*, Isaac Hernandez*

Purple: Elizabeth Miner*, Hansuke Yamamoto*

INTERMISSION

DOUBLE EVIL

Choreographer: Jorma Elo

Conductor: David Briskin

Timpani: Jason Goodman, John Burgardt

Violin: Roy Malan

Elana Altman, Pierre-Francois Vilanoba

Sarah Van Patten, Garen Scribner

Vanessa Zahorian, Pascal Molat

Pauli Magierek, James Sofranko

* Denotes premiere in role.

Thank you so much for posting this PeggyR -- I'd worn out my bookmark going back to that page all weekend, trying to see who'd be cast.

What great casting: Sofiane Sylve and Sarah Van Patten in "Diamonds", Elana Altman and Sylve as Tall Girl in Rubies and Tina LeBlanc in the lead, Lorena Feijoo in "Emeralds" -- that would have been my ignorant last guess for her -- and Maria Kotchekova, and Frances Chung (I love her) and Isaac Hernandez, who wowwed me in "Swan Lake" in the second couple.

Helene: I had exactly the same reactions, especially about Feijoo: in 4Ts she looked oddly out of place, but of course Emeralds is a very different style, and she certainly won't be less than interesting.

I'm curious about Elana Altman. As much as I admire her, as a dancer she's very...'contained' is the best word I can think of. It will be interesting to see if she can let loose in the 'tall girl' variation and bring out the sassy humor.

I'm going Saturday night, and then again on May 9 and 10, so I'm hoping to catch the second cast too.

Here's the link for upcoming cast information: Jewels

Casts for the first two performances are posted:

Program 7 - Jewels/Balanchine

Program 7 Opening Night

Saturday, April 25, 2009, 8pm

"EMERALDS"

Conductor: Martin West

Lorena Feijoo, Ruben Martin*

Yuan Yuan Tan, Damian Smith

Frances Chung*, Hansuke Yamamoto, Dana Genshaft*

INTERMISSION

"RUBIES"

Conductor: Martin West

Piano: Michael McGraw

Vanessa Zahorian, Pascal Molat*

Elana Altman

INTERMISSION

"DIAMONDS"

Conductor: Martin West

Sofiane Sylve, Pierre-Francois Vilanoba*

Program 7 Matinee

Sunday, April 26, 2009, 2pm

"EMERALDS"

Conductor: Martin West

Maria Kochetkova*, Nicolas Blanc*

Frances Chung*, Isaac Hernandez*

Dores Andre*, Taras Domitro*, Charlene Cohen*

INTERMISSION

"RUBIES"

Conductor: Martin West

Piano: Michael McGraw

Tina LeBlanc, Joan Boada

Sofiane Sylve

INTERMISSION

"DIAMONDS"

Conductor: Martin West

Sarah Van Patten, Ruben Martin

I need some advice from veteran PNB watchers. I'm planning a weekend trip to Seattle for the 2010 PNB season (have to start planning now since it will take me a full year to work up the nerve to get into an airplane ).

These are the programs I'm interested in: 3 - Sleeping Beauty, 5 - All Balanchine, or 6 - Coppelia. Based on comments above, Coppelia is the front runner, but I'm open to suggestions. Thanks.

Peggy

'Sacto1654' date='Apr 13 2009, 04:33 AM' post='245677'

I just got tickets to see the June 6th Saturday matinee performance.

Me too! This is my first time seeing the Bolshoi live since I was a teenager in the early 60s, so I'm very excited.

Even more exciting is the prospect of seeing Alexandrova; I've been checking out her YouTube clips and she certainly looks interesting; let's hope she doesn't get moved to an evening performance. Somebody have pity on us poor matinee goers

BTW, is it safe to assume that ZA doesn't have room for a ramp for the Shades scene?

I got an email from SFB (as did all subscribers) asking me to re-up for next year.

Thanks for the heads up, Globetrotter. I haven't gotten it yet.

Looks like an interesting season, but there are an awful lot of repeats from this year. No surprise about Swan Lake, which, by all accounts, really raked in the money. I can see my budget being shredded once again: at least three or four each of Swan Lake and Program 3 and R&J...