PeggyR

I bought a ticket for that performance just to see her, so I hope hope hope the casting doesn't change.

I believe that Lorena Feijoo danced RAkU during its first season, before her pregnancy.

She did; Feijoo was wonderful, but last night Tan left me speechless. The role was made on her and it shows: uses all her best qualities, particularly her astonishing flexibility.

I liked Walsh too, but surprisingly I didn’t care for Kochetkova in Serenade. I’m a great admirer of hers, but for some reason I just didn’t feel the role showed her at her best: for the first time she seemed small. Her dancing is usually so stage-filling you don’t notice her petite size. Here she seemed small-scale and out of proportion with Chung (Angel) and Froustey (Russian Girl).

As to Lambarena: well, it took a little while to get used to 13 white people (mostly) dancing African moves to African rhythms. On the whole, I thought the dancers acquitted themselves pretty well, although there were definite moments of ‘ballet dancers trying to be ethnic’. Lorena Feijoo totally got it though; she had the subtlety most others missed. Ellen Rose Hummel got it too; she was a great fun. Unlike many, she just completely let go of ‘ballet dancer’ and and gave Feijoo a run for the money in the shimmy and shake department.

I’m seeing the same program again Friday, mainly to see Serenade again (different cast); but although casts are the same as Tuesday for RAkU and Lambarena, I’m very much looking forward to seeing Tan, Feijoo and Hummel again.

Yes, theDéfilé seemed to be in seniority order, with Tan coming last, looking gorgeous. Also noticed Clara Blanco, so I hope she's back this season.

Thanks for the descriptions everyone - it's fun to read through these. What sort of costumes were used for the défilé? I imagine the dancers had to wear whatever they were going to be appearing in later in the program, but is that so?

Pretty much from older students on up wore white; students wore tunics, female company members wore pancake tutus. The principals were in black with lots of glitter; I think the soloists were in black too (maybe Quiggin remembers)? There was even some dance moves to get people moved around. After the défilé there was the inevitable speech thanking every single sponsor (sitting through speeches is the price you pay for the dancing, I guess), which gave the dancers time to get into costume.

Thanks, PeggyR! I've also noticed Francisco Mungamba, who has the carriage of a prince and a clean, beautiful technique. Hope he's in the cast I see of The Vertiginous Thrill of Exactitude. I'm happy to hear that Vanessa Zahorian is back and obviously in good form. For the Défilé, did they start with the students and go through the ranks to end with the principals? Did it seem that the order of principals ended with the most senior of the principal ballerinas?

There's a YouTube video floating around of Mungamba several years ago at one of those Youth something or others that pop up everywhere. His technoque was nothing like it is now, but the minute he walks on stage, you feel like you're watching s star. I'll try to find it when I get home.

Yes, theDéfilé seemed to be in seniority order, with Tan coming last, looking gorgeous. Also noticed Clara Blanco, so I hope she's back this season.

Some quick thoughts on last night’s Gala (I'm supposed to be working so no time to proof):

• Opened with the Star Spangled Banner, immediately followed by a lot of ‘woo-hoos’ and whooping; not quite what I expected from an audience dressed in evening gowns and tuxedos. I expected somebody to throw out the first pitch from the balcony.

• The Defile was fun; is there anything cuter than tiny little girls in pink leotards, or tiny little boys trying to look dignified?

• Mixed bag of choreography, ranging from the bland but much enhanced by the performers (Tomasson’s pdd from On a Theme of Paganini with Tan/Helimets) to the embarrassingly unworthy of the performers (Caniparoli’s pdd from A Cinderella Story with Feijoo and Luiz).

• Highlights for me: The cheerful Vertiginous Thrill of Exactitude, which I hadn’t seen before, and Wheeldon’s world premiere, Borealis.

• I thought Borealis was going to be one of those throwaway Gala pieces, never again to see the light of day. I hope that’s not the fate for this interesting work. I haven’t seen a lot of Wheeldon, but this seemed to follow some of Wheeldon’s themes (dancers spending a lot of time on the floor; dancers staring out at something the audience can’t see), but I liked this a lot, and the performances by Frances Chung – by turns lyrical and acrobatic – and Joseph Walsh were marvelous. Unfortunately the audience didn’t seem to share my enthusiasm (no woo-hoos), but I hope this comes back during a regular season for a second look.

• A word to the wise: keep an eye out for Francisco Mungamba, still in the corps de ballet. Long arms and legs, a pure, very beautiful classical line, impeccably finished turns, and the best ballon I’ve seen in years – he truly floats off the ground – plus stage presence to burn. In Vertiginous he more than held his own dancing as one of the two male leads with Gennadi Nedvigin. If Mungamba can partner (I saw no signs of problems last night), and if he can act at all, this is a danseur in the making.

• I thought the third act pdd from Onegin (the one where she banishes him forever) was an odd choice for a Gala but Tan and Luiz danced it beautifully. Still, a bit of a downer.

• Finally, a good, old fashioned showpiece: Le Corsaire pdd with a very musical Tara Domitro and Vanessa Zahorian, who apparently can fouette forever; I lost count somewhere around 415. It was nice to see a proper tutu after all the modern-ish costumes.

Did anybody else attend?

Here are the updated Giselle casts. I'm really happy to be seeing debuts by Chung and Andre (Giselle and Myrtha) on 1/31.

Program 2: GISELLE

Choreography: Helgi Tomasson

Composer: Adolphe Adam, with additional music, orchestration and arrangements by Friedrich Burgmuller, Ludwig Minkus, and Emil de Cou

Thursday, January 29, 2015 - 8pm - Opening Night

Giselle: Maria Kochetkova

Albrecht: Vitor Luiz

Hilarion: Pascal Molat

Myrtha: Sofiane Sylve

Saturday, January 31, 2015 - 2pm

Giselle: Frances Chung^

Albrecht: Luke Ingham

Hilarion: James Sofranko

Myrtha: Dores Andre^

^new to role

Back to Top

Saturday, January 31, 2015 - 8pm

Giselle: Mathilde Froustey

Albrecht: Tiit Helimets

Hilarion: Ruben Martin Cintas

Myrtha: Sofiane Sylve

Back to Top

Tuesday, February 03, 2015 - 8pm

Giselle: Vanessa Zahorian

Albrecht: Taras Domitro

Hilarion: Pascal Molat

Myrtha: Jennifer Stahl

Back to Top

Wednesday, February 04, 2015 - 7:30pm

Giselle: Sarah Van Patten

Albrecht: Carlos Quenedit#

Hilarion: Alexander Reneff-Olson

Myrtha: Sasha De Sola

#new to this production

Friday, February 06, 2015 - 8pm

Giselle: Yuan Yuan Tan

Albrecht: Davit Karapetyan

Hilarion: Ruben Martin Cintas

Myrtha: Sofiane Sylve

Back to Top

Sunday, February 08, 2015 - 2pm

Giselle: Maria Kochetkova

Albrecht: Vitor Luiz

Hilarion: Pascal Molat

Myrtha: Jennifer Stahl

Back to Top

Giselle - Tuesday, February 10, 2015 - 8pm

Giselle: Lorena Feijoo

Albrecht: Tiit Helimets

Hilarion: Sean Orza^

Myrtha: Sofiane Sylve

Casts for Giselle; no Myrtha for some reason. I’m thrilled that my subscription means I’ll be there for Chung’s debut, plus I just bought a ticket for Feijoo’s Giselle, which I’ve never seen and don't want to miss.

Note that if you use the View All Casting link on the website, the sorting is a little eccentric, plus all programs are smooshed together; I've tried to fix it here.

GISELLE

Choreographer: Helgi Tomasson
Composer: Adolphe Adam, with additional music, orchestrations and arrangements by Friedrich Burgmuller, Ludwig Minkus, and Emil de Cou

Thursday, January 29, 2015 - 8pm - Opening Night

Giselle: Maria Kochetkova

Albrecht: Vitor Luiz

Saturday, January 31, 2015 - 2pm

Giselle: Frances Chung*

Albrecht: Luke Ingham

Saturday, January 31, 2015 - 8pm

Giselle: Mathilde Froustey

Albrecht: Tiit Helimets

Tuesday, February 03, 2015 - 8pm

Giselle: Vanessa Zahorian

Albrecht: Taras Domitro

Wednesday, February 04, 2015 - 7:30pm

Giselle: Sarah Van Patten

Albrecht: Carlos Quenedit*

Friday, February 06, 2015 - 8pm

Giselle: Yuan Yuan Tan

Albrecht: Davit Karapetyan

t

Sunday, February 08, 2015 - 2pm

Giselle: Maria Kochetkova

Albrecht: Vitor Luiz

Tuesday, February 10, 2015 - 8pm

Giselle: Lorena Feijoo

Albrecht: Tiit Helimets Top

The Giselle principal casting is also posted on the SFB website. Frances Chung is getting a Giselle! She danced Myrtha in previous seasons.

Thanks for the heads up Josette. When I looked at Program 2 yesterday, there was only the opening night cast with no Myrtha listed, so I held off posting since I consider Myrtha a principle role (I’ll go to Giselle regardless of who’s dancing G&A if there’s a Myrtha I want to see). I hope she’s listed soon.

Also, in past years casts were only posted one week ahead of time. This is pretty early for both Programs 1 and 2; plus the site was updated on a Saturday, which I don’t remember happening unless there was an injury cast change. Strange times!

Opening night cast only so far. (Apparently it's no longer possible to link to a specific program, just to the general cast page.)

Program 1 - Tuesday, January 27, 2015 - 8pm - Opening Night

SERENADE

Choreographer: George Balanchine

Composer: Peter Illyich Tchaikovsky

Conductor: Martin West

Waltz Couple: Maria Kochetkova, Vitor Luiz

Russian Girl: Mathilde Froustey

Angel: Frances Chung

Dark Angel: Joseph Walsh

INTERMISSION

RAkU

Choreographer: Yuri Possokhov

Composer: Shinji Eshima

Conductor: Martin West

Yuan Yuan Tan, Carlos Quenedit*

Pascal Molat

INTERMISSION

LAMBARENA

Choreographer: Val Caniparoli

Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach and traditional African rhythms and music (as arranged by Pierre Akendengue and Hughes de Courson)

Lorena Feijoo

Kimberly Braylock*, Ellen Rose Hummel*

Joseph Walsh,* Daniel Deivison-Oliveira*, Hansuke Yamamoto*

San Francisco Ballet Opening Night Gala, “Infinite Romance”.

This is my first Gala: I’ve actually broken out the high heels for the occasion.

I love that they are doing a DÉFILÉ; has they done that before at the Gala?

Especially looking forward to Concerto Grosso, with five very talented men of the corps de ballet. Keep a particular eye out for Francisco Mungamba with his megawatt stage presence. Plus: a Wheeldon world premiere, a Ratmansky US premiere, and a Possokhov SFB premiere.

Is there a better transaction of SOUVENIR D’UN LIEU CHER? Bing translates ‘Souvenir d’un lieu cher’ as ‘Souvenir d’un lieu cher’, which isn’t very helpful. Google translates it as ‘remembrance of expensive place’, not inappropriate to San Francisco, but is that accurate? Any chance it might mean 'San Francisco is getting less expensive and normal people can now afford to live there'? No, I didn't think so. (sigh)

Opening Night Gala - Thursday, January 22, 2015 - 8pm

DÉFILÉ

Composer: Johan Svendsen

Choreography: Helgi Tomasson

Conductor: Martin West

Casting: Full Company, School Students & Trainees

Excerpt from ALLES WALZER

Composer: Johann Strauss II

Choreography: Renato Zanella

Conductor: Martin West

Casting: Joan Boada, Pascal Molat

Act II pas de deux from A CINDERELLA STORY

SF Ballet Premiere

Based on a Themes by: Richard Rodgers

Music Arrangements and Orchestration: Ron Paley

Choreography: Val Caniparoli

Conductor: Martin West

Piano: Ming Luke

Casting: Lorena Feijoo*, Vitor Luiz*

Pas de deux from ON A THEME OF PAGANINI

Composer: Sergei Rachmaninov

Choreography: Helgi Tomasson

Conductor: Martin West

Piano: Roy Bogas

Casting: Yuan Yuan Tan, Tiit Helimets

Pas de deux from THERE WHERE SHE LOVED^©

Composer: Kurt Weill

Choreography: Christopher Wheeldon

Mezzo-soprano: Erin Neff

Piano: Natal’ya Feygina

Casting: Sofiane Sylve*, Luke Ingham*

THE VERTIGINOUS THRILL OF EXACTITUDE

Composer: Franz Shubert

Choreography: William Forsythe

Casting: Francisco Mungamba*, Gennadi Nedvigin, Dores André*, Jennifer Stahl, Sasha De Sola*

INTERMISSION

CONCERTO GROSSO

Composer: Francesco Geminiani after Corelli

Choreography: Helgi Tomasson

Conductor: Martin West

Violin I: Matthieu Arama

Violin II: Marianne Wagner

Cello: Eric Sung

Casting: Esteban Hernandez*, Francisco Mungamba*, Wei Wang*, Diego Cruz, Max Cauthorn*

BOREALIS^©

World Premiere

Composer: Gavin Bryars

Choreography: Christopher Wheeldon

Cello: Eric Sung

Piano: Natal’ya Feygina

Casting: Frances Chung* and Joseph Walsh*

SOUVENIR D’UN LIEU CHER

U.S. Premiere

Composer: Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky

Choreography: Alexei Ratmansky

Conductor: Martin West

Violin: Matthieu Arama

Casting: Mathilde Froustey*, Carlo Di Lanno*, Sarah Van Patten*, Luke Ingham*

Pas de deux from BELLS

SF Ballet Premiere

Composer: Sergei Rachmaninov

Choreography: Yuri Possokhov

Piano: Mungunchimeg Buriad

Casting: Maria Kochetkova*, Davit Karapetyan*

Act III pas de deux from ONEGIN

Composer: Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky

Choreography: John Cranko

Conductor: Martin West

Arrangement and Orchestration: Kurt-Heinz Stolze

Casting: Yuan Yuan Tan, Vitor Luiz

LE CORSAIRE Pas de Deux

Composer: Riccardo Drigo

Choreography: after Marius Petipa

Conductor: Martin West

Casting: Vanessa Zahorian, Taras Domitro

* Indicates premiere in ballet

Program and casting subject to change

An interesting little film by former SFB dancer Quinn B. Wharton with SFB principal Frances Chung and soloist Dores Andre.

Lupin Nyong’o for best. Floaty, feminine and a little different.

Poor Rosamund Pike for worst of the night. Probably worst of this century. Possibly worst of several centuries.

Some little gems to start off the new year.

Karsavina

Sokolova

Best: The Ratmansky Trilogy (at San Francisco Ballet)

Worst: Not seeing more ballet companies

Just read miliosr's post, which reminded me to add to my worst list: Simone Messmer leaving SF Ballet. Whatever the reason, it was a significant loss of a very special talent.

Wendy Whelan will bring Restless Creature to San Francisco Performances January 15/16, 2015 at the YBCA. The link has a nice 2 1/2 minute promo video.

I remember her from a ‘60s comedy, How to Murder Your Wife, with Jack Lemmon and Terry-Thomas. Not only was she impossibly gorgeous, but also very funny. IMDB has some fairly recent photos of her, maturely beautiful with that great smile.

Rest in peace.

(Kochetkova was brought in to be Herman's partner. How tall is she?)

Since it's possible not everyone knows the answer: Pointe Magazine, April/May 2011.

Another promotion: Both Odette’s Ordeal and former SFB corp dancer Madison Keesler are tweeting that Koto Ishihara has been promoted to soloist. Unfortunately, the SFB website has been down all day ... so no official news yet.

Koto Ishihara’s bio has been moved to the soloist page, so it's now official.

Also noted: Rubén Martín Cintas is now listed as a ‘Principal Character’ (by which I assume they mean he’s a character dancer, not an odd person).

Here's the brochure for the LEAP program showing the core curriculum and possible electives. How does this compare to a regular college BA program?

Best: The Ratmansky Trilogy (at San Francisco Ballet)

Worst: Not seeing more ballet companies

Another promotion: Both Odette’s Ordeal and former SFB corp dancer Madison Keesler are tweeting that Koto Ishihara has been promoted to soloist. Unfortunately, the SFB website has been down all day (actually, nothing much is working around here; major rain storm, with some flooding and power outages: big mess, but at least it's water, which we haven't seen much in the last three years!), so no official news yet.

I like Ishihara a lot; she can display some youthful awkwardness occasionally, but she has lovely arms and upper body and good technique (a couple of seasons ago I saw her take a fall at the end of her Suite en Blanc variation, but she recovered like a pro; probably anyone unfamiliar with the choreography wouldn’t have known there was a problem).

Congratulations to Koto.

Quite right too. The guy - this danseur - is STUNNING!!!

Some clips of Walsh from the Houston Ballet. The clips are very brief, but enough to leave me wanting to see more.

Theme and Variations

Les Patineurs

Ballo della Regina

Results from today women competition are available on POB website.

Are promoted:

Coryphées

- Ida VIIKINKOSKI

- Jennifer VISOCCHI

Sujets

- Léonore BAULAC

- Hannah O'NEILL

Première Danseuse

- Laura HECQUET

5 positions were available in the Coryphées level, only two have been filled

Interesting article about Hannah O'Neill from Pointe Magazine (doesn't seem to require a subscription to read).

Offical video posting from SFB:

<snip>

Wow, that footage of Yuan Yuan Tan was gorgeous. Makes me wish I could watch more than just a few minutes.

Totally agree. Next time somebody asks, 'What makes a ballerina'?, I'd suggest referring them to the center floor combination starting at about 3.08. In just a few seconds, you have the answer.

It's a shame they could only provide such a short glimpse of the entire broadcast. I know there are rights and licensing, etc, etc, issues, but it really is a pity.

Casting for the first few performances of The Nutcracker.

Vanessa Zahorian is back, and she’ll be dancing with her best partner, Taras Domitro. They’re both superb technicians and they really spark off each other; great fun to watch them together.

I’m also glad to see Dores Andre debuting in the GPdD on the 14th. Since her promotion to soloist, she has really grown as an artist: real ballerina-authority coupled with strong technique and beautiful arms and upper body.

Nutcracker

Choreography: Helgi Tomasson

Music: Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky

Friday, December 12, 2014 - 7pm-Opening Night

Conductor: Martin West

Drosselmeyer: Ricardo Bustamante

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

Sugar Plum Fairy: Mathilde Froustey

Grand Pas de Deux: Yuan Yuan Tan, Luke Ingham

Back to Top

Saturday, December 13, 2014 - 2pm

Conductor: Martin West

Drosselmeyer: Ricardo Bustamante

Queen and King of the Snow: Sarah Van Patten, Carlos Quenedit*

Sugar Plum Fairy: Sasha De Sola

Grand Pas de Deux: Vanessa Zahorian, Taras Domitro

Back to Top

Saturday, December 13, 2014 - 7pm

Conductor: Martin West

Drosselmeyer: Ruben Martin Cintas

Queen and King of the Snow: Frances Chung, Jaime Garcia Castilla

Sugar Plum Fairy: Sofiane Sylve

Grand Pas de Deux: Mathilde Froustey, Davit Karapetyan

Back to Top

Sunday, December 14, 2014 - 2pm

Conductor: Martin West

Drosselmeyer: Ruben Martin Cintas

Queen and King of the Snow: Sasha De Sola, Tiit Helimets

Sugar Plum Fairy: Jennifer Stahl

Grand Pas de Deux: Dores Andre*, Luke Ingham

Back to Top

Sunday, December 14, 2014 - 7pm

Conductor: Martin West

Drosselmeyer: Val Caniparoli

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

Sugar Plum Fairy: Mathilde Froustey

Grand Pas de Deux: Frances Chung, Joseph Walsh*