PeggyR

The male principal rank has taken a lot of hits the last few seasons. I hope this opens the way for at least one promotion from within, instead of bringing in more outsiders.

DNB flash mob to promote performances of Giselle in Beijing. Kind of fun seeing Wilis in everything from high heels to army boots.

VAI isn't showing it yet.

It’s been around for a while. It drives me nuts too, but apparently people like it (see #3 below). I’ve seen a couple of explanations: 1. Some people have both DVD and BluRay players (e.g., DVD in bedroom, BluRay in living room), and having both discs allows them to watch the movie anywhere; or 2. BluRay’s are so expensive, people feel like they are getting their money’s worth if they get ‘two for the price of one’, so they won't complain about BluRay prices so much; or 3. Here’s Criterion’s reasoning. Whatever... (By the way, is the Vishneva/Shkyarov disc worth nearly $50?)

VAI is having a 15% off sale for all CDs and DVDs through November 5. Here’s a link to the ballet DVDs page.

Photo from former SFB, current ENB dancer Madison Keesler, with former SFB dancer, current film student Quinn Wharton; and current SFB principal and current ENB guest Vitor Luiz. According to meunier fan's post, he'll be dancing Swan Lake and Coppelia due to some injuries among the ENB men (which means, I sincerely hope, he'll be back in time for the SFB 2015 season). I saw his Franz a few years ago and he was terrific. I'd like to see his SL: he has the technique, lines and acting ability to be an excellent Siegfried.

Here’s a longer article from SFGate:

Before watching the latest Giselle clips, I took a look at your Sleeping Beauty posts from 2012. My first thought was that with her lightness and beautiful line, she would be a good Giselle. After seeing today’s Giselle clips, I have to agree with Bart’s comment from 2010: I seriously regret never seeing her live. Thanks for posting.

Well, it looks like I lied about casting - sort of. From Mathilde Froustey's Twitter. The ones to watch here (besides Froustey) are Jim Sohm's superb Quixote (he's the only one I've seen who really conveys the 'weight' of old age), and I'll take bets that Daniel Deivison-Oliveira's Espada will be terrific.

Hi California (what's your last name: Drought? ) I think you must be looking at on old link; she's not on the current soloist page. You really had my hopes up there for a minute. The 2015 season starts in January and we get casting one whole, big, gigantic week in advance of the performance date .

SFB has surpassed its goal of $30,000. See Pherank's Kickstarter link above (sorry, cut and paste on the iPad isn't cooperating).

Pherank said: Good grief! Where on earth do people wear stuff like that? Gorgeous, but Holy Mackerel... And... It was fine on my iMac using Safari, but the same problem you had on Firefox. As to the music, I couldn't understand a word the little old lady with laryngitis 'sang'. Did it have something to do with the proceedings or was it just meant to be atmosphere? Thanks for posting. Always interesting to see dancers doing something a little different.

Although he was probably best known as a director (Gandhi, Shadowlands), he was also a fine actor whose roles ranged from the commanding ‘Big X’ in one of my all-time favorite movies, The Great Escape (1963), to the milquetoast-ish Billy Savage in Seance on a Wet Afternoon (1964). RIP

Nitpicking here, but is it really fair to call her a 'bad dancer'? To my thinking, a bad dancer (singer, bricklayer, whatever) is someone who has been trained in a discipline, but who does it poorly. Really, she's not a dancer at all, and that's the point I get from this video: you don't have to be a dancer to dance.

I thought the video was surprisingly fun and, more important, supremely silly. Considering the appalling things people have been doing to themselves and each other lately, personally, I could do with as much good-natured silliness as I can get. Too bad the music is forgettable.

Hi MathildeK: I’m curious about your comment: ‘mishandling Messmer’s case’. Since the announcement that she would not return, I’ve done a bit of (admittedly half-hearted) Googling to see if I could come up with any information on why she isn’t coming back, but without luck. Did you find something official out there that I’ve missed that explains what happened? I’ve just assumed she got a better offer elsewhere, which hasn’t been publicized yet. Thanks Peggy

I just checked the dancers section on the website, which has finally been updated, and Messmer is not there. Now we know. Edited to add link.

Lauren Bacall has died, aged 89. RIP

Cute picture of MK, YYT, GN and EP in Mexico. https://twitter.com/DespertaresMex/status/497367773715386368/photo/1

I'm surprised to see San Francisco Ballet has a bigger budget than ABT. As of right now, ABT has 90+ dancers, SFB around 70 (in fact, according to the current website listing, ABT's corps de ballet is nearly as big as SFB's entire company). Back on topic: as a native Philly-ian who was there when PB was a start-up (I went to most of those early performances because a friend was dancing with the company), I've been thrilled over the years to see how they've grown. The last time a saw them was a lovely Swan lake about 20-odd years ago. It was a big difference from those early days when the costumes looked like they came out of one of those catalogues for recital costumes, and a fair number of the dancers were still in high school. I really hope this appointment bodes well for the future.

From Lorena Feijoo's Facebook page: interesting footage dating to 1990 of Giselle, Act II, Myrtha's entrance, with what must be a very young Feijoo as Myrtha (Ballet Nacional de Cuba). Note the 32 Wilis; I'd love to see 32 on stage instead of the 24 San Francisco Ballet uses. Galina Alvarez and Aydmara Cabrera as Zylma and Moyna. Unfortunately, the video quality is very poor.

Mathilde Froustey tweeted (twittered???) this.

The Carmen is interesting, but to be honest, I don't it really shows her at her best. I much prefer this bit from Manon.

I'm glad to see Hansuke Yamamoto getting good exposure. He doesn't get the opportunity for major principal roles; I'd really like to see how he would handle Basilio or Franz. Maybe I see something in him that others don't, but it's been a mystery to me why he is repeatedly passed over for promotion in favor of someone as bland and uninteresting as Luke Ingham.

Casts for the Les Etés de la Danse Festival. THURSDAY, JULY 10—8PM—OPENING NIGHT GALA ALLES WALZER Choreographer: Renato Zanella Composer: Johann Strauss II Conductor: Martin West Pascal Molat, Taras Domitro* NO OTHER Choreographer: Val Caniparoli Composer: Richard Rodgers Conductor: Martin West Lorena Feijoo, Vitor Luiz* PAS DE DEUX FROM CONCERTO Choreographer: Sir Kenneth MacMillan Composer: Dmitry Shostakovich Conductor: Martin West Sarah Van Patten, Tiit Helimets CHACONNE FOR PIANO AND TWO DANCERS Choreographer: Helgi Tomasson Composer: George Frideric Handel Conductor: Martin West Frances Chung, Davit Karapetyan CLASSICAL SYMPHONY Choreographer: Yuri Possokhov Composer: Sergei Prokofiev Conductor: Martin West Maria Kochetkova, Hansuke Yamamoto Sasha De Sola, Carlos Quenedit Dores Andre, Jaime Garcia Castilla INTERMISSION AGON PAS DE DEUX Choreographer: George Balanchine Composer: Igor Stravinsky Conductor: Martin West Sofiane Sylve, Luke Ingham* LES LUTINS Choreographer: Johan Kobborg Composer: Antonio Bazzini, Henri Wieniawski Conductor: Martin West Dores Andre, Gennadi Nedvigin, Esteban Hernandez 2nd MOVEMENT PAS DE DEUX FROM BRAHMS SCHOENBERG QUARTET Choreographer: George Balanchine Composer: Johannes Brahms, orchestrated by Arnold Schoenberg Conductor: Martin West Mathilde Froustey, Carlos Quenedit VOICES OF SPRING Choreographer: Sir Frederick Ashton Composer: Johann Strauss Conductor: Martin West Maria Kochetkova, Davit Karapetyan* AFTER THE RAIN Choreographer: Christopher Wheeldon Composer: Arvo Pärt Conductor: Martin West Yuan Yuan Tan, Damian Smith SYMPHONY IN C – FOURTH MOVEMENT & FINALE Choreographer: George Balanchine Composer: George Bizet Conductor: Martin West Simone Messmer*, Vitor Luiz Sofiane Sylve, Tiit Helimets Frances Chung, Joseph Walsh Sasha De Sola, Jaime Garcia Castilla FRIDAY, JULY 11—8PM CAPRICE Choreographer: Helgi Tomasson Composer: Camille Saint-Saens Maria Kochetkova, Davit Karapetyan Yuan Yuan Tan, Luke Ingham INTERMISSION GHOSTS Choreographer: Christopher Wheeldon Composer: C.F. Kip Winger Yuan Yuan Tan, Damian Smith Sofiane Sylve, Tiit Helimets, Shane Wuerthner INTERMISSION THE FOUR TEMPERAMENTS Choreographer: George Balanchine Composer: Paul Hindemith Melancholic: Taras Domitro Sanguinic: Frances Chung, Joseph Walsh* Phlegmatic: Davit Karapetyan Choleric: Sofiane Sylve SATURDAY, JULY 12—3PM ALLEGRO BRILLANTE Choreographer: George Balanchine Composer: Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky Maria Kochetkova*, Carlos Quenedit PAUSE SOLO Choreographer: Hans van Manen Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach Hansuke Yamamoto, Joseph Walsh, Gennadi Nedvigin INTERMISSION IN THE NIGHT Choreographer: Jerome Robbins Composer: Frédéric Chopin Mathilde Froustey*, Ruben Martin Cintas Sofiane Sylve, Tiit Helimets Sarah Van Patten, Luke Ingham INTERMISSION GLASS PIECES Choreographer: Jerome Robbins Composer: Philip Glass Sasha De Sola, Hansuke Yamamoto Jennifer Stahl, Gaetano Amico Dores Andre, Shane Wuerthner Yuan Yuan Tan, Damian Smith SATURDAY, JULY 12—8PM CLASSICAL SYMPHONY Choreographer: Yuri Possokhov Composer: Sergei Prokofiev Maria Kochetkova, Hansuke Yamamoto Sasha De Sola, Carlos Quenedit Dores Andre, Jaime Garcia Castilla PAUSE CHACONNE FOR PIANO AND TWO DANCERS Choreographer: Helgi Tomasson Composer: George Frederic Handel Frances Chung, Davit Karapetyan INTERMISSION GHOSTS Choreographer: Christopher Wheeldon Composer: C.F. Kip Winger Yuan Yuan Tan, Damian Smith Lorena Feijoo, Ruben Martin Cintas, Gaetano Amico INTERMISSION SYMPHONIC DANCES Choreographer: Edwaard Liang Composer: Sergei Rachmaninoff Yuan Yuan Tan, Luke Ingham Sofiane Sylve, Tiit Helimets Maria Kochetkova, Vitor Luiz MONDAY, JULY 14—8PM MAELSTROM Choreographer: Mark Morris Composer: Ludwig van Beethoven Sarah Van Patten, Ruben Martin Cintas* Frances Chung, Gennadi Nedvigin Jennifer Stahl, Henry Sidford* Sasha De Sola, Steven Morse Julia Rowe, James Sofranko Alexandra Meyer-Lorey, Hansuke Yamamoto Shannon Marie Rugani, Wei Wang INTERMISSION AGON Choreographer: George Balanchine Composer: Igor Stravinsky Sofiane Sylve, Luke Ingham Pascal Molat, Jennifer Stahl, Grace Shibley Frances Chung, Jaime Garcia Castilla, Hansuke Yamamoto INTERMISSION WITHIN THE GOLDEN HOUR Choreographer: Christopher Wheeldon Composer: Ezio Bosso Lorena Feijoo, Damian Smith Sarah Van Patten, Luke Ingham Maria Kochetkova, Vitor Luiz TUESDAY, JULY 15—8PM CAPRICE Choreographer: Helgi Tomasson Composer: Camille Saint-Saens Maria Kochetkova, Davit Karapetyan Yuan Yuan Tan, Luke Ingham INTERMISSION AGON Choreographer: George Balanchine Composer: Igor Stravinsky Sofiane Sylve, Luke Ingham Pascal Molat, Jennifer Stahl, Grace Shibley Frances Chung, Thomas Bieszka, Shane Wuerthner INTERMISSION GLASS PIECES Choreographer: Jerome Robbins Composer: Philip Glass Sasha De Sola, Luke Willis Shannon Marie Rugani, Thomas Bieszka Grace Shibley, Sean Orza Kristina Lind, Tiit Helimets WEDNESDAY, JULY 16—8PM CAPRICE Choreographer: Helgi Tomasson Composer: Camille Saint-Saens Mathilde Froustey, Vitor Luiz Sarah Van Patten, Tiit Helimets INTERMISSION HUMMINGBIRD Choreographer: Liam Scarlett Composer: Philip Glass Frances Chung, Gennadi Nedvigin Yuan Yuan Tan, Luke Ingham Maria Kochetkova*, Jaime Garcia Castilla INTERMISSION SYMPHONIC DANCES Choreographer: Edwaard Liang Composer: Sergei Rachmaninoff Frances Chung, Jaime Garcia Castilla Sarah Van Patten, Anthony Spaulding Lorena Feijoo, Vitor Luiz THURSDAY, JULY 17—8PM MAELSTROM Choreographer: Mark Morris Composer: Ludwig van Beethoven Sarah Van Patten, Ruben Martin Cintas Frances Chung, Gennadi Nedvigin Jennifer Stahl, Henry Sidford Sasha De Sola, Steven Morse Julia Rowe, James Sofranko Alexandra Meyer-Lorey, Hansuke Yamamoto Shannon Marie Rugani, Wei Wang INTERMISSION WITHIN THE GOLDEN HOUR Choreographer: Christopher Wheeldon Composer: Ezio Bosso Mathilde Froustey*, Ruben Martin Cintas Sarah Van Patten, Luke Ingham Maria Kochetkova, Vitor Luiz INTERMISSION GLASS PIECES Choreographer: Jerome Robbins Composer: Philip Glass Kristina Linda, Luke Willis Jennifer Stahl, Gaetano Amico Dores Andre, Shane Wuerthner Sofiane Sylve, Luke Ingham FRIDAY, JULY 18—8PM CLASSICAL SYMPHONY Choreographer: Yuri Possokhov Composer: Sergei Prokofiev Maria Kochetkova, Hansuke Yamamoto Sasha De Sola, Carlos Quenedit Dores Andre, Jaime Garcia Castilla PAUSE CHACONNE FOR PIANO AND TWO DANCERS Choreographer: Helgi Tomasson Composer: George Frederic Handel Frances Chung, Davit Karapetyan INTERMISSION GHOSTS Choreographer: Christopher Wheeldon Composer: C.F. Kip Winger Sarah Van Patten, Luke Ingham Sofiane Sylve, Tiit Helimets, Shane Wuerthner INTERMISSION PIANO CONCERTO NO. 1 Choreographer: Alexei Ratmansky Composer: Dmitri Shostakovich Yuan Yuan Tan, Damian Smith Maria Kochetkova, Vitor Luiz SATURDAY, JULY 19—3PM CLASSICAL SYMPHONY Choreographer: Yuri Possokhov Composer: Sergei Prokofiev Frances Chung, Gennadi Nedvigin Sasha De Sola, Daniel Deivison-Oliveira Dores Andre, Jaime Garcia Castilla INTERMISSION IN THE NIGHT Choreographer: Jerome Robbins Composer: Frederic Chopin Mathilde Froustey, Ruben Martin Cintas Sofiane Sylve, Tiit Helimets Yuan Yuan Tan, Damian Smith INTERMISSION WITHIN THE GOLDEN HOUR Choreographer: Christopher Wheeldon Composer: Ezio Bosso Lorena Feijoo, Damian Smith Dores Andre, Luke Ingham Frances Chung, Vitor Luiz SATURDAY, JULY 19—8PM SYMPHONY #9 Choreographer: Alexei Ratmansky Composer: Dmitri Shoshtakovich Sarah Van Patten, Carlos Quenedit Simone Messmer, James Sofranko Taras Domitro INTERMISSION WITHIN THE GOLDEN HOUR Choreographer: Christopher Wheeldon Composer: Ezio Bosso Mathilde Froustey*, Ruben Martin Cintas Sarah Van Patten, Luke Ingham Maria Kochetkova, Joan Boada INTERMISSION THE FOUR TEMPERAMENTS Choreographer: George Balanchine Composer: Paul Hindemith Melancholic: Pascal Molat Sanguinic: Frances Chung, Joseph Walsh Phlegmatic: Davit Karapetyan Choleric: Sofiane Sylve