sf_herminator

Here's a small piece from the San Francisco Chronicle about costumes and the style of two of SF Ballet's newest dancers - including Jahna Frantziskonis:

http://www.sfchronicle.com/style/article/S-F-ballet-dancers-channel-a-pair-of-Hepburns-6759638.php#photo-9159826

Alas, you have to be a subscriber to read the article -- can you give us a precis?

Apologies for the late reply. The article talked about the costumes Lauren Strongin and Jahna Frantziskonis would have loved to have kept and their fashion icons. The title of the article was 'SF Ballet Dancers Channel A Pair of Hepburns'. Lauren loves Katharine Hepburn, while Jahna's fashion icon is Audrey Hepburn. Really unfortunate that this article is only available to subscribers. It was available briefly on sfgate.com but changed not too long after my post.

Casting has been posted for the first two performances of Onegin, opening on Sat 4/30:

https://www.sfballet.org/tickets/casting

Merde to all the dancers in this final program of the season.

Also of note: As part of Bay Area Dance Week, Company Class is open to the public on Sunday 5/1. You can sign up to attend here: http://bayareandw.org/event-details/?e_id=190

I always mourn the end of the season as it always seems to be a long wait until we see them on the stage again. Luckily, the company will be in LA in October as part of the Forsythe festival. Plus awaiting the announcement of the Stern Grove Season and hopefully SFB will be there at the end of July.

A review of Sunday night's celebration:

http://www.sfgate.com/performance/article/A-superlative-evening-honors-superlative-dancers-7255188.php

From the ballet's blog site, Vanessa writes about her memories of Gennadi, Pascal, and Joan:

http://sfballetblog.org/2016/04/so-long-but-not-goodbye/

Here are the video tributes from last night's celebration, in the order in which they were shown:

Gennadi Nedvigin:

Pascal Molat:

Joan Boada:

What a wonderful interview. I wonder where Joan is going. He mentions moving for work...

From this post on his Instagram, it looks like Joan is moving to Florida....

https://www.instagram.com/p/BCqSkYQQtJJ/?taken-by=joanboada75

Here are some posts from Vanessa Zahorian's Instagram in honor of the 'Three Musketeers':

https://www.instagram.com/p/BESQAy_oVgJ/?taken-by=vzahorian

https://www.instagram.com/p/BEUBig2oViz/?taken-by=vzahorian

https://www.instagram.com/p/BEVlggEIVu2/?taken-by=vzahorian

https://www.instagram.com/p/BEVmxfgIVgv/?taken-by=vzahorian

Here's an interview with the departing 'Three Musketeers': http://www.sfgate.com/performance/article/Last-dance-for-3-SF-Ballet-principals-7248499.php#photo-9798798.

From their Facebook page, SF Ballet will perform at the Music Center in Los Angeles Oct 21-23 to open the 2016-17 Dance Season along with Pacific Northwest Ballet and Houston Ballet. From the Music Center site, the program will be 'Celebrate Forsythe', with Pas/Parts 2016, The Vertiginous Thrill of Exactitude, and Artifact Suite.

SF Ballet FB post: https://www.facebook.com/sfballet/posts/10153915513546293:0

The Music Center link: http://www.musiccenter.org/1617dance

The program and casting for the Farewell Celebration for Joan Boada, Pascal Molat, & Gennadi Nedvigin on Sunday 4/17 has been posted (https://www.sfballet.org/tickets/casting):

- See more at: https://www.sfballet.org/tickets/casting#sthash.6DWRHs8W.dpuf

Just looked at the casting (https://www.sfballet.org/tickets/casting). It appears that the order of Program 7 has been changed. On opening night (which was spectacular, by the way), the order was Continuum, In the Countenance of Kings, and Theme and Variations. The order now is Theme and Variations, Continuum, and In the Countenance of Kings.

Casting for the first week of Program 6:

Program 6 - Tuesday, April 05, 2016 - 7:30pm—Opening Night

PRISM

Composer: Ludwig van Beethoven

Choreographer: Helgi Tomasson

Conductor: Martin West

Piano: Roy Bogas

Sasha De Sola, Vitor Luiz, Carlos Quenedit*

Sofiane Sylve, Luke Ingham*

Taras Domitro

SEVEN SONATAS

SF Ballet Premiere

Composer: Domenico Scarlatti

Choreographer: Alexei Ratmansky

Pianist: Mungunchimeg Buriad

Mathilde Froustey*, Joseph Walsh*

Frances Chung*, Gennadi Nedvigin*

Vanessa Zahorian*, Davit Karapetyan*

RUSH^©

Composer: Bohuslav Martinů

Choreography: Christopher Wheeldon

Conductor: Martin West

Lauren Strongin, Francisco Mungamba*

Jahna Frantziskonis*, Max Cauthorn*

Maria Kochetkova*, Joan Boada

Program 6 - Wednesday, April 06, 2016 - 7:30pm

PRISM

Composer: Ludwig van Beethoven

Choreographer: Helgi Tomasson

Conductor: Martin West

Piano: Roy Bogas

Sasha De Sola, Vitor Luiz, Carlos Quenedit

Sofiane Sylve, Luke Ingham

Taras Domitro

SEVEN SONATAS

SF Ballet Premiere

Composer: Domenico Scarlatti

Choreographer: Alexei Ratmansky

Pianist: Mungunchimeg Buriad

Mathilde Froustey, Joseph Walsh

Frances Chung, Gennadi Nedvigin

Vanessa Zahorian, Davit Karapetyan

RUSH^©

Composer: Bohuslav Martinů

Choreography: Christopher Wheeldon

Conductor: Martin West

Lauren Strongin, Francisco Mungamba

Jahna Frantziskonis, Max Cauthorn

Maria Kochetkova, Joan Boada

Program 6 - Friday, April 08, 2016 - 8pm

PRISM

Composer: Ludwig van Beethoven

Choreographer: Helgi Tomasson

Conductor: Martin West

Piano: Roy Bogas

Vanessa Zahorian, Vitor Luiz, Carlos Quenedit

Yuan Yuan Tan, Tiit Helimets

Taras Domitro

SEVEN SONATAS

Composer: Domenico Scarlatti

Choreographer: Alexei Ratmansky

Pianist: Mungunchimeg Buriad

Lorena Feijóo*, Carlos Quenedit*

Dores André*, Vitor Luiz*

Sofiane Sylve*, Carlo Di Lanno*

RUSH^©

Composer: Bohuslav Martinů

Choreography: Christopher Wheeldon

Conductor: Martin West

Lauren Strongin, Francisco Mungamba

Jahna Frantziskonis, Max Cauthorn

Maria Kochetkova, Joan Boada

Program 6 - Sunday, April 10, 2016 - 2pm

PRISM

Composer: Ludwig van Beethoven

Choreographer: Helgi Tomasson

Conductor: Martin West

Piano: Roy Bogas

Mathilde Froustey*, Carlo Di Lanno*, Henry Sidford*

Yuan Yuan Tan, Tiit Helimets

Francisco Mungamba*

SEVEN SONATAS

Composer: Domenico Scarlatti

Choreographer: Alexei Ratmansky

Pianist: Mungunchimeg Buriad

Lorena Feijóo, Carlos Quenedit

Dores André, Vitor Luiz

Sofiane Sylve, Carlo Di Lanno

RUSH^©

Composer: Bohuslav Martinů

Choreography: Christopher Wheeldon

Conductor: Martin West

Lauren Strongin, Francisco Mungamba

Koto Ishihara, Wei Wang*

Sasha De Sola*, Luke Ingham*

In the event of injury or illness, casting is subject to change.

*Premiere in ballet

- See more at: https://www.sfballet.org/tickets/casting#sthash.8cu2Gl7e.dpuf

Casting is up for the first three performances this week:

Program 7 - Thursday, April 07, 2016 - 7:30pm—Opening Night

CONTINUUM^©

Composer: György Ligeti

Choreography: Christopher Wheeldon

Piano: Mungunchimeg Buriad, Natal'ya Feygina

Vanessa Zahorian, Luke Ingham

Frances Chung*, Joseph Walsh*

Sofiane Sylve, Tiit Helimets*

Dores André, Steven Morse*

IN THE COUNTENANCE OF KINGS

World Premiere

Composer: Sufjan Stevens

Choreography: Justin Peck

Conductor: Martin West

Quantus: Dores André*

Electress: Frances Chung*

Botanica: Jennifer Stahl*

The Protagonist: Joseph Walsh*

The Foil: Gennadi Nedvigin*

The Hero: Luke Ingham*

The School of Thought: Sean Orza*, Max Cauthorn*, Steven Morse*, Wei Wang*, Jillian Harvey*, Isabella DeVivo, Jahna Frantziskonis*, Lauren Parrott*, Emma Rubinowitz*, Grace Shibley*, Ami Yuki*, Skyla Schreter*

THEME AND VARIATIONS

Composer: Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky

Choreography: George Balanchine

Conductor: Martin West

Maria Kochetkova, Gennadi Nedvigin

Program 7 - Saturday, April 09, 2016 - 2pm

CONTINUUM^©

Composer: György Ligeti

Choreography: Christopher Wheeldon

Piano: Mungunchimeg Buriad, Natal'ya Feygina

Vanessa Zahorian, Luke Ingham

Koto Ishihara*, Esteban Hernandez*

Sasha De Sola*, Carlos Quenedit*

Lauren Strongin*, Myles Thatcher*

IN THE COUNTENANCE OF KINGS

Composer: Sufjan Stevens

Choreography: Justin Peck

Conductor: Martin West

Quantus: Isabella DeVivo

Electress: Norika Matsuyama*

Botanica: Lauren Strongin*

The Protagonist: Francisco Mungamba*

The Foil: Daniel Deivison-Oliveira*

The Hero: Henry Sidford*

The School of Thought: Sean Orza, Max Cauthorn, Steven Morse, Wei Wang,

Jillian Harvey, Julia Rowe*, Jahna Frantziskonis, Lauren Parrott,

Emma Rubinowitz, Grace Shibley, Ami Yuki, Skyla Schreter

THEME AND VARIATIONS

Composer: Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky

Choreography: George Balanchine

Conductor: Martin West

Frances Chung, Vitor Luiz

Program 7 - Saturday, April 09, 2016 - 8pm

CONTINUUM^©

Composer: György Ligeti

Choreography: Christopher Wheeldon

Piano: Mungunchimeg Buriad, Natal'ya Feygina

Vanessa Zahorian, Luke Ingham

Frances Chung, Joseph Walsh

Sofiane Sylve, Tiit Helimets

Dores André, Steven Morse

IN THE COUNTENANCE OF KINGS

Composer: Sufjan Stevens

Choreography: Justin Peck

Conductor: Martin West

Quantus: Dores André

Electress: Frances Chung

Botanica: Jennifer Stahl

The Protagonist: Joseph Walsh

The Foil: Gennadi Nedvigin

The Hero: Luke Ingham

The School of Thought: Sean Orza, Max Cauthorn, Steven Morse, Wei Wang,

Jillian Harvey, Isabella DeVivo, Jahna Frantziskonis, Lauren Parrott,

Emma Rubinowitz, Grace Shibley, Ami Yuki, Skyla Schreter

THEME AND VARIATIONS

Composer: Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky

Choreography: George Balanchine

Conductor: Martin West

Maria Kochetkova, Gennadi Nedvigin

In the event of injury or illness, casting is subject to change.

*Premiere in ballet

- See more at: https://www.sfballet.org/tickets/casting#sthash.8cu2Gl7e.dpuf

The school will remain. Here is the press release from Silicon Valley Ballet, courtesy of Odette's Ordeal - Teri McCollum's ballet page on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/OdettesOrdeal/posts/1142121842487627:0?__mref=message

This is good news for the students.

Just saw Coppelia tonight. Gennadi was Franz tonight. He was terrific!!! My friends were also very impressed with him tonight. Also, opening night casting for Program 5 next Wednesday has been posted. He will be dancing in Swimmer. Looking towards the other programs, he was partnering Frances Chung in the new Justin Peck piece (https://www.facebook.com/sfballet/photos/a.209483166292.171774.27923251292/10153369396546293/?type=3&theater) on Program 7 and he will be in Onegin as Lensky. There will also be the special performance, most likely along with fellow retiring principals Joan Boada and Pascal Molat. Still no announcement, but patiently waiting for the news. Tonight was a reminder that Gennadi will be missed.

Casting for opening night (Wed 3/16) has been posted:

Program 5 - Wednesday, March 16, 2016 - 7:30pm—Opening Night

DANCES AT A GATHERING
Composer: Frédéric Chopin
Choreographer: Jerome Robbins
Piano: Roy Bogas

Pink/Purple: Yuan Yuan Tan, Davit Karapetyan
Mauve/Green: Vanessa Zahorian, Carlo Di Lanno
Yellow/Brown: Mathilde Froustey, Joseph Walsh
Blue/Blue: Sasha De Sola*, Steven Morse
Green/Brick: Lorena Feijóo, Vitor Luiz

SWIMMER
Composers: Shinji Eshima, Tom Waits, Kathleen Brennan, and Gavin Bryars
Choreography: Yuri Possokhov
Conductor: Martin West

The Swimmer: Taras Domitro
Maria Kochetkova, Tiit Helimets
Lorena Feijóo, Vitor Luiz
Yuan Yuan Tan
Wei Wang, Gennadi Nedvigin, Pascal Molat

Links: https://www.sfballet.org/tickets/casting

https://www.facebook.com/OdettesOrdeal/posts/1141495522550259? (with beautiful pictures from last year's performances)

I can't believe we are at the halfway point of the season!!

This was originally posted earlier this week on Odette's Ordeal's FB page - before the press picked up on it:

https://www.facebook.com/OdettesOrdeal/posts/1140365655996579:0?__mref=message_bubble

When I checked the SVB website on Monday, the link for tickets had been removed. The information for the remaining programs of the season had also been removed.

This is very sad indeed. I only saw them once (Giselle last October) but enough to make me want to see them again. And I think that there was room in the Bay Area for a ballet company. But it is another blow to the arts in the San Jose area.

Just announced:

https://www.sfballet.org/about/media_center/press_releases/_gennadi

http://www.atlantaballet.com/news/atlanta-ballet-names-gennadi-nedvigin-new-artistic-director

https://www.instagram.com/sfballet/

https://www.facebook.com/sfballet/?fref=nf

His final performances will be during Onegin as Lensky. There will also be a special farewell performance with details to follow (wonder if it will be combined with Pascal Molat & Joan Boada). He will take over at Atlanta Ballet in August. Another great dancer to leave this year. So many great performances: Basilio in Don Q, Albrecht in Giselle, Mercutio in R & J, Scarlett's Hummingbird and Fearful Symmetries, Mark Morris's Joyride & Beaux, Balanchine's Agon, Tomasson's 7 for Eight & Trio, just to name a few.

Congratulations & Best Wishes to Gennadi, and thank you for all your years of dancing!!!

Here's a small piece from the San Francisco Chronicle about costumes and the style of two of SF Ballet's newest dancers - including Jahna Frantziskonis:

http://www.sfchronicle.com/style/article/S-F-ballet-dancers-channel-a-pair-of-Hepburns-6759638.php#photo-9159826

Performances through Tue 2/23 have been updated with Von Rothbart:

Swan Lake - Friday, February 19, 2016 - 8pm—Opening Night

Composer: Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Choreographer: Helgi Tomasson
Conductor: Martin West

Odette/Odile: Yuan Yuan Tan
Siegfried: Tiit Helimets
Von Rothbart: Alexander Reneff-Olson^⁺

Swan Lake - Saturday, February 20, 2016 - 2pm

Composer: Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Choreographer: Helgi Tomasson
Conductor: Ming Luke

Odette/Odile: Sofiane Sylve+
Siegfried: Carlo Di Lanno+
Von Rothbart: Tiit Helimets^

Swan Lake - Saturday, February 20, 2016 - 8pm

Composer: Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Choreographer: Helgi Tomasson
Conductor: Martin West

Odette/Odile: Maria Kochetkova
Siegfried: Davit Karapetyan
Von Rothbart: Daniel Deivison-Oliveira^

Swan Lake - Sunday, February 21, 2016 - 2pm

Composer: Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Choreographer: Helgi Tomasson
Conductor: Martin West

Odette/Odile: Mathilde Froustey^+
Siegfried: Luke Ingham^+
Von Rothbart: Sean Bennett^+

Swan Lake - Tuesday, February 23, 2016 - 7:30pm

Composer: Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Choreographer: Helgi Tomasson
Conductor: Ming Luke

Odette/Odile: Sofiane Sylve
Siegfried: Carlo Di Lanno
Von Rothbart: Tiit Helimets

^Premiere in role
⁺Premiere in SF Ballet production

https://www.sfballet.org/tickets/casting

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

* Tiit will be doing double duty, dancing Siegfried to Yuan Yuan's Odette/Odile AND Von Rothbart to Sofiane's Odette/Odile. This is the first time I've seen this happen here at SFB, but not unprecedented. At ABT I believe both Marcelo Gomes and James Whiteside alternated between Siegfried & Von Rothbart.

* After playing Tybalt & Hilarion respectively, Daniel Deivison-Oliveira and Alexander Reneff-Olson add Von Rothbart to their villain portrayals.

* Great to see Sean Bennett debut as Von Rothbart. Sad to see (so far) no Anthony Vincent - the only dancer to have previously danced Von Rothbart.

Anyone know what's up with Sasha de Sola? I would have expected to see her in some of this rep. Wasn't she in the Pas/Parts video? Hope she isn't injured again... Maybe they're just keeping it to one cast for the first week and she'll pop back up soon!

Yes, I just watched the short clip again and clearly she was rehearsing with Diego Cruz. Diego is in the first cast - now I will have to see who he was partnering because I really can't remember (Dores? Skyla?), I am at work and do not have the casting sheet hand. They did list who were the dancers in the various solos, duos, trios, and ensembles. I am definitely going to see Pas/Parts again. It seems that the first cast will be dancing all four performances this week. Judging by who else was rehearsing in the video I can't wait to see the second cast.

On another note: Those who were present for the Meet the Artist Interview preceding the performance were fortunate to see William Forsythe!!!

Back to Sasha - I hope she is OK and we will see her later this season. IIRC she has danced 7 for Eight, and I would think she would have been in either the Scarlett or Morris piece (she was in Scarlett's Hummingbird and she may have done Drink to Me before - again I will need to go through my archives to see). She was at the gala as she posted some pics on Instagram.

Tell us more about the choreo. If this is a 100% Alonso's derived,you probably noticed some differences in the music. The Cuban version is a hybrid between Mary Skeaping staging from the 50's (the company retained for a while the now long lost "Fugue of the Willis" recreation by the scholar) and Dolin's own around the same years. I even remember a mimed segment, now defunct in current productions, between Giselle and Albrecht at the grave site during the final scene, in which she tells him she should go back to the grave. How was Carreno's Hilarion..?

Hi Cristian,

The one thing I definitely remember that was different with respect to the music was the very end. The flute is playing as the sun is rising and Giselle bids farewell to Albrecht. In this version, all of a sudden the music sped up. It was as if Albrecht lives to see another day and springs back to life!! It was a bit jarring for me since I was not used to that. I did recognize Giselle telling Albrecht she should go back to the grave as you describe

Another aspect that I noticed is that at the end of the first act, Albrecht's squire is doing everything he can to get Albrecht out of the chaos of the village. Here he did not leave and fell to Giselle's feet as the curtain comes down

During Giselle's entrechats in Act 2, the music seemed as if it was a bit faster. Probably because of that, it appeared to me that the entrechats were very fast but not very high.

I thought Carreño was fine as Hilarion, I actually had never seen him dance before.

BTW, this production used recorded music. It's what I expected, but of course live music is always better.

According to the program, this production of Giselle was created by Ms. Alonso for Paris Opera Ballet, 1972 (I'll send you some pics from the program & cast sheet).

Wished I could have seen a second performance - I never tire of Giselle!!

I see there haven't been any posts here for a while, which is a bit disappointing. While not as well known as San Francisco Ballet, Silicon Valley Ballet (formerly known as Ballet San Jose) has scored such fine addition to their rep. With the changes in the relationship between the US and Cuba, this is quite noteworthy. Here are links to a few articles (which are also posted in Links)

Coaching - http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/2015/10/14/silicon-valley-ballet-makes-history-with-cuban-giselle/

Review - http://www.sfgate.com/performance/article/Rebranded-Silicon-Valley-Ballet-makes-spirited-6575580.php

There were four performances over this weekend. I went to the Saturday matinee. This was a beautiful production and the company danced wonderfully. Principal Dancer Junna Ige was Giselle, Soloist Rudy Candida was Albrecht, Soloist Jing Zhang was Myrtha, and Artistic Director Jose Manuel Carreño was Hilarion.

Here is a pic of the program which I had posted on Instagram: https://instagram.com/p/886puss45-/?taken-by=herminator65

I am glad I had the chance to see this....

I missed the first hour, but joined as the Giselle rehearsal was in progress. It was great to see Yuan Yuan & Tiit dancing together again. How exciting to see Carlo rehearsing as Alrbrecht to Mathilde's Giselle. I saw them as Romeo & Juliet and know they will be wonderful in Giselle.

It was great to see the duos rehearsing for The Fifth Season, Rush, and especially Hummingbird because Liam Scarlett was there to work on his new piece. I am really excited for the new Scarlett. He has chosen wonderful music and by the looks of it Fearful Symmetries is going to be fabulous. I especially liked seeing the dancers who will be in the piece.

Can't wait for the clip to be posted on You Tube so I can watch it again!!

THere's a new dancer listed in the Corps De Ballet - Kristine Butler. No picture and no other information except for she's from Buffalo.

Other updates to the dancer pages:

• Clara Blanco no longer listed
• Pics for new dancers added (Soloist Lauren Strongin, Corps members Kamryn Baldwin and Jahna Frantziskonis, and Apprentices Grace Choi, Blake Kessler, Anastasia Kubanda, Chisako Oga, and Francisco Sebastião
• New pics for Principals Luke Ingham and Pascal Molat and Corps dancers Kimberly Braylock-Oliver (note name change) and Wan-Ting Zhao (there may be others I missed)