sf_herminator

I'm sad to hear Kristina is leaving. I thought for sure she would be one of the tall girls for Rubies (in addition to Sofiane & Jennifer Stahl). I had noticed Megan was gone from the roster but not Emily. Another name missing is Benjamin Stewart. Benjamin Freemantle posted to his Instagram around Romeo & Juliet: https://instagram.com/p/2R799VDRFT/?taken-by=benfreemantle. I also noticed Raymond Tilton is gone. If he is still dancing, wonder if he'll join his brothers at Ballet West....

Mathilde (@lapetitefrench_) posted to her Instagram last month about Thomas (@tomfrommichigan): https://instagram.com/p/2h9LTXHraz/. I am sad to see him gone as well.... No word on where he has gone. I have heard good things about Jahna Frantziskonis. I am currently in New York and had the pleasure of meeting posters cubanmiamiboy, seattle_dancer (who is sad about Jahna leaving PNB and coming to SFB), and Natalia. We all saw ABT in either Giselle or Sleeping Beauty. Additionally, I saw La Bayadere last night - with Maria as Nikiya.

It's P.J Clarke's. It is on the corner of Columbus & 63rd. The address is 44 W 63rd St. http://www.pjclarkes.com/. Looking forward to seeing you all.

In the house now, in rear orchestra left, hope to see you at intermission!!!!

Thank you everyone for your advice. I did find my ticket from Don Q back in 2011 - I sat in Dress Circle. I am going to follow Helene's advice and mix it up. So far, I have Rear Orchestra for Giselle on 5/28 and Dress Circle for La Bayadere on 6/2. I still have to get tickets for R&J. Looking forward to seeing ABT again!!! Cheers, Herm

And I will be traveling from San Francisco on Thursday 5/28. I'll be seeing Giselle the same night. I also enjoy your posts and would love to meet up with you and we can discuss the wonderful Lorena Feijoo!!! Cheers, Herm

I will be visiting New York 5/28-6/4 and 6/15-6/20. I plan to see three performances (Giselle, La Bayadere, and R&J) and would like to know the best places to sit at the Met. I last saw ABT perform in May 2011 (Don Quixote) and it was a last minute purchase (since I couldn't get rush for Book of Mormon). I can't find my ticket to see where I sat so I ask all you kind people for advice. Thanks in advance for your help.

I was at both the Saturday matinee and Tuesday night performances of Program 7. Jennifer Stahl danced in both The Four T's (one of the theme duos) and in Swimmer (red dress). So she appears to be fine. BTW, I missed seeing the fall (I was reaching for a tissue) but I definitely heard it and the collective audience gasp afterwards. Also interesting to note that there are still four performances of R&J for which casting hasn't been posted. I hope that we will see another pair.

He must also be going on tour to Paris and then that will be it for him. Ruben Martin Cintas and Damian Smith are also back on the roster. I listened to the last Meet the Artist interview of the season, which was with Ruben. He said that he was going on tour to Paris. I also recall in an article that Damian was also going on tour to Paris. Lastly, Corps member Luke Willis is also back on the roster. But in the next to last Meet the Artist interview he announced that this would be his last season and was going to film school in the fall. At the time he hadn't decided where, but said most likely it would be in Southern California. But he must also be going to Paris and then that will be it for him. Wish I could go to Paris to see them.... On another note I was in Rome a few weeks ago and saw the posters for the Spoleto Dance Festival.

In this interview with Simone (done when she returned to NY during SFB's October performances), she states that she was learning roles in all three movements of the piece. Of course, she may not dance all three - we'll know very soon. I have been enjoying her dancing - unfortunately I missed her Firebird. http://www.vogue.com/culture/article/second-act-simone-messmer-returns-to-the-new-york-stage-with-sf-ballet/#1

Casting changes: Mathilde is now dancing on the 31st instead of the 29th. Lorena is now dancing on the 29th. Also, SVP now has a second performance and Vanessa is out. I wonder if she got injured during the gala. Of course, casting could change again. I was looking forward to seeing Mathilde - I was so impressed with her at the gala.

He did dance in Suite En Blanc at Stern Grove back in July. Too bad - I was looking forward to seeing more of him.

It looks like the article is about American-born dancers - in the seventh paragraph he mentions that Gillian Murphy was actually born in Britain. Frances Chung is from Vancouver, Canada (http://www.sfballet.org/company/dancers/principals/Frances_Chung) - therefore I forgive for her exclusion..... And Carla Körbes is from Brazil (http://www.pnb.org/Artists/Principals/CarlaKorbes.aspx).

I think you've misread the date: SFB is going to Paris next year, 2014. So it's likely this year's Stern Grove performance won't be suffering from jet lag! Thanks for pointing out it's next year - I only saw the July part. Maybe I should start planning that trip to Paris....

Looking at the dates, I wonder how this impacts or if it will impact the Stern Grove performance. They are scheduled to perform on Sunday 7/28. The festival in Paris is 7/8-7/26. Guess we'll have to wait to see the actual performance dates for Paris.

So extremely happy to see Lorena again!! I'll never forget the year I went to the gala and she danced the Giselle PDD. When it was over the woman sitting next to me leaned over and whispered 'That's my daughter.' - But a bit sad since this will be the last gala for Pierre-François & Damian.... After the Rain with YYT & Damian Can't wait for tomorrow night!!!

Interesting to note that Carlos Quenedit will be Romeo to Sarah Van Patten's Juliet. I don't think I've seen them dance together, so I hope anyone who sees them.will post about their performance. So hard to pick my favorite from the casts. With the exception of Quenedit, I've seen all of them so I don't think anyone will be disappointed.

I'm happy to have found that two of the dancers I was sad to see gone have landed elsewhere. Nutnaree Pipit-Suksun is now a soloist with Ballet San Jose: http://www.balletsj.org/company.html. Photo and bio coming soon. Here's a link to an interview: http://balletsj.wordpress.com/2012/09/19/artist-spotlight-ballet-san-jose-soloist-nutnaree-pipit-suksun/. I will have to try to make the trek down there to see her. Quinn Wharton is now with Hubbard Street Dance in Chicago: http://www.hubbardst...=17&company=hs. Another reason to see this company in Berkeley next year. He's in good company - former SFB dancers Garrett Anderson and Pablo Piantino are also there.

Well, both Dores and Clara are in the correct spot alphabetically. However, Mr. Quenedit still remains between Mr. Spaulding and Mr. Yamamoto

And the website has been updated: http://www.sfballet.org/company/dancers/soloists Congratulations to Clara and Dores on their well-deserved promotions!!!!

It was a glorious night at the Opera House. Hard to pick just one favorite. In the first half, Damian Smith in Aria and Frances Chung and Taras Domitro in Flames of Paris stick out in my mind. In the second half, the trio of men in Solo Gennadi Nedvigin, Garen Scribner, and Hansuke Yamamoto) and Maria Kochetkova and Joan Boada in Voices of Spring. What a vision when Joan had Maria lifted as she scattered petals!! And I was very happy to see Solo again. I first saw the piece at the final performances of Stephen Legate, Yuri Possokhov, and Peter Brandenhoff - what a tour de force for the men who dance it!! Can't wait for the regular season to begin. Onegin on 2/1!!!

I second your thoughts. I was so looking forward to her dancing Kitri in Don Quixote again, but now we'll have to wait even longer.... Also from the clips of Helgi previewing the new season, it looked like she was going to be in the new Ashley Page piece (among others). And she will be sorely missed at tonight's gala - her pas de deux with Vitor to Talk to Her was one of the highlights last year. But congratulations to Lorena and Vitor!!

San Francisco Ballet gave its annual performance at the Stern Grove Festival on Sunday 7/31. I'll post more later about the performance, but it was a wonderful afternoon. The first part of the performance were two pieces performed by former and current dancers in the trainee program. Hopefully other people can give their views. Stern Grove Festival Matinee Sunday, July 31, 2011, 2:00 PM ANDANTE SOSTENUTO Choreographer: J. Francisco Martinez Composer: Franz Schubert Conductor: Martin West Piano: Natal'ya Feygina Elizabeth Powell^ Francisco Mungamba Lacey Escabar* Trygve Cumpston* Shion Yuasa^ Henry Sidford^ *SF Ballet School Trainee ^SF Ballet Company Apprentice TIMEPIECE Choreographer: Myles Thatcher Lacey Escabar*, Ellen Rose Hummel^, Lauren Parrott*#, Shion Yuasa^, Sean Bennett^, Trygve Cumpston*, Francisco Mungamba, Alexander Reneff-Olson*, Henry Sidford^ *SF Ballet School Trainee ^SF Ballet Company Apprentice # denotes premiere in work INTERMISSION 7 FOR EIGHT Choreographer: Helgi Tomasson Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach Conductor: Martin West Piano: Michael McGraw Maria Kochetkova, Ruben Martin Cintas Vanessa Zahorian, Gennadi Nedvigin Dores Andre, Elizabeth Miner, Joan Boada, Jaime Garcia Castilla INTERMISSION SYMPHONY IN C Choreographer: George Balanchine Composer: Georges Bizet Conductor: Martin West Lorena Feijoo, Vitor Luiz Sofiane Sylve, Vito Mazzeo Frances Chung, Isaac Hernandez Nicole Chiapponi, Lonnie Weeks * Denotes premiere in role.

New roster has been posted: http://www.sfballet.org/about/company/dancers.asp At a quick glance (aside from previously announced promotion/new dancers): New soloist Victoria Ananyan from Armenia. Recently with Dutch National Ballet Gone from roster: Artem Yachmeninnikov (Principal), Brynn Gilbert (Corps), Elena Kazakova (Corps), Erin McNulty (Corps), Sylvie Volosov (Corps), Evan Hewer (Apprentice) Looking forward to Stern Grove performance on 7/31.

Helene, liebs, carbro, nijinsky1979, and kfw - Thank you all for your advice. I am going to get a ticket for Second Ring, but will wait until Sunday or Monday to buy online. If I buy now, the ticket will be mailed (tickets are mailed if the performance is more than 7 days in advance but held at the box office if less than 7 days) - but I fly from SFO to the East Coast on Sunday. kfw - that was the article I had seen, thank you. Good to have for future reference. Helene - The comparison to the Opera House was especially helpful. I have seen SFB perform Afternoon of a Faun and The Concert. The Concert is one of my Top 5 ballets, so I am looking forward to seeing NYCB's performance. I will try to post my thoughts on the performance. Thanks again everyone!!!