sf_herminator
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Posts posted by sf_herminator
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Kristina announced on her public Instagram account that she's going to Dutch National Ballet. Dana announced awhile back on her public Facebook page that she was retiring. As far as other ladies, Megan Amanda Ehrlich and Emily Kadow are also missing from the roster.
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....
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The yearbook-like pictures on the Company page have been mysteriously moving about this morning (Tuesday). Mathilde Froustey is still there but the likeable Thomas Bieszka is missing. Jahna Frantziskonis is now listed.
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.
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Natalia, Cristian, Herm and I are meeting for dinner at 5:30, the restaurant directly across the street from the New York State Theater. It used to be Iridium but I think it's called something like Daffy's now. Hope you can join us!
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.
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In the house now, in rear orchestra left, hope to see you at intermission!!!!
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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
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Hello everyone! I will be again jumping on a plane to capture a ballet moment, in this case compatriot Reyes' retirement in Giselle. I will be there every night from 05/26-(Vishneva/Gomez) until 05/31. Let's meet! (And...how about a post performance drink somewhere nearby?
)Hugs:
Cristian
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
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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.
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Thanks for the reminder, PeggyR - I would expect one of the soloists - especially De Sola - to be offered an opportunity. But Sasha is out, so Andre or Stahl (but is she hurting after her fall?) would be a good bet. I have to assume that Helimets has taken himself out of the running to do other things, or he wouldn't have made the statement that his season was over.
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.
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Soloist Shane Wuerthner was also not on the SFB website soloist roster last week but his picture has returned all of a sudden along with Messmer's.
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.
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I was hoping to gain some insight into the casting from this video, but I think things may well have changed since these earlier rehearsals took place. I'm sure you will be seeing Messmer dance, but exactly what role - who knows?
Messmer had the same role in Symphony no. 9 at ABT.
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.
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Here is the principal casting for Giselle.
http://www.sfballetblog.org/2014/01/principal-casting-sf-ballets-giselle-program-1/
Froustey is scheduled to dance two performances of Giselle, on the 26th and 29th of January.
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.
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It appears he returned to the Stanislavsky Theater with a promotion. He is scheduled to dance the part of Bratfisch in MacMillan's Mayerling on November 8 and 9, having recently danced the Bronze Idol in the company's new La Bayadère on October 18, 19 and 21.
It looks like the soloist Dmitry Zagrebin never made it over from Russia. Can anyone confirm what he is doing at present?
His Facebook page mentions, "Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko Musical Theatre".
He did dance in Suite En Blanc at Stern Grove back in July. Too bad - I was looking forward to seeing more of him.
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reposting, as the discussion moved here:
Well, Macualay as usual has his opinions. These are some of his dimmest in recent memory.
Sarah van Patten is questionable (especially when omitting FRANCES CHUNG, a vastly superior and more brilliant dancer), but Patricia Delgado? There are corps and soloist dancers in every major US company better than Patricia Delgado. She's no sister Jeanette, that is for sure.
Sterling Hyltin (?!?!??!!) and no Melissa Hough, Margaret Severin-Hansen, Victoria Jaiani, CARRIE IMLER, Carla Korbes, Julie DIana, or Wendy Whelan?
Hough and Severin-Hansen are great ballerinas by any standard, but clearly only certain companies are worth Macaulay's royal attention--and only certain dancers in those companies (cf. Chung, Imler, Diana, Whelan--whom he has so often and stupidly trashed.....)
Ludicrous.
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).
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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.
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....
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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.
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Wow, Feijoo is back and in the big final Raymonda solo, right into the deep end.
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!!! -
It really should be pointed out that no one seeing the Kochetkova/Boada cast will be shortchanged (haven't seen Zahorian/Karapetyan, so can't comment on them). K/B are a marvelous couple, both good actors (MK is very,very good), youthful and believable in their roles and technically secure (they do some killer overhead lifts that the others skipped).
it's just that Van Patten is one of those performers - not confined to dancers - who can take a young girls hormonal upset and turn it into universal tragedy (with a little help from Shakespeare). She doesn't act a charaacter, she becomes the character. It's the quality made her Little Mermaid so utterly extraordinary. I'd say she's more of a 'dancer's dancer'; she won't please the 15-year-old teenage girls who appreciate only sky-high extensions and a lot of flash, so don't go looking for that.
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.
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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.
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(When they put her picture/bio on the soloist page, anyone taking bets which part of the alphabet she'll end up in?)
Well, both Dores and Clara are in the correct spot alphabetically. However, Mr. Quenedit still remains between Mr. Spaulding and Mr. Yamamoto
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And the website has been updated: http://www.sfballet.org/company/dancers/soloists
Congratulations to Clara and Dores on their well-deserved promotions!!!!
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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!!!
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But, speaking from pure selfishness, I'm really going to miss Lorena this season. She's a dancer I go out of my way to see (ransom the cats, mortgage the house, whatever it takes...) for her very personal 'take' on roles, and the gorgeous lushness of her dancing.
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!!
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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.
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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.
- New soloist Victoria Ananyan from Armenia. Recently with Dutch National Ballet
Spring 2015: Giselle
in American Ballet Theatre
Posted
Yes, you are correct. San Francisco Ballet has only performed Kingdom of the Shades in 2014 and 2015, which Makarova set on the company. Maria posted the following to her Instagram (and also posted on her Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/mariakochetkova?fref=ts):
in rehearsal - https://instagram.com/p/3QKhxAkUTC/?taken-by=balletrusse
curtain call - https://instagram.com/p/3dO9SjEUZK/?taken-by=balletrusse
I had the great fortune to be in New York (visiting from San Francisco) and caught last night's performance - she was wonderful!!! This was my first time seeing the full length and I really enjoyed it.