sf_herminator

Casting for Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday evening https://www.sfballet.org/tickets/casting/ Tuesday 12/14, 7 PM Uncle Drosselmeyer: Val Caniparoli Clara: Kendall Foley Queen & King of the Snow: Wona Park and Steven Morse The Sugar Plum Fairy: Isabella DeVivo Grand Pas de Deux: Sarah Van Patten and Luke Ingham Wednesday 12/15, 7 PM (Julian MacKay's debut!!!) Uncle Drosselmeyer: Tiit Helimets Clara: Neve Margaret Chang Queen & King of the Snow: WanTing Zhao and Benjamin Freemantle The Sugar Plum Fairy: Norika Matsuyama Grand Pas de Deux: Nikisha Fogo* and Julian MacKay† Thursday 12/16, 7 PM Uncle Drosselmeyer: Tiit Helimets Clara: Abby Cannon Queen & King of the Snow: Thamires Chuvas and Estéban Cuadrado The Sugar Plum Fairy: Jennifer Stahl Grand Pas de Deux: Misa Kuranaga and Angelo Greco *Denotes principal role debut in current production ‡Denotes principal role debut at San Francisco Ballet †Denotes principal debut in current production Casting subject to change

More casting - but only principal roles. Saturday 12/11 and Sunday 12/12 below. https://www.sfballet.org/tickets/casting/ Saturday 12/11, 2 PM Uncle Drosselmeyer: Ricardo Bustamante Clara: Neve Margaret Chang Queen & King of the Snow: Isabella DeVivo and Lucas Erni* The Sugar Plum Fairy: Sarah Van Patten Grand Pas de Deux: Sasha De Sola and Aaron Robison Saturday 12/11, 7 PM Uncle Drosselmeyer: Ricardo Bustamante Clara: Neve Margaret Chang Queen & King of the Snow: Wona Park and Steven Morse The Sugar Plum Fairy: Jennifer Stahl Grand Pas de Deux: Misa Kuranaga and Angelo Greco Sunday 12/12, 2 PM Uncle Drosselmeyer: Pascal Molat Clara: Kendall Foley Queen & King of the Snow: WanTing Zhao and Mingxuan Wang The Sugar Plum Fairy: Sasha De Sola Grand Pas de Deux: Dores André and Max Cauthorn Sunday 12/12, 7 PM Uncle Drosselmeyer: Pascal Molat Clara: Kendall Foley Queen & King of the Snow: Julia Rowe and Cavan Conley The Sugar Plum Fairy: Nikisha Fogo Grand Pas de Deux: Wona Park and Wei Wang *Denotes principal role debut in current production ‡Denotes principal role debut at San Francisco Ballet †Denotes principal debut in current production Casting subject to change

Yes, I was lucky to access the complete casting that day. But now they are back to the standard of listing principal casting only. I will also be in the house tonight for opening night. Plus, as a volunteer will be chaperoning Saturday evening and in the gift shop Sunday evening. More casting has been posted which I will add shortly.

Nutcracker is back!! Opening night is Friday 12/10 and casting is up!!! https://www.sfballet.org/tickets/casting/ NUTCRACKER CASTING Composer: Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky Choreographer: Helgi Tomasson Scenic Design: Michael Yeargan Costume Design: Martin Pakledinaz Lighting Design: James F. Ingalls Projection Design: Wendall K. Harrington Conductor: Martin West ACT I Uncle Drosselmeyer: Tiit Helimets Clara: Abby Cannon Fritz: Kai Hannigan Housekeeper and Maid: Maggie Weirich, Ellen Rose Hummel Dr. & Mrs. Stahlbaum: Nathaniel Remez, Katita Waldo Grandparents: Jim Sohm, Kristi DeCaminada Party Guests: Megan Amanda Ehrlich, Blake Johnston, Swane Messaoudi, Elizabeth Powell, Sean Bennett, Estéban Cuadrado, Joshua Jack Price, Jacob Seltzer, with Students of San Francisco Ballet School Dancing Dolls: Lonnie Weeks, Lauren Parrott, Cavan Conley The Nutcracker Prince: Joseph Walsh King of the Mice: Alexander Reneff-Olson Queen & King of the Snow: Yuan Yuan Tan and Henry Sidford Snowflakes: Alexis Aiudi, Kamryn Baldwin, Juliana Bellissimo, Samantha Bristow, Olivia Brothers, Thamires Chuvas, Megan Amanda Ehrlich, Gabriela Gonzalez, SunMin Lee, Elizabeth Mateer, Carmela Mayo, Pemberley Ann Olson, Leili Rackow, Natasha Sheehan, Tyla Steinbach, Jamie Adele Stephens ACT II The Sugar Plum Fairy: Nikisha Fogo† Spanish: Isabella DeVivo, Ellen Rose Hummel, Diego Cruz, Cavan Conley, Myles Thatcher Arabian: WanTing Zhao with Daniel Deivison-Oliveira, Steven Morse Chinese: Esteban Hernandez with Students of San Francisco Ballet School French: Ludmila Bizalion, Blake Johnston, Maggie Weirich Russian: Lucas Erni with Joshua Jack Price, Jacob Seltzer Madame Du Cirque: Louis Schilling with her Buffoons: Students of San Francisco Ballet School with Lleyton Ho Waltzing Flowers: Alexis Aiudi, Kamryn Baldwin, Samantha Bristow, Olivia Brothers, Thamires Chuvas, Megan Amanda Ehrlich, Gabriela Gonzalez, SunMin Lee, Elizabeth Mateer, Carmela Mayo, Swane Messaoudi, Lauren Parrott, Leili Rackow, Natasha Sheehan, Tyla Steinbach, Jamie Adele Stephens Grand Pas de Deux: Frances Chung and Joseph Walsh *Denotes principal role debut in current production ‡Denotes principal role debut at San Francisco Ballet †Denotes principal debut in current production Casting subject to change ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ First, I think it's wonderful that all casting is posted - not just the principal roles. Excited to finally see Nikisha Fogo dance. Also looking forward to Yuan Yuan Tan and Henry Sidford as the Queen & King of the Snow.

I had planned to, but did not set a reminder so I missed it....

It's actually Programs 1 (2/1-2/12) & 2 (2/3-2/13) and Programs 5 (4/2-4/16) & 6 (4/6-4/15) that overlap. Program 4 (La Sylphide & The Seasons) is one week in March.

My initial reactions: Disappointed that there is no Giselle and no Serenade. Giselle is my favorite of all the full lengths and hasn't been seen since 2015. However, Swan Lake is more well known to the general public and would be better to attract new and less frequent ballet attendees. Swan Lake was also Helgi's last full-length creation. I thought for sure Serenade would be back - it was my pick to be the first ballet to be performed when SFB returned to the stage (maybe the opening season gala???). However, very happy for the return of Symphony in C - not seen since 2011. Pleasantly surprised with La Sylphide. Royal Danish Ballet performed La Sylphide on tour in Berkeley in June 2011 and I was fortunate to have seen it. I found SFB performed La Sylphide in 1997 (I did not see SFB until 2001). Very happy for Blake Works. I have wanted to see anything by Forsythe. I was secretly hoping for the return of Artifact Suite, but really looking forward to Blake Works. Happy for new works from Dwight Rhoden & Christopher Wheeldon. It would have been nice to see more new works, but I must imagine this must have been a challenge to decide upon choreographers for new works. Would have liked to have seen Mark Morris, which was planned for this year until it became a digital season. We will finally get to see Ratmansky's The Seasons and Marston's Mrs. Robinson!! Normally there have been 8 programs, but there are only 7. Perhaps because of the last year or so, probably safe to program only 7? When the 2021 season was announced, there were only 7 programs, but that may have been related to the fact that the War Memorial Opera House was going to close to have new seats installed. I wonder whether there will be a limit to number of people in the audience. Performing arts venues are starting to open up again. SF Symphony is returning to live performances, but haven't looked to see any details.

Casting for Swan Lake is now up. It looks like it will now be an archival performance rather. Swan Lake was last performed during the 2017 Season. https://www.sfballet.org/tickets/casting/ Odette-Odile: Yuan Yuan TanPrince Siegfried: Tiit HelimetsVon Rothbart: Alexander Reneff-OlsonPas de Trois: Dores André, Taras Domitro◊, Sasha De Sola

It's amazing the things you find when you go down the YouTube rabbit hole.... Here is an interview courtesy of National Ballet of Canada. Koto Ishihara, currently First Soloist at NBOC and former Soloist at SFB, is in conversation with Yuan Yuan Tan, SFB Principal Dancer:

Program 5 Change: I noticed it on the website earlier today. For some reason I do not receive all the emails from SFB. It is disappointing Mrs. Robinson could not be filmed - but then again (assuming we are able to attend performances again next year) we will see Mrs. Robinson as it was intended to be seen on the Opera House stage.

The Gala is no longer available -but Midsummer still is available. I did purchase the entire season, so maybe that's why I still have access - for now??? If I understand correctly, the single purchase stream is available for 72 hours once you begin watching.

I was very pleased to see the Sunday matinee performance of Sandpaper Ballet from last season's Program 2 as I also am excited whenever I see Jahna is cast. I was able to see the other casts of Sandpaper Ballet. Jahna did dance in other casts - but this performance that is part of Program 2 is the only performance where she danced the PDD (Trumpeter's Lullaby) with Cavan. The other dancers who danced this PDD were Misa Kuranaga/Esteban Hernandez and Julia Rowe/Joseph Walsh. I actually went to 4 of the 6 1/3 performances - the second performance during the run ended about halfway into the first piece because of a power outage. And Yes - that was a tall girl Rubies homage with Sasha Mukhamedov (Jennifer Stahl danced this part in another cast). Last year there was an event called 'Exploring Sandpaper Ballet' which I was able to attend. In one of the sessions, the moderator showed some clips from a previous performance of Sandpaper Ballet and asked what we saw. When I saw Sofiane Sylve with her leg being held up by one of the men, I immediately yelled out 'Tall Girl in Rubies'. And then the next slide showed a pic of Sofiane in Rubies next to her pic in Sandpaper Ballet!! And it was discussed that there are a lot of playful references to other iconic dance moments in the piece.

Here is the announcement on the SFB website: https://www.sfballet.org/leadership-announcement/ Press Release: https://www.sfballet.org/discover/press-center/press-releases/release/announcement/

This clip was also posted on their YouTube page: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NSR_UsCn3rI.

Nikisha Fogo is now in San Francisco!!! https://www.instagram.com/p/CHGO0Enp5-E/

My guess is it will be a combination. The new works will be created with current social distancing guidelines applied. I have heard some details about one of the pieces, but because it was not in a public forum I will not divulge the info - besides, things are constantly changing that it might be something completely different from the original concept. From the press release (https://cdn.sfballet.org/2019/10/27122047/Digital-Season-Announcement-Final.pdf) one of the mainlines state: New digitally conceived Swan Lake based on Helgi Tomasson’s original choreography, as well as a new film capture of George Balanchine’s Emeralds. Regarding the new works: Tomasson curated a reimagined season that includes three world premieres by Cathy Marston, Danielle Rowe, and Myles Thatcher fully conceived for film.

An updated link for the 2021 season which includes Nutcracker Online: https://www.sfballet.org/tickets/2021-season/

Looks like there has been some shifting of the programs per this document on the choreographers: https://cdn.sfballet.org/20201023092452/2021SeasonChoreographers.pdf Programs by Choreographer: Program 1: Balanchine (Midsummer) Program 2: Mark Morris, Dwight Rhoden, Myles Thatcher Program 3: Yuri Possokhov, Alexei Ratmansky, Danielle Rowe Program 4: Balanchine (Jewels) Program 5: David Dawson, Cathy Marston, Helgi Tomasson Program 6: Tomasson (Romeo & Juliet) Program 7: Tomasson (Swan Lake) George Balanchine is listed for Program 1-A Midsummer Night's Dream. Originally Program 1 was a mixed bill which included new works by Myles Thatcher and Danielle Rowe, plus the return of Possokhov's Swimmer. Myles Thatcher has been moved to Program 2. His new piece was previously slated for Program 1. Also on Program 2 are Mark Morris's Sandpaper Ballet (which was part of the 2020 season) and Dwight Rhoden's Let's Begin at the End (part of the 2018 Unbound Festival). Looks like we will have to wait for a new Mark Morris piece - but very happy to see Sandpaper Ballet again. Alexei Ratmansky is listed for Symphony #9 on Program 3, which if you recall is the opening section of the Shostakovich Trilogy. It looks like the SFB premiere of The Seasons will be delayed again. Danielle Rowe is now on Program 3, along with Possokhov's Swimmer. George Balanchine's Jewels is Program 4 - originally it was Midsummer. Program 5 is now a mixed bill with the (long delayed) return of David Dawson's Anima Animus, the long awaited premiere of Cathy Marston's Mrs. Robinson, and Helgi Tomasson's 7 for Eight. Programs 6 & 7 are still Swan Lake and Romeo & Juliet, but the order is now reversed.

A press release was posted to SFBallet.org: https://www.sfballet.org/discover/press-center/press-releases/release/san-francisco-ballet-announces-2021-digital-season/?fbclid=IwAR2duMIul6_P5hn8Fm5Z6tyMUkPasZmRuQ3J6l_eKvM6CfH-WezMe9rWQ34 PDF of press release: https://cdn.sfballet.org/2019/10/27122047/Digital-Season-Announcement-Final.pdf Tickets will go on sale November 17 per FB post: https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=639181936771524 I renewed my subscription, so not sure how this will work but will provide info if I find something....

This came across my YouTube page: Trying to find more information on SFBallet.org and will post more information as I find it. I will also search my emails to see if the company has sent any information to subscribers.

(I posted this in the SFB forum since the video began there originally, but am posting here since PNB will now be a part of it) Around the time the pandemic began, SFB premiered a video called Sequentia. One dancer would begin to dance and pass on to another dancer. The new dancer would begin their movement in the pose or movement the previous dancer ended with. After SFB, NYCB picked up where SFB ended. Shortly thereafter, ABT added their moves. Tomorrow at 10 AM PT, PNB will add their moves. Here are links from the SFB FB and YouTube pages: https://www.facebook.com/sfballet/videos/350845619702284 YouTube:

And the baton is passed to - Pacific Northwest Ballet Sequentia continues!!! If you all recall, at the time the pandemic began SFB premiered a video called Sequentia. A dancer would begin to dance and then pass on to the next dancer whose movement would begin with the previous dancers last move. New York City Ballet picked up where SFB left off, and then ABT followed. Up next is Pacific Northwest Ballet. The video will premiere tomorrow at 10 AM PT. I found links on their FB and YouTube pages: https://www.facebook.com/sfballet/videos/350845619702284 YouTube:

Ballet Shop now online!! As a volunteer, I worked in the gift shop for Saturday evening performances. This is one of the things I miss with COVID-19. All proceeds from the shop go back to San Francisco Ballet. But now, the shop is online!! Here is the link: https://shop.sfballet.org/. There was also an announcement on FB: I hope that you will consider visiting the shop online.

This is great news!! Fingers crossed we will be attending ballet (and opera) performances sometime in 2021!!

I have signed up for tonight's Ballet Talk event, will try to provide highlights afterwards.