sf_herminator

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.

Actually, Larissa has joined the faculty of the San Francisco Ballet School: https://www.sfballet.org/artist/larissa-ponomarenko/ Announcement on FB: Welcome Larissa, Jason, and Viktor!!

As a proud ballet volunteer, I received an email with the announcement that there will be no live Nutcracker performances this year. The reason is the San Francisco War memorial and Performing Arts Center has decided to keep its venues closed for public performances through December 31, 2020. Link on website: https://www.sfballet.org/nutcracker-announcement/ Message on website: San Francisco Ballet regretfully announces there will be no live performances of Nutcracker this year. The Company's decision comes in the wake of continued restrictions posed by COVID-19 pandemic and closure of the War Memorial and Performing Arts Center to audiences through December 31, 2020. This doesn't mean that Nutcracker won't be part of your holidays—with your help, we can imagine other Nutcracker offerings and activities to keep this tradition alive. "Nutcracker is a tradition that I look forward to each year," says Artistic Director and Principal Choreographer Helgi Tomasson. "Even though we will not be able to experience Nutcracker in person this year due to the health crisis, I know San Francisco Ballet will be a part of the Bay Area’s holiday tradition, maybe digitally or through other creative avenues. Perhaps all of this will make our reunion next year all the more special." Executive Director Kelly Tweeddale says, “San Francisco Ballet experienced a record number of people—over one and a half million—streaming and accessing content as part of the SF Ballet @ Home platform created shortly after the San Francisco shelter-in-place order closed our performance venue. We are exploring options and working with our artists and our digital archives to see what might be possible. Being able to continue the Nutcracker tradition, especially in a digital environment, would be an apt reflection of our community." San Francisco Ballet presented America's first complete performance of Nutcracker in 1944. And today, SF Ballet's Nutcracker is enjoyed by over 75,000 people each December. Every dancer in the Company dances in it, along with 160 students from SF Ballet School to perform roles as Clara, Fritz, snowflakes, waltzing flowers, mice, and more. "I know it is a great disappointment for the students not to be able to perform in Nutcracker," says SF Ballet School Director Patrick Armand. “It is such a wonderful opportunity for them to perform on stage with the Company, and something that our School families look forward to as part of the holiday celebration each season. At this time we must put their health and well-being as the first priority, but we will look forward to being back together in our beautiful theater when we can.” Nutcracker is also a herculean undertaking for San Francisco Ballet’s volunteer groups. In 2018, BRAVO (Ballet Resource and Volunteer Association) volunteers logged 4,200 hours of work on Nutcracker—a record for the group, which boasts over 300 members and dates to 1976. BRAVO typically provides support backstage, in the Ballet Shop, at Family Performances, and much more throughout Nutcracker's run. We invite the public to participate in a survey to share thoughts and ideas on how we can come together and continue the tradition of Nutcracker in our homes and in our community this year. More information regarding plans for digital offerings of Nutcracker and virtual events in December 2020 will be shared as they become available. We encourage you to visit our sfballet.org, sign-up for E-news, and follow us on social media for the latest news. Please take the survey. It doesn't take more than 5 minutes. On a personal note, I am disappointed as this would be my fifth season as a volunteer. However, I understand why there will be no performances and hope they will be able to proceed with the season planned for 2021.

From their FB page: ABT will pick up where New York City Ballet left off with the next part of 'Sequentia'. This will premiere tomorrow. You can get a reminder from the YouTube link:

From their FB page - a video in tribute to the artists leaving the company at the end of this season: