lillianna

I think that this might be the first San Francisco Ballet video available, at least in the last number of years.

The advanced dancers from the SFBS pronounce it "Won Won" --they dance with her through the season, so imagine it is an acceptable pronunciation to her.

You are right, of course. If the question had been which dancers studied solely at CPYB and went directly into a company from there without attending a school attached to a company first, the answers would have been very different. None-the-less, the CPYB training did benefit each of those on the list for some length of time. I am sure that each of the dancers would also credit great teachers in summer programs and other year round programs that they attended with also having a major influence on their dancing.

Add Jennifer Miller --Milwalkee Ballet, soloist Jennifer Provins--Tulsa Ballet now , I believe Tara Hench--Boston Ballet, Principal Ethan Steiffle, ABT, Principal to the list. Erica Gwinell--Sarasota Ballet Kathleen Combs-Washington Ballet Take a walk down the hallway at CPYB's new studios and look at all of the pictures on the wall. Quite impressive for a small studio ( at least used to be small) in Central Pennsylvania.

I always seem to be drawn to a corps dancer when I watch a ballet. It is frustrating to me to not know who it is that I am enjoying so much. Corps dancers are usually listed in a large group of names, so it is almost impossible to figure out who each dancer is. When I watch a company over time, I can get to know who each dancer is by process of elimination with their roles. Nutcracker is a good time to learn dancers since many get an opportunity to dance different roles. Also, I do love it when the ballet company has a picture program of all of the dancers. Most companies only have pictures of the principals. It is easy to figure out who the principals are by the roles they dance, it is the corps dancers who are not as easily recognized. Of course, the pictures in the program, hair down--serous look--does not always match up to the bun heads on stage, but gives me more of a chance to figure it out. I am lucky enough to be able to get to really "know" dancers by meeting them sometimes and ,yes, that really helps me to enjoy their performances more. Even a short meeting with them helps me to connect with them while they perform. Attending pre or post performance talks by dancers is a great way to get to meet and know them as a person. That adds to my enjoyment of the who experience.

Since I have recently moved from one coast to the other, I am now seeing different ballet companies. I find that I enjoy ballet more when I know the dancers. And wonder if that is the norm. When I have attended a number of performances of a company , I learn who most of the dancers are. When I attend a performance of a visiting company I find that it , although enjoyable, it is not the same if I can't tell who dancers are. It is nice to be able to put a name to the wonderful dancer whose performance I am enjoying. After I know who dancers are, I then can enjoy seeing them in new and different roles. I forgive some performances, knowing that they have done so much better in different styles of ballet, etc. I happily look forward to ballets when I know my favorite dancers are dancing. Do you find that ballet is more fun when you know the dancers?

After waiting all year to see Jewels, I was finally able to attend last night. I have loved Jewels since seeing it performed by NYCB and Miami City Ballet. I wanted to see what this company would do with it since they are not Balanchine based. Well, I think that Emeralds and Rubies belonged to the Balanchine companies. The most impressive performance of Jewels that I have seen was performed by Miami City Ballet--no contest. I was disappointed with Emeralds last night. Sarah Van Patton and Muriel Maffrey were the lead woment. Muriel was wonderful. I keep trying to appreciate Sarah Van Patton, but have yet to enjoy any of her performances. I was also disappointed in the costumes--they were not an attractive shade of green and made the dancers look stocky. Rubies was great. Lorena Feijoo was the lead. She was wonderful. My daughter, who has seen many casts really enjoys Kristin Long in the role. The corps dancers don't have the sharp moves that makes Rubies. With NYCB and MCB , the ballet is all legs and feet and sharp hip movements. I didn't see that on Friday , except for Lorena, she brought a lot of energy to the role. I loved Diamonds. I loved the costumes, and the dancing. Zach Hench was absolutely wonderful as the cavalier. He was really on last night. He had great jumps and turns and was a great partner. I also enjoyed Yuan Yuna Tan in the lead role. She was beautiful. The corps was very together and much more at home with the choreography for this Jewel. I would love to see them do it again with another cast but believe I might have missed my chance. I do love this ballet. And I love this company. They can dance so many different styles of ballet and dance them well. It is a real treat to be able to see such a world class ballet company.

I'm going on Friday night. Really looking forward to it. Did you enjoy the performance? Who were the principals?

My apologies to all. Of course, it is improper to post rumors. I was caught up in the good news and failed to wait for the release. This morning's SF Chronicle reports that Joan Broada's contract has now been renewed. Those of us who were fortunate to see his wonderful performance in Don Quixote give that news a standing ovation. The paper did not say whether or not Joan accepted the contract. It also said that the contracts of the other 3 who had notices of non-renewal of contracts were not affected by the new decision.

I was fortunate enough to see Lorena and Joan on opening night as well as Vanessa Zahorian and Gonzalo on Sunday matinee and Yuan Yuan Tan and Vadim on the closing night. All were wonderful. There is no doubt that Lorena doing the fouttes--doubles and triples opening and closing her fan was the most amazing thing that I have ever seen. Wow!!! Lorena was a wonderful Kitri, the part seemed made for her. I was also very impressed by Vanessa Zahorian's performance. I loved her style. She also did double and triple fouettes but did not have the fan in her hands--still extremely impressive. I also enjoyed Yuan Yuan more than I expected to. This company is blessed by so many really outstanding dancers. The men are so amazing. Joan was so impressive. [snip; A.T.]

I have recently moved to the West coast from the East. I am used to seeing the Balanchine Nutcracker every year. This year I have seen a few performances of San Francisco Ballet's Nutcracker and Sacramento Ballet's Nutcracker. Between the 3 Nutcrackers I must say that I enjoy Sacramento's version the most. It is definitely the most magical. It is Ron Cunningham's choreography, he is the director of Sacramento Ballet and was Drosslemeyer in the production that I saw last week. I took a friend along, another ballet mom who is from Australia. She also has seen many versions of the Nutcracker and agreed that she liked Sacramentos the best. I also have enjoyed the San Francisco Nutcracker except for the party scene. The party scene is very dull. It took until halfway through the party scene until I could figure out which girl was Clara. I thoroughly enjoy their snow scene, though. I love the idea of having a Snow King and Queen, something that is missing in the Balanchine version. Friday night Kristin Long was Snow Queen and Saturday it was Nicole Starbuck. They were both absolutely beautiful. Saturday matinee had Julie Diana and Zack Hench as Sugar Plum and Cavalier. They are a magnificent pair and were about the best Sugar Plum and Cavalier that I have ever seen. So while I am missing parts of the Balanchine version I have found other parts that I am enjoying more.

Ronny I saw The Legend of Sleepy Hollow at CPYB. To me the most dramatic and touching scene was the Pas de Trois with Katrina , Ichabod and Brom. Did you find that dance as amazing as I did?

Miami City Ballet hires Coryphees and considers them the level between apprentice and corps. It is usually a level for new dancers .

There are also many moms of dancers who read this board. Most are not brave enough to post but do read. I think that it is harder for moms to see criticism of their dancer children than it is for the dancers to see it about themselves. Dancers do not like to get bad press, of course, but are more likely to say "consider the source" than a mom is. I think that posters on this board are considerate and posts make it clear that it was the performance and not the dancer themself that they did not appreciate that night. Also, as a reader of posts, I know that all dancers, because they are people, have bad days, are tired, have bad shoes, etc so shouldn't be judged on a single performance. Also, it is obvious that everyone appreciates the same performance differently, so it is great when multiple reviewers have seen the same show and those that DID love it also post when others have not appreciated the performance as much as they expected to.

Permak Just a word of caution for you. I am very unschooled in ballet but have daughters who are very serious about ballet. As they became your friend's age they knew a LOT about ballet. What I thought was a beautiful ballet object was not acceptable to them at all. Those of us who have not had years and years of ballet classes do not recognize that a lot of ballet "art" shows dancers with very poor technique--turned in feet, un-arched feet, bent knees, etc. My dancers would not display those objects in their rooms --when they were younger and less astute --they enjoyed the lovely pink tutu pictures but as they became older they were offended by those same pictures. You would be safe buying ballet items that are produced by/for /about professional ballet companies, but would probably be safer steering clear of cutsey ballet art by independent groups. I'm sure she will love whatever you decide to give her --just because it is from you.

As the mom of a couple of former SAB Workshop performers, I will agree that the audience is very supportive of the dancers. We parents usually do not know each other since we are from all over the country. We meet each other in the theatre and introduce ourselves. We support each other hoping that the performance goes well for ALL of the performers. I have been to many workshop performances--whether my daughters were performing or not--and have always found them to be very exciting performances. The first Workshop that I attended included a performance of Serenade. I have seen Serenade many times since, but have never been so mesmerized by a ballet again. It was absolutely wonderful. Have a great time whether you are performing or watching--everyone there will be having a wonderful time also.

This all sounds very much like the "which is better, the book or the movie?" discussions. Since I was not very familiar with the story , I was not bothered by its differences from the original story. I know that different versions of Swan Lake end very differently--some have happy endings and some have tragic endings. I , for one , am a sucker for a happy ending. I am very glad that The Legend of Sleepy Hollow ended with a wedding--and the good guy got the girl. I enjoyed THIS version of The Legend.

I imagine that I am the reluctant poster that BW referred to. I can answer the casting questions: Ichabod Crane was danced by Grant DeLong. He was the perfect innocent schoolteacher smitten with Katrina. Katrina was danced by Marissa Keller. Brom Bones, the headless horseman, was Mark Kopystianskyj --Mark was my favorite--he played the character wonderfully. Principal Hollow was shared by Carmella McCormack and Rachel Maher Anneke--Katrina's little sister--was shared by Jackie Damico and Rachel Speck Dream Katrina was Anna Gerberich Dream Ichabod was Michael Patterson. I really enjoyed the performances. It was not a story that was very familiar to me but made a very dramatic and romantic ballet. The pas de trois with Ichabod, Katrina and Brom Bones was my favorite part of the ballet. It was exquisite. It was a triumph for Alan and CPYB was very fortunate to have had a part in it. It worked well with these young dancers but I believe that it will work very well with professional companies. The dancing and the story are very engaging. Job well done.

Alice--Whitney Simler or Emily Hite White Rabbit--Charles Hodges Mad Hatter--Benjamin Schrevogal Cheshire Cat--Ricky Resijan Lobsters--Sarah Hinman, Janine Maher, Lynlee Towne Mock Turtles--Jesus Demar , peter Greene, Stephen StraubC Lilies--Kirsten Bloom, Jack Hansen Theme and Variations Kirsten Bloom and Jack Hansen or Whitney Simler and Charles Hodges Angelica Burgos Sarah Hinman Janine Maher Jesus Demar Brady Hartley Michael Separovich Corps--Regina Bernardini, Annali Clevenger, Susan Fernandez, Emily Hite, Chrisina Moore, Ilona Pociunas, jennifer Tierney, Lynlee Towne, Kristopher Brown, Peter Greene. Luis Napoles,Corbin Popp, Ricky Resijan, Benjamin Schreivogal, Grant Spencer, Stephen Straub

Andrei Ron Cunningham said that he chose not to use the traditional Alice in Wonderland music ( I don't know what that is). He chose to use exerpts from music by: Benjamine Britten, John Alden Carpenter, Percy Grainger, Leon Minkus, Douglas Moore, Burill Phillips, and Bernard Rogers as well as some traditional Middle-Eastern music.

I must admit that I am intimidated by this board because I have never had a ballet class, but I do love to watch ballet so I will give this a try. I just saw the Sacramento Ballet perform Balanchine's Theme and Variations and the world premiere of their director, Ron Cunningham's , Alice in Wonderland. At his pre-performance talk , Mr Cunningham, talked about how proud he was of his company . It was obvious to see why. The company looked wonderful in Theme and Variations. The women all had great legs and feet. They were musical and expressive and a joy to watch. Alice in Wonderland was an absolute delight. Alice has never been one of my favorite childhood stories so I was not expecting to be so enchanted. The sets and costumes were absolutely amazing . The choreography was an absolute delight. The company really embraced their roles and made it so much fun to watch. The audience obviously enjoyed themselves as there were frequent gasps and belly laughs throughout. It was certainly impressive for a company of 23 to pull off. Most of the company members had multiple roles. Charlie Hodges as the white rabbit , made the show. He is a very expressive and talented dancer. He has amazing jumps and turns. Emily Hite, as Alice, was also a delight. She had great "pouts"--I just loved her face. It was certainly a night of smiles--from the dodos and walrus entering in their bathtub boat, to the lobsters and tortoises doing the samba in the field of tears, to the lovely dancing flowers, to the queen playing croquet with the cards. I couldn't resist telling the director that it was better than Disney. I loved every minute of it.

I never saw a ballet until my daughters started taking ballet classes. I think seeing the work that they put into it and realizing the work , dedication, and commitment that it took to become a dancer made me appreciate ballet. Now that I have seen more ballet I am still amazed by the dancers and feel that I can appreciate those beautiful moments more because I have bandaged the feet and given the ibuprofen for the aching muscles. I enjoy seeing dancers who obviously enjoy dancing as well as dancers who have amazing technique--they are all beautiful. And I'm always glad that their moms took the time and effort to drive them to ballet classes and pay for classes so that we all in the audience can have a beautiful evening to remember. I never have had a ballet class and give them credit for even putting on a leotard and tights and standing there in front of the mirror. They all have my respect for all they do.