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SF in NYC: July 25-30


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Great news! I've just received an e-mail from Lincoln Center announcing that the San Francisco Ballet will perform Mark Morris' "Sylvia" as well as mixed-bill programs at the New York State Theater from July 25 through July 30. The full Lincoln Center Festival press release:

http://www.lincolncenter.org/popUp/media_r...ssreleaseid=559

Background information on the Morris "Sylvia":

The wonderful review by Paul Parrish in danceviewtimes

http://www.danceviewtimes.com/dvw/reviews/...spring/sfb5.htm

The real test of a ballet for me is how it alters the way I see and feel, and Sylvia has not only shown me again the beauty of the world I live in, the ballet itself has gotten into the way I move and even into my dreams.

Also, Helene's absolutely complete description, under SFB's Mark Morris Sylvia thread on May 11, 2004.

Edited by drb
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Hear, Hear, Leigh!.

If it's any comfort, the pas de deux from Reflections IS the entire adagio movement from the Mendelssohn symphony, and it excerpts extremely well -- it is the heart of the ballet. Though the rest of it has tremendous fizzy energy and it would be great for y'all to see the whole thing.

Leigh did a good review of it in Ballet Review last year. "Fire and ice."

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Here's the SFB press release, from the company website:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

March 02, 2006

SAN FRANCISCO BALLET ANNOUNCES FIRST ENGAGEMENT AT NEW YORK'S LINCOLN CENTER FESTIVAL, JULY 25-30

San Francisco Ballet Returns to New York City after Four Years with Three Programs including Six New York Premieres

SAN FRANCISCO, Thursday, March 2, 2006—San Francisco Ballet has announced it will perform at New York’s Lincoln Center Festival July 25 through 30, 2006. Over six days and six performances, the Company will present three programs at New York’s State Theater, including a special, one-night only performance, Opening Night Celebration with San Francisco Ballet; the New York premiere of Mark Morris’ Sylvia, a ballet in three acts; and a mixed-repertory program. San Francisco Ballet last performed in New York at City Center in 2002.

“We are delighted to be returning to New York, with three programs and six New York premieres, for our first-ever engagement at Lincoln Center Festival,” remarked San Francisco Ballet Artistic Director Helgi Tomasson. “I feel the breadth of programming, from an Opening Night Celebration to Mark Morris’ Sylvia and a mixed-repertory program, showcases the Company’s depth of talent and diversity.”

Opening Night Celebration with San Francisco Ballet

The one-time only performance, Opening Night Celebration with San Francisco Ballet, will take place on Tuesday, July 25 at 8:00 p.m. and features contemporary and classical works to be announced, including the New York premieres of a pas de deux from Principal Dancer Yuri Possokhov’s Reflections and Helgi Tomasson’s Concerto Grosso. The Company will also perform a rarely seen version of George Balanchine’s Harlequinade Pas de Deux, choreographed in 1955, and set to the music of Riccardo Drigo. The work had its San Francisco Ballet premiere on the Opening Night Gala in January 2006.

Mark Morris’ Sylvia

The New York premiere of Mark Morris’ Sylvia will be performed Wednesday, July 26, Thursday, July 27, and Friday, July 28 (all performances at 8:00 p.m.). The work, set to a score by Léo Delibes, premiered during San Francisco Ballet’s 2004 Repertory Season to critical acclaim. Created for San Francisco Ballet, Morris’ Sylvia is the first full-length version of the work to be staged in the United States and is also Morris’s first full-evening work for a ballet company. The work features scenic design by Allen Moyer, costume design by Martin Pakledinaz, and lighting design by James F. Ingalls. Sylvia is the sixth work Morris has choreographed for San Francisco Ballet and will be reprised during the Company’s 2006 Repertory Season. The Financial Times called it, “nothing less than a career landmark, an enchanting blend of movement vocabularies and a wondrous demonstration of the power of tonal nuance.”

Mixed-Repertory Program

The mixed-repertory program will be performed Saturday, July 29 at 8:00 p.m. and Sunday, July 30 at 3:00 p.m., and includes three New York premieres: Helgi Tomasson’s 7 for Eight, Christopher Wheeldon’s Quaternary, and William Forsythe’s Artifact Suite. Set to the music of Johann Sebastian Bach, Tomasson’s 7 for Eight was first performed in February 2004 and most recently, in July 2005, at Les Étés de la danse de Paris. Of the work, the San Francisco Chronicle proclaimed, “7 for Eight is a dance dedicated to pure movement and even purer passion.” Christopher Wheeldon’s Quaternary, based on the four seasons, was premiered by the Company in 2005 at Les Étés de la danse de Paris. Set to the music of Johann Sebastian Bach, John Cage, Arvo Pärt, and Steven Mackey, the work is Wheeldon’s fourth created for San Francisco Ballet. William Forsythe’s Artifact Suite was created for the Scottish Ballet in 2004 and is a re-working of his full-evening work, Artifact, created in 1984. San Francisco Ballet will present the U.S. premiere of this work during its 2006 Repertory Season. Artifact Suite is set to Johann Sebastian Bach’s Chaconne in D Minor as well as the music of Eva Crossman-Hecht.

Lincoln Center Festival

Launched in 1996, the Lincoln Center Festival brings the finest in classical and contemporary works from cultures across the world for three stimulating weeks each July. It is considered to be one of the premiere performing arts festivals in the world, adding to cross-cultural communication through such events as the Ta’ziyeh from Iran, Nakamura-za from Japan, The Peony Pavilion from China, Pansori from South Korea, and France’s Le Dernier Caravansérail. Since its inception, the Lincoln Center Festival has presented over 1000 performances by artists from more than 50 countries, including 110 premieres and 30 commissioned or co-commissioned new works.

San Francisco Ballet

As America’s first professional ballet company, San Francisco Ballet has enjoyed a long and rich tradition of artistic “firsts” since its founding in 1933, including performing the first American productions of Swan Lake and Nutcracker, as well as the first twentieth-century American Coppélia. San Francisco Ballet is one of the three largest ballet companies in the United States. Guided in its early years by American dance pioneers and brothers Lew, Willam and Harold Christensen, San Francisco Ballet currently presents more than one hundred performances annually, both locally and internationally. Under the direction of Helgi Tomasson for more than two decades, the Company has achieved an international reputation as one of the preeminent ballet companies in the world. In 2005, San Francisco won the prestigious Laurence Olivier Award, its first, in the category of “Outstanding Achievement in Dance,” for its 2004 London tour. In 2006, San Francisco Ballet was the first non-European company elected “Company of the Year” in Dance Europe magazine’s annual reader’s poll.

* * *

SAN FRANCISCO BALLET LINCOLN CENTER FESTIVAL ENGAGEMENT

JULY 2006

LINCOLN CENTER FESTIVAL

New York City

July 25-30, 2006

Opening Night Celebration with San Francisco Ballet: a special, one-night only performance—July 25 (8:00 p.m.)

Pas de deux from Reflections (Possokhov)*

Concerto Grosso (Tomasson)*

Harlequinade Pas de Deux (Balanchine)

Additional programming to be announced

Mark Morris’ Sylvia—July 26, 27 & 28 (all performances at 8:00 p.m.)

Sylvia (Morris)*

Mixed Repertory Program—July 29 & 30 (July 29 at 8:00 p.m., July 30 at 3:00 p.m.)

7 for Eight (Tomasson)*

Quaternary (Wheeldon)*

Artifact Suite (Forsythe)*

*New York Premiere

Schedule and programming subject to change.

# # #

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It sounds like a lot of fun. I hope I can get to one of the performances at Lincoln Center.

Thanks for posting the link, Helene.

I hope you and other members of our NY Metro contingent get to see Sylvia. If you have a choice of dates, I would recommend seeing Elizabeth Miner in the role.

Many thanks to dirac for the original link, and for Rachel Howard for writing such a descriptive review.

Edited to add: dirac just posted the link to Paul Parish's review in DanceViewTimes, with a different take on opening night's performance.

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Tickets are now on sale here:

http://www.lincolncenter.org/default.asp?s...sion=&ws=&bc=99

Select your date and section and they offer specific seats. They say best available and I believe them, because in the Rings they offered Row A Center (3 digits) and in the orchestra (unlike the Met) middle distance, dead center (high 120's). There is a $5.50 charge per ticket, but I decided perfect seats were worth the premium.

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It will be interesting to read and hear more reactions to "Sylvia" when it reaches NY. (Speaking for myself, I did not greet this ballet with the hosannas to the highest it received in most quarters, but that's clearly a minority opinion. :) )

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It will be interesting to read and hear more reactions to "Sylvia" when it reaches NY. (Speaking for myself, I did not greet this ballet with the hosannas to the highest it received in most quarters, but that's clearly a minority opinion. :) )

I'm hoping there are no goats. That would be a big plus for me

Richard

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With this highly anticipated season just three weeks away, tickets seem to be selling very well. Generally, the Lincoln Center site, which was offering A-center seats in the Rings, is down to E-off-center. For the August Mozart Fest's Morris programs, which had the advantage of earlier subs sales, it is even better (for us worse); some of the Rings are already sold out for the first of the three performances.

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Here's the casting:

PRINCIPAL CASTING FOR SAN FRANCISCO BALLET

LINCOLN CENTER FESTIVAL

July 25-30, 2006

*Premiere in role

In the event of injury or illness, casting is subject to change

TUESDAY, JULY 25—8:00 PM—OPENING NIGHT CELEBRATION

VERTIGINOUS THRILL OF EXACTITUDE

Kristin Long, Katita Waldo, Vanessa Zahorian

Guennadi Nedviguine, Gonzalo Garcia

PAS DE DEUX from THE DANCE HOUSE

Nutnaree Pipit-Suksun, Tiit Helimets

PAS DE TROIS from SWAN LAKE

Rachel Viselli, Frances Chung, Joseph Phillips*

New York Premiere

PAS DE DEUX from REFLECTIONS

Muriel Maffre, Damian Smith

HARLEQUINADE PAS DE DEUX

Tina LeBlanc, Joan Boada

New York Premiere

CONCERTO GROSSO

Pascal Molat

Garrett Anderson, Jaime Garcia Castilla, Rory Hohenstein, Hansuke Yamamoto

-INTERMISSION-

CHACONNE FOR PIANO AND TWO DANCERS

Tina LeBlanc, Davit Karapetyan

NO OTHER

Lorena Feijoo, Pierre-François Vilanoba*

-more-

Page 2

“PURPLE” from TERRA FIRMA

Kristin Long, Yuri Possokhov*

New York Premiere

PAS DE DEUX from THE FIFTH SEASON

Yuan Yuan Tan, Damian Smith

SOLO from ELEMENTAL BRUBECK

Gonzalo Garcia

THIRD MOVEMENT from GLASS PIECES

Ensemble

WEDNESDAY, JULY 26—8:00 PM—OPENING NIGHT

New York Premiere

SYLVIA

Sylvia: Yuan Yuan Tan

Aminta: Gonzalo Garcia

Orion: Yuri Possokhov

Diana: Muriel Maffre

Eros: Jaime Garcia Castilla

THURSDAY, JULY 27—8:00 PM

SYLVIA

Sylvia: Elizabeth Miner

Aminta: Pascal Molat

Orion: Pierre-François Vilanoba

Diana: Katita Waldo

Eros: James Sofranko

-more-

Page 3

FRIDAY, JULY 28—8:00 PM

SYLVIA

Sylvia: Vanessa Zahorian

Aminta: Guennadi Nedviguine

Orion: Damian Smith

Diana: Muriel Maffre

Eros: Garrett Anderson

SATURDAY, JULY 29—8:00 PM—OPENING NIGHT

New York Premiere

7 FOR EIGHT

Yuan Yuan Tan, Yuri Possokhov

Tina LeBlanc, Gonzalo Garcia

Rachel Viselli, Joan Boada

Elizabeth Miner, Nicolas Blanc

INTERMISSION

New York Premiere

QUATERNARY

Winter : Yuan Yuan Tan, Damian Smith

Spring: Tina LeBlanc, Nicolas Blanc

Kristin Long, Joan Boada

Summer: Muriel Maffre, Yuri Possokhov

Autumn: Katita Waldo, Pierre-François Vilanoba

INTERMISSION

New York Premiere

ARTIFACT SUITE

Muriel Maffre, Pierre-François Vilanoba

Lorena Feijoo, Pascal Molat

Elana Altman

-more-

Page 4

SUNDAY, JULY 30—3:00 PM

7 FOR EIGHT

Nutnaree Pipit-Suksun, Pierre-François Vilanoba

Kristin Long, Gonzalo Garcia

Frances Chung, Pascal Molat

Elizabeth Miner, Nicolas Blanc

INTERMISSION

QUATERNARY

Winter : Yuan Yuan Tan, Damian Smith

Spring: Tina LeBlanc, Nicolas Blanc

Lorena Feijoo, Joan Boada

Summer: Muriel Maffre, Tiit Helimets

Autumn: Sarah Van Patten, Ruben Martin

INTERMISSION

ARTIFACT SUITE

Yuan Yuan Tan, Damian Smith

Tina LeBlanc, Gonzalo Garcia

Muriel Maffre

Casting subject to change.

6-28-2006

* * * *

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Among the women, I'd say Tina LeBlanc, Lorena Feijoo, and Muriel Maffre are the three Principal women not to miss. They are very different dancers, but each as authoritative as the other. A lot of people love Yuan Yuan Tan and Vanessa Zahorian, but they're not my favorites, the latter more for being miscast in my opinion, and while I liked Katita Waldo a lot in the mid-late 90's, I've been disappointed when I've seen her recently; she seems to have lost her punch. Among the junior women, I haven't seen Nutnaree Pipi-Suksun, who joined this year, but she caused a lot of buzz. Frances Chung, Rachel Viselli, and Sarah van Patten are very talented soloists. The men are so terrific, it's hard to know where to begin.

It depends on your strategy: if you go to the opening gala-format program, you'll see everyone. If you attend the mixed bill on Saturday night, July 29, you'll see Yuri Possokhov's last performance with the Company. If you're planning to see Sylvia, that's a tougher one: when it first premiered, I saw Megan Low, who retired in the role this past spring, and Elizabeth Miner. Miner was fabulous, but the reviews from this year indicate that this year's performances weren't to the same standard. I didn't see Tan or Zahorian, both of whom are cast for NYC. If I had to choose one Sylvia, it would be Friday, July 28, because I loved Guennadi Nedviguine's sweet, sweet Aminta, and Maffre will appear in the short, but potent, role of Diana.

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Among the women, I'd say Tina LeBlanc, Lorena Feijoo, and Muriel Maffre are the three Principal women not to miss. They are very different dancers, but each as authoritative as the other.

I had no idea that's where Tina LeBlanc ended up. I used to love her with the Joffrey back in the early 90s when I was at the school and got to see them all the time. I'll make sure I see her. Thanks so much!

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The opening night program in New York looks similar to the Gala at the top of the year here in San Francisco. It had some very thrilling dancing. My favorites were Tina LeBlanc and Joan Boada in Harlequinade, perhaps only because the clarity of Balanchine's choregraphy made it easy for me--a complete nondance person--to appreciate the dancers' virtues: LeBlanc's fine articulation and Boada's musciality. I liked Gonzalo Garcia a lot in Sylvia--he made every little business, every throwaway move, interesting--but Yuan Yuan Tan seemed coolish and dull. Elizabeth Miner would be a better Sylvia I think (I didn't see that cast). Muriel Maffre was the perfect Diana.

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