sf_herminator Posted January 10, 2018 Share Posted January 10, 2018 Casting for the gala performance has been posted (https://www.sfballet.org/season/casting): OPENING NIGHT GALA Thursday, January 18, 2018 - 8 pm LITTLE WALTZComposer: Eric Coates Choreographer: Helgi Tomasson Students of San Francisco Ballet School IN THE NIGHTComposer: Frédéric Chopin Choreographer: Jerome Robbins Mathilde Froustey, Benjamin Freemantle* Jennifer Stahl, Tiit Helimets Sarah Van Patten, Luke Ingham Bluebird Pas de Deux from THE SLEEPING BEAUTYComposer: Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky Choreographer: Helgi Tomasson after Marius Petipa Dores André, Wei Wang* SF Ballet PremierePas de Deux from CHILDREN OF CHAOSComposer: John Kameel Farah Choreographer: Robert Binet Frances Chung, Joseph Walsh STARS AND STRIPES Pas de DeuxComposer: John Philip Sousa Choreographer: George Balanchine Ana Sophia Scheller*, Vitor Luiz* INTERMISSION SF Ballet PremiereLETTING GOComposer: Max Richter Choreographer: Edwaard Liang Yuan Yuan Tan, Carlo Di Lanno* Pas de Deux from LA SYLPHIDEComposer: Herman Lovenskjold Choreography: August Bournonville Maria Kochetkova, Ulrik Birkkjaer LE CORSAIRE Pas de DeuxComposer: Riccardo Drigo Choreography: after Marius Petipa Sasha De Sola, Angelo Greco SF Ballet PremiereRODEO: FOUR DANCE EPISODES Composer: Aaron Copland Choreographer: Justin Peck Sofiane Sylve*, Carlo Di Lanno* Initial reactions: *how wonderful to have two full pieces: Robbins' In The Night and Peck's Rodeo. Bravo to Ben Freemantle debuting in the Night's opening Pas De Deux partnering Mathilde Froustey. And how great to see Rodeo before its inclusion in Program 2. *Great to see a new (to SFB) choreographer - Robert Binet. IIRC Frances and/or Joe posted pic on Instagram when they were working with the choreographer, I'll have to go look. Not sure if I will be able to go to the performance as I will be volunteering at both the dinner and the after party as a member of BRAVO. Link to comment
pherank Posted January 10, 2018 Share Posted January 10, 2018 (edited) 21 minutes ago, sf_herminator said: Casting for the gala performance has been posted (https://www.sfballet.org/season/casting): OPENING NIGHT GALA Thursday, January 18, 2018 - 8 pm LITTLE WALTZComposer: Eric Coates Choreographer: Helgi Tomasson Students of San Francisco Ballet School IN THE NIGHTComposer: Frédéric Chopin Choreographer: Jerome Robbins Mathilde Froustey, Benjamin Freemantle* Jennifer Stahl, Tiit Helimets Sarah Van Patten, Luke Ingham Bluebird Pas de Deux from THE SLEEPING BEAUTYComposer: Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky Choreographer: Helgi Tomasson after Marius Petipa Dores André, Wei Wang* SF Ballet PremierePas de Deux from CHILDREN OF CHAOSComposer: John Kameel Farah Choreographer: Robert Binet Frances Chung, Joseph Walsh STARS AND STRIPES Pas de DeuxComposer: John Philip Sousa Choreographer: George Balanchine Ana Sophia Scheller*, Vitor Luiz* INTERMISSION SF Ballet PremiereLETTING GOComposer: Max Richter Choreographer: Edwaard Liang Yuan Yuan Tan, Carlo Di Lanno* Pas de Deux from LA SYLPHIDEComposer: Herman Lovenskjold Choreography: August Bournonville Maria Kochetkova, Ulrik Birkkjaer LE CORSAIRE Pas de DeuxComposer: Riccardo Drigo Choreography: after Marius Petipa Sasha De Sola, Angelo Greco SF Ballet PremiereRODEO: FOUR DANCE EPISODES Composer: Aaron Copland Choreographer: Justin Peck Sofiane Sylve*, Carlo Di Lanno* Initial reactions: *how wonderful to have two full pieces: Robbins' In The Night and Peck's Rodeo. Bravo to Ben Freemantle debuting in the Night's opening Pas De Deux partnering Mathilde Froustey. And how great to see Rodeo before its inclusion in Program 2. *Great to see a new (to SFB) choreographer - Robert Binet. IIRC Frances and/or Joe posted pic on Instagram when they were working with the choreographer, I'll have to go look. Not sure if I will be able to go to the performance as I will be volunteering at both the dinner and the after party as a member of BRAVO. There's some interesting pairings here that may not have been seen before: De Sola with Greco, YY with Di Lanno, André and Wang. Interspersed with parings that have been great in the past: Chung and Walsh, and Sylve and Di Lanno. Toi, toi, toi. EDIT: I just noticed that the opening piece by Tomasson was for the students - kudos to Helgi. Edited January 10, 2018 by pherank Link to comment
sf_herminator Posted January 10, 2018 Author Share Posted January 10, 2018 IG post by Frances: Link to comment
pherank Posted January 20, 2018 Share Posted January 20, 2018 This is kind of weird: Scheller has mentioned at least a couple of times that she was debuting in the Stars and Stripes role. It's hard to believe that a former NYCB principal never got to dance that role. Link to comment
pherank Posted January 20, 2018 Share Posted January 20, 2018 A backstage photo from the Gala: https://scontent-lax3-1.cdninstagram.com/vp/83f5b0f1a5c1612f7649ba391aba9889/5AF6C882/t51.2885-15/e35/26868402_145871022791763_4838902896625975296_n.jpg Link to comment
yodasan Posted January 20, 2018 Share Posted January 20, 2018 We went to the show last night - highlights I thought were Rodeo, Le Corsaire, Letting Go, and Children of Chaos. Best was Little Waltz - but I'm biased because my son was in it. Link to comment
PeggyR Posted January 20, 2018 Share Posted January 20, 2018 (edited) Entertaining gala, notable largely for splendid dancing from the men: Ulrik Birkkjaer’s glittering batterie in the La Sylphide PdD; Vitor Luiz and his cheeky likability coupled with reliably impeccable dancing in Stars and Stripes; Angelo Greco’s dazzling (and I mean DAZZLING) Le Corsaire; and, best of all, the company of men in Justin Peck’s hugely enjoyable Rodeo: Four Dance Episodes. Not to neglect the women: As Josette predicted, a delightful Blue Bird PdD from Dores André; Yuan Yuan Tan, her usual exquisitely bendy self in Liang’s otherwise unmemorable Letting Go; Sasha de Sola more than holding her own (fouettés, fouettés, fouettés, not all beautiful but lots of them) in Le Corsaire; and especially Sofiane Sylve (partnered by Carlo di Lanno) in Rodeo. In fact, I knew nothing about Peck’s take on this ballet beforehand, and was little disconcerted at the prospect of the statuesque, magnificent Sylve kitted out as a cowgirl packing a couple of six-shooters, but not to worry: Peck uses the music, but not really the story, so she was able to be her own gorgeous self. I was also interested to see the newest hire, Ana Sofia Sheller, in Stars and Stripes. She’s a lovely dancer – beautiful lines, excellent turns – but somehow she didn’t strike me as particularly comfortable being coyly flirtatious. I’m looking forward to seeing her Aurora (if the casting doesn’t change again), which seems like a better fit. Overall, good show. Edited January 20, 2018 by PeggyR Link to comment
PeggyR Posted January 20, 2018 Share Posted January 20, 2018 1 hour ago, yodasan said: Best was Little Waltz - but I'm biased because my son was in it. I really enjoyed that one. It was a little surprising there were only three boys, but all the kids were terrific. Your son is lucky to be there. Best of luck to him. Link to comment
Terez Posted January 21, 2018 Share Posted January 21, 2018 Loved your review, PeggyR! Very easy (and entertaining) to visualize. : ) Link to comment
pherank Posted January 21, 2018 Share Posted January 21, 2018 (edited) Another backstage shot: Greco and De Sola after Le Corsaire PDD A few more photos here. Greco is an exploding star, to be sure. I think it's great how distinct Greco and Di Lanno are as dancers even though they both were trained by Teatro alla Scala. RE: Scheller - I got the impression from the World Ballet Day rehearsal for Sleeping Beauty that Helgi was pushing Scheller to be more emotive and use mime effectively. That will prove to be a good thing. Edited January 21, 2018 by pherank Link to comment
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