Casting for The Sleeping Beauty

[mrstrong_ballet]

On 3/13/2019 at 9:31 PM, pherank said:

Mrstrong_ballet, do you mean the Saturday, March 16 show (Park/Greco)? What role was Jen Stahl dancing?

I attended her debut on 3/13. I am curious to hear what others think. Jen Stahl was the Lilac Fairy that night.

[Dreamer]

First intermission of the evening performance: Yasmine Naghdi’s Rose Adagio was beyond any words. I never heard the San Francisco Opera House get so loud!

[Katia Kapustin]

Well well...what a truly sensational performance by Yasmine Naghdi and Joseph Walsch. The audience went wild for them, what an unforgettable night at San Francisco Opera House!

Her Rose Adagio... never ever seen anything like it! The audience clapped after every adagio.

She is a most stunning and perfect ballerina and a true Royal Ballet gem. I was already a fan of hers since the RB came to USA in 2015, and even more so after tonight's performance. She simply dazzled her audience and I was totally hypnotised by her dancing. She's so beautiful.

The San Francisco Opera House got very loud indeed and she fully deserved the Standing Ovation. 

I don't know when we'll get to see Miss Naghdi again here in USA but I am very grateful I got to see her here in San Francisco. 

Miss Naghdi, thank you for coming to San Francisco, you captured my heart, and thank you for your gorgeous artistry. I will never forget your Aurora performance here in SF!  

Edited March 17, 2019 by Katia Kapustin
typo

[Josette]

On 3/13/2019 at 8:36 PM, PeggyR said:

First intermission of Naghdi’s SB. One word to describe:  WOW.  Take out second mortgage if you need to, but go to her Friday performance.

I didn't take out a mortgage but I certainly agree with you,PeggyR, that it was well worth the manipulation of my schedule and extra expense to see Yasmine Naghdi on Saturday night! What a beautiful dancer she is: impeccable, strong classical line, expressive port de bras coming out of a lifted back, graceful, gracious, joyful, wonderfully musical.  She was completely natural and interacted with her parents and the four Princes  - who all looked genuinely happy to be there with her.  She was extraordinary.    The audience was berserk by the the end of the Rose Adagio.  

I also have to praise Wona Park with the brilliant Angelo Greco in the leads in the Saturday matinee.  Her dancing was lovely: unflaggingly beautiful classical technique, with no apparent nerves or labor, and she never looks rushed no matter the tempo.  There is nothing you could legitimately criticize and everything to laud, knowing that she is at the beginning of her professional career (it's her second season as a company member!).  At the moment, her face does not register emotion, which left the vision scene pas de deux somewhat diluted in meaning, but her solos in the vision scene were exquisite with lovely carriage and port de bras.  She is a wonder.

I saw Froustey on Friday night. In the Rose Adagio, her perfect attitude derriere dropped in the second promenade when her weight went back and I cannot imagine how she managed to sustain a balance after that, but she did.  For me, the most telling moment of the Rose Adagio is the should-be expressive bourree-ing section with port de bras, and Froustey was gorgeous in a section which some Auroras cannot fill with meaning.  Her vision scene was breathtaking, reminding me of Irina Kolpakova due to her lightness and her filigreed, exquisite port de bras.  She had the sense of mystery needed for the second act. 

 In a line-up of excellent dancers, Isabella deVivo was a knock-out Enchanted Princess and Fairy of Serenity, and Julia Rowe was an exceptionally musical Diamond Fairy, hitting every accent but with grace and unrushed charm.  Jasmine Jimison is someone to keep an eye on.  Wan Ting Zhao has grown in authority and, unsurprisingly, looked like a principal dancer as the Lilac Fairy.  Koto Ishihara seemed to relish dancing to the beautiful music of the Lilac Fairy's solo, she also has grown in beauty and presentation.   The Princes were wonderful in their variation for four following the Rose Adagio. 

It was a wonderful weekend of ballet.  

 

 

[Drew]

2 hours ago, Josette said:

  For me, the most telling moment of the Rose Adagio is the should-be expressive bourree-ing section with port de bras....

I feel this way as well--the music just swells around her and it can look as if she is somehow inside it -- or riding its wave -- and yet externalizing it as well, embodying it's excitement.  (Laura Jacobs in Celestial Bodies, compares the image Aurora's body makes at this moment to a spindle, as if in allusion to the curse that is on her. I found this a rather ingenious idea.) In any case it's my favorite moment in the Rose Adagio and my response to any Aurora has a lot to do with how she dances it.

Edited March 18, 2019 by Drew

[pherank]

Thanks to everyone for the detailed descriptions and in-depth discussion - this was a fun thread.

Newly released podcast interview with Frances Chung and Esteban Hernandez on the Sleeping Beauty:

'Frances delves into “The Rose Adagio”, describing its place in the story and the difficulties it presents to the ballerina. Esteban tells the story of “The Bluebird” and “Princess Florine”, and then gives a vivid account of performing the difficult variation.'

https://sfballet.blog/2019/03/18/frances-chung-principal-dancer-and-esteban-hernandez-soloist-on-the-sleeping-beauty/

And, Julia Rowe, Soloist, on The Sleeping Beauty
https://sfballet.blog/2019/03/16/julia-rowe-soloist-on-the-sleeping-beauty/

Edited March 19, 2019 by pherank

[maps]

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Edited July 13, 2019 by maps
delete

[pherank]

Froustey posted a couple of short videos of one of her SB performances:

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bvfg4UblAZD/