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next@90

sf_herminator

By sf_herminator
in San Francisco Ballet

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sf_herminator

sf_herminator

Posted
Posted (edited)

I was looking around the SFB website and found that casting has been posted for the 3 different programs.  Below are the links for each Program, along with the opening night cast posted:

  • Garland/Roberts/Rowe (Festival A):  https://www.sfballet.org/productions/festival-a/
    • Opening Night Friday 1/20:
      • Garland's Haffner Serenade (Music: Mozart's Serenade for Orchestra in D)

        • Katherine Barkman, Esteban Hernández

          Gabriela Gonzalez, SunMin Lee, Elizabeth Mateer, Carmela Mayo

          Luca Ferrò, Lleyton Ho, Joshua Jack Price, Nathaniel Remez

      • Roberts' Resurrection (Music:  Mahler's Totenfeier for orchestra)

        • Dores André, Isaac Hernández

          WanTing Zhao, Aaron Robison

          Samantha Bristow, Isabella DeVivo, Ellen Rose Hummel, Pemberley Ann Olson

          Rubén Cítores Nieto, Lucas Erni, Andris Kundzins, Steven Morse

      • Rowe's Madcap (Music arranged by Philip Feeney)

        • Tiit Helimets, Jennifer Stahl

          Sasha De Sola, Max Cauthorn, Alexis Valdes, Wei Wang

          Parker Garrison, Davide Occhipinti, Henry Sidford

          Thamires Chuvas, Leili Rackow, Tyla Steinbach, Jamie Adele Stephens

  • Canipraroli/Breiner/Ohishi (Festival B):  https://www.sfballet.org/productions/festival-b/

    • Opening Night Saturday 1/21

      • Caniparoli's Emergence (Music:  Dobrinka Tabakova's Concerto for Cello and Strings)

        • Nikisha Fogo, Ellen Rose Hummel, Misa Kuranaga, WanTing Zhao

          Lucas Erni, Angelo Greco, Steven Morse, Aaron Robison

      • Breiner's The Queen's Daughter (Music:  Violin Concerto Op. 15 by Benjamin Britten)

        • Sasha De Sola, Wei Wang

          Jennifer Stahl, Tiit Helimets

          Henry Sidford, Myles Thatcher, Lonnie Weeks

          Thamires Chuvas, Leili Rackow, Jamie Adele Stephens

          Davide Occhipinti, Jacob Seltzer, Alexis Valdes

      • Oishi's Bolero (Music by Ravel, additional music by Shinya Kiyokawa)

        • Yuan Yuan Tan, Joseph Walsh

          Katherine Barkman, Esteban Hernández

          Sasha Mukhamedov, Daniel Deivison-Oliveira

          Juliana Bellissimo, Gabriela Gonzalez, SunMin Lee, Elizabeth Mateer, Carmela Mayo

          Luca Ferrò, Joshua Jack Price, Nathaniel Remez, John-Paul Simoens, Hansuke Yamamoto

  • Blanc / Schreier / Possokhov (Festival C): https://www.sfballet.org/productions/festival-c/

    • Opening Night - Wednesday 1/25

      • Blanc's Gateway to the Sun (Music:  Anna Clyne's DANCE for cello and orchestra)

        • Max Cauthorn

          Sasha De Sola, Wei Wang

          Jennifer Stahl, Luke Ingham

          Samantha Bristow, Nicole Moyer, Leili Rackow, Jamie Adele Stephens

          Davide Occhipinti, Jacob Seltzer, Alexis Valdes, Adrian Zeisel

      • Schreier's Kin (Music by Tanner Porter - commissioned score)

        • Dores André, Isaac Hernández

          WanTing Zhao, Aaron Robison

          Norika Matsuyama, Steven Morse

          Isabella DeVivo, João Percilio da Silva

          Ellen Rose Hummel, Lucas Erni

          Samantha Bristow, Olivia Brothers, Pemberley Ann Olson

          Rubén Cítores Nieto, Andris Kundzins, Mingxuan Wang

      • Possokhov's Violin Concerto (Music by Stravinsky)

        • Wona Park, Joseph Walsh

          Sasha Mukhamedov

          Katherine Barkman, Esteban Hernández

          Carmela Mayo, Cavan Conley

          Juliana Bellissimo, Gabriela Gonzalez, Elizabeth Mateer, Angela Watson

          Joshua Jack Price, Nathaniel Remez, John-Paul Simoens, Mingxuan Wang

This is a link to the program book for the festival:  https://www.sfballet.org/tickets/2023-season/program-books/

Various clips have been posted - I will put them in a separate post later.

There is a lot to be excited about with next@90!!  I will be attending the opening nights of all 3 programs.

Edited by sf_herminator
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pherank

pherank

Posted
Posted
On 1/11/2023 at 9:47 AM, Helene said:

This article on Rojo and Executive Director Danielle St.Germain has info about the choreographers in the next@90 program:

https://www.nobhillgazette.com/arts_and_culture/performing_arts/next-generation-leadership-and-artists-step-on-stage-at-san-francisco-ballet/article_3b27f2f8-7d77-11ed-acba-6f8da0c32454.html

Well now we know what happened: "Caniparoli’s experience proved consequential and invaluable when Benjamin Millepied, who was originally designated one of next@90’s choreographers, dropped out in late August due to a scheduling conflict"

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Terez

Terez

Posted
Posted

Saw opening night of Program B last Saturday and a performance of Program A on Sunday afternoon. What fun! Boy, have I missed seeing the company perform. The orchestra sounded sensational, and this was particularly important because the classical music pieces were heavy hitters. Mahler's "Totenfeier for Orchestra" (although to me it's his Symphony No. 2, first movement, largely identical) just MADE Resurrection (as did Dores André) and the Britten Violin Concerto did the same thing for me for The Queen's Daughter. And then, of course, the super-fun Bolero by Ravel, that is so thrilling to hear performed live. So. Two programs that classical music fans will doubly enjoy. MADCAP didn't fall into this category, but it was sensational, transformative. Reminds me of the first time I saw Swimmer and its creativity just gripped me and held me enthralled. MADCAP was even better. Seems to me it will be the winner of the whole festival, but there's a third program I haven't seen (nor, alas, will I be able to). I also enjoyed Bolero and its originality. I thought Haffner Serenade was lovely and soothing (I think I always, always say that about ballets set to Mozart) and the costumes were so pretty, but it just felt like Balanchine and nothing really spelled out "the future of dance." But, amid 6 new ballets in 24 hours, that was fine for me. Val Caniparoli's ballet started things on Saturday night, and, gotta be honest, I felt it was the weak link of the 6 ballets. We all know what "pandemic ballets" look like because we watched so many clips of so many dancers and choreographers, while we were all in lockdown. Yes, we all remember how hard it was, how it tested us, but there's just not depths beyond that to plumb for a ballet, and they all look so similar, the being flung apart, the face-to-face up close, reaching the hand out to touch, whirling away. Et cetera. I very much like Val C as a choreographer, and have enjoyed his ballets. Just doesn't feel like this one brought anything new to the table. 

I loved The Queen's Daughter, and was just floored by the performances from Jennifer S, Sasha De Sola and Tiit. Just amazed. Interesting to see them the next day in MADCAP and be equally impressed (Jen S and Tiit in particular on this one). But there was such a sadness to Queen's Daughter, which also has to do with the elegiac nature of Britten's Violin Concerto, the sorrow built into it, I was pretty emotionally exhausted by its end. Oh, and Wei Wang was just stunning as The Prophet. He did this miraculous job of applying a spiritual levity to his movements, that was, at the same time, heavy with portent. His leaps seemed to hover in the air. His turns just seemed to go on and on. You really got the sense of his being a human on an elevated plane of existence. And Sasha de Sola delivered such a stark, emotional performance, like something you'd see from Mathilde Froustey. Super impressive. 

Great ballets, great programs. They really exceeded my expectations. (And, like I said, MADCAP was such a "wow," I'm going to go on and on about that one.

Hoping that others chime in about how they felt about these programs. I could see The Queen's Daughter being off-putting and "too heavy" to viewers, especially if they didn't know and love the Britten Violin Concerto. And if you're a Mahler fan, you will love, love, love Resurrection. 

Lastly, although I would have loved to see Katherine Barker dance not one but two leads over the weekend, I was happy for Julia Rowe that she was given the chance to shine. As dancers, they seem very similar to me (although Barker dances with an extra intensity and abandon that seems to mark her as principal material in the future, if you ask me). I felt like Julia R deserved this opportunity, and I'm glad she got it. She handled both roles admirably.

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Terez

Terez

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Posted

You're welcome, pherank. I'd love to hear others' comments, particularly on the program I won't be able to see.

It's a little frustrating this season, the way the programs I'm eager to see are so closely grouped together. I can appreciate that they wanted to put Cinderella between Giselle and R&J but I don't plan to attend R&J (am I the only one who doesn't particularly enjoy this story ballet? Amazing dancing and costumes and choreography aside, I just don't like the story and all its pathos), and will either squeeze the next 3 programs into my schedule or, more realistically, be forced to miss the mixed-bill program in the middle. But then, yikes, that might be it for me, for the season. So much wonderful stuff, so condensed. 😐😔

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pherank

pherank

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Posted (edited)
1 hour ago, Terez said:

You're welcome, pherank. I'd love to hear others' comments, particularly on the program I won't be able to see.

It's a little frustrating this season, the way the programs I'm eager to see are so closely grouped together. I can appreciate that they wanted to put Cinderella between Giselle and R&J but I don't plan to attend R&J (am I the only one who doesn't particularly enjoy this story ballet? Amazing dancing and costumes and choreography aside, I just don't like the story and all its pathos), and will either squeeze the next 3 programs into my schedule or, more realistically, be forced to miss the mixed-bill program in the middle. But then, yikes, that might be it for me, for the season. So much wonderful stuff, so condensed. 😐😔

I'm a mixed bill person, so if it were me, I'd lose one of the full-length ballets if money was an issue. I'm curious how Thatcher's COLORFORMS will look on stage. Looked great on film, but how will it be changed to fit a single stage environment? And Blake Works is kind of a must see for this company. It's a shame there's no overlap of programs, but I get why with the full-lengths.

Edited by pherank
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Terez

Terez

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Posted

Agree with all you said, pherank. I just now re-read Rachel Howard's review from SFB's past performance of Blake Works. Maybe it's a must-see for me (didn't catch it the first time around). And yes, what will COLORFORMS look like onstage? One good way for me to find out...

At times like this, I so wish I lived closer to SF!

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pherank

pherank

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Posted
5 hours ago, Terez said:

At times like this, I so wish I lived closer to SF!

I definitely know what you mean. Long ago, I use to make regular trips from Santa Cruz to San Francisco. And at one point I figured I had made that drive at least 100 times over the years. (And driving Highway 1 or Highway 17 could be a dangerous proposition!)
Keep it fun, and safe.

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leee

leee

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Posted

I'm waiting for the train right now as I'm on my way to program A, although I did attend the premiere of Cc last week. At first I wondered if I had been so starved of beautiful dance that I was happy to witness ANY ballet, but then Violin Concerto left me largely unmoved. So with that in mind, I feel more confident in saying that Kin was lovely, and Blanc's piece was spectacular (it certainly didn't hurt that I loved the music too).

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pherank

pherank

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Posted
22 minutes ago, leee said:

I'm waiting for the train right now as I'm on my way to program A, although I did attend the premiere of Cc last week. At first I wondered if I had been so starved of beautiful dance that I was happy to witness ANY ballet, but then Violin Concerto left me largely unmoved. So with that in mind, I feel more confident in saying that Kin was lovely, and Blanc's piece was spectacular (it certainly didn't hurt that I loved the music too).

Enjoy, Leee!

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Phrenchphry11

Phrenchphry11

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So far I've seen C and A as well.  (Program B next week!)

MADCAP is totally spectacular.  Dani Rowe has such an endlessly creative, quirky, and unique style, and I'm so curious about her choreographic process and what goes through her mind to get such amazing inspiration.  And yet, despite all the quirkiness, she still has a way to make the movement feel so poignant and poetic at the same time.  Such a revelation, she's definitely the current/active choreographer I feel most excited about.  (I remember her coming onto my radar when I saw For Pixie). I hope she's got lots more in store for SFB!

MADCAP has such a way of drawing out some of the best qualities of its dancers too.  Probably some of the best performances I've seen from Jennifer Stahl and Tiit Helimets.  

 

I've liked most of the other pieces.  As others mentioned, some works are more creative than others.  But I really do hope MADCAP makes it into the full-time rep, and maybe even picked up by other companies.  If the purpose of next@90 is to explore the future of ballet, MADCAP definitely hits the mark.

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leee

leee

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Posted
15 minutes ago, Phrenchphry11 said:

So far I've seen C and A as well.  (Program B next week!)

MADCAP is totally spectacular.  Dani Rowe has such an endlessly creative, quirky, and unique style, and I'm so curious about her choreographic process and what goes through her mind to get such amazing inspiration.  And yet, despite all the quirkiness, she still has a way to make the movement feel so poignant and poetic at the same time.  Such a revelation, she's definitely the current/active choreographer I feel most excited about.  (I remember her coming onto my radar when I saw For Pixie). I hope she's got lots more in store for SFB!

MADCAP has such a way of drawing out some of the best qualities of its dancers too.  Probably some of the best performances I've seen from Jennifer Stahl and Tiit Helimets.  

 

I've liked most of the other pieces.  As others mentioned, some works are more creative than others.  But I really do hope MADCAP makes it into the full-time rep, and maybe even picked up by other companies.  If the purpose of next@90 is to explore the future of ballet, MADCAP definitely hits the mark.

Agreed on all counts! Even with performances I'm enjoying, sometimes I have to corral my attention back to the dancing, but not so with MADCAP. Riveting from curtain to curtain, and in between spellbinding and ingenious, joyous and demented. I don't think I ever saw For Pixie, but from now on I'll be keeping an eye out for Dani Rowe's name.

3 hours ago, pherank said:

Enjoy, Leee!

Tonight was absolutely thrilling! A salve for my soul.

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pherank

pherank

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Posted
2 hours ago, leee said:

I don't think I ever saw For Pixie, but from now on I'll be keeping an eye out for Dani Rowe's name.

If you subscribed to the 2020 digital season you would have seen For Pixie as part of the "opening night gala" video. It was danced by Dores Andre and Joe Walsh, with costumes by Lauren Strongin,

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leee

leee

Posted
Posted
On 2/2/2023 at 1:11 AM, pherank said:

If you subscribed to the 2020 digital season you would have seen For Pixie as part of the "opening night gala" video. It was danced by Dores Andre and Joe Walsh, with costumes by Lauren Strongin,

I unfortunately had issues with the digital season, especially with how it was implemented, so I barely watched anything during the pandemic.

Anyway, a question I kept wondering about: does anyone know if MADCAP's spoken dialogue was prerecorded, or if Jen was saying the lines live? I assume the former.

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Phrenchphry11

Phrenchphry11

Posted
Posted
On 1/24/2023 at 12:48 PM, Terez said:

I loved The Queen's Daughter, and was just floored by the performances from Jennifer S, Sasha De Sola and Tiit. Just amazed. Interesting to see them the next day in MADCAP and be equally impressed (Jen S and Tiit in particular on this one). But there was such a sadness to Queen's Daughter, which also has to do with the elegiac nature of Britten's Violin Concerto, the sorrow built into it, I was pretty emotionally exhausted by its end. Oh, and Wei Wang was just stunning as The Prophet. He did this miraculous job of applying a spiritual levity to his movements, that was, at the same time, heavy with portent. His leaps seemed to hover in the air. His turns just seemed to go on and on. You really got the sense of his being a human on an elevated plane of existence. And Sasha de Sola delivered such a stark, emotional performance, like something you'd see from Mathilde Froustey. Super impressive. 

Now that I've finally seen all the next@90 programs, I have to say I really agree with what you said, Terez.  The Queen's Daughter was spectacular - sad, elegiac, but also thoughtful, nuanced, and transformative.  I've never felt like I understood the story of Salome, but Breiner brought something totally new and complex to the table with her telling of it, and Britten's music really helps tell the story. It definitely was heavy and draining, but in a thought-provoking way.  Breiner had such a way of bringing a fresh angle to the story, rather than the overdone Salome-as-a-seductress story.

Both Wei Wang and Sasha de Sola had career-making performances, in my opinion.  Wei Wang really has such a grounded way of moving, and Sasha de Sola had so much nuance in her dancing.  

I also really liked Bolero, I loved the work with the video projections too.  A great way to end the evening.

 

All in all, I really liked next@90, and for the most part I liked all the works.  I really hope MADCAP and The Queen's Daughter have a life beyond the festival, hopefully in standard SFB rep and potentially beyond.  Though there's quite a few that I could see in SFB's rep!  And the dancing was fantastic.

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pherank

pherank

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Posted

Sasha De Sola posted some footage from The Queen's Daughter:
https://www.instagram.com/p/CoaNLNEN_l-/

Dores Andre posted some footage of Resurrection:
https://www.instagram.com/p/CoYlyygvKHF/

Sasha Mukhamedov's photos of Violin Concerto:
https://www.instagram.com/p/Cofp-SNvFjb/

...and the Bolero cast:
https://www.instagram.com/p/CoSm4mEPkLU/

Joe Walsh's Next@90 photos:
https://www.instagram.com/p/CoNsNBMSGTp/

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Terez

Terez

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Very much enjoyed reading your comments and impressions, Phrenchphry11 and leee. Sounds like we all liked a lot of the same stuff. 

And leee, your "salve for my soul" comment was EXACTLY what I was feeling. Maybe it's because it's the first program(s) of the season, but I just felt like parched earth, drinking in every drop, feeling so nourished after a weekend of performances. Nice!

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pherank

pherank

Posted
Posted (edited)

Rachel Howard has a write up of the Next@90 Festival in the Fjord Review - it's titled "Free Reign". Nothing particularly illuminating, as I recall (that is, nothing that you all haven't already mentioned). Mainly she's keeping track of the number of female choreographers and choreographers of color involved in the new repertoire.

Edited by pherank
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