sf_herminator Posted April 16 Share Posted April 16 (edited) The announcement is here: 24/25 SEASON - San Francisco Ballet (sfballet.org) Kenneth MacMillan's Manon (SFB Premiere) - January 24-Febrruary 1 Cool Britannia: Wayne McGregor's Chroma, Christopher Wheeldon's Within the Golden Hour, Akram Khan's Dust (SFB Premiere) - February 13-February 19 Raymonda - Tamara Rojo, after Marius Petipa - March 1-March 8 Liam Scarlett's Frankenstein - March 20-March 26 Van Manen: Dutch Grandmaster -- Solo, 5 Tango's (SFB Premiere), Grosse Fuge, Variations for Two Couples - April 5-April 19 Broken Love: MacMillan's Marguerite & Armand, Lopez Ochoa's Broken Wings - April 8-18 Frankenstein Encore - April 26-May 4 A very exciting season!! However, I am a little perplexed with the return of Marguerite & Armand AND the premiere of Manon. I am happy with Manon coming into the SFB rep. I would rather have had a different Ashton piece, although given the name of the program 'Broken Love' then the pariing of M&A with Broken Wings makes sense. I am also very happy to have the return of a Liam Scarlett piece - I am already casting The Creature in my mind (Wei Wang is the only dancer still in the company who has danced it before). I am also really looking forward to the Cool Britannia program - Chroma & Within the Golden Hour are 2 of my favorite works. I am also disappointed not to see any Balanchine in the mix. FB Post: Facebook IG Post: https://www.instagram.com/reel/C51OdbUvTIk/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA== Edited April 17 by sf_herminator Link to comment
Phrenchphry11 Posted April 16 Share Posted April 16 Very happy to see Manon entering the rep. I also really loved Frankenstein, and I'm glad Scarlett isn't fully blacklisted from major ballet companies now. That said - I'm a bit disappointed that so much of the programming leans not-child-friendly and a bit heavy thematically. The fact that there are no lighter tutu ballets and no Balanchine feels like a big miss to me. SFB has deep Balanchine roots that I was hoping for a rerun of Midsummer or maybe Coppelia or something. Link to comment
sf_herminator Posted April 16 Author Share Posted April 16 ALSO:: Nutcracker - December 6-29, 37 performances NUTCRACKER - San Francisco Ballet (sfballet.org) Link to comment
California Posted April 16 Share Posted April 16 I am most excited about Rojo's modernized Raymonda. I was expecting to see it in London in January 2021, but it was cancelled due to COVID. Mixed reviews, but a worthy endeavor. (Now do Bayadere!) Link to comment
Josette Posted April 16 Share Posted April 16 I am intrigued by who will be cast as Monsieur GM and the Gaoler in Manon, having seen The Royal Ballet’s great dance-actor Gary Avis in these roles in February in London. Manon will be a good ballet for audiences and the dancers. Within the Golden Hour is my favorite Wheeldon work. sf herminator, have you seen Creature? I saw ENB dance it in Chicago two years ago and disliked it intensely with its horrid treatment of the female protagonist devised by its choreographer- as bas an experience I have ever sat through in dance or opera. It would not go over well in SF. I had a ticket for a second show and gladly did not attend a second time. Glad to hear that Max and Dores are returning. Link to comment
sf_herminator Posted April 16 Author Share Posted April 16 9 minutes ago, Josette said: sf herminator, have you seen Creature? I saw ENB dance it in Chicago two years ago and disliked it intensely with its horrid treatment of the female protagonist devised by its choreographer- as bas an experience I have ever sat through in dance or opera. It would not go over well in SF. I had a ticket for a second show and gladly did not attend a second time. Josette - I have not seen Creature. Who was the choreographer? I am going to YT to see if there are any clips.... Link to comment
sf_herminator Posted April 16 Author Share Posted April 16 1 hour ago, Phrenchphry11 said: Very happy to see Manon entering the rep. I also really loved Frankenstein, and I'm glad Scarlett isn't fully blacklisted from major ballet companies now. That said - I'm a bit disappointed that so much of the programming leans not-child-friendly and a bit heavy thematically. The fact that there are no lighter tutu ballets and no Balanchine feels like a big miss to me. SFB has deep Balanchine roots that I was hoping for a rerun of Midsummer or maybe Coppelia or something. I agree - I would have liked to have seen Don Q (a lighter story ballet) or Serenade for some Balanchine. Link to comment
Josette Posted April 16 Share Posted April 16 Akram Khan. And I did like his Giselle very, very much, which I saw twice danced by ENB. Link to comment
Josette Posted April 16 Share Posted April 16 I agree as well about wishing there were a program with something lighter for the audience and the dancers. Link to comment
Phrenchphry11 Posted April 16 Share Posted April 16 18 minutes ago, Josette said: Glad to hear that Max and Dores are returning. Yes! Agree! A bit surprised but I can think of a few pieces in the next season that each of them will look great in. Also very sad to see Angelo Greco is out. 24 minutes ago, California said: (Now do Bayadere!) Yeah Rojo's Raymonda got pretty mixed reviews in the UK so I'm not sure how excited I am for it, but I do know Phil Chan has been working on a modernized Bayadere. Bayadere's one ballet that doesn't age well to me (I saw Mariinsky do it a few years and still cringe inside at the shameless use of blackface), but with a few tweaks I think could ultimately be really compelling. Link to comment
California Posted April 16 Share Posted April 16 14 minutes ago, Phrenchphry11 said: Phil Chan has been working on a modernized Bayadere. Bayadere's one ballet that doesn't age well to me (I saw Mariinsky do it a few years and still cringe inside at the shameless use of blackface), but with a few tweaks I think could ultimately be really compelling. Phil Chan and Doug Fullington did the modernized Bayadere for Indiana that was live-streamed recently. They were going to post on YouTube, but I'm not finding it. https://www.dancemagazine.com/friday-film-break/indiana-university-livestream/ I had trouble following the Hollywood story that replaced Act I (my fault), but Kingdom of the Shades was familiar (with some interesting changes in steps and tempo from the original score). I saw Mariinsky do Bayadere at the Kennedy Center in 2017. Tereshkina and Kim - Oh my! There was a local bou-ha-ha when the Kennedy Center demanded there be no blackface. But when they travelled to Berkeley after that they brought back the blackface. Ugh. https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/theater_danc/the-ballerina-who-fights-back-in-la-bayadere-she-wont-be-manhandled/2017/10/18/fc0ee978-b41d-11e7-99c6-46bdf7f6f8ba_story.html Link to comment
Terez Posted April 16 Share Posted April 16 (edited) Wow, I'm not sure about a Frankenstein plus a later encore program of it. Did audiences really like it that much?! Can't say I like this encore business in general. I just can't make all the programs and I've always enjoyed seeing the final program late in the season. Oh well, new AD, new setup. Thrilled they'll be doing Broken Wings again. Wow did I love that. Edited April 16 by Terez Link to comment
sf_herminator Posted April 16 Author Share Posted April 16 40 minutes ago, Josette said: Akram Khan. And I did like his Giselle very, very much, which I saw twice danced by ENB. Thanks - I just looked up Creature and other info about Mr. Khan. I wonder if Tamara will have him create a new work for SFB in the future. Interesting that there are no new works being created on SFB - while there were 2 new works created this season (Azure Barton's Mere Mortals & Arielle Smith's Carmen). Usually there are a couple of new works every year. But it is nice to see new works coming into the rep here. Link to comment
Josette Posted April 17 Share Posted April 17 4 hours ago, sf_herminator said: Interesting that there are no new works being created on SFB - while there were 2 new works created this season (Azure Barton's Mere Mortals & Arielle Smith's Carmen). Especially interesting in light of the huge donation announced, with quite the majority chunk to be for new works. Maybe this will come to fruition in 2025-2026. Link to comment
pherank Posted April 17 Share Posted April 17 Good programming overall. "Manon" is an obvious one to bring into the rep. The Dutch program is an interesting idea. Glad to see a Scarlett ballet returning - he had a good relationship with SFB. Program 2 is right up SFB's alley, so to speak. I have to agree with others that the season is rather "heavy" and not necessarily kid friendly. And nothing much comedic here. The encore of "Frankenstein" seems like a placeholder, and probably should have been a Robbins/Balanchine mixed bill. "Serenade"/"Glass Pieces" would have been a good season-closer. Link to comment
Josette Posted April 17 Share Posted April 17 Both Aaron Robison and Joseph Walsh have danced Des Grieux in Manon with Houston Ballet. Lescaut, Manon's brother, is another plumb role. Link to comment
California Posted April 17 Share Posted April 17 (edited) 2 hours ago, Josette said: Both Aaron Robison and Joseph Walsh have danced Des Grieux in Manon with Houston Ballet. Lescaut, Manon's brother, is another plumb role. One of my favorite clips of Robison rehearsing Manon with Houston Ballet. He waits until the absolute last second to catch her under her arms. A bit of daring I find myself watching for in other performances. Note the gasps from the dancers seated at the side. https://www.instagram.com/reel/6ux3nBxdMz/ Edited April 17 by California Link to comment
Josette Posted April 17 Share Posted April 17 42 minutes ago, California said: One of my favorite clips of Robison rehearsing Manon with Houston Ballet. He waits until the absolute last second to catch her under her arms. A bit of daring I find myself watching for in other performances. Note the gasps from the dancers seated at the side. https://www.instagram.com/reel/6ux3nBxdMz/ I love this! Thanks so much for posting it. Link to comment
Josette Posted April 17 Share Posted April 17 (edited) 19 hours ago, pherank said: Good programming overall. "Manon" is an obvious one to bring into the rep. The Dutch program is an interesting idea. Glad to see a Scarlett ballet returning - he had a good relationship with SFB. Program 2 is right up SFB's alley, so to speak. I have to agree with others that the season is rather "heavy" and not necessarily kid friendly. And nothing much comedic here. The encore of "Frankenstein" seems like a placeholder, and probably should have been a Robbins/Balanchine mixed bill. "Serenade"/"Glass Pieces" would have been a good season-closer. I think that Manon would have been a better encore program than Frankenstein. Audiences love it and word-of-mouth would work in its favor. However, there are ten Manon performances already scheduled in January/February. Edited April 17 by Josette Needed to correct an incorrectly spelled word. Link to comment
pherank Posted April 17 Share Posted April 17 Regarding Frankenstein: former SFB soloist (and Joe Walsh's wife) Lauren Strongin is a stager and trustee for the Liam Scarlett Trust. Earlier this year, Strongin was stager for Liam Scarlett's Hummingbird at the Lyric Opera of Chicago. And last year she staged Frankenstein for the Joffrey Ballet. Link to comment
Josette Posted April 18 Share Posted April 18 I would love to see Scarlett's Hummingbird again. I remember how beautiful Lorena Feijo and Victor Luiz were in the pas de deux, and later saw YY Tan dance it. The ballet was removed by SFB from the announced season's repertoire when the Scarlett controversy surfaced. I knew that the Joffrey danced it in February. Ashley Wheater has been steadfast where the Scarlett ballets are concerned. Link to comment
Terez Posted Thursday at 02:46 PM Share Posted Thursday at 02:46 PM On 4/17/2024 at 5:54 PM, Josette said: I would love to see Scarlett's Hummingbird again. Me too - I love this ballet! Link to comment
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