San Francisco Ballet – Criss-Cross, Francesca da Rimini, Symphony in Three Movements – San Francisco
Program 7 made me think a lot about this tricky issue of programming because this bill is a weird sandwich made with a delectable gourmet filling between slices of bland Wonder bread.
San Francisco Ballet – 80th Season Gala Opening – San Francisco
Perhaps the best pas de deux of the evening, judging by the audience reaction, is one from Christopher Wheeldon’s After the Rain.
2012 Dance Memories – London
Lynette Halewood with her personal selection of London dance memories this last year…
San Francisco Ballet – Nutcracker – San Francisco
Not to be a scrooge-ish Grinch (or is it a grinchy Scrooge?), but I don’t really like all the sentimental and consumeristic trimmings and trappings that surround the holidays.
San Francisco Ballet – Trio, RAkU, Voices of Spring, Number Nine – Washington
The mixed bill proved once again that San Francisco Ballet is a dedicated promoter of new work…
San Francisco Ballet – Programme C: Morris, Possokhov, Wheeldon – London
The evening certainly demonstrated the admirable qualities of the SFB dancers: their hard-working, good-humoured, go-for-it approach and the range of different talents in the company. The goodwill they generate in the audience is remarkable. Here’s hoping they come back for a return visit soon.
San Francisco Ballet – Programme B: Tomasson, Wheeldon, Page – London
San Francisco’s second programme was better balanced than the first, with contrasting works created for the company within the past two years.
San Francisco Ballet – Programme A: Balanchine, Liang, Wheeldon – London
I loved the way the SFB dancers were so confident with the choreography (of Divertimento No 15), at ease after an understandably tense start.
Helgi Tomasson – San Francisco Ballet – Artistic Director & Principal Choreographer
Q: Any regrets?
Ans: “No regrets — I would do it all again the same way.”
Maria Kochetkova – San Francisco Ballet – Principal
Who are your favorite choreographers? 1. “Christopher Wheeldon. He picked me for the first ballet I had created on me .. and I have worked with him on every single work he has done since I joined SFB.”
Lonnie Weeks – San Francisco Ballet – Corps de Ballet
It’s not about the technique anymore, it’s about that extra special something that makes you stand apart from everyone else…
Yuri Possokhov – San Francisco Ballet – Choreographer in Residence
The best thing about being at SFB is that I got to work with so many choreographers. It inspired me so much.
San Francisco Ballet – Primer and London Season Preview
Aimée Tsao, watching San Francisco Ballet for over 35 years now, with a general primer on the company and some thoughts on the repertoire they are bring to London in September 2012…
San Francisco Ballet – Don Quixote – San Francisco
Kochetkova and Domitro, together and separately, dance extraordinarily well. They don’t have the elusive chemistry that she has with Boada, but they still are very much in tune with each other, both musically and artistically, and make a very satisfying partnership.
San Francisco Ballet – Programs 5 and 6 (Liang/Page premieres) – San Francisco
Calling this ballet a guide (Guide To Strange Places) is not really precise because it’s more like a portal that lets you in and then leaves you on your own to figure out where you are. Whether you have absolutely no sense of direction or can find your way anywhere blindfolded could determine how you explore this terrain
San Francisco Ballet – Romeo and Juliet – San Francisco
Kochetkova and Boada were so transcendent that even this microscope-eyed critic could soar with them beyond the less than ideal frame of Tomasson’s version.
San Francisco Ballet bringing 9 premieres to London in September 2012
True to style, San Francisco Ballet Artistic Director & Principal Choreographer Helgi Tomasson is showcasing his dancers in a highly varied programme of ten short works – no fewer than nine of them UK premieres – for their long-awaited return to the London stage.
