San Francisco Ballet 2008 Program 1

RaHir · **Posted:** Fri Jan 25, 2008 6:51 pm

Casting for the first two nights:

Program 1 Opening Night
Tuesday, January 29, 2008, 8pm
FILLING STATION
Conductor: Martin West

Mac: Rory Hohenstein*
Ray & Roy: Matthew Stewart*, Aaron Orza*
Motorist, Wife & Child: Steven Norman, Courtney Clarkson*, Margaret Karl*
Rich Girl & Boy: Katita Waldo*, Val Caniparoli

INTERMISSION

7 FOR EIGHT
Conductor: Martin West
Piano: Michael McGraw

Nutnaree Pipit-Suksun, Pierre-François Vilanoba
Tina LeBlanc, Gennadi Nedvigin
Frances Chung, Joan Boada
Elizabeth Miner, Nicolas Blanc

INTERMISSION

"DIAMONDS"
Conductor Martin West

Yuan Yuan Tan, Davit Karapetyan*

Program 1 Evening
Wednesday, January 30, 2008, 7:30pm
FILLING STATION
Conductor: Martin West

Mac: James Sofranko*
Ray & Roy: Guy Amico*, Benjamin Stewart*
Motorist, Wife & Child: Garen Scribner*, Danielle Santos*, Nicole Grand*
Rich Girl & Boy: Erin McNulty*, David Arce*

INTERMISSION

7 FOR EIGHT
Conductor: Martin West
Piano: Michael McGraw

Rachel Viselli, Tiit Helimets
Kristin Long, Joan Boada
Frances Chung, Pascal Molat
Elizabeth Miner, Jaime Garcia Castilla

INTERMISSION

"DIAMONDS"
Conductor: Martin West

Vanessa Zahorian, Davit Karapetyan

* Designates premiere in a role.
Casting subject to change.

osiris661 · **Posted:** Wed Jan 30, 2008 7:38 am

Love SFB

, but tell me this, who are the choreographers of some of these pieces?????

Francis Timlin · **Posted:** Wed Jan 30, 2008 3:20 pm

Filling Station = Lew Christensen

7 for 8 = Helgi Tomasson

Diamonds = Balanchine

osiris661 · **Posted:** Wed Jan 30, 2008 5:16 pm

aahhh, knew the Balanchine, but not the other two

RaHir · **Posted:** Thu Jan 31, 2008 10:55 am

S.F. Ballet opens season with charm
Rachel Howard, Chronicle Dance Correspondent
Thursday, January 31, 2008

Quote:

Ah, maturity. San Francisco Ballet opened its 75th anniversary season Tuesday with the dance equivalent of a gloriously grown-up dinner party. There's nothing cutting edge or challenging to interfere with the digestion on Program 1, only great dancing that flows with the ease and civility of fine conversation. If you're looking for innovative choreography, this is not the evening for you. But if you like walking out of the opera house gently glowing from the pleasure of two hours in charmed company, you could hardly do better.

There was no shortage of exceptional dancers a guest would want to spend more time with - Rory Hohenstein in Lew Christensen's "Filling Station," Tina LeBlanc and a freshly confident Elizabeth Miner in Artistic Director Helgi Tomasson's "7 for Eight." But the heart of the evening was Yuan Yuan Tan presiding like a generous hostess over George Balanchine's "Diamonds."

More...

RaHir · **Posted:** Thu Jan 31, 2008 6:44 pm

SF Ballet’s stately season-opener
Jan 31, 2008 3:56 PM (41 mins ago) by Janos Gereben, The Examiner

Quote:

SAN FRANCISCO (Map, News) - Program I of the San Francisco Ballet, opening on Tuesday and running through Feb. 9, is quite wonderful, especially when put in context. Here is an all-neoclassic evening, splendidly performed, but somewhat lacking in variety. That’s where the context comes into play: this spring, the ballet will celebrate its 75th birthday with a unique festival of new works, all commissioned for the occasion. Any company that presents such bevy of world-class novelties is entitled to present a homogenous evening of neoclassic works by Lew Christensen (“Filling Station,” 1938), Helgi Tomasson (“7 for Eight,” 2004), and George Balanchine (the “Diamonds” portion of the 1967 full-length “Jewels”).

Now, there is nothing wrong with neoclassicism, especially in the manner of Balanchine, especially when it comes to the stately, brilliant “Diamonds,” danced gloriously by the company, with Yuan Yuan Tan and Ruben Martin up front. “7 for Eight” (seven Bach concerto movements with eight dancers) is Tomasson’s most sincere and self-effacing tribute to Balanchine, and probably his finest work.

More...

crandc · **Joined:** Tue Aug 28, 2001 11:01 pm **Posts:** 255

The expressions on Katita Waldo's face in those Chronicle photos are priceless!

fluteboo · **Joined:** Tue Apr 18, 2006 3:39 pm **Posts:** 22

While Rory Hohenstein was being interviewed before Sunday's matinee, piano music started up backstage. He said an emergency rehearsal was going on. It turned out to be for Val Caniparoli, who was replacing David Arce as the drunken Rich Boy, partnering Pauli Magierek. Had we not known this ahead of time, we would never have suspected the substitution. Both teetered around in appropriate faux-drunkeness while defining an established relationship. VC's height may be a bit lower in jumps, but he readily matched the young guys throughout. PM did not overplay the drunken state just for laughs, which made her character more than a cartoon. I needn't add that the rest of the cast was up to the demands. This is, after all, SFB.

The other surprise was Van Patten in Diamonds. I was a NYCB subscriber in its superb sixties, so I saw Suzy Farrell perform this several times, and anything she did those years dominates my memory of the work. Van Patten appeared and took command, made the role her own. It may have helped that she is so different from Farrell--no extreme extensions, less bravura, and of course smaller. Her approach revealed more about the choreography than Farrell had done, and gave me more appreciation of the piece. I don't know whether Balanchine would have approved of her more emotional interpretation, but we Sunday claquers heartily approved. Tiit Helimets matched her approach, and at times one felt briefly drawn into Swan Lake or Giselle.

Our group didn't like VanPatten her initial years, but since Romeo and Juliet, we have had to admit Helgi was right in seeing something special there.

Francis Timlin · **Posted:** Mon Feb 04, 2008 4:07 pm

Ann Murphy in insidebayarea.com:

insidebayarea.com

bcx · **Joined:** Mon Apr 19, 2004 11:01 pm **Posts:** 167

Rachel Howard's blog had an appreciative entry on Sarah Van Patten's Diamonds:

http://www.rachelhoward.com/

Thanks, Rachel, and fluteboo for capturing Sarah's unforgettable performance.

bcx · **Joined:** Mon Apr 19, 2004 11:01 pm **Posts:** 167

"Val Caniparoli ... replacing David Arce partnering Pauli Magierek. Had we not known this ahead of time, we would never have suspected the substitution. . . "

I completely agree. Val came through in the emergency and he and Pauli were terrific. Someone should write a history of memorable last-minute substitutions at SFB (like Vanessa Zahorian getting of bed to substitute for an injured Tina LeBlanc in Gonzalo Garcia's final performance of Don Q last year).

Francis Timlin · **Posted:** Wed Feb 06, 2008 2:23 pm

The Wall Street Journal's Robert Greskovic was among the out-of-town critics who had never before seen "Filling Station." I am pleased to read that he liked it:

Wall Street Journal

Francis Timlin · **Posted:** Thu Feb 07, 2008 2:36 pm

A review of both Programs 1 and 2 by Paul Parish in the Bay Area Reporter:

Bay Area Reporter

LMCtech · **Posted:** Thu Feb 07, 2008 5:38 pm

SF weekly's got a review as well.

Quote:

San Francisco Ballet's Filling Station Pumped with Acting
By Chloe Veltman
Published: February 6, 2008
From the minimalist precision of Tomasson's beautiful 2004 work 7 for Eight set to a series of seven Bach keyboard concertos for eight black-clad soloists to the corps de ballet's shimmering collective port de bras in George Balanchine's "Diamonds" (part of the 1967 suite Jewels), the first program of the company's 2008 season cannot help but dizzy audiences with its eclectic and frequently exhilarating approach to movement. Stanford dance scholar Janice Ross recently told me that she thinks the San Francisco Ballet ranks as one of the top couple of companies in the country and one of the best in the world. Obviously I'm elated that its prima ballerinas can execute 32 continuous fouettés while appearing to exert about as much effort as you or I do when we're strolling to the shops. But the burning question on this theater critic's lips is: Can those dancers act?

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