True - the last time corps dancers were promoted was at the end of the 2008 season. Dana Genshaft, Pauli Magierek, Garen Scribner, and Anthony Spaulding were all promoted to soloists. It is a bit of a disappointment that no dancers were promoted. Maybe there might be some promotions before the season starts - or even in the middle of the season as when Sarah Van Patten was promoted to Principal Dancer mid-season 2007.

And although it is always inevitable that dancers will leave, I am sad to see Brett Bauer, Julianne Kepley, and Martyn Garside are gone. But very nice that Brett and Julianne have landed spots in Oregon Ballet Theatre and Milwaukee Ballet, respectively.

I have no idea how Helgi decides on promotions, new hires, and firings but this is the biggest shakeup I remember and it raises questions.

--Why hire another male principal instead of a ballerina to replace Katita (I applaud her appointment as ballet master, however—she’ll be great in that role). SFB now has 8 female principals and 12 males.

--Why replace Julianne Kepley with a newly hired male solist; there are now only 5 female solists, and many de facto soloists in the corps de ballet (name your favorites for promotion--there are plenty to chose from including Clara Blanco, Courtney Elizabeth, Dores Andre, Lily Rogers, Jennifer Stahl, the fabulous Stewart brothers, Daniel Deivision-Oliveira, etc.

--Right now the corps is incredibly stratified in terms of talent and experience—we have Advanced Corps members who are de facto Soloists; we have Experienced Corps members (with years of experience) and we have Baby Corps members who are in their first professional jobs. There’s a reason that big European companies, like the Royal Ballet, the Paris Opera Ballet and the Mariinsky/Kirov have five ranks for their dancers, not three like SFB. For example, the Royal Ballet has two ranks for corps de ballet: Artist (lowest rank) and First Artist; two ranks for Soloists: Soloist and First Soloist; and Principal.

Why have there been no promotions from the corps de ballet for two years? Fans love promotions and dancers deserve them. But the history of ballet is full of weird decisions made by artistic directors—promotions and their lack are often not about talent and artistry and hard work.

I’m going to miss Miriam Rowan and Nicole Grand; Miriam was a quiet, intelligent and truly graceful dancer—the kind of reliable dancer you always want in the corps de ballet, and Nicole had wonderful energy and was always a pleasure to watch. I wish them both well.

I agree with bcx on promotions and in the imbalance between men and women in soloist/principal. If finances are an issue than having "de facto" soloists in the corps makes some sense, although a tad unfair to the dancers, but in hiring new dancers from other companies presumably they need to make a good financial offer and possibly relocation expenses, so clearly the motivation is not financial. Also agree on the list of corps dancers who have earned promotions IMO.

In other news, program, although not casting, is announced for Stern Grove:

Prism
Composer: Ludwig van Beethoven
Choreographer: Helgi Tomasson

Pas de deux from After the Rain©
Composer: Arvo Pärt
Choreography: Christopher Wheeldon

Pas de deux from Don Quixote, Act 3
Composer: Ludwig Minkus
Choreographer: after Marius Petipa

Sandpaper Ballet
Composer: Leroy Anderson
Choreographer: Mark Morris

Casting's been announced for Stern Grove:

http://www.sfballet.org/performancestic ... p#43681028

In the San Francisco Chronicle, Charlie Wells writes about preparations for the company's tour to Copenhagen, following immediately after the Stern Grove performance.

SF Chronicle

Don't mess with ballet dancers!

http://blogs.sfweekly.com/thesnitch/201 ... cer_be.php