Josette

Are we really going to know the 2024/25 season on May 1 or is that a rumor?

Love them both and wishing each a full and speedy recovery process.

A number of years ago, I was at a performance of Turandot. When it came time for Nessun Dorma, which the entire audience was waiting to hear, the woman sitting directly behind me started humming along (and off key, though that is beside the point). I turned around, looked at her, and, genuinely begging, said, "Pleeeease." She was surprised and stopped, but it was too late, the spell of the aria had been broken by her contribution.

I was at the opening night of ABT's performance of Woolf Works. It did not begin to affect me the way The Royal Ballet did last season, when I saw each cast. Daniel Camargo was beautifully expressive as Septimus and the passages with Septimus, Rezia (soloist Sun Mi Park), and Evans (soloist Jake Roxander) came across with some meaning, but otherwise there was no depth or impact or energy (Beginnings) that could approach the level of The Royal Ballet's dancers. It was odd to be so unmoved by a work I LOVED when I saw The Royal Ballet dance it last season. I am seeing three performances this weekend (all casts).

I'm so happy to hear this news about Mlle Battistoni and not at all surprised! I can't wait to see her Giselle in May! And no one can be surprised that they loved Marcelino Sambé, as we all do!

I saw the Paris Opera Ballet in Giselle in June of 2012 when the company danced in Chicago. It was an unforgettable week and I saw three performances of Giselle and was bowled over by it. We did Peter Wright’s production in Toronto, which is excellent, but the Paris Opera Ballet’s production was a revelation.

I am attending Mlle Ould-Braham’s final performance and purchased my tickets for three Giselles as soon as they became available. I am surprised that there are still available sheets at the Palais Garnier. I remember noticing her when she was in the corps de ballet and so this is full circle for me to be able to see her final show.

Sambe and the beautiful Bluenn Battistoni! That will be an utter delight. I saw her dance Mitzi Caspar in November of 2022 and Beatrice last spring and am looking forward to seeing her Giselle this May.

Nikisha Fogo also did not dance the two performances of Mere Mortals that she was slated to dance, which was smart, as she had her first Swan Lake last Friday, which I saw. I love them separately, but Nikisha Fogo and Aaron Robison have a stunning partnership, as I had witnessed in their full-throttle, superb Romeo and Juliet last season. I could not believe what was unfolding before me: deeply felt, passionate commitment that went beyond characterization, and glorious dancing. I am returning to see their third Swan Lake next Saturday. I have been attending SFB since 2009, seeing 16-24 performance each season, and am so grateful to have seen their performance.

I wish I could think of all the Wheeldon ballets she supposedly danced. YY Tan never danced Within the Golden Hour that I recall and I think I saw all casts, with the three original featured women who created the roles being Katita Waldo, Sarah Van Patten, and Maria Kochetkova. She danced Wheeldon's Cinderella only for a year or two, sharing the role with Sarah Van Patten, Maria Kochetkova (who danced the premiere), Vanessa Zahorian, and then, in the past five years, Cinderella has been danced by Dores Andre, Frances Chung, Sasha de Sola, Misa Kuranaga, and Isabella De Vivo. When Onegin was set, she did not dance the premiere, and, again, I don't recall her dancing Tatiana for more than the first season. YY Tan has not been dancing nearly as much the past few years - including pre-Covid - and has had a lighter workload in comparison with the workload of the other female principal dancers. She did perform the very last performance of Romeo and Juliet at the end of last season, but she has not danced Juliet, Odette-Odile, or Aurora for years before that. She alternated in Winter Dreams years ago with Lorena Feijoo when it was set on the company, performed for only six performances during one season when Vito Mazzeo was in the company, probably in 2013. I was more surprised that Frances Chung was not cast in The Song of the Earth than that YY was not cast.

There’s no evidence or facts stated in any announcement I’ve read that “Mere Mortals,” which premiered less than one month ago, was the catalyst for the anonymous donation or that the anonymous donor is in the “tech business.” That is speculation about an anonymous donation. There’s a lot of wealth in California that is not affiliated with the tech business. The press release does state that the anonymous donation was in the works for two months (my paraphrase). Rojo has been very much in the public eye and even went to Los Angeles with six of her dancers for an invitational presentation, interview, and reception in early 2023, which I attended, and she gave a charming and lively interview about her background and her vision for the company.

SFB successfully danced the Kingdom of the Shades from La Bayadere, Makarova’s version, for two seasons about seven years ago.

I hope Rojo does not focus on scheduling ballets that she has danced. When the 2023-2024 programming was announced, there were photographs of her in several roles. On the SFB website and Facebook, her husband and her brother-in-law, both principals and deservedly so, are a bit too frequently featured in comparison with other male dancers.

SFB has done three McGregor works, which the dancers enjoyed performing. I like McGregors’ works and consider them the opposite of rubbish. SFB consistently commissions new works. Frankenstein was a coproduction with The Royal Ballet and performed two seasons and was liked by SF audiences, apparently more than London audiences.

I assume that the $60 million anonymous donation (and its apparent earmarking for mostly new works) to San Francisco Ballet is reported elsewhere as well as the promotion of lovely Jasmine Jimison to principal. I’m in London currently but it appears that both events were announced on February 15, 2024.