Ginny

I am personally quite sad to see Angelo Greco depart SF Ballet. He has been one of my favorites, and his partnership with Misa Kuranaga was wonderful. I especially adored them together in Giselle last season. Houston audience is quite lucky!

The SF Ballet Saturday matinee was stunning! Nikisha Fogo was out of this world and just truly embodied the dual role of Odette/Odile perfectly. Daniel Camargo exceptional as well, but I found myself barely paying any attention to him as I could not tear my eyes off Fogo! The gorgeous boneless swan arms in the bourrees of Act 2 - she just nailed it. When Camargo did get his Act 3 solo (and I could watch him undistracted ), he was fantastic! I thought the Corps was so precise and in synch in Act 2, even better than I’ve seen of them in the past. I especially loved the Neapolitan variation in Act 3. Carmela Mayo in that role was a delight. My husband, who is only a very casual ballet observer, was blown away by the grace & athleticism on the stage. Could not have been happier with our day yesterday!

Had tickets for tonight’s show and was SO disappointed to learn of Osipova’s injury. This felt like such a treat for California - seems pretty rare to get any superstar ballet guest artists from Europe (I’m sure most go to NYC/DC/Boston if they go, since the travel is just so much easier). And the San Francisco audience seemed super excited and so appreciative of this event on the calendar. Here’s to hoping Tamara Rojo can work her magic and get Osipova back next season (or any other RB Principals - I would pay to any of them!!). My disappointment set aside, I was able to exchange my tickets for tomorrow’s matinee which is easier on my family’s schedule. And I’ll get to see Nikisha Fogo and Daniel Camargo, so I’m still super excited!

Great. Thank you! I’m so pleased to hear this. I will definitely go see it with my daughter. I wasn’t sure if the wartime setting might be too bleak for her, but this sounds lovely & right up her alley. Plus, I think the traditional character dancing in Act 3 is replicated - which is always fun to see live. Marking it in my calendar now! So it seems Raymonda is intended as the “family-friendly” ballet for next season. SFB will just REALLY need to market it well as intended for families, because many people will not know what to expect & the title is much less familiar.

I personally am thrilled with all of the English ballet Rojo is bringing to SFB, and I don’t miss the Balanchine (I’ve never been a fan. Eek - there, I said it out loud! 😆). I am especially over the moon about the chance to see MacMillan’s Manon, having never seen it live before. And also Raymonda - I have always wanted to see this as a full length ballet. I know Rojo’s reworking at ENB has gotten mixed reviews, but I will happily give it go. My only gripe with this new season - there is no light-hearted, family-friendly story ballet, other than Nutcracker. I would have liked to have seen Coppelia, Sleeping Beauty, or even a Don Q or Cinderella repeat from last season. This 2024-25 season announcement, along with SF Ballet exceptionally high ticket prices at WMOH, pretty much solidify my opinion that SFB doesn’t have much interest in marketing to families/children. (Maybe they never really have!). It’s too bad, because an afternoon basking in the beauty of the WMOH and the beauty & talent of the SFB dancers on stage is something to behold. It certainly was a formative memory for my daughter the first time we took her when she was maybe 8 or 9. Re: Rojo’s Raymonda - if you have seen it, would you consider it suitable & enjoyable for older children and/or teens?

My money is on Coppelia for another full length in 2025 - along with Alice, Cinderella, Maddadam and R&J for the 2024-25 season. I was hoping for Sylvia or La Fille, but seems very unlikely with Cinderella already in the mix. Is 6 full-lengths a possibility? I haven’t followed RB closely long enough to know. Throw Onegin in there also and I’d be pretty happy with that line-up!

Yes, I missed it then, and now am hoping $60M can bring us the entire thing!!

Yes, ABT does have Le Corsaire in its rep., but last time may have been 2019? Note interview with AD Susan Jaffe in 2022 on subject of Le Corsaire: https://spectrumnews1.com/ap-top-news/2022/05/09/former-ballerina-susan-jaffe-to-lead-american-ballet-theatre

Thrilled about this!! Have already put in my request for updated versions of La Bayadere and/or Le Corsaire. These ballets are not performed in the US anymore. Revised versions that keep all the amazing classical choreography & eliminate some of the problematic storyline elements would be a huge win in my book. Otherwise, these ballets are going to die out. Rojo was a gorgeous Nikiya herself (have only seen the RB’s DVD with Acosta as Solor). I am hoping she will want to pass that legacy on. 🤞🏻

Kathryn Morgan (former NYCB & Miami Ballet soloist) really had embraced adult ballet and has so much to offer online for adults - both those just beginning ballet & advanced students. She is even offering ballet weekend workshops focused on adults, to learn technique and also classical ballet choreography. I think it’s brilliant! She has a lot of online classes & tutorials available also - some are free and others you do need to subscribe for the content. She posts a lot of technique tips on Instagram. Definitely recommend checking out her site: https://kathrynmorganonline.com/

Definitely check out Medici TV. It has a big focus on symphony and opera, but a lot of ballet as well. I had Marquee TV for a while, but maxed out what I wanted to see there, so switched over to Medici to get some different things. I did notice that a lot of the ROH things in Marquee are the same as what you can see on ROH streaming, so that wasn’t a plus for me, as I had ROH as well. And I also check out Amazon Prime for the occasional rental when I can’t find something on any other service (e.g., full length classical Raymonda. Hard to find! I did find it on Prime by POB).

Well, you were quite right! SF Ballet announces Yuan Yuan Tan’s retirement and her final performance will be as Marguerite on (appropriately) Valentine's Day. https://www.broadwayworld.com/san-francisco/article/Principal-Dancer-Yuan-Yuan-Tan-to-Give-Final-Performance-with-San-Francisco-Ballet-in-MARGUERITE-AND-ARMAND-20240112

If your question is about what is available to watch on the ROH stream when watching from the US, it appears to be the same as what you see in the UK. I am not aware of any of the US ballet companies having launched anything remotely like the ROH or POB streaming services, so I turn to Europe to get all my streaming content!

It is already available to watch for subscribers! Enjoy

It was a live relay from Milan. I haven’t checked to see when/if it will be available to replay.

I just watched this streaming live on Medici TV - it was glorious! Please, does anyone the back story to the Act 3 variations in Ratmansky's new version? I was a bit unclear on who the woman in dusty rose red, the man in the blue Greek/Roman-style costume, the male gypsy-style character, etc. were supposed to be portraying? I am not familiar enough with this ballet to know who these characters are historically. Thanks!

I just subscribed myself when I saw this offer - early Xmas present to myself! So far have only watched one thing, but no issues so far. The number of full length ballets by a variety big name companies worldwide is impressive, including many full-length productions no one seems to perform much anymore here in the US (Raymonda, Paquita, La Bayadere, Le Corsaire). Seems worth a try in my book.

I did the ROH behind the scenes tour earlier this summer with my family (visiting from the US) and really loved it. Even my husband who doesn’t know/care much about ballet! We happened to see Francesca Heyward warming up to rehearse, multiple principals’ pointe shoes on display (cool even for me, the adult, to hold a pair of Marianela Nunez’s shoes!), and many stunning tutus on display. To me, the Freed shop was a little underwhelming (in comparison). Hope you enjoy!

Oh that's glorious! I just went to watch the ENB Cinderella trailer again (had watched it earlier, but had not really caught the theatrical element of CInderella's coach and how it's executed). Thanks for the tip!

Oh I am so thankful for this info! Just booking Cinderella in the round at RAH for my kids' first trip to London, and I'm so glad to hear the positive reviews. I also found this link helpful on the RAH site: https://www.royalalberthall.com/plan-your-visit-essential-safety-information/venue-and-seating-plan/view-from-your-seat/ It has a separate link for productions set up in the round.

Interesting mix, and I think it's exciting! I hope it will be a success. I, for one, am thrilled to see the Marguerite & Armand and Song of the Earth. English style in SF - yay! I wonder how long they will wait to decide on what Encore A will be? Interesting to take the "wait & see" approach, perhaps? What does anyone know of Broken Wings (the Frida Kahlo piece)? I am unfamiliar.

Does anyone know the date when SF Ballet will announce for 2024 season?

I love all the ribbon choreography in La Fille. I think the various PDDs have lovely choreography with some beautiful lifts. The corps gets a lot of great ensemble bits. The scene with the Dutch door is enchanting. The love story seems real (maybe because Lise & Colas (sp?) are supposed to already be in love and they are being prevented from being together, whereas in some other classical ballets - the hero falls in love with heroine at first sight! Which is unrealistic, we all know.). And I think it is a great ballet to introduce children to the ballet.

Well, ROH just posted the chicken dance from La Fille on their IG page as a “Happy Easter” blast, so maybe there’s hope for La Fille! 😊🤞🏻

I love hearing everyone’s ideas! I am a longtime ballet lover but fairly new to the RB repertoire (American fan girl from afar!). I have recently subscribed to the RB stream and have spent the last months devouring all the ballet I can get my hands on. It is a wonderful thing for this of us who live across the pond! A few questions to this group: 1). Does anyone know if new productions (Cinderella?) will eventually make it into the stream, and if so, how long it will take? 2) Since I don’t have a long term history with RB repertoire, there are a few ballets that I have never seen mentioned and so just wonder if RB ever does them, and if not, why not? - La Sylphide? - Les Sylphides? - Le Corsaire? (Is this because ENB does it?) - Jewels? (Although I did see that Diamonds was part of the Jubilee last fall) And I echo the desire to see La Fille - I just love that piece and it has so much wonderful (and unique) choreography, both for the corps and the leads. I would hate to see it disappear. I also would love to see Sylvia show up again.