Programme 1
http://www.danze.co.uk/dcforum/happening/1983.html

Programme 2
http://www.danze.co.uk/dcforum/happening/1984.html

Programme 3
http://www.danze.co.uk/dcforum/happening/1985.html

Finally a totally gratuitous picture (by Lloyd Englert) of Muriel Maffre and Christopher Stowell in the most lovely Sandpaper Ballet (its in programme 3)

And one gratuitous fact... we actually have on line 43 full reviews of San Francisco Ballet. We rather like them! This link will bring them all up:
http://www.ballet.co.uk/cgi/reviews_database_search/db_search.cgi?company_names=San%20Francisco

“Glass Pieces” : Choreography by Jerome Robbins; music by Philip Glass;

Arlene Croce observed in her 1983 review of “Glass Pieces” that choreographing to Philip Glass almost amounted to a commandment, “there shall be dances to music by Philip Glass.” In a sense, “Glass Pieces” choreographed by Jerome Robbins to 3 selections by Philip Glass-- “Rubric,” “Façades,” and “Akhnaten”—helps explain why this is. (Examples of choreographers whose works appeared in southern California recently include Alonzo King and Susan Marshall). “Glass Pieces” might be approached as an exploration of the durability of the balletic medium. Glass might replace Tschaikovsky, minimalism might replace romanticism, and Milliskins for tutus, but all the potentialities that we recognize of the balletic medium remain.

In overall structure, “Glass Pieces” consists of three parts each of which examines some thematic motif so essential to ballet that it might be invisible unless the dance makers of each generation remake it anew. Starting with the first, each section thinks through balletic time going from the post-modern present stopping briefly at the Romantic heritage so essential to western civilization myth making about the ballet and ends with a glimpse of primitivism.

Nobody watches and describes dance better than Arlene Croce: “ ‘Rubric’ opens pell-mell with a non-descript horde of dancers walking—barreling around the stage in various directions. Into this rush-hour mêlée drop two ballet dancers (assemblé descent), to be lost in the swarm, then recovered in time for a brief pas de deux in conventional ballet syntax.” Anybody who has been caught up in rush hour pedestrian traffic in Manhatten will recognize the overlapping tides of bodies flowing over the stage like a Wall Street intersection. The balletic movement of the three pairs of dancers who plunge through the urban riot of banal movement suggests that even in the modern age, the balletic eye can find the beautiful even in the everyday chaos. However, there’s more than this allusion to the city. Just as the big promenade (almost my favorite part of “Sleeping Beauty, Act III” and “Raymonda, Act III” abstracted the essence of the courtly life around which the fantasy ballets of the 19th century centered, so do those hurrying, insistent bodies represent the modern consciousness around which modern ballet centers—furiously paced, disconnected, anonymous.

Clearly, “Facades” is the centerpiece of the work. Croce again: “One melody oscillates like the path of a moonbeam on the surface of a lake, and the other melody spans it in slowly shifting single-note progressions carried by the high winds. Robbins translates the slow melody into a floating, rather mindlessly-beautiful pas de deux for Maria Calegari and Bart Cook, while the all but motionless oscillation becomes a line of shadowy figures inching along in profile at the back of the stage: the piddling continuity, as it were, of everyday life.”

The moon filtered stage, the plain background etched like graph paper (another reference to the urban world), and the slow line of corps girls stepping in sequence along the back of the stage in a twelve count sequence unmistakably refers to the Shades sequence at the beginning of “La Bayadere” Act III, “Kingdom of the Shades.” The corps girls might be Shades, or they might be somnolent nighthawks from our urban world. The pas de deux dancers might be Nikiya and Solor, or they might be the extraordinary souls we hope exist in our world but do not. Again Croce: “It is also a paradise of grand-scale minimalism This vision of infinity, the “Kingdom of the Shades,” is beheld by the hero in an opium trance. A key element in the choreography is ritual repetition, which also marks the work of Glass…” Croce made the connection that Glass did as Delibes and Minkus had done—presented the East filtered through their contemporary Western sensibilities (or in post-colonialist theory, created the East for their Western sensibility). I’d like to suggest that Robbins has filtered Glass’ music through the balletic sensibility and found what the ballet blanc has always expressed so powerfully and the world it represents—the world of unattainable love, of spiritual and romantic purity, of sacrifice, nostalgia, guilt, and loss. It is the domain of pure dance and of what dance scholar, Jody Bruner, called, the realm of primary narcissism. For over a century and a half, ballet choreographers have sought to bring out balletic movements’ immanent qualities—those things that it does best and the persistence of the ballet blanc is its vindication.

The last section, “Akhnaten,” completes “Glass Pieces” time trip backwards. (If “Rubric” was the city and alluded to modern reality, “Akhnaten” by contrast is pure fantasy. A cadre of men bounce and jump to percussive rhythms that echo and reverberate like there might be hills in the distance. The pounding drums seem quaint to the modern ear grown jaded on all variety of electronica—jungle, trance, house, etc. It might have been meant to be the opposite of the bright melodies of “Rubric,” but it retains its exotic quality only in the sense of those Petipa czardas and mazurkas might have seemed exotic—tamed and dreamt.

These are only some observations after having seen San Francisco Ballet dance “Glass Pieces” in previous seasons. My recollection is that the casts for London are very similar except that Tiekka Schofeld has Julie Diana’s role. I remember that it was watching the "Facades" pdd with Muriel Maffre and Pierre Francois Vilanoba (I think) that from the beauty and self-contained quality that what was going on was a re-thinking or rather re-contextualizing of the ballet blanc. I can only hope that other audiences will learn as much as I did. Jeff

Like Meunier I think the company looks incredibly strong and it was the dancers more then the repertoire perhaps I was attracted to. Pluto (the dog and 14) is not well and I have to go off but in one line (well 2 or 3 then)....

I love Robbins sense of offbeat fun in Fanfare where dancers act the parts of the orchestra - Muriel Maffre as the Harp is just so striking. Excellent opener with much mock pageantry. Mark Morris's A Garden is rather happy clappy and pleasant. Fast moving but not as strong as some of his other work perhaps (not sure about the B&Q costumes for the boys either). Possokhov's (company dancer) Magrittomania, about the painter Magritte so lots of huge green bubbles/apples kept emerging, was something of a struggle for me (sorry Renee - see her review back in SF on another link). It had the look of company choreographic workshop about it.. with designs created as a local arts school project so everything got thrown at it! However Yuan Yuan Tan brought life to it (with Roman Rykine) and I'd see it again just for her. Last piece was Balanchine's Symph in 3 Movements - the ponytail ballet. Wonderful neoclassical choreography - a real riposte to the newer works I thought. Lucia Lacarra and Yuri Possokhov were the leads - breathtaking.,,

Conclusion - wonderful, wonderful dancers, lots of different ballets some of which you will like and some you might not.. but you have to see them folks.

1. Fanfare: I was tepid about Fanfare and found it a bit chocolate-box. While it is difficult to know where to place it in a programme except at the top, it is not a compelling opener. Might be ok for North American audiences, but did not travel well. That said, I agree with Bruce about Maffre. Great costumes!

2. Pleased to see a Mark Morris piece performed by a classical company, and by dancers with conventional body symmetries. SFB gives a clearer (and more attractive) account of Morris in some ways than does his own company. Sorry if it isn't very PC to say so.

3. Magrittomania: Possokhov, its choreographer, has a striking theatrical imagination. Renee Renouf is right - it's a treat (speaking of which, great programme notes Renee - thank you! Anyone going to SFB should read them first, as the printed programme isn't hugely helpful).

4. Balanchine - we've seen Balanchine in London this summer with English and Russian accents. Excellent to see a Balanchine ballet "in clear", in its native accent. The opening is a real coup - what a corps!

And what a company! The pre-publicity wasn't overdone. A must-see.

But I left early feeling underwhelmed (and the auditorium was like a furnace).

Fanfare didn't seem to gel. Without the costumes it would be nothing. Hated the concept of the narrator and the performance. Surely it would work without.

The Mark Morris reminded me of a Paul Taylor - a compliment but not sure this will linger in the memory. Pleasant lines, skipping about but the dance equivalent of muzak for me.

Then the heat got to me and I gave up.

What struck me most was how little buzz there was last night. The auditorium was not full, lots of seats on the sides and the foyers were not that crowded - no atmosphere.

Presumably the Hochhausers are trimming costs - less front of house staff on duty than usual and the amphi restaurant closed as was crush room till not that long before curtain up.

As others have posted, the ROH online booking is nothing more than an email request service.

Despite the prices and lack of standby I got the impression there were a lot of first timers in the audience last night so hopefully the advertising is paying off.

But the piece I was most taken with was the Mark Morris. I was riveted throughout - especially with the way he subtely twisted the classical form into a vocabulary of his own. I loved the way he used 'alternative' arm positions throughout the piece - an elongated, flat palmed 'bas bras', or a floppy arms motif. Top notch!

From the general tenor of the reviews posted, I sense that many ballet.co.uk fans are more oriented towards dancer watching whereas I am more of a choreography watcher (though in the best productions, it amounts to the same thing).

San Francisco Ballet like the Royal Ballet, POB, New York City Ballet, etc is blessed with the kind of talent that very few ballet companies in the U.S. can match. This is the result of about 60 years of careful cultivation of a public, a top notch school that feeds the company, a subscriber base (over 15,000) and an endowment (about $40 million) that very few U.S. companies can match. In terms of artistic direction, Helgi Tomasson, has pushed the company on all fronts. They usually offer 5 rep productions and 2 full lengths per season at the Opera House. And, as you can imagine from a director who was a Balanchine dancer, their rep has lots of Balanchine and Robbins, and also commissions new choreography on a regular basis. In this sense, SFB is sort of a California version of NYCB. But, they also do a Joffrey by staging big, classical works of the past. For example, the company staged Makarova’s “Kingdom of the Shades” from “La Bayadere” and Nureyev’s “Raymonda, Act III.” SFB also does full lengths which NYCB only occasionally or the Joffrey do. Their “Giselle” and “Swan Lake” are true revelations. I saw both more than once, and the whole company from the artistic director, ballet masters/mistresses, coaches, principals, soloists, corps, and tech staff covered themselves with glory.

I have lots of favorite dancers (mostly the ballerinas because I tend to follow them more carefully), though I am careful to add that I rarely make comparative judgments. Among the principals I especially look for Tina Leblanc, Joanna Berman, Yuan Yuan Tan, Lucia Lacarra and Julie Diana. Tina was formerly a Joffrey principal and has had a very satisfying career with this company. She is short even for a ballet dancer, but projects a large technical and artistic personality. Her technique is pure and earnest in the way a corps or soloist dancer still trying to climb the ranks is earnest. Her dancing doesn’t tend to project outwards towards the audience like a more allegro dancer’s though she can’t really be called an adagio either. “Night” was choreographed on her and if you see that you’ll get a better sense of why. Also, she dances the “Trumpeter’s Lullaby” section of Morris’ “Sand Paper Ballet” and I’ve always liked that section. Joanna Berman is more of the home town girl of the company (born in San Rafael and trained in the company’s school). I’ve always thought of her a strongest in the narrative ballets, like “Romeo and Juliet” and “Giselle.”

YY Tan was described as “THE” ballerina to look for after Elizabeth Loscavio’s departure, but this description as a follow up act is unfair. Her career was already skyrocketing before Loscavio’s departure a few years ago. YY started out as the company’s supreme technician. She projects an uncannily serene stage presence even in the midst of the most demanding variations. She also has that supra-attenuated ballet body that looks so correct, but gets all the criticism from ballet’s more health oriented critics. You must go see her in “Bugaku.” After YY Tan no other dancer looks quite right in the role. YY is serene, confident, beautiful but not showy or sexy. Interestingly, Muriel Maffre is often the other cast for the same roles as YY and Muriel is probably the sexiest of the principals and has a healthily athletic build.

Actually, I think if you were to read the San Francisco papers, it would be Lucia Lacarra who is “THE” ballerina. On openings nights of most performance weeks, it seems either Lucia or Tina is cast. Along with YY, Lucia shares the prize for leanest build. Lucia’s always worth watching. Like YY, her technique is pure and like Tina her sincerity and concentration are practically unmatchable. Her Raymonda and her section of “Symphony in C” were revelations (at least to me—her performances didn’t go over quite that well with the critics). Julie Diana has always been one of my favorites. She is in the YY Tan and Lucia Lacarra mold in terms of technique (crystalline), but she exhibits probably the most of what a dance critic has called, “dance intelligence,” which is a sort of blend of performing charisma and exhibition of pure joy of dance movement. All the dancers of the company have this charisma to some extent or they wouldn’t have been taken into the company, but Julie’s is almost on another plane altogether--dance as pure joy. The only dancer I have seen who as much or more is Amrapali Ambegoankor, a Kathak dancer here in California.

Lorena Feijoo, a relatively recent transfer from the Joffrey, was one of my favorite Joffrey dancers and I was extremely pleased that she came over to SFB. She seems to be a favorite of Octavia Roca’s. Now, if Helgi Tomasson could only lure over Wendy Whelan from New York City Ballet…

There are plenty of men worth making an extra effort to see. Joan Boada, Cyril Pierre, and Pierre Francois Vilanoba always turn in strong performances. Up and coming soloists include Gennade Nedviguine, Gonzalo Garica, and Peter Brandenhof. Damian Smith has been very impressive in dramatic roles such as “The Invitation.” He was promoted to principal just this year.

The female soloists are very strong in the company, too, and I enjoy watching them as much as the principals. Leslie Young is a real standout. For some reason, she seems not be destined to make principal, which in a selfish sense is fine by me because it means I get to see her dance really great soloist parts more regularly than most principals dance theirs. Renee described her as the Butterfly in “Nutcracker” as “regal.” She makes the most of her soloist parts as if each was the pinnacle of her career. You’ll enjoy seeing her in the “Girl in Satin” part of “Sand Paper Ballet.” Vanessa Zahorian, a recent promotion to soloist, will probably soon be “THE” ballerina to watch. It’s no coincidence that she has inherited a lot of the soloist roles that were Julie Diana’s. When she comes onstage it’s like she has her own, separate spotlight. You also get a sense that though she’s still pretty young, soon she’ll be giving the principals a run for their money, at least judged by her performance in the 4th movement of “Symphony in C.” Vanessa is the other dancer for Tina’s part in “Night.”

It’s difficult for an audience to pick out from the corps with our limited exposure; but, I think that I can mention 2 or 3 without excuses. One is Megan Low, who keeps getting these really interesting demi-soloist roles, such as in Stanton Welch’s “Taiko” and “Symphony in C.” Alice Luann Lewitzke gets highlighted in such roles as the Russian Ballerina (well… the one in the blue tutu and the headpiece with the really tall, black feathers at any rate) in Tudor’s “Gala Performance” (Evelyn Cisneros was the starter for that role that rep season to give you an idea what a plumb role that is). Amanda Schull, who played Jody in the ballet school movie, “Center Stage.” I liked her as Jody and am waiting to see if her photogenicity will translate into something in the fierce competition that is the corps d’ ballet.

The bottom line for dancer watchers:

YY Tan in “Bugaku”
Tina Leblanc or Vanessa Zahorian in “Night”
YY Tan in “Magrittomania”
Tina Leblanc, Julie Diana, and/or Leslie Young in “Sand Paper Ballet”
URL for tour schedule: http://www.sfballet.org/summerfall/tour_schedule.php
URL for casting http://www.sfballet.org/summerfall/casting.php

It was after Helgi Tomasson came to San Francisco Ballet as Artistic Director that a concerted campaign was undertaken to
create the endowment of which Jeff speaks. The Hellmans were the co-chairs of that campaign and it may be no coincidence that
Chris Hellman was a one-time member of The Festival Ballet! We are very lucky to have her here in San Francisco.

Also, when it comes to San Francisco Ballet School, biographical notes indicate that a high percentage of dancers come from outside the San Francisco Ballet School training. It says something about Helgi Tomasson's taste and assessment of company needs and it also says something about the School. Training there is no guarantee for a place in the company upon graduation.
Many of the dancers who come to San Francisco with great promise spend a few months in the School and then get into the company as
as apprentices and begin their climb. This has been particularly true of several male Spanish dancers - Garcia, Castilla, Tarrado,
Martin, Jose Martin who I think is now with ENB and Felipe Diaz as well.

I would disagree that San Francisco Ballet is "like Joffrey"
with one or two full-length works each season -- make that
American Ballet Theater. If Helgi were to include some
Diaghilev, de Basil or Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo repertoire
in the next few seasons then perhaps SF Ballet could be
considered "like Joffrey." Until Ronn Guidi left Oakland
Ballet as artistic director, that honor goes to the smaller
ensemble across the Bay.

At some point, it would be nice to see some of the early S.F.
Ballet repertoire - Willam and Lew's pieces mounted by the
company and rehearsed by Virginia Johnson, who is authorized to set Lew's works.

Again, the comments are wonderfully rich.

I've wondered before about the proportion of San Francisco Ballet school graduates in the Company.

A few seasons ago I was worried that "Filling Station" would seem sort of dated, but even though I suspect some of the cultural references were lost on me, I liked it a lot. It was great fun, but like a lot of the best ballet still touched on some serious issues (like one of my professors says, even in comedy there exists the tragic potential).

I have an analysis of "Bugaku" that I was thinking of posting to get some discussion going. It's sort of longer than the average post, though, because it discusses the post-modernist insights into fundamental dichotomies public vs. private domains. But, Renee's comment on Ann Williams' post on another thread got me thinking about a post-colonialist approach.

Keep up the good work everybody!

Yes, please !
I am enjoying...eh...'speechless'
Can't hardly wait to see them !