Petrouchka Vignette

Monday, March 1st, 2010 | All Posts by Christina Hecht, SFB Scene | No Comments

As a BRAVO chaperone for the thirteen children in Fokine’s Petrouchka, I was amazed and rather moved when I went downstairs in the Opera House backstage and saw stacks of  the hampers that the production’s costumes came to us in, shipped all the way from the Birmingham Royal Ballet in the United Kingdom.  So old-fashioned!  Just like in the novels I loved as a child! They’re about two and a half feet tall, two feet deep and nearly four feet wide.  Made of sturdy wicker with one-inch thick rope handles and large heavy metal hinges and clasps, they’re mended with everything from duct tape and leather, to wooden braces. Each hamper is tagged “BRB” with a royal emblem, and labeled with the roles that complement the costumes enclosed. Opening night for Petrouchka and the rest of Program 4 is tomorrow!

San Francisco Ballet rehearses Michel Fokine's Petrouchka (Photo © Erik Tomasson)

Tags: Birmingham Royal Ballet, Bravo, Christina Hecht, Petrouchka, Program 4

Welcome to Club Nut!

Friday, December 18th, 2009 | All Posts by Christina Hecht | 1 Comment

Last night a group of volunteers spent a couple of hours transforming Lucy and Fritz Jewett Studio from a ballet practice space into . . . Club Nut.

Outside in the hallway, a cluster of pale blue-leotarded girls peeked in. “I’m in Club Nut! Are you?”

Today when our youngest cast members leave the Opera House after the matinee, they will be walked across the street to the ballet building and taken to Lucy and Fritz Jewett Studio. They’ll enter a huge room decorated with light-trimmed pine garlands wound around all the barres, two tables piled high with supplies for the day’s craft project, and a long buffet table where lunch will soon be served.

Welcome to Club Nut!

SF Ballet School students are a crucial resource for SF Ballet's Nutcracker! (© Erik Tomasson)

Club Nut is a service provided to the families of the student dancers, organized and staffed by ballet school parents and BRAVO volunteers. It is a safe and fun place for the children to rest, eat and play between their appearances in the matinee and evening performances of Nutcracker. For most of the children it is also a highlight of their holiday season!

San Francisco Ballet Students work on gift bags at Club Nut in December 2006. San Francisco Chronicle photo by Kat Wade

Imagine a huge, bright and warm room filled with 50 of your friends. In it are stacks of board games, friendly parents helping you do a craft project, a movie to watch, and a hot lunch. There’s a large, carpeted area where you can play, lounge and stretch with your cast-mates. Today’s menu is chicken-fried rice, macaroni and cheese, salad and fruit and upcoming meals will include spaghetti and pizza. For crafts, we’ll be decorating holiday stockings, and making lavender sachets, beaded ornaments, and quilled-paper cards.

Welcome to Club Nut!

(View a video about Club Nut made by the San Francisco Chronicle in December 2006.)

Tags: Bravo, Club Nut, Nutcracker, San Francisco Ballet School

What is there to Love about BRAVO?

Monday, November 16th, 2009 | All Posts by Christina Hecht | No Comments

I’ve written about BRAVO (the Ballet Resource and Volunteer Organization) in earlier posts, but this time I wanted to share BRAVO members’ own feedback. So at our general membership meeting last week, I did a little survey.

Methods:  Randomized, retrospective written survey posing three questions.

Materials:  Paper, pen, and goodwill.

Results:  BRAVO members love BRAVO and SF Ballet!

Well, we knew that already.  But here are some of their thoughts:

• “I love ballet and SF Ballet.”
• “My daughter started dancing here…I joined [BRAVO] when she was in Club Nut.”
• “I joined decades ago, when SF Ballet was in the red, and ballerinas were on Union Square asking for funds.”
• “I had retired…we had been subscribers for some time and loved what SFB does.”

What do these ballet lovers enjoy assisting with? One answer is a good summary: “I enjoy all activities in which I get involved throughout the years.”

And there were these specific examples: The Shop, being a Nutcracker backstage chaperone, the Nutcracker Children’s Lunch, and the Opening Night Gala.  And this one: “Working with the wardrobe staff gave me a peek into that dynamic world.”

A few closing comments:

• “This is such a great volunteer organization and the Ballet is such a wonderful place to work, I am delighted to be a part of it!”
• “I love listening to the dancers at the meetings. What a treat!”  [Last week our guests were Principal Dancers Sofiane Sylve and Pascal Molat, who talked with us about their training and history, favorite roles, personal challenges and goals.]
• “I really appreciate all that’s offered to BRAVO volunteers; you make it well worth our while!”
• “I love the SF Ballet ambiance, the staff is very appreciative, and I am delighted to be of help!”

As you can see, it doesn’t get better than that!  THANK YOU to all 200+ members of BRAVO, who work behind the scenes to help make SF Ballet the vibrant, successful organization that it is.

Tags: Bravo, Club Nut, Nutcracker

BRAVO Summer Update

Monday, July 20th, 2009 | All Posts by Christina Hecht | No Comments

Friday was a busy day in the BRAVO Office.  Angela (a ballet school parent and BRAVO member) and I spent four hours organizing craft projects that our young students will do in Club Nut this December (I’ll post more about Club Nut in December; Club Nut is where our Nutcracker student performers hang out between shows).  At the same time BRAVO volunteer Corinne, the Friday office staffer, was checking BRAVO e-mail and answering messages from members.

The reward for our labors was to see the activity happening elsewhere in the building, as Angela and I ran errands for staff.  On the second floor, the hallway was filled with students, most of them stretched out in impossible positions on the floor as they waited for their next Summer Session class, or watched older students work on learning variations. With piano music coming from every room and the chatter of students, it was a lively and heartwarming scene.

On the fourth floor, Isabelle Fokine (yes, the grand-daughter of Mikhail!) was coaching Petrouchka, while down the hall Christopher Wheeldon worked on his new ballet. My eyes filled with tears at the beauty of the dancers moving to that music . . . and my incredible good fortune to work with this organization.

BRAVO is the Ballet Resource and Volunteer Organization of SF Ballet.  We have about 240 members who put in over 10,000 hours annually doing every conceivable form of volunteer assistance to SF Ballet.  To find out more, go to bravosfb.org.

Students in class during the 2008 Summer Session. (© Erik Tomasson)

Tags: Bravo, Summer Session