Open Studio 455: San Francisco Ballet Blog

SFB Scene

This Saturday, May 2, the San Francisco Ballet School will hold auditions for its 2009-2010 school year. Aspiring students from ages 7 ½ - 18 will audition for a spot in the prestigious program. For more details, click here.
The final program of the 2009 season (Program 8) opens tonight. The Company will be busy this afternoon with a dress rehearsal and then enjoy a brief break before tonight’s 8pm performance. Program 8 features works by three contemporary choreographers: Yuri Possokhov, Alexei Ratmansky, and Jorma Elo, and runs today through May 8. Click here for a preview of Possokhov’s Fusion and Elo’s Double Evil on SF Ballet’s YouTube channel.
Want to learn more about ballet firsthand from dancers and choreographers? Did you know that SF Ballet offers free lectures that are open to the public? The Pointes of View lecture series continues tomorrow, April 29 from 6pm-7pm at Herbst Theater, across from the Opera House. Local Dance Scholar and Educator Mary Wood will interview a panel about the challenges and thrills of dancing Balanchine’s works. The panel includes Artistic Director and Principal Choreographer Helgi Tomasson; Repetiteur for The George Balanchine Trust, Elyse Borne; and SF Ballet Principal Dancer Sarah Van Patten. Click here for more information.
San Francisco Ballet in Possokhov's Fusion (© Erik Tomasson)

: Principal Dancers Sarah Van Patten and Ruben Martin perform Yuri Possokhov’s Fusion during the 2008 American Tour. Fusion will be featured on Program 8 which opens April 8, 2009. Click here for a high-definition preview of the piece:

The Opera House is dark this week and the Company is across the street at 455, preparing for the final two programs of the season. For a high-definition preview of three of the works on these programs, check out our new YouTube videos of Balanchine’s “Diamonds,” Possokhov’s Fusion and Elo’s Double Evil. If you haven’t done so already, subscribe to the Ballet’s YouTube channel to receive updates when new videos are posted.
The dancers aren’t the only ones preparing for Programs 7 & 8. Wardrobe Manager George Elvin and the wardrobe department are hard at work this week fitting costumes for Balanchine’s Jewels on the Company. Stars and Stripes costumes will be fitted to upper level school boys for the upcoming Student Showcase. Additionally, costumes for Russian Seasons arrived this week (being unpacked in the photo below by Costume Production Coordinator Nancy Endy).
In case you haven’t heard, we’ve announced our 2010 Repertory Season! Read more about it here, with highlights including the return of Swan Lake and Romeo & Juliet, and the US premiere of John Neumeier’s The Little Mermaid. It’s going to be an amazing season!
Costume Production Coordinator Nancy Endy unpacks the costumes for Ratmansky's Russian Seasons.