Aside from being the Snow Queen…

Wednesday, November 18th, 2009 | All Posts by Elana Altman, SFB Scene | No Comments

The past few weeks I have been fortunate enough to work with Renato Zanella on his new piece for the 2010 Season.  The first thing that struck me about him is that he came very prepared.  More than just seeing the piece in his mind, he could show us the steps with his body, making it easier for me to learn what he wants and how to do it.   Of course the steps morphed when Renato saw them on our bodies and with our pointe shoes.  Some swivels that worked so well in his socks were not quite the same with our hard boxes and shanks!  Since Renato was familiar with almost every step of his ballet when he arrived, the daunting task of creating an entire ballet in three weeks was accomplished.  We had the first run-through tonight and it looks fantastic!  I’m learning the Storyteller role–a somewhat dark, mysterious creature.  It’s fabulous and I’m eager to see the ballet come to life on stage next spring.

In other hours of the day I’m rehearsing Forsythe’s in the middle, somewhat elevated, one of my all-time favorites.  And then there’s Nutcracker right around the corner.  One thing I love about this Company is that during one hour I’m doing crazy contemporary movement, throwing myself around to the extreme, and the next hour I’m in a tutu dancing Queen of the Snow.  It is that variety and contrast on which I thrive.

Elana Altman and Brett Bauer in Tomasson's Nutcracker. (© Erik Tomasson)

Tags: Elana Altman, in the middle somewhat elevated, Nutcracker, Renato Zanella

Two Programs Down, Six to go!

Tuesday, February 10th, 2009 | All Posts by James Sofranko, Behind the Scenes | No Comments

Happy New Year, can you believe its 2009? I’m sorry for my lag in blog entries, but I’m new to this, blogging takes time and dedication I’m realizing…and most of my energy in those departments is already taken with my full time occupation and love-dance! But here and there I get a break so hopefully between naps and meals I can squeeze in some more entries.

James Sofranko rehearses Yuri Possokhov's Diving into the Lilacs with Dana Genshaft. (© Erik Tomasson)

We just finished two weeks of alternating Programs 1 and 2…a nice intro. to the performing season; two new ballets for me, first the world premiere of Yuri Possokhov’s Diving Into the Lilacs, and also William Forsythe’s in the middle, somewhat elevated. They were both very different and challenging. Anytime you are doing a world premiere, the expectations are very high and the pressure is on everyone- the choreographer, the costume designer, the dancers, etc. There’s always potential for someone’s fuse to blow. So it’s an exciting time at least; there’s a bit of risk involved, nobody really knows how the audience will react, if the lighting cues will be just right, if the dress will stay where its supposed to, if we will hit our triple pirouette or not, etc… Of course, everyone involved here at San Francisco Ballet is of the highest quality and professionalism, so those risks are definitely minimized, and no one lost their cool (too much). I hope you liked Yuri’s piece, I can’t really comment on it because I haven’t seen it from the front. The set looks amazing from stage though, and I’ve heard its striking from the house too. Yuri seemed pleased and most people I’ve talked to enjoyed it very much.

In the middle, as we abbreviate the title, was a blast to dance. I’m sad that its over—I danced it three times and I have my fingers crossed that we will do it again next year. The atmosphere on stage is so casual, like we’re just tossing off some phrases in the studio for each other, that it actually relaxed me and made me less nervous. There’s a lot of eye contact, and a friendly sort of competition among the cast that gets everyone’s energy up. I danced with Sarah Van Patten, who is great to work with; we actually first danced together years ago at Chautauqua, a summer dance program in upstate New York, in Balanchine’s Tarantella. We’ve come a long way from Tarantella to in the middle. The partnering is unlike most ballet partnering, with the guy posing behind the woman holding her up and making sure she’s on balance. Here it’s more of a physical push and pull of each other’s weight, and the woman definitely takes on a more active role in the partnership. Forsythe’s choreography is also very extreme: you make use of the length of your arms and twist in your upper body just as much as you use your legs. That makes dancing the piece about twice as tiring, but I don’t think anybody minds—it’s fun to work hard, it’s fun to push your body to new limits: to see how far can I actually reach my arms and fingers to the sky, how wide can I make my back, how much can I stretch out this phrase without being off the music? These are all questions that Laura Graham, our coach, sent by Mr. Forsythe, asked us to explore. There was a lot of individual exploration in this piece, we were even asked to improvise certain sections. I had to improv some phrases by watching Katita dance and imitating her movements with just my knees. Not your typical day at the office…;) Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it as much as we did dancing it, and I hope we can continue to do different and exciting things like In the Middle, Somewhat Elevated here at SFB.

I’ll be back, probably to talk about Swan Lake next. Pssst….you don’t want to miss it (the show that is). -J

Tags: Diving into the Lilacs, in the middle somewhat elevated, James Sofranko, Swan Lake, William Forsythe, Yuri Possokhov