Countdown to China: the big day is here!

Thursday, September 17th, 2009 | Perpetual Motion: SFB on Tour | 5 Comments

Getting ready to embark on our tour of the People's Republic of China

I am Robert Russo, San Francisco Ballet’s Company and Touring Manager—and if I do say so, I have the most fabulous job in the world! Each day I have the great pleasure to work side-by-side with the most incredible dancers anywhere. In addition to managing the day-to-day activities of our dancers, I am responsible for managing San Francisco Ballet’s touring both here in the U.S. and around the globe. This brings me to my very first post on Open Studio 455: SFB’s tour to the People’s Republic of China.

As I’m writing this, we are just about to board a bus to the airport to check-in for our 13-hour flight to Shanghai. This is SF Ballet’s first tour to the People’s Republic of China. We will be performing four performances at Shanghai’s Grand Theatre and three more at Beijing’s Poly Theatre.

Dancers Pauli Magierek and Lily Rogers in the lobby surrounded by bags

In the months and weeks leading up to this day, I’ve been hard at work, along with many of my colleagues at the Ballet, gearing up for this big tour. I thought I’d share with you one vital aspect of our tour prepartions: Chinese visas.

In order to travel and perform in the People’s Republic of China, we had to organize special visas for the entire touring company of over 100 people. This may sound like a simple task, but in fact, it took a team of four people—myself, Jane Shaffer and Evan Wagoner-Lynch (my trusted colleagues at SFB), and Margaret Leonetti (my long-time, wonderful BRAVO volunteer)—all of whom spent countless hours with me preparing documents, organizing photographs, proofing the applications, alphabetizing the Company’s passports, and getting everything ready for me to take to the Consul General of the People’s Republic of China in San Francisco for processing. The visa process alone took over a month and seven different in-person visits to the Consulate. All of the dancers, artistic staff, technical crew, and administrators have their passports now, with their special Chinese visas.

I’m excited to share with you the news from China in the days and weeks ahead. Stay tuned to Open Studio 455—I’ll write more once we land in Shanghai and get the Company settled in.

Ciao, Robert

And we're off...Wish us luck!

Tags: China Tour, Lily Rogers, Pauli Magierek

Just Two More!

Saturday, May 9th, 2009 | All Posts by Lily Rogers | 1 Comment

The end is near.   It is closing weekend here at the ballet and there seems to be a collective sense of readiness amongst the dancers.  We have had a long and exciting season, but our bodies are ready for a little bit of a break.  We have spent much time together over the past ten months and though we are supportive of one another and have thoroughly enjoyed spending the season traveling and performing together, it’s time for a short hiatus.  We scatter ourselves across the globe, most people going home, on vacation, or on various performance guestings.  It’s a time for rejuvenation, healing, and a little Vitamin B, a time for nursing that ankle that never fully recovered, that blister that just won’t go away and pedicures to hide those not so lovely toenails!   

Lily Rogers in Company Class onstage in Washington, DC (© Erik Tomasson)

As I write this, I have only two performances left.  Woohoo!  Both shows are Program 7: the full-length, yet abstract, Jewels.  I will be doing a Demi-Soloist role in “Diamonds” for both performances and the “Tall Girl” in “Rubies” for the last show.  I absolutely love doing “Rubies”; it is fast, free, and fun.  The ballet is the most American-feeling of the three, with a Stravinsky score and short, bright red costumes.  The lead girl opens the ballet crab-walking on pointe down the center of the stage.  She then stops mid-walk, facing the audience, and pushes her arms into a clean second position, almost as if she’s challenging the audience.  She is clearly playing leader of the pack for most of the ballet, but steps down from her role at one point and allows herself to be manipulated by the four men in the ballet.  They lunge for her feet and arms and slowly move her body into different shapes.  This is the only point at which she is not in complete control.  I feel very lucky to dance something I like so much on the very last day of the season. 

Lily Rogers, Ruben Martin, and Maria Kochetkova in Double Evil (© Erik Tomasson)

Last week I performed Double Evil again, which was simultaneously a total blast and completely exhausting.  Every time I perform that role I have more fun with it.  Here’s a secret: I was really, really nervous the first time I performed that part.  I’m so glad I was able to grow into the role and really have fun with it this year.  The music is so fantastic, how could I not be inspired?  The ballet is comprised of two totally different scores, by two very different sounding composers.  I open the first movement, which is slow and simple, to music composed by Vladimir Martynov.  Then, when the entire ensemble is onstage, there is an explosion of light, music, and sound.  The piece breaks into loud, fast paced Philip Glass.  It is very percussion-heavy, with 16 drums in the orchestra pit.  It’s a really fun rollercoaster of a performance, though very physically challenging.  I did both of my shows in the same day, and had to do “Rubies” again the next day. Suffice it to say, I was more than thankful to have a massage that Monday. 

Now, I would like to take this opportunity to mention that Tina LeBlanc is retiring this Saturday night.  After 17 wonderful years with the company she is ready to move on with the next chapter of her life.  She has given herself to the profession and is an inspiration and light onstage and off.  Her Farewell Performance is this Saturday, which will undoubtedly be a memorable evening.  She will be performing some of her signature roles with film clips and speeches interspersed throughout the show.  She will be dearly missed. 

I would like to wrap up by saying that it’s been a wonderful season and I have thoroughly enjoyed (almost!) every single moment.  From the beginning with the American Tour, to Nutcracker, to Gala and finally the home season. I feel I learned a lot, grew as a dancer and am so happy to dance for a company that performs such a wide array of works in its repertory.   
 
Happy Summer, be back in July!

Tags: Diamonds, Double Evil, Jewels, Lily Rogers, Rubies, Tina LeBlanc

Lily’s Season Wrap-Up

Wednesday, April 29th, 2009 | All Posts by Lily Rogers | 1 Comment

I’m back blogging after a very long absence.  I apologize for the silence, but I have been keeping myself very busy for the past few months.  I would like to take this opportunity to catch everybody up on what’s been going on since our 75th Anniversary tour concluded last fall.

When we got back from Washington, DC, we prepared Nutcracker in less than two weeks.  Luckily the majority of the dancers know Nutcracker inside and out and we didn’t have much trouble putting the whole thing together.  We performed to very full houses almost every night and I think, especially this particular winter, the performances provided a lot of extra holiday cheer to everyone, young and old.  After thirty-one performances we were very ready for our one-week break, but we knew that we would really be getting into the swing of things by the time January came to a close.

Lily Rogers and Daniel Deivison-Oliveira in Balanchine’s The Four Temperaments (Choreography by George Balanchine © The George Balanchine Trust; photo © Erik Tomasson)

We got things rolling with Gala on January 21st and opened Programs 1 and 2 just a week and a half later.  I was lucky enough to not only revive my original part as 1st Theme in The Four Temperaments, but I had the opportunity to do Choleric as well.  Choleric is the fourth and final theme of the ballet. Right when you think the ballet’s over, Choleric comes flying out of the wings in a blaze of fury.  It is clear that this role must express anger and shows it by the sheer force and expansiveness of the steps Balanchine created for the part.  It was amazing to do and I relished in the opportunity to sink my teeth into a new part of a ballet we had performed so many times already.

After closing our first two mixed-rep programs, we began preparations for Helgi Tomasson’s brand new Swan Lake, which was an undoubted success!  It was unbelievably exciting to see it take shape.  Watching the sets come together for the first time, trying on our brand new tutus and hand-made feather head caps, and seeing the long awaited vision become a reality was very exciting.  We put in a lot of work to make it happen and there were definitely a few kinks that we had to work out, like with any new work.  It went off without a hitch, by the way.  I felt so fortunate to be a part of the process and had a wonderful time as a Swan Maiden with Elana Altman. Helgi made a few choreographic changes from his original version, including cutting down the number of Swan Maidens from four to two.  I also had fun playing the part of the Spanish Princess in the third act.  It was a nice reprieve from the sometimes stressful, precise accuracy that is demanded of you when being a swan.  Swan Lake was a challenge for me, in that I really had to focus on my classical technique, especially my classical port de bras.  I think I got a lot out of the experience and I feel very blessed to have played a part in the premiere.

Lily Rogers rehearses Tomasson's Swan Lake (© Erik Tomasson)

We were so happy to hear about the success of the production, especially during this difficult economic time. I’m so happy to see that it became such a success and look forward to doing it again next season.  I recommend you get your tickets ASAP!!

After Swan Lake closed we opened up with an all Mark Morris Program and another mixed-rep program consisting of Helgi’s On a Theme of Paganini, our premiere of Lilac Garden, and The Concert.  I had a full plate learning two Morris ballets and performing Paganini every night, but I have to say, it almost felt like a break after the intensity of the previous full-length.

I really loved Program 6 and every single ballet in it. I thought it was a wonderful mix and the way each ballet was juxtaposed against the other intensified their individual strengths all the more.  The evening opened with Balanchine’s Stravinsky Violin Concerto.  It is one of his more abstract pieces with some of my favorite music of all time.  True to form, the costumes are minimal, girls in black leotards and boys in white t-shirts and tights so the audience can clearly see the unique shapes we are creating with our bodies.  In one of the principal pas de deux’s the girl goes into a bridge and rolls her body over and over again until she has crossed the stage, outlining the shape of a sliver of moon.  I was one of the tall corps de ballet ladies. Though there isn’t a ton of dancing for us, the ballet was still fun to perform and there was a real sense of camaraderie during each performance because the music is so mindblowing in its complexity.  We were constantly looking across at each other to make sure we were together, on the right count, in the right formation and even if we lost the music we knew that, as a whole, we could stay together.  In a Stravinsky ballet, that’s what’s important.  The music can be so erratic that it’s easy to get lost at least once or twice.

San Francisco Balllet in Wheeldon's Within the Golden Hour (© Erik Tomasson)

Within the Golden Hour was sandwiched deliciously in between Violin Concerto and West Side Story Suite.  I performed the corps role I helped create for the New Works Festival last year and had the opportunity to perform a lead pas de deux, as well.  I had a lot of fun with both parts this time, mostly because we had preformed this ballet so much by that point that I was able to relax in to them a bit more.  I found time to explore new movements and feeling onstage, which is always fun.  I feel like I was able to expand on both roles and really see how far I could take them.  Finally, there was West Side Story Suite which is just fun.  There are no pointe shoes and no stressful balances or pirouettes; the scariest part for me was the singing.  I had a ball getting to play a mean-tempered Jet girl in “Cool”, crouching down low to the floor, looking spiteful and screaming at the top of my lungs in the opera house (which by the way, is something I thought I would never do).

We are performing our final two programs of the season right now.

Bye for now, more later.

Tags: Elana Altman, Gala, Lily Rogers, Mark Morris, Nutcracker, Stravinsky Violin Concerto, Swan Lake, The Four Temperaments, West Side Story Suite, Within the Golden Hour

Pic of the Week

Tuesday, March 17th, 2009 | Pic of the Week | No Comments

With leg warmers under her costume, Corps de Ballet Dancer Lily Rogers rehearses on stage before a performance of Tomasson's On a Theme of Paganini (© Erik Tomasson)

Tags: Lily Rogers, On a Theme of Paganini, Program 4