Guess which roles I didn’t dance this year?

Wednesday, December 30th, 2009 | All Posts by Luke Willis, Behind the Scenes | No Comments

This year I danced seven roles in Nutcracker. Talk about keeping a show fresh and new! I was daily remembering which steps I was supposed to do depending on which day of the week it was. Come to think of it, I had one role for every day of the week. It’s probably easier to guess which ones I didn’t dance.

As Dr. Stahlbahm and Mr. Blum from the party scene.

The Jack-in-the-Box

The Rat King sneaking around the Opera House…

As Arabian… keeping watch at Security.

Spanish!

And finally… a Cossack in the Russian Trepak. Good night, everyone!

Tags: Luke Willis, Nutcracker

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

Pic of the Week

Thursday, December 17th, 2009 | All Posts by Open Studio 455, Pic of the Week | 1 Comment

Principal Dancer Maria Kochetkova prepares to take the stage as the Grand Pas de Deux Ballerina in Tomasson's Nutcracker (© Erik Tomasson)

Tags: Maria Kochetkova, Nutcracker

Keeping the Magic of Nutcracker

Wednesday, December 16th, 2009 | All Posts by Julianne Kepley | 1 Comment

By the time the first few shows of Nutcracker roll around each year, I’d say most of the dancers in SFB are thinking about how excited they are to finally perform here at home and… HOW are we all going to get through so many shows of a ballet most of us have been dancing since we were eight or nine years old?!?  Well, this year is particularly exciting for me since I am going back on stage for the first time in a LONG time.  Having danced the Nutcracker since I was 8, I have only missed performing in the annual classic three times.  After recovering from knee surgery, I am finally getting back into my tutu and pointe shoes this year to dance the Sugar Plum Fairy and Snow Queen.

Julianne Kepley in Tomasson's Nutcracker (©Erik Tomasson)

I have to confess, it is just as exciting as when I was eight to be back on the Opera House stage, to hear the orchestra tune up and then bourrée out under the spotlight!  It’s also such a pleasure to share the stage again with so many great artists and amazing dancers, who inspire each other to bring our very best to the audience, show after show.  This is one Sugar Plum who’s really happy to be back out there again!

Tags: Julianne Kepley, Nutcracker