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

Will Tyler Make it?

Thursday, April 9th, 2009 | All Posts by Quinn Wharton | No Comments

The fact that we ended Program 6 today feels strange, like the run is cut short, but that might also be because we had the day off on Monday. When you rehearse so intensely, and then have a day off, it can be hard to get back into character right away (like for West Side Story Suite). 

 For me, it’s been interesting to watch Within the Golden Hour from the audience. When we first premiered it as part of the New Works Festival last year, there were so many new pieces that I think it got a little lost in the shuffle. But now it’s had a chance to sit with the dancers (we performed it a lot on the American Tour) and it’s in between two very different pieces—Stravinsky Violin Concerto and West Side Story Suite—and I just love it; I think it’s a beautiful piece.

I go through phases where I don’t watch from the audience as much and then there are times when I can’t get enough, and I’m aware that I’m watching one of the best ballet companies in the world.  I also go to support my friends in the Company.

What I’ve noticed is that, as a dancer, you naturally tune into dancers of the same sex, when you’re in rehearsals or class—because how they move relates more directly to what muscles you’re using for a given combination or step. But when I watch a performance, I look at the artistry of all the dancers. I’ve noticed that in performance, especially a pas de deux, the female dancers seem to have more latitude to interact with the audience while their partners have to be more focused on supporting them. That changes with more contemporary choreographers like Wayne McGregor, who requires a different kind of partnering.

Yesterday, I went and met a friend who is a former winner of the TV show The Amazing Race. We filmed him training and did an interview; his next project is to try and run across Iran. He’s now waiting for his visa to get approved, and we’ll see if he makes it.

Tags: Quinn Wharton, The Amazing Race, West Side Story Suite, Within the Golden Hour

Pic of the Week

Thursday, April 9th, 2009 | Pic of the Week | No Comments

San Francisco Balllet in Wheeldon's Within The Golden Hour which The San Francisco Chronicle calls "one of Wheeldon's best works and one of the company's finest hours." (© Erik Tomasson)

Tags: Wheeldon, Within the Golden Hour

Five More to Go!

Wednesday, March 25th, 2009 | All Posts by Pascal Molat, SFB Scene | No Comments

The season is not yet over but I feel like I’ve already been doing a marathon. Out of 17 ballets on the season, I’ve performed 12, so five more to go! Knowing that I had this many ballets to dance over the season, made me take a different approach this year; I’ve been trying to pace myself and be more relaxed. Between the fall tour, Nutcracker and the start of the season, a lot of work has been done already.

Right now, I’m working on “Rubies”, Within the Golden Hour, and Russian Seasons, all three of which I’ve never danced before. I’m very excited to dance “Rubies” because it’s a very dynamic and playful pas de deux, with a lot of elegance. I’m also looking forward to Russian Seasons, a ballet by Alexei Ratmansky, who I had the pleasure of working with on Le Carnaval des Animaux in 2004.

Right now, I am planning my own rehearsals with my partners, so I can be very prepared for these upcoming ballets. For me, the end of the season will be fireworks with Double Evil—a ballet that is very physically challenging but such a pleasure to dance because it feels very close to my own, natural style. It will be like finishing a marathon with a sprint. As soon as the ballet season is over, I will jump into working with A.C.T. on The Tosca Project for a week, before flying to France for vacation.

Tags: Double Evil, Le Carnaval des Animaux, Nutcracker, Pascal Molat, Ratmansky, Rubies, Russian Seasons, Tosca, Within the Golden Hour