About a week ago was San Francisco Ballet’s Opening Night Gala and I don’t even know how to start to explain what an amazing show it was. Most of us students at the ballet school moved away from our schools back home and have had an alternative education so it almost seems as if every year this night is our “prom”. Everyone who goes to the show is decked out in gowns and tuxes so it’s always such a special night to go the ballet. Last year I got to go to the big after party across the street at city hall because I was performing but this year I had to get back after the show because of the dorm’s curfew but seeing the show was enough of a good time for me. The performance included some great Balanchine works( Tarantella, Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux and excerpts from Stars and Stripes), Wheeldon’s Polyphonia, Helgi’s Confidencias and Giselle, Jorma Elo’s Double Evil, the world premiere of Yuri Possokhov’s Raymonda Pas De Deux, Forsythe’s in the middle, somewhat elevated Pas De Deux and the Pas De Deux from Le Corsaire.

As you can see it was quite the show and every piece was so unbelievably amazing at showing what the company can do. Tarantella was performed by Frances Chung and Daniel Deivison. This was my first time seeing this ballet and it was such a great way to start the evening. Frances is one of my favorite dancers in the company because every time I see her on stage her personality shows through and she is so consistent with all of her turns and jumps (something I myself have a problem with). Katita Waldo in Polyphonia looked so young on stage dancing you would have never thought that she is one of the oldest dancers in the company. “Tchai Pas” was performed by Tina LeBlanc and Isaac Hernandez. Tina is again another dancer that seems so youthful on stage and her jumps in the coda were pretty crazy especially when you see her around the SFB Building and see how tiny she is. Confidencias, with Lorena Feijoo was a beautiful “latin-esque” solo done with a scarf and a chair sharing the stage with a grand piano. When the lights came on again for the next piece the stage was covered in trees for Yuan Yuan Tan and Ivan Popov in Giselle Act 2 excerpts. I have never seen a dancer on stage to perform like Yuan Yuan does. Every ballet I see her do she walks on stage and everyone can’t turn away from her. When I think of a ballerina I think of Yuan Yuan. After this was an excerpt from Double Evil. This ballet is done with 4 couples and was definitely my favorite from the New Works Festival. This cast had some of my favorite guys in it: James Sofranko, Garen Scribner and Pascal Molat. All of these guys are so fun to watch and are so amazing at all of the exciting contemporary ballets. After the intermission, Maria Kochetkova and Joan Boada did Yuri Possokhov’s new Raymonda Pas de Deux. It was a very refreshing new look at a classic and I really appreciated how organic the movement was. After this was the Pas de Deux from in the middle, somewhat elevated with Sofiane Sylve and Pierre-Francois Vilanoba. Now, I have seen plenty videos of Guillem and Zakharova doing this on youtube but nothing can compare to seeing this live in an opera house with the music blasting and feeling the electrifying tension in the room. Sofiane was so whacked out and I thought it really was such a good pick for her in gala. Taras Domitro and Vanessa Zahorian performed Le Corsaire after that and it was the first time I saw Taras onstage since he just joined the company and I wasn’t around for the snow scene ever during Nutcracker. I think he fits in really well with the other male principals because he is so masculine onstage. For the big finale the stage filled up with tons of dancers in Stars and Stripes. Only the Men’s Regiment and Finale were performed but I am interested in seeing the full ballet.

Here is a picture of me and a couple of my friends before dinner and the show

As you can see I had quite the time watching piece after piece amaze and inspire me. I hope everyone in the area comes to see gala next year because it really is an amazing night and maybe I will be on stage next year….