Ballet Zaida
My good friend, Oliver Endahl, started his photography business a few years ago under the name of Revilo Valentine Photography. We danced together at the San Francisco Ballet School and he left to pursue his love for photography. He has started a collection of his photography called Ballet Zaida and has really captured some beautiful photos. When i took a trip to SF on a layoff week, I worked with him and my friends Myles Thatcher and Kristina Lind who are with San Francisco Ballet and Nicole Voris who dances for San Francisco Ballet School. Here are some photos of our shoot and some of his other photos that are my favorites.
Please visit his website balletzaida.com and become a fan on facebook and of course follow him on twitter. He’s very talented and updates with new photos pretty often.
Dylan Ward (© Oliver Endahl)
Dylan Ward and Myles Thatcher (© Oliver Endahl)
Elizabeth Powell (© Oliver Endahl)
Kristina Lind (© Oliver Endahl)
My fellow "Winger" Madison Keesler (©Oliver Endahl)
Eva Burton (© Oliver Endahl)
Nicole Voris (© Oliver Endahl)
Kimberly Braylock and Robert Goodman (© Oliver Endahl)
Elizabeth Powell and Evan Hewer (© Oliver Endahl)
Working in Washington
So I am in my third week with the Washington Ballet and my third week as a professional dancer. I arrived in DC a week or so before my contract started to get settled in and take the company’s optional “get-in-shape” classes. Taking class with out a dress-code and getting paid weekly are two things I am really liking about the company life. Everyone I have met has been so nice and the other dancers have been very welcoming and helpful while I adjust to my new life. Right now we are working on Don Quixote (staged by Anna-Marie Holmes) and a few light rehearsals for the world premier of Septime Webre’s “The Great Gatsby”. Being in a smaller sized company compared to SFB has given me 0ppurtunites to learn many parts in one ballet so I have had my brain full learning 4 different roles in Don Quixote. I have never really been around another company besides SFB so it is interesting to see how a “ensemble” or “non-ranking” company like The Washington Ballet works. In some rehearsals dancers will be doing a principle part then in the next rehearsal be in a corps spot while someone else gets there chance at a soloist role. It creates a atmosphere where everyone feels equal and part of a team.
The website of The Washington Ballet has been re-designed and launched last week. The new site is really great and has some cool videos and photo galleries to check out (….as well as my bio and headshot). Pretty soon we will start rehearsals for ballets in programs after Don Quixote in October.
To summarize the 09-10 season:
Don Quixote (October)
The Nutcracker (chor: Septime Webre, December)
The Great Gatsby (chor: Septime Webre, February)
Bolero(+) (with Nicolo Fonte’s Bolero, Karol Armitage World Premier and Edwaard Liang’s Wunderland)
Genius3 (with Twyla Tharp’s Push Comes to Shove, Mark Morris’ Pacific, Nacho Duato’s Cor Perdutand George Balanchine’s The Four Temperaments)
I hope to keep you updated soon on how everything is and what is going on. Until next time!
Been A While
HELLO EVERYONE!
I am so sorry it has taken me so long to write a post. Well, alot has happened since I last wrote about visiting Boston so hopefully I can fill everyone in. Well first things first I should tell you all that I have signed a contract with The Washington Ballet for next year! After a lot of uncertainty about where I would be headed after the Trainee Program I have decided to spend the next season with The Washington Ballet. I am very excited for all that is planned for next year in DC and can’t wait to see a city I have heard so much about.
I have finally finished choreographing my first ballet, after spending hours going over my music. I used music by Shostakovitch and hopefully can get a video of a studio-run and post it to show you. The director of the SFBS Trainee Program told me that he loved my ballet and that he wants it to be set on the next years Trainee’s and that they will perform it next year. I am so excited about this and I hope in the future to continue choreographing on other dancers.
Another big event I missed telling you about was our Student Showcase at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts. I was only able to perform one show (stress fractures) but it was neat to be part of the review in the paper. I performed the leader of the men’s regiment in George Balanchine’s Stars and Stripes but we also performed Balanchine’s Allegro Brilliante. Showcase was a lot of fun but I was definitely glad to have a rest at home before I came back to SF for the Summer Program.
Well soon I will be off to Washington, D.C. Wish me luck with my big move and I will be sure to continue sharing all of my great experiences! If you wanted to see the review of Showcase here is a link:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/05/22/DD7L17OLPV.DTL
Black and White in Boston
I just got back yesterday from a trip to Boston. I was lucky enough to be there for the US premiere of Jirí Kylián’s “Black and White” ballets. I saw the show at the Wang Theater on Sunday night and LOVED it. I have seen a video of Netherlands Dance Theater doing Petite Mort but nothing compares to watching the movement live. Although I wasn’t a big fan of No More Play and Sarabande, the other 3 ballets in the program made it so worth while. Fallen Angels, done by 8 girls, was so gorgeous and looked like a tough one to get through but the dancers performed the whole thing so amazingly. Sechs Tänze is the last piece in the series and was so entertaining. I am so glad I got to see Boston Ballet perform for my first time and I was so lucky to be able to see Kylián’s amazing works. I hope someday I have a chance to perform Petite Mort because it really is such an amazing masterpiece. Anyway, I am glad to be back to San Francisco where I won’t freeze my fingers off every time I walk outside.
My First Time Teaching
Today I taught my very first ballet class. Over the past few weeks, Jean-Yves has been giving us seminars about how to construct a class and how to use the music to get what you want out of an exercise, so that we would all be able to teach a class. Well, today was my day to teach the Trainees’ class and I had no idea it would have taken so much out of me to be able to present a class in front of my peers. I knew I was going to have a harder time teaching today than normal Trainee class because all of the Level 8 girls who are in Swan Lake were taking the class, since they had a rehearsal during the regularly scheduled Level 8 class. Even though I know all of those girls and are pretty comfortable with them, just getting up there and being in charge was quite frightening.
I had prepared all of my combinations before today, but being original with those I thought was going to be the hardest part but unfortunately it wasn’t. I was freaking out the whole time wondering if I wasn’t being clear enough, or maybe I was moving too fast or too slow, but I was so happy to hear at the end of class that everyone enjoyed it and said it really got them warm and placed on their legs. It was a great experience in all and I hope maybe that I can teach throughout my career maybe back where I started dancing in southern California or wherever I end up.
By the way, I got a new pair of tights from “Saut de Basque Dancewear” and I totally love them. One of my friends’ moms started this line of dance wear for men and it’s really great. Check the website out www.sautdebasque.com”
Russian Treasures
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….
One Down
PHEW. So yesterday I did my first show as Russian and I’m so glad I didn’t trip or fall, haha. I felt like it went okay but I’m just glad the stress of the first show is over with. I messed up the pull in from the a’la seconde turns a tad but I’m not stressing over it since one of the ballet mistresses said she was impressed with all three of us. 
I felt so blessed to have such great friends yesterday who came to see the show. (and even brought me hot chocolate and doughnuts after) My father left at 6 am from LA to drive up to catch the matinee and after words we went out for Japanese food so it was really nice to see him and he had never seen SFB before so I’m glad he got to see a glimpse of the company that I really dream of being a part of. I’m cast for Tuesday’s show with one of my good friends Steven Morse (who I’m going to cheer on in tonight’s show). So wish us both good luck and have a great Christmas. Here is a snapshot of me and Myles backstage before the show in our costumes.
Wish Me Luck!
Wish me luck everyone! I just found out today that I am cast to perform Russian on Saturday for the matinee performance of The Nutcracker! Send me your prayers i will need them to calm me down. I will let you all know how it went as soon as i get off the stage!
Nutcracker at SFB
Hello everyone Nutcracker season is coming up and I hope everyone is ready to hear the Tchaikovsky score over and over and over again… Along with a lot of the upper level guys in the school, I am performing Mouse, Page, Dragon and Horse. I did all of these parts last year but this year I am rehearsing Party Parent as well as the Russian Variation along with some of the other Trainees. I’m not quite sure the whole story behind the Russian Variation but from what I have heard it was the only part of the older version of the Nutcracker that is included in the Helgi’s new Nutcracker and it’s always a crowd favorite. Anatole Vilzak was asked to choreograph Russian on the highest level of the school boys and as a tradition the ballet masters chose a few boys every year to understudy Russian and from the past years a lot of the guys have been able to perform a show so I am hoping I get a chance to the part on stage.
Garrett Anderson in Tomasson’s Nutcracker © Erik Tomasson
Last year SFB’s Nutcracker was filmed to be part of PBS’s “Great Performances” and it is airing on December 17th and I highly recommend you all try to catch it on TV. (It’s also for sale online http://www.sfballet.org/balletshop/products/view_details.asp?id=20103199) Elizabeth Powell, who is one of my house-mates plays Clara so it’s so fun seeing her on video and all the buses and ads around SF.
Well good luck for all of you involved in any Nutcrackers and have fun during the holidays!
Introducing Ballet to High Schools
Since our first show (in Golden Gate Park) the trainee’s have done shows almost once a week. We performed a show for the major donors at the Napa Valley Opera House, a few shows at private schools in Marin County and San Francisco and most recently went to perform in Sacramento with another ballet school.
Its always interesting to see the reaction of high school students to their introduction to ballet. There is always a sort of awkward mood in the audience when the first guy in tights takes the stage but usually by the end of the piece they are all calm and hopefully have enjoyed the ballet. A lot of younger students have never really been introduced to the arts like ballet students have and sometimes I forget about this just because I have been around dance since I was 10 and live in a dorm of 24 other ballet dancers. It’s not that these people are ignorant (although some are) they just have not been introduced to the art of ballet. I think its important to show the variety of ballet to younger generations to show that its not the stereotype anymore of little girls in tutu’s. The Trainee program’s rep is so great because it is so broad and shows so many levels of ballet. We are doing “classical” ballet like Grand Pas Classique and Helgi Tomasson’s Menuetto , more “Neo-Classical” like Tomasson’s Handel: A Celebration and some very new and beautiful ballet’s done by Neumeier and Parrish Maynard.
Our Next Shows are 3 performances in the end of the month with the San Francisco Chamber Orchestra’s Family Concert series in Berkley, San Mateo and San Francisco. We are performing 3 of Helgi’s ballets, Handel: A Celebration, 7 for Eight and Menuetto. I am dancing the male solo in Handel for two of the shows and I am really excited to be performing to a live orchestra for the first time. I hope that it will be exciting so wish me luck!
Here are a few photo’s from the past couple of weeks
The VERY small but very nice Napa Valley Opera House
Kristina Lind and Stephen Jacobson in Helgi Tomasson’s 7 for Eight
Kristina Lind and Stephen Jacobson in Helgi Tomasson’s 7 for Eight
Jordan Hammond , Steven Morse and Myles Thatcher in Helgi Tomasson’s Menuetto
Jordan Hammond and Myles Thatcher in rehearsal for Helgi Tomasson’s Menuetto
Stephen Jacobson, Dylan Ward and Harrison James Wynn rehearsing John Neumeier’s Yondering
Mattia Cambiaghi, Jordon Hammond and Myles Thatcher in Neumeier’s Yondering
Mattia Cambiaghi, Jordon Hammond and Myles Thatcher in Neumeier’s Yondering
Jordan Hammond and Koto Ishihara rehearsing
Steven Morse and Koto Ishihara in rehearsal
Kimberly Braylock and Harrison James Wynn in Edgar Zendejas’ Crumbling
