Comments on: Review: San Francisco Ballet’s Swan Lake

By: jolene

jolene — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 03:56:38 +0000

Oh good, I’m glad I’m not the only one who counts fouettes. I wish you could have seen it, Tonya. It would have been interesting to hear what you thought, especially since Sarah Van Patten’s as polarizing as ABT’s Veronika Part.

By: tonya

tonya — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 03:41:56 +0000

What an excellent review, Jolene — so richly detailed! I always love to hear about different versions of Swan Lake and it sounds like this production, unfortunately, was lacking. But, you’re right, it’s the dancing that counts anyway. ABT dancers have saved many an underwhelming production for me Oh, and I count the fouettes too

By: jolene

jolene — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 19:58:24 +0000

I’m always open to hear about what other people thought of the show! Lucia Lacarra must have been wonderful. That annoys me too – the winging wrists – Lorena Feijoo tends to do that sometimes. Is it a pet peeve, and why do I find it so annoying??

By: Justanotherdancer

Justanotherdancer — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 00:06:54 +0000

As I recall a while back when I saw Lucia Lacarra (whe she was a SFB principal) dance the white swan Adagio, it was breathtakingly beautiful and emotionally touching. Although she tended to wing her wrists like crazy (and she still does), it was perhaps because of her dancing, I had come to appreciate the Adagio much more.

By: Justanotherdancer

Justanotherdancer — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 23:58:05 +0000

I think Sarah Van Patten has finally matured into an artist. Most new pricipal dancers pay too much attention to techniques, but when one has achieved great technique, and begins to emerge as an artist, the result is wonderful to watch.

I don’t mean disrecpectful to you, this is your site and I don’t feel like writing my own Swan Lake review here. However, as I saw it, this SFB new Swan Lake production was screaming “help!” here and there. The first act left so much to be desired. The adagio in second act was merely ok, and the third act was simply a … joke. So I said it, hope SFB fans don’t hate me.

I admire Mr. Tomasson so much, but when it comes to new choreography, I don’t think Mr. Director is a great choreographer. Sometimes, one would show great intelligence by knowing his own limitation, and bringing help in order to succeed. A 3-million-dollar budget and this is t he “best” one could come up with, I am disappointed.

By: jolene

jolene — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 16:56:15 +0000

Hi Katrina, I totally thought it was a waste that there was only one chance to see her perform as well, and now we have to wait 1+ years to see her again. I wished I had a chance to recommend it to others so that others could experience it for themselves.

Amy, I’m looking forward to Rachel Howard’s take as well. Six Odettes/Odiles – I’m a little bit envious that she got to see all six, yet it must have been a marathon. I caught a glimpse of her at the Thurs performance.

By: Katrina

Katrina — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 16:24:59 +0000

I saw Sarah Van Patten’s performance on Thursday night and was amazed by her performance. She is one of the most musical dancers I have ever seen. She fills the stage with her intensity, sensuality and musical artistry. It is a shame she only had one opportunity to dance this role. For her first time she was outstanding. Imagine if she had a chance to do 5 shows instead of one?! Van Patten is also a very versatile dancer. She seems to be extremely comfortable in contemporary works but it was good for her to demonstrate she can handle the ultimate ballerina role with such aplomb.

By: Amy

Amy — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 10:00:10 +0000

I wish I had seen Joanna do it. She was one of those performers, much like Evelyn Cisneros, that made you feel she was dancing just for you. I was very curious what others thought of Sarah Van Patten’s performance so it has been great discovering your site. I do like the new production, though it received somewhat of a mixed review from Rachel Howard at the Chronicle. I look forward to reading her take on the various casts tomorrow.

By: jolene

jolene — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 05:57:44 +0000

Hi Amy, thanks for commenting! I hear that a lot about Sarah Van Patten, and I find her as polarizing as Veronika Part of ABT. I happen to enjoy her performance (and I think it even took me a few times to see her, b/c she didn’t stand out before then), but as you say, to each their own. I understand why people think she’s boring, even though I don’t agree all the time. I think it’s fun to talk about, and I’m always interested in what others think of the same performances that I see (and the ones I don’t see!). Thanks for sharing your opinion.

Evelyn Cisneros must have been wonderful. Maffre seems like an unconventional choice, but I’m sure she was fab. I would have liked to have seen Joanna Berman as Odette/Odile – I saw her perform once in college in Romeo and Juliet, did you see her Swan Lake?

By: Amy

Amy — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 23:34:17 +0000

I hate to say it, but even from my orchestra seat, Sarah Van Patten’s forgettable performance left me cold. I didn’t feel she had enough emotional depth to carry off Odette never mind Odile and while some find her dancing subtle, I think it verges on boring. Popov didn’t do much for me either. Oddly in this production Von Rothbart is not as menacing as I remember. The corp however, were exceptional. Throughout Thursday night’s performance I couldn’t help but remember seeing Swan Lake with Muriel Mafre, Yuan Yuan Tan and best of all, Evelyn Cisneros and Tony Randazzo. Too each his own I guess.