Saturday Matinee

There’s lots of fun things coming up for fall, and the newspapers are alive with fall previews. Here’s Claudia LaRocco’s NY Times fall preview (which includes SF Ballet’s upcoming season) and a more local one in the SF Weekly. And from a more audience-and-not-professional-critic point of view, here’s Patrick’s observant take on the upcoming fall offerings. I’ll be featuring some events that are coming up for fall.

Pacific Northwest Ballet principal dancer Lucien Postlewaite and former principal Noelani Pantastico in PNB’s 2008 staging of Jean-Christophe Maillot’s Roméo et Juliette. Photo © Angela Sterling

Starting this Thursday on September 24, our northwest neighbors, the Pacific Northwest Ballet, will be opening their season with Jean-Christophe Maillot’s ultra-sleek Roméo et Juliette. Maillot will be familiar to San Francisco audiences thanks to a visit from the Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo last year (Maillot is that company’s director and principal choreographer). From the images and videos being released by the Pacific Northwest Ballet, it looks to be a production that promises to update a classic into this century, with sleek sensitivity and stark emotion. If you’re not already, be sure to be a fan of their Facebook page, which is a paradigm for dance marketing, offering excellent media presentations of performance, interviews, and every fan’s gold standard – rehearsal footage. Check it out, here.

Here are some preview photos from the Pacific Northwest Ballet and an interview with the two lead couples, including a tantalizing look at the promising choreography. All photos © Angela Sterling.  Click on the image to enlarge.

Pacific Northwest Ballet principal dancer Olivier Wevers (center) with corps de ballet dancers Josh Spell and Jerome Tisserand (l-r) in PNB’s 2008 staging of Jean-Christophe Maillot’s Roméo et Juliette. Photo © Angela Sterling

The Death of Tybalt: Pacific Northwest Ballet company members in PNB’s 2008 staging of Jean-Christophe Maillot’s Roméo et Juliette. Photo © Angela Sterling

Pacific Northwest Ballet principal dancer Lucien Postlewaite and former principal Noelani Pantastico in PNB’s 2008 staging of Jean-Christophe Maillot’s Roméo et Juliette. Photo © Angela Sterling

Former Pacific Northwest Ballet principal dancers Louise Nadeau and Noelani Pantastico in PNB’s 2008 staging of Jean-Christophe Maillot’s Roméo et Juliette. Photo © Angela Sterling

Pacific Northwest Ballet principal dancer Jonathan Porretta in PNB’s 2008 staging of Jean-Christophe Maillot’s Roméo et Juliette. Photo © Angela Sterling

Former Pacific Northwest Ballet principal dancer Casey Herd and principal Jonathan Porretta in PNB’s 2008 staging of Jean-Christophe Maillot’s Roméo et Juliette. Photo © Angela Sterling

Roméo et Juliette runs from Sept 24 – Oct 4. Click here for more information.