After much deliberation, we’re delighted to announce that our very favorite tweet belonged to @Naturalnorm, who wrote: “#Onegin meets and Friends Tatiana. She spams him. Outraged, Onegin deletes Lensky. Tatiana unFriends Onegin.” Congratulations to @Naturalnorm, who wins a free ‘SF Ballet Sampler’ Mini-Package offering tickets to three fantastic performances!

However, the quality of submissions was so high that we felt we simply had to offer runner-up prizes to six others. The following Twitter followers all win a pair of tickets to Program 2 or Program 3 performed by SF Ballet:

I personally have had a long relationship with Santo that goes back to 22 years! He’s famous for layers and using lots of different fabrics to create layering on bodices and on tutus – he’s used this method for the Onegin costumes, too. He’s got multiple layers of net on the skirt, with beautiful embroidered lace and metallic thread. He uses organza underneath. The silhouette of the dress is very flattering! Santo kept the palette similar to the original design, but wanted the look to be more authentic; he wanted them to be more historically accurate.

With rented productions such as this one, one of our biggest challenges within the Wardrobe Department involves the varying sizes of the companies. Alterations are often necessary. (Luckily, the fabric in the designs are very forgiving.) The other challenge is that there are 4 sets of principal couples here, and Tatiana has 5 costume changes, alone!

We’ve also made our own nightgown for Tatiana out of extra scraps from National Ballet of Canada; it will live with the production moving forward.

Fittings started in October – we try to start them at least a few months in advance. I try to get ALL fittings done in the fall, with the exception of the occasional cast change in the season. There is a team of 3 people in the Wardrobe Department working on Onegin – we spent about 16 hours on fittings and 80 hours on alterations, which is typical for a rented production of this size.

Overall, I’m excited to see the production on Opening Night! The color palettes combined with the sets will be amazing. Santo has always been known for his comfortable, pleasing palettes. He really has that talent.

Xiao Nan Yu and Jiří Jelinek in Onegin; Photo by Aleksandar Antonijevic, courtesy of The National Ballet of Canada

It’s no mean feat, but until Monday Jan. 30 we’re offering an exclusive ticket discount to our Twitter fans who rise to our ‘Tweet the Plot’ challenge.

Your mission: read our Onegin synopsis, and then tweet @sfballet with your description of the story in 140 characters or less. (Rhymes, wit and heart are all encouraged.) If we like it, we’ll send you a code for a 30% ticket discount on selected Onegin performances*.

What’s more, our very favorite tweet will also earn its author a special prize: a free ‘SF Ballet Sampler’ Mini-Package offering tickets for three exciting performances in our 2012 Season!

Remember, you must be following us on Twitter (@sfballet) to enter, and all tweets must:

• Be addressed to @sfballet (or we won’t see them)
• Contain the hashtag #Onegin to be entered
• Recognizably relate to the plot of Onegin

A glittering assemblage of San Francisco personalities speculated about the Opening Night performance and comparing notes on holiday travel and New Year’s resolutions.  As you may know (but I didn’t until a couple of years ago!), SF Ballet is rare among arts organizations because its Opening Night Gala Performance is ONLY performed that night and the following week, the Company opens its first program of the season, John Cranko’s Onegin.

We are also excited about the Post Performance Party where guests will dance the night away with the lively and exquisite dancers from SF Ballet, to live Music by Notorious and special guest DJ – SF Ballet Dancer Sebastian Vinet!

It is hard to believe that the Gala is only tomorrow – we are still working furiously behind the scenes to make sure every detail is attended to for this special evening.  It has been an honor and a pleasure to be the “CEO” of this little venture.  The Auxiliary and SF Ballet have been outstanding – I am lucky to work with such wonderful people.  The event is already a huge success and the Auxiliary is thrilled to be contributing so significantly to this beloved and important cultural institution.

See you at the Palazzo!

Photo by Erik Tomasson

Photo by Erik Tomasson

Photo by Erik Tomasson

Cooking is a lot like dancing, both are creative, passionate pursuits in which there is always something new to learn.  However, as a dancer, confidence on the stage does not necessarily translate to confidence in the kitchen. With Joanne’s help, I’m now excited to prepare my new specialty – Spicy Spanish Lamb Stew!  In fact, over the holidays, I made it for my beautiful wife and a few close friends, and there were no leftovers. While our puppy was disappointed … for me, there is no greater compliment!

If you could write a letter to your first love, what would it say?

Please note: This feature is now closed to submissions.

San Francisco Ballet’s Onegin (Jan. 27-Feb. 3, 2012) is the story of a young woman who pours out her heart in a letter to her first love—with powerful consequences. We’ve all had a first love, so now SF Ballet wants to hear from you!

Tell us: if you wrote a letter to your ‘first love’ now, what would you write? It could be your childhood sweetheart, or the ‘one that got away.’ It might be a beloved family pet, a movie star—or even a personal passion, like ballet itself. Funny or sad, light-hearted or heartfelt; send us your letters via the anonymous comment form below, and we’ll feature them in a special “Letter to My First Love” Tumblr gallery as they come in (closing date Feb 3, 2012 at 5pm PST). We’ll also print our favorite letter in our Backstage subscribers magazine.

A few guidelines:

• Length: your letter could be just a few words, or much longer, but we want to read them all  so please keep your submissions to 250 words maximum.
• Names: all submissions can be submitted anonymously via the comment form below—you don’t need to complete the ‘name’, ‘email’ or ‘website’ fields (and even if you do this info won’t accompany your letter on our Tumblr gallery). You might decide you want to include your name within your letter – it’s up to you! – but whatever you choose, remember not to include anyone else’s real name(s), or we won’t be able to feature your letter.
• Content: bear in mind that our social media audience includes many younger fans, and we won’t be able to feature any letters containing profanity or offensive language. By submitting your letter you’re giving SF Ballet the right to edit content for reasons of length or style!

Need some inspiration? Read Tatiana’s letter to Onegin, as written by Pushkin…

It perfectly tells the story of Onegin, which is quite remarkable given that he wrote an opera of the same name–yet none of that music is used! Tchaikovsky wrote so much heartfelt and emotional music that Kurt Heinz Stolze had plenty of music to choose from when he arranged the score for this piece. It’ll definitely be one of my highlights of the season and  I’ll be joined by my great friend David LaMarche from American Ballet Theatre who will help me out by conducting a few of the shows.

Yuan Yuan Tan and Ruben Martin Cintas rehearse Cranko's Onegin (Photo © Erik Tomasson)

McCall’s graciously catered the festive and fun evening and offered tasty treats that played off of our “Bella Notte” theme. The rooms were filled with joyful and excited SF Ballet supporters chatting about the upcoming season and enjoying the food, ambiance, and delicious William Hill Estate Wines and La Marca Prosecco!

On the scene at both the Launch and Patron parties was the ever-charming and fabulous SF Ballet Soloist Garen Scribner. Click here to hear more from Garen about what Gala means to the artists of the Company!

After the Gala performance we look forward to the Post Performance Party, La Dolce Vita! We like to think that it’s the best party in San Francisco. This event is unique among our wonderful cultural institutions because the Company dancers join the party and let loose with all of us after the performance. Rubbing elbows with our spectacular dancers on the dance floor is, for many people, a favorite aspect of this entire evening!

This year, we have something even more special planned…Corps de Ballet Dancer Sebastian Vinet (“DJ Conchita”) will be featured as a guest DJ.  We are all excited to check him out! The Post Performance Party is a great way to experience the glamour and excitement of the evening–come join us!

It’s also my job to figure out how to properly transfer the show from National Ballet of Canada’s  theater (The Four Seasons Center) and ensure the production fits well into the War Memorial Opera House. I have to make decisions as to where the scenery will land on stage, and make sure we stay true to the production by maintaining the same relationship that it had on stage in Canada, as well.

The most challenging part about this for us is that our stage is much bigger than what the ballet was originally set on; we’ve had to figure out how to land the show in our space. NBC has 4 wings in which dancers enter and exit through; we have 5 wings. The dancers will definitely have more room here!

Currently I’m putting together the production schedule – working closely with the artistic team to confirm the amount of time on stage required for rehearsals with tech. My team and I also need a specific allotment of time with crews to set up scenes and lighting and then to “tech the show” (walk through the show from beginning to end.) This also involves practicing scenic moves, checking the lighting cues, etc. prior to dancers being on stage.

What’s tricky about this timing is that Onegin happens after our Gala; therefore we have to setup all of Onegin, make sure it’s ready, changeover into Gala, and then we have only 24 hours after Gala to get back into Onegin with the dancers on stage!

Photo © Erik Tomasson