Saturday Matinee

San Francisco Ballet The New Works Festival: Program B

Frances Chung and Brett Bauer in Welch’s Naked. © ErikTomasson

I always learn a lot more when I watch something for the second time. This is especially true for hyped up events, or events with either no expectations or no knowledge, or events in which I have too much knowledge. The second time, I almost feel like since I know what’s coming, I can really enjoy it. It’s bad for my wallet since I have to see things multiple times, but I also get the additional pleasure of viewing different casts and their interpretations of the same roles. Welch’s Naked was not received well critically; on second viewing however, I still thoroughly enjoyed its sparkling musicality. Perhaps there is a little excess repetition in the end of the first central pas de deux with Katita Waldo and Tiit Helimets but it was hardly recognizable in my mind. The brilliant Poulenc’s piano concerto definitely propels this piece along. Vanessa Zahorian danced the lead female role, with such solid technique that often she was ahead of the beat; she is definitely more assured in her technique than in her ease in the beautiful music. Her feisty attitude was fun to watch. Clara Blanco held her own with her elegant upper body, with Frances Chung dancing surely with warmth.

Julia Adam’s A rose by any other name really separated the dancers into two groups – dancers who were comfortable dancing in this restrictive style, and those who weren’t. For the most part, the second cast wasn’t as comfortable and portrayed the striving behind actively restricting their normal comfort zones. The movements express more when danced with a deadpan irony where the movements speak for themselves, rather than when danced with obvious emotion. The exception in the second cast was Tina LeBlanc, as Princess Aurora, who was charmingly spry.

The key to Morris’ Joyride is knowing how to listen to the music. I should have known this, knowing Morris, but the first time around, I got lost in John Adam’s cacophanous pit of chaos. It’s a matter of personal taste and familiarity that I happen to prefer Beethoven symphonies to John Adams. Despite this, the stars seem to line up at every moment where I “get” it, and understand that he’s using the dancers’ movement to keep the beat here, and he’s using different dancers to follow different instrumental lines there. It speaks volumes of Morris’ ingenuity; the music near the end of the piece sounds like different instrumental melody lines are in completely independent time meters, and the dancing vividly reflects that, with different dancers following each instrumental line. Nicolas Blanc danced wholeheartedly in his solo, garnering well deserved applause midway for his energetic performance.

The biggest difference in the second viewing is the toll of the festival is beginning to show onstage. Maybe it’s because the initial excitement of the festival is over, but the raggedness of fatigue were beginning to show, with a slip here, a few nail-bitingly precarious and shaky lifts there, a missed developpe or a turn here, and a “tree” missing its branches on the hand of a dancer in the Adam piece. The mad, flailing arms in the men in Kudelka’s The Ruins Proclaim the Building was Beautiful weren’t nearly so desperate, and the hyperkinetic adrenaline of the wild Joyride was a tad muffled, which took away from the complete picture onstage. It struck me at how difficult the choreography is, and it must be a huge physical and mental challenge to take on 10 new works all at one time. There are also signs of injuries, as an announcement that Yuan Yuan Tan and Pierre-Francois Vilanoba replaced Katita Waldo and David Arce in Kudelka’s piece was made before the show. The SF Ballet has a monster weekend this weekend (four shows on Saturday and Sunday) but the season ends on Tuesday. Despite this, the company still brought its magic onstage and I left satisfied, happy to have gotten to see this program again.

Sadly, it’s the final home stretch! It’s been a great season, and what a fitting way to end the 75th anniversary season with a bang.