Saturday Matinee

Frances Chung and Daniel Deivison in Balanchine’s Tarantella. © Erik Tomasson

San Francisco Ballet’s 2009 Opening Night Gala started with a burst of celebratory fireworks at the War Memorial Opera House on January 21, 2009 in a magnificent display of diverse ballet works. Keeping up the excitement from last year’s 75th anniversary season and American tour, the program was an exciting and balanced timeline of ballet’s history, as well as showcasing this company’s strengths to the fullest – starting as early as excerpts from Giselle and Le Corsaire, a strong smattering of Balanchine, and some modern choreography from Wheeldon, Elo, and Forsythe. When the programming info first got released, I was excited by every single piece that I recognized (aside from one piece that I didn’t recognize) and excitingly risky casting that included the company’s top principals and young up-and-comers. Even with a few last minute cast changes, I knew that this was going to be an evening to remember.

And so it was. The evening started off with joie de vivre with Frances Chung and Daniel Deivison in Balanchine’s Tarantella, waving to the audience as they ran onstage. Thrilling with wickedly fast tricks and high flying jumps interspersed with stylistic flourishes and a light playfulness, Chung presented clean articulated feet with a smiling and spunky confidence, while Deivison took a more casual approach and a winning presence. The end result was delightful, charming, and the most endearing performance of the evening.

Another standout was Maria Kochetkova and Joan Boada in a reworked Raymonda pas de deux, choreographed by Yuri Possohkov after Marius Petipa. Their strong chemistry in a seamless partnership made for a beautifully wrapped complete package where the steps melded together in the classical tradition with a modern twist (such as the very classical arabesque with a modern tilt, in the photo in the previous blog entry). As always, Maria Kochetkova was the epitome of breathtaking control and soft and warmly expansive grace, with Joan Boada as her strong, smoldering partner with a fire that came to life in his solos.

The whole excerpt format of a gala was completely new to me, and I got to thinking about its strengths and its weaknesses. It was interesting how this excerpt format worked in some piece’s favor, such as Jorma Elo’s Double Evil, which ended up being an exhilarating rush of adrenaline – the excerpt format eliminated my structural concerns that I had with the piece as a whole when it made its premiere in the New Works Festival. But in Giselle, the excerpt format threw the audience directly into the middle of the story by opening up on a fairytale forest, with the Wilis trotting in on a line. This sudden transport was a bit jarring, but I was immediately sucked into the story with Yuan Yuan Tan’s first arabesque, which held all the tragedy and forgiveness and love in the world. Even in this short excerpt, Tan’s moving performance spellbound the audience with an otherworldly expressiveness and gasp-inducing balances. Ivan Popov was her Albrecht (one of the last minute cast changes) dancing with lovely tall lines but marring his performance with messy landings in his jumps and turns. I’m not convinced that the pas de deux from Christopher Wheeldon’s Polyphonia worked well as an excerpt; it simply was not long enough to cast its mesmerizing spell over the audience. Expressing more of a mood, it was a leaning, stretching, contemplative exercise in highly inventive partnering and pointework. Katita Waldo’s angular lines worked well for the stark nature of this piece, with Ivan Popov as her hard working partner in which it was hard to decide if he was even dancing, but acting more as a structural support to get Waldo to the next step. I just don’t think it wasn’t long enough to weave a magical spell over the audience.

For the rest of the first half of the evening, Tina LeBlanc brought a shower of applause with her entrance in Balanchine’s Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux, bringing a delightful mix of generosity and freshness to the choreography. Despite a few hiccups in partnering, LeBlanc’s partner Isaac Hernandez made a strong impression on the audience with a budding stage presence especially in his dazzling jumps and bravura in his solo. This piece was followed by Tomasson’s Confidencias, a solo piece danced by Lorena Feijoo in a melancholy yet introspective monologue set in a saloon-like setting. I found the choreography repetitive and bash-you-over-the-head obvious, yet with stunning skill, Feijoo gave tension and momentum in every second of this piece, whether she was waltzing with herself, putting the shawl around her shoulders, or quickly turning and looking and searching, for something.

Let’s bring it home, shall we? Sofiane Sylve and Pierre-Francois Vilanoba gave the audience something to think about with the edgy pas de deux from Forsythe’s In the Middle, Somewhat Elevated. The couple kicked, fought, and grabbed each other to the athletic choreography. Sylve sporting a head of fabulously uninhibited curls (different from the dress rehearsal photo below) had the bite of a black widow, her steely toe grabbing onto the floor and every side split kick as explosive as a punch to the gut. She gave spectacular weight and gravity to her performance that was jaw-dropping as well as disquieting. The pas de deux from Le Corsaire was the spectator sport of the night, with cheers from the audience as in a sporting event. Vanessa Zahorian spun with perfect technique, while Taras Domitro’s split jumps were extravagantly dramatic. The evening ended with a rousing finish with excerpts from Balanchine’s Stars and Stripes. Pascal Molat led the men’s regiment with magnetic charisma, with the corps dancing in exuberant unity. It cracks me up to think that only Balanchine would dream up a ballet dancing regiment, but it was a glorious end to the opening night gala and an appropriate finish to a glittering jewel of an evening.

If the gala is any testament to its upcoming 2009 season, it’s going to be a really good year. 

Program 1 for San Francisco Ballet starts on Tuesday January 27. Click here for more information. 

Other links:

• Janos Gereben’s review in the SF Examiner
• sfmike’s take
• Rachel Howard’s review in the SF Chronicle