Saturday Matinee

Yuan Yuan Tan and Tiit Helimets in Tomasson's Prism. © Erik Tomasson

Last weekend, I made my annual trek to Stern Grove for the opportunity to see San Francisco Ballet perform in the gorgeous outdoor setting there. One of my favorite things about this performance is that it’s never just about the performance itself. It’s impossible to talk about this performance without mentioning the gorgeous outdoor setting and the huge audience spread out all over the hillside, all enjoying themselves and having a good time in this more casual atmosphere. Also competing this year for the stage, however, was the weather. Not only was the temperature in the upper fifties/lower sixties, there was a heavy mist that would fall occassionally, delaying the performance and then stopping it once in the middle. The stage was fortunately tarped overhead, but the orchestra in front were the unwitting victims. As an ex-flute player, I kept on imagining flute keypads swelling as they filled with water, and conductor Martin West tactfully stopped the performance in the middle of the first piece, Helgi Tomasson’s Prism. Despite a layer of tension that couldn’t be helped, still it was all done very seamlessly, and it seemed to add to the audience’s appreciation.

The dancers flew in Tomasson’s Prism with only a few signs of the weather by resorting to half-pointe. Despite the distracting circumstances, the pristine elegance of the piece shone through, backed nicely by Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 1, played by Roy Bogas. Vanessa Zahorian was as untouchable and as perfect as a ballerina sparkling in a jewel box. Yuan Yuan Tan showed more generosity of spirit with the same clean lines but a lingering expression in her long arms, partnered tenderly by the princely Tiit Helimets. The smaller ensembles were breathtaking in the way that they matched each other to a tee; Jaime Garcia Castilla and Isaac Hernandez breathed as one with a lovely stretch and lightness. New corps member Daniel Baker fit right in with Myles Thatcher and Matthew Stewart as they flew through the air with the exactness of trapeze artists. Hansuke Yamamoto was the generous master of ceremonies, as if welcoming the audience to his domain with a smile and virtuosic fireworks.

Yuan Yuan Tan and Damian Smith in Wheeldon's After The Rain. © Erik Tomasson

Right when the worst of the mist seemed to past, the audience laughed at the irony of the next piece, After the Rain. I wondered how Wheeldon’s pas de deux would fare in such a distracted audience. The piece started with a restless audience, but the simplicity of Arvo Pärt’s music soon cast its spell, played by Heidi Wilcox on violin and conductor Martin West at the piano. With Yuan Yuan Tan and Damian Smith on the stage, vulnerable, they quickly cast their hypnotic spell over the audience and held them spellbound in a moving journey. In its awkward beauty and tension filled with regret, Tan and Smith’s partnership spoke of something beyond the steps, but of a deeper relationship of trust and strength. It was moving to the core, and absolutely gorgeous to watch.

Lorena Feijoo and Vitor Luiz in Tomasson/Possokhov's Don Quixote © Erik Tomasson

Lorena Feijoo and Vitor Luiz followed with a truncated version of the pas de deux from Don Quixote, Act III, which I had seen them dance at Napa Valley a few weeks before. It really got the audience going with their technical fireworks, but way too brief. And the lovely afternoon ended with Mark Morris’ irreverent and very funny Sandpaper Ballet. Is it not the equivalent of Mark Morris giving the stuffy institution of ballet, in all its technical rules and pretty floofiness, the middle finger? He has the dancers rolling on the ground, arms hanging loose and being flung wildly about. Not to say that there isn’t a structure or a master plan to this masterpiece, which happens to be one of my favorites. Morris does it with such ingenuity and humor that you can’t help but to laugh. It’s difficult to imagine anyone else dancing this with as much joy and wit as San Francisco Ballet, and I enjoyed every minute of it.

San Francisco Ballet heads to Copenhagen next for their tour on August 21-27.

The Stern Grove Festival continues on through August 22. Click here for more info.

Irina Dvorovenko and Maxim Beloserkovsky, courtesy of ABT

It was a gorgeous drive into Napa Valley on a Friday early evening. Amidst fields of vineyards, Napa Valley got a taste of big city fine arts with the Festival del Sole. Only in its fifth year with a focus on fine arts, food, and wine, this was the first year that this festival included a dance performance, with big names from the New York City Ballet to the Bolshoi. From the start of the performance, there was excitement in the air; the presenter announced his surprise that the full house proved that there really is an audience for dance in Napa.

The program was an eclectic mix of pieces ranging from classical ballet to modern, from the well-known to the more obscure. Not surprisingly, the audience favorites by far were the familiar and the virtuosic. Andrew Veyette and Megan Fairchild brought down the house with  Balanchine’s Stars and Stripes. Veyette ate up the stage with his impressive lines and even more impressive charisma. In the midst of being awed by Veyette’s stretch and artistry, he made you smile with his playful attack and his grin. His chemistry with Fairchild was pure fun, in this glitzy rendition of Stars and Stripes, and it was perfect for the gala atmosphere of this performance. Later, Veyette and Fairchild’s Swan Lake didn’t fare as well; it felt like a more embellished and a slightly more muddled version of the classical ballet.

Petipa’s Don Quixote, danced with flair by San Francisco Ballet dancers Lorena Feijoo and Vitor Luiz, was another standout. I’ve always found Feijoo to be both a stylistic and stylish dancer, and she shines in Don Quixote. Every detail is colored with sass and flirty eyes, and Luiz flew through the air to the audience’s delight. Feijoo and Luiz also performed Forsythe’s in the middle, somewhat elevated with red-hot sensuality, the sexiest rendition I’d seen yet. I wished the music had been louder though; I hadn’t realized how much the heart-pounding beats of Thom Willem’s score was central to experiencing this piece.

The central billing of this evening was American Ballet Theatre’s Irina Dvorovenko and Maxim Beloserkovsky. Their transparent rendition of Balanchine’s Apollo added touches of humor and humanity amidst its stark angles. Every movement deliberate, Beloserkovsky distinguishes between the soft swoops to the pointed punctuations of quick footwork. Glances and smiles are shared between Dvorovenko and Beloserkovsky, and the expansive ending lingers with Dvorovenko and Beloserkovsky draped over each other looking up with hope. Their other two offerings for the night, however, didn’t fare so well – Jessica Lang’s “Splendid Isolation III” is several minutes of melodramatic posturing, and Anatoliy Beliy’s “Carmen Suite” is even more so,  but more kinetic and even more over the top. Despite their program choices, Dvorovenko is positively statuesque, dancing beyond her diminuitive frame with glamor and dynamism, and Beloskerkovsky is pure elegant strength in various states of bare-chested costumes.

Bolshoi principal Marianna Ryzhkina and ABT soloist Gennadi Saveliev (a substitution for Bolshoi’s Dmitry Gudanov) were the epitome of control in excerpts from Raymonda and Giselle. They especially simmered in Giselle, with sadness and forgiveness in breathtaking balances and heartache.

One of the problems with this gala format is that each piece is so short, and it leaves you wanting to see more. There were some rough edges in the evening, with its stage that often left dancers in the dark practically in the wings when preparing for a set of leaps or turns, some sound fluctuations, and trouble getting people ushered into their seats on time. But these things are trivial; there was an adoring audience (including Rita Moreno and Helgi Tomasson), incredible dancing, and the buzz thanks to the visiting guest stars. Everyone left with something new and challenging, in addition to the familiar classics, and an anticipation for what the festival will offer next year. I hope that Festival del Sole continues to incorporate more dance offerings for the future.

Festival del Sole

Artem Yachmennikov taken at the Het Nationale Ballet, taken by Angela Sterling

New company members for San Francisco Ballet’s 2011 season has been announced! Artem Yachmennikov will be joining as a principal dancer, previously from the Mariinsky Theatre Ballet, Het Nationale Ballet, and the Bolshoi Ballet. Vito Mazzeo will join as a soloist, previously from the Royal Ballet and the Teatro dell’Opera. The new corps members are Daniel Baker (previously a soloist at the Miami City Ballet), Nicole Ciapponi, Koto Ishihara, Elena Kazakova, Dustin Shane, Sebastian Vinet, Lonnie Weeks, and SF Ballet apprentices Kimberly Braylock, Myles Thatcher, and Sylvie Volosov.

Congratulations! It’ll be exciting to see how the newly hired soloists will perform, as well as seeing the familiar faces of previous SF Ballet students and apprentices (apprenticii?) who graced the audience last year in vivid, lasting moments onstage. Check out the new roster, here.

San Francisco Ballet principal dancer Lorena Feijoo and A.C.T. core acting company member Jack Willis (pictured at the famed Tosca Café) are part of the multidisciplinary cast of The Tosca Project. Photo by Kevin Berne.

American Conservatory Theatre at San Francisco presents a collaborative project with the San Francisco Ballet in a world premiere dance theater production of The Tosca Project. This piece is a result of a three year collaboration between San Francisco Ballet choreographer Val Caniparoli and A.C.T. Artistic Director Carey Perloff, with a cast of dancers and actors. The story is inspired by San Francisco’s Tosca Cafe.

It sounds fascinating, and I’m interested in how artists can switch across theatrical mediums. Pascal Molat has shown ballet audiences that he can act, but can he convince the A.C.T. audience he can act as well? And doesn’t Lorena look fabulous?

A sailor (Pascal Molat) and his girl (Lorena Feijoo) dance a duet to Rosemary Clooney singing “What'll I Do?” Photo by Kevin Berne.

Lorena Feijoo (center) with members of the Tosca Project ensemble (Peter Anderson, left, and Rachel Ticotin, right). Photo by Kevin Berne.

A sailor (Pascal Molat) and his girl (Lorena Feijoo) share a last moment before he heads off to World War II. Photo by Kevin Berne.

Please report back if you’ve seen it – click here for more information and tickets. Check out the SF Chronicle review, here. The Tosca Project closes on July 3 after being extended due to popular demand, with A.C.T. core acting company member René Augesen, Milwaukee Ballet principal dancer Julianna Kepley, and Bay Area ballet dancer Jekyns Pelaez join the ensemble for the extension performances.

Sarah Van Patten and Pierre-François Vilanoba in Tomasson's Romeo & Juliet. © Erik Tomasson

Saturday night was the opening night of San Francisco Ballet’s last program of the year, Helgi Tomasson’s Romeo and Juiet. It’s a beautiful production of a classic love story, full of sumptuous details in the sets and costumes by Jens-jacob Worsaae and lighting by Thomas R. Skelton. In a story that’s freely moved around to different locales or to no location at all, San Francisco Ballet’s production reminded us of its original setting in Verona, Italy. The Capulets party in a setting that looks like the Sistine Chapel. Renaissance frescoes of Mary peer down gently upon the altar where Friar Lawrence prays. Burgundy velvet curtains and gold saturate the production in rich colors.

The evening starts out with an injection of drama with the opening fight scene with excellent fight choreography by Martino Pistone (in collaboration with Tomasson), in a realistic portrayal of fencing and flaring tempers especially amongst the excellent male corps. (The riveting intensity of Gaetano Amico and Luke Willis stood out to me). But unfortunately for the rest of the evening, the emotion and the drama of the story is often left up to the dancers’ facial expressions and horrified hands, rather than in the dancing itself. There is a lot of running around, especially at important plot points, where storytelling is left to gestures and emoting. When Friar Lawrence exits the stage to retrieve the vial that will temporarily suspend Juliet’s life, Juliet is left onstage, walking back and forth in anxiety and fear for about 20 seconds (feeling more like 5 minutes) to the backdrop of Prokofiev’s opulent score. The dancing is reserved for group dances such as the acrobats dancing at the festival (Dores Andre, Benjamin Stewart, Matthew Stewart), or the “angry dance” after Juliet refuses Paris, or the balcony pas de deux when Romeo and Juliet share their first kiss. I just wished there was more integration in the use of the choreography to express the plot points that propel the storyline forward.

Sarah Van Patten and Pierre-François Vilanoba in Tomasson's Romeo & Juliet. © Erik Tomasson

But thankfully, it’s difficult to tell because the dancers spin a magical tale with their dancing, throwing themselves wholeheartedly into creating something more than what they were given. There is no other dancer who does this better than Sarah Van Patten, dancing in the role of Juliet. Her musicality and complete embodiment of the character spun phrases in the music, even if it wasn’t fully supported by the chroeography. Her quick turns capture spontaneity and ecstasy in the golden glows of first love, and her arabesques rise higher and higher like the hope that overcomes all odds. Her dance monologue, right before she drinks the potion that will temporarily halt her life, was full of fury and fear. As Juliet, Van Patten was a wonderful balance of childlike innocence and womanly grace, the latter increasing more and more with time after her first meeting with Romeo.

The role of Romeo was slightly miscast with Pierre-François Vilanoba. With his magnificent stage presence, he was definitely more princely with a presence to take over the world, than an impetuous boy in love. And with a bigger build than Damian Smith as the volatile Tybalt, no amount of spark-shooting glares could match Vilanoba’s presence. Even when every cell in Smith’s being seemed pissed off and ready to fight, it didn’t fit the story as well as Romeo being the long shot to win a fight against Tybalt. But nonetheless, Vilanoba was a strongly secure and ardent Romeo for Van Patten’s Juliet. Pascal Molat excelled as the quick-footed prankster, Mercutio. Every moment onstage and every movement described his character as a boy who takes nothing seriously, and everything is a joke. Especially impressive was his ability to mix fencing and comedy with perfect split-second timing. I can’t help but to wonder if Molat was more suited for the impulsive Romeo, although it’s difficult to imagine anyone else to capture the comedy in the role of Mercutio as well as Molat does. Hansuke Yamamoto rounded out the group of the skirt-chasing Montague boys with high flying virtuosity, and the harlots Courtney Elizabeth and Pauli Magierek did an excellent job shimmying it up with a surprisingly visible and scene-stealing presence in the second act. Quinn Wharton was an elegant Paris with a glint of cruelty who was fine with forcing a girl into marriage who obviously did not want him in return.

Pierre-François Vilanoba and Damian Smith in Tomasson's Romeo & Juliet. © Erik Tomasson

In all, the story of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet was highly entertaining in this beautiful production in a tale of timeless love. (My date quipped that this tale was a warning against the perils of punctuality, pointing out that if Romeo had come to Juliet’s tomb a few minutes later, their deaths would not have happened.) The straightforward and literal interpretation of the tale will please a wide range of audiences, and Tomasson always knows how to put on a great show; the dancing is sublime. It’s a good one to bring children to as well, and I saw many of them in the audience. It’s a great way to end another year with the San Francisco Ballet.

Anyone have any updates on the other casts (Kochetkova/Boada, Zahorian/Karapetyan)? What did you think?

San Francisco Ballet’s Romeo and Juliet runs through May 9. Click here for more info.

Tomasson’s Haffner Symphony
Renato Zanella’s Underskin
Ratmansky’s Russian Seasons

Lorena Feijoo and Pascal Molat in Zanella's Underskin. © Erik Tomasson

San Francisco Ballet’s Program 6 was an important one for the company, despite looking like the calm program before the storm before its grand finale of Tomasson’s Romeo and Juliet that will close out the season. It included yet another world premiere built on the company by choreographer Renato Zanella – would it be appropriate to call him up and coming? His work is mainly been Europe-centered with occasional forays elsewhere, and his name is new to my ears. It also reprised a recent (and important) acquisition of Ratmansky’s Russian Seasons, and performed a Tomasson piece that hadn’t been performed in many years.

Zanella’s Underskin is said to have been inspired by the mystique of San Francisco Ballet dancers. Swathed in darkness, a centerpiece of beams angling from the floor to the ceiling moved slowly throughout the piece, wavering and glinty in the low light. The piece opened with a soloist, Jennifer Stahl, dressed in a dark shimmery unitard, slithery and undulating with drama. With sky high extensions and remarkable fluidity, this role called for the ability to stun with a turn of a head and a dark look. This height of drama wasn’t quite achieved, but there were glimpses of Stahl’s potential to grow into such a dancer with that kind of presence. She will definitely be one to watch. Three couples weaved in and out, in addition to a corps of dancers in this mood piece, moving to the sighs and cries of Schoenberg’s unpredictable and moody Verklarte Nacht. The duet with Maria Kochetkova and Pascal Molat was a tumble of turbulent struggle and fury. Jaime Garcia Castilla and Courtney Elizabeth were sweetly melancholy, Castilla with velvety extensions and jumps that lingered in the air. Chung and Wharton were a mesmerizing partnership as they breathed as one, bewitching the audience with unbridled intensity. The corps of men were particularly striking, with a weight that permeated throughout the piece. Even their arms had weight, as they powered through the air. Zanella captured the company’s sense of drama and power in an impressive display of both their soloists and their corps who danced in breathtaking unison.

Sofiane Sylve and Pierre-François Vilanoba in Ratmansky's Russian Seasons. © Erik Tomasson

I missed Ratmansky’s Russian Seasons last year due to a last minute replacement due to dancer injury, but I’m really glad that I got to see it this year. With this piece, you see Ratmansky honoring Russia and the qualities of its people. The stories that he tells onstage are of peasants, with hunched shoulders and the heavy burden of strife countered with an irrespressible spirit that refuses to die. Camaraderie pervades throughout the piece, with people talking and acknowledging each other. I’m so used to watching such dance stories of peasants swathed in rags and hats – very literally – but Ratmansky brilliantly frames the piece in the unexpected world of the abstract. With dancers in bright primary colors and a simple background and nothing more than decorative headgear, Ratmansky tells these provincial stories and themes with pure movement. Balletic brises with an upward center of gravity are mixed with tantrum stomps of oppression; this mix of weight and ebullience speaks of hope in the midst of hardship. Elana Altman was compelling in sleek lines and dramatic angles in her solo set to the melancholy cries of mezzo soprano Susannah Poretsky in the music of Leonid Desyatnikov’s Russian Seasons. There was sadness in Lorena Feijoo’s entire being of the woman who later reappears, seemingly resurrected, in white and a white flower wreath on her head. This piece may have been a tad too despondent for some (I think one reviewer had compared it to life in the gulag), but I was pleasantly surprised by its provincial storytelling in the modern packaging of the bright abstract and a remarkable quickness in its movement vocabulary.

Vanessa Zahorian in Tomasson's "Haffner" Symphony. © Erik Tomasson

Tomasson’s neoclassical Haffner Symphony was pleasant and regal, with a distinguished use of space in the placement of dancers around the stage. The use of negative space between the dancers, in one instance by placing two dancers upstage left and one far downstage right, spoke of an airy spaciousness in a royal garden with a backdrop of flowers with sets and costumes by Santo Loquasto. Tomasson’s elegant use of space is inconsistent however, as in several moments dancers squeeze by each other uncomfortably as a line of dancers move past another. Gennadi Nedvigin wowed the audience with crisp lines and soft landings, but clearly the realm was Maria Kochetkova’s playground, coloring her lightning quick feet with a softness and gentility. Clearly she was a reigning queen where everyone else were occasional visitors, and it was a marvel to watch her and the other dancers at play.

San Francisco Ballet’s website. Only one more program left for this season! Romeo and Juliet starts on May 1.

Lorena Feijoo and Pascal Molat in Forsythe's Artifact Suite. © Erik Tomasson

Below is the season announcement for San Francisco Ballet’s 2011 season. Pieces to look out for – Giselle, McGregor’s Chroma to the music of White Stripes, Forsythe’s Artifact Suite, and Balanchine’s Coppelia, a co-produciton with Pacific Northwest Ballet, and world premieres by Possohkov and Wheeldon.

What are you looking forward to?

SAN FRANCISCO BALLET ANNOUNCES 2011 REPERTORY SEASON

HIGHLIGHTS INCLUDE THE NEW CO-PRODUCTION & SF BALLET PREMIERE

OF GEORGE BALANCHINE’S COPPÉLIA; WORLD PREMIERES BY POSSOKHOV  & WHEELDON; PLUS THE RETURN OFGISELLE & THE LITTLE MERMAID

SF Ballet Honors 100^th Anniversary of Fokine’s Petrouchka
With an Encore Presentation

SAN FRANCISCO, Wednesday, April 21, 2010—San Francisco Ballet, the oldest professional ballet company in America, has announced the repertory and performance schedule for its 78th Repertory Season. SF Ballet’s 2011 Repertory Season will include the presentation of three full-length works, including a new production of George Balanchine’s Coppélia, co-produced with Pacific Northwest Ballet (PNB). The production will have its PNB premiere in June 2010 and will be a Company premiere for SF Ballet in March 2011.

The 2011 season also includes two world premieres by Christopher Wheeldon and SF Ballet Choreographer in Residence Yuri Possokhov, as well as two SF Ballet premieres by Sir Kenneth MacMillan and Wayne McGregor. In addition, the season includes works by acclaimed choreographers such as Sir Frederick Ashton, George Balanchine, Michel Fokine, William Forsythe, John Neumeier, Helgi Tomasson, and Renato Zanella.

The 2011 Repertory Season will begin with Nutcracker, which runs December 9 through 27, 2010 for a total of 30 performances. Following the Opening Night Gala on Wednesday, January 26, 2011, the season will consist of eight programs performed in alternating repertory, from January 29 to May 7.

“In programming the 2011 season, I wanted not only to highlight the depth and breadth of the Company’s talent, but also to offer our audiences a wide array of programming to choose from,” said SF Ballet Artistic Director & Principal Choreographer Helgi Tomasson. “I am particularly delighted that the Company will offer the San Francisco Ballet premiere of George Balanchine’s Coppélia; a work that is very special to me since I performed the role of Franz in the original version of Balanchine’s production.”

2011 Repertory Season Overview

Program 1 opens Saturday, January 29 and features the return of Tomasson’s renowned full-length classic Giselle. Tomasson’s production, which premiered in 1999, was hailed by the San Francisco Chronicle as “Tomasson’s finest achievement.” The two-act production features scenic, costume, and lighting design by Mikael Melbye. Set to the music of Adolphe Adam, the work was first performed by the Paris Opéra Ballet, in 1841, with original choreography by Jean Coralli and Jules Perrot and later, Marius Petipa. SF Ballet last performed the full production on its American Tour in 2008.

The 1999 world premiere of Helgi Tomasson’s Giselle was underwritten by The Hellman Family, The Edward E. Hills Fund, Lucy and Fritz Jewett, and an anonymous donor, in honor of Chris Hellman. This project was made possible, in part, by a grant from the National Dance Residency Program (NDRP), a program underwritten by The Pew Charitable Trusts and administered at the New York Foundation for the Arts.

Program 2 opens Thursday, February 3 with Ashton’s Symphonic Variations, a world premiere by Possokhov (his 13th work for the Company, including gala works and the co-production of Don Quixote with Tomasson), and the return of Balanchine’s Symphony in C. Ashton’s Symphonic Variations, a plotless ballet for six dancers, premiered in 1946 by the Sadler’s Wells (now Royal) Ballet at London’s Royal Opera House. Set to music by César Franck, the work had its SF Ballet premiere in 2004, and was last performed by the Company in 2005. Balanchine’s Symphony in C, set to the music of Georges Bizet, was premiered in 1947 by the Paris Opéra Ballet. SF Ballet first performed the 23-minute piece in 1961, and most recently, in 2007.

Program 3 opens Thursday, February 24 with the encore performance of Possokhov’s Classical Symphony, and the return of Tomasson’s Nanna’s Lied and Forsythe’s Artifact Suite. Possokhov’s Classical Symphony, set to the music of Sergei Prokofiev, had its world premiere during the 2010 Repertory Season and was inspired by ballet history and Possokhov’s own classical Russian ballet training. Tomasson’s Nanna’s Lied was premiered by the Company in 1993, and portrays the dramatic tale of a young woman’s loss of innocence. The work was last performed by the Company in 2003, and is set to the songs of Kurt Weill and Friedrich Hollaender. Forsythe’s Artifact Suite was premiered by the Scottish Ballet under the title Suite from Artifact in 2004. Two years later, SF Ballet presented the U.S. premiere of the work, set to the music of Johann Sebastian Bach and Eva Crossman-Hecht. The full work was last performed during the 2007 Repertory Season.

Program 4 opens Friday, February 25 with the return of Balanchine’s Theme and Variations, the SF Ballet Premiere of MacMillan’s Winter Dreams,and another work to be announced. Balanchine’s Theme and Variations, for 26 dancers, was premiered in 1947 by Ballet Theatre and is set to the music of Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky. The work was most recently performed by SF Ballet during its 2010 Repertory Season. MacMillan created a pas de deux in 1991, for Darcey Bussell and Irek Mukhamedov, which was performed at the Queen Mother’s 90th Birthday Tribute. This pas de deux became part of the one-act ballet Winter Dreams (based on Anton Chekhov’s Three Sisters), which was subsequently filmed for television and broadcast on the BBC in 1992. Set to piano pieces by Tchaikovsky, this dramatic work explores the characters melancholy with their present existence in a Russian provincial town, at the turn of the 20th century.

Program 5 opens Saturday, March 19 with the SF Ballet Premiere of Balanchine’s Coppélia, a co-production with Pacific Northwest Ballet. The popular, comedic ballet, set to a score by Leo Délibes, was first performed by the Paris Opéra Ballet in 1870, with original choreography by Arthur Saint-Léon. In 1939, SF Ballet presented the first production of Coppélia choreographed by an American choreographer (Willam Christensen). The production centers on two lovers, Swanilda and Franz. A life-like doll, Coppélia, becomes the focus of Franz’s affections until Swanilda tricks him by dressing up and pretending to be the doll. The ballet ends festively with Swanilda and Franz reuniting for a joyous wedding day celebration. This new production of Balanchine’s Coppélia from 1974, includes commissioned scenery and costumes by Italian designer Roberta Guidi di Bagno.

The San Francisco Ballet premiere of George Balanchine’s Coppélia is made possible by Maurice Kanbar, Glenn Kawasaki, Dan & Pam Baty, and Sharon Richardson.

Program 6 opens Thursday, April 7 with the return of Tomasson’s 7 for Eight, the encore presentation of Wheeldon’s Ghosts, and the SF Ballet Premiere of McGregor’s Chroma. Tomasson’s acclaimed 7 for Eight, which was premiered by SF Ballet in 2004, is set to the music of Johann Sebastian Bach. Called “stunning” upon its premiere by the San Francisco Chronicle, the work for eight dancers was last performed by the Company during its 2008 Repertory Season. Wheeldon’s Ghosts, which premiered during SF Ballet’s 2010 Repertory Season, is set to a commissioned score by C.F. Kip Winger. The New York Times called the work “ethereal and substantial.” McGregor’s Chroma is set to the music of The White Stripes, arranged by Joby Talbot and orchestrated by Christopher Austin. Created for The Royal Ballet, the work premiered in 2006 and was McGregor’s first work for the company as resident choreographer. McGregor’s Chroma received a number of awards in 2007, including a Laurence Olivier Award for best new dance production, as well as a Critics’ Circle National Dance Award for best classical choreography.

Program 7 opens Friday, April 8 with the return of Fokine’s Petrouchka, Zanella’s Underskin, and a world premiere by Christopher Wheeldon, his seventh work for SF Ballet. SF Ballet first performed Petrouchka, set to the music of Igor Stravinsky, during the 2010 Repertory Season. Originally performed by the Ballets Russes in 1911, the work depicts a dramatic tale of a Russian puppet with a human soul. This season’s presentation ofPetrouchka marks the 100^th anniversary of the ballet’s creation. Zanella’s Underskin, set to the music of Arnold Schoenberg, premiered during the Company’s 2010 Repertory Season.

From The Hellman Family in honor of Patricia C. Hellman, also known as “Patrichka,” a former professional ballet dancer and soloist with the London Festival Ballet.

Program 8 opens Saturday, April 30 with the encore presentation of Hamburg Ballet Director and Chief Choreographer John Neumeier’s The Little Mermaid, set to the commissioned music of Lera Auerbach. The full-length work was originally commissioned by the Royal Danish Ballet, in celebration of the 200^th anniversary of Hans Christian Andersen’s birth. Neumeier’s modern and mature interpretation presents the parallels between the fairy tale and the story of its creator. The production premiered in 2005, and features scenic, costume, and lighting design by Neumeier. During the 2010 Repertory Season, the Company presented the U.S. premiere of the work with a week-long run, to sold-out houses.

The 2010 United States premiere of The Little Mermaid was made possible by the generosity of Lead Sponsors Richard C. Barker and the E.L. Wiegand Foundation, and by Major Sponsors Suzy Kellems Dominik, Jennifer Caldwell and John H.M. Fisher, Stephen and Margaret Gill Family Foundation, Alison and Michael Mauzé, and Sponsor Gail and Robert Smelick.

During the 2011 Repertory Season, the Company will perform a total of 56 standard subscription performances. Tuesday and Thursday through Saturday evening performances are at 8pm; Wednesday evening performances are at 7:30pm; Saturday and Sunday matinees are at 2pm. The SF Ballet Orchestra will accompany all programs.

With Special Thanks

American Airlines is the Preferred Airline of San Francisco Ballet.

William Hill ® Estate Winery and La Marca™ Prosecco are the featured wine and sparkling wine of San Francisco Ballet.

“Meet the Artist” Interviews and “Pointes of View” Lecture Series

SF Ballet will continue to present the entertaining and informative “Meet the Artist” series, held in conjunction with the opening night of each program, as well as all Friday evening and Sunday matinee performances. The 30-minute interviews with Company artists, management, and guests of SF Ballet begin one hour prior to performance, and all ticket holders are invited to attend free of charge. In addition, SF Ballet will present eight “Pointes of View” lectures during the season, on select Wednesday evenings. Each lecture will focus on the program to be performed that evening and is free and open to the public. For more information, call Ticket Services at 415.865.2000.

Subscription Tickets

Three, five, and eight program subscription packages to SF Ballet’s 2011 Repertory Season range in price from $49-3,800 and are on sale to the public now. For information, please call Ticket Services at 415.865.200o or visit sfballet.org. Phone hours are Monday through Friday, 10am to 4pm.

Single Tickets

Individual tickets for SF Ballet’s 2011 Repertory Season, starting at $20, will be available for advance sale online at sfballet.org beginning November 17 or by calling 415.865.2000, starting January 10.

San Francisco Ballet

As America’s oldest professional ballet company and one of the three largest ballet companies in the United States, San Francisco Ballet has enjoyed a long and rich tradition of artistic “firsts” since its founding in 1933. It performed the first American productions of Swan Lake and Nutcracker, as well as the first production of Coppélia choreographed by an American choreographer. Guided in its early years by American dance pioneers and brothers Lew, Willam, and Harold Christensen, San Francisco Ballet currently presents more than 100 performances a year locally, nationally, and abroad. Under the direction of Helgi Tomasson for twenty-five years, the Company has achieved an international reputation as one of the preeminent ballet companies in the world. In 2005, San Francisco Ballet won the prestigious Laurence Olivier Award, its first, in the category of “Outstanding Achievement in Dance,” and a year later, was the first non-European company elected “Company of the Year” in Dance Europe magazine’s annual readers’ poll. In 2008, San Francisco Ballet celebrated its 75^th anniversary with a host of initiatives that included a New Works Festival of 10 world premieres by 10 renowned choreographers. 2010 marks the 25^th anniversary of SF Ballet Artistic Director Helgi Tomasson’s tenure with the Company.

Damian Smith and Katita Waldo in Wheeldon's Rush. © Erik Tomasson

Program 7 at the San Francisco Ballet was all about the pretty. After the alien exoticism of the Little Mermaid, this program was a welcome breath of fresh air to San Francisco audiences eager to watch what San Francisco Ballet does best. Two out of the three pieces in Program 7 were created for the SF Ballet, including a world premiere of Possohkov’s Classical Symphony. There’s nothing like the sense of organic flow that comes from a piece built around the strengths of the company. The adoring audience seemed to relish the idea that no other company can perform these pieces like SF Ballet, and it was thrilling to watch.

Kristin Long and Pascal Molat in Wheeldon's Rush. © Erik Tomasson

Christopher Wheeldon’s Rush was a rush of adrenaline, personified. Created for the San Francisco Ballet in 2003, the first movement featured an ensemble of dancers in exhilarating momentum. Propelled from beginning to end by the insistent, joyful music of Martinu’s Sinfonietta de Jolla, the dancers’ costumes in bright primary colors added an extra shot of liveliness to the non-stop fast choreography. The fluid choreography is broken up by geometric arms – rounded or straight in upward V shapes – and a tilting off-center motif that looked dangerously like near falls. The tilting motif carries through in the slow second movement, a spare duet danced by Damian Smith and Katita Waldo. Dressed in black and gently romantic, there’s a tinge of sadness and regret, but also a sense of being very much alive in the moment. Limbs unfolding, movements unfurling inside out, Waldo and Smith let the movement and atmosphere speak volumes in stillness with breathless vulnerability. Waldo and Smith’s duet was a stunning highlight of the program.

Maria Kochetkova and Frances Chung in Possohkov's Classical Symphony. © Erik Tomasson

Possohkov’s Classical Symphony is a staunch example of neoclassical ballet that’s brightly classical but not restrained. Firmly rooted in the classical ballet vocabulary, this piece almost seems retro in the way that it showcases classical virtuosity as a virtue worthy of applause. Unabashed displays of sky high leaps and spinning turns rouse the spirit of ballet’s Christmas past, and I dare you not to get excited over the technical brilliance of the SF Ballet dancers, led expertly by Maria Kochetkova and Hansuke Yamamoto. This piece also draws on strong gender lines, with sweeping, strong jumps for the men and delicate, petite allegro for the women. There’s a full movement of an ensemble of men that repetitively features flying leaps in unison, with very little in between. This movement was the one movement that felt a bit underdeveloped. Occasional breaks from the textbook ballet positions give way to reaching arms and dramatic lines to give it a modern feel. There’s a relief in the familiarity of a world of the expected, and although no particularly new revelations were made, it was just really fun to sit back and enjoy.

San Francisco Ballet in Robbins' The Concert (Or, The Perils of Everybody). © Erik Tomasson

The program ended with Jerome Robbins’ abstract and comedic The Concert (Or, The Perils of Everybody). Its spoof of modern theater is filled with audience members with loud candy wrappers,  a snooty piano soloist reluctant to share the spotlight (in a brilliantly dry and funny portrayal by pianist Michael McGraw), and obsequiously single-minded fans of the theater (such as myself ). The dancers brilliantly skirt the difficult balance between earnestness and pushing too far, especially with Pascla Molat’s perfectly timed performance as a cigar-chomping butterfly. Not being just a comedic ballet, the choreography holds incredible depth under its comedic veneer, with a disarming nod to the tender strains of Chopin’s music, and in being more than what it appears to be. But still, the most satisfying part of this program is hearing the laughter of children ring out loud over the general audience.

San Francisco Ballet’s Program 7 plays through April 20.

Yuan Yuan Tan in Neumeier's The Little Mermaid. © Erik Tomasson

San Francisco Ballet presented the U.S. premiere of John Neumeier’s The Little Mermaid starting last weekend. Largely marketed as an adult story not intended for children, this production was an abstract psychodrama using the familiar tale of Hans Christian Andersen’s The Little Mermaid as a launching point. Although closer to the original Andersen tale than the more ubiquitous Disney version, the Andersen tale still serves as a rather distant inspiration, as the emotions of unrequited love and character development are more salient features than storytelling plot points. The strangely hypnotic world is also created by the stunning atonal music by Lera Auerbach, with sounds coming from the orchestra pit that sounded eerily human, in wordless sighs and groans.

Neumeier’s strength as a choreographer lies in his ability to take the abstract thematic elements of the story and to address it creatively. Set in a cinematic framework, the story starts off almost like a movie, with sounds of laughter and talking in the excited scene of wedding preparations amidst giggling bridesmaids and congratulatory groomsmen.  But from there, the story takes unexpected twists and turns, as the ocean grows from a tear dropping from the face of a forlorn male bystander (named “The Poet”, danced with veiled vulnerability and assurance by Damian Smith), who creates the little mermaid as a vessel of his unrequited love for the prince, a warmly oblivious and ever elegant Tiit Helimets. An underwater world is revealed, where movements are inflected with Asian influences – think Japanese butoh and Balinese dance, with the rippling arms and attention and detail in the wrists and fingers as free as the ocean. Time warps and bends, with mermaid sisters and a corps called “the sea” creating a slow and casual alien world.

Yuan Yuan Tan and Tiit Helimets in Neumeier's The Little Mermaid. © Erik Tomasson

In stark contrast is the world on land, harshly lit and unsympathetic. Characterized by conformity in boisterous unified group dances, people are such strange creatures, breaking out into dance and breaking out a golf club and golfing at random moments. Humans are seen from the viewpoint of the little mermaid, curiously interesting yet odd. Filled with non sequiturs often with a violent edge, the world of humans is depicted as an absurdist tragic comedy. In the midst of this, the little mermaid’s innocence in her love for the prince and the wholeheartedness of her devotion is heartbreaking, a beacon of humanity in this exotic and strange world.

Neumeier states that his story is inspired by the little mermaid’s love that transcends boundaries. Yet it’s hard to take her love for the prince seriously, as she falls in love with him with such innocence and later, determination. Rather than a love story, this ballet to me was more of a cautionary tale of tragedy. The audience is swept up by the pilgrimage of the little mermaid, a slow transformation from innocent girl leading to the psychological climax of her final solo, a dance of determination, surrender, and the realization of being trapped by her own desires. Principal Yuan Yuan Tan portrays the many facest of the role of the little mermaid with ferocity and the stage presence of an unassuming star. The dress that she once desired to wear after seeing the prince fall in love with a princess wearing the same dress, becomes constricting. The life on land she once desired becomes instruments of her own undoing, with the Sea Witch who gave her legs merely an instrument of what she thought she wanted. This dance represents both her psychological unraveling as well as her maturity in acceptance of her fate and the consequences of her decisions. For the first time, instead of being a victim of the ebb and flow of life, she learns to stand on her own two legs and takes authority of her life into her own hands.

Yuan Yuan Tan in Neumeier's The Little Mermaid. © Erik Tomasson

This monumental ballet has lofty goals, encompassing a large spectrum of emotions and psychological and dramatic themes in the framework of a familiar timeless story. The overall impression is a lot to take in at once, yet it’s also a world that’s easy to get lost in. Neumeier’s cinematic tale of The Little Mermaid is buried in abstraction and swirling in emotion and images, nonsensical yet urgent, a sentiment that can’t be put into words.

San Francisco Ballet’s website.

San Francisco Ballet’s The Little Mermaid arrived with a bang this past weekend. Choreographed by John Neumeier with music by Lera Auerbach, this production promises to be a visual feast of dramatic storytelling. This story is based more on the original Hans Christian Andersen story, rather than the more child-friendly Disney version. In an interview with the SF Chronicle, John Neumeier responds to a question regarding dance and drama:

Because I don’t think dance is intellectual. It’s more related to the experience of dreams than actuality. I believe you don’t understand a ballet; you have an experience of it.

I’m not sure I agree with his statement 100% – I agree that any art has to be experienced rather than thought through, but there’s always room for intellectual thought. For me, understanding and logical flow aids the process of emotional fulfillment.

The interview also states that the dance movement in this production is inspired by Balinese dance.

For more information, click here.