Smuin Contemporary Ballet - Dance Series 1

Smuin Contemporary Ballet
Dance Series 1
Lesher Center for the Arts, Walnut Creek
September 15, 2023

A stylistic collage, an arresting drama, a brilliant union of music and dance – what an opening performance for Smuin Contemporary Ballet! For thirty years, this special company has been a force in the Bay Area dance scene and Friday evening’s mixed rep, triple bill tapped into the group’s essence and power. Their commitment to technical excellence and artistic fervor. To simultaneously pushing boundaries and honoring history. To challenging audiences while providing moments of joy and escape. It was a night to remember at the Lesher Center for the Arts!

Smuin in Caniparoli's Tutto Eccetto Il Lavandino
Photo Chris Hardy

As the title indicates, Val Caniparoli’s Tutto Eccetto Il Lavandino (everything but the kitchen sink) provides the utmost in choreographic variety from start to finish. The ensemble 2014 suite, set to Vivaldi, really does have a bit of ‘everything’ movement-wise; it’s anyone’s guess as to what’s up next on the menu. There’s Celtic footwork passages and traditional ballet lines. Contemporary partnering and courtly pedestrian sequences. Full throttle running and Pilates-style mountain climbers. The work is quite dazzling. Costumed simply in shades of olive, nothing distracts from Caniparoli’s physical vocabulary or from the dancers’ performances, including a fiercely determined pas de deux from Brennan Wall and Brandon Alexander. It was exciting to see some new faces join the company veterans; and I can only imagine that the artists will continue to gel together over time. Tutto Eccetto Il Lavandino does call for a fair bit of unison, and that occasionally proved challenging.

Smuin in Kudelka's The Man In Black
Photo Chris Hardy

There are several constants in James Kudelka’s 2010 quartet The Man In Black. The two most powerful being the sober atmosphere and Johnny Cash’s haunting voice covering six luscious tunes. Danced on opening night by Alexander, Ian Buchanan, Terez Dean Orr and João Sampaio, another constant was the stage perimeter. Unhurried and unassuming, the dancers pivoted around the space, carving out circuit after circuit. With their gazes often on the horizon, an undeniable sense of purpose and forward motion washed over the space, as did a plethora of Western dance traditions. Percussive step dance. Line dancing. Contra dance. And then the final constant - a strong sense of togetherness, of community, and the palpable pain that emerges when that kinship is fractured.  

Sarah Jordan in Moultrie's Salsa 'Til Dawn
Photo Chris Hardy

Dance Series 1 closed with an epic party. The kind of event that you hope to be invited to, especially knowing that a VIP is on the guest list. A much-anticipated world premiere by Darrell Grand Moultrie, Salsa ‘Til Dawn was wholly exuberant. Fun. Infectious. The stage was awash with grand leaps, huge lifts and staccato accents. Spines, hips and torsos undulated from every corner, new company dancer Sarah Jordan schooling the group as to how things should be done. Such monumental confidence and freedom of movement! Sampaio also had his moment mid-way through the piece; it was impossible to take your eyes off him, his airy suspension and his long, stretchy limbs. Charles Fox’s marvelous, sexy Cuban jazz score perfectly framed every second of Salsa ‘Til Dawn. And it was Fox who was the VIP guest. While most of the composition was recorded, Fox took to the piano bench to provide spectacular live music for the fifth chapter of the dance, City Lights. It was simply magical to hear his genius in person, while Tessa Barbour cycled through Moultrie’s stunning phrase material. Again, unison in this dance was sometimes tricky, but to be honest, I doubt anyone really noticed. Salsa ‘Til Dawn was such a successful bash and I’m sure each viewer was thrilled to have been at the party.

Dance Series 1 travels to Mountain View and San Francisco over the next two weeks.

Smuin Contemporary Ballet - Dance Series 2

Smuin Contemporary Ballet
Dance Series 2
Blue Shield of California Theater at YBCA, San Francisco
May 5th, 2023

Last Friday, Smuin Contemporary Ballet landed at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts for the San Francisco stop on their current regional tour. Led by Artistic Director Celia Fushille, the company brought a sensational quadruple bill for this last program of 2022-2023. Though what transpired on stage was anything but final. Yes, Dance Series 2 closes the company’s 29th season, but if you were in the audience on Friday night, you can attest to the feast of beginnings. A world premiere from the newly named Associate Artistic Director, Amy Seiwert; a roster of dancers who are not only individually impressive, but seamlessly gelling together as a group; and an organization on the cusp of its 30th anniversary. What a night!

A perfect welcome into the theater space, Dance Series 2 kicked off with a pair of shorter ballets, Katarzyna Skarpetowska’s Sextette (2021) and Founder Michael Smuin’s Dream (1999). Danced by four women and two men and set to a stirring Bach concerto, Sextette is a joyful study in stage patterning and cannoned timing. Movement phrases had staggered starts, like much Baroque music. A delight to watch, the choreography was lush, melty, legato, and incredibly intricate. The Smuin dancers were lovely in this chamber work, with just a few partnering moments proving tricky. 

Moving out of the Baroque era into the Romanticism of Chopin, Smuin’s Dream took the next spot in Dance Series 2. A gorgeous duet framed by a dark starry backdrop and superbly danced at this performance by Brennan Wall and Ricardo Dyer, we could have easily been watching a pas de deux from Romeo & Juliet (with a few costume tweaks). It was that sweet; that tender; that romantic. But unlike many classical ballet duets, Dream was not at all fussy. It was full of giant, overhead lifts, and an undeniable sense of searching – both for something and someone.

Tessa Barbour, Cassidy Isaacson and Terez Dean Orr
in Caniparoli's Swipe
Photo Chris Hardy

With multiple choreographic chapters coming together to create a cohesive whole, contemporary suite structure took center stage in the last two pieces. Deliciously unpredictable from one moment to the next, Val Caniparoli’s full throttle Swipe (2012) had the best technical dancing of the evening. Performed by seven dancers over seven sections, staccato, angular movement gave a decidedly mechanical, robotic feel. Hips jutted out in space, ribs hyperextended and arms flew at spectacular speeds. Movement influences ranged from the catwalk to disco to African dance, all while Gabriel Prokofiev’s score pulsed and drummed through the air. Swipe was a crowd-pleaser, to be sure, though for me, the score stayed more or less in the same dynamic range when compared to the changeable and unexpected choreography. And the work did feel a little on the lengthy side. 

Dance Series 2 closed with Seiwert’s new playful, spirited, colorful suite, French Kiss, set to a beautiful collection of music from Pink Martini. As the lights went up, the large ensemble (fifteen dancers!) cycled through a winning series of mannequin-esque poses and gestures. These initial moments set the tone for the rest of the piece. While there were some purposefully reflective sequences, overall French Kiss was sweet, happy and fun; you couldn’t help but smile when looking at the stage. Actual mannequins made an appearance mid-way through, as did some other theatrical props. But it was never too crowded or too busy. There is much to love about Seiwert’s choreography and for me, her treatment of pointework is most intriguing. She combines full pointe and non-pointework together. She explores demi-pointe in pointe shoes, revealing new choreographic vocabulary and possibilities. French Kiss was a hit. I’m sure it won’t be every long before Smuin’s audiences see it again.

Smuin Ballet in Seiwert's French Kiss
Photo Chris Hardy

 

San Francisco Ballet - "Romeo & Juliet"

San Francisco Ballet
Romeo & Juliet
War Memorial Opera House, San Francisco
April 21st, 2023

Whether the ballet, the stage play or the original text, when you spend time in the world of Romeo & Juliet, a complex narrative unfolds. It’s a tragic love story. It’s a cautionary tale about hate. It unpacks how human beings value each other. It shows the consequences of rash actions. It’s about trajectory; about timing. On Friday night, as San Francisco Ballet opened the final program of 2023, all these themes percolated throughout the War Memorial Opera House. This is another ballet that SFB audiences are very familiar with – choreographed by former Artistic Director Helgi Tomasson and premiering almost thirty years ago. As was the case with earlier full-length works this season, fresh interpretations gave the established work new energy. And opening night’s cast went a step further – they turned this known production into something astonishing, something sublime. Together, Jasmine Jimison, debuting as Juliet, and Angelo Greco, returning as Romeo, made this one of the best R&Js I’ve seen. Ever.

Angelo Greco and Jasmine Jimison in
Tomasson's Romeo & Juliet
Photo Lindsay Thomas

Important narrative frames are established early in Act I. First is the hatred between the Capulets and the Montagues. Seething, violent and deep-seated, the charged environment brews in the very first village scene. It’s electric, angry and one wonders how anything beautiful can grow in such a hostile environment. Also, Act I shows a change of romantic trajectory. Originally, Romeo thought Rosaline to be his future and Juliet thought the same of Paris. How things would dramatically shift over the course of a masked ball. Romeo and Juliet meet and each of their paths are altered forever. 

Much exposition happens in Act II – it’s short and full of many compact scenes, but a lot of action brings us to R&J’s final chapter. There’s more village antics, which feel a little superfluous to be honest. Romeo and Juliet are married, privately and secretly by Friar Laurence (Jim Sohm). And then we return to the town square, where two people are slain, including Tybalt (Luke Ingham) at Romeo’s hand. Romeo is banished and the curtain falls. As the ballet reaches its conclusion, Juliet hatches a scheme to fake her own death and sends a message to Romeo revealing that it is all a charade. She will wake and then they can run away together. Missed connections mean that Romeo does not learn of her plan, and in the end, they both perish.

The above synopsis details the events of the story, but more is needed to communicate the magic that happened onstage. To impart the mood, the atmosphere, the emotion and the triumphs of opening night. Though the production’s visuals and design need some updating, there was much brilliance to behold.

Greco’s Romeo, Max Cauthorn’s Benvolio and Esteban Hernández’ Mercutio were not only technically impressive but how they related to each other made you believe that they were like brothers. That connection must be there in order to explain the tragic events that happen later. Jimison was superb as Juliet, capturing every aspect of the nuanced character - from joy and innocence to fright and defeat; from youthful excitement to mature determination. 

Timing and trajectory intersect in Act I’s balcony pas de deux, if only for a moment. This sweeping duet of arabesque slides and circular spins was explosively passionate and both Greco and Jimison’s characters seemed overcome with budding love. While the entire cast was one of the best I have seen, this particular balcony scene was indeed the best. Act III opens back at Juliet’s bed chamber, and again, we see the love between the pair, though this time, intense grief is also part of the picture. They desperately want to be together, and yet, circumstance, trajectory and timing are against them. This truth remains constant until the final moments of the ballet, where the War Memorial stage undeniably saw some of its best acting in years. Bravi!

Angelo Greco and Jasmine Jimison in
Tomasson's Romeo & Juliet
Photo Lindsay Thomas

Romeo & Juliet runs until Sunday, April 30th, with Greco and Jimison back in the titular roles on Thursday and Saturday evenings.