San Francisco Ballet
Shostakovich Trilogy
War Memorial Opera
House, San Francisco
April 11th,
2015
Bay Area ballet lovers
have been waiting all year for San Francisco Ballet’s sixth program, the return
of Alexei Ratmansky’s Shostakovich
Trilogy. Shostakovich Trilogy enjoyed
its West Coast premiere at the War Memorial Opera House last season and to say
that the reaction was positive is an understatement. A tribute to the work of
twentieth century composer Dmitri Shostakovich, Ratmansky’s three-act ballet
weaves music and movement together like no other.
While Shostakovich Trilogy is certainly not a
story ballet, saying it is completely abstract isn’t quite right either. In
fact, each of the three acts communicates a wide variety of emotions, ideas and
concepts. Symphony #9 kicks off with
a men’s quintet, led by Pascal Molat, who are quickly joined by five women,
with Dores André in the lead. Ratmansky’s first
choreographic statement was a love
song to all types of movement – contemporary ballet, traditional vocabulary,
folksy character, even social dance. From delicate hops on pointe to grand pas
de poisson jumps, the entire first variation was both playful and whimsical.
But narratively, the mood shifted as Sarah Van Patten and Luke Ingham began their
haunting duet. What had been light and lively suddenly morphed into ominous
anticipation. And in the last third of Symphony
#9, Francisco Mungamba entered the scene with commanding regality. Mungamba’s
gorgeous, controlled extensions were breathtaking, and as he directed the corps
de ballet to join him, a sense of dramatic authority swept the stage.
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| Pictured: Sarah Van Patten and Luke Ingham in Ratmansky's Shostakovich Trilogy Photo © Erik Tomasson |
Act II brought Chamber Symphony - the most emotionally
and narratively charged section of Shostakovich
Trilogy. The ballet centers around a protagonist character, danced with
phenomenal abandon by Rubén Martín Cintas, who is caught in a tumultuous internal
struggle. Pulled in multiple directions, chaos and torment unfold around him.
Three women appear, feeding right into this theme; their presence ranging from
flirtatious teasing to coy modesty to heartfelt affection. Of the three,
soloist Dana Genshaft must be singled out. Genshaft is such a striking dancer.
She has an uncanny ability to transmit everything (big or small) out into space
and transitions between each step with such care and attention.
The final act of
Ratmansky’s Shostakovich Trilogy is
the vibrant Piano Concerto #1. While
the scenic design, backdrop and costumes have a 1980s feel to them, the work is
anything but dated. From start to finish, Piano
Concerto #1 is completely unexpected. Lifts where the point of contact is
the hipbone, Sofiane Sylve’s toe emerging from the wings, an inverted split
balance, a throw in attitude, flat-footed swivel turns. After the main pas de
quatre, all the dancers exit except Joan Boada, who welcomes the corps back to
the stage and then does a backwards somersault into the wings. My favorite
moment of surprise comes at the very end of Ratmansky’s dance, when the two
lead couples perform supported pirouettes downstage. This time, it is the men
who are turning and the women who are in the driver’s seat.
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